“We didn’t hear your answer, General,” the man shouted. “They only relayed the words of the Sakovan. Will you give her the guarantee?”
“We are going to discuss it,” snapped the general.
“Discuss it?” shouted another man. “What is there to discuss? She is offering to give the citizens food. If you don’t guarantee it, perhaps you and your soldiers should start getting your food from Okata. There won’t be enough here for us to share with you.”
The general grumbled under his breath and stormed into the headquarters. The mayor waited for Lyra to enter before following. The general strode along the corridor and into his office. By the time the mayor and Lyra arrived, the general was already seated behind his desk. The mayor offered the chair before the desk to Lyra and then dragged another one over for himself. The general saw a soldier walking past the door and ordered him to close it.
“A very elegant speech,” the mayor stated to break the silence.
“Elegant?” snapped the general. “Just what do you propose I tell the citizens when Romero arrives? Or better yet, what are you going to tell them, Mayor Reaker? This city will erupt into full scale rioting. All of my men will be busy trying to keep order in Alamar.”
“Does that mean that they won’t have time to come to the Sakova to murder your innocent neighbors?” posed Lyra.
“Enough,” shouted the general. “This is not some game we are playing here. You are fast losing whatever sympathy I had for your troubles. You have shown a careless disregard for the very people that you say you are trying to save from starvation. Romero’s men will not stand for the citizens rioting. He will kill them.”
“What will you do when he starts to kill them?” Lyra scowled. “Will you stand by and watch them die?”
General Romero slammed his fist down on the desk in a fit of rage. The veins in his head bulged and his mouth contorted grotesquely.
“It is a valid question,” Mayor Reaker said calmly. “What can we do when General Romero starts to mistreat our people?”
“He wouldn’t find it necessary to deal with them if I had things under control,” snapped the general. “If she hadn’t stirred them up with false promises, there would be no problem to deal with.”
“My promises were not false,” Lyra said softly. “I am not trying to harm these people, General. I truly want to help them. What would you do in my place?”
The general calmed down as he thought about Lyra’s question. His veins dampened, and he sighed in frustration.
“I am fortunate not to be in your position,” admitted the general. “With all that is going on, why are you so concerned about the people of Alamar? You should be preparing to defend the Sakova.”
“We are preparing our defenses,” declared the Star of Sakova, “but I do not look forward to killing thousands of Omungan soldiers. If only their leaders would listen to reason, their lives can be spared.”
“Meaning people like me?” frowned the general.
“I certainly hope not,” answered Lyra. “I was referring to people like the Katana and his trio of bloodthirsty generals. Romero, Didyk, and Valdey have been pursuing a war with the Sakovans for some time. How it advances their agenda, I do not know, but I do know that General Didyk was just in Khadora recently. Perhaps there is treachery behind his treachery. I cannot know for sure.”
“Didyk in Khadora?” questioned the general. “Why in the world would he go there? Never mind. Didyk is not the problem here. You made an accusation in the marketplace before. You said that the Katana might have a reason for turning away from peace. What did you mean?”
“As I said before,” replied Lyra, “I have had meetings with Larst before he became the Katana. We had a true agreement of purpose between the two of us. Our last meeting was the day before the Katana was chosen. I offered to build three roads through the Sakova as part of the pending peace agreement. He was excited about it. He intended to bring it up at the Katana’s Council meeting the next day.”
“Perhaps he was feigning excitement?” interjected Mayor Reaker.
“No,” Lyra responded. “Larst helped me get my people out of Okata when the last Katana died. He was a man who was truly dedicated to peace.”
“Was?” questioned the general. “What do you mean was? The Katana is still alive.”
“Indeed the Katana is,” declared Lyra, “but that man is not Larst.”
“Preposterous,” bellowed the general. “What do you mean he is not Larst?”
“I mean some magician has stolen his body,” replied Lyra. “It had to have happened the day I last saw him. Once the Katana’s shield are in place, no mage could get near enough to him to assume his identity.”
“That does sound absurd,” interjected Mayor Reaker. “Such a thing is not possible.”
“That is what I thought at first,” Lyra said. “I wondered how I could have so poorly misjudged a man. That was before I learned that such a thing just happened recently in Khadora. A magician took over a lord’s body and brought Jiadin warriors into Khadora from Fakara. As with the Katana, the man looked the same, but his actions were the opposite of what people expected him to do.”
“That is probably just a tale,” Mayor Reaker shook his head.
“No,” declared General Manitow. “I heard reports about the Jiadin in Khadora. They were indeed invited into Khadora by rogue lords. General Valdey mentioned something about it being a wise time to invade Khadora while they were preoccupied elsewhere.”
“Why didn’t we attack?” asked the mayor.
“The Katana’s Council forbade any such talk,” replied the general. “They said that we were a nation at peace and that we were going to stay that way.”
“And who was leading the Katana’s Council that spoke so elegantly for peace?” questioned Lyra with a victorious smile.
“First Minister Larst,” conceded the general. “Look, I will agree that attacking the Sakova makes absolutely no sense to me. And that is coming from a military man, but I am not the one making the decisions.”
“But you are the decision maker for a thousand men,” countered Lyra. “A thousand men and many thousands of Omungan citizens.”
“I only lead them,” sighed the general. “What is it that you expect me to do? Sacrifice my men to General Romero’s army?”
“Never,” Lyra shook her head vigorously, “but there are other ways.”
“What other ways?” asked Mayor Reaker.
“Stall and delay,” answered Lyra. “I will keep this city flush with food for your men and your citizens. General Romero’s troops will have none. How is he going to feed his ten thousand men if you refuse to let him enter the city without proof that his orders come directly from the Katana?”
“That is treason,” balked the general. “I might as well hang myself.”
“How is that treason?” retorted Lyra. “You just said yourself that the orders make absolutely no sense from a military standpoint. Would you not be remiss in not demanding verification of such ridiculous orders?”
“You are good,” grinned the mayor as he looked at the Star. “We could not possibly let ten thousand men into a starving city. They would eat all the food meant for the citizens. Everything would be gone in a day.”
“But General Romero will demand entrance to the city,” the general shook his head. “He will see the abundant stores of food.”
“Only if he gets this far,” argued the mayor. “This is something that we can do, General.”
“How?” asked General Manitow.
“The mage Temiker has a plan for revitalizing our farms,” explained the mayor. “The plan requires the burning of diseased fields, which means all of them. We also have to build large fences to halt the spread of the disease to the new fields. He has asked for the help of the citizens. I have agreed.”