Page 102 of The King of Koraha
“Xerxes and half of his soldiers are gone,” Mahira said. “We captured the other half, but they refused to talk. Can you interrogate them to find out where he went?”
“He was planning on going to Haiya, but I doubt he’ll go there now. I’ll ask his soldiers, but he might not have shared his new destination with them,” Shyla said.
“We already sent a message to the Water Princess of Haiya, but we agree with you.” Mahira glanced at the prince, listened, and asked, “Do you have any idea where he might go?”
Actually she did. She’d talked it over with Gurice while incarcerated. “We think he might head to one of the cities that’s under his influence, but he won’t stay there for long. Instead, he’ll gather supplies, weapons, and more personnel.” She paused. This next part was a guess. “Then he’ll aim for Qulsary.”
Mahira gave her a sharp look. “Explain your reasons.”
“Xerxes asked me if I could influence the King with my magic.” At that word, the occupants in the room flinched, glared at her in anger, or shuffled uneasily. Until they’d met her, not one of them had believed in magic. “From Xerxes’ comments, I think his plan was to take over all the cities of Koraha. Then once he had control, he’d travel to Qulsary and assassinate the King.”
Her statement caused a bigger and noisier reaction. She waited for the inevitable demands for her to explain further. Mahira didn’t disappoint.
“From what I’ve learned about Xerxes, he has a very dominant personality and enjoys being in charge. He’d never be content as a Water Prince. If that were the case, he would have been content to rule Ginda. He wants tobeKing. And not only is he converting all the cities, but also the monks. Because he knows the King can call on the monks to fight. Once he cuts the King off from all his supporters and revenue, then Xerxes can not only easily take his throne but hold on to it. He won’t have to worry about anyone else having the same idea, because he’ll control all of Koraha. But now that we’ve stopped him, I believe he’s going to skip to the end of his plan. Once he’s King, he can send his minions to ensure the rest of the cities cooperate.”
“Why didn’t he just assassinate the King first and save all that time and energy?” Mahira asked.
Good question. Shyla mulled it over. As the commander of the elite forces, Xerxes had been close to the old king. He must have known about his illness and about the king-in-training. He’d have to assassinate them both, which would be harder to do. Also if he assassinated them, the cities would have stopped send.ing taxes and would cease all support. Xerxes wantedallthe benefits of being King.
Shyla explained her thoughts to the captain. “Also the King is chosen by the Sun Goddess. If he’d assassinated her chosen ruler, the cities would have banded together to unseat him. His plan might have taken many circuits, but no one would have protested Xerxes becoming King.”
Mahira and the prince consulted with a couple of the advisors. Shyla scanned the surface emotions of the guards. With all this speculation about Xerxes and his schemes, she figured the commander had left a few spies behind. However, no one’s thoughts alarmed her.
“Assuming none of the prisoners know, which city do you think he’ll go to for supplies?” Mahira asked.
“I think he’ll go to Nintri. Even though it’s an obvious choice, it’s still the closest city to Qulsary and his co-conspirator is there.”
“Captain, send a message to the King right away to warn him,” the prince ordered.
“That won’t be enough,” Shyla said. “You’ll also need to send guards and monks. The King doesn’t have enough protectors.”
The Water Prince swiveled around to face her. Anger radiated from his stiff shoulders. “Only if theKingrequests them.”
She showed him the sigil. “I’ve been authorized to requisition manpower as his emissary.”
“The King authorized you before you fell under Xerxes’ spell.” He stabbed a finger at her. “You have all this…magic…and yet you were caught and used. What’s to stop him from enslaving you again? You are no longer trustworthy.” The prince stood. “I’ll release you and your friends and will provide you with whatever provisions you need. But I want every one of you out of my city within two sun jumps.”
Shyla couldn’t blame him after all he had suffered at her hands. But she couldn’t resist a parting shot. “Don’t forget to pay your taxes. The Monks of Lyons will be here to pick them up by angle zero.”
Mahira took her to another deeper level that led to Apanji’s prison. The captain had one of Xerxes’ high-ranking soldiers brought out for Shyla to interrogate with her magic. As she suspected, the soldier had no idea what the commander planned to do next. All he knew was to meet at the rally point. Except when he’d arrived, the prince’s guards ambushed him.
Shyla returned to the holding cells. Everyone was happy to be leaving the city the next sun jump. Xerxes already had a head start and she wanted to leave as soon as possible. But they had a number of things to do first. Shyla assigned Gurice and Rae to collect those promised provisions along with an additional request. She asked Nard and Balin to accompany them. Mojag and Jaft were given the task of hiring drivers and getting the wagons ready to take the taxes to the King. Shyla asked Vashi and Lamar to find a guide to lead them to Nintri, explaining exactly what type of person they needed.
“What are you planning to do?” Gurice asked her.
“I’m going to the monastery. We need monks to guard the tax caravan.”
“We should stay together. Take Rae as backup. We don’t need four people to get supplies.”
True, but Shyla still wondered if Gurice worried that Shyla could no longer defend herself. “All right. Let’s get going. We don’t have much time.”
“Meet back at our rooms,” Gurice called as everyone dispersed.
“We probably won’t be back before darkness,” Shyla told her friend. “Don’t worry, we’ll meet you at the city’s entrance at angle zero.”
“You better. Or we’reallcoming for you.”
“Thank you.”
