"Impossible!" the Morlac shouted at the man kneeling before the king. "How dare you come in and report such a lie!"
Admiral Lord Aernoud said nothing. He had heard rumours of others who had tried to argue with the Chief Examiner that had died mysteriously. He waited. Why won't the king stop him? Doubts about the king's sanity had been spreading but no one had the courage to speak those doubts in this chamber.
The Morlac was livid. "We gave you the largest fleet in history. The largest! One hundred and forty ships, over thirty thousand crew. You should have been invincible! Only the gravest incompetence could explain this. You limp back to port with twenty-seven ships? Impossible!"
King Alvir and Queen Hildr sat silently as the Morlac raged. Those few nobles gathered had become accustomed to seeing the king say nothing while the Chief Examiner ran the kingdom. Hildr looked worn, tired and aged beyond her years. She, too, had seen the changes in her husband. She tried to speak to him, begging him to send the Chief Examiner from his court but he would not. Could not, she realized, as the King became more and more the puppet of the Chief Examiner. Every night she lay on her bed, tears wetting her pillow as she cried out for help to any power that might be listening. No answer came.
"Tell me, Admiral, what should the King do with one who has failed so utterly, so completely?" The Morlac's voice sounded calm, soft. Admiral Lord Aernoud realized that his life was over. He would die for his failure and a lifetime of being a friend to King Alvir could not save him. The Chief Examiner looked out over the assembled court. "What else can we do with such utter betrayal?" The court shuffled uncomfortably but said nothing.
Admiral Lord Aernoud's fate was postponed when a messenger came running into the court. Gasping for breath, he blurted out, without any consideration for protocol, "They're here! Admiral? Sir? They are here!"
"Who is here, you moron?" demanded the Morlac.
"Ss..sorry sir. The Sessailaine fleet. They are here." The messenger gasped out.
When the Nereus and the other surviving vessels had met at the rendezvous, Thugard had ordered all Battle Leaders to meet with him on board the Nereus. When they had gathered and assessed the battle, Thugard had realized that they had lost only four ships, all of them Islander warships. Estimates of enemy losses were uniformly high, perhaps even near total. The engagement was far more successful than anyone could have dreamed. A few vessels were limping along due to damages but the bulk of the fleet was battle ready. He ordered the Battle Leaders to tell the vessels requiring repair to return to port. Then he asked a question. "Shall we beard the lion in its den? If we press our advantage now, we could block the Westerners and perhaps even force a surrender. At the very least, we can insure control of the sea, which guarantees our allies safety. What say you?"
It was unanimous. Thugard ordered the fleet to Ehart. Standing on the bow of the Nereus, holding on to the rigging and looking into the port, Thugard could almost see the expressions on the distant faces. No matter, he knew what they were. I imagine by now that a rather panicked king is trying to figure out how to respond to our arrival! Thugard continued to count. Hogni was beside him doing another count, so they could compare.
"Twenty-seven. That's what I get Thugard. Damn," Hogni gave a low whistle, "I knew we trounced them but twenty-seven?"
