A Bloom in the North

by M. C. A. Hogarth

"Yes," I said. "Everything I was going to get out of him, he told me in one exchange." When it glanced at me, I said, "He thinks we're in league with the Stone Moon."

  Hesa stared at me. "You mean to tell me we've been attacked by people who would ordinarily be working with us."

  "Yes," I said. "So perhaps you might talk with Abadil and see if he knows if there are any rebel nests in het Narel... because I very much fear we may be about to hand the Jokka who should have been our allies to the Jokka we are working to undermine."

  Hesa touched its fingers to its brow. "Knowing our allies from our enemies..."

  "So you said before. Go and find Abadil."

  "And you?" Hesa asked. "What will you do?"

  "Wrap my knife," I said, and hoped that doing so would also put away my worry and rage with the steel.

  Abadil could not tell us where to look for our assailants; he knew of people but none of them had dared to band together in numbers large enough to destroy fields or construction projects. It was Thesenet who discovered the identity of my prisoner several days later and divulged it to me in his office in the seat of the Stone Moon in het Narel.

  "You are not serious," I said in response to his revelation.

  "I am, very much so," he answered.

  "You are telling me that Akkadin, the House that produced the emperor's closest advisor and lover, is responsible for this travesty?" I said, my voice rising.

  "I know," Thesenet said, dropping into his seat across from me and sighing. He looked exhausted. "I'm surprised the Fire in the Void hasn't arrived to scatter them to the sands."

  I wasn't. That Akkadin had become a locus for dissent and resentment made perfect sense to me given what a Stone Moon minister had done to one of their members. It didn't matter that Keshul had become a part of the empire after his torture. The only thing relevant to the House was that they'd had first seats at the clay drama that had seen one of their most valued members dragged away in disgrace. And certainly Keshul wouldn't argue with them fighting the empire, though Thesenet did not seem to know enough about him to realize that. So I said, "Did Akkadin have some quarrel with the empire?"

  "The emperor did have its Head of Household executed," Thesenet said, rueful. "That was before I arrived."

  "I see," I said. "And you're absolutely sure."

  "We are," Thesenet said. "Six people identified him as someone they'd known from Akkadin."

  "Gods," I said. "What a waste."

  "Yes," Thesenet said. He glanced at me, tired. "You don't seem quite so eager to exact justice from these people now that we have their identity."

  The words left me without thought. "I'm a Claw of the empire, ke emodo. The Fire in the Void was the emperor's minister. Of course I don't relish the thought of punishing his House-mates."

  That satisfied Thesenet. He didn't give me time to grapple with the fact that I'd called myself a Claw, though. "We'll have to break their House stone."

  "What?" I said, looking up.

  "Destruction of imperial property is a capital crime," Thesenet said. "You know that as well as I do, Pathen. And on this scale?" He twitched his shoulders. "Anything less would set a terrible precedent... and be dangerous besides."

  "But Akkadin is one of the fixtures of het Narel," I said, ears swept back. "Despite being a minor House everyone knows its name because of ke Keshul. Breaking the House that gave rise to the foremost aide to the emperor!"

  "I know, I know," Thesenet said, irritated. "But what else can I do!"

  "Let me talk to them," I said. "Let me secure their loyalty to the empire. I can do it."

  He sat back slowly, frowning. "Now you're the one saying unbelievable things, ke emodo. What could you possibly do to make it safe for me to allow a House inhabited by vandals and criminals to continue to operate in my city?"

  "Their quarrel is with me and mine," I said. "Their attacks were designed to bankrupt House Asara and make the Stone Moon its enemy. I know now why they have that quarrel... and I know how to settle it. After that there will be no more attacks. You won't have to break the stone of one of the most famous Houses in het Narel... and you won't lose all of its talent to the empire's slavery. Anyone can do labor, ke Thesenet. Will you sentence all the emodo of House Akkadin to the work of eperu and see them die early for it?"

  He looked away, mouth tight.

  "Please," I said. "Let me try. If I fail you've lost nothing."

  "Except you!" Thesenet said. "And if you think that losing the Stone Moon hero responsible for the victory over the truedark kingdom isn't significant..."

  "They won't hurt me," I said. "I was trained to violence, Minister. You and I know it."

  Thesenet sighed. "Fine. But take the Claws with you."

  "I will," I said, to mollify him. "And I'll salvage this situation. Let the rest of the het continue to think House Asara suffered from its natural disaster. That way when House Akkadin returns peaceably to the empire's arms no one will question why they were permitted to commit a crime against the city and not suffer the penalties."

  "If you succeed," Thesenet said.

  "I will," I replied.

  "This is madness," Hesa hissed from the back of its rikka.

  "Darsi's not here, so you are are speaking for him, is that it?" I said.

  "They'll want to kill you the moment you step into the House," Hesa said. "And yet you refuse to take any of us with you!"

  "If I do take you with me, they really will kill me the moment I step into the House," I said.

  Behind us, my borrowed Claw captain said, diffident, "Pardon me for saying so, ke emodo, but your pefna is speaking sense."

  I glanced behind me; Thesenet's assigned contingent had remained with House Asara under Ganeth, and three of his subordinates were riding with him on our way to the other side of town where House Akkadin stood. I was keeping my promise to Thesenet to bring them, but I wasn't going to let them follow me into a meeting with Jokka working against the empire. And I certainly wasn't going to give the members of Akkadin an opportunity take a hostage against me... particularly one like Hesa, whose peril would not only keep me in check but reveal my own crimes to those seeking weapons against me. I could no more tell the eperu to stay behind than I could leave the Claws, but it could wait outside with them while I solved Thesenet’s—and the rebellion's—little problem in het Narel.

  "Be that as it may," I said. "I think it will be a sufficient statement to ride into House Akkadin's yard with all of you. Entering the House alone should convince them that I'm there to talk."

  "I don't like it," Hesa growled.

  "I agree, ke emodo," my Claw said.

  "You can dismount and wait at the door," I said. "But no further."

  Ganeth sighed. Hesa just looked at me and I regretted the fury I saw in its eyes, knowing that it hid the fear it refused to show anyone.

  I'm not sure what I'd expected of House Akkadin. It looked very much like any other minor House, and yet knowing that the Fire in the Void had lived there made me wary of its mundane appearance. If one such prodigy could spring forth from such a common-looking place, gods knew what else might be born there... other than het Narel's branch of the truedark resistance. We rode into their yard beneath the stares of the few emodo standing outside the House. There Ganeth, Hesa and I dismounted while the other Claws remained on their animals.

  One of the emodo approached me, ears flat. "What does the empire want today?"

  "House Asara wants a word with Akkadin's Head of Household," I said. "I'm fairly sure he'll know why."

  The emodo's eyes widened and he took a step back. He glanced at the Claws and then at me.

  "Now, please," I said mildly.

  That emodo fled. I followed. Behind me, I heard Ganeth say to Hesa, "All right, maybe there's not as much to be worried about as I thought."

  Hesa's reply: "Desperate people are always dangerous, ke emodo."

  Indeed they were.

  The flustered emodo led me straight to the Head of Househo
ld's office. I kept just out of sight of him; once he'd entered the room for his hasty conference, I stepped inside and closed the door for him.

  Both of the emodo in the room stared at me. The Head of House Akkadin was far younger than I'd anticipated... barely past the age of his second Turning, I thought. But he was quick enough with a knife, for he had one in his hand before I'd finished entering the room.

  "Don't throw it," I advised. "If you miss me, you'll be without a weapon if I lunge for you."

  "I've got a knife too," the other emodo said, teeth bared.

  "Which you shouldn't have informed me of," I said. And sighed. "Gods, are you all so witless? Are you trying to draw the Stone Moon down on you? Because you have... and I'm the only thing standing between you and a broken House stone."

  "W-what?" the first emodo said.

  The Head of Household frowned at me. "I know who you are."

  "You think you know who I am," I said. "But you don't." I untied my pouch from my sash and threw it onto his desk. "A gift from a friend of mine. Have a look."

  The Head of Household's eyes narrowed, but he slowly reached for the pouch. I waited for him to pick it up and open it. I'd looked myself after coming home from my meeting with Keshul but hadn't known why he would have given me such a peculiar memento.

  This emodo, though, recognized it on sight. His pupils dilated and then he looked up at me. "Where did you get this!"

  "From Keshul Akkadin-emodo," I said. "He said it would serve as proof of his affection."

  "Is that Rashal's tail?" the first emodo asked, aghast.

  The Head of Household glanced at him, then said grimly, "And part of the bone attachment, yes." He fingered the metal ring at the end of the braid. "He was fond of these ornaments."

  "Your former Head of Household, I presume," I said, understanding finally.

  "Yes," the youth behind the desk said. "He gave Keshul to the Stone Moon to be tortured... and for that, Keshul arranged to have him killed. Though I didn't know he'd taken the tail as a trophy." He looked up at me. "I'm Shekonet Akkadin-emodo. I'm not the Head of House Akkadin."

  "But you're the head of its resistance," I said. "So you're the one responsible for stealing the food from the mouths of your fellow Jokka."

  "An emodo moves into het Narel, one responsible for the destruction of the hope of the Jokka's freedom from tyranny," he said. "A male who somehow learned the most secret names of all our leaders and where they were hiding... and destroyed them. And you think I wouldn't raze a field to ruin him?" His eyes burned. "The empire burned a great deal more when it destroyed the truedark kingdom."

  "Yes," I said. "But your actions have put me in the awkward position of having to save a House that the empire should be punishing at a time when I'm trying to convince the empire I'm on its side." I leaned forward and said, "Shekonet. I appreciate your ardor and I understand what you're trying to accomplish. But the only thing standing between you and destruction right now... is me."

  "And what is it that you want?" he asked, ears flat.

  "I want you to follow me," I said.

  "Follow a Stone Moon Claw!" the other emodo said, incensed. "We would never—"

  Shekonet held up a hand to still him, and incredibly the other obeyed. There was something in him, then: the others deferred to him despite his youth. I could see it, too… there was something in his eyes. What had he seen, I wondered, to give him such steadiness of purpose? "Why should we?"

  "You'd prefer to haul paving stones east down the road to the sea?" I asked. "Because those are your choices." I gentled my voice. "Ke emodo. I need help building an alternative to the empire. I know Keshul would be pleased to hear that House Akkadin had a hand in that endeavor. But it's building that we're doing... not destroying. I can't help you if you continue to commit acts of vandalism against the Stone Moon. I had to talk the Minister into allowing me to make this attempt as it is."

  Shekonet studied me. Then smiled ruefully. "You remind me a little of the seer."

  "I don't see how," the other emodo muttered. "Keshul was tough and brave and smart. This emodo is—"

  "—a guest of House Akkadin," Shekonet interrupted. "Why don't you get us some tea, Mekun." After he'd left, Shekonet said, "Forgive him. He was close to Bilil... have you met him?"

  "I've met her," I said.

  "Yes," Shekonet said. "You see some of the problem." He smiled a little. "He was of an age with us when he lived here as ke Keshul's apprentice, and he Turned late... very late. The Stone Moon took him—her—away to the anadi residence." He sat and gestured to the chair across from his. "There is too much history here. We drown in it."

  "So I see," I said.

  "Is it true?" he asked, hesitant. "Does the empire know we committed the crimes?"

  "They identified one of the males in the raiding warehouse party as belonging to Akkadin," I said. "Based on that the Minister would rather break you all than take the chance the House is harboring dissidents."

  Shekonet blanched and closed his eyes. He steadied himself with a breath and then said, "Tell me what we have to do to save Akkadin."

  "You jest," Thesenet said to me over our table on the roof of the cheldzan shervel. "They wanted the warehouse contract?"

  "They want to be a Great House," I said, toying with my tea-cup. "Or more accurately, they feel they deserve to be a Great House, having given the empire one of its most notable ministers. It has never ceased to rankle that they haven't risen in status along with their former House-member."

  "You're telling me this really was jealousy," Thesenet said, appalled.

  "They want to serve the empire," I said.

  "They want power!" Thesenet exclaimed. "That's different!"

  "Beneath the Stone Moon, one acquires power by serving the empire," I said. "Minister, they are a tool waiting to be used. You can destroy them or you can put their zeal to work on the behalf of the het and the empire. Think of this as... an opportunity."

  "You're mad," Thesenet said to me. "Pathen, they're criminals!"

  "Love makes us all do mad things," I said.

  "You... you're laughing?" Thesenet said with a scowl. "You find this funny?"

  "It does strike me as ridiculous, yes," I said. "Doesn't it strike you that way?"

  Exasperated, Thesenet refilled his tea. As he did, I said, "They want to be important, ke Thesenet. Give them something to do and they'll stop growling at the heels of every other House with an important contract. Isn't ke Keshul's House worth that much consideration?"

  "I suppose," Thesenet grumbled. "But I don't know what I'm going to do with them."

  "Put them to work copying records," I said. He looked up at me so I continued, "Our first stack of paper will be ready soon. Someone's going to have to shift all the records in Transactions and Holdings to paper. And there's everything in the historical archives as well. Het Narel is known for its archive... we could make copies of everything in it now and send them to other parts of the empire cheaply."

  "Cheap copies!" Thesenet said. "Strange thought." But he had that look in his eyes, the 'seeing all possibilities' look.

  "There's too much work there for the emodo employed at Transactions to handle," I said. "And you don't want them wasting their time on it when they need to be serving the current needs of the het. Why not let Akkadin do it, then? It will keep them inside. It will keep them busy. It will give them the prestige they crave, to be the first House entrusted with the transfer of records. And it would save them for the empire, which prevents the waste of their talents."

  "Fine," Thesenet said. "But I want to talk to these people. If they don't show the proper remorse, if they aren't respectful—"

  "They will be," I promised, for I had coached Shekonet in his new role as imperial devotee.

  Thesenet sighed. "Pathen. There is not enough liquor in the empire for this job."

  "At least let me help you make a start on it, then," I said, and called one of the servers over.

  I heard no
news about House Akkadin in the days that followed. My frequent errands to Transactions showed their House stone still on display so I gathered Shekonet had played his part well. I was glad to have averted that catastrophe and gladder yet that we'd neutralized the enemy responsible for our losses. But the resulting shortfall catapulted the House into a frenzy of activity. With the House's financial needs falling on them both, Abadil and Hesa worked far too long, and both took to falling asleep at their respective project sites. I let it go with Hesa because the eperu could afford to spend themselves without proper rest... but when I saw Abadil sleeping on the floor in the paper room one too many times I drew him into the common room and forced him to eat. As he stumbled through the meal, I said, "You need to take better care of yourself."

  "We'll be able to sell next week," he said, ignoring the comment.

  "What?" I said, startled.

  "Next week," he said, groping for his cup. "We'll be ready. We'll have enough for the empire's first shipment, plus extra to sell at the storefront. When we have a storefront. You should get us one."

  "How is that possible?" I asked. "Where are you finding the time?"

  Abadil smiled wearily. "The eperu you set to guarding us at night? I trained them on the process. So two of them guard and the rest of them—"

  "—make paper," I said. "Without a permit for cross-sex work."

  "I assumed you wouldn't report me to the Stone Moon for inappropriate use of eperu labor," Abadil said, too tired to put much vim into the words.

  The image of eperu doing fine-work, the sort of work reserved to emodo, was striking. I shook myself and said, "Even adding a second shift I don't see how it's possible. The expeditions to gather material take a day each."

  "Not anymore," Abadil said. At my glance, he said, "We're using the crops. They're right outside the door and there's nothing else to do with them. It was let them rot or put them in the molds." He met my eyes. "Next week, ke emodo. House Asara will be solvent again."

  "You're that certain," I said.

  "I am," Abadil said. "Now stop fretting about me and worry about the warehouse project. That's the one we need to succeed, and quickly."