by E G Manetti
“As you wish.” Chrys continues to scowl as he sends a discreet signal to Lilian.
It is done. Katleen has her weapons’ cabinet, Chrys his experimental apparatus, and Rebecca her mirror. Delivery included.
»◊«
“Where are our children?” Lucius inquires as he joins Estella on the terrace, discarding his jacket in the mild weather.
The Settlement Day midday meal is customarily a family gathering, Lucius eager to learn of his children’s doings and his children equally eager to share. The prior night they celebrated Raphael’s seventeenth birth festival by entertaining family and friends. Lucius expected Raphael, in particular, would be eager to discuss the event. That there are only two places set indicates Lucius was mistaken.
As a servitor pours sparkling wine, Estella waves at the formal gardens and woodland beyond as she replies, “Raphael and Micah are racing their speeders somewhere in the gardens.”
A year Raphael’s senior, Micah is his closest friend and Solomon’s son. The prior year, Solomon gifted Micah with a speeder, an open, three-wheeled recreational vehicle. Forbidden on the transport ways, the small, agile devices are favored among the warriors for sport and as a preliminary step to transport permits when they attain their twentieth year.
“Of course,” Lucius acknowledges, raising his glass toward Estella. “That Raphael knew he would receive the speeder only increased his enthusiasm. We will not part him from the device during daylight. What of Cesare and Elysia?”
“Cesare has been accepted by the Crossed Sabers race crew, and they are practicing for the River Races.” Estella smiles. “He halted long enough to inform me he is their youngest team member and he dared not be late.”
The annual River Races occur at the end of the green season, after the rainy season surges have dissipated but before the dry season shallows the Denel River. Six-person crews compete to pole slender vessels along a twisted and hazard-strewn course. Raphael has never cared to crew, but Lucius enjoyed the activity when he was his sons’ age.
Picking up his fork, Lucius remarks, “I must make certain to warn Cesare about Drowning Hole.”
“If you had been attending, you would not have fallen in,” Estella returns. The landmark in question is a deep hole in the surface of the river. Instead of finding solid riverbed to repel the pole, an unwary crew member can be tumbled into the river by his own momentum. That ignominious fate befell Lucius when he last participated in the River Races.
“I was attending.” Lucius assumes an affronted air. “I was attending to the fact that Broken Blade was attempting to seduce my spouse. My newly wedlocked spouse.”
“Horatio was attempting to antagonize you and distract you,” Estella laughs.
“And he has not changed.” Lucius smiles darkly. “It was worth a dunking, he continues to underestimate me.”
“How many share points have you gained?” Estella inquires, well aware of the success of Lucius’ Bright Star negotiations.
“Three from Matahorn and one from Leonardo.” Lucius is smug. He is well on his way to achieving his highest ambitions and leaving a wondrous legacy for his children. “Wait, you have distracted me, what of Elysia?”
With a loss of humor and a sigh, Estella says, “Lynette has taken Jenica and Elysia to the river pavilions.”
“Were Jenica not Marco’s daughter, I would sever that friendship,” Lucius remarks with a sigh of his own. He is not happy with the notion of Elysia in the care of Marco’s unpleasant spouse. There is naught to be done; Jenica has been Elysia’s special friend for years and they are kin.
“I share your concern, my love,” Estella agrees. “Were she not Marco’s spouse, I would eliminate Lynette from the art museum patrons as I did Padmaja Volsted.”
“I doubt Marco would challenge it,” Lucius suggests. “Does she trouble you, be rid of her.”
“And have Lynette deny Elysia access to Jenica?” Estella shakes her head slightly. “I will give some thought to entertainments that will draw Jenica here and away from Lynette.”
“Does it weary you, worry not, my love,” Lucius hastens. “As Horatio acknowledged at the reception, Elysia is very much your daughter. I doubt Lynette can do much harm.”
Before Estella can respond, loud whoops cut the air as Raphael and Micah break from the woodlands and onto the garden pathways. Reaching the fountain, the young men brake hard. Bounding up the terrace steps, Raphael greets his parents, “Maman, Father, the speeder is wondrous fun. Oh, there’s quail! Is there more? Micah and I are ravenous.”
At Lucius’ gesture, the servitors hasten to set additional places and bring more food.
19. Governance
The Festival of the Five Warriors, the central holiday of the Twelve Systems, commences with a ring walk. The spiritual observance requires a visit to each of the Five Warriors’ Shrines to offer devotions. Ideally, a festival group, known as a complement, should contain at least one adherent of each Warrior. Devotion to Adelaide Warleader is not essential to the observance, although Adelaide disciples are recognized as valid Fourth Warrior disciples when necessary.
Upon conclusion of the walk, the festival includes a variety of free and subscription entertainments. The most common are martial arts demonstrations and canon sagas. The entertainments are accompanied by feasting and merrymaking. ~ excerpt from A Social History of the Twelve Systems, an instructional text.
Sevenday 42, Day 2
“Truly, sweetling, it is not a wise notion. Master Chrys will accompany us, as will Mistress Rebecca. Discovering two more to make a festival complement may not be readily accomplished. Nor do I think we should call attention to ourselves,” Lilian explains as she stores her mask in the weapons cabinet, morning training complete.
The cabinet was delivered the prior sevenday, the hinge corrected by Chrys under the watchful gaze of Katleen while Lilian enjoyed the Seventh Day sunshine from a prominent position on the front steps.
Undeterred, Katleen presses. “Please, Lilian, insult is much diminished since Monsignor lessoned the Volsteds. With Keeper Virgil silent, a proper festival should be safe for us.”
After the ruin, the prior year’s festival observances were delayed until their return to Metricelli Prime several sevendays after the holiday. Surrounded by hostility escalated by vituperative tirades from Socraide’s Keeper Virgil, their observance was abbreviated and stealthy. To avoid attention, they walked the Warrior Ring immediately after dawn on a commerce day.
This year, Katleen is eager for a full complement and at least a little time at the merchants and free entertainments. Lilian would prefer to observe the festival at the smaller and less prestigious River Quarter Warrior Ring, but it would be a slight to the Garden Center Sinead Shrine and the shrine keeper who has done all she is able to support them.
“The ravens require the owl and the hawk,” Helena announces, placing her training blades in the weapons’ cabinet and knocking free a piece of flaking enamel. It will be Seventh Day before Katleen can begin to restore the surface.
“I beg pardon, Maman, I did not quite hear.” Lilian regards her mother dubiously.
“Gather your ravens. Collect the owl and hawk. The Warriors wait for you.” Helena is adamant.
Lilian knows that Chrys and she are the ravens as depicted in the Lilian panel. What Lilian first thought a raccoon, solidified over the rainy season into Clarice in the guise of an owl. The hawk is new.
“Maman, may I view the panels?” Lilian inquires of her mother. It has been several sevendays since Lilian has examined the panels and collected an updated visual.
“Of course, sweetling, they are meant for you,” Helena responds as she closes the cabinet.
»◊«
The panels have changed again. A bird that Lilian thought might become a large swallow is a raven and unquestionably Rebecca. Newly depicted is the hawk, which can be none other than Douglas, Seigneur Aristides’ apprentice.
The Grey Spear media management apprentice wa
s recently assigned to Bright Star and seems a steady, even-tempered young man. The second-year apprentice has been pleasant and, to Lilian’s surprise, deferential to her status as conservator. Aristides’ shadow must be deep if Douglas holds no fear of Martin’s reprisals. Or perhaps it is Douglas’ nature, Lilian speculates, considering the panel. Douglas’ broad shoulders, solid torso, and strong legs are perfectly proportioned by warrior standards. His complexion is as pale as Katleen’s but lacks her freckles. His strong, square-featured face with its hooked blade of a nose is accented by pale green eyes and light brown hair. He does translate rather well into a hawk.
Rebecca’s raven is another matter. Lilian gently chides her mother, “Maman, Rebecca is not a raven. She is a Cartel apprentice.”
Shaking her head, Helena replies, “Garb a raven as a swallow and it remains a raven. Annoyed, mayhap, but it is a raven nonetheless.”
Recognizing the futility of argument, Lilian capitulates as she records another visual. “Very well, I will approach Mistress Clarice and Master Douglas. Katleen, it appears you are to have your wish for a full complement.”
There is no question in Lilian’s mind that when approached, Clarice and Douglas will prove willing to join their party and devoted to the warriors required to create a proper festival complement.
“Oh thank you, Lilian, thank you, Maman.” Katleen exuberantly hugs her sister and then her mother. “It will be wondrously entertaining.”
Well aware that the merrymaking that follows festival observances can rapidly deteriorate into brawls and other excesses of passion, Lilian attempts to rein in her sister’s enthusiasm. “We will commence early. I care not for the behavior of the later crowds and wish even less to see you subject to it.”
»◊«
Lucius’ prescience increases, Marco thinks as he sits to Lucius’ right at the Serengeti governors’ review. Solomon is to Lucius’ left and next to him, Rachelle. The large, tenth-storey conference chamber, decorated in the Serengeti’s sand, gray, and midnight blue, is bathed in the bright, after-midday sunlight from the glazed wall.
Lucius is at the head of the table with his three senior retainers. Elenora sits in the middle of the conference table, slightly closer to Lucius’ position than to the base, where Sebastian will be seated. She has Kemeha on one side and Herman, the legalistics seigneur, on the other. The legalistics seigneur’s black hair is streaked with gray, revealing that his age is closer to seventy than sixty.
It is nearly third bell and Grey Spear has yet to arrive. As Lucius exchanges pleasantries with Elenora, Marco counts the chimes: one, two, and three. First System, First Warrior, Socraide Omsted. Second System, Second Warrior, Rimon Ben Claude. Third is Mulan Tsao, allied with the First. Honorable Jonathan Metricelli, the Fourth. Fifth and final—
Sebastian enters in the company of Ayesha, Garwynn, and Damocles. Ten seconds after time. Near enough to time that Lucius cannot cry defiance, but defiant nonetheless. It is exactly as Lucius foretold.
“Sebastian will be late, unapologetic, and forced to be complimentary on your achievements even though it improves my position,” Lucius predicts. “He will include Damocles to have equal numbers with Blooded Dagger and to reinforce his dog’s position in light of the current gossip.”
Cartel gossip never ceases, and while rarely grounded in fact, it can occasionally discern the truth. The notion that the popular Rebecca failed in her duty to Damocles was met by scorn from the ranked. Marco laughed uproariously at the image of Damocles tumbling from his desk in an attempt to mount Rebecca. With a grin, Marco offers, “I am familiar with Rebecca’s talents. I accept the version that Damocles was inept over Rebecca being laggard.”
“Marco, if you please.” Lucius ignores Sebastian’s tardiness. The Grey Spear monsignor’s petty challenge is about to be answered with force.
Rising, Marco activates the reviewer and reveals, “The Bright Star negotiations are complete. Serengeti’s share has increased from forty-three to forty-seven percent while Matahorn’s share dropped from thirty-six to thirty-three percent and Leonardo from twenty-one to twenty. To acquire the increased shares, Serengeti expended no more resources than were approved at the outset.”
It is a triumph of such note that even Sebastian Mehta is compelled to a smile. As Lucius planned—and Lilian predicted—the use of the ‘paired assets’ intrigue had the impact on Leonardo and Matahorn that Sebastian designed it to have on Blooded Dagger. Leonardo lost a point and Matahorn nearly two. The additional point from Matahorn came from the Fletcher-Damien conduit, among which were the Troy saltmarshes. All in all, Serengeti has gained what could amount to a continent’s wealth in these negotiations. With Blooded Dagger controlling fifty-two percent of Serengeti’s shares, Lucius controls the largest share of what will be the Thirteenth System.
It is such a remarkable achievement that Seigneur Garwynn is moved to remark, “Seigneur Marco, I must congratulate you on your negotiating skills. These are the most favorable terms I have witnessed in twenty years.”
Marco responds graciously, “I am honored to have been of service to Serengeti.”
The use of clever intrigue to enhance the Cartel’s negotiating is not discussed. Truly, it is not important. Results, not means, are the only concern. Returning to his place, Marco briefly meets Rachelle’s eyes and then Solomon’s. Monsignor is about to work his will on the governors. It is a great day for Blooded Dagger.
As Grey Spear and Iron Hammer linger in a pleasant pool of self-congratulation, Lucius drops a very large, disruptive stone. His brief explanation of synthetic Vistrite brings the chamber to the heavy stillness that presages a storm. There is not long to wait for it.
Monsignor Sebastian’s explosion is pyrotechnic. For over twenty minutes, the dyspeptic governor rails about the risks and dangers of mass-producing an artificial version of a controlled commodity. His color deepens to purple and spittle collects at the corners of his mouth. He rants about the arrogance of Blooded Dagger to have proceeded as far as a market trial without the governors’ consent. Forcefully pounding the table, he insists on the utter impossibility of such gains.
Eventually, Sebastian must pause for a breath.
As soon as Sebastian inhales, Elenora rushes in. “I would hear more of this. While Monsignor Sebastian’s concerns are valid, the potential gain warrants some risk. Nor do I fault Blooded Dagger for waiting to share such an explosive and unprecedented idea until it is ready to be proven. Such discretion is wise.”
Lucius nods and smiles, pleased by Elenora’s oblique reference to the security-privilege weaknesses in Grey Spear and her acknowledgment that Lucius could not inform her sooner. “Seigneur Rachelle, if you please.”
At Lucius’ invitation, Rachelle spends the next twenty minutes summarizing the basics of the synthetics process. She is eloquent on the uses and capabilities of the imitation Vistrite. Solomon confirms he has verified the claims. Elenora and Kemeha pepper the R&D and Vistrite seigneurs with questions related to the intricacies of using the synthetic in controller manufacturing. They are finally satisfied after a period of discussion.
Turning to her fellow governors, Elenora speaks, “Iron Hammer will support the small market trial using its experimental controller facility at the Great Crevasse.”
“Fine, it will work technologically,” Sebastian spits. He has made little effort to follow the technical conversation, determined to find a means to justify refusal of the endeavor. “That does not mean it should be done. I would see some support of the claims you have made for the financial benefits of this lunacy.”
“Marco, if you please.” Lucius’ tone holds a hint of silk that would make Lilian wary. Sebastian and Elenora are reacting exactly as he anticipated. Once Marco provides the financials, the matter will be done. Elenora will embrace the endeavor and Sebastian dare not refuse it.
With a few taps, Marco displays the complex financial models and projections on which Lilian has labored for months. The projections extend fifty
years and cover every aspect of the venture. They include production costs, demand curves, and operating models. For ten years the profits increase at a rapid rate until they plateau in the eleventh year at a very healthy level.
“Garwynn, what think you?” Sebastian demands harshly. Elenora leans in, eager to know the financials seigneur’s opinion.
“A moment, please,” Garwynn requests, busily referencing his slate and then the reviewer.
After a few minutes, Garwynn releases his obsession with the financials. “Nicely done, Seigneur Marco. It is Mistress Lilian’s work?”
At Marco’s nod of acknowledgment, Sebastian half rises from his chair as he explodes at Lucius, “You tasked your doxy to develop something of this importance?”
Lucius’ face hardens. Both Sebastian’s tone and words are a challenge to Lucius’ will and preeminence.
Before Lucius can respond, Seigneur Garwynn speaks in a conciliatory tone. “Monsignor Sebastian, if you please, her work on the consortium models has been flawless, as these appear to be. It is of no matter, the critical questions relate to the underlying assumptions, data, and a few of the calculations. Only when those have been evaluated will I be able to confirm these results.”
Mollified by the suggestion that the models can be discredited, Sebastian relaxes in his chair. “How much time will you require?”
“I am not certain,” Garwynn replies. “As little as a period or as much as two days. It will depend upon the answers to the initial questions.”
Turning to Lucius, Garwynn asks, “Monsignor Lucius, is Mistress Lilian able to speak with us for a few minutes?”
Curious as to Garwynn’s intent, Lucius nods. “I will send for her.”
»◊«
Racing in the corridors of the Serengeti Cartel is not forbidden, but it is not encouraged, as it tends to indicate a lack of self-mastery. For an apprentice, it is a violation of the thirty-fifth stricture, as Lilian well knows. Receiving the alert to join milord in the governors’ meeting is sufficient cause for Lilian to ignore stricture and race. Milord’s will supersedes all other considerations. If it were possible, Lilian would leap the eighteen storeys from her worksite to the Serengeti Governors’ Hall rather than tolerate the pace of the risers. Reaching the reception area, Lilian slows to a decorous pace, quiets her breath, and enters through the double-width door.