[b]The Brother's War, Part Four; Iron Lady, Part Six[/b]

Priscilla Aglipay-Rizal sighed at Sabiha a week later as the two met for tea. "If your husband had just brought [i]Cameras[/i] and [i]waited[/i] for the Letters of Marque you had when conducting his Vigilante raid, we would not be dealing with a diplomatic protest from 'Mubarak Kiram' right now. As it is, word has arrived from Marawi; the Muslim Congress of Mindanao has strongly condemmned the raid, judging it harmful to our legal case for the inclusion of Sabah into the Philippine nation. And to be honest, it is; I may believe that Mubarak was planning to move illegally first, that he is an usurper, and he is not worthy to be Sultan of Sabah...but I cannot condone the unwarranted raid against his ships without concrete evidence of his plans. And again, without your husband receiving his Letters of Marque which I know you planned to give him."

Sabiha knew she had no ground to stand on. She knew her husband; the raid would have seemed a good idea to him. Calm and intellectual Al-Hakam Kiram may be, but he was still a pirate deep inside; she loved that about him.

Sighing, the Sultana said, "And it would be against your morals and 'international law' to shield us from the consequences of our actions." 

Priscilla nodded. "My power comes from legitimacy. Legitimacy comes from the people. When the people are taken advantage of, or when the rulers fail to explain their actions adequately, then they must be kept responsible. So I have to act; despite the strain this will cause to our friendship." A sigh as the brunette felt the weight of hard but moral decisions on her shoulders. "I have already signed the order for your Husband's banishment from Philippine Territory. He will keep his powers as the spiritual head of the Philippines' Muslims, but only that. Also, his properties and assets in Sulu will be frozen as well and transferred to a new worker's co-operative chosen from people [i]without[/i] connection to Subic Bay. The rest of his family and followers, however, have the choice to stay in the Islands unmolested instead of following him; [i]their[/i] property will remain untouched."

Sabiha's reply was, "You know that we act as one in this matter, Lady President. Nothing will really change in our covert activities; just a resuffling of legal identities and cover." She then gave a faint smile as the light made her multicolored headscarf glitter. "You know, the Sulu Sea is dangerous at the best of times. What will transport my husband to his place of banishment?"

Priscilla pulled a set of photographs from her long skirt; it showed a bunch of merchant vessels newly-built at the Cavite Naval Yards. Not as big as the merchant vessels made by the richer nations, but reasonably large...and more importantly, able to carry military materiel as well as serve as mortar and machine gun platforms. Her next words to Sabiha were, "Choose three suitable vessels to carry your husband and his followers. Choose three smaller ships as a makeshift escort as well."

"Then I pick this one, and this one, and this one," Sabiha took three photographs of large but still sleek merchant vessels, "And this model of small boat for the escort." She picked a small vessel barely big enough to withstand the stresses of the ocean. [i]This flotilla as a whole can fit 250 men and women. The Lady President is really pushing the limits on helping us.[/i] A question came to her mind; "So, where do you get the iron and steel needed to build the ships? Lady Trung still has control of some of Vietnam's iron ore?"

A nod, "That and trade with the Dutch whose model we've adopted. And semi-legal, unregulated trade with Australia. Now, are you going to delve into every nuance of our external foriegn exchanges, or are you going to enjoy the pastries? They're [I]Halal[/i], after all."

"I will after a few minutes," Sabiha said, "I still have a few questions. Namely, where will my husband be banished to? There are few places we can go."

Priscilla smiled, "Anthony Dayrell Walter Brooke has agreed to house your Sultan and his followers for the time being. I hope they are good houseguests to him." As expected, the Rajah of Sarawak was involved in this entire charade; Priscilla had just donated him an army against Sabhan aggression. A thought came to Sabiha, who asked:

"Has the Sultan of Brunei talked to you about the situation with The Usurper? Last time I heard, Sabah was threatening to annex Brunei if they don't lower oil prices." Sabiha saw Priscilla frown at that, before she said:

"I received the news this morning; Brunei has agreed to Sabah's terms." The Lady President then sighed. "Its Sultan has also condemned your husband's attack; so do not expect support from that direction..."