Lindsay Stewart; Peakhurst Lodge, Belmeont, Republic of KaedwenPeakhurst Lodge was the formal residence of the Kaedweni Premier, set up in the hills overlooking the Kaedweni capital; a demure construction by the standards of Mundus' myriad rulers, the cream-coloured verandas overlooked a modest decking area - complete with open-air pool shining aquamarine in the sun - and small garden set on a lower tier, downhill from the main house. A dozen or so similar lodges dotted the surrounding hillside, set amongst a semi-civilized bushveld interspaced with groves of domestic fruit trees. The site offered a beautiful vista: the glass towers of downtown Belmont glittering in the soft sunshine, while the rollers broke with a distant (or, possibly, just imagined) crash of the ribbon of golden sand just beyond. Out on the crystal-clear Krimeon, a dozen or so brightly coloured sails flitted back-and-forth as a group of kite surfers made the most of the Saturday morning quiet; by mid-morning on a bank holiday weekend, both beach and sea would be thronged.
But this was not time to dwell on such things. Unfortunately, business of state did not, apparently, take bank holidays.
Lindsay sat on a plastic deck chair by the pool, flanked by two of her most trusted ministers: the Foreign Minister Koos Biermann on her left and, to her right, her Defence Minister, Tristan Sharp. None exactly dressed for business, Koos was still rubbing the little streaks of sun cream into his youthful face. Tristan, long years spent in the sun and already beginning to resemble a walnut, had no truck whatsoever with such things.
"Right boys" She began, once the other two seemed to have settled down "This
KAM drama, what's the issue?"
"So..." Koos began leisurely, stretching out his long limbs "The folks at KAM got caught with their pants down pretty hard. From what we've been able to gather, the raid was was actually carried out by security forces - well, wearing the right uniforms, at least - so the working theory is that these missing people are in government hands, but we've nothing we can release publicly to prove it. To be honest, I'm thinking there's a little more going on here whatever; if this was a straightforward police operation, then they'd have no reason not to make it public"
"So you've had no luck tracing the missing?" Lindsay queried. This was aimed more at Tristan, whose intelligence services had been attempting to do precisely that.
"None yet" He shook his head, clipping the words with his heavy Afrikaner accent "To be honest with you, we'd need to get far more involved with this that I'm entirely happy with if we're serious about finding these people. I've spoken with some of the guys working on the case, and their hunch is that this has Nguessa's fingerprints all over it. I'd bet there's a trail of dirty money out there somewhere, but there'd be some pretty serious ramifications if we found out where it goes"
"That's troubling" Lindsay furrowed her brow. It was already too hot to be thinking, but the pool would have to wait. Koos had already kicked his thongs off, and was clearly itching to dive in himself "But I don't think we can really afford not to. Not now" The elections had already been postponed in the aftermath of 2018's
crisis, and early polling indicated that a very close race with the Democratic Party was in the offing. With the Kaedweni stock market barely recovering from the crisis, and her administration having already taken flack for being too soft already, all present were well aware that doing nothing wasn't much of an option for Lindsay "So... if this is what your guys think it is, what could we potentially do about it Tris?"
"As much as I might wish it were true" Tristan smiled to himself "We're not Achkaerin, East Moreland or Rokkenjima, so kicking down the front door and giving these filthy natives the what-for isn't something we can even really consider. If - and I emphasis the if - we had sufficient justification, then we could deploy our armed forces to tip the balance in favour of a suitable replacement, though the military and political risks of doing so would be, well, you don't need to me spell it out for you. I'd far rather we find out where these people have gone first, then figure out some way of getting them back. To face a Kaedweni court, if necessary. It's no great secret some of the stuff they get up to over there ain't so great. I mean, there's every chance they'll turn up of their own accord, can't afford to jump the gun on something like this"
"Got to say" Koos interjected, nonchalantly slipping a toe into the cool water "I'm with Tris on this one. Know some folk think smashing the natives makes for good optics, but can't say I'm keen to be involved with something like that without good reason. Look, I think it's worth enlisting some friends if we're even going to consider moving on this. Remember, we did have a note to solicit a state visit from the old man anyway, could always bring it up then?"
"Not a bad shout" Lindsay agreed, with a little nod "Could do worse, for sure"
And a bad shout it wasn't. After another ten minutes of idle chatter, in fact, it was the best shout of the morning before the heat got too much and the pool too tempting. Tristan left to go fishing without saying much more of consequence, and was barely through the gate before Koos splashed loudly into the water. Lindsay wasn't too far behind.
Later, much later, the pair drew up a missive for dispatch to the Emperor of Achkaerin.
Republic of Kaedwen Diplomatic Communique
To His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Peter Azurewind of Achkaerin,
Greetings, your Majesty, may this find you well. As you may already have noted, a week on Monday will mark three years to the day since our shores were last graced by Achkaerinese royalty, a
flying visit by the Prince Simon Azurewind and the Countess of Elsion in the spring of 2017 which was regretably cut shorter than many of us would have wished due to the demands of the time. The intervening years have seen some trying times for both our nations, and I feel that the present moment would be an appropriate juncture for another visit.
Therefore, I would like to invite you to undertake a state visit to Kaedwen, a nation of which you remain the
formal protector, in order to reaffirm the bond between our nations, discuss the continuing relationship between your people and ours, and to take the opportunity to discuss the course of current affairs.
Humbly yours,
Lindsay Stewart,
Premier of the Republic of Kaedwen