Page 118 - Microsoft Word - FANG EMPIRE - NOVEL.docx

Everyone chuckled except GoGo. Omar noticed her strange mood.

“Mother, we’re getting stronger. Soon we’ll have the resources to leave the caves.”

“And go where?” she said.

“Anywhere the queen goes she’ll be hunted,” said Sooth. “Ramoth has surely put a price

on her head.”

“And bounty hunters are under every rock,” said Daka.

“The Rhune captain told me Ramoth has just been appointed governor of Timbuktu,” said

GoGo.

“Governor?” asked Daka. “There are no free citizens left. Who does he govern?”

“Without sovereignty our beloved kingdom is merely a desert outpost along the Taghaza

trade route,” said Omar.

“I know the mind of this pig,” said GoGo. “He’s probably planning a lavish banquet in his

own honor. He’ll want every head of state in the region to be there. He’ll tell them the royal family

had to be overthrown to save the nation from ruin. We have to stop him! We must take back the

city!”

“Mother . . . my queen, even with vampire prowess we don’t have the strength to mount a

siege, and it is unlikely that we ever will. As you always said, father’s allies were never betrothed

to him. They will attend that banquet and feast on our remains. Thranery was a worthless practice

that made the region a confederacy of brothels.”

“Sooth, how many soldiers could the Moroccans mobilize to reinforce Ramoth if he was

under attack?” asked GoGo.

“Twenty-five hundred infantry. A thousand light cavalry. Eight to ten English cannons on

a supply train,” said Sooth.

“And as governor, a hundred Christian bodyguards for his personal detail,” said Zuba.