Guardian of Heaven and Earth - Rota - Part 2 Chapter 5 - A Spy's Motives

  Guardian of Heaven and Earth

-

Rota

(Book 8 of the Guardian of the Spirit Series)

Author: Uehashi Nahoko

Translator: Ainikki the Archivist

 

 Part 2 - Enemies Among Friends

Chapter 5 - A Spy's Motives

 

    The fire set in the hearth crackled and popped as the logs burned. The firelight caught and shone on a wall tapestry embroidered with gold thread. Two men sat near the fire on opposite sides of a low table. They raised two metal glasses rimmed with gold in a toast, then drank. The chairs they sat in were plush and elaborately decorated.

    One of the men was lord Suan’s oldest son, Ogon. The man sitting across from him was Yogoese and approximately fifty years old. He had some gray in his hair, but his eyes were sharp and he appeared to be in excellent health. The Yogoese man was dressed as a prosperous merchant, but there was something a bit unsettling about him.

    Ogon stared into his wine glass with a slightly sour expression. He appeared completely exhausted. He’d received an urgent summons two days ago during a visit to Zeram and had only just arrived back at his father’s palace in Tsuram.

    There was a knock on the door. He heard the voice of a familiar servant announce the arrival of his daughter, Yurari.

    “Send her in,” Ogon said irritably.

    Yurari was a girl of sixteen. She took three steps into the room and stopped, staring at her father with a sullen expression. She had just woken up, but her eyes were bright and alert. Ogon stared at her with piercing eyes and rested his chin in his hand.

    Yurari took a few more steps under the pressure of her father’s imperious gaze. She had a slender face and large dark eyes. She kept her face to the floor as she came closer.

    “I assume you know why you’ve been summoned,” Ogon said.

    Yurari’s fine eyebrows drew together. “Yes, I believe so, father. I’m very sorry.”

    Rage flashed in Ogon’s eyes. “Don’t think that a simple apology will get you out of this. Why on earth were you even in that room? Who let you in?”

    Yurari’s expression became utterly serious. “I heard about it from the maids. They were constantly gossiping, so I became curious. I just wanted to see him--just a peek.” She took a deep breath and finally looked her father in the eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said again.

    Ogon looked away from her and faced the man dressed as a Yogoese merchant. “It’s like I told you. My daughter made a mistake. There’s no grand conspiracy here.”

    The merchant smiled a complicated sort of smile.

    Ogon faced his daughter again and said severely, “You didn’t need to bribe the guards to leave you alone in the garden just to see his face!”

    Yurari cowered and remained silent. When she noticed that her father was about to stand up, she said hastily, “He told me to. He said he was sick of staying in the room all the time and begged for some time in the garden.”

    “In the middle of the night?!”

    There was a hint of a smile in his daughter’s eyes when she looked up. Ogon threw up his hands in exasperation.

    “But, father, how could I have known that he’d try to run?!” she shouted. “It all happened so fast that I couldn’t stop him! I tried, honest! He climbed a tree and was over the wall so fast that I couldn’t even tell which direction he went.”

    Ogon lowered his raised arms slowly. “What am I going to do with you?” he said bitterly. “I should have married you off a long time ago.” He snapped his fingers. “I’ve got it. I’ll promise you to lord Aman’s son in Zeram. I’ll send the offer over tomorrow.”

    Yurari’s entire disposition changed in an instant. “Father, you can’t be serious! How can you expect me to marry that creep?”

    Ogon stared at his daughter as if he were looking through her. “I am serious. Raroku is a diligent, serious man; his father is the wealthiest man in the region. It’s a good match and you should be happy.”

    “Daddy!” She stomped her foot.

    Ogon chuckled at her. “I’ve let you play your games and have your way for a long time, Yurari. But this time, you went too far and caused a major problem. I can’t have that happen ever again. So cry and scream as much as you want, but you’re still going to marry Raroku.”

    Tears streamed down Yurari’s face. Ogon gestured to a servant who tugged at her arm and left the room with her. The door to the room closed again, leaving Ogon alone with his Yogoese guest.

    “It seems that matters have gotten a little out of hand,” the Yogoese man said. “Rumors of the Crown Prince have spread all over. Maids and servants here all know what he looks like.”

    “I tried to keep everyone contained here, but it does seem that rumors have spread outside the castle walls. And our esteemed guest was able to use even our vigilance to his advantage in his escape.” 

    Ogon sighed. “We still don’t know everything about how this happened. It’s true that my daughter bribed the guards to leave them alone in the garden, but she shouted the moment she lost sight of him. My guards searched the palace and its surroundings up and down and saw no sign of him. He vanished like smoke into the air. I’m inclined to think that he had at least one other ally here--one we haven’t discovered yet.” He paused. “It’s been two days--have your spies really discovered nothing about where he went?”

    The Yogoese man shook his head. “We’re still searching. There is another matter that concerns me as well.”

    “Oh?”

    “A grain warehouse burned down last night. We believe it was a secret hideout for Hokuyoku spies from the northern army. People who live in the area reported hearing sounds of a battle coming from inside before it burned down. No bodies of northern spies were recovered, but we did find a trail of blood leading to the river.”

    “So you attacked this warehouse and failed to discover any new information?” Ogon said with a frown.

    The Yogoese man gripped his wineglass. “It wasn’t us. We have reason to believe that a Taku--a hawk, a very high-ranked spy--was in charge of the warehouse. We didn’t want to stumble in there without taking every available precaution. My guess is that the warehouse was attacked by spies from this country.”

    Ogon’s frown grew deeper. He stared into the fire in the hearth for a few moments, then lifted his head. “The river people? The Kashal? That’s who you think attacked?” He shrugged. “You may be right. They’re the King of Rota’s lapdogs. Perhaps they attacked to drive the northern spies out before we could discover them or their secrets.”

    “We don’t have time for speculation,” the Yogoese man said. “We have to decide what to do.”

    Ogon sat in brooding silence for a long time, then said, “We don’t know how the situation will shift after King Yosam dies. New Yogo is going to be invaded by Talsh soon, isn’t it? Now is surely a good time to strike. Let’s complete our war preparations in the south as quickly as possible.”

    The Yogoese man nodded. “Alert your allies to complete their preparations as well.”

    Ogon gave him a condescending smile. “It’s a good thought, maybe, but it’s not like they can bring in very many additional troops or resources. A thousand mounted warriors maybe, all scattered around?” His tone was deeply dismissive.

    “Oh, I just remembered,” Ogon added. “I received interesting news from Zeram recently.”

    The Yogoese man’s eyes fixed coldly on Ogon’s face.

    “It seems that the right to conquer the northern continent doesn’t belong to your master, Prince Hazar, but his younger brother, Prince Raul,” Ogon said. “I heard that he has two hundred thousand troops available for the invasion.”

    The Yogoese man gave Ogon a mocking smile. “We’ve worked together for years, you and I. My master helped make you and your fellow lords rich, and now you’re thinking about throwing him over for his brother?” 

    His smile broadened. “Your reports only scratch the surface of Talsh politics and the war effort. If you think that supporting Prince Raul will help you now, you’re mistaken. At best, you’ll fall into the gulf that separates the two princes, and have no support from Talsh at all. Trust me when I say that you don’t want to try playing sides here.”

    He paused. “We know your ways, lord Ogon. We know that you’ve been gathering troops in secret in many different places for years--even on the Sangal peninsula. You’ve been trying to hide it, I know--but so do we. How do you think Prince Hazar would react to news of you and the other southern lords trying to muster up a secret army?”

    Ogon looked at him sullenly and said nothing.

    “But don’t worry,” the Yogoese man said in a soothing tone. “Rota is much larger and more vital than New Yogo, in terms of both resources and people. Even if Prince Raul captures New Yogo, Rota is the greater prize, and it will belong to Prince Hazar. I am certain that the Emperor will give his victory here the proper consideration.”

    The Emperor was a shrewd man. He knew that the two princes, if left alone, would fight one another; therefore he gave them different objectives that still allowed them to compete.

    “And if you support the winning side, well... I’m certain Prince Hazar himself will honor your contributions to the cause.”

    Ogon kept frowning. “As you say, but... Well, I fail to see how the presence of a scant thousand more cavalry fighters would be of benefit at the moment. We’re unlikely to peel off any more from that faction; the northern clan lords are deeply loyal to the king. I’m reluctant to draw them into this without some guarantee of our success. They would, at least, need reinforcements. Most of our men are in the south.” He shook his head a little. “Once we commit our men to this effort, there is no going back.”

    The Yogoese man nodded. “I agree. But you will have reinforcements from the north. Consider our ally in Kanbal.”

    Ogon’s eyebrows drew together. “Ah, that’s right--that King’s Spear. The one who came here to verify our plans and defenses in person.”

    The Yogoese man nodded. “That is indeed the man. He is perhaps a bit too forthright and honest--he needs to see things with his own eyes and look his allies in the eye before he trusts them. He has the King’s ear, however. If he decides to speak out in our cause, then it is likely the King will heed him.” There was a devious glint in the Yogoese man’s eye.

    “It is critical that we don’t miss our timing here. With the combined might of your forces, the King’s Spears, and the southern army, the armies of the northern clan lords will be utterly crushed.” 

    Ogon nodded, a bit reluctantly.

    “We can’t leave this situation with the Crown Prince as it is and hope to succeed,” the Yogoese man said in a low tone. “We need to get him back.”

    Ogon stroked his chin and regarded the Yogoese man with a dubious expression. “Are you suggesting we send out even more pursuers? I don’t really think we need him here.”

    “Yes, we do. He knows too much. We must hunt him down to prevent him from doing any more damage.”

    Ogon knew that more men likely couldn’t be spared for the search. He frowned, but he nodded.

 

 

    The Yogoese man dressed like a merchant left Ogon’s chambers and faced the eastern wing of lord Suan’s palace. His opulently furnished guest quarters were located there. Many other prosperous merchants were currently staying in the palace; the Yogoese man met and consulted with them often.

    The Yogoese man stopped near a door in the eastern wing of the palace and rung a small bell that was attached to the wall. The door opened; the Yogoese man slipped silently into the room.

    It was already quite late at night, but the three men sitting inside the room near the hearth were awake. Two of the men were Yogoese, but the third was an exceptionally tall Kanbalese man. They all sat at a low table, talking over drinks. All three men were dressed as merchants, but the Kanbalese man did not have the air of one.

    As the Yogoese man walked further into the room, he saw another man standing in a shadowy corner. He wasn’t drinking or speaking. He was dressed as a guard and carried a sword unlike most customary Rotan short swords; it was very long and heavy-looking. The man appeared strong enough to swing it.

    The two Yogoese merchants stood up from the table. One pulled over a chair and sat down. “How did it go?” he asked.

    “We’re supposed to increase the search,” the Yogoese man who had just entered the room said.

    The Kanbalese man still sitting at the table frowned. “So lord Ogon is still of a mind to kill the Crown Prince?”

    “I’m sure he’d be pleased if the current crop of pursuers could kill him. It’s a shame he’s seen your faces. It’s not possible to simply let him go now.”

    The Kanbalese man frowned. I don’t like the way that man talks.

    Revealing their faces to the Crown Prince had been an accident; the Kanbalese man didn’t blame anyone for it. He remembered the circumstances of that sudden and unexpected meeting with a bitter expression.

    The Kanbalese man had been walking down a hallway when he’d caught sight of Crown Prince Chagum surrounded by guards and attendants. Crown Prince Chagum had looked him in the eyes with a puzzled expression. They hadn’t exchanged words, but the Crown Prince Chagum had definitely seen him, along with several other merchants and spies.

    Chagum’s gaze had given the Kanbalese man an uneasy feeling. He’d seemed to see all the way through him in a single glance. He still remembered the Chagum’s face with perfect clarity.

    The Kanbalese man had come to Rota with the cover of selling rare medicinal herbs from Kanbal in Rota’s largest market. The Kanbalese man knew that Crown Prince Chagum wasn’t about to mistake him for a merchant. They’d met before, very briefly, in Sangal during the last king’s coronation ceremony. He suspected that Crown Prince Chagum remembered him, too. Even if he didn’t, seeing a lone Kanbalese man in lord Suan’s palace looked strange. He knew that.

    If Crown Prince Chagum had truly escaped and managed to make it to Rota’s royal palace, the southern lords’ scheming would be utterly exposed.

    “Don’t worry,” the Yogoese man said. “You’re important to us; we need you. The northern spies from Talsh and the Kashal can search all they want for direct connections between us and you, but rest assured, they won’t find them. You’re safe here.”

    The Kanbalese man covered his face with his hands.

    “Is that why you have to kill him? To keep me safe?” the Kanbalese man asked through trembling fingers. He kept his face covered for a long time and stood as still as a statue. Even in this pose, he looked like a warrior, burly and strong; his posture was rigid. His uncovered face would have conveyed everything he was feeling; he was an essentially honest man.

    “I don’t want you to kill him,” the Kanbalese man said. “It doesn’t really matter if the King of Rota finds out about me. If he does, I’ll just come up with a better excuse to explain my presence here. I’ll think of something.”

    The Yogoese man regarded the Kanbalese man with an inscrutable expression. He was an absolutely vital part of Talsh’s plan to conquer both Rota and Kanbal. As a King’s Spear--a strong warrior who commanded even his king’s respect--he was generally well-regarded and trustworthy. If his diplomatic efforts here were successful, he would be given a palace of his own and status in Rota’s royal court within two years’ time. He might be able to live in Rota as a permanent resident in as little as a year and a half.

    The Kanbalese man had come all the way here from his homeland to formalize this secret agreement. He had officially come to lord Suan’s palace to trade this year’s supply of luisha, a precious stone unique to Kanbal, for grain, but his supply of luisha had been traded away long ago. He no longer had any obvious diplomatic reason to remain.

    That was why he’d disguised himself as a merchant and sold herbs. He had hoped that he wouldn’t be recognized in his capacity as a King’s Spear, but those hopes had proved fruitless. Crown Prince Chagum had seen him. Rota’s spies and Talsh’s both knew it. They couldn’t simply let him go and tell all their plans to Rota’s king.

    “I understand,” the Yogoese man said, “but you must understand our position as well as the Crown Prince’s. We know that he desires an alliance with Kanbal as well as Rota. If he met with your king, what do you think he would say?”

    The Kanbalese man blanched at that, but then shook his head.

    “I don’t care if the Crown Prince reports me to the King. That doesn’t matter. The King of Kanbal trusts me implicitly. He’d never believe the words of a foreign prince over my own. I think the best thing to do now would be to send me on my way home, and quickly, before we risk losing our advantage. Crown Prince Chagum needs to go all the way to Jitan to reach Prince Ihan. That will take time. I can reach the King of Kanbal well before he arrives at Jitan if I leave now.”

    The Yogoese man wanted to give the man a good scolding as he deserved, but he kept his face entirely expressionless. He thought for a moment, then nodded. “Very well. Head back to your king, then, if the thought of the boy’s death is so abhorrent to you.” He stood up straight, then bowed and left the room along with the servants who’d been attending on him.

    The hallways were deserted at this time of night. He turned to one of his attendants and said, “You know what you have to do.”

    The servant nodded and withdrew.

    I can’t believe he lost that Crown Prince when he had him right where we wanted him. He’s an idiot, the Yogoese man thought.

    If he’d been rescued by Kashal spies, then he was forced to assume that the King of Rota knew more about the southern lords’ scheming than he’d thought. The King might even know of the southern lords’ alliance with Prince Hazar.

    Even if he didn’t currently, he would when Crown Prince Chagum finally met with him. And Crown Prince Chagum knew something that the Kanbalese man did not: he knew that the right to attack northern Rota belonged to Prince Raul, not Prince Hazar.

    That being the case, New Yogo and Kanbal were under roughly equal threat. If Prince Raul succeeded in taking over New Yogo as well as northern Rota, Kanbal would essentially be surrounded. If Crown Prince Chagum told the King of Kanbal this, he might be persuaded into an alliance with New Yogo or Rota’s northern lords to help fend off an invasion of his own land.

    Right now, most of Prince Hazar’s power here was little more than a smokescreen. There were Talsh forces in southern Rota, but they weren’t permitted to attack the north. The south was as good as conquered. Only Prince Raul could move forces further north--but the King of Kanbal mustn’t learn that before all of Talsh’s forces were in position. If he did, he would have time to act against them, through an alliance with New Yogo or some other means.

    Fortunately, Kanbal was somewhat far off and its information network was disconnected at the best of times. News took time to travel, and even if it reached the King, that news couldn’t be spread to all of Kanbal quickly or easily. And Kanbal had never had an appetite for foreign news. They understood the broad strokes of what was happening in New Yogo and northern Rota, but had no inherent interest in Talsh or the scheming of the southern clan lords.

    It was vital that Kanbal be left in the dark regarding Talsh’s plans for as long as possible. If they learned what Talsh’s plans truly were before the time was right, Prince Raul’s carefully constructed invasion plan would crumble to nothing. Crown Prince Chagum could not be permitted to live and go to Kanbal to tell King Radalle what he knew.

    The Yogoese man glanced to the side at one of his guards, who was also from Yogo. “I’ll be counting on you as well,” he said.

    The guard nodded.

    The Yogoese had been conquered by Talsh relatively recently and still weren’t trusted within the empire. This was a chance to demonstrate that the Yogoese could be loyal and effective citizens. He couldn’t waste it.

    This particular guard had been appointed by Prince Hazar himself to help lead his armies. Prince Hazar himself had little experience with weapons or close combat. The guard was also skilled as an assassin. He was a natural leader who others wanted to follow. He’d lost count of how many people he’d successfully assassinated; he almost always succeeded because he never went in to any assassination mission with only one plan. If the first plan failed, he always had a backup option prepared.

    If Ogon’s pursuers could discover Crown Prince Chagum’s whereabouts, this guard could likely assassinate him easily. The Yogoese man had urged Ogon to send out more pursuers primarily for this reason. He’d been thinking about the best and fastest way to kill Crown Prince Chagum ever since his escape.

 

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