Oathbound: The Emperor's Conscience, Book 2

by Michael Combs

  “I assume it was a target I was investigating.”

  “The Jardir,” Shani said. Nan nodded.

  “I have heard of him. Who is he?” I asked.

  “Jardir is a title,” Nan said. “To think of him as a general would not necessarily be wrong, but he is more the general. Jardir Haemund singularly controls the might of the Jerean forces of Trular and reports to the Prince. That is not insignificant. Jerea, as a principate, is more densely populated than any other province in Trular and has an army just as large. I heard whispers that the Jardir was preparing something big, either against or with the Prince, and I was trying to get details.” I perked up at that. “That’s right.” She nodded knowingly. “The same Prince that you are after.”

  “Why are you trying to get to the Prince?” Shani asked in surprise. Her tone seemed almost defensive. Nan apparently trusted Shani, since she clued her in on my secrets, so I supposed she knew what she was doing. I filled her in on the three girls and my intent to take them home. She shook her head in awe, looking at me as though I were some kind of attraction at a menagerie.

  “You came all this way to find three girls who were sold to the Prince years ago?” The disbelief in Shani’s voice baffled me.

  “I am determined to get back every child they sold and punish those that bought them. These are the last three I had any information on at all, and the information I do have is not much.”

  Shani’s head snapped to Nan, who smiled knowingly. “He’s telling the truth,” she said.

  Nan nodded.

  “Why would I lie about that?” I asked. I was the one becoming defensive, now. “I have no reason to lie to you, especially about this.”

  “He’s naïve!” Shani exclaimed. I stiffened. “Wait, it’s more than that.” Shani scrunched her brow and fought to put her words in order. “He’s…a good man?” She asked the last as though the idea was foreign to her.

  “He is,” Nan said.

  I shook my head, not believing this conversation that was happening around me. “With the things I have done and the people I have killed, I wouldn’t call myself a good man.”

  Shani cut me off. “How many were innocents?” My head dropped in shame.

  “One,” I said. “It was an accident. I was careless.”

  “I was right.” Shani nodded in satisfaction, her point made.

  Nan smiled at her . “Well done,” she said to Shani. “You are learning quickly.”

  Shani beamed with pride at the compliment.

  “What was that all about?” I asked, suspicious and angry at having been reminded of something I would rather forget.

  “I said I was training her to do what I do. That involves much more than merely running a brothel,” Nan said. “Shani has come far enough along to take up my place here. She still has much to learn, but I think she will do fine.”

  Shani gave Nan an affectionate smile.

  “So, you will go back with me, once I find the girls?”

  “I think it is safe to say I have garnered too much of the wrong kinds of attention to continue here. I may have survived last night, but, whether in weeks or months, someone will get to me, eventually. I am getting too old for this nonsense.”

  “So, it’s time to wrap up Shani’s training and loose her on Trular?” I asked.

  “I assure you, Magister, I am capable,” Shani said, stiffly.

  “I...I don’t doubt that you are, Shani,” I started. “But this is dangerous and I care about you and I don’t want you to get hurt.” I took a deep breath and ran my fingers through my hair. “Understanding that someone is an agent, and therefore in danger, is a drastic change after knowing them as a friend and caring about them deeply.”

  Shani smiled and relaxed.

  “You would do well to remember that while executing your duties, young Magister,” Nan said. “Every agent is someone, whether you know them, care about them, or are aware of them at all. Caring about agents as people, rather just looking at them as assets, will greatly affect the quality of information you get.”

  My blank look cued her to continue with a grin. “I would generally start with deception, but honestly, you’re a natural at that.”

  “What are you talking about? I have deceived no one,” I said.

  “Haven’t you?” Nan said. “Every girl here trusts you implicitly. They know that you will protect them and defend them from anything and anyone.” She pointed at me to emphasize her words. “They know you will kill to ensure their safety. You proved that when you saved my life.” She let that sink in.

  “You are saying that I manipulate people by just being myself? Because, I assure you, I would have killed that assassin regardless of who she attacked. Their trust is not misplaced; I have not deceived them.”

  “Of course you would. We know that. We know you. For someone merely providing security that is enough. But you were not merely providing security, were you, young Magister? Agents and informants rarely know who they are dealing with, and that breeds a healthy level of distrust. With you, it’s different. You engender trust and friendship naturally, because you are so damned genuine. That’s dangerous.”

  “I don’t understand,” I said.

  "As head of security for The Pearl, I knew you would protect the girls from harm. I also knew you could, after taking down Mango. I thought he was a struggle for you, but you beat him. Then the assassin attacked and you not only killed her, you made it seem as though it was the least strenuous thing you had done that day. I knew then that you were operating at a level far below your capabilities. I asked myself why you would do such a thing." She paused again and took a sip from her tea. "The obvious answer was that you were a plant, that you wanted something, but what?"

  "You know what I want," I said. “I want the girls that were sold to the Prince. I want to take them home where they belong. I am not sure how to do that just yet, but I’m going to have to figure out something. And now I have this attack to worry about. I can’t find the girls and help them if I have to constantly watch out for assassins crawling in the windows at night."

  Shani stiffened at my words, but I couldn’t fathom why.

  "Then there’s the matter of your honor," Nan said, ignoring my outburst. I narrowed my eyes at her.

  "What does that have to do with anything?" I asked.

  "It will get you killed, is what.” The aggression in her voice was palpable.

  Even Shani looked surprised by Nan's tone, and she leaned forward for her explanation.

  “I employ the most beautiful women in the city and you have not once solicited their services,” Nan said.

  “I can’t,” I said, exasperated. “I just said as much a few minutes ago.”

  “That’s my point, son. Anyone else would have taken advantage of their position and access to these girls and would have likely gotten whatever they wanted. They would not have even had to touch their purse. You, however, are guileless,” Nan said, “for the most part. I am going to go out on a limb and say that it is completely against your nature to leverage people to your advantage. You need to get over that. You are an Imperial Magister. It is your responsibility to accomplish your objectives in any way you can.”

  “And just what do you know about being a Magister?” I snapped. Nan narrowed her eyes at me dangerously.

  “More than you could possibly imagine, child.” I shook my head, trying to clear the webs from my increasingly overwhelmed mind.

  “Let me get this straight,” I said. “You’re telling me I manipulate people into trusting me but am unwilling to use that against them? You are referring to yourself, aren’t you? You are saying that I should have used what I learned about you against you instead of revealing who I am and why I am here?”

  “You are smarter than you appear. You will do well, I think…with some instruction,” Nan said. “It took me nearly three months to take your measure, and still I didn’t get the last pieces until our conversation yesterday. I am usually much better than tha
t. You have been working here, using your position to figure out if I have been turned. You have been watching and waiting. You are uncannily good at passive intelligence gathering. You just don’t know how to use that intelligence. Therefore, you will fail at your task without help.”

  “Tamil said you could help me,” I said.

  “My boy, Tamil set us both up. He may have sent you to bail me out here, but he never, and I mean never, has but one objective. He mastered what he sent you here to learn long ago. I have no doubt his primary goal was to send you to me to train.”

  I scoffed at that. “He only found out I was coming here after I told him.”

  Nan grinned over her cup. “Did he? Or did he realize it ahead of time and leverage your drive to better prepare you for your role as Magister?”

  I silently went back over my conversations with Uncle Tamil looking for the threads of a puppet master. I hated to admit that I saw them. I shook my head to drive the doubt from my mind.

  “He wouldn’t.”

  Nan cackled. “Oh, yes he would. Look, I know he helped raise you, and he may even love you. If he does, then he would certainly do something like this to ensure you have the best chance of survival. Without these skills, you won’t last long in this business, I don’t care how well you fight.”

  I deflated. She was right. Uncle Tamil was constantly driving me to do better, be smarter, work harder, and above all evaluate myself honestly. It wasn’t much of a stretch to believe that he would lay plans for my training to continue well after I left the temple.

  What have you gotten me into, Uncle?

  “Very well,” I said finally. “What do I need to do?”

  The Politics of Sex

  “Absolutely! Fucking! Not!” I said for the tenth time since we’d started this ridiculous conversation.

  “It’s the fastest way to accomplish your goals,” Nan said.

  “Come on, Evan,” Shani prodded. “It’ll be fun.”

  “Fun? You want me to become a prostitute. How is that fun?” I threw up my hands. We were still in the kitchen, but this topic had caused me to switch from coffee to wine in a hurry.

  “It’s not all so terrible, you know,” Shani said, a defensive tone creeping back into her voice.

  I deflated. “I’m sorry, Shani, I never meant to insult. It’s just not something I ever wanted to do.”

  “It’s nothing any of us wanted to do,” she said. “But every single person here has a reason they do it.”

  I nodded, chastened. “I just don’t understand how becoming a prostitute will get us closer to finding the girls and getting back to the Empire.”

  “There’s more to it than that now,” Nan said.

  “No,” I said. “The objectives are clear.” I began ticking off on my fingers: “We need to find out who is after you and stop them. We need to find those girls. We need to get our asses back to the Empire before you come up with any more great ideas like, I don’t know, marrying me off into the Trulari nobility.”

  “I suggested that, actually,” Shani said meekly. I glared at her. “Nan struck it down.”

  The table resounded with a heavy thunk as my forehead struck it.

  “Quit being so dramatic,” Nan said. “Marrying you into the royal family might get you closer to the girls, but it might not. Besides, the only one in the Prince’s household even close to eligible is a thirteen-year-old boy. Interested?”

  I gave her a scowl to rival my best.

  “Just checking,” she said and continued, “Now pay attention. Next lesson: Know your enemy.”

  “You’re kidding, right?” I rolled my eyes.

  Nan glared at me, and I shut my mouth. Nan continued.

  “About two years ago, I started hearing whispers of the Jardir and his faction preparing a large-scale military action. I checked with numerous sources, and while there were troop movements that seemed out of the ordinary, it wasn’t enough to definitively determine any target. Talk dried up a few months ago, so I started pressing harder, thinking they were closer to starting whatever it was they were planning. What I discovered is that the Prince was preparing to move against his father. I don’t have any hard evidence, it is just conjecture at this point. Regardless, the King is not old and is not likely to die soon without help. With the Prince having a force equal to the rest of the kingdom combined, it would go a long way toward seeing him take the throne. And the Jardir is the one leading the forces.”

  The late Duke Atroscine had been embroiled in an Empire-wide rebellion plot and made bargains with the Prince, who was planning the same against his father, King Zameel. I was quickly learning that my duty extended well beyond my original reasons for coming here. The Emperor’s Conscience could not rest if I allowed war to erupt across two continents.

  “It must have been the Duke’s death that sent everyone underground,” I said. “The Prince was helping fund Atroscine’s effort for his own coup on the condition that once he was finished, then Atroscine would aid the Prince with support from the navy and additional forces. I would guess that everyone on both sides assumed they were found out when the Duke was killed and put everything on hold, for now at least.”

  “‘Here is a pile of coins to seed your rebellion and throw your daughter in as insurance. When you are finished, come help me with mine,’” Shani said. “Two continents set for civil war simultaneously. You stopped, or at least delayed both, by killing the Duke.”

  “A lucky result, perhaps, but it was incidental,” I said. “I just wanted to save as many of Atroscine’s victims as I could.”

  The Emperor had selected me for this job because he had a duty to the Empire and her people. That duty often required him to be ruthless. But it also tied his hands in certain circumstances, forcing him to look in a direction other than where he wished, regardless of his personal sense of justice. By selecting me as his Conscience, I thought the Emperor had placed me above the politics and maneuvering. I was so wrong. There was much more at stake than I realized, and I was coming to understand that I would have to be ruthless as well, if I expected to succeed.

  “There’s something else I find curious.” Nan tapped a manicured nail on the table. “Rumors say the night before the Duke was brutally murdered, the Imperial Temple burned to the ground. That’s a very odd coincidence, don’t you think? Didn’t you say you were a Priest, Evan?”

  My eyes hardened. “It needed doing.”

  “It’s said there were dozens of Priests and guards murdered that night,” Nan probed.

  “The Priests were dead before I got there.” My thoughts drifted back to that night and the desperation I’d felt to get those kids to safety. When I spoke, my voice was soft and sad. “I saved almost thirty children that night, all blood-cursed by a necromancer. He used the corrupted bonds to control them. A fellow Priest, a friend, died helping me evacuate the rest of the children from the temple orphanage.”

  Shani narrowed her eyes at me…suspiciously? Or was it something else?

  “What did you do?” she asked.

  I sighed. “I killed the necromancer and the temple guards.” Don’t forget the girl. My conscience added, and I strangled the thought. I didn’t have a conscience. I was the Conscience. But still there was no chance of forgetting the face of that child. I saw her often in my nightmares.

  I cleared my head of the maudlin thoughts and faced Nan squarely. “I do not regret it. I saved a lot of people that night.” And cleansed the Temple and the world of a monster even worse than me.

  “What of the one that attacked you?” I asked, changing the subject. “Do you even know who sent them?”

  “As I said, I would imagine that it was the Jardir. I had been looking for evidence of his plans for some time. I only just pieced the Prince’s plan together with your news.”

  “It makes sense. Atroscine was headed out of the Empire, fleeing my investigation into his business dealings, when he had his little accident.”

  “You mean when you killed him,”
Nan corrected. “Call it what it is. Don’t hide behind euphemisms.”

  “Call it whatever you like. I know what I did, and he deserved it.”

  The air was tense between us. We looked into each other’s eyes, and I didn’t know what she was looking for—guilt maybe? Resolve? Whatever it was, she seemed satisfied and gave a curt nod, then refilled my wineglass and her own.

  “You have been busy,” Shani said. “We even heard about that mess here.”

  “It’s done and passed, at any rate. What can you do to help me find these girls?” I asked. “Since I arrived, I have sneaked around inside the Palace a few times, but I didn’t really know what I was looking for. I only have a description of one of them, and that is ten years old.”

  “You broke into the Palace? Not a chance. It is too heavily guarded, not to mention the wards.” Shani stared at me in disbelief.

  “The wards are strong,” I admitted. “There are several vulnerabilities, though.” I didn’t say that I had to climb four stories before I found one. They didn’t need to know that.

  Shani leapt up, spun around the table, and fell into my lap, wrapping her arms around me. “Can I just fall in love with him now, Nanna?”

  “What?” I exclaimed.

  “Absolutely not!” Nan commanded.

  “Why not?” Shani pouted, “He saved you, rescued a bunch of children, and chased the rest to another continent. He broke into an impregnable fortress to save them, too. He’s even a Priest!” Shani swooned into my lap.

  I looked at Shani, dumbfounded. I had no words at all in response for her outburst. “Um, Shani.”

  Nan grinned like a cat sizing up a canary. “Next lesson.”

  “What?” I asked. I had no idea where she was going with this.

  “If you are going to get better at your job, you are going to have to learn ours.” Shani said. “All of it.”

  I pursed my lips at her. “So you said, but have yet to explain how becoming more engaged with the clientele would help me find the girls.” Shani nodded her approval of my change in vocabulary and settled her head on my shoulder.