The False Alliance

I gave Tazen a tour of my keep and the surrounding towns. He had a different reaction than I would have expected. His eyes widened beyond his spectacles at every detail of my realm.

“Sire, I have never seen such a city before. And in the distance, is that another city? The one by the forest? And why are the roads black? I have never seen black stones in that quantity before! And why is your keep so small and simple compared to every other noble?”

“I appreciate your curiosity, Tazen. I am able to explain some of it for you, but the rest will be kept secret. I do not want my trade secrets given to someone from outside of my lands.”

“As expected, my Lord. I will be open to anything you are willing to teach me, and I can serve you as much as my abilities allow me to.”

“Good. Your first task.” I handed him a fairly thick stack of building construction reports from General Phylx. “Please organize these, since they will pertain to the relation of our counties. They need approval from your brother’s authority to complete the trade stops along our trade routes.”

“Reports? Your soldiers are literate?” He seemed absolutely bewildered at the idea that my soldiers and officers were literate in Common Speak. “How did you manage to tame those men?”

“By treating them as men, and women, Tazen. I will reveal one trade secret to you: I treat my commonfolk as much more than merely servants to my land. Unlike most high-born, my father taught me my most important lesson: Each person has a story, a family, and a need. If people were disposable, my lands would not look like this. My lands would look like Wechia before your brother was exalted.”

It was apparent that Tazen was conflicted with these opposite ideologies. I understood his struggle. Throughout his entire life, he was spoon-fed a rhetoric that nobles were higher beings, and commonfolk were just tools to use for a noble’s power. However, seeing my own power and my land’s power, his beliefs conflicted with the reality before his eyes.

“How is it that you spout the same ramblings as the traitor Princess, yet you are able to win respect from all of the nobles?”

“I have no answer to that question, unfortunately. I have never personally known the Princess, nor have I had any contact from her people to begin with. All that I can do with my power is to fight for the right to live for my people.”

Tazen scoffed and shook his head. He walked away in frustration.

“I will return with these approvals tomorrow, my Lord. Please prepare more work for me when I am finished.”

I smirked in awe. He dared to command a Count.

***

A letter from Juliana arrived a few weeks after our consul exchange.

“Sire,

I bring you disturbing news. The darker-skinned refugees are being held against their will. They are apparently Princess Stephania’s people who were captured in a few skirmishes, and escaped into this county to be captured again. They are being put to work without pay and proper care.

They told me that more are coming, and they can’t stop them.

To preserve this alliance, please don’t confront Axten about this yet. Let me do my job here. I will make sure that the slaves are taken care of in the shadows. Axten has his eyes mostly on me, so he stopped assaulting the slaves. My involvement saved a few people so far.

I will write back when I hear more.

J”

I had suspected as much. However, to my surprise, the tunnel people were darker skinned. Usually, when people hid from the sun, they turned quite pale. In this case, perhaps the tunnel people were more related to the Arkan people. It was once conjectured by historians that the First Era Imperium was established in what we know currently as Arkan. Perhaps the tunnel people were the direct descendants of the Imperium people? This was speculation, but the circumstantial evidence and the details in Ulises’ book seemed to align in that favor.

During the weeks after this letter, I had noticed that Tazen had been shadowing me from afar. He seemed inclined to watch every footstep I take. It was impressive since he was able to perform the work I asked him to, and still had the time of day to spy on me. A boy that age should be courting girls, not stalking me for his brother. I decided to throw him a small bone for his brother. I sent for General Phylx to have a “secret” meeting with him at the tavern. Most of the patrons there were older soldiers and farmers, so Tazen would stand out like a bear in the desert.

At the tavern, I loudly explained plans to increase my patrols along the Wechia keep’s walls. It was true that I was planning to surround the keep with my patrols, but without context, it sounded like I was planning an invasion. I noticed the only young kid in the tavern to stand up and run to the exit while hastily scribbling on a small piece of parchment. Had he been under my wing instead of his brother, he would not have struggled to this extent. I could not imagine the embarrassment of older commonfolk staring at him while he attempted to listen closely in the noisy environment.

The next day, Axten suddenly barged through my doors with his Captain-at-Arms and a few of his “elite” guards.

“Rytus! I demand an explanation! Why have you increased your patrols around my keep? Have no you courtesy of declaring a war against me before breaking the alliance? Tell me now before I smite you as you stand.”

One of my patrolmen jogged to me to update my plans. I had instructed him to speak very loudly.

“Sire, the flowers around the Wechia keep’s walls have been planted. Shall I send our boys and girls home, or should we add more flowers on the main road to the keep?”

“Thank you for your update, Captain. Lord Axten is here with us. Perhaps he would appreciate some flowers along his main road. Would you enjoy that, Lord Axten?”

Axten’s guards looked at each other with utter confusion. Axten was completely embarrassed in front of my entire court.

“Oh, why did you not inform me of this prior? I had utterly mistaken your plans for something else. I apologize profusely for barging into your keep.” Axten sweeped around for Tazen, and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. He pulled him just outside of my keep’s doors.

“Tazen, you fucking monkey of an imbecile! You dare embarrass me in front of my allies! If I were not a noble, your teeth would be pulled out one by one where you stand. Do best be careful next time, because if I am angry again, I may demonstrate my true power to you.” The words were loud and they thundered around the keep. Hearing those words did a number on me. I stormed out to meet them. I saw Tazen cowering in the corner of the wall and the door, with Axten’s sword drawn at him.

“Lord Axten, I believe you should leave at once. I do not allow violence in my keep, and if you continue this, you will have forfeited this alliance over your temper. Would you be able to face your parents with that failure?”

Axten sheathed his sword and smiled at me.

“Of course, Lord Rytus. I apologize for my actions today. I will issue consequences in a different way, and not in front of you and your court. I will leave at once. MEN!” His guard scrambled to escort him home.

I offered my hand to Tazen to stand up, but he slapped my hand away. I finally noticed that there were bruises along his arm under his purple shirt sleeve.

“Captain, see to it that Sir Tazen gets treated for his wounds and give him some privacy afterwards.”

I had seen many nobles maim and kill their siblings over skirmishes for a title when I was younger. I had seen commonfolk fight their family members for scraps of food during the Great Winter. This, I had not seen before. Axten was unbefitting of a man. I was on the edge of my tolerance.

On the same night, I received a new letter that would open the door to exterminating this pest.

“Sire,

Thanks to whatever made Axten leave his chambers, I went ahead and read his letters and plans.

I found an unopened letter that was delivered earlier today. It was stamped with an unusual crest. I didn’t recognize what it was, so I opened it.

It’s a request from someone named S.T. for Axten to invade Lythan. If Axten invades Lythan and brings your head to S.T., he will exalt him to the title of Duke. He writes in the letter that Axten’s uncle will be the next king soon, so he has to make the choice today.

If Axten reads this letter, we will have to fight him and his crooked uncle at the same time.

I suggest that we plan to break the alliance and attack him first before the black-capes march through to help convince him.

Also, more dark-skinned refugees have arrived, and they were thrown in the dungeons to keep them out of your sight. I’ll break them out and send them your way.

J”

My intuition was proven correct again. However, I should not break the alliance just yet. If I were 10 years younger, my army would be behind those walls months ago.

Axten and Tazen Quidox were the sons of Count Earulius Quidox, County of Illiacus, which was directly east of Wechia. The alliance served a purpose: to keep S.T. 's influence at arm's length, and to have a buffer zone between Illiacus and my lands. If I broke the alliance too soon, the black-capes would take advantage and invade me from the north and west while I fought a war on the east against the Quidox family. If I do not break the alliance, the black-capes would surround me before long, and the Quidox family would invade my lands with the backing of Duke Gregus anyways.

The only thing I could do was to wait for an opportunity. To my luck, an opportunity would come sooner than I had ever hoped.