[B]Roglagardr, Kjalmar[/B]

 The message came as father and son were locked in a game of chess. Favored by sailors such as they for its complexity and length of game, chess offered them the best diversion when in the castle in the center of the city. Haakon and Karl were both cut of the same, martial cloth; each would rather be out in the herviki, the large complex outside of town where the soldiers up for training were to go. Each would rather drill and ever improve the military readiness of their beloved kingdom; Kjalmar had never known a foreign master and neither had any intention of being the weak link to allow that nightmare to materialize. Or else they’d be fishing on the Slagskepp, the four-masted flagship of the kingdom, while travelling between ports and overseeing the trade.

	But, chess would have to do, that is, until this particular bit of excitement arose. The letter, intercepted by a pirate of the Victual Brothers, copied and the original re-sealed, spoke of an invitation to a summer festival, followed by sermons and a holy water blessing. The actual goings on were unimportant to the King, however the invited guests were the interesting element. Not “dignitaries”, not “ambassadors”, but the actual leaders of countries. The capture of any of them would yield enormous profit; it wasn’t called a “king’s ransom” nothing. He showed the letter to Karl, who read it and had an intrigued look upon his face.

	“Son, you’ve been an excellent military mind, let’s see how you do at politics. I’m growing old; you will be king shortly. Tell me what you would do, were you me.”

	Karl chuckled and tossed the letter on the table with his index and middle fingers. “I’d call the Captain-General of the Victual Brothers to the palace discreetly, inform him of this turn of events and instruct him to redirect all piracy around the most likely sea routes to the White Palace from several Haloist countries. Admittedly, it’s a wide net, but the sailors of Kjalmar are top-notch and a royal departure, particularly on religious grounds, is probably not going to happen without fanfare, so likely the Captain-General will have, leading his squadrons, trusted captains to intercept our own trade ships and interrogate them about departures without showing our hand. The sea’s the thing, where we shall catch the foolish kings. I would even give the Captain-General implicit authority, the authority of force, to impress smaller raiding parties into service for a period of time. ”

	The King tapped the table “Exactly! You’ll make a fine leader of men. By God, last time we got a king, we were able to charge them 12 and a half tons of gold. That’s enough to buy a whole new fleet!” He opened the door and called the Captain-General in. Karl was bewildered.

	“You knew about this the whole time?”

	“Of course. It was night when I received the message, and I didn’t want to disturb you, and there wasn't time to wait. Nevertheless, you have passed.” Haakon gestured to the Captain-General, who despite carrying himself very soldierly, was also a bit perplexed at the situation. “Oh yes, I told the Captain-General the orders came from you.”

	“I carried out your orders, Prince Karl sire…erm…[I]before[/I] you issued them? Our fastest ships are being sent to the probable locations of our squadrons to give them new orders. Any raiding parties from the Kingdom are to be convinced with the promise of an unspecified big score, otherwise compelled. I am sure most would jump at the opportunity to work with us professionals. ”

	Karl regained his composure, and smiled. “Excellent.” He turned back to the board. “Your move, father.”