Dynasty: The Glorious Strategist (Dynasty Saga Book 3) (18 page)

Niimu seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. It seemed that she feared that Lymee was going to suggest that only her forces proceed from here and take all the glory and credit for herself.

“Once we reach the Palace, what then?” Lymee asked as they started trotting away from the wall, their forces slowly starting to form up once more behind them.

“We must make our way to the Throne Room,” Niimu stated. “It is the easiest place to guard and being at the center of the palace it will be safe from any siege equipment.”

“Any chance of some sort of escape route?” Lymee asked. There always seemed to be one in the movies after all.

“It’s possible,” Niimu nodded. “I do not know of any but then it would not be much of a secret if I did. If there are any then they no doubt lead somewhere into the mountains. If the Empress does manage to escape then I will have my men scour them in search for her.”

“Let’s go ahead and place some men there just as a precaution,” Lymee said letting out a breath as a frown crossed her face. She did not like the idea of the Empress getting away and somehow managing to escape her pursuers. That was also something that always happened in the movies. And Lymee was not looking forward to her returning one day and wanting her throne back.

“We should also search for the Empress’ Primary Minister of Administration,” Niimu stated. “She is the right hand of the Empress and is just as dangerous of a person as the Empress is.”

“And once we find them?” Lymee asked looking over at Niimu with a serious look on her face.

Niimu took a long breath before answering. “Both of them deserve execution for their crimes, and they are simply too dangerous to be kept alive. As long as the Empress lives we are all traitors and she will always have the rightful claim to the throne. However,” Niimu looked at Lymee with an equally serious expression. “One does not execute an Empress. To even attempt such a thing would no doubt cause the citizens to openly riot in the streets of every city in the Kingdom.”

Lymee stiffened slightly as the words sunk in and she faced forward nodding her head. She understood exactly what Niimu had said and she was not in a disagreement with her. But whether Niimu suggested this out of her desire for the people or in order to make her claim to the throne easier was still anyone’s guess. Lymee would just have to wait and see what the woman tried to do once everything was said and done.

If worst came to worst and Niimu did try something she might just end up as one of the many casualties of war along with the Empress and Primary Minister.

“My Lord Lymee,” Gea called out as her horse rushed up beside hers. Pulling on the reins she skidded the horse to a stop just as she made it to Lymee’s side.

“Good to see you General,” Lymee nodded at the woman. She looked no worse for wear considering how hard of a ride they had just had.

“I have just received word that the first wall has fallen to our soldiers,” Gea beamed.

“Congratulations Lord Sun,” Niimu praised. “Without you and your cunning strategy none of this would have been possible. You very well might have just led the greatest victory of all time.”

“It was thanks to both of us,” Lymee said but she could not help but blush from Niimu’s praise as she scratched her cheek in embarrassment. It did feel good, there was no denying that.

“I merely supplied the men,” Niimu stated. “If your forces were larger you could have done all of this on your own. In the end it was your strategy that handed us this glorious victory.”

“A glorious victory from a glorious strategist,” Gea smiled.

“Don’t,” Lymee warned her off. “I’ve enough titles as it is. I really don’t need another. Besides, we haven’t won yet,” Lymee reminded. “So long as the Empress is alive this is all meaningless.”

Niimu nodded in agreement tightening her grip on her reins. “You are right, Lord Sun. It is still too early to celebrate. We must first finish what we set out here to accomplish.”

“Together then,” Lymee nodded at her as she gripped her reigns.

“Together then,” Niimu echoed.       

***

Lymee’s feet thudded against the polished stone floor of the Imperial Palace as she walked at a brisk pace through the darkened hallways, Gea right beside her. Their spears were at the ready, their eyes darting side to side searching for any enemies as they continued to press forward.

The two were alone. Most of the men that they had brought with them into the Palace had been left behind to cover any way of escape or to search different parts of the Palace. One of the many drawbacks of having such a small force. Lymee did not like the idea of it being only the two of them but she was also confident that what little resistance remained they would be more than a match for.

Off in the distance came a long echo of people screaming in terror. Both of them stopped upon hearing the sound giving each other a worried glance. The yells were drawing nearer at a very fast pace as if a monster was on their tails and they seemed to be heading straight for them. Lymee was not sure if the screaming men were friend or foe and she honestly could not decide which would be better.

Taking their fighting stances Lymee and Gea raised their spears readying themselves for what was to come. From around the corner a dozen palace guards ran in front of them screaming and running in fear, most of them having already abandoned their arms as they fled not even noticing Lymee and Gea as they passed.

The two glanced at each other unsure what could have caused such a reaction. These were no retreating men. These were men running in abject terror.

“Get back here you cowards! You’re no fun to fight if you are running away!” General Haru yelled as ran around the corner shaking her spear above her head in a threatening manner. She slowed to a stop in the middle of the intersection apparently deciding that chasing them was not worth the effort. She was all alone wielding her spear, White Fang, dressed in loose fitting clothing with no armor whatsoever. Despite this she did not so much as have a scratch on her. “If you surrender I will be forced to spare your lives!” she shouted down the hallway. “I serve a weak livered lord that refuses to kill prisoners.”

“Mind saying that again,” Lymee called out dropping her guard and slowly walking forward.

Haru turned towards Lymee a look of surprise on her face upon seeing her. “My lord,” Haru swallowed looking nervous. “I was referring to your older sister of course.”

Lymee narrowed her gaze tilting her head to her side. “Would you like to stop there?”

“Please,” Haru nodded her breath a little labored from her pursuit of the soldiers.

Lymee could not help but smile even as she rolled her eyes at the woman. “Did you not receive my orders that the infiltration team was to remain where they were and rest?” Lymee asked placing the bud of her spear down on the hard floor.

“Your girltoy did say something to that liking,” Haru nodded touching her finger to her chin as she thought it over. “But I told her that she was touched in the head if she thought I was going to sit this part out. The Palace is where all the best fighters are.”

“General Chee!” Gea snapped. “Do not take such a casual tone with our lord.”

“It’s alright, Gea.” Lymee stuck out her hand holding it across Gea’s chest cutting her off. “Chee understands that I prefer frankness over edict and I do not mind people talking to me in a casual way. However,” Lymee glared at Haru with a burning anger. “If you speak in such away about Yoni ever again I will make you into my new ‘girltoy’. And I promise you that it will not be the fun kind. Got it?”

“Understood my lord,” Haru bowed her head. “I apologies for my crassness.”

“You’re forgiven,” Lymee said her anger dissipating. “And I will deal with the fact that you disobeyed my orders later, but first we need to get to the Throne Room. If we are lucky the Empress will still be there. If we are even luckier then she will be alone.”

“Is Lord Niimu not with you?” Haru asked looking around seemingly surprised that there were not more of them.

“We split up on the ground floor,” Lymee explained as she started to move down the hallway once again. “We are to meet up in front of the Throne Room.” Lymee then turned and looked at Haru realizing that the woman had somehow managed to get further into the Palace than they had. “How long have you been terrorizing soldiers in the palace?”

Haru thought about it for a second. “I would say for about an hour now.”

“An hour?” Lymee slumped her shoulders in utter shame.

“What’s wrong, my lord?” Gea asked.

“What’s wrong is that Chee started out at the first wall, came here on foot and still somehow managed to beat us by half an hour,” Lymee said. “Next time,” she turned and looked at Haru. “I think I will just send you out alone. Probably would have saved us two weeks and a lot of men if I had just done that in the first place.”

“Well I did not wish to say anything, my lord,” Haru grinned. The scariest part was that Lymee was convinced that Haru was being serious.

“It would certainly be entertaining to watch,” Gea commented under her breath.

The three of them came to a stop as they approached two large wooden doors that stood a good fifteen feet tall. Etched into them were all kinds of fancy carvings and intricate paintings. There were also six woman clad in purple colored light armor standing in front of the door, their spears held at the ready.

“You shall go no further,” one of them cried out.

“Alright,” Haru cheered. “I was hoping I would get to fight some of you. The Royal Imperial Guard. Said to be the best fighters in the entire kingdom,” Haru explained as she rotated her shoulders loosening them up.

Lymee did not like the sound of that but Haru had no trace of fear as she stepped in front of Lymee cracking her neck and knuckles. Then Lymee noticed that Gea was not far behind, both of them standing in-between the guards and Lymee.

“Let us take care of them, my lord,” Gea said removing her helmet and letting it fall to the ground beside her. “You go inside and confront of Empress,” she said as she brushed loose strands of her long sweaty hair out of her face.

“We shall never let that happen,” the guard woman declared but did not move from her spot.

“I’m not going to leave you here alone to fight these women,” Lymee stated.

“My lord,” Haru looked behind her shoulder at Lymee. “We cannot fight at our best if we have to divide our attention to protect you as well.”

Haru’s words hit Lymee hard. For the first time in a long while Lymee felt weak and powerless. Despite all her training and all her experience she was still nowhere near their level of fighting ability and would only slow the two down if she tried to help.

“Then I am counting on you to clear a path for me,” Lymee said dropping into her stance ready to rush forward.

“As you say, my lord,” Gea said. Lymee noticed the slight smile in the corner of her mouth.

“I will take the four on the right,” Haru declared a toothy grin on her face as she stared straight ahead at her waiting opponents.

“Good enough for me,” Gea said a toothy grin of her own. It was a look that Lymee had never seen on Gea. She actually looked excited.

The two of them then lunged forward Gea moving only a split second after Haru.

In a loud clash their spears met and Gea and Haru moved in unison ducking and striking at their opponents. Lymee charged forward doing nothing to engage in the melee. Two of the guards moved in to block Lymee’s path but Haru seemed to come out of nowhere swinging her spear around her head forcing both the guards out of the way as they tried their best to defend themselves.

Grabbing ahold of the door handle Lymee first pushed on the door and when that did not work, she then pulled on it instead. Despite using all her strength the door only budged the slightest bit. Ducking her head to avoid an oncoming attack Lymee gave the door another pull moving the door a few more inches. Kitsune then poked her head out from underneath Lymee’s armor. Then the fox scurried out and ran down her leg and darted through the barely opened door. Suddenly the door swung open several feet giving Lymee enough room to squeeze herself through.

Letting go of the door handle Lymee rushed forward angling her body to the side so she could fit through the giant door. As soon as she was on the other side she heard the door slam closed behind her. Lymee then felt something pawing at her leg and when she looked down she saw Kitsune at her feet looking up at her, her tail wagging expectantly. Bending down Lymee stuck out her elbow and the fox leapt up darting up her arm and wrapping herself around Lymee’s neck.

“Absolutely amazing,” rang a dark crisp voice. 

Lymee looked down the large empty Throne Room where a woman in a very decorative dress stood, an astonished smile on her face. She wore a strange headpiece that resembled a crown. The woman looked to be in her early twenties her skin soft and pale like she had never actually been in the sun.

“The infamous Empress I presume,” Lymee said shifting her grip on her spear as she slowly started making her way across the Throne Room towards where the woman was standing.

“What me?” the woman put a hand to her chest in playful shock. “I am not the Empress. No, this is the Empress.” The woman gestured to a large throne beside her and for the first time Lymee noticed the little girl sitting there kicking her feet playfully as if bored while waiting for a bus.