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Admiral Knight was unsurprised by the report dispatched from Admiral Olang.
Since the arrival of Orvin’s Seventh Fleet, she read, my own fleets have become more adaptable and done far better in their duties. We have begun to systematically eliminate all Cromah opposition. Please report to the Militia Generals and His Majesty that troops may be dispatched at any time, as we are ready to blaze the trail for them.
I will be sad to see Orvin go, but I understand he is needed elsewhere. He is an excellent choice and a fine officer.
Yours in Service,
Madden Olang – Wesific Ocean Admiral
Aria grinned to herself. His loyalty was certain. She had earned it, as he credited her with spurring him to change his approach. That, in turn, led him to be more successful. Hence, why she was relatively certain of his loyalty.
Emperor Edvin had announced Admiral Margrave’s retirement and that Admiral Knight would be Imperial Navy High Commander.
For the past month, Aria technically held three titles, being High Commander, Chief of Staff, and Supply and Procurement.
That had only been done of necessity. She was not so arrogant as to think she could run the Imperial Navy all on her own. It was just a matter of moving people about and getting the right individuals into the necessary offices.
But she was not going to do so until they had completed prior tasks.
Specifically, Commodore Orvin had to get the Wesific commodores and captains up to speed. Once he had instructed them, gotten them better able to handle the Cromah, and to fight as the Ealantic Fleets did, then she could recall him.
It had been a month and a half, but it worked exactly as Knight, Rustic, and Orvin had expected it would.
Thus, it was Cral Orvin himself who bore Olang’s note.
“So, old friend, you probably suspect why I have brought you here,” said Aria, having finished reading Olang’s message.
“I have my suspicions, Admiral,” replied Orvin with a grin.
“You will be my chief-of-staff, Cral Orvin. I am hereby promoting you to Admiral.”
Orvin bowed his head. “I am, of course, honored, and I will be proud to continue to serve you, Admiral Knight.”
“You didn’t think I’d leave you behind?”
Orvin chuckled. “No. It will simply take some getting used to, Admiral.”
The other who had accompanied him cleared his throat.
“Chief Gorvam,” Aria addressed him. Master Chief Ladd Gorvam stepped forward. “I do not doubt that you, too, wonder what I have brought you here for.”
“With all due respect, Admiral, the thought most certainly crossed my mind,” remarked the old seadog flippantly.
“Are you, or are you not, the finest quartermaster in the whole of the Imperial Navy?” asked Aria without preamble.
“I am, Admiral,” replied Gorvam without hesitation.
“What about Proxla, Frovap, or Klomack?”
He made an indelicate sound. “My own students, as you well know, Admiral.”
“How long, now, Gorvam, have you served as a quartermaster in the Imperial Navy?”
Gorvam leaned his head back and considered. “Oh, I’d say...hmmm...somewhere between twenty-five and thirty years.”
“Longer than any other?”
Gorvam snickered. “The others either retired or became officers.”
“So, when it comes to supply and procurement, you are the best, then?”
“I am.”
“Then I am about to do something for which you will hate me.”
“Admiral?”
“Admiral Knight...you can’t be serious,” interrupted newly promoted Admiral Orvin. “It’s unheard of.”
“Yes, it is,” agreed Aria. “But who better to serve?”
“I’m still waiting, Admiral,” said Gorvam softly.
“Ladd Gorvam...I am naming you my supply and procurement officer.”
Gorvam looked utterly shocked. “Off...officer?”
Aria grinned at his discomfort. “Not just an officer, Mister Gorvam.”
The master chief’s eyes went so wide, Aria half expected them to bulge out of his skull. His voice cracked as he half-said, half-whispered, “Admiral?”
“That would be correct. Admiral Gorvam.”
It would be some time before Gorvam regained his ability to speak.
There was, at first, grumbling among the officers of the Navy over her placement of high command staff. Many of the far-longer serving commodores were feeling put-out, and there were many who cried foul at Gorvam’s unusual promotion.
But they soon died off as the reinvigorated naval forces scored more and more victories, decimating the Cromah Navy. All the while, Admiral Orvin worked as tirelessly and effectively as ever and showed that he had every right to his place.
Meanwhile, Gorvam proved to be even better than Aria had been at supply and procurement, silencing even the harshest of critics.
Emperor Edvin could not have been more pleased. And while his and Aria’s love affair was still kept out of the public eye, his nights were either spent in her bedchamber or her nights in his.
Edvin kept no secrets from Aria. She was privy to everything he hoped, dreamed, and plotted. And Aria did all in her power to hold his attention, playing the coy lover while enthralling the emperor every time she brought him to orgasm. She let him believe he dominated her. But she knew that he was wholly hers.
Aria had wanted to see the sorcerers at labor, to meet the wizards who controlled them, and finally, Emperor Edvin granted her that wish.
He took her with him on a tour of inspection to the secret underground sorcerous factory five months after Aria became the high commander of the Imperial Navy.
The facility was impressive. It was an enormous natural cavern, illuminated by overhead lights powered by sorcerous engines. Two dozen sorcerers labored, crafting both the machines and magic components of the engines.
Aria had wondered what the enslaved sorcerers would be like. Immediately, she could see they were utterly single-minded, working their craft with a meticulous, intense focus that could be neither swayed nor broken. She could feel their power, similar to that she knew as her own, but lacking imagination or desire.
As they neared the working sorcerers, she stopped to observe. The one she chose to watch was working to add sorcerous energy to a containment vessel that had already received energy form another. His only focus, and purpose, was to move that energy.
It was eerie. Aria knew he was a living, breathing being, but she could not sense him in the way she could others. His mind seemed to be far, far away. Yet he worked with intensity and clear purpose.
“Address any of the sorcerer slaves, Admiral,” invited the emperor. “They will not respond, nor will they cease their work. Their labor is their life. It is their everything. Only the task of working with magic they have been given holds their attention.”
Aria was impressed. And now she understood how the wizards could control them.
A tall man in long, flowing robes was approaching them, trailed by a shorter, shrouded companion. The tall man stopped before the emperor, and bowed, showing not the slightest emotion.
“Master Voltau,” the emperor acknowledged him. “This is the high commander of my Navy, Admiral Aria Knight.”
“Admiral,” spoked the wizard, bowing again. His voice was monotone, emotionless.
“And this is his assistant, responsible for your new engines...Master...”
“Enswai,” the shrouded figure said, dropping her hood.
It took every fiber of her being for Aria not to react. This was the same Master Enwai who had mentored her in her youth.
She looked exactly the same as Aria remembered her. It was as if she’d not aged in the slightest over that time. But it had been over twenty years since she’d encountered the woman.
Master Enswai glanced at Master Voltau, and Aria could feel something pass between them.
“Your Majesty, I should like to show you something over here. Master Enswai, would you show Admiral Knight your new engines?”
“Yes, Master Voltau.”
The emperor shot Aria a glance, and she threw back a grin for him alone. He and his guards walked off with Master Voltau.
Aria had only Sergeant Novick with her, now, and Master Enswai. Novick had always been one of the few she truly trusted, but this was the one time she would want him unaware.
“Gaern, would you accompany His Majesty? I’ll be with you again shortly.”
“Of course, Admiral,” he replied. Novick knew her well enough to know not to question if Aria sent him away. He moved to follow the emperor and his guard.
“Master Enswai,” Aria addressed her old mentor.
“So, child, we meet again at last,” responded the ancient wizard.
“I was uncertain that I would ever see you again,” Aria stated.
“But you have, child, you have.”
Aria understood immediately. “My dreams?”
“Your destiny, my girl, was written long before your birth. My destiny has always been linked to yours.”
Another thing became crystal clear to Aria. “All wizards have one great study. I...I am yours.”
Master Enswai said nothing, which Aria took as agreement.
“Why now? Why do we meet again now, Master Enswai?”
“Do you not know, Admiral?”
Aria thought a moment, but the obvious was clearly the answer. She nodded.
Yes, she knew precisely why now.
Her time was now. Aria was on the cusp of meeting her ultimate destiny.
“This is not the last time we will speak,” Aria said. It was not a question, it was a statement.
“No,” replied Master Enswai. “This is a new beginning. Our destinies are linked for the rest of my lifetime. I will be ”