Hidden Fire (The FIRE series Book 1) Page 11

  “They're used to having complete control of their men.”

  “Well, the men are soldiers of the crown, not the lords. They'll just have to wind their necks in a bit.”

  “They don't like the standardised uniforms. Lord Gordon asked me how he was supposed to know which were his if they weren't wearing his colours.”

  “I hope you suggested something useful.”

  “I told him to stop being a ninny.”

  “I'm sure that's exactly what you said Sommerton. How are we doing financially?”

  The Secretaries rifled through their papers. The Secretary of the Fleet answered first.

  “We could do with more money for outfitting the ships we already have. Most of it's going on the new ships.”

  “You'll have to wait for the midsummer tax return.”

  Fleet Secretary nodded. He'd known that would be the case. “But you will factor it into the budget then?”

  “Of course. Regiments? How are you doing?”

  Secretary of the Regiments looked down at his notes again and shifted his spectacles into place.

  “We have twenty full regiments so far, and another five being formed, but I think that might be our limit for now. We haven't enough officers to form any more regiments.”

  “Ask for volunteers?”

  “Tried that, nobody will play.”

  “Promote officers we already have?”

  “Done that already; about seventy-five percent accepted their promotions.”

  “I see. Well, we'll just have to keep working on it. Have you asked any women?”

  “We can't have women in the regiments.”

  “Why not?”

  “They can't fight. Women get squeamish and faint at the sight of blood. And what if they get captured?”

  Lizzy looked at Sarah, who shrugged.

  “You're making quite a few assumptions there, Fleets. Women in Umar fight.” Lizzy glared at the Secretary.

  “And in Belenos.”

  “Do they really, Sarah? I didn't know that.”

  “If you're lucky, when you visit next summer you might get to see some of the Blood Maidens. They're very impressive.”

  “And scary. I've seen them.”

  “When Secretary?”

  “I was Secretary at our Embassy in Belenos before I joined Regiments. There was some rioting one year over the bread dole. The Maidens stopped it.”

  “Against unarmed civilians? Anyone, even women, can seem impressive then.”

  “No, not just civilians. Some of the legions had joined the riots and were organising the rioters. I don't blame the Belenosians for rioting, the bread dole was particularly stingy that year, especially when the Empress had spent so much on her son’s birthday games.”

  “How decadent.”

  “Very. But the Maidens destroyed the legions and the civilians.”

  “So, women can fight. Sommerton, I suggest you start recruiting.”

  “We'll do what we can.”

  The meeting continued with Sommerton grumbling about women in his army and Jonsey wanting to know where the money was coming from. By the time it had wrapped up, Lizzy had a headache and Sarah's hand was cramping from writing.

  “Good evening gentlemen, come back if there's any urgent news before our next meeting.”

  “When are we meeting again?”

  “Three days before midsummer, to finalise the budgets and progress report. Now, if you'll excuse me gentlemen, I'm exhausted.”

  The four men bade her good evening and left to return to their own offices and argue.

  Chapter 20

  Midsummer came and went, and soon another fall-of-leaf was on them. The budgets were set and recruitment increased. A surprising number of women had enlisted but they were still short of experienced officers until the Duchess called on her family in Umar during the summer. A group of older, battle-trained women arrived in the months that followed and were integrated into the regiments. Sommerton, while surprised by their arrival, had been impressed and at the first opportunity had expressed his admiration, thanking the Duchess gratuitously for her help. Lizzy merely wondered how they would pay the higher wages their only experienced troops would expect.

  The addition of women to Albon's traditionally male regiments had caused a stir among the Curates, some of whom denounced it as a wicked innovation. It had another, more surprising, effect, which came to Lizzy's notice one morning, late in the year.

  “Miss Lizzy, nice to see you this morning.” The editor of the Ford Daily, Peterson, stood as Lizzy dripped into his office over the print room below. She could hear it thumping through the brick walls.

  “I'm Maggie here, you know that.” Lizzy shut the door and took her accustomed seat, looking out of the window at her enterprise.

  “Aye, but only when I print the paper. You got anything for us?”

  “Yes, a report from the parade last Holyday. I thought it might encourage a few more to join, and court gossip about the Queen. We had a message from Tarjan a few days ago, the High Lord is fretting because we haven't let her come back yet.” She pulled out various papers from her bag.

  “Nobody wants her back.”

  “I don't, certainly, but.” Lizzy shrugged, she couldn't speak for the other four million people who call Albon home.

  “Your pamphlets are selling well, especially the one about universal suffrage. The Moot aren't happy though.”

  “Ignore them, they just don't like the idea that beggars might get to vote as well as burghers. Anything else going on that I should know about?”

  “Yeah, it might interest you to know there's a petition going around. The nuns want to preach.”

  “Really? But aren't they supposed to be shy and retiring?”

  “Only officially.”

  “Interesting. And how did you hear about this petition?”

  “We got a letter,” The editor rubbed his chin, “Last week, from one of the Sisters of Mercy, asking for our support. By which she meant you.”

  “Hardly.”

  “Lizzy, everyone knows this is your paper.”

  “I hardly have anything to do with it.”

  “But it is public record that you own the paper, for those who care to find out.”

  “Yes, it is. So, what do the sisters want?”

  “Support against the new High Curate.”

  “I'm not getting involved. It's an internal matter.”

  “What about the Regiments?”

  “I'm head on the committee for recruitment. That was my business; this isn't.”

  “I'd have thought you'd be in support of this?”

  “I'd rather not have any of them; we don't need their ridiculous god.”

  “Really Lizzy? That's not very egalitarian of you, is it? They tolerate atheists but you won't give them the time of day?”

  “Why should I? The clergy are the ones who've tried to kill me.”

  “They were working for the queen.”

  “Well, their religion should have told them that killing is wrong.”

  “You're being very childish, for a grown woman. Stop it and think for a change.”

  “How dare you!” Lizzy stood quickly, her chair clattering to the floor as she stormed out of the room and slammed down the stairs.

  Outside, still wrathful, she climbed into her covered carriage, ordering Dawson to drive her back to the palace.

  “What is the matter with you?” Sarah looked up from her notes.

  “Nothing.” Lizzy stared out of the window of her carriage, fiddling with her hat.

  Sarah kept quiet; experience told her that Lizzy would tell her about it eventually. She lifted her notes again and returned to work; the Office had intercepted some messages bound for the Sumoasti Embassy, written in Calmani. Naturally everyone at the Office was suspicious; if the Sumoasti were trying to work on the burghers of Calman, there was a chance the Calmani would stop supporting Albon's efforts to winkle out the pirates still infesting the Rocks. Th
e last thing they needed was the other two large islands in the archipelago allying against Albon.

  Her work was interrupted just as they left the city for the royal road that lead to the palace, a mile long winding gravel track-way leading uphill, away from the noise of the city through manicured countryside – minus all the normal things found in the country such as sheep, cows and untidy trees. It was a pretty illusion, like so much else in life. Sarah sighed at this reflection and returned her attention to Lizzy; she was in the middle of a sentence.

  “...then he said I wasn't very egalitarian because I wouldn't talk to the nuns. What do you think?”

  “What do the nuns want?”

  “I just told you that, would you listen for once? The old bats want to be able to preach in public.”

  “Oh, right, is that all?”

  “No, I told you, Peterson said I wasn't egalitarian enough. I can't believe he said that, after everything I've done to help.”

  “You live in a palace and receive more in a year than most people earn in a lifetime, I think that might just be colouring your views.”

  “I don't see how it matters where I live, my politics aren't affected by my income.”

  “Yes they are. You don't have to worry about where your next meal is coming from, so you have time to sit around arguing with your equally wealthy and privileged friends.”

  “Sarah, do you have a heretofore unexplored republican streak?”

  “I was brought up in Calman, technically a republic, mostly an oligarchy. I can't imagine Albon would be any better. We'd have to completely take apart society and rebuild it if we wanted any different outcome.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “You and your well-meaning friends are fiddling around the edges. Yes, we need to enfranchise the entire population, that would be great, and we need access to education and medicine for everyone, I'm not arguing with that; in fact, I'm rather proud of your efforts to spread free schools and hospitals. What I am saying is, our efforts are no good if in the end someone is still being exploited.”

  “So, what, we shouldn't bother trying to change anything if we don't remove the old system altogether?”

  “That's not what I said.” Sarah sighed; why did the Duke have to give her the job of teaching Lizzy politics? “I said you're doing good but we haven't got to the root of the problem, we're attacking the symptoms, not the cause.”

  Lizzy stared at the neatly cut grass passing by outside her window. Eventually, after she'd turned a few things over in her mind, she said,

  “Everyone works for someone. Even me.”

  “But you have a choice in the matter. You don't have to work at all. You choose to spend your time this way, because you don't have to live on what you make from writing. If you did you'd starve and we both know it.”

  “Or I'd be in prison by now.”

  “That too. Think about it, how many people, ordinary, working people do you know, who get to decide how they live their lives?”

  “No one.”

  “Right. And if they could?”

  “Well, I suppose they'd rather not work eighteen hour days?” Lizzy seemed hesitant.

  “Quite probably.” Deciding she'd given the princess enough to think about for one day, Sarah returned to translating intercepted messages. She could do with not working eighteen hour days too.

  Chapter 21

  Early Summer A.E. 1336

  Lizzy sighed over the reports in front of her, her back burning as early summer sunlight streamed through the great windows of her study; the ships were built, the men, and women, trained, the supplies paid for and aboard, now they were just waiting for the right moment to strike, it seemed.

  “Well, gentlemen, and lady?” The committee had been joined by a distant cousin of Duchess Catherine's (it seemed everyone in Umar was related to the Duchess), Commander Shahanna Armanno.

  “My regiments will embark in three days, Commander Armanno will lead her regiments north tomorrow.”

  “Thank you, Lord Sommerton. Lord Jonsey, are the ships ready?”

  “Oh yes, and the Royal Swallow will be my flag ship.”

  “Does father know you're taking his favourite toy to war?”

  “Indeed he does. It was all I could do to stop him coming with us.”

  Lizzy smiled, she'd missed that meeting because she'd had to go to a free schools’ committee meeting. It seemed she'd missed the fun.

  “And do we have enough ammunition?”

  “Yes, I hope it won't take all that much cannon shot to bring them to their senses but you never know.”

  “And your men, are they used to the cannons yet?”

  “They are, though I'm taking them out to play in the bay tomorrow. Cannon fire below decks can be a bit disorientating if you aren't used to it.”

  “Good, I expect with you three in charge of the expedition, I can finally go on my cruise without worrying.”

  “I see, leaving us to do the hard work while you swan around Belenos.”

  “Oh yes.” Lizzy grinned, “I think I may have earned a holiday. Thanks for releasing Phil and Harry from command so they can come on holiday with me.”

  “I'm not releasing them from command. They're going as your bodyguards, with a dozen men each, and you know it. Anyway, our Umari ladies are much better soldiers and officers.” Lord Sommerton grinned.

  “Yes, yes, I know. And aren't we lucky that auntie has so many relatives willing to help us.”

  “You pay well.” Commander Armanno laughed, “Better than the Calmani and Camari at least.”

  “That is a relief; I wouldn't want us relying on unreliable officers.” Lizzy laughed; the loyalty of the Umari who had joined the regiments was to their queen and by extension their queen's representative in Albon, Lady Catherine, Duchess Alboni.

  “You're not getting a holiday Lizzy; you know Duke Michael is sending us both for his own reasons.” Sarah hinted.

  “We don't want to know, if the Office is up to something, the Regiments and the Fleet need to keep out of it.”

  “It has nothing to do with the Office. He's trying to marry me off.”

  “Lizzy!”

  “What? If I can't trust the Lord Marshal and the Lord Admiral, who can I trust?”

  “Me, and possibly Caro. I have my doubts about everyone else. Including Duke Alboni.”

  “Thanks Sarah.”

  “So, who does he wish you to marry?” Commander Armanno asked.

  “Some Belenosian prince. How dull!”

  Commander Armanno filed the information away; if it had finally been decided that Princess Elizabeth Alboni should marry – something everyone had discounted by the time she was twenty-five – then the Umari Queen might be interested in offering her son or daughter as a match. Everyone knew Lizzy wasn't choosy.

  “It could be useful, if the Sumoasti decide to attack.”

  “Thanks Fleet, because that's a reason to marry.”

  “Hey, some of us married for strategic reasons and it turned out well.”

  “You're forgetting my father's disastrous marriage of course.”

  “Well, yes. Sometimes it's best to.”

  “I don't intend to marry anyone; I'm having far too much fun being single.”

  “We've heard.”

  “Not all the rumours are true you know; I keep her out of the worst trouble.”

  “And we, as a nation, are truly grateful for that Sarah.”

  “Thank. You. Now, if you've finished speculating about my apparently not so private life, is there anything else?”

  “Yes, the twins are going to Belenos with us.”

  Lizzy groaned, her cousins, trouble-makers-in-chief and current embarrassment to the kingdom, would not help her avoid marriage.

  “They have a job to do for the Duke. That is Office business, so unless there's anything else you need to discuss I'd recommend the Commanders and Secretaries leave.”

  “Anything?” Lizzy looked around the room.
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br />   The three commanders and their so far silent Secretaries, shook their heads and stood to leave, bowing on the way out.

  “So,” Lizzy asked over lunch, “Why are the boys coming to Belenos with us? I thought Uncle needed them to find evidence when the fleet attack the Rocks?”

  “He's sending some of the others to do that. I think he just wants to keep them safe; I could do the job he needs doing in Belenos.”

  “Which is?”

  “Oh, yes, our under-secretary has gone missing.”

  “Isn't that Gos Val?”

  “Yes.” Sarah looked at her plate, carefully setting down her knife and fork before facing Lizzy. She was pale.

  “How long has he been missing?”

  “Two weeks.”

  “Where has he gone missing? Why was he there?”

  “The Duke needed someone to collect a few messages from one of our agents in Belenos. Lord Val is less noticeable than any of our other staff in Belenos.”

  “So they sent Gos.”

  “Yeah. His horse was found in the stable of an inn, just outside the city, on Imperial Highway East. His servant was unconscious in the straw next to the horse. The only information we have from the man is that they stopped at the inn overnight and he was drugged at breakfast the next morning. He has no idea what happened to Lord Val.”

  “Damn it Gos!”

  Taking just one servant had been foolish, but Gos probably thought he'd be fine. The idiot always underestimated the circumstances, in Lizzy's opinion, and eventually something was going to teach him caution, but not this.

  “The twins are to accompany you to the imperial palace, and make delicate enquires. If anything turns up they have to follow the trail. They will find something. While you've been busy being a princess, they've become rather good Officers. No wonder the Duke won't adopt them; he'd lose two of his best weapons.”

  “I think their mother is stopping him, actually. Lady Eleanor has been a possessive bitch for as long as I've known her. She doesn't want my cousins, but she'll be damned if Uncle and Auntie can adopt them officially.”

  “Yes, well, either way, they're good at what they do, so don't worry, we'll find your friend, one way or another.”