Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Alliances & Armies
    Alliances & Armies
    Alliances & Armies
    Ebook280 pages4 hours

    Alliances & Armies

    By Robert Collins

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Nemya is the daughter of Queen Nonya of Poneclia. Poneclia and the other kingdoms that used to be part of the Usaru Empire are swept with rumors of conflict.

    Queen Nonya dispatches her daughter as a Royal envoy to make alliances. Nemya tries to make allies and arrange a marriage. She must also seek allies among the kingdoms of the Etoiya, who are little known to Poneclia and her neighbors.

    Nemya is also a growing young woman, struggling to find her place in a complex and dangerous world. Will Nemya’s heart and head take her to her destiny?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRobert Collins
    Release dateSep 1, 2019
    ISBN9780463518564
    Alliances & Armies
    Author

    Robert Collins

    Two people with different cultural backgrounds and ethnicities met at a European and Balkan music and dance ensemble named Koroyar and their lives became intertwined, combining their gifts to continue exploring life as an avenue of creative expression. Robert Collins has a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology, and has been an educator in the Los Angeles area for thirty years. He studied writing with Joan Oppenheimer in San Diego, with Cork Millner privately, and also in the Santa Barbara Writer's Conferences. Elizabeth Herrera Sabido, at the age of sixteen years, began working as a secretary at the Secretaria de Industria y Comercio in Mexico City where she was born, then she was an educator for twenty-six years, and a teacher of international dance for The Los Angeles Unified School District. She has also studied Traditional Chinese Medicine, and is a Reiki Master Teacher. Attracted by the Unknown, the Forces of the Universe, and the human psyche, during their lives they have studied several different philosophies. Elizabeth has been involved with various religions, Asian studies, and Gnosticism with SamaelAun Weor, and Robert has explored spiritual healing practices in Mexico, and studied with Carlos Castaneda's Cleargreen and Tensegrity. Elizabeth and Robert start their day at four-thirty in the morning. They enjoy playing volleyball and tennis, and in the afternoons play music, alternating between seven different instruments each. Their philosophy of Personal Evolution has led them to explore over 110 countries between the two of them such as Japan, Nepal, Egypt, Bosnia- Herzegovina, the Philippines, Turkey,Russia, etc.

    Read more from Robert Collins

    Related to Alliances & Armies

    Related ebooks

    Fantasy For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Mother Tongue

      Feb 24, 2021

      Mother Tongue
      12 min read

    • Article

      Ellen Cooke

      Jul 21, 2017

      Ellen Cooke
      4 min read

    • Article

      You Can’t Keep A Good Woman Down

      Apr 20, 2022

      You Can’t Keep A Good Woman Down
      8 min read

    • Article

      RENA OWEN Life after BETH

      Jun 15, 2022

      RENA OWEN Life after BETH
      10 min read

    • Article

      In Conversation With VANESSA CHAN

      Jan 4, 2024

      In an attempt to understand what her grandparents went through in World War Two, Malaysian author Vanessa Chan put pen to paper to give a voice to their stories. The result is The Storm We Made – a powerful historical debut about a Malayan mother who

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Wisdom of Women Shines in Najla Jraissaty Khoury’s ‘Pearls on a Branch: Oral Tales’

      Oct 22, 2018

      Long, long ago These things happened or maybe no. Let’s start with the image on the cover. Three women sit in a courtyard. One holds a long-handled pan over a coal brazier; the other two, one of whom has her back to us, hold small cups. They wear ide

      7 min read

    • Article

      Wounds That Won’t Heal

      Oct 30, 2017

      Wounds That Won’t Heal
      7 min read

    • Article

      Hauntings

      Jul 5, 2023

      Hauntings
      11 min read

    • Article

      The INVISIBLE RED STRING

      Feb 1, 2023

      The INVISIBLE RED STRING
      10 min read

    • Article

      Night Visions

      Sep 10, 2022

      Night Visions
      6 min read

    • Article

      Awa’s Story

      Dec 6, 2022

      Awa’s Story
      3 min read

    • Article

      She was there ALL MY LIFE

      Sep 18, 2022

      A great chat with the queen of talk back Of course, it was inevitable that one day the news would come that Queen Elizabeth had died. She was a woman, after all. A wife, a mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother – she might have been Britain’s lon

      2 min read

    • Article

      Editor’s Note

      Mar 22, 2019

      I’ve been at Mysterious Ways for more than five years. In that time, I’ve written about every miraculous topic under the sun: dreams, visions, soul mates, near-death experiences—you name it. One thing sticks out. Something I’ve heard from hospital ch

      1 min read

    • Article

      Elsi, The Strange Maid

      Aug 29, 2018

      Elsi, The Strange Maid
      17 min read

    • Article

      In A New Memoir In Verse, Alora Young Traces The Lives Of Generations Of Black Women

      Aug 1, 2022

      Alora Young is the 2021 Youth Poet Laureate of the Southern United States. Her debut poetry collection Walking Gentry Home is a memoir written in verse.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Reading Corner

      Sep 4, 2023

      Reading Corner
      3 min read

    • Article

      Left To Lose

      Jul 10, 2022

      Around the time she gives up her name, it starts to feel like this entire revolution isn’t worth it anymore. The world is probably lucky that Kelian—she still remembers Kelian, in spite of everything—is there to pick up the pieces, the way he always

      11 min read

    • Article

      My Mother, My Hero

      Jan 25, 2023

      My Mother, My Hero
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Joys Of Reading With A Second Grader

      Nov 18, 2019

      My daughter would need a chair to reach them, and I could see it was this fact—not my endorsement of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s classics—that sold her on them. The post The Joys of Reading with a Second Grader appeared first on The Millions.

      6 min read

    • Article

      Grandmother Mind

      Jun 7, 2022

      Grandmother Mind
      9 min read

    • Article

      Tante’s Tales

      Oct 5, 2021

      Tante’s Tales
      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Alliances & Armies

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Alliances & Armies - Robert Collins

      ALLIANCES AND ARMIES

      by

      Robert Collins

      Ebook Edition

      Copyright © 2019 by Robert Collins

      License Notes, eBook edition

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      ONE

      TWO

      THREE

      FOUR

      FIVE

      SIX

      SEVEN

      EIGHT

      NINE

      TEN

      ELEVEN

      TWELVE

      THIRTEEN

      FOURTEEN

      FIFTEEN

      SIXTEEN

      SEVENTEEN

      EIGHTEEN

      NINETEEN

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      ONE

      Nemya wasn’t certain why she’d been summoned to her mother’s private room, but she didn’t feel terrified by the prospect of a private talk with her mother.

      In the past, when she had been told to go to the bedroom her mother and father shared, it was for a reason that she either knew, or quickly learned. She hadn’t been paying attention to the lessons the Royal Scribe was giving her. She’d been running around the Palace when or where she shouldn’t have been. She hadn’t been at the Palace, but was away riding. She went before her mother, who spoke to her in a stern voice about what Nemya had done. A second visit on the matter, and Nemya would get a sore ass.

      This day, however, Nemya knew she’d done nothing wrong, nor had sullied her title as Princess and daughter of Queen Nonya. Indeed, at dinner the previous evening her mother had praised her for knowing more of Poneclia’s past than her older brother, Chalvuno. That was how her mother ran her household: praise in public and punishment in private. It was also, as far as Nemya knew, how her mother ran the Palace and the whole of Poneclia.

      If I’ve done nothing wrong, she wondered, why does Mother wish a private talk?

      Nemya knocked on the door of the bedroom. Through the door she heard her mother call for her to enter. She opened the door and entered the room.

      Thank you for coming, her mother said with a smile. She waved at a chair across from the bed. Please, sit.

      Yes, Mother.

      Her mother’s smile always reassured Nemya. For as long as Nemya was aware of the concept of genuine feelings, she’d taken pleasure in her mother’s smile. It always spoke of love, concern, and compassion. It was only in the last year or so that Nemya had learned of her mother’s more fierce reputation. Queen Nonya had stood up to the enemy of Poneclia, the kingdom of Menari, more than once, and had led the army that conquered it. She’d faced down the last Lord of Kings and Nations of the Usaru Empire, the brother of her first husband, and was said to have had a hand in his death. She defied Great King Tisi-Rol’s successor, the present King of Usaru, by sheltering Tisi-Rol’s wife and children.

      Nemya now understood how precious her mother’s smiles were. Queen Nonya was a strong woman, strong as any man, and such strength could have made her hard. But she hadn’t allowed that strength to overpower her feelings. She loved Nemya and her brother when they were good, and she loved their father with the passion of a young bride.

      Either Mother isn’t angry with me, or I’m about to earn an unpleasant surprise.

      I hope you aren’t troubled if I first ask you if your time has come, her mother began.

      Nemya sighed. No, Mother, it hasn’t.

      She wasn’t certain of her feelings about her impending passage to womanhood. There was a part of her that was eager for the experience, painful and scary it might be. She would no longer be thought of as a girl. She would be a woman, and have some ability to command her life. For some time she’d felt a growing resentment at how men and women spoke to her, as though she was still a child. She was now as tall as her mother, and appeared to be slowly gaining womanly curves. She believed that once she went through her first womanly cycle, all would change.

      There was also a part of her that was less eager for her body to chance. She was Queen Nonya’s younger child. As her brother had reached manhood safely, there was little chance that she would become Queen. She would remain a Princess. She would have to be married to forge an alliance, or strengthen an alliance, or for some other reason for the benefit of Poneclia. She would have no choice in a husband, and though her mother had been blessed by the Gods with her arranged marriage, Nemya doubted such a blessing would be passed down to her.

      Queen Nonya edged forward. Trust me, Nemya, I know how you’re feeling about this. I felt the same way when I was your age.

      I know, Mother.

      Is there something about it that troubles you today?

      I was thinking about Toluya.

      As you should.

      That remark caught Nemya off guard. She leaned back, and met her mother’s eyes. I should?

      Indeed. The Gods truly blessed you there.

      They have?

      "Yes. I only had brothers growing up, an older and a younger brother. My father only had brothers, and their families were spread across Cunarra. I had no sisters, nor any girls may age to be my friends. The only girls around me were our Palace slaves.

      You, though, have Toluya. She’s your cousin by marriage, but I wanted her mother to feel a part of my family when they came here. I wanted her children to think of mine as their siblings. It may not quite be for your brother and hers, but I’m pleased that you think of each other as sisters.

      Nemya smiled to her mother. I see.

      What have you thought lately about your older cousin?

      Nemya took a breath before answering with a question of her own. Mother, why isn’t Toluya to be married? I understand that, once I’m old enough, I could be promised to any King or Prince, but shouldn’t she be promised first? She is a few years older than me.

      Her mother sighed. I suppose it’s time you understood the complexities of the situation.

      Mother?

      Toluya is the daughter of a woman stripped of her status as Queen, Nemya.

      I know.

      Do you know what that means?

      That she had to flee here with Toluya and Uta-Mo.

      Do you know what that means under the law?

      Our law or Usaru law?

      The law of all the kingdoms, Nemya.

      Nemya shook her head. She was aware that such laws existed. References to them appeared from time to time in the tales of the lands that she’d been taught by both of her mother’s Royal Scribes. What they were was a subject she hadn’t been taught.

      One day in the past year the subject had come up, and she’d been told to ask her mother about it. Her mother deferred, saying, You’ll learn when it’s time for you to learn. At first Nemya thought her mother was again treating her like a child. After some reflection, Nemya wondered if her mother had meant that her status as a younger child was the actual reason. If she wasn’t likely to become Queen, she might not need to know all that much about the informal agreements Kings and Queens had with each other.

      I suppose now is a good time to starting teaching you, her mother said. In this matter, Nemya, Toluya and Uta-Mo are no longer thought of as members of a Royal Family.

      Not by birth?

      No. When King Osa-Ki forced Tiliyu from Usar, and stripped her of the title of Queen of Usaru, he also stripped away the claim her children had to their titles. They were no longer Prince and Princess.

      He could do that?

      He did that, Nemya.

      Did that make them common people?

      That was Osa-Ki’s intention, yes. But some of the Usaru nobles weren’t happy with his removing the widow and children of the deceased King. Had Toluya’s mother married one of those nobles, he could have claimed Kingship through that marriage.

      How?

      The husband of the Queen is King, is he not?

      Father isn’t King.

      Your father renounced all claim to the title when he married me. As a magister he wouldn’t have been allowed to become King.

      No?

      No. He could only be Regent to your brother.

      Is that what that title means?

      It is.

      But if Toluya’s mother married again, her new father could claim to be King?

      "He could. Tiliyu was still Queen when Osa-Ki forced her to leave Usar. Uta-Mo was proclaimed by his father as the heir to the Lord of Kings and Nations. Had Tisi-Rol lived, in his tenth year Uta-Mo would have been formally named heir by his father and any nobles of Usaru who arrived for the naming ceremony.

      Now Osa-Ki’s son Itu-Ki is King of Usaru. Yet Uta-Mo lives, and could claim Kingship if he desired it. He has yet to renounce Kingship, but when he does, the bloodline of Tisi-Rol turns to Toluya. Which means her husband could claim Kingship.

      Until she renounced her claim.

      That’s right, Nemya.

      Then, until that day, any man that marries her could claim to be King of Usaru.

      Yes. And what do you think that means?

      Nemya paused for a few moments. That her husband could gain support for his claim among those unhappy with Itu-Ki?

      Indeed.

      What if she marries a man who is not Usaru?

      The claim persists until she renounces it, Nemya. What do you think Itu-Ki would do if a Prince of another land were to marry Toluya before then?

      Nemya didn’t hesitate. Declare war on that land.

      Indeed. The kingdoms around Usaru are at peace with it, but it’s a dangerous peace.

      A dangerous peace, Mother?

      Yes. As long as Usaru is too weak to conquer those of us around it, it remains at peace with us. As long as Usaru is strong enough to defend itself, no one has any desire to conquer it.

      Can that last?

      Queen Nonya shook her head. It will not last, Nemya. Itu-Ki refuses to make treaties with those the Usaru used to rule. I’m sure he wishes to restore the title Tisi-Rol had, and make himself Lord of Kings and Nations. The armies of Usaru are getting large and strong, like they were when I first arrived in Usar. If you live as long as I do, my daughter, you may see Itu-Ki or his son try to create a new Usaru Empire.

      Nemya fell silent for a moment. She’d heard the tales of the battles from the time when her mother was a young bride and Tena-Nal was alive. She knew of the utter decimation of one Usaru army at the hands of the Horse Folk. She’d heard of the terrible bloodshed suffered by both sides during the Atiki rebellion. Her mother was not the only person to tell her that it was a dark time.

      She had also become aware of other dark times in the past, when kingdoms went to war and empires fell. There always seemed to be periods of war followed by periods of peace. She’d never stopped to wonder if the time she was living in was a period of peace, or merely a quiet breath between wars. As she was a Princess of Poneclia, the world beyond the Palace hadn’t been distant for at least a few years, if not longer. But until that instant, Nemya hadn’t understood why her mother worried so much about the safety of her adopted home.

      You fear the future. Nemya wasn’t sure if her words were a statement or a question. Instead she waited for her mother to respond before deciding.

      Fear, my daughter? Queen Nonya let out a deep breath. Perhaps.

      Do you fear for me?

      I fear for both my children. That’s why I worked so hard to make certain you were taught properly and well. That’s why I chose to punish you harshly for bad behavior, and reward you well when you do good.

      I think I understand now.

      That’s what happens as we grow older, Nemya.

      Is there anything I can do?

      You? What could you do?

      Nemya knew at once that her mother wasn’t mocking her, but challenging her. Her mother, her father, and the Royal Scribes Nemya had been taught by had constantly told her that she needed to be smart to survive in the world. Being smart had kept her mother alive, and allowed Queen Nonya to thrive while any other Princess would have perished. Nemya had been warned not to rely on looks or the favor of a man to get along. She was the only daughter of Queen Nonya, and all expected her to be like her mother, or else suffer failure and humiliation.

      I won’t disappoint Mother this time, she told herself. This time I’ll be Nonya’s daughter.

      After several moments of thought, a single name passed from her lips. Miathu.

      Queen Nonya let out a laugh. What about the young man?

      You don’t believe his claim, Mother?

      Suddenly, Queen Nonya’s face turned mild. No, I don’t.

      The tale had come to Pinna within the last cycle of the Moon. A young man in Jinhiya, Miathu, claimed to be the son of Lefiu. Lefiu was the wife of the middle brother of Tisi-Rol and Tena-Nal, the brother who went mad while on the Atiki throne.

      On the surface there was little reason to think much of the claim. After her husband had been killed by his brother, Lefiu disappeared from Kiriya and was never seen again. There was nothing to say that she hadn’t become pregnant while close to the Atiki throne, or had been married a second time. What was remarkable was, when Queen Nonya asked the merchant from Kiriya if the new King of the Atiki, King Doamro the Fourth, had done or said anything about the claimant, the merchant had answered, No. Nemya had heard from several men around the Palace, including her father, that it was a strange reaction to such a claim.

      Why not? she asked her mother.

      Lefiu, for the short time I knew her, was a friend. Her last letters to me didn’t say much about her life. She seemed to be reflecting the madness of her husband. But even now I feel that, if she was with child, she would have said something to me.

      You weren’t supposed to have children when you first married. Would you have told anyone if you’d become pregnant then?

      Not anyone, Nemya, no, but I would tell a close friend. I would have wanted advice on what to do. I would have wanted to share such news. I think, if she was pregnant, telling me would be her way of telling me goodbye.

      Goodbye? She would have been exiled?

      Exiled, or killed by that evil Tisi-Rol for defiance, or for having his crazy brother’s child.

      Do you still hate him after all these years, Mother?

      I’ll hate him until my dying breath, my daughter.

      Nemya chose to move away from the past and to the present. King Doamro has said nothing about Miathu. Why do you think that is?

      Her mother relaxed. It’s quite simple. If he recognizes Miathu’s claim, all would then expect him to encourage Miathu to challenge Itu-Ki.

      Including King Itu-Ki?

      Indeed. Itu-Ki could use that recognition as an excuse to start a war against Atiki.

      Then why not denounce Miathu as a liar?

      Queen Nonya smiled. King Doamro would lose the weapon he has to keep King Itu-Ki at bay.

      He thinks Miathu could be trouble for Itu-Ki?

      If he was believed, yes.

      What will he do?

      King Doamro, do you mean?

      Yes.

      I doubt he will do anything. He won’t dare to provoke Itu-Ki, but he has no way to help Miathu, even if he wanted to.

      What help could he offer?

      Recognition.

      Is that all?

      Why do you ask? Do you think he could do more?

      Has he no friends in Usaru?

      Queen Nonya smiled and shook her head. No one outside of Usaru has friends in Usaru anymore.

      A thought appeared in Nemya’s mind. Uta-Mo does.

      No, my daughter, he doesn’t. Those letters are from enemies of Itu-Ki. She glanced away from Nemya for a moment. But if Miathu had those letters, it would give him men to call upon for support inside Usaru.

      Yes, Mother. Uta-Mo has no interest in the throne of Usaru. He wants to be a scribe.

      True. The trouble would be in getting those letters to Miathu.

      They can’t be sent?

      They could, but I’d have to rely on a messenger to get them to Atiki. Once there, they would have to be placed in King Doamro’s hands.

      That struck Nemya as odd. He would interfere with a messenger from you, Mother?

      Not interfere, no. But he could demand that a man from his court take any letters from here to Miathu. He could refuse to help my messenger find Miathu. It’s never easy for Kings and Queens to write to those in foreign lands. They have to rely on the willingness of the Kings and Queens of those lands to deliver their messages.

      Nemya fell silent again for a few moments. Could he refuse a request from a Princess, Mother?

      A Princess? Do you mean you?

      Yes.

      Why should I allow you to take such a risk?

      Nemya took time to think of an answer to her mother’s question. If Miathu claims to be the son of Lefiu, that means he’s Toluya’s cousin, yes?

      If he’s the son of Lefiu and Tosa-Dal, then yes, he would be her cousin.

      Might he therefore resemble Toluya?

      Perhaps.

      You could send me to Atiki, with Toluya as my escort. We would present ourselves to King Doamro, and tell him that Toluya wishes to know if this Miathu is truly her cousin. If there’s no resemblance, King Doamro can safely dismiss Miathu’s claims. Wouldn’t that earn good will from King Itu-Ki?

      It would.

      If there is a resemblance, King Doamro would be able to recognize Miathu, for a blood relative of Tisi-Rol has recognized her cousin.

      I doubt he would do that, Nemya.

      He could or he could not. We would at least meet with Miathu, and present the letters sent to Uta-Mo to him. What he does with those letters is up to him.

      Queen Nonya nodded. That is a wiser idea. King Doamro need not interfere in the matter, and risk war. Toluya could even lie to him, and say Miathu bore no family resemblance to her or her brother. Doamro could be seen to be distant from Miathu, yet secretly help him and thus keep Usaru at bay.

      Would that also not be best for all of us, Mother?

      Why do you think that, Nemya?

      You told me that Osa-Ki forced Tiliyu from Usar because he desired to restore the Usaru Empire and make war. His first action, once he made himself King, was to withdraw the Usaru soldiers in Atiki and from other lands, make them into one great army, and used that army to crush a raiding party of Horse Folk.

      All true.

      Since then his army has done nothing.

      Not quite nothing, my daughter. The veterans train the common men obliged to serve in the army.

      Making it stronger.

      Quite so. Why does that matter?

      It matters because it’s given Osa-Ki, and now his son, time to rebuild the Usaru army.

      An obvious conclusion, Nemya. Go farther.

      If Miathu begins a rebellion against Itu-Ki, it would occupy that army. Perhaps divide it. The army then can’t be used to conquer other lands and rebuild the Usaru Empire.

      Queen Nonya gave Nemya a wide smile. You are indeed my daughter, Nemya.

      Nemya smiled back. Thank you, Mother.

      Her mother’s smile faded. There is but one troubling part of your idea.

      What’s that?

      I know a great deal of the past of the known world, perhaps more than any other King or Queen alive. Perhaps more than the Lords of Kings and Nations did. Not once have I read of any tale of a King or a Queen interfering in this way.

      I haven’t read as much as you have, Mother, at least not yet, but I have read of spies.

      This goes beyond spying, Nemya. This would be offering support to a rival to a sitting King. This might interrupt the succession of the kingdom of Usaru.

      Didn’t Osa-Ki interrupt it already?

      That’s true, but that doesn’t make in any less dangerous.

      "What would we have done, Mother? Given Miathu letters sent to Uta-Mo by Usaru nobles unhappy with King Itu-Ki. It will be up to Miathu to take the throne.

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1