Navi Travels to Turilessa to Seek an Alliance

Navi’s mission to Turilessa turns Navon’s military weakness into an urgent political bargain: facing an enemy that covets its land and gold, the kingdom offers a substantial share of its resources for the soldiers it cannot otherwise field. The journey brings the heir and general before King Behrooz, but it ends without a commitment, leaving Navon’s defense dependent on further choices and alliances.

Background and Stakes

Navon had not previously faced a threat to its own territory on this scale. Its earlier battles had largely been fought for other kingdoms, as part of alliances that traded Navonian manpower for protection. Men who did not want to fight those wars deserted; Navon’s punitive exile system made desertion permanent and dangerous, but did not solve the underlying shortage. Now Tzara was pursuing Navon’s gold and land, while a longtime ally was too afraid of Tzara’s wrath to stand by the kingdom. Navon had helped create the conditions that left it exposed, yet the immediate crisis was that it no longer had enough soldiers to defend itself.

The shortage shaped Navi’s diplomacy even before the party reached Turilessa. In his crowded office, he favored offering Navon’s best products to obtain alliances, while his counselors resisted terms that would impose lasting costs. Navi also regarded special privileges exchanged for protection as unfair, but saw little room to refuse them. The mission therefore began not as an equal negotiation but as a search for help from a position of necessity: Navon had valuable goods to offer, yet neighboring kingdoms knew how vulnerable it had become.

The Journey and Its Risks

The expedition raised a problem beyond military bargaining: whether Mabel could safely accompany it. A commander objected that a girl could not travel all the way to Turilessa, then cited Behrooz’s reputation for sexual appetite. Behrooz was said to have married two women on the same day and taken both to bed on their wedding night; later, even two wives were not enough to satisfy him. The warning made the mission’s personal dangers part of its planning, particularly for a woman traveling with the delegation.

The journey’s movement is rendered through the military escort as well as the audience at court. Mabel rides among the soldiers, with one group ahead of a carriage carrying the princess and another behind; a long, elevated bridge lies across their route, wide enough for three horses abreast or two carriages. The physical passage underscores how exposed the traveling party is beyond Navon, while Mabel’s presence makes the expedition more than an abstract diplomatic undertaking. In Turilessa, she intervenes when a large man is beating a woman, leaping onto his back and holding a knife to his neck. The act leads to her being seized by a guard, who brings her into the room just as Navi and his men are preparing to leave.

The Audience with Behrooz

Before the Turilessa court, Navi identifies himself by his position: son of Navon’s fiftieth king, heir to the crown, and general of the king’s army. He explains that Navon’s experienced soldiers are old and that the few remaining troops are too young, leaving the kingdom exposed. In exchange for men, he offers a portion of Navon’s wood production and a supply of weapons; if that is not sufficient, he adds a third of the kingdom’s crops. The scale of the offer makes the scarcity behind the mission plain: Navon is prepared to surrender future resources to obtain immediate protection.

Behrooz does not accept the proposal. He says he needs time to consider it and stresses that helping Navon would carry serious risks for his own kingdom. Navi presses him to decide quickly, arguing that after Balthasar destroys Navon, the danger will reach Turilessa as well. Behrooz counters that his forces are few and could be wiped out if drawn into the conflict. The exchange places two forms of calculation against each other: Navi treats the threat as one that will spread, while Behrooz weighs the immediate cost of entering a war with a stronger enemy.

An Unresolved Bargain and Its Consequences

Behrooz asks when a courier can deliver his answer and offers the visitors a night’s hospitality and a feast. Navi thanks him but declines, leaving with his men rather than wait. The promise of a later answer is not an agreement, and the delegation returns to uncertainty. Its journey has secured neither soldiers nor a firm commitment, despite the proposed timber, weapons, and crops.

The mission also sits within a wider search for allies. Elsewhere, Navi asks Shai what the exiles would require to fight for Navon and learns that they are not seeking money. Their offer differs sharply from the costly concessions Navi has put before Turilessa. Later, Shai’s men help move villagers to the castle for shelter as Navon prepares to fight, making the practical importance of such support visible. These developments do not establish that the Turilessa mission caused the later alliance; rather, they show how Navon’s defense comes to depend on several kinds of help. The journey’s central reversal remains political: Navi arrives offering a great deal, yet leaves without knowing whether the offer will be enough.