StarWind placed another paper on top of her pile and went on with the briefing. “Next we went to Okata to try and find this man, Harac. We did end up finding him, but he was dead, unable to lead us to the government official who was destroying his own country to rouse public opinion in support of a war against us. While we were in Okata, the Katana was assassinated. Many of you have heard the rumor that it was Lyra’s father who killed the Katana. The rumor is true.”
StarWind looked over at Master Malafar and he sat as in a daze staring down at his manacled wrists. “I should point out, however, that he was under the influence of a powerful drug at the time. Neither Lyra nor myself blame Master Malafar for the assassination, as we believe he was the unwitting tool of the First Minister, Alazar. Alazar has since become the new Katana and, after trying to kill Master Malafar to cleanse any attempt to indicate his coup, labeled the killer as a Sakovan.”
“It is now clear to us that Alazar intends to wipe the Sakovans from the face of the earth,” StarWind explained. “While we were in Okata, we met a representative from Khadora, a man who works for Lord Marak, who is sitting on my right. This man told us that the Khadorans had captured an Omungan spy up north who had revealed that Omunga plans to invade Khadora. We believe, therefore, that Omunga does not want the Sakovans at their back when they attack Khadora. This is the reason they seek war against us now.”
StarWind paused to drink some water before continuing and the silence in the room was tangible. “Since that time,” StarWind continued, “the three largest armies of Omunga have left the capital and are currently trying to surround us. While there are holes in their line, the only truly open area is to the North. Another report tells us that someone is killing wasooki in Breele, again using supposed Sakovan stars to indicate that is we who are perpetrating the ugly deed. Finally, the Mayors of these cities are now demanding government action to root us out and destroy us. That is the situation as we know it.”
StarWind sat down and Lyra rose. “Now that you know as much as we do,” Lyra said, “we solicit your opinions about how we should proceed from this point.”
Lyra sat down and there was a roar of individual murmurs throughout the room. A man far in the rear of the dining hall stood and the noise ceased immediately.
“What if we assassinate the new Katana?” he proposed.
The man sat back down and StarWind rose. “We have considered that, but I see a problem with that action. In the eyes of the Omungan people, it would just be one more aggression by the Sakovans. Even if Alazar was killed, and that would be an extremely hard feat to pull off, his replacement would surely continue with the plans for wiping us out.”
The man nodded and StarWind sat down. A woman rose next. “If the armies are strung out around the Sakova,” she asked, “couldn’t we attack them piecemeal? We could strike to the East and then withdraw and attack to the West.”
A man not far from her rose and cleared his throat. “Unless we completely wiped the individual armies out,” he stated, “they could follow our army and locate StarCity. I think whatever we do, we must maintain the secrecy of the stronghold.”
There were murmurs of agreement as she sat down. For the next two hours, the Sakovans put forth plans and promptly rejected them. Lyra was impressed with the diversity of thought present, and some of the plans were quite clever, but at the end of two hours, she was beginning to think that there was no good solution to their problem. Eventually, SkyDancer rose.
“I see that Lord Marak was invited to attend this meeting of Sakovans,” she began. “Does this indicate that he is our ally in this time of trouble?”
Marak nodded affirmatively and SkyDancer continued, “I know that bringing his armies all the way down to here is not practical, but suppose his armies were to stage an incursion into Omunga near his own homeland. Wouldn’t that draw the Omungan armies northward, allowing us to change the location of the battle. This would allow our people to attack their rear while Lord Marak’s armies would not have to stray far from their homeland.”
There was a general favoring of SkyDancer’s plan and many eyes were directed towards Lord Marak, waiting for him to accept the mantle of committing his troops to the Sakovan cause. Eventually, Lord Marak rose.
“I have listened to your discussion with great interest,” Lord Marak stated. “I want to affirm that the Torak Clan will aid the Sakovans in any way that we can, including the use of our armies, but,” Marak paused for effect, “I would like to talk about a different way to solve this problem. From what I have heard so far tonight, it appears that the key to staving off an Omungan attack, is the mindset of the Omungan people. Alazar is, as someone said tonight, destroying his own country to gain acceptance from the populace for a war with the Sakovans. What if we played the same game?”
Murmurs ran through the room despite the instructions for quiet while a speaker was standing and Marak waited before continuing. “What if we could convince the populace that the war is unnecessary, even undesirable? Would such a tactic be acceptable to the Sakovans?”
Marak deliberately sat down and the murmur almost rose to a roar. SkyDancer rose immediately. “If you have a plan for avoiding bloodshed,” she demanded, “present it. I think I can safely speak for all Sakovans when I say that we prefer peace over war.”
Lord Marak glanced over at Master Malafar and noticed the look of surprise on his face. The Khadoran Lord smiled as he rose, one victory already gained. SkyDancer had provided the true Sakovan mindset for Lyra’s father to hear first-hand.
“I have noticed that StarCity has a vast supply of watula in your storage facilities,” Marak declared. “The Omungans are suffering right now from a lack of watula because of the fires around Campanil. The shortage has also caused food prices in all of Omunga to skyrocket. It is little wonder that the Omungan people are unhappy and now they are losing wasooki as well. Come winter, many Omungans will starve to death because of Alazar’s ambitions. I suggest that you give your excess food to the Omungans.”
“Are you crazy?” someone shouted and quite a few people laughed at the break in decorum.
“I have been called that,” chuckled Lord Marak. “In this case I think my sanity will reveal itself soon. I am not suggesting just shipping the watula to an Omungan city and I do realize that if this plan backfires, that StarCity may end up short on food itself. What I am suggesting is this.”
Marak helped himself to a drink of StarWind’s water and continued, “I suggest that a small expedition go into Campanil to talk with the Mayor who has been so vocal in calling for a war. Present him with StarWind’s report so he has the same facts as we do. Convince him that Alazar is behind the death of the Katana and the rest of the tragedies foisted upon the Omungan people. To show that the Sakovans are serious and peaceful, offer to replace his lost watula harvest without cost. He will think you are crazy at first, but he will be convinced in the end. If cost is a problem, I will guarantee to replace the watula you send to Campanil from my own fields. I would also use my watula to flood the Omungan market, driving food prices down so the people are no longer hungry.”
Marak could see many heads nodding vigorously and he continued with his plan, “I can also replace the lost wasooki with a shipment to Alamar or overland so that the gift can come from the Sakovans. The plan is risky, but less so than a war. If this plan succeeds, there will be no bloodshed, but it only accomplishes one goal. There is still a need to deal with Alazar. I have not thought that far, but I think the Mayor of Campanil might be able to supply an answer to that part of the problem.”
Marak sat down and the room was abuzz with conversations. Lyra gazed over with a look of puzzlement and admiration on her face. StarWind’s face shone with acceptance.