Ascendant

by Florian Armas

  “Was it so cold last night?” he asked Nard, and his hand went through the ash. It was still warm, but the fire had died some hours before; there were no embers.

  “It’s still summer, but Sages like to be spoiled.”

  “When did the Sages arrive in Seged?”

  “Two days ago. Belugas came directly from the place where you had some problems with Father’s men. The other Sage came from Leyona. He told us that you’d lost the city.”

  “They came a day after you sent the most important parts of the archive to Severin.” Codrin stared intently at Nard, who nodded. “And they did not bring any letters for you.”

  “They deal with Father, not with me. You should...”

  “Then why are they here?” Codrin cut in. “And where are their letters?”

  “You should ask them those questions.”

  “Did they enjoy your hospitality?”

  “I think so; this is not the first time we have hosted Sages here.”

  “Yes, they are family friends. You will come with us, to Severin. Now go to the council room.”

  Leaving the room, Codrin went to find Vlaicu. “Something is strange here, but I don’t have enough time to solve the riddle. There were no letters in the Sages’ rooms, only the scent of smoke.”

  “We took Seged so fast that there was not enough time to...” Vlaicu rubbed his chin.

  “I don’t have enough time to solve this riddle. Tomorrow, we’ll leave for Severin.”

  The day before they arrived at Severin, they camped on a small hill. It was a quiet night, and Codrin made his plans, for the twentieth time. All of them were bad. He did not have enough men for a direct assault. He needed a diversion, like in Seged, but Severin was a different kind of problem. They were known, and they were expected. I need a brief attack in one place, to attract Aron’s soldiers, while we carry out the main assault in a different place. How can I hide them? Slowly, he fell asleep, and all night he dreamt of finding a solution. He woke up several times convinced that his dreams had revealed him what to do, only to find that the dream was as elusive as his plans.

  Morning came with two surprises. Marcel, who was the Second Knight of Mohor, had deserted, and now Codrin had thirty fewer soldiers. Later, one of the five soldiers Ban had left behind came to tell them that a column of seventy-five riders from Peyris had come into the city.

  “Well,” Codrin shrugged, “there is no way to take Severin by siege. Most of the army will camp in plain view. A small part will camp in the forest, and couriers will go back and forth. They may still think that we have a larger hidden army.”

  Severin appeared in sight at noon, and they settled at the foot of the hill, half a mile from the walls. Codrin walked away and took Belugas with him.

  “You tried to kill me,” Codrin said, his voice flat.

  “I never...”

  “Don’t lie to me, Sage. At least be brave enough to admit what you did. I don’t have enough soldiers to take Severin, so we will negotiate. You, Nard and Hadrian for Saliné.”

  “Saliné belongs to Bucur.”

  “And your life belongs to me. You have half an hour to think about that.”

  Chapter 8 – Saliné

  Aron looked with some suspicion at Hadrian. They were both Sages, but Hadrian had become one only a few months ago, and Aron could not understand how such a young man had been sent for negotiations. And even more, Hadrian was an Itinerant Sage, occupying a higher position in the Circle’s hierarchy. “Why did they send you?”

  “Such a young Sage, you mean? That’s simple, Belugas is being kept as a hostage.”

  “Tell Codrin that I received a hundred soldiers from Peyris.”

  “Seventy-five. He knows that already.”

  “I have enough men to defend Severin until winter comes.”

  “I was asked to talk with Saliné too, and to give her a letter,” Hadrian said.

  “A letter from Codrin?” Aron asked, his eyes narrow. “Give it to me.”

  “We have a situation outside; both Belugas and your son are Codrin’s prisoners, and he seems to be out of patience. Don’t do something that may endanger them.” Hadrian’s voice became suddenly authoritative – he was an Itinerant.

  “Codrin took Seged.” Aron’s voice was flat, but he blinked a few times like a blind man. “I will get it back. The letter,” he repeated, and his hand went forward, ready to receive it. Hadrian shook his head.

  “Aron, let Hadrian give her the letter,” Sage Verenius said, “and I will talk with Saliné after that.” He was the fourth most powerful Itinerant Sage of the Circle. Only Maud, Belugas, the Primus Itinerant and Octavian had a higher place in the Circle’s hierarchy.

  “What does Codrin want?” Aron asked.

  “An exchange of prisoners. Belugas and Nard for Saliné.”

  “The Circle must take care of this,” Aron said, fighting hard to hide his irritation.

  In the end, it was Verenius who gave Saliné the letter. She moved away from him and went to the window.

  “Is the light better?” Verenius asked. You are a clever girl, but you do not trust your reactions.

  Saliné ignored him and read, then destroyed the letter.

  “I have news from Arad,” Verenius said in a fatherly tone to Saliné. “Some of it is good.” He paused and waited for her reaction. She looked back at him, her face bland. “We convinced Orban to marry Jara. It was not easy, but he yielded in the end. The wedding will be in less than a month. She now has a position in Arad; she is no longer a prisoner. That was the good news.”

  Orban always wanted to marry Mother. The marriage did not suit the Circle, but you failed to stop it. I don’t know which is better. “Forcing her to marry the man who killed Father and Mohor... The Circle has left behind a long trail of deaths and betrayals.”It may be that he is just lying to provoke me.

  “We can stop the wedding if you think it inappropriate,” Verenius let a crooked smile form on his lips. “We are working to make Frankis a kingdom again, a better place for everybody.”

  “You are advancing fast; Orban has made Frankis a better place indeed.”

  “Orban was only a transitional ruler. It’s Bucur who will realize the goal. And you will play an important role too.”

  I am the puppet Bucur uses to have a claim on Severin, and he is your puppet. “Twenty years with Orban. Quite a long transition we had.”

  “It happens sometimes. The bad news is that Orban is threatening to kill Vio. We are doing our best to change his mind.”

  “Why would he kill the daughter of the woman he wants to marry?”

  “Orban was always ... unpredictable, but don’t worry, we are keeping a close eye on him. Of course, it would help if we could have your cooperation too. Vio’s fate is linked to you.”

  I thought the Sages were more subtle... They are afraid because the Primus Itinerant is in Codrin’s hands. “It took you twenty years to understand that Orban is unpredictable. What do you want from me?”

  “You have to refuse any negotiations with Codrin. You must let him know that. These are hard times, and you have to stay beside Bucur; he needs you. There are things or people to which one is attached, but everybody has a goal in life too and, with the passing of years, childhood recedes farther into the past. Like a pleasant dream. Don’t let things from the past cloud your judgment or mar your future. Your place is here, and you will become our Queen. That comes with responsibility.”

  “Sage,” Saliné said, “I am betrothed to Bucur. Everything was done with the Circle’s agreement. I will not disguise myself and run from Severin for another man, but what you want is not for me to refuse or accept. That’s your problem. Don’t ask me to decide in your place, as I will not do it.”

  “Think about Vio before telling me what you will or will not do,” Verenius said sharply.

  Saliné gripped the wood of the window harder, but nothing else could be seen on her face. “I am not telling you what to do, but if the Circle dec
ides tomorrow that I have to marry a different man, would you expect me to refuse?”

  “No, we wouldn’t.”

  “As you see, I am co-operating, and my willingness will only grow knowing that my family is be safe.”

  “Keep that in mind. I want you to write a letter to Codrin.”

  “What should I write to him?”

  “Tell him that your wish is to remain in Severin. Ask him to free Nard and Belugas.”

  “I can do that.”

  “Thank you, Saliné. I am glad that you understand the world around you. I need the letter today.”

  “You will have it, and you will deliver Vio to Codrin.”

  “I will.” Verenius nodded, thoughtfully. That may take a while. He turned from her, to hide a nascent smile, and walked toward the door. Vio is a good tool to keep the pressure on you and Codrin.

  She waited until Verenius had left her suite, and went to see Felcer. “I need to send a letter to Codrin,” she said. “It should leave today. Do you think if Ferd...?”

  Felcer looked at her enigmatically, and smiled thinly. “This is from Codrin,” he said, proffering a letter. “He is expecting an answer today.”

  Swiftly, she snatched the letter from his old fingers, and that only enhanced the smile on his lips.

  ‘Saliné,’ she read.

  ‘Meet me tomorrow morning at the place where we found the little rabbit. We are in negotiations, but my feeling is that they may fail. Be ready to leave. I have a safe place for you.

  I miss you.

  Codrin’

  The little rabbit, she thought, and the memory came back to her as if it was yesterday, in a life when they were still together and happy. It seemed like it was faraway, in another place. On one of those days when Jara went to visit Mohor, before their wedding was announced officially, together with Vio, Saliné and Codrin sneaked around the castle, and found a baby rabbit which was lost. They played with it, until the mother came to claim her baby. It was a strange occurrence, as the frightened mother came so close to them. The baby was in Saliné’s arms. She moved slowly and let the baby down in the grass.

  A tear escaped down her face, and she moved away from Felcer to hide her emotion. That place was at the exit of the tunnel. Codrin knows about it and wants to free me, but the Circle have taken care to block this path. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. At least I will see him. It must be at dawn, when the palace is still sleeping.

  “I will give you the letter,” she said finally. “But first we need to burn this one.” She waited patiently until Felcer lit a candle, and stared at the burning paper. “Thank you, Felcer.” She bit her lip and left him alone.

  Back in her suite, she wrote the letters and sealed them, and went to see Felcer again, then to Aron’s office.

  “Your letter.” She handed it to Verenius.

  “Give it to me,” Aron ordered and, after receiving it, he broke the seal. With a wicked smile, he started to read it.

  ‘Codrin,

  We made an agreement in Valeni. I am betrothed to Bucur and you will receive Vio. I have no reason to renege on the agreement, and neither have you. Please take care of Vio. Verenius has agreed to free her. In exchange, you should free Belugas and Nard.’

  “It could be better, but we can use it. Seal the letter again.” Aron pushed it to her, across the desk.

  “It was sealed,” Saliné said flatly.

  “I will seal it,” Verenius said and took the letter to read it, then put the Circle seal on it. “Thank you, Saliné,” he said and left the room. She can be quite obedient if you know what strings to pull. Now I am sure that we should not free Vio. Codrin would not dare to harm Belugas, and Nard is Aron’s issue. “Karel,” he said when he arrived in the Spatar’s office, which in the past had belonged to Aron, “send this letter to Codrin. It’s urgent.”

  Saliné did not sleep well that night; she was afraid of waking up too late. Her sleep was fragmented, and at four o’clock in the morning she decided to leave her bed and dress herself in the black riding suit. The next two hours, she walked around her room, feeling like a caged wolf. At the first sign of light, she took her dagger, opened the secret door and left her suite. Behind the door, a torch and tools to light it lay on the floor. Her hands trembled, and it took her a while to light the torch. At the end of the hidden corridor, she went downstairs and reached a bifurcation. One passage led into the wine cellar, the other one into the exit tunnel. At the end of the corridor, she took out a heavy key from her pocket and put it in the lock. Please don’t creak, she pleaded. The door did creak but, even to a frightened Saliné, the sound seemed too weak to be heard by the guards on the next floor. When some light came into the tunnel from outside, she set her torch in one of the many empty sconces on the wall. She almost ran toward the iron gate, resembling a portcullis, closing the mouth of tunnel. It was a small one, large enough that only two people could walk abreast. Codrin was already there, and their hands clasped through the iron bars.

  For a while neither of them could speak; their eyes absorbed the other’s presence, both feeling the healing touch of shared love and pain. When Saliné opened the gate, he stepped forward abruptly. She rushed into his arms. Codrin embraced her, pressing her against him, feeling her body trembling in his arms, and that set him aflame. He leaned slowly down, his lips trying to reach hers. The memory of another kiss that disturbed her so much filled his mind, and he stopped just before the touch. His hand brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

  “It’s not the same thing, and I am not the same girl,” she whispered, waiting for him to act.

  He leaned further and their lips touched. It was a fleeting thing, as if he was not completely sure about her words. She stayed still for a moment, and then pulled back enough so that he could see the spark in her eyes. Codrin needed no more encouragement, and he kissed her again. She answered him, gently at first, then passion ran through their veins. They were lost. In need of breath, they stopped, and she leaned on his shoulder. Away from the dangerous world around them, she was just Saliné. And he was just Codrin.

  “Saliné,” he whispered, and kissed her on the roots of her hair and neck. She said nothing. “I now have a place where I can protect you. We should go.”

  “I can’t come with you,” she said, trying to overcome the sadness in her voice and mind.

  “Why are you always raising walls between us? I...” His arms retracted from her waist and he half stepped back.

  Feeling the pain in his voice, Saliné kissed him with all her heart and, slowly, the stiffness in his body receded.

  “The Circle threatened to kill Vio, if I run away with you. There is nothing more I want than to be with you, but I can’t pay that price.” Under the shadows of Jara and Vio being taken away by Orban, her voice betrayed her, falling into a whisper.

  “I won’t ask,” Codrin said, his voice still bitter, yet he guessed what lay behind those shadows in her eyes. They had no right to spoil the emerald of her gaze, and he wanted to take away those memories and replace them with good ones. He felt helpless. Codrin had not thought about Jara and Vio when he asking her to run away. He was thinking how he could help them, but not in that chain of events. He planned to visit Arad later, taking Tudor’s identity again, and enroll Cantemir to his cause. It’s the second time I’ve asked her to run away with me. His mind became feverish, trying to find another solution. “Fate places stumbling blocks in our path every time we are close...”

  “There is still hope, if the Circle accepts a negotiated agreement, or if you can take Severin,” Saliné said gently, her hand gripping his.

  “I can’t take Severin; I don’t have enough soldiers for an assault. Tell me about the tunnel.”

  “It ends in the corridor where the prison is. I have the key to that door, but there is only one way out of the corridor, through a narrow stairs. The upper exit is locked from outside and, from the day of your arrival, there are always two guards there.”

  “I c
an’t use it for an infiltration. Aron knows about the tunnel, but how did you...?”

  “There is another one going from my suite to this one, but it’s so narrow and long that it can’t be used for an attack. On the right side of the fireplace in my room, there are two small stones. If you move one north and the second one south, a secret door will appear in the wall. Mohor revealed it to me, before.... Before that day.”

  “I wished I could have been here that day.”

  “You couldn’t. Sage Verenius mentioned some negotiations.”

  “I took Seged and Nard is in my hands. The Primus Itinerant is also my prisoner. I may have a chance to swap them for you.”

  Saliné stood silent for a while, rubbing her forehead. “Verenius pushed me to refuse any negotiations with you, the letter they forced me to write.”

  “To put pressure on me?”

  “No,” Saliné sighed, finally able to all the dots. “I think that Aron will not agree to let me go, even for Belugas or Nard, and Verenius wanted to prevent a refusal. It makes the Circle look weak. They pull the strings, but once Bucur was nominated, he can sometimes act against the Circle’s will. Like Orban did in the past. Aron wants to push the Circle to negotiate with you for his son. Later, when the bad weather comes in autumn and no one can lay siege to Severin.”

  “I still don’t understand why Aron is so important. It’s related to Duke Stefan, but... Tell them that you think Belugas may be in danger if Aron refuses me. I mean it,” Codrin looked at her grimly.

  “Please don’t...”

  “Belugas tried to kill me. His only chance is to free you, and he knows it. I will try to use Nard and the other Sage in my custody to free Vio. What happens to Belugas should soften up the Circle. There is no other way to make them negotiate.”

  Be careful,” Saliné whispered, and she caressed his face. “I need to go now. One more thing... In the cellar of Grandfather’s house, in the north-east corner, there are some bags of money, hidden three feet underground. Take them with you. You may need them, and I don’t want them to fall in Aron’s hands.”