Casus Belli Ch. 04: Eye of the Storm

She had smiled at him, and then he had left for his own chambers, for his own bed. Looking up at the chronometer in the weak morning light she realized that he probably left Bromodin some two hours earlier, that he was probably well on his way to the Seven Pints inn already. There was a knock at the door, and then it opened slightly, and Denora's face appeared. The pretty maiden smiled as she saw she was awake already, and stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. "Did you sleep well, milady?"

The twinkle in her hazel eyes betrayed her, and Cassandra groaned softly, "We made too much noise again?"

Denora chuckled, "We didn't hear Brando..." Cassandra felt herself blush. "Don't worry!" Denora said, "we are all just happy for you. There are men enough in the world who don't know how to pleasure a woman, luckily for you Brando isn't one of them." Her senior maiden sat herself down on the bed next to her, "He's a real catch, isn't he?"

Cassandra nodded smiling, "Yes, he sure is. I still can't believe how lucky I am."

Denora smiled back, "Breakfast will be served in half an hour, and Moiga is already running a bath for you."

Cassandra sniffed herself, "Yes, I really need one, don't I? I reek of sex."

Denora cocked her head, and gave her a lovely smile, "No, you reek of love."

She smiled at that. "In addition to the daily council meeting, I also have to check with my father's head of staff, and with Burgon Goban, regarding the coronation." Denora nodded her understanding and then she followed her to the bathroom, were she found Moiga already waiting for her. The slender brunette had prepared the small tub, and she and Denora bathed her quickly. Returning to her bedroom Vala and Leavy were already waiting there to do her hair and makeup. The girls worked quickly and had her ready in no time.

When she entered the living room Cerny greeted her enthusiastically and guided her to the same chair as the day before while Moiga, Syldan, and Polly, were busy putting food on the table. Cerny took a couple of steps towards the bedchamber doors again, and then watched her other three maidens enter the living room through them. Leavy was last, and closed the doors behind her, which prompted Cerny to turn and look back at her questioningly. She smiled at her, "Brando is already on his way Cerny, to look for your father."

The smile disappeared from her small face, and she hurried back, hopping onto the seat next to her. She leaned against her, and Casandra hugged her close. "I miss daddy," she said softly, "do you miss your daddy too?"

Cassandra kissed her on top of her soft dark curls, "Yes, I miss my daddy terribly." Cerny said nothing, she just put her small arms around her and hugged her back. "Don't you have a mother?" she asked carefully.

The girl tightened her grip, "No, mommy died long ago, when I was very little."

She felt her heart cringe, "Don't worry, we're going to find your dad." The small head nodded against her. Gods I hope he's okay, she thought. "How old are you now?" she asked her, partly to distract her.

Cerny looked up at her, "I'm almost eleven."

She had already guessed Cerny was a bit younger than she had estimated when she first met her. "Oh, you're a big girl for your age then."

Cerny nodded, "My daddy is big too."

She ran her fingers through the girl's hair, "The eggs are getting cold..."

Cerny let go of her and sat herself up, her eyes darting all over the table. Cassandra didn't need to help her with filling her plate, as there were six other eager 'mothers' beating her to it...

***

After breakfast Denora, Vala, and Leavy accompanied her on her little trip to her father's chambers. She felt sorrow as she walked into his private quarters for the first time since receiving the news of his death. The feeling got worse as she entered his private chambers' reception room. To her relief a very familiar face welcomed her from behind the reception desk. The man rose immediately. "Hello Gabrin," she said smiling, "you're exactly the man I needed to see."

"Your highness," he said, "I'm so glad to see you're feeling well again, and please accept my sincere condolences regarding your father." He looked embarrassed, "I would have liked to offer them earlier, but I didn't want to intrude."

She nodded at him, "It's okay Gabrin, I know you were much more than just a head of staff to my father," she smiled, "and you were much more to me too, when I was still a child."

Gabrin blushed, and then he shrugged, "I assume you're here on coronation business?"

She nodded, "Yes, I need something from the vault. But that's not all. Could you please gather the staff for me?"

He nodded, "Yes, of course your high..., I mean milady." She rose an eyebrow, and shook her head slowly. He chuckled softly, "Cassandra?"

She smiled at him, "You were my reserve dad Gabrin, whenever Daddy was away. So when we're in private," she gestured at her girls, "and that includes my maidens, it's Cassandra for you."

Gabrin smiled warmly, "I always enjoyed being your reserve dad..." He gestured towards the door to the private hallway, "Where would you like to meet the staff? Living room or study?"

She smiled, "Living room please Gabrin, I want this to be as informal as possible."

A couple of minutes later the six men of her father's staff were assembled in front of her, and after they had all offered her their condolences, she addressed them. "I have decided that you will all keep your current positions for the time being. Please just do as you have always done. After the wedding, my husband to be will need a staff here at Bromodin too, and I will recommend you for it. The decision to employ you or not will ultimately be his of course." They all smiled happily, and she nodded at them, "That will be all gentlemen." The men started to file out, and she locked eyes with Gabrin.

He smiled, "Yes, the vault. Please follow me."

She followed him into the private hallway again, with her three maidens trailing behind her. "Will access be a problem?" she asked.

Gabrin shrugged, "You brought your key?" She nodded, and he smiled softly, "Two keys is enough." Cassandra felt a shiver run down her back as she thought about the whereabouts of the third key. His eyes softened, "We all miss him Cassandra..."

She nodded, and then they were at the door to the vault, which was really just another archive room equipped with a heavy armored door and extra secure locking. Gabrin got his key from his pocket, and she handed him her own example too, after which she watched him put both in the lock and turn them simultaneously. The lock opened with a loud 'click' and the heavy door opened slowly. As the vault had no windows it was pitch dark inside, which ended with a click as Gabrin switched on the lighting crystals.

Cassandra followed him inside. The inside of the vault didn't differ much from the archive rooms, except for the contents of its shelves. The three maidens accompanying her had never been inside the vault before, and she heard them gasp behind her. Gold, silver, and precious stones were glittering in the soft light of the crystals all around them. She followed Gabrin to the tarkan wooden display case holding the crowns. The upper part held the male examples, and the lower part the female ones. Her eyes got stuck for a moment on the one most prominent on the upper shelve, the golden one her father had used for official events.

She whimpered softly, and immediately felt hands on her back. The lower shelves held what she needed, and she took in the available crowns one by one, and then her eyes returned to the one that attracted her most. It was a relatively small one, shaped more like a tiara, made of wrought silver, and decorated with blue sapphires. She reached out, opened the door, and carefully lifted it from the velvet covered shelf. Gabrin smiled, "That's the one your mother always wore; she had it especially made for her."

She nodded, "But will it fit me?"

Gabrin pointed at the padded blue velvet covering the rim on the inside. "There's a mechanism beneath that, to fine tune the size. If my memory doesn't play tricks on me your mother was about the same size as you, so fit shouldn't be a problem."

She nodded smiling, "Then this one is going to be it."

"I'm familiar with adjustment mechanisms for tiaras," Vala said from behind her, "just let me check." Cassandra turned and carefully handed her the crown, and then Vala put it on her head, to check the fit. "Did I just crown you?" the redhead smiled.

She chuckled, "No, fitting doesn't count."

Vala lifted the crown and she watched her loosening the velvet at the back, which indeed revealed some sort of adjustment system. Her nimble fingers lifted two small clasps, and then she pulled with both hands and the tiara grew a little bit in diameter. Her maiden reattached the velvet, "There are small anchor point for hair clasps and pins too," she said, while putting the crown on her head again. She turned it a bit, and Cassandra felt how snugly it now fitted. Vala nodded, looking satisfied, "Perfect milady..."

Cassandra reached up, and felt her new headgear, "The fit feels just right." That's when she noticed Gabrin's moist eyes.

"You look just like her," he said when she locked eyes with him, his voice hoarse, "only a bit younger." She reached out and gently touched his hand. He swallowed, "She would have been so proud of you, if she could have seen you now."

***

After returning to her chambers, to safely store the crown away, she and Denora went down to the first floor, and the offices of Internal Security. They got a warm welcome, and after Burgon Goban led them inside his inner office, and his personnel had served them all tea, they talked business. That meant the coming coronation of course. "Procedures start the day before, at noon, with your ritual cleansing at the temple, your highness," the Burgon started his summary of events.

Cassandra chuckled, "Remember me telling you this was going to be as minimalist an event as possible Burgon? My 'cleansing' is in the safe hands of my maidens..."

The man paled a bit, "But..., the high priests..., they won't be happy about this."

She shrugged, "Just explain to them I'm in mourning, and that there happens to be a war going on."

What followed was half an hour of her burning down the Burgon's plans, as she had already half expected, which indeed saw them end up with a minimalist procedure. Basically, the high priests were going to bless her crown, after which she would take her oath, and then one of the high priests would crown her. She had always planned to choose the high priest of Freydan, the goddess of love for that, but, in the light of recent events, she had now decided to choose the high priest of Gudrian, the god of war, instead.

Afterwards there would be a small party for the gathered dignitaries and nobles. From the latter group, only about a third were expected to attend at most, because the orcs had effectively cut the lines of communication to the rest of them. Burgon Goban didn't look happy. "It is for the best," she said, "we can't have a huge party while so many are suffering." The Burgon nodded his understanding, and she smiled at him, "With a little luck this war will be over before the summer solstice, and then you can organize the mother of all weddings." It visibly cheered the Burgon up.

By the time they arrived back at her chambers it was close to eleven, so she had tea with her maidens, and Cerny, and then it was off to the daily council meeting. During the meeting Marecomb informed everyone about the western armies successful regrouping just south of Iriskan, and that it was preparing to march south. Once he was finished Burgan Goban informed his fellow councilors in turn about the planned procedure for her coronation, and then there were just some mundane issues that didn't take long to handle. So Cassandra was back at her chambers nicely in time for lunch.

Both Polly and Moiga grinned at her raised eyebrows when they served them pancakes with syrup and sweet fruit. She looked to her side, at Cerny, who produced this ear to ear smile, confirming her suspicions. "Sooo," she said, "is this another menu by Cerny?" The girl nodded happily, and she smiled back at her, "Well," she said, "we better dig in then, before they get cold."

The pancakes proved delicious, and while eating she talked with her girls, about her coming coronation. They all agreed with the minimalist procedure she had chosen. As soon as all the pancakes were gone Cerny became restless, and didn't stop looking at Polly expectantly. Cassandra looked at the both of them, "And what are the two of you going to do this afternoon?"

Cerny was hopping on her chair, "Me and Aunt Polly are going to care for Musso!"

She smiled, "Ooh, and what does that mean exactly."

"We're going to brush her, and clean her teeth, and check her hooves," Cerny explained, "and Polly got some carrots and apples from the kitchen for her."

Cassandra nodded, "I see. She's going to like those I bet, but aren't you going to take her out?"

Polly looked surprised, "Alone? Outside Bromodin?"

Cassandra shrugged, "You can ride too, can't you?"

Polly nodded, "Yes, but I have no horse..."

She chuckled, "Really? Do you realize who owns most of the horses in that stable nowadays?"

Polly swallowed, "You would..., I can..."

Cassandra smiled at her, "You can borrow any horse you like, except for Musso of course..."

Her junior maiden smiled from ear to ear, and Cerny almost bounced off her chair, "I can go riding with Aunt Polly? Oh yeah!"

She locked eyes with her junior maiden, "Just promise me you'll be careful. Now I think of it, just ask the captain of the watch for an escort. Half a squad would be fine I think." She winked at both girls, "Pryoness' orders, just make sure the two of you are back in time for dinner." Cerny wasn't to be stopped anymore, and she dismissed the two of them from the table. After they were gone she noticed a couple of slightly envious faces among her other five maidens. She smiled, "Are there more maidens who would like a little horse riding now and then?"

Leavy blushed, "My father runs a one man transportation company, I grew up with horses..."

Syldan chimed in next, "I never rode a horse, but I would love to learn how to ride..."

Cassandra nodded, "Then why not let Leavy and Polly teach you?" Two more happy faces resulted. She chuckled, "If you're quick you can still catch up with Polly and Cerny, ask Polly to show you the stables before the two of them leave for their ride." She looked at Denora, "Or am I disrupting your planning now?"

Denora smiled, "No, not really, it leaves enough able bodied maidens to 'hold the fort' with.

Leavy and Syldan hurried out of the dining room, no doubt to catch up with Polly and Cerny. Once the two of them were gone Vala and Moiga stood too. "Moiga and I will be at the reception room then," Vala said with a smile.

Denora shook her head, and got up too, "No, I'll go with you Vala, Moiga has been behind the desk all morning already."

"I don't mind being behind the desk...," Moiga reacted with a smile.

Her senior maiden returned the smile, "I know, but it's your turn to keep milady company."

***

And so Cassandra ended up in her favorite comfy chair, chatting with Moiga, and at some point what happened on the trip to Bragstone became the subject of conversation. "We haven't talked much, since we arrived back from Bragstone," she said, "how have you been feeling, about what happened to you I mean."

Moiga shrugged, "I didn't sit comfortably for a couple of days..."

She cocked her head, "That's not what I meant.., how have you been coping emotionally?"

Her maiden swallowed, "It wasn't the first time I had sex, and it wasn't the first time I was being coerced into having sex either. It was the first time I had sex that way though, up my backside I mean. If 'having sex' is the right way to describe it that is. What bothers me most is the way in which the people who do this get away with it..."

Cassandra sighed, "Powerful people like Marecomb are difficult to get at without solid proof."

Moiga nodded, "I hope he won't give you any trouble, because of you standing up for me," she said, looking uncertain.

She chuckled, "Don't worry, I'm more than capable of handling Marecomb." She thought for a moment, "As a matter of fact, my father promised me to find out which of the nobles had the bad habit of misusing their position this way, and confront them about it. Basically to see if a couple of reprimands in the right ears would stop this whole abuse business. With my father's death that became my responsibility too. Marecomb currently is the only offender known to me, so he's on the list of people who're 'going to get it' anyway. That'll have to wait till after the coronation though, and I also still have to decide in what way they're going to get it."

Moiga had blanched a bit, and she smiled reassuringly at her, "Don't worry, this isn't going to come back at you or your family. I'll make damn sure Marecomb knows that lifting but a finger against you or your relatives will see him severely punished." Her maiden didn't seem to be entirely convinced yet. "I mean it Moiga, anyone trying to hurt you, or any of my other maidens for that matter, is going to find himself in deep shit. And anyone that actually does hurt one of my maidens is going to wish for death. I'll protect my own..."

Her words were still sinking in when the trumpets announced someone important arriving. Moiga stood in a reflex and walked over to one of the windows looking out towards the gate. "Courier," she announced.

Cassandra frowned, it was much too early for any news from Brando or any of the scouting parties they send after the orcs. "Please inform Denora I'll receive the courier in my study," she told Moiga, who just nodded and then left.

She was sitting behind her big tarkan wood desk when Denora, some ten minutes later, led in a dusty corporal. "Your highness," the rather young looking soldier saluted her. She just nodded at him. "I..., he started, while his eyes darted all over her person. "I...," he swallowed, "gods you're beautiful."

Denora chuckled, and the young corporal turned beet red, "I'm sorry..., I..."

"You do realize I'm already spoken for? By your highest commander no less?" she interrupted him, barely able to hide her amusement. The young man looked like a fish out of the water, gasping for air. She let him struggle for a moment, before letting him off the hook, "Relax corporal, I do realize it can get mighty lonely at the barracks." She winked at the young man, "And thank you for the compliment. Now you were about to deliver a message to me?"

The young man straightened, "Yes Sir, milady, your highness... I bring a message from Captain Kozawa, commanding officer of the seventh of the ninth, guarding the Olbio ferry." Cassandra's ears peaked. "A small orcish force arrived at the western river bank yesterday, and immediately launched an attack, with flying cavalry. Before they were halfway across the river though we had the torches out of the fire baskets, and they aborted their attack."

Cassandra nodded, "So the ferry is still in one piece."

The corporal nodded too, "Yes your highness. The orcs have set up a small encampment across the river and seem to just be watching what is happening at our side. There's maybe a platoon's worth of that flying cavalry, and another two of infantry."

She thought it over for a moment. "Please report to General Marecomb's 1st floor office, corporal, and repeat this message to the general. And then I want you to return to your post as soon as possible, and inform your captain he has my full support for torching the ferry the first moment he suspects it might be in danger of being captured. He should be especially vigilant at night, as the orcs seem to have pretty good vision in the darkness." The corporal saluted and bowed. "And good luck corporal," she added with a soft smile.