Chapter 4

The lords gathered in a tent around a large wooden table seemed to be just as confused as Hayden was upon hearing the news but didn't waste too much time pondering over it and started to plan how to retaliate. Karina stood aside, ignored by most of them. They still didn't like her being there but apparently as long as she kept her mouth shut they were willing to tolerate her presence.

She moved closer to the table to look at the large map of the entire continent which was laid out there. It didn't make any sense. The kingdom of Orellia spread from one coast to another, its borders dotted by smaller countries. Karina's eyes were inadvertently drawn to Levanta, a piece of land huddled between Orellia and the Western sea. So small in comparison. That didn't make sense either. What madness possessed her father? How could he have thought he would win that war?

Karina knew all the names, geography was naturally one of the topics she was taught as a girl, but some stood out. Hayden mentioned having feuds and even open conflicts with other kingdoms in previous years as well. Seeing it all on the map made it sound ridiculous. Another thing that didn't make any sense. And now the barbarians. Nobody understood that either. Wasn't that a bit too many mysteries?

"Which of these countries have you had wars with?" she asked quietly, lost in thoughts.

All the eyes in the room turned to her, the sudden silence surprised her. "My queen, it's admirable that you wish to learn about our history but now is hardly the right place and time." General Warren has been the biggest opponent of her presence at the meetings and now he finally had a chance to scorn her for something she said.

But Karina wasn't going to give up easily. "I'm well aware of the time and place, general. Just humor me, please." The last word was as ironic as she could manage.

The Lords glanced at Hayden who raised an eyebrow in Karina's direction and nodded upon seeing the determination on her face. "Pekhan, Xandia." One of the younger men spoke. Lord Gaston was one of the few friendly faces Karina kept seeing around Hayden.

She raised a finger to pause him and turned to Lamar, quickly snatching his coin pouch. "Don't worry, I'll return it," she stopped his protests and nodded at Lord Gaston to continue. There was a mix of Orellian and Levantian coins in the pouch and Karina drew two of them out, placing them on the mentioned countries, plus one on the mountain range to the north, next to a red flag marker symbolizing the destroyed outpost.

"There were some border disputes with Kurasa, a short conflict with the Jakari Islands." More coins were placed on the map.

Other lords chimed in, throwing several more names in her direction. Karina marked each country, making a chain of silver and copper coins around Orellia. "And Levanta, obviously," general Warren added with a smirk, placing a large golden coin with Hayden's silhouette on the map.

"Obviously," Karina nodded, not really paying attention to his condescending remark, hypnotized by the map. And she wasn't alone, some of the other men also leaned over the table and Hayden frowned as he watched it. After giving a quiet order to Markos who immediately left the tent, Karina turned back, knowing she would have to choose her next words carefully. "Before the conflict with Orellia, Levanta coexisted peacefully with all its neighbors for decades. This is not normal."

That was probably not a good word to use since it seemed to force hostility on many of the faces surrounding her. "Are you suggesting we are such warmongers and insufferable neighbors that we inadvertently force everyone around us to wage war against us?" Warren lifted an eyebrow, contempt seeping from his words.

"No, general. I'm suggesting none of this makes any sense. Why would any of these countries want to attack Orellia? They knew they had no chance to win."

Markos returned, closely followed by another man. Oscar Huxley smiled at Karina, bowing his head in her direction. "My lady, you… summoned me?" He hesitated mid-sentence, noticing the crowd of hostile faces glaring at him. "Oh. I shouldn't be here."

"No, lord Huxley," Hayden scoffed, "you most certainly shouldn't be here. But it seems the queen has requested your presence for some reason." He definitely wasn't happy but he didn't stop her, probably curious what was she after.

Karina felt relieved and proud that he trusted her so much but knew his patience wasn't limitless. "Lord Huxley," she turned to her friend, "why did king Harold decide to attack Orellia? And don't tell me you don't know anything. You hear all the whispers, there must be something. My father was a lot of things but he wasn't stupid. Plus, you heard what Dalton said." Right before Karina killed him. "'Should the invasion occur'. Even with the king dead, our army defeated, twelve thousand enemy soldiers camped at our border. He still didn't believe king Hayden would actually go through with the invasion. And Dalton was the mastermind behind my father's plans. What was he expecting to happen?"

The Lords around them whispered quietly but none of them dared to interrupt her. Oscar looked around before his eyes found Karina again and he sighed. "There is something but it's more of a gossip than actual information, I haven't been able to verify it, that's why I never told you. Also because Dalton is dead and all this," he waved his hand to point at the men around, "well… happened, I didn't think it mattered anymore.

Lord Dalton had a guest every couple of months. The mysterious man came, stayed for a couple of hours, and within the next few days, the king had a new plan against Orellia. Fake trade deals, spreading rumors, diplomatic rifts on false pretenses, at one point the king even ordered our soldiers to be masked as bandits and start attacking people along Orellian trade routes." The room filled with not-so-quiet grumbling. "General Rand refused and your father didn't push it but I don't think he abandoned the idea. He probably ended up paying some actual bandits to do it."

"This is outrageous!" one of the lords screamed out but both Karina and Oscar ignored him.

Lord Huxley spoke up to make sure she heard him right. "Then the man came and stayed for a longer time. After that, your father decided that the disputed swampy shit hole along our eastern border belongs to us, not to Orellia, and we need to take it back. We tried to stop him, we really did, Rand, Otto, countless others. Gods, Jansen nearly got executed for calling the king crazy. But your father was adamant. And we all know how it ended." Oscar shrugged.

"That land belongs to us by the treaty from…"

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Karina raised her voice, interrupting an elderly lord's rambling. "That is not the important part of the story!"

"You think it's all connected." Lord Gaston wasn't looking at her, he was staring at the map. "That behind each of these coins there is a mysterious man whispering into someone's ear." He was smart, Karina liked him more and more.

Most faces showed distrust or bemusement as Karina looked around but some men seemed intrigued by the idea. The look on Hayden's face was indecipherable. But he still didn't stop her or kick her out. "Yes. I believe these men come from the same place and have the same goal. To keep Orellia in a state of constant conflict, without any real allies that you can rely on." Damn, she should really learn to say "we" instead of "you" when talking about Orellia. "While the other kingdoms had decades of peace to focus on their own growth and prosperity, Orellia went from one war into another. This is too much to be just a coincidence." Her hand waved over the coins on the map.

"Wow." General Warren clapped slowly and loudly, turning all the attention to himself. "It's amazing that our new queen has such a vivid imagination. Incredible how you have managed to fabricate such a tale out of nothing while trying to justify the stupidity that caused Levanta to lose everything. But you've wasted enough of our time already. I think you should go back to reading some fantastic romantic novellas or wherever you fished this idea from and leave the decision-making to people who actually have something in their heads."

What the fuck did that asshole just say to her?! "Excuse me?!" Karina fumed but before she could open her mouth to continue yelling at the general she got interrupted.

"ENOUGH!" Hayden's fists slammed against the table, making the coins jingle quietly. The whole tent went deadly silent in an instant. The king wasn't looking at either of them, his gaze was fixed on the map. "If you don't know when to shut up, you do not belong here," he snarled.

Crap. Now she screwed herself over and made him furious. "I'm sorry," she beeped and lowered her head. What a great career she's made here.

"Not you." Hayden's voice was still a growl but a distinguishably softer one when he talked to her before turning at Warren and getting angry again. "General, you are an excellent military commander and one of my most trusted advisors. But if you continue to talk to your queen in that way, you will not be welcome on this council. That goes to all of you." His narrow eyes scanned the other men in the room. "You may oppose her and disagree with her opinions just as you are free to do with me. But you will do so with respect and you will not insult her. And if you are unable to accept that, then get the fuck out of here right now!"

Nobody moved, most lowered their heads. It might have been in shame or just in fear of Hayden's anger, but nobody sneered at Karina anymore. "I-I…" Warren stuttered, staring at the king in disbelief for a few moments before turning to Karina. "I apologize, my lady," he mumbled insincerely.

"Apology accepted," Karina retorted in a similar manner, still pissed by what he said.

Hayden got up and strode right in front of Oscar, piercing him with an inquisitive stare. "Was that the truth, lord Huxley? Or just another carefully fabricated lie?" The threat in his voice made even Karina shiver.

"As I said, it's unverified gossip." Oscar didn't seem to be worried about the danger seeping from the king's voice. "But I do believe there is some truth to it. I'd never lie to my queen." A slight smirk twisted his lips for a moment before he added, "Or to my king, naturally."

Hayden scoffed. "Naturally." Turning back to the table, he glanced at Karina. "Continue."

She had no idea whether he really believed her or just wanted to give her a chance to talk and make an absolute idiot out of herself but it didn't matter at this point. What was once started needed to be finished. "I think we all know that there is only one person powerful enough to be behind all of this. The same one who has already tried to poison king Hayden just to destroy the alliance between Levanta and Orellia and drag all of us into a long and bloody invasion and occupation." They all knew what she was talking about. Cchen-Lian, the mighty empire on the western continent, and its emperor Odi, a cunning man with a long-standing hatred for Orellia.

"Look," Karina did her best to calm down and sound as conciliatory as she could manage. It was certainly not her intention to cause conflict between Hayden's lords. "I don't pretend to know anything about waging war. I am not saying you shouldn't react to this obvious threat." Her finger pointed to the red flag on the map. "Nor am I suggesting you make a move against Cchen-Lian based on my unfounded theory. All I am saying is that you have been occupied by solving individual conflicts for so long that you have, quite naturally, lost track of the bigger picture. And all I am asking is that you take a moment to think about what I said. Maybe general Warren is right and it's just my imagination. But what if it's not?" Finished speaking, she exhaled slowly, trying to stop her hands from shaking. What if she was wrong?

Hayden nodded, looking lost in thoughts. "I think that's enough for now, we'll talk more about it after we return to the capital. General, make sure the men we talked about are dispatched north as soon as possible. We need to solve this problem before the first snow, we can't do shit there in winter. And try to send negotiators to the tribes that were previously friendly to us, maybe we can find out what the fuck is happening there. I hope I don't have to remind you," his eyes narrowed and slid over everyone in the tent, ending up piercing lord Huxley, "that not a word that's been said here today leaves this room." Oscar gave the king a polite nod and Karina hoped she didn't get his friend in trouble by inviting him. Or into even more trouble than he was already in.