Richard Tuttle - Winged Warrior

“You bring up interesting points,” conceded Lord Padro. “Allow me to address them. I think we should graciously accept the training offered by the emperor. It costs us nothing, and it teaches our army the methods of our potential adversary. I see the training as a plus.”

“But our officers are becoming influenced by those who train them,” objected Lord Sydar.

“Not just the officers,” Lord Woroman shook his head. “Even the ordinary soldiers come back from Khadoratung singing the praises of their teachers. For our armies to be efficient, they must not look upon our enemies with favor.”

“Soldiers are impressionable,” shrugged Lord Padro. “Their minds can be conditioned just as easily as the minds of servants. I am sure that we can find troops loyal to us that will visit each other’s estates and tell tales of how bad the trainers in Khadoratung really are. Peppered with enough truth to be believable, they can spread horror stories of the inadequacies of the trainers. Besides, our goal is not necessarily to fight the rest of the Khadoran clans. It is to change the foolish laws that this new emperor has foisted upon us. Perhaps we can even be successful in removing the emperor so he cannot cause any more harm to our clans.”

“What about the Chula?” asked Lord Sydar.

“Ah, yes,” Lord Padro nodded thoughtfully. “A particularly sticky point for those us who share borders with the barbarians. The law says that the Chula are now allies of Khadora. So what? Have none of us ever had war with allies before? If an ally attacks you, are you not justified in attacking back? And could anyone really expect a victorious clan not to annex those conquered lands into his own estate? If the Chula attack us, they will be the ones who broke the law, not us.”

“So attacking the Chula is not really out of the question,” summarized Lord Woroman. “We just have to make it look like the Chula started it.”

“Precisely,” smiled Lord Padro, “but let us not dwell so much on the warfare aspect of this struggle. Our goal is to return Khadora to the way it used to be. That means removing Marak or making it so his power is ineffectual. I think we can accomplish this through the Assembly of Lords.”

“You mean to debate it?” Lord Sydar asked with shock. “The first lord to stand before that body and criticize the emperor will be branded as a renegade. It would be safer to just handle things here on our own.”

“I disagree with your last statement,” Lord Padro shook his head. “I have laid out ways to get around the laws, but if we merely disregard the laws as things are now, Marak will concentrate his efforts on us. I do not want that kind of attention. You said that the first lord to criticize the government would draw the wrath of the emperor. I think you are positively correct in that assumption.”

“You are contradicting yourself,” frowned Lord Sydar. “Either way we draw attention to ourselves, but you still propose doing it through the Assembly of Lords?”

“In a fashion,” grinned Lord Padro. “I think we should band together and fight this through the Assembly of Lords, but I did not say that we should be the first to bring the issue up.”

“I am confused,” sighed Lord Woroman. “Explain what your plan is.”

“I propose to have a clan start a discussion about the unfairness of these new laws,” explained Lord Padro. “It will not be one of us who starts it, but as soon as it is started, we will immediately join the chorus of those protesting. Once that discussion is fully engaged, there will already be enough doubt about the validity of the new laws. Should one of us, or another clan, then be attacked by the Chula, who then can blame the ensuing fight on us?”

“I see where you are going with this,” Lord Sydar nodded with appreciation, “but what clan would be foolish enough to be the first to speak before the Assembly of Lords?”

“I can think of four clans that would be prime candidates for such a plan,” smiled Lord Padro. “The Vessi, Glamaraldi, Lejune, and Pikata clans come to mind.”

“The four clans that hosted the Jiadin warriors?” asked Lord Woroman.

“Exactly,” nodded Lord Padro. “Of course as soon as they speak, many will write them off as being sore losers in their battle with Emperor Marak, but if we immediately jump in and agree with their complaint before the bickering begins, the complaints will appear to be valid.”

“You have given this a lot of thought,” complimented Lord Sydar. “Seven clans from opposite ends of the country banding together to voice complaints that may very well be common to many other clans. It just might work.”

“Especially if we can get others to jump in with us,” added Lord Padro. “We should not speak loudly about this plan to others just yet, but we should visit with other lords to see where their feelings lie. When it comes time to spring the attack, we will know which lords are likely to support us. We can prime those individual lords to quickly step in and support the complaints.”

“How do we do that without revealing the plan?” asked Lord Woroman.

“Talk to other lords,” suggested Lord Padro. “Just casual conversation at first until you learn where their sympathies lie. If they seem like they might be supportive, mention that you would consider voting against these laws if you ever had the chance. See what their reactions are. We do not need to actually speak of this particular plan to anyone. We just need to get other lords to promise to vote against the laws if given the chance. Leave the rest to me.”

“What will you do?” asked Lord Sydar.

“I am going to journey to the four clans that we talked about,” answered Lord Padro. “It will be just a neighborly visit to see if they need any help getting their estates back in order. Once I am invited in, I will sew the seeds of dissent and arrange for one of them to ignite the spark.”

* * *

The Imperial Guard marched along the corridor and halted in front of the guards outside the entrance to the Emperor’s suite. The two guards nodded perfunctorily and opened the door. The Imperial Guard marched into the office and halted in front of the Emperor’s desk. Emperor Marak looked up and smiled.

“How do you get away with impersonating an Imperial Guard?” asked the Emperor.

“Marshal Chack and I have come to an understanding,” grinned Fisher. “If he allows me to wear the uniform of an Imperial Guard, I promise not to assassinate any more emperors.”

“Well, that is a relief,” chuckled Marak. “What do you have to report?”

“I am concerned about the Island of Darkness,” admitted the spy. “Now that we know that Aakuta is the one who has been communicating with us, we can have a fair amount of confidence in the reports. The problem is, he has not been communicating since the rescue of the elf king.”

“Do you think he was killed by Vand?” asked the Emperor.

“No,” Fisher shook his head, “at least not yet. After a long period of silence, he finally did communicate recently. He had little to say except for apologizing for his absence. He also set up a keyword as verification that the communication is from him. That concerns me greatly.”

“Why?’ questioned the Torak.

“Because it indicates that he is in some kind of trouble,” explained Fisher. “I tried to put myself in his position to better understand his lack of communications and his recent message.”

“And what conclusions did you come to?” prompted the Emperor.

“He is either close to discovery,” declared Fisher, “or he is close to death. Either would do. He is also concerned about others using an air tunnel to impersonate him. Perhaps they would try to spread false information.”