Chapter Fourteen: Due to the Dead
Royal National Cemetery of Heroes
Santa Corazon, Costa Luna
15 October 2013
1400 hours Costa Luna time
The Royal National Cemetery of Heroes was a large tract of land outside the city limits of Santa Corazon, reserved as the resting place for fallen soldiers, veterans, a few government officials including Prime Ministers, and the royals of Costa Luna. The Kings and Queens of Costa Luna had a section all to their own, and it was filled with mausoleums depicting the monarchs' greatest moments during their years on the throne. In deference to all the dead, all flags within the cemetery flew at half-mast.
Queen Rosalinda saw that the official limousine of the Queen Mother was parked in front of the gates to the mausoleum of the late King Mauricio III of Costa Luna. She had the driver park her own official limousine behind that of the Queen Mother, and she didn't even wait for her bodyguard to open the door for her before getting out of the vehicle as soon as it had stopped.
As Rosie passed through the wrought iron gates of the mausoleum, she glanced up at the marble statue of Mauricio in front of the mausoleum itself, staring at the world with a quietly confident gaze. But even though statue had been made by the best sculptors in Costa Luna, Rosie still felt like it didn't do her father the justice he deserved, and she unconsciously reached for the locket bearing the pictures of her parents. That locket had been a soothing presence for her during her exile in Louisiana, and it was one of her most treasured possessions. Finally she let go of the locket and walked into the mausoleum itself.
The interior of the mausoleum was a pleasant blend of reds and whites, and in the center stood two black marble cypts, but only one crypt was currently occupied. A large painting of Mauricio, clad in the finest blue suit his country could make and bearing the dozens of medals and honors bestowed upon him on his chest, hung over the crypt where he now rested in peace. He had had the mausoleum built just two years before his untimely death, even though he had clearly stated that he and his queen did not intend to use it until long after a long and fruitful future for the both of them.
The Queen Mother stood in front of the crypt, hands clasped together in prayer. Upon seeing her mother deep in prayer, Rosie made to quietly walk out of the mausoleum, but then the Queen Mother raised her head and said, "Ah, Rosalinda, mi hija." She made the sign of the cross and then she walked over to Rosie and hugged her.
Rosie returned her mother's embrace. "I was looking for you," she said.
"And you have found me here," Queen Mother Sophia of Costa Luna replied with a smile.
"Mother, there was something that I wanted to ask you. About Father."
"What is it, Rosalinda?"
"Father, before he became King, he was in the Air Force, yes?"
"Si. But he also served in the Army and the Navy, as someone in his position did."
"But he was in the Air Force during La Intervencion, right?" La Intervencion was the informal Lunero term for Costa Luna's 1987 invasion of Costa Estrella to depose their neighboring country's rightfully elected Socialist government. The Estrellanos called it La Invasion Injustificada, "the Unjustified Invasion," which was, truthfully, an apt description of the war. While they succeeded in overthrowing the socialists from the Estrellano government and replacing them with a US-approved one, it earned them a three-year suspension from the Organization of American States and gave rise to Costa Luna's greatest enemy yet: Juan Marcos Domingo Estrada, aka Magnus Kane.
"Yes, mi hija. He was in the 27th Attack Wing, if I remember correctly." The 27th Attack Wing of the Royal Costa Luna Air Force was the only Air Force unit to participate in La Intervencion. The unit shot down twenty Estrellano aircraft while suffering the loss of only four of their own.
"And Father was one of the four pilots shot down by the Estrellanos, yes?" Rosie continued. The Queen Mother nodded in reply. "Father was the only pilot who survived getting shot down, and then he was captured by the Estrellano Army and held hostage." The Estrellanos had demanded a ransom of ten thousand gold pieces and the full withdrawal of all Lunero units within their country's territory, but the royal family refused to pay the ransom, and eventually then-Prince Mauricio was rescued by Lunero Army units after the capture of the capital of Costa Estrella, San Evaristo.
The Queen Mother laughed softly and shook her head as she listened to her daughter recount a tale that they had both heard at least a hundred times. Finally, she asked Rosie, "Why did you want to ask me about that, Rosalinda?"
"Because, Mother, if I recall correctly, he hasn't met you yet when La Intervencion happened."
"Oh, yes. While your father was up in the sky flying fighter jets for his country, I was hiding in the basement of our old house with my mother, while my brothers Oryong and Braming—your Tio Honorio and Tio Abraham, Rosalinda—were busy fighting off the invading Luneros on Punta Umbria de la Flor." Indeed, Sophia Montoya, back before her marriage with the future King Mauricio III of Costa Luna, had been a loyal citizen of Costa Estrella, and she had actually been working as a typist for the country's interior ministry for six months when La Intervencion came. The future king had met her during his tenure as occupied Costa Estrella's military governor while being toured around the country's offices and ministries in San Evaristo. Costa Luna's royal family, even though they had initial doubts about Sophia since she was a commoner, eventually approved of the marriage since they saw it as an opportunity to cement ties between the two countries. Sophia Montoya's family did not approve of the marriage since Mauricio Fiore was a Lunero and therefore an enemy of all Estrellanos. But Mauricio's cheerful and friendly disposition eventually made him popular with everyone, including the Estrellanos still hurt by the tragedy of La Intervencion. It showed when citizens of both countries shed real tears upon hearing of the news of the King's death.
"How did Father manage to keep himself alive while he was being held by the Estrellanos?" Rosie asked. "I've seen the old Estrellano records. They did a lot of horrible things to the soldiers that they captured during the six weeks of La Intervencion. They made him witness those things, and I am sure that they did at least some of those things to him too. I don't know if I will be able to handle nineteen days of such treatment, Mother. But Father did? How? It can't be just by the sheer force of his will; men physically and mentally stronger than he was were broken by the Estrellanos! Why didn't he break like the rest of them?"
"You know, mi hija, I asked him the same question just after his coronation as king," the Queen Mother replied. "Do you want to know what he told me?" Rosie shook her head. "Even he doesn't know, Rosalinda. But he told me something that he had learned while he was spending all those days in an Estrellano jail. He didn't think only about himself while he was held captive. He thought about his family and Costa Luna, but mostly he thought about his family. He may not have been close to his older brother, and he might have resented the favouritism that your Lolo Hilario, may he rest in peace with all the angels and saints, showed to your Tio Ramon, but he knew that if he gave up right then and there, it would break their hearts.
"Your father is a man of deep thoughts, Rosalinda," the Queen Mother continued. "He may not show it to people, but he definitely loves his family. You, me, your Tio Ramon, Lolo Hilario, and Costa Luna herself. And it's not just his duty to his country; he really believes that there is goodness in everyone."
The Queen Mother reached out to touch Rosie's hands. "I won't say that I know what you're going through, Rosalinda, because I honestly don't know. But the situation of our country right now is depressing and could be a heavy burden on any person, especially one as young as you are. How old are you now, mi hija? Twenty-one?"
"I am twenty-two now, Mother."
"Your father wasn't much older than you were when he was shot down by the Estrellanos. All he had to worry about back then was himself. You, on the other hand, bear both the hopes and problems of Costa Luna on your shoulders. But it is up to you what you will do to lighten it. Will you finally negotiate with the Army of Socialist Revolution, even though they have expressed no interest in opening a dialogue with you or the government? The choice is yours, Rosalinda. But don't let the difficulties of leading an entire nation weigh you down. When you feel troubled by your problems, always remember that you have your family and friends with you. You have me, your American friend Alexandra—"
"She prefers being called Carter, Mother," Rosie said.
"Rosalinda, always remember that even though the nation may turn its back on you—although I doubt that very highly because you are currently one of the most popular figures in government right now—you still have the people closest to your heart. Keep that in mind, mi hija, and your flower and bloom and grow healthy."
"Thanks, Mother," Rosie said after a moment's contemplation, and then she embraced her mother once again.
"Now I have another question," Rosie said once she was finished hugging the Queen Mother. "Is it true that back when you were in college, Juan Marcos Domingo Estrada dated you?"
The Queen Mother laughed out loud. "Oh, yes, Rosalinda, he certainly did!" she replied. "I'm sure that no one in our batch would have thought that he would become one of the most infamous rebels in history, and that I would become the consort of the King of Costa Luna!"
Somewhere in the jungles of Costa Luna
A few hours later
The attack had been scheduled for the anniversary of Costa Luna's capture of Guadix de la Mer, the last Estrellano stronghold during La Intervencion and the straw that finally broke the back of the Costa Estrellan resistance. But after the government had declared it a non-working holiday, the attack had been moved to the day after the anniversary, when everyone would be getting back to work after the holiday. Magnus Kane, an admitted showman, had wanted to make as big of a statement as possible with his attacks, and that was why the target of their new attack was the Parliament of Costa Luna itself. Parliament had been closed the day before the anniversary of the Battle of Guadix de la Mer, and the Army of Socialist Revolution's informants had told them that the Queen herself would be attending the reopening of Parliament the day after the anniversary.
Magnus Kane did not know how Lavrenty Timofeyenko had acquired the weapons now in the hands of his revolutionaries, nor did he want to know. Lavrenty's men, mostly former Russian Spetsnaz but also a smattering of mafia enforcers and even former Chechen rebels and the like, had trained his best soldiers to a level similar to that of their own, and now they were raring to go to action.
Four trucks, similar to the ones used by the Royal Costa Luna Army and painted in the same color scheme used by the army, were parked inside a makeshift garage made from fallen tree trunks, bamboo stalks and palm leaves. Eighty of the Army of Socialist Revolution's best fighters were boarding the trucks, with twenty men going into each truck. They were all wearing copies of the uniforms worn by the RCLA, nearly indistinguishable from the real thing. Santiago San Antonio, wearing the uniform of a captain in the Royal Army, walked over to Kane and said, "Johnny, you honestly don't expect me to hold both Parliament and the Emerald Palace with just these eighty men, do you? I mean, I know they are the best fighters that we have, but surely this plan must be madness!"
"Don't worry, Tiago, my old friend," Kane replied. "You and your men will only be the first wave that we will be sending against the monarchy and the government of this country." Kane held up his arms and beheld the sight of his men preparing to bring the fight to heart of their enemy. "Look at them, Tiago," he said. "They are very much ready to bring the fight to the damned Luneros. They're driven by the glory and the promise of being the ones to bring redemption to their corrupted country. Who among us has not dreamed of the moment it is we, the Army of Socialist Revolution, who have defeated the Kingdom of Costa Luna, and it is the flag of Costa Estrella flying over the Emerald Palace and not the flag of Costa Luna flying over the Casa de los Patricios. Once that happens, the natural balance of the universe will be restored, and all the fighting and death in this world shall end!"
Santiago San Antonio merely nodded and kept quiet. He knew that Kane had a bit of an obsession with fringe topics such as cosmic balances, universal equity, astrology, feng shui and all that. He also knew that Kane's direct ancestors had, for lack of a better term, mental problems. Those two things did not make a properly sane man of Magnus Kane. And added to the fact that the man simply wanted to see Costa Luna burn… Magnus Kane was one crazy son of a bitch.
"Once the West has seen that their monarchist puppets are no match against the will of the people of both Costa Luna and Costa Estrella, they will see that we are now their equals, perhaps even their superiors! Down with the abusive capitalist monarchists who rule Costa Luna for the moment!" Kane paused for a moment and then turned to San Antonio and asked him, "What do you think of that, Tiago?"
"It's marvellous, Johnny," San Antonio said. "It's very inspiring, especially for the newcomers."
"In just a few more days, both Costa Estrella and Costa Luna will be changed forever," Kane continued. "When once Costa Estrella was the conquered, it will now become the conqueror, and Costa Luna will be her first conquest. First, Costa Luna, and then, the world!" Kane then held out his right hand and grasped San Antonio's forearm with it. San Antonio then did the same to Kane's arm. "Viva Costa Estrella, Santiago," he said.
"Viva Costa Estrella," San Antonio repeated.
"Viva la revolucion socialista."
"Viva la revolucion socialista."
"And remember, Tiago, for every one of us they kill, kill a hundred of those responsible."
"Why just a hundred, Johnny? Why not two hundred, or a thousand?"
"I leave the decision to you, Tiago. Bienvenido, my friend."
"Si, jefe," San Antonio said to Kane' retreating form. And as Santiago San Antonio began walking towards one of the trucks they would be using for the attack against Costa Luna's Parliament, a part of his mind was telling him that not even a thousand deaths would be vengeance enough for the death of any one fighter of the Army of Socialist Revolution.
Perhaps that was why Kane and San Antonio had formed a friendship despite being born in rival countries. They were two of a kind: two mad maniacs who just wanted to watch the whole world burn.