The Exxar Chronicles: Book 02 - Emissary

by Neal Jones

  So he must owe the depository. He must have borrowed heavily during the lean years of the war. But surely business was doing well in the decade since. During his wanderings through the northern sector, Kralin thought that the tourism trade seemed rather busy these days, and in fact, from the little he'd heard in various news reports during his trip to homeworld, the whole empire was supposed to be celebrating a boom in the economy. Vacation destinations such as the Honsh Valley were supposedly overflowing with the wealthy who were ready to celebrate the good times. And there was nothing the rich loved more than a bottle – or two, or three - of expensive wine. Not only that, the wine from Farak's vineyards was shipped all over the empire, and with new trade agreements being brokered with numerous Federation merchant guilds every year since the end of the war, Farak's company should be doing better than ever.

  Kralin's meandering finally took him to the Ardmos, a good-sized pub in the southern district, and it was slowly filling as the factory workers and the day laborers ended their shifts. He hadn't realized it until he was standing at the threshold, but the Ardmos was where Matok and some of the other managers at the winery liked to come after work. At least they did twenty-some years ago. Kralin wasn't of age then so he hadn't been allowed in a place like this, but he knew his father had come here often with Matok and the others, although probably not so often these days.

  So Kralin had ordered an ale and claimed a small table near the front. He had just taken a long pull of his third stein when Matok Sussul – a tall, thick bear of man – stepped inside, followed by two others that Kralin didn't recognize. Farak wasn't with them, which Kralin was relieved to see. Matok started to look for an empty table, and then his gaze settled on Kralin, whom he didn't recognize at first. But then he did a double take, and his face broke into a grin.

  "Kralin Saveck?"

  Kralin nodded and raised his stein. "How are you, Matok?"

  "By the gods, I thought I'd seen the last of you years ago! Usdan, Kaiss! Over here. This is Kralin Saveck."

  A round of greetings was exchanged, and the waiter reappeared with three steins. Matok took a long pull, wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve, and then said to his two companions, "I could tell you stories about this boy here! He and his brother were the scourge of this province."

  "It was your son that led us," Kralin teased. "I couldn't have done half of what I did without Draek's help."

  Matok was only a few years younger than Farak, and he was such a close friend of Kralin's father that he'd been called Sajda Matok for as long as Kralin could remember. Sajda was the term used for brothers of one's father or mother. Saj was the word used for the female siblings.

  Matok laughed and nodded. "And you'll never guess what he's doing now!"

  "Oh I'm sure I can," Kralin replied. "It has to be something in local law enforcement. Probably a deputy lieutenant by now."

  Matok guffawed and took another drink. "You're right. Deputy chief, actually, of the Kalar province. The capitol district, in fact."

  Kralin could only shake his head and laugh.

  "You haven't done so bad yourself," Matok continued after another swallow.

  "Please," Kralin scowled. "Spare me the usual congratulatory remarks.

  "You saw a lot of action during the war?" Usdan asked.

  "How old are you?" Kralin asked.

  "Twenty-six."

  "Yes, I saw plenty. You're too young to have it explained to you."

  "Boys, why don't you leave us for a few minutes." Matok motioned to a pair of women three tables over. "Go keep them company. They don't look like they're waiting for anyone."

  After the men left, Matok motioned for the waiter to bring another couple steins. "Sorry about that. They're good kids, hard workers. Two of the best on my team, in fact. I've told them a little bit about you over the years, but I may have embellished some of your war stories."

  Kralin shrugged. "It's okay."

  "I'm sorry about your mother."

  "Thanks." Kralin finished his ale and reached for the fresh one set down by the waiter. The pub was almost filled to maximum by now, and someone had put kril into the music player whose speakers were located in all corners of the bar. He was grateful that the volume wasn't turned very high, but the racket pouring from them was going to get on his nerves in a few minutes. "This place hasn't changed all that much."

  "How do you know?" Matok teased. "You were still too young when you left to be allowed in a place like this."

  "Doesn't mean I didn't succeed in sneaking in a couple times," Kralin replied. "In fact, Draek was the one who showed us how to do it."

  "That doesn't surprise me."

  Kralin leaned forward, thankful for the background din of conversation and music. It meant that he and Matok could speak with some degree of privacy. "Matok, I need to ask you something, and I need you to be honest with me."

  "You've heard about your father's debt."

  The statement caught Kralin off guard. It was one thing to have one's suspicions, but quite another to have them confirmed so bluntly. He must have looked more surprised than he thought because Matok continued.

  "I'm sorry. I thought you were aware of what Enar did four years ago."

  "Who's Enar?" The name sounded vaguely familiar.

  "The company's chief financial executor. He was hired about twelve years ago. He embezzled almost a million kril from your father, and by the time they discovered what he'd done, he'd already left homeworld. Law enforcement has been hunting him since, but they've turned up no leads. Thanks to our new alliance with the Federation, Enar's probably hidden himself on a world that has no extradition treaty with us." Matok paused to drink, and Kralin was speechless. "Farak had to take out a second kril-tor on both the house and the land. But business isn't anywhere near what it used to be, and he's in serious risk of defaulting on both. I'm not sure exactly how far behind he is on the payments, but I know it's at least a couple of months since the last one. Or maybe closer to five or six."

  "Stop." Kralin shook his head and reached for his stein. "Stop," he repeated and then drank. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and then sat back, trying to comprehend Matok's report. "He's going to lose everything? The house, the vineyards, the company – all of it?"

  Matok nodded soberly, and just then the waiter appeared with another round. Matok grabbed the steins and then shooed him away. "I'm so sorry, Kralin. I honestly thought you knew. I was sure that Jharis had written you when all of this first broke, but..." He shrugged, not sure what else to say.

  Kralin was shaking his head again, and he guzzled the last of his ale. His head was wrapped comfortably in the cushion of inebriation that comes from drinking too quickly on an empty stomach. He reached for the next round that the waiter had brought over.

  "It's not your fault, Matok. I shouldn't have stayed away for so long."

  "If I'm not allowed to blame myself, neither are you."

  The music changed, replaced by a rousing number that Kralin instantly remembered, though he hadn't sung it in over a decade. He grinned, raised his stein, and began singing along. Matok did the same, and so did Usdan and Kaiss. Within minutes, the entire bar was joining in the chorus, and when it was over they all drank. This was followed by the customary cheer of Enthul dae Trore! Waiters immediately began distributing fresh steins.

  Matok was chortling. "I can't believe you remember all the words!"

  "Why not? You taught it to me!"

  "But that was a long time ago."

  "I taught it to my officers on the Ag'Riss, just after the battle at Banikal. Our ale, unfortunately, wasn't as good as this. What was that other one? The one about the warrior Usrak?"

  Matok grinned and started singing the opening verse, and Kralin quickly joined in as the words came back to him. He was thoroughly drunk by this point, and he stood, motioning for the rest of the patrons to join him on the chorus. When the song was finished, there was another round of cheers and several steins were quickly emptied,
including Kralin's. He plunked it down on the table and motioned to the waiter to bring another round.

  "Make it another round for everyone!" Exxar-One's first officer bellowed, and this elicited another round of cheers and applause. He dug into his pocket and tossed the bartender his kril chip.

  Matok motioned for Kralin to sit. "You'd better slow down before you get too carried away," he warned.

  "Krite!" Kralin cursed. "I feel like celebrating." Matok started to protest, but Kralin interrupted. "No, no, listen to me, old friend. According to the religious leaders, the End of Time and Days is here at last. The Second Coming of the Varashok is nigh, correct? Which means all of this" – he threw out his arms and nearly spilled a tray of steins from the hands of a passing waitress – "doesn't matter one krite! Am I right?" He laughed. "That rhymes! Krite, right, krite, right!"

  "Yes, you're right," Matok replied and raised his drink. Kralin did the same and they toasted the moment. Around them, the rest of the bar had resumed its murmured buzz of conversation and laughter. Someone had put more kril into the music player, and this time the volume was turned up.

  Kralin sighed and stared down into his drink. After a few moments he looked up, feeling very strange. A peculiar form of giddiness and sadness had suddenly overcome him. "But that's only if you believe all that gress, right?"

  "Yeah," Matok agreed somberly.

  Kralin took another long pull of his stein and then stood. "What time is it?"

  "You're not leaving," Matok sternly ordered. "Not till I've finished mine at least. Sit down."

  Kralin did a mock salute and then laughed as he obeyed. "I might as well have another round." He started to motion for the waiter, but Matok jerked his hand down.

  "If you'll wait till I'm done with my drink, we can go back to my place. I've got a bottle of Issarden we can share."

  Kralin found that so funny that he giggled like a child. Drowning his sorrows in a bottle of his father's finest wine was almost poetic.

  "All right, done," Matok said and then stood. "Usdan, Kaiss. You two are on your own. See you tomorrow."

  ( 5 )

  Bratin Sussul wasn't a light sleeper. Her husband, Matok, had told her more than once that she could sleep in the middle of a thunderstorm, and he was right. So when it was her husband's voice that she heard thundering the chorus of an old war song, she knew that if it was loud enough to wake her, it was probably loud enough to wake the neighbors as well. Bratin reached for her evening robe and plodded down the stairs to the kitchen where she was astonished to find Matok sitting at the table. He wasn't alone.

  "Kralin?"

  The major grinned and raised his glass. "Saj Bratin! You look as lovely as always! How long has it been?"

  "What's going on? When did you arrive?" She looked at the two empty bottles on the table. "Do either of you know what time it is?"

  Matok chortled, but his laugh withered beneath Bratin's glare. "Yes, my love, I know what time it is, but – "

  " - but nothing. Kralin, let me show you to our guest room. Matok, clean up this mess."

  Kralin stood, grabbing the back of the chair as a wave of vertigo overcame him, and he started laughing. "My father's best!" He found this unbearably funny, and continued to giggle as Bratin took him by the hand and led him upstairs.

  "Grown men acting as children," she muttered, shaking her head. But after she laid Kralin down on the bed, she gently slipped off his boots and tenderly laid a blanket over him. Then she kissed him on the forehead. "I'm glad you're finally home," she whispered.

  But Kralin was already starting to snore.

  Chapter 16

  ____________________

  ( 1 )

  THE STONE GARDENS WERE BLESSEDLY empty at this late hour, and Vatra stole quietly between the statues of emperors past. She pulled her long sleeved cloak tighter about herself in an attempt to ward off the chill of the sudden breeze. It was yet another signal of the cold season that was soon to set on this part of homeworld, and these gardens might be covered with snow later tonight or perhaps early in the morning.

  The cold was not the only reason that the lady princess shivered. The horrendous debacle at dinner two nights before had shaken her so badly that she'd been unable to think of anything else. Never before had Erengaar become so physically violent in public, and whenever she closed her eyes in an attempt to sleep, Vatra remembered clearly the expression of pure, unchecked rage on Erengaar's face, particularly his eyes. The eyes that had once gazed upon her with equal parts kindness and lust, the eyes that she had once thought were his best feature.

  That was long ago, however, and while she had good reason to fear her half-brother ever since his ascension to the throne, that fear had been tempered with her belief that he was too weak to turn his violence upon her. She was still family after all, and Larewyn had yet to conceive a child. That was the other fact that had kept Vatra safe. Her son, Jharek, might be needed someday to carry on the family bloodline and ascend the throne.

  But now time was very short. Now that Rimshar's treachery had been uncovered, Larewyn was certain to be pregnant within two weeks, possibly sooner, and after that there was no more need for Vatra's presence in the royal court, nor that of her son's. Especially her son. But even that wasn't enough to make Vatra fear for her life. Until two nights ago she had believed that Erengaar wasn't capable of such public acts of violence. Yes, there had been the public execution of Koden before the entire senate, but that was a very different thing from a murderous outburst in the midst of dinner. Before that execution, she had thought Erengaar too proper, too sophisticated to stoop to such messy work, but now she wasn't so sure. The rage that had seized him at dinner had been so consuming and so complete that Vatra had spent the last two days sequestered in her private quarters, with Jharek close by of course. Her son had complained at first but one stern look from his mother was enough to make him afraid, for he'd never seen her so demanding, nor so distraught. So he'd obeyed, spending the time with his lessons and practicing moves with his Skelperi sword.

  Erengaar and Larewyn, too, had kept themselves shut in, and an extra contingent of palace guards had been placed in the corridor leading to their quarters. The news of Rimshar's treachery had broken almost immediately to the public, but the Talik'Jhor had made sure that the actual details of his death were suitably altered. Instead of the lord emperor committing the deed, it was Rimshar himself who took the coward's way out and committed suicide by activating a subdermal implant. And anyone who had been present at dinner on that fateful night didn't dare say anything different.

  As a result, the atmosphere of the palace for the last two days had been tempered with a tense silence, a fearful hush that made the servants and the guards walk with extra care, all of them expecting the sudden reappearance of the lord emperor at any moment. Until tonight, Vatra had been content to remain in her quarters, but now she was simply too restless to stay hidden any longer, and she'd slipped quietly out one of the servants' hallways that ran the back of the palace. A side exit had deposited her into the stone gardens, and while she would have preferred complete darkness to the security lights that flooded nearly every corner, she was grateful for the fresh air and the time alone. Vatra stole quietly to a bench along one side where the light in this section didn't quite reach. As soon as she sat, she wished she'd thought to bring a blanket with her, for the stone was very cold.

  The voice from the dark startled her so badly that she almost screamed.

  "Evening star, sister." Erengaar stepped into the light, emerging from the shadows behind her. "A beautiful night, don't you agree?"

  "Y-yes," Vatra replied, cursing herself for the brief stutter.

  "You sound terrified." The lord emperor sat beside her, tucking his thick cloak tighter about himself.

  "It's the cold. And you did give me quite a fright."

  He smiled and turned to her. "Sorry about that."

  "Why are you out here? I don't see any guards."

  "I
needed the fresh air. You?"

  "The same." Vatra busied herself with her own cloak, wishing that she'd brought something warmer.

  "I know that Jharek is my son."

  Vatra swallowed, once again startled, and she was about to protest when Erengaar cut her off.

  "Don't insult me by pretending it isn't true. Doctor Rimshar confessed it to me once, though he doesn't remember. He was too drunk to recall much of anything from that night."

  Vatra closed her eyes, inwardly cursing Rimshar and his one bad habit. A part of her was grateful that he was dead, and another part of her wondered how many other secrets he had divulged to the lord emperor.

  "You're far too quiet, sister."

  She finally looked at him, her gaze steady and calm. "What do you want me to say?"

  "Until now you've never really feared me, have you?"

  "Should I?"

  "Yes. All of my subjects should fear me. A ruler who does not have any fear from his people does not deserve the crown."

  "Yes, brother, I am afraid of you. I have always been afraid of you."

  "Ah, ah, ah...that is not the same thing. The fear that I speak of is respect." He gave a slight frown. "I do not want you to be afraid of me. There is no need for that." He sounded genuinely puzzled.

  Vatra wanted at that moment nothing more than to drive a dagger into her brother's throat. "Really? Then you have had me fooled this whole time."

  Erengaar reached out and placed a gloved hand over Vatra's. It was all she could do to keep from screaming. "It is because Jharek is my son that I have chosen to keep you alive. However, I can no longer keep you in my court. It is too dangerous now. Larewyn is convinced that you were the one behind her poisoning, that it was you who conspired with Doctor Rimshar to keep her barren."