Book 7, Chapter 9: Some Call Me . . . Auntie
Sweat ran down Mestamir’s face, her chest heaving and heaving as she took in air.
I backed up, dropping my guard. “Let’s take a break. You’re tired.”
Mest backed up, panting. “And . . . you . . . aren’t!” She doubled over, breathing deeply, then looked up, “How?”
“You’re tensing when you fight. That takes a lot of muscle power.” I looked away, wondering what to say to her. “Uh, we’re not men. We can’t brute strength fighting.”
“I see.” Her eyes darted to the floor. Then, “I don’t tense. I move from the joints and quickly.”
“Practice, more practice.”
“I’ve been training since I was three.”
“Ah. How old are you?”
“I’m twenty-one.”
I gave her my best apologetic smile. “Then you only have nine hundred, seventy-nine years to go. Rest here, I’m going to wander the garden.” I headed away and she did not follow. Good. The contact from the nun’s army hadn’t appeared, or reappeared I guess, which was unfortunate, but now I wanted to examine the walls where she entered. There had to be a door, an exit, from this place.
Yet I didn’t think I’d use it. Not now that the scheming was turning in my favor. I’d decided to go with Tienseon’s offer to overthrow Serce and install me as empress. I still had reservations, certainly, since there was no chance that throne was coming without puppet strings attached. Still, it was better than marrying Serce and warming his damned bed.
I’d assume the throne and order messengers, privately and on the pain of me being very, very irked if they failed, to my kingdom. To Morry and Brundle. When my army arrived, I’d move Tienseon out of the way and assume full control.
Assuming she didn’t counter and nothing else happened, which were terrible assumptions. She wasn’t going to give up lightly and I didn’t know the full extent of her political power. At this point, I did not care. If worst came to worst, we’d crush them.
God, I was becoming awful. But what choice did I have?
After walking down a bunch of stairs until reaching the southern glass windows, I walked until reaching the west wall, then up some stairs on this side, pushing aside overgrown plants here and there, until I almost bumped right into a wickedly spiked trunk. It was growing right in the middle of the walkway, with large fronds from nearby trees blocking it from view. The spikes were as long and thick as a needle for leatherwork and covered in powder. Weird to have this here. Perhaps to slow girls down? But what a nasty lesson! I gave it, and the not-present gardener by extension, a grimace.
After carefully moving around the dangerous plant, going up some more stairs until I was level again with Mest, who was now walking back and forth to cool down her muscles on the other side of the thick, thorny bushes, I found the west wall where the agent must have come through.
The space had less plants around and had been mopped. Dropping on my knees, I looked for any sign of a door. Scuff marks, dirt streaks, anything – and found it! Dust had been scrapped about an inch, or a few centimeters in the language of science, from the wall. Not triangularly parabolic like a door would leave but running parallel to the wall as if someone had outlined a door along it. Huh.
Still on my knees, I crawled its length and found a line of dirt running perpendicular to the longer line. It was as if someone had pushed the wall forward an inch, then slid it along the wall. I sat down on my behind, thinking, ‘I am slow. Princess Cayce, the slow witted.’ That’s me. I could have looked for this door after she approached me. But then I’d have had to make my way through the town after. And wouldn’t have been given the lovely offer of Laemacia’s throne.
Still, this potential exit was something to keep in mind, if worst came to worst.
Standing, I placed my palms on the wall, slid them along, feeling for cracks, a place to push and open this door, anything. Yet it was invisible to the naked eye, as perfectly fitted as it was possible.
“My lady, what are you doing?” Mest was breathing normally now.
“There’s a door here. If you don’t mind, help me figure out how to open it.”
“I cannot let you leave this harem.”
I faced her. “Oh?”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
“Do you believe you could stop me from leaving?”
She looked at the ground, “No, ma’am.”
“Good thing for you I have no intentions of leaving just yet. Oh!”
“Ma’am?”
“A tremor just ran along the wall. Touch it.”
She looked suspicious for a moment but then placed her right palm against the wall. This time, the tremor gave a loud crack, and the floor itself moved. She looked at me with wide eyes. I bolted down the stairs, to the window, jumping around that spikey plant.
“Ma’am?” Mestamir shouted at me, “Where are you going?” She then raced after me.
The southern windows didn’t allow a view of the battle at the city wall, which was to the west of here. “Damn! Come on!” I ran toward the exit, taking the stairs three at a time.
Mest quickly followed, “Where are we going?”
“I think the outer walls fell! To the balcony!”
We rushed past the etiquette teacher, her students who gasped and pointed, the harem guards flinched and backed away, then down the hallway, into the open main entrance, around bunches of girls, passing the swimming pool, onto the balcony, to the far side, where more than few women had gathered, some pointing at the battle.
“Shit! It’s worse than I thought, look!” No towers remained on that side, the entire city wall had collapsed and the enemy was marching in. Not running, but in perfect lockstep formation. Pikemen first, archers behind, marching toward the haphazard defenses the Laemacians were hastily putting up.
Mest folded her arms, saying, “They won’t get through the city.”
“Are we watching the same battle?” The Laemacian infantry were pulling back, tossing barrels, carts, anything, behind them, to clutter up the streets. From the rooftops, archers rained arrows on the enemy, and they loosed arrows right back. As they took more streets, their soldiers rushed up the buildings, and soon I could make out skirmishers making short work of the desperate archers. “No, this city is going to fall soon.”
“Ma’am, I’m sure we’re safe here. The palace walls are impenetrable and twenty thousand troops stand ready.”
I gave her a wide-eyed look. “That’s optimistic. Where’s Tienseon?”
“Ma’am?”
“We need to find her now. Come!”
***
After racing around, asking girl after girl where the old lady was, we finally located her in the baths. Despite the urgency, I walked slowly in, averting my eyes. A whole bunch of naked women, the older ones surrounding her, and younger ones elsewhere. Huh, I guess these baths could fit quite a few people. That left me feeling a little silly, since I’d always bathed alone. Everyone stopped talking all at once, all eyes on me.
“No need to be shy, Princess Cayce. Come, join us.”
Annoyingly, I felt awkward, and tried to push that down. “The city is about to fall. And the enemy is going to get inside the harem soon. I need you to organize a team to come with me to block the entrance to the gardens. Or if you can move everyone out to a secure location. Can you get the palace guards in here?”
The older woman stared at me for a long while, eyes never leaving mine, and I did my best to hold mine steady, before she finally said, “And you will accept my offer?”
“Is this really the right time to bargain?”
“The best time.”
I said to the women, “Ladies, out.”
They all looked at her. Conversation had stopped.
Tienseon smiled warmly, “And what are you offering, Princess Cayce?”
My head tilted. I looked sideways. Sighed. Maybe a smarter person could figure the best way out of this. A wiser person, a solution that benefited everyone. I wasn’t wise. Beginning to suspect I was dumb. Worse, it was probably the lack of alcohol giving me so much clarity. I folded my arms and hoped that my cute face was displaying as much anger, hostility, and danger as Morry’s could, and knew better. “Tienseon, you’ve talked to the etiquette teacher.”
“Ah. I see. I expected better from you.”
“And I expected you to care about the women in this prison.”
“Am I to understand you’ve fully accepted our offer, Princess Cayce?”
Hands on my hips, looking down at her, “Empress Cayce.”
“That’s good.” She gave a quick nod. “Yes, empress is a good choice.” Pause. “Ladies?”
All the women stood and exited the bath, no more smiles on their faces as they passed by. Taking a step back, I unfocused my eyes, forcing myself to relax, which was a strange concept in and of itself, and waited. Soon, the warm water was empty, save one.
Tienseon shifted in the bath, backing up to more easily take me in, “You sincerely believe we are soon to be overrun?”
“I saw the enemy enter the city. The Laemacian fortifications are not holding.”
“Laemacian? Perhaps choose your words more cautiously, Empress. It’s also your home now.”
“Then you best get me out of here so I can begin leading our forces.”
“I was told you’d been in, what, three wars now?”
“Five. Six if you count how easily the mage’s army was defeated by those now walking through your soldiers with hardly a worry. And that’s seven now. Oh, if you don’t count the small skirmishes.”
The elderly woman raised out of the water and even at her age, she was shapely, walked up the steps, to stand in front of me, dripping. “Even better. I’m also told you are a good military leader.”
“Those reports should more correctly credit my generals. Ok, you know a lot about me. Thanks. Do you have a larger point?” I felt like being catty. Oh, but I wanted to be catty! I clenched my teeth and stared into her eyes.
“And, yes, Molana – the, ah, etiquette teacher – mentioned you were skilled at fighting.”
I sighed, turned away and walked a bit, picked up a towel, tossed it at the woman, “Do you know about the secret passage into this place in the garden?”
“That’s where you believe they’ll come through?”
“Yes! If you don’t get the palace soldiers in here, the enemy soldiers are going to be very, very happy. Their soldiers do have, in addition to something between their legs, better fighting skills than the harem eunuchs.”
“Oh, please.” Tienseon remarked to Mest almost off-handedly, “The young are so dramatic. Everything excites them.”
She seemed too calm, so I had to ask, “You’ve contingency plans for invasion?”
“Have emissaries from their military contacted you?”
That took me aback, and I couldn’t help but flinch.
“Of course they did. What fantastical offers did they present to you?”
“We didn’t get that far. Look, we’re in a bit of a time crunch before being overrun by soldiers who most likely haven’t seen a women in weeks. Why don’t you skip to telling me your own offer?”
She walked up to me, reached for my face and I backed up, her eyes narrowed. “Just how old are you? You certainly look like a child.”
“What’s that matt – Oh! They contacted you, too. Did you sell us out? You’re giving them the harem for . . . what? What’d they offer you?” Youth, I was waiting for her to say her youth back. Of course, youth was no longer a thing I could offer anyone else, though I still had some years of it left to me.
“You’ll take the throne. We’ll restore your family bloodline. There are a selection of appropriate suitors waiting for you to peruse. You’ll choose one to marry and he will become emperor.”
“I take it the nun’s offer was unappealing?”
“Nuns? Do you mean the Temple Clerics? More like unbelievable.”
I nodded. “Also, untrue.”
“I don’t think so. I knew one of them, still at the Temple last I saw her. She had one foot in the grave and now she’s barely thirty. That’s a heavy temptation, Princess.”
“Empress.”
Tienseon held up her forefinger, “Not until you’re coronated.”
“You’ve got what you want.” I headed for the door, “Now get some soldiers in here and secure that door.”
“And where are you going?”
“To block that entrance.”
“There’s no reason for you to return to the garden. We’ll head to the throne room.”
“As you said, Tienseon, it’s my empire now and I aim to keep it.”
“Now that we’ve reached an agreement, I’d rather you didn’t give away your life so easily.”
“I’ve been telling myself the same for months now. Tienseon, get the guard, get those doors open, get the girls and women out.”
“Princess, one last thing.”
“Yes?”
“You should more properly call me Aunt.”
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