“Well, if the Storm had any intention of leaving you alone, I somehow doubt he would now,” Kajare commented.
I glanced at him and shrugged. He’d spoken lightly, with more casual humor than I could probably have expected from an Imperial. But Terbekteri didn’t have a long tradition of venerating Jideia. In fact, he’d never been particularly popular there, from what I understood.
“If I thought he had, I wouldn’t be doing this,” I replied. Then I grinned. “At least we have a nice bonfire on this cold night, don’t we?”
They fought wars differently in the Yellow Graves. Even sacred sites weren’t immune to violence. Burning down an altar to the Storm might not precisely be an everyday occurrence, but given the scale of the war, the bitterness it was being fought with, and my personal involvement, me doing it wouldn’t exactly be considered out of line. It wasn’t even the first altar to be burned this decade, according to what I’d been told.
Which might explain why the Imperial soldiers guarding the perimeter actually seemed more ill at ease with it than our Zarieni allies. Sure, it might be a crude shrine built by barbarians, but it was still a shrine to the Storm. My heart bleeds for them. I snorted to myself. Maybe it was better to start here and get them used to the idea before I began burning down temples on the Storm Continent.
“It is a nice fire,” Kajare conceded.
He reached out and took my hand. We watched the burning building in silence for a while. A fire at this scale had something almost magnetic, I couldn’t help but think, and watching the flames crackle and eat my enemy’s place of worship was surprisingly serene. The occasional sparks flew a pretty long distance, but we’d drenched the surroundings with water, and there were enough cultivators ready to put out any budding wildfires that I wasn’t worried about it. Burning the wood they’d used to build it gave off a smell I hadn’t encountered before, although it wasn’t exactly unpleasant. A little like that aromatic stuff people might have back on Earth, not that I’d ever cared about things like that.
“You seem to have done a lot here in the little time we were apart,” Kajare said.
I grinned. “You certainly helped, coming to our aid like the cavalry in our hour of need!”
“Cavalry? But it was ships?”
“Never mind.” I shook my head. “I’m glad your ships made it, in any case. Or most of them.”
His expression darkened a little, and I squeezed his hand. I knew what he was thinking. One of the ships they’d taken along hadn’t made it. The combination of dangerous rapids and a sea monster had stopped it permanently, and killed a big part of its crew. But the others had arrived, in time to turn the battle into a crushing defeat for the Zarian-aligned nomads, and demolish the offensive they’d been planning before it began.
“It’s war,” he finally said, a little brusquely. “At least most of them made it out.” He smiled wryly, though it didn’t quite cover the shadow in his eyes. “And at least there were no civilians involved.”
I returned his smile and finally turned away from the fire. He’d definitely matured since the start of the war. I was glad to see it.
“Anyway, let’s go,” he said, his tone lighter. “We don’t need to watch it burn completely down, and I know I have enough other things to see to.”
I nodded and turned around to leave with him, feeling the warmth of the fire recede against my back. We were a few hundred meters away from our main camp, which was itself beside the mostly destroyed site of the Zarieni camp. There were sentries and the usual group of guards accompanying us, but most soldiers seemed to have turned in for the night after the battle, now that the small celebrations we’d permitted had wound down. Most of them were from what had been supposed to be the main thrust of our attack, which had arrived an hour late after skirmishing with Zarieni raiders from a tribe camped in the opposite direction from here.
“Would you mind if we go by the medical tent?” I asked.
“Of course not, I wouldn’t have expected anything else.”
We were already close to it, and reached the place shortly. While it would have been easy to build at least a rough structure out of sturdier materials, the cloth and poles of the tent were densely covered in formations, so it was actually sturdier than any quickly built hut, and they helped with things like regulating the temperature and airflow. It meant you couldn’t knock, though, and one of my guards disappeared inside without a word, before Kajare and I followed him.
I would have found who I was looking for immediately, even without my qi senses, since they’d given him a private alcove set apart by a wall of cloth, and the hospital bed’s frame was covered in runes. Aston looked up and tried to stand as soon as we entered, and I quickly hurried forward.
“Don’t!” I said. “Just lie down.”
He sank back into his bed from the half-upright posture he’d managed. I didn’t know why he’d tried in the first place, considering there was still only a stump where his left leg should have been.
“How are you, Aston?” Kajare asked as he joined us and pulled a curtain shut. “In a lot of pain?”
“It’s alright, my prince. I’ve had worse,” Aston answered.
I suppressed a grimace as I looked more closely at his injury. The healers were clearly in the process of regrowing it, but it was slow going. I felt another stab of guilt. If not for my brilliant idea, he wouldn’t have gotten hurt.
And the two other guards who hadn’t survived the fight would still be here.
“Don’t blame yourself, my lady,” Aston said, as if he’d read my thoughts. I must have let my expression slip. “You made the right call, and I’ll be good as new in a few days.”
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I gave him a small smile and nodded, then turned to examine the apparatuses set against the wall and ask for a report. Aston settled back down into the sheets, which told me how tired he really was.
I was just talking to a doctor when the curtain lifted and Tenira looked inside. She nodded at us and stepped inside, greeting Aston in a quiet voice.
I waited until she was done before speaking, “Tenira, good to see you. I didn’t know you’d already arrived.”
She smiled and came over to give me a hug. “We just got here. Yarani will drop by right away, too.”
“Maybe we’re getting to be a little too much for Aston,” I said, glancing at him in concern.
“Don’t, my lady,” he grumbled. “I’m not an invalid.” He paused for a moment. “I mean, I’m not on my deathbed.”
But despite his protests, I could see he was still pale and he still had a lot of foreign qi in his body to purge. So I gave the others meaningful looks and we excused ourselves quickly. I’d catch Yarani later. Or more likely, she’d find me. Lei joked that the way she found her way (and anyone she wanted) in even the most confusing war camp showed she’d colluded with dark powers, but I found it more likely she had spies in the camp.
That thought reminded me where to go next. Kariva had stayed behind, focusing on managing her network in the Empire and her efforts to infiltrate the Dominion, but we did have a few of her people along. Tenira and Kajare followed me without comment to the central complex we’d set up to house our administrative needs and meetings. To one side, there was a hut set aside for the use of the intelligence people, with a side entrance connecting to the larger main building. All of this was built of planks and blocks you could assemble and pack up quickly, but considering we didn’t exactly have a large army to manage, it was more than enough.
I found Aiki Ilia in one of the main offices, poring over sheets of paper. She stood and sank to her knees as we entered, but I waved her back into her chair.
“I had a few questions about our probable opposition,” I said.
“Of course, Your Highness,” she answered, nodding. “How may I help?”
I chose a seat for myself, while Kajare took the one beside it and Tenira ambled to the table to look at the folders and documents on it. “I noticed that we’ve only really faced Zarieni so far,” I said slowly. “You’ve all surely realized the same thing. And this is definitely a good thing for us, considering our numerical and technical advantage. We’ve pushed several dozen kilometers south so far and are poised to take the rest of the Graves just as easily.”
“Actually, Your Highness, we have forward positions about halfway through the Yellow Graves’ length in some areas,” Aiki said. “Especially in the middle of our operational area.”
“We do? I didn’t realize.” I leaned forward, distracted from my train of thought by this information. “This is from our newest correspondence?”
She handed me several reports, and I skimmed them, focusing on the map someone had put together. It showed our deployments and where we knew or suspected significant opposition. We really had gone further than I’d thought, although it had been a while since I’d looked at the latest information.
“That only adds to what I meant,” I finally said, shaking my head. “The Zarian are giving us a golden opportunity — okay, given this is the Yellow Graves, maybe a bronze opportunity — to take the Graves and push forward up to the border of the Dominion. They’re not stupid enough to do it by accident, and I doubt they’re counting on the nomads or the jungle to take our soldiers out, so what is it they’re trying?”
Aiki Ilia hesitated for a moment. “Actually, Your Highness, part of it might be that they’re expecting the Yellow Graves to thin our numbers for them. Even if we ultimately conquer it all, this is difficult territory to hold, and the Zarieni are generally good at fighting against a numerical disadvantage. Besides, they’re rather loose and somewhat problematic allies. Getting rid of them might actually be something of a bonus, or at least not be seen as a big loss for the Dominion.”
I nodded. She had a few good points there. “Granted. I still have trouble believing there isn’t more to it, though.”
“That’s a thought many of us share, my lady, including Lady Kariva herself, from what I understand.” The agent shrugged slightly. “It’s been hard to pin down a specific cause, though. We have little more than speculation.”
“Go on.” I leaned back in my chair and cocked my head.
“This speculation concerns internal political factors more than strategic ones, my lady. We’ve had hints of a restructuring of sorts among parts of the Zarian government. There are persistent rumors that Security Director of the Dominion has been arrested, though they’ve given no official confirmation so far. I personally suspect that the Princeps is consolidating his power and expanding his authority, although I have to admit that others offer different interpretations. Some even say that someone else has expanded their influence, effectively cutting into the Princeps’ authority. But whatever the case may be, a shift in policy could certainly lead to new strategic considerations or priorities.”
I frowned thoughtfully. “I see.”
“This all sounds very vague,” Tenira commented.
Aiki Ilia inclined her head. “It is, my lady, but I wouldn’t want to present anything like solid information when we don’t have anything solid. I’ve got several reports here that offer further insight into these matters.” She paused for a moment. “One thing to note, though, is that we have fairly conclusive evidence that the priesthood is at least peripherally involved. There’s been a drive to centralize worship — to be precise, the Storm’s worship — for over a decade, and the outbreak of the war has only accelerated it. Now, the formal establishment of a so-called ‘high temple’, shortly after this purported change in the government, implies they’re not content to let politics and religion stay separate.”
I shivered. Is Jideia tightening his control over the Zarian Dominion? I wondered. If he’s been occupied with that, it might explain why I haven’t seen or heard much from him lately. I shook my head. I doubt this is good news for us in the long run.
“This is all very interesting,” Kajare put in. “But what does it mean for the war?”
Aiki Ilia raised her hands, palms up. “I don’t know, Your Highness. I feel confident we can expect the Zarian’s present strategic directions to hold. I’d certainly expect stiffer resistance once we actually cross into the Storm Continent.”
“And we can’t preclude any unfortunate surprises,” Tenira commented. “They have to be working on something to help them fight us. Like their new teleportation ability. We haven’t seen much of it, but I doubt that’s going to last.”
“You don’t expect a surprise attack behind our lines, do you?” I asked, looking from her to the agent.
She shook her head. “No, my lady. Transporting any force large enough to be a credible threat over such long distances would use far too much qi. It’s not impossible, I suppose, but I doubt they’d weaken the defense of their northern bastions that much. I’d be more concerned about their new maneuverability in the battles ahead of us.”
I pulled a face. Yes, that figured.
“There’s no point worrying too much about it now,” Tenira said, walking over and putting a hand on my arm for a moment. “We have to actually get there first.”
“Clearing the Yellow Graves, at least sufficiently to let convoys traverse them safely, should take no more than a month or two, my lady,” Aiki Ilia offered. “I don’t anticipate strong resistance.”
I nodded. “Zarieni scattering and hiding for guerilla tactics might be a problem, but I think we can deal with that. I’ll certainly have my hands full for a while.”
Kajare and Tenira smiled. Aiki Ilia nodded and sorted a few documents from her table.
“Well,” Kajare said, “at least you’ll have the opportunity to burn down a few more shrines.”