Ancient Blood: A Novel of the Hegemony (The Order Saga Book 1)

by Brian McKinley

  “Geoffrey saw in Sebastian an opportunity to own not just a bishop but a churchman whose reputation and nature had made him beloved of the common people. He soon seduced Sebastian into Britannicus’s cause as a Dhampir and forged a partnership that would change Britain forever.

  “When his unchanging visage began to elicit comment, Sebastian pleaded to end his service and be released from his bondage but his size and knightly pedigree ensured that Britannicus would choose Creation over destruction for him. After a period of forcible indoctrination and refreshment of his skill at arms, Sebastian once again became a Knight, dispatched at his lord’s pleasure to quell discontent among Governors, execute suspected traitors and strike the fear of their Hegemon into the hearts of all. Geoffrey however, contrived to maintain his friendship by convincing Sebastian to hold Britannicus the author of their mutual ills. There is much I could say about the many famous events in the centuries of that partnership but ‘twould yield a saga of itself.”

  He took a moment to compose, crossing his legs in the European way and I imagined him missing only a pipe. Despite common sense, I found myself rooting for Sebastian. Once upon a time, he’d been a guy just trying to live his own life and do the right thing, caught up in a structure he couldn’t fight that gave him no options.

  A guy like me.

  “Shortly after I took my place as Judicis,” Iago said. “Geoffrey, Sebastian and a handful of others conspired in Britannicus’s assassination. Needless to say, it played through down to the deaths of all the other conspirators, save one who remembered nothing of Geoffrey’s involvement. Sebastian was left to face judgment alone and with an anchor hung ‘round his neck while Geoffrey damned his ‘old friend’ with all the grieved indignation he could feign. In truth, I do Plantagenet a disservice, for ‘twas a solid prosecution which I should not have seen through had I not as devious and base a mind as he.

  “Still, Sebastian would have ended there but for the irony that he made no attempt to excuse or explain his crime. Instead, he spoke from his heart of freedom and simple living, of his yearning for them and the centuries of their denial to him. He spoke without caution and without apology. It was the first of many beautiful discourses he would grace our council with over the centuries but I recall how like a drink from a mountain spring it refreshed us. There was such courage and such passion in him that it moved us all. Regardless, most would have still voted him death. However, I absolved Sebastian, setting a dangerous precedent and went so far as to commission him my official Observer in the New World. ‘Twas a position of trifling influence over the adventurers so many Hegemons had dispatched to the wilderness but also one of relative freedom. Or so it seemed on surface. I do not pretend to altruistic motives, for I discerned in Sebastian a certain conflict within his nature which I thought might allow me to play upon him as Geoffrey had. Also, his bitter enmity toward his betrayer was a resource I could employ against my clever new Hegemon should I want for it.”

  The Judicis crossed his arms over his chest as if cold and the combination of arms and legs made him appear to be folding himself up into the chair.

  “Even in the wilderness, Sebastian could not escape The Game. The small contingent of Agents he’d brought required instructions and objectives, the many foreign agents sought to befriend or bribe him to their interests and the very wildness of the place that so entranced him also begged him to tame it. I had observed that the seed of The Game had been planted in Sebastian and its roots were pressing wider the division of his nature which I mentioned previous. I tell this not to excuse the part I played but merely to explain its effectiveness. Ever so gently at first, for I knew he would be wary, I made him my creature in various plots to influence or weaken opponents. I employed Draco as my envoy—who was already a hard man but not quite the bloodthirsty fiend he’s become since he broke with Sebastian. By simple virtue of their like natures, I intuited that they should become friends and Draco, by word and deed, would instruct Sebastian in his theory of The Game: that power is the only answer to power.”

  He unfolded his arms and gave us one of those little Italian hand-shrugs. “Sebastian seized upon the acquisition and maintenance of power as the key to his long-sought freedom and with a mighty effort, set his scattered colonies on the path to rapid growth and industry. Before this had even shown result, he made suit for me to grant him Domain status. Exactly as I’d planned. In a single move I gave power to one of my pawns at the cost of Geoffrey, Julia and Diego—who was Hegemon of the Spanish Empire at the time and a most untrustworthy fellow. As the arrangements were made for his war of independence and the internal structure of his new Domain, I think Sebastian realized that the price for his rise in stature would be increased contact with the Hegemony whom he largely despised. I also believe that he began to see my hand in many of the vexations of his life after that. Oddly, this did not disturb the deep friendship which had grown between him and Draco. For the rest, I feel little need to say, as I’m sure you’re familiar enough with the history of this Domain to make what small contribution I could add irrelevant.”

  Iago leaned forward again, taking in both of us with his stare. “However, what needs be said is the following: that rift in Sebastian’s nature, between his desire for honesty and freedom and his God-given talent for leadership, oration and statecraft, is not uncommon in many men but in Sebastian its conflict was extreme. He could never reconcile these two natures in himself, could not look upon his works—however great—without cursing himself for a hypocrite and could not love himself for shame of his flaws. This, I say in all truth, was his downfall and the seed from which his cursed Feralism has sprung. I see in your eyes, signora, that you hesitate to believe me. You have always felt a guilt for his decline, have you not?”

  Caroline sat up out of my embrace and dropped her gaze. “No, I … I…”

  “There is no need,” Iago said, his voice hushed and compassionate. “I swear on my life that I observed the early symptoms of the condition half a century before you met him but that Sebastian paid them no heed. When he finally suspected, he reached out for you like a drowning man for a raft and had equally little thought that he might sink you in his desperation to be saved. As his faith in power wavered, he decided that love must hold his cure. Do not misunderstand, for I do not say that his love was untrue. I merely say that there was no power on this Earth that could have performed the miracle he sought. Your love gave him what peace was possible, much more than he could have found otherwise. Whatever failings may be laid at your door, I say that your Creator’s descent is not among them.”

  I choked up some even as Caroline raised her head, tears spilling down her face. “Thank you.”

  “Okay, before we go further,” I said while Caroline dabbed at her eyes. “Assuming we help you beat Sebastian and keep your position, can you Release us and put us off-limits to everybody once this is over? We’ve talked about this before and we can deal with living in, like, some South American country if that’s what it takes.”

  “That would be unwise,” Iago said. “No matter how potent my pronouncement of your status and no matter how well you hid yourselves, no one on the council would be deterred from snatching you up for your knowledge of North America’s secrets. You will have your Release from Sebastian, my warrant to that but any plans beyond should remain undecided until after you see how events have taken shape.”

  “And until we see if we’ve both survived,” Caroline added.

  So there it was.

  “I’m loath to frame it so plainly,” he said. “But, yes, your lives are most certainly at risk. That it would have been simpler for Sebastian to dispose of you both prior to the Gathering but did not, puts me to thinking that your punishment is to occur after his victory. Which brings us, in circular fashion, back to the topic of your plan. I do like the poetic irony of turning Sebastian’s own issue against him but the damage such an action could cause is too great to be so reckless in its use. Therefore, we must have another way.
”

  “I thought that might be your evaluation,” Caroline said, reaching into a belted fold of her dress to retrieve the disc from the security office. “But I wanted you to be aware, since I used it to threaten Sebastian just before the Gathering.”

  Iago’s eyebrows twitched a little but he hid any further reaction. “Therefore he has doubtless informed Julia of it and she has made allowances in her plans. You demonstrate a most excellent head for plotting, child.”

  “I’ve always appreciated the value of knowledge,” she bantered back.

  We play or we get used, right?

  She continued, “Apparently, so does Sebastian. While the Hegemony met this evening, Avery and I discovered that he’d had microphones and cameras installed in Hegemon Julia’s rooms just prior to the Gathering. This disc contains the footage from last night.”

  Iago sat forward, delight animating his entire face. “Ah, wondrous good fortune! Blackwood has ever had a reckless streak and now, with victory seeming in his reach, has let it reign over his good judgment. So, tell me what transpires on this recording of Agrippina.”

  She did, as tactfully as possible but she left nothing out. We watched Iago’s delighted expression sober and become pained by the time she finished.

  “I can scare believe that the proud noblewoman I knew could permit such ill use of herself,” he whispered, his hands closing into fists and his eyes actually moistening. “Especially by a creature of Valmont’s breed. It makes my blood boil to even think on it!”

  “I thought you guys hated each other,” I said.

  Iago turned to me, the shadowy gray eyes hard and penetrating. “Hate? To hate your enemies is to put yourself in their power, to surrender your good and rational judgment in dealings with them. Worse still for a man of my rank is that hatred eliminates empathy and empathy, boy, is the key to the instinctive understanding of another. I keep my fond remembrances of the woman Agrippina once was and maintain a deep respect for the one she is now.” He waved his hand and sat back. “Enough.”

  Caroline nodded. “Your Exaltedness, I have to tell you that I’m a little anxious concerning the disc. I don’t understand Sebastian’s reasons for making it. I thought I knew the workings of his mind well by now but I suppose I’m missing some piece of the puzzle.”

  “Not missing a piece so much as blinding yourself to the critical interpretation.” He crossed his legs and steepled his fingers again. “You are aware of Sebastian’s feelings toward all the Hegemons. You know also that he is of a fatalistic nature, believing important outcomes to be divinely predetermined. Finally, you are familiar with his extreme distaste for the restrictive obligations of political alliance. Sebastian has no intention of allowing himself to be Julia’s eternal puppet once he has achieved the Judicatus. He knows enough of her scheme to prepare a record of some misdeed she intends to carry out in the next few nights to help his cause—though for surety he would remove the context and claim ignorance of her motives.”

  So, Sebastian was deliberately setting Julia up for a fall after she helped him get elected? Cute.

  Iago pointed at the ceiling, not realizing how theatrical it looked. “In truth, very few of Sebastian’s labors shall come to pass. He assumes that Julia does, in fact, intend him to assume my role when she is far too wise to commit such an error. Rather should our noble efforts be thwarted, Julia will have contrived some route for damning evidence against Sebastian to find its way to the council floor before my corpse has finished cooling. ‘Twould be best for her if it is some affront to Draco which will further incense him. Coming so soon after my passing, he’ll need only the thinnest of pretexts to challenge Sebastian. When he wins, he will be offered nomination as Judicis. The Shen will protest his nomination with the threat of removing themselves from The Order. Julia will then suggest an ideal compromise candidate. Geoffrey. Draco will see the wisdom in deferring to Julia’s wishes and Geoffrey will be trapped, rendered nearly impotent in a post he doesn’t want and which he can only escape through Julia’s good graces. Imagine that world, if you would. Draco and Jade Tiger would be given free rein to seek each other’s destruction, whatever the cost in lives, while Valmont steers North America into cruelty and debauchery and two of Julia’s other creatures run the United Kingdom and Africa into utter ruin.”

  So now the fate of the world actually hung in the balance. Well okay, maybe keeping our current set of evil asshole rulers from being replaced by an even worse set of evil asshole rulers didn’t qualify as saving the world. Still, if fighting for the lesser of two evils was what modern politics was all about, why should vampires be any different?

  Caroline took my hand and squeezed it. I looked into her eyes, gave her the best smile I could manage and squeezed back. “What do we do to prevent that?” she asked the Judicis.

  “Surprisingly little,” he answered, legs uncrossing in a swift, economical motion as he pushed himself out of the depths of the chair and rose to his feet. He loomed over us while the lower angle of the fireplace flames made the sharp planes of his face resemble those granite statues of presidents in Washington. “Only precise timing, not great force, shall win us the day now. You have already supplied the necessary munitions to defeat Sebastian and bind Julia to my purpose but it must be for me to judge the method and the moment of their employment.”

  He swept past us and strode to the fireplace. “Observe you how the outward manifestation of my spirit has altered, enlarged even, in these few moments? Like a lion caged, I have bottled up all those deep, virtuous passions in my breast and buried them these scores of decades behind a seeming of wasted weakness. In all that time I’ve not shown a glimmer of my true heart and would wager that even those who think my condition a ruse have lost the forceful recollection of my spirit’s power. ‘Tis my intent to reacquaint them all with the Iago they once feared in the last hours of Sebastian’s suit. Cautious villains that they are, Sebastian’s fickle friends shall fall back and reconsider when they see that all is not as they have believed.”

  I felt the air around us crackle with his power and authority. His voice was rich and enthused but still very conversational. If he started shouting, I believed the furniture itself would tremble. I shivered in my excitement. Only hours before, I’d been sure we were doomed to fail but now I felt my heart racing, my anticipation growing and my hope building.

  Caroline felt the same way. I could feel the rapid, hot throbbing of her pulse in her hand as I clutched it.

  “Only Sebastian,” Iago continued as if describing events occurring right before his eyes. “shall continue to press his attack with all the vigor left in him but however brave his bluster, my announcement of the criminal evidence against him and the testimony of Geoffrey to establish the legality of its obtaining shall undo him with Julia. Hence, no matter if for violation of guest rights or breach of a Blood Pact, Julia shall see him put to death. I leave it to your modern knowledge to determine the means by which Geoffrey acquired the recording.”

  “So we give Geoffrey the disc after he agrees to help?” I just wanted to clarify.

  “Good heavens, no!” Iago shot me a horrified glance but undercut it with a chuckle. “I should have no hope of survival and you’d be left with Judicis Julia as Geoffrey’s creature instead of the other way ‘round.”

  Iago squatted, placed a couple of fresh logs on the fire and said, “No, Geoffrey must only be informed of the existence of the recording and that it came into my possession by his actions. Do not even confide that you negotiate on my behalf. He’ll know that you are but he’s always more trusting of what he reasons than what’s told him.” He looked at Caroline. “Am I wrong to assume that you, my precocious Pupil, have already made plans to approach him had your audience with me been denied or fallen short of your hopes?”

  “We meet with him first thing tomorrow evening, thanks to Avery,” she said, giving me a smile as she toyed with the hair at my neck. I grinned like an idiot.

  He stood, eyes twinkling. “Exc
ellent. Go to him exactly as you would have if our meeting had not taken place, save for your intention to pass the recording to me with a brief note of explanation once you have secured his cooperation in your plan.”

  “Why do we need Geoffrey at all? Why not use Draco or, say, Jade Tiger to reveal the recording?” Caroline countered, dropping our knowledge of his meeting with Jade Tiger.

  “I begged that impossible woman to return via the servants’ stair but her dignity could not suffer it. Still, our only agreement was that she will cast against Sebastian when the matter comes to vote in return for Mongolia’s return—an agreeable bargain, as I was already inclined to decide in her favor. Trust me in this, for I have considered the matter through. By God but I feel positively reborn!”

  Radiating excitement, he paced in front of the fire and flexed the joints of his body like a man recovering from suspended animation. This, I knew, was a rare glimpse of the old Iago, the master manipulator who once cut a road to the top of the world over the bodies of his enemies (and, occasionally, friends). He’s like one of those larger-than-life kings from history come to life: Alexander, Caesar, or Odysseus. Simultaneously thrilling and terrifying to be near.

  He stopped and turned to us, his eyes bright and the magnetic force of his personality striking out across the room at us like lightning bolts. “I have already convinced you, I’m sure, of the dark possibilities that await should Julia, Geoffrey, or Sebastian have their way. However, I have not yet given you cause to expect aught from my continued reign but your lives, which you place at risk by assisting me. Once Sebastian is undone, Julia subdued by caution and Geoffrey by appeasement, do not think my intent is to hold the status quo or worse, loose my former evil on the world.