Ruler of the Realm

Fourteen

‘It makes sense,’ Blue said.

They were seated among the orchids in the conservatory behind the Throne Room. It was a strange place for a Council of War, but her father had protected it with so many spells it was the most private chamber in the palace.

Blue’s eyes moved from one to the other. Gatekeeper Fogarty still looked an old man, but the rejuvenation treatments were beginning to bite. There was an energy about him and he had better skin. Beside him, Madame Cardui was sitting with her eyes closed, but Blue knew she was very much awake. These two were her friends. The disapproving looks came from the three uniformed Generals: Creerful, Vanelke and Ovard. She wished Pyrgus would get here. She felt outnumbered.

Blue licked her lips. ‘Look at it the way they will,’ she said. ‘Everything’s been topsy-turvy for months. Uncle Hairstreak has tried to take over the throne twice and failed -’

‘Which is precisely the reason why he’s unlikely to try again, Majesty,’ General Ovard put in patiently.

He’d been her father’s closest military advisor. But she could not afford to show weakness. ‘Let me finish, General.’ Then, without waiting for a response, she turned to the others. ‘Hairstreak’s still ambitious. And even though he failed, the Faeries of the Night still back him.’

‘They won’t have much stomach for another failure,’ Ovard muttered.

This time Blue ignored him. ‘Now look at the other side of the picture. We came close to losing first time. What ha-’

‘Oh, come, Your Majesty, I’d hardly say we came close to losing.’ Not Ovard this time but General Creerful. They were old men. Senior military were always old men. Empress or not, they would never take her seriously. They looked at her and saw a little girl.

Blue glared at him. ‘My father, the Purple Emperor, was murdered, General. I’d say that brought us pretty close to losing.’

Creerful dropped his eyes and said nothing. After a moment, Blue went on, ‘What happened next was a clever plot that could have succeeded. In fact, it very nearly did. Don’t forget my brother was banished from the Purple Palace. We were very, very lucky to find the allies we did. We could never have turned the tide without them. We can’t count on that sort of luck a second time and my uncle knows it.’

Madame Cardui opened her eyes. ‘The Forest Faerie are our friends,’ she said gently. ‘I’m certain they might be persuaded to help us again.’

Blue admired Madame Cardui hugely, but she fixed her with a steady gaze. ‘The Forest Faerie are your friends,’ she said firmly. ‘That’s not the same thing. When they helped us before, their own interests were involved. We can’t be sure they’ll help us again.’

Madame Cardui nodded mildly and closed her eyes again. ‘Perhaps you’re right, Majesty.’

Blue turned back to the others. ‘Now look at what’s happened the way a Faerie of the Night would. The Purple Emperor was killed. The new Purple Emperor abdicated. Now there’s a child on the throne. And a girl-child at that!’

Suddenly everybody was talking at once. Even Madame Cardui opened her eyes again.

Blue held up a hand for silence. ‘ Look at it!’ she said fiercely. ‘I’m only just sixteen years old. I have no experience of politics or fighting wars or anything like that. And I’m a girl. It’s only because my brother didn’t want the throne that I’m here now. I’d never have become Queen. I was supposed to grow up quietly and marry some foreign prince and give him lots of stupid babies. I wasn’t supposed to know about affairs of State. I was supposed to look pretty and get on with it. That’s how my father saw me. That’s how my uncle sees me. That’s how I’m seen by the Faeries of the Night.’

Gatekeeper Fogarty spoke for the first time since the meeting began. ‘She’s right,’ he said.

Blue glanced at him gratefully. ‘Put yourself in their place. Your enemy has already been weakened and is now being led by a child who knows nothing about anything. Can you think of a better time to attack?’

Fogarty said stonily, ‘So what’s your solution?’

This was it. Despite his question, Mr Fogarty knew where she was heading. It was time the others did the same.

‘I told you my solution before we started this meeting, Gatekeeper. We attack first.’

General Ovard choked, then rounded on her apoplectically. ‘That will start a civil war!’

Blue took a deep breath. ‘Yes,’ she said.

There was a long silence, which General Vanelke eventually broke. He was the oldest of the three Generals, a veteran of several campaigns and usually the first to voice an opinion. He’d been uncharacteristically quiet throughout this meeting, but now he cleared his throat.

‘You are a child, Majesty,’ he said bluntly. ‘If we’re honest, we all have to acknowledge that, and it’s the job of older heads to guide you where we can. But far more important is the fact you’ve never seen a war. The first Nighter action was halted before it really got under way. The second was an act of treachery that produced one small battle. Neither time came to war. But it’s war you’re proposing now, Majesty.’

Watching him, Blue nodded. ‘Yes. Your point being, General Vanelke?’

‘My point,’ said the old General soberly, ‘is that those who have never experienced war are often fastest to go to war. They simply don’t appreciate the enormity of the step.’ He leaned forward. ‘Let me explain to you, Majesty, what war – and especially civil war – will mean to the Realm. First and foremost, it will mean death. Not hundreds, but thousands, perhaps even millions would lose their lives. And not the old and the useless, but the youngest and finest, the very flower of our Realm, with the greatest potential and the very best of their lives ahead of them. The loss of just one such would be a tragedy. War multiplies that tragedy beyond calculation.’

Blue made to comment, but he held her with his eyes and pressed on. ‘Secondly, there will be pain. To you, Majesty, war is a decision, a stroke of the pen. To others, it may be the loss of their arms or legs, blindness, disability. And not just your soldiers, Majesty. They’re arguably paid to accept such risks. But civilians will suffer too. In any civil war, civilian casualties are always enormous.

‘Then there will be destruction. Even a short, decisive war – which civil wars seldom are – causes widespread destruction. Weapon spells have reached formidable proportions nowadays. Our enemy is well-equipped. Are you ready to inflict such spells on your people? Are you ready to count the cost that will be paid by future generations?’ He squared his shoulders. ‘And finally,’ he said, ‘although you may consider this treasonable, there is the possibility that we will not win.’

Blue said quietly, ‘Our cause is just, General.’ She knew what he said was true, every word of it, but what if the choice wasn’t between war and peace? What if it was a choice between war and a greater war, a longer war, an even more bloody war? Although she fought hard to show nothing of her feelings, Blue was terrified. She’d thought long and hard about what she was going to do. She was certain – fairly certain – it was the right thing. But she was terrified it might not be. General Vanelke, if he only knew it, was voicing every doubt she had.

‘Justice has nothing to do with it,’ he went on relentlessly. ‘God sides with the strong and the victor writes the history books. You talked a moment ago about the Feral Faerie as possible allies – or at least the Painted Lady did. The Faeries of the Night have their own powerful allies – the demon hordes of Hael. The portals may be closed now, but war would produce an enormous incentive to get them open again. And when they open, we may find we have bitten off far more than we can chew.’

Which was true as well. The fact that the Hael portals were closed had been a big factor in her decision. But like Vanelke she knew they might not stay closed for ever. Everything depended on how fast they moved, how fast they won. Blue suddenly felt very old. Before she became Empress, it had all seemed so very simple. You had the Realm and you ruled it – what could be simpler? But once the crown was on her head, it all became so complicated.

‘The problem, General Vanelke,’ she said patiently, ‘is that you talk as if it’s a choice between war and peace. But I don’t believe that’s the choice we face. I believe my uncle will very soon decide to begin a war himself and we shall face all the horrors you describe and worse, with two added disadvantages: we won’t be prepared and we’ll have lost the element of surprise. At least if we strike first, we may get a quick victory and reduce the horrors to a minimum.’

‘Perhaps we can avoid the horrors altogether,’ a new voice interrupted.