Chapter Text
“It’s an act of war,” General Halvor said.
“We have proof that the king of Sarthe sent assassins to kill the Snow Queen. Normally, I would agree that the aggression must be answered. But Verglas is just recovering from the last war. She’s not prepared to wage another,” King Steinar said.
“If they think they’ve gotten away with it, won’t that just make them bolder?” asked Phile, Princess Rakel's best friend.
“Very likely,” Farrin agreed.
“Do you have a suggestion, Farrin?” King Steinar asked.
“Perhaps,” Farrin said thoughtfully.
“What is it, Love?” Rakel asked.
“It was your idea, actually,” he said, looking at the princess. Then he addressed the group, “We incite a slave riot.”
Halvor leaned forward in his chair, his eyes held a calculating look. “Take away the magical slaves.”
Farrin nodded. “Rakel and I were talking about it the other day. The gladiators are well trained, strong, and have magic, usually deadly magic. There is no reason they could not revolt against the masters, but they’ve been conditioned to believe otherwise.”
“So, how do we go about inciting a riot?” King Steinar asked. “Certainly there are safeguards in place.”
Farrin nodded. “There are. But the safeguards can be thwarted.” He flicked his gaze to Rakel and provided no details.
“How did Tenebris rescue you? Is it something we could duplicate without his cursing magic?” Phile asked.
Farrin rubbed his finger over the scar on his face, thinking. “If a person pays the guard enough money, the guard will turn his back for a while so that ‘fans’ can meet the gladiators.” At the word “fan,” Farrin’s face twisted, but he continued, “Tenebris paid off the guard. He then used his magic to kill anyone who got in the way as we left. A powerful mage might be able to get another gladiator out that way, but I’m not sure that a non-magic user could do it. And it’s limited to freeing one gladiator at a time.”
The king said, “I’m not comfortable sending any magic user to Sarthe.”
“Agreed,” said the general.
“How do we make this happen?” the princess asked.
Farrin said, “We could pay off a guard and slip in a coded message.”
“Code?” asked Oskar, Rakel's attendant.
“A code used among the gladiators so the guards wouldn’t understand our messages. I don’t know if it’s still in use,” Farrin said.
“I know how we can find out,” Halvor said, referring to the gladiator currently in the dungeons.
“What would the message say, if we could manage to get one in?” King Steinar asked Farrin.
“Sun, and then the encoded date and time.”
“Sun?” Rakel asked.
“The slave masters often say that we will never see the light of day. We train and fight in the daylight, but otherwise we’re always in the dark. So, being in the sun would signify freedom,” Farrin explained.
Rakel winced. She reached over and squeezed his hand. “It’s not ‘we’ anymore, Love.”
He put his arm around her. “You’re right.” He was upset with himself for his slip of the tongue.
“That doesn’t give them much information,” Oskar said.
“It doesn’t need to. It will put the idea in their heads. They’ll pass the message around and be ready at that date and time,” Farrin answered.
“But nothing would happen,” Rakel said.
General Halvor shook his head. “They would make it happen. After that kind of build up, with that kind of possible reward, aggressive soldiers are not going to sit back and pout because nothing is happening.”
Farrin nodded. “Exactly.”
Phile piped up, “If I pose as a fan, I could probably get close enough to pass the message without any difficulty.”
“Is there a time when all of the gladiators would be out at the same time?” the attendant asked.
“No. The most I ever remember them allowing out at a time were maybe ten. The masters know that managing too many magic users at once would be unwise,” Farrin said.
“When would the greatest number of mages be out at once?” the king asked.
“During one particular training exercise that requires more participants. They don’t run that exercise on any type of schedule, though.” As memories of the exercise popped into his head, Farrin’s stomach churned. He pushed the memories aside.
“This sounds like the beginnings of a plan. Farrin, you’re in charge. See what you can do,” King Steinar said. “Halvor, help him.”
“Yes, Sire,” both Farrin and General Halvor answered.
"Farrin," the king said, “tomorrow, I’m meeting with the nobles. I’d like for you to come pitch this idea.”
“Your Majesty, how will we explain my extensive knowledge of Sarthe? I’m guessing the nobles are not familiar with my background,” Farrin looked troubled. “The nobles may not like having a former gladiator as Prince Consort.”
Halvor spoke up, “You did interrogate the Sarthans.”
Farrin let one corner of his lips tip up. “I did.”
“We will make sure that the nobles are informed of that fact. Then, they can make their own conclusions about your knowledge base. If they get nosy, I’ll handle it,” Steinar promised.
“Very well, Your Majesty,” Farrin said.
***
King Steinar looked around the table at his nobles. For many of these men, their attitudes toward mages had changed much since the War ended. But other than Princess Rakel, a royal, no mage had ever addressed the noble council.
Though King Steinar worried about the men’s reaction, he spoke and acted as though the situation were completely normal. “As we have discussed, Sarthe has committed an act of war by attempting to assassinate Princess Rakel, the Snow Queen. We are not in a position to declare war. Prince Farrin has debriefed the Sarthan prisoners. Based on the information he has learned, he has an idea for reprisal that does not involve war, but will show the Sarthans we mean business.”
Farrin stood at the head of the table and faced the nobles. Steinar knew the man was nervous, but he did not show it. Farrin carefully outlined his plan for a slave revolt, spurred on by Verglas, explaining some of the details that would help the effort be successful. Then, he stopped and waited.
The nobles looked contemplative. To Steinar's relief, none of them asked how Farrin knew so much about Sarthe. Finally, one spoke up. “Could we not have someone planted in the area who could start some kind of chaos at the appointed time? Something to get the ball rolling?”
“Yes,” said another. “Maybe set fire to their stadium?”
Farrin looked at the king who gestured for him to answer. Farrin said, “It’s dangerous, but it’s a good idea. It might give the gladiators the diversion they need to make their move.”
“How will the Sarthans know that Verglas had a hand in the slave revolt?” One noble asked.
“If it is successful, we will take credit,” King Steinar said. “I have Prince Farrin and General Halvor working out the details. We will let you know when we are ready.”