Machigi. Lord of the Taisigin Marid, a strong holdout against the Shadow Guild—a charismatic young leader in the south, who had resisted the Shadow Guild as doggedly as he had resisted the rules and laws of the aishidi’tat.
As paidhi-aiji, Bren had personally negotiated an alliance between Machigi and the aiji-dowager. A human set of senses couldn’t take in all that Machigi was, but intimidating, yes—one of those scary personalities that didn’t so much pay out man’chi as draw it to him. He’d felt that force, in a human way, in his first meeting with Tabini. He’d felt it from Ilisidi.
And if there was a lord in the aishidi’tat that might, by sheer force of personality, challenge Tabini for power . . . Machigi was a man to watch. Machigi wouldn’t, sensibly, make a move against Tabini. Machigi’s aims were all directed at the southern coast, the Marid, at doing something about the constant ferment of rebellion, plot, and counterplot that had divided the region for centuries. Machigi’s enemies were the two northern districts of the Marid. His principle ally, of recent date, was the aiji-dowager, who was canny enough to keep him at arm’s length—
But for the future? If Tabini ever stumbled, before Cajeiri himself had his majority—and if Ilisidi herself was by then out of the picture, there was that young autocrat sitting down there in the south—a man the northern provinces would never call lord.
And, God, if this Ajuri claimant was under Machigi’s influence, appointing him to a lordship in the Padi Valley Association could mean a key member of the centralmost, oldest association of the aishidi’tat holding man’chi to a southern power rather than to Tabini’s line.
That was beyond worrisome. He and Ilisidi were trying to draw Machigi closer to the central government right now, and any problem arising from this Nomari as lord of a small clan would likely be far in the future—but would appointing this young man to Ajuri now create a major problem for Cajeiri once he took the government? Ajuri was a tiny clan—but rehabilitated, it would have kinship to both the aiji-consort and the next aiji. It would not be a minor voice in the foreseeable future.
The Guild suspects that this person has acted as a spy for Machigi in the rail center in the Senjin Marid. Details of its operation and cargoes would have been of great interest to Machigi during the Troubles, certainly. The Transportation Guild cover would have been a great asset to a spy, providing a means of mobility during a time when travel was watched and reported. Detail and proof of Nomari’s involvement in Machigi’s informational network, as yet, is lacking. Nor is that connection, if true, a wholly damning fact: Machigi was a point of resistance and held the entire southern Marid safe from Shadow Guild control. It is, however, a worrisome entanglement for the future.
Machigi and his predecessors had also held out against guild centralization, notably refusing the Assassins’ Guild: Machigi, like the aiji-dowager, maintained his own local units, and they had their own training. There was a Transportation Guild in the Taisigin Marid, but it was also not affiliated with the central guild: it was seafaring, involving ships, very little involvement with the roads, which had been notoriously ill-maintained, and nothing at all with the rails, which were still non-existent in Machigi’s district.
It was a very interesting place for an Ajuri in the Shejidan-based central Transportation Guild to have spent the troubled years of Tabini’s overthrow.
I am requesting my grandmother, since she is en route to Shejidan at this hour, to change her plans and use her good offices urgently to investigate this Ajuri claimant’s ties to the South, bearing in mind her great-grandson’s current whereabouts, the need for secrecy, and the risk to him should we fail to detect any worrisome collusion.
We are, to put it succinctly, concerned, and have far too few firm answers, considering the double-sided potential of this claimant, and the changes such an association might work in the political balance.
Dur and Gan in the north, with the North Coastal Association, not favorable to Machigi, abutted the Padi Valley Association, which was directly at issue, with Ajuri a member.
But equally to the point, the South Coastal Association—Lord Geigi, his own holdings at Najida, and the Maschi holdings, as well as the several townships of the southern coast—bordered the Taisigin Marid; and if those all linked up in a cozy unified interest, a string of associations—it could actually be a good thing, for the stability of the aishidi’tat.
But if Machigi reiterated his old demand for control of the west coast and made a grab for the South Coastal Association, a link to Ajuri could become a very serious problem. Machigi had surrendered his ancient claim in favor of a current trade agreement with the dowager. Gifts had been exchanged. Documents had been signed.
Warm assurances had preceded disasters as well as successes in the aishidi’tat.
We do not say hasten your business on the island. But once that business is complete, do not plan any delay at Najida. Let nand’ Toby convey you across the strait with seemly leisure, bearing in mind that during that passage you will have a naval escort which can place you in direct contact with Shejidan, at all levels.
Should there develop an urgency in this matter before your departure from Mospheira, you will receive a phone call from your staff in the Bujavid with the words ‘the aiji suggests.’ If that should happen, at that point, engage a plane without delay, fly to Shejidan, and report to me in all haste.
Until then, assume your highest immediate priority still to be the safe arrival and settlement of my son’s young associates.
You may give an abbreviated explanation of this message to the Presidenta. Tell him we have a political matter under review in which you may be needed, but we hope that it will not be necessary to recall you to the mainland early, and assure him that your sudden departure would be unrelated to his government. Destroy this message without fail. It is not information we wish to share.
“Not good news?” Toby asked.
“Yes and no,” he said, and rapidly, in Ragi, for his staff, “Nadiin-ji, an Ajuri claimant has arrived at Tirnamardi asking Lord Tatiseigi’s help, but Guild Council now informs Tabini-aiji that, during Murini’s time, the man has some association with Lord Machigi, a matter regarding which he has not been forthcoming. Damiri-daja is going to Tirnamardi. The dowager is arriving in Shejidan also with that intention, but the aiji is asking her instead to apply her energies to Machigi and learn what he knows.”
Toby could follow a little of that, Barb maybe could pick up the proper nouns, but his staff allowed their concern to show.
“Toby, excuse me. I have to answer this, and much as I would wish to host you overnight, you need to get my answer back to that ship out there, and I need to compose it while I have it all in my mind. Rani-ji, will you kindly serve refreshments, possibly a sandwich to take with them? They have had rather a hasty trip in. I do not know whether they may have managed meals.”
“We would be grateful,” Toby said, in his perfectly passable Ragi. “Bren-ji, write. We shall take it.”
Bren pulled out a chair and sat down at the end of the table he used for a desk. He reached for paper and a fountain pen, not the usual flattened steel quill he preferred for Ragi, but Tabini had deciphered his thready emergency notes before.
Aiji-ma, I shall do as you say. In preparation, I have brought in able associates to deal with the day-to-day issues of the children’s security and instruction, and the Presidenta is mustering allies to deal with whatever disturbance may spill from the station down to the island in political support for Tillington-nadi, so much of my work here is done. I have made your position very clear on matters of population balance aloft and the Presidenta both welcomes your statement and intends to use that declaration to reinforce his own position, that Tillington’s removal was more than justified.
Lord Geigi will have informed you that the kyo departure has proceeded according to agreement and that he is working closely with Gin-aiji and Jase-aiji to bri
ng the Reunioners to Earth. This will in itself ease food shortages, which will remove a major cause of tension on the station.
Regarding Machigi, aiji-ma, I have only my last encounter with him to guide me, and I cannot answer your concerns, except to say that he has longstanding problems in his region that cannot be bettered by involving himself in the contentious north. Whether he is wise enough to see this I cannot say with authority, but my impression of him is that the time is not right to make any move that would breach agreements with the aiji-dowager. If he has any contrary notions, I hope the dowager can indeed remind him of the advantages of his cooperation with her.
I am extremely concerned for the welfare of everyone at Tirnamardi, and if at any point my return can serve a good purpose, I will respond immediately.
I shall consult with the Presidenta without revealing the nature of your concern and I shall destroy your letter completely.
Nand’ Toby will convey this letter to his navy escort at all speed, and will stand ready to carry any further message.
He finished. He capped the pen, folded the paper and sealed it in an envelope. Narani had lit the waxjack—that spidery, delicate piece of equipment had come with them in its own wooden case—and he put his own seal on the envelope.
Toby would courier it out to sea, that being the route Tabini had chosen—not even trusting an air courier. This message had stayed firmly in known hands all the way to him and it would follow the same route back again—likely there was a chase boat waiting with the naval escort to get his reply back to Najida, by bus to the airport, and by a single courier, all the way to the Bujavid, with no pauses, no other change of hands. He had the verbal code now that would mean take a plane at Port Jackson and come: and he knew the nature of the problem that had arisen in Tirnamardi, the sort that might simmer for months, or not. It wasn’t the fastest mode of communication Tabini had chosen to establish, but, barring bringing the Guild Council into the question, to extend their network onto the island, with all those security risks and diplomatic problems, it was the most contained, with the least public notice attached.
No publicity about the situation on the mainland, no order to return, and not the utmost haste—just a be ready and an advisement what the signal would be that he had to get there.
Damn, however. Damn.
He was still shaken. Toby and Barb were certainly relieved, having likely broken speed records getting to port, but having no idea what they carried, whether it was war, treason, assassination or imminent death in the aiji’s immediate family. There was no extreme urgency in Toby’s getting out of port and getting the reply to this back, but there was a risk of public attention to Toby’s boat being in port, all sorts of possible rumors that might disrupt matters in progress, at least with speculation, on this side of the straits. Best Brighter Days slip quietly back out to sea before too long.
“I think there’s time for a proper dinner here,” he said in Ragi, for Narani and Jeladi and his aishid. “No great rush on the reply,” he said in Mosphei’. “We’re handling the details, now, and the aiji says take my time coming back even if called—at least to go by boat, avoiding any appearance of haste on the other side of the strait. It’s a delicate situation, that probably doesn’t need a special flight landing in Shejidan, with consequent attention. So you’ll eventually be taking me back to Najida: that plan hasn’t changed. But I can’t stay at Najida. When I do get home, it’s a good bet I’ll be headed straight from the dock to the airport.”
“Do we want to know what is going on?” Barb asked.
“Not particularly. It’s not war and peace. Just Padi Valley politics—two unfilled appointments and a candidate that’s turned up with a somewhat troublesome affiliation. At least an affiliation that requires some careful analysis. Sit there, at the table, have some teacakes. Or wine. I have to contact Shawn and advise him the world’s safe. I’ll just send a note over to him, considering the hour. Are you going to need fuel, going out?”
“That’s going to be a problem at this hour.”
“It won’t. I’ll see how inventive Shawn’s security can be on their own. They’ll get it over there quietly.”
Narani poured wine, and Bren sat down and wrote a note. All fine. Toby’s come into port with a message from the Bujavid, time sensitive, regarding a nomination very important to the aishidi’tat, but by no means affecting my current mission here. Tabini-aiji just wants me brought up to speed. Toby will be out again not long after midnight, with no public notice, we hope. I’ll explain at your convenience. I’m requesting Toby’s boat refueled: I’m requesting your security see to that.
He sealed the envelope, wrote on it, President Shawn Tyers, his eyes only. Not an emergency. But it needs the President’s attention within the hour.
He’d lay odds Shawn had gotten word something was going on, that the appearance of Brighter Days in the port had not gone unnoticed by security, and that Shawn was not sleeping. Shawn had every right to expect an advisement what was going on . . . but had not asked. Yet.
Ilisidi and Damiri face to face under Tatiseigi’s roof, trying to sort out the Ajuri succession? Shawn would have no concept. Neither would Toby.
His aishid certainly would. He had passed the letter to his aishid for disposal, and yes, they did read such things.
Not an emergency, true. But capable of becoming one that might need the paidhi’s personal connection to the aiji-dowager to help sort out.
And within ten minutes of sending the envelope to Shawn, and while Toby and Barb were having supper and he was having a second dessert . . . the phone rang.
He knew who before he picked it up.
“Bren?”
“Shawn. No big problem. I asked security to keep an eye on the boat.”
“They’re doing that.”
“Can they arrange that refueling? Hate to ask, but—”
“Done. Is it a crisis?”
“No emergency at all. A troublesome situation I’ve dealt with before. The aiji wants me to keep up to date in the event it gets active.”
“Happy to hear it’s not a disaster. Tomorrow? Nine?”
“Make it eight,” he said. “Security’s coming for the initial briefing at 10.”
“How about breakfast on the balcony at six?”
“Six it is.”
11
“Nandi,” someone whispered—Lucasi, Cajeiri thought, muzzy with a hard-won sleep. “Nandi. Jeri-ji.”
The room was utter dark except a light from a side door slightly ajar, making a partial silhouette—Lucasi, definitely, he thought. And the storm was still thumping and spattering away at the windows, behind the drawn drapes. “Antaro,” he said, an inquiry. Antaro had come up to the suite, battered and bruised.
“Antaro is sleeping. Your mother, nandi. Your mother is at the train station.”
“Is it morning?”
“Far from it, nandi. The seniors have gone downstairs to the security station to find out the situation. We only have the advisement.”
“Has the car gone out? Is Uncle aware, Luca-ji?”
“Lord Tatiseigi is asleep. The physician gave him a painkiller and he is not to be waked. Nandi, your mother has brought the Najida bus.”
“Nand’ Bren’s bus?” He could hardly believe it. But the big bus could travel by rail, on its own car. And it was bulletproof, mostly. It was good news. But they had to get the bus off the rail car, and that was a complicated operation. “Wake Jegari. Tell him—tell him contact his uncle’s aishid and get riders to the station.” Taiben moved to protect its own interests, and in response to very few outsiders. “Wake Eisi and Liedi. I have to dress.” It came to him that, if Uncle was asleep with painkillers—who was in charge? Who was ordering the house staff, and who was advising security, and who was going to open the gate to let Mother in?
He was the person of rank. He was not being stupi
d. Here he was in the dark in his nightshirt and there was nobody but Guild to order the things that needed to be done, and Guild was not supposed to be in charge. When Guild had to be in charge, things were really out of order, and he did not want Uncle’s house to meet Mother like that.
Lucasi was off on his errands. “Light, nadi!” Cajeiri called out, and Lucasi flung the lighted door wide, calling on Jegari to assist. Cajeiri hurled himself to the edge of the huge bed and slid off, already shedding his nightshirt, thinking first that anything he could find would do—and then that he did not want to meet Mother looking haphazard at all.
“Nandi?” Lights came on in the room. Eisi and Liedi arrived from their quarters, and now, distantly, Boji made himself heard, screeching and rattling his cage.
“Breakfast dress,” he said, and what explained everything: “Mother is coming early. Quickly, nadiin-ji. Uncle is asleep and someone has to order the house.”
“Yes,” Liedi said, and the two of them hastened to the closet and the upright, in hurried conference.
There was no time for a bath. Veijico arrived. Cajeiri was putting on his underclothes, but he was far from embarrassment. Antaro came out, too, cradling her broken arm, a robe over one shoulder, and with her hair unbraided. “Taro-ji,” Cajeiri said, “go back to bed.”
“It is not that bad, nandi. I can deal with communications.”
“Then sit, sit, soon, please!” He had no desire to have Antaro collapse amid all the other confusion. “I need the seniors to know I am awake, and dressing. I shall be in the great hall as quickly as I can. Find out what they know.”
He had no idea what he ought to do first, except to get dressed as quickly as he could, and to find out what people did know. He had heard mani and nand’ Bren and Uncle deal with staff emergencies, and he had the sketch of it all in mind—information, orders where orders needed to go, and things thought of before they became a problem. Mani had told him more than once, Trust your staff. Do not oversee their work. Think! Think of the things they will not think of!
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