MAN OF WAR

20

Jade sat outside her tent, dragging her comb through her hair and humming to herself. It felt wonderful to be free again, to be able to shift and change as she pleased once more. It had only been a few days, but it was heaven. She had changed twice into a wolf and gone for a brisk run through the woods. It had been so liberating and exhilarating she had not wanted to stop. She had run until she was tired and could not stand. Then she slept curled up safe and secure beside her brother in his tent.

            It had taken a day for Jade to convince Miya not to hover over her. She had survived months without him behind enemy walls. She would be just fine alone among allies, she had assured him. Miya patrolled the woods with many of the other men. He liked to fly when he went out, claimed he could cover more territory without being seen.

            Jade stayed behind in the camp and got to know some of the other women. She watched the children playing, running and jumping. Mothers with babies, old men and women who had nowhere else to go. These people were not soldiers. They were not warriors. The Emperor’s army would kill them all. It saddened her. The camp had many soldiers, many good fighting men, but for every man, there were five women, children, and elderly. It would be a m******e.

            Suddenly a young boy rushed passed her, running for the main tent. She watched as he went inside. Not a minute later, the leaders all came rushing outside. Jade jumped to her feet. Something was happening. Suddenly the camp was buzzing with fear and excitement. Jade followed everyone to see what the commotion was about. A huge crowd had gathered, and she had to work to push through everyone and get to the front. She finally made it through and saw the leaders looking at Miya as he walked up with a group of armed enemy soldiers on horseback.

            “What is this?” Hector demanded. Every fighting man ready to defend the camp.

            “Stand down,” Miya said. “They come with talk of peace.”

            “The Emperor does not talk of peace,” Xander spat.

            Miya reached up and helped someone off the horse. They walked forward and removed their hood, revealing the crown atop her head. Jade smiled, recognizing Gaia on sight. “Not the Emperor,” Miya corrected. “May I present Empress Gaia.”

            She stepped forward and offered the leaders a warm smile. “May I have the pleasure of speaking with the leader Sakwa?”

            Not one of the men was willing to identify their leader to the enemy. One of the soldiers assisted another cloaked figure off another horse. They stepped forward and removed her hood. Jade recognized her as well from the palace. She had been the previous Empress. She stepped forward, her gaze fixed longingly on one man. Jade looked back at the leaders and was stunned to see Sakwa step forward with the same entranced look of longing. They knew each other. Intimately she would assume from the heated look that passed between them.

            “Tessa,” Sakwa spoke.

            “Sakwa,” smiled the former Empress.

            Gaia looked confused as if she did not realize her mother had known the rebel leader. “Mother, you know him?”

            Her mother nodded. “We were in love once. Before the Emperor.”

            “Before he took you from me,” Sakwa said with bitterness. “All these years, knowing the woman I loved was another man’s wife. It eats away at a man’s soul.”

            “It was agony for me as well,” Tessa said, trying to hold back the tears. “But at least you left me with something to remember you by,” she smiled.

            Sakwa stepped closer to her. “I left you with nothing,” he said, unsure of what she meant. All eyes moved to Gaia as the true meaning of her words made sense.

            Gaia gasped and shook her head. “Mother, no,” she said with disbelief. “It cannot be. My father-”

            “The Emperor was never your father,” she confessed, looking back at Sakwa. “This man is your father. It is time now that you knew the truth. We were to be married, but the Emperor wished me to be his bride. He threatened my family if I did not wed him, and then he exiled your father. By the time I was wed, I was already with child. I managed to pass you off as the Emperor’s daughter. I had to, or he would have had you killed,” Tessa explained. She turned and took her daughter’s hands. “But Gaia, no matter where you come from, you are Empress now, and you have the people behind you. You have the power to do great good,” she looked at the leaders. “Please, let us talk of peace. No more need to die.”

            Sakwa looked out over his men. “See that the men are fed and given a place to rest. Someone, give the horses water and rub them down,” he looked at the two women. “If you ladies will follow us, we will talk of peace,” Jade’s breath caught in her chest as she saw Titus step forward. “You were not invited, young man.”

            Titus glared at Sakwa. “I am not allowing the Empress out of my sight,” he said. “You will have to kill me to prevent me from coming along.”

            “I will be happy to,” Miya offered.

            Gaia put up her hand to prevent a fight. “Please, gentlemen. My escort will come with me to put his mind at ease.”

            “Very well,” Sakwa agreed, leading everyone back toward the main tent. Jade watched as they all walked passed. Her gaze caught Titus’ in passing briefly, but he was immediately drawn back to what he was doing. She watched as they all disappeared into the main tent.

            Jade knew it had to be going against the grain for Titus to be here; for him to be consorting with rebels when he had spent so very much of his life fighting against them. To stand in the heart of their camp and look the infamous head of the rebellion dead in the eyes, and not drive his sword through his heart went against everything Titus had stood for, against everything he had become. Jade gave the man credit, though. He was fiercely loyal to the crown. His Empress gave him an order, and he put everything he was aside to obey.

***

            The main tent was large and filled with tables and maps. There were shields and weapons strewed about. A bit untidy but surprisingly well organized. It was no wonder the rebellion did so well. They seemed as highly intuitive and as organized as the officers on their side. Titus looked around, taking in every detail. It was not every day an Imperial soldier stood in the command center of the enemy. One might never get the chance again, and he would be a fool not to learn all he could at this moment.       

            Outside Titus and Gulliver, who were acting as the women’s escorts, there were approximately fifteen other men or so present. Five men, in particular, with the posture and confidence that made them stand out. These men were leaders, Titus would be willing to bet his life; they were the five rebel leaders he had heard so much about. The men that had caused his step-father and other military units so much grief for so many years. The other men were likely seconds, trusted advisers. Titus was standing in the midst of the rebel council. Well, at least what was left of it, since he had killed the other two leaders at sea.

            While Titus took in the sights, the leaders discussed the possibility of peace with Gaia. Personally, Titus believed it all to be a colossal waste of time. There could be no peace, and they were all fools for believing otherwise, but he was not a rebel leader, nor was he an Emperor or a Prince. The call was not his to make. One man mentioned the possibility of a truce, and Titus could not help but scoff at it and roll his eyes. A man glared at him. “Do you wish to say something?” The young man demanded. “You scoff at peace? You would rather shed blood then find an end to war?”

            “I want peace as much as anyone, but I am not a fool. I am not daft enough to sit here and believe that any secret bargains you make here tonight will be honoured by the Emperor. The Emperor wants blood, and he has the force to see his will done. So, go ahead and agree to your peace tonight with the Empress, but in mere days her husband will march his troops through this camp and saturate the land with your blood. There will be no peace so long as Victor holds the throne,” Titus said. He did not like the matter any more than anyone else did, but it was fact, and the sooner one accepted it, the better off they all would be. “You may fight and die, or you may run and die, but one way or another, you will die.”

            The young leader squared off against Titus with a hostile glare. “We have resisted you for thirteen years. We will not just disappear. You are not that good.”

            Titus stood tall, refusing to back down. “And which one are you. I’m going to guess from your age and your arrogance that you are the one they call Nate,” he took a wild guess as to the man’s identity. “I dispatched two of your mighty leaders’ ships with no more than my own and those men outside. I have seen the size of the Empire’s forces, and now here I see the size of yours. I see the people you have to fight against trained men,” he said, feeling almost sick about it. When the Imperial troops moved in, they would kill every woman and child in this camp; and from his first glance, as he passed through, there were a lot. “Everyone will die.”

            “What would you have us do?” Sakwa asked calmly from where he was seated. “As you said, if we run, he will only send troops after us. What is it you suggest, Fleet Admiral.”

            Titus glared at him. He hated these men. He had spent a lifetime fighting these men. “I do not care. The truth is, I would kill you myself, right here and now if I were not under orders not to.”

            “I apologize for my friend. He is very passionate about his position as a sailor. This war has been his life for as long as I can remember. Being here goes against everything he knows to be true. Please forgive him, he will need some time to adjust,” Gaia said, making his apologies for Titus.

            Sakwa rose from his seat and paced the floor. “Unfortunately, your hot-tempered friend here is correct. The Emperor commands the army, and if he does not honour any pacts you make, there is no sense in making one. So long a Victor is on the throne, there can be no peace.” 

            “So, we dethrone him,” Miya said, coming into the tent and gaining everyone’s attention. He looked at Sakwa. “Sorry, I am late,” he looked around at everyone. “Our problem is not the army, but who commands it. The last Emperor was a tyrant. This new one is a tyrant. It is time for a change. Time to remove the tyrant from the throne and put in his place someone who will do some good for once. Someone who will benefit the people. Someone who can put right the wrongs that have been done.”

            “There is no other heir,” Gulliver snarled, finding the flaw in the shifter’s plan. “The Empire will be left without a ruler.”

            “Who says the heir must be male?” Miya asked, his gaze locked on Gaia. The tent went quiet. Every eye turned on the Empress in silent deliberation. A female ruler? It had never been done before. A woman in command of an entire Empire as mighty as Kumun? Until this point, the Empress had always been more of a figurehead. A pretty bobble. A woman of royal or noble bloodlines meant for breading to ensure the Emperor his heir. One had never been considered to rule in his stead.

            The people were tired of tyrants. They had enough of war and hardship. Gaia was well-loved by so many. It was possible that many of the people and many of the soldiers would be willing to swear allegiance to her. Titus knew for a fact from the talk among the quarters, and the camp, that very few of the Kumun approved of Victor. Many of them outright hated the man, but soldiers followed orders, and he was the one giving them. Many of these same men, the peasants, and farmers were all loyal supporters of the benevolent Empress. They hated to see how the Emperor treated Gaia. It was possible that she might be able to convince a portion of his army to follow her if she chose to defect and wage war against her husband for the throne.

            It was just that the idea of a female ruler was so unheard of and so unusual. She would be taking a great gamble by challenging her husband for his throne. If the men did not support her as hoped, all would be lost, and her life forfeit. Gaia looked as if she too understood the gravity of what the shifter was suggesting. “Me? Rule?”

            The tent went quiet once more. Suddenly Sakwa spoke up. “Your Majesty, if you were on the throne, I would swear my allegiance,” he offered.

            “You would have mine too,” Nate added.

            “And mine,” said the older of the five. This one had to be the one they called Tax.   

            “And mine,” said the one with the scare.

            “Mine as well,” the final leader chimed in.

            “The entire rebel council will give you the peace you so desire and swear allergenic to your crown, should you take the throne,” Sakwa assured her. “We will fight by your side and assist you in overthrowing Victor, but we will need more men.”

            Gaia looked torn as she struggled with what to do. Titus stared at her with disbelief; he could not understand why she was even considering this plan. It was madness. It would surely fail. The odds of overthrowing the Emperor were so very slim. “Gaia…” Titus spoke as if they were alone. His soft tone drew her attention. “This is madness. You will be executed for treason. If you do this, you will be considered a rebel, as well. If you fail, you will be remembered as a traitor.”

            “If you succeed, you can bring peace and prosperity to your people,” Miya said softly into her ear as he stood on her other side. “We are defined by the choices we make. How will history remember you?”

            Gaia looked Titus in the eyes. “You have been a dear friend, and I trust your advice. Tell me, Titus, if I do this, do you believe the men would follow me?” She asked him outright.

            “This is crazy,” he protested, frustrated by the whole situation. He wished he could talk her out of it.

            “Would they follow me?” Gaia repeated with more conviction.

            He was quiet a moment as he looked at her. The look in her eyes told him there was no way he could not change her mind. “They will follow you. I will follow you,” he finally said.

            Gaia nodded then and held out her hand to Sakwa. “Then it is settled, I shall take the throne… by force.”

            “We shall help,” Sakwa smiled at Titus. “We have heard much about you, Fleet Admiral Titus. A fierce fighter, a charismatic leader, intelligent, it is nice to call you an ally finally.”

            Titus fixed the rebel leader in his sights. “Know this, I will fight with you, but we are not friends. If my Empress dies, I will be the first one to put a sword through your gullet.”

            “You should show the man some respect, boy,” a harsh voice scolded from the corner of the tent. Titus looked to see who dared to challenge him now. A tall man stepped forward from behind a handful of others. He had, until now, been quiet and unnoticed, hidden in the back of the tent away from the focus of the proceedings. Now he chose to draw attention to himself to defend his leader. He had dark hair that had only now begun to salt and pepper grey at the temples. His hands were rough, and his body lean. He wore the years of age, but Titus would know that face at any age. It was one he knew as clearly as his own.

            He stared at him, a thousand emotions consuming him at once. He did not know how to feel. “You are dead,” was all he could think to say as he stared at his father.

            “No,” Kyle said, giving his head a shake and taking a step toward Titus.

            Titus took a step in retreat. Rage building up inside him and threatening to explode. “Another step, and you will wish you were,” Titus stormed out of the tent. Their business was concluded there was no further need for him. Gaia had made her choice, and based on that; they were likely staying in the camp. These men were of no more threat to her. Besides, Gulliver was still with her, and he would be a fine chaperone.

            As for Titus, he felt an overwhelming need for some time alone. Someplace where he could scream, and yell, and kick, and perhaps kill something. He needed to work out his aggression. He would go hunting. The forest would be a fine place to find something to unleash his fury on. Today had been too much to deal with. First, he is forced into treason, and then he finds out that not only is the father he has spent his life idolizing not dead, but he has been an enemy combatant all these years. His father had abandoned them. He had left Titus and his mother to a life of hell with the General so that he could commit treason and join the rebellion. He should have run the man through right then and there.