Chapter II
Year 8 of the reign of pharaoh Ramesses XI, 3rd day of the third month of Shemu
After a day’s ride, Neitheret and Harsiamon reached Menelaion, having travelled through the Peloponnese in their passenger carriage. They disembarked in the center of the city and proceeded towards the royal palace, which was rather easy to notice as it was the only building standing so tall. It was a modest and small city, resembling a collection of disorganized villages rather than a proper Mycenaean palace city.
“Well, I for one would be hard pressed to find a duller looking town,” Neitheret said.
“Laconians are not very urban people. They live spread out. This capital is not more than a large camp for the army to gather in,” Harsiamon said, pointing to a court nearby, where several almost naked men were fighting with training weapons.
“Huh, seems so. Still, hopefully we will be able to find a decent place to stay.”
“Near the palace probably. Only place foreigners would come here for.”
They found a hotel near the palace, where they paid for two rooms for the first night. After dressing up for the occasion and preparing for the meeting, they went out and headed for the palace.
“You sure you want to come along? You could stay behind in the hotel if you wish,” Neitheret asked Harsiamon.
“I have to be there to assess him right,” Harsiamon replied. “That’s how I’ll know how best to deal with him. You just do the talking.”
“I can do that, sure.”
“Once I make an important observation, I’ll tell you.”
“Such as?”
“What line of inquiry to pursue. To break him down.”
“That sounds a bit too aggressive.”
“It’s necessary.”
“Is it?”
“We are the KIA. The answer to this question is yes. Always.”
The two of them reached the palace and were stopped by the soldiers guarding it.
“What’s your business here?” one of the guards asked.
“We are agents of Kemet Intelligence Agency. We scheduled for a meeting with your king, which is to take place today,” Neitheret said in Mycenaean and showed her documents and badge, as did Harsiamon.
“Alright, let us see. Wait here a minute.”
After a bit, the documents were verified, and the agents were let into the palace. They were led to a lounge, where the king – a tall, well-built man in his early forties – was relaxing on the couch and eating, surrounded by his servants, mostly men but a few women were present as well. Upon noticing the arrival of the guests, he dismissed his servants and stood up to greet the agents.
“Welcome to my humble abode,” king Leocedes said. “What brings you here?”
“Greetings, your highness. We are agents of the KIA, as I’m sure you’ve been informed. I am Neitheret, and my companion here is Harsiamon,” Neitheret said in Mycenaean. “We have been sent here to discuss some important matters regarding the succession crisis.”
“You speak Mycenaean? I am most impressed. Not every day you can find a lady that is not only so beautiful but also so well learned.”
“Thank you.”
“And does your companion speak our language as well?”
“Not as much. He can understand it, but not enough to converse, so I will be the one speaking,” she looked at Harsiamon, who nodded with a neutral expression.
“That’s perfectly fine. I get it, travelling alone as a woman may not always be wise, but be assured – my realm is as safe for women as any land can get. Women are very much respected and revered here.”
“I don’t doubt that, your highness. But Harsiamon is a good agent, and I prefer that he stays with me in any event.”
“I can understand that. And please, just call me Leo. All Egyptians are friends to me.”
“I am glad to hear that, Leo.”
“Please, sit, don’t tire your legs,” Leocedes pointed to the couch opposite to his own, where the agents proceeded to sit down. “Do you want any drinks, food? My servants are ready to prepare what you wish.”
“Thank you, but no. It’s not very appropriate to be indulging in food and drinks in the middle of our tasks.
“Ah, of course. So, what are we discussing?”
“As I said, this concerns the succession crisis. Such a state of affairs is not very healthy for your country and, in turn, the whole alliance, so we would like it to be solved as soon as possible.”
“Oh, of course. Believe me, none of us like it, but we can’t move forward without every king agreeing to support the same successor.”
“Yes, and, as I understand it, you support Hecataeus. Is that correct?”
“You are well informed. I do indeed support Hecataeus. He is a man of war, a man of the people, and one ready to set things right.”
“I understand that, but Tirynthius has more supporters already. Wouldn’t it be wiser to support him and not cling to Hecataeus, who has not even a third of the kings supporting him, and so finally enthrone a wanax?”
“Well, I am a man of principles, and I won’t support a candidate I do not like just because the others do so.”
“But why don’t you like him? His economic and trade policies are such ones which would bring more prosperity to the Confederation and so strengthen it. Is that not what you want?”
“I read his proposals, I know what he wants. He wants to expand our ports and focus even more on our naval trade routes. And while this would suit those who live on the coasts quite well, I imagine, this won’t bring much prosperity to us in Laconia. We live from the land, not the seas. Hecataeus knows this, he cares about us who live away from the coasts as well and he understands that we have been neglected for a long time. We provide the most troops, yet don’t get much in return, while the island and coastal kings send little and receive the most in the end. Tirynthius, having only served in the navy, doesn’t understand this.”
“Laconia does have a coastline though. You could develop cities there and get some of these profits as well. Everyone can win from this development.”
“Again, that’s not quite so easy. The trade routes circumvent us and instead go through Kythera, which is well suited for such ventures. We would have to compete against it if we wanted to get a piece of this pie and it would take way more resources than we have to develop equivalent ports. The kingdom is not doing all that well in terms of wealth, let’s just leave it at that. All we have now along the coast are fishing villages, and our geography just isn’t that well suited for port cities anyways.”
“We could help you in this regard by subsidizing your developments.”
“I appreciate the effort, but I am not interested.”
“Maybe some low interest loans from the Royal Commonwealth Bank?”
“No, I do not like taking loans. They always bring trouble.”
“We have resources. We can help you. I understand that Tirynthius may not help all kingdoms equally, but we are ready to provide for the ones left behind. His ascension to the throne would be better for everyone in the end.”
“It wouldn’t be better for us Laconians. He’s a soft boy, not a hard soldier who could qualify as a true wanax that the Mycenaeans need. Even discarding economics, he is just too weak. He would bend to the Hittites, he would bend to the barbarians, and he would bend and become a slave to the corporations like Nebuchadnezzar in Babylonia. We don’t need such a weakling. We need a real warrior.”
“Is there really nothing we can do to change your mind?”
“I support Hecataeus and will continue doing so. We are not a majority, but there are enough of us, and we are stronger, so I have no reason to abandon the true successor now, for any price.”
“Excuse us for a minute,” Neitheret said after Harsiamon nudged her, and the two of them went outside the lounge to the central hall.
“Well, what is it? Do you have any ideas? He doesn’t seem to budge,” Neitheret said.
“He’s gay,” Harsiamon replied casually.
“What?”
“He likes men.”
“I know what that means. But how is it relevant?”
“We could blackmail him with this information.”
“So since the carrot doesn’t work you want to immediately resort to the stick?”
“I was under the assumption the agency operates this way. So yes.”
“Okay, even if we take this approach – how can you be sure of this? You’ve just met him.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“I can tell. The way he looked at you, the way he looked at me – though I must not be his type – and his servants before they had left. Most of whom were males. The way he speaks and dresses and acts.”
“Right… I’m still not sure on that.”
“I know I’m right.”
“Maybe you are. But that doesn’t give us anything. We would need something more concrete for blackmail. Like with who he did it, you know?”
“I do know. Huzaru.”
“The king of Alashiya? How did you arrive at that conclusion?”
“It is common knowledge that Huzaru likes men. We send him some boys every year. Orders directly from Ramesses. It would make sense, Laconia is nearby.”
“You don’t have any proof of that.”
“The vases in that room are all of Alashiyan origin. As is the painting behind him. Too much art from that island to be a coincidence.”
“He could have… bought it all?”
“He said his realm is not very rich. And Alashiyan goods are quite expensive.”
“This is quite risky, you know? You could be completely wrong here.”
“I’m not. Just pursue this line of questioning. Press him hard, appear certain. As if we had this knowledge for months.”
“Does he really have much to lose if this information got out?”
“If he was in Egypt, maybe not so much. But this is Mycenae, such information can cause more trouble here. Especially in Laconia. And especially depending on the position taken.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“What does that- Oh.”
“Let’s go back. Better not to keep him waiting.”
The two of them got back to the lounge and sat on the same couch across Leocedes.
“Sorry to have kept you waiting, Leo,” Neitheret said in Mycenaean.
“It is no trouble,” Leocedes replied as he took another sip of his wine.
“You have some… nice art in this room.”
“Oh, thank you. Yes, I managed to acquire quite a collection over the years.”
“Those vases – they are of Alashiyan origin, are they not?”
“Uh, yes, actually, they are. How did you know?”
“Well, you could say I take an interest in such art as well.”
“Oh, what a coincidence, ha! Indeed, Alashiyan art is among the best. They really have some good artisans making these works.”
“And that painting behind you – that’s Alashiyan too, right?”
“Yes… Yes, it is. I got it- I bought it, I mean, on my last trip to Enkomi.”
“You travel to Enkomi often?”
“I, uh, well, I’ve been there a few times. For business matters, you know.”
“Interesting. I thought you said you ruled an inland realm, with only fishing villages for ports. What business does Laconia have to do with Alashiya?”
“You know, uh, this and that. Anyways, I think we should get back to the topic of the successor to the Mycenaean throne-”
“I’m more interested in the Alashiyan throne now. You know their king, Huzaru?”
Leocedes began looking much more nervous and shifting uncomfortably on his couch.
“Sure, who doesn’t know him?”
“Not everyone meets with him though. You’ve been meeting with him, haven’t you?”
“I don’t see how that is really relevant-”
“And he gifted all these pieces of art, right?”
“Wait, is this about taxes to the wanax? I don’t see how that would be your problem.”
“Well, if these are gifts, then you don’t need to pay taxes on them, so you don’t need to worry about anything.”
“Uh, yes. Because they are gifts. So, I don’t have any undeclared income that could be taxed. Yes. I’m not living beyond my means.”
“So Huzaru did gift them to you. Now, why would a king gift something of such value to a ruler of a lesser rank? No offense intended.”
“Wait, wait, wait, I didn’t mean it like that.”
“What did you mean then? You must have provided Huzaru with some sort of service then, right?”
“Enough! I will not be harassed by you in such a manner any longer. I don’t know what you want, but I am not interested in continuing this discussion,” Leocedes stood up and was about to leave.
“Oh, I think you should be. We know what you did.”
Leocedes froze and turned back to the agents, “You… You don’t know anything.”
“We have many agents. You think such visits would remain unnoticed forever? To Huzaru’s capital, his palace, his room… His bed?”
“You… How… You can’t prove anything!”
“Plenty of evidence here. But even without that – Huzaru could.”
“He wouldn’t!”
“Oh, I’m certain he would. Above anything else, he loves money.”
“This would implicate him too.”
“Not in a position nearly as precarious as yours. His would be of a laugh among friends, while yours of great shame to you.”
“I…”
“And he has been open about it, he doesn’t have much to lose. Everyone knows that he has been fucking dozens of nobles from all around. If this came to light, few would doubt it. After all, who would doubt the word of a king?”
“I am a king as well!”
“Well, more like a governor, in reality. And a word of a governor doesn’t have much against the word of a sovereign king.”
“You… You fucking bitch. I should have both of you killed right now.”
“That would not be very wise. We aren’t the only ones who know. The Agency knows. And if we do not come back, agents in Alashiya are sure to begin the release of this damning information. Besides, killing agents of an allied country? In that case, I believe you would have even more trouble. The pharaoh takes this very seriously, and he dispenses justice quite swiftly. Before long, a dozen thousand men could be marching through your city, and they would not be gentle.”
“Gods damn it all… So, what do you want? Why are you telling me this?”
“Simple. Our talk about Tirynthius and Hecataeus, remember that? All you need to do is support Tirynthius. As long as you do it, your secret is safe with us.”
“And… If I support Tirynthius, if I approve him as the wanax… This will not come to light?”
“If you give him your vote, I swear on Ra this information will not be revealed. It’s that simple.”
“I cannot believe this… Betraying Hecataeus for such things.”
“It’s Hecataeus or your status. The status of your household, your entire kingdom. And it would linger around for years, centuries even. You don’t want your children to have to deal with such consequences, do you?”
“Fuck… Fine. You win. Tirynthius has my vote. I will give him my support.”
“Make sure that you do.”
“I will keep to my promise. And you… You get the fuck out of my house, right now.”
“Pleasure doing business with you, Leo,” Neitheret stood up.
Neitheret and Harsiamon left the palace and headed back to their hotel for the night.
“Holy shit, you were right. No idea how, but it worked. You really are something, huh?” Neitheret said on the way back. “So, mission… accomplished?”
“Mission accomplished,” Harsiamon confirmed.
“…Now Hecataeus, now he is a real man, he knows how to rule a country,” Demades continued ranting while walking around his room and drinking the third bottle of wine that evening. “He knows how we do it, he knows our ways, yes, indeed he is one the ancients would have preferred. Granted, if I do say so myself, even Hecataeus seems a bit soft to me, but he certainly is the better choice from what we have. Tirynthius is not such a man, oh no, he is corrupted! Yes, corrupted! The sea corrupted him! All these years spent at sea, it messed with his mind. He is possessed by Charybdis, we cannot allow him to take the throne. Otherwise he will bring only ruin to our great confederation.”
“Uh-huh,” Neberzer nodded. After two days of sailing, he had reached Iolcus, the capital of Thessaly, and proceeded to meet with its fifty five year old king Demades, who was now in the middle of a lengthy process of ranting about Tirynthius, Hecataeus, and various other topics to the KIA agent.
“And you know what they say about sailors, right? There are no women at sea, only fellow sailors. I dare not speak of what degenerate acts take place on those accursed ships. But I must! Tirynthius participated, and surely still participates in this unholy process. He is a pedophile, I know it!”
“What makes you say that?”
“The gods told me! Zeus approached me and cautioned me about this!”
“Right.”
“Tirynthius can’t be trusted. Lest he takes your own sons too! Oh, by the way, do you want more wine?”
“No, I’m fine-”
“Servants! Servants, more wine! Get your lazy asses in here! Get us more wine! And cheese! Why do I pay those rapscallions if they can’t even follow simple orders? I should cull the herd at once. Anyways, where was I?”
“Uh, the-”
“Oh, yes, the sea! The sea is a terrible place. It claimed my father, I’ll have you know, and his father before him. That’s a true story, that’s why I built my palace further inland, so that the treacherous influences of the sea could not reach it. I should move it even further inland, to make it safer. You can never be too safe.”
“That’s an idea. Yeah, you could do that. But you would need more money for that, would you not?”
“Ah, money is no problem. I have money. Or, I will have. I just need to find my great uncle’s buried treasure, which should be somewhere to the west.”
“Well, uh, that’s a goal worth pursuing for sure, but-”
“Ha, I’m just kidding, it’s just a tale. No, but the real problem is the presence of barbarians in the mountains. They still linger there and cause trouble for us, we never managed to fully get rid of them. This kingdom is quite a new one, and we only really control the coast.”
“Well, you seem like a perfectly capable man to take care of them.”
“Why, yes, of course I am. The problem is that my soldiers aren’t exactly the same. They lack good weapons and armor to compete against the barbarian threat, that’s why we are always on the defense. That is indeed quite shameful, but what can I do?”
“What I can say is that Hecataeus certainly wouldn’t help your position in this matter. He would send all able men to fight an eternal war against the Hittites and would leave your kingdom, as well as others, undefended and open to invasion from barbarians. Really, why would you support him and his fruitless attempts to conquer some territory in the east, when you would gain nothing from such an exchange? You are right, you should take care of problems close to home, but Hecataeus would not be conducive to this.”
“And Tirynthius would?”
“Well, he certainly couldn’t hurt as much.”
“I don’t believe that. He isn’t a friend of mine, and he wouldn’t send troops or weapons to help in my campaigns.”
“But your troops would remain available to you.”
“What use are they if all they have are rusty swords and broken chariots?”
“What if I told you we could fix that issue very easily?”
“What do you mean?”
“He could send you the needed weapons. In exchange, of course, for your support for him.”
“I would never accept a gift like that from him! How would that look in front of the other kings, Demades taking delivery of weapons from Tirynthius of all people, because I cannot supply my own troops. That would bring great shame upon my house!”
“Alright, I get that. How about we send you those weapons then? The KIA, sending them directly from the Commonwealth.”
“Huh, Egyptian swords do sound nice…”
“And no one would have to know it was us. You could, say, find those crates, very accidentally, not too far from the city. Claim it was the treasure of your… great uncle.”
“Oh, I like your thinking. Yes, the treasure. I could tell the people I finally found it and have something to show for it. I would be very grateful for this.”
“A couple thousand swords, a thousand spears and bows each, five hundred suits of armor. How does that sound? We got plenty of stock left from the war.”
“That sounds very nice indeed, my good spy. And to acquire this… treasure, I would need to…”
“Support Tirynthius during the gathering of the kings. That’s it. We can send you a small sample of the shipment before as a token of good faith, and the rest would be sent after Tirynthius becomes the wanax.”
“Hm, well Tirynthius is not my choice, but the weapons… Yes, the weapons. The conquests. We need to conquer the barbarians… All the fame and glory I will have after this… Yes… Many riches too… Expansion… The gods will be pleased… Oh, yes they will. Deal! I accept this offer.”
“Is that so?”
“Oh yes, that is so indeed. We have a deal.”
“I am very glad to hear this.”
“Yes! Now, we must celebrate! Servants! Where is my damn wine?!”
On the seventh day since the KIA agents went separate ways to complete their tasks, they once again reunited in the same hotel they first met, as Sutenhi finally arrived back from Thebes, finding the other three waiting for him, as they had returned sooner, despite their journeys being shorter.
“Well, well, well, took you long enough,” Neberzer said. “What were you doing there for so long?”
“Save it, Neb. Cilix is no joke to deal with,” Sutenhi said as he sat down next to the others at the restaurant.
“Did you manage to convince him?”
“Did you?”
“I certainly did. Though we will have to put in an order with the army, but it shouldn’t be any trouble.”
“And you?” Sutenhi turned to Neitheret.
“Yup. We did. And we didn’t even need to offer to buy him any swords,” Neitheret replied.
“Interesting. Intimidation?”
“You could say that. We blackmailed him with some sensitive information Harsiamon managed to deduce from a painting and a few vases. It’s a long story.”
“Well as long as you accomplished your task, I guess I can’t complain.”
“So what about you?” Neberzer insisted. “Don’t tell us you were the one who came back empty handed.”
“I didn’t. I brought back quite something. I brought Cilix himself to Mycenae.”
“Really? Why?”
“Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that Cilix is willing to consider supporting Tirynthius. However, that comes with a condition, which will determine who he will give his vote to.”
“And what’s that?”
“Well…”
“Conquest? Are you kidding?” Tirynthius asked in shock.
He was in the Mycenaean throne room, together with his brother Hecataeus, and Cilix, the king of Thebes, who had just arrived at the city with his proposal.
“No, son, I’m not kidding,” Cilix said. “After all, what worth is a king who cannot defend his country?”
“This isn’t defense. This is just blatantly attacking others for no reason!”
“Attack is the best defense. Have you not read the Art of Warfare by Shumashtiat III of Babylon?”
“We just got out of a war, it’s not time to start a new one.”
“The war ended three years ago. We have to look to the future already. Besides, it would not be a full war, just a short campaign in the neighboring lands to show that you know how to lead an army. A perfectly good test.”
“I agree. A king must be prepared for warfare,” Hecataeus said. “I, for one, accept such a challenge. I’m ready to prove my worth on the battlefield.”
“Your brother is eager. He is ready to take on the duties of a wanax. Are you, Tirynthius?”
“Being a wanax is not only about war,” Tirynthius said.
“Sure. But if you can’t win a war, nothing else really matters, does it now?”
“Is there really no other way to gain your support?”
“No. I won’t be bribed, I won’t be blackmailed, I lived and ruled for long enough to know how to avoid such tricks. I will only accept proof of completion of a real challenge. I only care for the truth and the strength of the Confederation, and I will gladly support whoever wins. If Hecataeus wins, my priors will be confirmed, and I will support him. But if you win, I will support you, with nothing else influencing this matter.”
“So, Tir, you up for the challenge?” Hecataeus smirked. “Or are you going to concede immediately and give Cilix’s vote to me?”
“I accept this challenge,” Tirynthius sighed. “I will prove to you all that I can be a great warrior and general, no worse than my father or any of my ancestors.”
“Very well,” Cilix said. “So, boys, in that case it’s time to choose the direction you will go. The north is full of barbarians, and we needed to clean up that frontier for a long time, so it’s only natural that you should go there. Now, one should go west, deal with the Dorians, and the other east, to fight the Thracians, so that both would have plenty of area to conquer and not infringe upon each other’s path.”
“Do we choose which way we go ourselves?”
“Oh no, I think I will have the gods make that choice,” Cilix took out a Mycenaean shematy coin, which, like all Mycenaean coins, had Eteweokles engraved on one side, and the royal palace on the other. “You will flip this coin, and it will determine where you will go. Hecataeus will then take the other direction.”
“Why am I not flipping it?” Hecataeus asked.
“Because your brother is older.”
“Wish you used that argument when selecting the new wanax initially,” Tirynthius said frustratedly. “So, what does each side represent?”
“Doesn’t matter. But, let’s say, Eteweokles will mean the Thracians, meanwhile the palace will mean the Dorians,” Cilix handed Tirynthius the coin. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Tirynthius took the coin, looked at it for a moment, examining it closely, and took a deep breath. He then flipped it in the air, awaiting its result. The coin landed in his palm with Eteweokles’ side on top.
“Thracia it is then,” Cilix concluded. “And Doria for you, Hecataeus, then, of course.”
“They will prove no trouble for me,” Hecataeus said confidently.
“So what are the winning conditions exactly?” Tirynthius asked as he gave the coin back.
“It’s simple,” Cilix said. “You will have two months for preparations. Then, shortly after the New Year’s celebrations, you will set out for the campaigns. You will have six months for them, and after that period we will see who made greater gains. In terms of territory, subdued population, taken settlements, seized resources, and other such variables. But I assume the winner will just be the one who made larger conquests, as these regions don’t deviate too much in terms of population or geography.”
“In two months, huh? Not the prime season for campaigning.”
“A great ruler has to know how to campaign even in treacherous seasons. You would already have a natural advantage over these barbarians, don’t want to make it too easy for you.”
“And what of the armies? Would we call on the Confederation for the soldiers?” Hecataeus asked.
“No, it’s not our fight. It’s yours. That’s why you will only use soldiers from your own home kingdom, nothing more. Plus, whoever you manage to pick up along the campaign trail. You will raise the Mycenaean soldiers and divide them equally among yourselves. We will see to that.”
“That’s only about three thousand soldiers for each of us,” Tirynthius said.
“It will be enough. Besides, would still be the largest force you’ve ever commanded.”
Hecataeus snickered.
“Both of you,” Cilix added, looking at Hecataeus. “Don’t overestimate yourself.”
“Don’t worry about me, it will be no trouble,” Hecataeus said.
“It better not be, for your sake.”
“So when does the countdown start?” Tirynthius asked.
“Right now,” Cilix said. “Better start preparing your men.”