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New Yogo
Part 5 - New Spring Leaves
Chapter 1 - The Prime Minister's Prediction
The season changed to autumn in Talsh. Leaves changed color on the trees and blew off in the crisp, cool wind. Prince Raul and his older brother Prince Hazar visited Aoil, the Emperor’s Prime Minister and advisor, at his palace in Rahan. They hadn’t visited Aoil’s palace much since they were children, when they’d spend many years in Aoil’s study reading about their nation’s history by the light of a low fire.
The fire burned sua wood, which filled the room with a sweet scent. It was a custom to burn sua wood in Koranam, which was Aoil’s home nation.
On a table removed from the fire somewhat, Aoil set out three teacups, then poured out three cups of pale green shaol tea. Aoil never drank alcohol, but he drank shaol tea several times a day.
After the tea was poured, Aoil sat down opposite Prince Raul and Prince Hazar and said, “I know you must be terribly busy, so thank you for taking the time to come and meet with me. Under ordinary circumstances, I would have come to visit you instead, but as you may imagine, our circumstances are anything but ordinary.”
Raul smiled indulgently. “Your illness flares up in the autumn, does it not? It was no trouble to come.”
Aoil smiled back. “Yes. I am not surprised that you remembered that from your boyhood days.” Aoil took a sip of his tea. “So much time has passed since then. It’s been more than twenty years since you two took control of your first fiefdoms.”
“It’s been twenty years for me, seventeen for Raul. I remember,” Hazar said.
“Yes, that’s right. It will be exactly seventeen years for Prince Raul in winter of this year. How quickly time passes.” He sighed.
Raul, Hazar and Aoil sipped their tea and chatted pleasantly for a short while. Aoil poured out more tea for them all, then said, “Prince Hazar, Prince Raul. It has been more than a month since the Emperor selected me to choose his successor. I have considered the decision very carefully, and I have finally made my choice.”
The two princes leaned forward in their seats.
“Please pass me the briefings of the nations under your command from the past month,” Aoil said. “I wish to see how our people and plans are faring.”
Raul frowned, feeling something like rage stirring in his chest. “You intend to choose the next Emperor based solely on our empire’s current state? Has such a thing ever been done before?”
“Perhaps you believe past victories and accomplishments should be weighed on the same scale?” Aoil asked.
Prince Raul’s eyes shone. “Of course they should! I shall receive word any day that the northern continent has been conquered by my army. Father puts great emphasis on the ability to invade and subjugate as well as rule. Would you ignore my father’s set criteria for sound leadership?”
“I certainly will not ignore the Emperor’s wishes,” Aoil said. “The provinces you each have conquered and governed before now will, of course, factor into my decision.”
Aoil’s eyes took on a hard cast. “Military experience and success are important, but they are not the only qualifications required to rule well. The prince who conquers the most nations is not necessarily the prince most suited to govern them. The mark of success for a ruler is how well the people they’ve conquered are able to live. Am I wrong?”
Raul sank into brooding silence.
“You two have each conquered many nations over the past two decades,” Aoil said quietly. “You have led armies and governed provinces in between military campaigns. It is my intent to discover which of these conquered provinces are flourishing and which are languishing. That, too, will be a factor in my final decision. Does that strike either of you as unfair?”
Raul hid his needling rage behind a blank, professional mask. Hazar smiled the tiniest bit at his brother.
Prince Raul took deep breaths to calm himself while returning to his own palace on horseback. It had been more than twenty days since chamberlain Oiram had been imprisoned on suspicion of treason. Prince Raul had been incredibly busy for much of that time. One of the most critical information centers on the northern continent had been burned in the fighting, and the Yogoese had managed to burn many Talsh ships as well. Messages started coming more infrequently and included less detail.
“Hazar...” Raul clenched his fist. He was sure his brother had something to do with messages being intercepted or disrupted. And he’d definitely said or done something to make Aoil change his mind about his own succession to the throne.
Raul stalked up the stairs into his palace in a rage. There was a message for him inside, detailing the current war situation in New Yogo. Kurz, Prince Raul’s closest advisor, handed the letter over with a slightly pinched expression. “The hawk just arrived,” he said.
Raul scanned the letter and frowned. “Kanbal and Rota are allies? When did this happen?”
The letter stated that the Kings of Kanbal and Rota had sent fifty thousand men to the Sangal peninsula to prevent the Talsh from pushing through to New Yogo. Their remaining armies were marching toward New Yogo itself, to support the armies there. Crown Prince Chagum was riding at the head of a combined Kanbalese and Rotan army numbering thirty thousand men.
“That brat!” Raul crumpled part of the letter in his fist. He drew his sword and did some regrettable violence to an antique vase before he managed to calm himself.
Raul was incensed. Crown Prince Chagum was only seventeen years old. How had he managed to betray Raul and destroy his plans so thoroughly? He sheathed his sword and rammed both fists into the wall, moderating his force so that he wouldn’t harm his own hands. A painting slid off the wall to the ground with an alarming crash.
Raul let his rage crest over him like a wave, then started walking slowly down the hall. Kurz followed him to his private study and shut the door.
“Prince Raul, I have more news,” Kurz said.
Raul ignored him. He sank into his hair and stared at the floor. “What is it,” he said dully.
“Many of our ships docked on the Sangal peninsula were attacked by pirates from the south. Much of the fleet in port was burned. The people in the surrounding fishing villages smelled loot and sailed out on their small ships in revolt.”
A crease appeared on Raul’s forehead. “Sangalese pirates. They must have heard that Rota and Kanbal formed an alliance and were eager to pounce on our weakness.”
The pirates of Sangal were descended from the Sangalese royal family. It was possible that Sangal’s royal family was working against him in secret. Sangal was never a trustworthy nation to work with.
Goosebumps rose on Raul’s skin. Sangal was a seafaring nation without set borders. It had been difficult to conquer, and once conquered, it had been difficult to hold. He wouldn’t be surprised if the Sangalese royal family was behind these pirate attacks somehow. It wouldn’t benefit them to have New Yogo under Talsh rule. Without a free northern continent, the people of Sangal would have nowhere to trade or travel that was not Talsh, which worked against the people’s essentially free-spirited nature. That was what came of having a nation without set borders.
Rota’s alliance with Kanbal had shifted the balance of power on the entire continent. Raul had believed that his brother was manipulating Kanbal’s king and the southern clan lords of Rota, but apparently, those ties had been too weak to hold against previous promises. Raul had to turn this situation around now, immediately, before Talsh lost its grip on New Yogo completely.
“Kurz,” Raul said, “what would you do if you were me?”
“Press the attack,” Kurz said. “New Yogo is already weakened. Use our foothold there to crush the rebellion in Sangal and restore our alliances.”
Raul nodded in agreement, then narrowed his eyes. Kurz had said exactly what he’d wanted to hear. It wasn’t too late to fix all of this.
Kurz had a gift for seeing the things that escaped Raul’s notice. It was this quality that made him such a valued advisor. He was a keenly perceptive man.
Raul rubbed his chin, then looked up at Kurz. How does he always know exactly what I’m thinking? Kurz was like a mirror, except that he was also capable of seeing things that wouldn’t be reflected in a polished glass. He saw dangers lurking behind Raul that Raul wasn’t capable of seeing himself.
Raul pulled out his writing tools and started composing notes with a brush pen. He stopped writing and set his pen aside. “Kurz. Bring Hugo to me.”
Kurz frowned severely. His eyebrows shot up.
“What’s wrong?” Raul asked. “Is he dead? Or being tortured?”
Kurz shook his head. “We’ve been asking him questions, and only applying enough pressure to goad him into answering. His life’s not in danger. He seems to know that, so he hasn’t revealed if he’s working with anyone or not and refuses to give names. Any other prisoner would have spilled their guts by now. According to the doctor, he has a hollow tooth full of urasu.”
“Urasu? What’s that?”
“A potent poison capable of making the soul leave the body,” Kurz said. “Releasing it a little at a time instead of as a full dose will completely numb all sensation of physical pain. If he chooses to absorb the full dose, he might fall asleep and never wake up.”
“And has Hugo chosen to do that? Is he asleep now?”
Kurz nodded.
“Go get him anyway,” Raul said. “And bring me that doctor, and any magic weavers we’ve got on hand. We’ll wake him up.”
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