Journey to the Forgotten Island

Chapter 30 - Fantasies

Governor Adelmo was sitting at his desk with Sir Dini Erosi and Ami Conto, looking over deeds and edicts, when Sir Esteban Busci entered.

Esteban Busci showed none of his previous shame and quivering deference as last time. He walked straight to Toma with his head high, holding out a scroll. Toma finished signing the paper that allowed Dini to continue printing more Magoan Paper. He then signed another scroll that allowed for the printing and reading of a poem praising Toma's rule of Magoa that had been commissioned by Dini and would be printed by the pulp and paper mills that Toma had paid for. Only then did he turn to Esteban's scroll.

It was a letter signed by the Duro Council ordering that the Governor should do whatever was necessary to allow Esteban to mine the village.

'How did you get this letter so fast, Esteban?' Toma asked. 'It has been but a half-moon since we last spoke.'

'The council did not wait for my word,' Esteban replied, staring into Toma's eyes with new defiant confidence. 'The King requires swift expediency, Governor. They seemed to guess that you would not wish to mine the village and sent a command right away.'

Toma felt his face go warm. He was the governor. That a low noble was giving him commands by way of the King was an embarrassment.

Esteban wasted no time. 'I apologise, Governor. But I must speak bluntly. I will not wait for your answer. Suffice it to say that if you do not command the Captain to mine the village within two days, I will write back to the empire. Though you are my superior, I speak with the voice of the Duro Council. If the Emperor King hears that you have been an obstacle to his will, he will depose you before either imprisoning you or executing you. There is nothing more to say. I bid you good afternoon and good day to you Sir Dini and Ami Conto.'

Before Toma could even breathe, Esteban turned on his heals and left.

'The Council have called for my head more than my enemies ever did on the battlefield,' Toma sighed.

Dini looked up from his own papers where he scribbled his plans for the island. 'You have been refuting orders from the Emperor, Governor?'

Toma shook his head and took a drink of red wine. The rich fruity liquid sent a pang of pain through his rotting tooth before he swallowed. No matter how much olive oil he swirled in his mouth in the mornings and evenings, his tooth grew worse. The herbalist said he would have to pull it out if the tooth did not give any sign of healing.

'I have never seen Esteban Busci so determined,' Ami commented.

'Well, his success will win his family a final pardon for their resistance to the Vulnir invasion,' Dini said. 'He cannot fail.'

Toma shook his head. 'Do I dream or does the Emperor control the entire Empire through threats?'

'Threats are not needed when liberty and wealth are all for the taking,' Dini noted. 'A sweet enough carrot can render useless the stick. But the Emperor knows that times are not easy forever. Never doubt the strength of Duro.'

'Governor,' Ami said. 'I know you wish to remain peaceful, but you must follow such commands if they come from the Council. To refuse is to risk assassination.'

'Miro cannot touch me,' Toma said.

'There is also the matter of the other potential spy,' Ami said.

'That is another matter – but it is Ximena, I am sure.'

Ami raised his eyebrows. 'You are sure of this?'

'I found correspondence between her and Torros in her desk. Months of letters from Torros and some unsent letter from Ximena. This is the only way the information about the gold could have reached the empire.'