North America / Jersey Commonwealth (Judal Castle): December 22nd, 1517.
(Joseph's POV)
The council chamber was silent.
Too silent.
Only the sound of the fireplace crackling and the winter wind pressing against the tall glass windows could be heard as every nobleman at a long table stared down at the documents spread before them.
Joseph sat at the head of the table with his fingers interlocked atop it.
His face unreadable. His eyes cold.
"Your majesty. The grain stores in the southern provinces have fallen by almost thirty percent since harvest." Said margrave sussex calmly while adjusting the small glasses on the tip of his nose.
The room went still.
Duke ocean slammed his fist against the table.
*BAM*
"THIRTY PERCENT. ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT THE JERSEY COMMONWEALTH IS TO GO HUNGRY WHILE THAT WHORE QUEEN IN YORKANIA FEEDS HER COMMONERS LIKE A SAINT." Said duke ocean loudly as spit flew from his mouth.
The chamber erupted.
"THE PEOPLE ARE ALREADY COMPLAINING." Said a old light skinned man loudly in a luxerious attire with extremely crooked teeth and a long downward pointed nose.
A young man in a decent luxerious attire and said loudly with gritted teeth "THE BREAD PRICE HAS RISEN TWICE THIS MONTH."
"MY ESTATES ARE BEING RAIDED BY DESPERATE FARMERS." Said a middle aged man loudly in a luxerious attire with anger.
"IF THIS CONTINUES THERE WILL BE RIOTS." Said a very old man loudly in a luxerious attire.
Joseph stared at them quietly.
"Their fear is louder than their loyalty" Thought joseph while slowly rubbing his thumb against the back of his left hand.
Margrave sussex raised his voice slightly and said with a serious look on his face "Your majesty. This must be dealt with at once. If food grows scarce, the lower towns will become unstable and if the lower towns become unstable, the merchants will stop cooperating with tax officials."
"And when merchants stop cooperating, armies stop marching." Said joseph with a nonchalant sigh.
The chamber went silent.
All eyes looked toward joseph.
Joseph leaned back slightly in his chair and looked down at the map spread across the table.
Yorkania.
Manhattan.
Queens.
Brooklyn.
Bronx.
Staten.
All of them sitting beside his commonwealth like a fat jewel waiting to be cut open.
"Yorkania's trade routes have become too stable under morgan le fay." Said hoseph calmly while resting his chin on the back side of his right hand.
Duke ocean's eyes narrowed and he leaned forward.
"Then we strike them your majesty." Said duke ocean with a hungry look on his face.
Margrave sussex frowned and said "A direct strike will give the queen mother justification for war."
"Who said anything of direct." Asked joseph calmly while looking at the map.
The chamber was silent.
Joseph slowly reached out and placed his finger on one of the roads leading into yorkania's northern grain routes.
"We do not invade. Not yet." Said joseph nonchalantly.
The nobles watched the finger.
"We hire desperate men. We fund bandits. We move pirates through false banners. We pay merchants to delay shipments. We burn two storehouses, not ten. We sack border villages slowly, quietly, and make it appear as if yorkania's own instability has begun eating itself." Said joseph calmly.
The chamber was absolutely silent.
Margrave sussex's eyes widened slightly.
Duke ocean slowly smiled.
Joseph moved his finger across the map to the coastal trade routes.
"Their ports have grown active again. Their food moves through river, road and sea. So we do not strike the capital. We bleed the veins" Said joseph calmly.
Duke ocean chuckled and saud with a very pleased smile "A large scale sack on yorkanian trade routes without a declaration of war."
Joseph glanced at him.
His smile froze.
"You will not call it a sack. You will not write it as a sack. You will not whisper it as a sack to whatever pillow warmer listens to your wine breath at night. It will be a series of unfortunate criminal disturbances caused by yorkania's failure to maintain order after the death of king james." Said joseph nonchalantly.
The chamber was silent.
"Yes your majesty." Said duke ocean with his head bowed.
"Good." Said joseph calmly.
Margrave sussex tapped the table lightly with his right finger and said with a serious look on his face "Your majesty. Even if we succeed, the grain problem here remains. The people will not eat excuses."
"I am aware." Said joseph calmly.
"Then what do you Intend to do." Asked a old nobleman with a worried face.
I stared down at the map.
"We take from yorkania slowly." Said joseph nonchalantly.
The room went still.
"The border farms. The minor storehouses. The isolated grain wagons. The river barges. We do not take enough to alert the crown Immediately. We take enough to feed our own and make their shortages look like mismanagement." Said joseph calmly.
Margrave sussex's face grew grave.
"That is dangerous your majesty. Morgan le fay has already shown she notices things most rulers would Ignore." Said margrave sussex with a very serious look on his face to tell he was what you'd very much describe as not stupid.
"Then we make sure she notices the wrong things." Said joseph calmly.
The chamber was silent.
"Send dollar to the smugglers in the lower coast. Move men through the old mill roads. I want three border villages struck in the next two weeks. Not slaughtered. Stripped. Food, tools, horses. Leave survivors." Said joseph calmly.
Duke ocean blinked.
"Survivors your majesty." Asked duke ocean.
"Survivors tell stories. Dead men only stink." Said joseph nonchalantly.
The nobles went quiet.
Joseph looked back down at the map and said calmly "The story will be that morgan's reforms have made yorkania weak. That commoners are rising. That nobles are rebelling. That her crown cannot protect it's own roads. Then trade will hesitate. Then merchants will fear movement. Then food will slow. Then her people will begin to ask why the queen mother cannot keep the roads safe."
The chamber remained silent.
"That is how you sack a kingdom without touching its walls." Said joseph calmly while rubbing his bearded chin.
The nobles looked at each other with grim, unsettled faces.
*Knock* *Knock*
The chamber froze.
Joseph's eyes moved toward the double doors and said calmly "Enter."
The doors opened.
*BOOM*
A guard stepped inside with his face pale and his breathing uneven.
Behind him stood a drenched sailor wrapped in a dirty brown cloak. His hair was wet. His face was cut. His left eye was swollen shut. Salt water dripped from his clothes onto the polished floor.
The chamber became silent.
The nobles looked at him with confusion.
Joseph stared at the sailor and said nonchalantly "Speak."
The sailor dropped to one knee.
*THUMP*
"Y…your majesty." Said the sailor with a stuttering hoarse voice.
The chamber was silent.
Joseph waited.
The sailor swallowed hard and said "The cargo…"
Joseph's fingers stopped moving.
The fireplace crackled.
The wind pressed against the windows.
"What of the cargo." Asked joseph calmly.
The sailor trembled.
"The ship never reached the harbor your majesty." Said the sailor softly.
The chamber went completely still.
Duke ocean's mouth opened slightly.
Margrave sussex slowly turned his head toward joseph.
Joseph stared at the sailor for a moment.
"Explain." Said joseph calmly.
The sailor's breathing shook.
"A shadow struck in the northern sea. Captain lloyd doward burttback is missing. Most of the crew are dead. The crate is gone." Said the sailor with a horrified crazed look on his face as he laughed nervously.
The room was silent.
Gone.
The word entered joseph's ear and sat there.
"The crate is gone." Said joseph repeating calmly.
The sailor nodded quickly and said with a stutter "Y…yes your majesty."
"Stolen." Asked joseph calmly.
"N…no your majesty." Said the sailor with a stutter as his face turned even paler.
The chamber was silent.
The nobles shifted uncomfortably.
Joseph leaned forward slightly and asked with his eyes squinting "Then what took it."
The sailor's mouth trembled.
"A kraken." Said the sailor weakly.
The chamber exploded.
"PREPOSTEROUS." Said the old light skinned man loudly in a luxerious attire with extremely crooked teeth and a long downward pointed nose.
Said the young man in a decent luxerious attire and said loudly with nervous gritted teeth "A KRAKEN."
"IN THAT ROUTE." Said the middle aged man loudly in a luxerious attire with anger.
"THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE. NO SHIP HAS REPORTED ONE IN YEARS, HE IS OBVIOUSLY LYING." Said the very old man loudly in a luxerious attire.
The sailor flinched at every voice.
I did not move.
My eyes stayed on him.
"A kraken." I said calmly.
The sailor nodded again, tears mixing with seawater on his face.
"Yes your majesty. The ocean went still. No wind. No waves. Then something moved beneath us. The crate shook before it came. I saw it. I saw the tentacle. It was bigger than the mast. It crushed the deck like paper." Said the sailor with a trembling voice.
The chamber went silent again.
The crate shook before it came.
Joseph's jaw clenched.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Margrave sussex noticed. His face changed.
"What happened to the crate." Asked joseph calmly.
The sailor shook his head with tears in his eyes.
"I do not know your majesty. The ship split. Men were screaming. The water turned black. I saw the crate pulled under when the chains snapped. It sank with the beast or the beast took it. I do not know. I swear on my mother's grave I do not know." Said the sailor weak and desperately.
The room blurred for a moment.
Not visually.
But in purpose.
Joseph's hand pressed flat against the table.
The cargo.
The timing.
The route.
The years of preparation.
Gone.
Underwater.
Because of a rare ancient sea creature that should have been far below deep water and nowhere near that passage.
Joseph's breathing sharpened.
"Your majesty." Said margrave sussex carefully.
Joseph did not answer.
His chest tightened.
"The crate shook." Said joseph quietly.
The sailor froze and said with a stutter "Y…yes your majesty."
Joseph's fingers curled slowly against the table.
*CRRK*
The wood cracked underneath his grip.
The nobles stared.
"Hah…hah…hah…" Said joseph, his breathing growing heavier.
Duke ocean stepped stood up slightly.
"Your majesty…" Said margrave sussex with widened eyes.
"Hah…hah…" Said joseph breathing even harder.
The room started feeling smaller.
Hotter.
The fireplace too loud.
The nobles too close.
The sailor too alive.
Joseph's future sat at the bottom of the sea.
Years.
Dollar.
Men.
Silence.
All dragged beneath black water by a creature that should not have been there.
"Hah…hah…hah…HAH…" Said joseph breathing harder while standing up suddenly.
The chair fell backward.
*BOOM*
The chamber went absolutely silent.
Joseph's right hand gripped his chest as his breathing turned violent to a wheezing "Hah…hah…hah…"
"ROYAL PHYSICIAN." Said margrave sussex screaming loudly.
The nobles Immediately stood up in panic.
"CALL THE ROYAL PHYSICIAN." Said the very old man screaming at the top of his old lungs.
"GET WATER." Said the young man loudly with gritted teeth.
"OPEN THE WINDOWS." Said a guard loudly with panic.
A servant woman rushed over and said loudly "THE KING CANNOT BREATHE."
Duke ocean looked horrified as servant and guards rushed forward.
Joseph waved them away violently.
"DO NOT…touch me." Said joseph through haggard breathing.
The guards stopped Immediately.
Joseph's vision sharpened and blurred at the same time.
The sailor was still kneeling.
Still breathing.
Still existing after saying the cargo was gone.
Joseph stared at him.
The sailor began shaking harder.
"Y…your majesty I told only what I saw." Said the sailor with tears in his eyes.
"Hah…hah…hah…" Said Joseph taking slow wheezing breaths.
His throat burned.
His lungs refused to fill properly.
A physician burst into the room with two assistants behind him carrying a leather bag.
*BOOM*
"Your majesty." Said the royal physician with fear in his voice as he rushed toward joseph.
Joseph grabbed the edge of the table with both hands and said through clenched teeth and broken breaths "Find…the wreck."
The chamber went silent.
Margrave sussex stared at joseph.
Joseph looked up slowly with bloodshot eyes and said with a hoarse voice "Find…the damn crate."
"Your majesty you must sit." Said the physician quickly.
Joseph ignored him.
His eyes swept over every nobleman in the chamber.
"Send ships. Send divers. Send hunters. Send every greedy fool who thinks the ocean can be purchased." Saud joseph with haggard breathing.
The physician reached toward joseph.
Joseph caught his wrist.
The physician froze.
"Find it." Said joseph lowly.
The room was silent.
"The kraken can keep the dead." Said joseph with his jaw clenching and his chest rising an falling violently.
Joseph's eyes slowly moved back toward the sailor and said with bloodshot eyes becoming sharper "But it will not keep what belongs to me."
The chamber was silent.
The physician swallowed hard.
Margrave sussex bowed his head.
"At once your majesty." Said margrave sussex calmly.
Joseph finally released the physician's wrist and sat down slowly, his breathing still sharp and painful.
The nobles stood frozen.
The sailor remained on his knees.
The map of yorkania lay spread across the table.
It's trade routes.
It's borders.
It's ports.
It's throat.
Joseph stared down at it while the physician opened his bag and the room moved around them in fear.
"Fine. If the sea wants to take from me, then I shall take from land."Thought joseph while his chest continued to ache.
Joseph's fingers pressed down on yorkania's border Slowly. Hardly and said with the table visibly cracking under pressure "The queen mother feeds her people. I will see how long she can do so when every road around her begins to bleed."
…
THE END…