150 Spread Thin (2/2)
”I know what you're trying to say, but no matter how much Saliena hates merchants, the revival of his ancestral estate is far more important to him than his distaste for commoners. For now, his only chance to make Porcero relevant again are the merchants.”
”So the kid's safe, huh?” Dedrick mumbled as his hand ran across his stubble. ”Only leaves one.”
Corco followed Dedrick's eyes to the final figures on the board. Right in the center of Medala, halfway between Arguna and Qarasi, several figures in the blue of the south were huddled together along the mountain, surrounded by Pacha's red.
”Fadelio's position is... a problem.” At once, Corco's frown returned.
”Is Lord Nasica not reliable?” Tama asked.
”He is, for now. Nasica's a diehard member of the religious faction. On the other hand, Pacha and Viribus seem out to destroy the Pacha faith and replace it with the Arcavian nonsense-”
As soon as he caught his words, Corco looked up at Dedrick. Though the mercenary's faith had been insulted, he only raised his brows a bit.
”Sorry,” the king said before he looked back down. ”Anyways, there's good reason for Nasica to support us. I'm the only king who cares about our ancient faith. And by right, Pacha can't just attack his own lord's estate, even less if he doesn't want to make his followers nervous. Only question is: How long will he play by the rules? When will Pacha do something stupid again? Really, the sooner we get Fadelio and the craftsmen out of this bind, the better.”
After Corco had laid out all the information before them, there was a silence in the room, as all of them thought over the scenario they had found tehmselves in. In the end, Dedrick summed it up best.
”In short: We're fucked.”
Although Tama had already raised her hand to disagree, Corco silenced her with a stern look.
”Yup, pretty much,” he answered. ”We can't get any food from the center, because Pacha's got his army there. We can't get any food from the east because of the Bornish fleet and we can't get any from the west because Puscanacra's fleet can't compete against Huaylas. Even if we could get by without food for a while, we have several of our people trapped behind enemy lines, so the pressure to break the stalemate is on us.”
”We cannot attempt a sortie? Our troops are strong, and morale is high. Maybe we could surprise and overwhelm the enemy.” Tama had frowned ever since they had talked about Fadelio's situation. Of course she would know herself that her plan was unrealistic. Really, she just seemed worried about her brother.
”Are you crazy?” Dedrick laughed at her distress, always the sentimental kind. ”Attacking through the Narrows is a trash idea in any case, but they even have a massive advantage in men. Even worse, now they've got support from the Bornish. Who knows how many guns and cannons they have by now? With the castle's walls we still have the upper hand, but a direct battle is... a problem.”
”The great warriors of the south are unafraid of sacrifice.” An annoyed Tama raised her head to reach Dedrick's chin, not even all the way up to his smirk.
”Anyways,” Corco interrupted the argument before it could develop further. ”We need to get our people free first, to take some pressure off. Tama, can we get this done?”
”Absolutely. Brother already has ghosts with him. It might take a while to organize an escape, but we can return him without any troubles,” Tama puffed out her chest. Corco was quite happy to have the girl on the job. Not only was she competent, it would also keep her away from Saniya for longer and reduce her influence in the city. Although he felt a bit bad about his own suspicions, being careful was more important now than ever. After all, he was about to make a trip of his own.
”Perfect. So then all we need to solve is the 'don't starve' issue. Luckily, some of our new friends have already offered us an out.” As Corco looked to the western part of the map, his own grin returned.
”You're gonna do something stupid and reckless again, aren't you?”
”Well, I already wanted to meet the Verdant King and strike a deal. It's an important part of our future plans. Guess I'll just have to push this ahead in the schedule.”
”Wait, what? Who's gonna be in charge of the kingdom until you come back?”
Although Dedrick had expected a reckless plan, he might not have expected the king to leave his warring kingdom for a diplomatic mission.
”Well, everyone else is busy with something. You have to stay here to defend the center. Atau is stuck at sea, Fadelio and Brym trapped up north, Tama will be busy with the rescue mission. That only really leaves one, right?”
In the corner of the room, the sleepy Ronnie sprang to life. As if hit by a stun gun, he jumped to his feet.
”Oooh no!” He raised his hands in futile defense.
”Why not?” Corco laughed. ”You're good with people. Also, you can do math and such, so you can handle the bureaucratic parts well enough.”
”Don't say it!” the desperate chemist shouted.
”Until I come back, I just need someone to keep the machine rolling and make sure there's no revolutions.”
”Don't you dare!” His finger pointed, and his voice raised, Ronnie tried to spread menace, but the skinny chemist with the long, thin beard only widened Corco's grin.
”Until my return, Master Hieronymus Bombasticus will supervise Saniya.”
”But... I...” A deep sigh escaped Ronnie, as his shoulders slumnped in defeat. ”Sometimes I hate you, you know that?”
While Ronnie still cursed his fate, Corco's view had returned to the map. In his head, he added another two figurines: Ronnie in Saniya, and himself in the western Sea. Now they were spread out as much as possible, all of them on their own, all with their own challenges. Now wat the time to show what they were made of, all of them. Corco just hoped it would be enough.