On Antaya's journey through Saniya's old town, she was astonished by the familiar images around her. Although she had never been to Saniya before, it looked much like Arguna did: A chaotic mess of activity, with much of its social life going on in the wide streets of the city or in the open courtyards to the side. Even the ghost warriors with the green headbands could be seen from time to time.
However, while Arguna's liveliness was surrounded by slums on all sides, and always covered in a layer of patina, there were no wooden huts outside of Saniya's walls and everything inside looked sparkling and new, down to the even, seamless roads below.
*What a strange place, as expected of a strange king.*
With a sigh, Antaya closed the curtain of the palanquin to cut her connection to the outside world.
\"It's impressive, isn't it?\"
Antaya turned to the source of the comment, her daughter Tamaya who sat across from her. When she had entered the city, Antaya had been welcomed by her daughter and a few additional servants. This was another change from Arguna, where she would have to hide her face and identity. Now, a proper palanquin would carry her to her master.
The mother was truly grateful for this luxury of peace and quiet, since it afforded her an additional grace period before she met her master, enough time to get informed on any possible faux-pas that would make a poor impression on the young King Corcopaca. Even so, Antaya was more preoccupied with her daughter's choice of words.
\"Tamaya, where is your education?\" she cautioned in an overly upset tone. For as long as Antaya had known her, Tama had never been this sloppy with her language.
\"Excuse me, mother,\" her daughter replied with a sheepish smile, which showed that she hadn't even been aware of her mistake. \"Careless speech is a poor habit that has spread from the king and all throughout Saniya's upper echelons.\"
\"So the king is a careless person then?\" Antaya's frown reinforced her disapproval of such casual speech. While she didn't remember the young Corco as someone who was prone to such lack of propriety, a lot of time had passed since their last meeting. Maybe his time abroad had turned him into an uncultured person. However, her daughter did her best to alleviate the mother's concerns.
\"Only in terms of language,\" Tama said. \"I believe King Corco prefers to speak more freely, without the shackles of form and ritual. He dislikes formality and falsehood in general, and would rather go straight to the heart of any matter. That is also the reason everyone only calls him King Corco. He tends to get upset when he is called by his proper, full name. Even more so when anyone dares to add his titles. 'A waste of time', he calls it.\"
A small smile told Antaya more of her daughter's feelings than Tama's disapproving tone did. However, she didn't have much time to care about Tama's love life at the moment, no matter how important it was to her. For now, gathering more information on her master was most imperative. After all, their meeting was imminent and there was much reason for concern.
\"Since you have seen him so much over the past few years, I am curious how King Corco has changed. Just in case your mother makes any careless mistakes, what else is there to say about our master?\"
While mother and daughter continued their conversation, the palanquin carried by the warriors slowly made its way to Rapra Castle. Not long after, Antaya would meet her master.
__________________________
As quill scratched on paper, another plan took form. Like he had done so many times since his arrival in Saniya, the king attempted to shape the future on a piece of paper. The scratching noise was only interrupted by a knock on the door. When Corco looked up, his guest was being announced by the guard outside the study.
\"Master, Lady Tamaya and Lady Antaya are here to see you,\" the guard said.
By the time Corco looked over to Fadelio's desk to the side, the warrior had already cleaned up the documents he had worked on and put away his own quill. In all honesty, Corco thought it was fine for both of them to be seated together at the same time, and to be seen doing so. However, Fadelio still insisted on proper distinctions between the warriors and his lord, at least in front of others. Thus, he wasted everyone's time and energy. Which meant that the warrior stood up and took his stand behind Corco's seat.
\"Let them in,\" the king called out to open the door. Through the opening came his spy master Tamaya, accompanied by a mature lady who looked like her elder sister. Antaya di Pluritac was Fadelio's mother, but she seemed to be at most in her thirties. For her visit with the king, she had exchanged the usual full-body robes any ghost warriors wore on secret missions with a proper Medalan robe. Made with expensive green and yellow silk and bound at the waist, the cloth flowed around her to accentuate her figure without appearing shameless. Either way, Corco simply thought it was a weird dress for an old lady, since he wasn't really into milfs.
\"Antaya di Pluritac greets King Corcopaca,\" the woman said and went down on one knee to honor her master.
\"Okay, we don't do that here. You can get up,\" Corco replied in a lazy tone. \"And Corco is fine. Those extra syllables take so much time.\"
Not too long ago, the arguments over his staff's formal behavior made him angry every time he encountered them. However, he had grown numb to those of his servants who were stuck in the past. Even they would learn to accept the new world in time.
\"Yes, King Corco.\"
Although Antaya's words were less stiff, her voice was still as stern and earnest as before. With a sigh, Corco stood up and rounded his table towards her.
\"Madame general. There's no need to be formal, is there? When we last met, we were like family. Why change it now?\"
After a short hug, Antaya's frozen expression thawed into a shallow, but warm smile at last.
\"Of course, King Corco,\" she replied.
For a while, the king stared at her and wondered if he needed to insist on more improvements of her stiff performance. In the end however, he decided against it. Since they had last met, ten years had passed. Corco was no longer a young, unfavored prince, and Antaya was no longer the great general's wife. Both had changed a lot, and he needed to respect that.
\"Okay, better. A bit at least. Please sit down, madame. You too, Tama\" He put on a smile instead, and returned to his seat behind his desk. All the while, both mother and daughter sat opposite of him. Once all of them were in their starting positions, Corco turned to the topic at hand.
\"So, a little birdy told me that there's some important news from the capital? What could be important enough for the elusive Madame General to find herself all the way down here?\"
Despite Corco's little complaint about Antaya's elusiveness up to this point, the madame remained calm in her reply.
\"In fact, several essential developments in and around Arguna have reshaped the political landscape. As the largest issues of the day, my personal involvement became necessary. In addition, King Corco requested a meeting multiple times, thus I found it even more unavoidable to travel south. Even so, I need to apologize for my previous inability to comply with King Corco's orders. After all, there is much work to be done up north, and not all of it can be handled by the few ghost warriors who remain in the two northern kingdoms.\"
\"Sure, that's fine,\" Corco replied. Once again, he ignored the madame's excuses. Tama wanted to speak up behind her mother, but Corco silenced her with a wave of his hand, before he continued in a friendly tone. \"Tell me about those 'essential developments' then. They sure do sound essential.\"
\"First and foremost, the war in the north is over,\" Antaya replied. \"King Pachacutec and King Amautu have agreed to a ceasefire, and both of them have come out of the war in strengthened positions. However, most lords beneath them have been weakened by the continued wars, since many warriors lost their lives. Especially House Ichilia has suffered a lot.\"
As soon as the madame mentioned the constant war that had plagued Medala, Corco's good mood was blown away, even the fake one.
\"Well, guess we should be happy that people have stopped dying, at least. No matter who wins the war, it's always the people who lose, without a fault.\"
\"Yet now the enemy will focus on the south once more,\" Antaya cautioned.
\"Sure, but what are they gonna do?\" Corco shrugged. \"They can't attack us at sea since we have a massive advantage in the west and aren't active in the east. On land, they can only really attack either through the Narrows or from Port Ulta, through the pass to Cashan. They already tried and failed that once, they aren't dumb enough to try again without proper preparation. Overall, I don't think the peace changes all that much for us.\"
\"If anything, the peace will make trade and travel easier for the commoners. This will only speed up our efforts in the northern cities,\" Fadelio added.
After all, their plan wasn't a violent overthrow of the powers of the north. No one up north would accept southern invaders as their new lords, even if they considered themselves liberators. First, they needed to win the people over from the inside. Only then could they consider conquest. However, while Corco's eyes were once more set on the future, Tama was still stuck in the present.
\"Even so, there is a need to be cautious,\" she said. \"So far, we lacked the manpower to install reliable informants in the east. Who knows what the Arcavian foreigners are doing in Port Ulta right now... and it's always better to be safe before we are caught off guard. If our defenses are breached even just once, we will struggle to contain the destruction to the southern lands. At that point, all the goodwill we have built with the southern lords will collapse, and then the kingdom will fall apart in petty squabbles, just like the central kingdom has done so far.\"
\"Fine,\" Corco conceded. No matter how much he wanted a clean victory with no bloodshed, his fellow kings wouldn't make things that easy for him, and neither would the Arcavians. \"We've already been preparing anyways, but I guess it's time to speed up our military operations once again. Fadelio, I'd like you to delegate some people to go around the beacon towers and castles at our borders to inspect the defenses. Also, we're putting production and distribution of our new cannons higher on the priority list. And we'd need a new batch of soldiers as well. Can we recruit another two thousand or so?\"
\"Yes master. With the new arrivals in the past year, two thousand should be possible. I will get to the details right away.\"
With a bow, Fadelio went straight for the door to fulfill his duties, while Corco looked after his friend with a worried look. As always, Fadelio was all duty, willing to ignore everything else.
\"Oh, and Fadelio,\" Corco added, annoyed that he had to even mention it.
\"Yes, master.\" The servant paused and turned.
\"You should prepare a family dinner for your mother and sister for later. And after you're done with your current orders, you're getting a few days off. You really need to spend some time with your family. You've been torn apart for too long anyways.\"
\"Of course, young master.\" Although his voice was still serious, Corco could see the gratitude in his friend's face. After all, no matter how much he would have wanted it, it wasn't appropriate for a servant to ask his master for such luxuries as family time.
Once Fadelio was gone, Corco turned to the mother and daughter left in the room.
\"Thank you, King Corco. Truly.\" Antaya bowed her head to hide her face, but he could hear the tremble in her voice all the same.
\"Is there anything else important?\" the king asked, uncomfortable with actual human warmth. \"You were talking about 'several' developments, right? I don't want to keep you from your family reunion, but I'd at least like to know what else is important. Then I'll let you go and enjoy yourself in my city for a few days.\"
\"Yes, King Corco,\" she answered, already back to her calm self. \"The far more important development has yet to be mentioned: Since the start of the season, the Ancestral Hall in Arguna has been looking for doctors. Grand Ancestor Viribus is ill.\"
\"Serves him right, that old bastard.\"
Confronted with his great-grandfather's illness, a nasty smile spread on Corco's face. The grand ancestor was the reason Pacha's central kingdom had so much power, and the reason Corco had so little, at least in Medala-wide discussions. Once the grand ancestor was gone, they would lose a powerful enemy. However, Corco didn't care about his political aspirations at the moment.
To him, Viribus wasn't family, and he wasn't an enemy. To him, he was simply someone who had betrayed his family and his people; someone who would sell everything and everyone for his own vanity, or even just a few more days of life. Even more, he was someone who had already harmed the people of Medala in his never-ending greed, and had planned to rob them of their culture and religion for his selfish goals. For that alone, he deserved his death. That, to Corco, was fair and just. Nothing more and nothing less.
\"Should we attempt to take down the famous doctors in the north and impede their efforts?\" Tama asked.
With all the doctors gone, the chances of the old man's death would rise dramatically.
\"Do we even have the resources for that?\" Corco asked while he considered his options.
\"It should be possible,\" Antaya said, \"but it would slow down our other operations. And we may have to reduce the numbers present in Saniya.\"
\"We can't really reduce numbers on counter intelligence, can we?\" Corco thought for a while, until lightning shot through his mind.
\"No, we're not taking out any doctors.\" He stood up, his smile more crafty than ever. \"I have a plan, but I need to consider this in detail. In the meantime, Tama, please make me a list of all the Chutwa doctors we have in Saniya. Your people have been keeping an eye on them, haven't they?\"
\"Of course. I will get to it right away,\" she answered the same way her brother had.
\"Good. And take your mother with you. After you are done with the work, join your brother, have some family time. Once you're back, we'll talk again.\"
At this point, Corco had already moved on from the conversation. Grabbed by his new plan, he shoved all the used pieces of paper to the side to find one he could use to note down his ideas. However, Antaya still had a question.
\"King Corco. All this time, you wished to see me in person. In the end, what was it you called me here for?\"
\"Ah, that can wait.\" Corco looked up from the mess on his desk. He hadn't forgotten about Antaya's issues, but at the moment, there were more important things to worry about. \"For now, I need to write this down somewhere.\"
And with those words, he returned back to his papers, as mother and daughter excused themselves and left him alone with his thoughts.