The General and the Princess

Chapter 5 || Kiva

Now her trial was truly beginning. Kiva turned to glare at the gigantic, ruddy-faced man. Rubyn glared at her in open hatred, wiping his pudgy hands on his tunic. Rubyn had always disliked Kiva, calling her a harlot and worse. Kiva closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, her lungs tight.

Inver growled, "Rubyn, we haven't heard any of what has happened while we were gone. Please refrain from criticism until you actually know something."

A few of the men laughed shortly at Inver's rebuke. Rubyn frowned, and sulked, leaning back against his stone. All eyes turned to Kiva, and she felt the blood rush to her face. Justyn gently squeezed her hand as she stepped away from the stone and stood tall. She felt diminutive under their gazes with her small frame and short stature. The circle of stones seemed to be a silent tribute to her unimportance, all of nature gathering to observe her demise. She swallowed and quickly glanced at Inver for support. He was seated and nodded his acquiescence.

She exhaled slowly and then began, "As most of you now, when you left for Sari on a recruiting mission, Inver left me in charge of Lavri because all of the generals except for Sylvin and me left on the mission. For the most part, our borders were strongly guarded. When you left with 750 warriors, I was left with a few hundred, and I stretched them as best I could over the borders. For the first month, I had few problems. I patrolled the borders twice a week, checking in with garrison commanders to assess performance and morale among the men.

"Then, at the beginning of the second month, I started to notice some problems with the men. Most of the commanders listened to me, but they said that the men had grown lazy and would gamble, sleep, or go into Sari to drink and...socialize...instead of staying for their 12 hour shifts. With a small contingent of guards, I punished the men who were causing the trouble with ten lashes.

"When I asked them why they weren't listening, they refused to answer or obey me. They said there was no chance of attack, and that my commands were of no importance because I was a woman." Kiva took a death breath and squared her shoulders. "I continued to strictly punish them, but because there were so few warriors, I had to ignore some things. Then, on the northeastern border, one of the men got into a duel with a farmer over a stolen chicken and was killed.

"I rode up as soon as I heard, but a band of fifteen of our soldiers had crossed the border and killed the farmer by burning him, his family, and his farm to the ground. I had those men whipped and imprisoned, but they were all angry with me. They started to take more than their share of rations, and a lot of our people were left hungry at the expense of their greed. When they heard you were three days away, the men immediately returned to their posts and have been no trouble since."

Silence enveloped the council, and Kiva backed out of the circle, sinking back against the unrelenting rock. She clenched her grandfather's pendant in her hand, wishing she could escape with the birds flying over her head.

Rubyn swore and grumbled, "She never should have been left in charge."

"If you have something to say to her, say it to her face," Justyn growled.

A murmur of disquiet whispered through the council, and Kiva felt her stomach somersault.

Raul, one of Inver's top generals, spoke up, "Inver, how did all of this happen?"

The other generals murmured their accord with the question and Kiva bit her lip, bringing blood. Raul's dark eyes gleamed from underneath thick eyebrows, his dark, scarred face a mystery.

"Raul, the problem is not how Kiva watched over Lavri while we were gone. I will contest any man who says she did not do a fair job given the circumstances while we were away." Inver paused for effect, but Rubyn spoke up again.