The Plains of Pluto - Chapter 15

Lucilla set aside another report detailing Egyptian raids on Britannian merchant vessels. They were getting bolder by the day. Kalb had started to send out patrols to slow some of the bleeding, but most of the experienced captains were with Valdar, and until he arrived, the bulk of their warships were escorting convoys to the front in Italia and up into Greece to help supply the lines being built out there.

She knew he was hurrying, but the bleeding needed to stop if they were going to get things under control. With the sudden adoption of the new shells by the Easterners, almost certainly made possible thanks to the smuggling operation uncovered by Medb, they needed those supplies on the front more than ever.

Ky had already started moving much of their logistics to the rail lines stretching from Gaul all the way to Greece and the far east, but it was much slower than sending ships full of supplies, which they had been doing.

Worse, bottlenecks had already started to happen, which would further slow down the amount of supplies that could get to the front. The carry-on effects of this were going to go far and wide.

She pulled out another sheaf of paper to write yet another message to Valdar to urge him on when something caught her attention. At first, it was at the edge of her consciousness, and it took a moment for her to work out what it was. It was like the normal sounds of the city, people going about their day doing the work that kept the city working, but angrier. Sharper. The volume was also growing steadily until she started to hear shouts mixed with the general din of noise.

Frowning, Lucilla rose from her desk and walked to the window to look out at the streets below. What she saw made her breath catch. A mass of people pressed against the palace gates and stretched down the thoroughfare into the distance, spilling over into every one of the surrounding streets. Here and there people were carrying banners, crude cloth signs with hastily painted slogans condemning conscription. Others took more active means to show their displeasure, hurling stones over the gates. For now, it was just in the direction of the palace, clattering harmlessly in the courtyard, but here and there the projectiles started finding their way to guards.

She could see more people adding all the time, causing the sea of humanity to surge forward and crash against the gate like a relentless tide.

"Cywrig!" she called to her guard. "Send men to reinforce the gates and ensure every entrance is double guarded. And send for Commander Faenius immediately."

He nodded and hurried to carry out his orders.

What bothered her was there hadn't been any sign of this the day before. Usually, these kinds of things built, with smaller groups, the core of those upset over whatever had the masses riled up yelling for change, and then adding people steadily as more learned about whatever the outrage was.

Rarely did this happen all at once like this. Not without help. It wasn't hard to figure out where that help had come from. The conscription laws had not been made public and she was certain the news of them didn't come from her people.

Senators, on the other hand, had every reason to release news of it, especially after she'd threatened them with dissolution if they failed to pass the measure.

A merchant in rich clothing climbed atop an overturned cart and started yelling. She couldn't hear what he was saying, but a moment later the crowd began to chant 'Our sons, not your soldiers!' It wasn't hard to work out what he'd said.

She was amazed by the scale and coordination of this. They had gone to extreme lengths to make this happen, and it wasn't their concern for the youth of Britannia that drove them. Of that she was sure. It wasn't even about their positions in the senate.

This was about money and power.

When choosing senators, each of the leaders of the three polities had picked men of status because they needed their support in creating the empire. For a time, that had worked, but these men had mostly grown fat and rich, finding ways of taking what they knew, policies they knew would happen, and turning it to their advantage.

Some remained dedicated servants, to be sure. But enough were more concerned about their own coin purses, or the continued support of wealthy patrons, than the future of the empire, that they were willing to send a mob against the palace rather than agree to something that could cost them money in the short term.

They'd rather see the empire fall than their profits decline.

The mob continued to grow as she watched, with more groups arriving from side streets and pouring around the sides of the palace complex, swelling the crowd's numbers.

"Their lands, their fights!" came a new chant from multiple points in the crowd.

Again, feeling more coordinated than spontaneous.

"Your Highness, these are being distributed throughout the city," Commander Faenius said, walking into her office without preamble and thrusting several printed pamphlets toward her.

It confirmed what she'd feared. The pamphlets painted a nightmarish vision of her conscription proposal, claiming that all young men would be seized immediately from their homes and thrust into service, that entire families would be drafted, that Britannia was transforming into a military dictatorship under her rule.

Worse, she knew some people would believe it. Carthage had essentially done this in the last war, and enough of those from the continent who'd escaped their service had migrated into Rome and told their story that it had become common knowledge.

There had even been a few plays on the topic, children torn from their family and the harrowing journey they'd been forced to endure to get back home. She'd seen a few of them and they were well done, but it kept this very thing in the popular consciousness.

Primed the people's fears.

"This is deliberate misrepresentation," she said, furious. "How many of these are circulating?"

"Thousands, at least. They appeared overnight. Your Highness, the situation out there is deteriorating fast. While the majority remain non-violent, certain elements are becoming more aggressive. We've identified several agitators we believe are aggravating the situation."

"Do they have any connection to Senators?"

"I don't know, but we can look into it."

"Do it. I want to know who, specifically, is pushing this. We also need to find out how they're managing to print and distribute this many pamphlets so quickly, without our knowledge."

"Private printing presses," Faenius replied. "They've been springing up across the city, primarily producing entertainment, written out plays and stories quickly enough to be very cheap for the people. We should have been monitoring them more closely."

"Or controlling them entirely," Lucilla said, although she also knew that wasn't practical.

Now that people had access to writing, and more people were becoming literate, they all wanted some kind of printed text, both for the enjoyment of it and as a status symbol.

Faenius nodded slightly before getting back on task. "Your Highness, with your permission, I can deploy the Praetorians to disperse this mob before it grows further out of hand. If we allow this to continue unchecked, it will escalate to riots and looting. A swift show of force now could prevent that."

"No. That's exactly what they want, Faenius. The senators are hoping we'll crack down violently, both on private commerce and on these protesters. They want me to react like a tyrant so they can use it against me. Probably to force me to give in to their demands, although I'm sure if we act rashly enough, a few might have higher aspirations."

She doubted any of the senators would think they could make themselves emperor on some kind of public support, but what men thought they could do and the reality of the situation was often not the same thing.

"With respect, Your Highness, peaceful dispersal may not be possible at this point. The crowd is starting to get very worked up and there are agitators among them deliberately trying to provoke violence. We should at least prepare for the likelihood that force will be necessary."

"I understand your concerns, but we have to find a way to make it work. If we lose public support, everything becomes exponentially more difficult. No serious injuries, Commander. You may contain and control the crowd, but I want no clubs swinging unless absolutely necessary for defense."

Faenius was clearly not happy with this command. "And if they refuse to disperse?"

"Then corral them and wait them out, although even in that case, I want the primary agitators brought in for questioning. Quietly, if possible. Once this immediate crisis passes, I want surveillance maintained on any printing operations we identify as having produced these pamphlets. We need to know which senators are behind this so we can watch for similar moves in the future."

"It would be simpler to shut them down entirely," Faenius said.

"I know, but Ramirus once said something to me when I complained about leaving a known dissident in place, instead of arresting him. It is better to know about the enemy and keep tabs on him, than force them underground and have no idea what they're doing. I think that's the case here."

Faenius looked like he didn't buy that entirely, but only saluted and said, "As you command, Your Highness. I'll see to it personally."

Lucilla returned to the window, watching the crowd continue to swell below. She should have anticipated this move. They'd been too quiet after her threat. She'd known they'd do something, but she hadn't considered this, when it was the obvious move for them.

Self-recriminations, though, would get her nowhere. Now she needed to figure out her counter move and shut this nonsense down once and for all.

***

***

Carthage

The audience chamber had half a dozen people in it already when Medb walked past the guards and into the room. It looked to be mostly local officials, but she did recognize the captain of the Britannian warship currently docked in the harbor, which suggested this was more than just one of the regular meetings that happened to keep a city the size of Carthage running.

She also didn’t have time for it to continue.

“Leave us,” she said curtly as soon as she approached the group.

The warship captain, a man she didn’t know well, looked a little perplexed as men often did in situations like this, but the locals knew her well, bowing and taking their leave as ordered. The captain gave a glance at Cormac, still obviously confused, but was at least smart enough to take a hint and followed the other men out of the room without questioning the command.

Cormac was much more used to her work persona.

As the last of them filed out, he turned to her and said, “If this is about cargo into the city, I’ve already taken steps to address that. I know a few supplies from Italia and Greece are running low, but I’ve spoken with the main shipping factor and made sure he will have resupplies here before any run out. I did have to guarantee him more protection after that last raid off the coast of Sicilia though. I’ve spoken to Niall and he has assured me that Kalb will increase patrols from here to the mainland and I’ve convinced the factor to change the routing of the goods he brings in. And yes, I’ve considered the drop in volume from goods having to cross the continent by train rather than go around by ship, but we will just have to deal with that. Commander Niall is even looking into building up one of the smaller ports on the southeastern side of Hispania to help expand capacity. It’ll allow for more ships to pass through while still being close enough for Kalb to protect.”

“I’m pleased that you have a handle on everything, but that is not why I’m here.”

“Then what is it?”

“I’ve been summoned back to Devnum,”

Cormac’s face fell slightly as he asked, “Why?”

“The empress didn’t say, but it likely pertains to Egypt’s sudden betrayal.”

“You don’t think ... I mean, the Senate isn’t looking for someone to blame, are they? They can’t possibly place it on you?”

“I doubt it, or if they are, I doubt it will be very successful. I did my duty and uncovered the Egyptian treachery before it happened. It’s hard to say if I found it just before they launched their attacks, or if my discovery of their actions forced them to launch their plans early, but either way, if there’s blame to be had, it doesn’t rest on me.”

“I’m not sure facts and what people choose to believe, or at least where they choose to place the blame, are always in agreement,” Cormac pointed out. “But still, this is a terrible time to recall you. Egyptian troops could move westward any day now, threatening our holdings in North Africa.”

“I’m well aware of the situation.”

“I know you are, but several trading stations on the outskirts of Egypt have already fallen. It’s clear they’re planning to march this way. We can’t just leave the city to some junior commander. The moment we shift our forces to counter Egypt, the rebels inside Carthage will see an opportunity to strike. We’ll have another internal crisis on our hands! This is a terrible time for us to return home.”

“You misunderstand, Cormac. I’m not going anywhere. Only I am.”

“What? Why?”

“Because our responsibilities are different. We were sent here for me to uncover suspected rebel activity here which, admittedly has been sidetracked by finding out that the Egyptian’s actions were also going through Carthage, and you were sent to replace the previous governor and get the city under control. What happened with the Egyptians takes precedence and is pulling me away from my previous assignment, but your responsibilities remain. You need to keep Carthage from descending into chaos. Now that just includes dealing with Egyptian forces in the east and continuing my work to root out the remaining rebels in the city, which will hopefully be weaker now that they aren’t being supplied by the Carthaginians.”

“Hunting down people isn’t my strength. I’m a soldier, not a spy.”

“You’ve faced tougher assignments, Cormac. What you dealt with in Hispania at the end of the last war wasn’t so different. I have faith in your ability to handle it, though I won’t pretend it will be easy.”

“I suppose you’re right, and you have been training Claudius, so I suppose he can …”

“I’m taking Claudius with me,” Medb said, feeling a little bad at having to pull the rug out from under Cormac’s feet twice in the same conversation.

“You can’t be serious! You’re leaving me critically short-handed when I need reliable officers the most!”

“I know it’s not ideal for you, but Claudius has proven quite good at the intelligence side of things. He’s smart, observant, and adaptable. Traits not easily found in most soldiers. I believe a lot of the issues with the Egyptians, at least with the smuggling end of what they were doing, originated in Devnum, and I will need him to track those down, especially once I leave.”

“Once you leave? What do you mean? Why won’t you be staying in Devnum either?”

This was the part of the conversation Medb had been dreading the most. Ever since finding out what the Egyptians were up to, Medb had been considering that her focus the last year and a half had been in the wrong place. She’d let herself get drawn into minutiae instead of keeping an eye on the bigger picture as Ramirus had taught her. The message from the Empress was simply the prodding she needed to correct that error.

However, she knew Cormac would not be pleased. He had become very protective of her and had a tendency to go overboard when he thought someone was putting her in danger.

Even when that someone was her.

“I don’t know yet. That’s how bad our intelligence is right now. I’m not even sure where to start with something like this. All I know is we’ve been behind in intelligence since the war began. We know too little about the Easterners and we’ve been completely reactive for too long. I intend to change that.”

“If you mean going east, then I forbid it. No one who has gone east has ever returned, and I’m not going to allow you to go charging off recklessly …”

“Forbid?” She asked coolly.

She knew he meant well, but there were times when his more … traditional tendencies showed themselves, and she had to remind herself that she wasn’t born some helpless girl. She might not be a queen any longer, but the list of people allowed to tell her what to do was very small, and he was not on it.

“A poor choice of words.”

“Indeed. I appreciate your worry, but please give me more credit than that. I won’t promise this won’t take me to the east, but I do not go ‘charging off recklessly.’ What I will do is follow leads wherever they take me. I promise not to leave you completely alone in Carthage. I’ve already sent a message to the empress that you need additional help here with me gone.”

“Of course, you’re right. I know you’re smart enough to not put yourself in danger. I just … I’ll miss you.”

Medb gave him a warm smile and stepped closer, putting her arms around him.

“And I’ll miss you too. I promise not to do anything so reckless that I won’t be able to come home to you.”

“Good,” he said, leaning down and kissing her.

“You know,” she said, breaking the kiss. “If you wanted me to stay, you should have led with this. It’s much more convincing.”

Cormac just shook his head and kissed her again.