Chapter 6 - Unification
Valencia, Aragon
2045
Sarai looked out over her class, making a wide gesture. "Now, then. Last time we talked about the Great Iberian Campaign. There was one incredible deciding factor that had nothing to do with Aragon itself. What, exactly, do you think that factor might have been?" A few of her students seemed to think about the question, and a few rose their hand to answer. She called on the quiet boy in the corner who never really bothered to say anything. "The French and English contributions due to the three-way alliance between them and Aragon," he muttered quietly, without much interest in his voice.
She nodded. "Indeed. Today, we're going to talk about that alliance and how it formed. You see, a diplomatic mission was sent by Marti I d'Arago, now known as Marti the Conqueror to a lot of you, to France and England both. At the time, the tensions from the Hundred Years' War were running high. Distracting both nations from each other could only be done by focusing them both on a secondary target. Marti saw this and invited them to destroy Castile, on the grounds of an Iberia unified by the Castilians being contrary to all their interests. At the time, the Castilians were completing the Reconquista, an endeavor supported by the Pope himself. Because of this, we're not really sure how the Catalan diplomats persuaded London and Paris, and why the two superpowers of the time accepted."
She chuckled, before adding, "Accepting our offer didn't work out well for either of them, did it?" Her class also laughed.
* * *
Barcelona, Aragon
1399
Sofia Agosti, a woman who had faced many difficult challenges in her time as an agent of intrigue, found her current situation to be rather strange. Easy, but difficult. Simple and complex. Her goal, to turn Bartolomeu against his King, had a rather simple approach to its conclusion. Half the work had already been done earlier - create a reason for him to dislike the King. Now all she had to do was press that reason. But at the same time, it seemed rather difficult to forge anything that seemed halfway plausible. It was then that she decided she would have to go to him again in person.
That night, she again skillfully inserted herself into the palace -- the majority of the guards she passed were barely even phased. Even if they hadn't seen her ever before, she was a woman, so she it simply wasn't possible for her to be a threat, was it? "Majority" being around four, since she managed to avoid most of them on her way to the quarters of the general. Entering the palace at night would be more difficult, which she had learned on her previous trip, so she had decided to come earlier in the day and spend a few hours acting as a servant. She went to the kitchen, made some excuse about moving from her previous position, and was assigned to bring food to several people over the course of the day. By the time it was nightfall, she had actually begun to work up a bit of a sweat. Hard work, being a servant. Unfortunate that they were often the ones to be blamed for her actions, but nothing to do about that. It was a rather cruel world, after all, even for the honest and hard-working.
As people began to head to their beds, she positioned herself to make a quick entrance into Bartolomeu's room -- the guards had not been there previously, probably added as they grew ever closer to the day of invasion. Marti clearly still did not trust his general. Smirking at the results of her work, she walked inside after noticing the daytime guards going to sleep and the nighttime ones had not yet arrived.
"Hello again, my friend," she said, swaying inside the room in the most intimidating way she could manage. Bartolomeu looked up. "Oh, lovely, I was thinking you would never come back. Come to make good on what our promise, have we?"
Something was wrong. He hadn't been this cocky before. Clearly, a factor that she had not predicted had inserted itself into the situation somehow. While the thoughts in her head turned over one another, she remained perfectly externally calm. Taking a seat on a chair in the corner, she looked hard at the man in the candlelight. "You're rather interesting, you know," she said.
"Oh, really now?"
"Yes, indeed. Hard to figure out. That said, my reason for being here is simple, and that is to help you. Your king clearly mistrusts you. You honestly think he put those guards out there for.. what was it.. prevention of indiscreet actions by the servants? The closest servant quarters is several halls down. What exactly do guards here in the military quarters help with?"
"It may be to protect me from assassins, you know. I somehow have more trust in a man I have entrusted my loyalty in than to you."
"Clearly doing such a wonderful job of it. After all, if I wanted to, it would be a rather simple matter to merely make a small cut..." before he could react, she had gotten up and was standing behind him.
Bartolomeu's look suddenly changed from one of bemused disinterest to one of slight concern. "Good, then we're clear in our positions in this relationship, yes?" she said, that ever-so-slightly threatening tone creeping into her voice. He decided that clearly she wouldn't have bothered to talk to him if she really wanted to kill him. So instead, he decided to be brave.
"I have no relationship with the scum of God's earth, like you."
She smiled devilishly and move downward until she was crouching next to his chair. "Perhaps that is indeed what I am, oh Bartolomeu. Yet if you aren't interested in what I have to say, why haven't you called for the guards? Surely they're outside by now. Unless, of course, you actually are interested." She stood up. "So, shall I present to you now? Or is there more posturing to be done by the mighty general of the Catalans?"
His expression turned sour, but the man stayed silent. "Good." Sofia began to move rather deliberately back and forth across the room. "So, let us think about the things that have happened so far. You've been removed from the initial invasion, oh dear. How terrible. Perhaps he doubts your skills? But that is easily refuted by his own explanation, clearly he simply thinks you are better suited to coming along with the reinforcements. But that doesn't explain the guards. You're right, they're clearly there to protect against assassins. And then, of course, a rather incredible woman visits you twice with an unclear purpose. All of that seems like a rather interesting coincidence, I must admit."
Although he didn't believe her, his position was clearly weakened, and he still didn't bother to speak, either to her or to shout for the guards.
"Lastly, perhaps you can explain this to me?" she asked, retrieving a letter. A forgery, naturally. Since she had been the one to convince Marti that Bartolomeu was untrustworthy and had done it in person, clearly there was no actually communication. She still found it rather amusing that for once she was trying to convince someone of something that was true. Marti actually didn't trust the general.
The letter itself was made to be as realistic as possible, thus, much of it didn't matter. "Direct your attention to the bottom."
In short, I agree that the general is a man who I can no longer believe in or place any vote of confidence in. His suggestions of new martial policies are clearly meant to sabotage the campaign....
I'm aware it's unusual, but hopefully it won't be too confusing once I get the hang of it (first time).
