Surreptitiously, I glanced at my watch. Almost an hour. We’d talked for longer than I’d thought. I returned it to my storage ring, frowning a little to myself. How long would it take for Hajake to get a clue?
I wasn’t the only one who seemed to be getting restless. Looking through the spacious room, quite a few of the officers were more active than before, shifting position to talk to each other, scribbling on paper, or just acting on what had to be nervous habits, like one man who kept straightening his uniform jacket. Of course, that could just be the news we’d given them, rather than the time. At least the two princesses sitting close to me appeared calm.
I smiled and turned to the older one. “Princess Derianka, I wanted to thank you again for this, and the smooth way you are handling it.”
She nodded, blushing a bit. “Of course, Imperial Princess.”
Truthfully, Derianka hadn’t done that much, compared to Salira. Although she was at least a decade older, she didn’t have the same presence as her younger sister, or the same poise. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she was still in the early part of the fourth stage. But I didn’t care about any of that. Having two princesses in my corner was better than one, especially since they and Hajake were the only Terbekteri royals present.
I turned back to the gathering, most of them high-ranking military commanders of the Kingdom. I noticed a few were spreading out a large map on a recliner. Maybe I should try to move things to a real meeting room. But that would make this even more blatant.
Finally, the door opened, with enough force that it would have crashed into the walls if it wasn’t heavy hardwood. Prince Hajake walked into the room, smoothing out the scowl on his face a second too late.
“Sisters, Princess Inaris, officers,” he greeted, voice tight. “Would you mind explaining this gathering?” He put on a strained smile. “Our schedule is being derailed, and I’m sure many of you have other duties waiting for you.”
I stood up, forcing a smile as well. “It’s so good of you to join us, Hajake. I must apologize, I am afraid things rather got away from me. You see, I was having a pleasant chat with your lovely sisters, when the topic turned to the war. Some of the ladies present were rather concerned by the developments I mentioned, and soon a few officers joined us.” I gestured at the room and shrugged.
“We would have sent word if you weren’t so dreadfully busy, Brother,” Kajare added, actually sounding sincere. Although his lips were curling just a bit.
“Exactly,” I agreed. “We and our guests agreed that this was potentially critical information, and since it seemed like you would be occupied by urgent state business for a while, I thought we might as well share it so your fine commanders had some time to consider it.”
Hajake’s face started turning a bit red, and he gritted his teeth. “I see,” he managed after a moment.
“I did attempt to let you know if you were available, dear brother,” Salira added. She raised the fan in her hand a little, looking like a graceful, demure lady. “I sent one of my servants.”
That only made him grit his teeth harder. I wondered which servant she’d sent, probably a girl she knew he was likely to brush off. If they hadn’t mysteriously gotten lost on the way, though I didn’t think she would go that far.
Hajake stepped further into the room, sighing softly. “Of course. Don’t blame yourself, little sister, you couldn’t be expected to know the real importance of this. Now, I did have a feast prepared, perhaps we could simply get to it?”
Before I could try to politely refuse, one of the officers present spoke up. He was an older man who wore a lot of medals or insignia on his uniform, clearly a veteran, high-ranking commander. “Your Highness, if I may be so bold, perhaps you would consider speaking of this at once? It sounds like time may be short.”
For a moment, Hajake just stood there in silence. But he must have realized that he’d been outmaneuvered, because a moment later he took a seat in the center of the room facing most of the officers, not so subtly pushing me and his sisters out to the fringes. “Of course. What is it?”
“The Dominion appears to be planning a surprise attack, one that may be aimed at some of our territory,” the old officer answered.
I stood up and ambled over to them, unfurling a map. “There’s a Zarian force setting up staging points here,” I explained. “As you can see, that’s on the path toward our location, among other possibilities, if they push roughly northwest. Doable with strong soldiers, and the qi anomaly would hide their approach.”
Hajake looked more closely at it and frowned. “It looks like there are several other things they might be targeting.”
“Of course,” I agreed, keeping my tone even. “They could be launching an attack at different strategically valuable locations. Ones that losing could hinder our logistics or cohesion in this alliance, prepare for another push, or simply cost us a lot of soldiers.”
He was quiet for a moment. I knew the officers hadn’t missed the subtle emphasis on the alliance. We were all on the same side here, and he couldn’t deny that. Perhaps in a different situation, he could get away with focusing on their defenses, putting their own territory first, even if it hurts the alliance. But when that means allowing a possible threat to that territory, I doubt they would let him get away with it. Worst case, I don’t doubt the commanders could appeal to the king.
“Well,” he finally said. “You’ve already had some time to consider this. Let’s hear some thoughts.”
I suppressed a smile and took a step back as the gathered officers began to discuss strategy with Hajake. A few of them remained skeptical, even though I’d suggested they verify this information for themselves, carefully. But most seemed to prefer taking action. Perhaps some of them didn’t like the thought of sitting safely behind their defensive walls while a war that concerned their country was being waged beyond them.
I tensed a bit as Kajare stepped up to me, then relaxed. After a moment, I leaned back and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. I appreciated the help he was giving me here.
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“We should be moving out soon,” he murmured into my ear.
I glanced at him and smirked. “Eager to prove yourself?”
He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. “No,” he replied, so quiet I was sure the rest wouldn’t hear. “But I don’t like waiting here while the war rages on in our lands.”
My smirk turned into a genuine smile, and I squeezed his hand again. I liked the sentiment, and the way he’d casually referred to Imperial lands as ‘ours’.
My attention was brought back to the discussion as Hajake raised his voice. But I could tell from his expression, and that of the others, that he was losing ground. Not that he would commit to officially opposing the offensive, of course. But Salira and the others were already turning the conversation to details and ways of coordination with the Imperial forces.
I straightened up, then started talking again, outlining some of the plans we’d already drafted for the combined operation.
I had to agree with Kajare here. I didn’t like waiting, and it was about time to give the Zarian Dominion a taste of their own medicine.
----------------------------------------
Yarani looked like a soldier, with silver-gray armor and what might have been a crossbow clutched in her hand. But when she walked towards me and smiled, she looked just like she would have in the palace, a cheer at odds with her attire.
“Inaris!” She sounded enthusiastic. “I missed you.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “I wasn’t gone that long, Yarani, was I?”
She shrugged. “Maybe it felt longer while I was stuck with the army leadership, waiting for you to get back or this operation to start.”
“Fair enough. I’m just giving you a hard time.” I grinned. “I missed you, too.”
“Maybe the two of you could move the touching reunion somewhere else, perhaps after this is over?” Tenira asked as she passed us.
I ducked my head and started to say sorry, but Tenira didn’t wait around, instead hurrying onward without looking back.
I shrugged, and, after a moment of hesitation, I hugged Yarani and gave her a quick kiss. “Good to see you again. Let’s go see what’s up.”
The camp around us was bustling with soldiers. Luckily, all of them made way for us as we walked through it. I took a good look at everything, trying to see how things were working out. Many of the soldiers were obviously from the Empire, but almost as many wore different clothing with Imperial rank-markings pinned on, probably warriors from our vassals. Then, of course, there was the contingent of Terbekteri I’d brought along.
“It’s a good thing we could coordinate everything remotely,” I remarked. “There’s probably still going to be issues, but at least we’re all on the same page, even if we need to strike soon.” I frowned. “How well are the other soldiers integrated with the Imperial army?”
Yarani hummed thoughtfully. “All of these countries’ forces and the army regularly train together. I don’t know when they did it last, but they should be able to work with us, and each other, well enough.”
I nodded. I’d seen that mentioned in my briefings, basically joint military exercises they did on a set schedule, so everyone was familiar with Imperial protocol. We should be okay, then.
It didn’t take long for us to reach the open tent where the commanders had set up. The Terbekteri officers were already deep in conversation with their Imperial counterparts. Kajare was talking to one of the agents from Kariva’s outfit, and after searching for a second I spotted Tenira in the corner, bent over a map with someone whose face I recognized from the Velisha.
I joined the largest concentration of commanders, who fell silent at my approach and started bowing. I waved them back up and looked at the maps they’d spread out, little markers of solid qi spread among them. It looked like they’d started packing up.
“Are we ready?” I asked. “How much time do we have?”
A Imperial general answered. “We were just finishing up, Your Highness. We have more than enough time to execute the plan on schedule.”
I nodded and took out my watch again, glancing at the time.
We needed to launch our attacks with tight coordination, if we wanted to retain the element of surprise. That’s why the plan called for several surgical strikes timed so the Zarian wouldn’t be able to get much warning that they were under attack. Our trip back had been beset by bad weather and taken longer than we’d thought, but that shouldn’t matter too much. We had a few minutes before launch, still.
“It’s best if we don’t wait too long,” Salira said from where she leaned against a tent pole not far from me. She tilted her head in my direction. “I’ve heard you intend to participate, yourself, my lady?”
I nodded. “My guards will keep me safe, but I need to lead from the front.” Especially given the situation. “I assume you’re staying?”
She chuckled. “Not everyone has the martial bravery you do, Princess Inaris. I know where my strengths lie, and in battle against cultivators stages higher than me isn’t it.”
I grunted in response, turning back to watch the others while I considered that. Salira had acted with surprisingly confidence and not shown much religious awe or deference to me. Perhaps she isn’t such a fanatical devotee after all. Then why the greeting? To demonstrate that she’d follow me? Well, it’s not like I mind either way.
Too soon, everyone wrapped up their business. We filed out of the tent as a few soldiers set to work disassembling it. I lingered to watch. With cultivators that had supernatural strength and speed, and the convenience of storage rings, it went a lot quicker than I would have thought possible before. The same happened around us. Soldiers were already forming up in groups and ranks. Some filed onto airships, while others readied flying swords, and a few even had spirit beast mounts. I noticed that most of those were elites. That made sense, since strong spirit beasts could add a lot of firepower, but would need a lot of care, not mention that it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to give them riders they could overpower if something spooked them in the chaos of battle.
To my surprise, Hajake was one of those mounting a large bird of prey, one that resembled those we’d encountered before but with more muted colors and longer beaks. He moved with grace that spoke of practice, clearly at ease in this position. Maybe he wasn’t all hot air, after all.
When he met my gaze, his face tightened, but he inclined his head politely, before he turned his attention back to his spirit beast. I returned the gesture. Hopefully, he isn’t feeling humiliated and wants revenge. I snorted to myself. He’s participated well enough so far.
I was interrupted by another man coming up to me and clearing his throat softly. I turned and raised an eyebrow. From the briefing, that was Jian, a prince from the Velisha. I hadn’t really talked to him before, but he was the one who’d seemed combative, maybe angry, when I met the Velisha leadership.
“Yes, Prince Jian?” I put on what I hoped was a friendly smile.
“Imperial Princess, I wanted to ask if you would consider joining us?” He kept his head bowed but raised his gaze to meet mine. “The group attacking the second target, I mean. My father would feel better about your safety there, although of course we wouldn’t presume to dictate your actions.” He cleared his throat a little. “But I hoped you might like to see how we’ll crush the Zarian. And it seems to be an important outpost for them, where key communication lines will likely converge.”
I raised an eyebrow as I thought it over. This was probably a peace offering, so I wasn’t inclined to refuse.
Target two was a little far off from the rest, but considering the forces we’d arrayed against all of them and the way our assault would proceed, it probably would make it hard for the Zarian to get at me. So he was right about it being safer.
I smiled and nodded. “Of course. I’ll be glad to join your group. Give me a moment to make the arrangements.”
It was a little last minute, but we could switch out my guard team for one of the groups we’d planned for without messing things up too much. I walked off to look for Aston, noting in passing that Hajake and another group of Terbekteri soldiers were moving towards the same area Jian and his Velisha would be launching from. Maybe we weren’t the only ones to think it would be the safest spot.
But I wouldn’t cast stones. I wasn’t eager to put myself at risk, here, either.