Chapter Eighty-Six
When the letter arrived with the news of the death of the King, it was pretty clear a funeral would be held, swiftly followed by the departure for Lutece. Since the crowning of royalty was big news, it was also a pretty big event. The Night Wind was a big ship, but it could have been easily dwarfed in number of cannons and size by the flagship of the Gallian military, the Lutece, and yet it had been chosen over it, much to the dismay and the grumbling of the nobles and commanders of the Gallian army.
Crossing the dragon fire mountains, the Night Wind was stacked at full capacity and yet managed to maintain its altitude. It wasn't just because of the servants and the attendants for king Joseph, but also because, due to the current enlistment rates, some men had to be left behind all the same.
A second ship was commissioned though. It had been already dubbed the Day Gale and it would be finished in six months. The Petite Armée would have two ships to work with, and there would be more than enough space for all of the enlisted -at least, that was my hope. If they kept coming, then I'd just have to keep building ships. Also, the barracks needed to be rebuilt and made bigger, or more needed to be put into place.
At the present, one had to reach the outskirts of Lutece to enlist, which was easy for Tristanian and Germanian fallen nobles to reach, but if I opened another training center in the Duchy of Brittany, I might find myself with more Albion refugees trying to escape the misery of their situation by enlisting.
Joseph was sitting on a plush armchair that his servants had brought out from below deck when we finally came into view of Romalia's coronation city, the holy city of Aquileia.
The cathedral of St. Lutia was the chosen holy place where the coronation would happen, and while it was as honorable of a cathedral as any, it wasn't the main cathedral of Romalia. Then again, the cathedral of Romalia was only for the coronation of the Pope, so to speak. The moment we passed the border, a group of templar knights riding dragons as white as snow began to escort us to Aquileia, taking flight from their positions alongside the mountain ridge.
"Even the dragons," Joseph remarked from his armchair, gazing right ahead, "Just like when father was crowned-brother and I were both present. Grandfather, I had met him once and hadn't liked him one bit, but my brother was crying all the same," he thoughtfully glanced up at me, who had chosen to remain seated with my arms behind my back, gazing at the horizon with peerless curiosity.
Aquileia was a sort of Venice, so...was there some piece of land here that resembled my region? How did the hymn go? Brothers of Italy, we are ready to die, we are ready to die, Italy calls. I smiled a bit, and shook my head.
"He wasn't chastised for it," Joseph grumbled, "I was told that crying was a big no, a serious breach in the etiquette," Joseph snorted, "Not that it was difficult not to cry, but...perhaps that's the problem? I never got to cry properly? Uhm..." he turned thoughtful. "I wonder about that."
"Perhaps because you've never felt pain," I replied. "The physical kind of it, I mean. It's difficult to cry on command from a mere mental work, but perhaps-who knows, a broken leg might make you cry out. Though I wouldn't suggest it."
"You are right, I should start from there," Joseph said. "Break one of my legs-I've got two...no, break one of my arms, my left one is mostly useless anyway, and see what happens." By my side, I could see the looks in the officers that remained at the ready for orders widen in disbelief at the sheer madness of the discussion I was having with the future King. They didn't understand that when dealing with mad people, the best course of action was to agree with them, and at the same time direct them to where they couldn't harm others.
"Perhaps start with a single finger?" I said.
"That too is agreeable," Joseph said. "Do we have a water mage aboard?"
"Yes, why-" the next second, Joseph de Gallia, future king, grabbed his index finger of his left hand and twisted, the sickening accompanied by wide-eyed screams of surprise as the man actually bent in two howling from pain, his teeth gritted as he clutched the hand he had just broken his finger of-and...
"Water mage! Now!" I said hotly, the closest of officers rushing to get one of such magic users from below deck.
There were, in fact, tears in Joseph's eyes. "This...this hurts," he whimpered. "Ah-ah!" he gasped for air, "This really hurts!" he clutched his hand with the broken finger by the wrist with his other one, "Why did I even do this?" he gritted his teeth, "This really hurts!"
"I'm here!" one of the water mages arrived swiftly, his wand already out. "Your royal highness, please-the hand-"
"Next time," Joseph said with a hiss, "Next time I try something this-this foolish-oh hell," he blinked, the tears in his eyes pouring out, "So this-this is what-" he began to laugh, even amidst choked sobs.
"Nobody saw anything, you four, in front of the king to prevent viewing from our escorts," I said sharply, pointing at four well built men who hastily complied. The water mage grabbed the broken finger and winced.
"This will hurt-" and with a snap, the finger was back in place even as Joseph bit down hard on the proffered piece of wood with his teeth.
"I didn't really think you'd do it," I said plainly as the finger was put back as if it had never been broken to begin with. Perhaps it hadn't, and it had simply been dislodged, but still-to do so without a doubt...
"Once," Joseph said, "I had clear eyes, filled with the desire to make this world a better place," he muttered that sentence as if it meant the world to him, and I furrowed my brows as I dismissed the guards in front of him, allowing him once more to gaze at the horizon. "Then, those eyes grew clouded," he added. "And I began to lose sight of myself. When I thought this labyrinth would engulf me, however-I began to see a light at the end of this deep tunnel."
He clasped his fingers together, wincing only slightly when he touched the one he had dislocated before. "And now here I am. My perfect brother-he wasn't so perfect. The laughter I had, the joy-and now he's in shambles," he spoke, and he watched the sky. "And I am here-ready to claim the throne, ready to be King-and yet, my brother's sadness...it saddens me too," he mumbled. "But there is joy in there too. Joy that my brother is sad, joy that his perfection was a fraud, false-" he swallowed. "Once I am king, return my brother's daughter to him," he whispered.
I tensed, steeling my spine as cold sweat began to trickle down my back. With a wave of the hand, I dismissed everyone near us, whether they had heard the whispered words of the king before or not, I couldn't know. I hoped not, I suspected not -he had barely whispered them, had he? and yet-yet perhaps it was my mind playing tricks, but still-I dismissed them, and they obeyed stepping further back to the middle of the deck, leaving both the king and I alone at the front of it, staring at the horizon and the flying white dragons escorting us.
"You did well, and I understand," Joseph spoke, and his eyes looked up at me with approval, "Your eyes-they are as clouded as mine, but you'll do well. Isabella is a precocious child, but try as she might she still stumbles about a bit. When you brought the bones back, I had a water mage dig them up and examine them afterwards. They belonged to a child, but it was a boy. They weren't even all his, but the man was killed, so he wouldn't speak. I understood, and kept quiet. Once I am king, though-are we clear?"
"And what if...she doesn't want to go back to a family that sent her away?" I whispered in turn.
"Then she can stay where she is, but my brother-he must know she still lives," Joseph said plainly. "I am sure you can find her by chance, or have her found by chance, use whatever trick, or mean, but that is it. Understand? After we return to Gallia-you will do so."
"Very well," I said.
"Also," Joseph said offhandedly, "Thank you."
"What for?" I replied with a half-croaked voice.
"For taking care of my foolish daughter, in place of this foolish father."
"Your daughter is not foolish, and neither are you," I replied with a sigh. "You simply weren't told any better by people who should have known better."
"Then...it is a long line of fools then," Joseph laughed, and after a short while, I joined him in such a laugh.
Even as we both shared a laugh, deep down, I understood I really should have left politics to Isabella alone.
Perhaps I could take up gardening?
Twitchy hadn't come out that bad, had it?
