by Jack Conner
* * *
“That’s crazy,” Ani said.
The group hunched around a table in a private conference room off the Throne Room. All looked tense and sweaty. They’d been through the scenario again, and the newcomers were not happy with the situation.
“It’s a lot to take in,” Layanna said. She seemed particularly troubled about something.
“I know,” Avery said. Then, to Ani: “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
Accusation flashed in the girl’s eyes. “Is that why you really brought me here? To open the Tomb?”
She was sitting next to him, so he was able to wrap an arm around her shoulders without much trouble. She resisted, though, drawing away. Embarrassed, he removed his arm.
“Of course not,” he said. “I wanted you with me. But the Tomb is here, and we must open it before our enemies do.”
“But they can’t open it without me.”
Avery grimaced. He’d wanted to have this conversation privately, but obviously he wasn’t going to get that chance. “That’s right,” he said. “They would have to take you from me. I have no doubt they’re plotting and planning on that very thing right now.” Hastily, he added, “Which is why it’s so important to have the ceremony over with as soon as possible. Do you understand?”
Ani gazed across the table to Jered. “You want to ... marry me?”
The princeling had the grace to blush. “I guess. I mean, you want to?”
She watched him for a moment, and color rose in her cheeks, too. She glanced away. Avery smiled. Jered was a good-looking boy, he supposed, courteous and gallant. More than one girl in the Empire would have a crush on him.
“Young love,” Janx drawled, and pinched Ani’s cheek. She squealed, but sort of laughed, too.
“This is all rather unheard-of,” the Empress-Regent said. “Normally an engagement, even between of-age people at our station, would stretch over six months or a year, sometimes longer. What you propose, to have the ceremony tomorrow ...”
“The mystery party is here,” Avery said. “In this very palace. Segrul is off-shore, about to attack, and the Octunggen delegation is surely preparing for the arrival of Uthua. This whole situation could go bad very quickly. We must stay ahead of it or all is lost. And the doomsday clock is ticking down. When it reaches zero, the R’loth will unleash their failsafe, whatever form that might take.”
The Empress-Regent looked at him for a long moment, then swept her gaze at the gathering. She’d invited the Grand Vizier to the meeting, and now she raised her eyebrows at him.
“What do you think, my friend?”
The corners of his mouth turned down. “I agree with the girl, Your Majesty. This is all insane. A wedding, tomorrow!” He tutted. “My gods, my lady, I can’t image what the press will make of all this. You’ll throw the country into an uproar. There could be riots.”
“It will shock the people, no doubt,” the monarch said. “But riots? You exaggerate.”
The Grand Vizier frowned more deeply. “You asked me here for my honest opinion, and I am giving it to you. Permission to speak candidly?”
“Of course.”
He indicated Avery and the others. “I think you place too much trust in them. On the strength of what is mostly, if you will forgive me, their word alone, you are willing to share your throne ... with them. What if I walked into the throne room of some foreign monarch and told that individual to hand the throne over to me or the world would die? What do you think that monarch would do? Would I be believed?”
“They have proof.”
“Yes. The Codex ...”
“And the prophecy.”
“Still, my lady, I urge caution. Have a committee drawn up and task them with investigating the situation. We'll make it a secret committee and spur them on with all due speed.”
“That's wise,” she said.
Avery checked his impatience. “Our enemies could strike at any time. We don't have time for committees.”
The Grand Vizier’s smiled. “Spoken like the man who will take the throne if he gets his way. Of course you wouldn't want Her Majesty to move at a prudent speed. If she did, and found out you were a fraud, you'd lose everything. Including, very possibly, your head.”
Janx stood up, towering over the Grand Vizier. To his credit, the Grand Vizier didn’t flinch. “That’s the King of Ghenisa you’re talkin’ to,” Janx said. “I’d watch my mouth if I were you.”
“Enough,” said Issia, and narrowed her eyes at Janx, seeming to concentrate. It must have had some effect, for Janx winced and clamped his hands to his head, as if in the grip of a terrible headache.
“Sit,” said Issia.
Janx glared at her, but obeyed. Gradually, the headache seemed to leave him, and he removed his hands.
“Thank you,” she said.
Janx scowled. “That’s some trick, Majesty.” Darkly, he added, “You an’ the Duke need to get together.”
She wouldn't be drawn out. To Avery, she said, “Do you have any response to the Grand Vizier’s reasoning?”
Avery looked around at the table, making eye contact with the others, then turned back to the Empress-Regent.
“The Grand Vizier urges caution,” he said. “I urge sanity. Sometimes the sanest thing can seem like the craziest. Acting fast doesn't mean acting imprudently, or gullibly. You’ve seen—hell, you’ve felt—the Codex. You know it’s no fraud.” He held the Empress-Regent’s gaze, waiting for her to nod. Slowly, she did. “We're as without fraud as one group of people can be. I am the King-Regent of Ghenisa. Ani is the Chosen One. Layanna is a goddess of Octung, if you believe in such things, and together we'll all open the Tomb of the Sleeper tomorrow—that, or we'll all die together.”
Somewhere rain dribbled against a window. Avery waited, tense. At last the Empress-Regent stood, slowly, and let her august presence convey her authority. Avery could feel a slight hum in his brain, not a psychic assault like Janx had just received (however mildly), just a reminder of whom and what she was. It felt like the psychic version of a guitar string being twanged.
Avery glanced sideways to Ani. The girl smiled, just slightly. Apparently the twang had a different effect on her than it did the others.
“Very well,” the Empress-Regent said, and voiced her final decision. She spoke it with all the joy of a tombstone being driven into place. “The wedding will be held tomorrow. But gods help you, Lord Avery, if you’re wrong.”
“Gods help us if I’m right. And I am.”
* * *
Afterward, Avery and others in his group—including, to his chagrin—Layanna; damn it all, why did she make him feel so uncomfortable? Was it simple guilt?—enjoyed a leisurely lunch together, in which they were able to get reacquainted somewhat. Avery had missed a great deal of the goings-on in Ghenisa, and Anissa and Layanna took turns informing him of what had happened, with some interjections from Hildra and Janx. Ani was clearly still in shock, and Avery wished sincerely that there was some way he could give her time to process all that had happened, and was still happening—in fact, he felt cruel and manipulative for having put her in this position, and with so little warning—but such a thing was impossible.
He could tell she knew it, too—not that it was impossible, but that he should have found a better way. There was a touch of frost in her demeanor toward him, and a touch less frost than there should have been toward Layanna. In the weeks that Janx and Hildra had been gone, Layanna had visited her regularly, Avery learned—had done so before they left, in fact, but with greater weight afterward—and Ani had come to rely on her. The girl’s new family members had been welcoming, but reserved, and they had regarded Ani in a strange sort of awe. Her powers were greater than any of theirs, perhaps combined, and though they had clearly appreciated this, their reverence made them aloof. Layanna, restored to godhood after months on the lam, could not be so easily intimidated. Ani had considered her something of an aunt before returning to Ghenisa; now Layanna was almos
t a mother.
Watching them together, how easy they were with each other, Avery wasn’t sure whether to be gratified—whatever brought Ani comfort must be a good thing—or fearful. From time to time he caught Layanna watching him, but neither addressed whatever it was that lay between them. The tension was only getting thicker, he felt, not lesser.
“How d’you think it’s going?” Hildra asked at one point, when they’d finished discussing matters Ghenisan. Her gaze had gone to the door.
“What do you mean?” Ani asked.
“The Regent, sweetcheeks. She’ll be addressing the press right now. Announcing the wedding.”
“That was the plan,” Avery agreed.
“Think they’re rioting?” Janx asked. “I don’t hear anything.”
“Let’s hope not,” Layanna said. “If war comes, we’ll need the populace orderly.”
“War?” said Ani. “You really think that could happen?”
Layanna smiled. “Don’t worry about that, Anissa May. You just think about the press conference tonight. Are you ready?”
Ani ducked her head sulkily. “I don’t know.”
“It’ll be fine,” Avery said. “We’ll be there.” The plan was for the Empress-Regent to announce plans for the wedding early that afternoon; right about then, in fact. Later, around dinnertime, another, longer press conference would be held in which she would introduce Ani to the Ysstral public on live television, and Ani and Jered would hold hands and proclaim their love for each other, and their dedication to serving their two peoples.
“Do I have to get married?” Ani said.
“You don’t have to do anything,” Avery said. “And remember, the wedding is only a legal requirement to make the marriage recognized. You don’t have to stay with Jered if you don’t want to. And it goes without saying you will have separate rooms. In separate wings.”
“What do you think I should do, Papa?”
He glanced to the others for help. Not finding it, he gathered his thoughts. “Ani, I really don’t know. Honestly, I’m quite concerned about you marrying Jered, and not just because you’re too young. Paper or not, this has got to be stressful and strange for you. I know it is for me. But I worry that with this marriage the Empress-Regent will think that things would be much cleaner and neater if the Ysstral Empire simply annexed Ghenisa. Ghenisa was once part of the Empire, and the Ysstrals have always wanted it back. This might be just the excuse they’re looking for. The two ruling houses are tied by marriage; thus the countries are tied. Why not make them one?”
“Gwen’ll go to war over that,” Janx said, meaning the Prime Minister of Ghenisa. He sounded as though he approved of the notion.
“Better believe it,” Hildra said. “Fuck joining the Empire. Uh, excuse me, honey.”
“You always said the rebels were right to rise up against the royals, Papa,” Ani said. “But ... now I’m one of them. You’re king. We would only do what’s good for the people. Right, Papa?”
“Of course, honey. We would try. But people up too high don’t always know what’s best for the people down low. It’s hard to see the alley from the tower. The thought’s crossed my mind that when all this is over, if we’re still alive, I would abdicate—that is, dissolve the Ghenisan aristocracy and restore true democracy again. I won’t be the one to end the New Dawn.”
“Well spoken,” Layanna said, “but isn’t that Ani’s decision?”
“Not until she comes of age.”
“Shouldn’t you wait until she is? You’re just the Regent, after all.”
He regarded Layanna. “Yes, but with the full authority of the throne. Authority enough to dissolve the throne.”
“Think about this, Doc,” Janx said. “I’m all for staying independent, but you could be king of an independent Ghenisa. That’s a lot of power to give up.”
“It’s power I never should have had,” Avery said. “That no one should have.” His voice firmed. “If I survive this, I’ll step down and let Denaris steer Ghenisa into the future. As for the Empress-Regent, I’ll make sure she doesn’t get any part of that future. Ghenisa will be independent, and a democracy. That’s what I’ll use my kingship to ensure.”
“Hear hear!” Hildra said, and raised a bottle of beer. It was the good stuff.
Janx raised his, too. “I’d still take a castle, though.”
Ani and Layanna remained conspicuously silent. In fact, Avery thought the two had drawn a bit closer to each other, as if unifying against him.
“You disapprove?” he said.
Instead of answering directly, Layanna said, “I think you’re assuming many things, Francis. Simply talking about surviving this will not make it so. Instead of planning on what not to do with your crown, I think you should be planning on what to do with it in order to not use it later.”
“Of course.” To Ani, he said, “Do you see now, though? The crown isn’t ours. Being king or queen may seem romantic, but this isn’t a fairytale. Many people died to make Ghenisa independent, and many more to keep it that way. And that war was fought against people with crowns much like ours.”
Ani studied him, then Layanna.
“I understand, Papa. I think I do. But does that mean the Empress-Regent and Jered are ... bad?”
Avery shifted in his seat. It wouldn’t do to poison Ani against her future husband and mother-in-law. Fortunately, Hildra saved him.
“They’re rotten!” she said, and laughed. “Almost as rotten as little girls that ask too many questions.” She poked Ani in the stomach, and Ani giggled. Avery breathed easier. Once again, thank the gods for Hildra.
Janx leaned forward, a serious expression on his face. “I think we need to talk about tomorrow.”
“I concur,” Layanna said. “If we’re right, the enemy needs Ani to be wed just like we do. She’s of no use to them unless she’s Empress. I’ll bet they were quite upset with Duke Leshillibn for trying to block the marriage, assuming they realize she’s the Pocked One. We have to be ready for them.”
“I’ve already talked about it with the Empress-Regent,” Avery said. “As soon as the ceremony is concluded, we’re to go under heavy guard directly to the Necropolis, where a Ghenisan convoy will be waiting with the Codex. A priest of Issia’s order will attend the ceremony and vouch to its people at the Necropolis that Ani is Empress. Once that’s done, they’ll throw open the gates and admit her.” He paused. “Only her.”
“That’s bullshit!” Hildra said. “No way she can wake up the Sleeper alone.”
“Only she can wake the Sleeper.”
“Yeah, but ... all by herself? She has to face whatever comes out of there by herself?”
“The priesthood will be with her,” Avery said, trying to suppress his own terror. “The Empress-Regent will remain outside. We’ll all be right outside the Necropolis’s gates with a full contingent of troops, tanks, everything. Zeppelins will be hovering with bombs primed and guns ready. Ani has only to wake the Sleeper up and rejoin us, and we’ll deal with it all together … if we need to. Hopefully the Sleeper will be amenable to our needs. It is, after all, an advanced being. One way or another, the Sleeper will open the Monastery for us, wherever it is, Layanna will help us use its weapons against the R’loth, and the world will be saved.”
“You know it ain’t gonna be that simple, Doc,” Janx said.
“No,” Layanna said, and her voice was cold.
Avery felt a shudder work his way up his spine. “What do you mean?”
She eyed him stonily. “Your whole plan was built on the assumption that I would help destroy my people.”
They all stared at her, even Ani. Avery’s mouth went dry. This is why she’d looked so troubled earlier, he realized.
“Holy fucking shit,” Hildra said. “Are you saying what I think you are?”
Layanna remained silent for a long moment. “I have not agreed to this. I don’t know if ...” She mashed her eyes shut, then reached out, grabbed her glass of wine, previously untou
ched, and knocked back the whole thing in one swallow. “I don’t know if I can help you destroy my people.”
“But ... Layanna ...” Avery stammered for words.
“They are my people. How can I help you destroy them? Assuming you even can?”
“Oh, fuck this,” Hildra said. She stabbed a finger at Layanna. “I always knew there was a reason I hated you, blondie. Now the truth comes out.” She seemed half ready to launch herself at the Collossum.
“Calm the hell down,” Janx told her. With bunched jaws, he said to Layanna, “Explain yourself, darlin’. We’ve spilled a lot of blood and tears for you, girl. You better not go reneging on us now.”
“I am not ... reneging.”
“That’s certainly what it sounds like,” Avery said.
“I never planned to hurt the R’loth, Francis, only help your people defend themselves against them. That was my sole ambition. You still can. There’s still time before the Device’s effects fade. And, with you being king of Ghenisa and Lord of the Ysstral Empire, it makes things so much easier. Simply use your power to help crush Octung, and occupy it, then ready yourselves for my people to attack. Once the Device’s effects have dispersed, you can use Octung’s technology against them. I’ll help tweak the weapons and even build new ones.”
“You haven’t been listening, bitch,” Hildra said. “The fucking R’loth aren’t going to give us that time. They’re planning to destroy us all right now. That’s if they can’t get their mitts on the Sleeper, and we ain’t gonna let that happen. And we need to act fast before the mystery party does. They’re under this roof, you dumb bitch. They have only to steal Ani, wait for Segrul’s navy to sack the city and install her as their puppet empress, then get the whatevers in the fucking Necropolis to open up for her. They do that and it’s done, the world’s done. Soon as they get their paws on the Sleeper, your people activate their failsafe. And Segrul could attack at any moment. So you better buck up and get ready for some ass-kickin’, darlin’, or so help me gods ...”
“Yes?” Layanna said. “You’ll what?”