Westrons Pt. 18

Aneli kept her children on her own estate, as Tudino and Avette would do. Yehla and little Oshide were in her parents' village, far from the capital.

Nine children - and a tenth on the way. I was 28 years old. Some days, I just shook my head in disbelief, and carried on.

But the Palace was more than a glorified day-care centre for half of my children. It was also where I met with the Chancellor - and the new unofficial Minister Without Portfolio: Princess Maia Simonia.

Her task was help Kanitz prepare for the next war, which we knew was only a matter of time. Themis had the intelligence and the good sense for the job, but I often wondered if the Queen was simply rewarding her younger sister for her loyalty and cooperation.

I sat down with them, and related everything that Lebuc had told me. I certainly couldn't remember every word, but Koroba could fill in most of the details I'd missed; she'd been eavesdropping the whole time.

She also had the kind of memory that humans had once possessed, long ago. Pre-literate societies had phenomenal memories - they had to. And Homo Pre-Electronica had also been capable of greats feats of memorization.

Without recording devices, or information storage technology, I was a pygmy, compared to the awesome abilities of someone like Tallia. And now Koroba, as it turned out.

Kanitz looked at me oddly, a few times. Themis was far too polite to make me feel like an idiot. Koroba had no such reservations.

- "He said 'As long as the carnivores fight each other, the Woles are relatively safe'."

- "That's right." I agreed. Like an idiot.

She glared at me. "How can you not remember that?"

***

We discussed Lebuc and his message several times. Then, one rainy evening, Kanitz and Themis changed the direction of our conversation. They also introduced a fourth person to our deliberations.

Kanitz and Themis stood up. I practically jumped out of my seat as the Westron Queen entered the Chancellor's study.

She was shorter and more slender than her sister. The golden yellow of her hair was slightly more muted. But for perfection of features, and for the unearthly brightness of her astonishing blue eyes, Maia Matila was simply ... unmatched.

She was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen.

In my humble opinion, Kanitz was incredibly lovely, exotic and ... spectacular. Themis was wonderful, too; but she couldn't hold a candle to her sister. Biased as I was, I couldn't dispute the fact that Maia Matila had no peer.

I'd said as much to Kanitz. That was when I'd only seen the Queen from a distance, or for a brief moment, in a receiving line. Up close? She was devastating.

There was no way that a male could see her, and mot immediately want to protect her, or to serve her somehow. Every chivalric instinct I had rose to the fore.

- "Please sit." she said. "No honorifics, in this room - are we agreed? May I call you Cook, Colonel? We are almost family, are we not?"

I inclined my head. "As you wish, Highness."

- "Oh, no - you must call me Matila. Just Matila."

- "As you wish ... Matila."

The Queen sat down, and stretched her legs.

- "Cook, could you explain your tactics to my sister?" asked Themis "What you did at Limset sounds very different from what I saw at Tonol."

- "Kanitz has explained it to us." said ... Matila. "But I want to understand just what it is you and Colonel Langoret did."

I spread my hands wide. "Where do you want me to begin?"

- "You had a year to train, with the Anelis and the Langorets. Start there."

Kanitz was not just Chancellor; she virtually doubled as Minister of War. And Themis had firsthand experience; she'd been at the Battle of Tonol - right beside me the whole time.

Maia Matila had never seen a battlefield. Hopefully, she never would. Her knowledge of things military was quite limited. Fortunately, Themis knew exactly what her sister understood - and what she didn't. She was able to add details, or flesh out some of my explanations when she felt the Queen needed more information.

That first day, we thoroughly covered the tactics and weaponry I'd been trying to introduce: rapid movement, skirmishing in open order, 3-pounders and rifles.

She asked me back, two days later, to describe the Battle of Limset.

I had no trouble persuading Esyle to go shopping with me. When I explained what I was looking for, she just grinned, and then led me directly to a toy shop.

It was like Geppetto's workshop. Dolls, puppets, miniature chairs and tables, all lovingly carved and painted. Little ox-carts, with wheels that turned ... and I found exactly what I was looking for: toy soldiers.

I also bought a small ball and cup game.

When I returned to the Palace, the Queen was amused when I produced the lovely carved soldiers, and placed six of them, in a line, across the top of Kanitz' desk.

Then I took out the wooden ball, which I'd detached from the string connecting it to the cup. I presented it to the Queen.

- "Your Majesty? Matila? Would you play the part of a cannon for us, and fire at these troops?"

She smiled; who doesn't like to bowl, every now and then? Matila rolled the wooden ball towards the line. It wobbled a bit, because I'd carefully shaved it so that it would no longer roll true. But even a rank novice like the Queen couldn't miss. She knocked over two of the figurines, on the end of the line.

I quickly removed four of the soldiers from the desk, leaving only two, which I spread far apart. Then I handed the ball to Kanitz.

- "Chancellor? Would you play the part of the Crolian artillery, and fire at our skirmishers?"

I would have bet a sizeable fortune that Kanitz had better hand-eye coordination than the Queen. She did. And even though she understood what I was trying to show the Queen, she wasn't about to deliberately try to miss.

It just didn't matter, though, because I'd shaved the ball. Her first roll was pretty good, but the ball veered slightly, and missed by an inch.

- "Let me try that again." said Kanitz.

She missed again. The Queen was grinning, enjoying my simple demonstration. She laughed out loud when Kanitz missed for the fourth time.

All three of them gasped when Wenzla's fifth throw grazed one of the figurines. But the little toy soldier stayed upright.

Kanitz threw the wooden ball at me. "Damn you, Cook - why do I have to be the Crolian artillery?"

- "I believe that I understand." said the Queen. "But I would still like to hear about your battle."

It was an eye-opening experience for me. The three women were obviously good friends. No one posed, or postured; there were no attempts to upstage or outshine the others. No showing off, no snide remarks.

Had there ever been a head of state who worked so well with her top advisors?

It went beyond trust; these three understood each other, and were striving towards the same goals. The Queen barely knew me, but I had fathered children with her sister and her Chancellor. It must have been odd for her!

She lacked only thing, from what I could see: personal warmth. Themis was kind, and good. You knew right away that she was interested in you, as a person. She had a heart big as all outdoors.

Kanitz was calculating, a creature of intellect and intrigue - until she let her walls down, and revealed her passionate nature. You didn't always know where you stood with her, but once she'd let you in, you understood that she was capable of great affection.

I never felt that with Maia Matila. She was cool, and distant. Lovely - absolutely lovely - but remote. An ice-Queen.

But I have no complaint whatsoever about how she treated me. She listened to my long-winded description of Limset, and then asked for more.

She also rewarded me in a way I'd never expected, and couldn't possibly have anticipated.

- "Can you stay the night?" asked Kanitz.

- "I live to serve." I said, with a grin.

- "You're an impudent rogue." she said. But she kissed me. "Upstairs with you."

We went up to her apartments. "Go in first." said Kanitz. "I'll be back."

I walked into her bedroom, already looking forward to renewing acquaintances with the Queen's Chancellor. We hadn't spent much 'quality' time together of late.

But her bedroom wasn't unoccupied.

- "I hope you aren't too disappointed." said Princess Maia Simonia.

I was stunned.

- "Themis?" She wasn't in hemmer; I knew that already. What was she doing here?

- "I wondered ... would you mind if I spent the night with you?"

- "You're not -"

- "No. I'm not in hemmer. I just ... hoped that you would let me sleep with you. Beside you. And hold me?"

My heart was hammering in my chest.

- "That sounds ... wonderful."

We lay side by side, holding and touching each other. I'd never expected to be so close to her again. I was surprised at how emotional I felt.

- "I wish we had a tent." she whispered. I could see her smile, in the darkness. I could feel the pressure of her breasts against my chest, her stomach against mine. She was pressing the whole length of her body against me.

Of course, I couldn't control my physical reaction. Themis felt it growing against her hip. She grinned. "Shall I help you with that?" she asked.

- "No." I said. I knew that she'd try to relieve me with her hand - or even her mouth, if I so much as hinted that I needed that. But it wasn't what I wanted; it wasn't why she'd asked me to lie beside her. "Please - just ... like this."

I don't think that either of us slept very much, if at all. We stayed that way, face to face, until the dawn.

***

It was a gift from the Queen, of course. She knew her younger sister very well, and suggested that a night with me might be just what Themis needed. It might have been a gift to me, as well.

A week later, Kanitz met with me - alone. I didn't ask, but she told me anyway.

- "The Princess won't be joining us today. She's ... indisposed."

- "Is she ill?" I asked, suddenly concerned.

Kanitz shook her head. "No, Cook - indisposed."

Themis was in hemmer.

***

A month later, the Queen and Kanitz met with me again. The Chancellor handed me a thick envelope.

- "This is your new commission." said Maia Matila. "I'm making you a General, Cook."

***

I blanked out, for a moment. I'm sure that the Queen said something else, but I didn't hear anything after 'General'.

Well, maybe my name.

- "Are you still with us?" asked Kanitz.

- "Forgive me, Highness. I forgot where I was, for a moment."

The Queen smiled. It might have been a heretical thought, but I came to the conclusion that Maia Matila was at her most lovely when her face was at rest.

- "We understand." she said. "But I want an army, Cook, trained in your tactics. We will need another Limset, in the next war. I believe that you can win it for us."

- "What you did with the Anelis and Langorets was remarkable." said Kanitz. "Can you repeat that, on a larger scale?"

- "I'm honoured, Matila. Thank you for your trust in me." I meant that on more than one level. "How large a scale are we talking about?"

- "An army." said the Queen. "I will let Wenzla explain it to you." She wished us a good evening, and left.

- "Congratulations." said the Chancellor. Her smile was more than congratulatory; it was affectionate, and inordinately proud of me.

"You've got a lot of work ahead of you."

- "How much?"

- "You'll have Aneli's regiment. Langoret's, of course." said Kanitz. "Tudino's. Avette's. And the Chancellor's Own."

- "There's a regiment called the Chancellor's Own?"

- "There is now. I'm paying for half of it; Maia Simonia is covering the rest, with the revenues from her new husband's estates."

"Will you command it for us, Cook?"

- "You want me to give up the Aneli regiment?" I would feel bad about letting Aneli down, but I would really miss the women I'd fought beside, at Tonol and Limset - Faregil especially.

- "No." said Kanitz. "You can command both. There are precedents."

"As General, you will probably have to appoint Acting-Colonels for both regiments. Under your overall command, of course."

- "Faregil." I said. "For the Anelis."

- "Yes." said Kanitz.

- "Five regiments?" I could do a lot with five regiments. It wasn't quite an army, though - more like an overpowered division. I said as much to her.

- "That's a problem." admitted Kanitz. "The trouble is, there are still many Westrons who ..."

- "Would refuse to serve under me?"

- "Since you put it that way - yes."

"It's difficult, Cook. We can't very well ask in advance if they would have any objection to working with you. But if we arbitrarily assign regiments to your army ..."

- "They might refuse. Which would be embarrassing." I said.

- "For the Queen, even more than for you." said Kanitz. "So we thought that we'd let it be known that we're forming a new army. It won't be a secret that you're in command. We'll also mention the names of your Inhabers."

"Officially, we're at peace. We can't openly announce what we know about Crolian rearmament, so many officers won't see the need for urgency on our part."

- "I understand."

- "But there are Colonels out there who do want to serve with you. I'm certain of that. We just don't know who they are, yet."

***

We had several fruitful meetings: Kanitz, Langoret, Tudino, Avette and me. I suggested including Faregil and Tallia from the start.

It was Langoret who asked if we could invite Aneli.

- "She will feel left out, otherwise." she said.

Kanitz nodded. "I should have thought of that. Thank you for reminding me."

***

- "500 rifles? 60 three-pounder cannon?" exclaimed Kanitz. "Are you out of your minds? Do you have any idea how much this will this cost?"

- "There are the signing bonuses for the Chancellor's Regiment, too. And the powder. We're going to need ..." I looked to my partner in crime.

- "Eight to ten tons, I should think." said Langoret. "For a start."

We'd made teasing Kanitz into an art form. She knew that this project was going to cost a fortune; she'd been hoping, though, that it would be only a small fortune.

The Chancellor wasn't parsimonious by nature. But she knew, better than anyone, that the Crown's resources were limited. There's never enough money - and in peacetime, the will to go into debt for military purposes was almost non-existent. They still had to pay off the debt from the last war.

Tallia worked harder than anyone. I tried to rein her in.

- "You have to slow down a bit, love. You're pregnant."

- "Exactly! Which means that I get you have get you started on the right foot, because I won't be there for the launch of your New Model Army."

- "Tallia - it's not a launch. It's just the beginning of training. Soldiers arriving in camp, finding their campsites, digging latrines ..."

- "Food. Equipment. Training schedules. A thousand and one details to look after!"

- "Which no one can handle like you can. We'll just have to do our best, and try to muddle though. When you get there, you can correct all of our mistakes -"

- "Are you making fun of me, Cook?"

- "I wouldn't dare." I said. "Really - we'll do the best we can until you arrive."

Somewhat mollified, Tallia let me rub her feet and hold her until she fell asleep.

In the winter months, life at the Belere Palace became just a little bit easier.

Esyle was pregnant. Now it looked like her child would be born four months after Tallia's. The sisters' competition subsided a bit.

I stopped worrying about whether the children would be siblings or cousins. Both. And so be it. It was a tremendous relief, though to find that Tallia and Esyle were back to non-competitive sharing - and getting along.

That was also about the time we learned that Princess Maia Simonia was with child.

*****