Council of War (69 page)

"I am," declared Garth.

"That is preposterous," scowled King Wendal.

"It is fact," retorted Garth. "While I was in Vinafor I learned that Queen Romani is alive and living in Herinak. As you know, she has secluded herself within this castle. Her only public appearance was a meeting of your advisors. Can you explain how word of her presence here reached Vinafor?"

"Perhaps she was seen entering the city?" the king offered without much conviction.

"Have many of your citizens have been to Vinafor lately to know what the queen looks like?"

"She was known in Traginak by King Persimon's advisors," the king pointed out.

"True," Garth conceded, "but she left there seeking to live on a purchased estate. It is not reasonable for anyone there to expect she is living in Herinak."

"There must be another answer," the king replied stubbornly.

"I truly wish there was," stated Garth. "It would make my task easier. I want very much to present my report and see the Council of War created, but I will not risk tearing down the very armies I just gathered. I was hoping that I could offer the particulars to you in private and just offer the numbers in the meeting."

"That is not acceptable," the king shook his head. "As I said, I value the advice of my advisors."

"Then we need to determine which of your advisors is working for the Federation," stated Garth.

"I am not ready to accept the premise that one of them is a spy," stated the king. "Bring me proof and I will act on it."

"Very well," Garth said as he rose, "but we are losing time. Every day that passes puts the Federation closer to attacking."

Garth returned to Sidney's suite. The others looked expectantly as he took his seat at the table.

"No good," Garth informed them. "The king wants proof before he will take any action. He cannot believe that one of his advisors is a spy."

"Where do we go from here?" asked Sidney.

"We can try to narrow it down," offered Queen Romani. "In the meeting were six barons and five advisors. I find it hard to believe that a Koroccan baron would sell out his own country. What could the possible motive be? These barons have wealth and power, and they hold the breeding lines of the Occan horses. It is unfathomable that one of them would be a Federation spy."

"Who are the advisors?" asked Kalina.

"Sigfrid is the Royal Sorcerer," replied the queen. “Bjorn is the Royal Stablemaster. Roff is the Minister of Finance, and Tyko is the Minister of Law. The fifth is Adolfus, the Royal Lancer. He is the Koroccan equivalent of a Commanding General."

"A Royal Stablemaster?" asked Natia. "Isn't that a little strange?"

"Not in the horse countries," replied Sidney Mercado. "He is in charge of the Occan bloodline. That makes him one of the most powerful men in Korocca."

"Do we know anything about these men?" asked Garth.

"I only know them from that one meeting," replied Queen Romani.

"Alright," sighed Garth. "Here is the plan. Queen Romani, I want you to let them know that Major Pezzola is running the resistance in Vinafor. Don't be eager to share the information, but someone will ask for it. Give it freely. The rest of us have to try to figure out who is sending the information and how they are doing it. How do we split this up?"

"I will monitor the sorcerer," offered Kalina. "If he is using magic to transmit the information, I should be able to detect it if I know when the meeting is over."

"I will invite you to the meeting," grinned Garth. "If King Wendal can have twelve people in the meeting, I should be able to have three or four."

"Then we will see what these men look like," noted Tedi. "That will be helpful for watching them."

"How can the four of you watch five people?" asked the queen.

"With a little help," Garth grinned as he stuck his finger in his pocket and stirred Bitsy to life.

The fairy stuck her tiny blue head out of the pocket and looked around. "Are we having a meeting?"

Queen Romani gasped and almost fell out of her chair as she tried to move away. "What is that?"

Bitsy shot out of Garth's pocket and landed on the table. She looked up at the queen and frowned. "That is hardly a proper greeting."

"Bitsy is a fairy," chuckled Garth. "She doesn't bite. Well, mostly she doesn't"

"Unless you shove your finger through me," glared the fairy. "I am glad that you have learned your lesson."

The queen recovered from her shock, and she stared at the tiny woman with curiosity. "Is she an illusion?"

"She is real," offered Kalina. "The fairy people are sworn to King Arik. They call him the Bringer."

"You should not mention them to anyone," advised Garth, "but that is how we have been sending information. I have sent for one of them for you, Sidney. You will be the hub here in Herinak. You may use your assigned fairy to keep in contact with the Tyronians or us."

"Amazing," the queen said as she sat back down and stared at the tiny woman. "Hello Bitsy."

The fairy smiled broadly and curtsied to the queen.

When the door to the meeting room opened, Garth saw the long table in the center of the room. King Wendal sat at the head of the table, and eleven other Koroccans sat on the far side of the table. Queen Romani and General Skye sat on the side closest to the door. The arrangement showed the lopsidedness of the situation. Garth walked through the door and sat next to General Skye. Right behind Garth were Kalina, Tedi, and Natia. They filled three more of the seats.

"Who are these people?" asked Tyko, the Minister of Law.

"They are representatives of Alcea," Garth responded. "Each of them is an advisor to King Arik, and therefore an advisor to me."

"And you are?" asked Tyko.

"I am Garth Shado. I represent King Arik in Zara. May I ask who each of you are?"

Tyko appeared disturbed at the appearance of unknown people in the meeting, but Baron Stikman rose and started introducing the Koroccans. When he had completed the introductions he stared at Garth over the table.

"Have you raised your armies?"

"I have," Garth replied. "Twenty thousand as you demanded."

"Interesting," frowned the baron. "You have hardly been gone long enough to reach Tyronia and return, yet you have conjured up twenty thousand warriors? Tell us about them."

"Five thousand of them are Tyronian patriots," stated Garth, "but I will not propose to speak for Tyronia when there is already a representative here from that country. General Skye, perhaps you can continue?"

"It would be my pleasure," nodded the general as he rose to his feet. "Our recruiting efforts in Tyronia have proceeded quite well. While our forces are not yet up to the level required to repatriate our country, we stand ready to seize the moment if the Federation forces are lessened."

The general sat down and Queen Romani rose unbidden.

"I have a similar situation in Vinafor," stated the queen. "Our numbers stand at four thousand now. Recruitment efforts are still ongoing, but as you can imagine, it is slow. There is always a danger of discovery by the Federation."

"Can that many men truly organize without the Federation knowing about it?" asked Adolfus, the Royal Lancer. "I do not mean to question the validity of either of your statements, but it troubles me that we might count on those armies of patriots and then find them disbanded when we need them."

"That is a concern," agreed Roff, the Minister of Finance. "When you start talking about an underground army, the larger it gets, the harder it is to hide."

Although the minister had been looking at General Skye when he spoke, Queen Romani offered an answer.

"I have the utmost confidence in the man organizing the effort in Vinafor," she declared.

"And who would that be?" asked Sigfrid, the Royal Sorcerer.

"Major Pezzola," the queen replied confidently.

"And what about Tyronia?" Roff asked General Skye.

"I am leading that effort," the general replied.

"But you are here in Herinak," frowned Bjorn, the Royal Stablemaster. "How can you organize anything in Ur?"

"I am the Commanding General of Tyronia," the general declared proudly. "I have many people under my command. Why should their names matter to this council?"

"A good point," agreed Baron Stikman, "but we are getting sidetracked with minutiae. Those two countries only account for nine thousand men. That is less than half way to the agreed upon number. Where are the rest of your forces, Garth Shado?"

"Farther south," Garth smiled thinly. "I cannot provide greater details at this time, but I can arrange for a representative of each group to sit at this table when the Council of War convenes."

Baron Stikman glared across the table. "This is not some game we are playing at, Garth Shado. You are asking this nation to commit troops to war, yet you hide our allies in the shadow and cloak this effort in mystery. I can only assume from your attitude that you either do not trust us, or you are trying to use us as pawns in some grand scheme. Neither case is acceptable to me. As far as I am concerned, this matter is settled. I will not support a Council of War."

A general consensus rippled through the Koroccan delegation as the barons began signifying their faith in Baron Stikman with nods of their heads.

"May I request an adjournment?" Garth asked as he glanced at King Wendal. "Before Korocca dismisses the Council of War outright, I would like a chance to confer with my advisors. Perhaps I can offer an answer to the baron's question that will please him."

The king glanced at Baron Stikman. The baron still glowered with anger, but he nodded in acceptance.

"We will meet back here directly after the evening meal," declared King Wendal. "May we all come back with feelings of trust for one another."

The Alceans rose quickly and stepped out of the room. They moved along the corridor away from prying ears and huddled.

"I think our original assessment about the barons is correct," Kalina stated. "None of them seemed remotely interested in the meeting. They look up to Baron Stikman and depend upon him to ask whatever needs to be asked."

"It was the sorcerer who asked about names," Natia pointed out. "I vote for him."

"This is not about voting," retorted Garth. "We need to watch them all. Natia, you have the Royal Stablemaster. I will take the Royal Lancer."

"That leaves me with law or finance," frowned Tedi. "I am not sure I could converse with either of them."

"Then you will coordinate the fairies," replied Garth. "Now that Pixy has arrived, we have more than enough to get the task done. Put Bitsy on the Minister of Law and Button on the Minister of Finance. Hold Pixy in reserve to communicate with us."

"Here they come," Kalina warned as the door to the meeting room opened, and the barons started filing out.

Kalina broke away from the group and started walking casually towards the meeting room. Tedi walked the other way and disappeared around a corner. Garth and Natia stood in the hallway as if they were talking to one another, but they watched the door so they could see when their marks left the room. Kalina was the first to make contact as Sigfrid walked out of the meeting room. He looked at Kalina questioningly, and she smiled in return.

"Do you have a few minutes, Royal Sorcerer?"

"Only a few," Sigfrid replied. "I am in the middle of an experiment."

"I will walk you to your lab," smiled Kalina. "That should be all the time I require. I want your opinion on the Forest of Death."

"You are the Alcean mage?" asked Sigfrid as they started to walk away.

"I am," Kalina nodded, "although I am not of the caliber of the Alcean Royal Sorcerer. That honor belongs to another. I am Garth's wife, so I guess that made me ideal for this trip. Fortunately, we have not had a great call for magic on this journey so far."

"Well, we all must value our talents no matter how large or small. What did you want to know about the Forest of Death?"

The two mages turned the corner and disappeared from Natia's sight just as the Royal Stablemaster was exiting the room. As Bjorn walked by Garth and Natia, she turned and ran after him. He turned and glanced at her when she came along side him.

"Hello, Bjorn," Natia smiled broadly. "I was hoping you could spare a few moments of your time between meetings."

"Whatever for?" frowned the Royal Stablemaster. "Shouldn't you be advising Garth?"

"He already knows how I feel," replied Natia. "I see no reason to hide anything. I am sure the others will convince him of that, but I would like to learn more about Koroccan breeding. I understand that you are in charge of the program for the entire nation. I stand in awe of being in the presence of someone who controls the world's greatest line of horses. They are simply magnificent creatures."

"That they are," smiled Bjorn. "There are no others like them in all the world, and it will stay that way, too. Maintaining the breeding line is a large portion of the task of the Royal Stablemaster. Have you ever ridden one?"

"Oh, no," gushed Natia. "I would love to try one. Is that possible?"

Garth smiled inwardly as Natia and Bjorn turned the corner. He stood standing awkwardly alone in the hallway waiting for Adolfus to appear. When he did appear, he was with Baron Stikman. Garth sighed and quickly turned away as if he was leaving the area. His task was to keep the Royal Lancer busy for about an hour while the fairies spied on other advisors. If no one made an effort to transmit the information in that time, the fairies would be reassigned to watch someone else. That meant that Garth had to watch the Royal Lancer one way or another for the next hour. He walked slowly, listening to the sounds of the footsteps behind him, waiting for the two men to separate so he could fulfill his task. The footsteps got louder and soon the voices of the two Koroccans came to his ears.

"Garth Shado," called out Baron Stikman. "Are you not taking this time to speak to your advisors?"

Garth halted and turned around to see the two men approaching. "I needed some time alone to think first," replied Garth. "Sometimes walking or talking about unrelated things helps to clear my mind."