Interregnum

by S. J. A. Turney

  “There’s a tall one, fair haired. I think he’s probably in charge.

  Iasus nodded and spoke to his commander without taking his eyes off the minister. “Rufus. Got to be Rufus. He’s officer of the night watch. Go on minister…”

  “One with a black beard, quite curly.”

  Iasus tutted and lifted the vine-staff, almost choking the minister. “No one in my duty with a black beard” he said.

  The minister’s eyes bulged again, but Cialo piped up from the other corner. “He means Carbo. Carbo was assigned to guard, but I swapped him for one of my crew this morning after we had a minor accident.”

  Iasus nodded and loosened his grip on the stick again. “And the last?”

  “A fairly plain man” the minister said. “A bit thin, brown hair, quite pale…”

  “Kasta” spat Iasus. “Never did trust northerners.”

  Sabian squared his shoulders and put his sword away.

  “Ok minister. I’ll assume you’ve told us everything. We’ve got to go prepare for Ursus’ funeral. Darius will deliver you back to Sarios and he will decide how to proceed with you.”

  As Darius herded the man back out of the octagonal room, Sabian turned and called after him “and bear in mind that if there’s anything you haven’t told me, I’ll be back for you.” He turned to the two sergeants. “Come on. We haven’t got much time.”

  Making their way out of the ruined palace as hurriedly as they could, Sabian almost walked into one of his men who was trying to get past the barrier they’d replaced after they’d entered the ruinous building.

  “What are you doing soldier!”

  The man came to attention instantly. “I was sent to find you sir. There’s a ship in the channel; should be here in a bit over an hour sir. Lookout says it’s his lordship, sir.”

  Sabian smiled. “Good. Now get everyone but the lookout to the graveyard.”

  The vicious smile stayed riveted on to his face as he marched through the orchard. If Velutio was on his way, the lack of signal last night must have irritated someone. For an instant he wondered whether his lordship himself were behind this, but dismissed the thought after a moment. This was definitely the work of Crosus and, if Velutio was on his way now, that walking dead man would be right behind him.

  Chapter XII.

  The funeral was short and Spartan, but well-attended and with full honours. Sarios had dealt with every funeral here in twenty years, so Ursus was in good company. Throughout the whole thing, however, Sabian’s mind had been elsewhere. He’d watched the three men the minister had named throughout the entire service but none of them had betrayed any sign of nerves. His real problems were how to go about the legality of proving treachery in the guard Captain and how to disprove anything the man accused him of. After all, his lordship was hardly likely to be in a welcoming and forgiving mood. The last lines of the prayers to the local spirits brought him back to the present. Velutio would be here in about half an hour.

  Cialo and Iasus stood at attention, awaiting the command to fall out. Most of the island’s population were in attendance despite their lack of connection with the man, but they stood still, perhaps unsure of whether to leave before the soldiers. Well let them watch. He turned to the six companies of men and cleared his throat.

  “Soldiers Rufus, Carbo and Kasta! Front and centre!”

  The three men fell out of their units and stepped out to the front, lining up shoulder to shoulder though, Sabian noted with some satisfaction, unhappily and a little hesitantly. He drew breath to speak again.

  “These three men are guilty of treason and mutiny. In conspiracy with the doctor from Velutio and one of the island’s elders who will be dealt with under local law, these three men have been undermining my command on Isera, feeding information to an outside source and disobeying orders. As co-conspirators they are also a party to the murder of trooper Ursus.”

  He paused to let this all sink in. To their credit, the three soldiers continued to stand at attention, unwavering. He folded his hands behind his back and addressed the men again.

  “I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that I encourage traditional values in my army and I expect most of you can tell me what the punishment was for both treason and mutiny in the ranks?”

  The blood of the men was rising now. Sabian had a good reputation among his men and he knew it. Those who betrayed him, betrayed them, and in the current setting the murder of Ursus hung over them like a cloud. A number of voices cried out “stoning” or “death” among the general murmur of outrage and disgust.

  There was some wavering among the three now, but they still didn’t break. Sabian nodded. Very well, he would give them the black news now.

  “Stoning. Indeed.” He rocked on his heels. “Unless anyone else would like to speak up in favour of these three?”

  The silence was deafening. Sabian nodded.

  “Very well, according to military law you’re all three hereby sentenced to death. I’ll give you one chance to make it quick, though. Tell me what information has been sent to whom so that I can confirm my suspicions and I’ll grant you a clean soldier’s death, by the sword. Otherwise your comrades will take you away for a slow and painful way out. Now is your time to decide.”

  The three dropped from attention as Kasta glanced across at the others.

  “We’re going to die anyway!” he growled in a thick accent of the Northern provinces.

  Carbo held his arm out to the mousey-haired northerner. “’ave you ever seen a man stoned to death? It’s a fuckin’ nightmare.” He turned and took a step toward Sabian. “Give me the sword sir.” A moment or so later, Rufus joined him, nodding. Sabian eyed them coldly and then glanced across at Kasta, who was scanning the crowd around him, his head moving wildly and a panicky look in his eye. The commander spied Iasus behind him and the sergeant nodded.

  The moment Kasta broke and made a run for the orchard, Iasus and two of his men were already on his heels. Sabian cast his eyes across the other two who daren’t even look after the escaping soldier. He gazed behind them at the troops.

  “Cialo and four men with me. The rest of you know what to do!”

  The grizzled sergeant and four of the men behind him stepped up to join the commander, while the rest turned, their fury still high and empowering their blood as they chased down the fleeing man. Sabian paid no attention to the cries and shouts among the trees. Kasta would be caught long before he ever reached a door and Iasus had both the authority and the will to carry out the appropriate punishment. The commander brought his attention back to the two in front of him.

  “I’ve never had a problem with either of you? Why then?”

  Carbo hung his head. “It’s not you sir. You’re a good man an’ no one was meant to get ‘urt.” He stopped but Sabian just let the silence reign until the soldier spoke again. “We nearly came to you anyway after the doc told us what ‘appened to Ursus, but we reckoned we was too deep in it by then.” Again a pause filled only by the man continuing. “It was that Crosus sir. ‘E ‘ates you sir.”

  Confirmation at last. Quietly, Sabian replied “I know.”

  Rufus picked up where his friend had left off. “He was going to get us commissions in the guard, what with him being their commander…”

  “Captain,” corrected Sabian.

  “Yessir. Anyways, they get paid about four times what we do and they live in the palace. Crosus just wanted you to look bad. I think he wants you to look sort of soft sir. Think he wants your job.”

  Sabian nodded. “He does want my job. And I suppose it was the doctor who sent all the information, yes? He seemed to be very tight-lipped with it all.”

  The soldiers nodded and Sabian took a deep breath. “Well I’m sure my leniency here has armed Crosus with more than enough ammunition to cripple me. You all did your job quite well.”

  He looked across them at Cialo and nodded. “Take them somewhere private. Make it clean and fast and they’re to be put next to Ursus
.”

  The gruff sergeant nodded and the two soldiers, resigned looks about them, trooped off towards the Water Gate accompanied by Cialo and his men. He watched them go and suddenly realised that the island audience had not moved since the funeral. Inwardly he cursed himself for not having dismissed them before he talked to the traitors. Still, they already knew he’d been lenient and one or two of them were perceptive enough to have guessed he’d landed himself in trouble. Well he may not make is past Velutio, but he’d sure as hell make certain Crosus saw the sharp end of it all first. He turned to the assembled islanders who were all watching him intently, some curious, some approving, some even horrified. It took him a moment to notice Sarios standing deep in huddled conversation with Darius. He sighed.

  “It would be a good idea for you all to go about your business. Lord Velutio will be here presently and I very much suspect you’ll then see a change of command in Isera.”

  Without waiting for comment, he turned and strode off into the orchard, following the sounds of violent affray. It was not hard to find the scene. Kasta hadn’t even made it out of the edge of the wood, as a trail of blood made clear. Iasus had had the taste and presence of mind not to do this among the islander’s fruit-bearing trees. He found the hundred or so men by the south wall on the cliff. The broken, tattered and bloody remains of the northerner were in a pile against the stone wall base. There were blood, brains, guts and chips of bone in an arc around the unrecognisable pile of offal. The last few stones were still being thrown now, despite the fact that the man had probably been dead after the first volley. This was an expression of the loathing of a unit for betrayal in their midst and for all the unpleasantness of the sight, Sabian felt a rush of pride in his men. They were proper soldiers, not poncy fair-weather troops like the guard. Still, he was running out of time. He cleared his throat loudly and the companies fell silent and parted to allow him through. Iasus stood at the front; for the first time Sabian could remember the sergeant looked weary.

  “Sergeant. Detail a few men to get a sack and fetch the remains across to the other orchard. I want them nailed and tied to that crucifix Cialo built last week.”

  Again the pride in his men. Not one of them argued or questioned. Iasus didn’t even have to detail someone, as several people went for the body straight away. Nodding in satisfaction, he turned to head out toward the dock. If he was going to fall from grace today, he was going to make a blazing statement out of the whole event, and he’d take certain people with him.

  A quarter of an hour later, Sabian stood on the path before the Gorgon Gate. Four companies of men in full gear stood at attention on the lawns, two on either side. The rest manned the gate and the top of the walls. The islanders all stood in the Ibis Courtyard, with Sarios at their head. The commander hadn’t wanted them out front in case things went too sour too quickly and his Lordship merely landed troops to make a clean sweep of it. To his left, just a few yards off the path, an unrecognisable mass of body parts and innards was tied and nailed to a T-shape. If one looked for a while it was possible to pick out an eye; a hand; a foot. Doctor Favio had suggested the wood be smothered with some oil or other and flowers placed at the base to help cover the smell that threatened to make them gag. Sabian had refused. He had a message to put over as plainly as he could.

  And now Velutio was striding up the path. No shock to Sabian to see Crosus at his shoulder along with a dozen of the personal guard in dress uniforms. He almost laughed. To think some of his own men had wanted to be that. He could only imagine how quickly those men would get butchered on a real battlefield. He stepped forward as Velutio reached him.

  “Your lordship.”

  Velutio had been walking with his head lowered but now he raised his face and his pure rage shone in his face. He’d never seen the lord like that. Velutio got cold and calculating, not red and furious. His lordship thrust an accusing finger into Sabian’s face.

  “Tell me why I shouldn’t have Crosus here kill you where you stand!”

  Sabian almost laughed; this was too surreal. If he was that deep in, why not just ride the wave of insanity. He spoke lightly and with a humorous lilt.

  “Firstly, because you need me considerably more than you need him. Secondly because I am in the right and I’ve done nothing wrong.” His gaze came to rest on Crosus. “And thirdly, because if this trained ape tried to spit me I’d have to hand him back to you in slices my lord.”

  It was amazing when you knew it was a lost cause how easy it was to speak your mind. His words did nothing to mollify Velutio, but they’d provoked a huge anger in the captain. Sabian almost laughed again when he saw the purple colour of Crosus’ face and the whitening of the man’s knuckles on the hilt of his sword.

  Velutio squared his shoulders. “Commander, you’ve picked up a very nasty habit of gainsaying and back-talking me since you came to this place. That is not the attitude of a trusted officer.”

  Sabian raised an eyebrow. “Indeed my lord? I would have thought that was exactly the attitude you need from a trusted officer? Yes-men will just nod and agree as you slip all the way down the slope. You need someone who argues. I have never done you disservice.”

  The lord turned his iron grey head and glanced at Crosus who was still shaking with anger and then back to Sabian again. “Nevertheless, the captain went to a great deal of time and effort to get a spy working within this community and suddenly last night, we stopped getting reports. Why is that I wonder, and where might my personal physician be?”

  Sabian felt the ground gradually slipping away beneath him.

  “The spy, your physician my lord, murdered one of my men and had been feeding you reports in a bad light in order to augment this shit-head’s ever growing reputation and power base.” He pointed at Crosus. “This man’s been buying off my troops, bribing islanders and having good men murdered just to get him that little bit closer to my job.” He suddenly realised an opportunity open to him here.

  “And he can have it. By dead man’s boots if he cares to try.”

  Crosus actually lunged forward, but Velutio held out an arm to stop him.

  “I will not have you duelling or even besmirching the name of my guard while you stand under such taint. You deliberately disobeyed my orders at every turn and appear to have ‘gone native’.” The last phrase almost caused him to spit. “You never sent one person to the crucifix, which was a direct order.” As he spoke, his eyes strayed to the mess on his right. A startled look crossed his face, which pleased Sabian no end. In fact the Gods might be with the commander after all today for, as Velutio noticed the crucified pulp, so the wind chose that very moment to double back on itself and carry the reek across both his lordship and the captain. Velutio merely turned back to the commander, his nostrils dancing in the miasma, and raised one eyebrow.

  Sabian grinned. “One of Crosus’ turncoats. I don’t like traitors in my army.”

  He watched the changes of expression and colour in the captain’s face with immense satisfaction while Crosus battled against the smell, the anger and now the uncertainty. Without letting either of them recover, Sabian continued. “The two men who sang me a whole long story died well and they’re buried next to the veteran that Crosus had killed.” His smile widened. “As for your doctor, he wouldn’t cooperate at all, so I’m afraid I had to send him fishing without a head. Probably a good thing for you though my lord.”

  Velutio had not moved. “How so commander?”

  Again Sabian smiled. “I suspect if you tell me what reports you’ve had and I tell you the truth, you’ll find glaring errors. You see I rather think that the doctor was receiving a higher wage from Crosus than from yourself. In fact” he said, tipping his head to one side with a thought that hadn’t occurred to him before, “I wonder whether the captain’s long-term plan doesn’t involve knocking me out of the game and then having you poisoned? Perhaps the murder here was a test-run was it Crosus?”

  Again the big captain, his features red and fu
rious made a lunge for Sabian and again Velutio prevented him. Sabian opened his mouth to rile the captain further, but a voice behind called out “commander!” Sabian’s head swung around and he spotted the minister standing in the shadows of the Gorgon Gate with Darius at his side. Sarios was still in his priestly garb from the funeral and the white robe accentuated the black eye patch disconcertingly. He wondered when the doctor was going to try and deal with that. Darius was still wearing his leathers and bore the sword at his side. He smiled. Why not go the whole hog? This would make the lord and the captain as angry as anything.

  “Excuse me for a moment my lord.”

  Even as Velutio opened his mouth to order Sabian to be still, the commander turned and strolled slowly and unconcerned up to the gate. Once in the shadows and out of earshot of the others he looked back down to see Velutio and Crosus in a heated debate. Good. Friction would help. He turned back to the minister.

  “Well timed gentlemen. Can I help you?”

  Sarios thrust his arms out to the sides. “What the hell are you doing commander? You’re going to get yourself killed!”

  Sabian smiled. “I think that’s kind of academic now. Velutio’s got too much on me and I’ve got no defence. I just want to make them angry enough that I get a chance to gut Crosus before I go.”

  Darius and the minister exchanged glances and, with a saddened look, the old man nodded at his charge. Darius turned back to the commander and withdrew something from the recesses of his tunic, thrusting it into Sabian’s hands, keeping his back to the scene below.

  “What’s this?”

  Sarios let out a long breath. “The one thing we have kept from you at all costs.” Sabian began to unroll the battered scroll and his eyes widened as he recognised the island on the map, the reef systems, and finally several marked safe channels. He whistled through his teeth. Sarios continued “and the only thing that might save your reputation here.