Journey to the Forgotten Island

Chapter 35 - Deliberation

Dini ordered the attendants to fetch the finest bubbling wine from the cellar of his villa and a platter of roast pork and preserved fruit to celebrate the revolution. After the bottles of wine arrived, rattling and clanking on the tray, all the attendants were ordered to leave the bank and guards to be posted at the entrances.

'No secrets shall be leaving this room until we have made our plans,' Dini said, raising a glass. 'To Governor Adelmo, leader of independent Magoa!'

Toma raised his glass, as did Ami.

Before Toma had finished swallowing the sharp fizzing wine, Dini began to speak. 'Here are the most urgent considerations as I see it. We will need to agree on our ties with the empire upon independence. We must agree on the type of government we wish to form. How will we ensure that our population continues to grow? Will we try to establish trade with the Solas directly? What of the southern empires and free territories? I would suggest we send letters to all kingdoms and nations announcing invitations to delegations –'

' – Hold on!' Ami cut in. 'Dini, you are thinking too fast and too far. Governor – how do you propose to revolt against the empire when you have no army? You are proposing to fight the empire and the native rebellion on two fronts with a personal guard of one hundred men?'

' – don't forget my personal guard of fifty men,' Dini smirked.

Toma's heart was still racing from his speech, from remembering Vulnir and from deciding to rebel. He could feel the room spinning around him. He sat for a moment and breathed, allowing his mind to clear. 'Ami, I spoke to a soldier quite recently. He told me the soldiers have ill will and resentment towards their new Captain. I believe that I can take the army back under control.'

Ami seemed surprised and Toma watched as his eyes danced from side to side, making calculations and considerations about this new information.

'Anyway, Ami is right,' Toma continued. 'We must fortify the beach to prevent the Duro fleet from docking. The Duro Empire is not known for its navy – if we can keep the ships at bay, they cannot invade. We can use the stockpile of thunder powder to ward of enemy ships. That should take care of the imperial army. As for the natives – we shall simply free them.'

'Oh, Governor – it cannot be,' Dini said. 'If we are to wrestle this island from the grasp of the empire, we must do it in stages. To break away from the mainland and free the natives at once is too much instability – and if we wish to keep the high merchants on our side, we must buy them with more freedom. Freedom from restrictions and tax. The natives we must contend with later.'

Before Toma could think on this, Ami started to protest again. 'But Governor, we have no food source. We rely on the Duro shipments to feed our people. They have always kept us reliant on the empire for grain. They do not have to invade us to beat us – they simply need to wait until we starve and surrender.'

Dini had an answer for this immediately. 'The Duro crave the dirtglass from the mines. We will offer to continue shipping the dirtglass for food until we are able to grow our own. They will receive their shipment of dirtglass every half-moon as long as they respect our independence.'

'But what if –'

' – and if they refuse, we will tell them that we will trade the dirtglass with the Yovin Empire. This will be our leverage.'

'But we don't know what the dirtglass is for,' Toma said.

'We have men who can reveal such secrets,' Dini said. 'Esteban will squeal in a heartbeat if we threaten to put him in chains. And it matters not what it does – we know the empire craves it and that it is worth more than gold. That is all that matters.' Dini turned to Toma. 'This is why we cannot free the natives yet, Governor. We must keep the mines open or all will be lost.'