by Vela Roth
Was this how Anastasios had felt, knowing every life inside the walls of Hagia Boreia was in his hands? Had he wondered whether his choice to die for them would be enough to save them?
It was too much.
Anastasios had been the Prismos of Hagia Boreia, strengthened through experience to bear such responsibility. He had been a Ritual firstblood, who had received the Gift from the Goddess herself, who through his magic and blood had helped create all Hesperines.
Who was Lio to take those lives into his hands?
“It is a good likeness,” said a voice behind him.
Lio looked away from the statue to behold instead a living memorial. He put a hand over his heart and bowed deeply, which brought him to her eye level. “Annassa Alea.”
Her royal finery was the simple white robe that had been her vestment as the Prisma of Hagia Boreia. Her only crown was her Grace’s black braid. Her train was her white hair, which hung loose past her feet.
She was the only Ritual firstblood whose heart still beat, but she could still smile, and she did so at Lio now. “It is one of my favorites of your father’s works. Anastasios would appreciate such a complimentary portrait. But my old friend would agree with me that the best likeness of him Apollon ever sculpted will take the floor later tonight and speak.”
“You honor me.” Lio bowed his head.
He wanted to tell her how much her words meant to him, especially at this moment. But he did not know if he would forfeit her confidence in him before the night was through.
“Why look into stone eyes for wisdom, when you need only seek it in your veins?” she asked.
“There are times when I doubt my own veins.”
“So do we all. But that is the same as doubting the Goddess.” She walked between the five of them, touching affectionate hands to their heads. “Xandra would not breathe a word of what all of you are up to. I believe the Circle may look forward to a rare phenomenon tonight—a surprise.”
She descended from the gallery, and faces lit with hope, relief, delight as she walked among her people. Lio felt another wave of the same emotions on the other side of the amphitheater and knew Queen Soteira had made her entrance somewhere in the crowd gathered there.
No one knelt or prostrated themselves, and the words “Your Majesty” were not to be heard here. Everyone gave one bow with their hands over their hearts, and their honorific for their Queens went up all over the amphitheater on voice after voice: Annassa, Annassa, Annassa.
Mak grinned. “Everyone has complete confidence in you, Lio. Even our Queens.”
“No expectations,” Kia said again.
“We’d best take our seats.” Nodora clasped Lio’s hands. “May the Goddess lend you her voice.”
Kia touched his shoulder. “May her Eyes watch your path—and shine the light of truth.”
“May her darkness shield you,” Mak and Lyros said together.
“You have my gratitude, my friends,” Lio replied. “I pray the future we are striving for will be a good one for all of us.”
They descended the rows with a step to take their places behind their parents. As Lio sat down, his father reached back to clasp his arm, and his mother smiled. If they would greet the end of his speech with the same gestures, he would count his blessings.
Lio tried not to lose sight of Lyros, Kia and Nodora among their many brothers and sisters. He saw Mak sit down next to Kadi and say something that made her laugh. She tore her gaze away from Nike’s empty seat beside her. Lio wondered if Kadi would have been happier staying at home with Javed to look after Zoe, Bosko and Thenie.
It was good to think of Zoe feeling safe at House Argyros, all unknowing of the elders’ troubles. It was hard to think of bringing danger so near to her.
But it was harder to think of explaining to her one night, when she was old enough to understand, that he had been too cautious to face immediate danger for the chance to secure long-term peace. When that night came, he wanted to be able to tell her he had not given into fear, but had been brave enough to try to build her a better future.
Ambassador Deukalion's Proposal
By the time the other proposals drew to a close, Lio wasn’t sure whether he wanted to thank Javed or do a few Sun Strikes on him. The thirst suppressant had indeed stolen Lio’s appetite, but it had taken half his senses with it.
When Second Princess Konstantina, as her mothers’ voice in the Circle, invited Lio onto the floor, he fumbled for his scroll case and his wits. His feet felt like blobs of wool at the end of his legs. As he stepped down from the second row, the voices around him sounded muffled and distant. So did his own heartbeat.
While he made his slow progress toward the podium, Princess Konstantina turned to talk with one of her children in the row behind her. Her unconcern would vanish when she realized Lio was not here to discuss Imperial libraries.
His dulled senses softened the blow the crowd dealt him through the Blood Union as they all turned their attention on him. Their affection and concern, admiration and interest blurred together into an incoherent whole Lio need not dwell on. He was definitely going to thank Javed.
He kept his gaze on the floor so he wouldn’t trip as he approached the podium. The mosaic of the Firstblood Rose pointed its black marble thorns and red marble petals at the watching elders. Lio would have to look at them eventually.
Once he was sure his scrolls wouldn’t tumble off the podium, he raised his head. Uncle Argyros had taught him to look at everyone’s foreheads, not meet their eyes. Lio looked past Queen Soteira’s dark brow and Queen Alea’s pale one and pinned his gaze on Princess Konstantina’s black-and-white silk circlet.
The Second Princess did not need a jeweled crown to remind anyone of her role in this Circle. Her seat right behind the Queens was the enduring crown of her achievements as their eldest daughter and Royal Master Magistrate. She was Hesperine royalty embodied, with her black skin and white robe, the coils of her dark hair tied back with pale silk cord.
Lio was about to sacrifice her respect.
He dared not meet her regal gaze. He already knew the opposition he would see there before the Circle concluded. The Second Princess’s approval was priceless, her dissent ruinous. Proposing anything to her that threatened the security of her people was political suicide.
Lio invited his destruction as courteously as possible. He recited the formal thanks expected from each speaker she called to the podium.
The words were barely out of his mouth when the empty place to Princess Konstantina’s right was suddenly no longer vacant. She spun in her seat, and the amphitheater erupted with exclamations of surprise and welcome.
Lio met Rudhira’s gray gaze and grinned. The First Prince of Orthros had found the time to attend Circle with Basir and Kumeta at his side. They had even taken a moment to exchange their field gear for silk.
Rudhira still looked rather like a harbinger of death in his blood red robes, with his blood red braid, pale skin and hawkish features. But he was their harbinger of rescue.
Xandra abandoned her seat with no trace of royal dignity and threw her arms around her brother. He held her while he paid his respects to their mothers.
A ripple in the Union made Lio look to his left. He saw Uncle Argyros frown and look from Rudhira…to Lio.
The prince had come to hear Lio’s speech. No one expected an Imperial libraries proposal now.
On their way to their seats, Basir and Kumeta paused to have a word with Lio’s uncle. Uncle Argyros looked puzzled, and the ripple became jarring. Kumeta gave Uncle Argyros’s shoulder a squeeze before the Master Envoys ascended the rows behind him to take their places as his Ritual tributaries.
Rudhira sat down and devoted his entire attention to Lio. The commotion silenced.
There was no shame in defeat with Rudhira at his side, if defeat he must face.
Lio lifted a hand toward the sky. “Annassa, Firstbloods and heirs of the blood, thank you for hearing me under the Goddess’s Eyes.
By Alatheia’s light, I shall strive to speak only truth, according to my conscience.”
Somehow the ritual words, which every presenter to this Circle had spoken before him, helped him go on. Because they were true of the speech he would deliver tonight. Because he had a right to speak here, to his people. He had a right to be heard, even if he was wrong.
“I am called upon tonight to deliver my findings on whether Hesperine magic and craft could improve the libraries of the Empire. It is my honor to propose a course of action to our Queens for further serving our Imperial friends and allies.” Lio placed before him on the podium the scroll he had dedicated to his libraries proposal. “Each of you knows my findings, although I have yet to announce them.” He bowed to Uncle Argyros. “My mentor knew what I would suggest before he assigned this matter to me.” Now Lio bowed once more to the Annassa. “Our Queens have already decided on a course of action, upon which we will proceed regardless of what I say tonight, and all shall benefit.”
Lio unrolled his libraries proposal and turned slowly to display to the entire Circle the mostly blank scroll. “So I have resolved to use this opportunity to present conclusions that will surprise you. I ask that you consider a course of action Orthros has never before undertaken. I appeal to our Queens to rule on a future that has yet to be decided: the fate of Orthros’s relations with Tenebra.”
No outburst of surprise greeted his declaration. Only knowing smiles, amused glances, and a few almost inaudible sighs of resignation.
Lio set aside the first scroll. He unrolled his new proposal and his list of Cassia’s deeds on the podium in front of him. “I will now name the individual who is responsible for our current reprieve from war with the Mage Orders and present irrefutable evidence of that person’s identity.”
The amphitheater was silent, but the Blood Union told Lio, even through his muffled senses, that he had their attention now.
“She is…” Lio drew breath and looked at last into the gleaming eyes, the ageless faces, the worried hearts around him. His people. Her people. “Cassia Basilis, the best ally Hesperines could ask the Goddess to give us.”
He didn’t listen to find out if they were shocked or skeptical or amazed. He delivered his proposal, the real one he had been working on all this time. The truth of all the deeds she had done on their behalf and all the rules he had violated to help her. Telling Mak and Lyros had been his first rehearsal, telling his parents his second. Now Lio gave the performance of his life.
He didn’t know how much time passed. His tongue went dry and his head grew light. Surely Javed’s elixir couldn’t be wearing off already. Not when the most difficult part was still ahead of Lio.
“In light of these revelations,” he said at last, “it is clear our situation calls for a change of policy, one that will make the most of what our sympathizer at Solorum has accomplished—one that will further enable her to influence Tenebra on our behalf. It is clear from the events of the Autumn Greeting that although her valiant efforts have been our salvation, the king is set on his course and will not call the Equinox Summit. And yet the Summit is our only hope of pulling our kingdoms back from the brink of war, of nurturing the fragile opportunity we have with Tenebra…of reestablishing contact with Lady Cassia.
“Ever in such times of trouble, it is our way to stand down from confrontation. It is the right thing to do, for it is the only antidote to the Mage Orders’ thirst for conflict. I say, let us withdraw, as we always have. But let us bring Tenebra with us.
“The King and Queen of Tenebra who first called us to a Summit no longer dwell in this world. We are still here. The spirit of the first Equinox Oath lives on, and we are its bearers.
“No king will call the Summit for us. What matter? Let our Queens bring the world to their table. Let our Goddess guide the world to peace, as she did our people.
“I hereby propose that we invite the very first Tenebran embassy to Orthros.”
The tremor in the Union made him sway on his feet. Hespera help him. He had to say the rest.
“Let us establish a new tradition—the Solstice Summit. For the first time in history, a party of mortals shall cross the great divide between Tenebra and Orthros. We shall show them all the beauty and goodness of our homeland and see if they are not moved to lay down their swords. We shall see whether they can behold Hespera and not be changed. Come Winter Solstice, we shall see if they are not ready to swear a new oath for a new era.”
He looked at the statue of Ritual Firstblood Eidon. He did not yet dare look beyond the Prismos of Hagia Anatela to see the look on Uncle Argyros’s face.
“There you have it. My youthful vision. My faith in the goodness that still beats within Tenebran hearts. But believing and hoping is not enough. We must pave the way to our ideals with wisdom we have learned from bitter experience. But pave it we must. We must act, although we do so with the caution our losses have taught us.”
He proceeded to lay out his recommendations for security measures. He had really just done it—asked the Circle to bring mages and warriors behind the ward like wolves into the fold. But he was ready to erode their outrage with each excruciating detail of his plan for safety. He hurried to get the words out before he lost his credibility before them entirely.
“Mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers, I feel your fear. The thought of allowing such dangerous men to occupy the same side of the sea as my young sister Zosime fills me with terror. That is why the Tenebran embassy shall be kept isolated from any Hesperine sucklings and newbloods at all times. All those who have contact with the visitors must be at least initiates who are in command of their power. We shall also ensure our Imperial guests never cross paths with the new embassy, in strict adherence to the Empress’s policy on Tenebra and Cordium.”
By the time Lio was done itemizing safety protocols, he could no longer see Alatheia’s constellation in the sky. Had he really been talking that long?
“And yet one question remains to be answered. Will King Lucis accept our invitation? I can tell you without a doubt that he will.
“He wants the Orders’ support, and they want a war. How else will they view our new effort for peace but as a new opportunity to incite violence? They will leap at the chance to come to Orthros, thinking it will serve their own purposes.
“It doesn’t matter why they will come. What matters is what the Tenebrans will see when they get here.
“This is our chance to humanize ourselves in their eyes. It is easy to drum up support for a war against a specter that lives large in mortal imagination. It will not be so easy to rally warriors against names and faces they have met or pit mages against worshipers who offer up prayers in the same tongue their own gods speak. It will be even harder to convince the free lords to turn against lucrative new trade agreements and goods never before seen in Tenebra. Why glut Cordium’s coffers when they could fill their own? Why fulfill the southern mages’ dreams of war, when they could lay their nightmares of the north to rest?
“The king and the Cordian fanatics will not change their minds. But the Tenebrans might. Their minds and hearts are worth fighting for.
“And if we lose that fight, if we accomplish nothing else, consider this one last reason to approve my proposal.” Lio looked at Rudhira. “The Prince’s Charge sheds their blood night after night to find those of us who have not come home. As long as any of our people are out of reach, the Charge’s work is not done. While the First Prince continues to lead the search, what safer place is there to keep our enemies but here in our stronghold, where they cannot harm our Hesperines errant who remain in hostile territory? What better delay could we contrive to buy time for Orthros Abroad than a long, drawn-out diplomatic event here at home, which will tie Cordium’s hands? The Orders will not dare start a war when some of their own are at our mercy, for fear our guests will become hostages or martyrs should violence break out.
“There is no denying Cordians will send their own to Orthros. We will invite the mages of Tene
bra to renew ties with us, but among their number, we shall receive Cordian mages disguised as Tenebrans.” Lio looked in turn at each member of the embassy who had fought Dalos at his side. “We need this to happen. We must discover how a member of the Aithourian Circle can disguise his power from us. If we bring disguised Aithourians here, our best scholars can observe them firsthand and expose their secrets.”
Lio looked down at his proposal. He hadn’t even glanced at it the entire time he had been speaking. He supposed it was written somewhere much closer to him.
He made himself look at Uncle Argyros at last. “Until everyone we love is safe behind the ward, we must not give up. We must keep fighting for peace. Even when peace is impossible, the hope of peace carries us far. It carried us to Orthros sixteen hundred years ago. Let it carry a Tenebran embassy to Orthros now.”
Uncle Argyros’s face was made of stone as surely as the memorial statues. Lio could see no trace of emotion there. No hint of either support or outrage. Nothing.
The vertigo was back. It twirled the Circle around Lio and spun his last drink up toward his throat. He willed it back down. He had one more thing to say.
“Before you cast your votes, I must disclose one more relevant fact. I have endeavored to present my findings as objectively as possible and propose only that which will further the good of our people. However, I must admit a possible bias, which you should take into consideration when evaluating my proposal.”
The feeling came back to Lio’s limbs all at once. His veins lit on fire with the Craving. For her.
“I did not merely collaborate with Cassia. She also did me the honor of sharing with me. She is more to me than an ally of our people. She is not only the hero who saved our lives during the Summit and gave Orthros our new children.” The empty seats behind his parents blurred before his eyes. “She is the partner I hope will eternally sit at my side in this Circle. As surely as my blood is the future of House Komnena, so too is hers. Her blood is my future. When she comes to Orthros, I hope you will welcome her not as a friend of the Hesperines, but as a Hesperine, for nothing is sufficient to honor who she is to me except that I offer her the Gift.”
