A Magic of Twilight nc-1

by S L Farrell

  canopy held up by four of his e’teni-today was Gostidi, and cu’Seranta would no doubt be hurrying to meet the Kraljiki. He would need to go to the palace himself, as soon as he could politely escape.

  “Vajica ca’Cellibrecca,” the Archigos said to Francesca, also pro-

  tected under Orlandi’s canopy. She bowed her head and gave him the sign of Cenzi, as etiquette required. “My prayers go out to you, and for your husband. O’Teni cu’Seranta asked me to extend her sympathy as well-unfortunately, she had to rush away for her luncheon with the Kraljiki. We will miss U’Teni Estraven here in Nessantico.” Then the Archigos cocked his head to look up at Orlandi. “His loss is a great tragedy for the Faith,” he said. “But we shouldn’t let that lead us into rash actions, especially in times like these.”

  “You believe defending our Faith is rash, Archigos?” Orlandi said it loudly enough that heads turned toward them. The e’teni holding the cloth over them struggled to pretend that they weren’t listening.

  The Archigos smiled placidly. “By no means, Orlandi,” he answered.

  “Such a tragedy and a coincidence, though, Estraven being assassinated only a few days after the Kraljica. I hope you’re feeling no guilt for having dispatched him to Brezno.” The dwarf’s smile widened slightly, as if he were amused at his choice of words. Then his face fell back into serious lines. “And a horrible loss for you, Vajica, in these troubled and uncertain times. I do remain certain, though, that Cenzi will cause the truth to emerge, and-as your vatarh said so eloquently-those responsible will be brought to justice.”

  With that, the dwarf gave them the sign of Cenzi and waddled away back toward his staff, seemingly uncaring of the rain that beat down on him. Orlandi glared after him.

  “Cenzi will send that horrid little man to the soul shredders,” Orlandi said, not caring that the e’teni would hear. “He is a disgrace to the title, and Cenzi will call him to task for the damage he has done to the Faith.”

  “That may be, but he’s not foolish, Vatarh. Don’t make the mistake of underestimating him.” Francesca shivered. “It’s cold, Vatarh, and I’m feeling truly ill.”

  “I’m sorry, my dear,” he told Francesca, then gestured to the e’teni on Estraven’s hearse. “My daughter’s grief is about to overcome her,” he said to the well-wishers. “If you will forgive us. .”

  There were murmured assents and calls of condolences. No one objected to the curtailment of niceties, not in this weather. “You spoke the truth in your Admonition, A’Teni,” one of the ca’ called out from the crowd, gesturing with his fist to the sky. “It’s time that we punish the Numetodo for what they’ve done. We should see their bodies hanging from the bridges of the A’Sele.” There were shouts of agreement and more fists, and ca’Cellibrecca saw the Archigos staring back at them from the cluster of his staff.

  “They will pay,” he answered them loudly. “Cenzi has promised me that, and I won’t fail Him.”

  They shouted, clamoring. At the entrance to the Old Temple, the Archigos grimaced and began walking away quickly with his staff gathered around him, hiding the little man from view.

  As Orlandi bowed and gave the sign of Cenzi to the crowd, the e’teni began chanting and the wheels of the funeral carriage began to turn. The congregation dispersed with more calls of support and sympathy, leaving the family to their slow, ritual walk behind the carriage.

  The rain pattered angrily on the cloth above them, and Orlandi glanced up. “The Moitidi’s tears,” Orlandi said. I know, Cenzi, he prayed.

  I know You are angry that we coddle those who deny You, and I promise You that I will do Your will. Thank You for showing me the way. Thank you for permitting the sacrifice of this one man to save many. I won’t fail You.

  “Vatarh?”

  “Estraven’s death was not in vain,” he told Francesca. “Cenzi will make certain of it.” He took her hand. “I know this,” he said to her. “I know it.”

  Ana cu’Seranta

  The rain pounded at the walls and drummed on the ceiling,

  but inside the room in the Grande Palais, the roar of the great fireplace held the cold at bay while servants bustled in to burden the table with offerings. “Here, O’Teni,” the new Kraljiki said. “This is spiced icefruit from Graubundi; you really must try it.” Ana still wasn’t used to the voice, a boy’s voice housed in a man’s body. She smiled at him from across the small table draped with fine linen and placed near the fire, overpowered by the vastness of the room beyond. Their voices echoed despite the heavy curtains pulled back from the tall, leaded-glass windows, the padded chairs, and the hypnotically-patterned rugs.

  He seemed to notice her glances around the room, already far different from what she remembered of the palais in her visits with the Kraljica. He took a large gulp of the wine before him and gestured to the room with the glass. “Matarh’s taste was rather staid, old-fashioned and, well, boring, I must admit. I find that I prefer more visual stimula-tion. The Holdings, after all, are drawn from many nations and many cultures, and we should enjoy them all, don’t you think?”

  “I would agree, Kraljiki, that we can find much of interest in other ways if we bother to look, even with beliefs we might consider antitheti-cal to our own views.”

  He set down the glass. “Ah, well-spoken. So you might even find something worthwhile in the beliefs, say, of the Numetodo?”

  “I do. In fact, I know.”

  He glanced down to where the Archigos’ gift lay on her robes, then back to her face. “Isn’t that a heretical belief for a teni to hold? A’Teni ca’Cellibrecca, for instance, would never say such a thing.”

  “A’Teni ca’Cellibrecca, like your matarh, is rather more staid, old-fashioned, and boring than me, Kraljiki,” Ana answered, hoping she had judged the man correctly. The Kraljiki peered at her for a moment with his dark eyes, and she wondered whether she had miscalculated, but then he leaned his head back and unleashed a shrill laugh. She saw the servant bringing in a tureen of stew raise his eyebrows at the sudden sound.

  “Indeed,” the Kraljiki said. “And please, while we are here alone, could we simply be Justi and Ana? The formality is so. .” He smiled at her. “. . staid.”

  “His matarh was regal and aware of her position, always, and because of that some people thought Marguerite was somewhat cold and distant,” the Archigos had told her. “Those who believed that of her were mistaken. The Kraljiki is her opposite. He can be disarmingly charming and open, but those who believe those qualities define him are also mistaken. Justi uses those attributes only when he wants something. It’s the charm of a snake, and just as dangerous.” Ana remembered the warning. She smiled back at him. “If it pleases you to do so, then yes, Justi.”

  “Thank you, Ana,” he replied. “You see, isn’t that better already?”

  He nodded to her. In the light of the candelabra set in the middle of the table, his eyes glittered like smoky glass. “So. . you truly believe the Numetodo aren’t the evil creatures the Divolonte says they must be?”

  “Neither the Toustour or the Divolonte say anything directly about the Numetodo at all,” she replied carefully. “They’re too new in the world. So any interpretation from Toustour or Divolonte is exactly that: interpretation, not fact.”

  “Again, that’s not what A’Teni ca’ Cellibrecca would say. In fact, Ana, he would say that I should not be listening at all to someone who is known to consort with the Numetodo.”

  Ana felt her face color-she knew that he would know, but it didn’t make his statement of the fact any less a shock. “I know Envoy ci’Vliomani personally, yes,” she answered. “And it’s because I do know him that I also know he was not responsible for the death of your matarh, Kraljiki.”

  “Justi,” he corrected her. “And is that what you know, or is it your interpretation?”

  She forced herself to smile at the word. “Only Cenzi knows, ” she told him. “But, yes, I’m confident in what I say.”

  “You would wag
er your life against that, Ana?” He said it with the same odd smile, leaning forward. Ana took a slow breath.

  “The Kraljiki always holds my life in his hands,” she said. “And I trust his judgment to do what is best for Nessantico and Concenzia, just as I trust my belief in the innocence of Envoy ci’Vliomani.”

  He chuckled, leaning back slightly and taking another sip of wine.

  “That was well-spoken also. I’m beginning to suspect that my matarh may have been entirely right about you, Ana.” He reached across the table to where her hand lay on the linen. She forced herself not to move as his hands closed over hers. His grip was strong. “We might make a fine team, the two of us. Don’t you think so?”

  She forced another smile to her face, hoping that none of them seemed false. Her stomach tightened; she felt a knot of tension forming deep within her. “You flatter me, Justi,” she said.

  Fingers pressed on hers. “No,” he said seriously. “I don’t. False flat-tery isn’t something I indulge in. Ever.” His fingers pressed on hers. “For instance, I won’t insult either one of us by telling you how beautiful you are. Matarh used marriage the way another Kralji might have used the Garde Civile-as a weapon. The protegee of the Archigos, a person who has been well-blessed by Cenzi, a person of intelligence. . that could become a good weapon for me, as I could be for you in return, with people like A’Teni ca’Cellibrecca. That’s what I’m saying, Ana. I understand how one would be willing to do whatever must be done to attain a goal. I sympathize with that.”

  She saw the door to the room open behind the Kraljiki as he spoke and Renard entered to stand discreetly a few strides from the table, just within Justi’s peripheral vision. Justi held Ana’s gaze for a moment, then glanced over at Renard with obvious annoyance. “Yes?” His hand didn’t leave Ana’s; Renard very pointedly did not look away from Justi’s face.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt, Kraljiki, but A’Teni ca’Cellibrecca is here and he is. . very insistent that he must speak with you immediately.”

  Justi was looking at Ana when he replied. The mention of ca’Cellibrecca reminded her of what the Archigos had told her, and she wanted to blurt it out. Justi kept his gaze on her face as he spoke to Renard. “No doubt he is.” He waved his free hand toward the man, still not looking at him. “Tell the a’teni that I again extend my condolences to him on the loss of U’Teni Estraven, and I’m sure that it is the grief of his loss and not blatant rudeness that would cause him to think that I have forgotten that I’m scheduled to meet with him shortly. I will be with him when I have finished my luncheon. No sooner. Is that clear, Renard?”

  “As crystalline as the Sun Throne, my Kraljiki,” Renard answered.

  Ana thought there might have been the barest glimpse of a smile on the aide’s face. “It will be my pleasure to convey your message to the a’teni.” Renard bowed to the Kraljiki, then gave Ana the sign of Cenzi.

  He left quickly, snapping his fingers at the gardai to open the doors as he approached. As the door clicked shut behind Renard, Justi’s fingers tightened again on her hand.

  “When Renard mentioned ca’Cellibrecca, you nearly started to speak.”

  “You’re very perceptive, Justi. I have news to give you, Kraljiki.

  From the Archigos.”

  Justi nodded. “When I meet with him after our luncheon, A’Teni ca’Cellibrecca will be counseling me to do here in Nessantico as he did in Brezno,” he said. “He wants the Numetodo in the Bastida tortured until they confess their crimes, then he would see them mutilated, executed publicly and displayed as a warning. He will be most insistent in this, and he will give me persuasive arguments from both the Toustour and Divolonte, both of which he knows I hold in the greatest regard.

  He will appeal to my faith and to my duty as Kraljiki.”

  Ana started to interrupt, but Justi lifted a finger and she swallowed her words. “My faith is genuine, Ana,” he continued. “I have very little sympathy for the Numetodo. My sense of duty to Nessantico is also strong; I believe my matarh did the Holdings a disservice with her neglect of the Garde Civile and the chevarittai-we are not as strong as we should be, and we have given too much strength to Firenzcia as a result. Now. . ca’Cellibrecca, as I said, will appeal to my role as Protector of the Holdings and my own security. The fact that O’Teni cu’Seranta doesn’t believe in the Numetodo’s guilt will hold little weight for him.

  Your belief would hold no weight at all if Orlandi were to discover that you knew Envoy ci’Vliomani, or that you’d actually been with him when he was arrested. I also know that Orlandi offers me another marriage-weapon I could use: his own daughter, the new widow ca’Cellibrecca.

  Like any good swordsman, I prefer to practice with my weapon and know it very well before I use it in battle.”

  His gaze would not release her. The smile was gone now, and his hand felt as if it weighed as much as the Sun Throne itself. “I’m a much stronger and more independent person than A’Teni ca’Cellibrecca believes me to be. He thinks I am still the A’Kralj, bound to Matarh’s will.

  He’s wrong; I’m more like Matarh herself, even if she didn’t see it. I would have no difficulty telling A’Teni ca’Cellibrecca that I will release the Numetodo entirely, or perhaps choose a single one of them, the least of them, to act as a symbol for all and let all the rest go, including Envoy ci’Vliomani. That’s what you want, isn’t it, Ana? — you don’t have to answer. I see it in your face. I can do that, Ana. I will do that: if it would seem to be in my best interests.”

  He withdrew his hand, suddenly, and she felt chill air on her skin.

  “So-what is the news from the Archigos?”

  Ana couldn’t answer immediately. She took a breath, pretended to sip her wine while she absorbed what Justi was saying. “The Archigos. . He received a letter, Kraljiki, from your cousin the Hirzgin.

  She believes that Hirzg Jan intends to bring his army into Nessantico.

  She believes that he and A’Teni ca’Cellibrecca are conspiring to take the Sun Throne from you.”

  Justi’s eyes did widen at that. “I can believe that the Hirzg would be foolish enough-Jan ca’Vorl’s a half-barbarian and not known for the subtlety of his strategy. I’d enjoy seeing him rot in the Bastida. But it’s more difficult to think that ca’Cellibrecca is willing to be part of such an alliance when the cost of failure is so high. The Archigos genuinely believes this to be true?”

  Ana shrugged. “He knows that the Hirzgin believes it to be true.”

  “Then I will have to make my own investigation. And quickly. The Hirzg and ca’Cellibrecca both overstep themselves if they think I’m so easily cowed.” He nodded, as if to himself. He said nothing for a few moments, scowling. Then, abruptly, he smiled again. “In any event, that news means that A’Teni ca’Cellibrecca won’t have a decision from me this afternoon. In fact, I will make him wait quite a bit longer while I set some things in motion. I’m sorry that the a’teni has seen fit to interrupt our luncheon, Ana. I would make it up to you: if you would come by tonight for a late supper, in my private chambers? If you would do that, then I’ll make ca’Cellibrecca wait some days for his answer on the Numetodo.”

  She knew what he asked; she knew what he threatened. “He will try to trap you, Ana,” the Archigos had said. “You have to remember this: there are no decisions without consequences, and the more critical the decision, the harsher those consequences will be. In the circles in which the Kraljiki operates, there are also no rewards that come without payment. In that, it is like our use of the Ilmodo: the spells give us power, but we must always pay for them.” She could feel the bars enclosing her. For a moment, the memory of Vatarh’s face looming over her rose in her mind, and she shivered. The hand that the Kraljiki had held was fisted on the damask.

  The smell of the food before her made her ill.

  He was waiting for her answer, a single eyebrow lifted, his prominent chin thrust forward. “I have services with the Archigos at Third Call, Kraljiki. .”r />
  He would not let her finish. He pounced, like a cat on a mouse skulking along a wall. “Then I will expect you immediately afterward.”

  It was not a question. “I will have a carriage waiting at the Archigos’

  Temple for you.”

  She nodded. The fist in her stomach clenched tighter.

  “Good.” He gestured to the servants against the wall. “I have to leave you, Ana-your news demands attention. Please, take your time and finish your lunch, Ana. Leisurely, and with the knowledge that A’Teni ca’Cellibrecca will be fuming more with every bite, thinking about the two of us together-that will add a lovely spice to the dishes, don’t you think?”

  Mahri

  The rain had sent the residents of Nessantico scurrying from doorway to doorway while scowling at the sky, and left the streets devoid of all traffic but the occasional hire-carriage with a miserable driver hunched over in his oilcloth greatcoat. However, the weather bothered Mahri very little. The cold drizzle soaked the dark rags that swaddled his scarred body, but the moisture felt soothing on his ravaged flesh. He walked unhurriedly along the banks of the River A’Sele near the Bastida, and paused as he approached the Avi a’Parete and the Pontica a’Brezi Veste. He could see the tower where Karl ci’Vliomani was held rising glumly above the walls girdling the prison, walls that had once been part of the ancient city wall that Nessantico had long outgrown. Mahri had chosen this spot carefully, where he could see the tower easily and yet there would be few passersby to interfere or notice him; the rain would only help.