BOOK II OF III: The Reign of the Sultan (29 page)

Back in Pavelus—the same day…

Since the very first night that the Sharia
Empire’s forces had split, Brishava remained unbelievably busy
governing the successful trade relations with more than a dozen
other major cities and seaports. Her schedule was all that much
busier because she had to ensure that all three divisions were
continuously supplied with food, weapons, and supplies, which made
her personal time “nil.”

On this very day, during lunchtime, she and
Chelsea were eating in the royal dining hall. Not even five minutes
after lunch had begun, the exterior guards opened up the doors, and
in walked a soldier whose uniform identified him as a colonel.

Immediately after that officer saluted, he
began, “My Sultaness, my name is Colonel Manin, and I bear a
written and sealed message from Governor Hawkins.”

After Brishava had swallowed a small bite of
smoked salmon, she said, “Show me the seal first, and then go ahead
and read it to me, please.”

“Yes, my Sultaness,” Manin said just before
he stood straight up.

After showing her the wax bearing the emblem
of the Sharia Empire, breaking it, and then unrolling the scroll,
Manin read aloud, “‘My Sultaness, it is with great honor that I
report to you that the entire mission was successful! The lands of
the Vaspan Empire, as well their wealth, armies, and
cities—Mauritia and another city called Driven—all now belong to
the Sharia Empire!’”

Manin had to clear his throat before he
continued reading, “‘If you would grant your permission, Sultaness,
I request that you allow your cousin Lord Bradmir to be promoted to
Lieutenant Governor. Had it not been for him, we would have had at
least thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of casualties! In
my honest opinion, Lord Bradmir has certainly earned the right for
this esteemed position, but has not yet proven his worthiness to be
a full governor just yet. My second request is that you delegate a
new governor for the city of Driven, which is also now under the
control of the Sharia Empire.’”

Again, Manin had to clear his throat, before
reading.

“’My third request is that you send an
ambassador to the Kingdom of Thorium as soon as possible. After
all, there are already reports of territorial disputes, due to
lands stolen by the former Vaspan Empire that once belonged to this
kingdom…

“‘As for everything else, I have it all under
control—all, of course, is for the honor and the glory of the
Sharia Empire! Loyally yours, Governor Hawkins.’”

At this point, Manin looked up from the
scroll, and as he rolled it back up, he informed, “That is all
Governor Hawkins had written. Will there be a message for me to
relay back, my Sultaness?”

“Yes there will be…but please give me ‘til
tomorrow morning to have it written, sealed, and ready for you to
deliver to the Governor.”

“Yes, my Sultaness.”

“Thank you, Colonel Manin. Say, why don’t you
take this large platter of food from our hands, and eat whatever
you want, okay? If you’re tired, ask the guards outside to provide
you with a bedroom,” Brishava concluded with a smile.

Manin smiled back, bowed, and then said
appreciatively, “Thank you very much for the kindness, my
Sultaness.”

He then took the platter, bowed again, and
then departed the room.

Brishava took her final bite of salmon, set
her fork and knife down onto the table, picked up her napkin, and
lightly wiped the corners of her mouth.

Meanwhile, Chelsea asked, “Brishava, would it
be possible for me to become the ambassador to the Kingdom of
Thorium? That is, until you can find someone you can trust to do it
on a more permanent basis?”

Brishava asked, “What about your baby?”

While lightly patting her slightly swollen
belly, Chelsea answered, “I’m over the morning sickness, and
besides, it’ll give me something to do for awhile.”

“You know Chelsea, I hate to admit it, but I
really wish Baltor would have gotten me pregnant,” Brishava
sighed.

Chelsea smiled as she said, “I know it hasn’t
happened for you yet, but it’ll happen. Besides, it’s not like
Humonus even knows I’m pregnant, as I didn’t even find out about it
until two days after they left!”

Brishava replied with a wide smile, “I
know…but what a surprise it’ll make for him when he returns!”

Returning the smile, Chelsea answered, “Yeah,
but you’ll have your chance soon enough—I feel it to be true!”

“Yeah?” Brishava asked.

Without pause, Chelsea answered, “Yeah. The
reason why I want this ambassadorial position is because I’m
missing my husband way too much, and not only will this keep me
busy, yet I can do my very own part for the Sharia Empire.”

Brishava happily replied, “Of course, you’re
most welcome to the position if you really want it. I know you’d be
good at it, too!”

“You think so?”

“Of course,” Brishava said very evenly.

“Well then, my Sultaness, I want it,” was
Chelsea’s gleeful reply.

“It’s yours,” Brishava said just as
gleefully. After sighing, she added, “But I must confess that I’m
beginning to miss you already…you really are my sister, except for
us sharing the same blood.”

“True that, Brishava, my sister…”

A few moments later, the guards opened the
double doors yet again. Standing outside were fifty-two additional
guards ready to escort the Sultaness back to the throne room, as
lunchtime was over.

Brishava stood up out of her seat, and then
added in a serious tone of voice, “I will need you to get packed
immediately, Ambassador Chelsea. It is imperative that you work
with Queen Calitta, and draw up our new borders between the Sharia
Empire and the Kingdom of Thorium…as soon as possible.”

Chelsea bowed her head respectfully, as she
replied, “Yes, my Sultaness.”

Following lunch, she went to her bedroom so
that she could pack.

Meanwhile, Brishava and the guards made their
way to the throne room—once there, she took her place at her
throne.

Immediately she ordered, “Bring Ruksha
here.”

A guard left to retrieve him. Ten minutes
later he arrived and bowed.

Brishava said, “Ruksha, I’m going to need you
to write a message for Governor Hawkins.”

“Yes, my Sultaness.”

After he had pulled a piece of parchment, a
bottle of ink, and a quill pen, he sat at a table nearby. As she
relayed this message, he wrote it out:

‘
Dear Governor Hawkins,

Thank you for all your timely messages and
updates regarding all the Sharia Empire’s successes. Your Sultan
and I were very right in assigning you the position as Governor,
and I know that he will be just as pleased to hear the news as I
am.

In fact, I received word but three days ago
that my husband has peacefully retaken Lasparus, and is even
marching his forces behind the Duke’s forces toward Parthway, in
hopes that they will be able to unite their forces to fight against
the army to our east.

Let me remind you that it’s still quite
possible that the enemy army may be lurking at your doorsteps
anytime now—keep your forces on yellow alert, ready to go to red in
a single moment of time!

As for your first request and the promotion
of Bradmir to Lieutenant Governor, I am going to grant it.
Regarding my three other cousins, I am going to request that you
either test them for their loyalties there in Mauritia, or send
them back to Pavelus so that they can be tested here…your
choice!

Regarding your second request in delegating a
new governor for the city of Driven, I am going to ask that you
continue to govern both Driven and Mauritia for now. I know that it
will be quite a challenge to govern two cities, but I also know
that if there’s anyone who can handle the challenge—it’s you.

Regarding your third request in sending an
ambassador to the Kingdom of Thorium, I have appointed Ambassador
Chelsea to handle the territorial disputes and help to draw us up
new borders, so that we continue our peace and trade with the
Kingdom of Thorium.

For the honor and the glory of the Sharia
Empire—Sultaness Brishava Elysian
.’

After letting the ink dry, which took a
minute, Ruksha rolled up the scroll, placed a gob of melted wax in
order to seal it, and approached the Sultaness.

Brishava imbedded the royal insignia ring
into the wax, which caused the seal to be formed.

She said, “Ruksha, I am going to need you to
deliver this message to Colonel Manin. He will be the one to
deliver it to Governor Hawkins.”

“Yes, my Sultaness.”

Not even a minute after Ruksha had departed,
an elegantly dressed man entered the throne room.

After getting to twenty paces from the
Sultaness, he first bowed and then introduced, “My Sultaness, my
name is Ambassador Cartwright, and I am from the Kingdom of
Rolinsa. I bear two gifts from King Amnion and Queen Tessa.”

Brishava was fully aware that this nation
existed on a different continent to their southwest, and had been
trading with the Sharia Empire for only the last thirty years. She
had never met this ambassador before, however.

Not only had the two nations been on peaceful
terms and fair deals the whole time, yet Brishava had been very
generous with the last shipment of merchandise and their asking
prices.

So there was no pause to Brishava’s voice as
she asked with an inquisitive smile, “Gifts?”

Cartwright looked up, and with a slightly
mischievous look in his eyes, replied, “Two very special gifts.
Will your Sultaness please walk with me to the palace courtyard
outside, and see these gifts with your very own eyes, instead of me
revealing what they are by words? It was by the king and queen’s
special request that the revealing of these gifts be made this
way.”

Though Brishava looked a bit surprised to
hear all this information for a second, she nodded her head in the
next second, stood to her feet from her throne, and began to walk
forward—a platoon of guards joined her outside the hallway.

The party of fifty-four made their way to the
palace courtyard; once there, Brishava began to look around, yet
saw nothing.

A few moments later, her eyes averted over to
Cartwright, and then she asked, “Where are the gifts that you had
me come all the way outside in order to see?”

Cartwright’s eyes, however, had been looking
all around the skies, until she asked that very question. He looked
back over at Brishava, and with a smile on his face, he pointed his
left index finger directly up.

As Brishava looked up, she saw two tiny dots
slowly circling in the sky far, far above. Without looking down,
she asked, “Are those hawks or eagles?”

“They are hawks, your Sultaness…your
gift.”

Brishava cast her eyes at Cartwright and
asked, “What are so special about hawks? After all, we have dozens
of varieties of hawks here in Pavelus.”

“Ah, your Sultaness, not like these! These
hawks are extremely special and rare—trust me. Soon enough, you’ll
understand everything…”

Brishava didn’t respond, but patiently
waited.

About ten seconds later, those two tiny
specks in the sky stopped circling as they plummeted straight down.
Only seconds later, there were two giant hawks perched on the
ground in the very middle of the palace courtyard! Each hawk’s
torso was even bigger than a fully-grown shire horse, which size
did not include the huge-feathered head, wings, and tail.

With both shock and wonder etched on her
face, Brishava observed that the nearer hawk was thirty feet away
while the further hawk was fifty feet away—both hawks bore a saddle
with a rider, though each saddle was obviously built for two
riders.

Brishava could only say in awe, “Oh my
goodness…”

“Yes, my Sultaness,” Cartwright replied
proudly. “With a whole lot of surprise, we discovered a nest of six
eggs nearly two years ago, yet strangely without a mother. Since
then, we trained the babies so that they can have riders upon
them—in another year or so they’ll be ready for breeding, which is
why we gave you a male and a female.”

Simultaneously, both men climbed out of the
saddle, and once on the ground two seconds later, they turned and
bowed.

Cartwright continued, “Actually, these hawks
ride exactly as horses, except for the fact that the rider has the
additionally option by pulling up on the reins to go up, and
pushing down to go down.”

“I see,” Brishava said, still wowed by the
sight in front of her.

Cartwright added, “King Amnion and Queen
Tessa of Rolinsa send their warmest regards, and these gifts in
appreciation for the fair deals and products from the Sharia Empire
these last three decades, and most especially, for the last
shipment of wonderful merchandise you sent.”

“Why—thank you, Ambassador Cartwright,”
Brishava said with both delight and appreciation. She dared to ask,
“Can I ride one of them?”

“My Sultaness,” Cartwright replied, “of
course, but I would strongly recommend that you ride with one of
these two hawk masters, Darius and Traes, of whom are also gifts
from my King and Queen.”

Brishava answered gleefully, “Cool! Can my
friend ride on the back of the other hawk?”

“They’re your hawks, my Sultaness…as for me,
I must be heading back now, as I have other urgent business to tend
to. That is, if your Sultaness will graciously excuse me?”

Brishava answered, “Of course. Would you
please not only extend my sincerest gratitude to King Amnion and
his family for these extraordinarily wonderful gifts, yet deliver a
personal message from me to them, as well?”

After a respectful bow, Cartwright answered,
“Of course I’d be delighted to relay the message, your
Sultaness.”