Chapter 14: Schemes
The victory parade took some time, with lord Olf Premer who had decided to give a lengthy speech about honour and bravery and to thank both the city guards and the Herikfer fleet who came to their rescue. The city ruler spoke in front of a huge crowd from his balcony, accompanied by his right hand man Merdosa Picha and by the fleet Admiral Afarin Hol, both didn't seem to be happy but the people couldn't see their frown. After what felt like an eternity, Olf ended his speech.
"Long live King Hedi!" He declared, raising his arms in the air.
His citizens applauded and cheered but quickly dispersed when the lord decided to retreat in his castle. The man was getting tired of his tirade and preferred going for the real festivities inside his dining hall, where a crowd of his liking was already waiting for his arrival. They all revered to him with a bow before personally thanking him for inviting them. There were a lot of minor nobles of the city and from its surrounding, most of them had directly participated in the defences and all of them had casualties among their own troops. The rest of the guests were captains of the city guards and some navy officers from Afarin's fleet who decided to take a break from the sea. The absent captains were either restocking their ship or visiting some ladies of the night. The lord sat at the centre of the main table and raised his cup.
"To you, the saviours of Premer." He declared before taking a sip, prompting the music band to start playing.
The wine tasted bitter with a vague feeling of sweetness, Olf savoured the liquid with an approving grin. Unbeknownst to the ruler, his right hand man along with a few nobles had cornered the admiral who didn't even have time to get something to drink, eyeing the cask of expensive wine with a bit of disappointment.
"Ahas like you shouldn't be in command of the royal fleet." Picha started, almost spitting in the officer's face, his breath reeking of booze.
Afarin didn't look impressed by his remark but she was still scared of being surrounded by hostile faces, something about them made her weary. And yet, getting belittled for being any kind of mixed blood was pretty common throughout the kingdom, though being in a high position was often enough to stop it, at least, for being so upfront. The nobles were all much older than her who was in her mid thirties despite her white strands of hair, most of them had pepper coloured beards but all had the same wine filled breath and hateful glare. Despite being sober, she was swaying from both the peer pressure and the sea legs which was typical of seamen. Thankfully, a passing servant gave the opportunity to the woman to swoop a cup of Premer wine.
"Well, here I am, saving your city." She replied with a fake disdain in her voice though it sounded more like drunken rambling. "How does it feel to be saved by a mixed blood?"
Picha managed to stop him and his goons to punch her smug face but he couldn't help himself to slap down Afarin’s cup of wine on the floor. Afarin held a whine as she watched the precious liquid spill on the wooden parquet.
"I know how you work, you just bark but you don't bite. If it wasn’t for your father's connections, you wouldn't be where you are." Picha spat with the snicker of the lesser nobles at his side.
Afarin clutched her shaking fists at the mention of her background but being surrounded by men stronger than her made her understand that violence wasn't the solution for her, at least not as long as she didn't have her officers near her, especially her trusty senior captain. She was a bit relieved when she noticed the old but imposing Artin in the crowd behind the hostile nobles, as if an alarm rang in his head, he turned and was quick to spot her in trouble. He immediately walked towards her with a neutral expression on his face. He forcibly pushed aside one of Picha's goons to interpose himself between them and his admiral who was secretly relieved to have him by her side.
"Gentlemen, now is not the time for quarrels but for celebrations. Let's all enjoy our host's hospitality since he provided such a magnificent banquet." Artin calmly said, pointing at the tables covered with fresh food.
Picha's eye twitched for a second but conceited to leave the admiral alone, for now. Afarin thanked her officer with a sigh and a pat on his massive shoulder, even if she barely reached them from their height difference.
"Had I been fully human, maybe we'd been friends, Picha and I." She said, looking down at her spilled drink with a heavy heart.
The senior captain forcibly patted her back which almost made her trip from the sheer strength of that powerful man.
"Had you been human, none of this would have happened."
"What do you mean? Because I'm part Ahan, it makes it better? Because I was supposed to become the first step for the goodwill between Ahas lands and Herik? I'm just a pawn in a scheme." She bitterly replied, still staring at the spilled wine. "Mixed blood can’t choose sides and they shouldn’t be allowed to."
As if to comfort a child, the massive man gently smiled before holding the woman in place by her right shoulder.
"You may be a pawn in their game, but you're an important pawn nonetheless, remember your role, admiral." Artin said with a stern look. "Don't forget your duty and why you've become the admiral of the royal fleet."
Despite being physically under Artin's control, the female officer grunted in disapprobation.
"If it wasn't for your position in this fleet, I'd have you imprisoned for misconduct." An angry Afarin said, finally looking him in the eyes.
Artin let out a heartfelt laugh before saluting his superior, releasing his iron grip.
"Never change, admiral. We will always follow you. But try to stay out of trouble, or at least invite some of us in the future." The big man said with what was supposed to be a wink, but with both eyes at different times.
Afarin snorted, her resolve came back with a young and handsome captain who brought her a new cup of wine. She hid her smile and fangs with a sip of the famous Premer beverage that was mixed with sugar for more flavour. The friendly officer was pretty much to the woman's taste, having blond hair combed to the side and a pair of blue eyes that she could easily lose herself in. Unlike her husband, she barely remembered his old face.
"These geezers are like land turtles, grumpy and feisty. You're more like a sea turtle, admiral. You're cool and friendly." The handsome captain said before being chastised by his fellow comrades.
It made her let out a small chuckle before trying to act like a proper dignified officer by straightening her back and adopting a serious expression that was ready to break at another bad joke from the handsome young man.
"Captain Val, is this how you flirt with women? No wonder you only get sea dogs." She replied with a gruff voice that was a bit too forced.
"Don't mind Val, admiral. I'm sure these noble pigs just wanted to pork with a woman of your caliber." Another captain said, wearing his hat on the side of his head, probably thinking it made him look cool.
Artin let out an embarrassed groan and raised his hand to his face, he made a mental note to teach proper etiquette to the young captains later. Afarin felt more comfortable around her own men than with the rest of the nobility, she let them know with her relaxed shoulders and a genuine smile.
"Are you all going to try to hit on your superior today? If you want some woman action, go visit the district near the harbour. Don't forget that I'm a married woman with children, seamen." She playfully replied with a pat on a random captain's back.
"What if we like mothers?" Val asked with a chuckle, earning him some weird looks from his peers.
The good looking man had grown in Valiamer and inevitably heard stories of the current admiral's overwhelming victories. He even had a painting of the woman who was posing on a poster during a recruitment period. Nobody wanted to know why he pinned the picture in his bedroom.
"Now, now, Captain Val. As much as you might like mature women, I'm way too old for you. Now, let's enjoy this party, it isn't everyday we get to eat roasted meat." Afarin declared before gently pushing her captains towards the table. "Taste even better with this wine."
Seeing that his protégée was in good care with her captains, Artin gave Afarin an approving nod before going back to talking with lord Olf who had two lightly dressed servants on his laps. The girls giggled at his stories while stroking his hair. The lord's face lit up when the senior captain sat in front of him.
"Artin, you're finally back. Don’t mind their petty dispute, they’re young. Now then, these two lovely ladies were telling me how much they wanted to hear about your adventures in the Northern Seas. Remember that battle near Shishtar?" Olf exclaimed before letting one of the servants get up to pull closer a small cask of wine.
The captain recoiled when he noticed the Ahan attributes of the one who stood up, he laid his palm on the handle on his hidden knife near his crotch. The girl giggled and climbed over the table before landing on his lap with an innocent grin, clearly feeling something hard between the old man's legs.
"Don't worry, she's the child of a deceased slave that the Order gave to me when they visited two weeks ago." Olf calmly reassured. "Come to think of it, there was supposed to be an Ahas group that was supposed to arrive around that week. Guess they preferred to bite rather than talk."
Having a barely clothed servant wiggle on his laps was pretty uncomfortable for Artin who winced every time she unknowingly nudged his hidden weapon.
"Picha doesn't mind this young lass?" Artin asked, glancing at the man in question.
The Ahan giggled even more before leaning to whisper playfully something in the captain's ear.
"He's the one who bought me, he loves using me every night. Recently, he's been calling me Faldo but don't call me like that in front of him." The girl said before leaning back with a giggle. "He loves petting while calling me that."
Artin frowned at the thought of her being called Falmer's daughter by the antagonistic Picha. Lord Olf looked at him with an innocent smile, unaware of the revelation as he was too busy teasing the servant on his laps. The captain kept holding his hidden knife, feeling like something bad was going to happen and that Faldo might not be as harmless as the lord thought.
"By the way, lord Olf. How is your city going? Last time I visited, you didn't have those fancy ballistae up on your walls."
"Those? The Order's counsellor told us that we needed them in case of a siege. The man wasn't wrong as it helped to keep the Ahas at bay. But I didn't agree to allow them to garrison here, nor from getting access to our iron deposits in the region. The king Hedi replied to my message and told me that he'll send diplomats to their island. They might arrive at their coastal village of Charlie in a month if everything goes well. Funny how faster it is when we have boats instead of horses." Olf said while idly playing with the servant clinging on him.
"So the man dressed in grey in the corner is the counsellor of the Order. No wonder I thought he looked suspicious." Artin declared, glancing at a man wearing a grey vest that didn't look like anything from the kingdom. "A foreigner influencing us."
The man wore a business suit that was made to look medieval, instead of fancy fabrics with a slick design, it was made with thick layers of cloth similar to a gambeson.
"The man isn't that bad, he's even organised the triage of the wounded. He may lack some basic noble skills like horse riding or swordsmanship but his escort compensate for that." Olf commented, tilting his head towards two heavily armored men. "Anyone who has both a family name and a personal name has to have some high status, don't you think? For instance, Merdosa Picha, son of Lady Osa Pich. Or yourself, you're from the house of the Art. Well, our guest is from the Brown house." the lord explained, more for entertaining the servant girls than to enlighten the captain who knew that already.
The lightly dressed human woman was still giggling and stroking the ruler's hair all the while Artin busied himself with a chicken drumstick that the Ahan was eyeing for a while. The concubine of Picha broke her constant bubbly personality to childishly pout for a moment. The senior captain was still keeping an eye on her as he was still suspicious, after all if Faldo was indeed Falmer's daughter it would mean that she's a premature Ahas. After a couple more chit chatting with the lord, the old officer finally asked the question that he's been thinking of since he met the potential threat. To make matters worse, Afarin and some of her naval captains had joined them, mainly because of the tasty meats that were prioritised for Lord Olf's table, be it deers, cows or pork. The Royal Navy didn't have that kind of luxury as this kind of product required preserving them or using constant magic spells to keep them from rotting or by using salt.
"So, Faldo, how old are you?" Artin asked, ready to draw his knife.
The officers reacted at the name and glanced at him between bites of their meal. Handsome Val was about to refill Afarin's cup when they all turned their heads towards Artin.
"A week old, do I still look like a kid?" The servant replied while giggling.
Artin flinched but nobody noticed. He had even more doubts about the girl, more than ever. Children forced to mature had the tendency to have a violent hatred towards non Ahas species, which was why Falmer's army only fought campaigns against other races but their own. The innocent looking servant resembled a young adult with very short hair, typical of those who were pushed to sexual maturity. Admiral Afarin whimpered at hearing the answer and lunged to hug the servant who was more than surprised by the admiral's reaction, especially coming from another woman. The high ranking officer quickly regained her composure and cleared her throat.
"I believe that this Faldo girl needs a better environment, if you accept, lord Olf. I propose to take care of her until she gets more experience in life." Afarin suggested, thinking of lord Alm's adopted children. "She needs a useful husband." She added as an afterthought.
Artin didn't react, he didn't have time to, he couldn't have predicted it even with his years of experiences both in battle and in peace. Nobody knew the admiral's affinity towards the Ahas or were too oblivious of her personal beliefs. Before the situation worsened, the admiral covered the Ahan's ears even when she spoke in Her: the common language used in the centre of the kingdom.
"It would benefit the public image of the kingdom, having the royal fleet officially taking care of an orphan Ahas, it would show our willingness to keep good relations with Ahas lands. Right?" She stammered. "Despite being injured, Herik cares about peace."
Artin relaxed and so did the naval officers around her. Lord Olf's dumbfounded face quickly turned into a grin and the man bursted into laughter, his loud voice startling the guests who turned their head towards him. He laughed for a while before standing up, his servant girl still clinging to him.
"It's official, then! I, lord Olf of Premer, donate this Ahas girl to the Herikfer fleet for the future relationships with them." He loudly declared, still thinking on how it would actually benefit him, aside from getting rid of the loud moans during the night.
Picha looked disappointed but didn't question his lord's choice. Nobles who were for human supremacy in the region weren't too pleased with the taint of another race into the royal fleet, Afarin was already problematic as she was. The admiral realised that she may have made a mistake and dreaded the moment she'll have to answer to the king for her initiative. It already took a lot of convincing for the arranged marriage of her parents with the simple goal of putting the fruit of their union as an army leader.
"How are you able to say all of this after getting attacked by Falmer's punitive army?" The counsellor of the Order loudly protested.
Olf Premer turned his body towards counsellor Brown.
"True. But if we can avoid any more bloodshed, it is something I'll do in a heartbeat. My people are tired and I won't let a war destroy everything my forefathers have worked so hard to create. We didn't come to serve the Heri kingdom for nothing, we serve him for his protection and for our prosperity." Lord Olf coldly explained to his foreigner guest. "When passion overtakes rationality, it will be the end."
The naval officers weren't liking his last declaration as they fought with passion, while rationality was only there to guide them. It was with passion that they fought on the battlefield and faced death, or at least that's how they viewed it. Afarin was exacerbating her men's emotions to raise their morale, she unconsciously knew how to use their pride to make them achieve combat feats.
"I'm glad that we share the same point of view, lord Olf. It would have been bad if you were the opposite." The man of the Order said with a smile.
While the people of high status or nobility were having a feast at the castle, an old abandoned orphanage near the outer walls was being invaded by dozens of Ahas who were wearing hoods or bandages around their faces to hide their identity and their racial attributes. They were all sitting in the dining area where the tables were rusty and rotting, the wooden planks were creaking at every movement and a faint smell of urine was coming out of a corner of the room, not to mention the faint smell of stagnating water somewhere in the room. It was pretty dark, safe for some candles that faintly lit the room and its occupants, giving telltales of their sorry state. Despite the grim scenery, a big man wearing colourful clothes, who was holding a lantern, was standing in the centre of the crowd and next to him was a smaller woman covered in plate armour from head to waist.
"Excuse our weird pronunciation, we only arrived here. Shashari can't be learned overnight." The woman declared with some hesitation and pauses.
The crowd muttered and whispered to each other before nodding in agreement.
"As long as we understand, we don't mind." An Ahan replied after standing up.
"Good, we're here to help and organise the infiltration operation. In the future, other agents will arrive and will need your help. We may not help you get your revenge, but we will try to learn the truth on what happened here."
The Ahas let out a few protesting grunts but the simple presence of the big man kept them from getting rowdy, he towered them all by a huge margin and had to bend his knees to not touch the ceiling. In the crowd, the only tall person, aside from the male agent, was a female Ahas whose name was Hohon, she seemed to be the leader of the female infiltrators since they were constantly looking for her reaction before doing anything, be it for gasping or whispering. For the moment, the towering Ahas was quiet, as if she was evaluating the situation herself.
"I know your feelings, you have lost brothers and sisters to get here just to avenge your people. Some of you sacrificed a lot, I'm aware of it and even with all the goodwill, I won't be able to fully understand your pain. But let's work together to mend your wounds and do what we're here for. We need to gather all the information we can about this city and infiltrate its infrastructures as deep as possible. It won't be easy and it won't happen overnight." Karen explained with a calm and professional tone, though her pronunciation had room for improvement.
Marcus coughed and all heads turned to him, he was startled by the stare and apologised for distracting them. The imposing guy had accidentally inhaled some lingering dust in the air.
"Right, I guess we should present ourselves. My name is Karen Smith and the big man is Marcus Gogh. We've been told that you don't really have personal names but you are named by your roles or clan name if it came from a famous one."
The one who stood up earlier decided to become a representative of his fellow comrades who remained silent. Even Hohon didn’t budge when the talkative Ahas decided to speak up.
"Names are for those who live long, most of us and even those who aren't present here didn't think we'd live it through. Ours are engraved on our chest for better identification. My name is Messenger, son of Falmer's messenger." The male Ahas declared in Shashari.
"Wo…so? Woso?" Karen asked in Meeri, trying to improve her comprehension.
"Yes, Messenger's son. Woso. You, humans, always butcher our names." Woso replied in a bit of disdain before feeling some menacing glares in his back which calmed him for a bit.
"Sure? Well, now we need to find a way to sustain ourselves, we can't rely on thefts and murders otherwise the city guards will get suspicious. Marcus and I can easily blend in with the human crowd but it will be harder for you, so we will try to bring some supplies if we can but our funds are limited."
Woso growled when he realised that the situation was worse than they initially thought it'd be, even with the help of the people from the breeding district. Ahas infiltrators all carried a small amount of Herik currency in a pouch but during the fight to get inside, some lost theirs or were badly wounded. Older and more experienced fighters were allowed to carry more but most of them had died during the assault on the walls. Because having better gear meant that they were a bigger threat, those units drew more attention to them, attracting the enemy's steel.
"Food might not be an issue, but you're right, humans. Our brothers and sisters will set aside their dignity and pride if necessary. For now we need to make a census of our troops before we begin our operation."
Karen had glanced over the reproductive methods of Ahas, thinking that it would be similar to actual snakes. Marcus, on the other hand, had been more thorough with his study during the trip to Premer, being fascinated by such alien concepts. The big man stepped in with a grunt.
"All of you who are here are group leaders, right? Instead of having a long check for a big inventory, we should separate you in your small respective groups. That way we won't lose too much time, we will gather here tonight and share our reports." Marcus said with a confident tone.
Woso nodded with the other Ahas, since Hohon accepted the proposition, so did the other female infiltrators.
"Perfect. We will give you the location of each temporary hideout so you'll be able to check on us." Woso declared, still feeling some hostile gaze coming from a couple of women.
"That's settled, then. Password will be: I'm looking for an anvil. Code words are mountain and walnut." Karen declared in Shashari.
The two humans weren't used to creating a clandestine infiltration operation but they haven't been thrown in the wild without any support. They had been given a long range radio that had been camouflaged as a broken wooden jewellery box, though when in use, it had an antenna protruding from it. There was also an incendiary bomb strapped to it, if they needed to destroy it, if they were found out. An overzealous Argo operator even gave them a flintlock pistol for self defence, thinking that giving them an actual weapon was too dangerous for this world. Their main contact was an agent named Johnson who had been working in Premer for decades before becoming an intelligence officer.
With the guidance of this Argo operator from the other side of the radio, Karen and Marcus managed to create a somewhat functioning base of operation in the abandoned orphanage along with a database for the lineage of every Ahas infiltrator, Woso wasn't as happy with it as it wasn't as complete as a standard file but he couldn't complain since they didn't have any scribe and very few of the infiltrators knew how to write or read. Thanks to his background, the male Ahas became a reference for anything that was related to inscriptions, being the bridge between his group and the two humans.
"To think they don't even have running water here." Karen complained to Marcus as they were settling in a dormitory for the night, their two beds separated by a bedsheet hung between them.
Woso and a few other infiltrators were sound asleep, the small beds were put side by side so that they could lie on them easily. Not being used to a colder environment, they huddled together, indifferent of the gender, as long as there was heat.
"I think that living in an actual medieval setting is quite humbling. We're too used to taking things for granted." Marcus replied, absentmindedly looking at some Ahas sleeping in the same group of beds, noticing some weird tattoo on the left forearm of some of the women.
"Do they even have coffee here?" Karen quietly complained, looking around for a coffee machine that didn’t exist.
"Probably not, I've heard that they have a lot of occupied farmlands around the city and that in a three hour walking distance, there's a luxurious forest. Do you think we could use the natural resources as income?"
Not having found a coffee machine, Karen shrugged at the question.
"It would be too easy, there's probably some kind of permit system. But then again… we're humans, how hard would it be to create an enterprise? We'd have to see with our Ahas friends if they would be willing to act as slaves or servants to not arouse any suspicion." The blonde woman replied, thinking about the somewhat arrogant Ahas from earlier.
Let's see the bright sight of this world!