MAN OF WAR

14

The city fell silent when word returned that the assault on Fort York had failed. Imperial troops proved unable to retake the post, and many men were lost. The enormous loss put great stress upon the already weak Emperor. He called a meeting of his top-ranking officers to discuss their next strategy to which afterward, troubled and frazzled, he retired to his bedchamber. The following morning the city woke to the sound of the massive bell in the church tower ringing.

            The Emperor was dead.     

            The city was shrouded in a state of mourning for their lost ruler. The state funeral was held the next day promptly, and all turned out to bid farewell to the past Emperor. In what Titus considered bad taste, the very next day was the Prince and Princess’ coronation ceremony. Prince Victor wasted no time in accepting his crown. Titus watched from the crowd as the priest placed the crown first on Prince Victor’s brow and then a similar but smaller crown upon Princess Gaia’s. He said a prayer and blessed them both, asking the Lord to bless them with a long and healthy reign.

            The couple had knelt before their Empire and before God as Prince and Princess and rose presented to the world as Emperor and Empress. It was a whole new world now; everything would be different. Titus did not know which he mourned more at that moment, the passing of the ruler he fought for or the passing of his crown.

            Titus appeared in the war room as requested when he was summoned by the new Emperor later that afternoon. He did not know what the man might want, but he did as he was bid. Titus entered the large room and came to stand by the long table. The Emperor was standing with one hand resting against the stone hearth as he stared into the fire. “You sent for me, Your Majesty?” Titus spoke, alerting the Emperor to his arrival.

            Victor turned to face him. “Admiral Titus of the warship Raven, is it not?”

            “Aye, Your Majesty, I am,” he said with a nod.

            Victor stepped away from the hearth and reached for a chalice on the table. “My predecessor spoke highly of you. He seemed to believe you were the best officer in his fleet.”

            “His faith in me is humbling,” Titus said.

            “I hear stories about your exploits on the water, and I must say they do impress me. The way you handle the officers here at court, I have no doubt you would have made an exceptional soldier as well. You strike me as the type to excel at any task.”

            “Something worth doing is worth doing well,” Titus said.

            “Indeed,” Victor agreed, coming around the table. “I am lifting the lockdown.”

            “What of the spy?”

            “The spy will not be found. They will do nothing to risk themselves at this point. It is better to go about our business and hope they slip up later and reveal themselves. I have a job for you,” Victor said, coming to stand before Titus. “I wish for you to escort my parents safely home to Galanadar. After which they will provide you with a fleet of ships that will be transporting an army worth of soldiers back to Kumun. You will lead my armada back here.”

            Titus was excited to hear he could finally get back out on the water. He had been on land for far too long. “Your Majesty, the rebel leader Winston sails those waters, as does the leader Pandar. Neither man will allow a fleet of soldiers to pass unchallenged.”

            “That is why I send my very best,” Victor said, placing his hand on Titus’ shoulder. Titus had an overwhelming desire to break the man’s hand off, but he resisted and smiled. “I trust that you can accomplish this. I need not explain to you how very important it is to my Empire that those fighting men arrive alive, well, and promptly. Especially after our recent loss against Sakwa and his men. Our ranks are thinned, and the rebels are closing in. Do not fail me,” he said with a warning in his eyes. “Take what you need. You set sail at dawn. You are dismissed,” Victor waved him off with a flick of his wrist.

            Titus bowed respectfully and left the war room. He despised that man, but he was thankful to be able to set sail once more. However, he first needed to make some arraignments before he could leave. Titus went in search of an old friend. He knew that Gaia loved the flowers, that she spent much time in the gardens. He hoped to find her there today. He should not do what he was about to do, but she was the only person he trusted within the city walls.

            Titus entered the gardens and strolled through the stone pathways. He spotted the short dumpy elderly woman who had once been Gaia’s chaperone. As a married woman, she no longer needed a chaperone, but it would appear that Gaia appreciated the old woman’s company. When Titus came closer, Gaia rose from the bench she was seated on to greet him.

            He bowed to her and greeted her formally. “Now, do not be so silly,” Gaia said as he stood up straight. She laced her arm with his placing her hand on his forearm. “Walk with me,” she suggested. Titus escorted Gaia leisurely through the flowers, her chaperone a few respectful feet behind them. “I am so glad to see you,” she smiled. “I was getting so bored with Diana,” she whispered.

            Titus smiled. “You look well, Your Majesty. Marriage agrees with you.”

            She suddenly scowled, lining her pretty face. “It does not. What agrees with me is the fact that my husband has taken no interest at all in me. He is a horrible man. I do not like him even one bit. I am thankful he does not burden me with his presence,” she said bitterly. “If spending the rest of my days separate from him is what he desires, it would suit me just fine.”

            “I am sorry things could not have worked out for the better,” he said with a sigh.

            She looked a little sad as she shrugged her shoulders. “It is as you said; this is the way the world works. I can no sooner change my place in it than I could stop the sun from setting,” she said, forcing another brilliant smile. “But enough talk of sad things. What brings you to me?”

            “A request, Your Majesty,” Titus said with a hopeful grin.

            “A formal request?” Gaia asked, eyeing him closely.

            “A request between old friends,” he said quietly, offering her a cheeky smile.

            Gaia grinned happily. “Name it, and it shall be done.”

            “I am to set sail with the sunrise, but I cannot take the girl I keep. I do not wish to leave her in my quarter. I was hoping I might give her to you as a chambermaid while I am at sea; to ensure her safety while I am gone,” he explained.

            “Is she obedient?” Gaia asked.

            Titus paused thoughtfully. “She is… complicated,” he smiled. “But I assure you she will do as you bid. I will see to it,” he promised. He did not want to leave Jade alone in the soldiers’ quarters. She had well proven her point that men would go out of their way to have her, and she would defend herself in any manner she could. He did not wish to return and find her hanging from the walls or missing a limb. Titus placed his hand over Gaia’s and lowered his voice so as not to be overheard by her chaperone. “I beg of you, please. I ask you as a friend. She needs protection; I know no better person to offer it than you.”

            Gaia nodded. “Very well. As a friend, I will take her in. Send her to me, and I will make use of her.”  

***

            Jade scooped the stew she had made into the wooden bowl she held and placed it on the table. She picked up another bowl and returned to the cauldron. Scooping hot stew into the bowl, she returned to the table. She wondered where Titus had gotten to. He had usually arrived home by now. She sat down at the table and stared at the food in front of her. She should wait for him, she figured, share the meal with him.

            She had spent the day doing the washing and scrubbing the floors. She had made fresh bread that morning, and the house smelled wonderful because of it. Jade waited for a while, and soon the door opened, and Titus entered. He offered her a smile when he saw her. She rose and came to greet him. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Jade kissed him, and Titus held her close.

            “It has been a long day,” he said, removing his sword belt and hanging it on the hook on the wall.

            “Supper is ready,” she said, taking his hand and leading him to the table.

            “It smells divine,” he said, taking a seat. He took up the spoon and took a bite. She noticed he seemed on edge about something as if he were keeping something from her. Jade took her seat and stared at him, waiting for him to speak his mind. “What?” He asked after a long silence.

            “Just say what it is you have to say,” Jade said. She did not like beating around the bush. She preferred frank, direct communication.

            “Is it that obvious?” Titus asked, placing the spoon on the table. He shifted uncomfortably and clasped his hands together in front of him, as if he were going over what to say in his mind, trying to find the right words to say to her. “As you know, the Emperor has passed, and the coronation is complete,” what on earth did any of that have to do with anything? She did not understand what he was trying to get at. “The new Emperor has…” he paused, “Well… he has lifted the travelling band,” he said, diverting his eyes from her. Jade suddenly understood completely. He was trying to tell her that he was leaving.

            She swallowed hard, trying to repress the tears that threatened to form. Jade would not cry for this man. She refused to do it. She stared quietly at her hands in her lap. Her fingers fidgeted with her apron. “When do you sail?” She asked, trying to keep the sadness from her voice.

            “I sail with the dawn. My men are preparing my ship as we speak,” he admitted. “The Emperor has charged me with escorting the foreign King and Queen home. I have my orders,” he said, watching her. She did not need to look up to know this; she could feel his eyes on her. Waiting for her reply.

            “How long will you be gone?”

            “Perhaps a few weeks.”

“A few weeks?” She did not believe him.

“A month or two tops,” Titus admitted reaching for Jade and taking her hand in his.

            “What of me?” She asked. What was to become of her if he was to leave for months? Did he intend to leave her to fall victim to some lonely soldier that passed through? Did he expect her to fend for herself?

            “I have made arrangements for you,” he said, his tone becoming sombre. “I am giving you to an old friend,” he said.

            Jade could not believe what he had said. He could not take her with him, so he would just trade her to another. She pulled her hand away and rose from her seat. She walked away from him, enraged by how callously he could discard her. “How could you?” She growled. “To use me and sell me to another. You have no soul,” she snarled. Titus rose from his seat and came to try and comfort her. Jade pushed him away. She did not want him to touch her ever again. “Do not touch me!”

            “It is not what you think,” he said, pleading with her to understand. Titus followed her around the room, reaching for her once more only to be swatted away. “I am not selling you to another man,” he assured her. “The friend I speak of is in need of a chambermaid, and her protection is beyond reproach. Not a soul will dare to touch you for fear of invoking her wrath.”

            Jade stared at him, questioningly. Just who was he talking about? Some tart he knew? Some past mistress? “Who is this protector you speak of?”

            “The Empress,” Titus said. “We were childhood friends. She has agreed to take you under her protection while I am gone,” he said, cornering her. Titus took Jade in his arms and held her close. She could hear his heart beating as he stroked her hair. “It was the safest situation I could arrange that would not place you directly in the path of some brute,” he kissed her cheek softly, and Jade could hear the emotion in his voice. “I am sorry I cannot keep you. This is for the best. She will be good to you, of this I am sure,” he promised.   

            Jade looked up at him, realizing that Titus was saying good-bye. “Will I ever see you again?” She asked. The words just fell from her lips without thought. She could not believe them as she said them, but she did. Jade really did wish to see him again.

            Titus smiled down at her. “Perhaps in passing, but our time together is over, Sweet Siren,” he said with a kiss. “Finish your meal; I must take you to the palace tonight, and head for the port this evening in order to ship out on time.”

            Jade felt the tears sting her eyes. “I have lost my appetite,” she whispered, touching his face, her fingers committing the lines of his handsome face to memory. It was strange how much this man had come to mean to her. At one point, she would have seen him dead, and now she felt as if she might very well die without him. Jade retracted her hand and looked away. How was it that she could feel this way about a man that was her enemy? A man that had enslaved her. Who wished to destroy her kin. Everything told her she should hate this man, but Titus had worked his way into her heart and made her care for him, and damn him for it.

            Jade pulled away from him, putting some distance between them. Perhaps it was best if they made a clean break. Better for her heart than to linger and dwell on her loss. “I think it is best if we just leave now,” she said, giving Titus her back.

            The room was silent for a moment, and then she heard him reach for his effects. “As you wish.”

            Jade quickly disposed of the stew and put out the fire. No one would be returning to this house. It would be left dark and cold, void of the life and laughter it had known for the last three weeks. Titus saddled up his own horse this evening, taking his time, dragging it out.

            He placed his hands on Jade’s hips to help lift her up onto the horse, but she pushed him away. “I shall mount the beast myself,” she said, grabbing on to the horn of the leather saddle and wedging her foot into the stirrup. Jade lifted herself up into the saddle and waited. Titus hoisted himself up behind her and took hold of the reins. He nudged the animal forward, and out of the stable, they went, ducking their heads to clear the door.

            The ride through the city seemed so long with his arms around her for the last time. They reached the servants’ entrance, and a short tubby washerwoman came out to greet them. Titus gave the woman instruction to take Jade to the Empress. He then assisted her in sliding off the horse, and once her feet touched the ground once more, she backed away from him. Jade looked up one last time at the man who had changed her life so drastically. She felt her heart begin to ache.

            Titus held the reins keeping his horse steady. He looked down at her with warm affection. “Good-bye, Sweet Siren,” he said before digging his heels into the horse’s side and galloping off.

            The tubby old woman placed her arm around Jade’s shoulder. “Come, child, let us get you changed and brought upstairs,” she said, taking Jade inside through the small door. The door led down a stairwell to a large room filled with huge washing tubs filled with water, soap, and plenty of linen and garments in need of washing.

            “Why must I change?” Jade asked as the old lady pulled a dress from a pile of washing.

            “Chambermaids are to dress a certain way, and this thing the Admiral has you in is very fine and well for turning a man’s head in a brothel, but not at all appropriate for waiting on royalty,” the woman explained.

            Jade glared at the woman for her insult and snatched the dress from her hands. She could tell that acceptance here would be no easier than it had been in the soldiers’ quarters. Everyone still viewed her as the Admiral’s w***e. She stripped off her dress until she wore just her chemise, and she quickly redressed in the plain drab tanned servant’s garments.

            “There you go, far better,” the old lady smiled. “Do you not feel better?” She asked. Jade simply glared at her. “Follow me and pay attention. We do not want you getting yourself lost when you are alone,” she said, leading Jade up another dark winding staircase. Jade watched everything as they walked. Every corridor they took and every turn. The palace was so very large it was impossible to believe she would not get lost.

            They walked for a long time and climbed up four flights of stairs before reaching what seemed like a very private section of the place. “Where are we?” Jade asked.

            “This is the private quarters of the royal family,” the old woman said quietly. “When you are here if they are not speaking to you, specifically, you are to do your job and make yourself as invisible as possible while doing so,” the woman ordered. “You will answer to the Empress,” she said, coming to a large doorway. “You will be responsible for the state of which her room is kept. You will tend to her needs, help her dress, draw her baths, bring her morning meals and any other command she gives you, and you will do so silently,” the old woman stressed the last word with a warning glare.

            Jade almost laughed, but she thought it best not to. This woman had another thing coming if she thought that Jade would do anything silently. Empress or not, Jade had little intention of holding her tongue. She did not bow to Titus, and she would not bow to this woman. Jade would bow to no one.

            The woman knocked on the door and slowly opened it. She stepped inside with a smile. “Your Majesty, the Admiral, has brought you your new chambermaid,” she announced sweetly. “Would you care to inspect her?” The woman grabbed Jade’s arm and shoved her forward for the Empress to see.

            Jade saw the woman step in from the tall balcony doors. Her hands folded in front of her regally. She wore a powdered blue day dress, and her golden hair was pulled up in a twisted braid. “Yes, come in,” she smiled at Jade. The Empress addressed the older woman. “You are dismissed,” the servant bowed and left the room, closing the door behind her. The Empress looked Jade over closely. “What is your name?” She asked, waiting for Jade’s response.

            Jade stood silently, watching the woman. She was very beautiful and not much older than herself. She found it strange that in this place where social structure was so important that the daughter of the Emperor would be playing with the son of a peasant. She found herself wondering if there were not more between the Empress and Titus than he had let on. After all, she was very beautiful. Jade felt a stab of jealousy at the possibility that Titus and this woman may have at one time been lovers.

            “Come now. Even slaves have names,” the Empress said, offering her a friendly smile. “The Admiral must have called you something,” Jade remained silent. “Alright, perhaps, I shall go first. My name is Gaia, and you would be?”

            “My name is Jade,” she said, seeing no harm in telling this woman her name.

            Gaia strolled to a white settee in the middle of the room and sat down, adjusting her skirt accordingly. “I can tell from the way you carry yourself you are a woman of strong will. It must be very difficult to adjust to a new life,” she had no idea. Jade was more accustomed to giving commands than she was at taking them. She had no intention of adjusting to this life. She would one day find her way out of it. She did not intend to be trapped as a slave for the rest of her days.

            “I bow to no one,” Jade said flatly, letting this woman know exactly where she stood. She would rather die in the dungeon then bow to another.

            Gaia simply smiled. “You sound very much like your brother,” she chuckled.

            What an odd thing to say. How was it this woman knew Miya? The only interaction they had was when he had taken her hostage the day they arrived. She could not have known from that transgression that they were siblings. “How is it, you know, my brother?” Jade asked with new found interest.

            Gaia went quiet for a moment. “We spent some time talking before his escape,” she admitted. “I thought him to be interesting and wished to learn more.”

            Jade felt there was far more to this story then the Empress was letting on. “And during these conversations, he identified me as his sister?” She asked, wondering just how much her dear brother had told this woman about who they were and where they were from.

            “He said he was protecting his sister. Naturally, I assumed he was referring to you,” Gaia eyed Jade questioningly. “Was I mistaken?”

            Jade saw no harm in allowing this woman to know the truth of their relationship she supposed. “No, you are correct.”

            “You are a secretive lot,” Gaia noted.

            “A survival trait,” Jade said, brushing the comment off as trivial. Her people had spent generations hiding from outsiders. To just go ahead and start blabbing all their secrets to the first person that comes along would be foolish and against their nature. She studied the Empress. There was something odd about this woman. She seemed different than the others. “It is incredible how he escaped,” Jade said, watching the Empress’ reaction closely.

            Gaia tensed, her hands clasped nervously together in her lap. She had an awkward smile and then rose suddenly from the settee as though to draw attention away from the topic. “Yes, it is a complete mystery now, is it not?” She said, walking across the room to some double doors. She pulled the doors open to reveal a gilded washing tub and a dressing room equip with vanity. “I think I shall like to have a bath,” she said, changing the subject. Jade got the feeling Gaia knew far more about her brother’s escape then she was letting on.

            Very well, she could play her part, for now, Jade decided, heading into the dressing room. Something told Jade she could learn much from her place here if she just bided her time. Plus, she was sure her crystal was somewhere in the palace. She recalled it had been presented to the last Emperor, and that was the last she had seen of it. It must still be here somewhere. If it took her ten years, she would find it.

***

            Titus watched the first rays of the morning sun shimmer over the calm waters. He could smell the fresh salty sea air and feel the cool breeze on his face. Gulliver was calling out orders, and the men were rushing around as the ship launched. It was a perfect day to set sail. The winds would be agreeable, and the waters calm. They would make good time.

            Usually, he would be in the best of moods at a time like this. Instead, he felt miserable. Titus leaned over the banister of the quarterdeck, looking out over the vast waters as they sailed out into open water. He had been so eager to get back to sea, and now that he was here, he longed to be somewhere else. Tutus stood up straight and turned to take one last look back at the port as it faded from sight, as the current took him farther and farther away from Jade.

            When had life become so complicated? So unfair? Things had been so glorious and wonderful before he had discovered her on that ship. He had all he could want. Adventure, a life at sea, a commission, and freedom. He was doing what he loved and fighting for a cause he believed in. It was all so simple, so easy; now things had become so much harder.

            Titus found himself having to choose between the things he desired and cared for. Found himself bound by his station in life, by whom he was, by whom she was. The cause he once fought for did not seem so easy now. How did one fight for a leader one could not believe in? How could one charge into battle and lay his life on the line for something he did not believe in? Still, orders were orders, and he was still an officer of the Imperial Navy. His heart was heavy as he set sail. Life, indeed, had become complicated.