Read Online The Lake of Sorrows by Rovena Cumani, Thomas Hauge - Free Book Online
Authors: Rovena Cumani, Thomas Hauge
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greasy little lieutenant of artillery just a few years ago. He still loves his cannon. Calls them his pretty girls.”
A smile broke through Vajas’ confusion. “
Belles filles!
”
“Exactly. And much prettier than ours they are. Lighter, slimmer, faster, and capable of giving a general the same satisfaction as those lumbering matrons the Ottomans call cannon.”
“But, my Pasha … if you were to acquire French guns, the Sultan might not approve.”
“Indeed. I need to defy the Sultan, but that is precisly
why
I want some of Bonaparte’s pretty girls. To become a body of my own instead of merely an arm of the Sultan. Then to drive all Greeks and Albanians still carrying arms from my lands. One of the new ideas that have proven so useful in Europe ever since their endless wars of the last century is that only the ruler should have arms and armies.”
Seeing the threat of sharing the Pasha’s morning coffee recede, Vajas finally felt up to voicing his other concern. “If we are to open negotiations with the French about their … tools, my Pasha, then the Sultan will divine your intentions long before such negotiations could be concluded. Such matters always drag on and on. Demand must be adjusted to counter-demand, over and over again, second thoughts —”
“That is the way men like
you
do your haggling, Vajas. I do mine in a more direct fashion, if given half the chance. And now we have been given the finest of chances.”
“I am not sure I understand, my Pasha.”
“You will, my boy, you will — you always were as bright as you were loyal. For the moment, I just need you to write and dispatch orders to my garrison commanders all over Hyperus. They are to leave only enough men behind to keep their domains quiet. The rest they will bring here.”
“You are mustering an army? We are going to war again?”
Alhi was fighting to resist the last cup of coffee for now - and lost the struggle with a smile. “Oh, indeed. And we shall sweep all before us with our pretty French girls, once I have bartered a bit of my own collection for some of those.”
Savoring the last cup of coffee as well as the increasingly confused expression on his advisor’s face, Alhi picked up the French courier’s letter and tossed it to Vajas. “Bonaparte’s henchman, Chambeaux, is sending his adjutant to us as an emissary. And that adjutant, my spies assure me, is a man who loves beauteous flesh.”
----
XVIII
----
“N o! Not Souli. Not again.” Forgetting all propriety, Eminee all but cried with exasperation in the harem’s garden that evening. “How many armies must be wasted on that accursed — “
“Ooh!” Alhi cut her short with an explosive snort of annoyance. “It is my fault for telling you, woman.”
“Do not regret it, Alhi. Just listen to me. Each time you plan another attack on that devilish bit of rocky countryside, my dreams turn terrible. I dream the lake overflows and carries away the castle, you, me, everyone. Is it too hard to leave the people of Souli alone? They are just a handful of Greeks cut off from the rest of the world. Do not take their independence too hard.”
“Oh, I see. My wife is giving me orders now! What next, then?” For a moment, Alhi stood at attention like a janissary recruit. “It seems to me that now we rule together. Hah! What do you say, Eminee? Do you like the idea that you should sit alongside me at the great table in the war council room and plan my strategy?”
“No. I do not. Those are things I hardly care about. Yet there is one thing I do know all too well — my soul. And it has never lied to me.” Alhi recoiled at the horror in her voice. “If you attack Souli you will be in terrible danger, Alhi.”
“I am in danger every single day - and every single night, too, now that I think of it. Sometimes, I think you forget what the life of a Pasha is like, woman.”
“How could I ever forget that? You are my Pasha and my husband, and I love you. How many
A smile broke through Vajas’ confusion. “
Belles filles!
”
“Exactly. And much prettier than ours they are. Lighter, slimmer, faster, and capable of giving a general the same satisfaction as those lumbering matrons the Ottomans call cannon.”
“But, my Pasha … if you were to acquire French guns, the Sultan might not approve.”
“Indeed. I need to defy the Sultan, but that is precisly
why
I want some of Bonaparte’s pretty girls. To become a body of my own instead of merely an arm of the Sultan. Then to drive all Greeks and Albanians still carrying arms from my lands. One of the new ideas that have proven so useful in Europe ever since their endless wars of the last century is that only the ruler should have arms and armies.”
Seeing the threat of sharing the Pasha’s morning coffee recede, Vajas finally felt up to voicing his other concern. “If we are to open negotiations with the French about their … tools, my Pasha, then the Sultan will divine your intentions long before such negotiations could be concluded. Such matters always drag on and on. Demand must be adjusted to counter-demand, over and over again, second thoughts —”
“That is the way men like
you
do your haggling, Vajas. I do mine in a more direct fashion, if given half the chance. And now we have been given the finest of chances.”
“I am not sure I understand, my Pasha.”
“You will, my boy, you will — you always were as bright as you were loyal. For the moment, I just need you to write and dispatch orders to my garrison commanders all over Hyperus. They are to leave only enough men behind to keep their domains quiet. The rest they will bring here.”
“You are mustering an army? We are going to war again?”
Alhi was fighting to resist the last cup of coffee for now - and lost the struggle with a smile. “Oh, indeed. And we shall sweep all before us with our pretty French girls, once I have bartered a bit of my own collection for some of those.”
Savoring the last cup of coffee as well as the increasingly confused expression on his advisor’s face, Alhi picked up the French courier’s letter and tossed it to Vajas. “Bonaparte’s henchman, Chambeaux, is sending his adjutant to us as an emissary. And that adjutant, my spies assure me, is a man who loves beauteous flesh.”
----
XVIII
----
“N o! Not Souli. Not again.” Forgetting all propriety, Eminee all but cried with exasperation in the harem’s garden that evening. “How many armies must be wasted on that accursed — “
“Ooh!” Alhi cut her short with an explosive snort of annoyance. “It is my fault for telling you, woman.”
“Do not regret it, Alhi. Just listen to me. Each time you plan another attack on that devilish bit of rocky countryside, my dreams turn terrible. I dream the lake overflows and carries away the castle, you, me, everyone. Is it too hard to leave the people of Souli alone? They are just a handful of Greeks cut off from the rest of the world. Do not take their independence too hard.”
“Oh, I see. My wife is giving me orders now! What next, then?” For a moment, Alhi stood at attention like a janissary recruit. “It seems to me that now we rule together. Hah! What do you say, Eminee? Do you like the idea that you should sit alongside me at the great table in the war council room and plan my strategy?”
“No. I do not. Those are things I hardly care about. Yet there is one thing I do know all too well — my soul. And it has never lied to me.” Alhi recoiled at the horror in her voice. “If you attack Souli you will be in terrible danger, Alhi.”
“I am in danger every single day - and every single night, too, now that I think of it. Sometimes, I think you forget what the life of a Pasha is like, woman.”
“How could I ever forget that? You are my Pasha and my husband, and I love you. How many
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