Azurite (Daughter of the Mountain Book 1) (35 page)

With that, the Queen called out to her servant, Ashley, who’d been waiting outside of the hall to be summoned.  Evangeline quickly recounted all the plans her advisors had prepared thus far and sent the girl off to ensure they were completed.  This left Brutus and Talan alone with the Queen, whose sudden determinedness to prevent an inimical and destructive repeat of Samarian history completely erased any guilt she felt about being the one who caused it.  She had her game face on, and her pale blue eyes were as hard as icicles.

“I wanted to present an idea to the two of you,” Evangeline said to them.  “It’s something I think would serve to our advantage if we played it out correctly.”  Talan watched as his Queen’s eyes shifted over to him, and he moved uncomfortably underneath their gaze.

“Brutus, how well does the Guard know the passageways that travel underneath the mountains?  Would they be able to traverse them without difficulty if needed?”  Brutus frowned as he thought about this.

“No, my Queen.  I’m afraid they would not.  My men don’t know the way of the mountains as well as their ancient ancestors once did.  Such antiquated skills have passed out of knowledge. There is no need for it.”  Brutus stopped and bit his lip hesitatingly, then nodded his head towards Talan. 

“Perhaps Master Leatherby’s miners would be better inclined to such a task, since they’re the ones who’ve mapped out and constructed the current system of mines.”  Talan opened his eyes wide when he realized what Brutus was implying.

“No!” Talan asserted.  “No!  My miners aren’t soldiers.  They’re just men, regular men who are used to wielding chisels, not swords.”  He looked over to Queen Evangeline with pleading eyes.  “My Queen, please.  My men are exhausted.  They’ve been mining day and night nonstop in the hardest reaches of the caverns, just for…” 

“Talan, you’re jumping to conclusions,” Evangeline interrupted.  “Your experimentation with the fire powder could greatly enhance our chances in the fight against the Nomans.  Since they have no technology like it, they wouldn’t be able to defend themselves against it.  If we use the natural underground caverns and existing mines like a system of roads, our infantry can strategically lead the Noman soldiers to designated spots of intersection where the fire powder can be put to use…right underneath their feet.  What do you think?” 

Talan was sitting on the edge of his seat with his hands clutching the chair tightly.  He gulped hard before speaking. 

“Let me make sure I understand, My Queen.  You want me to blast away the mines…in order to blast away the Noman soldiers?”  He shook his head till his hair covered his eyes.  “But what about all the labor that’s been done over the last hundreds of years to carve out the mines to make them safe and workable.  Once destroyed, those mines won’t be salvageable in this lifetime.  And what about all of the iron and copper we’re still extracting?  Those are all the goods Samaria is exporting right now.  Not to mention other…uh…semiprecious stones.”  Talan was referring to the azurite, but didn’t want to say it in front of Brutus.  “Are we going to cease production all together?” 

“Talan, you and I both know there are hundreds of old mines that have been vacant for decades.  I don’t intend to blow up the entire Anion Mountain range.”  She gave him a small smile.  “That’s impossible and utterly absurd.  But I do know there are tons of empty mines close to the Argent River.  I remember my father talking about closing them before he died.”  She leaned back into her throne and pointed a finger at him like a schoolteacher.  “I suggest starting with those.” 

Talan contemplated the seriousness and complexity of the task he was being assigned, and it gave him a stomach of nerves.

“My Queen, I’ve never tested my fire powder to such an extent that it would be able to break through the earth ceiling.  Some of those mines go miles deep underground!”  Evangeline just looked at him and gave him a level setting stare that said she wasn’t taking no for an answer.

“I’ll give you until tomorrow afternoon as well, Master Leatherby, to have this task completed.  By then I expect your fire powder formula to be adjusted to the specifications I just gave you.  I also want a detailed map of the current mines given to General Bludworth, with the abandoned ones marked so that he and his commanders can begin preparing a strategic map of defense against the Nomans.  Do you understand?”

The only thing that Talan understood was that failure wasn’t an option to the stubborn Queen, so he nodded mutely.

“Good,” Evangeline said.  “Now that we’re all on the same page, you two are dismissed.  If you need anything further, I’ll be in my chambers.”  Talan and Brutus both stood up and gave the Queen a bow before exiting the council chambers, leaving the Queen to her own thoughts.

***

Outside the council room, Mizra was finally awake and stirring with activity.  Morning sunlight beamed through the open corridors, not yet warm enough to ward off the chill of the night.  The council room was only one level up from the ground floor, and Talan could see the beauty of Mizra’s blooming gardens below him as he looked out of the window.  The displays of jessamine, purple wisteria, and white gardenias glimmered like diamond rings as sunlight reflected off of the dewdrops still clinging to their petals.  Brutus stood next to him, also admiring the springtime view as if he’d never seen it before.  Talan cleared his throat.

“Brutus, I have several, hand drawn maps of the mines up in my chambers.  I’d like to go over them with you and help create a plan of attack that will work best for the Guard.” 

He waited a second while Brutus still stared out of the window, his eyes unmoving and focused on something in the distance, unresponsive to Talan’s suggestion.  The younger man reached up and gingerly touched his shoulder to get his attention.

“Brutus?” he said.  The General suddenly startled, shaking Talan off him as if he was a venomous spider.

“Whoa!” Talan cried out as Brutus thrashed at him.  “Calm down!  I didn’t mean anything by it!”  Brutus was breathing heavily and sweat pebbled his forehead, although it was chilly in the hallway.  His faraway eyes suddenly focused on Talan.

“Forgive me, old friend,” his voice rasped.  “I’m not myself today.”

“Obviously,” Talan replied sardonically. 

The young man paused, then looked around to see if anyone was in earshot before bending into Brutus and whispering, “Where exactly have you been for the last month, because I know you weren’t in Rienne.  I looked into it.”  He leaned back up and hooked his thumbs through his belt loops, glaring at Brutus the whole time.

“Where are Ambrose and Arvil?” Talan demanded when Brutus didn’t say anything in return.  “Everything changed after I got that blasted note following Zora’s engagement celebration.  I want to know what’s going on!” 

Sweat dripped down the sides of Brutus’s face newly skeletal face as Talan questioned him, and his yellowing eyes also surveyed their surrounding.

              “Ok,” he responded meekly, as if Talan was forcing him into a confession.  “I’ll tell you, but not here.”

***

              Shortly after, Brutus was occupying Talan’s tastefully decorated chambers, watching as the miner rummaged through mountains of paperwork on his desk, trying to locate the maps he’d promised him.  All of the documents were withered and covered with dirty handprints; residue from the viscous mine dust that Talan always brought home with him.  Despite how eager Talan was to learn about the events that had transpired after Zora’s celebration, Samaria was still under threat of attack, and both men had been assigned pivotal parts to play in a battle that could not be postponed. 

              “Here we are,” Talan said, pulling out four neatly folded maps that outlined all the underground mines in the north, south, east, and west sections of the Anion Mountains.

“But first things first.”  He placed the maps on the already teetering pile of paperwork and patted them securely before taking a seat across from Brutus.  The General looked uncomfortable as he fussed with the fraying thread of the Samarian emblem embroidered on his tunic.

              “I want to know what really happened,” Talan demanded.  “Advisors to the Queen don’t just disappear.”  Brutus stopped fidgeting and looked up at him painfully.  “I promise I won’t repeat anything I hear,” Talan prompted. 

              “Fine,” Brutus replied grudgingly then gave a big sigh as he began retelling the events that had occurred after Zora’s marriage celebration.

“What did Arvil think about all of this?” Talan asked when Brutus was done.  The General gave a small shrug.

              “Arvil has no spine, you know that.  He sways whichever way the wind blows. Apparently, he and Ambrose had been meeting for quite some time about this.  They’d come to the decision that Samaria would be better off if Evangeline was removed from the throne entirely and replaced with Zora.  They believed Evangeline’s poor decisions were driving a once flourishing country into the ground, and in truth she is.”

              “I didn’t know it had gotten that serious,” Talan admitted in surprise.  “What plan did Ambrose have that would take Evangeline off the throne.”  Brutus looked away from him and exhaled a shaky breath.

              “He asked me to have her murdered.  And then told me how to cover it up so no one would suspect her personal advisors.” 

              “He was going to have the Queen killed!” Talan exclaimed, and Brutus only nodded.  “Holy Divinity!” the young advisor muttered to himself.  “I never would’ve thought Ambrose would go that far.” 

“You didn’t know Ambrose as long as I did,” Brutus said grimly.  “He was very smart and very rich.   He cashed in at the time when Samarian diamonds were at their greatest demand across the Realm some decades ago.  He made a lot of money trading Samarian commodities, so you can guess how hard it hit his pockets when the mines began faltering.”

“So you think that Ambrose wanted the Queen dethroned to protect his own personal interest?” Talan speculated.  “Because he thought that Queen Evangeline was running Samaria economically into the ground, and that in turn affected his own wealth?”  Brutus shrugged again.

“I don’t know if that’s what he
really
thought, but it seemed like him wanting to put a young, easily malleable princess such as Zora on the throne would be more beneficial to him.  I guarantee that’s what Evangeline thought when she intercepted his letter to Rienne.  The Queen is unfailingly proud and wouldn’t appreciate being displayed as a fool, and that’s exactly what Ambrose’s letter would do to her.”  The General let his voice trail off as he broke eye contact with Talan and looked out the window.

“Ambrose is dead,” he stated.

“I had a feeling,” Talan replied gently.  “Vincent claimed he died of a fever, but I never believed it.  Did you have anything to do with his death?”

“No!” Brutus yelled, his head snapping back around looking horrified.  “I’d never hurt any of my fellow advisors.”  He gulped hard and a sickly color overcame his already greyish complexion.

“The Queen intercepted Ambrose’s letter to Leonardo.  In her rage she had his throat slit by my own soldiers.  She killed him claiming treason then had Arvil and myself imprisoned with threats that we’d face the same end if we followed in his footsteps.  The only reason she had me released was because she needs a competent General to lead her men into war.”

“Is Arvil still alive?” Talan asked.  While he never liked the small, two-faced man, he didn’t want to see Arvil needlessly murdered by an arrogant and angry Queen.

“I’m not positive, but I think so,” Brutus replied hopefully.  “The Queen had us held in separate cells, but I could hear the Guards blathering about us as they changed shifts daily.  I never heard anyone being removed from holding.”  Brutus looked away again, and his neutral expression darkened.  “All that doesn’t even matter. I think that the Queen’s actions towards us may have been in vain.

“What do you mean?” Talan asked. 

“I’m positive a page of Ambrose’s letter passed underneath the Queen’s nose unnoticed, so I’m thinking that the messenger may have gotten out with the most important part of it, and he’s on the way right now to Rienne.”

              “So knowledge of Samaria’s current state of crisis has been dispelled to Rienne despite the Queen’s violent attempts to hide it?” 

Suddenly, Talan remembered the promise he’d made Zora before she left for Montanisto.

             
Watch over Samaria for me.  Be my eyes and ears, for I fear for my country’s future. 

              “We
have
to get Arvil out of the gallows,” Talan suddenly asserted.  “You and I both know that Samaria will not survive a battle with the Nomans, therefore it’s imperative we enlist the help of Leonardo Santini.  Considering that Arvil has already fallen out of the Queen’s graces, I think it’s best if we send him and not put anyone else in danger of being accused of treason. Samaria will be under Noman rule if we don’t seek help from the Sovereign Alliance.  There is no way the Samarian Guard alone can defeat and drive back the Noman army, at least that’s how the Queen describes it.”

              “Leonardo won’t come,” Brutus interrupted bitterly.  “He has no compassion for a Queen who has no compassion for anyone else.  We denied him when he needed us most.  He will most certainly return the deed.”  Talan looked at Brutus long and hard before speaking.