Chapter 4
Natonito smiled as he prepared for the day of the wedding. Love did interesting things to people, and it made the Directrix a more protective person of the people in this new city of Russville, as well as of his lovely fianc� and her charming and innocent younger sister. Natonito was aware that he had many enemies however, and as the day before the wedding went on, the visions of his future wife's amazing and soft skin did not distract him from his task of making sure this would not only be a day where not only would the life of him and his love be greater secured, but his enemies would be vanquished. At this point, he was interrupted in his reverie by a subordinate.
"Why are you marrying this girl, sir?" the subordinate asked, "After all, love is more than a legal bind saying you are married to someone. You can surely be deeply in love with someone without being married to them, and marriage causes so much unneccesary stress."
"You do not understand, love, sirrah," Natonito replied, "Marriage is a reflection of the love I have for Bathsheba. It is nothing for a man like me to have sex with someone, I cannot count the women who have entered by bed, much less those who have entered my mind. It is a different matter entirely to say that someone is queen of my heart. Marriage is a reflection of the respect I have for her, so that instead of being my girlfriend or mistress or chief concubine in my harem, I want her to be my wife, so that she and I are one heart, one mind, and one spirit, as we have long been one body. It is not simply that I love her that I want to marry her, but that I love her as I love myself. That is something you apparently do not understand, trapped as you are by selfishness and egoism."
"I did not mean to offend you, sir," the subordinate said, taken aback.
"I was once like you were, not too long ago in fact. I cannot believe that I waited so long to commit to Bathsheba. She was always special and worthy of my hand and my name, even when she was a pretty and clever prostitute in the streets of Bravia and not Lady Longbert. It was my own selfishness and egoism that kept me from enjoying the full love that Bathsheba had for me, blinded as I was by the thought that one had to be a noblewoman to enjoy my hand, while any pretty girl could enjoy my bed. I am glad that I am able to, at least in a limited way, atone for my own mistake in this regard," Natonito replied.
The thread of conversation thus completed, the two discussed security plans for the wedding. After all, a wedding of this size took a lot of planning. The only thing left to plan was how the city and the Directrix would be protected, since it seemed certain to them that the rebels would take this opportunity to attack the city under the thought that the Directrix would be distracted by the wedding and unable to defend the city and thus the Empire could be given a black eye by a destructive raid. The Directrix realized that this would occur and thus had seized an opportunity to end the rebellion in this front.
"How do you know where the rebels will attack?" the subordinate asked.
"I planned the construction of the walls to give the enemy an opportunity to attack and be surrounded and cut off from all assistance from the countryside. There are three gaps in the walls. One is the gap they will enter, on the eastern side of the city. I want no troops stationed in full sight, to lure the rebel forces in that point," said Natonito.
"But there is a troop stationed less than a block away," the subordinate said.
"Yes, but the rebels do not know that. As we have no traitors in the elite Imperial Guard, the only people to know the purpose of that building, the rebels have no idea that this route of escape will be easily blocked by one fourth of the elite troops. The second fourth of the elite troops will be the guard at the cathedral, where the wedding will take place. The third group will be stationed at the gap in the upper walls, to keep the raiders from destroying any of the government buildings, the citidel, or the homes of the urban upper class. Finally, the fourth detatchment will block the gap in the western side of the wall, just inside the area where the rebels and their sympathizers will receive the death penalty at the hill of death," Natonito grimaced.
"That sounds like a good plan, sir, but how do you know the rebels will attack at this moment?" the subordinate asked.
"The rebels have enough spies in this city to know that as soon as the wedding is over the security forces around the walls will be increased and that in only a day or two the walls will be entirely secure. This is the best opportunity they have for a raid, and their last opportunity to attack before the city of New Russville is secure for good. If they do not attack now, their prospect is to be hunted out of the caves one by one and destroyed. They know this, so they will attack. You can stake your life and reputation on it," Natonito replied, "Now it is time for me to sleep, and get ready for the wedding tomorrow. It will be an enjoyable and busy day."
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