by C S Vass
“They call her Ashaela,” Jack said quickly. “Her powers are superior even to the greatest of court wizards.”
“Yes, I’ve met her,” Yaura said.
“Then you know that she is pure evil,” Jack said with loathing. “I despise her with every fiber of my being, and one day I will destroy her for good!”
“Jack,” Yelvin said in a calm voice. “Best to keep such musings to yourself until you are ready to act on them.”
“But I am re—”
“We discussed your brashness,” Yelvin said in a very different tone than Yaura had heard him use before.
“Yes, Monk Yelvin,” Jack said, suddenly bashful. “I apologize. Please forgive me.”
“I do. Yaura, allow me to be blunt with you now. I know that you have come to Valencia in order to rally the Shigata back to Black Wolf where you might rebuild your order. But the demons are in Valencia, and there is no greater demon than Sylvester Shade, The Demon of the South. Now I won’t pretend to care much about giving a lordship to some bloodthirsty bandit. But I do know that my people suffer, and your friends Faela and Tzuri-kai were willing to help. Now, with them imprisoned and this mysterious disappearance of Shade’s fighting men, well, I need all the help I can get.”
“Faela and Tzuri-kai were traveling companions,” Yaura said. “Not friends.”
“That is not how they described you,” Yelvin said harshly. “They trusted me enough to tell me of their travels. Did Faela not agree to accompany you, to lend you her unique talents, when it came to traveling through the dangers of the Jagjaw Mountains in order to help rebuild your order?”
Yaura sighed. Her head felt very heavy, and she regretted not getting more sleep the night before. “She did.”
“You’ve already spoken to Shade,” Yelvin said. “Either he granted your request or he didn’t. But I suspect that there’s nothing waiting for you on Black Wolf right now except for a broken castle. Stay here where you’re needed. At least for a short time. At the very least to help your friends.”
Yaura wanted to scream. Every step she took towards rebuilding the Shigata either flung her to some opposite corner of the world or into a bloody civil conflict that she had no business participating in. “If I were to help, what would you even have of me? Am I to break into Shade’s dungeons and rescue Faela and Tzuri-kai?”
“No,” Yelvin said. Yaura did not miss the faint smile that formed on his lips as she asked her question. “We do not need you to storm any castles or conduct any secret missions. Jack here has proven himself resourceful at currying favors at court. He will try to work something out and release your friends through words alone.”
“Him?” Yaura snorted. “Not quite my ideal of a statesman.”
“Looks can be deceiving, as you well know. Please, just stay with us for a while. Wait and see if we can free your friends. You three should never have separated. If you were together during the worst of the fighting…”
“I may decide to wait here and assist you,” Yaura said. “But I’ll not have you drown me with what-if’s and regrets. There are few things worse than men who can’t turn their head from the past.”
“So you’ll do it?” Jack asked eagerly. “You’ll stay and help us save Valencia?”
Yaura looked slowly at each of them. Yelvin, cool and confident. Jack, bright-faced and brimming with excitement. She lifted the last of her mug and drained the contents. “For hell’s sake, Yelvin! Why did you give me coffee at a meeting that clearly demanded alcohol?”
Yelvin clapped his hands together and rose with a smug smile. “Well said. Jack, fetch our guest some ale. I have a few letters to write. Before long, we’ll teach those bastards a lesson about leaving their city undefended.”
Chapter 15
“My old friend!”
Jeri Dantos embraced Benjiko warmly in the subterranean passageway below Frost’s cemetery. “I’ve long looked forward to the day where we would meet again,” the young lord continued. “I even considered urging you to come and visit with me, but when I broached the subject with Nicolai during his last trip here, he discouraged it.”
“And I was wise to do so,” Nicolai said, bowing. “It was important that we all wait until the right moment for such reunions.”
“And to think that such a moment is now,” Jeri said, grinning broadly. “Big things are happening, Benjiko. Big things! But of course, I don’t need to tell you that.”
“You certainly don’t,” Benjiko said. “I just wish that I could face them with your enthusiasm.”
Jeri waved the comment. “I can wear my true face with you, Benjiko, but it is rare that I can smile in public. I fear I have become something of a solemn, brooding lord. But we can speak of such things soon. I see you’ve brought companions from the road.”
“Indeed,” Benjiko said, suddenly remembering that his two guards were also with him. “Lord Dantos, this is Captain Brett Ashford and Logun of the Shigata. They have been my trusted companions since before my departure from Iryllium.”
“Now there’s a subject to make the walls grow ears,” Jeri laughed as he bowed to the men. “Just what in blazes happened in the capital? Do you have any idea what they’re saying in the beer halls?”
Benjiko smiled, oddly embarrassed as he remembered the last thing he overheard in a tavern. “Peasants gossip while true men act. Has it not always been so?”
“What have they been saying in the taverns?” Brett asked.
“What haven’t they been saying?” Jeri said. “Benjiko has been murdered by Tarsurians. Benjiko has taken command of the royal court. Benjiko has been betrayed by the treasonous Captain Brett and is now rotting in one of the dungeons while a silent military coup is taking place.”
Benjiko heard Brett shout in disgust, but paid him no mind. “I see,” the prince said. “I suppose that we’ll have to let them go on about their nattering.”
“Prince Benjiko,” Nicolai said, stepping forward. “It might be wise not to do that. You see, should such rumors fly around, rumors of your demise in particular, then when you do step forward again, it might be easy for potential enemies to call you pretender.”
“Very well,” Benjiko said, furrowing his brow. “So, when do we begin to move forward with things? Surely an operation of the scale we endeavor to take will require quite a bit of planning.”
“I disagree, Lord Nicolai,” Brett said seriously. “We must rush nothing. The bleating of lesser men is of no consequence. Things will be decided by the sword, and by brains. If Benjiko reveals himself, we risk having those swords drawn to him before we are ready.”
“In Frost?” Benjiko said, nearly laughing. “I think not. At least not while I’m by the side of well-defended and well-loved Lord Jeri Dantos.” For added effect, he slapped Jeri hard on the back, grinning like he was a boy several years younger.
The uncomfortable look on both Jeri and Nicolai’s faces gave him pause.
“Oh, damn it all,” Jeri snapped. “It’s not like he won’t find out.”
“Find out what?” Benjiko asked, suddenly alarmed.
“Security in Frost is by no means a guarantee, my prince,” Nicolai said diplomatically.
“It is when I’m still on the payroll,” Logun grunted, speaking for the first time. Nicolai eyed the Shigata up and down like he was looking at a decidedly ugly dog his child insisted on adopting.
“While I’m sure that’s your skills are beyond comparison,” the court advisor said, “it is important that we understand the dangers in Frost.”
“Such as?” Benjiko pressed.
“Such as more men exchanging gold and plans on how to knife me in the back then I can keep track of, for starters,” Jeri grumbled.
“What?” Benjiko asked, genuinely shocked. “How can that be? Surely it’s nothing credible. Jeri, you’ve barely been ruling for a year. Your father was well-loved.”
“You’ve hit the nail there, Benjiko,” Jeri said. “My father was well-loved. An affable lecher with a
naïve heart, love of women and fine wine, and total disinterest in tending to matters of state.”
Benjiko listened, struggling for words. “The late Lord Dantos was, well…”
“Save your kind words, Benjiko.” Jeri was suddenly serious. “You may need them to convince some assassin to spare you in my halls one day. We both know what my father was. Well, I am not him. I didn’t take a lordship so that I could use the title to barter with whores and sanction illegal high-stakes rounds of Tanzen with my citizens. I aim to see that taxes are collected on time and accurately, the cities walls are well-defended, our storehouses well-stocked, and our hanging-trees littered with the bodies of criminals regardless of how great a bribe they offer the hangmen.”
Benjiko nodded. If Jeri was ruling based on half of what he had just described, then certain circles in Frost were bound to be offended. “Well we’ll stamp out any traitors and bring the city to heel!” Benjiko said, suddenly feeling bold. “I’ll not tolerate any disloyalty to the rightful Lord of Frost. You have the crown’s full support.”
“Do I now?” Jeri asked.
Benjiko had become so caught up in himself that he had almost not understood why Jeri was smiling wryly. “Well, you will,” the prince insisted, flushing. “If I have some housecleaning of my own to do first, then so be it.”
“That’s all well and good,” Logun said. “But from where I’m sitting you have to decide whose house to clean first. There’s a lot of filth in every direction.”
“If I may,” Nicolai said, stepping forward again so that he was in the middle of a circle formed by the other men. “Should our boldest plans come to fruition, it is imperative that the disorder here in Frost be reckoned with as quickly as possible. Securing the loyalty of this city, Prince Benjiko, will be paramount to securing the rest of the kingdom.”
“So, we’re really going to do it are we Ben?” Jeri said, laughing. “A gods be damned rebellion against the crown. Who would have thought? If someone had suggested such a thing to me just several months ago, I would have them hanging by their balls from Frost’s castle. But here we are.”
“We have much to do before it comes to that,” Benjiko said. Still, despite his attempts to make them respect the seriousness of the situation, there was something absolutely glorious about it that he was only just then able to see. Up until that moment, with the grim company of Brett and Logun, launching a rebellion against his father’s government had always seemed like a deathly serious and largely hopeless patriotic act of duty. But now, with his old friend and their combined youthful energy, he could see that there was a whole kingdom waiting to be won.
“Since we’re all conspirators to the point of deserving execution anyway,” Logun said as he scratched at his stubble, “might I ask why we need to plan a rebellion? Wouldn’t one well-placed knife in King Boldfrost’s heart be sufficient in place of the countless scores that will die on the battlefield? Seems like a much more straightforward way to win a crown, seeing as how you’re next in line, anyway.”
Benjiko opened his mouth to answer, but Nicolai spoke first. “As happy… excuse me, that is a poor choice of words. As prudent, shall we say, as that might seem, it is not necessarily the case that we can expect things to go so smoothly. Should anything befall our king, Benjiko’s life would immediately be thrust into danger. There are powerful men surrounding King Boldfrost at all times. Men from the East. Wizards. Demon-worshippers. Not to mention those temple monks that follow him like squirrels following a boy with a bag of nuts. We couldn’t possibly expect them to allow Benjiko to suddenly storm to power and start disrupting their plans.”
Benjiko grimaced as Brett burst out in muffled laughter.
“Something amusing, Captain Brett?” Nicolai asked with a voice reminiscent of an impatient school teacher.
“I’m sorry,” Brett said. “But what? Demon-worshippers? Do you know what you say? What the hell is going on?”
Brett looked around the room to read the other faces and calmed himself as he saw the steely looks that stared back at him. Last to cross eyes with him was Logun, and the Shigata’s face looked like it was cast in metal. “Forgive me,” Brett mumbled. “I did not think such things were possible.”
“There is much that is possible that you do not understand,” Nicolai chided. “But most importantly is that even I do not know. King Boldfrost’s isolation should be cause for the highest alarm. Even I have found myself kept from the confines of his inner circle. That should worry every soul in the West. Now we have Tarsurians on our shores, demons unleashing hell in the Southlands, and every day I hear whispers from little mice and birds about things as disturbing as they are confusing.”
“The point is,” Benjiko said, “that if we are going to win a kingdom, then we are going to do it on the battlefield, not my father’s deathbed.”
“But first the many debacles here in Frost must be dealt with,” Nicolai said.
“So they must,” Jeri agreed at once.
“Then we had better get some specifics,” Benjiko said. He almost asked about what he had overheard in the tavern earlier, but it would have been unwise. Better to take the information uninterrupted from his friend. “Tell me what’s happening here in Frost.”
“Of course,” Jeri said. “There is a consensus among the court that I am everyone’s last choice for lord. The disloyalty is disappointing enough, but it comes with some additional annoyances. The Golden Hand have made themselves particularly alarming enemies. Of course, they never cross the line openly, but they defy me at every turn, grumble endlessly about taxes, stir up trouble among the peasants every time I issue a decree, and if they’re not paying half of the homeowners in the city to throw a fit every time I take a dump, then I’m a monkey’s arse!”
“I see,” Benjiko said, nodding. “Unfortunate enemies to make. Their funds are nearly limitless, which means limitless headaches for you.”
“The worst of it came with the case of some noble sack of shit named Regi Bucks.” Jeri huffed.
“What did he do?” Benjiko asked.
“Only forge every tax document he ever touched,” the Lord of Frost replied. “My agents found decades of everything you can imagine: falsified earnings statements, unreported assets, embezzlement, gold laundering, unlawful use of public commons for private gain… what else? Oh, and polygamous relationships with minors.”
“A real winner,” Benjiko whistled.
“Indeed,” Jeri said. “After the investigations I sent my boys to his manor with a nice long rope of hemp. The Golden Hand intervened immediately. They threw one hell of a fit. Had citizens paid off protesting all over town. Sickening.”
“Surely death is a steep penalty for those crimes?” Brett interjected.
Privately Benjiko agreed, but upon seeing the fire in Jeri’s eyes he was glad he kept the opinion to himself. “Tell me, Captain Brett,” Jeri hissed. “Do you know how many men died as a result of poisoned waters when the little chemistry experiment he set up in a river on public lands failed? Did you visit them on their sickbeds, choking on black puss and shitting their brains out until they expired? Did you meet with those girls, the youngest of whom was ten years old, when that demon brought her into his bed?”
“Ten?” Brett said, suddenly disgusted. “Forgive me, Lord Dantos. I didn’t think that you meant someone would openly commit such disgusting perversions.” Seeing this have little effect on pacifying Jeri’s fury, Brett quickly added, “But, yes, you’re quite right. The other crimes are horrendous too.”
“He’s not the only one,” Jeri said, waving his hands. “I deal with his like all the time. And I haven’t even gotten this particular bastard. The Golden Hand prevented it all because he was in good with them. There would have been riots in the street had he been hung. Even now he eats my own food, sitting in my own dungeon. He should be a corpse!”
“He will be,” Benjiko said confidently. “Him and the rest of the scum who deserve it. We’ll sort out the Golden Hand and make
sure they know the meaning of the rule of law.”
“Ha!” Jeri said, suddenly jubilant again. “Now that’s what I like to hear, Prince Benjiko! Let’s set the bastards straight!”
“There will be plenty of time for that,” Nicolai said. “But first, we must sneak you safely into court. Inside the castle, you should be secure. I’ve arranged some outside help to assist with security. They can be trusted. Prince Benjiko, I recommend you announce yourself to the court and make your presence in Frost well-known. Your father’s allies would not dare to dismiss you so openly. Not as things currently stand. Grant me a short amount of time to ensure your safety. A week, I should think.”
“Very well,” Benjiko said. “Thank you, Nicolai. Bringing me here is the start of something great. I can feel it in my bones.”
Nicolai smiled. “I live to serve, my prince.”
The next two days passed in comfort and enjoyment. Jeri was busy from morning until well after dark, leaving Benjiko the luxuries of the castle. They had decided not to immediately reveal his identity, and instead those who needed to be informed were told that he was a distant cousin of Lord Dantos who had decided to come for a visit.
Benjiko spent his time trying to unwind from their flight from Iryllium. He avoided Brett’s brooding and Logun’s stony-faced snark as much as possible, and instead dedicated his time to sleeping, eating, and doing everything possible to avoid thinking about the difficult questions in front of them.
On the afternoon of his third day in Frost, Nicolai made it clear the time for rest was over.
“Prince Benjiko,” the advisor said, seating himself in a plush chair in Benjiko’s chamber. “I believe that it is time to begin having the difficult conversations that we know we cannot avoid.”
Benjiko shifted in his own chair, swirling a silver goblet of fine white wine in his hand. “You’re right, of course,” he said, forcing himself to admit the truth. “I trust that there are no mice running about in the walls?”