The next day began like any other for Maria Campbell as she woke up early and quickly ate the breakfast that Lasciel provided for her—the castle was always making food at all hours—then headed out to the king to act as his body guard.
"Ah, prompt as always, my knight," the king said after Maria had been allowed into his presence and the door behind her had been shut firmly.
Maria lowered herself on one knee, holding out her arms she would have if she had been before the Vileblood Queen. "Your Majesty."
For a moment, the king stared at her, then glanced sideways at General Solcrista, who had either been acting as the king's guard during the night or had been discussing matters with him before Maria had arrived. The general did not seem to react, simply meeting the king's eyes. Whatever the latter saw caused the king to nod and turn his attention back to Maria. "My knight, I have decided upon our response to La Sable's intrusion. Indeed, my decision has been made for some time, but it was necessary to make it appear that We are willing to delay our response and give La Sable the impression they have time to prepare."
Maria considered that. "Should I assume that a more immediate attack of La Sable is intended, your Majesty?" It was the only reason she could conceive of that would benefit from La Sable believing Sorcier was not likely to attack soon— wait. "May I ask why I am being informed, my king?"
"Because I want you to attack La Sable, my knight," the king said.
Maria processed that. "I believe I need more information, your Majesty."
The king nodded. "It is my view that in lieu of a full war, a measured and reciprocal response to La Sable's attack would serve as a better punitive measure, while at the same time limiting the degree to which La Sable will be destabilized. To that end, We have decided that We will be conducting our own infiltration and attack on La Sable. According to our informants, the Senate of La Sable is currently trying to decide who will succeed Lord Horntuba as the Lord Presider. This will be an ideal opportunity."
Maria blinked in surprised. "The La Sablicans removed the ruler of their nation without having a successor prepared?" She would have thought that someone had taken the opportunity to take the Lord Presider's place and had orchestrated the man's removal, smoothly taking the soul of rule. How was that not the case?
The king seemed to see the question on her face. "The Lord Presider had many opponents. It seems they had a short-lived alliance to remove him from power. Now that they have done so, the alliance is fractured as all factions seek to claim the throne for themselves."
What a strangely… familiar arrangement.
"While they meet, you will use the opportunity to attack the senate with the express purpose of capturing the leaders of the various factions, the current High Senator, and as many of the nobility and persons of interest as you can. Once you have done so, you will present our demand for La Sable's surrender, holding the prisoners hostage as leverage, as well as send a signal to our person utilizing a particular magic tool that allows for long-distance communication using magic. On the receipt of such a signal, We will mobilize forces to the border of La Sable to force their armies to hold their ground instead of retreating to the capital to attempt to liberate their senate."
Maria stared blankly at the king at this, wished she had tried a little harder to dissuade her squire(!-!-!-!). Such an attack would be extremely difficult for her to conduct, and having her squire along would not really be an improvement. "Enacting such an attack by myself will be difficult, your Majesty. I will require assistance."
The king stared at her for a moment, a strange expression on his face that strengthened his resemblance to the younger pair of his sons. "You will be accompanied by other knights, Dame Maria." Wait, why was the king speaking to her as if she was Katarina? "I doubt even you can bring all of La Sable to its knees without assistance." He paused. "Could you?"
"That would depend if I may use Dark Magic and commit atrocities, your Majesty." Not that she wished to commit atrocities—she did not wish to have to throw her new friend into another well—but if she was ordered to do this, she would have to in order to buy enough time to accomplish her orders.
The king and General Solcrista both stared at her again, and for some reason their expressions brought Mary Hunt to mind. Maria had no idea why. "Do not commit atrocities," the king ordered. "At least, not against the innocent. If you absolutely must, ensure that only ones affected are the knights and soldiery who come to face you. Giving La Sable an atrocity under which they may rally their rage will make forcing them to surrender more difficult."
Maria nodded, internally relieved. There will not be another fishing hamlet. "Understood, my king. Who will be accompanying me?"
"I have already discussed my plan with the representatives and other monarchs, and they have agreed to send some of their knights to represent them on this sortie. However, as my chosen representative in this matter, including them among the number of knights who will accompany you will be at your discretion. You may recruit as many knights as you believe necessary, but it must be done in absolute secrecy. The time have until La Sable suspects we are acting is limited."
She frowned. Maria had been hoping that there were already knights chosen for this who would simply be told to accompany her, similar to the incident with the Dark Familiar dragon, but if she had to recruit them herself…
Well. Unfortunately, while she knew many by reputation, and a few by association, there very few knights she actually knew personally. Those she felt comfortable summoning to something like this could be counted on one hand with fingers to spare: Dame Matthew, Dame Dustiness, and perhaps Sir Cett. And the fact she was hesitating at his name made it clear to her they were probably not close enough for that. And while she knew the knights who had been assigned to guard the Arsenal Workshop's manufactories, it would be irresponsible of her to strip the workshop of its protectors.
For the first time in her life, Maria was regretting not having socialized more. While Dames Matthew and Dustiness would have been sufficient assistance in her previous life as a hunter, and equally sufficient if she was requesting assistance to, say, clear out a cavern system that had become a nest for ogres or to fight the paledrake reborn yet again—which was most definitely not Lady Ascart, as that would be wrong and very silly to say—Maria was fairly certain she needed more if she was going to capture the entire La Sablican senate.
Even though the other nations were pledging knights to this—and she wondered how the king had managed that, given the rather graphic and ray traced imagery Queen Xiulan evoked when she was talking about why all the other nations should agree to a war of total annihilation—because of her duties Maria wasn't really familiar with their capabilities save for the bodyguards of the various monarchs, and even then, it was only from the briefing she had been given about them. Doubtless they were all capable warriors who had git gud—else why would they be part of the delegation or even being pledged to this endeavor—but with her ignorance, Maria would not know how best to utilize their skills. While they would probably inform her at to their strengths if asked—probably—it would be a show of weakness on her part, and by extension Sorcier. And while they were allies now, La Sable's betrayal had shown that could change at any moment.
Well, first things first. "Where am I to collect this magic tool, your majesty? How long do I have to make preparations?" Maria said.
"I leave the preparations to your discretion, my knight, but I advise you to be swift. Your absence as my bodyguard will be noted immediately, and your actions will be watched as a result. As such, it is inevitable this news will eventually reach La Sable, even if they will have no reason to suspect the cause. As to the magic tool, meet with my eldest son. The magic tool is currently in his possession. However, I am told it will require an operator."
Maria felt her face going flat. She took a moment to remind herself of who had assisted her in rescuing her mother, and the injuries accrued as a result, and that such things made certain people her friend. "Ah. I will be required to have Larna Smith accompany me, then?"
Something that might have been sympathy briefly flickered across the king's face. "I am told her time working under the new director of the Magic Tool Department has greatly improved her discipline," he said.
She didn't slump. Knights didn't slump. Besides, the woman was a friend! She had helped rescue Maria's mother! Had broken her ankles as a result! It would be very rude to think uncharitable things of her! "Understood, your majesty. I will meet with his Highness to acquire the magic tool and… arrange for the operator to meet me when I have finished my preparations. I… I will set out in three days. Five in the utmost."
Th king nodded. "Then I expect to hear that you have collected the magic tool from my eldest in three days, my knight. Five at the latest." He gestured, and General Solcrista stepped forward, handing Maria a large leather satchel. "This is a list of those that the other nations have pledged may be included in this mission, our latest maps of La Sable, it's capital, a map of the Capitol Palace where its senate meets, and other materials that may be useful to you. Should you find yourself unable to conceive of a viable plan of attack or conclude that this is beyond your capabilities, inform the Prime Minister before noon tomorrow. Do you have any further questions, my knight?"
Maria considered it. "Am I allowed the use of dragons, and would the King Below allow us to use their tunnels to enter La Sable and the Capitol Palace?"
"If you can submit a viable plan of attack that requires it," General Solcrista said, looking both faintly amused and understanding but firm, "at most two dragons will be authorized for use. Three, if the plan looks especially promising. However, such a plan being approved is unlikely. If we thought than any number of dragons would assure us immediate victory, we would have them in flight already."
"As to the latter," the king said, "I fear that the King Below has already made his views known. None may walk his lands to wage war. Despite this, however, he was clearly angry at this intrusion. Be wary of any rats you meet, my knight. They do not make war as we do."
Maria nodded. Well, there went any convenient solutions. She'd simply have to do things the hard way: gather as many knights and knights who were also magic wielders as she could and engage in jolly cooperation. "Then by your leave, my king. I have the fall of a nation to prepare."
The king and General Solcrista both looked at each other again. "You are dismissed, my knight. And should you need to speak to Prime Minister Ascart, I will understand."
Maria nodded, rose, and left.
Outside, Maria hefted the leather satchel. Weighty. She began walking back the way she came with the vague thought of studying it, perhaps joining Rafael for breakfast since she wasn't occupied…
Shaking her head, she began to consider the task ahead of her. Of course, this returned her thoughts to her original problem: she didn't know all that many knights. And while she could theoretically just walk into any of the castle's barracks and draft every knight there, that still left her with the problem of being unfamiliar with their characters, dispositions and histories. How experienced were they? Who could they work well with? Unfortunately, it wasn't as if there was some sort of repository of all that knowledge that she could simply… access…
…
Oh.
Maria began to walk faster.
By the time Maria managed to return to her rooms—fortunately, the path back hadn't changed and none of the doors had been closed and locked so they wouldn't open from her side—Katarina was still in the middle of putting on her clothes. "Oh, Ma—Dame Maria! Did you forget something?"
"Squire, I need your help," Maria said. She set down the satchel and opened it, revealing the contents. Map, map, map, road map… ah, list of names. Maria pulled it out, and glanced over it, then nodded to herself. She turned back to Katarina. "I need you tell me everything you know about the people on this list."
Katarina blinked, taking the paper and reading down it. Maria was surprised to realize that Katarina could actually read surprisingly fast. Though, given the number of novels she read… huh. "Ah… oh, I know all these people! Why do you need to know about them?"
"I will explain later," Maria said.
"Oh, okay! Who do you want to know about first?"
"Start from the top and work your way down," Maria said. "Lasciel, could you fetch breakfast for Katarina? We need to speak in private."
Lasciel paused, glancing at Katarina. "Uh… I'll need help to carry all that food, my lady."
Anne finished putting away Katarina's sleepwear. "I will assist you."
"Ooh, can you get me some of that chocolate-hazelnut spreads, Anne?"
"I will inquire if there is any available, my lady."
"Yay! You're the best, Anne!"
"The list, my squire?"
"Oh, right. Well, there's Sir Aaron Aaronson…"