Valkyrie's Shadow - The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom, Part III: Act 5, Chapter 9

Chapter 9

“We’ve got trouble.”

Remedios sat up in her bed, stretching her arms over her head with a yawn. She looked around, sleepy-eyed, eventually spotting Liam in a corner of her bedroom.

“What sort of trouble?” She twisted slightly to regard him, “Did a fight break out?”

“No,” Liam looked away. “Something happened on the north coast. People are saying that a lot of wreckage is washing up on the shore. They’re saying that this year’s trade fleet has been destroyed.”

“…where did you hear this from?”

“Everywhere,” Liam said. “I heard it from House Restelo, first. Then I went around the city to see if anyone else knew about it. Everyone knows about it…at least the Nobles do. They each have their own sources. Messengers from Banre to Rimun are reporting the same thing.”

She threw back her covers and swung her legs over the edge of her bed. After ringing a bell to summon Carla, she padded past Liam to look out of the nearest window. The nearby manors were all lit and activity could be seen in and around them.

Has the Holy Order always been this oblivious? No, it’s because the Royal Army is gone…

Normally, it was the military that organised intelligence and coordinated the different institutions of the Holy Kingdom. Remedios wondered if Caspond already knew what had happened. Going by the Nobles’ age-old tendency to keep information to themselves until it was advantageous to reveal it, probably not.

“What have they been saying?” She asked as she sat down across the table from Liam.

“It’s all been speculation about what happened, mostly,” Liam answered. “They’re putting plenty of armsmen onto the street, too. I overheard a few lords sending for even more.”

“What’s the point in doing that?” Remedios frowned, “Are they trying to put together an army? It’s not as if Hoburns is under imminent threat.”

“I don’t know,” Liam shrugged. “Maybe they’re doing as you say. Or maybe they’re just scared.”

“Why must it be just any one thing?” Carla’s voice came from the doorway, “The re…”

The Maid stopped just inside the doorway, her eyes going back and forth between Liam and Remedios. After a moment, she walked toward Remedios’ wardrobe.

“Allow me to fetch you a robe, Miss Custodio.”

Remedios turned to exchange a look with Liam, but Liam had fled somewhere. She shook her head and went to join Carla in the wardrobe.

“What’s taking so long? It’s not like this is some special occasion to dress up for.”

“It’s not that it’s a special occasion, Miss Custodio. I just believe you should be more considerate of young Liam.”

“Why? He comes by every week or so.”

Carla’s lip twitched upward. The Maid’s eyes seemed to twinkle as she gave Remedios a mischievous look.

“Is that so? I hadn’t realised the two of you had become so…intimate.”

“Huh? He was around me all the time before. You know, back when he was staying here.”

The Maid released the smallest of sighs, holding out a white gossamer nightgown.

“This one should do. Please wear it properly. Does Liam’s visit tonight have something to do with what’s going on outside? It’s a few hours too early for people to be up and about.”

“I was just getting the details from him. I thought you should be around to hear them.”

They left the wardrobe, finding Liam sitting at the table again. Remedios went to take a seat on the edge of her bed.

“Anyways,” she said, “you were saying, Carla?”

“I was going to say that the nobility’s reaction to the news isn’t driven by any one reason, but I suppose that wouldn’t exactly be correct. They are driven by one reason.”

“And what might that be?” Remedios asked.

“That Prince Felipe’s fleet was seemingly destroyed,” Carla answered. “The way you two were trying to analyse the actions of the aristocracy is akin to the thought processes of an apprentice artisan, believing that the whole is the sum of its parts. A novice will never become a master if they think like that, and this can be applied to any walk of life.”

“…I don’t get it.”

“I don’t doubt that, Miss Custodio. But, at the same time, you were never one to analyse a situation by breaking it apart and analysing the pieces. Yet, you tend to come to the correct conclusions because you are instinctively aware of what I’m describing and don’t fall into the logical trap that so many others might.”

“Uh…sure. If you say so.”

She still didn’t get it, but it seemed that it didn’t matter anyway.

“So why…” Liam said, “Uh, wait. What…no.”

Clara grinned at Liam’s confusion. The Maid went over to sit on the chair across from him, resting her right arm on the tabletop.

“The nobility received news that Prince Felipe’s fleet may have been destroyed. In response, they are, well, rendering the appropriate response. Armsmen are being mustered because it is, in essence, a security concern with everything such concerns involve. Gathering forces in the capital is both a strategic and political move, positioning troops in a central location that can react to further potential incursions while showing the crown and the citizens of the capital that the aristocracy has the means and will to face whatever it may be that threatens the Holy Kingdom.”

“So they’re not just gathering men for their protection?” Liam asked.

“I had hoped you would have known better than that by now, Liam,” Carla sighed. “Royalist or conservative, the Nobles are doing what they believe to be their duty. If personal safety was their priority, they would go on a permanent vacation to Eryuentiu.”

“Where’s that?”

“…it’s a city in the southern hemisphere, many thousands of kilometres from here. My point was that they wouldn’t stick around in an unsafe place if safety was their priority – all they’d need to do is hop on a ship and sail far away.”

“Alright, so what does that mean for us now?” Remedios asked.

“It is what it is,” Carla shrugged. “Everyone is doing what they should be doing. I don’t know how many soldiers they’re sending to Hoburns, every staging area should be facing a similar influx of personnel. Hoburns is about to get much busier.”

Was that a good thing, or a bad thing?

“I’m surprised they’re acting so decisively,” Liam said. “Based on what I’ve seen, both factions are pretty slow and methodical in their moves.”

“It would be fast if this was the first inkling of trouble,” Carla replied, “but the royalists have been investigating their late shipping recently.”

That was true. If one included loading and unloading times, a round trip from Canta to Banre would take roughly a week. At first, the royalists were flinging accusations at the conservatives over their missing vessels, but, realistically, the idea of the conservatives attacking royalist shipping was so ludicrous that no one took it seriously. The Nobles were probably already half-poised to send expeditions to investigate the missing transports when the news from the northern coast hit Hoburns.

“How will the Royal Army factor into this?” Liam asked, “They should have been mustering soldiers at the wall for the last month or so, shouldn’t they?”

“Trying to recall them using ships is impossible given the current situation,” Carla shook her head. “At best, they can have them withdraw from the coast if they believe an attack is coming from the sea. Otherwise, it’s probably best to leave them where they are to serve as our eastern bulwark.”

“Just what we need,” Remedios grumbled. “More armsmen running around trying to run the city their way. Does anyone have any real idea who is responsible for the wreckage on the northern coast?”

Carla shook her head.

“This isn’t information that one sifts out of rumours and local gossip,” she said. “Anything that Liam has heard will probably be as close to the truth as one can manage.”

Remedios and Carla turned their eyes to Liam expectantly. The young thief-taker cleared his throat.

“It’s still messy,” he said. “House Restelo has no idea what’s going on, but the ship they sent with their conscription quotas and Sir Luis is over a week late even accounting for poor sailing conditions. The conservative Nobles in the Prime Estates got their news from Rimun and they have no clue who is responsible, but they have confirmed the identities of many of the fleet’s ships. As for the royalists…it’s complicated.”

“Complicated?”

“Well, this is from listening in on their conversations for the last few weeks. Their territories along the northern coast received demands from the Demihumans offshore to cease all fishing activities.”

“Why would they do that?”

“Overfishing, most likely,” Carla said. “That’s about the only thing they would take issue with besides dumping garbage into the sea. Going by how the royalists have managed things in Hoburns, we can assume that the population in the north was driven to fish more than usual to survive. One could say that we were lucky they warned us about our treaty violations instead of enforcing the treaty by sinking all of our ships.”

“That’s one part of the speculation,” Liam said. “Some were guessing that royalist ships were going missing because someone was still breaking the treaty. Now, they’re wondering if things have escalated into a full-blown war.”

If it was a war, then they had already lost. There was no way for the Holy Kingdom to successfully fight aquatic opponents, so they would just end up land-locked with the Demihumans getting what they wanted.

“That would be terrible, if true,” Carla said. “The Holy Kingdom would become a poor, isolated pocket of land filled with warring tribes of Humans.”

“Uh, I don’t think it will become that bad,” Liam said.

“You just don’t appreciate how much we rely upon the sea,” Carla told him. “Our country would only have half the population without it. Imagine the anarchy when mass starvation hits…now that I mention it, I should brush up on my longsword.”

“You can fight?” Liam frowned.

“Of course I can fight! I’m a daughter of House Vigo, you know?”

Liam peered at Carla for a long moment before shaking his head.

“I guess I’m used to Nobles being…flimsier.”

“Most scions have at least some martial training,” Carla replied. “Surviving the wall would be much harder without it. Only a fool of a Noble would send their children out as free snacks for raiders.”

“Hmm…does that mean you served as a Commander on the wall?” Liam asked.

“Unfortunately not,” Carla sighed. “I ended up as a logistics officer at the Kalinsha Gate before coming to serve the Custodio Household..”

“You sound dissatisfied about that,” Liam said.

“I wouldn’t say I was dissatisfied. Noblewomen usually end up in backline positions like that, even though we can be just as good as the men in combat. I had reasonable expectations going in – fighting some Demihumans was more something I wanted to try out at least once.”

“Did you fight in the war?”

“I did!” Carla brightened, “After helping out with evacuations across the bay to the south, I served as an officer in the Holy Kingdom’s southern army. Again, I was relegated to logistics, but I got to see plenty of action. The Demihumans are raiders through and through and they targeted supply trains and depots the entire time we were holding them off.”

“Why does it seem like the south has a lot of strong warriors…”

“It’s mostly just the Nobles, Knights, and professional armsmen. You know, the people who are expected to fight and train thoroughly to defend a house’s territory. The north had plenty, as well, but getting swarmed by Fiends is quite a bit more unreasonable than fighting the average Demihuman.”

Remedios rose from her bed as Carla and Liam continued chatting. Sunrise was near, and there would undoubtedly be an emergency session of the Royal Court. Since the matter revolved around a potential war, she would almost certainly be summoned to attend.

Liam excused himself when Remedios came out of her wardrobe with a towel. She brooded over the night’s developments, wondering if the Holy Kingdom’s woes would ever end.

“I believe the conservatives will be showing up, as well,” Carla said as she helped Remedios out of her bath and into her armour.

“With an army?”

“Most of their forces will probably be stationed in Rimun, but they should appear with whatever they can ship into Canta. Our domestic politics are about to change drastically.”

“How so?”

“Well, it’s not a secret that they intended to rally behind Prince Felipe. If their candidate is dead…”

“I wouldn’t make that assumption yet,” Remedios said. “It’s an entire trading fleet we’re talking about, here. They may be putting in for repairs in Re-Estize or Argland.”

“That’s true,” Carla admitted. “It is difficult to imagine the entire fleet being destroyed. I suppose life nowadays tends to make one think negatively about everything.”

The Maid’s eyes widened as Remedios reached out to grip her by the shoulders, looking her in the eye.

“Well, just hold in there, alright?” She said, “If we can’t keep things going, then who will?”

Carla smiled slightly, looking down at the hem of her skirt.

“Yes, of course. You’re absolutely right, Miss Custodio. The leaders of our country must smile and look forward for the sake of the people, even if all they want to do is break down and cry.”

“Don’t you forget it,” Remedios nodded, “though attending an emergency session with said leaders already makes me want to break down and cry.”

“I’m sure it will be a uniquely lovely experience,” Carla looked up with a grin. “Shall I bring breakfast up to the solar? There’s still much to discuss about the coming session.”

After a breakfast conversation that made her head numb, Remedios left for the Holy Order’s headquarters. The streets on the way to the palace grounds were packed with retainers of every sort. Armsmen made a show of confidence at their posts while household staff scurried in every direction delivering messages or carrying supplies. Parked carriages overflowed from manor lots onto the roadways, causing her to wonder just how many Nobles had come in from the countryside.

She found a row of long faces at the front desk of the Holy Order office.

“Anyone find out anything useful?” Remedios asked.

“That depends on what you already know,” Gustav answered.

The other Paladins seemed surprised that Gustav expected her to know anything. Of course, they weren’t aware of Liam’s place in it all.

“Everyone’s saying that the trade fleet’s washing up on our shores in pieces,” Remedios said. “There are even rumours of war with our neighbours off the coast.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Gustav’s long face grew longer as he rubbed his beard. “The Royal Court is convening in half an hour. We’ve all been summoned to attend.”

“So they didn’t know anything more than that?”

“I’m not sure that His Divine Grace even knows that much,” Gustav sighed. “It was the cabinet that requested that an emergency session be called. We should get going: going by all of the carriages parked in the Prime Estates, it’s going to be packed.”

Gustav quickly went through the usual briefing for court sessions before leading them out of the office. The high hall of Hoburns was already three-quarters filled by the time they arrived to assume their positions at the base of the throne’s dais. Unlike normal court sessions, the Nobles couldn’t divide themselves by faction, so they settled for grouping into little cliques instead.

Not long after, the members of the King’s Cabinet filed into the room and took their places at the long tables to either side of the dais. Caspond didn’t appear with them, however, and the air of the hall grew stifling as the official starting time of the session came and went. Royal Guardsmen went to open the balcony windows to cool things down when the number of impatient expressions grew in the crowd. Thirty minutes later, the Holy King finally appeared, shuffling to the throne with a sleepy-eyed yawn as the herald announced his entry.

A ripple of disdain swept across the assembled Nobles at Caspond’s slovenly entrance. Remedios tapped a finger on the pommel of her sword, wondering what sort of opening awaited them.

“Good morning, my lords,” the Holy King yawned again. “The Prime Minister has informed me that a matter of great import demands Our attention.”

Caspond was distinctly underwhelming before; Remedios couldn’t find the words to describe him now. Nothing about him was kingly and the Nobles in front of her had all put on their expressionless masks. The Prime Minister stood and looked up at the king with a perfectly straight face.

“Your Divine Grace,” he said, “Settlements all along the northern coast have reported an unheard-of volume of wreckage washing ashore. Based on our findings, we have no choice but to assume that Prince Felipe’s fleet has met with some great tragedy.”

“How do We know this?” The Holy King asked.

“Of the wreckage analysed,” the Prime Minister replied, “we’ve identified debris from two dozen ships from the trade fleet. Our people have barely begun to sort through it all, so we can expect far greater losses than that.”

“That’s terrible,” Caspond traced his upper lip with his index finger. “When did this happen?”

“We’re not precisely sure when the ships were destroyed, but the wreckage started showing up about a day ago. Based on–”

“A day ago?” Caspond leaned forward on his throne, “Why didn’t you immediately bring this to Our attention?”

“Immediately…? What do…I mean, Y-Your Divine Grace, that is the minimum time it takes for a ship to deliver this information directly from the northern coast to Hoburns…”

The rustle of fabric whispered through the hall as the assembled Nobles shifted uncomfortably at the interaction. Caspond stared blankly at the Prime Minister for several moments before leaning back in his seat.

“Continue,” he said.

“Yes, Your Divine Grace. Based on our limited information, we can only conclude that the debris field was carried by the currents of the Gyre from a spot over the horizon between our shores and Argland. They would have washed ashore in Argland if the ships had been destroyed earlier.”

“Does that mean Re-Estize attacked Prince Felipe’s fleet?” Caspond asked.

Light laughter filled the air of the hall. The Prime Minister lowered his head to conceal his twitching lips.

“The possibility is negligible, Your Divine Grace. Re-Estize does have a navy, but it is stationed on its northern coast to guard against the Baharuth Empire.”

“But they could sail their navy over to attack the fleet, yes?”

“…”

The Nobles visibly fought to keep their faces straight. It seemed like Caspond had displayed his ignorance again.

“Re-Estize doesn’t have a national navy as we do, Your Divine Grace,” the Prime Minister said. The naval forces guarding Re-Estize against the Baharuth Empire are the property of House Urovana and operate out of the naval station of Re-Uroval. Rest assured, House Urovana has absolutely no reason to sail all the way around Argland’s territorial waters to attack our trade fleet. Never mind that, they would be utterly obliterated by our forces.”

“We see,” Caspond smiled. “Well, that’s very reassuring.”

“Erm, yes, Your Divine Grace, I suppose that it is…”

A long silence hung in the air after the Prime Minister’s words trailed off. He wasn’t the only one wearing a thoroughly confounded expression. After silently working his mouth for several seconds, he finally managed to push the discussion forward.

“Pending additional evidence, two possibilities present themselves as the culprit for this unprecedented destruction. The first is that a marauding power intercepted the fleet and destroyed it north of our shores. We find that highly unlikely, as Argland wouldn’t suffer such an attack so near to their borders. None would dare to tempt the wrath of their draconic councillors. The second possibility is that they were attacked by the Demihuman tribes in the waters off of the coast.”

“The information we’ve gathered supports the latter possibility,” Lord Cohen said. “We’ve recently received multiple demands from different tribes to cease fishing along our northern coast. In response, we ordered the people to comply with the demand, but there may have been those who continued violating the treaties.”

“Or the fault may lie with the conservatives to the west,” another Noble muttered.

“We’ve done no such thing!” Lord Agrela, the conservative representative in the court replied, “In fact, we never received the same demands in the first place. This is solely the fault of the gross mismanagement of ‘progressive’ territories! The poor people suffering under your heel probably ignored your ban on fishing because they’d starve otherwise!”

The court exploded into a vicious shouting match with each side blaming the other. Gustav slammed the tip of his scabbard on the dais several times.

“Order!” He shouted, “ORDER!”

It took several minutes for the row to end. As usual, the Holy King didn’t seem to think anything of the disturbance.

“There is no definitive proof as to the cause of this incident,” the Prime Minister said. “It may not be Roble’s fault at all. Our current concern is mustering a response to the threat lurking off of our shores. Those responsible for managing the northern territories are mustering troops in the cities along the central highway, but what more can we do?”

“If what you say is true,” Caspond said, “will gathering land forces matter in any way? Should we not send the marines instead?”

Enrique Bellse, the new Commander of the marines and the ‘Blue’ of the Nine Colours, stepped out from where he was standing close to the balcony.

“We’ve been preparing to send an expedition to investigate our missing shipping along the coast,” he said. “In light of our current findings, however, it would be unwise to send our forces into the unknown. Additionally, I spoke to Ran Tsu An Rin and he had some additional bad news to share.”

Enrique’s expression shifted in shades of uncertainty as his azure gaze went to the Holy King.

“What is it?” Caspond asked.

“The Demihuman tribes off of our shores have grown increasingly uneasy. None of the local Sea Dragons have been sighted since midsummer.”

We’ve gone from bad to worse.

Worried murmurs rose from the assembly. It was an ill omen of the highest degree. Most of the Holy Kingdom’s coastal population – in other words, two-thirds of the country’s population – considered the Sea Dragons guardian deities. The rest of the population at least considered them benevolent allies. The already precipitous atmosphere that had fallen over the Holy Kingdom would deteriorate even further if the people learned of their disappearance.

“Ran Tsu An Rin is leading an investigation to discern the truth of the matter,” Enrique continued, “but I strongly recommend against doing anything that might agitate our neighbours even further.”

“Then what are we to do?” Lord Cohen let out a helpless laugh, “Sit on our hands and wait for whatever doom lies beyond the horizon to fall upon our heads? I do not like this feeling that we’re slowly being strangled in our sleep.”

“Why not look beyond our borders for assistance?” Lord Agrela suggested, “A threat lurking off of our northern coast is also a threat lurking off of the coasts of Re-Estize and Argland. They may have more information on the matter. The gods know they’re in a better position to do something about this than us – especially Argland.”

“Re-Estize is as powerless as we are,” Lord Cohen snorted. “The only difference between us and them is that they won’t starve if they lose their ocean access. For the same reason, that makes them unlikely to come to our aid – they didn’t even send a single regiment to assist us when Jaldabaoth invaded.”

“Argland has always maintained their policy of non-interference,” the Prime Minister said. “Unless this threat is on a scale that the Dragon Lords are obliged to intervene, Argland will not make any movements.”

“But Dragons have died,” Caspond noted. “Shouldn’t that justify intervention?”

The Prime Minister didn’t even bother hiding his weariness over the Holy King’s ignorance this time.

“Their policy of non-interference applies to even Dragons, Your Divine Grace. The Platinum Dragon Lord can turn our country into a pile of sand in the blink of an eye. He is an existence that can slay even gods and he will only move if powers unfathomable to our minds threaten the sanctity of the world itself.”

“Indeed,” Lord Cohen nodded. “I can only pray that the issue isn’t something that forces Argland’s hand. Any number of countries may disappear overnight if it is.”

“In that case,” Caspond said, “what about those who have already demonstrated their willingness to help us? The Sorcerous Kingdom, for instance.”

Vicar Salazar cleared his throat.

“It is the stance of the Temples that we refrain from any further collaboration with the Undead. I understand that recent events have cast the Sorcerer King in a favourable light with the people, but we must understand that the evil of the Undead is both unfathomable and immortal in scope. What may seem like kindnesses to the common man are only seeds of destruction being planted for future harvest. No good can come out of any ‘beneficial’ relationship with the Sorcerous Kingdom.”

Remedios nodded in agreement. Whatever his vices might be, the Vicar was correct about the Undead menace that was the Sorcerer King.

“…is, is that so?” Caspond’s cheek twitched, “Then it appears that We are quite limited in our options.”

“That is, unfortunately, the case, Your Divine Grace,” the Prime Minister said.

“Very well,” the Holy King smiled thinly. “We shall continue gathering Our strength along the central defence line, and We trust that everyone will cooperate to maintain order and security while We await further developments. Patience may very well be our greatest ally in this situation.”