𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀 𝐒𝐔𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘. 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐑𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍.
It's the beginning of a new age when Jaylah Imperatrix seemingly returns from the dead to reclaim her throne. And in perfect timing.
In her absence, evil has be...
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Act 2 Chapter 98 JAYLAH
On her last day in Oceana, Jaylah sat around a circle of her advisors for their weekly conference, in which they spoke about improvements that must be made within the nation's infrastructure and weighed the positives and negatives of enacting them. Today, Jaylah said, "I want to reopen the University."
A few of her advisors exchanged startled looks. The shutting down of the University of Naxaros was somewhat of a sore subject, as it marked the rise of her father's tyranny. Whether they really were teaching students matters that went against what the crown wanted, Jaylah was not sure. She only knew she had vocally supported its demise and the killing of protesting students. And she wanted to be as far from that person as possible.
"Given its size and the extent of its knowledge, it will take great monetary effort to reopen it," one of them said. "Even more so if you wish to reopen it next year."
"We will divert funds from the military, specifically our troops in the south. Our threats come from the north and the east. There is no need for as many soldiers roaming the coast as there are. My father was paranoid of an uprising within the peasant class. I am not."
If there was an uprising, it would be the aristocracy that came for her. She needed a well-educated new generation to replace the one that would have her head in a heartbeat once she deprived them of free laborers.
More than that, she thought of the children that would be made into soldiers. Little girls whose intelligence and strength would be dismissed by their overseers, despite the fact that they were forced into serving by those same men. Was that not what happened to her? She was so young slaughtering soldiers on the Navrikan lines. And she was a Princess then, so her efforts were valiant. Any other little girl that died in combat would just be a sacrifice that had to be made.
"We cannot only focus on the traditional superiority of intellect or the new rise of militarism," she continued. "A nation of intellect is defenseless. It is why the Kalingi came so close to enslaving us. And a nation of militarism is without culture. We must have both."
The man to her left gave a slow nod. "That is very wise, Your Majesty. How would you have us begin reopening the University?"
"Contact all the professors that were discharged when it closed. Some of them will take their positions back and some will not. To fill those open positions, I will put a committee in place to begin searching for candidates of the highest intelligence."
"Then it will be done." He clasped his hands. "Thank you, Your Majesty." To the others: "Any other comments?"
Jaylah sat primly in her seat, but on the inside she was beaming. Her first real victory for the good of her people. Her second would come tomorrow, as she sailed for the Southern Isles. She would just have to hide it from everyone long enough, for this mission could not be endangered.
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It was in the middle of the night when Jaylah awoke. She dressed herself in pants with a dark overcoat before leaving her quarters. The two soldiers that guarded the door all hours of the day walked with her, as they were the only members of her staff that knew they were leaving. Even they did not know their destination.
Jaylah marched with them to the ground floor, aimed for the barracks where the other palace soldiers dwelt. They were let in by a stunned guard, and found themselves in a common area.
"Get up," Jaylah's escorts yelled to the groggy soldiers. "The Queen is here." When they laid eyes on her in their quarters, all tiredness left their faces.
"Hurry," she said. "We have somewhere to be."
Her soldiers were prepared in record time, all of them fitted with swords and spiked helmets matching by rank. Jaylah's own weapons were still untouched in the arsenal. Bringing soldiers to accompany her on her journey was one matter, but coming armed for a battle was another. Tranquil, peaceful rulers did not arrive with swords of legend strapped to their backs.
Just as they planned, Klymene met them during their silent march out the side entrance—the one that would take them through Naxaros the fastest. As soon as they were out of the harbor, they were safe. Until then it was a grim anticipation to wonder whether Ermalai learned of their plans. And if he did, how violent his retribution would be.
No one spoke as the gates were opened for them; Jaylah made the guards on duty swear an oath of silence, though she did not believe they were loyal enough to her to not talk later. She marched at the head of the group, leading them down the planned path to the harbor. For the past few nights, she lost sleep navigating which roads were the quietest, the least likely to raise alarm if they saw the Queen secretly marching past their window.
It seemed to be working. No one came out to see if the sight was true. The city was still asleep. Jaylah thought back to the parade they threw in her honor, how mobbed the streets had been with hundreds of thousands of people. This felt like an ironic juxtaposition to that day. No one to screamed her name or fell over themselves just to see her, but at least she was doing what she wanted now.
They made it to the harbor. It was so early that not even the fishermen had gone out yet. Jaylah's triremes were there in the distance, ordered to be brought into the least extravagant part of the extensive harbors by soldiers that went ahead. If Ermalai came to prevent them from leaving, he would never search here. Besides, amongst all the little ships, they could get away in much less time. Jaylah was not so grandiloquent that she would refuse such an advantage, even if it was not as impressive as she deserved.
The triremes were impressive enough with their triple layers and uniform line of oars ready to push them across the strip of water. They were becoming outdated compared to the constantly improving ships of the west, but Jaylah did not need the latest warships. Not yet.
Jaylah was led aboard the main ship, which was called the Scimitar. It had better cut through the ocean as well as its name suggested. Still, all was going according to plan. Perhaps she gave Ermalai too much credit.
They were off. Jaylah watched the coast as it receded until it was a mountainous black strip. It stayed like that, barely in view. They would have to hug the coast to the south, just not closely enough for the islanders to see they were Imperial ships.
"Jaylah." She turned to find Klymene smiling at her, her skirts billowing out behind her, hair whipped by the salty air. "You did it."
"The difficult part remains before us. Though I do not doubt it will all fall into place."
"Still. Take your credit where credit is due. Ermalai is ravenous for any strip of information that will debilitate you, and yet you will emerge victorious. Even Aegeus could barely do it. But you..." Klymene stepped forward to smooth Jaylah's hair as it lashed her face. "I know I can be hard on you, but it is only because I want you to be the greatest. Sometimes I feel as though you could have been my own daughter."
Jaylah's lips twitched upward. She let Klymene's hand rest at the side of her face a moment longer. Just because she had forgotten the way it felt.
Then she turned away. Perhaps Klymene was pleased, but Jaylah was not. They had just snuck out of their own home like insolent youths fearing punishment.
