Tae prepared to ease the basket of foodstuffs and wine from the cart.
"I can help you, at least," the sailor offered, still apparently feeling guilty.
Tae hesitated. He did not know exactly how to keep the generals talking with him in the room, aside from requests, demands, and complaints about the foodstuffs and his service. The only thought that came to him would involve an act Imorelda and Matrinka would call "exceedingly stupid"; but, first, he needed to learn a new phrase in the alsona's language.
Tae hefted the basket, finding it heavier than he expected, and deliberately placed himself into the sailor's path. As he intended, the sailor bumped him. Tae exaggerated the impact, stumbling several steps and juggling the basket.
The sailor apologized, catching hold of the basket to steady it in Tae's grasp. Tae focused on the sailor's words and tone as he tried to make the simple act of catching his balance look difficult.
"That's all right." Tae glanced down the open hatch, eyes widening. "I probably only would have broken my neck."
The sailor gave a more profuse apology, bowing slightly as he did so. "I really am sorry. Why don't I just do it?"
Tae waved him off. "I've got it, and I'm fine. If you could just close the hatch behind me, please."
"Sure. Least I can do."
Tae took a solid grip on the basket. He moved confidently now, not wanting the sailor to insist on taking the job back. He now knew how to apologize, and he expected to do a whole lot of that in the next few moments. He edged down the ladder, placing his feet as carefully as possible. As his head went below the deck, the sailor gently and quietly closed the hatch.
As he did so, something soft brushed Tae's cheek. He stiffened for an instant before dismissing it as a wad of dust or a cobweb, a last breath of wind funneled through the closing hatch. Then, something scraped against his right ankle. Tae twisted away from it. The momentum of the basket threw off his usually impeccable timing. His foot touched down on empty air instead of the rung he expected. His free hand caught another too hard, slamming painfully against iron, and he felt himself starting to fall.
Instinctively, Tae let go of the basket to secure his hand- and toeholds. Abruptly realizing he might garner a bit more sympathy and less rage if he went down with it, he went against every survival trick he ever knew and followed the plummeting basket.*Look out!* he tried to send in warning.
Bottled wine, bread, and crockery tumbled from the falling basket, bouncing from the iron rungs. Glass chimed against metal. Splashed with bits of glass and droplets of liquid, Tae covered his face and throat as he fell, hoping to land as nearly on his feet as possible.
Tae hit the ground hard, tumbling through a mess of butter, squashing a fine white loaf, and feeling hunks of glass pressing into his skin. He landed, face first, in the basket, which skidded across the floor.
A deafening silence followed.
Careful not to dislodge his wig, Tae freed himself from the basket to look at the generals. The nearest three had leaped from their seats, wine puddling at their feet. Four remained at a large table that contained three oil lamps and a large map of the southern, eastern, and western coasts of Tae's continent. Tae's gaze lingered longest on the being at the head of the table. Seated, he towered over the others, even the standing generals. Tae guessed he was at least half again as tall as King Griff. He had coarse features, his nose obscenely broad and bulbous, his ears as big as a man's hand, and his jaw as wide as the top of his head. He stared at Tae through narrowed dark eyes, his wide lips drawn tight in a frown.
Tae scrambled to his feet, apologizing at least twenty times as he bowed repeatedly, lower each time. He tried to simulate the sailor's most conciliatory tone and added at the end, "I couldn't possibly be more sorry, and I will clean up every bit of this mess immediately."
The giant, obviously Firuz the Kjempemagiska growled out, "What's your name, sailor?"
Tae swallowed hard, not having to feign fear. He knew from his conversations in the dungeon that the Kjempemagiska would not hesitate to tear an alsona in half, burn him alive, or roll him in a vat of scalding acid. He did not fully understand their conventions of naming. It seemed best to use a name he already knew was alsona. He kept his head low, dodging the giant's gaze. "Jaxon, my lord."
"Well, Jaxon. Perhaps after you've cleaned this mess and are prepared to bring us more food, you'll have the wisdom to make two trips."
That's it? The Kjempemagiska did not seem nearly as cruel as the imprisoned alsona had suggested. I don't suppose they can punish every infraction with death. Otherwise, they would lose their servants: if not to murder, then to paralyzing fear, escape, or mutiny. "Yes, my lord. Thank you, my lord. How wise of you, my lord."
Tae set to the task of cleaning, attempting to appear eagerly efficient while actually lingering over the task.
The standing generals retook their seats.
The Kjempemagiska went back to business. "They have armies on how many beachfronts currently?"
The general Tae now knew as Fallon responded. "We believe three, my lord. Two on the south coast, with mountains between them, and one on the west coast."
"None on the east?" someone asked incredulously.
Tae casually turned his head toward the table to see one of the generals tracing the coast of his own realm.
"It's wide open."
Another man spoke as Tae returned to picking up the largest shards of glass and laying them in the basket. He had known bringing the Eastern forces westward would open his coast to attack. The alsona could take the entire country with little resistance, but the same geographical concerns that kept the East separated from the West most times would come into play.
Another of the generals pointed out what Tae already knew. "Wide open, but essentially useless. This band of mountains cuts the eastern part of the continent off from every other place. There's only one workable pass, and that's guarded by a large force here."
Tae did not have to look to know where "here" was. The East's only connection to the remainder of their world was the pass onto the barren Western Plains, where the Eastern army now massed. He set to gathering the smaller shards of glass. He appreciated the cloth lining the basket; he would not need to go above decks looking for rags to sop up the spillage.
"That could also work as an advantage." A new voice this time. "If we take the eastern quarter of the continent, we can fortify it. So long as we protect that pass, we're safe.Then, once we have magical forces, we can go over the mountains and attack from every direction."
Firuz' voice was ice. "You're awfully free with the lives of your masters, Kalka."
Kalka apologized as profusely as Tae had. "You're right, of course, my lord. I wasn't thinking."
A tense silence settled over the group. Tae paid them no obvious attention, trying to look absolutely absorbed in his work. He could only guess at the details. Apparently, they intended for the alsona to fully front the battle, keeping the Kjempemagiska safely home until needed. That boded well for the allies, at least until the war reached that critical stage.
Apparently trying to defuse the situation, Fallon cleared his throat. "We haven't checked the northern shores, my lord. North of these mountains…"
Northern Weathered Range, Tae filled in, still on the floor working to clean up the mess.
"… it's uninhabitably cold, by our reckoning."
Except to Northmen, Tae finished. And they're just crazy.
"Where, exactly, are the beachfronts?" someone asked. "Here, I assume, for one. And here."
Tae wished he could see where they indicated, but looking too often posed an unaffordable risk.
"Correct," Fallon said. "And the third one's here, on the west side. They have the largest army concentrated here."