Aelyx - 17
I leaned against the wall of the audience chamber and watched the Triarchy ambassador approach the throne. The Prince of Pentos observed the man with a haughty gaze. While Pentos was run by its council of magisters the prince did play an important ceremonial role as the centerpiece of events such as this. The low murmuring ceased as the ambassador began to speak.
"In light of the continued provocations and acts of aggression perpetrated by Pentos upon the Triarchy, the High Council, after much deliberation, declares that a state of war now exists between the Principality of Pentos and the United Commonwealth of the Triarchy." So, saying, he gestured towards a man behind him, who stepped forward and presented a scroll. The scroll was then passed to a member of the Pentoshi court. The ritual completed the ambassador spun on his heel and strode from the room.
The chamber erupted into shocked conversations and barely contained chaos. Looking up at the dais, I caught the eye of the unofficial head of the council of magisters. With a tilt of his head, he communicated his instructions. Ignoring those who attempted to engage me, I slipped from the crowded hall and made my way toward a small solar tucked deep in the bowels of the palace. Seeing I was the first to arrive I took my seat and waited as the rest of the war council to trickle in. The last to arrive was the same man who had directed me to the room. Magister Dyniris entered without a word and tossed down the declaration of war.
"So, it's official," I drawled staring at the open scroll on the table before me.
"Indeed," said Ballapho, his tone grave.
"Oh please. We've all known that this was coming for months." Dyniris snorted. "All this does is give the signal that it is time to march."
"He's not wrong," I admitted with a wary grin. "This war was inevitable from the moment the Triarchy refused to surrender their claims to the Stepstones." I very diplomatically did not point out that nowhere in the Pentoshi's negotiations with the Three Daughters had there been any mention of acknowledging my claim to the islands.
"We have prepared for this; we are ready for this." Patricos Essar stated. "My army is ready to march at moment's notice. Just give me the order and I will be on my way towards the border."
"My navy is ready as well." Magister Bahys spoke up. "We can sail within the week"
The words of the two commanders were met with nods. The plan had always been the attack as soon as we had goaded the Triarchy into war and it was good to hear that the admiral and general had not allowed their forces to become lax with the long wait.
"Has there been any word from Irnyl?" Asked Ballapho.
"Not, since his last report." Dyniris denied.
I hummed thoughtfully. Morrono Irnyl was the captain of the Red Wanderers, a Free Company composed of five hundred horsemen. He had been dispatched to the Myrish border a week after I had arrived in the city. Since then, he had been ranging into Myr in an attempt to bate the Triarchy in a hasty attack. While his original instruction had been simply to show himself on the wrong side of the border, over the past few moons his orders had given him considerably more latitude and he had begun to conduct raiding operations of escalating destructiveness and range.
"Right," Essar said. He swept the scroll containing the declaration of war from the center of the table and unrolled a large map showing the western Free Cities. Leaning over the table he tapped a dot on the map north of Myr. "The Triarchy had begun to amass their forces here at Vylaros. They will be moving soon if they haven't already. We obviously don't know precisely where they intend to go, but we can guess that their goal will be the elimination of the Red Wanderers."
"That seems a fair assumption." I put in and received a nod in return.
"With that in mind," He continued. "Ser Aelyx and I will take his forces and the Free Companies and march south to link up with Commander Irnyl. As we go, we can pick up the militia contingents from each of the border towns. Which reminds me, have messengers been dispatched south telling them to stand ready."
"They've been on alert for months, and I sent riders out within an hour of the ambassador's ship arriving in the harbor," Dyniris responded.
"In that case, they would have gone out before the declaration of war was actually delivered," Ballapho said, his tone curious.
Dyniris smirked. "I have men at the docks and Myrish sailors had loose lips. I knew the contents of that scroll before the ambassador opened his mouth. All to be fair any of us could have guessed what it said."
I snorted in acknowledgment, before glancing over at the admiral. "And what about the Daughter's navy? Any news about them?"
Bahys grimaced. "We know they left Myr two weeks ago, as I reported last time we gathered, but beyond they were headed north, I can only speculate where they went. It's a lot harder to track a navy at sea than an army on land."
"I am sure you could make a very educated guess though," Ballapho stated.
"They could theoretically, attack any of our coastal settlements including Pentos itself."
"Not, Pentos" I cut in. "An aquatic invasion of the city without land support would be a nightmare, and just raiding the docks could risk crippling their fleet if anything went wrong."
Bahys dipped his head in agreement. "I agree, which is why I said theoretically."
"They could still be planning to blockade the city" Essar offered thoughtfully. "If they could bottle up our navy in the harbor, they would win the war at sea."
"I doubt it," Bahys said. "If our ships managed to slip out before the blockade was set, we would have free reign on the Myrish coast. Besides it would give Ser Aelyx here a perfect opportunity to burn the whole lot of them. No, I think they will stay in the Sea of Myrth."
"Which means that, with their head start they will probably be on our coast long before our fleet arrives." Dyniris grimaced.
"Which, is why I argued that we should deploy our fleet as soon as it became clear that Tyrosh's fleet had departed the harbor." Bahys shot back.
"In which case, the two fleets could have run into each other and started the war without anyone being any the wiser." Came the rejoinder from Ballapho. "Our coastal towns are on alert, and double watches have been placed on the beacons, hopefully, Admiral Bahys will arrive to contain the threat before the Triarchy does too much damage." He paused. "Are you certain that you cannot depart sooner?"
"Yes, if I was just taking my sailors, I could sail with two days, but if you want the fleet to have a full complement of marines it will take at least four."
That point brought acceptance from the rest of the table. It could not be helped sending the ships into battle without their militia contingent would see the Triarchy fleet scythe through them. It was unfortunate, but militias were not exactly famous for being fast to assemble, nor could they be kept on standby the way a state army or free company could.
"While we are on the topic of navel matters, has your colleague had any more luck recruiting sell-sails to our banner?" Bahys asked Bellapho.
"No, Aero had made overtures to many of the pirate bands infesting the Stepstones, but they fear the consequences of Triarchy retaliation should we lose. In addition, they are well aware of our compact with Ser Aelyx to take the islands following the defeat of the Triarchy and have no desire to lose their petty fiefdoms. A few lone captains have taken our coin, and I'm certain that many more will take advantage of the Triarchy pulling their ships back from the disputed lands, but we aren't going to see any great squadrons raiding our enemy's shore."
"Regrettable, but unsurprising," said Dyniris.
On land, there was a very clear distinction between brigands and sellswords. Free Companies rarely turned to outright banditry usually contenting themselves with looting their employer's enemies, although the less disciplined ones tended to leave a trail of unpleasantness even through allied territory. No such line existed at sea. Sellsails were hired pirates who would return to their normal depredations the moment their contract was up. As such it made sense that they were not eager to sign on with a city whose current geopolitical goals amounted to thrash the Triarchy, then the pirates. The bright side was that they were equally unlikely to join with the Triarchy which also laid claim to the Stepstones.
"Before we wander from the point of this meeting." Said Essar. "Does anyone have anything else to add that's directly pertinent to the wider diplomatic situation or knowledge of the Triarchy's movements"
A round of negatives rose from around the table.
"All right, then we should move on to the actual logistics of getting our army and navy into the field."
For the next several hours the conversation continued as we hammered out the hundreds of little details that came with moving large bodies of men. It was long past midnight by the time we finished and staggered tiredly from the room. I joined Essar in traveling the encampment outside the walls, while the three magisters headed home to their manses.