She handed it to Jodie.
‘Not the best,’ she said, taking a drink, ‘but thanks.’
Jayki took another swig.
‘I know fine that you don’t like Shella,’ he said to Jodie, ‘but you don’t know her. The shit we went through, she was always the one who saved our asses, but there was nothing she could do to stop that Kellach Brigdomin bitch from burning Akhanawarah.’
‘You don’t need to defend me, Jayki,’ Shella said.
‘Well, miss, you do such a shit job of it yourself, I figure someone has to.’
There was a thump on the top of the carriage.
‘Roadblock ahead,’ called their driver.
As Jayki shoved his flask into a pack under the seats, Shella peered out of the window. Forty yards up the road two carts had been positioned across the carriageway, and a dozen Holdings folk in mismatched uniforms stood around. Several had crossbows, which they were levelling at Shella’s carriage.
The four horses pulling them slowed, and the wagon came to a halt.
A group of three broke away from the folk by the blockade, and strode forwards. Shella pulled her head back into the carriage.
‘Why have you stopped us?’ shouted down the driver.
‘You’re a Rakanese,’ a voice called back. ‘We have orders to apprehend any undocumented Rakanese on this side of the wall. Who’s the passenger?’
‘We’re escorting the ambassador herself, Princess Shellakanawara.’
There were a few sniggers from the irregular soldiers.
Shella opened the carriage door and stepped down onto the dusty road.
‘You find that funny, do you?’ she said to the soldiers, walking towards them.
The three Holdings stared at her. They had an assortment of armour and leathers of different sizes and insignia.
‘You’re not cavalry,’ she said, standing before them, ‘nor imperial army. Who’s giving your orders?’
‘We’re volunteers,’ said the Holdings man who had spoken before. ‘Border control. We work for the frontier governor. We pick up the trash during the day and throw it back over the wall every night.’
‘And what trash are you referring to, exactly?’
The three Holdings glanced at each other.
‘Rakanese trash,’ their leader said. ‘Illegal immigrants. They hop over the wall and we hunt them down.’
‘And you volunteered for this?’
‘If we didn’t do it, the Plateau would be swarming with them.’
Shella considered killing them.
A quick flooding of the lungs for the three before her, and heart attacks for the rest by the carts. Drag the bodies off the road, clear the blockade, and they could be on their way in ten minutes.
She remembered Sami, and knew she wasn’t ready to accept the consequences.
‘You will let us pass,’ she said to the irregulars.
‘You’re travelling to Arakhanah?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then of course,’ their leader said, smiling. ‘We’ve no wish to stop any of you from going in that direction.’
He turned and signalled to the others, who started to drag the carts clear of the road.
The leader of the irregulars doffed his hat. ‘Have a good day, ma’am.’
Shella returned to the carriage in silence. Jodie and Jayki were both staring at her when she retook her seat.
After a moment, the driver lashed the reins, and the carriage moved off, passing the irregulars, who began reforming the roadblock as soon as they had gone by.
‘Pass me the flask,’ Shella said, her hand shaking.
Jayki dug under his seat and handed the rum to her, along with a cigarette.
‘You okay, miss?’
‘Just fucking great. I love being humiliated by a bunch of vigilante dickheads.’
She took a long swig.
‘Mind you,’ she went on, ‘don’t know why I’m so bothered, after all, being humiliated by Holdings assholes is part of my fucking job description.’
‘What’s why Torri quit early,’ Jodie said. ‘Did you know that? He couldn’t stand it any longer.’
‘I’ve only served half as long as he did,’ Shella said, ‘and I feel like I’ve taken as much as I can without going berserk. I seriously thought about killing them all back there, only the complications would be too messy.’
‘You could always quit.’
Shella started to reply, then remembered she didn’t trust Jodie. She wanted to open herself up, but for all she knew the Rakanese secretary was spying on her for Rijon.
She sat back and smoked.
Jodie frowned, then looked out of the window.
Jayki sighed, closed his eyes and leaned back against his seat.
By nightfall the carriage was nearing the frontier, and Shella saw the lights of a settlement in the distance. Their driver guided them through the streets in the direction of the great border wall that loomed ahead. The settlement stretched out alongside the wall, next to a large fortified gatehouse that swallowed up the road.
They pulled into a courtyard in front of a tall stone building. As stable hands emerged to look after the horses, their driver opened the carriage door.
Shella stepped down.
Several of the Holdings folk in the courtyard stared at her, then at her companions as they descended from the carriage. A woman strode down the steps from the front door of the building.
‘Madam Ambassador?’ she said.
Shella nodded.
‘Welcome to Tanglefort. You have rooms booked here for the night. We will ensure your horses are stabled and cared for.’
‘Do you serve dinner?’
‘We do, ma’am,’ the woman said, ‘however I believe the governor has invited you to dine with him in the fort this evening.’
‘He has?’
‘There will be a carriage ready to take you there in an hour, ma’am.’
‘I can’t wait.’
The governor was a short, stocky Holdings man with a high opinion of his own sense of humour. Shella watched as Jayki faked another laugh, while Jodie sat stony-faced at the long table, smiling only at the servants who replenished their plates.
‘Under the last governor,’ he was saying, ‘the wall was as leaky as an incontinent old nag. Immigrants were sneaking over night and day. It’s no wonder the Emperor sacked her, she was of less use than a bath in Sanang.’
‘You’ve tightened it up, have you?’ Shella said, picking at the food on her plate.
‘I have indeed, ma’am,’ he said. ‘Did you know that I was asked for by Chamberlain Prior himself? Sort out the wall, he said to me. And that is precisely what I’ve done. A firm hand was all that was required.’
‘Does he know you’ve formed your own militia?’
‘Of course he does,’ the governor said. ‘Do you think I’m stupid? At some point I’m told that the proper army will come and take over, but until then we must look to our own security.’
‘Thugs with crossbows?’
‘Patriots, ma’am,’ he said, his eyes darkening. ‘Defenders of the Plateau, keeping out those who do not belong.’
‘And why do the Rakanese not belong?’
‘I suppose I could bore you by going about land sustainability, and relative population growth rates, but I don’t really care about any of that,’ he said. ‘Truth is, I just don’t want a horde of penniless, unwashed, degenerate amphibians coming in and ruining our country.’
Shella clenched her fists under the table.
‘With all due respect to you, of course ma’am,’ the governor said.
‘I presume you think I’m due no respect.’
‘Not at all, ma’am,’ he grinned. ‘You have a tough job, trying to lead the Rakanese. A dose of monarchy might do them good. Teach them to know their proper place in the world.’
Shella forced her face to be calm. ‘Doesn’t your religion say that the Creator made all of the peoples that live here?’
/> ‘That’s true,’ replied the governor, ‘but he didn’t make them all equal, did he now? There was only one people he chose to speak to, one people he chose to lead the others.’
He put down his mug and picked up a roasted leg of poultry.
‘That would be us,’ he winked, ‘in case you were wondering.’
Shella sensed Jodie glance at her, but she remained focussed on the governor. She was sure her face was about to crack with rage, but breathed deep, and sent a tendril of her power into the body of the Holdings man.
She located his oesophagus, and examined the blood flowing through his neck. There was a layer of muscle where, if she pushed the bloodflow just a little…
The governor paused. He dropped what was left of the roasted leg and put his hand to his throat. His mouth was formed into a circle, but no noise was coming out.
‘Quick!’ Shella cried. ‘The governor is choking!’
The governor clawed at his neck, his eyeballs rolling upwards. He emitted a strange gargling sound as the first servants rushed over. Two lifted him out of his seat, while a third began squeezing his wide chest. The governor struggled, and toppled to the ground, taking the servants with him.
Shella picked up her mug of water, and took a sip.
The sounds from below the table ceased, and a servant staggered to his feet.
‘The governor’s dead,’ he said, his eyes wide.
‘What a terrible tragedy,’ Shella said, ‘and in the middle of dinner, too.’
The servants stared at her.
Guards burst through the main doors of the dining room, and gazed at the scene.
‘The governor choked on his food,’ a servant said. ‘We tried to save him.’
The officer walked to the table and examined the governor’s dinner plate. He picked up the half-eaten leg of poultry, shaking his head.
He glanced at Shella.
‘I will have a carriage summoned for you at once, ma’am,’ he said, ‘to carry you back to your accommodation.’
‘That’s probably for the best,’ Shella said. ‘My appetite has been completely ruined.’
By the time they restarted their journey at dawn the following morning, Jodie had still not spoken to Shella. Even Jayki was being quiet, she noticed. As their carriage swung back out onto the main road leading towards the gatehouse, Shella gazed at her companions.
‘What’s the matter with you two?’
Jayki shrugged and Jodie ignored her.
Shella looked out of the window and lit a cigarette. The street was narrowing, and the carriage halted as it approached a huge set of wooden gates. Groups of irregular militia hung around, mixed in with cavalry troopers. The gates were opened, and their driver reined the horses through, into a long, wide tunnel.
The gates closed behind them, and they were cast into darkness. Above them was the mass of the frontier fort, where they had dined the night before, and where the governor’s corpse would be laid out somewhere.
Another set of gates opened, and light flooded their eyes, blinding them for a moment. Then they were through, and back out into the open air.
Shella looked back to see the huge frontier wall behind them, its gates closing. On both sides of the road spread an enormous shanty camp, filled with dusty, thin Rakanese, who were staring at the carriage. Within seconds, a crowd had formed around them, and begging hands were thrust through the windows. Children called out to them as they ran alongside the carriage.
‘Speed up,’ Jayki said to the driver, who lashed the whip. The horses gained momentum, and the crowds scattered to either side as the carriage bounded down the road.
Shella glanced over to Jodie, who was staring out the window, her mouth open.
‘Not what you remember from the last time you were here?’ Shella said.
Jodie’s head snapped round to face her.
‘You irresponsible fool,’ she cried.
Shella smirked. ‘You’ve just noticed?’
‘We could have been arrested,’ Jodie went on. ‘You murdered the governor.’
‘He choked on a bone.’
Jodie narrowed her eyes. ‘I thought you wanted to be honest with me? Every time I think that you’re opening up, you do or say something stupid and I’m back to thinking you’re nothing but a vain, selfish fool.’
‘Now that,’ Shella said, ‘that sounded honest.’
Jodie clenched her fists and glared at her.
‘I lay awake all night,’ she said. ‘I was convinced that soldiers were going to break the door down, and drag us all off to prison, or worse.’
‘I’m not sorry he’s dead,’ Shella said. ‘Look out the window, look at all the suffering on this side of the wall. A gigantic slum, full of Rakanese people desperate to get out. This mess was caused by him.’
‘Another governor will just be appointed,’ Jodie said. ‘It makes no difference. Do you think his replacement will look more kindly on our people out here?’
‘Probably not.’
‘It’s the entire system that needs replaced, Shella. The whole imperial power structure that keeps the Holdings repressing the other peoples of this world must go, not just one sadistic governor. The Emperor is holding us in chains.’
‘And there we have it,’ Shella smiled. ‘I hope you put that in your journal.’
Jodie flushed.
‘Said too much, did we?’ Shella smirked. ‘It’s just as well we agree.’
Jodie glanced up.
‘You’re right,’ Shella said. ‘The death of that idiot governor makes no difference. Quite enjoyed it anyway.’
The horses slowed to a trot as they reached the outskirts of the slum settlement. A crowd of children continued to chase them, but grew smaller in the distance as the carriage left them behind.
Jayki closed his eyes and leaned back.
‘It’s all true, isn’t it?’ Jodie said.
‘What?’ Shella said.
‘You killed lots of people during the Migration?’
Shella nodded.
‘How many?’
‘More than a few,’ Shella said. ‘That was my first Holdings though.’
Chapter 10
Courtesy Call
Rahain Capital, Rahain Republic – 19th Day, First Third Autumn 506
The old man lay asleep at his desk, his head resting on a pile of papers. A pot of ink had spilled next to his hand, its dark contents seeping through a large map of southern Rahain. A solitary lamp burned from the wall behind him, illuminating a small study.
Wake up.
The old man stirred.
Laodoc, Daphne called to him.
His eyes jerked open, and he scanned the room, his tongue flickering.
I’m in your head, she said.
‘Daphne, is that you?’ Laodoc whispered.
It is. I need to talk to you, please.
‘Of course my dear,’ Laodoc said, rubbing his forehead. He looked older, more worn with care and time, but his eyes held their spark. ‘Although it’s a little difficult to concentrate with you inside my mind.’
Let’s try this instead, she said. She went to the area of his mind controlling his eyesight and projected a vision of herself standing in front of him.
‘Oh my,’ Laodoc gasped.
‘Is that better?’ she asked.
‘Much, thank you,’ he said. ‘Even though I know you’re not really there, it seems more normal to speak to you like this. Well, a little more normal at any rate.’
‘How have you been?’
‘Oh, you know,’ he said. ‘Invasion, the overthrow of the republic, becoming chancellor, seeing my country descend into civil war, and my people desert their culture and flock to the Holdings religion in their thousands. I think I’m doing quite well, considering. You?’
‘I had a baby girl.’
‘My congratulations,’ he smiled, pouring himself a brandy. ‘I’ll drink to her health.’
‘It’s good to see you.’
‘And y
ou, my dear,’ he said, taking a sip. ‘So, have you learned how to do this all the way from Plateau City, or am I to assume that you’ve returned to Rahain?’
‘I’m back,’ she said, ‘though I’m not in the capital yet. Did the church not tell you I was coming?’
‘It must have slipped their minds. One of many things they have neglected to tell me.’
‘Don’t trust them.’
‘All trust between myself and your church broke down some time ago, I can assure you.’
‘They’re not my church,’ Daphne said. ‘I’m a renegade.’
Laodoc raised an eyebrow.
‘Their own word for me,’ she said. ‘I’m taking it as a hard won compliment.’
‘Are you fleeing from them again?’
‘No, we’ve reached a compromise. They leave me alone, I leave them alone.’
Laodoc shook his head. ‘Did I not just hear you say, dear Daphne, that they weren’t to be trusted?’
Daphne shrugged. ‘I’m well aware what they’re capable of. Legally though, I’ve done nothing wrong, so I can’t be arrested. That won’t stop some of them from trying to kill me, and my daughter. The One True Path already tried in Rainsby.’
Laodoc shook his head. ‘Awful. And your daughter, she must be nearly nine-thirds old by now?’
‘Eight and a half. Her name is Karalyn.’
‘Lovely.’ Laodoc sighed. ‘I always wished for a daughter. For a time I lived as if Simiona were mine, and it might be the happiest I’ve ever been.’ He looked up. ‘There are no slaves in Rahain any more, Daphne. At least not in the regions we control.’
‘How’s it going with the rebellion?’
‘Not well,’ he said, taking another drink. ‘They have money. And slaves to work while their peasants fight for them. They’ve taken to calling themselves the Old Free, and are led by a rebel government in Calcite City made up of senators and councillors who fled the invasion. My son Ruellap is one of them. So too is Douanna.’
‘I should have killed her.’
‘But you didn’t,’ Laodoc said, ‘and now I believe she has attained a certain level of power within the rebel administration. I have seen her signature on several orders we intercepted being sent to her spies. Agents from the church captured a nest of them.’ He looked up at Daphne. ‘In the fight against the rebellion, I have to accept that the church have been willing allies. They hate the rebels as much as anyone.’
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