by S L Farrell
“Out!” Justi shouted at the o’teni, pointing to the door. “All of you. Now!”
They gathered papers and scrolls and fled past Justi. The commandant quietly closed the doors behind them. Ca’Cellibrecca remained seated behind his desk. Justi saw him glance appraisingly at the disheveled and unshaven offizier. “Krajiki,” ca’Cellibrecca said soothingly, “you’re obviously distraught. What’s happened? How can I help you?”
The offizier glanced at ca’Rudka, who nodded. “Tell him,” ca’Rudka said to the offizier. “Tell him what you just told me and the Kraljiki.”
The man nodded. Justi saw ca’Cellibrecca taking in the soiled clothing, the mud spattering his boots, the weariness in the man’s stance as he wiped uselessly at stubble on his face.
“I’ve come from Ville Colhelm on the border, riding hard and constant for a hand of days now with little sleep. I don’t know how many mounts I’ve killed under me getting here this quickly. .” He stopped.
Licked his lips. “The army of Firenzcia has crossed the River Clario in force and overrun Ville Colhelm. They are even now moving toward Nessantico. The Garde Civile were routed at the bridge, far outnumbered. We lost a third of our men trying to hold the bridge before A’Offizier ca’Montmorte ordered the retreat. He sent me to give the Kraljiki the news; the rest of the troops with A’Offizer ca’Montmorte are falling back toward Passe a’Fiume, planning to stay there to await orders and reinforcements.”
“You say the Hirzg was with them?” Justi prompted the man. “And war-teni as well?”
“The division we met was flying the banner of the Hirzg, my Kraljiki,”
the soldier answered. “We’re certain he is with them, though we didn’t see him during the battle. And they had many war-teni with themthey were devastating. We had nothing to counter them. Nothing.”
Justi nodded. “I want to thank you greatly for your service,” he told the man. “Go-get some food and rest. We’ll need you later.”
The man saluted both Justi and the commandant, then gave the sign of Cenzi to the Archigos. Ca’Rudka opened the door and closed it after the offizier. As the door closed, Justi turned back to ca’Cellibrecca.
The Archigos’ face was drained of color. He looked years older as he stared at Justi. “But the message birds we’ve received. .”
“. . were meant to deceive us, as the commandant suspected all along. If I hadn’t ordered troops to the border-against your express advice, as you may recall, Archigos-then we might never have known what ca’Vorl intended until his army reached the A’Sele. So, Archigos. .” The anger burned in Justi, sullen.
It was ca’Rudka who spoke: quietly, saying the words that were in Justi’s mind also. “I have to wonder, Archigos, how it is that the Hirzg has war-teni with his army-war-teni who would have been trained in Brezno, in your temple, under your U’Teni cu’Kohnle.”
“Commandant, you’re not suggesting. .” Ca’Cellibrecca’s voice trailed off and his gaze moved to Justi as if looking for support. Justi simply stared at the Archigos, whose hand pressed against the base of his throat as if trying to stop his words. The man blanched even more; his skin seemed to be the shade of the alabaster statues in the corridors. “Certainly I knew about the maneuvers, Commandant, Kraljiki,” ca’Cellibrecca continued. “As did your matarh. But that is all they were supposed to be: maneuvers. I certainly didn’t know the Hirzg’s intentions when I granted permission for the war-teni to accompany him.
The war-teni should have returned to Brezno when it was apparent that the Hirzg threatened the peace of the Holdings; to do otherwise was a blatant disobedience of standing orders, and U’Teni cu’Kohnle will be appropriately punished if it is true. Cu’Kohnle must have gone rogue, or perhaps worse has happened to him.”
“Indeed,” Justi said. “I would hate to believe that he was following orders you gave to him.”
“Kraljiki. .” Ca’Cellibrecca rose now, calming himself visibly. Justi nearly snorted at the obviousness of it. The Archigos arranged himself in a pose of wounded pride, his right hand spread and pressed against his chest. “If you’re accusing someone of treason, then I wonder why you aren’t instead looking at the man beside you. It wasn’t me who lost so many of the Numetodo enemies of the state, including their leader.”
“Attempting to deflect attention, are we, Archigos?” ca’Rudka asked. The commandant’s tone was offhand, his posture casual as he leaned against the wall next to the door. He rubbed at his sculpted, silver nose. “I’ve already made my apology to the Kraljiki and accepted the blame for my failure. But a few dozen heretics cowering in the shadows of Oldtown is hardly the equal of an army massing on Nessantico’s doorstep.”
“Shut up, both of you.” Justi glowered at the two men: as ca’Rudka bowed his head; as ca’Cellibrecca sat once more. “Archigos, I’ve come here to ask you one simple question-do you stand with me?”
“If you don’t,” ca’Rudka interjected, “then perhaps the Archigos would enjoy one of the cells the Numetodo have so recently vacated.”
“Commandant!” Justi snapped, and ca’Rudka shrugged. “Archigos, an answer, please.”
Ca’Cellibrecca spread his hands as if in blessing. “I can assure the Kraljiki that he has my complete devotion.” He seemed to attempt a conspiratorial smile; it failed utterly, collapsing into an uncertain frown.
“After all, my Francesca. .”
“Your daughter has nothing to do with this,” Justi told him. “I’m certain she would as easily be persuaded to marry the Hirzg as me. After all, ca’Vorl could have his present marriage annulled. The Archigos can grant such favors, can’t he? At least that’s what a certain trader in Oldtown whispers-Carlo cu’Belli, who has been to Brezno under the
seal of A’Teni ca’Cellibrecca many times.”
Justi saw the Archigos visibly flinch. “It’s obvious that someone has been filling your ears with innuendo and lies, Kraljiki,” he said. “I have done nothing, nothing, that hasn’t been for the good of Nessantico, and for you especially, Kraljiki. I was Brezno’s A’Teni for years, yes, and it’s true that I know the Hirzg well and have worked with him many times, but I am not a traitor: not to Concenzia, and not to the throne of the Kralji.”
“Then I have your answer?” Ca’Cellibrecca nodded, with a quick glare at the lounging commandant. “Good,” Justi said. “Then you will prepare to leave with me tonight.”
“Leave, Kraljiki?”
“The Kraljiki has sent a request to the Hirzg for parley,” Commandant cu’Rudka said. “He intends to meet with ca’Vorl before their army reaches Passe a’Fiume. Along with the Garde Civile from the city, we will pick up the remnants of the Garde Civile from Ville Colhelm, as well as the garrisons of Passe a’Fiume, Ile Verte, and Chiari. I have conscription squads out in the city as we speak, and pages have gone to all the houses of the ca’-and-cu’ to summon the chevarittai. You will arrange for the war-teni of the Garde Civile to accompany us. We will have a force capable of holding Passe a’Fiume, if it comes to that.”
Ca’Cellibrecca gaped, then seemed to shake himself. “Kraljiki,” ca’Cellibrecca protested, “it’s not the role of the Faith to interfere in political affairs. That is your arena, as the nurturing of the faithful of Cenzi is mine. I would think I would better serve you here, where I could help to calm the fears of the populace and make certain that the Numetodo take no advantage of your absence. After all, I’m not a warteni myself.”
“And that way the Archigos can appear to have been a neutral party, just in case the Hirzg prevails,” ca’Rudka said laconically. Ca’Cellibrecca shot him another glance.
“Despite the commandant’s rude insinuations, I will do as the Kraljiki wishes, of course,” the Archigos said. “But I ask him to consider what happens if Hirzg ca’Vorl chooses to ignore the rules of parley as he has ignored the laws of Nessantico, and decides to snatch up the Kraljiki, the new Commandant of the Garde Civile, and the Archigos of the Concenzia Faith, all at once. The power that would give him, th
e ransoms he could demand, the concessions he could force. .”
“You wouldn’t immediately declare him a heretic if he did that, Archigos?” Justi said. “You wouldn’t cite the Divolonte to him? You wouldn’t withdraw the favor of the Faith, or command his teni to no longer perform services for those of Firenzcia? You wouldn’t tell the war-teni with him that they can no longer call on Cenzi to perform their spells of destruction, and that if they do, you will cut off their hands and remove their tongues and send them from the Faith? In fact, all of that is exactly what I intend you to say to ca’Vorl when we meet: he must turn his army back; he must relinquish military command of the Holdings troops in Firenzcia, and, as surety, he will send his daughter Allesandra to Nessantico as a hostage. He will do that, or he will be declared an enemy of the Faith and of the Holdings, and he will suffer the consequences.”
“Kraljiki. .”
“I assume that I am sufficiently clear on this, Archigos,” Justi barked, not giving the man time to protest. “I am not my matarh. I will not avoid confrontation by bandying marriage and alliances; I will not sit on the Sun Throne and weave spiderwebs of intrigue to tangle and confuse my enemies. No one will dub me ‘Generi a’Pace,’ and that bothers me not at all. When I am threatened, I will deal with the threat directly and with full, terrible force. I have played your little game regarding Archigos Dhosti and the Numetodo, and that has placed you in the position you so long coveted. Now it’s time for you to return the favors I have granted you: in full, without reservation, and with full interest. If you cannot do that, Archigos, then-as I said-I will deal with that in a direct manner. I will consider your refusal to be a threat. We leave in three dozen turns of the glass, Archigos. I will see you with your carriage and any attendants you care to take with you at the walls of the Pontica Mordei at that time, as well as every war-teni you can muster from within the city. . or I will see you swinging from the Pontica as a warning to the new Archigos.”
Ca’Cellibrecca blinked. Sat. His body slumped like a loaf of uncooked dough. “Kraljiki, you wound me to the core. I was only attempting to make certain that you’ve considered all aspects of the situation, as is the obligation of any good counselor. You have my entire loyalty. I will be there at your side, as you wish.”
“It’s not what I wish,” Justi told him. “It’s what I demand.”
Francesca ca’Cellibrecca
“Three dozen turns of the glass… What is the man thinking? He can’t possibly muster enough soldiers by then.
Even with the armories running at full capacity, they won’t have the quantities of swords or armor they’ll need. He’s impossibly impatient to have his war.”
Francesca heard Vatarh’s irritated muttering from the hallway as his secretary escorted her up to his rooms. The entire temple grounds were in a frantic uproar with rushed preparations, teni and staff scurrying around like a nest of disturbed hornets. “Archigos,” his secretary said, clearing his throat, “Vajica Francesca ca’Cellibrecca is here, at your request.”
“Ah. .” Orlandi looked over his shoulder. She had rarely seen him so obviously agitated and worried. The pouches of skin under his eyes were dark; his hair was disheveled; there were stains on the front of his robes. He waved his hands wildly at the servants. “Don’t forget the new robes the tailor brought over this last Parladi,” he told them. “I want them available to me. And make certain that the wine is packed carefully in straw. Oh, and we can’t forget the sacristy articles. Francesca, no doubt you’ve heard. .” He took his daughter by the arm and escorted her out onto the balcony of his apartments, closing the door on the chaos behind them. There, he embraced her.
“Vatarh, you’re trembling.” She released him, stepping back.
“I know, I know,” he said. He went to the railing, looking down on the plaza, where dozens of people were readying the Archigos’ train of carriages. The temple itself was ablaze with light. The line of the Avi a’Parete was a glittering row of pearls snaking through the city.
“Francesca, I don’t know what will happen. Kraljiki Justi. . the man is forcing my hand before I’m ready. He knows. Somehow he knows that Hirzg ca’Vorl and I have been in contact. He doesn’t know the full extent of it, or we wouldn’t be here talking, but the knowledge itself is dangerous.”
For the first time, Francesca felt a burning of fear in her own stomach. Justi might be genuinely attracted to her, but if Vatarh were no longer needed as a political ally or if the Kraljiki perceived him as an active enemy, then his attraction to her would dissolve as well. Justi didn’t desire people or objects that failed to either glorify or serve him, and he discarded such useless things without a thought or regret. The heretic Ana cu’Seranta had demonstrated that for Francesca all too well. It perhaps explained why Justi had been so distracted and rough during their lovemaking this afternoon. She could feel the bruises rising on her arms and breasts. “What will you do, Vatarh?”
“I don’t know.” It was nearly a moan. His eyes rolled from side to side in the reflection of the teni-light from the square. “I don’t know. I am trapped between two forces.”
“Vatarh, Justi would marry me. I can force the issue. In fact, wouldn’t making that commitment now allay his suspicions?”
“And what good would that do for either of us if Justi dies, or if he’s cast down as Kraljiki?” He shook his head so fiercely that sweat-heavy strands of white hair moved. “No, my dear, we need to keep as many options in play as possible. I won’t know more until we meet with the Hirzg and I can see what the situation truly is, with my own eyes. In the meantime, you must leave Nessantico. As soon as I’ve left the city with the Kraljiki, go to the main temple at Prajnoli and wait there for word from me-I’ve already sent instructions to A’Teni ca’Marvolli and he’s told his u’teni to expect you. It may be that you will need to leave Nessantico entirely, Francesca. You’d be able to reach the border of Firenzcia in two days from Prajnoli if you need to, or return to Nessantico.
You have the code wheel I gave you? Keep it with you-you’ll need it for any messages I send.”
“Vatarh. .”
He shook his head again. “I don’t have anything better to offer you, Francesca. Not at this juncture. It is all in Cenzi’s hands.” He took his daughter’s hands in his own. “I know this. Cenzi looks down on us with favor because I am the Defender of His Word and of the Divolonte. He will not desert me. He will not fail us, however this turns out.”
Ana cu’Seranta
The procession trailed off south over the Pontica a’Brezi Nippoli and north to the gates of the Avi a’Firenzcia. Ana could not guess at the number of the troops escorting the Kraljiki: several thousand or more-many of them forcibly enlisted in the last few days as squads of Garde Civile moved through the city snatching up able-bodied men. Oldtown particularly had been scoured; the tavern below Mahri’s rooms had been raided twice, though the squads had somehow ignored their rooms above. The unison bootfalls of the swelled ranks of the Garde Civile shuddered the ground like an earthquake, their spears as thick as marsh sawgrass above them. Ana huddled against Karl on a rooftop across the Avi from the ancient city wall. Mahri stood next to them, fidgeting with some contraption near the edge of the rooftop.
“That’s Commandant ca’Rudka,” Ana said. “There-see him on the white charger? He looks our way, to the rooftop. .”
‘He won’t see us or recognize you,” Mahri said. “Not today. Not with me here.” He spoke with utter confidence, and if Karl scowled uncertainly, Ana believed Mahri without understanding why. She held Karl’s arm, watching the procession stream by and out of the city.
“Look, there’s the Kraljiki,” Karl said, and Ana hugged his arm tighter as the Kraljiki’s carriage appeared at the north end of the Pontica. Blue-and-gold banners with the clenched fist of the Kraljica holding Cenzi’s broken globe fluttered from the attendants around him and the carriage itself, and the huge stone heads of ancient rulers at the gates rumbled and groaned as they turned to track
the current Kraljiki’s progress. Ana heard the chanting of teni and smelled perfume and saw the glow of teni-light around him, visible even in the sunlight. The ca’-
and-cu’ chevarittai pressed around him on their mounts, clad in armor draped with their family colors, the crests of their rank as offiziers of the Garde Civile on their surcoats. The crowd around them cheered at the sight, and the Kraljiki lifted his radiant, muscular arms to them, clad in ornate robes under which polished armor plate glinted. She saw his outthrust chin lift to the accolades, saw the tight satisfaction on his lips. Some of the court wives and grande horizontales were among the courtiers and pages accompanying the Kraljiki’s train, but Francesca was nowhere to be seen-that was a small consolation. Ana wondered what had happened to the woman, and why she wasn’t accompanying the Kraljiki.
“Here,” said Mahri. He stepped away from the device he’d erected and gestured to Ana and Karl. “Come look into this. Put your eye here, Ana.” He pointed to a small tube. Ana closed one eye and placed the other to the smooth bone lip of the tube. She saw glass set in the tube as she lowered her head.
There was the Kraljiki, so close to her that she could see the stubble on his face and the individual jewels sewn into the collar of his robe. As close as she was when she’d made love to him. . His eyes, the color of plowed earth, so close and so piercing that he might be standing next to her, the whole scene seeming to vibrate slightly, as if the booted thudding of Garde Civile were shaking the very world. .
She gasped and stumbled back. Mahri chuckled. “A spell?” she asked. Karl now pressed his eye to the device; he, too, stifled a cry and stepped away a moment later.
“Not a spell,” Mahri said. “Only glass and metal. Look. .” He went to a pool of water on the rooftop and dipped his hand in. Holding out his other hand, he let a single drop fall from his fingertip onto his skin.
“See how the drop magnifies the skin underneath? The glass in the tube there is shaped in the same manner; it bends the light and brings closer the vision of things that are far away. But that’s not magic, not the X’in Ka or the Ilmodo. It’s only a device that anyone can use-a ‘verzehen,’ it’s called: a far-seer.”