Ghost in the Tower

by Jonathan Moeller

  “To be blunt?” said Valron. “Yes. These Lictors are men loyal to me.” He gestured at them. “And while I am obliged to play this farce out to its conclusion, I have at least enough authority to prevent the First Magus from doing permanent harm to our alliance with Istarinmul.” His mouth twisted. “And I have wasted a great quantity of valuable time tending to the First Magus’s questionable decisions lately. This way, please.”

  He led the way into the corridor, and Caina and the others followed.

  The pillared corridor ended in a vast round chamber, and Caina realized they were beneath the large dome at the heart of the Motherhouse. A ring of glowing glass globes lined the base of the black dome, filling the chamber with harsh white light. Rows of stone seats climbed in tiers towards the walls, making the chamber look like an amphitheater. Thousands of magi could have sat here and observed the deliberations of the high magi and the officers of the Magisterium. In the center of the chamber was an elevated dais holding a ring of about fifty black stone thrones. A dozen men and women wearing black robes and purple sashes of master magi sat on those thrones, and each one held a black staff of office. These were some of the high magi, the most powerful and experienced sorcerers of the Magisterium, and they turned curious eyes towards Caina and Kylon and the others.

  Valron and his Lictors led the way down the aisle towards the dais, and they stepped into the center of the ring of black thrones.

  “First Magus,” said Valron. “As ordered, I bring before you Caina Amalas Tarshahzon Kardamnos, the sister of the Padishah of Istarinmul and the Liberator of Iramis.”

  An uneasy ripple went through the high magi. Like Valron, they seemed uncertain of this course of action.

  Decius Aberon rose to his feet and glared at Caina.

  “Thank you, Praesar,” said Decius.

  For the first time since Catekharon, Caina looked at the First Magus of the Magisterium, the man who had been the father of her first love.

  It hadn’t been all that long since that ill-fated meeting at Catekharon, but Decius Aberon had not aged well in that time.

  The First Magus had the same green eyes as Corvalis and Claudia, and the remaining fringe of hair on the back of his head had turned gray. He had been fat when Caina had seen him in Catekharon, but Decius looked as if he had gained at least forty pounds since, maybe even fifty. She heard the faint wheeze of his breath as he stood, and to judge from the crimson spots on his face, the First Magus had taken to drinking heavily. Perhaps he had been overindulging in food and drink to handle the stress of the civil war. The vision of the valikarion showed her the warding spells that glowed around him, and the spells upon the rings on his fingers. He also had an enspelled amulet and dagger hidden beneath his voluminous black robe.

  Whatever else he might have been, the First Magus was a powerful sorcerer. In Catekharon, Caina had seen him kill a man with a single spell.

  “So,” said Decius. His voice was deep and commanding, a faint rasp to it. “The legendary Balarigar herself.”

  “Some have chosen to call me that,” said Caina.

  “I was at New Kyre, you know,” said Decius. “The day the Emperor came to make peace with the Archons, the day of the golden dead.” His green gaze shifted to Kylon. “Lord Kylon, welcome. I saw you fight the golden dead. A formidable sight. I imagine it was as much of a formidable sight when you destroyed the western fleet of the Empire and slaughtered the battle magi.”

  Kylon shrugged. “Men die in war. Had fortune proven slightly different, I would have died instead of them.”

  Decius smirked. “Lord Corbould Maraeus has quite a large price on the head of your wife, you know. He’s still rather annoyed she killed his son Aiodan in Marsis.”

  “Does he?” said Kylon. “Alas, I am Kyracian and unfamiliar with the laws of the Empire, but I believe only the Emperor or an Imperial magistrate could pronounce capital sentence.”

  “Are we to act as Corbould Maraeus’s bounty hunters, then?” said Valron, his distaste plain. Several of the high magi nodded in agreement.

  Decius glared at them, for just a second, and Caina saw the rage on his face. Caina suspected the civil war had destroyed his support among the Magisterium, and that he was hanging onto his office and perhaps his life by a thread. That wasn’t good. Decius wasn’t a fool, but he was desperate, and desperate men took rash chances. The First Magus was losing his grip on power. His failures in the civil war had eroded his authority, and likely age and ill health had contributed as well.

  Perhaps Decius thought to secure his standing by making an example of Caina.

  “Do you question my authority as First Magus, Praesar?” snapped Decius.

  “Certainly not, First Magus,” said Valron, his voice polite but cold. “It is the task of the high magi and the officers of the Magisterium to advise the First Magus. And my advice is that this matter is a waste of valuable time. Especially since the Empire and the Magisterium are fighting for their very existence against the Umbarians.”

  “I decide what is a waste of time,” said Decius. His glare turned towards Caina. “Do you know why you have been brought before me?”

  “Enlighten me,” said Caina.

  “Caina Amalas Tarshahzon Kardamnos,” said Decius with a smirk, “your crimes are beyond counting. It is well-known that you are associated with the criminal brotherhood and secret society that likes to style itself the Ghosts of the Empire, and you are directly or indirectly linked in the deaths of several magi.”

  Caina raised her eyebrows. “A serious accusation, First Magus. Do you have proof?”

  He didn’t, and she knew it.

  “But that is irrelevant to the matter at hand,” said Decius.

  “You brought it up,” said Caina.

  The First Magus ignored that. “You are charged with knowingly conspiring to prevent a girl with sorcerous talent from joining the Imperial Magisterium. In the lands of the Empire, the Magisterium has sole and final authority over sorcery. Conspiring to deny the Magisterium a new initiate is a grave crime.”

  “I am a noblewoman of Istarinmul and Iramis, and I am traveling back to the domain of the Padishah,” said Caina. “Sophia Zomanek is going to accompany me there, and she has sworn to me as my liegewoman. That oath takes precedence over whatever claims, imagined or otherwise, that you might make on her.”

  “The Empire is at war,” said Decius. “Sacrifices must be made. Every hand is needed in the battle to defend our great Empire and destroy the Umbarian rebels. Sophia Zomanek will be enrolled as an initiate of the Magisterium and begin her training at once.”

  “I do not wish to remain here, sir,” said Sophia. “I wish to fulfill my oath and accompany Lady Caina to…”

  “You will be silent, you stupid girl!” snapped Decius, and Sophia flinched. “Your fate is already decided. All that remains is whether you accept it or not,” his gaze swung back to Caina, “and the cost your companions will pay.”

  “And the cost you will pay, First Magus,” said Caina.

  Decius smirked at her. “Is that a threat, Lady Kardamnos? Or do you think to use your husband to bully me? Oh, the Shipbreaker might have broken the Imperial fleet, but that was when he was the High Seat of House Kardamnos, not a landless exile so desperate for female companionship that he actually wed the sort of whore that joins herself to the Ghosts.”

  “I suggest,” said Kylon in a calm voice, “that you moderate your tongue, First Magus.”

  “Or what?” said Decius.

  “Or you’ll confirm my late sister’s opinion of you,” said Kylon. “It wasn’t complimentary.”

  A few chuckles rose from the high magi at that.

  “I make no threats,” said Caina. “Instead, I urge you to consider the consequences. How do you think the Padishah will react when I tell him that you abducted one of my liegewomen while I was passing through Artifel?”

  Decius scoffed. “The Istarish and the Padishah are just as opposed to the Order as the Emperor. Cassande
r Nilas tried to destroy Istarinmul. Or have you forgotten? Though the rumors say you killed him.”

  “I didn’t,” said Caina. “Lord Kylon did.”

  “Did you, sir?” said Valron, looking at Kylon with new respect. “That was a worthy deed. Lord Cassander harried us fiercely during the opening months of the civil war before the Order sent him to Istarinmul as an ambassador. Had Rania Scorneus and Maxentius Traegast heeded his counsel during the siege of Artifel, the city would now be in the hands of the Umbarians.”

  “And by slaying Lord Cassander,” said Seb, speaking up for the first time, “that solidified the Empire’s alliance with Istarinmul.”

  “This is hardly your concern, battle magus,” said Decius. “I suggest you focus on your swordplay and leave higher matters to your superiors.”

  “Every magus of the Magisterium has the right to speak beneath the Grand Dome,” said Seb, not backing down before the First Magus’s glare. “And my swordplay, no matter how skillful, cannot save the Empire from the Umbarians. Our alliance with Istarinmul and Iramis will go a long way towards victory, and this business threatens that alliance.”

  “If you knew anything of politics,” said Decius, “you would know that the Istarish hate the Order as much as we do. The Padishah might have amused himself by adopting a Ghost agent as a sort of pet, but he will not turn against the Empire for her sake, and certainly not for the sake of her liegewoman. Every man, woman, and child in Istarinmul heard Cassander threaten to destroy the city in the name of the Order, and if the Padishah did anything to favor the Umbarians, he would lose his throne.”

  “And if you knew anything of politics, First Magus,” said Caina, “you would know that the Padishah’s position is strong enough that he can demand concessions from the Empire. He hasn’t yet, but he could. Such as, for example, demanding a new First Magus of the Magisterium.” Caina smiled at him. “But I’m sure the Emperor and the Imperial Curia love you deeply, my lord, and would never throw you over the side of the boat to keep an ally happy.”

  “Especially when you are threatening an ally,” said Valron, glancing at Kylon, “who rid us of an enemy as dangerous as Cassander Nilas. First Magus, I say again that this is a waste of valuable time. We are risking a vital alliance in exchange for little gain. New initiates are being enrolled in the Magisterium every day. Whatever Sophia Zomanek’s innate talent, it cannot be potent enough to risk…”

  “We will risk it if I say we shall risk it!” said Decius, his voice rising. “I am the First Magus, Valron, not you! I lead the Magisterium! Oh, I know you have been sniffing around with your eye on my office, but it is mine! The First Magus commands the Magisterium, not the Praesar.”

  “The Praesar,” said Valron, his own temper rising, “wants to win the war! Which we can hardly do if we alienate a key ally over such a trivial matter.”

  “It is not trivial if I say it is important,” snarled Decius. He glared at Caina, his lips pulling back from his teeth, his eyes glittering like emeralds. She saw the veins pulsing in his temples, the sweat beading on the ruddy expanse of his forehead. “Caina Kardamnos, by my authority as First Magus of the Magisterium, I hereby order you to release your liegewoman of her oath and surrender her to the Magisterium for her lawful training as a sister of our order. Should you refuse, I shall have you and your companions executed for defying this command, and the girl shall be taken as an initiate anyway.”

  “I decline,” said Caina. “As an amirja of Istarinmul, I refuse to release my liegewoman from her oath, and I demand that you release us at once and permit us to continue on our way. Else I shall relate to the Padishah of Istarinmul and the Prince of Iramis how you unlawfully abducted us, and I shall demand that they bring your conduct before the Emperor and the Imperial Curia.”

  “For the gods’ sake,” said Valron, and several of the seated high magi nodded in agreement. “Decius, this is past the point of ridiculousness. Let…”

  “Silence!” said Decius, and Valron and the other magi subsided. “You presume to threaten me, Caina Kardamnos? I know what manner of woman you are. Nothing more than a whore. You were my son Corvalis’s lover, were you not? He was a wretched disappointment, and it does not surprise me that he took up with a woman like you.” Black rage flashed through Caina’s mind, but she kept it from her face. “And you dare to threaten me? Do you have any idea of the kind of power I command? I am the First Magus of the Magisterium…”

  “I already know,” said Caina, her voice flat and hard, “everything I need to know about you.”

  “Is that so?” said Decius, his voice deadly.

  Caina took a step closer to him. Decius hadn’t expected that, and she saw the unease ripple over his face before he mastered himself.

  “I know what manner of man you are, my lord,” said Caina. “I know you obtained your position through murder and bribery. And through hiring assassins of the Kindred families, something that is also illegal in the Empire, but you’ve done it anyway. I know you castrated the magus Nicorus for sleeping with your favorite mistress and banished him to Marsis.” Surprised expressions went over the faces of some of the high magi. Evidently, that was not common knowledge. “I know that you have sold your children to the Kindred families to raise as assassins. I know you have brutalized your children and turned them into extensions of your will. Rather like Hyraekon Scorneus, but less competently. I know you tried to assume leadership of the Umbarian Order, and they laughed in your face and tried to kill you. I know your incompetence has brought the Magisterium and the Empire to the edge of disaster, and I know that Valron Icaraeus has led the magi in battle while you hid here in the Motherhouse and stuffed your face with food and drank yourself senseless.” The red color of Decius’s face edged towards purple. “And I know that you know the game’s almost over, Decius. You’re a tottering relic, and sooner or later the Emperor or the Imperial Curia are going to force you out of office and replace you with someone…”

  “You will be silent!” roared Decius, his voice echoing through the great chamber. “You presume to speak to me that way? Let us see if you have such a haughty tongue when you are on your knees and begging for your life.”

  He raised his hand and started a spell, and the vision of the valikarion saw the arcane power surging around him. Kylon and Seb both stirred, reaching for their swords.

  “No,” said Caina. “Let him cast it.”

  Decius pointed at Caina and finished his spell, and she saw the invisible force leap from his hand and reach towards her mind. It was a spell of mind-control, and it would have variable effects depending upon its victim. Likely Decius wanted to override her will and force her to her knees.

  But Caina was a valikarion, and mind-altering spells could not touch her.

  The power winked out of existence.

  Decius just had time to blink in surprise, and Caina decided to push him a little further.

  She held out her hand and summoned her valikon.

  The blade assembled itself out of shards of silver light in her fingers, the Iramisian symbols glowing with white fire. Decius recognized the sword for what it was. His eyes went wide, and he took an alarmed step back. Some of the other high magi recognized the weapon, and they shot to their feet. Under other circumstances, Caina would have found their reactions funny. The magi trusted so much in their power and their warding spells that the sight of a weapon that could cut through their arcane defenses like paper caused them to panic.

  “Gods!” said one of the high magi, a gaunt-looking woman. “That’s an Iramisian valikon! They were all destroyed!”

  “It is,” said Caina, “and they weren’t. And I am a valikarion, First Magus, and you just attempted to break into my mind without a proper writ from an Imperial magistrate. For this unwarranted assault, I demand that you allow me, my husband, my friends, and Sophia Zomanek to leave Artifel at once. Otherwise, I shall tell the Padishah how you attacked me.”

  “Damn it, Decius!” said Valron. “For once in your l
ife, see reason!”

  Decius said nothing, his chest heaving with breath, his eyes glittering with hate, his teeth bared in a snarl. Caina saw the glow of arcane power gathering around him. With a sinking feeling, she realized that Decius was about to attack, that this was going to turn into a fight after all. Would Valron and the other high magi support Decius? Or would they turn their backs and pretend not to notice as Caina and Kylon rid them of a problem? Though maybe they would do nothing, and then arrest Caina for killing the First Magus.

  She glanced at the others, saw Kylon preparing to summon his valikon, saw Seb reaching for his sword, saw Ilona step in front of Sophia. Morgant had wandered over to the side, his expression bored, but his hands reached for his weapons.

  “Caina Kardamnos,” hissed Decius, “you…”

  Caina never did find out what he intended to do next.

  Footsteps rang against the floor, and Caina and the others looked towards the entrance.

  Talmania Scorneus walked towards the dais, her black robe flowing around her.

  Chapter 4: The Widow

  For a moment fear and rage froze Caina, and she almost sprinted from the dais to attack, to cut down Talmania before the Umbarian provost could bring her mighty sorcery to bear.

  Then she saw Seb smile, and Caina took a better look at the woman approaching the dais.

  It wasn’t Talmania, but a woman who resembled her a great deal.

  Which meant she resembled Caina a great deal.

  Talmania had worn the dark greatcoat favored by Umbarian magi, but this woman wore the black robe of the Magisterium with the purple sash of a master magus. In her right hand, she carried the black staff of office of one of the high magi. She had thick black hair braided into an intricate crown around her head, the loops hanging against her neck and upper back, and she had a gaunt, sharp-featured face with pale skin. Her blue eyes were icy, but not the way that Talmania’s had been. Talmania’s gaze had been like staring into an ice-choked grave. This woman’s eyes were cold and intelligent, but there were smile lines around her mouth.