[B]Iron lady, Part Four; The Brothers' War, Part Two[/b]

"Ngo Dinh Diem has overthrown Emperor Bao Dai and turned against Lady Trung, all the while declaring a 'Temporary Alliance' with the French 'Old Guard', aka the ones who refused to adopt Socialism," were Priscilla Aglipay-Rizal's first words to Sultana Sabiha when the two of them were finally alone. "Now my daugther-in-spirit is barely holding onto Hanoi and the north, as reactionary forces rally against her. Sabiha, I will have to use your people's expertise once more." 

This was unexpected, but Sabiha quickly saw the opportunity as the two of them adjusted their seats around the tea table, "Reactionary regimes surround us these days, it seems. Do not worry; the Moro Congress in Mindanao will hopefully share your sentiments, as well as my husband; Vietnam has its own Muslim minority, after all." 

She then paused, and continued, "The mariners of Sulu will be willing to carry the weapons, ammunition, food and medicine Lady Trung needs to hold on to the North. We're even willing to do so at reduced rates, as a symbol of our friendship with you. That and smuggling pays, after all. And if the South Vietnamese or the Siamese try the same thing, well, more profit from [i]privateering[/i]."

Priscilla pursed her lips, resisting the urge to shiver in disgust. "As long as no civilian sailors get hurt, I have no objections to it." She then drew the letters of marque from her skirt, and placed them on the table, though so gently as to not disturb the full tea cups and pastries. She then gave a slight glare to Sabiha; the Lady President knew that if she didn't issue said letters, or even if she did, there [i]would[/i] be civilian casualties. But at least this way, most enemy ships can be brought before her Admiralty courts with their sailors intact.

Sabiha took the letters with a slight smile on her face; the sheaf contained twenty, and more were being printed at the Federal Government's private presses. Unknown to the Lady President, the Sultana of Sulu planned to give a third of the letters of marque and reprisal to her husband and his partisans, giving sort-of legal sanction to their war against the Usurper of Sabah. A ghost of a smirk must have shown on her face, for Priscilla spoke:

"What are you planning, Sabiha?" A sigh and a weary nod of her head before the Lady President continued, "Nothing that I should know about, I suppose. Otherwise I'd interfere, and I suspect that in this case, following my personal moral qualms is not [i]practical[/i]."

Sabiha felt a stab of pity for Priscilla, but did not act on it. Instead, with a sigh of her own, she said, "You know this is how politics works. You have to take care of your nation, we have to take care of our people [i]within[/i] your nation. There are also people who have a different view of the national interest than you do."

Now was Priscilla's turn to tilt her head away slightly; Sabiha had provoked her doubts and insecurities, and jabbed at her belief that she was doing the right thing. The Sultana felt regret, enough to assure her that she was still a person, then moved for concillation. "Either way, if you have time, I have a set of poems from Rumi translated into the Tagalog language. I also have minatures of the various monarchs of Sulu, their warriors, and their wives."

Priscilla smiled faintly, "I would enjoy that, and you and your husband's calligraphy too." A thought. "Due to what happened to Lady Trung, I will have to reserve some time for an inspection trip to the arms factories producing bootleg Mosin-Nagants. Want to come with me, maybe try a few? You can even give your husband some 'free samples'."

Sabiha bowed deeply in a mixture of respect and regret. She had pushed her...friend into doing everything short of supporting her and her husband openly. The 'Iron Lady' of the Philippines had a reputation to maintain; being seen openly flouting the rules of war on more than one front was something she did not want to do for personal and political reasons. But she would not stop, would not quit. Her husband's brother needed to be overthrown.

So she would sweetly say, "I will be happy to join," before sipping her tea; it had grown lukewarm.

((Note; this is inconsistent in tone with the latest posts because it was written a week or so ago then stored as a backlog in another site.))