Chapter Forty Five

'Well, my dreaded bed rest is finally over. I'd never admit it to him, but Pritchard was right, I feel much better, more rested.

Halt's training is going well. He is even able to apply some of his lessons from Clonmel, like geography. Years of private tutors have made him an expert at reading maps. He finally seems to be relaxing these days, truly enjoying his new life. I'm glad. I was terrified that he would end up regretting the choice to leave, especially with a baby on the way. He worries about raising a child out in the woods. I keep telling him that as long as they are loved and fed, protected and supported, they'll have everything they need. Our child will be well taken care of.'

'Eight months along and this child is as restless as I am. Their kicking even woke Halt up last night. If we weren't so tired we would've found it so funny.

Of course my cravings aren't helping matters. Lately it has been apples and fried onions. Although that cheese and pickle sandwich last week was amazing…

Ok, I'm off to the kitchen now. I'm hungry again.'

'We had to sell my mother's earrings today. Halt hated having to do so, he looked so guilty before he went to town.

I don't care. Until his apprenticeship is done, this is our only form of income, but I do have to admit, I'm trying to delay selling the specific jewelry that Halt gave me, along with my wedding dress. Those are the ones I truly treasure. Besides, I have plenty of my mother's gems and such. We sell them as sparingly as we can, so I'm sure it will last.

Still, I wish Halt wouldn't beat himself up about it so much. I hate seeing him look so guilty. I wish I could convince him of how happy I am with our life, with the new freedom we have. I just don't know how.'

'Well, the impossible has happened. We finally decided on a name!

I know, it seems like this day would never come, I can hardly believe it myself.

Halt and I were talking late last night about anything that came to mind. We ended up talking about Pritchard and Araluen and all that he has done for us. I told him Pritchard's story, how he had lost his wife and child. I think Halt got a little scared after that, he held me a little tighter for the rest of the night.

Then, Halt really surprised me. He suggested that we name our baby after either Pritchard or his wife. I was-am shocked. It goes to show exactly how close Halt has gotten to him. Pritchard has become a part of our family now, even if he doesn't realize it.

I love the idea, although we haven't told Pritchard yet.

So, it's official. Our son will be Pritchard O'Carrick or our daughter will be Aranel O'Carrick.

I love them so much already. I love feeling them kick and move around. I can't wait to meet them.'

"Got here just in time." Horace muttered, pulling his cloak tight around him as they walked up the path to Shigeru's palace. The snow had just started to fall, but the wind was freezing as it whipped around them.

"Don't get too comfortable, we have to head out tomorrow to try to find the Hasanu." Will pointed out.

Horace groaned, "I love helping the Emperor, but I really hate winter."

"I know." Will laughed, patting his friend's back as they entered the palace, "But it could be worse. Skandia started getting snow at least a month ago."

"I pity them."

Will laughed again, rolling his eyes. The two waited while Shigeru greeted his people, accepting updates left and right from everyone. It had been a year since he had been home, most of that time spent on a boat with no contact with his country.

"So, how do you think everyone will react to the treaty?" Will asked.

"The treaty itself, fairly well. They know the threat the Temujai possess, especially on their northern border, but the other changes? Teaching the non-Senshi to fight?" Horace shook his head sadly, "It won't go well. You haven't talked to any Senshi outside of Shigeru's closest, most trusted ones. They share his views, but not many of the others do. I'm afraid that Arisaka might use it to make things worse."

"Would the rest of the Senshi really side with him?"

Horace shrugged, "I don't know."

Will continued watching in silence, unable to understand the language, but the reaction to the Emperor's words seemed very mixed. Most of the Senshi looked apprehensive at best. Others looked downright furious. Only one or two seemed happy about all of it.

Will's eyes narrowed as he spotted one in particular glaring at Shigeru on the edge of the crowd, their lips curled up in a sneer. His gut told him that was Arisaka and he resisted the urge to call him out then and there.

"Maybe we shouldn't leave right away." Will whispered to his friend, "If it goes south here, I don't want Shigeru to be without support."

"We can't delay though. The sooner we find the Hasanu the more support Shigeru will have." Horace countered.

"Would Shigeru consent to sending the Senshi to the war now instead of in the spring?"

Horace was already shaking his head before Will finished talking, "He can't leave Nihon-Ja undefended like that, even with the non-Senshi being trained by Sapristi. Why?"

"Just a feeling. I'd rather Arisaka be as far away as possible right now." Will explained quietly, eyes flickering to the glaring Senshi warrior, "If I was in his place then this would be the best time to try to unseat Shigeru. After all, he's already tried to kill him."

"That was the whole point of us though. To find the Hasanu to show support for Shigeru."

"That was before we saw this." Will gestured to the unhappy faces in the crowd, "I'm sorry Horace. It's just a feeling I have, but I think Arisaka's going to do something sooner rather than later. We might not have time to look for the Hasanu. Our plan's going to have to change."

"Don't be sorry, I've learned to trust your feelings." he sighed, "So we wait?"

Will nodded, still watching the crowd. Shigeru was saying something in a very soothing tone, probably trying to explain the benefits of his ideas, "For a few days at least."

Someone in the back of the crowd started yelling and Shigeru held up his hand, saying something in a placating tone.

"This treaty could change everything for hundreds of years." Will whispered, "Countries are sacrificing so much for it. Like Toscana. They've never shared their training techniques with anyone. That could be the key to defeating them in the future. Why would Arisaka try to oppose that?"

"Tradition and honor. That's the way of life in this country." Horace explained, "They've lived one way for so long, they're scared of change. He's using that to his advantage to gain support. There's no guarantee that anything the Emperor is suggesting will work."

"But it is guaranteed that this country will fall if Arisaka tries to lead it. The treaty was made with his rebellion in mind. The rest of the alliance won't support Arisaka and it won't take him long to figure that out." Will said.

Shigeru said something that made the crowd start cheering and Horace smiled, "True, but if Shigeru's able to implement his changes then Arisaka is outnumbered."

"Which I'm sure he knows. That's why he has to strike now, before that happens."

The two friends exchanged a look, nodding in agreement. In front of them, the crowd began to disperse, Shigeru conferring quietly with some of the higher ranking Senshi around him, a messenger delivering a bound stack of envelopes. Will caught sight of this, eyebrows furrowing in thought.

Horace leaned in, voice lowered even more so no one could hear him, "If you were Arisaka, what would your plan be?"

Will looked around, figuring out his thoughts before he answered, "If I were Arisaka, then I would've had access to those messages before Shigeru did. I would know what they said and have had time to make a plan."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Based on what everyone has said, Arisaka has to play a very delicate game in order to get what he wants and he's smart enough to do it. In order to play that game, he needs all the information he can get as soon as possible. It's easy enough to open an envelope, read it, then reseal it. No one would have a clue."

"And he can use all of that information for whatever twisted plan he has?"

"Easily. Treaty's the perfect time for it. It's something Halt warned me about before we left. Everyone thinks a war is won with soldiers on the battlefield, but it's the information that's key. Our entire future could hinge on one sentence in those letters and we wouldn't even know it."

"So we need those messages." Horace said.

"We need those messages."

The knight looked around quickly before giving his friend a quick shrug, "Let's just ask for them then."

Will raised an eyebrow, watching as the tall blond man walked up to Shigeru and whispered something. After a moment, the shorter man shuffled through the stack and handed him a few before turning back towards his conversation. Horace made his way back to Will, a satisfied smile on his face.

"Told him we wanted to see if there were any letters from home before we headed out for the Hasanu. Gave us all the ones we could read."

"Should've brought George with us." Will shook his head sadly, "The man's amazing with languages."

"That's hindsight for you." Horace grumbled playfully before leading the way down the hall until they found a deserted room. Quickly they tore into the letters.

"How do we know what information Arisaka could use against us?" Horace asked.

"I don't know. We'll just have to comb through it all."

The two of them sat in silence for several long minutes, reading through the correspondence.

"Nellie and Selethen think that Nihon-Ja is the Riders' next target."

"Gilan agrees. He followed some of them in Skandia. Apparently they were about to invade, then turned around and left."

"Halt attacked them in Gallica. No word on if it was successful."

"That letter is over here. It was. Captured soldiers fought back. They reclaimed Gallica and Iberion."

"We certainly missed all the excitement now didn't we?"

"Boat rides can do that."

Horace groaned, rubbing his hands over his face, "I can't see how Arisaka can use any of this information for a rebellion and to top it off, the Temujai are attacking come spring. It's just a heap of bad news. How are we supposed to find the Hasanu, stop Arisaka, and fight the Temujai?"

"He can't use it for a rebellion, that's what's so confusing. And why would the Riders suddenly come here?" Will wondered out loud.

Horace shrugged, "They want the land?"

Will's lips pressed together tightly.

A knock came on the door. Will barely acknowledged it while Horace jumped up to answer it. Shigeru smiled on the other side, "Just decided to take over my cousin's room then?"

Horace grinned sheepishly, "Sorry, we just needed some privacy. First empty room we found."

"I'm sure Shukin won't mind." Shigeru said, moving to sit next to the Ranger, "Now, about those letters…"

"We really were trying to help." Horace explained, locking the door.

"And did you find anything?"

The knight shook his head as he sat down, "Still figuring that part out, but there is a lot of stuff from them you should know."

Shigeru eyed the papers critically, "How bad?"

"Good and bad actually." Horace said, filling him in on what they had just found out. The Emperor's face grew pale and alarmed when he heard of the Temujai's next target.

"Well, this changes everything we had planned in Araluen!"

Horace nodded sadly, "We need a new plan. Maybe send for help. I'm sorry, I just don't think we can fight a war on three fronts on our own."

"I agree." he sighed, turning to the quiet boy next to him, "Your advice, Chocho-san?"

"Makes no sense," Will muttered, completely oblivious of the two people staring at him, "Toscana, Skandia, but here?"

"He's still thinking," Horace chuckled, "Got his own unique view on things, but sometimes takes a moment for it all to fit together."

"I've noticed that." Shigeru smiled good naturedly.

"Why now? Why now and not before?" Will asked, then opened his eyes in realization, "Wait, that's it! Why not before?!" He literally jumped up in excitement, "That's all I needed, their perspective!"

"Excuse me?" Shigeru asked in confusion. Horace just shrugged, used to Will's antics.

Will began pacing, rambling aloud excitedly as he did so. "I was trying to see things from my point of view, not theirs! From mine it makes no sense, from theirs it does! Halt always said to look for what benefit your enemy gets from their actions. What would the Temujai get from attacking Nihon-Ja now?"

"Land?" Horace tried again.

Will shook his head, "If that were true, they would've attacked forever ago, at the beginning of the war, after all, you two share a border, but they didn't. Why didn't they attack before?"

"The Hasanu." Shigeru answered easily, "It's why they live up there in the first place, a sort of permanent border guard. There are tens of thousands of the Hasanu."

"Exactly! The Riders would've gone for Nihon-Ja first, you have almost as much land as they do and, long term, that's what they want, but they didn't! They knew they couldn't take the Hasanu without losing most of their army, they don't stand a chance. They needed to increase their numbers first!"

"Ok, so they attacked the other countries first and increased their numbers that way. Captive soldiers forced to fight for them and sort of why we needed a treaty and the Hasanu in the first place." Horace said in an 'isn't that all obvious' tone of voice.

"Exactly!" Will exclaimed excitedly, "So what changed? Why are they attacking now?"

"They have enough soldiers?" Shigeru guessed.

Will shook his head vigorously, "No, they never finished taking the other countries. They still had Toscana, Skandia, Sonderland, Arrida, Araluen. All easier targets than Nihon-Ja and the Temujai are practical. They wage war on numbers. So why would they turn around before completing their objective in order to attack the most defensive and difficult country to invade? What changed? Like Halt said, what does your enemy stand to gain from their actions? What changed that made them think they could gain more from attacking Nihon-Ja?"

Horace and Shigure exchanged a blank look. Will took it a little further, "Think, just think. What if the Hasanu weren't there anymore? What if more than half of them were gone?"

"Where are you going with this?" Horace asked, unsettled by the look in his friend's eyes.

"Us!" Will burst out, "Us, Horace, us! We changed! Us, the treaty, the alliance! We came here to find the Hasanu and convince them to go on the offensive! To leave their territory for the war! Without the Hasanu, the Temujai have a free pass into their country and with the civil war brewing, it wouldn't take any effort to overtake it, not with their numbers! No offense, Your Majesty." Will added as an afterthought.

"None taken." Shigeru waved it off, "It's true. The Hasanu are the only reason we've lasted this long against the Temujai, even with them overtaking Aslava."

"If they got control of Nihon-Ja, that's a pretty devastating blow. We would lose some of the best swordsmen and knights in our alliance." Horace pointed out, "It perfectly explains why they came here."

"But their plans only work if the Hasanu leave." the Emperor said, "Now that we know they're here, we can counter it."

"Bright side to it then." Horace sighed, turning back to his best friend, "But how did they know?"

"Know what?"

"That we were coming? That we were going to go to the Hasanu?"

"Everyone expected the fighting to move to Toscana, so we put most of our resources there, but you're right, there's no way to know that we were sent here." Will muttered, turning thoughtful once again, "The only way for them to know about the plans with the Hasanu specifically would be if they had a spy, which isn't impossible, but with the security we had in place during negotiations, it is highly unlikely, or that there-"

Will cut himself off, looking at them with wide eyes.

"There?" Shigeru prompted.

Will gulped nervously, "There was a traitor at the negotiations. That's how they knew."

"Wait," Horace shook his head in disbelief, "Wait, wait, wait. You're suggesting that someone who came to Araluen to negotiate a treaty to help save their country, sold out their country?"

"Most likely. They could've made a deal with the Temujai, got something in return that they thought was worth it."

"Are we sure it was someone in Araluen? What if it was Arisaka?" Shigeru asked.

"No one else knew our war plans, we didn't send any news ahead, just in case of something exactly like this. No, it was someone at the negotiations." Will told him, "Besides, if it were Arisaka, then he would still want us to go to the Hasanu, he wouldn't have let these messages warn us."

"So why did he?" Horace asked.

Will was quiet for a long moment, trying to piece it together, "Why did he…why did he…what if…what if he wanted us to find out?"

"Come again?"

"Think about it. Arisaka wants to rule the country, but he can't do that if there is no country for him to rule, so he can't have the Temujai invade. He needs the Hasanu as much as we do." Will continued to pace, rolling the edge of his cloak between his fingers unconsciously. He always seems to fidget when he worked on a puzzle like this, "But he's also very smart, he would've read the letters too. If we can figure out that there is a traitor in the alliance from a few letters, it wouldn't be hard for him to figure out the same thing, especially since he's had much longer to work out the problem then we've had today. He also knows that Shigeru would've told the other countries about his attempted rebellion and assassination attempts. He knows that the alliance wouldn't allow him to take the throne. He'd be left alone to fight the Temujai, which is a death sentence. So, he needs a plan that would let him rule the country and stay in the alliance."

Will paused in his movements, turning to face his friends, stunned, "The only way to do that is if Shigeru was completely discredited, charged with treason, and labeled as a traitor."

"That's his plan?! He's setting Shigeru up to take the fall for betraying the alliance?!" Horace burst out in a rage, "That's sick!"

"And smart." Will admitted grudgingly, "Much better than an assassination. You can't pay for an opportunity this great. It's exactly what I would do."

"Then it's lucky we don't have to fight you then." Horace growled, "Now how do we stop him?"

"As much as I would like to stop him, isn't there a more pressing concern?" Shigeru asked, "If the traitor isn't Arisaka, then who did betray us to the Temujai?"

Will sighed, "I don't know, it could've been anyone in Araluen, but the best way to prove your innocence before Arisaka completely discredits you is to find the real traitor."

"We can rule out the Nihon-Ja delegates, along with the Araluen ones." Horace grumbled, still upset, "That just leaves Arrida, Skandia, and Toscana."

"Skandia wasn't happy about not being able to raid. They could've sold us out to keep that." Will mused.

"Toscana was about to be overrun. They might've not had faith in the treaty to protect them and asked the Temujai to spare them in exchange for Nihon-Ja." Sigeru mused.

"Arrida insisted on the marriage to seal the treaty. Was that a lie to give us false security? They have the biggest reason to hate Araluen and swore to destroy us." Horace reminded them.

"I hope not." Will spat, rage filling his eyes at the thought of his sister being used like that.

"I would feel the most confident in Arrida's loyalty." Shigeru said placatingly, "After all, they offered one of their own in marriage to bind the two countries in an unbreakable bond. That seems like a risky thing to do just to betray us."

"Unless Selethen's in on it." Will muttered angrily, "Besides, it was Atanyan who swore vengeance on Araluen. Then he shows up and just sweeps it under the rug?"

"Would he risk his own country just for vengeance though?" Horace asked, "The Arridi don't have the numbers to stand against the Temujai on their own. They need allies just like we need them."

"You think it's someone else?"

"Skandia. Not just for the raiding, but we know they have no problem working for the highest bidder. They already invaded us once, with Morgarath." he said bluntly.

"They aren't ones for backstabbing and tricky politics though. Erak hates that stuff. For him, the simpler something is, the better."

"But they are for putting Skandia first. Out of all of the countries in the alliance, theirs is the easiest to invade. They may have turned fighting into an art form, but they have 5,000 soldiers max throughout the entire country. Going up against the Temujai who have tens of thousands of soldiers? Anyone in that position would be desperate."

Will frowned and they all fell silent, thinking over the possibilities. At this point, it looked like any of them could be the traitor.

"What do we do?" Horace finally asked.

"Send word to Araluen. Trust that they can find the traitor." Shigeru decided, "As much as I want to help figure out who did this, we have to focus on stopping Arisaka and building our defenses here. There's nothing more we can do."

The two Araluens nodded in solemn agreement.

"We'll need a new plan then." Will said, "Let's get started."