Enlightened Empire

Chapter 293

After the ship from Atau's fleet had returned from its scouting mission, the full extent of their trouble was revealed. When Corco arrived near the harbor, the ship itself had already told him half the story before anyone had opened their mouth. The galleon had anchored in the port, with its sails up, but Corco could still see that the cloth had been damaged, and could still see that the hull sat atop the waves at a slight slant. Whatever had happened to them, it hadn't been an easy journey back.

Soon, the king received the full picture from the crew, and with it a huge shock. While they were still preparing their countermeasures here, their Arcavian enemies had already struck. Now the alliance of the Colored Kings was broken, and with it Corco's alliance with the Verdant Isles.

Worse yet, the blue king had proven himself bought and sold by one of the other Medalan kingdoms, and he had assassinated the Green King Taoco Hulpatec. Before he could even announce his marriage to his father-in-law, his strongest ally was dead, and his previous ally was now being controlled by one of his brothers.

For now, there was still a chance that at least the Green Island would remain on good terms with Saniya, but even that was impossible to tell. After the death of both the king and his heir Wacoca, there was no clear successor left. According to the scouts, the one who was in the strongest position to take over the role was apparently Tayali, a trusted captain under the late King Hulpatec.

However, Corco wasn't familiar with him, and this captain had no familial ties to Sumaci either. Whatever plans the man had for the future, Corco was unsure they would include him as an ally. Worse, there was a real chance that this guy was part of the conspiracy that had killed the late king. After all, it wasn't every day that a mere warrior would get a chance to rise in status and become a high noble. And of course, the most important reason for his reluctance to accept this potential new ruler was his own wife.

Even though she had become part of his family mere days ago, Sumaci was still the green princess. Compared to the Medalans, the Verdant Folk were a lot more lenient when it came to women in positions of power. Unlike in Medala, pure combat strength wasn't seen as important for a ruler, since the ability to navigate, to guide and lead a fleet was more crucial for a seafaring nation.

Considering Sumaci's own abilities in navigation as well as her status as the former king's eldest surviving child, there was a real chance for her to inherit the throne. Thus, Tayali's attempted control of the island seemed more like a takeover attempt than anything else. There was a good chance he would see Sumaci, and by extension the entire southern kingdom, as his natural enemies, whether they would try to fight for succession or not.

All of this was much for Corco to take in, but it had hit Sumaci even harder. When the king was briefed on the situation, he didn't find her at the harbor, even though she had been there to inspect the ships earlier in the day. Upon asking, he was informed that the queen had taken the disastrous news remarkably well, with a stoic face. However, she had soon excused herself to rush back to the castle, presumably to inform the rest of the court. Corco however knew her better than that.

As Sumaci's teacher, Corco had debated her on morals more times than he cared to count, and he had seen how well that girl had treated her brother over the years. Sumaci wasn't a cold person who could just brush off the deaths of her loved ones like that. She also wasn't someone who could ignore the pleas of her people. Not now that their allies had turned into enemies, now that her family's kingdom was in crisis.

While everyone else at the harbor was preoccupied with the potential war that was about to grip the Verduic Sea, Corco was much more worried about Sumaci's true state of mind. Thus, he asked the returned scouts to write up a full report and send it to his study for later inspections. Rather than deal with the sailors any longer, he rushed up Rapra Castle, after his wife, to prevent whatever she was doing up there.

When he reached the castle's inner courts, he could already hear the commotion from a distance. As soon as Corco stepped through the door, one of his servants came towards him with a flustered expression. As the king moved towards the source of the noise, the servant kept pace to inform his lord.

“King Corco, thank the heavens you are back,” he said. “Queen Sumaci has come back in a flurry, and has not responded to any of our inquiries. Instead, she has rushed around the royal court and thrown all manner of objects on the ground. She has not responded to any attempts at helping her, and has only mumbled to herself, before she sent all servants out of the room with a shout angrier than any have ever heard from her. Everyone is worried about queen's state of mind.”

“I'll handle it, so you step back and give us some room.”

When Corco entered his private quarters, he was greeted by an immediate and sudden attack. With his first step inside, a cloth shoe flew straight at his face. A swift step to the side avoided embarrassment and cleared his view. Thus, the truth behind the unprovoked attack was revealed.

In the short day since he had last seen it, the king's living quarters had been transformed into a hoarder's home. Furniture and loose clothes were strewn all over the floor without rhyme or reason, obstructing his movements. Whatever was happening here, someone was in a hurry. Thus, he followed the noise further, to find the source of the chaos and prevent further destruction.

Despite his mental preparations, he was shocked when he found Sumaci rush out of their bedroom and into the hallway. She didn't even notice him as she charged past and into the small salon, with a misshapen bag of cloth under her arms.

When Corco followed her inside, she was rummaging through one of the shelves while mumbling to herself.

“Where is it? Where is it?”

“Can I give you a hand with something?” Corco asked in a troubled tone. Although her actions were less than rational, the king tried to be supportive, since his usual snarky tone would only make things worse. However, it seemed like his choice of passive support didn't help the situation either. When Sumaci turned around and finally noticed that her husband had come home, the frantic air around her didn't change. Corco could see the chaos of the room reflected in her flittering eyes.

“Perfect! You're finally here,” she said, as she once again returned to her shelf destroying work. “You should know where the servants put my heavy travel boots, right? They just threw everything anywhere and I can't find anything. You've lived here for longer, so help me out here.”

“And what do you want to do with them when you find them?” Rather than help her in her pointless quest, Corco tried to get a hold of the conversation.

“A visit back home, of course,” Sumaci replied with none of the joy such a sentence would normally contain. All the while, she still continued to search.

“You think that's a good idea right now?” At the moment, Sumaci would be the most wanted person in most parts of the Verduic Sea. Even her own home wasn't guaranteed to be safe, so rushing back head first was a horrible idea. She was smart enough to understand that, so Corco simply tried to clear her head with the facts. However, she didn't take his good intentions very well.

“Then what do you expect me to do!?” she finally turned around and screamed. “They killed my father, and they killed my brother! Do you think I will let them off like that!?”

“So who exactly killed your father?” Corco asked back, still calm.

She stared at him in confusion for half a second, before she got angry again.

“What does that matter? If you won't help, you can leave!”

“It matters because you won't solve anything by running into a brick wall. Your anger doesn't help any.”

“Then what am I supposed to do!?” she asked again, tears in her eyes. “I'm not cold like you! I can't just sit there and ignore my family, hurt them and kill them because it's good for the economy!”

In her anger, she rushed forward to hit Corco with her fists like she had hit him with her words, but he felt no threat from her. Rather, he felt like she just needed somewhere to vent her pain, and he didn't mind playing sandbag for a bit if it made her calm down. Her attack was confused and uncoordinated. Thus, after he allowed a few limp punches, it was easy for him to step inside her defenses and hug her tightly to lock up her arms.

For a while he held her without a word, while he waited for her to calm down. When he felt her breath against his chest slow down, he spoke again.

“I'm here for you. Even if your brother's gone, you're not alone. Whoever you want to save, whoever you want to kill, we'll do it. But we'll do it with a plan, and we'll do it together.”

As if his words had opened a box, Sumaci began to cry like a child. Corco just quietly stood there, her whole weight on his shoulders, and rubbed her back. By the time her cries had turned into quiet sobs, his robe was soaked with tears. Sumaci sniffled and looked up with red eyes.

“Sorry, I ruined your clothes,” she said.

“At least the room's still fine,” Corco replied with a wry smile on his face. They looked around at the destruction around them, and Sumaci laughed.

“What a terrible thing to say.” Now that the queen had regained her faculties again, she let go and sat down in a rare spot that was still free from clutter.

“I'm sorry,” she said again. “I shouldn't have acted like that.”

“I get it. I get why you're anger. When I learned about my dad's death, and again about how he died, I only saw red. At the time, I was ready to throw everything away and just kill the ones who did it. And I wasn't even that close to my father. But in the end, I was lucky that good people held me back and calmed me down. This isn't an anime. Blind anger doesn't help. Whoever's responsible for this, that's exactly what those people want, for your to rush head first into danger. People like that are cold enough to kill their allies, friends and family for their own gain, they're certainly calm enough to expect a violent response from us. What do you think would happen if you just took a ship and an unprepared crew and rushed back with nothing but a saber in your hand?”

“I know. I'm stupid.” Despite her admission, Corco still continued, to drive home the point.

“If you try to get home now, you will run into an ambush, and your ship will mysteriously disappear into the sea long before you reach Rasacopa. And this time, they'll search for you properly. No more fortunate island rescue like last time. So no matter what we do, we can't react with anger.”

“Then what should we do?” Sumaci asked. “We can't just watch as they take over the entire Isles and sell them to the Arcavians, can we? I won't let them steal my father's throne.”

“You don't need to, but we still need to be careful. It'll be best if we bring you back accompanied by a force so strong that no ploys will work against it. But for that, we need more time. You've been in my study when we were working. You know we've only just started to prepare for a war at sea, and we're nowhere near ready. For now, we need to be patient, speed up our preparations and make sure we get you to Rasacopa as soon as possible, but safely. Only this way do you get a chance to continue your father's legacy, and to take revenge on his killers.”

“But my mother is still home!” Sumaci called out her greatest concern. “What if something happens to her? I can't...”

In the end, she trailed off, since she realized that there was little she could do, that her worry helped her as little as her anger had. Corco sighed as well.

“In that case, we better hurry,” he sighed. “and better hope that your father's most trusted warriors stay loyal to his wife. And that they're not the ones we aim to kill.”