The Union

The other merchants" eyes were also bulging while looking at Timothy and at Lucia beside him. The jolly celebration was interrupted by his sudden announcement and the guests began to congregate around them. The guards were alarmed.

"Like what King Timothy said, we want to hire your galleys" said Lucia

"Hire? Commandeer you mean!"

"You got it wrong citizen" Lucia tone was sharp "We want to hire your galleys. You will get compensation"

"Compensation my a.r.s.e! What if my ships are sunk? What then?" Said a fat merchant.

"Aye! And I bet their compensation does not amount much. My ships are better sailing with goods on their deck and trade in their purpose. We are not in the business of lending ships!" Said a n.o.ble who was also a merchant.

"We have rights! You may be our Queen but our ships are ours"

Timothy clicked his tongue. Their disrespectful behavior towards Lucia was starting to annoy him.

"Calm down gentlemen. Are you not talking to your Queen?" Timothy looked to the side "And that"s not the only thing we want tonight. Where is the amba.s.sador of Borondi if I may ask?"

"Here I am Your Majesty" Answered a young man with thick eyebrows and curly hair in fine clothes.

"Ah. Let me be frank. We want an alliance with your nation"

"An alliance?" The amba.s.sador frowned. "Your Majesty, my liege did not send me here for an alliance"

"But we are offering you an alliance" Lucia said, nonchalant to the amba.s.sador"s protest.

"And why should I agree?"

"Because you will see that it is the best course of action" Timothy smirked "An alliance will benefit both Borondi and the Union. Lutan is on the verge of declaring war against you. Having an alliance with us will prevent that. At the same time you could help us against our enemies"

"What are you saying!?" Exclaimed a n.o.ble in the group "You are opening another war with Lutan! Six wars you brought to Vanadis. Don"t make it seven lad"

"Lad?" Timothy raised an eyebrow "I may be younger than you but I am still the consort of Vanadis and the King of Castonia"

The n.o.ble just lowered his head.

He again turned to the amba.s.sador who was shaking his head.

"And you are still against an alliance I suppose?"

"Nothing against you personally Your Majesty. But this is a big decision for my nation"

"Just tell the truth. You don"t trust that the Union will prevail against Calgari, Tulosa, Wismar, Inkit, Canton and Hadea"

"Yes" The amba.s.sador looked at him in the eye. "You are at war with six nations. You are surrounded by enemies. Wismar alone has an army comparable to Castonia. Add to that the other five nations you are also at war with and n.o.body would want to get involved in your squabbles"

"You don"t believe in us" Timothy smiled "But you must. Let me show you a presentation of our competence"

"A presentation?"

Timothy rose from his seat. He presented a smile "There are other guests that are yet to arrive. Those sweet rascals surely took their time. They took detours before coming here. Some went to the front gate of the city, the others sailed to the harbor before coming, some even went to the sewer. Pardon their smell by the way. The sewer is not known for its fragrance"

The frowns on their foreheads were heavy. Timothy gestured for Abraham to open the door.

The creaking of the door of the great hall made the guests turn around. Several men in chains were permitted inside.

Timothy held Lucia"s hand and both of them walked forward.

"These people tried a coup tonight"

The guests murmured loudly. Meanwhile Timothy was relieved to see William still alive and not in chains. He took a deep breath and continued.

"I know that many of you are confused. A coup? But the night has been peaceful. There haven"t been soldiers running around the palace. The ball was marvelous. How could there be a coup? Well honored guests, that is because we knew what they will do tonight and we prepared. The threat they pose was negligible and the damage they did was even more so. They thought that their little games would succeed. They thought that flawed plans would work against us. They thought wrong"

"And are we safe now Your Majesty?" the same fat merchant who had a disrespectful tone earlier asked. He was now humbled, probably after seeing powerful men in chains.

"We are. Everything is under control. We are lucky that the Queen is smart. She saw through their plans. But imagine if the Queen failed to notice their plan. Vanadis would have been ruined. Danger lurks in every corner. Whether you like it or not we are already at war with six nations. Whether it suits your business goals or not, we cannot deny the fact that we are surrounded by enemies. Enemies from both the outside and inside. You think your petty coins can save Vanadis once the Wismar and Calgari attack by sea? No, they will loot the city and steal all of your gold. Only a huge navy could stop them. You think of wars as mere disruptions of trade. As you can see, war is closer to home than you think"

He looked at the merchants "We need your ships"

And then at the n.o.bles "We need people to fill our ranks"

"We need your resources and you need us. Only the Queen and I can save you now. But we cannot save you if you don"t help us first. We are not just some young couple who decided to be monarchs. We are the kind of people who can stop a coup while arranging a marvelous ball. You want evidence of our competence? Look at their chains. You want evidence of the danger we all face? Then you should see how high their confiscated swords pile in the garden"

Timothy paused to let his words sink into their minds.

"Ten ships" a merchant said. He looked at Lucia "The Queen shall have ten of my galleys"

"Seven" another merchant said.

"Thirteen for me and a steady supply of cotton"

The merchants pledged resources to them one by one. Timothy looked at the amba.s.sador of Borondi.

"I cannot promise anything but I shall write to my liege" said the amba.s.sador.

Timothy nodded. He knew that Borondi cannot refuse his offer anyway. He looked at Lucia and coiled his arm around her waist. With a burning stare he looked at their guests.

"We did not want these wars. We are the defenders and they are the aggressors. They have invaded our land. They have butchered our people. We have always been on the defensive. But starting today the Union will be on defensive no more. We will attack them. We will make them bow. After the last flake of snow falls, our armies will march into their lands and root them out of their castles until they yield. When the spring wind finally blows, our navy will ravage their sh.o.r.es. Coalition. They are forming a coalition against us. They think numbers can save them from our steel. They think that they could just look down on us. We will make them think nothing"

Lucia tightened her grip on Timothy"s hand.

"Castonia and Vanadis are one. King Timothy and I are one. Will to serve us?"

The Castonian and Vanadian guests slowly offered them salutes. With hands balled into their chests, they looked sternly at Lucia and him. And thus the biggest and most extravagant ball in recent memory ended with a show of loyalty and a declaration of the renewal of war.

**********

Timothy lay on his back. Lucia was huddling on his arm. The night was already deep. The ball had ended and the two of them were left exhausted.

"How is Arthur?"

"Not good" Lucia said, shaking her head. From her voice it was apparent that she was saddened by what happened to her brother "His left eye is done for"

"A pity. I heard he saved one of my guards. I never expected that to happen"

"Well he finally learned courage. Foolish courage but courage nonetheless"

"At a great cost. Abraham still couldn"t look at me"

"Not his fault. I heard he"s wounded too." Lucia said.

"Yeah. But you should have seen how thrashed the Bear"s face is. We could finally question him"

"And what about William?" She asked

Timothy sighed "I haven"t spoken to him. But I heard he"s shaken too. Tomorrow we should meet with all of them. Include Sylvie too. She will be important tomorrow. We will discuss the spring offensive"

She nodded, showing her agreement.

"Tim" Lucia huddled closer to him "I"ve made my decision. I have named you my heir"

"Heir?" Timothy looked at Lucia

"Yes. You will be my heir until we have a child of the right age. It will spring you rebellions left and right but you are the only one that can secure Vanadis if something happens to me"

"Thank you. But let"s not waste breaths in this"

"This is important Tim. Tonight we did everything. We planned it as best as we could. And yet your brother William was put in danger and Arthur lost his eye. Things can go wrong. We must be prepared for anything that might happen. If I..."

"You will not" Timothy scolded "I will hear none of this. You want me to be your heir? Fine. But it"s useless because you will rule by my side until we are old"

She kissed him "Alright. Don"t be angry now"

"You started it" He turned to the other side.

Lucia embraced him from behind "You can be like a child sometimes, you know that? I know you want to hold me in your arms"

"I do. But my mood is soured by what your said"

"Fine. We will talk about it another time"

Timothy rolled towards her and wrapped her in his embrace. He kissed her forehead.

"I"m sorry for being too emotional. I know we must talk about this. Someday perhaps"

"Yes, someday"