Chapter 252: Way into the East 1

"I did not expect that from Cyrus." My Eve said in a tone of genuine surprise, as she and I sat serenely within a small, ordinary looking tent upon the desert sands, that had been covered with a simple rug.

"Neither did I." I replied, glancing out the tent at the finalizing construction of our equally small camp for the night.

"Truly?" She asked.

"Well, maybe not so soon." I replied with a smirk as I refocused my attention back at her.

"But you knew he will eventually ask for your blessing." She said. "To leave the cover of your wings to spread his own, I mean."

"I thought he’d ask for my forgiveness rather my permission if I am honest." I answered, my eyes suddenly fogging with ancient memory.

"He is the type." She giggled.

I smiled, dismissing the mist of memory from my mind, as I said. "Cyrus was always more of a man of action than anything else. And whether our mother is fond of it or not, martial prowess, war and conflict are a part of him just as much as his blood, bone and sinew is."

A silence passed over us then, one only interrupted by the rustling sounds of fabric and rope struggling against the evening desert gales, before she then asked. "Will you truly give him command of the Tenth Army?"

"Of course." I instantly replied. "Once he proves himself worthy of it."

"I wonder if he will once more raise his famed Knights from our past lives?" She pondered aloud a second later.

"I wonder about that as well." I said. "But all of that is in good time, my love. For the time being, I think it best we focus on the mad mission at hand."

"Indeed." She said, but I could immediately notice that she had more to say, and yet she seemed uncharacteristically hesitant. An ill omen if I’ve ever seen one.

"Tell me." I said with a resigned sigh and a helplessly small smile as I slid ever closer to her so our shoulders now touched.

But she again remained tight lipped, as though utterly unable to string the words to describe her thoughts. And yet, just before I grew restless she spoke up in a rather apprehensive voice "My love. You know... we always have the option to enlist her help. She won’t refuse...!"

"No!" I very quickly interrupted her, with an unflinchingly definitive tone. "No my love. We will only and only resort to seeking your sister’s help if and only if we have no other choice. And even then it would be begrudgingly done."

"If you’re concerned about my father’s challenge, and whether he would deem it a failure on my part should we contact my sister, then don’t. I can handle him." She assuredly said, her tone returning to it’s usual cold and proud tone, yet I still shook my head.

"No love, we will do nothing to jeopardize your father’s challenge in this life. Is that clear?" I said, as she slowly crawled upon my lap, while I gently held her head in between my palms, so she could not hide her eyes from me.

"Is what clear?" Yet then the sudden echoing of Nizam’s voice around us, shocked us still for a moment, before we very quickly reigned in ourselves and answered.

"It’s nothing of any importance brother. Is everything ready?"

"Yes. All the tents have been set. By noon tomorrow we should have entered through the gates of Thalab. And lord Isaac has already departed ahead of us too. He assures us that he will make ready everything by the time we arrive." He answered.

"Good." I nodded. "You should retire for the night too brother. It’s getting late."

He quickly turned back around, about to leave when he suddenly paused. "Brother. I know it’s not the most opportune time and that you obviously have a plan, but may I ask you something?"

"Of course." I replied, my eyebrow cocked.

"All this military build up you’ve ordered on the border with the Yue Dynasty, even mobilising lord Valdour and his whole army along with both the Third and Seventh Armies that once sat silent in their respective barracks, will it not completely alert the Eastern Empire?" He asked with a clearly rhetorical edge to his words.

"Of course it will. And that is the plan." I said, smiling in understanding for what manner of mischievous thoughts have been turning his mind into a morass of anxiety.

"But won’t that just make it more difficult for us to infiltrate the eastern hegemon? Especially if we are planning of taking a ship from Thalab to the many ports of the eastern empire. Security will surely be multiplied, particularly towards any ships coming from our side." He asked again, roughly combing through his hair.

"Ah. Yes, that is true." I nodded, as I slowly hunched forward with Eve still in my arms with a conspiratorial grin across my lips. "But that is only true, my darling brother, if we were planning on entering the eastern empire through legitimate means and aboard a legitimate vessel."

"Oh?" My Eve mouthed, as she turned to me with a heightened sense of interest then. "And what clandestine manner of transport did you prepare for us my dear?"

"Khairuddin." I smirkingly answered.

"Khairuddin, the Eastern Armada’s Admiral?" Nizam asked in utter bewilderment.

"More correctly in this situation brother it would bebetterto call him Khairuddin, the Pirate King of the Eastern Ocean." I smugly revealed to them. "I have had him slowly devour the scourge of the Emerald Sea since Zadkiel’s revolt. And he has proven himself quite the efficient pirate lord. Uniting much of the scattered groups of floating filth in a brief few years."

"...That’s quite ingenious of you." Eve muttered, her chin pinched between her fingers in a thoughtful pose, before she then said. "But you better tread carefully. Or you run the risk of earning the ire of those who believe their rights transgressed upon."

"Jealousy is unbecoming of you my love." I jokingly teased, knowing that she too had the ambition of bringing the Emerald Sea to heal, both in this life and the last. But despite my airy countenance I still fully recognized the danger of which she spoke.

Like all activities that prey on the weak and discard the law, piracy too, has always been a province in the domain of her family’s influence. With her eldest brother further reinforcing their hold over this forever rebellious district of their empire by ruling over the western trade routes as the unseen hand above the Eighteen Pirate Kings of the West. The same ones my uncle waged bloody war against almost five years ago now.

But I eased the worries away by simply reminding myself that their hold over the eastern pirates has always been unreliable at best, owing mostly to the fact that the world’s naval superpower, the grand Yue Dynasty, had laid claim over these waters as well, making the investment costly for so little returns.

Besides, even if they do come one day to darken my door with unpleasant words lining their tongues, I could just as easily claim to have given the reigns of the operation to my Eve, and they’d have very little to say then, as their heiress would have gained rule over the eastern waterways with little effort on their behalf.

"But...why?" My brother’s weary voice reached our ears then, his tone one of apprehension.

"Why?" I echoed, looking back at his now hanging head.

"Brother why order the Eastern Admiral to do this? You couldn’t have possibly predicted for this course of action to unfold so many years ago now. So why give him such a command?" He clarified, as accusation crept it’s way into the weave of his weary words.

"There is only one reason I would’ve had Khairuddin tame the pirate scourge and not simply destroy it Nizam." I replied, knowing my clever brother needed no more information to understand.

"You were planning on attacking the Yue Dynasty." He said, his voice laced with shock.

"I plan to attack everyone little brother." I calmly replied.

He was silent for a moment. Then he nodded. In understanding at the perverted wisdom laced within it. In acceptance of an undeniable fact. In simple capitulation to the eerie chill crawling up his spine. I did not know at that moment, but he nevertheless then turned around and departed our tent, heading to his own simple abode.

"He truly cares for the princess. Even fretting over her people from the sting of your claws." Eve softly said, resting her head upon my shoulder..

"He only does so because he knows that the eastern princess is a bleeding heart. One who truly cares for her people’s happiness. But yes. He cherishes her to an ever deepening level it seems." I replied, my eyes unflinching from where he had just been.

"A liability?" She then asked, her tone dipping into frigid degrees.

"Yet to be determined." I calmly answered. "And I thought you liked her?"

"I appreciate her yet untapped potential." She replied. "But not as much as I do Nizam."

"Always the appreciator of talent." I chuckled, as she followed suit a second later with a giggle of her own.

"But he wasn’t yet ready to peek into your true, long term plans." She then said, returning to seriousness.

"He will get used to it. Eventually." I said, bringing our conversation to it’s natural conclusion.

And by dawn the next day we were off. Southbound and towards the old city of Thalab.

***

Apologies for the long delay. I’ve been very ill for the past few days and I couldn’t focus on my writing.