Novel 2. Royal Justice

— Tell me about yourself, Messire Giovanni, — the knife-eared girl asked, sitting down on the wooden block opposite the prisoner. — You are really something like a notary, aren't you? An accountant, rather?

— Yes, — the stranger nodded. — I... keep track of shipments and transports.

— Through the portal?

— Yes. And by territory... continent.

— What kind of restrictions do your supplies have?

— Size... the portal is big, but not too big. And the weight. The portal discharges based on the weight that passes through it, and then you have to power it up again. That's a long time. And the supply goes both ways.

— It's just like with normal portals, — Master Carlon nodded.

— Here you supply weapons and people, but on your side? — The pixie lifted the tips of her ears slightly.

— Materials... artefacts, magical. They don't work for us, but our scientists want to study them. More valuables. Precious metals, stones, things like that. In exchange for weapons and equipment, specialist services.

— Messire, tell me, do you represent individuals or... the state? A particular gentleman or a certain... community?

— All of it at once. — The captive swallowed his saliva. — The portal is controlled by a government. The one of the largest and most powerful in my world. It has attracted to its work... some collectives... corporations... something like your merchant guilds, but not quite... Some of them are state-run, some are not. I'm an employee of one of the corporations. But I report to the state, too.

— These corporations of yours have a monetary interest in our world, I suppose, — Valria nodded. — And the government?

— Magic, — Giovanni replied, shivering. The elfess made a sign to Lady Maria without looking, and she threw another cloth over the stranger's shoulders. — Study her capabilities, especially medical ones. Resources. Some resources, almost unused on your world, are much needed on ours. Oil, for example. If the portal capacity problem could be solved.....

— Can't it be solved? — Armando saw the elfess tense up.

— No, — the stranger waggled his chin. — The magicians who co-operate with us say that the opening of the passage to our world was accidental. Their attempts to repeat it, to recreate the same conditions, have failed many times. The portal is still the only one, and somehow the mages are afraid to strengthen it, to expand it.

The elfess glanced over to the Carlon. De Gorazzo remembered — the Imperials claimed that the successful attempt to open the portal was the last one made. The stranger's words said otherwise.

— How many people have travelled from your world to ours? — Valria turned to the prisoner again.

— A few dozen. But some came back. Some died.

— Oh, we know that. How many of you are here now?

— About thirty. Most of them operatives. Well, scouts, assassins, soldiers.

— Not much, considering the portal had been open for years. — Master Carlon stroked his short, bushy beard. — Most of the time it was used for cargo, and heavy cargo, right?

— Right.

— Weapons?

— Yeah.

— How many of your multishot guns were imported?

— Not so much. — Giovanni swallowed again. He hesitated, but in the end he came out: — Few small arms were supplied, only for our guards and a few obsolete ones for your feudal lords. Most of the portal tonnage went to... strategic weapons. With which you can... change the course of an entire war. We brought two dozen atomic bombs to your world. Old, underpowered, but enough for your continent.

— Two dozen bombs on the continent? — The mage stretched incredulously.

— Well, the major cities for sure. — The stranger was silent for a full minute. He seemed to think he had said too much. But suddenly he broke through, and the man hurriedly continued, stammering: — These weapons are scarier than any of your magic. One atomic bomb could make a crater bigger than your capital. And infect, poison the land around it. For centuries. You can't even plough there for hundreds of years.

— We had something like that in the war, — the master d' hummed.

— That's scarier. I hear your mages can scorch and contaminate the earth too, but there are countermeasures... shields, counterspells, stuff like that... and bombs from our world can't be stopped by magic. Not even detectable. And only your strongest sorcerers can create comparable magic, and there are only a handful of them on the continent, and a bomb is just enough to get it to the target, that's all. There's nothing you can do to stop it.

— Why the hell did you bring them here?! — Armando exclaimed, oblivious. He didn't care that the Imperials had their own interrogation plan.

— To get control of the resources, we need control of the territory, — Giovanni said. He was shaking a little, whether from excitement or fear, or both. — We... plan to put our proxies on thrones in the Coalition. People who will be indebted to us, who will rely on our support, who will become dependent on our help. But there is still an Empire to the east of the continent. We haven't been able to infiltrate it reliably. And the Empire owns half the continent and threatens the Coalition...

— And that's why you decided to destroy the Empire, — the elfess said slowly, touching her chin with her fingers.

— Yes. I don't know the details, but the plan is to unite the Coalition under our proxies, help them start a war with the Empire, quickly crush it, and unite the continent. It'll strengthen our people's position, too. They'll be victors, heroes in the west. And the use of atomic weapons will be blamed on a new type of magic. — The stranger added hastily, — There's nothing you can do. Nothing. It's all worked out to the last detail.

— We'll see, — Captain Valria said with a smirk. She was not as calm as Armando, but it was her ears that gave her away. Their tips twitched convulsively, rising and falling. — The key power of the Coalition is the Kingdom of Iderling. The others are just a frame for a diamond. Duke Auguste the Strong is your man. Queen Octavia is not. And you can't hope to bribe her, she's an idealist. The rebellion of the barons against the queen is not just an intrigue by a pretender duke, is it? It's your plan, too. You want the Queen gone. How exactly?

— A trap on the battlefield. — The prisoner hesitated. His nervousness had passed, and now he was visibly regretting what he had said earlier. But he did not forget about the imperial mage's silver hoop. — We were told that your queen is a fairy-tale knight and will lead the army herself. Where the barons' squads will meet the royal army, our experts will lay mines from our world. Remote-controlled bombs to detonate at just the right moment. The vanguard of the army will be blown to dust, and the queen must be there. Even if she survives, Duke Auguste has promised to back her up. He won't be in any danger, he'll stay in the rear of the army....

— Is the place already chosen? — The elven woman specified in a businesslike manner. — Have the mines been laid?

— No. They're still in storage. I was just coming to report on the readiness.....

Half an hour later, the inquest was over. Valria was still asking some questions, clarifying the last details, but the others preferred to get some fresh air. The cabin stank of sweat, and not only of sweat.

— He switched to his native tongue several times, — master Carlon noted as they moved farther away from the threshold. — Maria, was there something important?

— No, Carlon. — The white-skinned girl inhaled deeply, squeezed her eyes shut, rubbed her cheeks with her fingers. It made a sort of blush appear on her face. — Mostly swear words, I realised.

— Do you know the language of the aliens, lady? — Gotech wondered.

— A little, — the Guardswoman smiled faintly. — We once had a field agent with a printed phrasebook for communicating with the locals. The agent himself died, but his accomplice from our world explained the alphabet. And then I figured it out on my own.

— This whole story sounds more unbelievable than any tale of vampires and unicorns, — Armando sighed, throwing back his head. The breeze swayed the crowns of the trees above them. — We must notify Queen Octavia immediately, and show her the prisoner. Her life is in danger.

— I think saving the queen's life is more important than gaining her trust, — the black-bearded mage replied. — I'll bet a hundred gold coins, which I don't have, against a copper penny that Valria will decide to break into the warehouse with the mines and foil the outsiders' plan. You, noble dons, may, of course, not come with us, and return home....

— Oh, no. — Gotech grinned, revealing large white teeth. Armando thought, out of place, that the giant was better friends with toothpowder than he was. — Minerva will be here soon, we'll tell her everything and send her back on the dragon to give Her Majesty a general outline. Without the most unbelievable details. And we'll go about our duties — defence of the throne and the king's laws. Wouldn't you agree, Armando?

— Eh... — de Gorazzo scratched the back of his head. Not that he fully shared his friend's enthusiasm, but... it was safer to stay in the company of imperial spies than to go to Daert alone and look for the royal army on the march. And if it was possible to save Octavia once more... — I agree. By the way, master, that's a nightmare thing to think up in your empire. I've never heard of our interrogators using anything like your hoop.

— Don Armando..., — the magician snorted suddenly, as if suppressing a laugh. — You mean that thing I put on the head of our prisoner? It's perfectly safe. It's just... a toy for adults, quite expensive. If you put a hoop on your head and a second hoop on your partner's head, the sensations of intimacy are heightened. Of course, it had no effect on the alien.

— I mean, your theory about living in our world for a long time... — Armando did not ask why the magician carried such "toys" with him. He only mentally rejoiced for him and the beautiful, kind-hearted Lady Maria.

— Pure bluff. Made it up yesterday.

— What about his sleepiness?

— A precisely calibrated dose of sleeping potion and a properly timed conversation. Remember I gave him a drink right after he woke up? And the second flask contained an elixir to neutralise the effects of the sleeping potion. And... if truth be told, something else to loosen his tongue faster. No magic, pure alchemy.

— You're quite a rogue, master, — Armando said respectfully.

— There was someone to learn from, Don. — For some reason, the mage looked back at the cabin, where only the captain remained besides the alien...

Chapter 12

— All clear, — Valria reported, returning to her companions in the tall grass. — I sniffed every bush. No sign of a trap. I found evidence of an observation post in that grove to the east, but it had been abandoned three days ago, at least.

— If there is no trap around the building, it must be inside, — Gotech suggested reasonably. — You could hide a hundred soldiers behind these walls, and no one would see them from outside.

— What are we going to do? — Master Carlon squirmed. The slight protrusion of his belly above the belt made it uncomfortable for the wizard to lie flat. — Don't look at me, I can't bring the whole house down from a distance. Why don't we land a dragon on their roof?

— You must keep your plans low, master, — Armando, who had been silent until then, grinned. — The dragon may be useful, but it's no good breaking through the roof. Let's crawl back to the horses and I'll make a suggestion. I have an idea.

...The intermediate warehouse where the aliens were storing the weapons sent from the south-west was fortunately not located inside one of the baronial castles. Either the aliens didn't trust their local associates enough, or they thought it dangerous to store so much explosives in an allied fortress. Instead, they rented a merchant's warehouse near the track, a huge log structure with a high roof and a strong fence. It took the combined group two days to reach it. All this time the bailiffs and the Imperials kept away from people, choosing deep forest paths as far as possible, but the restless elfess went into villages a couple of times to ask the locals about the news. It was not so easy — in the face of the impending war, the settlements were mostly deserted, and the old men who remained in them were not eager to communicate with outsiders. But the long-eared girl's incredible charm was able to melt any ice, and she invariably returned with information and even gifts.

— People whisper that the king's army has moved out of the camp near Daert, — the captain said, chewing on a knife-peeled carrot at a gallop. She had been given half a dozen carrots as a parting gift in the last village she had visited. — Rumours, of course, but very likely true. Octavia herself leads the army, with two marshals out of four. The Duke of Veronne has also imposed himself on the army, supposedly outraged by the behaviour of the barons. He said that although he disputed the crown, he did not approve of armed rebellion and wished to help punish the rebels.

— Of course, — de Gorazzo put as much venomous scepticism into those words as he could.

— The royal troops are expected to arrive in a week. There's more news of the rebels. The baron's warriors are massing to meet the royal forces to the east. They say they're going to fight in the valley of the Black Brooks. What is that place?

— A fairly wide valley stretching from east to west. — Armando rubbed his chin. — The flattest piece of land in the neighbourhood. Not that it's easy to defend...

— Baron's squads are all mounted, — reminded Gotech. — They still formally exist only to fight against brigands. The barons have no artillery and only peasant militia. And the valley is convenient for cavalry.

— And to set up a minefield, — Valria nodded. She finished her carrot and started peeling the next one. — Because it's easy to predict how the royal forces will attack. Octavia might pull off some clever evasive manoeuvre, since she's such a talented warrior, but she'll be in the centre of the formation, with the main forces, so the soldiers can see her. Reputation obliges.

— Without the minefield, the rebels don't stand a chance, — de Gorazzo shook his head in turn. — Even if the Duke is planning to stab them in the back in the middle of a battle, Her Majesty is prepared for that. She told me so herself. We should hurry.

And they hurried as fast as they could. Donna Minerva, who had not yet left the squadron, watched from the air for clusters of refugees and military detachments, helping her companions to find the shortest possible detour. By the end of the second day, the temporary allies expected to find a fortress full of soldiers and surrounded by traps. What they found was a simple warehouse of goods guarded by a few mercenaries. After watching the changing of the guards from afar, Captain Valria concluded that there were no more than six guards, and that there were probably no outsiders among them. She then went to look for an ambush in the neighbourhood, but there was none.