The Spirit War(131)
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Josef shouted as a military carriage pulled up through the palace’s eastern gate. “What about the guard?”
The admiral’s face paled. “When the princess turned traitor, she killed out the barracks. The sergeant…”
“Beechum, sir,” the closest guard put in.
“Beechum,” the admiral said. “He’s taking the body count as we speak, but it may be a while before we know how many guardsmen are still in service.”
“Why so long?” Josef said as he climbed into the carriage.
“If I may, sir,” the guard said, holding the carriage door as Eli, Nico, and the admiral climbed in after Josef. “The princess was our captain like Theresa was our queen. She raised most of us up from the city guard, and we were loyal to her like none other. Some of the men still don’t believe she betrayed us. If I hadn’t seen the queen’s death with my own eyes…”
“She was certainly thorough in her treachery,” Josef muttered, leaning out the tiny window. “Just tell the sergeant to send whatever guards he can down to the storm wall. Meanwhile, I want the city watch to start moving people toward the western docks. Get them as far from the east coast as you can. I want Osera empty if war spirits start falling.”
“Yes, sire,” the guard said, saluting.
Josef saluted back, and the carriage pulled away with a lurch, leaving the guard to deliver the king’s orders.
“I can’t see how she could have put us in a worse position,” the admiral said, rubbing a handkerchief across his ashy face as the carriage rattled out into the street. “The queen, the clingfire, and now the guard in shambles. She certainly knew where to hit us.”
“Adela always was good at her job,” Josef said quietly.
The admiral went paler still and kept any other opinions to himself.
The storm wall was crawling with sailors by the time they arrived. The man made way for the carriage, and the driver pulled them right up to the tower door. The admiral led Josef and his companions up the stairs, calling for his captains as they went. When they reached the top of the watchtower, Eli was pleased to see that the bodies from earlier had been removed. The stains on the wood floor remained, however. A grisly reminder.
“Right,” Eli said, surveying the room and the commanding view of the sea. “This will be our headquarters. Can we get a map of the coastline?”
The admiral jerked. “I don’t take orders from—”
“Eli’s with me,” Josef said firmly.
The admiral dropped his eyes. “Yes, majesty.”
Eli smiled as the admiral turned and started toward the steps. “And don’t forget my Spiritualist!”
The old admiral’s shoulders twitched, but he nodded as he disappeared down the stairs.
“I could get used to this,” Eli said, but Josef wasn’t listening. He was standing at the window, his face pale as he stared at the now clearly visible line of ships on the horizon.
“Surely the master of the Heart of War is not afraid of death,” Tesset said, stepping up beside him.
“Not mine,” Josef whispered as the admiral returned with soldiers bearing tables and maps, which they set up under Eli’s direction.
Thirty minutes later, news of the queen’s death had spread throughout the city. Surprisingly, this seemed to calm the panic spurred by Josef’s fight with Adela. Whatever his faults, Josef was an Eisenlowe, and with news of the princess’s betrayal and the Empress’s arrival spreading fast, having a murderer as a king suddenly didn’t seem so bad. Riders moved constantly back and forth between the bay and the palace, bringing Josef reports. The royal guard had recovered faster than the admiral had estimated. Adela’s betrayal had caught them hardest of all. Of the two hundred men once under the princess’s command, half were now dead by her hand. This had galvanized the hundred that remained, however, and they marched to the coast to put themselves under Josef’s command.
Men from the city were pouring down the mountain as well, answering the call of the bells to defend their homeland. They gathered on the storm wall, accepting their orders from the captains with stern-faced determination. Eli watched from the tower, impressed. He’d expected a riot, or at least more panic, but the people of Osera seemed to be handling the wave of change that had crashed into their kingdom by focusing on the one thing that was still the same—defending their home against the Empress.
The captains were dividing the crowd into crews when a carriage pulled onto the storm wall. A few minutes later, a guard poked his head into the watchtower and announced that Eli’s Spiritualist had arrived.