Guardian of Heaven and Earth
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Rota
Part 2 - Enemies Among Friends
Chapter 2 - Strange Foes
“This is a lot heavier than it looks,” the man said. Balsa’s spear wobbled in his hand.
Balsa stared at him silently. He was close enough that she could reach out and snatch her spear away from him, but her limbs were still too numb and heavy to move.
“Who are you?” Balsa asked. “Why did you save me back there?”
The man shifted her spear slightly in his grip, causing it to scrape across the floor. “My name is Hugo Arayutan. As for why I saved you...that’s complicated.”
Hugo crossed the room with Balsa’s spear in one hand and pulled a key from his pocket with the other. He locked the door.
Balsa frowned. What kind of room locked with a key from the inside?
Hugo propped Balsa’s spear against the side of the door, then walked over to a low table. He picked something up from the table, then came back to her and sat down in a chair. The distinctive smell of cholu reached Balsa’s nose; he was packing it into a pipe. After he lit the pipe, sweet-smelling smoke filled the room.
“There now. No one can disturb us, so we can talk for as long as we like.” He observed Balsa’s distrustful expression, then added, “The man you knocked out is a decent sort, but he has a bad habit of not trusting me.” He sighed. “I met him when I was seventeen. He’s treated me like a kid ever since. I’d rather not have him butting in until he’s needed. It’s safer for all of us this way.” His tone was vaguely fond.
Balsa stared right at Hugo and remained silent.
She had no idea who Hugo was or what he wanted. She only knew that he had the advantage over her: all the cards were in his hands. She wanted to be able to see through him--to understand what he intended to do with the cards he held.
“You have a strange accent,” she muttered.
Hugo’s lips twitched upward in a smile. “Almost sounds like I’m not from the northern continent, maybe?”
Balsa’s eyes widened. “You’re--from Yogo?”
Hugo nodded. “I was born in the kingdom of Yogo on the southern continent. Talsh conquered and subjugated it when I was a boy.”
A chill went up Balsa’s spine.
It’s like I thought. He’s a Talsh spy. The Talsh know that Chagum is alive.
“This harbor is chock-full of Talsh spies,” Hugo went on, as if he was trying to confirm Balsa’s worst fears. “There’s a rumor that lord Suan’s son got his hands on a Talfa necklace. That seems like a good lead, don’t you agree?”
Balsa remained silent. Why would Hugo reveal such a thing to her? He gave her no time to think; he was still speaking.
“Crown Prince Chagum’s escape from the ship was discovered as soon as the ship docked on the Sangal peninsula. Talsh sent spies everywhere to look for him. When I heard the summons, I froze. I didn’t think Crown Prince Chagum would take such a terrible risk.”
Hugo was looking straight into Balsa’s eyes when he said, “Crown Prince Chagum tried to kill himself when I captured him. He almost died in front of me.”
Balsa held her breath and maintained eye contact. Who the hell is this guy? The revelation that Chagum had attempted to kill himself gave Balsa nothing but pain.
“It was a brave act, but also foolish and naive. Still, I understand why he chose to flee the ship. He’s willing to risk any amount of damage to his person or his pride to ensure that the people of New Yogo are saved.”
Hugo hung his head for a few moments. When he raised it again, he was smiling slightly. “I thought he would accept Talsh’s deal for that reason--to save his people. I thought they broke his will enough to make him surrender. But he wasn’t broken after all. He’s a stubborn one--”
“--shut up,” Balsa cut in. She couldn’t stand to listen to Hugo anymore.
Hugo blinked at her in surprise. “Huh?”
“You’re a Talsh spy,” Balsa said. “That means you’re my enemy. I’m sure that gloating about your plans and how clever you’ve been is fun for you, but I don’t find it amusing. You pretending to be a friend makes my skin crawl. So cut past all that and give me a reason why you’re telling me all of this.”
Hugo passed his hand over his face. “Well, when you’re right, you’re right. I can’t fault you for being perceptive.” He rubbed his chin and was lost in thought for a few moments. “It’s true that I’m a Talsh spy, so I must seem like your enemy, when viewed through that lens. But the situation is a lot more nuanced than that: not everything is black and white. I understand that my speaking to you as I’ve done makes you uncomfortable, but I’m still going to ask you to hear me out.”
“And why would I do that?” Balsa asked softly. “You said before that your reason for saving me was complicated, and that the situation is nuanced. We’re not equals in this conversation. Unless you answer a direct question and explain your reasons, complex or not, there’s no point in us talking.”
Hugo grinned wryly. “You’re right again.” He smoothed his expression and went on, “I told you before that Tsuram is crawling with Talsh spies. That’s true, but they’re not all working for the same person.”
“But aren’t they all working for Talsh?” Balsa asked.
"Yes, but some work for the First Prince Hazar and others work for the Second Prince, Raul. The brothers are more or less enemies, so the spies are pretty much always getting in one another's' way." Hugo smiled faintly and continued, "Anyway, I work for Prince Raul. I'm an officer in the northern army, which is called the Hokuyoku. Prince Hazar's spies serve in the southern army, called the Nanyoku. The man who poisoned you was one of Prince Hazar's spies."
Balsa frowned at this unexpected revelation. "Huh? Why?"
"You were mistaken for one of our spies," Hugo said. "It's easy to see why. You were hanging around lord Suan's guards, asking about Crown Prince Chagum. That's highly suspicious." He smiled. "The fact that I saved you probably confirmed their suspicions. If they didn't know you were part of the northern army before, they'll definitely think you are now."
"But the men who surrounded me where lord Suan's guards," Balsa said.
The cholu in Hugo's pipe was running short. He quashed the small flame with his thumb. "Lord Suan is in league with the Talsh empire. He has been for at least two years."
Balsa's eyes widened in sudden realization. She'd learned about the political rift between the northern and southern clan lords when she'd rescued Asra from the Kashal; she tried to remember all the details now. The southern lords had almost caused an uprising at Rota's founding ceremony.
Hugo kept speaking while Balsa was thinking. "Prince Hazar knows that Prince Raul is after New Yogo, so he set his eyes on Rota. The southern clan lords have always been dissatisfied with the king’s rule. Prince Hazar seized on that and is using it to its full advantage. The southern lords have lost access to their trade partners in Sangal because of the war, but that wouldn’t matter as much if they could do business directly with the Talsh. They’re a greedy bunch, these southern lords.
“Lord Suan is probably the worst of the lot, though. Talsh convinced him first. He’s been gathering up troops and resources for years to prepare. I know he has some kind of secret agreement with the Talsh--and most of the spies I’ve talked to know that he and the southern lords intend to get themselves installed as the new rulers of Rota after Talsh conquers and subjugates it.”
Balsa was starting to understand the whole situation a lot more clearly. The rationale given for both Talsh and the southern lords made a lot of sense. She also understood why Hugo had told her that the situation was complicated. Prince Hazar, understandably, wouldn’t want his brother’s spies interfering with his plans in Rota. She understood all that, but she still trembled finely, shivering with cold--and the shivering kept getting worse. It was becoming difficult to focus.
If Chagum walked into lord Suan’s palace without knowing all this, then he walked into a fight, unprepared...
Hugo watched Balsa’s face go white. “Lord Suan learned from Nanyoku spies that his son had gotten his hands on a Talfa necklace,” Hugo said. "Imagine his surprise when Crown Prince Chagum, the source of the Talfa necklace itself, appeared on his very doorstep."
Balsa frowned and thought, He was dressed like a Rassharou when he arrived, wasn't he? Why would lord Suan's guards just let him through like that?
"I heard that the guards chased him off when he tried to enter the palace," Hugo said. "But, by sheer luck, lord Suan's son was passing out of the gate at the exact same time he arrived. Lord Suan's son is unusually clever. He's also just as greedy as his father, so he jumped at the chance to buy a Talfa necklace.
"Lord Suan's son attended the coronation of Sangal's king some years back, so he'd seen Crown Prince Chagum before, unfortunately. I'm not sure how much of an impression Crown Prince Chagum made with such a brief acquaintance, but lord Suan's son did recognize him on sight."
Hugo looked at Balsa with a complicated expression. "Say...I've heard that Crown Prince Chagum was dressed as a fisherman when he arrived, but you heard he was dressed as a Rassharou. Right?"
Balsa didn't answer him. Hugo shrugged and kept talking.
"There was a Rassharou fisherman on the boat we were on that he took a liking to. He must have thought it was safer to travel with the Rassharou people than with any Sangalese ship, with the war being what it is."
"Rassharou fisherwoman?" Balsa asked reflexively, before she could think.
"He met her on board a pirate ship on his way to the southern continent," Hugo said.
Balsa felt like a fire had just caught and flared up brightly in her mind. All the pieces that she knew were converging and forming into one large, connected mass. She fixed Hugo with a withering stare. "I see. So you're the spy who captured Chagum, huh?"
The persistent smile in Hugo's eyes flickered and flashed out. He shrugged, then said. "Yep. I captured him. Good guess." He remained silent for a few moments. Balsa heard a candle spluttering on a desk across the room. Hugo was about to say something when someone tried to open the door of the room from the outside.
"Oi, why is this door locked? Open up!"
It was the voice of the short, slight magic weaver that Balsa had heard earlier. Hugo's eyebrows went up. He smiled at Balsa. "You shouldn't butt your head in where you're not wanted," he shouted through the door. He stood up and faced the door.
"I still need to talk to you," the magic weaver said. "Maybe you'll want to kill me when I'm done, but I still insist that you hear me out." His words were serious, but his tone was relatively light.
Hugo crossed the room and unlocked the door. The magic weaver glanced between Hugo and Balsa. "You..."
"Let's take this up outside," Hugo said. He prepared to leave, but then turned back toward Balsa. "You should only feel numb like that tonight. I'll bring a doctor in to help you later." He left the room and shut the door. Balsa heard the door lock from the outside.
Balsa stared at the dim walls of the room around her.
I wonder if Chagum is still in lord Suan's palace.
If lord Suan was cooperating with the Talsh, then he probably wouldn't allow Chagum to contact the King of Rota. Chagum might still be in the palace, confined but not dead; lord Suan wouldn't kill such a valuable hostage now that New Yogo was just about to go to war.
Balsa closed her eyes tightly. Remembering that Chagum had tried to kill himself to avoid capture wrenched her heart. He'd made it all the way here safely, only to fall immediately into the hands of the Talsh again. Rage like the stirring embers of a fire flared up in Balsa's chest. She would make Talsh pay for any harm that came to Chagum.
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