Ascendant

by Florian Armas

  “I know, you are worried for Costa,” he said when Cleyre entered his office. “He may be already at the border between Severin and Leyona, but I still don’t see what he can do. Codrin destroyed the Leyonan army. You read the letter yesterday morning.”

  “There is more than you know. Codrin took Leyona.”

  “That can’t be. He had too few soldiers to lay siege and take a city as large as Leyona. Are you sure?” he stared at Cleyre, who ignored his question. “I wonder how large his losses were. It may help Costa.”

  “Codrin had no losses.”

  “Leyona just fell into his lap, like a swooning lover.”

  “You have no idea how right you are. Sorry, for half pissing you off with military things.”

  “Tell me,” Nicolas sighed.

  “He used an interesting military stratagem to sneak into the city and take over the gate and palace.”

  “What stratagem? Cleyre, I’ve never known you so shy to speak.”

  “It’s so heartening to hear you asking. Codrin destroyed Leyona’s army and took many prisoners. Right?” She glanced at Nicolas, who just nodded. “Codrin made hostages of the sons of some Knights and important people in Leyona. Then he went in the city with their fathers. They opened the gate and asked him politely to enter the city. He obliged.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “You know that I have my own sources.”

  “They are very good, I grant you that, but I wish I knew them.”

  I doubt that I can tell you about my visions. “One more thing. My sources told me that Codrin may not be able to keep Leyona for long. It’s hard to tame a nest of hornets, and there are several forces working against him.”

  “The Circle?” Nicolas asked, and she nodded. “How long is long?”

  “A few months; probably his tenure of Leyona will end before the end of the year. I don’t know ... yet. Of course, he may surprise us again.”

  “Then your letter to Codrin may have some success ... later.”

  “Maybe,” she shrugged, and left his office. It’s just a small step, she thought, but it looks bigger now than a week ago. Things should be clearer come Spring.

  At the southern gate of Peyris, a written order was waiting for Costa. He was asked to go straight to Cleyre. “Return to the barracks,” he ordered his men, and rode toward the palace. At the small inner gate, there was another order waiting for him, and a page took his horse. He entered the precincts and went to the stairs, playing the paper between his fingers. Not even a word about Codrin. They did not expect me to deliver. The guards opened the door for him and he walked slowly toward Cleyre’s office. I will look straight in her eyes; I want to know if she thought that I would fail. He cut a stern figure when he was finally allowed to enter the office.

  “Milady,” he bowed curtly. Their eyes locked, but he was not able to read anything on her face.

  He still loves me, Cleyre thought and smiled thinly. “Welcome home, Costa. Take a seat.” She gestured to one of the chairs in front of her desk.

  “I failed you,” Costa said gruffly. There was misery throbbing in his voice. Hesitantly, he threw his tired body in the chair.

  “Even though you failed, I am sure you acted well. It’s no shame to lose against a commander like Codrin.”

  “It was expected that I would lose. That’s why an inexperienced captain was sent.”

  “Codrin is unpredictable, and we sent a captain who thinks out of the box. I am sure you learned from your encounter and, next time, you will be better prepared. Young captains are willing to take risks and to learn. That’s why we sent you.”

  “Thank you, milady.” Costa bit his lip, tried to say more, but changed his mind. Maybe she is right.

  “Tell me what happened. I am not a military commander,” she smiled, “so you must explain to me in plain words.”

  “We set a trap, only to find that we were already in a bigger one.”

  “Why are men so vague when explaining military things to a woman? Do they think us stupid?”

  “I never thought...”

  “I know, I know, you are a kind man.”

  “Codrin expected the attack, even though he did not know that I had arrived with a hundred men. He knew that Aron had taken Severin, and he was prepared for confrontation. We surrounded his tent under the cover of night. It was empty, and his men were waiting for us, hidden in the forest. He had sixty archers who made the difference. We lost before realizing what had really happened.”

  “How many men we did we lose?”

  “Twenty-nine.”

  “That’s a lot,” she said, a rictus changing the shape on her upper lip, making it look like a broken line. “What did he say about Severin?”

  “Codrin was bitter, but I took care to underline that the Duke was not involved.”

  “Did he believe you?”

  “Hard to say,” Costa frowned. “I talked with Mohor’s Chief of Guard, and he told me...”

  “Yes, yes, we helped Aron last year.”

  “Mohor was the rightful Seigneur of Severin.”

  “Yes, captain, I know that. How did Codrin react to our letter?”

  “Despite what had happened to Mohor, he did not reject the possibility of some collaboration in the future. Yet... he mentioned being the Grand Seigneur of Leyona. From what I know, he is a man to trust, but how could he conquer Leyona?”

  “Another trap inside a trap,” Cleyre said. She stood up and walked around the desk, stopping close to him, her body leaning against the desk. Their eyes locked again. Let’s set another trap. “I feel lonely tonight.” She smiled, her finger tracing a line on his neck.

  Costa shivered at her touch, and moistened his lips a few times. She smiled, her finger moving toward the opening of his shirt. “I apologize, but a night together means very different things to us,” he breathed. “There is no real place where want you lead me, just a lovely illusion. I understand that I am not up to your expectations, and my resignation will arrive tomorrow. I will leave Peyris soon after.”

  Sometimes a trap has two layers. Most men fall into the first one, when a woman is involved. Costa is more mature now. “Don’t be childish, Costa. I like men who have some spine,” Cleyre laughed. “Forget about Codrin, and go to your duties now. My feeling is that you are a better captain than you credit yourself for. Or others do.”

  Costa, you will never know that I broke with you only because I was becoming too attached. I could not afford such weakness. Not then and not now. Not for you and not for me. She watched him leave the room with a smile on her lips. Caught in his inner thoughts, Costa did not perceive her bitterness. Cleyre knew that, with all the divergences between them, her elder brothers would have killed Costa and married her off to some nobody in the blink of an eye.

  Three years ago, when she was only sixteen and almost as innocent as other girls of her age were, she had met Bucur, who was visiting Peyris. He was handsome and seductive, and she was lost when he moved to explore her body more than she was accustomed to in public, even opening her chemise. They were at a ball, in a break between two suites of dancing, hiding in the park behind the castle, together with other twenty or so young couples. Bucur pressed her too much, and she finally found some will to oppose him; there were too many eyes around them. He did not care, and tried to force her even with all those people around. It was Costa who saved Cleyre, even though they did not know each other. And Costa became her love, a love that she could not afford.

  At the first wrong step, my uncles and cousins would act like a pack of wolves and tear me into pieces. Even my brothers... All are brainless, but they are men of power. Only the Duke and Father were different. How I wish my parents were alive. My childhood was so short... Sometimes, I wish to be a man too; she sighed. They think me a whore. In a way, I am, but there was no other curtain I could use to hide myself from them; yet most of the men who bragged about my legs never saw them. It’s strange how confirming or not denying a lie makes it
truth.

  It works both ways. “Poor Dolen,” she burst into laughter, remembering her first hard lesson at the court.

  It was her seventeen birthday and, after drinking more than the etiquette allowed at a duke’s party, some youngsters and men started to brag in front of her and many other guests about how well they had pleased her in bed. They bragged about their skills; where they kissed and touched her, and how she moaned and cried, asking for more. People were gathering around them, attracted by the spicy show, and she felt almost naked under the many eyes seeming to search for the sweet spots the others were mentioning. It was a setup, she understood that well enough, and her mind was spinning under the pressure of all those eyes fixed on her, some undressing her greedily, some filled with cruel pity. She had no clout at that time; her father, who was the only son who could take Stefan’s place, had died in battle the year before. Her mother had died three years earlier, and many people whispered that she was poisoned. Cleyre was the fourth child and all others were sons who saw her more like property than sister. The only reason that she was not yet married to an unwanted man was that her brothers’ interests differed, and she was able to play into that.

  “Dolen,” Cleyre cried and laughed as loud she could, making everybody stop talking. “You were such a poor lover that I almost fell asleep.” She smiled with a charm that few could resist, and yawned ostentatiously, stretching her body, to reveal her eye-catching curves – there were only two women who could rival her beauty at the court, and they were already married.

  The space around her fell into a moment of silence, and some girls and women chuckled without knowing exactly why and at whom, and then the whole hall erupted in a chain of guffaws, led by the Duke, who thought it was the right moment to help his granddaughter. Cleyre still remembered Dolen’s red face, and how difficult he found it to even breathe while he was struggling to say something that no one could hear in the general laughter. It was a compromising moment for her, yet she had escaped less harmed than looked likely in the beginning, and that was the moment when she attracted her grandfather’s attention.

  “My dear, you have some wit; I grant you that, but maybe you should be more selective with your lovers,” Duke Stefan told her a day later. “And more discreet. Not to take into account that you may be too young for such games.”

  “I am careful, Grandfather. Most of the men bragging about being my lovers were lying, Dolen included.”

  “Then?” he frowned, his thick white brows drawing together.

  “You may ask dear uncle Albert that question. He had a brief talk with Dolen and two other men in the group which taunted me just before everything started. Those three bragged the loudest, even though they had never touched me, not even for a kiss.”

  “I see. Go now, my child,” the Duke said, suddenly indisposed. “I will have a few words with Albert, though I think that no one will try to tease you that way again. Tomorrow morning, come into my office.” There was now a thin smile on his lips, yet Cleyre thought that it was only to hide his real feelings.

  Back from her old memories, she closed her eyes and began to breathe in a slow and measured way. It calmed her. Codrin passed my test, and my letter has planted some seeds in his mind. Soon, he will learn that his position is weaker than he thinks. In the vision I had three weeks ago, I saw him in Poenari, but I still don’t understand the significance of that. Why is Fate so vague in my visions? She went to the window, and stared out without seeing.

  Chapter 5 – Dochia

  The morning had dawned clear and cold, with a crispness that sharpened the profile of the mountains behind them. They were less than a day away from Muniker, and Dochia fought the temptation to push her horse to a gallop. The vision came to her abruptly, like many other visions she had experienced. She gaped, and dismounted, letting her horse free, and sat under an old oak, her back leaning on its trunk. Her guards dismounted too, and Irina caught her horse.

  “Oh, no,” Dochia whispered, and pulled the hood over her head. “Mohor will be killed,” she said to both Mira and Irina. “Orban will capture Jara. Aron will keep Saliné prisoner in Severin for Bucur.”

  “Should we go to Severin?” Mira asked reluctantly, feeling the despair in Dochia’s voice.

  “We can’t, and even if we could, everything would be over before we arrived in Severin.” In her vision of Severin plaza, there were some apple trees too, and she was able to guess the month from them, but even more, she felt that Mohor would die in a few days at most. It was a two-week ride from Muniker to Severin. “Under Drusila’s rule, everything is going downhill in Frankis. I hope we can return to our hive in a month. I should not have gone to Peyris, but come directly to Muniker.”

  “It was useful to talk with Duke Stefan,” Umbra, her peregrine raven, said, and flapped his wings, landing on Dochia’s knee. “He agreed to reevaluate Codrin. And I think that Mohor’s death was meant to be. There were some strange new paths in your vision that we can’t ignore.”

  “Yes, there were, but why do so many good people have to suffer, and scoundrels like Aron, Bucur and Orban gain from their suffering? Why?”

  “No one can answer that question, Dochia. Maybe not even Fate herself. And there is nothing we can do except focus on the new paths.”

  “I grew up with Jara. How can I pass over what Orban will do to her, and that she has to accept him to protect Vio and Mark, who are prisoners too? I should have killed Drusila.” Tears ran down her face, and Dochia wiped them nervously.

  “I never saw you crying before,” Umbra said gently, “but don’t let resentment take over.”

  “We are not made of stone, and I don’t want to be just a soulless thing working for something that I have started to doubt. Feelings are good sometimes. They help you chase away the chaff.” Her despair pushed Dochia back in time, to when she was thrown out of the High Council of the Seven by Drusila’s machinations and Derena’s weakness. I have to fight back. The sooner I return, the better.

  They passed through Muniker a day later, and Dochia was composed, though her thoughts took her back to Severin, more than the future. It took them a day more to arrive in the Alba Hive of Litvonia, which lay in the Alpas Mountains, south of Muniker.

  I always forget how tall these mountains are, she thought, seeing the snow on the highest peaks, even though autumn was still more than a month away.

  “Mira, Irina, soon we will see Kostenz Lake,” Dochia said. “Just after that small mountain,” she pointed in front and to the right.

  “It’s the Hive on the Lake?” Irina asked, with the exuberance of her twenty years.

  “No. It’s higher in the mountains. The road east from the Hive passes close to the lake. We will see it better then.”

  Dochia was expected in the Hive; a vision was always faster than any other communication and Ingrid, the First Light of Litvonia, saw her coming and understood the reason behind her visit.

  “We know about Salvina,” Ingrid said, her voice sad. They were alone, in the First Light’s austere office.

  “It’s not her fault; any of us can be subverted by the Maletera.”

  “You escaped.”

  “It was by chance.”

  “Don’t try to fool yourself, Dochia. It was your strength. I wish that Salvina...”

  “What happened?” Dochia asked, seeing the pain in Ingrid’s eyes.

  “She was my pupil... Two weeks ago, she tried to escape, and...”

  “Is she wounded?” Dochia asked reflexively, and Ingrid just shook her head. Salvina is dead. Sad news, but I can return to Frankis. “I am sorry, Ingrid. Then my mission here is finished. Tomorrow, I will return to Frankis. There are many issues there, and some of them may be related to the Fracture.”

  “I know from the Conclave that the Fracture will start at the edges: Frankis and Arenia, but,” Ingrid stared at her, “you must continue your journey. I received a letter from Ada, and this is for you,” she pushed an enveloped toward her, across the desk.
/>   Dochia frowned, knowing even before opening the letter that she had to obey the summoning; Ada was the most powerful Wanderer of their times.

  ‘Dochia,’ she read.

  ‘You already know about Severin, I saw it in my visions, and I saw more. I hope that it will bring some comfort to you that Jara and her children will survive Orban. There will be sorrow in their lives, but there will be joy too. You will stay far from Frankis for a while. Don’t worry, Frankis will not vanish from the map. I will wait for you in Silvania, but your road will not stop here; you must go and meet Meriaduk, the Great Serpentist Priest.’

  Dochia closed her eyes, trying to calm her breath. The letter fell from her fingers. Her reflexes worked independently from her ravaged thoughts and she caught it before it touched the floor.

  Meriaduk... Who knows if I will ever return to Frankis? Who knows if I will escape alive?

  “I know some fragments of what awaits you, Dochia. Not only from Ada’s letter. I saw you with Meriaduk. You were in front of a huge map where lands and oceans were depicted. It did not look like a map, not in the sense that we know them. Meriaduk played with the map in front of you, and I have to tell you, it scared me. I am sure it will scare you too, but I want you to be prepared.”

  At least I will arrive there... “How did he manipulate the map? Like they do in theaters? A painted curtain falls, then another one...”

  “It was nothing like that. He was just moving his hand, and a new map appeared on the wall, replacing the old one.”

  “Did I...?

  “You want to know if Meriaduk will kill you. I don’t know, but you know that I couldn’t tell you that even if I knew it.” Ingrid voice was gentle, the tone mothers use when telling important things to their daughters.