But now even they didn’t know what was going on. The invasion-or whatever it was that was eating up eastern Erumvirine-was beyond their control. They had for so long used their tools of deception and diversion to control events that they knew no other way of doing things. They were not prepared to handle emergencies; they’d just done everything they could to prevent them. And this they had taken to be one and the same thing, which it was not.
Cyron’s growing horror encompassed more than just the events in Erumvirine. If the bureaucracy failed there, it could fail elsewhere. Previously, the bureaucracies had been largely immune to harm, since everyone needed them to maintain order. But once they lost that power and began to panic, entire nations would fail with them.
“What would you have me do, my Prince?”
“Give me time to think.” Cyron forced himself to stand, then glanced down. “What word have you of the Virine military reaction?”
“Most of the Virine troops are in the western and central districts, Highness, guarding the borders with Moryth and Ceriskoron. They are moving troops east, but slowly. Prince Jekusmirwyn has always prided himself on being deliberate. He has not called up his populace to defend the nation.”
“Ministers have raised the alarm and he is not receptive to their message?”
“As you are, my lord, he is suspicious of them.” Vniel shrugged. “There was the Miromil misunderstanding.”
“Ah, yes.” Cyron nodded distractedly. “The negotiations to marry his daughter to the Crown Prince of Miromil were unnecessarily contentious, with each set of ministers misquoting their master to slow things down.”
“Errors in transcription…”
“Spare me, lest more errors cause needless delay here.” The Prince frowned heavily. “When did you first have word of this?”
“A week ago, but then it was nothing but horror tales.” Vniel opened arms swathed in gold silk. “By the time I began to see fire where there had just been smoke, so many reports were coming in that I could not group them into any cogent story.”
“And you were worried that members of the bureaucracy were in jeopardy, especially those staffing our legations in Erumvirine?”
The minister’s eyes tightened. “Fault me for that, Highness, as you wish, but without them we are blind.”
Cyron held a hand up. “Spare me your ire and I shall do the same, Minister. Something is attacking Erumvirine in the east-something you do not understand. The chances of success are incalculable and immaterial. Refugees will flee north, west, and south. Those who come north will take refuge in the mountains. If Kelewan falls, they’ll come north on the Imperial Road or head south. They’ll cause a panic, and that will not do. There are those in the Five Princes who will become ambitious.”
As he spoke, Cyron envisioned the world as a giant game board. His grandfather had used toy soldiers to wage imaginary wars, and the education he obtained from that allowed him to depose the previous Naleni prince and establish the Komyr Dynasty. Would that I had followed your example more closely, Grandfather.
What happened in the Five Princes really was immaterial. Each of those nations balanced the other. Had they ever been united, they might have posed a threat to the four larger nations. Efforts such as the dynastic marriage Jekusmirwyn had arranged had long helped play one nation off against the other. But even if the five of them united to attack Erumvirine while it was weak, they would still have to face whatever was attacking Erumvirine. And even if they succeeded there, chances were their alliance would fracture before they ever moved north through the mountains and set one foot on Naleni soil.
Cyron could not rely on Erumvirine to defend itself. And even if it did beat back the invaders, the refugees would cause serious problems in the south. Cyron would have to send troops to maintain order and be ready to defend his nation if the invaders moved north.
Unfortunately, the troops he would move south would have to be pulled from his border with Helosunde. He’d be forced to move some of his Helosundian mercenaries south as well, which would leave his northern border vulnerable. While he doubted Prince Pyrust would strike south and attack him, the Desei ruler might take the opportunity to solidify his grasp on Helosunde. Since Cyron’s troops acted as much as a brake on Helosundian adventurism as they did on Desei ambition, to pull troops south was to invite chaos on his northern border.
In his mind, he could see soldiers moving from one point to another, with troops of other nations drifting in to fill the vacuum. The amount of time it would take to move the troops, and to raise others to put in their place, would become critical. If he could keep Pyrust unaware of what he was doing for long enough, he would be able to get troops from the interior in position to defend the nation.
Yet, try as he might, he couldn’t see the maneuvers working. Desei troops advanced too quickly, and Helosundian units evaporated. Besides, Pyrust had married Jasai, Prince Eiran’s sister. If he used her influence to convince the Helosundian ruling council to agree to a truce, the Desei could pour into Nalenyr while Cyron fought to keep his southern border inviolate.
The Prince exhaled heavily. “Does this terrify you as much as it does me?”
“I am worried, Highness, but I am sure I do not see things as you do.”
Cyron clasped his hands at his waist. “I have no choice but to send troops south and they must be drawn from the northern garrisons, as those are our best. I can and will call up troops from the inland lords and send them north. Unfortunately, I have little control over what your counterparts in Helosunde will do. If past conduct is any indication, they will make the least intelligent move possible, which will invite Deseirion to descend.
“I cannot let them know the threat we are under from the south, because they would use that pressure as a bargaining chip. You can see that, yes?”
“Plainly, my lord.”
“Good. I am then given two other choices. One is to confide in Pyrust. He might be convinced to send troops to aid Erumvirine, but that is unlikely. He does not have the shipping needed to convey them there quickly. Like me, he will look to his southern border, which means a push to my northern border and, if it is seen as weak, a further push to the Gold River, which is the next logical line of defense.”
The minister nodded. “And your other option is to tell him nothing?”
“Exactly. I tell him nothing and hope he learns nothing until it is too late for him to profit by the news.”
Vniel closed his eyes for a moment. “The latter choice is the only viable one.”
“I agree, but its success hinges on maintaining the secret.” Cyron stared hard at his minister. “You cannot allow this news to leave Nalenyr. You cannot allow it to leave Moriande. There is to be no informing the network of bureaucrats. I know you have skills at hiding information, but now you must hide it from others of your kind.”
Vniel’s lips quivered. “But, Highness, to do so undermines the stability of the world. If the bureaucracy fractures, all is lost.”
The Prince sighed. “You’re a fool, Vniel. The bureaucracy is already fractured. You don’t know what is going on. Even with your agents in the south, you’re still blind. What will you do when your Virine brothers beg you for help-help you know will do nothing to save them? Will you send it, or will you keep it to arm and armor our people and save Nalenyr?”
“I serve our nation, Highness.”
“Don’t give me the answer you think I want to hear. Think. Know in your heart what you would do.”
Vniel lowered his head. “I would save Nalenyr.”
Cyron nodded, having heard the truth from the man for the first time. “Do you expect your brethren in Deseirion and Helosunde will react any differently? You may all work to preserve the power of the world, but when the world is being devoured, you will fight to save your piece of it. That’s not a vice, but a reality. You must pledge to me, on your life and those of your children and their children, that you will do whatever is needed to keep knowledge of the invasion a secret for as long as possible. If you do not, all will be lost.”