Enlightened Empire

Chapter 346: Fires Everywhere

By the time Corco and his fleet finally returned to Saniya, every corner of his kingdom was on fire. At least with help from the radio, he was already informed of the most important details. Though in this case, he would rather not have known at all, and instead enjoyed a short moment of peace after he had just resolved the crisis in the Verdant Isles. Through the radio reports, he realized that the days of peace wouldn’t return for a long time.

In the east of his kingdom, foreign soldiers had appeared from within the midland hills. At first, the reports had been vague, but by now it was clear that they were Arcavians. They had most likely come from Port Ulta, because where else could they have come from? Their numbers didn’t seem large, only around a thousand. Still, they were also not blindly charging towards Saniya, which would have been easy to handle.

Instead, they had set up camp somewhere in the midland hills. From there, they had begun to raid the villages and small towns around the edges of the eastern estates. While this was more of an annoyance than a real threat, reports from elsewhere put the actions of the Arcavians in a much grimmer context.

Around the Narrows, his uncle Pacha had once again closed off the border between the central and southern kingdom. Officially, he had done so because of a ‘plague’ that was spreading on his side of the border. To avoid the spread of the deadly disease, no one was allowed to cross for the moment.

However, Corco’s spies in the central kingdom told him that they hadn’t heard of any plague going on right now. Some of them had disguised themselves as merchants and tried to cross the Narrows from the north, where they had been told that the plague had appeared in the south instead. It was an obvious excuse, told so Pacha could close off the border without looking like the villain he was.

For now, the end goal of Pacha’s action wasn’t quite clear, but Corco wouldn’t be surprised if his uncle was amassing another army behind closed doors. Maybe he wanted to make another attempt at something he had failed at three years ago: The invasion of the southern kingdom through the Narrows.

This assumption was given more credibility by the happenings across the Narrow Sea. Along the southern coast of Central Medala, right across from the southern kingdom, Corco’s people had reported massive troop movements. These were soldiers of the central kingdom, but they were most likely beholden to House Ichilia, and not to their king Pacha.

At the same time, the fleet of Huaylas was also entering the Narrow Sea again, which solidified the suspicion that this was a third force aiming at him. Everything looked like the Ichilias were preparing for an invasion across the sea.

So far, Divitius Ichilia had stayed out of open conflict throughout the Succession War. Instead, he had focused on hidden intrigue, always his family’s specialty. If even Ichilia thought that it was time for a frontal attack, he would be sure of his victory. A single look at the map showed Corco why his belief may have been justified.

In the west of Saniya, the war against the Colored Kings was still raging on. Arcavian soldiers in the east were threatening the borders. Along the land-route to the north, Pacha was planning who knew what behind closed borders, while another army was preparing to use the water route in the north for their own invasion. The Kingdom of the South was surrounded. It was like all his enemies had conspired together, and everyone was piling on at once, jumping on some perceived weakness.

As soon as the king's fleet reached Medala, Corco and his entourage jumped off the ship and rushed into the castle. This time, even Sumaci had come back with him, which Corco was endlessly thankful for. In this crisis, she could provide some invaluable support. Not only was she quite bright and very good with political strategy, she was also the Queen of the Green Island after all, and fully in charge of her people since very recently.

Encouraged by his wife’s support, Corco wanted to meet with his staff and plan for counter measures straight away. If his enemies thought his army was still as weak as it had been three years ago, or that most of his soldiers were stuck in the Verdant Isles, they would have a rude awakening soon.

However, he didn’t even make it all the way to his study before more problems piled up. This time, they took the form of his cousin Mayu, just about the last person he wanted to see at the moment. The glorious governor with the glamorous red cape was waiting around in the castle’s entry hall, surrounded by a handful of his servants.

As soon as Mayu saw Corco’s group arrive, it became clear that the ones the governor had been waiting for was them. With his usual, unfounded confidence, the governor and his servants strutted towards the king’s group.

“King Corcopaca! How nice of you to return before all men in the kingdom are dead.”

Without any concern for etiquette, Mayu led with the accusations right away. Not only had he taken initiative towards his king, which was a breech of form already, he had also openly insulted him with his first sentence, without a greeting.

If his aggressive speech hadn’t been enough, marching straight at Corco without stating his cause made the king’s guards alert. They stepped ahead to create a barrier between the two before Mayu could reach his king. Though of course, Corco himself wasn’t all that bothered by his idiot cousin’s aggressive posturing. His confidence was usually nothing more than bravado.

“The fuck is your problem this time?” he asked across the shoulders of his guards, his own words no more civilized than Mayu’s. “How did I insult your ‘honor’ today?”

“King Corcopaca, you may not be aware, but the kingdom is in dire straights, while you spent a grand time traveling foreign countries with your new wife.”

His aggressive eyes went straight past Corco, and onto a frowning Sumaci. She simply ignored the guy she could had downed with a single kick before, and looked over at Corco instead.

“Husband, should I deal with this noble governor?”

The sarcasm was dripping in her voice, which made Corco grin. He didn’t have to look over to know how much Mayu would be seething.

“No, I got it. I don’t think I’ll need help here.”

“In that case, I’ll go on ahead and catch up with the castle’s staff, while you entertain our guest. Please don’t be too long. You know I don’t want you to waste too much time on idiots.”

Without sparing a word or another look for Mayu, Sumaci kissed Corco on the cheek and left the group. She walked straight past Mayu and deeper into the castle. Meanwhile, the governor’s fiery eyes followed her all the way. History had a habit of repeating itself, so Corco thought that Mayu was just here on some made-up complaint, all so he could vent his jealousy again. Since there was no point to it, Corco decided to get his cousin out of the castle quickly.

“Right, are you gonna keep staring or did you have something you had to tell me? If it’s nothing important, I’d much rather deal with recent reports. I’ve got important things to do.”

Considering the state of the kingdom, that was an understatement. However, it seemed like Mayu wouldn’t let go that easily. Unlike before when he had tried and failed to provoke Corco, this time he remained strangely calm.

“How easy for the king to be dismissive of his own lords,” Mayu said. “His kingdom is falling apart at the seams, and the lords are left to fend for themselves. Meanwhile, the king is busy playing around with his queen.”

“What, I’m not allowed to get along with my wife now? Is that it? And what the fuck does ‘dismissive of the lords’ mean? Are you telling me you’re here to speak on behalf of the lords?”

Corco’s sarcasm was supposed to shut up Mayu so the king could get to the important work. Yet the governor’s next words were a shock to Corco.

“That is correct.”

“All of them?”

“Enough of them.”

During their exchange, Mayu looked more and more confident as Corco’s confusion grew. Although he didn’t want to admit it, it seemed like his cousin had really come up with something troublesome for once. This time, he could no longer be ignored.

“In that case, I’ll have to invite you in,” the king said in the end. “Let’s find a quiet room to talk things out in detail.”

Although he wanted to smack Mayu’s smug face, he couldn’t just ignore the lords in his kingdom. At least for now, they still represented a serious power that could interfere with his plans. Right now, the kingdom was already getting messed up by enemies on all sides. The last thing Corco needed was a civil war breaking out just because some lords felt slighted. And he knew just how easy it was to slight Mayu.

Since he had to take his guest seriously now, he arranged for a luxurious, isolated salon inside the castle to be used for their private conversation. Once all the servants and all the guards had left the room in a show of the host’s goodwill, only Corco and Mayu were left inside.

While the young governor had a strong mulled wine and some refreshments in front of him to combat the winter cold, Corco had to be content with a stack of papers. While they had been waiting for the servants to set up the room, Fadelio had come by to hand the king the reports on what was going on within his kingdom right now.

After all, the radio was nice for emergency messages, but transmitting detailed reports wasn’t one of its strengths, at least not until they figured out sound transmission. While Corco was still sifting through the top paper of the stack – the one marked ‘important’ by Fadelio – Mayu put down his mulled wine.

The castle usually served cocktails and other alcoholic drinks during negotiations. Not only did it show the sophistication of the king, and how much he valued the guest, it also kept them drunk and happy, much easier to talk to. This time however, it seemed like Mayu wouldn’t wait long enough to get drunk first.

“Now, King Corcopaca. Can we talk about the important issues of this kingdom?” the governor began in an impatient voice.

“Well, I’m trying to get informed here.” Corco looked up for a second and slapped the report in front of him. Then he returned right back to his reading material. “Are you asking me to do my job even though I don't know exactly what’s happening yet?”

“With all due respect, the king should know what is happening in his kingdom. Out east, the lords are being attacked by unknown marauders. They are not mere bandits. They are organized, and they are many.”

“About one thousand,” Corco mumbled back and then looked up from the papers again. “What do you think I’m reading here? This report gives me the details, not some general overview. You think I have no idea what’s going on? Just because I wasn’t here doesn’t mean I’m not informed.”

“That is hard to believe from someone who has hardly been in his kingdom all year.”

“Right.” Corco had been getting annoyed by Mayu’s confident attitude for a while, so he decided to confront him head-on and get to the core of the issue. “In the east, there are around one thousand Arcavian soldiers who came here from Port Ulta. That’s not all though. The central kingdom has closed down the land borders again. Oh, and House Ichilia is also preparing a landing across the Narrow Sea. Did you know about that one?”

Corco’s question finally shut the governor up. At last for now, he no longer looked like he had complete control.

“Of course you didn’t, because it’s not your job to know all that,” Corco continued before a stunned Mayu could find his words again. “It is mine though. That’s why I already know what’s going on in my kingdom. I just need all the details – and all the most recent information from the last two days – because things are moving so fast. Now if you let me finish reading, I can tell you what we, the Kingdom of the South, will do about it. All I ask from you is some patience, until I have a complete picture. Can you manage that, Governor Mayu Sonco Saqartu?”

“That is not enough,” Mayu insisted, finally back to the world of the talking. “The lords need the support of the kingdom. It is not their responsibility to protect the outside borders. That is the responsibility of the king. In return for the loyalty of the lords, you have pledged to protect them from outside forces. Yet their estates are being raided this very moment. Some estate capitals are dangerously close to the midland hills, and we have no idea if the foreigners will send more reinforcements through the wilderness to become a real threat to those cities as well. If you do not wish to lose the support of the southern lords, you need to act now.“

For a second, Corco stared at Mayu in shock. His cousin had opposed him more than once, but this time was entirely different. This time, he felt more confident than before, and more sure of himself. This time, he didn’t play little games, and didn’t try to provoke Corco. Instead, Mayu used the rules of the kingdom to threaten him with direct action, which was a lot more dangerous.

Earlier, Corco had tried to find out how many lords supported Mayu’s actions, but his cousin had remained vague. However, considering the way he talked, it seemed like their numbers weren’t small. Whatever Mayu was planning, it was big enough to be concerning. Even with all the war going on, he had to focus on it first. As a result, Corco finally put down the report and looked back up at Mayu with a frown.

“I get that we haven’t always seen eye to eye, but do want us to fight now, when things are the most dire? Do you really want to make things impossible between us? I owe a great debt to Uncle Sonco, your father. But that doesn’t mean you’re immune from consequences. You understand, if you keep going like this, there will be no way back.”

“The lords feel left alone. I am merely the messenger,” Mayu insisted, unfazed by the threat.

“Is that right?” Again, Corco stared at his cousin, but he was disappointed to see that Mayu remained stubborn. In the end, he had to engage the governor as his king, not as family.

“Fine. Let’s analyze,” Corco said. “I’ve already taken care of the Verdant Isles issue. The war is still going, but it’ll be stable for a while at least, and we won’t have to invest any extra manpower there. In the north, the attempts at invasion aren’t all too threatening. They didn’t get past Qarasi Castle last time, and it wasn’t even fully built back then. Plus, from the reports it looks like the Ichilia army is nowhere near ready for a crossing yet. So a crossing is unlikely for now, not to mention incredibly dangerous. Which only leaves the east as an immediate issue. Tomorrow morning, I’ll take a fresh army and march east, to support the lords in the midland hills and drive back the Arcavians. Does that make you happy?”

“It is merely what a king should do.” Mayu still didn’t show any emotions, neither joy over his ‘victory’, nor annoyance over Corco’s calm retort.

“You can leave now,” the king said in the end. However, he didn’t want to let his cousin leave like this. He still had to appeal to Mayu’s good senses, at least one more time. “After you go back, talk to your mother, and to grandfather if you can. Please consider if you want to keep going down this route. Some things, once they have been done, can’t be undone, no matter how much we want to.”

“How very true,” Mayu said as he stood up. “This governor will excuse himself. May King find success in his expedition.”

Still with an unusual calm, the once haughty governor stood up, bowed and left the room.

Once again, Corco understood that this time was different from all the threats he had faced before. He felt like an invisible hand was stretching out for everything he had built so far. His chest tightened as he felt the walls close in around him. Embroiled in fears and worries, Corco spent his time with reports, and then in debates with his staff and secret agents, deep into the night.