A chapter where events precipitate Drustina into yet another war. She also acts as a close advisor and companion to support the emporer's daughter Irene in her succession to the Imperial throne.

The Angry Mermaid 41

Or

Y Morforwyn Dicllon 41.

Mabina. The youngest daughter and Twin to
Drustan Her twin brother.
Grandpa Erin the twins grandfather.
Giana The twins grandmother
Caderyn The twins father.
Herenoie The twins wise and beautiful mother.
Morgaran The Twins oldest brother.
Aiofe The twins oldest sister. Famous for her beauty.
Tara The twins second oldest sister. Famous for her grace.
Feidlim Twins aunt (Caderyns’ beautiful sister.)
Mogantu Twins uncle (Married to Feidlim.) Chief of the Gangani tribe.
Brun. Twins 2nd cousin and the Acaman clans’ blacksmith.
Feorin. Twins second brother. Also training to be a blacksmith.
Rhun Feidlims’ son and Feorins’ favourite 1st Cousin. (Both red-heads.)
Arina Child of a Demetae fisherman, (rescued by Aiofe, Drustan and Mabina.)
Penderol Dumnonii Minor chief.
Udris Young Dumnonii warrior.
Dryslwyn High chief of the whole Celtic nation. Dwells in Brithony.
Bronlwyn Dryslwyn’s wife (and queen.)
Magab The moor who taught numbers.
Eric Saxon galley slave rescued from Corsair pirates.
Carl Another Saxon galley slave rescued by Drustan.
Torvel Celtic galley slave rescued from the same captured corsair ship
Arton. Turdetani Chieftain Holder of Gibral Rock.
Carinia Arton’s wife.
Isobel. Arton’s adopted daughter.
Appotel King of the Turdetani Tribe. (Southern Iberia.)
Bramana Queen. (Wife of Appotel)
Pilus King of the Capetani.
Shaleen Pilus’s queen and sister to Bramana.
Pedoro Lord Marshal of the Southern border region.
Lady Shulaar Lord Pedoro’s wife.
Taan. The scullery maid.
Isaar. Pedoro’s oldest son.
Ferdie Pedoro’s 2nd son
Sular Pedoro’s 3rd son
Gontala Pedoro’s youngest son.
Shenoa Pedoro’s only daughter.
Portega. Tyrant King to the west.
Portua. Portega’s grandson.
Jubail. Old Fisherman.
Mutas Magab’s younger brother and usurper.
Walezia King of Malta.
Alviar Megalomaniacal bishop of Carthage. (Hates Drustina.)
Ethelia Female healer who treats Drustina during her pregnancy.
Seripatese Drustina’s faithful horse.
Astos & Amitor Minor royalty who govern Alexandria. King and Twin Queen.
Meronee Nubian Queen of Nobatia The northern Kingdom of the Nubians.
Horam The Egyptian master Boat builder.
Muraa King Astos’s male partner.
Tuk Makurian general.
Fantu. Makurian Captain.
Irene Emperor Leon’s only child.
Leon Byzantine Emperor.
Zano Byzantine general who defeats the Bulgars with Drustina’s help.

The Imperial Palace of Byzantium.

The Angry Mermaid Chapter 41.

Irene swallowed nervously. As the emperor’s daughter she had never ever faced a real threat and her eyes moistened with tearful fear. Drustina was too ‘hard bitten’ to let herself be affected by girl’s tears real or fake.

“Don’t try the weepy ploy with me lady. I’m a woman myself and I recognise such tricks.”

“But are you a woman? My father says”-

“Never mind what your father says. Answer my question. What brings you here at the dead of night?”

To reinforce her seriousness, Drustina twitched the point of her dagger and a tiny speck of blood appeared on Irene’s throat.

“Ooouuch!”

“Your answer please!”

“Put the dagger down and I’ll tell you!”

“Your answer first!” Drustina replied. “This is your last warning!”

Irene realised she was at the mercy of somebody over whom she had no control. This was not a servile palace servant or some stupid guard to be turned by a pretty face. This was something else entirely. As she felt Drustina’s body tense as though preparing to administer the final coup-de-gras, Irene’s nerve finally broke She realised she was not in control.

“My God woman you’re a dangerous one!”

“And I’m still alive because of it. Women like me don’t survive by luck. Now, your answer.”

“Well, - that’s the reason. I wanted your advice because you’re a survivor. How have you managed to live so long with all the danger in your life? How have you managed to avoid the marriage trap? I would like your advice.”

“So why come at the dead of night? You would need more than a few hours by candle light to learn how to avoid the marriage trap my lady. Why do you wish to avoid marriage? And, by the way, I didn’t ‘avoid the marriage trap’ as you put it. I’m still married to King Astos until his sister Amitor arrives with the annulment contract for your father to finalise.”

“I don’t want to avoid marriage, I just want the man I marry to love me. At the moment I’m simply a pawn in my father’s plans now that my brother is dead. How have you managed to be so free? Even now you are having your marriage to King Astos revoked, annulled. How did you manage to arrange that?”

“King Astos is not in thrall to Christian Bishops and their misogyny. The Coptic Christians are much more tolerant of women. Astos and I had a clear and firm agreement. I give him an heir and then we agree to separate. That was the deal and both sides stuck to it. The price of my separation has not been easy or cheap. I have had to give up my babies to his sister’s care ... forever. My son is heir to the Pharoic throne. When I leave here for my homeland I will probably never see my children again.”
Drustina continued and Irene began to sense the bitter regrets in Drustina’s demeanour as she added...

“It is not possible to live entirely by the sword Irene, even for a warrior queen. There are times when other methods must be employed to get one’s way. Diplomacy, subterfuge, flattery, and yes ... sex!”

“So you have prostituted yourself.” Irene gasped.

Drustina shrugged.

“I suppose you could call it that. Isn’t all marriage a form of prostitution? Doesn’t every woman who wishes to ‘keep her good name’ sell her love and her body to a man in exchange for security and children?”

“That’s a cynical view.”

Drustina gave Irene an ‘old’ look followed by an ironic smile.

“It’s my view. Call me a cynic then! So, do you want a cynic’s advice?”

“I want your advice here, in private, where bishops and courtiers can’t interrupt or interfere. I need sound arguments to convince my father that I need a man who will love me. I don’t give a damn about being an empress or queen or ruler, provided the man I marry can make and keep me happy.”

“Have you anybody in mind?” Drustina asked bluntly.

“Frankly, no. All the wankers who come knocking on my father’s door are opportunists and fortune hunters.”

“But your father recognises this. He has told me as much.”

“So where am I to find the right man? Time is pressing. Since my brother died of an ague because he got wet crossing the Donna fighting the Bulgars, my father has had to take up his sword once more.”

“Ah. I see. And he needs a viceroy to rule in his stead while he is away on campaign.”

“I don’t want him to go. He is old and tired. He might not survive another war. The Donna marshes and estuaries are foetid places, full of disease and death.”

“Then lead your father’s armies yourself.”

Irene snorted contemptuously.

“Don’t be stupid! What do I know of soldiering?”

“What did I when I escaped from the Vikings? I was a young boy with two sisters to worry about.”

Irene fell silent.

“I couldn’t persuade my father to let me go.”

“Can you ride a horse?”

“Of course I can ride a horse!”

“No. I mean like a man, bestride the saddle and travelling all day.”

Irene hesitated. As a girl she had ridden with her brother and galloped free with legs bestride the saddle but now, as a lady ... well modesty dictated. She answered more boldly than she felt.

“I can ride bestride the horse and all day if necessary.”

“Then you can campaign. Your good generals will advise you and your father knows which ones are the good generals.”

“He still won’t let me go.”

Drustina fell silent. It was not her concern. She had paid her respects to the emperor and she was simply waiting now. Staying on at the palace until Amitor arrived and the annulment process could be completed. She asked Irene to return to her own chambers but the girl refused on the flimsy basis that the Palace could be a dangerous place for single young maids to be wandering about.

“You can return via your secret passage, the way you came.” Drustina argued.

“I’d prefer to stay here, with you. It must be nice to share a bed.”

“What d’you mean. There’ll be no hanky-panky here Miss. I’m not going to break any rules of etiquette or good manners or hospitality by being found abed with the emperor’s daughter.”

Irene sighed impatiently.

“I didn’t mean it like that! My mother died having me. I’ve never known a soft cuddle all my life.”

“What about your wet-nurse?”

“Just a tit with milk, then the mistress of the nursery put me to bed, alone, every night. I’ve never slept with anybody all my life. I’m the emperor’s daughter you see,” she finished with the irony dripping like acid from her tongue.”

“Drustina knew what that felt like for her own mother had died having Mabina and her. Though she and Mabina had shared beds together - both their own as young twins and their older sister’s beds. When the storms blew across her beloved Lleyn and the waves crashed on the nearby shores or the thunder rolled, it had been an immense comfort for both the young twins to sneak into Aiofe or Tara’s bed to hide from the tempests.

Sometimes their grandmother Giana had turfed Grandpa Erin out of their bed and invited the twins into her huge bed to comfort them when their sisters were away on the boats.

‘Yes,’ Drustina reflected, ‘it was nice to share a bed sometimes.’

She released Irene from her grip and returned to her bed whilst still ensuring both dagger and sword where to hand on her side of the bed. Then she patted the sheets and smiled.

“Come on then. You may share my bed, but not my body.”

“Can we cuddle?” Irene whispered hopefully.

“Yes, that and no more. Get undressed now so that I may check you have no concealed weapons.”

Irene protested angrily.

“Did you think I came here to murder you?”

“I don’t know what to think. I know that the Palace at Constantinople has a world-wide reputation for intrigue, violence and murder. Why d’you think I have my weapons to hand? I’m not entirely convinced by your tale but I’m prepared to give you the benefit of my doubts. I’ll still keep my weapons to hand though if you don’t mind.”

Irene shrugged and started to undress. Drustina couldn’t resist studying the view and Irene frowned.

“What are you looking at?”

“A remarkably beautiful woman, you’d better keep your night shift on.”

“What!” Irene almost shrieked as she realised Drustina’s meaning. “But you’re a gi-!”

“With a cock!” Drustina finished for her. “Stuff happens; keep your shift and pants on!”

Irene muttered a soft curse of surprise.

“Dammit. I completely forgot about that. I mean ... yes, you’re tall and seemingly well toned but you’re a girl, to look at anyway ... and the way you behave and stuff.”

“It’s not something I forget. Now if you want to cuddle, that’s alright by me but nothing else; right!”

Irene hesitated, shivered with the night chill, then literally took the plunge. She burrowed under the blanket that Drustina had left crumpled up at the bottom of the bed and pulled it up as she cautiously pressed her leg against Drustina’s. The difference was immediately obvious. Irene’s shapely leg felt soft and curvy throughout while Drustina’s, though well defined, had a layer of hard toned muscle under the subcutaneous girly fat. Drustina commented upon it immediately.

“You’re hard — under that soft girly skin; hard like my brother was.”

“I keep active and I train for sword-play every day. That’s another reason men don’t mess with me! My sword is fast and accurate.”

“Is that your whole life then, wars and battles?”

“No. It’s just a means to an end. Look, I’m tired and I want to sleep; perhaps in the morning.”

Irene was mildly disappointed but she fell silent and savoured the novelty of being able to cuddle up to somebody for the first time in her life. Then she felt Drustina turn to face her.

“What ‘you doing?”

“I’m going to spoon up to you. Turn over and face the door.”

Irene had heard the expression to ‘spoon together’ but she’d never experienced it or any other sort of intimate cuddle. Nervously she rolled over and presented her back to Drustina who slid against her butt and paralleled her legs to hers. As her hand came over Irene’s waist and rested on the maid’s breast, Irene shuddered with delight. Never had she ever felt so secure and so loved but she was deluded. There was no love for Irene in Drustina’s heart. Affection... yes, concern... yes, sympathy ... yes but no love Drustina was so immersed in her need to return to her beloved homeland and recover what she felt was rightfully hers from the thieving Norsemen, she no longer had the emotional wherewithal or spare capacity to divert her attentions to mere relationships..

Thus they slept until the first intimations of dawn alerted Drustina to the perils of being found with the emperor’s daughter in her bed. She gently woke Irene and despatched her back through the secret passages to her own chambers. Nobody was ever the wiser and Irene secretly savoured that precious night for several months before her wishes were finally met.

It was another week before the main royal convoy finally arrived from Alexandria; a week that spoke volumes for the speed and sea-worthiness of the Mermaid. Several times Emperor Leon commented on the seeming delay of the main convoy and once he expressed fears of disaster having befallen the fleet. Eventually it arrived after having been delayed by adverse winds.

The fleet arrived in mid morning and the Palace was finally able to complete the reception arrangements. Drustina stood with Irene beside her father as Amitor’s ship finally docked. Once the formalities were over, Drustina was free to indulge in an emotional reunion with her sister-in-law and her two infant children. Irene was enchanted with the babies and simply refused to leave Drustina’s side while the babies unknowingly savoured the last days of contact with their real mother. Amitor was scheduled to return to Egypt within a week with her new husband Torvel, their own baby, and her nephew and niece.

It was all Drustina could do not to snatch her own children, smuggle them down to the Angry Mermaid and escape up the Bosporus to find her own way home by the same route Eric and Carl had come to the Middle Sea through the Black Sea. Sadly, she knew that at some stage they had to drag their ships through a place called the Pripet Marshes and that would take an army of men or at least a hundred of them to literally drag the Mermaid through the mud and slime, or if it was winter, across the icy slush. Drustina was stymied from kidnapping her own children unless she sailed back down the Hellespont (Dardanelles) and then she would have to run the gauntlet of the trebuchets or whatever other devices they had to prevent a ship’s passage. She would not endanger her babies and thus was she destined to lose her children forever or foreswear her vow to recover her homelands. Then she would have to return to Egypt and continue a loveless, asexual marriage. Tearfully she found the former choice thrust upon her and she sneaked away to shed copious tears in her chamber. She was only discovered by Irene some hours later when she failed to turn up for the feast set in Amitor’s honour. Reluctantly she slid out of her bed and went to join the festivities without even bothering to change her clothes.

Her tear stained countenance and sour mood warned everybody to stay well away. Drustina was in little mood for festivities. She left to return to her bed before the dancing and floor shows began.

“What’s wrong with her?” Torvel asked the emperor.

“Who knows lad,” the emperor replied, “women are devilishly moody and unpredictable creatures.”

Drustina slept alone and woke late the following day feeling emotionally drained. She mixed little during the remainder of Amitor’s visit for every sighting of her children twisted the knife that little bit deeper.

To add further to Drustina’s depressed mood, news arrived that Emperor Leon’s armies had suffered another serious setback fighting the Bulgars on the Dona delta. The stress and worry began to tell on Leon’s health. Already an elderly man he was not looking forward to having to rejoin his army and try and mitigate the damage. The stress of preparations and worry about the consequences of his military disappointments eventually overtook Leon’s failing health and he had a heart attack.

Irene, his daughter, was distraught with worry but the healers were able to reassure her that although her father was not fit to go campaigning there was little other danger to his health. Irene turned to the only true warrior with any real experience of successfully leading an army, namely the Warrior Queen, Drustina.

Two nights after her father had the attack, she once again visited Drustina in her bed. They chatted at length as Irene laid her cards on the table.

“You’re the only one with any experience of successful command at the top level.”

“Will your Byzantine Christian men, accept orders from a woman? Methinks not,” Drustina protested, “their Christian misogyny makes them bigoted and dismissive of women. It would take me months to win their trust and confidence, enough that is, to follow me into battle.”

“My father says, so long as our army can remain on Bulgarian soil we can hold the ring and secure our northern borders.”

“Tactically that may be true but it’s a feeble long term strategy.” Drustina wagged her head. She wished there was an ‘Aiofe’ to plan strategy and prepare for the long haul ... the full campaign.

Irene implored Drustina to offer her services to her father who was now desperately casting about for a competent general to take his stead.

“I’m not sure he’ll accept any offers I make. He’s almost as misogynistic as his generals. This Christianity thing is a curse for womankind! We are treated like chattels! Well — if we let them, that is.”

Irene studied Drustina thoughtfully then asked nervously.

“How did you surmount misogyny?”

“I started out a boy Irene ... and a crazy one at that. Anger drove my madness and that drove my recklessness. I think many people were rather afraid of the violent, reckless, feckless warrior. I was very young and I had nothing to lose. My ambitions were simple and achievable, at least for a boy well versed in the sea. All I had to do was get my oldest sister to Carthage and get her wedded to the man she loved.”

“So what led you to greater ambition ... and how did becoming a woman affect that ambition?”

“Life, luck, accident, fate, I don’t know; it just happened.” Drustina answered simply. “I became a woman and ... well, a woman needs a home ... mine is Lleyn.”

“Lleyn?” Irene queried softly and failing to get her tongue around the harsh Celtic ‘Ll’.

“It’s a long story Irene, and it gets no easier with the memory. I’ll return to Lleyn or die.”

“Well if your ambition is to return to ‘Leen’, can you not assist your own progress by joining with my father’s army on the River Dona? If you are successful in defeating the Bulgars then you might make your way home by the same route the Russ use to trade from the north.”

“That’s a tall order Irene. I’m tied to my beloved ship, the Angry Mermaid. Wherever she goes, I go. If I am to copy the Russ and go home by the northern route, it will need an army of men to haul The Mermaid across the Pripet marshes.”

“If you help to defeat the Bulgars, there are Saxons and Norsemen In my father’s army who would tear off your arm for the chance to return home. They have been blocked from returning by the Bulgarian wars. They would willingly help you haul your little boat. That’s how they got here originally.”

“Norsemen!” Drustina’s eyes glittered with hatred. “But they are cruel brutal thugs. Wherever I meet with Norsemen, I strive to destroy them.”

Irene wagged her head sympathetically and explained her view.

“Not all Norsemen are cruel and brutish Dru. Some have settled amongst us to trade and intermarry.” Irene tried to argue but Drustina was implacable in her hatred.

“They did that at first around the Celtic Sea then, when they’d spied out our weaknesses, they attacked. We were neither prepared nor united. They are thieves and murderers.”

“We are prepared and united though.” Irene countered. “You have seen how powerful and strongly constructed the Royal palace is. The walls of Constantinople are impregnable and we are safe behind them.”

Drustina was forced to concede, she had never seen such powerful walls and fortifications. Even the grand fortresses of Valletta were nothing by comparison. Her own small wooden village and the undefended Celtic towns had been defenceless by comparison. If she ever returned to her homeland she swore to raise a castle every bit as imposing and fearsome as Constantinople. She then explained her take on the Vikings.

“Those Constantine walls are the main reason the Vikings have never been able to pose a threat, that and the vast overland distances they would have to travel in great numbers. That’s why you are safe from the Norsemen; they prefer to travel by sea rather than land. They don’t much like marching overland but despite this, I can promise you, they are far more fearsome brutes than the Bulgars.”

They chatted quietly and at further length about somehow defeating the Bulgars until sleep overtook them. The next morning the maids discovered them embraced but nothing was done or said. Emperor Leon was so disabled and weakened by his heart attack that Irene had become the de-facto head of state. Irene was also further strengthened in her resolve to find herself a suitable husband because she felt she had an ally and a champion in Drustina... a champion for her queenly rights and the right to choose her own husband.

A few days later, Amitor departed. She had to return to Egypt whence she’d come. Drustina shed copious tears as she bid her infant children a permanent goodbye. To add to her hurt and loneliness, Torvel returned to Egypt with Amitor as husband and wife.
From that day there would be a hole forever in Drustina’s soul ... a hole lined with stone and forever embittered. For this time Drustina knew she alone was guilty. She had let her male ambitions to recover her homeland surmount her female need to hold on to her children. The emotional dichotomy was a brutal and destructive torment. Now only Arina was left of the brave little band that had left the shores of Britannia all those seemingly many years ago though in fact it was but a few years. Drustina had only just entered her third decade.

To add further to Drustina’s burdens, the emperor Leon died unexpectedly and Irene was catapulted into a disputed position of ‘Head of state’. Both Irene and Drustina knew that there would be constant attempts by powerful generals and clan leaders to somehow deprive Irene of her rightful inheritance either by disposing of her or forcibly marrying her. Never were the lessons in statesmanship and diplomacy that Drustina had learned from Queen Meronee, better employed or harder worked than during those early months of Irene’s reign. Irene’s perilous circumstance was further aggravated by the deteriorating situation to the north on the River Dona. Things came to a head when a report arrived in midwinter telling of a final catastrophic defeat for the Byzantine forces. The Bulgarian hordes where marching south along the western shores of the Black Sea. Irene was devastated by the news but seemed paralyzed to act. If she met the Bulgars in one more battle and suffered defeat, the road to Constantinople would be wide open to an unopposed attack. One evening as she became mesmerised by further reports of the worsening situation, Drustina happened upon her pacing in the great throne room muttering to herself.

“Is it more bad news Empress?”

Irene looked up and wagged her head.

“I’m not empress yet. I have yet to be crowned but I have to address all the problems and responsibilities of empire.”

“You’ve got my sympathy. I take it things are getting worse.”

Irene’s shoulders sagged with exhaustion and she handed Drustina the report. Drustina scanned it quickly, taking in the salient points.

“You are going to have to meet them in battle. It’s the only way they can be stopped.”

Irene stared at Drustina.

“Where and how?”

“Later, rather than sooner,” Drustina replied somewhat to Irene’s surprise.

“What d’you mean later?” They’re marching as we speak!”

Drustina nodded sagely then smiled her reassurance.

“Yes, and the further they march, the longer become their lines of communication and supply.”

It was the first time Irene had heard Drustina talk at all about the war in a strategic or tactical sense. She squinted thoughtfully as Drustina’s reply slowly sank in.

“Go on. Explain. This is the first time I’ve heard you give your own opinions. Now I come to think of it, all you ever seemed to do was listen and nod. You let my father bounce his thoughts and ideas off you.”

“Your father was an excellent soldier in his own right. He needed no counsel from me. You on the other hand seem to find a different strategy with every general you meet.”

Irene’s eyes narrowed even tighter as the worry wrinkles turned slowly to a nervous smile of relief.

“You’ve been listening a lot, haven’t you?”

Drustina returned the smile.

“Grandpa Erin always taught me. Listen before you think and think before you speak.”

“So speak; you’ve been listening for several months now, and if you’ve been thinking ... which I’m sure you have ... it’s now time for you to speak.”

Drustina giggled. “I’m not some sort of oracle you know.”

“No. And I haven’t thrown any sort of offerings into your mouth. So what are your thoughts?”

“Right,” Drustina sighed softly, “consider this Bulgar army. They’re mainly from the Dona delta. That’s flat, marshy land so they’ll be people used to fighting on flat muddy land and they’ll be people used to handling river boats because the River Dona is their very life-blood. Those are their strengths. Now, what are their weaknesses?”

Irene shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Oh come on Irene. Think girl; exercise that brain I know you’ve got.”

Irene drew a long nervous breath.

“Wee-eell. They’re made up of assorted tribes and they don’t all speak the same language.

“Good,” Drustina observed, “that’s a start. Now come on. Keep thinking.”

“I don’t know. I just don’t know,” Irene cried a little with frustration, “I don’t know enough about military stuff to even spot their weaknesses.”

Drustina waited for a short while until the silence became oppressive.

“Did not your father say that they have a poor command structure? They don’t have a regular standing army and they have to return to their fields twice a year to prepare the land and then harvest the crops.”

“Well, yes, but they have thousands of troops to call upon whilst we have to maintain our borders all around the empire.”

“Yes; but the Bulgars are mainly untrained men, mostly farmers who have to return twice a year to maintain their food stores. So; we hit them where they are weakest, we attack their food stores, their larders that see them through the winter. They are a long way from home so their communication lines become progressively longer and more vulnerable. We attack their granaries and communications. We did exactly the same in Carthage and it forced them to divide their forces and keep them divided while our supplies were safe in Malta and delivered when and where we needed them. Your army is well trained, very mobile and your food stores are well protected in the granaries inside Constantinople. You must learn, this is a campaign, not a battle.”

Irene was forced to concede at least that much. The food stores of the Byzantine Empire were very well protected and there was surplus enough for three years famine. The dreams of Joseph’s seven fat cows in the Christian Bible had been well heeded and every year the harvest surplus was added to the granaries until a three year supply was permanently available for imperial emergencies. It would take very little to convince the imperial council that the approach of the main Bulgarian army was just such an emergency.

“So what is your advice?” Irene pressed.

“We split our forces. Call in all your troops who are used to mountain fighting and gather them to face the Bulgars in the Istranca Mountains.”

“Why the Istranca Mountains? They can hardly be called mountains they are just hills and not very steep ones at that.” Irene wondered. “My brother and I used to hunt in them because the forests are very fertile and full of wild boar and bear, not to mention deer. It would be better if we could entice them into the great Rhodope Mountains, then our mountain troops could really show them how to fight.”

“And how can we entice them into those mountains when Constantinople is their obvious target? Going into the Rhodope Mountains takes them away from Constantinople.”

“Irene’s expression clouded over. The rugged Rhodope Mountains would have been an ideal place to tie up and wear down the greater Bulgar numbers but the mountains were too far west. If it was to be a mountain campaign it would have to be the Istranca Mountains which, coupled with the Rezovska River, would be the last place to make a plausible stand.”

“Will we be able to defeat them in the Istranca?” Irene asked.

“We don’t aim to defeat them, just delay their march on Constantinople until the spring when a lot of their men will have to return north to sow their crops. Besides they’ll already be splitting their forces because we’ll have a force attacking their granaries around the Dona while they are busy campaigning in the Istranca.”

“How will that force get past the Bulgar Army?” Irene challenged.

“It travels by sea and raids the coastal towns. The Bulgar ships are mainly river boats and not much suited to the winter storms of the Black sea. Have you not noticed that the Bulgars marched south? They did not come south by ship and ‘leap-frog’ past our over-extended armies. We must build a fleet of about ten or twenty ships similar to the Angry Mermaid but bigger and we don’t have much time. Might I suggest you start straight away?”

Once she had something positive to act upon, Irene immediately set about giving orders and making plans. She called in her admirals and explained the strategy that Drustina had described and the majority of the grizzled old seamen nodded thoughtfully.
At last the prevaricating maid was getting something done! They agreed amongst themselves. The added incentive was of course, the admirals had more ships to command.

Once the fleet expansion was started, Drustina’s next preparation was to rearrange, restructure and relocate the Byzantine imperial forces. Drustina explained the issues, particularly the logistical ones.

“We have to pull in your mountain troops from all the regions but especially from the east where they are hardened to the cold winters and very high mountains.”

“Mount Ararat.” Irene confirmed.

“The very place. It’s permanently covered in snow so the troops from those regions will be what I’m looking for.”

“What we are looking for,” Irene corrected her.

Drustina hesitated thoughtfully. Despite the seeming friendship that had grown up between them, Irene was still very conscious of her rank and status, namely empress elect. Drustina concluded it would pay to always pick her words thoughtfully and guard her thoughts even tighter. She nodded acquiescence to Irene’s sensitive response and resumed ‘advising’ the empress.
“So what do you plan to do with these mountain troops?” Irene pressed.

“Well, if your imperial highness agrees, I thought it would be wise to pick a location amongst the Istranca hills and fight a holding action while slowly retreating towards the borders of Constantinople itself. The many rivers will give us a series of defensible positions and we can control their advance so that when Spring is upon us they will have to release much of their force to commence planting the next year’s crop. Before those men are released to return north into Bulgaria and the Dona plains, we release our marine forces to attack as many of their settlements and destroy their granaries as far inland as possible.”

“We won’t be able to destroy all their granaries. Bulgaria is a big country and they grow a lot of grain.”

“I agree your majesty, (Drustina played up to Irene’s sense of rank,) but if we destroy enough of them, that will cause bread shortages which will cause the price of bread to rise and thus cause discontent throughout Bulgaria. It will also serve to give them pause for thought because they will not be able to return north quickly enough when reports of granary burnings begin to filter south.”

“You move too slowly Drustina. Can we not attack them with one overwhelming army?”

“No your majesty. We cannot raise an effective army without making our other borders too weak. Besides the strategy is to cause the Bulgars to become weary of war and sue for some sort of honourable peace. That way, your majesty might be able to garner a lasting peace with agreed borders.”

Irene found herself studying Drustina through newly opened eyes.

‘The girl was shrewd and wise’, Irene concluded and she wished she could somehow persuade the Celtic girl to remain as an advisor if they successfully stabilised the Bulgar situation and neutralised the Bulgarian ambitions. For the present however, it remained to adopt Drustina’s plan and Irene invited the generals her father had recommended to her before his final passing.
The generals had much experience and information to impart so Drustina listened in silence and pretty much unnoticed as each general gave his take on how to settle the Bulgarian question. Nearly all of them seemed to think a military campaign followed by a climactic, ‘once-and-for-all’ battle would settle the question. Drustina said nothing until a younger general called Zano, offered his opinions. They paralleled Drustina’s feelings closely and Drustina later suggested that Irene make this man her field commander.

“But Dru,” Irene used Drustina’s shortened ‘nickname’, “I was going to offer you that rank!” Irene declared.

“I’ll have to get the men to believe in me and we don’t have that much time. We have to meet the Bulgars in the Istranca hills and start the holding action. Remember it’s a case of make a stand and fall back to the next redoubt, usually another of the many rivers crossing the Tekirdag Plains.”

“Do we let them reach Constantinople?”

“Only as a last resort. I’m fairly sure spring will be upon us before they get so close and they will be forced to regroup their forces to allow sufficient men north to start planting.”

“So what will you be doing while general Zano fights these ‘holding actions’.”

“I’ll be working up and down the coast from Constantinople to Moldova seeking out Bulgarian granaries to destroy and generally wreaking havoc. More importantly, I’ll be out of touch from the main Byzantine forces and I’ll be on my own with only a small force. I’m putting myself at some considerable risk and I’ll only want a volunteer force. The men must be prepared to follow me to the bitter end if necessary.”

“Don’t go getting yourself killed now.” Irene cautioned her. “We can’t afford to lose you and besides, I don’t want to be the empress responsible for the death of the Carthaginia Lioness.”

Drustina smiled briefly.

“Do I detect a note of concern there?”

“Yes. Don’t make light of this Drustina, I can’t afford to lose you until I am firmly on the imperial throne.”

“I’m not making light Irene. If we lose this campaign, you can kiss your imperial throne goodbye anyway. I will have to fight and mean it. These raids won’t be simple hit and run affairs. We’ll probably have to strike long distances inland to have any effect on their grain stores.” You won’t hear of me or hear from me until at least the early summer. Now, goodnight, I’m tired and I want to go to bed.”