We made good time back on the road back to Vettea. The suvari sang cheerily, and I raised my voice with them sometimes. Other times I rode in silence with Hakan, whose face remained set with grim cold fury. He scarcely spoke for some hours, but he questioned me in the afternoon.
“The suvari is more or less with me, is it not?”
“Aye, that’s what Hayato said.”
“Does Katsu Itxaro command the entire kedani?”
“No, just the division out of Rivensworth. It’s roughly a third of the kedani. The others are commanded by Berk Havard and Yoshiro Kepa. They all receive orders from Taisto directly, but Kepa is stationed on the northern border and Havard on the southern border.”
“Berk Havard and Yoshiro Kepa. Do you think they will follow Itxaro or Taisto in a conflict?”
Taisto was their commanding officer, but if they heard that Itxaro was serving the prince, they might defy Taisto. I waved Hayato forward, because he knew more about them than I did.
“Itxaro, most likely. Havard is a good friend of Itxaro, they were in training together. Kepa is a bit older, but has no love for Taisto. Taisto was promoted against his recommendations. He thought six years ago that Taisto was dangerously ambitious and possibly corrupt. He was the one who helped Usoa find the information about the betrayal of your scouting party.”
I nodded. No love there.
“Good. The assassination parties that were sent after me. Who are they?”
I had no idea. No doubt some had been suvari, for Taisto’s orders had not seemed so vile at first. But the others? Where they Tarvil barbarians? Erdemen rogues bought by Taisto’s blood money? For blood money it was, gained by the starvation of innocents in Rikuto and the blood of good Rikutan and Erdemen soldiers and civilians trying to protect their crops.
Hayato spoke quietly. “Mostly suvari, but only a few of them really looked. Taisto has a few friends, snakes like himself, who can be bought.”
Hakan glanced at me sideways. “We’ll need men to remove Taisto from power. The kedani is mostly dispersed about Erdem, and there aren’t many in Stonehaven now.”
His voice had a slight question in it, and I nodded.
“Then we’ll take the suvari. They are still available to us, right?”
Again I nodded.
“Much of the suvari is in Rivensworth now. We will go there immediately and take every man we can. Then we will march on Stonehaven before Taisto knows we are coming. Once we reach the gates, we will trumpet our arrival. You’re popular there, Kemen, and that will help us. With luck, Taisto won’t oppose us openly. The entire city will be on our side and he will be isolated.”
He hesitated, as if he would say more, but subsided again into silence. The plan seemed so simple, so optimistic. I wondered if anything would actually go as we hoped it would. Surely Taisto would not be so agreeably easy to defeat, but given our lack of information I could suggest nothing else to do.
From Vettea, Hakan wanted to head directly toward Rivensworth, but I believed that it was a good opportunity to meet Itxaro, who had already cast his support for Hakan despite the difficulties among his men. His main camp was only half a day’s ride north, and in truth, it had surprised me that we had not seen any soldiers patrolling the Lobar Road.
Hakan acquiesced, and so we paid and released the drivers and sold their horses before heading directly north. The headquarters of the kedani on the eastern border is located a bit north of the middle of the border since the roads in the south are faster to traverse. Here too we made good time, and in some hours were welcomed into the compound.
Itxaro himself came to greet us. He bowed low before Hakan and before me, perhaps lower than he should have toward me, but the men were watching and he wanted to make a point of his respect and honor. The men saluted respectfully as we were conducted to his offices. Hakan looked very young in comparison to the kedani, but he carried himself well, and I believe that no man there faulted him for his youth. Perhaps for his inexperience, but his regal bearing helped him somewhat.
I liked Itxaro on sight. He had the characteristic erect bearing of a soldier, but there was not too much pride in his stance. His face was very thoughtful, more than that of most soldiers. My profession does not permit a man to be stupid for long, but neither does it encourage deep thought and introspection, which raise questions not easily answered. He was of average height for a Tuyet and a thick build, but not soft or fat. His eyes were of a clear grey rather than the more common blue.
Hakan thanked him for his service and asked him what the men thought.
“Many are yet undecided, but word of Sendoa’s support of you has tipped the balance. He has much respect among the men. Many remember him, and many more know his reputation.” He turned to me with a smile. “I am honored to meet you at last. Everyone thought you dead. You are something of a legend, especially after that battle with Tafari’s men.”
I shook my head. “It was only a raiding party, despite what the rumors might say.” I could only ride because I tightened the strap around my ribs every morning. It had been little over a month, and any healer would have said I shouldn’t be riding at all. But Hakan, and Erdem, needed me then, not in two months when my ribs would be healed.
Itxaro echoed Desta’s words. “Be that as it may, you are a hero both among the common people and the soldiers. If you would address the men and take the evening meal with us tonight, I think you could do much to sway some of the undecided.”
I glanced at Hakan before nodding. “If the prince Hakan Ithel wishes, I will.”
I wondered whether Hakan resented the respect and honor that everyone seemed to be according to me. After all, it was his throne, not mine, that was under contention. But Hakan smiled easily and nodded, and after a few more minutes we were back out into the brilliant spring sunset.
Red and gold light flooded the simple exercise ground and gave it a glow no king’s chamber could ever equal. Itxaro assembled the men in formation to await my words. There were some three thousand men here, and they formed neat squads as Itxaro commanded, with a man at the head of each group to repeat my words back for those who could not hear them clearly.
My stomach churned with nerves as I stood before them. I hate speaking in front of people with a passion I cannot describe. Their eyes on me make my gut boil. Sounds seem to come unevenly, voices fading in and out so conversations are hard to follow. I feel like vomiting, and my voice sounds squeaky and awkward in my ears.
This was the most difficult thing I faced for Hakan, though he did not seem aware of it at the time. Nevertheless, I realized my fear was foolish, and I faced it, for a man does not acquire more courage except by acting on what little he has. I stood on a small platform so that everyone could see me easily, and I clasped my hands behind my back to hide their shaking.
“Your commander Katsu Itxaro has asked me to speak to you in support of the prince Hakan Ithel. If you do not know me, my name is Kemen Sendoa.” I waited my words to be repeated for the men in the back. My voice would have been stronger if it hadn’t hurt so much to breathe, but at least it wasn’t shaking.
“I served under Commander Ake Tallak in the suvari for four years, then I was transferred to the kedani under Commander Jetil Serhato during the campaigns against the Ophrani and then against the Tarvil. I served as an officer for eleven years until I was retired some four and a half years ago for injury. I have much experience with leaders, both good and bad. I’ve heard that some respect me, and that some of you might heed my voice. I have no call to command you; I’m no longer in active service. But I can say this. I’ve traveled with the prince Hakan Ithel for several months now. I vouch for his ability to lead Erdem.”
I licked my lips and tried to look above the crowd rather than directly into the many pairs of staring eyes. “He’s well educated, of course, and well prepared for his role as king. He knows much about the leadership of a country that neither Vidar nor Taisto can boast, despite their other qualifications. Things like economics and trade, diplomacy and philosophy. Things necessary for a king that both Vidar and Taisto are sorely lacking.
“He will not be quick to risk your lives in foolish wars, but neither will he allow the honor of Erdem to falter. He is well aware of the problems you face in the army and those that face civilians, especially in the border areas. Much better than his father was, and he has the knowledge and will to address those problems as his father did not.
“You served under his father honorably, despite his many flaws. I did as well. The prince Hakan Ithel is not only a friend I trust but a man I am proud to serve. I hope you will make the same choice, and pledge him your devoted service and your life’s blood for as long as he serves the people of Erdem.”
With that I was finished, for I could come up with no more words. I stepped down from the platform and tried to hide the relief that flooded me.
The kedani were silent. I had expected as much, but I wished I had some indication of whether my words had served Hakan as I wanted them to.
Hakan stepped up and spoke, at least as far as I could tell, with total confidence and complete poise.
“I’m honored by Kemen Sendoa’s trust in me. I realize that I’m young and untried. You’re justified in your mistrust of me. In truth, I doubted at first whether I ought to try to regain the throne. Does that surprise you?” A few of the men in the first rows glanced at each other.
Hakan’s voice rose. “I know that being a king, a good one, is a difficult task, and I feared it. I would not be the only one to suffer if I were to fall short of what it demands. I love the people of Erdem, and I would rather set aside the throne to someone better qualified than keep it for myself, if that person could better guard this country I love. You have heard some of the things I studied in my education as a prince, and they’re good things, necessary things. But they’re not the only things a king needs, and I still doubted.
“You might wonder now why I am opposing Nekane Vidar and Ryuu Taisto, since they both have no small measure of credibility. Nekane Vidar is a good man, but I do not believe he has the grasp on power that he believes he has. Some of you may have heard that groups were sent to eliminate me in order to assure that the coup was unopposed. Some of them were suvari, paid to act as assassins. These orders did not come from Vidar, but from Taisto, who supposedly follows orders from Vidar. Does that sound like the action of an honorable man?” He paused and looked over the crowd.
“From my friend Kemen I have learned more about honor than I’ve ever known before, and I would not have the Erdemen army of honorable men like him be led by a murderer and thief. Taisto stole from my father like a common thief years ago, and my father forgave him and trusted him again. Taisto and Vidar between them executed my tutor, his wife, and several other innocents for a plot to murder me, though I know they were not involved.
“Yet even this I could understand, if it was done for the good of Erdem. I would not, perhaps, agree with it, but I could understand. But then there is another fact that Kemen and I discovered yesterday. I assume you are aware of the famine that has plagued Rikuto for the last few years.”
He waited until he saw a few nods among the men. “Rikuto has suffered both from bad crops and a great increase in Tarvil raids that have destroyed crops and killed women and children as well as men. The Rikutan king Ashmu Tafari has been buying grain from Erdem for over a year at prices that nearly destroyed Rikuto. I, in the palace, was not told of this. That grain, too, was often stolen by Tarvil raiders. What can you imagine was done with it?”
He paused again for one heartbeat. “It was sold in Erdemen marketplaces at absurdly high prices. The Tarvil raiders were paid by Taisto to destroy crops in Rikuto, then to attack the convoys carrying grain that Rikuto fairly paid for and bring it back to Erdem to be sold again in our markets. All this money was funneled directly into Taisto’s pockets. The result, desperate raids by Rikuto into Erdemen border towns for food, was of no concern to him.”
“I do not know yet whether Taisto’s only purpose was gold, or whether there is more to his treachery than that. But I do know that innocent women, children, farmers, and soldiers on both sides of the border have suffered for his greed. I oppose Taisto and Vidar because they do not serve the Erdemen people. I care about Erdem more than I ever did when I lived in the castle, for now I have lived among farmers and soldiers, good men.
“I am honored by your support of my claim to the throne, as I’m honored to serve such a great country. I am young. I am untried. But I swear to you that I will serve Erdem before myself, and I will take the counsel of honorable men in doing so.”
I noticed he assumed their support, rather than asking for it. Good.
Hakan’s voice faded into a vast silence. He stepped down and glanced at me. Itxaro dismissed the men for the evening. The formations relaxed, and men began talking in the growing darkness. Someone on the far side of the training ground began to sing, and it quickly swelled to a roar, the song picked up by hundreds of voices. It was an old song, a song of love for Erdem, of a soldier’s pride in the country he serves. The choice of that song didn’t exactly promise anything. But it did give me hope.