KOLOT HECTOR, the captain of the palace guard, enjoyed every second of his evening. It was approaching midnight, and only a day before he would never have imagined that he would see that witching hour in the imperial chambers. He’d never had the chance to attend events like this by the emperor’s side. That was the prerogative of his advisors, lovers, hordes of brown-noses and hangers-on from the nobility, and of course the pernicious Crane, the imperial secretary.
The latest of the Reyk’s introductions by the name of Maya amazed even him, an experienced connoisseur of carnality and the female form. Her trick astounded the captain! How was it possible? Now she was standing on her feet again, but Ma Ju Ro wasn’t looking at her. It wasn’t clear whether her acrobatics had worked on the emperor. All the captain could say with confidence was that the South was home to people who lived without fear or shame before the Sacred Mother! Where Kolot Hector was from, such shamelessness would earn a branding for the entire family...
“Ruler,” Keirinia whispered in the emperor’s ear hotly, leaning over the table. “I’m on fire for you! Let’s leave all these people alone and dive into an abyss of pleasure...”
Hector heard each word from the first courtesan, being so fortunately seated between her and the emperor. And although Lentz didn’t so much as twitch an eyebrow, the captain frowned. The clock had struck midnight, and the old Ma Ju Ro the Fourth had returned. Any moment now he’d start doing it right on the table without a care for who could see. The animal! He was the same lascivious creature as always! Such a pity. It had truly seemed as if the emperor had changed after the transfusion procedure.
Ma Ju Ro stood up sharply from the table and whispered something to Lentz sitting nearby. Hector didn’t hear exactly what.
“Hector, everyone out!” Lentz shouted predictably. “His majesty is tired and wishes to be alone!
What a surprise. Hector rose grudgingly from the table and chuckled. The blood rushing to that pig’s loins had sent everything back to normal. And no wonder! That clown Vensiro had brought some incredible ladies with immeasurable charm, but Two-horns take them, the meeting was supposed to be for business! And what a performance from that flirt Keirinia! That ‘fire’ of hers could have waited. Everyone was having such a good time! Maybe even the circus monsters might have performed! Well, captain, time to go back to reality.
“This audience is ended, ladies and gentlemen! Please make your way to the exit!” He spread his hands and gently pushed the southern girls away, along with everyone else. Maya hesitated a moment, keeping her inviting gaze fixed on the emperor, and the captain had to push harder. “Move along! Quickly, quickly!”
The girls left the imperial chambers under furious glances from Reyk Lee Vensiro, who had decided that one of them had done something wrong and angered his majesty. Which was clearly not the case, but the captain didn’t bother to convince the peacock aristocrat. Instead, he pushed him and the Dobzhani ringmaster toward the door, grabbing a jug of wine from a servant’s tray as he passed.
“Hector, we’re not done yet!” the emperor shouted to him. “Come back once you’ve escorted our guests out.”
Ah yes, of course. The captain grudgingly set the jug on the table. His imperial, Two-horns-cursed majesty must need some help. Someone to hold him up. He knew all about what happened in the orgies of high society, but he’d never had to professionally involve himself in one. Sacred Mother, this was all he needed! He shut the doors behind the visitors and then heard the healer’s voice.
“Koerlig, help me carry Lady Keirinia! She’s sick! Kolot, you help too! She isn’t as light as you might think!”
“Careful!” Ma Ju Ro ordered. “Take her to my chambers.”
“What’s wrong with her?” Hector asked Lentz.
“She feinted... No visible cause...” The healer shrugged, casting a glance at the emperor.
“It seems that Keirinia drank too much, got tired and fell asleep,” the emperor said softly. “Everything is fine.”
The first courtesan lay unconscious, sprawled back in her chair. The captain carefully grabbed her by the legs and found that she really did weigh a respectable amount. No wonder, with that ass! While the old man Nem and his servants cleared the table, Hector, Lentz and his wily secretary very carefully carried out the emperor’s order.
“I wouldn’t stare like that if I were you, friend,” Hector advised Koerlig.
“I’m not... It’s just...” the secretary mumbled and averted his gaze.
Keirinia’s skirt had ridden up, baring her mighty and appetizing thighs, and it wasn’t easy even for the captain to resist his rising animal urges. In the meantime, the emperor stepped out onto the terrace. Hector saw him wipe sweat from his brow and lean against the balcony railings for support.
They took his favorite to the bedroom and put her on the bed. Lentz adjusted the girl’s bunched-up skirt in a fatherly manner and tucked her in under the covers. Nights were cold in the palace. Noticing the captain’s searching gaze, the healer blushed and left the bedroom first.
They went back to the dining table and sat in silence, waiting for Ma Ju Ro. The servants laid the table with desserts in silence, along with fruit and fresh jugs of wine, then they left the chambers. Old man Nem hovered a while, peeked out onto the terrace, heard an order from his ruler and left as well.
Koerlig thoughtfully munched away at a sweet and juicy lamai fruit, staring into the distance. Judging by his red ears, the boy was still immersed in fantasies of those three girls. And perhaps even of Keirinia herself. She was an exciting lady, why hide from it? Yet she put her efforts into arousing a hundred-year-old man.
“I want a smoke,” Hector broke the silence. “What does he want from us?”
“He wants us to help him,” Lentz answered, offering him a pouch of tobacco.
“With what, Jurgeas? And why is this conman here?” he nodded toward Koerlig as he rolled a cigar.
Tobacco was a luxury that only the aristocracy could afford. Hector sometimes managed to get his hands on goods confiscated from merchants, which was how he’d picked up his addiction. He lit his cigar from a candle and puffed away in satisfaction, blowing out aromatic smoke.
“What can we help him with? What sort of emperor is he if he needs help?”
Lentz stayed silent for some time, then scratched his nose and spoke.
“Want a drink, Kolot?” Lentz waited for the captain’s nod, then poured him some wine. “‘Jurgeas’, wow. It’s been a while since anyone called me by my first name. I doubt anyone else in the palace knows it.”
“It’s my job,” the captain explained, “To know all the courtiers. So what’s our ruler doing? Why as he brought us here?”
“He’ll explain it himself, Kolot. And Koerlig is now his trusted man. Like us. You and me.”
“Who? Me?” The captain let out a hollow chuckle. “A trusted man? Does Herdinia know?”
“The Crane?” Lentz asked. “I doubt it very much. I doubt very much that her word will have any weight at all for the emperor now.”
“What makes you think that?” the captain asked skeptically. “You know the Crane, she’ll wrap him around her finger. Especially now that idiot Naut has had the misfortune of making an ill-fated assassination attempt and is languishing in a cell. Or did you whisper something about her to the emperor? Was she with you conspirators? But then why isn’t she in chains?”
“No, she had no part in the conspiracy,” Lentz grimaced. “Why would she? Whatever the advisors might think, true power in the Empire belongs... belonged, that is, to her. The emperor didn’t trust anyone more than that old hag.
“She’s only thirty nine,” the captain noted. He glanced at the terrace beyond the glass. The emperor was still just standing there. From inside it looked as if he was thinking about something, which was amazing in itself. “So what about the Crane?”
“The emperor changed after the last transfusion, Kolot,” Lentz answered quietly. “You may not believe it now, but you wil
l.”
“How?”
“It is as if the spirit of his great ancestor Ma Ju Ro the First has settled within him. He has started thinking of the country and its people...”
“What?” Hector choked on his wine. He’d expected anything, all the way to news that the emperor’s member had fallen off and Ma Ju Ro was no longer interested in the palace’s ladies, but not this revelation. “You’re talking crap, Jurgeas!”
“No, Captain Hector, he isn’t!” Koerlig interjected and blushed. Withering under Kolot’s mighty gaze, he fell silent.
“Speak!” the captain ordered.
“Forgive me...” Koerlig uttered. “I can’t tell you everything, but I can confirm Master Lentz’s words. The emperor...”
He couldn’t finish the thought before said emperor came back in from the terrace. He walked to the table with a spring in his step, slapping each man on the shoulder, striking them all dumb yet again. He even apologized for his long absence.
“Let us continue...” he said, taking his seat. “Or rather, let us begin. But first, Hector, tell me what you think of all this.
“My lord?”
“You sit at this table for the first time?”
“Yes, sire.”
“Do you have any thoughts on that count, commander? And in general, what do you think of me and the situation in the country?”
Hector gulped. Commander? A rank promotion meant transferring to another military structure. The palace guard had never been under the command of anyone above captain, and the functions of the service were mostly ceremonial. The army defended the palace in the case of rebellion, while the palace guard specialized in minor issues; breaking up conflicts at court, quieting down drunken guests, emptying people’s pockets of silverware on the way out... They protected the emperor, of course, but without zeal. Naut hadn’t paid them enough for more. As for the inquisitors, they knew their place. The servants, cooks, courtiers... They had no real power, neither open nor clandestine. They were not feared.
Not knowing how to hide his embarrassment, Kolot drank his wine, put his glass down, adjusted the tablecloth, swatted at imaginary motes of dust on his trousers and raised his eyes.
“Speak openly, Hector,” Ma Ju Ro warned him. “Hide anything and I will know it. And then we won’t be talking like this again. Lentz added a certain potion to the wine. Your ears will go red if you speak a lie.
Hector automatically grabbed at his ears and looked at the healer. Lentz nodded barely perceptibly, confirming the emperor’s words. I should have left with Vensiro! the captain thought. And when and to whom did Koerlig tell a lie? His ears are redder than I’ve ever seen them! He gulped down more wine.
“Speak,” the emperor ordered. “Whatever you say, there will be no consequences. The important thing is not to dissemble.”
“Well, why not?” Hector sighed, relaxing slightly. “When will I get another chance? You asked for it! You, your majesty, are in an untenable position! What is there to talk about if the only people you can now trust in all the Empire are myself, a healer that wanted to poison you this morning, and this pimple-faced weasel Koerlig, who you didn’t know existed yesterday? And now this crook is — ha-ha! — is to lead an imperial clinic! Ha-ha-ha!” He continued laughing uncontrollably for a while. “You’ll promise anything just to get the support of even a pathetic conniver such as this!”
Nobody else at the table shared in his mirth. Hector stopped. The emperor and Lentz waited coolly for the fiery speech to continue. Koerlig’s ears were even redder, and his cheeks were starting to burn as well. The boy must be thinking lies. Angry at Koerlig for some unknown reason, Kolot continued with even greater ferocity.
“Rezsinius approaches from the south, with veterans and an army from the southern barons. In the North, the barons are choking on hordes of mutants. The capital is ruled by thieves and General Hustig. Even in your own palace, Herdinia the Crane has more power than you! You sleep with Keirinia, but do you at least know who she really serves? By fulfilling the whims of your favorite, you ignorantly play right into the Crane’s hands! I wouldn’t be surprised if she was already making a deal with your cousin!”
“All the worse for her if she is,” Ma Ju Ro shrugged. “Continue.”
“What do you know about the ration warehouses, my lord? That’s right!” Hector nodded in satisfaction when he got no answer. “Nothing at all. Our people starve! Warehouses have been burned, Rezsinius’s forces are blockading merchant ships from the sea. We haven’t had any deliveries from the south for two months now! The farmers are hiding their harvests, they don’t have enough to feed themselves! In your name, Hustig has squeezed them so hard that they’re dying from hunger, and then he sent their grain to the capital markets with a ten-fold price increase! And, I swear on the Sacred Mother, the Empire has never seen a ruler worse than you! If another attempt were made on your life today, I wouldn’t lift a finger to prevent it!” The captain fell silent, realizing that he’d just said all that to the emperor himself.
“I see, Hector,” Ma Ju Ro said, as cool as before. “Drink some wine, refresh your throat and continue.”
Hector grabbed a jug and latched onto it. He might never get the chance to drink wine again. Never mind wine, he’d be grateful enough to see the sunrise! Gods, what an idiot he was! Two-horns must be laughing at him, must have forced his tongue to flap!
Gulping down wine, Hector calculated the consequences. What if he were to take out his sword and drive it into the emperor’s heart? How would Lentz and his hound Koerlig react? They were no match for him, of course, and he could gut them too if he had to! Then he’d have to drag Naut out of jail and confer with him on how to get the best price out of Rezsinius...
The doors to the imperial chambers burst open, and strangers ran into the room, clanking in black plate armor. Helmets hid their faces. Three, six... Before he’d even had time to think about it, Hector had jumped across the table, unsheathing his sword in flight, and stood before the intruders.
“Not a step further. Who are you? In the name of the emperor, leave this room at once!
“At ease, captain,” a huge man in full armor and a helmet said as he stepped forward from the ranks . His voice sounded muted, but familiar. “Calm yourself, Hector! Your boys are enjoying life in the capital’s brothel and are most happy. I advise you to leave these chambers, forget what you have seen here and join them. All expenses paid, captain!”
“I swore loyalty to his majesty, General Hustig...” Hector’s voice sounded strained. He turned and saw that the emperor was still sitting there. Either frozen in horror or shitting himself in fear.
“As did I. And?” Hustig shrugged and took off his helmet. “That emperor is no more. All I see is a fat pig! Or is this drunken bravado of yours from dining with him at the same table? Did you feel chosen, eh, captain? Allow me to disappoint you. You are not chosen. A harlot sat in your seat yesterday. This is a place for his whores, captain! Stand aside. He is not worth this. I will forget that you said anything...”
From behind came a grunting and a rustling. Ma Ju Ro rose heavily from the table and walked toward Hector. Hustig leered in amusement.
“Would you look at that. He can still move on his own!”
Laughter came from beneath the helmets. Hector looked at the object of their humor and his eyes widened; Ma Ju Ro was smiling too.
“You must be clairvoyant, Kolot. Another attempt on my life indeed. But you were wrong about one thing,” he said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You did lift a finger. It seems you value your oath and the Empire more than you think.”
“Look, boys, a talking pig!” Hustig said in mock surprise and laughed. “Wow! Hah-hah-hah!”
His laughter echoed through the imperial chambers, but received no support. Hector looked behind his back, not believing his wide eyes, and screamed.
Hustig slowly turned his head. In an instant, his scream joined Hector’s, only his was louder and more desperate. The captain knew
by experience that such shrill screams come only from wild, primordial terror.
Chapter 31. General Hustig’s Confession
IT HAPPENED INSTANTLY, and clearly not because the emperor intended it so. As soon as he saw the strangers bursting into his chambers, his heart started thumping in his chest, spreading adrenaline through his veins. With great effort, Luca maintained the appearance of calm, and only his heaving chest gave him away to Lentz completely. That said, the healer himself was sitting in terror, afraid to move a muscle.
Not knowing what to do or how to wriggle out of the situation, he stood behind the captain, now newly minted commander, and started thinking feverishly. His first concern was his mom and sister, his second for his trusted men Lentz and Hector. But the captain’s action in standing up in his defense against General Hustig gave him certainty; he wouldn’t let his people get hurt!
He put a hand on Hector’s shoulder.
Blood of Fate Page 20