02.59: Interlude: Tejas

Lightning ran across gray clouds, turning the sky white for a heartbeat.

Underneath stood Suryagarh, seat of House Sindhu. The citadel of sandstone was a vast structure, dwarfing the castles of neighboring Nanon like a palace next to huts. Rivulets of rain slid off the domes on its towers, collecting into carved gutters and pouring out from the mouths of stone lions into the courtyard.

The sky thundered for the hundredth time, but Suryagarh stood still, unbothered by the mood of the weather, as it had for the last thousand years.

The castle’s residents, though a lot younger than it, also didn’t pay the sky any mind, busy as they were with the fate of their realm.

The smell of sandalwood and damp stone filled the cavernous throne hall, which was almost empty. Oil lamps burned low along pillars wrapped in gold foil, covered in intricate inlays of lapis lazuli, their flames shivering whenever the sky roared.

The guards had been dismissed.

In the center of the hall sat a middle-aged man with skin the tone of caramel, with the stillness of a dangerous predator. His throne competed with his clothes for opulence; its body made of solid gold encrusted with gems of every known variety.

His brows knitted, Maharajah Kalyan Sindhu combed his beard with thick fingers, darker than the sky outside, while looking at the young man kneeling before him.

Tejas kept his eyes lowered.

Rain kept hammering distant roofs.

His wet robes clung coldly to his skin, but he ignored the discomfort. Showing it would only invite his father’s anger.

The air flashed white and the gems on the throne and its occupant’s clothes reflected the lightning in hues of green, violet and red, before darkness swallowed them again.

Thunder followed.

Then, silence.

“So,” the Maharajah said at last, “the girl lives?”

“Yes, father, and close to the Queen. Very close, from what I gathered.”

The older man’s hands stopped moving through his beard.

“Did you see her yourself?”

“No. She wasn’t in the capital when I arrived.”

The Maharajah inhaled deeply.

“I’ll send some good men to rid the world of her.” A young man, only a few years older than the kneeling Prince, walked out from the shadows with a confident gait, his boots echoing sharply against the marble floor. He stopped a few steps short of the dais. With his thick-set jaw and broad shoulders, he looked a lot more like the Maharajah than the more comely Tejas.

“Patience, Jayant,” their father said.

“We do not have the time, father. What if she bears a son?”

“What of it?” he barked. “She ran away when she was thirteen. Who will accept her identity? Even if they did, claims require armies, not wombs.”

Jayant’s jaw tightened. “Stories can become dangerous if many believe them.”

“Yes,” Kalyan answered, “like a Princess-in-exile suddenly murdered. If she is truly close to the Queen, we cannot afford an unstable monarch of Nanon.”

“Nanon is weak,” Jayant pressed. “Cornered. Their hills won’t save them against Vozoran. They need us.”

“And we need them. That’s why we need to bring them into our fold, not antagonize them further. ”

Tejas watched Jayant’s nostrils flare.

Good.

The Maharajah turned to Tejas. “Did you not meet Duke Schwan?”

“I did.”

“And?”

“He made some empty gestures but he seemed helpless in influencing the Queen.”

Kalyan eyes widened. “That is very… unlike him. That crow would never let himself be helpless. No, he must be planning something,” he said more to himself than his sons. “You just failed to grasp what.”

Tejas resisted the urge to sigh.

His father’s eyes found him again. “What was the Queen’s betrothed like?”

“He wasn’t there.”

“This realm he claims to rule?”

“No one has been there. He told the court it’s a small realm nestled in the mountains beyond Nanon’s northwest borders.”

Jayant scoffed. “In a bog? A phantom kingdom.”

“That’s what I thought as well,” Tejas continued, “until I met the Queen.”

The Maharajah watched him closely.

“Well?”

“She’s… quite sharp.”

Kalyan’s eyes narrowed. “Then why did she choose to marry a border Count or a even a ruler of some runt of a realm over a Prince of Sindhu?”

Tejas hesitated for a few more heartbeats. To sharpen their curiosity. He chose his next words carefully.

“There was an… interesting topic of discussion among the nobles. Powerful weapons that this Count Jack demonstrated during the betrothal feast. Many believe they were the reason the Queen decided to marry him.”

“How powerful?” his father asked sharply.

“Not powerful, but fast. His soldiers fired a bolt every few heartbeats. From crossbows.”

The Maharajah straightened on the throne, his hand going back to his beard. “You are certain?”

“Multiple attendees confirmed it.”

Jayant frowned. “That’s impossible.”

Their father stilled.

“Hmm. Crossbows that fire as fast as bows. That would be quite a sight.”

His voice had changed.

Not panicked, but curiosity, and a tiny hint of fear.

Nobody spoke for some time, as they considered the implications. For frontier forts. For levies.

For war.

Kalyan broke the silence. “Draw weight?”

“I don’t know. Only the Count’s personal guards carried them and they never let anyone else touch them.”

“Did you manage to obtain one?”

“No. The Count’s guards left with them.”

“Damn.”

Tejas could see the decision in his eyes. The border Count had turned from a forgettable name to a valuable piece. Or a dangerous one.

“We will need to acquire one.”

“Fast crossbows alone won’t change the tides of battle. Not against Vozoran,” Jayant said smugly.

“No,” their father replied. “But they might change who survives the first charge.”

Tejas could see the calculation behind his father’s eyes. Noble cavalry dying to farmers with days of training.

His mouth felt like ash. It still wouldn’t help against Vozoran, who would just throw waves of freshly subjugated bodies at them.

The Maharajah suddenly remembered about him. “Explain your failure.”

Tejas swallowed, keeping his expression neutral.

“The Queen is not easily maneuvered, father. She wanted me to publicly renounce my claim to the throne, here and in Nanon, before even considering marriage.”

Jayant snorted derisively. “Smart woman.”

Tejas ground his teeth.

Ignoring them, the Maharajah leaned back on the throne. “Clever girl,” he said, but not in admiration. “She wants it to be irreversible.”

“We shouldn’t waste time,” Jayant said eagerly. “Time to strengthen alliances.”

“She said she would consider marriage, not marry me,” Tejas said through clenched teeth.

A smile full of pity spread on Jayant’s punchable face. “I will help you out, little brother. I’ll remove that pesky cousin of ours, and maybe that Count as well.”

Then he turned to their father. “That should scare the Nanon Queen enough to know her place.”

Kalyan’s thick, bushy brows came together. “You fool,” he whispered.

Both of his sons trembled.

“Shouting threats and spilling blood isn’t how you rule a realm.”

Jayant found his courage. “They are not our equal, father.”

“It does not matter! Facing Vozoran alone will cost us dearly, and you want to add Nanon, the only other free-standing realm, into our list of enemies!”

“Amlain is pretty big,” he said confidently. “It will take Vozoranians years to consolidate their hold over it before they can even think of pushing north. Our defenses will be much stronger by then.”

Tejas suppressed a sigh.

The Maharajah’s face hardened. “Don’t ever underestimate the enemy. Especially not them. Many realms did, and paid the price for it. Now we are left facing a monster that has consumed every realm on this continent but the two of us.”

His lips curved down in displeasure, and he hurled his turtle-shell comb at the immaculate marble floor with enough force to break it.

“Damn those Vozoranians!” he growled. “Murdering my guests on my lands! And damn that fool Leofric for dying, and damn his stubborn daughter who thinks she can bargain as my equal!”

Jayant went to one knee. “Father, if that girl gives birth to a son, the Queen will have another advantage over us in negotiations. Especially if those crossbows prove real. That’s why we must act now.”

“You think I don’t understand that?” the Maharajah thundered. “We cannot risk a conflict with them. Now shove it in your thick skull; we need their support!”

The hall fell silent.

Tejas suppressed a smirk. If only his father didn’t hold on to tradition so badly. Morons got to sit on thrones just because they were born early.

Then, an idea came to him. He forced himself to not smile.

When he spoke, his voice came out smooth. “Father.”

Kalyan turned to face him.

“I heard a few… interesting things in the capital. There is quite a bit of discontent in the Royal Army. Men from ancient houses are being retired or relocated.”

The anger in his father’s eyes faded.

Tejas continued. “The Queen is reforming her forces too quickly. Many resent her for it.”

The Maharajah’s eyes lit up. His lips slowly curled in a faint smile, as did Tejas’s.

Jayant’s expression darkened with understanding.

Slowly.

“We don’t need to meddle in Nanon’s affairs, just donate some gold to some friends. Inflame their hearts,” Tejas said, smiling. “Whatever they do with it, it will be their own handiwork.”

“That, might just work,” the Maharajah whispered.

Outside, thunder rolled across the plains once more.

Finally! Book 2 finished at 115k words!

What has been happening in Chadom in Jack’s absence?

What will he do with all the things and people he has gathered?

What are Linus and friends going to do?

How will Laira handle it all?

All answered in Book 3

I will be taking a week-long break as I figure out publishing Book 1.