And we're back! As always, Thank You to all my readers. Again, I do not own GATE or any recognizeable properties!
And our story continues.
The Janus Campaign
Chapter 30: Mama Mia! (Here We Go Again!) 2
As the drive back to Yokosuka continued, Panache relaxed somewhat. Lady Ruth had a wicked sense of humor and an open mind and she had the feeling that had they met as children together, they would have been sword sisters.
"So," Ruth asked. "How did the two of you meet my son?"
Panache flushed a little at the memory of her first encounter with William Taylor but Aurelia only smiled. "I am a retainer assigned to Lady Octavia by my father, Legate Germanicus. I was assigned to protect my younger sister and brothers. So we were all in Tokyo when Lady Octavia arranged our surrender. My Lord was assigned to help see to our welfare as non-military 'detainees', I believe the term was. When My Lady chose your son as her heir, she commanded that I would receive the honor of protecting her heir. It has not been easy."
"Oh?"
Aurelia nodded and retrieved the tooth William had gotten for his mother. "This is a gift for you that your son took from the remains of an ancient Flame Dragon."
Ruth stared at the tooth. "And how big was this thing?" She asked her son.
"Um… Just under three-hundred-feet tall."
"At least you kept him from being eaten. So good job!"
"Thank you, My Lady."
"Ruth," she corrected.
"Thank you, Ruth."
"No. Thank you!" She looked again at Panache. "And how did you meet my son?"
"She had a very compelling pick-up line, mom," Taylor said mildly.
"Oh?"
"She pointed her sword at me and said: 'Surrender!' I couldn't exactly turn her down at that point."
"No, I guess not." Ruth grinned approvingly at Panache. "So? You're planning on getting married."
"Yes," Panache answered. "As soon as the Peace is signed, something we all hope will happen soon."
"That's fine. So what kind of ceremony were you going to have?"
"We really hadn't had the chance to talk about it but for our people, a priest or priestess normally presides. I would actually like a fastening." Panache noticed the curious look Ruth gave her. "Silk ribbons representing the threads of life and fate are fastened between the bride and groom."
"Well," Taylor considered. "I might ask Rory to preside if you like?"
"The Apostle?" Panache's eyes widened. "If she would agree, it would be a high honor."
"You mean that one who told off that bitch in the Diet hearings?" Taylor's mom asked.
"That's her mom, she's literally the hatchet woman for their God of Darkness. Apparently, she sees it as her duty to send bad people to meet her boss."
"I like her!" Ruth replied. "Just I want you to remember something."
"Yes, mom?"
"I better not hear anyone vowing to 'Obey'. 'Love' 'Honor' and 'Cherish'? Fine. But if I hear someone promising to 'Love, honor, and obey' then I'm gonna start kicking asses, including both of yours."
"No worries mom, I know better."
"Good," Ruth answered.
"Anyway mom, Panache has agreed to teach me the art of horseback riding and how to hold a sword without hurting myself."
"Is that so? Could she teach me?" Ruth had plenty of experience tending horses growing up in Kentucky. She often wondered what it would be like to be someplace she could just gallop for the sheer joy of it. As for the sword part, well, it had the allure of being dangerous and something people would never expect out of her. Which made it exactly the sort of thing she wanted to do.
The drive continued with amicable discussion all the way back to Yokosuka. It was late in the afternoon by the time they were waved through the gate at Camp Augustus. Outside the main building, Felicia was waiting for them. The cinnamon haired Warrior Bunny bowed.
"Welcome back, my lord. The gate guard informed us you had arrived."
"Thank you, Felicia," He gestured to his mother. "Felicia, this is my mother. Mom, this is Felicia. She's one of Lady Octavia's personal retainers. Is a room ready for my mother? She's had a very long journey."
"Yes, my lord." She turned to Taylor's mother. "I will have your things brought to your room, My Lady but Lady Octavia has requested if you would see her now?"
"Well, alright. I guess."
Felicia nodded and turned to Panache and Aurelia. "Then, if My Lord and Ladies will come with me? Lady Octavia is waiting."
Lady Octavia studied the woman who entered the hall with interest. The Lady Ruth was small in size but very striking, she seemed to prefer a simple but clean look. She did not carry the attitude of someone who felt the need to impress others but at the same time, she would not allow herself to be intimidated. While she might claim to be of common stock, she was most uncommon. Octavia allowed herself a small smile. "Welcome, Lady Ruth," Octavia greeted."I am Octavia." She gestured to an open seat at the table next to her. "Won't you join us? I've been looking forward to meeting you. We have many things to discuss!"
Ruth sized up the other woman: Tall and lean but with arms and hands that spoke of someone used to doing work. She was used to being in charge but didn't strike Ruth as conceited. It was a pleasant subversion of her classically held opinions of 'nobility' as a bunch of pompous, arrogant, and lazy cretins who enjoyed power without either earning or respecting it. But then, Ruth had found that Panache was the daughter of a baron and still Ruth found her an admirably strong person of character and ability. Their shared interest in horses was one of a number of things they could relate on.
Thank you," she said, taking the offered chair. "Of course Ruth is fine. I'm no 'Lady'."
Octavia smirked. "Neither am I but they call me that anyway." She looked up at Felicia. "Please have some food brought in for Lady Ruth and some coffee. Strong and black?" She asked her guest of honor.
"Please."
"Yes, My Lady," Felicia curtsied as Octavia motioned for Ruth to take the seat next to her.
Lady Octavia gave her husband a mild look and glanced to the door. "Husband," she spoke. "Why don't you and William take a walk before dinner? I will have Aurelia get you when dinner is ready."
The Legate nodded and clapped a hand on William's shoulder. "Now, 'son', you can tell me about how you fought the Flame Dragon... while the womenfolk plot world domination."
"Plot it, sir? I think they've already achieved it."
"All the more reason to accede to their wishes. Trust me, Octavia and your mother, if I am to judge her correctly, will let us know when we are needed, and not a moment sooner."
"I suppose that's true." The two men walked out to the courtyard. Germanicus favoring his right leg just slightly.
"Your world is full of wonders, son. Your healers did amazing work healing my wounds."
"I guess centuries of finding better ways to take bodies apart has given us some incentive to do better at putting them back together."
"I suppose that's true. We never stood a chance, did we?" He asked frowning at the ground.
"No. In other places, you might have had more initial success but even in the undeveloped countries, sooner or later, one of the big powers would have stepped in. Even in the worst armpit hole of a country that no one likes, eventually someone would have stepped in and crushed your army because we couldn't allow anything like The Empire to even think it had a chance of going any further."
"A lot of things are going to change in my world. I'm not sure it will have a place for an old soldier like me." He faced Taylor squarely. "At least my wife has an eye for the future. I trust you will look out for our family."
"To the best of my ability," Taylor promised. "But I wouldn't hang up my sword just yet if I were you, sir. The Empire will still need an army, one that its people have the skills to support and maintain. And that army will need good, professional officers." He paused, recalling a detail intelligence learned after the First Battle at Alnus. "It was Legate Titian who commanded the Empire's forces at First Alnus. We know you put him in command of your reserves at the Gate."
"Yes. He was a good soldier."
"And in some regards, your protege?"
"He served with me from the days when I was a centurion and he was a fresh optio and my second in command. It is fair to say, we learned side by side, the arts of war."
"We estimate he had 35,000 men and lacking support. He still fought with ingenuity and courage. If the main army under Senator Godasen had been under Titian's command, we might not have done so well getting in."
Germanicus pictured Titian in his mind's eye, working his men. Dealing with Godasen. "My friend… a good man lost to foolishness."
"Your army will need to be an army of professionals now more than ever. I think now, it will be inevitable that when they learn of the losses the Empire has taken, others will try to take advantage of the situation. I'd say it's certain the Empire will be at war again, probably soon. And when that time comes, the Empire will need you."
"Perhaps. But forgetting that you are my wife's heir, why would the 'enemy' wish for the Empire to have a viable army?"
"Well, not to fight us, of course, but the Empire controls a huge area of land and millions of people. When countries die, they leave a lot of misery and chaos in the wreckage. What our governments will want after this war is over will be trade and stability. One Empire is a lot easier to deal with than ten thousand warlords struggling for power and control."
"Point taken." Germanicus smiled. "So you and Aurelia actually killed a Flame Dragon?" He asked, changing the subject.
"Well, there were a couple of Apostles involved but one was one our side so I guess it all evens out."
Meanwhile, in the main hall, Lady Octavia ordered libum served as she introduced Ruth to those gathered. She smiled as Ruth studied her plate with curiosity. "Libum is our version of cheesecake. It's quite good with warm honey although I must admit I have developed a fondness for your American cheesecake. I believe William said that you like strawberry cheesecake? I've developed a liking for it myself."'
"Now and again. I indulge a little," Ruth admitted. As she looked around, she was a bit surprised she actually found herself interested in and even enjoying the company around her. She supposed it was because Octavia and her other guests lacked the pretentiousness she always imagined in 'nobility'. She sampled a bite of the libum. "This is pretty good. I'll bet William has never tried it though."
Octavia quirked a smile. "Oh? What makes you say that?"
"He's never been one to try new things. Give him a choice between something familiar and trying something new, he'll always pick the one he's familiar with."
"Actually," Octavia smirked. "I must admit I mousetrapped him into trying it. You've raised him to be very polite, after all, so I had Lucilla serve him libum she made herself. He couldn't stand to disappoint her."
"How did he take it?" Ruth asked.
"Like all small boys when they are confronted with something they really don't want to do," Octavia told her with humor in her tones.
"Sounds about right," Ruth admitted, smiling at the two little boys happily playing under the watchful eye of their sister.
"He just wasn't going to disappoint his sister."
"I wish I could say that was my experience raising him and his brother and sister. Of course, being the youngest child, he simply just didn't fit in their social circles."
"Did you ever consider having any more children?"
Ruth scowled. "My husband decided that three was enough so he got his tubes cut." She made a motion of scissors. Frowning a moment at some of the confused looks she was getting, she paused. Gesturing downward, she considered how to explain. "It's called a vasectomy. Basically, he can still um… run up the flagpole but his little soldiers are going into battle unarmed." She sighed, rephrasing. "He couldn't produce any more heirs." She raised a finger in bitter memory. "And then he called and told MY mother, 'Your daughter can't have kids anymore'."
Several faces flushed in anger that a husband would be that cold. Nayu cast a worried glance to her mother and grandmother, one which did not go unnoticed.
"He's heard that story and he had the same look on his face as most everyone here. I raised him better than to pull shit like that." Ruth told them.
"Have you considered remarrying?" Octavia asked.
"I'm not the kind to go looking at my age. Besides, I'm free. Aside from my children, leaving me was the best thing that man ever did," she said matter-of-factly.
"Maybe you just need a husband who has already been 'broken in'?"
"How broken?" Ruth replied in the same mischievous tone as her host.
After a few minutes of discussion, Nayu turned and asked a question that Panache, Aurelia, and Aenaire were also all curious about. "Did William have many girlfriends?"
"No, only two… one and a half really. The first one was more of a one-way thing. The girl definitely had a fixation. The other one, he really liked but she… made a different choice."
"I can't believe there weren't more girls than that!" Octavia replied. "I've seen some of my own ladies in waiting looking at him."
"Oh! There were a few when he was in high school that were looking his way. He just never noticed. I think he thought the pretty girls wouldn't want anything to do with him so he just never looked." She turned to Panache. "I guess it just goes to show you that sometimes hitting him over the head just might have been the best strategy!"
Octavia laughed and then waved in apology. "I'm sorry, but that sounds so much like Germanicus when he was young. So very serious! And yet shy around women. It helped that Videlia was as interested as I was. She made an excellent accomplice!"
"I'd like to meet her!" Ruth told her.
"We would like that as well," Octavia replied sincerely. "But tell me, although we are most grateful for the results but how is it that a woman like yourself ended up marrying such a child?"
"Well," Ruth considered. "I come from a place called Kentucky. It's a very pretty place but while some people own large horse plantations, my family weren't so rich. My father fought for everything we had and he made a home for my mother and the three of us kids and his younger brother. One of his older half-sisters kicked us out of our home one wintry night when I was two. But we still had a little piece of land left. So as my mother tried to watch her children and pack what she could at the same time, my father took an ax and he and his brother went out to the piece of land they had left and chopped down trees and built a cabin for his family. No matter how hard life tried to knock us down, he kept working hard and if we weren't prosperous, we weren't destitute either.
"But, it turns out I was a pretty good student. Passing my classes with 'flying colors'" She laughed. "I didn't know what that was supposed to even mean until William explained it to me that it meant success worth celebrating, 'with all flags flying and all," she explained.
"Anyway, I was a good enough student that I had a chance to join the Navy and get out of Kentucky. Because I wanted something different for my life. So I enlisted and became a corpswoman. I worked in hospitals, taking care of the things that Doctors and nurses weren't supposed to have to worry about. And that's where I met a fairly handsome man whose family owned a horse breeding farm near Louisville. His family was very rich and he decided I was going to marry him. And then… Then he decided to have one of his Army buddies follow me around, guarding his prize. That's when I understood that I was supposed to be his 'trophy wife'. I would do what he said, look pretty and tolerate whatever he might get into. I decided I wasn't having any of that! He wasn't going to control me. So I found this pretty looking kid from New York and when he got the nerve to ask me out, I let him! He wasn't wealthy or particularly ambitious. As a matter of fact, before he met me, all he wanted to do was finish his enlistment and get back to running the streets. But he was pretty and I thought I could make something of him. I guess I kinda overreached on that," she shrugged. "I have no regrets."
"I feel you truly are like my sister, Ruth," Octavia told her and then noted the time.
"Now! Felicia, Go and collect My Lord and My Heir. Dinner should be ready by now."
"Yes, My Lady." Felicia acknowledged and went to get Germanicus and Taylor.
As Felicia left the hall, Octavia looked at Ruth with a speculative expression which Ruth returned with a curious look of her own.
A couple of minutes later, Felicia returned with her Lords in tow.
"Ah! Our Lord and Our Son have returned!" Octavia announced. "This is very good as Lady Ruth has an announcement." Octavia was failing to hide the smile on her face.
Ruth stood up with a warm smile and stepped around the table with open arms and embraced Germanicus in a hug. "Welcome home dear!"
Sadera
By coincidence, at this same time, a different sort of family meeting was taking place in the Akusho District of Sadera. The heads of the three remaining Crime families in Akusho were meeting to celebrate the very recent demise of the Bessara family the previous night and to finalize a few matters regarding the disposition of the Bessara Family assets and continued relations with their new partners in the Pacific Allies. Speaking on behalf of the PA was a Captain in the British SAS. Two Gurkha sergeants were providing the visible protection for a man who hardly looked like he needed any protection, save his own abilities and the three surviving family heads understood all too well that other hands were watching, at the ready if anyone was stupid or foolish enough to threaten their new business partners.
"Alright, Captain Harrington," The head of the Gonzori Family began. "We delivered on our word and you quite clearly delivered on yours. The Bessara Family has been dissolved. And with that, we're ready to come to a full understanding with your people."
"Good. We're hoping that our dealings can be mutually beneficial."
"They already have been," 'Growler', Head of the Medusa Family grinned a toothy grin befitting his Feline heritage. "Bessara was dangerous to everybody. If I could have found it in the remains, I' da cut his heart out and fed it to the cubs! We may have had to put up with him but no one's exactly missing him either." The heads of the other families nodded in agreement.
"There is the issue of distributing Bessara's territory and operations." The head of the Paramount Family noted. "Your people took him out. None of us have any quarrel with you taking his territory." He pulled out a map but was stopped by a gesture from Captain Harrington, who pulled out his out map and list. The other Crime Lords were dismayed to see it included assets that even they had been unaware of.
"Aside from making food, clothing, and medicine available, we aren't interested in running Bessara's smuggling operations. If we need something we can't bring in ourselves, we'll contract out to one of you. The only weapons we'll be bringing in will be for our own use. So you can rest assured we won't be selling weapons to your competitors or anyone else. We do have to maintain our edge after all." The other men nodded in understanding. "We'll make our medical services available to anyone in the district including your people. Wealth should be enjoyed in health, wouldn't you agree?" Harrington remarked, then pointed to one particular location on the map of Akusho. "We claim the Bacchanalian and the Venus as ours. The rest of Bessara's gambling houses and brothels are yours." He then pointed to an abandoned warehouse. "This building is ours. After we finish fixing it up, we'll start bringing in Scotch Whiskey, which I know you've had the opportunity to sample, also beer. Guinness, not that shitty Yank beer." He smirked.
"Also, if you are attacked, you can call on our assistance, should you require it." Other than that, you already know our terms: We pay well for good information. If we need to do anything unusual, we'll let you know in as timely a fashion as possible. We won't move on your territories. Respect ours and everyone prospers. Agreed?"
"Agreed," Gonzoria answered with the others nodding.
"In that case," Harrington said, gesturing to an orderly who promptly carried over a bottle of Glenfiddich and presented it to Harrington who showed the others the unbroken seal and then opened it. "Here's to 'good business'."
A short time later, Harrington's lieutenant looked at him curiously. "Yes, Jerry?"
"We're actually going to be running a couple of brothels?"
"Oh, I know how it all looks, Jerry, but even if the Imperial Army doesn't venture into this part of town, some of their men most assuredly do and nothing loosens a man's tongue faster than alcohol and a lovely lady."
"I understand sir but I can only imagine would happen if the Daily Fail got hold of this story, sir."
"With luck, I shall be a general and quite retired before that happens. Sergeant Harkness!" Harrington beckoned to a burly, scarred man dressed in local attire.
"Yes, Captain?"
"Good work on that little assignment. Are you sure you got them all?"
"I've bugged every gambling hall in Akusho, Captain. And every house of ill-repute as well." Unfortunately, the latter task had not been as easy or as enjoyable as one might think since Harkness had to pretend to be drunk and get ejected before anything could develop beyond the requirements of the mission. The gambling houses, on the other hand… Well, there was a reason he'd been chosen for this assignment. "Of course, if the Captain thinks I may have missed a spot or two then I will gladly exert every effort to correct this deficiency."
"No, Sergeant, I'm only surprised you didn't rob the poor fools blind!"
"That would hardly be sporting, sir."
"Yes, well now we can tell Major Nyutabaru and Lieutenant Cruz that they can bring in the rest of their people."
"Yes, sir."
"And Horace?"
"Sir?" Harkness asked.
"You can keep that twenty percent cut of your winnings."
"Sir! I'm deeply hurt you'd say such a thing, sir!"
"Are you saying that you'd never take a fool's money?"
"No, sir. But this was in the line of duty! It'd be downright unpatriotic to take more than fifteen!"
A/N: Yes, a bit of canon plot had to be covered there. Of course, Captain Harrington and Sergeant Harkness are nods to David Weber's 'Honor Harrington' novels. And yes, Horace Harkness in the books is as much of an operator as he is here. Perhaps more so!
Until next time!