Guardian of Heaven and Earth
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Rota
Part 3 - Blizzard
Chapter 3 - Prince Ihan's Castle
The clouds in the sky above were thick and gray; the air smelled like snow. Cooking fires from around Prince Ihan's palace shone brightly and sent their smoke trailing upwards. The palace was surrounded by pitched tents full of soldiers. Their horses were tethered or penned nearby, stomping their hooves and shifting in protest at the sudden cold shift in the weather.
Prince Ihan entered his reception hall a little past noon. The hall's walls were thick to keep out the winter chill and the wind; there was a large hearth built along one side of the room where a roaring fire was set. Prince Ihan saw many men gathered around a desk on the far side of the room. The flickering light of the fire shone on their faces.
There was a large map made of parchment spread out on the desk. The men were poring over it, pointing to locations and making tallies on their fingers.
"Ah. So lord Radam is closest to the southern border after all--but he's always been loyal. I'm certain he'll suppport King Yosam. How many men do we have stationed there? Two hundred? Three hundred?"
"Closer to four hundred, I think."
Prince Ihan surveyed the lords as they counted up his forces and sighed internally. He was worried for his brother; he hadn't been this sick in a long time. I just want him to get better. Please.
If King Yosam recovered, the southern clan lords might be convinced to support him. But that seemed like a vain hope at the moment. That was why both sides were counting their forces and considering what their next moves should be.
Prince Ihan's forehead creased as he looked down at the map. A bell rang outside the door to the hall.
"Prince Ihan, you have a request for an audience," a servant called out.
"Let them in," Prince Ihan shouted, lifting his eyes from the map. "Bring them here!"
The servant withdrew, then said, "Balsa the spear wielder requests a private audience," he said.
"Who?" Prince Ihan seemed surprised. His expression became brooding.
"She requests an immediate audience, Your Majesty. I know you are currently engaged in a meeting, but she insists that what she has to say to you cannot wait."
Ihan blinked. "All right. I'll meet with her." He faced the northern clan lords, who were all deep in thought and staring down at the map on the desk. "I'm going to take a break. Please continue the war council without me."
The hallway outside the council room was freezing. Ihan walked briskly toward his own personal study, where he was accustomed to receiving guests. He reached his study, sat down, then rang the bell that signaled that he was ready for Balsa to enter.
The door to the study opened, revealing Balsa being led by a servant. Balsa entered in travel-worn clothes with a grim, exhausted expression on her face. The servant closed the door and walked away.
Balsa got to her knees and brought her forehead to the floor to show respect to Prince Ihan. "Thank you for agreeing to meet me on such short notice, Your Majesty."
Ihan smiled. "Lift your head, Balsa. You know there's no need to stand on ceremony with me."
Balsa stood up.
"Are Asra and Chikisa well?" Ihan asked.
"They were well the last time I saw them," Balsa said, a bit hesitantly. "They're currently living and working with a merchant in Shirogai named Martha. I haven't seen them in a while. I'm worried about them."
Ihan frowned. "It certainly looks like the Talsh are going to invade soon. I want to bring the children here so they'll be safe, but..." He smiled a little. "Well, even here isn't really safe, now, is it?"
Ihan looked about as tired as Balsa felt. She bowed a little and said, "Shall I get right to the point, Your Majesty?"
Ihan nodded. "Ahal sent me a message concerning you. I was under the impression that you'd be returning to New Yogo before the war started."
"I was about to return," Balsa said quietly, "but something changed my mind. I'm worried about Crown Prince Chagum. Has he come to see you?"
Ihan's shoulders stiffened. He nodded. "Yes, Crown Prince Chagum was here. He told me a lot of vital news and information." Ihan sounded sad, somehow.
Balsa held her breath and waited for what Ihan would say next.
"Crown Prince Chagum is quite the hero. It's hard to believe he's only sixteen years old. He wanted to meet with my brother, but as he's indisposed, it fell on me to meet with him in Yosam's place." The sadness in his expression deepened. "I--I really, truly and honestly, wanted to agree to his proposal. I believe, as he does, that an alliance between Rota and New Yogo would save many lives. I believe it may be the only way to prevent the northern continent from being completely overrun by Talsh."
Ihan clenched his fists. "But I couldn't agree to it. I told Crown Prince Chagum my reasons. The first is the current situation in Rota. We're on the brink of plunging into civil war. The Talsh know this; they may have even instigated it to make conquering our country that much easier. All of the southern clan lords have been bought by Talsh. Any small risk or mistake now could send Rota into open revolt."
Balsa's chest hurt so badly that she couldn't breathe. Chagum had put his life on the line to get here and make his proposal to the King of Rota--and when he'd finally made it, he'd been rejected.
Prince Ihan gritted his teeth. "There's another problem, too--a big one. Crown Prince Chagum doesn't have the authority to make such an alliance. Not without his father's permission--and his father would never accept it."
Balsa frowned.
"We're aware of New Yogo's position on Talsh and the war. I have several spies stationed there; they send regular messages. The Kashal who arrived with him and the Kashal stationed in New Yogo both agree about the current situation in Crown Prince Chagum's homeland."
"I guess Shihana was stationed in New Yogo, too," Balsa muttered.
Ihan's eyes widened. "You knew about that? Then we can speak a good deal more freely. It's true that Shihana has committed grave crimes, but her strength in battle is needed now more than ever. I deemed it better for her to live and try to do something in our defense than to have her die and lose any possibility for her to redeem her past actions."
Prince Ihan smiled bitterly. "Perhaps you think I'm too soft. But I know that Shihana has always been loyal to me, and to the idea of Rota as a unified kingdom. She hasn't tried to revive Talhamaya or use her for Rota's armies; I think she gave up on that quite a while ago--and even if she hasn't, she is watched. She told me she would do anything to defend Rota from falling to the Talsh. I believe her."
Balsa stared at Prince Ihan in silence. She couldn't believe what he was saying. Shihana had nearly plunged Rota into war before, by trying to harness and control the power of the bloodthirsty god Talhamaya for her own purposes. Balsa didn't consider Shihana the least bit altruistic. If she was free--free and still had all her own power and contacts--then she was a threat.
"I have to think of the country in place of my brother right now," Prince Ihan said. "We are threatened by enemies from within and without. The King must always remain calm and composed in times like these--and I am his current representative. I intend to crush these enemies with all the skill and speed of a hawk hunting prey in flight. To do that, I need to be willing to make sacrifices--and compromises, even to my own honor."
Ihan's eyes gleamed bright with unshed tears. "Crown Prince Chagum would not be a calm ruler. He is not a calm prince. He is too single-minded and driven in this matter, not because he's young, but because he's stubborn and too kind-hearted. If he were an old man, he would still fail to be calm and level-headed here."
Balsa said nothing.
"So there you have it," Ihan said. "The other problem: the problem concerning Crown Prince Chagum's current position. The people of New Yogo believes that a god protects them, and that the Mikado is that god. Crown Prince Chagum would have to be the Mikado in order to make any kind of alliance between nations. But that, too, is impossible--he faked his own death some months ago, and everyone in New Yogo thinks he's dead." Ihan grinned at Balsa. "Well, not everyone, but you take my point."
Balsa's expression conveyed nothing except profound loneliness.
"New Yogo is a strange country. If my son had gone to war and died, I would have mourned him openly with tears in my eyes, but the Mikado is of a different mind. He's never treated the Crown Prince with any sort of affection. And I know for certain that he wouldn't approve of Crown Prince Chagum's plan.
"The borders of New Yogo are closed to all foreign messengers. The Kashal sneak in and out, but any official message I sent to the Mikado requesting an alliance would be blocked at the border. The Mikado undoubtedly believes that by closing the borders, he is making the Talsh invasion his own personal problem. Perhaps he thinks to fight them off there, and decimate the Talsh forces so that they won't gain a foothold on the continent. I'm not so sure that strategy will be effective.
“Crown Prince Chagum is trying to save his nation, and ours, from Talsh. He may be right--there might only be one way to do it." Ihan paused.
Balsa understood what he wanted to say. If Chagum was going to make his plan succeed, he would have to openly defy his father. The only way for him to have the authority he required would be for the current Mikado to die.
Ihan watched the expression on Balsa's face change to one of understanding. "Crown Prince Chagum would never depose his father. Because of that, I can't agree to the alliance. The Mikado will not honor it. It would be meaningless."
Balsa breathed shallowly. Her heart was heavy; she was too distressed to form words. Prince Ihan placed his hand on her chin to tilt her head up.
"Our world is cruel, at times. I think it cruel to force someone with such a pure heart and unselfish motives to walk the path Crown Prince Chagum is currently on."
"Where is Crown Prince Chagum now?" Balsa asked.
Ihan dropped his hand to his knees, then said, "I offered to let him stay the night in this palace in secret, to rest and recover before beginning on another journey, but he refused. He's already gone."
"Where?"
"To Kanbal. Rota has refused his alliance. He hopes that the King of Kanbal might accept it." Prince Ihan appeared saddened again. "He said that if Kanbal and New Yogo agreed to be allies, Rota might be persuaded to join them. I made no promises. You understand my position. The King of Kanbal is no fool. He'll likely give Crown Prince Chagum the same answer I did, for similar reasons. He has his own people and his own lands to think of. If he sent soldiers to New Yogo, he'd be leaving Kanbal defenseless. I highly doubt he'll agree to the alliance."
"Is Crown Prince Chagum traveling alone?" Balsa asked.
Prince Ihan shook his head. "I sent two guards with him who know the way to Kanbal, as well as supplies and money, enough to get them there from here. Now you know everything that I do."
There was a touch of frost in the air; it would likely start snowing soon. Two guards in a forest of hungry wolves and pursuing spies didn't seem like much of a safe escort to Balsa. And Chagum wasn't used to traveling in mountains.
She suddenly realized that the Talsh assassins had never intended to attack Chagum here. They were waiting for him to be out in the open, exposed, on his way to Kanbal. Attacking him on the palace road, or in the palace itself, would be difficult, but attacking him outside of it, a fair distance away, would be comparatively easy.
Balsa was suddenly burning with impatience. "Thank you for granting me an audience," she said. "Please excuse me. I have to go."
Ihan stood up. "Do you intend to go after Crown Prince Chagum?"
Balsa nodded.
Ihan opened his mouth to say something, then took in Balsa's clear distress and thought better of it. Balsa bowed deeply to him, turned on her heel, and left. She was about to exit the door when her eyes fell on a length of twine wrapped around her right wrist. She remembered what Hugo had told her and turned to face Ihan once more.
"Prince Ihan, what do you think of these words: 'It would be better for the King of Rota and the King of Kanbal to form an alliance than it would be for either of them to ally themselves with New Yogo right now.'" She was paraphrasing, but that was the gist of Hugo's recommendation.
Ihan's eyes widened, but he didn't hesitate in his reply. "If the King of Kanbal asked me for an alliance, I would agree."
Balsa nodded, bowed, and then sprinted down the hallway and out of the palace.
Wait a second, do Asra and Chikisa ever meet Chagum in person? Does Chagum know about them?
ReplyDeleteI don't believe so. Asra and Chikisa show up in the last book when Shirogai burns, though.
ReplyDelete