At present, Governor Chenek had yet to arrive; he obviously slept later than usual this morning. A very concerned Ubu, initially, assumed Chenek had already been captured by King Vlaric's men, but the army had yet to arrive. Oh yes, Ubu, alerted by Evore and Moopie, learned of the King's latest accusation and of His Majesty's ultimate weapon. Yesterday evening, before he and Chenek departed for home, Prince Asen and Lord Cadmore arrived at Starfield House. Apparently, and Ubu wondered whether both young men would at last find courage to extract themselves from Vlaric's iron grip, Asen, armed with a special magical shell given to him by Mitra, found the perfect opportunity. However, once free, he was not all that free.
Immediately, and with some well placed lies courtesy Princess Jolende and Governor Banes, King Vlaric suspected – No, he outright accused – the Benutians, Chenek in particular, of orchestrating another resistance movement, this time kidnapping the prince as hostage. Vlaric assumed the rebels would demand the independence of Benut and Nemir in exchange for Prince Asen's safe return.
Hah! This is not the case, thought Ubu bitterly. Vlaric needed an excuse to use that Ultimate Weapon against the Benutians. It was no secret, especially since Asen provided absolute proof, the king and the governors of Chalou and Koror provinces developed a weapon unlike anything before seen. This missile, using a powerful and destructive phérium-based warhead, was capable of destroying an entire region with one blow. Ubu knew such a weapon would lay all of Benut to waste. Nothing, not one town or city, not even the forests or marshes, would ever again be livable.
However, and only Chenek and Ubu were privy to much information concerning the fledgling resistance movement. Not more than a few months ago, a handful of native Benutians, bent on finally ousting the monarchy thus restoring equality and justice in their homeland and beyond, gathered at Cape Amorra under the watchful eye of the sea creature Mitra. Keeping the movement under wraps was necessary if the rebels' objectives were to be achieved. The last Benutian resistance was more than fifty years ago, just before Vlaric ascended to the Eldonian throne. That rebellion resulted in outright, open warfare, beginning with a series of riots in Rumil then spreading to the rest of Benut.
The violence soon reached Tyq, and the reigning King Varn, Vlaric's father, instantly put down the rebellion in a showdown battle at Inamor, the same city which was the goddess queen Amarah's birthplace. It was planned that way, and the King literally forced the Benutians to fight on their own sacred ground. To send a potent message to the Benutians, or so the logic went, King Varn wanted to lay the entire town to waste. He even headed the army and commanded Amarah's sacred castle bombarded. It was a bitter defeat for the already demoralized Benutians under the leadership of a much younger Chenek. To see the sacrilege against the home of their patron goddess was too much, and the Benutians were soundly defeated.
Ubu, still watching for advancing troops, and said troops will surely overtake the city in a matter of days, thought of the current resistance movement. His own sister, Thais, was presently in the Kororian capital of Lemrac, working in the lab perfecting the phérium crystals that served as the sole power source for the Kororians' magic. What he knew, and he had yet to share that knowledge with Chenek, was Thais and her rebel companions had switched those phérium medallions with the more inert compound niuvite. He also learned that the nasty missile, along with the test weapon, now sat in Tyq awaiting deployment The test weapon was to be shot to Koror, showering that province with harmless sparks; the real thing was aimed at Benut. One problem: The deployment program's coding had been scrambled by an enterprising Nemirian named Jarvis Wolf. Therefore, if the scrambled code worked, and no one had yet to discover the deception...
It will be Koror which will be destroyed, not Benut...Neither King Vlaric nor Governor Banes know this...And all those phérium spikes planted all over the city...What are these rebels planning to do? Level the entire province of Chalou to the ground? And do they know of this prophecy? That the descendant of Amarah is here, alive, and still does not know of her true parentage...
"Ubu! Ubu! Where is Governor Chenek?"
Ubu, jolted by the sound of the familiar voice, immediately turned his attention from the window to the figure rushing into the governor's office. Unusual that no one tried to stop the young man, as would be the case before today. This time, however, was different, and what the man said alerted the governor's aide into action.
"Ubu," said an out of breath Lord Cadmore, "where is Chenek? You must move to a safe place. Vlaric has sent his entire army and navy here. Already, battleships have bottled up every Benutian harbor. There are soldiers stationed at every key border town. That is why the trains are late. The soldiers stopped every train, searching passengers and crew."
How odd, thought Ubu. Here was Lord Cadmore, best friend to Prince Asen, member of the Eldonian aristocracy, and therefore a man not to be trusted by anyone outside their circles. Yet here he is, after he and Asen abandoned all they knew and fled from the King's cruel hold. He looked intently as Jereif Cadmore, wondering what really was his part in Prince Asen's sudden change of heart. Oh, Ubu remembered Cadmore and the prince's visits to Benut long ago. Both wanted to tour their kingdom, and Asen felt if he wanted to be a good king, far better than his father and forebears, he had to get to know the people under his reign. Ironically, the people embraced Asen and Cadmore as comrades, not oppressors. The young men seemed highly interested in the Benutians' culture and history; Asen himself apologized for being part of. "That awful lineage," and expressed profound outrage when he learned of his father's infanticide campaign. Asen also learned that his mother, Daglin, may have met with foul play, that Vlaric himself had a hand in Queen Daglin's untimely and mysterious death.
Again, Ubu studied Cadmore as the young man continued to divulge King Vlaric's campaign against the Benutians. There was something vaguely familiar about Jereif Cadmore, so much so that Ubu swore he saw traces of her in the youth's eyes. Wait a minute, didn't Aunya have two babies that year? Twins? A girl and a boy? If Mitra and Elura helped in spiriting the girl away from Vlaric's insane campaign to kill all Benutian newborns, then what happened to the boy? Ubu wracked his brain, recalling Chenek saying something about, "Both are safe, for now."
Did Chenek mean both Rhindra and...What name did Aunya choose for the boy? She knew she was carrying twins – a boy and a girl. Aunya chose "Rhindra" for the girl and "Amárion" for the boy. Could this Eldonian noble be Aunya's boy?
Apologizing for staring at Cadmore so, Ubu flat-out asked, "Pardon, m'lord, and please correct my assumption. Were you, by chance, adopted?"
Cadmore stared right back at Ubu, replying, "Why, yes. My parents adopted me. My mother and her attendants found me, in a basket, floating down the Bashwa River. No one knew from where I came, so my parents just took me in as their own. My mother was barren, you see."
Then, as if reading Ubu's mind, added, "And yes, I do know of my birth parents, and of my long lost sister. Ubu, this is not to go any farther than this room, for now. Danielle has yet to learn her true origins, although I believe she, in her own way, has an inkling of that. Yes, Ubu, and Asen now knows the truth. I am Amárion, son of Aunya and Banion. Now that you know who I am, let us return to the task at hand. We much move Chenek to a safe place before Vlaric's army arrives. His Majesty has vowed to arrest Chenek and bring him back to Tyq in chains. This will before Benut is destroyed by that awful weapon. I am afraid, dear friend, Chenek will face a very public, very painful, execution. Knowing Vlaric's penchant for brutality, Chenek will suffer profoundly, and what's left of Benut's population will be forced to watch their beloved governor die."
øøøøøø
Heavy fog rolled in, obscuring the entire coastline. This was unusual for morning, so, aboard the Triumphant, the pride of Eldonia's naval fleet, Admiral Winfred ordered his crew to stop short of Cape Amorra.
No port cities here, just windswept rocky coast, which was why several officers questioned this move, heavy fog notwithstanding.
However, in light of the King's new orders, that is to send the Triumphant to Haley's Point, Winfred reasoned that to stop the ship here would lull the Benutians into a false sense of security. The real heart of this sea campaign was to bring down the Benutians via Inamor, the sacred city of the goddess queen Amarah.
"Don't you see, Lt. O'Toole," said Winfred, "Landing at Haley's Point is a strategic move. Once we arrive, take several of your men inland, to Inamor. The objective is to overrun the city, loot and sack at your will. Leave no house or building standing, and take as many prisoners possible. The Maelstrom will meet us by the time you return to the shore. From there the prisoners will be loaded, in shackles, aboard the ship, then they will be taken to Tyq. By then, the army will have arrested Governor Chenek."
O'Toole, not long promoted to lieutenant from first mate, understood fully. This sudden fog will surely delay the mission. That was so puzzling, this fog so thick one could not see as much as a few inches in front of him. More puzzling still that the fog seemed to roll in on what began as a sunny day, and it was late in the morning.
"So unusual for fog to develop this time of morning," said O'Toole, pulling his collar around his neck to ward off the sudden chill. "The temperature's dropped, too. And the weather had been quite pleasant since we departed the base at Tyq."
Indeed, even in semi-tropical southern Benut, the current conditions meant an annoying delay in operations. If the fog and colder temperatures persisted into the afternoon, Admiral Winfred reiterated, the previously planned foray into Inamor may not come off as expected. Perhaps a few sharp-eyed Benutians would detect the battleship thus alerting all parties in and around the vicinity. The enemy could amass an army of resisters and may lay a trap for the Eldonian Navy.
"I don't like this," said O'Toole, peering out into the dense fog, endeavoring to pinpoint any movement in the still waters.
"This fog is getting thicker. There is no wind; the sea is a surprisingly flat calm. No waves, no breaking water. Just silence."
Winfred nodded, replying, "Yes, there is something not quite right here. We can't turn the ship around, not in this fog as navigation is difficult. I say we remain here until the fog lifts."
"But what," cautioned O'Toole, "if it doesn't. We're sitting ducks, sir. Those devils may try to launch an attack on the ship. Perhaps they conjured the fog, to deceive us."
Winfred laughed heartily, shaking his head, "Now, O'Toole, don't get carried away. The Benutians may be smart, but they're not geniuses. Come on! Who can see anything in this? Even I cannot see the shore, so how can one of those blasted fools detect our ship from there?"
The admiral, despite his seemingly calm mood, had his doubts, so he called up the lookout.
"Do you see anything, Merconis?"
From his perch in the crow's nest, First Mate Merconis replied, "No, sir! Nothing...Wait!"
Looking through his telescope, he called down, "I think I see something, a shadow. We have movement in the water...There are breaking waves."
Admiral Winfred smiled at Lt. O'Toole, saying, "Well, I would assume the fog is starting to lift. Have the crew get us underway again. We must reach Haley's Point by this evening."
Suddenly, Winfred swore he heard a faint rumbling, as if emanating from deep within the ocean. Did the winds pick up again? Is a storm brewing, thus further delaying, even endangering the, Triumphant's mission?
"I feel a trembling, sir," said O'Toole, sweat beading on his brow; his heart pounding from a deep, fearful premonition. No, this is no storm brewing; the rumbling is coming from within the sea, suggesting seismic activity. Just what they needed, an earthquake. This he voiced to his admiral.
Winfred shook his head, saying with some derision, "O'Toole, your imagination is getting the better of you. Since when did this entire country ever experience an earthquake. Not in nearly two centuries, and that was in the Eldonian Peninsula, in the far northern regions of Chalou. Benut is not quake-prone, so don't talk about things you don't know. Do you want to start a panic among the crew?"
O'Toole was ready to utter a sharp retort, but a sudden rocking of the ship filled him with much dread.
"You are wrong, sir!," he said to Winfred as the crew scrambled to port side, the center of the trembling.
He pointed to the swell of waters, the shadowy movement just below the surface. This was a trap, O'Toole surmised, a ruse to fool the Eldonia Naval fleet. The fog was a guise, a smokescreen. He had heard of Cape Amorra, that the place was fiercely guarded by the sea witch Mitra. Only most of Eldonia derided the legend as sheer nonsense, a tale invented by those stupid, superstitious Benutians in efforts to scare their betters.
Now, at that moment, it was, to O'Toole, to the admiral, to the crew, that the supposedly "stupid" legend was all too real.
There wasn't time to react, to panic. In the blink of an eye, the creature rose his awful head from the depths of the ocean. In an instant, the monster smashed the Triumphant into millions of pieces, sending officers and crew to their watery graves. Those who managed to escape the onslaught, those who frantically tried to swim through the suddenly churning waters, soon found themselves in the jaws of the monster and its minions.
Within a few fleeting minutes the ship and its crew were gone. The fog, as if by magic, lifted; the sun reappeared in the sky. Just a clear, blue sky above and a calm blue ocean below. No one would have suspected the previous drama. The delightfully sunny morning and cool, clear waters suggested nothing of the sort.
Mitra, along with her serpent sister Janatha, stood poised on the shore. She smiled at her friends' handiwork, saying, "It is done, dear sister. The pride of Vlaric's fleet is no more."
Janatha, just as beautiful as her sister yet of different form – the upper half lovely woman, the lower half sinuous sea snake – returned the self-satisfied smile, replying, "I trust Oadela and her children have dispatched the remainder of the fleet."
Mitra nodded, replying, "Yes, and it will besiege Vlaric with such torment that he will develop a terrific headache. So terrific that he will be in need of a special remedy."
"You mean...?"
"Yes, Janatha. It is all planned that way. Before King Vlaric and his ilk are at last defeated, they will have to face down their true enemies, their true betrayers: Themselves."
Copyright©2006 by P.R. Parker. All rights reserved.
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