The Union

All the buildings have illumination, glittering like fireflies in the empty darkness of the snow season. Streetlamps lined the streets. Some business establishments were even open.

As they entered the palace district of Holm, the atmosphere quickly changed. The lights and the lamps were even brighter. The guards were dressed in exquisite attires that favored style over functionality. The gate of the palace curved like a giant cake- decorated with precious stones and colored with bright hues. Timothy could only imagine the pain of seeing the beautiful gate being rammed by attackers.

And then there is the palace itself- probably the most beautiful building in the world. It stood tall and wide. It was twice the size of Nirvana"s palace. Every stone was an artwork. Every pillar was carefully crafted. This wasn"t his first time seeing the palace and he had been living here for the past weeks but he still felt awed.

Past the winding steps and long corridors of the palace was their room. It was Lucia"s old room back when she was still the princess. Father Edmund had offered them his room actually- Lucia, after all, is the new monarch. But the two of them refused it. Lucia wanted to preserve the nostalgic feeling of sleeping on her old room and Timothy saw that Lucia"s room was more secured than that of Father Edmund"s.

"Is she already inside?" He asked the two guards watching the door.

"Yes Your Majesty. The Queen has retreated to your chamber early"

Timothy gave a single nod. He pushed the door and went inside. He was surprised that Lucia was still awake. She was reading a book beside a candle.

"Burning the midnight candle aren"t we?"

Lucia turned around. She smiled and rose to give him a loving embrace. Timothy then heard a tiny sigh from her.

"You"re late" Lucia looked at him. She was still enveloping him in her embrace.

"The training took longer than I thought"

"And how are they?"

"Slow, clumsy and green. But they will do. I will make a rooster out of them"

"And how are you? Did you run out of stamina again?" Lucia teased.

"You want to be devoured again like what happened this morning?" He pinched her nose "You just don"t know but you are hugging a predator"

Lucia giggled. She turned around and grabbed a plate from the table. There was a chunk of grilled meat and a slice of cheese in the plate.

"Have you eaten? It"s already cold but still good" She handed him the plate.

"I have already eaten. Part of the training is learning to cook. Naturally I joined their little feast"

"And the food is horrid I suppose? You are a King and the consort of Vanadis. Letting your palate play with horrible tastes is almost a crime"

Timothy smiled. He looked at the food. It was a hundred times better than the burnt bread and salty stew he had earlier.

"Can"t argue with that"

He sat on the chair and started eating. Lucia sat on their bed.

"Tim" She called. Timothy put down the fork and turned his head towards her "I need your help"

"Personally or as an ally?"

"As an ally"

"Well how can Castonia be of help to Vanadis?"

It took her a while to answer. She detailed what she discovered earlier about the loans and the sudden sailing of merchant ships.

"Lucia..." Timothy frowned "The writing is on the wall. It is apparent. Even I, know already what is happening. The loans were used to hire mercenaries. The ships were used to transport the said mercenaries. Three weeks ago, I bet those were the mercenaries hired to bolster the n.o.bles in Eastern Castonia. Those hired five days ago are yet to show themselves. I will call the rooster here. We will secure Holm and the surrounding lands and root out whatever forces the merchants and n.o.bles have acquired"

"Yes. But that will be too late. I believe they will strike during the grand ball. Even if they fail, at least they can embarra.s.s the royal family"

Her theory was convincing. And it was too late like what she said. It normally would take ten days to travel from Nirvana to Holm. It would be longer now that the roads are burdened with snow.

"Then we must rally the city watch and a.s.semble the navy. We should freeze the treasury and improve our security"

Lucia smiled "Wrong, wrong, wrong and right"

"Why?"

"Not everything can be solved in a military manner Tim"

"Worked for me so far" Timothy shrugged

"That is because you command the absolute loyalty of your soldiers. You are easy to love and they will follow you everywhere. I, on the other hand, don"t have the Rooster Legion. I don"t have capable subordinates like Erik and Henry. I don"t know how to give speeches that could move the ma.s.ses to tears" Lucia rose and leaned forward on his back "We can"t trust anyone except the two of us. That is why I"m revealing all my thoughts only to you. First we can"t trust the city watch. Most of them are mercenaries remember? And then the navy. If the merchants are indeed ferrying mercenaries to our sh.o.r.es, why do you think didn"t the Vanadian navy reported that to us? The Vanadian navy are experienced. It should be easy to spot dozens of galleys carrying armed men"

"Some of them are on the enemies" side. A high-ranking official betrayed us. An Admiral or a Commodore at the very least. He or they have power in the navy"

"That is so. We should be careful who to trust. And the third. I can"t freeze the treasury"

"I a.s.sume an explanation will follow"

Lucia cut the meat on the plate. She fed it to Timothy.

"Let me put it this way. If you discovered that an enemy is planning an ambush, what will you do?"

"I will evade the ambush. But first I will learn as much as I could about them and if I am able, I will set a trap for them"

"The treasury will be our bait. They will take loans again. The amount they have right now cannot support a coup. I say let them take funds from the treasury. The Vanadian coffers are deep anyway. We shouldn"t let them know that we have already discovered their plan. We will learn as much as we can about them. And then we will, like you said, bait them into our own ambush"

Timothy shook his head and grinned. This woman he married is something else.

"So what should we do? For security I mean"

"That is what I want from you as an ally Tim. We need security. My royal guards and yours combined will not be enough if say, a few thousand mercenaries descend upon Holm. We should bolster our security. Castonians preferably as they are loyal to you" her tone became quieter

Timothy was beginning to understand what she wanted. The Rooster is in Nirvana. Steelsword and Dawn are in Solon. All of them couldn"t reach Holm in time.

"Erik" Timothy said. "You want Erik to sail from Greenwater to Holm"

"A two-way trip by sea between Holm and Greenwater would only take four days at most. He could come here under the guise of attending the ball. His men could disguise as servants. I know this will make Greenwater undefended. The Calgarians could come back and all. But please Tim. We simply can"t..."

"Done. I will write a letter to Erik. You should send ships to Greenwater at once. We should also begin screening the navy for those who can be trusted. Let Captain Bisham do it"

Lucia tightened her embrace. She put a kiss on the back of his ear. "Thank you Tim. Thank you"

"Don"t worry. I don"t think the Calgarians will attack Greenwater anyway. From experience I dare say that their defeat last time has shaken them. They cannot send another invasion force. Probably in a few months they could but not now"

"Still, thank you"

"Oh stop it. We are allies aren"t we? It is just normal for me to help you. We cannot let mere conspirators ruin us here. We just survived a civil war coupled with a Tulosan invasion. How dare they think that conspiracies like this could bring us down? I have you and you have me"

He rose from his chair and turned to Lucia. He coc.o.o.ned her in his embrace.

**********

They have been travelling for days. It was tiring. He was reminded of his shaky relationship with snow. Well all merchants despise snow to be fair. Snow stagnates trade after all.

But they finally arrived. Their decision to travel without rest paid off. It was already dark but they arrived without accidents.

He and his brother were operating their own wagons. The road near the city was cleared of snow. It only took them a little while to reach the front of the gate.

"We are finally home brother" Cobert said, giving a sigh of satisfaction.

Escanor looked at the gate of Holm. It was as beautiful as he remembered. A certain feeling of longing struck his heart.

"Yes" He said while breathing the cold air. He smiled "We are finally home"