Ascendant

by Florian Armas

  From a side door, Alic’s head sneaked into the corridor, and searched for Vio: she was forty paces in front of him, and he started to follow her and Lamia. While he was stupid, there was some kind of shrewdness in him, a raw thing, basic, that belonged better in an animal’s mind. He tracked them, hiding behind other people walking in the same direction. When they entered in Lamia’s suite, he quickened his pace and, at the door, put his ear to the wood. His hand silently turned the knob.

  “What are you doing here?” Cantemir asked.

  “What I am doing is not your business.”

  Cantemir grabbed his shoulder and pushed him away. “Go to your room.”

  Like Lamia, Alic was frail, they had both inherited that from their mother. But where for the girl it meant grace, for him was weakness. He could beat a girl of his age, but even younger boys could defeat him easily.

  “One day you will pay,” he growled at Cantemir.

  “You can complain to Orban.”

  An hour later, Vio left Lamia’s suite. She glanced left and right and walked toward the S’Arad suite, where Jara had her own place.

  “You forgot your book,” Lamia shouted after Vio, but it was too late, she was already gone.

  Ten paces along the corridor, a hand covered Vio’s mouth, and another one went around her waist and dragged her into an empty room. A few servants witnessed everything, but they already knew not to interfere. They thought Vio was one of the many maids in Arad palace who had the bad luck to fell into Alic’s hands.

  “I told you that we would meet again,” Alic whispered to her. “Now you will entertain me. I think that you have not yet known a man. That will make my pleasure even greater.”

  Lamia put Vio’s book on the table. She changed her mind, and picked it up, and left her suite. “Vio!” she shouted and turned her head around, unable to see her friend. She must be here, she thought, and walked briskly toward the S’Arad suite. She found Jara alone. “I don’t know where Vio is,” she said, a touch of worry in her voice.

  “What do you mean?” Jara asked calmly, thinking something trivial had happened between the girls.

  “She left my room to come here, and I went after her to give her this book,” Lamia gestured with the book in her hands. “But the corridor was empty.”

  “Maybe she entered in another room. Vio likes to explore.”

  “Alic,” Lamia whispered. “I am sure that he followed Vio. He ... he tried to do some bad things to her.”

  “What?” Jara asked and stood up instantly. “Take me to your suite.”

  “Anyone seen a fifteen-year-old girl with auburn hair?” Jara shouted, sitting in front of Lamia’s door. No one answered them apart from a young maid who, careful not to be seen by other people, pointed toward a room, then she left in a hurry.

  “Why are you shouting?” Orban appeared in the corridor too.

  “Vio,” Jara breathed and opened the door pointed out by the maid.

  They found Vio fighting two men. One was trying to immobilize her hands, the other her feet.

  “Put her on the table,” Alic shouted, a line of blood trickling down from his mouth and nose.

  Her foot moved abruptly, and hit one man’s jaw. Three teeth fell on the floor, and Orban started to laugh. “Leave her,” he ordered. “Bunch of nobodies. You can’t immobilize a girl. One month in jail for attacking my guest.”

  “But sir,” one of them protested, as he was just following Alic’s orders.

  “You will flog him,” Orban ordered the other one, who was missing his teeth. “Ten lashes. He talks too much. Get out.” He turned his head and stared now at his son.

  “I want that girl,” Alic said.

  “Cantemir will see to your needs,” Orban said coldly.

  “If you marry her mother, I want to marry her.”

  “That idea merits some attention,” Orban said, and a large grin filled Alic’s bloodied lips.

  “She is too young, and your son must be punished,” Jara interjected.

  “But don’t you see it, Jara? He will be punished; your daughter will be the man in their marriage. Alic will become a nice obedient girl.”

  “I won’t,” Alic growled. “I want to marry her the same day as you,” he pointed to both Jara and Orban.

  “Orban,” Jara whispered. “We need to talk alone about this situation. Come with me, Vio.”

  Before meeting Orban, Jara thought and thought how she could influence him. She was standing in front of the window, gesticulating from time to time, mumbling to herself, and did not see when Orban came into her room. He entered quietly, and seated himself in a chair, his eyes fixed on her.

  “Something is bothering you,” he said, after a while.

  She started, but composed herself and turned slowly. “I was thinking to invite you to sit.”

  “It’s my castle,” Orban shrugged. “So,” he smiled. “My son wants to marry your daughter. I can understand why, yet after he broke his lip and nose, I don’t really understand why.”

  “That could have ended badly,” Jara said coldly.

  “Yes, but it didn’t. I let the soldiers know that Vio has my protection.”

  “You may leave for a few days, and if your son pays one of them well, he will forget about your protection. Or your son may hit her from behind and... Don’t you see how wrong you are?”

  “I may be.”

  Jara breathed a few times, seeking the peace and clarity she had learned from the Assassins’ Dance that would calm her. “You don’t care about your son, but I care about my daughter.”

  “I never doubted that you care about your daughter. I agree that Vio is too young to marry now, but she may be what Alic needs. In a few years. ” He stood up before Jara could answer and left her alone.

  ***

  “Codrin is coming to Arad.” Vio stormed into the room, glanced right and left, and spoke in haste, her voice almost a whisper, her eyes gleaming. “It was a vision,” she added, confidently.

  Eyes closed, Jara fought to overcome a burst of hope. Even if he comes, it will not be possible to free us. Her wedding was planned to happen in ten days – after some negotiations, Orban had agreed to postpone it by one week. “Can you work out when he will get here?” she asked, not wanting to spoil Vio’s happiness.

  “How can I do that?”

  “Look at the weather, how people are dressed, vegetation. They may tell you something. Both Mother and Dochia told me that it’s not easy to find clues, but in time...”

  Vio frowned in sudden concentration, and stayed like that for a while. “I don’t know,” she whispered, the corners of her mouth going down. “It was dark.”

  “Snow?”

  “No. He may come soon,” Vio said, a trace of hope still in her voice, but much less than when she entered the room.

  “Come here,” Jara said, opening her arms, and Vio nestled comfortably in her embrace. “Things could be better, but we are not in a desperate situation.”

  “Your wedding...” Vio breathed.

  “My wedding is a political thing, like the other two I had in the past. When I first married, I barely knew Malin, and I was more scared than I am now.” But I was not disgusted by my future husband. “I was seventeen years old, and it took us more than a year to fall in love. I was lucky, your father was a man who deserved to be loved. Some of my friends weren’t so lucky. They had to marry men they started to hate, yet they survived and they had children who they loved and who enriched their lives.”Such precarious lives women have...

  “Do you think that you and Orban can fall in love..?”

  “Who knows? But most probably we may find a common way of living together. A sort of ... arrangement.” Like many other women.

  “I would prefer to become a Wanderer than...”

  “Don’t say that. I will try to find a good husband for you.” Codrin maybe, if Saliné... Jara bit her lip, and tightened her arms around Vio.

  “Are you thinking about Saliné?” Vio asked.<
br />
  “Yes. I failed her.” Jara sighed and fought hard to hide her bitterness.

  “It was not your fault.”

  “In a way, it was my fault too, but fault or no fault, she is my daughter, and I could not protect her or you. I hope that Codrin will come and steal you from here.” And marry you.

  “I am sure he is coming for us. We must train harder.”

  “We shall see.” Jara gathered her strength and pulled her head back to look at Vio. Her hand caressed her daughter’s face. “We shall see. Let’s sleep now.”

  Chapter 14 – Jara

  It was already dark when someone knocked at Balan’s door. “Helmut,” Panait mumbled, “only Helmut dares to piss me off so late. That man is a pest. Like any good Litvonian merchant from Muniker.”

  “You need Helmut,” Delia said gently. “Litvonians are sometimes hard to work with, but it is worth the pain.”

  “Yeah, just because they have a king, they think us inferior, but you are right, if we manage to sign this contract, my trade with Litvonia would double.”

  “And you may be able to stay home more.”

  “Yes,” he sighed. “Helmut could lead one caravan; I can lead the other. The bastard has no manners; he’s knocking again.”

  “Let me open the door. Take your time to ... calm yourself.” She smiled to encourage him and left the room. “I am coming,” she cried, when a third series of knocks hit the door. “Helmut, you should be...,” she said after opening the door, then her eyes grew wide. “Tudor,” she whispered, seeing Codrin, and her arms went up to embrace him. “It’s so long since your last visit. What happened?”

  “Many things,” he said, embracing her too. One day I have to tell them that my real name is Codrin, not Tudor. “Let me in, or who knows what your neighbors will think when they see a respectable woman embracing a stranger in the night? Another child is coming,” he said, finally realizing why their embrace was a bit awkward.

  “Yes,” Delia said joyfully, while Codrin closed the door. “This one came to us quicker. Come, Panait is in a bad mood because of a Litvonian merchant.”

  “Helmut,” Codrin laughed.

  “Bring him here,” Panait’s irritated voice passed through the open door.

  “Yes, I will bring him,” Delia chuckled.

  “What do you want, Helmut?” Panait asked without raising his head from the papers on his desk.

  “What should I want from such a terrible Frankis merchant?” Codrin asked in Litvonian.

  “You,” Panait boomed and raised his head. His mouth opened again, yet no other word left it. “I always said that there is something of a Litvonian in you. Don’t worry, we all have some bad parts.” He stood up, and the two men embraced. “You have changed, Tudor,” he said when they disengaged. “You were tall and thin, now I get the feeling I’m embracing a bear.” Panait stepped back, then went to his chair. “You are still thin, relatively, only your shoulders seem to go on forever. I fail to understand how such thin arms can be so fast and strong. And deadly.”

  “I am no longer a child.” Codrin smiled, and sat in another chair, on the other side of the desk. There was no need for an invitation; Panait’s house was like his second home.

  “For us, you will always be the sixteen-year-old man-child who saved our lives in the Cursed Forest,” Delia said, and her hand ruffled Codrin’s hair. “Dinner will be ready soon, but I am still waiting to know why you did not visit us for so long.”

  “I’ve settled somehow, far in the south, and I am now a Knight.”

  “Then we have to celebrate,” Panait said, and his hand stretched involuntarily for the hat sitting on his desk. That made Tudor smile.

  “And you are now the First Mester of Arad.” Tudor bowed to him, fighting hard to restrain a burst of laughter.

  “Ah, yes,” Delia said, “Panait never misses the chance to scratch someone’s eye with his new hat.”

  “I am the youngest head of the Guild of Arad in a while,” he smiled coyly, rubbing the First Mester emblem on his hat.

  “And a Sage of the Circle,” Codrin said, looking keenly at him.

  “Who told you that?” Panait frowned. “Cantemir informed me only three days ago, even though I was introduced to the Circle in midsummer. Ah,” he puffed. “I forgot that you are the Wraith of Tolosa, or else you already visited Cantemir.”

  “I will see him tomorrow. You know that my first visit in Arad is to Delia and you. Always. How is Cantemir? He is no longer the Master Sage.”

  “I can’t say that he has changed because of that, but some recent ... events are taking a toll on him.”

  “Like the abduction of Lady Severin and her children.”

  “That, and the thing with the Candidate King. There are some rumors about deception...”

  “They are more than just rumors.”

  “Orban will marry Lady Jara,” Panait said abruptly, and Tudor faked a cough to hide his bitter surprise. “The wedding is in nine days from now.”

  “Poor woman.” Codrin finally recovered. “Her husband was killed, and she was sold by the Circle to Orban.”

  “What really happened in Severin?” As a new Sage, Panait was not comfortable talking about the Circle’s sins, but he did not want to be uninformed either.

  “There was an agreement between the new Candidate King and Orban. Orban would help Bucur take Severin, and he would receive Lady Severin and her youngest children. And Bucur keeps her eldest daughter.”

  “Even the children,” Delia sighed.

  “How else could Orban force Lady Severin into submission? And it’s only one month since her husband was killed,” Codrin said, trying hard to control his voice. “Bucur is even worse than Orban.”

  “It’s hard to talk about this,” Panait mused. “I took an oath to help Bucur become our King. I had to do it.”

  “You did not really know about Bucur last summer, but now you do,” Delia said, a touch of irritation in her voice. “If I had some doubts until now, they’ve vanished after what Tudor said to us.”

  “The Sages told me that Bucur needs a base to start his ascension to the throne,” Panait said meekly.

  “Bucur is a fraud,” Codrin said, more fervently than he meant to. “He never won a battle, and....” He stopped abruptly, thinking that he needed to calm down. I need their help. His silence went on longer; he could not find the words.

  “What is bothering you?” Delia asked, suddenly, before Codrin could gather his mind.

  “There is an important quest, and it may be the last action of the Wraith of Tolosa.”

  “Because is too dangerous or because you want to retire?”

  “Both.”

  “Is your quest in Arad?” Panait asked, his voice prudent and almost shy.

  Yes, Codrin nodded, still unable to explain what he needed. I may put them in danger. There is no may about it. Everything I want will endanger them.

  “Tell us,” Delia said, in the voice a mother uses for her children.

  “The moment I tell, you will be in danger.”

  “We are caravan people; we have known danger. My feeling is that you are here for Lady Severin.”

  “That would be too complicated. I am here for her girl.”

  “How do you want to...?” Agitated, Panait could not end his sentence.

  “I want to speak with Cantemir. He owes me a favor.” He owes me three favors for saving his life.

  “Three days ago, I spoke with Cantemir. The day I received the title of Sage. I had a feeling that he was not happy about what happened in Severin. I was right, and I’ve since learned that he knew nothing when it was planned. Everything was between Orban and the Master Sage.”

  “How could a woman do such a thing to another woman?” Codrin lamented. “Maud is even worse than Orban.”

  “I should have guessed that you know who the new Master Sage is,” Panait sighed. “What I wanted to say is that it may be worth talking to Cantemir. I don’t know that he can or will help you
, but it worth trying.”

  “I want to visit him this evening.”

  “Since Lady Severin came, he sleeps mostly in the High Place.” That was how Panait called Orban’s palace. “We shall have dinner. I will send a servant to see if Cantemir is at home. I bet that he isn’t, but tomorrow, we will meet.”

  He was right, and Codrin went back to his inn to learn from Vlad what else he had gathered from the people at the inn.

  ***

  Cantemir was not surprised when Jara came into his office. It was early morning, and he was still not accustomed to sleeping in the palace instead of his home.

  “This thing with Vio and Alic may end badly,” she said, even before seating herself.

  “I did what I could.”

  “Let’s forget about that. Alic will attack her again.”

  “I talked with Orban...”

  “Orban wants to marry them.”

  “I heard that,” Cantemir sighed. “Three years is a long time. He may change his mind. Things may change around us.”

  “Alic will attack her again,” Jara repeated.

  “I stopped him when he tried to harass her. The guards are now warned.”

  “Twenty galbeni and they will forget the warning. Fifty more and they will help Alic to rape her. Are you so corrupt?”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “To free Vio.”

  “I am thinking at that,” Cantemir burst out. “But it will take a while to negotiate it with Orban and the Circle. They even refused to trade Vio for the Sage in Codrin’s hands and Aron’s son.”

  “We don’t have that time. Send her away.”

  “I will just escort her to the gate of Arad, and she will walk away? An escape needs reliable people. I don’t have them.”

  “And if you had them?” Jara asked, staring intently at him, Vio’s vision fresh in her mind.

  “I don’t have,” Cantemir said, and suddenly became silent as Panait entered his office.