The Union

Timothy rubbed his boots on the cemented harbor. It was such a unique feeling not having to deal with the crunchy snow. Beside him was Lucia and around them were the royal guards. The flags of Vanadis and Castonia were in front with the bearers constantly adjusting the height of the flags so that the banners of the two Kingdoms would fly in the same height. Small things, Timothy thought. Simple gestures of equality and unity that will not be noticed by everybody. But small things like the equal height of the flags would mean a lot in the long run.

About a league from the harbor were a group of galleys flying the flag of the Vanadian Navy. They were large galleys designed for transport. The galleys docked one after another. The pa.s.sengers slowly disembarked. Some of them carried crates. Most wore soiled clothing.

"He"s good. Disguising his men as serfs. And the crates. I bet they contain the armors and weapons" Timothy said.

"Not just that. Look at those people in clean clothing wearing jewelries. They were supposed to be merchants huh? Hardened veterans disguised as serfs and merchants. Your Marquis is capable" said Lucia.

Timothy then spotted Erik. The Marquis walked with head held high and posture unbent. The golden chain that dangled across his chest was a symbol n.o.body could ignore. He was truly a Marquis.

Beside Erik was a lady dressed in expensive clothing. Her hair hung on one side, covering her left cheek. The pair stopped a few paces from them and bowed.

"King Timothy, Queen Lucia. I have come to witness the grand ball everybody was talking about. And I have brought my serfs as reward for their long service to my family. I hope that"s alright"

"And how many are these serfs you are talking about?" Timothy asked

"Two thousand heads. Some of them are merchants though. I am also here to open trade between Holm and Greenwater"

"Welcome to Greenwater Marquis Erik Connel. It is cold outside. Let"s go to the palace" Lucia said.

**********

"I swear, that Admiral Veno is not friendly" Erik finally revealed the sharpness of his tongue after they were left alone. Timothy was sitting beside her while Erik and Sylvie were sitting on the other side of the table.

Lucia broke the steaming bread and put the other half on Timothy"s plate.

"He"s not friendly. He is one of the conspirators who wants to oust me"

Erik"s eyes squinted "What!?"

"Yes Erik. You"ve been speaking with the enemy for the past days. I hope he didn"t suspect anything. Ferrying two thousand is suspicious"

Erik drank from his cup of diluted wine.

"I am not a fool Lucia. Apart from annoying him to death, I didn"t waste my time speaking with that traitor"

"Yes, yes" Timothy said "You are not. But so are they. The conspirators are good. Their plan is not bad I must say. Guess what they had in mind"

"I don"t know. Attack from the sea?"

"It"s more sophisticated than that" Timothy smiled bitterly "They plan to cause a fire in the h.e.l.lfire storage"

"They..." Erik"s breathing became heavy "They are planning on blowing up the shipyard?"

"Ambitious right? And during the chaos they will attack the palace"

"Such a waste. I would trade my right arm for Greenwater to have such a beautiful shipyard and they would rather have it burn. Insane" Erik finished his cup. He grunted and shook his head "So do you have a plan?"

"I have..."

"But the map is in the library" Lucia interrupted. She saw this as an opportunity to be alone with Sylvie. She met eyes with Tim and she could see that he understood her.

"Yes. Come Erik. There is a large map of the city in the library. I will tell you about all my plan"

The two rose and left their seats. Timothy led Erik outside.

Lucia turned her look at Sylvie who have been fixing her gaze to the floor all along. She was slouching.

Lucia poured some diluted wine into a cup and pushed it towards Sylvie "I already know the ident.i.ties of the conspirators. Some of them anyway"

Sylvie finally lifted her head "How?"

"The treasury. They"ve been using names of dead people to loan money from the treasury. Yesterday they again borrowed. That was their undoing. It only took a few spies and a common sense to trace their ident.i.ties. I have a list already"

"You surely are good in this kind of thing" Sylvie said with a smile. "You were always good. I have always admired you. I"ll say it now, you deserve to be the Queen"

Sylvie then retreated with a silence. She lowered her head and avoided looking at Lucia again.

"I"m sorry" Sylvie said. Her voice was so small that Lucia almost didn"t hear it. "What I did to you. That was wrong. I was wrong"

Lucia rose from her seat and went to Sylvie"s side. She sat on the table. "You remember your first day as my handmaiden? You clumsily handled my dress and cooked burnt egg"

Sylvie provided a single chuckle "Yeah. Truth be told that was my first time cooking. I was a Baron"s daughter, a lady. I had no experience in those kind of things"

"Even a lady couldn"t burn an egg that bad. It was charred"

"I can still remember your shocked face back then. And then you looked at me with your mouth opened"

Lucia laughed "I must say this now, you were not a good handmaiden. Your cooking especially needs refinement. Too bland"

"Still, you ate my cooking for years"

Lucia shrugged "What choice did I have?"

Sylvie finally looked at her. She smiled. Lucia bent down and embraced her. She had spent a few good years with Sylvie and she still treated her as a friend.

"I have already forgiven you for whatever happened Sylvie. So stop acting strange around me alright?"

"I"ll try. It"s hard not to act strange around the Queen"

"Well you have to try harder"

"Thank you Lucia. You"re not inviting me to become your handmaiden again, are you?"

Lucia blew a small laugh "No. Unfortunately I found someone who doesn"t burn eggs into charcoal"

Lucia severed the embrace. She went down from the table. "What do you say we join them in the library?"

**********

His men were training. Swords clashed. Spears met. In the center of their camp was a flag bearing the coat of arms of Silverback- the image of a soldier with a silver shield hung on his back.

"Line up!" William bellowed.

After a while they were able to get into a formation ten men deep and a few hundred wide. Seeing Silverback like this brought him pride. He was the one who molded them.

William paced in front of them. His face was stern and his back straight. Behind him followed his trusty hound, Wasp. Many people described Wasp as a large dog, as big as a full grown man they say. Even his men were afraid of Wasp. But for William, Wasp would always be the cute puppy he raised. Wasp had saved his life many times before. He had been Williams main guard. He preferred it that way. Men lie and tangle with deceit. But dogs? No. Wasp would never betray him.

"Tomorrow will be the day of the attack. Silverback has been a.s.signed for the a.s.sault of the palace. The front gate will be our entrance and our cue is an explosion in the shipyard. The other mercenary companies will be joining us. Our employers want us in full armor so I want every breastplate and mail and shoulderguards in this camp shining by the end of the day. Your officers will further brief you with the details. But I will say this now- remember the values of Silverback. There will be no unjust killings. There will be no looting either. All those who have surrendered will be spared. Anyone who breaks this law will be punished accordingly. Understood?"

"Yes Silver!" They said in chorus.

William looked at them. His face was unchanged. His posture was the same.

"Good. Now get back to training. At ease"

He went back to his tent with Wasp still tailing him. He took a piece of meat from the plate on the table. He bent and fed it to Wasp. The big dog devoured the thing in one lick. William patted Wasp"s head. He showed a smile he never shows in front of his people.

"I envy you partner. You have no responsibilities, no heartaches and heavy decisions to deal with"

Wasp clung his two paws on William"s shoulder. The dog whimpered.

"What? You are too big to be carried" William looked at Wasp"s brown eyes "Ah dammit. You spoiled thing always gets what you want"

A few moments later and William was sitting on his bed with Wasp on his lap. Brown-furred and ears hanging, the dog was heavy. He scratched Wasp behind the ear.

"You think he will forgive me Wasp? I bet he already knows about tomorrow. I also bet he also knew that I"m joining the attack"

"But I have no choice" He said, pained and with a frown "He is my brother and I love him. But I have signed a contract. I made a promise to our employers that we will be their sword. They forced me to. I cannot go back on a promise. What is the world without people who remembers promises? Plus whether I like it or not, my men will join the attack. The best I can do is to ensure that Silverback acts according to our principles"

Wasp turned his big head towards William. The dog"s tongue pants outside its mouth.

"I"m doing everything I could already. Everything Wasp. Everything"

He kept repeating the line inwardly. He had no choice. He was forced to do this. Fighting against Timothy tomorrow evening is just.

But the more he repeated it, the less he believed. William sighed- a sigh only heard by him and Wasp.