A Game of Cards

Chapter XIII: Mace Hayes Bloodbreak

"I shall call this meeting to order," boomed a powerful voice, and the chatters instantly silenced, replaced by a somber silence.

"Your Majesty," started Sir Liaroanda, a short, nervous looking man with a sneezy voice, "It is clear that—"

"It is clear that the general Ying of Spades had been the attacker." I cut in with an internal smirk, a grudging acknowledgement to the general's audacity. I said beside the king on a long table, the generals of Hearts around me. "She has the power, reason, and the means to perform such actions. Her Card of Blood is a puppeteer's card. This whole incident reeks of her doing."

The seneschal, Sir Laurier, shook his head at me, round spectacles slipping from his nose. "Young prince, with noted respect, we must not be brash here. Whoever created those beings clearly held a reasonable amount of power. To accuse the general of such a crime could result in outcomes we are not yet ready to face."

"Additionally," Commanding General Irisberg added, "The general was last reported to have been in Spades just a day ago. She could not have arrived in Hearts in such a short time. It would have been at least one day's travel by boat."

I smiled, creating a restless air in the generals around me, perhaps unnerved by such an expression in a solemn time. My Card of Blood flickered between my fingers two more times before I called it away. "Had the general actually been so powerful that she could create a whole legion of shadow beings with actually faces, do you really believe that distance would be a problem to her? She could have done all this in the comfort of her mansion. After all, the only thing shadow beings need to function is a simple order, which she could have given in her head easily enough."

The people sitting around the table broke into murmurs. A cough sounded at my end of the table and they fell silent all at once to look at King Edgar. He was well-versed in the arts of keeping a poker face, yet even without the addition of emotion, his voice boomed with power as he spoke. "My son had offered a very possible explanation to this strange event, yet even assuming this was the Ruthless General's doing, there is little action we could take. Our troops are recovering extremely slowly from the War of Blood Moons, and even at full strength, we are no match for Spades' army. We also hold inadequate evidence against the general to wage war."

"Your Majesty," Said General Irisberg, "It is impossible for it to have been the general's doing. There had been a sharp cry to call off the shadow army at the end of the attack. How could the general have made that cry if she was all the way back in Spades? The only way we could have heard that sound would be if she was here in Hearts, yet our evidence shows that it would have been an impossible case."

My sharp, cruel laugh rang clear across the table, startling the generals and government officials. "A sharp puppeteer's cry is not the only way to call off an army. That sound may have been from something else, perhaps a bird in the mountains, while the real reason the shadow beings had disappeared was because of something that Onyx did back in Spades. And as to your question, Your Majesty, we must realize that war is not the only solution to our problems. I suspect that Onyx had not acted on formal order, but rather personal accounts. This means that should we get the general Ying to admit to her crimes...Spades would not only revoke her position as the general...but they would also pay quite a hefty sum to repair the damages we sustained."

"You forget," the general of the fourth legion, Figaw, interrupted, "That if the Spadian commanding general would go such length just to humiliate and deface the image of the Heartisian army, she would not willingly admit to her crimes. How to you plan on forcing her confession? A few kind words? Some spare gold? It is no secret that the general is very prideful. She would rather die than admit to her crimes and lose her prestigious title." There was a smugness in his tone that reminded me all too much of the general in question. We had never really seen eye to eye, but it was quite irritating of him to attempt to disapprove to me so outwardly in such a formal meeting. He looked quite laughable sitting there, his bulbous stomach piling on the table.

"This is Onyx we're talking about," I chuckled, feeling a shudder going around the room. Even General Figaw, with all his bravado, sank a little into his chair, if he could with that stomach. "Are you really so foolish as to believe that she would admit to some baseless accusations with a few kind words?"

"What do you suggest then?" Figaw challenged. "That you take her to bed and get her to admit her secrets?"

"Now, now, General, no need to get so worked up. I suggest that we take the general here to Hearts, and get a truth teller to question her. We present our findings to the Spadian High Council and allow them to adequately sentence her. If they do not...well, we'll go from there when the time comes."

"You're suggesting we should kidnap the general? Are you insane?"

I looked up at the man, his bottom lip trembling. He could also sense my patience running thin. "Yes, that is precisely what I am suggesting. I trust your men to be competent enough for the job."

"But—"

"You do know that the Ruthless General looks like, yes?"

"Yes, but—"

"Perfect, then I want her here in three days' time. I shall question her myself."

With a single swish of my crimson cloak, I stood up and headed towards the exit, yawning. This whole ordeal was getting quite boring.

"Despicable woman." I muttered under my breath, still loud enough for my voice echo sonorous in the meeting chamber.

...

In three days' time, Figaw delivered as promised. A struggling, tied-up shape of a young girl dressed in black with a bag over her head.

"Impressive," I murmured. "You really got her."

"Had you not expected us to, Sir?" General Figaw growled, giving me a death stare.

"No, but I'm glad you did."

Glad as I was initially, all I wanted to do was fall to the ground howling as I lifted the bag from the girl's head. I did not know whether to feel anger, or whether it was normal to feel his amused. Yet even as realization dawned upon me, I could not bring myself to blame those who made this mistake. I should have expected this to happen. The general herself never showed her face to the public, often using somebody else to represent her instead. Confusion was to be expected, but not accounted for. I cursed at myself, but there must still be some way to take advantage of the situation.

The guards looked around, confused.

"Is this not the general you asked for, Sir?" Figaw gritted out. "Why are you mocking us for fulfilling your wishes."

"General Figaw," I sneered, "I was joking when I asked you if you knew the general's appearance, yet maybe I shouldn't have been."

Because right now, scowling daggers, kneeling tied up in front of me, was not the Masked Maiden, General Onyx Ying, but instead, it was her sister, ignorant and naïve Princess Cozbi, the Impersonated Foolish Damsel.

"Send a message to Spades," I ordered, "Address it to the commanding general. Tell her that we have her sister and that we'll only return her if the general turns herself in. Don't mess it up this time."

"My sister should give me a pay raise," the sister of the general grumbled in front of me, "Getting kidnapped as her was not part of the job description."