by Matthew Ward
"Azyra told me that I'd been marked by the Celestial."
"Yes, I remember you saying. But why is a Tressian book referring the Great Powers in terms of reference used by the Hadari?"
"Maybe it was a Tressian living amongst my people. A scholar, collecting legends for posterity. It's hardly unknown."
"Then why haven't you heard of the Reckoning before?"
"I don't know, but then there's no way to be sure how old that book really is, is there?"
"I suppose not." Arianwyn closed the book and turned it over in her hands. "The spine's in good condition, and the cover, though battered, hasn't been terribly ill-treated."
"Could it have been rebound?"
"It's possible. The pages are considerably more worn than the rest of the volume. A few books in the Tower of Stars were in a similar state. They'd been there for at least two hundred years, though I suspect many were a great deal older."
"Could it have come from the Tower of Stars?"
"No." Arianwyn was emphatic. "I may not have read all my father's books, but I know them by sight. I've never seen this before, or any other work on the same topic. One thing's for sure, though."
"What's that?"
"Someone thinks it's important you read it."
"Then they'd have been advised to give me a copy written in a less archaic language," I rejoined with a humour I didn't feel. Someone knew entirely too much about where I'd spent the past week. "Can you read it and let me know what you find?"
"Of course."
I looked up as the dining room doors opened to admit Aldan. "You wished to see me, savir?"
"I did, Aldan. Have you investigated the matter we discussed?"
"I have indeed, Ambassador. None of the staff entered your room."
"Are you sure?" asked Arianwyn.
Aldan bristled. "I questioned them most thoroughly, savim – though without telling them why, naturally. Most have no access to that part of the house, in any case. The actions of those who do were easily accounted for."
"Then I'm afraid we had an intruder last night," I said. "An intruder who found his or her way to my room without obvious difficulty. I need you to check the windows and external doors for any sign of forced entry, and let the guards know what has happened."
"I..." Aldan was momentarily flustered, but he soon recovered. "I will see to it at once, savir. Was there anything else?"
"No... Yes. Lady Arianwyn and I are leaving for the palace, but Lady Orova may yet call for me. If she does, tell her where we've gone, and let her wait here if she wishes."
"As you instruct, savir."
A little while later, Arianwyn and I headed into the city. The winter months being what they were, the skies were still dark even though it lacked but a few hours to midday. The streets were no less busy for that, or for the drizzle disinterestedly soaking mine and Arianwyn's cloaks.
We didn't go straight to the palace, but took a short detour via the guardhouse which, unfortunately, meant that I had to tell Arianwyn about my close encounter of the previous night.
"You need to be more careful," she scolded.
"It all turned out well enough in the end."
"That's not the point. One day, you're going to venture out into the darkness and not come back. You should have stayed with me last night. If you must insist on wandering the streets in future, at least take Emmeline or one of the embassy guards with you."
I promised I would, and that ended the matter, which was just as well as I didn't want to have a full-blown argument – especially not in front of half the city's constabulary.
As it happened, the guardhouse was reasonably quiet, and we were swiftly escorted up the stairs to find Captain Nierev waiting in her office. She greeted us from a tattered armchair set behind a battered desk. "Ambassador. Lady."
Arianwyn and I seated ourselves in a pair of even more forlorn armchairs on the other side of the desk. I'd told the auburn-haired captain many times that it wasn't necessary to address me formally, but she insisted on doing so anyway. At least in her case the formality arose from respect – her predecessor had done it to annoy me. Behind her, a large leaded window overlooked a grey and rain-sodden city, the vista all the bleaker for the ruined streets clearly visible in the middle-distance.
I'd first met Nierev when she was a lieutenant. At the time, I'd thought her ridiculously young for her rank, but she'd given me many reasons to change my mind. Unfortunately for the city's criminal classes, they'd been slower on the uptake, and many of them had been whisked away to serve out their allotted time in Blackwater Prison before they'd realised just how badly they'd underestimated her. All of which made the previous night's attempt on my life something of an aberration.
"I assume you've come about the fellow you dropped off this morning, Ambassador?" Nierev asked.
"I have indeed," I said. "I don't suppose he's confessed his motive?"
Nierev shook her head. "He hasn't, and I don't expect him to for a little while. He's in the cells at the moment, and a little bit too full of himself – keeps boasting about how his friends will get him out. I hope they'll try. Do you know what it was about?"
I shook my head. "They said I was going to be used to 'send a message', but beyond that? It could have been an attack on the alliance, my people, or on me personally."
She nodded. "It won't have escaped your notice that enthusiasm for the alliance is fading. Even so, it could have been an attack on the governing class generally. Stretch a point, and that includes you. I don't know, though. Something just doesn't feel right... Sorry, I know how foolish that sounds."
Arianwyn glanced at me. "It's not foolish at all. Trust your instincts."
"I just wish I'd more to tell you," Nierev apologised. "I'll let you know if I learn more."
*******
Arianwyn and I made our farewells, and continued on towards the palace. The streets had cleared as the rain had grown heavier, and we just about reached the palace before we became thoroughly wet and miserable.
As ever, the interior was a seething mass of clerks, petitioners and councillors hurrying back and forth as they attended to the business of keeping the city running. I knew the building to be a warren of passages – some guarded by the unblinking eyes of the city's praetorians, and a few of which were kept free of intruders by far stranger defenders.
Happily, we didn't have to brave the depths today. Karov's office was on the first floor, just a few doors back from the main council chamber itself. Even so, we were jostled so many times by scurrying functionaries that my patience was sorely tested before we made it even that far. Leaving our sodden cloaks on hooks, we knocked on the door, and passed inside.
It was a richly furnished room, but then few in the palace were not. It was also constructed on a generous scale, with room for an expansive desk and no less than four large couches. The walls couldn't be seen behind rows and rows of bookshelves, though I doubt Karov knew what was in more than a tenth of those volumes. The library was a tool to reinforce his lordship's self-image as a learned statesman. Karov himself stood beside next to a stone fireplace that was just a little too large, and a little too ornate, for the rest of the room.
"Good of you to join me." Karov's smile didn't quite touch his eyes.
He'd been a rising star on the council when I'd first arrived in Tressia. Malgyne's invasion had left most other councillors missing or dead, and Karov had risen to the top. A smooth voice and noble brow helped. Only a knavish foreigner like myself could suspect such a fine fellow of deceit.
Karov didn't like me very much either, and would have seen me packed off to Tregard if he thought the other councillors would have allowed it. Worse, he was a little too fond of Arianwyn, and had even proposed marriage at some point in the past. Arianwyn had never spoken in detail of that, and I considered it impolite to ask, but I did know she believed Karov more interested in her for her lineage than for herself.
"Can I offer you a drink? It's bitterly cold out there." Without waiting f
or a response, Karov crossed to a glass-fronted cabinet, produced two crystal glasses with deft fingers, and filled each with a tot of Selanni brandy. "Please, make yourselves comfortable."
Taking the proffered drinks, Arianwyn and I sat down.
"I've had a peculiar report," Karov announced after the brandy had done its warming work. "Commander Torev appears to have fought a battle at Tarvallion, losing a good deal of men and women in the process, but that isn't the part that interests me." He paced up and down in front of the fireplace. "He claims to have been rescued, and by angels, of all things. The report mentions you by name, Ambassador."
"That is what happened, except they're serathi, not angels," I said.
Karov smiled. "You've spoken to these 'angels' yourself then?"
"I have."
"And?"
"They say they want to help. Specifically, they want to help Tressia."
"Do you believe them?"
"I think their intentions are genuine, yes, but if I were in your position, I'd be wary of rushing into any alliance."
"You wouldn't be worried of the need for our pact with the Empire, would you Ambassador?" Karov asked pointedly.
"Should I be?"
He shrugged. "Probably not, but you never can tell. Your people and mine, we have a shared history that goes back centuries, but it is a history written in blood. Perhaps those days are gone – I hope they are – but it would be remiss of me not to explore other options."
Arianwyn's brow tightened. "You mean it would be remiss of the council not to explore other options."
"Indeed," Karov readily agreed. "I misspoke."
"I'm given to understand the serathi will be here in a few days," I said. "Perhaps you and I can discuss the matter with them then."
Karov shook his head. "A generous offer, Ambassador, but I think Tressian business can be handled, just this once, without the Empire's help." The emphasis on that last word was just a trifle heavier than necessary, but soft enough that I could be forgiven for overlooking it.
"Mikel..." Arianwyn began, a warning in her tone.
"That seems eminently sensible to me, Lord Karov," I said, hurriedly interrupting whatever admonishment Arianwyn sought to deliver. I could look after myself at least as well as Tressia could. "It will give you, the serathi – and their chosen representative – much to talk about."
Karov stopped pacing and looked at me very closely indeed. "I'm sure it will," he agreed cautiously. "This representative...?"
"You're speaking to him," I said with no small satisfaction. "I've spent most of the last week in their city."
Karov didn't visibly react, but the pause made it plain he was readjusting his plans to match my unwelcome news. "Well then, it seems we will be seeing more of each other in the near future, Ambassador. Something to look forward to."
"Indeed," I agreed, matching his lack of conviction with my own.
"Do the other councillors know about this?" asked Arianwyn.
"Not yet," said Karov. "I thought it best to uncover a little more before broaching the topic. The dispatch came to me. No other has seen it."
Arianwyn's tone chilled a few degrees. "Mikel, you have a duty to keep the council informed."
"Indeed I do, but until now I'd no information, just a missive that, read unsympathetically, might indicate only a passing madness in the author's mind. You wouldn't have me waste everyone's time with such things, surely?"
"That's your reason?" Arianwyn asked, a note of danger in her voice.
"It's certainly what I'll say if anyone challenges my decision, but I'm certain no one will. We'll find out soon enough. There'll be an emergency meeting of the council at five o' clock. I trust you'll both attend?"
"We shall," Arianwyn said coldly.
"Good." Karov offered a thin smile. "Now if you'll both excuse me, there is much that requires my attention."
"Of course." I got to my feet.
Arianwyn didn't move immediately, then rose and stalked out of the office without another word or gesture. I offered his lordship a nod of farewell, and set off after her. She was halfway towards the staircase by the time I caught her.
"Can you believe that man?" she demanded. "He'll exploit this for whatever it's worth."
"Of course." I stepped aside to allow a praetorian past. "He's a politician. That's what they do. Here, you forgot your cloak."
"Thank you." Arianwyn took the sopping bundle from me. She moved to the balcony's edge and glowered out over the hall. "Knowledge is power," she sighed, "and Karov already knows more than the others. While they're coming to terms with the fact that angels exist, he'll have laid plans to ensure he and his cronies prosper. It shouldn't be like this."
"You'd prefer a supreme ruler, perhaps Queen Arianwyn the First?"
"Not funny, Edric. The way I feel right now, I'd be tempted."
"Well, I think you've missed your opportunity for that one."
"Yes, but I'll wager that unless something happens to trip Karov up, and soon, we'll have a supreme ruler all the same."
"You'll find a way to stop him. I think he'll find the serathi a lot harder to deal with than he anticipates. Like bargaining with a room of Zoryas."
At last, Arianwyn smiled. "I wish I knew where she's gone."
"So do I. You've got one thing wrong though."
"What's that?"
"You already know more about the serathi than Karov does. If we can keep it that way, you might yet be able to rein him in."
"I hope so. Otherwise I fear where this will end."
Three
Emmeline awaited us at the palace doors. She was on foot, and dressed much as she had been the previous day, save for a glorious white wolf's-head tabard worn over her other garments. She was politely indignant that I'd made not just one, but two trips across the city since she'd bidden me farewell the previous night. I decided not to tell her about the excitement with the two thugs, and fortunately Arianwyn chose not to raise the matter either.
With my bodyguard thus restored, we struck out across the city, this time in the direction of the Tower of Stars. The rain had finally ceased, leaving sullen grey skies behind. Sadly, the improvement in the weather did little to effect a similar transformation in Arianwyn's mood. She said next to nothing as we made our way through the thickening crowds, her thoughts doubtless lost in annoyance at Karov, and concern for Zorya.
It was the second matter I hoped to resolve. If the sentinel hadn't yet returned to Arianwyn's home, there was every chance she had again taken up residence within the Tower of Stars. In theory, the entire structure was off-limits to everyone except the restoration crews, but I credited Zorya with enough intelligence to overcome so mundane an obstacle.
It hadn't escaped my notice that the crowds parted far more easily for Emmeline than they did for Arianwyn and I, so we let the squire lead the way, hurrying in her wake before the flowing mass of citizenry could close again. Clearly the Sartorov Paladins still commanded respect.
That respect, however, wasn't enough to gain us entry to the Tower of Stars without a prolonged argument with the praetorians guarding the site. Their captain, a world-weary man by the name of Korvan, refused point-blank to let us past the outer wall without council authorisation. Arianwyn, to her credit, tried to reason with the man at first, but her frustration quickly grew. It was hastened, no doubt, by the knowledge that she should have foreseen such an obstacle and could have acquired the appropriate documentation, had she only thought to do so.
Emmeline, anxious to resolve the situation, offered to make the journey across town, but Arianwyn declined. Instead, her reserves of patience well and truly worn away, she rounded on Captain Korvan, and threatened to have him posted to one of an increasingly unpleasant array of duties, with sewer patrol being about the least ominous, and castellanship of Craggan Keep – Tressia's only outpost in the Burning Desert – being about the worst.
Perhaps Korvan would have stood firm if there was a genuine reason to bar our acce
ss. As it was, he clearly decided it wasn't worth taking the risk over what was, after all, merely a bureaucratic nicety, and ordered the gates be opened. That small victory should have cheered Arianwyn, but it only drove her deeper into gloomy contemplation.
"I shouldn't have done that, should I?" she asked me as we made our way across the fortress ward.
"I'm not sure I should answer that," I said quietly. "I don't want to be posted to Craggan Keep either." Her expression darkened further, and I pressed on hurriedly. "But since you ask? The answer's no, but I don't think there's any harm done. It's just a shame you can't use your magic any longer – you could have levitated us over the back of the wall, and Korvan would have been none the wiser."
It was the wrong thing to say.
"We've talked about this," Arianwyn said sharply. "It's not that I can't use the magic, I don't want to use it. Not after what happened. I lost control once, and that was enough."
The situations were hardly the same, now was hardly the time to revisit that discussion, not with Emmeline only a few paces ahead of us and plenty of praetorians within earshot.
I had to admit that the inside of the tower was in far better condition than when last I'd seen it. Then the timbers had been warped and fire-blackened, the walls stained by smoke. Now the lowest floor, at least, was again a pristine chamber of dressed white stone and polished wood. There was no furniture, and the drapes were long since ash; statues and suits of armour adorned the walls no more. It was as austere and unwelcoming as a tomb, but it was the most likely place to find Zorya.
The Tower of Stars had been Arianwyn's home for most of her life, and I knew its current state saddened her deeply. The hurt was all the worse because the man who'd set the fire had done so out of spite. If it had happened in the pursuance of a goal – however twisted – it would have perhaps been easier to understand.
"This will go quicker if we split up," I suggested, as much to break Arianwyn out of her silence as anything else. "Emmeline, you'd better stay here, or search with one of us. Your introduction to Zorya wasn't the happiest occasion. I'd rather not give her a reason to disappear again."