King Agamon was supposed to leave Kalli the day he arrived, bearing his son's body on its final journey back to Genda.
But when Kelita told him what she had done to Morabi, those plans eventually went out the window.
"You idiot!" Agamon had thundered. "You think my son would have wanted Morabi imprisoned? Dead? For what? Agdel was a soldier, following orders. My son, like every military man, knew the risks!"
"I... I overreacted," Kelita had murmured, her admission prompting an almost physical pain to sear her chest.
"You're damn right you overreacted! You put your emotions before your job, which is to keep this empire safe in your husband's absence," Agamon had spread his arms. "Well, Morabi's gone. You obviously don't need him anymore, because you have a plan to defeat Votrek. So let's hear it, Kelita."
Kelita had wrestled with confiding Morabi's secret mission to Agamon. Ultimately, she vetoed it. Not because she didn't trust him. But she had no wish to be reminded of the folly of entrusting such a dangerous mission to a sixty-year-old man.
"You've made your point, uncle," Kelita had raised her chin defiantly. "Can we move on? There are thousands of the most battle-hardened soldiers in the world camped on our doorstep. And I know you want to be with our family in Genda. But I need you here."
Agamon had stared at her, grinding his teeth in frustration. Then he threw up his hand in defeat.
"Fine. So be it. Summon the war council."
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Unlike the Imperial council, the war council was rarely summoned. In fact, the scheduled meeting at dawn would make it the third time in the empire's seventy-year history that the war council had ever been summoned.
Previously, it was summoned by Moutassim a day before the Battle of Bremon. And before that, it was summoned thirty-three years ago by Emperor Abdullah II during the secession crisis.
Kelita and Agamon stayed up into the wee hours of the morning, as he sought to prepare her for the war council. She got a crash course in war strategy and military terminology. When the time for the meeting finally arrived, they swept through the palace hallways together with their heads held high.
Kelita wore a brown leather breastplate interwoven with gold, her black silk skirt trailing behind her. It had been years since she dressed for battle. And that was only to train in the deadly art of spear dancing.
Of course, Sahelia was always a better spear dancer. A better warrior. A better...
Kelita shook those bitter memories out of her head and stood back, as Agamon pushed open the council chamber door.
Unlike the Imperial council, where diplomats, Emperor and Chief Minister met to discuss policy, the war council allowed Emperor and Chief Minister to discuss war strategy directly with the army top brass. And from the looks of it, they were all here.
General Rodric was once again commander of the Imperial forces, with the death of Prince Agdel. But new leather armour and freshly braided grey locks could not disguise the shame he felt from their loss at the hands of Votrek. When Kelita looked him over, his eyes trailed away.
General Sibanda, commander of the cavalry unit, was also there. He had always been Kelita's favourite officer. Tall, broad-chested, brown skinned and with not a single hair on his body as far as she could see, Sibanda came from a noble family and wore his status on his sleeve. He also possessed a sharp military intellect.
General Kamal was another matter entirely. Short and thin, with a reedy voice that made him appear even younger, he was Chief Hussein's youngest son and commander of the Mathusian regiment in the imperial force.
Kelita turned to look at her uncle. Besides Commander of the Imperial forces, Agdel had also personally commanded his native Genda unit. Now that he was gone, she was counting on Agamon taking his place.
"Uncle..."
"Way ahead of you," Agamon grabbed her hand and gave a reassuring squeeze. "I'll lead the Gendarians into battle. You have no worries."
She smiled and turned back to the table.
"That just leaves the sumosos. Is there no one to represent them at this meeting?"
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Despite all her discomfort, Pathrice dozed off at some point in time. In her dreams she was hunting antelopes again with Sahelia, hugging each other when the Princess's spear hit home.
Something or someone woke her up with a start. She sputtered and choked. She couldn't breathe, couldn't move. She screamed into her shroud and twisted her body desperately, forgetting in her panic what she was trapped under. Then she felt a hand close around her ankle and her palpitating heart almost gave out.
With a final surge of adrenaline, Pathrice hauled her body out from under the salt. By sheer instinct, her vicelike arms wrapped around the throat of whoever had grabbed her ankle and she collapsed back into the salt with her sputtering victim, trapped by her powerful legs wrapped around his waist.
"Pathrice no!" Someone shouted, as if from a faraway dream. Someone grabbed her arm, which was already being clawed at by the man she was choking.
The shroud was abruptly pulled away and she was looking up at Rayne and Sheryn's worried faces. She looked down. Kaygen's eyes were already rolling back in his head.
"Oh shit, oh shit," Pathrice gasped, pushing him away and scrambling back. Kaygen coughed into the salt, struggling to catch his breath.
"We're here, we're in Kalli! We made it through," Sheryn squeaked in excitement, while Rayne went to check on Kaygen.
"Really? We made it?" Pathrice laughed nervously, licking her chapped lips before turning to Kaygen. "Thank you so so much and I'm so sorry for almost choking you out. I... I was disoriented..."
"Just go," Kaygen managed to gasp. "Hurry! Guards say... a war council has been called."
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Kelita sighed and took her seat. "I guess we'll have to start without them then. Now..."
General Kamal cleared his throat and stood, eyes shifting nervously. Kelita and Agamon looked at him in amazement.
"Yes General?" Kelita propped her jaw and drummed her fingers on the ancient ebony council table.
"Well... I... I have been authorized by my father, to... demand certain concessions if the Mathusian troops are to take part in the war against Sieberon."
"Certain concessions? What the hell does that mean?" Agamon leaned forward, his eyes boring through Kamal. Large built like Agdel, but with an abundance of white beard and long, white dreadlocks, Agamon was downright intimidating when provoked.
"Well," Kamal swallowed. "I have been authorized... to... to ask for the hand of... Princess Sahelia in marriage. Otherwise, Mathus troops will return home with me."
Agamon rose to his full, towering height and glared at Kamal. It was as if fury rolled off of him like fog from ice.
"How dare you ambush my niece at a time like this to bargain for your own selfish desires! How dare you!"
Kelita put her hand on her uncle's arm and also stood. Despite her best efforts to keep her temper under control, her entire body trembled. It did not matter she had tried to marry Sahelia off numerous times. Now, her authority was being tested.
"Tell your father the answer is no, Kamal. I do not negotiate under duress. Did you two think me weak because I am under siege? Or maybe because I am a woman? Because you would not have dared twist my husband's arm if he was here. What you will do is honour your commitments to the imperial army. Or else, you and your people will be treated as hostiles when I'm through with Votrek. That I can authorize."
Cowed, Kamal sat down in his seat and tried to make himself small. His downcast eyes were fixed on the shiny ebony table, as though it contained the answers to all the mysteries of the universe.
"Great," Kelita cleared her throat as she sat. "As I was saying..."
There was a knock on the door. Kelita turned around, irritation threatening to burst through. But when the door opened, that irritation quickly turned to horror.
An Egyptian mummy stood before them. Its clothes were ragged and black with dirt, its leather tunic looked worn out and its feet were white, as though it had rolled in dust before its arrival. On its arms were a few strips of grimy cloth hanging loose.
But it was the face that drew her attention the most. At least, what she could see of the face. The mummy's skin was cracked and caked with a white substance and strips of cloth covered one side of its face. On the other side, its eye was reddened.
"What the..." Agamon threw down his chair and reached for his sword. Behind him, Rodric did likewise and Sibanda clutched a spear. Agamon stepped in front of Kelita.
"Wait, stop!" the mummy said in a surprisingly human, feminine sounding voice, holding out its hands. It did not seem as though its vocal cords had been rotted. "Please, I apologize for my condition, but I am an Imperial army officer!"
Agamon looked down at Kelita, then at Rodric.
"Oh really?" Agamon said. "We have no female soldiers in the Imperial forces. Except for the..."
"Sumosos," the mummy finished for him, before straightening and raising its fist to its chest in the standard Imperial army salute. "I am Pathrice, designated commander of the Sumoso unit."
"Designated?" Kelita stood. "Designated by whom? My sister was commander of the Sumoso unit."
"Before she left Bremon, she named me commander of the unit. I've spent two days of non stop travel, getting back here. Past the Sieberon forces. And I've come to take my rightful place at the war council table."
They looked at General Rodric and he nodded. So they sat Pathrice down, Agamon calling for water and some food to be brought as she briefed them on everything that had happened in Bremon.
She told them how they were surrounded in the Rozaic palace by an angry Bremonian mob, out for the blood of the invaders. Of how soldiers and fellow sumosos caught outside were butchered.
Pathrice put down her spoon in her bowl of oatmeal porridge. "We were holding for the imperial forces to relieve us. That relief never came. What happened?"
Agamon squeezed Kelita's hand. Rodric cleared his throat.
"The imperial forces were ambushed by the Sieberonians, on their way to relieve you. General Agdel was killed on the battlefield," Rodric declared solemnly.
Unshed tears shimmered in Pathrice's eye. She turned to Kelita.
"I'm sorry for your loss, your majesty."
Kelita nodded in acknowledgement and waved her hand. "Continue with your story."
Pathrice told them of the return of Khalid to Bremon, their flight, of how they easily enlisted the help of Kaygen of Aruba to sneak them past the besieging Sieberon forces. Sibanda laughed, a deep throaty laugh.
"Very daring of him. The Sieberon's have been letting all but foodstuff into Kalli. But that policy could have changed at any moment," Sibanda said in wonder.
Kelita smiled, as she recalled her last encounter Kaygen. She was surprised he had not refused to help the Sumosos. She made a mental note to ensure he was richly rewarded... if she was still empress when the civil war was over.
Rodric's face was serious as he leaned forward. "So there are just four of you left? Four sumosos?"
"Three sumosos, including myself," Pathrice said, looking down. "And a Bremonian boy we have adopted into our unit, who we intend to train."
Rodric threw up his hand. "We need more Sumosos if they are to provide adequate support for our troops! We have to build back the unit."
"We don't have the luxury of time," Kelita said, shaking her head before she turned to Pathrice. "That will be your priority if we win this war. You and your friends. Recruiting more sumosos. Travel the whole empire if you have to, but I want that unit back to what it once was and better."
Pathrice nodded. Kelita looked around the table. "And now, let's talk strategy."