Richard Tuttle - Island of Darkness

“That makes sense to me,” nodded MistyTrail. “I want to stand somewhere where I at least know the people so I can put that island behind me. Emperor Marak will help us get you two back to Elvangar. Trust us.”

“Permission granted, Mistake,” came the mage’s voice from the Khadoran ship. “We will alter course slightly to port. I suggest you do the same towards your starboard. We will meet in a few hours. Is that acceptable?”

“Very much so,” grinned Mistake.

“Time to feed the sharks,” MistyTrail said as Mistake broke the air tunnel. “There is no need for the Khadorans to see these bodies. Will you help me, Caldal?”

SunChaser sat in her private garden in Okata conversing with Lyra via an air tunnel.

“It is going to be very tricky,” declared SunChaser. “I think I can do it, but I may have reveal that I am a Sakovan spy to accomplish it.”

“Try not to reveal that if you can avoid it,” advised the Star of Sakova, “but if you must, do so. I cannot see any other way to accomplish our goal. The Katana directly controls four large armies of ten thousand men each. Even one of those armies could bring the Sakova to ruin.”

“I understand,” agreed SunChaser. “I know General Romero’s army left for Alamar yesterday, and General Valdey’s army is in the Sakova. That leaves General Didyk and General Kapla. Kapla is due here any minute. He is at a Katana’s Council meeting right now.”

“Keep me posted on which one is coming my way,” stated Lyra. “It is crucial to my plans.”

“You will be the first to know,” promised SunChaser as she heard a knock on the front door. “I have to run. I think he is here.”

SunChaser broke the air tunnel and raced out of the garden. She locked the door before crossing the room to answer the front door.

“General Kapla!” exclaimed SunChaser. “You are early.”

“I could not stay away, Cherri,” chuckled the Minister of Defense. “Why are you answering the door? Have you fired your staff?”

“No,” smiled Cherri as she opened the door wide to allowed the general to enter. “The dinner is already prepared so I let them have the rest of the day off. It will be just the two of us today.”

“What a pity,” General Kapla replied sarcastically. “I don’t know if I will be able to control myself.”

Cherri laughed as she closed the door. She led the general into the dining room.

“Sit down,” smiled Cherri. “I had them put the food on a cart. I will get it from the kitchen.”

General Kapla sat in his usual chair and stared at Cherri as she wheeled the cart into the dining room. Cherri watched the general licking his lips and giggled.

“Is that for me or the turkey?” asked Cherri.

“Both,” grinned the Minister of Defense. “Your dinners are always excellent. You should have your staff open a restaurant. You could make tons of money.”

“I already have tons of money,” giggled Cherri as she wheeled the cart to the end of the table so it was between the general’s chair and hers. “You now have quite a lot of it, too.”

“Really?” the general replied excitedly. “Tell me about it.”

“Well,” Cherri grinned as she sat down, “I have been buying and selling watula farms like crazy. I have managed to increase your wealth tenfold.”

“Tenfold?” echoed the Minister of Defense. “That is incredible. I will be able to repay those loans and still retire as a rich man. You cannot believe how nervous I have been about all of this. You know the penalty for defaulting on loans?”

“Public dismemberment,” Cherri nodded seriously. “I cannot think of a worse way to die. I would run away before I ever risked such a thing.”

“Running away is not an option for the Minister of Defense,” frowned General Kapla. “The Katana would surely hunt me down.”

“I bet he would,” Cherri nodded sympathetically. “Well if you want, I will begin liquidating your investments tomorrow. Or would you rather increase them some more?”

“No, no,” the general shook his head vigorously. “Tenfold is far more than my wildest dreams. Liquidate the farms and pay off my loans.”

“I shall,” smiled Cherri. “Would you care to serve us?”

“I would be pleased to do so,” smiled the general.

Cherri watched in silence as the general sliced the turkey and served portions. She removed the bowls of vegetables from the cart and placed generous helpings on the general’s plate and small helpings for herself.

“Anything interesting happen at the Katana’s Council meeting today?” Cherri ask nonchalantly.

“Ah,” sighed the general as he started eating. “This war is getting to be more than we bargained for. Our armies are running all over the place.”

“Well that is what happens in war, isn’t it?” shrugged Cherri.

“Not usually,” replied the general. “In the past all we have tried to do was invade the Sakova, but this time is different for some reason.”

“How is it different?” asked Cherri.

“A number of cities have aligned themselves with the Sakovans,” the general whispered conspiratorially. “I cannot imagine why anyone would do such a thing. The Katana will extract a terrible revenge on them.”

“I heard that Duran and Zaramilden defected,” nodded Cherri as she looked at food on her plate.

“How did you hear that?” the general asked with alarm. “No one is supposed to know that.”

“Actually I heard that some time ago,” shrugged Cherri. “That is not much of a secret.”

“It isn’t?” frowned the general. “I just learned of it a couple of days ago.”

“You really need to get better information about this war, General,” Cherri shook her head. “I think the Katana might be hiding bad news from you. There are even more recent rumors going around.”

“What more recent rumors?” probed the Minister of Defense.

“I heard Alamar and Gatong have also defected,” smiled Cherri.

General Kapla dropped his fork and started choking on a piece of turkey. Cherri rose swiftly and raced around the table to pound on the general’s back.

“Maybe I should not be upsetting you while we eat,” sighed Cherri. “Are you alright?”

“I am,” nodded the general as he inhaled deeply. “I am just shocked at how much you know. I heard about Alamar a couple of days ago, but I just found out about Gatong not an hour ago. Where are you hearing these things?”

“Just around,” shrugged Cherri as she sat back down. “Perhaps the Katana does not share the information with you until it is confirmed. Rumors don’t really need any confirmation.”

“That could be,” frowned the general, “but I would hope that the Katana would also share the rumors. I am in charge of moving huge armies around based on this news. I can use all the advance notice that I can get.”

“I agree,” Cherri said forcefully. “The Katana should be sharing everything with his Minister of Defense. That is how it has always been done before. How could he be so forgetful?”

“It has?” puzzled the general. “I forget that your first husband was a minister on the Katana’s Council. You probably know more about procedure than I do. I only served under Alazar and his reign was terribly short.”

“And rightfully so,” nodded Cherri. “Why is it that we get so many false Katanas?”

“So many?” echoed the general. “Alazar is the only false Katana in history that I know of.”

“He was the first false Katana,” conceded Cherri. “By the way, when did Larst become pro-war? He was always the one who pushed for peace, wasn’t he?”

The general shook his head in confusion at Cherri’s change of topic. “I do not call him Larst,” the general replied. “It shows disrespect. I always address him as Katana. In fact, the names of many Katanas are lost in history because their names are discarded when they become Katana.”