For once, the windows in Qarasi Castle's command room were barred. Although they needed lamps to light up the room even under the midday sun, they had already underestimated their enemies once. Never again would Corco allow himself to be surprised like he had been these weeks. Thus, he would never again a.s.sume that he knew anything his enemies didn't. Since they were about to address vital information, they would do so even in the dark, heavy air of a closed room, just in case the Bornish had come up with a spygla.s.s of their own.

If nothing else, the information in the center of the table was more than worthy of protection.Atop the heavy oak sat a map of Yakuallpa and the surrounding waters, with several wooden figures strewn around it. For a moment, Corco's eyes left the map and a.s.sessed the figures collected in the room, positioned around the table.

Across from the king of southern Medala stood Dedrick and Tamaya. It had been a long time since he had seen the mercenary and only a short time since he had seen the spymaster, but for both he had hoped to not see them for a much longer time. After all, their meeting wasn't planned, it had been forced by the army in the north. Finally, scrunched up in a chair the corner, sat Ronnie and pretended to sulk.

Only just did Corco manage to prevent a smile at the bad acting, before he returned his view back to the issue at hand: They had to take inventory of their situation, and adjust their plans, as they had done so often in the past year.

"Still no word from the opposite camp, I take it," the king began.

"Words they have enough, but they're not getting a move on," Dedrick replied with a smirk. "They're always talking about monkeys and whatnot, sending idiots over to scream at the walls and anger us out of our defense." As If he had heard something especially funny, the fake knight's smirk turned grin. "You'll actually like this one. You know what they say about you?"

"Hrmhrrrm." Somehow she had kept quiet until now, but at this point, Tama could no longer stay quiet. After she had audibly cleared her throat, she hit Dedrick with her best stare of disapproval.

"What, you think Laqhis hasn't suffered his fair share of insults back across the sea?" Dedrick asked, his grin retained.

"The king does not need to know these minor issues."

"What are they saying?" Rather than start a pointless discussion, Corco mirrored Dedrick's grin and switched topics.

"They call you false prophet. I think they're saying that you converted back in Arcavia?"

"Well, at least they're being creative," Corco scoffed at the laughable attempt at propaganda, while he looked to the center of the map, where two figurines stood opposite one another. One represented his own men, the other Pacha's band of robbers. "Though it might not be the best use of their time."

"Why not? they're not attacking either way," Dedrick shrugged. "Haven't even gotten near our walls since you showed up."

"Our food situation is good though, right?"

"For the moment there are no problems, at least here in Qarasi," Tama said. "The king's fleet has brought more food from the east, so our supplies will last us for a very long time. However, it appears as if further trips north will be impossible for now."

"The Bornish." From the two figures to represent the armies of the kingdoms, Corco's eyes turned east on the map, to the s.h.i.+ps scattered along the eastern coast. "Seems like Pacha has struck some kind of deal, huh?"

"Or someone in his staff did. I won't believe the idiot would come up with a plan like this. He's got us boxed in well," Dedrick replied. For a while everyone shared a frown as they thought in silence, before the mercenary continued. "We can't handle them with our own fleet?"

"That's risky, and pointless. For now we still have more numbers on the eastern sea, so we can probably force our way through once. Still, they have the better cannons, even more so after we removed half of ours to use them in the field."

"You're not taking them back, are you?" Dedrick played shocked. With his eyes bulged out and his mouth pulled down like an old religious idol he looked ridiculous. Dedrick really wasn't a good actor.

"Even if I wanted to I couldn't. We need them in case Pacha attacks again, so they're stuck here. But even with the cannons, our position out east wouldn't look too good. The Bornish cannons are longer range and more powerful than ours. So far, it seems like they have fewer s.h.i.+ps than us, but our losses from any engagement would be more costly. After all, we're trying to move cargo, so any sunk s.h.i.+p would take tons of supplies with it."

With a lazy movement, Corco pushed two of the s.h.i.+p figures off the table. Although he expected a splash, they landed with a dull thunk.

"We can't move supplies safely, yet they don't need to move supplies at all. They only need to disrupt ours. At the same time, any s.h.i.+p we lose can't be replaced. On the other hand, they're not even close to full strength. Don't forget, our enemies aren't only the Bornish. They've also flown the banners of Cahlia, so two of the largest naval powers of Arcavia have allied. If we manage to defeat their s.h.i.+ps and beat them back, they can just come back with twice as many. We can't. We don't even have a dockyard on this side of the world."

"In that case, it appears as if Captain Atau would be stuck as well, at least until we can negotiate with the new arrivals," Tama said. Though her voice was flat, at least Corco heard none of the schadenfreude he had expected.

With worry, the king looked to the Medalan s.h.i.+ps far out at sea. Somewhere on the Weltalic Ocean, his cousin drifted along, chased by the Bornish fleet. Of course there was no better navigator than Atau, but Corco really couldn't see a clear way out of Atau's dilemma. Rather than think about issues he had no control over, the king stifled a sigh and continued their meeting.

"Have we had any contact?"

"We have tried to open communications, but the Bornish either didn't understand Yakua, or pretended not to. Most of the Arcavian fleet has anch.o.r.ed in the north. Their leaders should be far away, so no one of importance would be south."

"Negotiations in the north? Sounds like a job for the kid, huh?" Dedrick chimed in.

"Only if they're willing to talk." Again Corco stared down at the map, again to the little figures. In Porcero, surrounded by Bornish s.h.i.+ps, sat a single blue figure of the Southern Kingdom. "It seems like the Arcavians came with a plan in mind. They already have some agreement with Pacha, I'm sure of that. You think we can beat their offer? Knowing Pacha, he's probably sold half the Empire to patch his bruised ego."

At the thought of his annoying uncle, Corco could feel his face pull together.

"Then what happens to Brym?"

"Nothing, I guess." The king's face relaxed. "Brym's a smart kid, smarter than all of us, maybe minus Fadelio." In the back of the room, Corco heard the genius alchemist clear his throat, but he decided to ignore it. "The brat can take care of himself. He's got some of your men with him for personal protection, and we've got a lot of allies in the east. And don't forget about our good old friend Saliena. That guy is far too shrewd to side with anyone, especially not in a war so far away from his home. So long as we bring him business, he'll at least guarantee neutrality in Porcero. After all, what sort of international harbor can they be if they can't protect our goods and people?"

Though Dedrick opened his mouth, Corco raised his hand to continue.

"I know what you're trying to say, but no matter how much Saliena hates merchants, the revival of his ancestral estate is far more important to him than his distaste for commoners. For now, his only chance to make Porcero relevant again are the merchants."

"So the kid's safe, huh?" Dedrick mumbled as his hand ran across his stubble. "Only leaves one."

Corco followed Dedrick's eyes to the final figures on the board. Right in the center of Medala, halfway between Arguna and Qarasi, several figures in the blue of the south were huddled together along the mountain, surrounded by Pacha's red.

"Fadelio's position is... a problem." At once, Corco's frown returned.

"Is Lord Nasica not reliable?" Tama asked.

"He is, for now. Nasica's a diehard member of the religious faction. On the other hand, Pacha and Viribus seem out to destroy the Pacha faith and replace it with the Arcavian nonsense-"

As soon as he caught his words, Corco looked up at Dedrick. Though the mercenary's faith had been insulted, he only raised his brows a bit.

"Sorry," the king said before he looked back down. "Anyways, there's good reason for Nasica to support us. I'm the only king who cares about our ancient faith. And by right, Pacha can't just attack his own lord's estate, even less if he doesn't want to make his followers nervous. Only question is: How long will he play by the rules? When will Pacha do something stupid again? Really, the sooner we get Fadelio and the craftsmen out of this bind, the better."

After Corco had laid out all the information before them, there was a silence in the room, as all of them thought over the scenario they had found tehmselves in. In the end, Dedrick summed it up best.

"In short: We're f.u.c.ked."

Although Tama had already raised her hand to disagree, Corco silenced her with a stern look.

"Yup, pretty much," he answered. "We can't get any food from the center, because Pacha's got his army there. We can't get any food from the east because of the Bornish fleet and we can't get any from the west because Puscanacra's fleet can't compete against Huaylas. Even if we could get by without food for a while, we have several of our people trapped behind enemy lines, so the pressure to break the stalemate is on us."

"We cannot attempt a sortie? Our troops are strong, and morale is high. Maybe we could surprise and overwhelm the enemy." Tama had frowned ever since they had talked about Fadelio's situation. Of course she would know herself that her plan was unrealistic. Really, she just seemed worried about her brother.

"Are you crazy?" Dedrick laughed at her distress, always the sentimental kind. "Attacking through the Narrows is a trash idea in any case, but they even have a ma.s.sive advantage in men. Even worse, now they've got support from the Bornish. Who knows how many guns and cannons they have by now? With the castle's walls we still have the upper hand, but a direct battle is... a problem."

"The great warriors of the south are unafraid of sacrifice." An annoyed Tama raised her head to reach Dedrick's chin, not even all the way up to his smirk.

"Anyways," Corco interrupted the argument before it could develop further. "We need to get our people free first, to take some pressure off. Tama, can we get this done?"

"Absolutely. Brother already has ghosts with him. It might take a while to organize an escape, but we can return him without any troubles," Tama puffed out her chest. Corco was quite happy to have the girl on the job. Not only was she competent, it would also keep her away from Saniya for longer and reduce her influence in the city. Although he felt a bit bad about his own suspicions, being careful was more important now than ever. After all, he was about to make a trip of his own.

"Perfect. So then all we need to solve is the 'don't starve' issue. Luckily, some of our new friends have already offered us an out." As Corco looked to the western part of the map, his own grin returned.

"You're gonna do something stupid and reckless again, aren't you?"

"Well, I already wanted to meet the Verdant King and strike a deal. It's an important part of our future plans. Guess I'll just have to push this ahead in the schedule."

"Wait, what? Who's gonna be in charge of the kingdom until you come back?"

Although Dedrick had expected a reckless plan, he might not have expected the king to leave his warring kingdom for a diplomatic mission.

"Well, everyone else is busy with something. You have to stay here to defend the center. Atau is stuck at sea, Fadelio and Brym trapped up north, Tama will be busy with the rescue mission. That only really leaves one, right?"

In the corner of the room, the sleepy Ronnie sprang to life. As if hit by a stun gun, he jumped to his feet.

"Oooh no!" He raised his hands in futile defense.

"Why not?" Corco laughed. "You're good with people. Also, you can do math and such, so you can handle the bureaucratic parts well enough."

"Don't say it!" the desperate chemist shouted.

"Until I come back, I just need someone to keep the machine rolling and make sure there's no revolutions."

"Don't you dare!" His finger pointed, and his voice raised, Ronnie tried to spread menace, but the skinny chemist with the long, thin beard only widened Corco's grin.

"Until my return, Master Hieronymus Bombasticus will supervise Saniya."

"But... I..." A deep sigh escaped Ronnie, as his shoulders slumnped in defeat. "Sometimes I hate you, you know that?"

While Ronnie still cursed his fate, Corco's view had returned to the map. In his head, he added another two figurines: Ronnie in Saniya, and himself in the western Sea. Now they were spread out as much as possible, all of them on their own, all with their own challenges. Now wat the time to show what they were made of, all of them. Corco just hoped it would be enough.