Chapter 405: Masters of Fate

"In the end, inspired by the great Duke Herak, our men managed to push back the cowardly foes. Thus we have managed to destroy the tunnels of the cowardly moles once more. Whatever dirty tricks they attempt in the future, our walls shall never be broken so long as the great Duke Herak controls our destiny!"

While the arcavian commander spoke of his master's great achievement, Herak simply sat by the side and looked like he was about to kill someone. Though that wasn't anything new.

When the servant was done heaping praise upon his master, he bowed and left the banquet hall. As usual, Lord Curichi was the first to break the silence in their 'strategy banquet'.

"As expected of Lord Herak," he said, and raised a gla.s.s of wine.

"Truly, a great achievement! With this level of defense, our cities shall never fall," Sucopia added, a blind fawning expression on his face.

"And how many men did we lose this time?"

A sudden discordant voice interrupted the jubilant atmosphere in the warmly lit banquet hall. Loreius Ichilia looked at his 'fellow lords' with disgust, before he turned to Herak again. By this point, Loreius was the only one in the room who still spoke Medalan.

"How many were lost this time in Antila's great, courageous defense?" he repeated his question. His voice was sharp and his eyes stern. Although looking at the beast made him uncomfortable, he knew that a show of strength was the only way to get a proper answer.

"Seventy-four," Herak finally replied after a lengthy stare. His tone was calm, as if he had been asked how many repet.i.tions of his training exercise he had finished today. To him, these losses seemed merely an everyday occurrence.

"And does that include the commoners, or have we lost seventy-four warriors today?" Loreius continued to probe.

"Only warriors, of course." Herak huffed in response, either impatient at the questioning or insulted at the implication that commoners may be worth something. Loreius didn't care either way and continued to question.

"And does that include the injured?"

This time, Herak only snorted. His answer was clear.

"Now, now. Brother Loreius, there is no need to be so defeatist all the time!" the cowardly Curichi barged into a conversation that had nothing to do with him.

"This lord is not your brother, southern barbarian," Loreius shot back. "How, exactly, are Antila's defenders expected to win this war if their losses pile up like this every day? This lord has asked the same many times before, yet you have never come up with a solution. All you have done is sit here, praise others, and drink your wine."

Just as Curichi wanted to raise his cup again, he heard the final words. With a sour face, he lowered the cup without taking a sip.

"Then, in the opinion of the wise 'Governor' Ichilia, what should be done better?" he asked for once, instead of getting inebriated again.

"If the decision were left to House Ichilia, Antila would have negotiated a peace deal with the southern kingdom long ago." Loreius shot back immediately.

While it seemed like the most reasonable response they could give, Loreius soon realized that his words had led him into a corner. This time, it was Lord Sucopia who refuted Loreius.

"Ha, has House Ichilia not sent out its servants long ago, to speak with the heretic king in private?"

Finally, the young Lord Ichilia was silent. How could they know what his wraith warriors had been doing? He had only used his elite spies for communication, and they had only moved at night.

"Are you confused, great Lord Ichilia?" Sucopia said, a sneer on his face. "The great Governor of the West may be looking down on the barbarians from the south, but this lord is still the master of this city. Not only does every man in this room know that Ichilia servants were sent to negotiate with the foreigners in private, this lord also knows that none of them have ever returned with success."

"Ha, the great lord Ichilia crawls on his knees to his father's murderer and begs for forgiveness! How rich!" Curichi added, together with a fake laugh. Such humiliation from such a flawed man was too much for Loreius. Rather than deny the accusations, he stood up, throwing over the wine in front of him in the process.

"Someone had to do something!" he shouted while the red drink soaked the elaborately woven table cloth. "There is nothing to gain here by just sitting around as our army is ground down day by day! Will father return if we get irrational? Better to leave this place with our strength intact, and live to fight another day!"

"No, no more running!" Herak suddenly shouted out of nowhere. His fist went down atop the large banquet table, which knocked over whatever was still standing atop. At once, the entire room was silenced.

"There are always ways to obtain victory, even in the most dire of times." Herak growled towards the three lords. "Hand over your men, let me lead a breakthrough. We only need to reach the merchant's ostentatious tent in the center of his army and kill the little b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Then, when they are confused, we will rout their entire army."

"I will not hand over my fate to a desperate throw of the dice," Loreius immediately said. Over the past months, the young lord had slowly won over more and more disgruntled warriors. There were many among Antila's defenders who had lost their masters in their rebellion and were looking for a new home. Which home could be better than Huaylas, which was both wealthy and far away from the king they had betrayed?

"Yes, there is no need to make any rash decisions." Sucopia agreed this time, and even Curichi sheepishly nodded his head. Although both were scared of Herak, it seemed like they were still not willing to hand over their power to a foreign force. At least they weren't completely lost yet. However, Herak wouldn't let up.

"In that case, simply hand over the coward," the duke continued. "We will negotiate peace with his body, and ambush their king in the process." While he spoke, Herak looked at a dark corner of the room.

There sat Ogulno, lord of the copper hill, though he had done his best to hide his presence. All throughout the meeting, he hadn't said a single word, and just stared at all of them with wide eyes and pale face. Loreius knew not why the man still came to their meetings, or if he was still fully conscious in the first place.

Clearly, the loss of his territory, as well as the forced sacking of his own home by his fellow lords, had done great harm to his mind. Even now, when they were talking about his very life, he simply remained silent and watched, fully resigned to his fate. When the other two stayed silent and looked pensive, Loreius once again had to be the one to oppose the foreigner on their own land.

"No," he simply said.

"Why not?" Curichi stood up to add gravitas to his words, now entirely a sprachrohr for Herak and nothing more. "The heretic king wants Lord Ogulno so he can be punished for his crimes. Why not simply give in to the demands in exchange for a chance at victory, or at least a chance at temporary respite?"

"It is not only him King Corcopaca is after," Loreius replied. Ogulno hadn't been the main force behind the sacking of Kapra, and by now everyone in Medala knew it. "Will you give up yourself and Sucopia as well to find respite?" With a sneer, Loreius watched as the loudmouth lord sat back down again, where he made himself as small as possible once more.

As soon as Loreius thought he had resolved their conflict, the manic Herak spoke up again.

"Then give me more people," he said. "The merchant loves 'his' people, does he not? Then we will take his people, and throw a hundred off the wall, every day, until he ceases his attacks and accepts negotiations."

"Ridiculous!" Loreius shouted. Once more, he had lost his cool. How could these people fall so fast, so quickly?

"Why? This seems like a splendid idea." Curichi immediately agreed, of course. Loreius hadn't expected any better. However, when he looked at the master of Antila, the man whose people were about to be sacrificed for a dubious chance at temporary peace, he was shocked at his pensive face.

"So long as only the commoners have to die-" he started, which caused Loreius to blow up.

"What nonsense is this!? Where has your honor gone, that you would do something so cowardly without hesitation!?" he shouted. "Fear has blinded you! You have no idea what words you speak anymore! All you do is hide in your mansion, enjoy your banquets, and blindly follow this man, who is little more than a beast!"

As he screamed, he pointed at Herak, who only growled in response, seemingly oblivious to the insults. At the same time, the two lords who had been so enthusiastic about besmirching their honor sank back into their seats, and looked like little children who had been disciplined by their tutor. Once he had dealt with the cowards, Loreius turned towards Herak, the only other man in the room who still stood upright.

"And you, foreigner," he said, his voice deep and dangerous. "You may not have to consider anything, no honor and no future. For you, all that counts is to kill a king of Medala, because you were tricked by a merchant once."

Finally, Herak reacted, though only his eyes widened a bit. Still, Loreius noted it with satisfaction before he continued.

"Yes, you are not the only one who can bribe people for information," he said towards Sucopia, and then looked at Herak again. "A fake salt mine, was it? How much money did you lose that you would ignore all else and hunt the man to the ends of the earth?"

For a few seconds, Loreius let the cowards and the beast steep in the silence. For him, this was a rare victory after days of frustration. Finally, after all his plans had been blocked by Herak and his path towards the future looked increasingly narrow, he had snapped and unloaded on his fellows. While it felt good, he had to reconsider their allied status in the near future. For now however, he simply relished in the moment and continued to unload his frustrations onto Herak.

"The duke's erratic behavior was quite simple to understand once your grudge against King Corcopaca came to light. Duke Herak has no interest in winning this war, has he? All he wishes is simply to kill the king by any means necessary, and then to disappear back to his own estate across the ocean. However, every other man in this room has to live on this land in the future, as we have lived here for generations. A lord who would openly kill his own king will be d.a.m.ned by all of high society, one who would throw away his subjects or his fellow lord to win a meaningless battle will at least be spurned, and none of his subjects will ever come under his full control again. We cannot afford to be reckless, and we cannot win at any price, because the price to be paid is far too high. Whatever you plan to do, Duke Herak, you will have to do it without the partic.i.p.ation of House Ichilia. Now, if my

'fellow lords'

wish to join the foreigner in his foolish quest for vengeance, then this governor shall not stop them. However, at least they should consider the consequences of their actions, before they foolishly ruin their family names and estates, which have stood on these lands for centuries."

Without another word, Loreius stormed out of their meeting. He could no longer stand the look of the cowards who were willing to throw away their family's future, all because they were afraid of some little king and some mean-looking foreigner. He had watched long enough how this Duke Herak had done increasing amounts of damage to the prestige of Medala's n.o.bility, while he personally took more and more power from them. He wouldn't stand for it any longer, even if their situation seemed hopeless.

No, what he needed now was another plan, one that didn't factor in his hopeless allies, one that would lead him out of this hopeless position. This time, he was only up against a beast, a fool and two cowards. Surely, it wouldn't be too hard to come up with something.

Thus, he quickly returned to his temporary residence in Antila and began a tactical meeting of his own. Although he wanted to throw it all away and simply leave the city to it's own devices, he was unwilling to leave Antila in failure. If he left in his current position, it would harm his reputation, something he needed if he wanted to restore his estate's power quickly after his father's death.

On top of that, many of his warriors were still held captive by the southern king. If he couldn't gain a more favorable position in this war, he would have to pay a fortune to regain their lives.

Not to mention that his situation wasn't quite as hopeless as it seemed. After all, he was still in negotiations with Pachacutec. Once the King of the Center joined the war on his side, Saniya would be stretched on two fronts once more, just like Loreius had planned from the start.

On top of that, his negotiations with Corcopaca weren't hopeless either. In the end, he himself was not one of the king's main targets after all. Yes, House Ichilia had been the spider at the center of the conspiracy against Saniya, but he could just blame his dead father for everything. That way, King Corcopaca could easily accept negotiations with him without losing face.

Rather, a strong and healthy Huaylas would help the southern king balance out the strength of his fellow king Pachacutec. Really, he was already sure that his enemy was eager to forgive him and accept a peace deal. Loreius simply had to give him the opportunity.

What does the southern king need to end the war?

And what does he want to end the war?

These were the two fundamental questions Loreius needed to answer. If he could provide both, there was every chance for a mutually beneficial peace between Saniya and Huaylas.

The southern king's wants were simple. Clearly, he wanted to remove all foreign forces from Sachay, and take full control over southern Medala. On top of that, he wanted a powerful position within his own kingdom, one that his lords could no longer oppose, one that would make him an absolute ruler, rather than 'first among many'.

These wants would soon be fulfilled, as far as Loreius was concerned. So long as Antila surrendered, the door was open for Saniya's army to march all the way to Port Ulta and take full control of the south. With the loss in prestige for the lords and the gain in prestige for the miracle king throughout this conflict, Corcopaca could easily force harsher controls and fewer freedoms onto his lords, just how Amautu had done in the north.

However, the king's needs were a trickier problem to solve. As a king, he had been disrespected by his fellow lords, who had risen against him in open rebellion. Even worse, he had publicly vowed to hunt down those who had sacked Kapra. Thus, if he did not want to look weak and lose the prestige that he had so painstakingly built for himself, he needed to capture and punish the three lords Ogulno, Curichi and Sucopia before he could end the war.

Of course, those three lords would never agree to such conditions, and thus the war had continued in its hopeless state until now. This was the core conflict that had remained unsolved until now.

However, it was no longer unsolvable. While Sucopia had bragged about his power in his city, there were still many things that had escaped his eyes. By now, their army was barely holding together in the first place, and Loreius controlled a good portion of it.

There were many warriors who were happy to become tools if it meant an end to the fighting and a stable position within Huaylas. Now, all he had to do was find some willing tools, and then strike at the three lords all at once. During the next tactical meeting, his tools would take control of the other lords, and then present them to the southern king. The insufferable Herak's imprisonment would be a little bonus on top.

Thus, he got to work and ironed out the details of his newest plan. After several hours, he was finally satisfied with the results.

An exhausted Loreius looked up from the paper on which he had jotted down his thoughts. Finally, he had brought some structure back into the chaos. Finally, he once again had a plan. As he held the paper to the flame of a candle and watched it burn, he looked into the crystal mirror hung up on the wall, the expensive toy that Sucopia had bought from Saniya with money that had then fueled their army.

When he had arrived here, Loreius had still been corpulent. He had always been proud of his ample physique. It was prove that the rich young master of House Ichilia could allow himself to eat so much and move so little that he could put on weight even as a cultivator. Now, however, most of his fat had disappeared. His clothes hung loose, his body was haggard, and his eyes were sunk deep in their sockets.

Soon, this will all be over, and I will be able to return home with dignity.

However, when he left the room to send out his men to contact the appropriate tools he had designated, he found his attendant waiting for him outside the door.

"Master! You have reappeared at last!" As soon as the servant ran up to him, Loreius knew that more trouble had come to his door.

"What happened?"

"Master, an wraith warrior from our new network has visited some time ago. He left the message here, and I allowed him to use the visitor's room to rest."

Before, when his father had died, it had taken half a moon until he had finally received the news of their loss. Since then, he had rebuilt his family's eagle network. They didn't know the south like the locals did and had no foundation here, so their losses had been considerable at the start.

However, once he had thrown enough men and enough money at the problem, none of these had been issues. By now, he could guarantee that any changes in Huaylas would reach his ears within a few short days. Of course, such a costly connection wasn't used casually. No, if his eagles and wraiths had run all the way here, then something big had happened back home.

"Why was I not informed of this earlier?" he asked as he grabbed the note from his attendant's hands.

"Master specifically asked for no disturbances, so this servant would not dare."

"Of course."

It seems I will have to replace my attendant once more.

Rather than bother with his irresponsible servant for now, the news was more important. All his best-laid plans were useless if he didn't have all the facts at hand first. That much had been soundly proven by this war. Had he known of Saniya's true military strength, or of their secret connections with the rebellious priests, he would have never started this war in the first place.

As he rued the past, he read the message, and then crumpled it in his hands.

"Coward. Idiot! Failure!" the first word, he whispered, the last he screamed.

"Master?" the man who would soon not be his attendant called out carefully. Although his concern and fear were useless, at least the words helped Loreius calm down somewhat.

"Our idiot King of the Center has decided to pull together his troops. It seems he will march on Huaylas soon, under one made-up justification or another."

Without even looking at his former servant, he threw the message to the ground and left the corridor, towards the resting messenger who would have more information.

If what he had just read was correct, it seemed like he would have to leave Antila as a defeated dog after all, with no plan, and with no deal in place with either king. Now that the die were cast, the best he could do was take his men, scramble back home, and somehow prevent the complete collapse of House Ichilia.

As he stormed away, he spared only a single last thought to the brave defenders of Antila.

It appears the beast will finally get his will as the kings of the cowards. I will have to take my leave in haste. This city will not last much longer with a monster at the helm and no one to contain it.