Enlightened Empire

Chapter 297

High above the green waves of the Verduic Sea, two flags were swinging next to each other atop the same mast. One depicted the silver triquetra on purple, the new flag of the Kingdom of Southern Medala. The second was the sigil of the Green Island of the Verdant Isles, a simple white banner that depicted the old Yakua symbol for 'green'.

Rather than put one above the other, both flags had to fly side by side. It had been a pain to set them up this way and guarantee that one wouldn't slip lower than the other over the course of their journey, but it had also been necessary. After all, flying Saniya's flag lower would be a hit to their men's morale, and a breach of diplomatic etiquette, since they would pretend to be Verdant Folk if they put the foreign flag above.

Yet were they to fly the Medalan flag higher, those with bad intentions could interpret their actions as a provocation, as if they were coming to the Green Island as invaders. Sometimes, Corco got really tired of these diplomatic considerations and wanted to just throw out the whole concept. However, they didn't have the choice to just go with one flag and ditch the other either.

If they didn't fly the colors of the Verdant Isles at all, others would also get an excuse to attack them as foreign invaders, claiming that they treated Sumaci as an outsider to the Green Island, or worse yet, as a hostage to the southern kingdom.

Conversely, if they didn't fly the flag of the southern kingdom, they may be considered weak, only daring to travel the Verduic Sea by hiding behind the strength of the Green Island. Potential enemies may consider them easy targets that way, which would only bring them more trouble. With both flags together like this, they could show both Sumaci's legitimacy as the princess of the Green Island, as well as her backing of southern Medala's armies.

Just as he thought about Sumaci, Corco could hear her familiar steps come closer from behind, until she stood next to him. Corco's eyes left the two flags up above and fell on his wife. Much unlike her appearance on their last night in Saniya, she had transformed back into a pirate captain, with solid boots below, and a short vest with her exposed arms above.

Her dress was quite masculine, and showed both strength and a sense for the traditions of the Verdant Folk. This way, she showed her goals during their visit. It would prove her urge to replace her father's role for her people. Since Corco had seen her spend almost an entire day before she picked her current dress, he knew that it hadn't been an easy choice for her to make.

At the moment, even she couldn't know her exact purpose for returning home. For one, they had no idea what would await them in Rasacopa. All they knew was that the old king and Prince Wacoca were dead. They had no idea if anyone had taken the throne in the meantime, or who it would be. Even an occupation of the Green Island by the other colored kings or the Arcavians was conceivable. Until she knew the situation at home, Sumaci couldn't make any final decisions on her stance.

Though even when they reached the Green Island, the young queen would still be unsure of how to act, of that Corco was sure. Would she really try to fight for her father's throne in the end? Fight for a country she had barely seen over the past five years, especially now when she had started a new life in a different place?

Wouldn't she rather she leave that role to her mother, or to a trusted aide? Would she go to seek revenge on her father's killers, or quell her urges and try to get the best possible result for her new home of Saniya, or the people of the Green Island?

As for Corco himself, he had chosen to get involved as little as possible. Certainly, if the queen of the southern kingdom also became the Green Queen of the Verdant Isles, it would be to their advantage. Thus, his marriage would look like a smart political move in retrospect, securing Saniya a strong ally and potentially uniting the two countries henceforth. However, Corco wouldn't urge his wife either way, and had avoided the topic as much as possible. This was a decision for Sumaci alone, and one that would weigh on her enough as it was.

Thus, they just stood next to each other and stared at the fleet around them for a while. All in all, they had brought fourteen ships, four military galleons built in Arcavia and ten transformed civilian brigantines. At least for now, it would be enough to scare away their enemies, or so they hoped.

After another uneasy look at his ships, Corco's eye swerved into the distance, towards the large island that had just appeared in the north-west. The Green Island was a major area of commerce and the center of the Verdant Isles. It was also the goal of their journey. Now that they were this close but still had to wait, it didn't do his nerves any good, and he was sure that Sumaci's state of mind was even worse. Sure enough, she couldn't hold the peace any longer as soon as Corco thought about it.

“What about the messengers?” Sumaci asked out of the blue. “No word yet?”

Corco could understand her unease. After all, they had sent their delegation of warriors ahead of their main fleet, to announce their imminent arrival. Not only was this good diplomatic form, it was also a probe into the circumstances of Rasacopa. Once their messengers came back, they would know more about the realities ashore. If their messengers were to not return, they would have to make a tough decision: They could turn back, they could land and move into a city that could be full of enemies, or they could attack Sumaci's home in a blind charge. None of their options sounded great.

“Don't worry, they've only been away for a short time.” Corco spoke words he himself didn't fully believe. “They need to prove their identity first, then meet the people in charge and announce us. That takes time even when there's no chaos over who's in control. And once all that's done, they'll probably stay there for a good while longer, while Rasacopa gets ready to greet us in a manner we deserve. You're their princess after all, and the next logical heir to their throne.”

“Yeah, maybe you're right.”

Of course, both of them knew that things wouldn't be this simple, but there was no use discussing an issue they knew nothing about. Thus, they simply stood together once again and stared into the deep green. After a while, Corco thought it would be better to be productive, so he got Sumaci to explain more about her country's political landscape.

“So your mother has never been involved in politics?” he asked again, just to be sure.

“Not for as long as I can remember,” Sumaci replied. “I don't even know if she can. I've never seen her near the main court, and I've never seen her advise father on anything outside of family matters. Wacoca was father's closest helper when it came to politics and military action, but now he's gone too. Aside from me, no one in the Hulpatec family has any ability, or aspirations, to take the throne. If the island is still controlled by my family at this point, then our rule should be held together by my father's closest warriors.”

Sumaci sighed. Relying on family outsiders for their own safety was always dangerous.

“First off you have Phuyu, an old advisor of House Hulpatec whose family members have been close servants of the family for generations,” she continued. “He himself has never been strong in combat, but he has always been good with numbers and letters. Advisor Phuyu has advised father on politics and domestic affairs since before I was born. When I was younger, father mostly left all the administrative work to him, but he got more involved after our alliance started. Maybe father got excited by all the new possibilities he saw from Saniya.”

“So there's a chance he'd be resentful towards your father?” Corco asked. “I mean, if the king got more involved, that would mean that this Phuyu guy's power would be reduced, right?

“That's... not impossible,” Sumaci gave a careful answer, before she shook her head. “But as far as I can tell, he has never shown any signs of disloyalty. That's only based on a feeling and nothing concrete, but I hadn't even considered him a potential traitor until now. If in doubt, I'd still be inclined to believe him. Call it intuition.”

“Hm.” Although Corco had his own thoughts, he only hummed weak agreement. There was no reason to get into a fight over the loyalty of someone he hadn't even met yet. Still, Corco decided to keep the name 'Phuyu' in mind for now.

“The second most important warrior besides my father was Tayali, a captain and leader of our fleets,” Sumaci continued. “He's a bit of an upstart, the son of a lower warrior family. None of his predecessors had any important role at the Green Court. But his abilities in combat and navigation are outstanding, so he became father's premiere admiral and general, someone he relied on quite a bit.”

“He's no longer satisfied with his position?” Corco guessed. Since he had risen this far, maybe he wouldn't mind rising some more, now that the chance presented itself.

“We'll see about that.” This time, Sumaci didn't deny Corco's accusation. However, she was still cautious. “For now, we simply don't know enough about Rasacopa's situation to suspect anyone. If we go in with the mindset that there has to be at least one traitor, we'll only cause a rift with the locals. And division seems pointlessly harmful, now that we're in such a crisis.”

“That's true as well,” the king admitted. Just as the two had come to a consensus, Corco saw Atau rush towards them. With a wave of his hand, he greeted the admiral who was finally back to what he did best: Commanding a fleet.

“What's up?” Corco asked in a casual tone, but Atau's frown didn't lessen in response.

“Nothing good. Check out the horizon, about ten degrees north.”

As instructed, Corco took the telescope Atau held towards him and stared north, along the Green Island's coastline. After a moment of searching, he found several distant silhouettes travel on the water some way out from the coast.

“Another fleet?” he asked as he lowered the telescope and looked towards Atau.

“Enemy ships, probably,” his cousin confirmed. “From the form of their hull and arrangement of their sails, they're probably arcavian. There's at least five of them that we can see for now. I somehow doubt they are here by accident.”

Which means they either waited here for anyone who would come to reinforce the Green Island, or someone on the island told on us.

“So what do we do now?” Corco asked his expert on naval warfare. However, the expert scratched his head, rather than inspire confidence.

“Well, since our messenger's still ashore, we can't sail into Rasacopa's harbor without provoking a war, and I assume that a tactical retreat isn't an option either, right?”

“Wouldn't that just show weakness to the Arcavians and make them even bolder in the future?” Sumaci asked back as if retreat wasn't an option.

“In that case, all we can do is stand and prepare for a fight,” Atau said. “Let's see how brave those newcomers really are.”

Over the half hour it took the distant ships to get closer, Saniya's impromptu fleet had plenty of time to get ready. With their superior optics, they had managed to spot the Arcavians early, so they could leisurely raise their sails and face their sides towards the incoming enemies.

As of now, they still were the only navy with telescopes, so the arcavian ships had to come much closer to scout them, even if that was their only goal. By the time they had closed the distance enough to get a good look at Saniya's fleet, their details had long been found out by Corco's men. They were indeed arcavian ships, flying the flags of Cahlia, and there were indeed only five of them.

However, despite their low numbers, their crews looked like they were on high alert, and they could see several cannons atop their decks. As they approached, they made no attempt to slow down or communicate. Everything pointed to an attempted attack from the cahlian fleet.

Although Atau hoisted a white flag below the previous two, the arcavian symbol requesting a diplomatic talk, the Cahlians didn't react and continued to drive towards them.

“Since they won't listen to reason, let's talk in their language,” Atau said, and gave his new orders.

In response, one of their galleons turned and fired a broadside's worth of cannonballs that landed halfway between the two fleets. Only when a curtain of water rose between the two sides did the Arcavians halt their advance. No matter how bold they were, they wouldn't rush into cannon fire like that. If they did the math, they would realize just how outgunned their five ships would be against the Saniya fleet. even so, they continued to hover around them, just out of cannon range.

Throughout this time, they made no attempts to talk, and no attempts to engage. At least Atau's show of force had scared them off for now. In truth, Corco was glad that they could avoid a fight. After all, they were no more than paper tigers at the moment, with four proper galleons and ten patched up civilian brigantines, crewed with inexperienced civilians. However, their numerical advantage was still enough to make the Arcavians careful for now.

After a long and tense standoff, finally, and without warning, the medalan messengers returned from the island. Everyone was surprised that they had come back unharmed, just like the messengers were surprised by the presence of the Arcavian ships. But in the end, everything had worked out. At last, they could leave the dangers of the open waters and go ashore. Finally, they had managed to escort Sumaci home, safe and sound.