The Exchange Ch. 15

The report given to Nitishila confirmed that pirates had indeed attacked, but they were dealt with easily and many men had been captured.

And they looked Eiraglan.

Hoping to keep what little tact there was left, Nitishila told the messenger guard to keep quiet about this, and to keep the rest of the guards quiet, but he knew the gossip would reach the elites eventually. This would have to be dealt with. Soon.

When Nitishila whispered the concerning fact in the report to Inka, she didn't tell him anything. She only nuzzled his throat as if he'd whispered sugary things to her. That was probably for the best.

Despite the guests' protests, the birthday trip was cancelled. The spare gifts were handed to guards to be stored away. Nitishila imagined that each guest grumbled all the way back to the Royal Palace.

Once everyone was back at the palace on a cool afternoon, they were allowed time to rest. Although, Nitishila was given highly frightening reports concerning a certain white bird. But he needed to sleep.

Nitishila was feeling protective, and so he chose to rest in Inka's apartment. He napped on her bed, beside her yet facing away, letting the bottom of his foot touch her leg. After they were both awake, they took a late lunch. Fine hummus with flat bread and cheese to dip inside. Chunks of fruit. A few bits of dried fish over cups of rice. And cautiously flavored water to drink.

Then, it was time for a formal meeting. Most of the guests wouldn't be allowed to attend. Only the highest of the high would be granted the opportunity. It took place in a room that was almost never used.

The Emperor's Throne Room.

It was a massive place. There was a high ceiling with square and circular panels of ebony wood with mother of pearl and onyx stone decorations. The floor was dark marble. The center had a blood red pathway of a rug, although one was meant to only step upon it when given permission from the Emperor himself ... or his Dowager. Small cushions were neatly arranged on the unforgiving space that was on each side of the rug. Important government officials and some of the elites knelt on these cushions, waiting for any word.

The tall walls had wooden panels matching the ceiling, only longer and thinner. There were a few side doors that were designed to deceive the eye, fooling one to assume it was only another panel. At one end of the room, there were two tall doors of more ebony wood, but with golden studs. At the other end, there was a set of stairs and a tall throne. Both these things were plated in gold.

The throne had red cushions with a pattern of golden stars. On each side of the throne's thick arms, there were black statues of tall wolves. The entire thing was under a completely unnecessary shelter, a small tent of more red silk with danging golden tassels. Near this throne, there were many guards and specialized attendants gathered.

With a straight posture, Emperor Nitishila sat on this throne, and he reached out, palm upwards. "Send in the Admiral."

One of the attendants marched over to a side door and opened it. Then he left for a moment. When he returned, was was escorting a man who smelled like the ocean, the Admiral. He led that man to the rug in the center, and there the Admiral knelt and prostrated before the Emperor.

"I've read your accounts," Nitishila said, "summarize them before the court."

The Admiral moved up to a kneeing position and gave a general summary. The naval attack during the Empress Consort's birthday trip was caused by a group of pirates, and those pirates were Eiraglan. They looked Eiraglan. They spoke Eiraglan. And there were some prisoners being kept. They still existed to be examined personally, if that was required.

And then, the Admiral was dismissed.

In the same manner as that Admiral, one of the head guards was summoned, and when he was kneeling before the Emperor, he gave his summary of an account the Emperor had only just recently read.

Apparently, they had intercepted several messages that had been tied to the legs of a white bird that had often been seen at the Empress Consort's apartment. These messages seemed to confirm that the Empress Consort had been assisting in the design of the naval assault. The Emperor confirmed that he'd been handed these little messages, and he'd read them. Then he dismissed that head guard.

He addressed the kneeling audience as his chin rose and his dangling jewelry jingled. "This information is horrifying to say the least. I know you all must be concerned, especially with the disturbing fact that my strange wife has yet to produce any children for me." If the audience was allowed to gossip among themselves, then they certainly would've done so, but they all knew the environment was too disciplined for that. "Now, I before we make any accusations, I'll have the Empress herself brought here. Perhaps she could defend herself."

Empress Consort Inka was summoned, and she brought with her a small retinue consisting of her favored attendant Jorun and some of her favorite maids. These women knelt before the Emperor, although Inka was the only one not to prostrate herself.

"Wife," Nitishila said with the same grave tone he'd used before, "are you aware of the accusations that have been pointed at you?"

There were flowery decorations, both fabric and metallic, in Inka's braided and looped hairstyle, and these decorations trembled and wavered as she nodded. "I'm aware, Husband."

"Regarding the notes from the bird, what do you have to say?"

Like a cat showing a little affection, Inka slowly blinked her pretty teal eyes. "Whatever messages that bird carried, I've never responded to them. I've never asked for the bird to come. I believe someone sent the bird to put suspicion on me."

Nitishila noticed the nervous eyes that his guests held. That was understandable. Even a farming peasant would understand that this was a dangerous situation. He addressed his wife again. "What reasoning, or rather, what evidence can be found to prove your statement correct?"

With a swiftness that nearly made Nitishila laugh, Inka replied, "The burden of producing evidence belongs to the one making the accusation. The accused should never be asked to prove they're innocent."

Nitishila had to hold his ringed fingers over his heart and force his face to remain intimidating. "That's true, but you must admit that the evidence found against you is troubling. Unless you can refute it, you might be arrested, war might start with your homeland, and my dear sister Jaya would suffer the tragedy of being forced to side against her brother and her people."

Inka nodded. "Then for everyone's sake, I should do my best. Thankfully, I'm suspicious by nature, and I'd found some help long ago." She flipped one of her longer loops of hair and asked, "May I ask for my vital witness?"

Nitishila agreed and asked for the witness' name. It was a guard named Kishor.

The story Kishor told was long, and he wasn't a very good storyteller. But Nitishila and everyone else listened as if each rough word of his was worth a thousand large pearls.

***

Quite a few months ago, there was a certain physician in the Royal Palace. Doctor Jain. He was one of several that tended to Empress Inka and had given her many pieces of advice; and he'd given her wonderful musk incense. However, Inka had also consulted as many medical texts as could be placed in her hands. She'd learned that many physicians don't recommend inhaling scents of musk for long periods when trying to become pregnant, and especially not when pregnant. Too much musk can cause infertility and miscarriages.

Empress Inka had Kishor secretly watch Doctor Jain, and he found that the physician had recently made some interestingly expensive purchases, interesting because while his salary was generous it shouldn't cover those purchases. This lead Inka to believe someone had bribed Doctor Jain to offer her musk incense. They couldn't truly prove this, and there was always the odd physician who didn't think musk was harmful. So, they decided to let Doctor Jain go on with his life. He was even allowed to apply to be a teacher in the new medical wing in the palace.

But Empress Inka knew better than to relax.

The first and most obvious suspect would be Princess Lataa, the disgraced little sister of the Emperor. But, how could she afford to bribe a well paid physician in her state? Her allowance had been so severely diminished, after all. So, Inka asked the head manager at the Communal Serving Department to monitor servants that leave the palace. Whenever he had to leave for his own business in the capital, he also watched the servants whenever he was able, when they shopped, when they visited a restaurant or inn, whatever he could do whenever he was free. The head manager learned that many servants that worked in Princess Lataa's apartment seemed to accept various packages from mysterious people, often in alleyways.

Kishor was then told by Inka to apply to transfer his position to Princess Lataa's apartment. Pure luck smiled upon him, because one of that princess' guards had just applied to leave the palace and start a family in the capital. Kishor then used his new position as an opportunity to eavesdrop and even spy when he was able.

Kishor discovered that Princess Lataa's servants had been receiving money from mysterious outside sources. He also discovered that Princess Lataa had been receiving her own messages from birds, which wasn't necessarily criminal. Whenever Kishor was unable to meet the Empress Consort in person, he'd use a bird to communicate important facts to her, although he'd write the true message in hidden code in what seemed to be the most useless symbols just in case someone else caught the bird.

It was at this point in the story where Nitishila interrupted and said to the audience that the message Empress Consort Inka had apparently received from a white bird didn't have any noticeable codes. In fact, the messages were blatant. The Empress was no genius, but she was crafty, and if she wanted to send a secret message then why wouldn't she use a code?

Kishor gave his agreement, and he said that one should keep that fact in mind. Then he went on with his explanation. He intercepted as many of the notes Princess Lataa received as possible, and he learned that princess was also receiving messages that were in a code. She even kept some of them, as if she had a fondness.

But then Kishor found that Princess Lataa would have her own messages sent via bird, and when Kishor was able to snatch one up, he learned that for whatever reason that princess didn't know how to put in a proper code at all. Her messages were easily deciphered.

A pause in the story came when Kishor had all the messages he'd caught, both from Lataa and the mysterious person she'd been communicating with, handed over to Nitishila. Then he gave Nitishila his personal notes on the translation of the princess' poorly constructed code. As for the better code, the messages Lataa received, Kishor was only able to translate half of that.

A large portion of the small letters strongly implied an affectionate relationship. There were statements of longing, of having difficulty waiting, and even some more carnal suggestions. In one message, Lataa could be quoted with this, "I fondly await the day I can be forgiven by my family and you can marry me."

But some messages were more business-like.

Another quote was, "I've sent the money." Kishor found a particularly telling message and made a point to write a note in HUGE characters with underlines and circles on each word. "We found some stray pale ones, and most speak Eiraglan. Those that don't can be taught. They can be used during the Empress' birthday." And, amusingly enough, some of her quotes referred to someone as, "Sweet Prince, Darling Prince, and Desert Star."

Whether or not Princess Lataa had bribed Dr. Jain couldn't be honestly judged, but it was fair to assume she had something to do with the supposedly Eiraglan people that had attacked the ships at the birthday trip. Of course, this was enough to vindicate the Empress Consort.

Inka decided that was a fine moment to ask her husband if any of the guests had left for their homes early. There was no rule nor law against leaving early, but Inka said it would be possible that the person she had in mind would've left and done so very quietly.

Ten minutes later, the housekeeper for the guest apartments reported that only one guest had left.

Prince Mayur Mishradas of Haramani.

***

Later in the afternoon, the greatest, most joyous announcement was made after Inka personally chose three doctors to examine her. They all agreed. She was pregnant, and had been for quite some time. Inka later admitted to Nitishila that she'd known for a good while, but she purposely pretended she wasn't pregnant at all.

She'd put on an attitude of a dramatically depressed person, and had eaten like a pig. She'd eaten so much because she didn't want to starve her child, and she thought it was one of the well-known, if slightly rare, symptoms of depression. Inka had also purposely made sure even the guards would hear her cries of outrage. She'd wanted the gossip to travel far. She'd wanted Lataa, or anyone else that might be against her, to believe she wasn't pregnant and likely wouldn't become pregnant.

What happened to Lataa?

They didn't even need to torture her. She confessed as soon as she was allowed to.

Inka was never the true target in this particular collection of events.

A great number of iron mines had been discovered and taken into the custody of Haramani. Exactly whose idea this was wasn't truly known, but as far as could be gathered a certain bit of trickery had been funded by the Haramani government.

A white bird would be trained to land at Empress Inka's apartment to make it seem as if she was receiving secret messages. Then a group of men who looked Eiraglan would be paid to attack the navy during Empress Inka's birthday trip. Either they were lied to about the difficulty of such a task or they thought they would be freed somehow. One of the guards would be bribed to try to lure Empress Inka away, knock her out, and throw her into the ocean to drown.

This would all be an attempt at framing Empress Inka for treason. Combined with her apparently not pregnant state, which would've been explained by secretly taking abortifacients or infertility drugs, all this information could lead one to believe she'd never wanted to produce a Gehnan heir and she'd wanted to damage the empire from within. Her death in the water would be explained by claiming she'd committed suicide when the naval attack failed.

Prince Mayur had been communicating with Princess Lataa and sending her money, so she could do all the bribing. Once everything was done, and Gehna would be at war with Eiragla, Lataa would be forgiven for her previous crimes since Inka would be called a traitor after all. Then Haramani would use the new supply of iron to sell weapons to Gehna for the cause. Not only would this be an opportunity for more wealth, but this would also be a chance to gain more clout with Gehna, and clout in the empire was always craved. Mayur would ask to marry Lataa then, which would add another layer of clout.

The target had been Gehna. Everyone and thing else were casualties.

Nitishila had some decrees to give.

First, Lataa would be stripped of her royal title. Then she'd be sent to a nearby temple to work the rest of her life as the lowest ranking priestess in a temple, essentially a maid that prays a lot and follows the higher priestess' orders.

Second, the Royal Family of Haramani would be deposed, most of them executed. How could this be done? Well ... Gehna did technically own the country. Send some troops over and do it. Nitishila already knew of a distant family member he could place as the new king over there.

By the time Inka was close to giving birth, she was so amazingly plump, and with such a protruding belly, that she nearly looked like a different person. Sometimes, she could barely get up without assistance. When it was finally time to deliver, she nearly bled to death, but she survived, and so did her children.

Yes, children.

Three of them, all boys.

Sweet little princes with caramel colored skin. Navindra, Raju, and Shriali. They all seemed to have pretty teal colored eyes, but babies were known to sometimes have their eye colors or complexions change over time. Nitishila got to hold each one of those little boys to his chest at some point. They were the softest, most fragile, most adorable little wrinkly things in the world, or at least to him. Completely worth the long period of anxious waiting.

As he held the third son, Shriali, grinning down at his soft nose and closed eyes, Nitishila tried not to think too hard about Lataa. He honestly tried, but he found himself dwelling on all the troubling knowledge. If Lataa had known that Inka was pregnant, she'd have tried to get someone to poison her with an abortifacient. Then he wouldn't have his sleepy little sons.

He looked over to a wet-nurse, who was cooing to the other sons, who were kept in little bassinets. Now that they were here in the world, Nitishila knew he never wanted them to leave.

***

When Inka was healthy enough to be fairly active, it was time for a trip to a temple. More specifically, the temple where Lataa happened to be serving her sentence.

It was a tall building with a ridiculous number of colors painted on it. The most popular color was ocean blue. The temple was located a few miles down the local river. Sculptures of various things were formed on the steep roof. Parrots and rabbits. Wolves and snakes. Flowers and waterfalls. Trees and rivers. Dancing people, adults and children. Sleeping people, more of the same. It was a dizzying building.

Everywhere Inka looked she saw something new. She wondered if she should become a patron for an architect who preferred simpler designs.

The interior was less detailed, but still pretty. The high ceiling was divided by curved arches supported by white columns. Each arched section had window-like squares and rectangles with scenes painted in. After the Royal Family rested from their traveling, a high ranking priestess gave them and their attendants a tour of the place. Then the family was served a modest meal. It was considered rude to ask for an expensive meal from a temple.

After the meal, it was time for a private ceremony, celebrating the good health of the mother and the tiny children. One at a time, at an altar of pale wood and silver decorations, each little prince was held by a priestess wearing a black turban. Water that had been prayed over and scented with daisy petals was used to soak a linen cloth. The cloth was wrung out and then each baby had their brows dabbed, then bottoms of their darling little feet. Finally, a similar treatment was given to Empress Consort Inka.

Musicians played light tunes reminiscent of a soothing spring rain. During this time, flowery incense was lit and a wordless group prayer was held. Only the wet-nurses (three had been hired at this time since there were so many little princes) were allowed to ignore the prayer. They had to keep the little ones calm. After the prayer, there was another meal, and the Royal Family were allowed to relax in their reserved rooms or wander about, whatever they wanted, really. They were meant to spend the night.

Inka wanted to walk as much as possible. She'd gained so much weight, and she wanted to lose quite a bit of it. With Jorun protectively holding her hand, Inka explored the halls. Her little boys were in good care. Through some windows, she saw the wet-nurses carrying the babies into the sunny weather and letting them have fresh air. That would be good for their young lungs. Straw hats with wide brims had been placed on the princes' tiny heads, protecting them from any cruel rays from the sun.