The Lady of Rolika by Brendan Noble

Author:Brendan Noble [Noble, Brendan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-03-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11 – Kostroma

“WE MARCH THEM TO THEIR DEATHS.”

Hands held behind him, the ever-positive Commander Timo paced at the base of the steps before Kostroma’s throne. She would’ve scorned most for the distracting motion, but Timo was adorable when he was flustered. Warriors hid their anxieties more than anyone. That made it all the more refreshing to know he trusted her enough to reveal that side of himself.

Kostroma took in a deep sigh, crossing her legs. Her embroidered dress’s mountains of indigo fabric covered her enough to almost block sight of Timo below. Solgawi beauty standards were a bore. She yearned to return to her temple and free her skin, but she’d waited too long for her brother’s return. He lay unconscious in her chambers for the time being. Once he woke, she needed to be ready to counter Marzanna’s plans with her own. Pleasure could wait.

“Tell me what I should do, then,” she said. “These are your men. You know how they think, how they fight.”

He stopped to the side. His stump of a finger wiggled at his back as he thought, staring at the ground. It was just the two of them in the throne room, and that alone was against decorum enough to drive a stickler like Timo insane. “My apologies, Lady Kostroma, but they fear what you ask of them. We intend to face three deities and deceive another. My men are determined, loyal. This…” He looked at her over his shoulder, worry evident in his eyes. “This is enough to make the bravest warrior quake in his boots.”

“Yet you do not,” she offered with a playful laugh. “Fear is natural, but you do not quiver or flee.”

He straightened his posture and turned to her. An officer’s stance, not an advisor’s or friend’s. It was hard for Kostroma to know what he was to her, but the formality made her chest ache. “I am loyal to you, my lady. You have my trust and my sword no matter what we face, but my men do not know you as I do. Skepticism breeds discontent. Discontent leads to desertion and chaos. We can afford neither during the war ahead.”

“Not ahead.”

“I’m sorry, my lady, but I don’t understand.”

Slowly, she rose, descending the throne’s steps with her skirts following her as if she were the tide and they the rushing waters. Timo held his ground, but swallowed when she stopped before him—too close for a queen and commander. Still, he did not retreat. Good.

“The war is not ahead,” she said. The echo amplified her voice here, and she took a moment to revel in the reminder of the power she wielded. “It began the moment Minna entered my temple… No, the moment she stepped foot in Rolika. Men think of wars as battles and blood, but the most dangerous ones begin quietly. Kings fall because they fail to realize it is the games in the shadows that determine the winner on the battlefield far before the first sword is drawn from its sheath.

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