Heir Apparent

Chapter 3

A dark smile slid over his lips. "At once." Then disappeared down the hall to find my lady in waiting. Thea probably would not be far.

"What do you think?" My left hand rested on the pommel of my sword, the metal and leather comforting, cooling my anger a bit. "Wasteland hired hands? The North has never been so bold."

General Merien stepped further into the room, leaving the space open for Thea as she rushed in, her arms filled with metal, and unceremoniously dumping it on my bed. Were I not so angry, it might have been amusing. She had probably never tended to a knight. Not that she would need to, I was quite capable of strapping my own armor on, even in a hurry.

"I think, Empress, that something doesn't smell right. Our own scouts and intelligence told us that the North was nothing more than a show of force. A troublesome show that would have been pushed back by the Golden Dragon simply showing their faces. The fight would and should have been far more political. Hired hands. I'm not sure it's the North. Someone wanted the Golden Dragon out of the way." The general stood a respectful distance away as I dressed.

Thea tried, she did, but I waved her off, pulling straps and buckles faster on my own. She finally moved to the side, hands fidgeting, before spotting the food tray and rushing to do something with it. I understood the impulse.

"Wanted them out of the way. For what? A move on the empire? Or on me? If it is me they want, I will gladly meet them on the battlefield." I pulled the last bit of leather roughly.

The general sighed. "I'd like nothing more than to march with you and burn them into the dirt, but you are empress now. You are far too important to be on the frontlines."

I took a step forward. "And I wasn't before?! I will not be stuck behind stone walls. Those were my men!"

"Beg your pardon, Empress, but they were not. They were my men. My responsibility and duty to protect them and see that they were not carelessly used. I will see to this disaster. I will take my armies and sort out this mess. You have the Twin Armies," he cut me off when I opened my mouth, "And General Lorr's army." I opened my mouth again, but he walked over and put a hand on each shoulder, crushing the paper between metal and flesh. "This is not a war that you have fought before, my Silver Wing. Let me do what you have appointed me to do."

I didn't like it. Searching his eyes, however, I knew that I would have to do it his way. His experience far trumped mine, especially with the mercenaries. I wasn't sure of the whole story, but I knew Merien had once had his dealings with them. "Fine. But you are to send word every day. I will not lose you and your army to whatever game is being played."

"What if it's not a game." The voice was small. I had forgotten that Thea was still standing there.

"Excuse me?" My attention focused on her. "Do you know something we don't?" Was this all a part of her warning earlier?

The smaller girl shook her head. "No. But, pardon me for saying, we were rather inward thinking for many years. What if it is the North? We know they've been pushing at the border. What if they got bold?"

I narrowed my eyes at her. "What do you know?"

She backed up, bumping into the chair I had been lounging in moments before. Thea reached behind her to steady it. "I just listen when my father and uncle talk. My uncle is a tradesman on the Western Sea. He's heard rumblings of privateers and more piracy toward the Northern shores. I don't know. Could be connected?"

"Could be a possibility, but Wasteland mercenaries are more than a bad bedtime story, child." General Merien was firm but not unkind to Thea. "If they did hire them, then this is nothing short of a declaration of war on our empire."