“Yes,” she laughed nervously, “You need your Secretary.”
“I need you more than the Secretary.”
“Well, I am here.” She gently pulled from his embrace and went to check Radu in his bed. “Have you any news about Saliné?”
“No.” I am cursed to lose most people I love. He shook his head, his straying away, around the room.
“You will have. I suppose your men are combing Frankis for her.”
“I have sent scouts everywhere, but...” He shrugged and coughed to mask the weakness in his voice.
A month later, after midnight, Radu woke Mara, and she fed him at her breast. After making him sleep again, hungry herself, she left her suite and entered the saloon. Head in hands, Codrin was sitting at the table. There was a bottle of wine in front of him and a glass. The glass was full, and it seemed that he had not touched it yet. Her first thought was to leave him alone. Undecided, she hovered in the doorway. At the table, he was as still as her. Breathing deeply, she walked toward him, and laced her arms around his neck. Without speaking, he pulled her slowly into his lap.
“I failed her,” he rasped. “Vio. I failed Vio. I failed Saliné too. It’s like Fate is laughing at me. I am cursed. I lost my family and now this. Why, Mara? Why?”
“We have had bad moments in life. We have had good ones too.”
“Of everything, you are the only happy thing that has happened in my new life.”
“You are...”
“Do you think that winning battles and being almost a King can compensate for my losses? I would have preferred to be just the Wraith of Tolosa and have Vio still alive.”
“I know, but you have to move past it.” Before he could answer, she kissed him, and that moved them back to a time when the world around them was simpler and less demanding.
***
The excitement of taking over Arad faded, and the Winter Solstice was coming. Codrin cancelled the festival, but the people both nobles and servants understood his decision. After most of the important things were settled, Codrin found more free time than he needed, memories he wanted to keep away burdening him. Reading only recalled his time with Vio and Saliné, bit it was not possible to avoid the library completely, as he promised Lanya he would read with her from time to time.
On one of those evenings, she was reading to him, in her pleasant voice. After a while, Codrin’s mind wandered, and Vio’s face came to him.
“What do you see?” Lanya asked, sensing that he was no longer with her.
“Vio.”
“You see Vio in me. You want Vio, not me,” Lanya said, fighting hard not to cry.
“Vio? No, I will never see Vio in you.”
“You don’t want to see me,” she cried, feeling betrayed, just when she had started to be happy, and ran away.
Startled, Codrin reacted slower than normal, but he still caught her in the doorway of the library.
“Let me go,” she cried, trying in vain to free herself from his arms.
“Lanya, listen to me,” he said gently. “I will never see Vio in you. I will always see Lanya in you. Understand? You are an intelligent and kind girl named Lanya. You don’t need to be anyone else. You need to be you.”
She was still sobbing, but no longer tried to escape his arms. Codrin lifted her thin body, and walked with her, through the large library, until she stopped crying. You will always have a place here, Lanya, and when the time comes, I will find a good husband for you and make you a Signora. Not because I signed that bloody treat with Orban, but because you deserve it.
She put her arms around his neck, and leaned her head on his shoulder. “I want you to see me,” she whispered.
Chapter 24 – Dochia
“Someone just entered the Sanctuary in Hispeyne,” Ai said. “No one has been in there for more than one thousand years.”
“Hispeyne... That’s so far from here. How do you know that?” Dochia asked more eager than she had intended, unable to feel the slight irritation in Ai’s voice. She jumped to her feet, and moved around the room.
“The Sanctuaries are linked together.”
“Like the Map is linked to the world?” This kind of magic I enjoy, but like the Maletera it can be used both ways, good and bad. Dochia had started to reevaluate the Sanctuary and everything she had found between its walls. She would have enjoyed talking at a distance with her sisters in the Hive, or with Codrin and Jara. News was scarce, even from Arenia, and nothing came to her from Frankis. She was completely cutoff from her home, and she would stay at least a few years more in Nerval. “Did they reactivate the Sanctuary?”
“No. They could only open the main gate. You don’t need much blood to open it.”
Ada, was right, Codrin has the blood. “Can we see them?”
“Why do I get the impression that you were expecting this?”
“Because I was expecting it.” Dochia smiled coyly, wondering how powerful Ai’s magic could be. “Can we see them?” she repeated with the eagerness of an exuberant girl.
Saying nothing, Ai projected an image in Dochia’s mind, and two people appeared in a hall that looked vaguely familiar. Across the large room, two sets of footprints were visible in the deep dust. “My feeling is that you expected somebody else, not those two.”
“One of them is unexpected indeed.” What is Aron’s son doing there with Siena?
“Does this mean bad things will happen?”
“It may do.” What happened to Codrin? I was expecting him to discover the Sanctuary. Is he still alive? He is the Seer of Fate. She had had a Vision about this just a few weeks earlier. He must be alive. “Can you hear them too?”
“That’s a bit more tricky, but I will try.”
“What I see there seems similar to the hall of the main gate here.”
“In each Sanctuary, there is a main entry point, a round hall. There are three Sanctuaries on the continent, and all of them were built by people having similar skills.” Even before she could end her phrase, Ai sent some new images to Dochia, and this time, there were voices too.
“See, Nard? What did I tell you? This is magic.” Siena waved her hand, and a door opened, the one linking the first hall to the second, larger one. They walked inside, and the door closed behind them. Startled, they turned as one, and tried to open the door with their hands. They couldn’t.
“We are trapped here,” Nard whispered.
Siena frowned, and waved her hand again. Nothing happened. Beads of perspiration ran down her face, and she closed her eyes. Fear came to her, and instinctively, she stepped back and waved again. The door opened.
“Uh,” she said and wiped perspiration from her brow. “I have the magic to open the door, but I need more time to learn how to control it. Now let’s go to find the magic weapons.”
“That’s why you sent them there? To find magic weapons?” Ai asked, deception filing her voice.
“I sent people there to find a solution to the Fracture, but the person I counted on is missing. I don’t know what has happened.”
“What is a Fracture?”
“Something that will destroy civilization on the continent. We have had two in the last six hundred years. The first one destroyed the Alban Empire. Some parts were salvaged, but we are still less developed than we were six hundred years ago.”
“And now?”
How can I tell her? She belongs here. Her parents are what we call the nomads, though the people here are less like the nomads than I expected.
“Dochia?”
“It’s difficult to explain. It’s...” I can’t call them nomads... “We are afraid that the Khadate will invade the continent.”
“It’s what Nabal wants? To restart civilization?”
“Well, we don’t think that they will be able to restart anything. We are afraid that everything will be ruined. Baraki brought only misery to Arenia. He killed two kings and their children. He killed even their girls.”
“Is Nabal so wrong?”
&n
bsp; “He may be right in some respects, but killing so many people, during the invasion, makes them wrong. And the combination of the Khadate and the Serpentists brings nothing good. They are using magic for evil purposes. I don’t want Meriaduk to conquer the continent with his Maleteras.”
“You should have told me before.”
“I am sorry. It was just too difficult for me to talk about this.”
“You call me your friend, yet you hid your real plans from me.”
“I apologize, if that has offended you.”
“I have to think,” Ai said abruptly, and Dochia understood from the following silence that she was alone in her room.
For almost two weeks, Dochia remained on her own in the Sanctuary; Ai refused to speak with her. She could talk to Meriaduk or to other priests. But that was duty. And loathing.
***
“I had a Vision,” Dochia said, looking straight at Meriaduk. They were alone in the High Priest’s office, the place from where he was governing the Sanctuary.
“Do you still see yourself as a Wanderer?” he barked and moved closer, his eyes on her. His hand went into the pocket of his large purple robe, gripping the Maletera that he always carried with him.
Dochia knew well what was in his pocket and, recalling the pain that the Maletera inflicted to her brain, she froze for a moment, her face stretched tight. She let out a short hiss of air, heart pounding in her ears, then she counted to five, and lowered her eyes. That pleased him. “My life belongs to the Serpent, but I still have Visions. They are not related to Fate, they come from the Serpent. Baraki has Visions too. You know that. And they bring useful information.”
“Such as?” Meriaduk voice was still angry, but there was a slight tone of expectation in it. His fingers relaxed on the Maletera. A little. He fought a sudden impulse to rub away the twitching of his left eye.
“Baraki is planning to move against you.”
“He plans. I plan. This is politics.” Meriaduk shrugged and stretched his neck from side to side. “I don’t need your Visions to know that.”
“Baraki plans to kill you.”
“He wouldn’t dare,” Meriaduk growled, and he stepped forward until they were face to face, their noses almost touching. He breathed in her face. “He wouldn’t dare.” A few drops of saliva left his mouth, then he swallowed, unable to calm his breath. He smoothed his brown hair back from his temples, and fumbled with the thin ends of his moustache.
Dochia wiped her wet cheek with the back of her forearm and stepped back. “You are too nervous. Killing is part of politics too. You have to get use to it.” A frightened chicken. She noticed that his left hand was trembling slightly, and felt the urge to spit into his face.
“He wouldn’t dare.”
“Then my Vision is false,” she said coldly and turned, trying to leave.
Meriaduk grabbed her elbow with bony fingers that felt like claws, and she turned back to him. “Tell me.” This time his voice was calm. And his lips dry.
“Some of his Royal Guards got uniforms similar to your Priest Guard. Each month, you go to preach to the main temple of the Serpent. The day is still short, and you return in the Sanctuary after the dark comes. I saw them attacking you.” Dochia had no Vision about Baraki trying to kill Meriaduk, but she learned from Kasia about the uniforms.
“They are too weak to attack me or a Vicarius. We have powerful weapons.” Meriaduk clasped his hands at his back, chest out, chin up, head cocked. A lopsided smile crept up on his face.
“I believe you, and I wish to see them working, but are they able to stop an arrow?”
Meriaduk pondered, then swallowed his pride. “No. I can paralyze the aggressors, if they are less than fifteen paces away from me, but I can’t stop an arrow.”
Another kind of Maletera? Ai refused to inform me about the magic weapons in the Sanctuary. Dochia said nothing, hoping that Meriaduk will speak more.
“What would you suggest?”
“Perhaps making the prayers shorter, but they can attack you even in daylight; there are many tall buildings in Nerval, and enough places to hide an archer.”
“I can’t stop the prayers. Nerval needs them. It needs me too.”
Nerval needs you as much as I need poison. “You can’t stop an arrow either. But you can make Baraki feel your power.”
“Should I use the Shot on him?” He opened a cabinet and grabbed a dark brown tool that had an L shape. The shortest part of the weapon fitted well in his palm. “We have seven such weapons.” He gestured with the Shot, a wicked grin spread on his lips.
So that’s the weapon... Dochia forced herself to take her eyes from it. Meriaduk has enough blood to activate and use it. Can I use it too? “Perhaps is better to let a Vicarius do it, and let Baraki know that your ... Shot is much stronger.”
“You have an interesting mind. I still don’t know why the Maletera could not fully take over it, but it suits me.”
“It must be a reason for that. I serve the Serpent.” Dochia bowed. “And you.”
“You serve me better than I thought.”
“I will serve you to death.” Your death. “Perhaps you can also postpone Baraki’s coronation as the new Khad. Nabal will not be happy, but...” Dochia shrugged and turned her palms up.
“We need a Khad to conquer the continent for the Serpent. The path is open for glory.”
The path is open for blood. “We are not fully prepared for the invasion, and one year delay is not much. The Serpent is wise and patient. So are the Serpentists. Baraki may have the crown and the army, but it’s the High Priest who must have the last say.”
“I have to think about it,” Meriaduk said abruptly, and gestured to Dochia, making her know that the audience had ended. She bowed and forced a grimace into an unfelt smile.
Alone, he took out the Maletera from his pocket, and rubbed it until the tool reacted, pulsating faintly in his hand. Dochia may be useful, but she may be dangerous too. Should I use the Maletera on her again? Perhaps later, after I will be able to fully control Baraki. Nabal will make problems, but the Serpent will guide me.
***
“I should have watched you more closely.” Nabal appeared abruptly in Dochia’s vision. She was alone in her room. Like the Last Empress, he used his power at his own convenience, but he liked to surprise his interlocutors.
“Why should I require such attention?”
“You convinced Meriaduk to postpone Baraki’s coronation.”
“Why are you so sure that it was me?”
“Am I wrong?”
“I don’t make decisions for Meriaduk, he is the Great Priest of the Serpent, but if you want to know what I think about the coronation...” She looked at Nabal, who nodded for her to continue. “We need a swift conquest of the continent to spare as many lives we can. We want to replace the rulers, but keep the people. You have already agreed to this. Meriaduk and Baraki don’t work well together. Don’t ask me why, I am still new here, and you know better. Their lack of collaboration will make the conquest a painful and protracted process. You have the power to make them understand that each has his own place, in the new world you are building. Why are you not working on this?”
Is she testing me? Or she is just too new here to understand that we are both allies and competitors? “What would better collaboration look like?”
“They don’t need to love each other. But the Seer should not lose a battle because two grumpy old men can’t stand each other.”
“Who can defeat Baraki? He is a Seer; Arenia belongs to him; Frankis is still in state of civil war, and there are no capable army commanders in the other two major kingdoms.”
“The nomads are still split in various tribes which are ready to jump at other’s throat, and the army of the Khadate is not yet ready. The continent has always unified to face an invasion from the east. The dogs fight each other for a bone, but when a wolf arrives... It’s the same here. And they must have a Seer too.”
“Yes, they
have, and you know him, but he is still young and without a kingdom.”
“If you mean Codrin, his father defeated the nomads, and he is a capable army commander. Don’t underestimate him. One more year of preparation will only help us.”
“Then?”
“If you can’t convince Baraki and Meriaduk to collaborate better in one year, then no one can. We go with what we have. Do you have your own order of the Wanderers that I can join?”
“The Church of the Serpent plays the role of the Wanderers and the Circle here.”
“They rely on the magic of the Sanctuary, and they mostly use it to get young girls in their beds. I don’t really know what makes you think this will create a new civilization. An order must have some discipline. Why are you not creating one here? You can find another name, if the Wanderers doesn’t suit you.”
“I will think about that, but, Dochia,” Nabal extended his arm, his finger pointing at her, “in one year we will have a new Khad. Baraki.”
“Yes, I have already agreed to that. Will you agree with me about a new military order? To bring some discipline?”
“I will have to think about that,” he repeated and vanished from her vision.
Well, Dochia mused, leaning against the wall. We have one more year to plan our defense. How I wish to have news from Frankis. I miss my sisters. I miss Jara. Codrin... It’s strange how the distance enhances your loneliness.
Chapter 25 – Saliné
Wandering through the library of S’Laurden, Saliné found a lyre sitting on a table, in the corner next to one of the large windows. Two feet tall, it was an expensive instrument, its frame painted in gold. Saliné glanced around and, seeing no one, she took the lyre in her hands, her fingers caressing the strings. After a while, she sat in the only chair at the table, the lyre between her knees. The song rose into the room, and shy at first, Saliné warmed herself slowly to the music. The room vanished from her mind, then the walls, Laurden and everything else. She was only a young woman, dreaming through her songs, and her lyre. When she finished, eyes closed, she leaned against the frame, a faint smile on her lips. For the first time in more than two years, Saliné forgot everything and felt happy. With a sigh, she lifted her head and opened her eyes. In front of her, Foy, Eduin and a few servants looked at her, no one willing to disturb her tranquility.
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