11 Homecoming IV (1/2)
The road from Akelei to Oste was not normally so deserted. It was only that today, everyone else who needed to had already gone to the capital days or at least hours ahead. If they lived too far away with no easy means to reduce their travel time, most people would stay in their village, town, or domain and from there, remotely share in their queendom's grief.
But not alone. Even now, in the town that the only late-coming parties had just passed through, proprietors were preparing to close shops, citizens were getting ready to leave their homes, and activities that were not strictly a matter of life and death were being suspended.
With gray spirits, the Arnicans in Akelei would be gathering in their market square in a few hours' time. There, their elected Head would preside over the citizens' ceremony to honor Prince Dieter and bid him a final farewell. All across the land, anywhere people could gather, the scene would be the same.
While it was true that this Prince had not inspired tender feelings even among those closest to him, the Arnicans knew he had been a proud, fair, and brave commander of soldiers. They had ultimately lost in the last war with Lys, but Prince Dieter himself had proven his mettle in battle. He had since been in charge of their border defense against the northern states, which, before this sudden turn, had been largely preoccupied with warring against each other.
It was an unexpected move for the northerners to assassinate a prince of a country they had no actual quarrel with. Most Arnicans still had no idea why it even happened – or which among the seven states of Almar, Askari, Fonn, Holmi, Kelda, Kjarr, and Selja had truly instigated it.
All they knew for certain was that for months leading up to the event, the Warlord of Askari had been having talks with Prince Dieter in the Queen's name – talks that had centered on the possible defection of Askari to Arnica. The Warlord had shown his sincerity in this by letting the Prince choose the meeting places along their shared border. He would then arrive there unarmed, bringing only a handful of escorts.
The Arnicans had not been so naïve as to think the defection would be completed, let alone smoothly. Did the Askarians agree with their Warlord's wishes? How would the other Warlords react? Would Arnica absorb Askari into their territory only to defend it from attacks on multiple fronts, and perhaps from within?
But with all that said, given how Arnica had lost a portion of their western territory to Lys just nine years prior, the prospect of gaining a new region had been too tempting to dismiss.
When weeks and months passed with the Warlord of Askari not only still alive but also still firmly in control of his state, the Arnican side could not help but lower their guards in increments. To wit, Prince Dieter had shown up to the last couple of meetings with only the same number of elite soldiers as the other man.
After all, the Warlord had proven himself capable. He had been aware of all the risks, and he had placed adequate measures against them. There was a real chance the merging of territories would truly happen, so the Arnicans had elected to show their sincerity in return.
During that final, fatal meeting, the Warlord of Askari had also been killed, not by Arnican retaliation but by the same duplicity that had taken the Prince's life.
The elite Arnican soldiers reacted the instant the northerners made their move, but their valiant defense had not been enough – their equally elite enemies had entered the engagement knowing they will not be getting out of it alive. They spared none of their energies for escaping, and certainly not for defending their own lord.
Surviving soldiers had reported that the Warlord of Askari was as surprised as the Arnicans were by his own men's actions. A true warrior, he recovered in a flash, drawing his own concealed blade to attack the nearest of his treacherous men. A second one had closed in on him just as quickly, piercing his heart from behind.
Though it was wretchedly too late, shrewder minds recognized how much this series of events stank of long-range planning. If the Askarians had only been against their Warlord's decision to surrender their independence to a foreign power, they did not have to wait until that moment. They could have picked any number of place and time to assassinate him – and only him.
What actual need would they have to kill Prince Dieter as well? Nothing.
Unless, as seemed apparent from the survivors' accounts, the Prince's death had been their true goal all along.
The question of who had masterminded it was still a mystery, but the question of why was easy enough to answer. With Prince Dieter gone, Arnica's future leadership now fell either on an untested boy or on an oddball princess.
Most importantly, its current monarch was female. To Warlords who only believed in the rule of might, the Queendom of Arnica had just become easy picking…
…And such an insult would never be tolerated.
Yes, Arnicans of all walks were grieving. They worried about their future. But stronger than their sorrows, greater than their fears, there was an overpowering rage.
How DARE the brutes look at them and see weakness? While the northern states had spent the last odd centuries fighting amongst themselves, it had been two hundred years since Arnica was last embroiled in civil war. During that time of internal peace, they had steadily become powerful and prosperous; their wealth was now second only to the eastern Empire of Zahr, and though reduced, their military might was still not something to be laughed at.
They achieved all this by focusing only on the truly important things, which did not include a person's gender, only his or her capabilities. They did perhaps put too heavy an emphasis on rank and bloodlines, but it had been working well for maintaining general order and for limiting the power a single person could hold.
An inept, abusive, or corrupt noble or royal would not stay in his or her position for long. A Crown Heir who does not have it in him or her to manage the country would not inherit. Even their poorest citizens, still considerably well off compared with those of other countries, would always have his or her right to live protected. And as long as they had the will and the ability, everyone would have plenty of chances to improve their lot in life.
If the northern fools thought that Arnicans would not fight to the bitterest end to defend this ”weak” queendom of theirs – if by ”weak” they meant ”nearly damn perfect” – they will all find in their dying moments just how wrong they had been.
Indeed… many northerners already did.
Four days ago, within the same hour of the assassination, the Lords and Ladies whose domains bordered Askari, Almar, and parts of Fonn had each received a note through messenger birds. It was from the company of soldiers under the Prince's command who had not been with him during the ambush, and they were asking for aid.
The exact nature of this ”aid” had not been specified. It was therefore free for anyone to ”misinterpret.” Thus, the rulers had mobilized their private garrisons to ”practice drills” with the border troops stationed nearest their domain.