The Empire of the Zon

by R. M. Burgess

  “Ten percent, as agreed,” she said cheerfully. “The first payment of our new enterprise. I think you and I are going to make a lot of money together.”

  He carefully secreted the gold in the money belt that he wore under his brocade.

  “I will bring ten trunks of raw silk to the Guild fort in five days,” she continued. “There will be two trunks’ worth of dynamite in them under false bottoms. I will have my private airboat, my treasurer, and some of my personal guards armed with ’grators. Make sure you have guards to protect your share and a bookkeeper to count it. The duke has agreed to pay us two hundred thousand gold talents on satisfaction, and I think the good cheval will convince him. But I am not parting with one stick unless he pays us in full.”

  “You were superb, High Mistress,” he said, his fawning tone quite sincere for a change. “I don’t know how you are able to command these titled noblemen.”

  “It is easy to command men,” said Vivia, modestly. “You just have to know what they want.”

  “Then why don’t you sell the duke more, High Mistress?” Numius’s eyes were avaricious. “He controls all of the Northern Marches—he could probably raise a few million gold talents.”

  The friendliness disappeared from Vivia’s face, and her eyes turned cold. She arched a characteristic eyebrow. Numius quailed before her.

  “I want Duke Hilson to start a war,” she said unemotionally. “I don’t want him to win it.”

  The carriage rolled on in silence for a few minutes. As they approached the Guild fort, Vivia broke the silence.

  “Remember, Numius, no one must know of our little arrangement. I could replace you like that!” She snapped her fingers.

  IT WAS ELECTION Eve in Atlantic City. The metropolis was festooned with bunting, and campaign workers for both candidates were doing furious last-minute canvassing in the streets. As was traditional, both candidates, Deirdre and Andromache, had shed their official roles for Election Week. While they were able to use only a fixed government stipend in the campaign, there was no restriction on the use of private funds. Both had spent lavishly from their personal fortunes. As caretaker queen, Hildegard and her staff were responsible for the running of the election, where all voting was done entirely on the comm.

  Vivia owned the many of the popular live sites on the comm, and her fellow Guild Mistresses owned most of the others. The Trading Guild had given their commcasters strict instructions. Deirdre’s hard line with the barbarians was bad for business, while Andromache was likely to follow Hildegard’s moderate line. The comm was awash with shows critical of Deirdre and celebrating Andromache’s virtues.

  The Lives of Our Sisters, commonly referred to as LOS, was the most popular show in the Sisterhood, and it was carried on Vivia’s High One live site. Its offices and facilities were on the top floor of the Confederation Tower. Only Vivia was rich enough to afford that space. LOS had replaced its normal fashion- and gossip-heavy programming with twenty-four-hour poll coverage for Election Week.

  Yukia Rabbina was the hostess of LOS and Vivia’s hottest media property. She was the embodiment of Zon blonde good looks and had a quick mind, perfect diction, and a warm but dominating presence on the video comm. She had narrowly failed the tests for admission to the Lower Temple, Lysia, the first rung in priestess hierarchy. However, she carefully cultivated the rumor that she had passed but turned it down. She never made the claim herself, but she hinted at it and made no attempt to contradict others who said she could have been a priestess if she so chose. She always cast herself as someone who was one with the commoners by choice, rather than necessity. Since the commoners made up over ninety percent of the Zon population, this was a very profitable strategy.

  When she invited Deirdre and Andromache to her prime-time slot on Election Eve, they had no choice but to accept. Neither of them cared for Yukia, and both considered her show lowbrow trash packaged for commoners. But they knew that most of the Sisterhood watched it. And what was more important, the voting of the electrae was strongly influenced by the opinion polls the Trading Guild carried out among the commoners. The show could well determine the outcome of the election.

  They arrived at Confederation Tower within moments of each other, their opulent speeders hissing to stops in the tower portico. They both saw the Imperial speeder parked at the entrance steps, attended by its Palace Guardian outriders in their ceremonial uniforms. Hildegard had been invited to preside over the show, and she had already arrived in state.

  Deirdre was dressed as she had been when she had her fateful meeting with the queen, in the pink robes of the Temple Magis. She had debated about wearing her Order of Motherhood, since Caitlin’s behavior would certainly be a political liability. However, she knew Andromache would certainly wear hers, and she did not want to seem less committed to motherhood than her rival. Her silky, blonde hair was piled on top of her head in an exquisite and very intricate coiffure, designed to complement the royal tiara of the House of d’Orr. Deirdre always felt more confident and poised when she wore the antique tiara, knowing that it had been worn by her ancestors for over a thousand years. Thetis the Great, Simran the Merciless—this tiara had graced the brows of many celebrated Zon queens.

  Andromache wore the contrasting white robes of the High Priestess of the Upper Temple Cognis and her Order of Motherhood matched Deirdre’s. While she was carefully made up to look well on the comm, she wore her long raven hair in a simple bun on top of her head. However, the royal tiara of the House of Saxe was as old as Deirdre’s, and she wore it just as proudly.

  Aware that that video was being fed onto the comm, Andromache went straight to Deirdre and greeted her in the traditional manner, saying, “How wonderful to see you, Deirdre! You are looking absolutely divine this evening. Being a priestess clearly suits you.”

  Deirdre colored and smiled back.

  “And you, Andromache, always such a serious look!” she responded in a pleasant tone. “You mustn’t keep trying to conceal your beauty beneath that plain bun.”

  Andromache was tall, but not quite as tall as her rival, so she had to reach up to link her arm in Deirdre’s. They entered the Confederation Tower together, trailed as usual by their entourages. Yukia was in the grand three-hundred-meter high atrium, chatting with Hildegard, surrounded by the Queen Empress’s staff. The two princesses made their way to the queen, their handmaidens politely but firmly moving Yukia out of the way. Both knelt ceremonially. Hildegard raised them to their feet and greeted each one warmly.

  “Welcome, my dears,” she said solemnly, though Deirdre detected a small twinge of fear when their eyes met. “My role is purely ceremonial this evening. It is such a delight to see that no matter who wins, the future of the Sisterhood is in such good hands.”

  Both Deirdre and Andromache bowed, acknowledging the compliment.

  “I am sure you would like to meet our hostess, Yukia Rabbina,” Hildegard went on. “She has been telling me the most interesting things about how they are using the comm to set trading prices with the barbarians.”

  Hildegard beckoned Yukia, who bowed very deeply to the princesses.

  “I am so flattered that both candidates as well as our beloved Queen Empress have consented to grace my show,” she said, exuding warmth and hospitality. “Please follow me to the antigravity shafts. Our studios are on the top floor, just below the viewdeck.”

  “We are delighted to be here to discuss our visions for the Sisterhood,” said Andromache graciously. “It is our Zon way to have open and friendly debate to help the electrae choose.”

  Deirdre said nothing, but followed in Andromache’s footsteps. The four of them—the queen, the princesses, and Yukia—stepped into an antigravity shaft together. It was a very powerful one, and it hurled them upward so rapidly that they felt their stomachs drop away. Yukia was used to it and Deirdre had spent long hours in airboats and airships, but both Hildegard and Andromache felt a bit queasy.

  “Would your highnesses like to see the
viewdeck?” asked Yukia solicitously as they approached the top.

  “Most certainly,” said Deirdre, who had never been to the Confederation Tower before.

  The queen demurred, but Andromache felt she must follow and assented. Yukia helped Hildegard exit at the top floor, where members of her staff were present to wait on the queen. The three of them rode up to the open viewdeck.

  They could see all of Atlantic City and almost the whole of the Great Vale from here. They were looking down on all the highest points of the city: Simran’s Peak and Chateau Regina, Temple Heights, and Lumin Hills. The only thing in their immediate environs that was higher was the snow-covered Encircling Ridge.

  It was not an especially windy evening, but they were so high that the breeze was very strong. It tugged at their expensive robes and pulled some trailing strands out of Deirdre’s expensive coiffure. She was unconcerned and walked to the very edge of the viewdeck where a long-vision had been set on a pedestal. She looked through it and was amazed by how much she could see. She felt she could look into almost every residence in the city.

  “Are you quite done, Deirdre?” asked Andromache, trying to sound at ease. “I know we have a few minutes before we are on, but this wind is playing havoc with my robes, and the openness is making me dizzy.”

  Deirdre resisted the temptation to call Andromache over to the edge—she knew the high priestess was uncomfortable out in the open at this great height.

  “Very well, let us go inside,” she said.

  Yukia led them back to the antigravity, and they stepped out on the top floor, just below the viewdeck. She led them to a studio that had been set up as a very comfortable study, with overstuffed leather armchairs, rows of faux leather-bound books, and a real blazing fire in a big fireplace. There were two huge viewports that looked out onto the city and a holographic projection circle at the studio center.

  Discreet servers carrying silver trays of fitza and delicate canapés approached them as soon as they entered. Both Deirdre and Andromache accepted crystal goblets of the wine but waved away the food, aware that they were on the comm.

  Hildegard was seated on an armchair by the fire, wearing the informal Zon traveling crown. Yukia suggested that Deirdre and Andromache seat themselves opposite her on the other side of the fireplace. She sat, facing all three of them.

  “Well, I hope we are all nice and comfortable, my ladies,” she said cheerfully. “Tomorrow is the big day when the Sisterhood will elect a new Queen Empress. We will all miss our beautiful Queen Empress Hildegard, whose wise rule has kept the Sisterhood safe, prosperous, and at peace. We hope and trust that whoever succeeds her will continue her policies.” She bent her head in respect to Hildegard, who smiled.

  “I will ask the first question of the two candidates, after which I will moderate questions from the comm. I am sure sisters from all over New Eartha are keen to pose their questions and concerns to the candidates.”

  Both Deirdre and Andromache nodded. Hildegard is immensely popular with both the electrae and the commoners, and it is well known that she favors me, thought Andromache, calming her nerves.

  “The first question is to Princess Deirdre,” said Yukia smoothly. “You come to us dressed as a priestess of Magis, but aren’t you flying under false colors? You have never served in the Temples—you have been a military officer all your life. Our constitution was expressly written to guarantee civilian control of the military.”

  “My credentials as a priestess are better than most Zon queens,” replied Deirdre, striving to keep her tone civil and friendly. “The constitution states that the Queen must have qualified as a priestess and gained admission to the Temples. I qualified and was admitted the Lower Temple, Lysia, studying biology even while I was at the Academy. As an officia in the Queen’s Household Legion, I continued my studies and qualified and was admitted to the Middle Temple Magis. I wear my priestess robes by right; I have earned them.”

  Yukia did not look convinced, but she moved on.

  “Princess Andromache,” she said, turning to her. “We are facing some difficulties with our vassals in Briga and Utrea. What policies would you implement to deal with these?”

  Andromache did not miss a beat.

  “Most of our problems have been brought on by an excessive use of force,” she said calmly. “I think things are working their way back to normalcy in Briga, which is our biggest concern. Our Resident, Lady Selene, is a doing an excellent job of implementing the Queen Empress’s policies. There is ongoing action in Utrea, and I am afraid that I cannot comment on it at this time.”

  “Indeed,” acknowledged Yukia, smiling. She looked out at her viewers and said warmly, “The site comm is open. Please open a channel to us and direct your question to our candidates.”

  Yukia’s staff had been working assiduously to set up a series of open channels. They had worked out a precise profile of the types of sisters they wanted on the show. Every time a channel opened, they decided whether it was one they wanted or not. If they wanted it, they responded and kept the channel open. If not, they closed the channel.

  The first channel was opened, and a hologram of a pleasant-featured young woman appeared. She was dressed in rustic farm clothes and had some stalks of hay in her hair. She looked like such a Zon cliché of a hayseed that she appeared to be an actress made up to look the part. But both Deirdre and Andromache knew that Yukia was far too clever to take such a risk. The workers on the farms and ranches of the Great Vale were highly esteemed by many in the Sisterhood as the embodiment of simple Zon virtues. The love of horses, dogs, and all animals ran deep in the Zon psyche.

  “Kintane of Magna District,” said Yukia jauntily. “Go ahead, you have the comm.”

  “I work on a farm under Castle Magna,” she said in the rough and unsophisticated accent of the rural areas of the Great Vale. “My question is for Princess Deirdre. You claim you stand for honor and discipline. Yet your own daughter, Seignora Lady Caitlin, who has grown up in the lap of luxury, has committed a capital offense, bringing the Sisterhood to the brink of war! And now she has been allowed to escape, not once, but twice from custody! How can we commoners trust that as queen, you will not continue this blatant nepotism? A commoner who did half of what Lady Caitlin did would have been shot by now!”

  Kintane’s voice had been rising through her question, and by its end she was very passionate. With consummate ease, Yukia interposed herself without appearing to cut off the farm girl.

  “Princess Deirdre, you must know that the case of Lady Caitlin has incensed many commoners,” she said, her tone very friendly. “Obviously, we are all respectful of your Order of Motherhood and your mother’s love, but as Kintane says, a queen must be able to place herself above her personal relationships.”

  Deirdre had expected this question, if not the bluntness of her questioner. So she took a moment to collect herself before she answered. She maintained her picture-portrait pose: elegant, haughty, and very cool.

  “I sympathize with your position,” she said to the farm girl, trying to sound motherly. “Lady Caitlin’s behavior has broken my heart. I gave her everything I could, as any mother would. She was trained and nurtured, and her achievements prior to the recent past showed remarkable promise. I can assure you that she received no special treatment in the Legions. She was put to the hardest tests; indeed, I insisted that she be tested harder than the others so that there could be no question of favoritism. Her mentor was Cornelle Diana Tragina, and it is well known Cornelle Diana gives no one any quarter.” Deirdre paused and smiled. “There were many days when Caitlin came home from the training ring black and blue from the beatings she received from the cornelle. This is all on record, and I will make it available on the general comm.

  “As for the accusation that she was allowed to escape; why, that is absurd. We could never have expected her to proceed into barbarian territory when the Brigons have placed such a huge bounty on her head! And her second escape was from the Engine Maidens,
whose actions we in the military do not control and at whose motives we cannot begin to guess.”

  “Thank you, Princess Deirdre,” said Yukia, again cutting in without appearing to do so. The farm girl, Kintane, was clearly not satisfied and seemed to have more to say, but Yukia moved on. “Our next channel is from Salonina from Aurora Citadel.”

  Aurora Citadel was the second Zon city, located in East Brosia on the Peril Sea.

  “My question is for Princess Andromache,” she said, speaking Pranto in the lilting accent of Aurora. “Here in Aurora, we produce a lot of specialty seafood that the Trading Guild sells to the barbarians, ensuring that we are financially independent. Indeed, we pay hefty taxes to the central government in Atlantic City. All this fear of war has dried up orders, and we have rotting seafood on our wharves. What will your administration do to help us?”

  Andromache did not wait for Yukia to hand her the question. While she did not have Deirdre’s military bearing, she straightened her back to sit as erect as she could and smiled as she responded.

  “Queen Empress Hildegard’s administration has worked to smooth over the sensibilities of the Brigons. My administration would continue this policy. As I said to our hostess, Yukia, in my opening remarks, we are currently at peace with Briga, and my first priority would be to ensure that this continues. Peace with Briga will reopen markets for your seafood. I know that you also have significant markets in Utrea, and my goal would be to work for peace there and reopen those markets for you as well.”

  The woman from Aurora nodded, clearly satisfied with the answer. And so it went for the next hour. Both Deirdre and Andromache kept their poise, and neither flagged. However, Yukia’s subtle maneuvering and her choice of channels were calculated to make Deirdre look bad. Polling numbers came in throughout the hour. At the beginning of the show, the two of them were almost in a dead heat. By the end, Andromache had clearly pulled ahead by a considerable margin.