The Sea Peoples(52)
“I think you were indeed,” órlaith said.
Then órlaith sighed. “It appears my brother Prince John has fallen into a conflict in your part of the world, one no less serious for good and ill than this,” she said. “And considering how the Tarshish Queen and Stormrider ended up in the Ceram, I refuse to think it an accident. Our guardians are also taking a hand here, and giving us a warning.”
Reiko looked stricken beneath an iron calm. The alliance with Montival was formally one of equals, but in cold hard fact it was a lifeline that her folk needed if they were not to be gradually ground to powder by superior numbers. If órlaith decided to change the priorities to put rescuing her brother first rather than fighting the dark Power that ruled what had once been Korea, there was little Reiko could do about it, the more so as there were now strong arguments for it.
órlaith’s hand gripped the hilt of the Sword until her fingers whitened. When she spoke again her normally even contralto voice had gone flat and harsh, with a note of iron:
“But one war at a time. Who tries to be strong everywhere at all times is weak everywhere all the time—”
The senior war-leaders all nodded, as if an unseen hand had moved their heads. That was something they all agreed with down in their souls.
“—and the High Kingdom keeps its oaths. Captain Russ and Stormrider and its contingent of the Protector’s Guard are a considerable force in their own right, and they can stay in the area and continue the search for the Prince and his companions. We’ll deal with the matter before us, and if the situation in the south hasn’t resolved itself by then, we’ll deal with that in turn.”
órlaith took a deep breath. She was holding the image of a drop of water falling into a pond and the ripples fading. It was a technique she had learned as a method of centering in a visit to Chenrezi Monastery in the Valley of the Sun:
“My brother Prince John is a tried fighting man—”
Of good but not absolutely exceptional quality, she thought.
“—and he’s with a shipload of able comrades, and an MRN frigate is looking for him.”
And Deor Godulfson is there, which means there’s one who knows of the world beyond the light of common day, she thought but again did not say; those around her would be uneasy enough.
“That will have to do for now.”
Egawa Noboru rose for a moment, bowed to her, and sat again.
And I feel a little flattered, órlaith thought, giving a brief nod in return.
The man was not really likeable if you weren’t of his own folk and kin, but you had to respect him, and hence his respect was worth having. The more so for knowing he wouldn’t readily give it to an outsider unless his own sense of honor forced him to it.
King Kalaˉkaua frowned. “I see your point, Your Highness,” he said. “But we of Hawai?i have had good relations with Capricornia for many years. If King John is worried, we should be too. He is a very shrewd man.”
“Fair dinkum, Your Majesty,” Wooton observed; she’d evidently been here before as her monarch’s emissary. “There’s no flies on King Birmo. Except when there are, if you know what I mean.”
Lord Maugis de Grimmond cleared his throat. “If we could return to the matter the Crown Princess has said is the first priority, I would think a month’s rest for the force before moving out would be best.”
Admiral Naysmith frowned. “It’s not time-critical from a naval point of view. The weather’s going to be bad in northeast Asia anyway until well beyond that.”
One of Reiko’s naval advisors began to reply when a drum throbbed. Everyone looked up; a pair of Hawaiian guardsmen came trotting through escorting a courtier, the same polished young man who’d conducted the Montivallan and Nihonjin parties to their quarters in the palace district. He looked much less relaxed now.
Uh-oh, órlaith thought, and heard Heuradys say the same thing softly behind her. It’s never good news when someone runs in like that and interrupts his king at council.
“Your Majesty,” he said slightly breathlessly, going to one knee before Kalaˉkaua and pressing his right palm to his heart as he bowed. “A guardship has arrived from Oahu. The Koreans have attacked Pearl Harbor! Attacked in great strength!”
órlaith blinked. Her briefings kicked in; Pearl Harbor was on Oahu, the island most heavily populated in ancient days and hence worst hit by the Change. The Hawaiians had been resettling it over the last generation, and Pearl Harbor was a center of industry—the ships and buildings of the old American navy there provided a bottomless source of steel, aluminum, brass, glass and other materials, and there were foundries and machine shops.
It also included their Royal catapult works, a top-priority military target in any war.
“They attacked without even making demands of us!” Kalaˉkaua exclaimed, clenching a large fist. “They’ll regret this! No doubts now—the Aupuni o Hawai?i is in this war, to the death!”
Reiko put her hand to her sword-hilt. “And Dai-Nippon fights with you against this treacherous sneak attack!”
“And so does Montival,” órlaith echoed. “We will avenge this infamy.”
CHAPTER TEN
BETWEEN WAKING WORLD AND SHADOW
The crooning of the cat ceased. John felt an overwhelming impulse to gasp, as if a smothering weight had been taken off his chest. Then the pain returned, and he dabbed his feet down towards the dusty floor.