In a few quick actions the campsite looked completely natural and unused. The group rapidly began to move out across the park preserve, all of them falling into a natural sort of protective circle around Ambrea.
“Explain something to me,” Suna asked a while later when the sound of her own breathlessness got on her nerves. She was not cut out for all of this adventure and activity. She was more content to enjoy her mistress’s company, to entertain her with wit and intellect, games and quieter hobbies. The lady Ambrea had never been one for sports, even those that were considered seemly for a woman of royal station, and that had been just fine with Suna. “Why all of this clandestine scrabbling about? Why doesn’t the IM just come into Allay andforce the regent to hand over the imperial seat to its rightful mistress?”
“There may come a time for that,” Commander Chapel said.
“But it wouldn’t do much good if the true heir was in his power, at the tip of his knife,” Ender said dryly. “The moment the first soldier set foot in the Allayan presence chamber, the regent could have run into the wet rooms and cut Ambrea’s throat. Then he would actually be the sole surviving and rightful heir to Allay. We had to secure your mistress before anything and everything else.”
“Besides, Suna,” Ambrea said quietly, “would you have all of Allay under martial law?”
“You mean
foreign
martial law,” Suna scoffed. “Allay has been under martial law for decades. The emperor’s troops are always everywhere. They call themselves a policing force, but what they really are is an army.” Her eyes went wide as a terrible thought filled her head. “What if he won’t abdicate his power? What if he decides to use that army to keep out the IM?”
“He wouldn’t dare,” Ambrea said, although it was clear she wasn’t so sure. “That would make Allay the first country in the Three Worlds to break faith with the IM charter. Oh, Ephemeral Being, he would plunge Allay into a nightmare! War with the Three Worlds? Never mind the bloodshed; the socioeconomic ramifications would be crippling. There would be trade sanctions, the entire continent would be shut down from travel and tourism, and anything that Allay is dependent on from outside its borders would quickly be cut off and the people would suffer for it.”
Like food. Allay was not nearly self-sufficient enough in its farming production to feed its entire population. They were quite dependent on food recombinant technologies. Then again, most places were these days. It was the raw materials and fuels to run those technologiesthat Allay imported heavily. If the IM imposed sanctions on Allay, those materials and fuels would be denied. They would make the population of Allay miserable, putting Balkin in the position of managing an unruly, angry country. It would force a revolution.
But lives could be lost that way. A great many Allayan lives. By starvation or in battle, people would die.
“I would not see the people of Allay suffer,” Ambrea said softly. Ender scoffed under his breath, but she noted it. “What? You’ve something to say about it?” She didn’t mean to be so rude to this man who had rescued her, but the obvious disapproval in the hard lines of his face rubbed her the wrong way.
“Princess, if you think you can make this omelet without breaking some eggs, you’re in for a world of surprise.”
“Spoken like a true soldier. You’d rather bash and smash and maim and kill your way from point A to point B,” she snapped at him.
“Lady, you’ve got it so wrong,” he bit off at her. “And that doesn’t surprise me in the least. From what I hear, you’ve been raised in a bubble, ignorant of how these worlds really work, of how people really work. In my opinion, you—”
“Arms master,” Chapel cut him off sharply. “We’re not paid to have an opinion. We have a job to do. So let’s do it.”
“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir,” Ender said
“Explain something to me,” Suna asked a while later when the sound of her own breathlessness got on her nerves. She was not cut out for all of this adventure and activity. She was more content to enjoy her mistress’s company, to entertain her with wit and intellect, games and quieter hobbies. The lady Ambrea had never been one for sports, even those that were considered seemly for a woman of royal station, and that had been just fine with Suna. “Why all of this clandestine scrabbling about? Why doesn’t the IM just come into Allay andforce the regent to hand over the imperial seat to its rightful mistress?”
“There may come a time for that,” Commander Chapel said.
“But it wouldn’t do much good if the true heir was in his power, at the tip of his knife,” Ender said dryly. “The moment the first soldier set foot in the Allayan presence chamber, the regent could have run into the wet rooms and cut Ambrea’s throat. Then he would actually be the sole surviving and rightful heir to Allay. We had to secure your mistress before anything and everything else.”
“Besides, Suna,” Ambrea said quietly, “would you have all of Allay under martial law?”
“You mean
foreign
martial law,” Suna scoffed. “Allay has been under martial law for decades. The emperor’s troops are always everywhere. They call themselves a policing force, but what they really are is an army.” Her eyes went wide as a terrible thought filled her head. “What if he won’t abdicate his power? What if he decides to use that army to keep out the IM?”
“He wouldn’t dare,” Ambrea said, although it was clear she wasn’t so sure. “That would make Allay the first country in the Three Worlds to break faith with the IM charter. Oh, Ephemeral Being, he would plunge Allay into a nightmare! War with the Three Worlds? Never mind the bloodshed; the socioeconomic ramifications would be crippling. There would be trade sanctions, the entire continent would be shut down from travel and tourism, and anything that Allay is dependent on from outside its borders would quickly be cut off and the people would suffer for it.”
Like food. Allay was not nearly self-sufficient enough in its farming production to feed its entire population. They were quite dependent on food recombinant technologies. Then again, most places were these days. It was the raw materials and fuels to run those technologiesthat Allay imported heavily. If the IM imposed sanctions on Allay, those materials and fuels would be denied. They would make the population of Allay miserable, putting Balkin in the position of managing an unruly, angry country. It would force a revolution.
But lives could be lost that way. A great many Allayan lives. By starvation or in battle, people would die.
“I would not see the people of Allay suffer,” Ambrea said softly. Ender scoffed under his breath, but she noted it. “What? You’ve something to say about it?” She didn’t mean to be so rude to this man who had rescued her, but the obvious disapproval in the hard lines of his face rubbed her the wrong way.
“Princess, if you think you can make this omelet without breaking some eggs, you’re in for a world of surprise.”
“Spoken like a true soldier. You’d rather bash and smash and maim and kill your way from point A to point B,” she snapped at him.
“Lady, you’ve got it so wrong,” he bit off at her. “And that doesn’t surprise me in the least. From what I hear, you’ve been raised in a bubble, ignorant of how these worlds really work, of how people really work. In my opinion, you—”
“Arms master,” Chapel cut him off sharply. “We’re not paid to have an opinion. We have a job to do. So let’s do it.”
“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir,” Ender said
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