The King's War

6. Plans

NATHANIEL

The dukes had mixed reactions to Frost's proposal, as predicted. Balthazar, ever the pacifist, was against it, claiming the South was not lost and that once they'd gotten over the hurdle of their succession crisis, things would go back to a semblance of normality. Jeffrey seemed inclined to agree. Marcus and Roland, on the other hand, voiced arguments in favor of war, claiming that the benefits of more territory and better standing with our western neighbors outweighed the risks.

James seemed to have no opinion one way or the other. Strange, given his ties to the kingdom. It was plain to see that despite his firsthand experience with both Sheridan's kingdom and his killer, he'd be of no help to me.

I was torn in three directions. War was a risky and costly expense, one I desperately wanted to avoid. My options seemed to be either do the right thing by fighting a losing battle to defend the South, do the selfish thing and join forces with the invaders, or simply stay neutral. The latter seemed the most enticing option, which is why I had a feeling no one would allow me to take it. That is, if I couldn't persuade King Abel to call the war off entirely by limiting his allies...

After finally calling the cabinet meeting to a close, I went back to my office and made a few phone calls to the South's other neighbors. Neither gave definitive answers, however. Which meant the only thing I could do was sit and wait, hoping they'd make the right decision. It wasn't something I was particularly fond of doing.

I wondered whether I should take the South up on their offer. Perhaps I really have been soft with the rebels. Despite the charge for treason being execution, they'd been growing bolder. The incident aboard the Empress will not be the last.

Pity I had so few leads, though. Whoever had shot me covered their tracks well. It was the work of not only a professional, but someone with inside knowledge about my movements. Unfortunately, questioning every member of the staff proved to be futile.

The bullet was the only promising piece of evidence. A similar make had killed Daniel Morgan, the original Duke of Virginia, five years ago. The memory of that night still haunted me. Daniel insisted he had something important to tell me, but never got the chance. What had he meant to say? And who was the bullet really meant for? Was I lucky that Daniel died in my place, or was he the intended target after all? Had he found out something incriminating and been silenced for it? What could he have possibly known that could have cost him his life? The questions plagued me for years.

I couldn't allow the rebels to celebrate Sheridan's death. Regardless of whether or not the man deserved his fate, or what the witch's motives been for killing him, I could not let the matter simply drop like Balthazar was suggesting. She needed to be eliminated, to provide an example of what happens to those who threaten the vampire order. The removal of a wildly dangerous and powerful entity was simply a bonus.

It was ironic, however. I'm sure humans had the exact same train of thought when they first learned that our existence wasn't a myth.

Getting rid of the witch appeared to be no simple task. I couldn't conceive of an army large and effective enough to take her down. They may have weapons and manpower, but she had the ability to alter reality to suit her own whims.

Both the South and Texas claimed to have a way of dealing with her, however. Knowing King Abel and the trigger-happy King John, I had a feeling their plan involved reducing New Orleans to rubble and hoping the witch didn't crawl out of the ashes. The South would never stoop to such depths, which left them as the more favorable option once again. But throwing my lot in with them would mean an uphill battle. I wasn't sure anyone could survive fighting on two fronts, against both the witch and the west.