Fires of Mastery (The Tale of Azaran Book 3)

by Zackery Arbela

  Armed bands of men emerged from various safe houses in every quarter of Kedaj. Some struck at the guard posts that stood at every major intersection, attacking the soldiers of the King before they could raise the alarm. Others went to the doors of every nobleman and merchant of note residing outside the Palace quarter with the same offer; abandon your allegiance to the King. Join us, or die. The more intelligent among their number has a sense something like this was coming, and swore the oath. Some refused, out of loyalty or fear and for this offense their homes were plundered and burned, even as their throats were cut. In certain quarters of the city known to be hostile to Enmer-Galila, priests of Sagosh addressed growing crowds with the same message over and again - the time has come! Sagosh will not allow his city to fall further into sin! Rise against Enmer-Galila! Rise in revolt! The gods will bless the righteous man and curse those who side with evil! Rise now and save the city from the tyrant! It wasn't long before flames burned across the city as the mob unleashed its passions in a riot against those loyal to the King.

  The street fighting continued all morning and into the better part of the afternoon. Reinforcements sent out from the palace were driven back by armed rebels who marked themselves with green bands of cloth tied about arms or foreheads. Hatugali publicly cursed their cowardice, and rejected any and all calls to close the gates. He assembled the remaining Palace Guard for a sortie, leading them in person. They made it as far as the gates when Ithkaan himself stepped into their path, ordering them back inside. By all accounts Lord Hatugali bitterly cursed the Vizier for a coward and some claimed might have even cut down the old man if there hadn't been so many witnesses. But the Vizier spoke with the voice of the King, so in the end he had no choice but to obey. The gates closed, even as the mob gained control of the streets outside the walls.

  By dusk the rebels controlled six of the ten districts of Kedaj. Dead bodies were hauled away for burial. Before the temple of Sagosh, the high priest Nashurensi presented Shapurashi to the cheering crowds, and in the name of the Thunderer hailed him as King of Kedaj.

  News of this reached the Palace not long after.

  "I should have killed when him I had the chance!" Enmer-Galila's voice echoed through the great hall, bouncing off the walls and chasing itself through the pillars. "Struck off his head with mine own hands...no! Flayed the bastard alive, one inch at a time! Made him feel every moment of pain! Then thrown what remained to the dogs!"

  The courtiers and officials standing before the throne listened to their lord and master rage with stony faces devoid of any expression, lest it be seen as a sign of treason. Their numbers were considerably thinned from only a few days before. When the uprising began, many made their excuses and fled for their country estates. Others went over to the rebels, making their own arrangements with Shapurashi. More than a few were simply caught outside the palace walls when the fighting began and could not get back in time. Some of this latter were now among the dead, cut down in those early chaotic hours. Others now marched alongside Shapurashi as payment for their lives.

  Those remained in the Palace had tied their fortunes closely to Enmer-Galila and his house in the days of his strength. To abandon him now would put themselves outside his protection, with no guarantee that the rebels would show them mercy. So here they remained, as their King raged against the heavens, trapped in his palace like a leopard in a trap, many reconsidering their options. But if they had doubts about their situation, it was kept close to their chests for now - a pair of severed heads mounted at the doors to the pyramid showed the penalty paid by those deemed insufficiently loyal. The King's authority may have collapsed in the city, but within the palace walls it remained supreme...and increasingly paranoid.

  "Bastard swine! I will filled the streets with their blood! When the border garrisons arrive, I shall make such an example of them that men will speak of it a thousand years hence!"

  Ithkaan waited before the throne, listening patiently while his lord and master ranted and raved, going into bloody detail about the violence he intended for his enemies. Only when the king had exhausted his wrath and sat back down on the throne did the Vizier finally speak. "Great King, your wrath is fearsome to behold. And no doubt when your rightful authority is restored these miscreants will fear the consequences of their betrayal. But right now, they are gathered at the walls of this palace. They control all approaches in from the city and place a contingent opposite that part of the city wall surrounding the palace grounds..."

  "Let them wait!" said Prince Ithoshaara with a harsh laugh. "We sent messages by horse and birds to all the border garrisons! Even now they should be marching towards the city. The mob can rage all they want, but they will crawl back into their holes when faced with real soldiers!"

  Ithkaan shook his head. "Messages were sent," he said. "But none of the birds we sent out have returned. The lookouts posted at the top of the palace-pyramid seen no sign of anyone on the roads headed towards the city."

  "Are you saying the border garrisons have betrayed us as well?" the King demanded incredulously.

  "The admirals turned their coats," said Ithkaan. "The treason may not stop there."

  The King slumped down on his throne, hiding his face in his hands. When he looked again, the court was shocked to see tears on his face. "Why?" he demanded plaintively. "Did I not put gold in their purses? Food in their bellies? Their wives and spawn live well because of me! Why would they do this?"

  There were many answers that Ithkaan could have given. All men are corrupt, he might have said, were he in a particularly dour mood. They are loyal until they get a better offer. Were he feeling particularly brave, he would have said, Some things are not for sale. Men of honor will only follow those who have earned their respect. And you have not earned it. But to say such things in this time and place would earn him a quick trip to the headsman.

  "I cannot say, Great King," was his answer. It was not a lie. Then before the King could start blubbering again, he said, "Shapurashi has sent a message."

  Enmer-Galila rose at that. "Has he now? And what does the traitor have to say?"

  "He sends terms, Great King."

  "Terms!"

  "He says the gods have spoke against your reign, that the people of Kedaj name him King by acclamation and that the High Priest of Sagosh has crowned him before the presence of the god..."

  "Traitors! All of them!"

  "He says," continued Ithkaan doggedly, "that for the good of the city, you must surrender the lordship of the city. He pledges that if you abdicate, you may retire to your ancestral estates and spend the rest of your life in peace, so long as you do not trouble his reign..."

  What the rest of the message contained was lost in a uproar of outrage. The court cursed Shapurashi, heaping calumnies on his name in an attempt to show their loyalty.

  "Who is this man, who dares tell my father to relinquish even one speck of Kedaji dust?" Ithoshaara howled.

  "Great King..." Ithkaan said, trying to be heard above the noise."

  "I will never surrender!" Enmer-Galila shouted.

  "They await your answer," Ithkaan said.

  "Do they?" Ithoshaara strode towards the vizier, fists clenched, ready to batter down any and all who spoke against him. "Tell them this, old man! That the gods are wrong! That I will bring the head of Enmer-Galila and lay it at the feet of my father! And tell that swine Nashurensi that his god will not protect him! I will pull down the walls of his temple about his head!"

  Ithkaan did not reply. "What is your will, Great King?" he asked, looking to the man on the throne.

  Enmer-Galila sat back down. "What my son has said," was his answer. "They are my words. Tell that to Shapurashi."

  "I will do so personally, Great King."

  Enmer-Galilla held out his hand. "Wine!" he barked. A servant scuttled over with a full cup. The King drank about half of it, his face flushed. "Hatugali," he said. "I know you are loyal."

  "To the death," said the captain of the guards,
clapping a clenched fist over his heart.

  "Escort Lord Ithkaan to the gates so he may give my answer. And guard him well! I would not put it past Shapurashi to murder the vizier should the chance arise!"

  "By your will," Hatugali answered, a shining beacon of loyalty.

  "I will not surrender!" Enner-Galila shouted. "Tell them that, Ithkaan! I will not surrender! Let Shapurashi take my throne if he can!"

  "He was most emphatic on that last point." Ithkaan looked Shapurashi in the eye. "He will not surrender. You were foolish to think that it would be otherwise."

  Shapurashi looked past the vizier to the Palace walls. Soldiers crowded the top, bows in hand. He glanced back down at Hatugali, standing behind the Vizier, hand on his sword, a squad of soldiers behind him alert for the slightest hint of trouble.

  They were in the square before the main palace gates, standing perhaps two-thirds of the distance across. The spot was not chosen randomly - a line of arrows stuck in the ground showed the limit of the palace archers range, creating a rough line behind which the rebels were relatively save from being feathered. Shapurashi stood behind it, a contingent of guards behind him, more men standing on the roofs at his end of the square with bows of their own.

  But the Vizier held a staff with a yellow rag tied at the end, a sign of truce by the laws of gods and men. Those who violated it would be damned and accursed in the eyes of both.

  Shapurashi shrugged. "The offer had to be made. The gods love the man who brings peace instead of war. Enmer-Galila listened to his pride instead of his wisdom. Whatever happens next will be on his head, not mine. My conscience is clear."

  "How pleasant for you," Ithkaan answered, a trace of sarcasm in his voice. "And a blessing for me, to speak to the only man in Kedaj who sleeps well at night. The citizens who were cut down when you sparked this fracas, do they weigh on you at all?"

  "Do not insult me Ithkaan, by thinking I am the same as your master!" Shapurashi responded harshly. "I am a patriot! I love this city as I loved the son who was murdered before my eyes! If my son had lived, and if his arm had become infected with gangrene, I would not hesitate in cutting it off, to save the rest of him! So it is with Kedaj...the city is sick. We rot from within, ruined by debauchery, by godlessness and by the Tears that enslave a quarter of our people with addiction! The time for half-measures is past. The city must be purged of its wickedness if it is to survive and that must start with the source. Enmer-Galila brought the Tears into the city. He profits from the chaos it causes. He must be removed."

  "The first finger to be chopped?" Ithkaan shook his head. "How many more will follow? So many have died already. Will you kill the remaining nobles of the court? You will earn the hatred of their families. And what of those addicted to the Tears? Supplies will be running low by now. Will you ration out what is left? That won't be enough, they will riot once the cravings start. Or must they die as well?"

  Shapurashi did not back down. "I will do what I must. Those men of power who renounce Enmer-Galila have nothing to fear from me. As for those who drink the Tears...those who turn to violence will be met with violence. Those who do not will be freed of their addictions and thank the gods for it."

  "That simple, is it?" Ithkaan sighed. "So be it. I will tell the King. And the gods will decide one way or another." He turned away for the Palace.

  "Ithkaan," Shapurashi called out. "You do not have to go back. Enmer-Galila will fall, one way or another."

  "We will see," Ithkaan replied, walking towards the gates.

  "If you are waiting for the border garrisons," said Shapurashi, "you will wait in vain. They are not coming."

  "Then they have no honor," Ithkaan answered. "And you are welcome to their company."

  "Why do you go back?" Shapurashi demanded. "He is the ruin of Kedaj! You are a good man, lord vizier, even the poorest in the city speak you name with praise. Why do you still serve him?"

  Ithkaan stopped and turned back. "I gave my oath," he said. "I knelt before him, took his foot in my hand and swore to Sagosh that I was his man, until the day came when he released me from my bond. He has not. Whatever else he may be, he has my oath. And I will keep to it. Honor demands no less. Fare you well, Shapurashi." And with that he walked back towards the Palace gate.

  Hatugali looked at Shapurashi for a moment, shrugging slightly before following the Vizier. The gates opened to admit them, then slammed shut. Shapurashi listed as the great bars were dropped down on the other side, then let out a sigh.

  "There goes the last honorable man in Kedaj," he said. "When the time comes, spare him. Or the gods will hate us."

  "He must die with the rest."

  Lugalzaeer looked the other conspirators in the eye. "There can be no question about it."

  They were gathered in a small chamber in the House of Women, away from prying eyes. Sacks piled up against one wall had the musty smell of grain that had been in storage for far too long. Occasionally they caught the sound of voices coming down the hallways, mingled with the admonishments of mothers and nursemaids. The House of Women was where the lesser women of the harem resided, along with their children and households. From the sounds of it, the children hadn't noticed the chaos engulfing the world outside its thick stone walls.

  Hatugali was seated on one of the sacks, massaging a leg that had been cramping all day. Lugalzaeer and Zeyaana stood by him. Seated on the floor nearby was Azaran, head down against his chest, eyes half-closed as he looked into...well, Zeyaana had no idea. Though he had begun crying out in his sleep, so whatever he saw likely wasn't pleasant.

  She frowned at Lugalzeer's pronouncement. "It must be done carefully. Ithkaan is loved by many in the city. There is a reason why he was sent to speak with the rebels - he is the only man everyone trusts."

  "Which is why he must be done away with. He will be an obstacle when the time comes to place my backside on the Throne of Zirin-Zaal. If Ithkaan's voice raised against it, others will listen. Better to not give them the opportunity."

  "And when will that happen?" asked Hatugali. "Ithkaan can be gotten rid of, but Shapurashi is another matter. Once his arse is on the throne, how do you plan to pry it off? For that matter, why bring him into this mess to begin with? I thought the idea was to stage a coup inside the palace. Enmer-Galila, Ithoshaara, and however many of his sons, nephews and cousins, strung up heels high at the city gates, No one said anything about starting a war in the city and putting Shapurashi on the bloody throne!"

  Zeyaana bit back the urge to curse this idiot. "Explain it to him," she said with a sigh.

  "That was the plan," Lugalzaeer explained. "Undermine Enmer-Galila from the shadows. Weaken his support, turn his enemies to our friends, then give him the push when the time came. But it was moving too slowly. However much the great houses and merchant princes hated the King, they feared him more. Meanwhile, more of the poor are becoming addicted to the Tears, which they can only get from the King and his friends. Every time the rations are handed out in the markets, the heralds make sure the people know it is by the King's will that their needs are fulfilled. If we pushed him away, it would cause a disruption in the supply, a week at least, ten days more likely. By the time it was sorted out, half the city would have burned down in the riots that followed."

  "The city is burning now," said Hatugali. "Last night, the sky was lit up. The entire Quarter of the Goat is burning like a torch. You can hear the fighting from the walls."

  "That is Shapurashi's problem," said Lugalzaeer. "He does not like the Tears, has spoken out against its presence in Kedaj. And even if he felt otherwise, he is allied with the priests of Sagosh, who demand that the Tears be banned. He will have no choice but to put down the riots by force."

  "The opportunity showed itself," said Zeyaana. "We knew Shapurashi was waiting for his opportunity. We used him to move the plan forward. My father has lost control of the city, but he still holds the Palace. The walls are high, the garrison is large and the supplies can last for years. Shapur
ashi can't afford a siege. By now he is fighting Tear Drinkers in the poorer quarters of Kedaj. If he waits too long, he will lose his strength. "

  "Which is where we come in," Lugalzaeer finished. "We take down the King, that swine Ithoshaara and anyone else that matters. I take their heads to Shapurashi as a gift and surrender the palace to him. In return, our places at court will be guaranteed. We emerge from this all the stronger. And then, we wait."

  "For how long?" Hatugali asked.

  Zeyaana shrugged. "Six months. A year at most..."

  "A year!?"

  "Shapurashi will not hold the love of Kedaj for very long," Zeyaana said. "He is allied with the priests of Sagosh, who have been railing against the bad morals of the city for as long as I can remember. They will relish the chance to punish those lacking in rectitude. The Tears will be banned, a nightmare for those under its thrall. Addiction to the Tears is a terrible thing. The craving for it is intense, and grows only worse the longer one goes without. It takes months before the desire ends and I've heard of men losing their minds during the process. And once Shapurashi becomes king, he will go mad with power. Within months, he will prove himself a worse tyrant that Enmer-Galila. The streets will run red with the blood of his enemies."

  "Really?" Hatugali looked skeptical. "That doesn't sound like the man I've been dealing with. He's rational to the point of boring."

  Zeyaana smiled. "I can be very persuasive. Have you forgotten?"

  "Ah...right. That will be something worth seeing." Hatugali laughed. "Try not to wear him out like yonder sack of dead fish!" He jerked a thumb at Azaran.

  "Don't be crude," Zeyaana retorted.

  "As you wish. So...when do we strike?"

  "Now," said Lugalzaeer. "Tonight. How soon can your men be ready?"

  "Two hours," Hatugali answered. "Once the word is given. Those who will do the deed are awaiting my word."