Clash of Captains

Chapter 3

Aneira wrapped her pale knuckles against the tall iron door that sanctioned off the cabinet room from the rest of the stronghold. She had rushed in out of breath only moments before as she and Claer had touched ground. By now it was fully dark, the last colors seeping from the sky as the sun disappeared completely. Candles provided the only light along the hall, glowing with a hot white flame specific to the special cotton used for the wicks. The light bounced off the slate of the walls in a dizzying dance, mesmerizing Aneira until the door before her slid open and she was welcomed inside.

The captain stepped into the room, giving a nod of thanks to the young man who had opened the door for her. She sat down in her usual chair midway down the long table. Three others were waiting for her: the minister of agriculture, Las; the minister of trade, Morres; and the leader of Ledah himself, Duke Cadogan.

"Ser arden, Captain." The three murmured in greeting, and Aneira repeated the phrase in response. It was a traditional Ledian greeting that no one had thought to replace or take away; the words roughly meant "stars above" and had originally been a blessing in respect to Sera, the goddess of the stars and all things bright. As Aneira settled herself into her seat, attempting the impossible challenge of getting comfortable despite its stiff wooden back, her grey eyes darted to the duke in particular. She expected praise from him for the successful battle.

Sure enough, the man's curly red mustache twisted up to reveal a wide smile. "You performed most admirably today, Captain. Well done. It is thanks to you that we have been able to expand beyond the woods to the west." Cadogan shifted in his chair, his large stomach likely making it even harder of a time to get comfortable. And yet he never complains, Aneira noted thoughtfully.

"Thank you, Duke," Aneira replied, her lips quirking up into a small smile. Her cheeks took on a bit of an embarrassed flush; even though she immensely enjoyed earning praise, it always got her flustered. She cleared her throat, painfully aware of the two ministers' eyes watching her carefully from across the table. Aneira turned her attention to Morres. "How have you been faring on the outskirts of the war? Have there been any develops in the claiming of the Dregian trading routes?"

"Things are well. Dreg tried to attack us earlier today, using your battle as a distraction for us, but our ships out-manned them. They stood no chance, so we have begun our claim of their smaller trading paths in the southeast. Soon Dreg will be completely blocked off from their southern trading partners. That is where they get most of their armor shipments from, so we should soon have an advantage against them." The young man's heavily accented voice made it difficult for Aneira to understand him at first. From what Aneira had heard, he had come from an island off the coast of Ledah; his previous knowledge of sea-fare from the environment he had grown up in had gotten him quickly promoted into his current position. Aneira didn't think she would ever be able to match his skill and smarts when it came to navigating across the ocean and planning trade routes.

Duke Cadogan nodded. "Thank you for that pleasing news, Minister Morres. You've accomplished many good things during our campaign so far." He told the man in his husky voice. The young man nodded bashfully; apparently everyone in Ledah had trouble accepting compliments. The duke finally turned his attention to Las. "And? How is agricultural expansion going, Minister Las?"

They quirked a smile, twisting a finger around a strand of their pale powdered hair as they found the proper words to form an answer with. "For the most part, expansion has been successful, sir. We've managed to clear some of the woods along the roads of conquest. The climate is perfect for growing some more valuable produce; I have no doubt we'll benefit immensely from having this new land at our disposal." Las's bright green eyes darted to find Aneira's; she felt slightly intimidated under their sharp gaze. "We haven't reached any problems so far in exporting goods to the troops, either. The current advancing squadron should receive their next shipment in... Oh, I don't know. Eight days? Seven? Either way, they'll be shipped soon if they haven't already. I'll confirm that when I return after the meeting."

Aneira nodded. "Our legion has just been starting to run low. Your shipment is timed perfectly." A small smile spread across her lips as a confident grin broke out across Las's face.

"Of course, Captain. Did you expect anything less from me?"

"Never," she replied with a soft laugh as the others sitting around the table burst into quiet chuckles. Las had always been the comic relief; with them there, cabinet meetings were never boring.

Duke Cadogan opened his mouth to say something — most likely to dismiss the meeting — when the iron door suddenly slammed open. Everyone at the table flinched at once; Cadogan and Morres jumped to their feet, while Las raised a hand to guard their face and Aneira clutched for the sword at her side.

"Oh," Duke Cadogan murmured at last, shaking his head with what sounded like a forced laugh. "No need to panic, everyone. It's just one of my messengers." He sat back down and the others hesitantly relaxed upon seeing the duke let down his guard.

"Actually, um, your dukeship..." The messenger sputtered, one fist trembling around the partly crumpled scroll he held. "There, uh, may actually be reason to panic..." His breath came in shaky pants; Aneira assumed that the boy had run full speed to deliver the message to the duke. "Th-there's, um..."

"Spit it out, boy." Cadogan snapped, his voice suddenly harsh.

The messenger's eyes widened with fear and he hurriedly nodded his head. "Yes, yes, of course. Sorry. I come here bearing news of an impending attack." Everyone at the table immediately straightened. Aneira felt her heart pick up its pace, instinctively readying her for a fight. "Guards at the far edge of the woods have reported increased activity in one of Dreg's camps. Someone caught word that Dreg is planning to attack within the next day, or sooner." He handed the scroll in his hand to Cadogan, as if just remembering that he held it, and the duke unrolled it to scan the page with a grim face.

"What the boy says is right," he admitted, voice quiet with concern. The duke waved a hand to dismiss the messenger, who gave a hurried bow before rushing out of the room, and raised his gaze to stare directly at Aneira. She felt her palms go sweaty at the sudden attention. "We'll have to send a fleet of warriors to meet them. Captain Aneira, will you be able to prepare a troop in time?"

"Of course," Aneira agreed. Her eyes dropped self-consciously to the table as she tried to organize her thoughts. She watched from the corner of her eye as Las reached out a hand to rest it reassuringly on top of hers. I'm not afraid, she wanted to tell them. I'm just thinking, and I can't do it with you all staring at me like this. "I should be able to gather a group of riders to meet them. We should be able to reach the camp by dawn if we fly fast enough. If we're not careful, the Dregian soldiers will be able to close us in with the woods at our back. We'll have to attack from above and try to surround them if we can." She raised her eyes to glance up at the others to confirm that they followed her plan. All she got from their expressions was a sort of grim admiration. In normal circumstances, Aneira would have grinned proudly for coming up with an idea so quickly, but war was hardly a normal circumstance.

"You know what to do," Duke Cadogan told her, and the satisfaction in his tone made hope flutter in Aneira's chest. "So do it."

The captain nodded and dashed out of the room to rally the troops.