by Simon Brown
Galys stood up and joined him at the head of the table so everyone in the Assembly would be able to hear her.
‘It is not too late to turn back,’ Poloma told her softly.
‘It was too late when I first boarded a ship to come to Kydan. My course is set.’
Poloma studied her face for a moment, trying to decide how much was bravado and how much resolution, but in his heart he already knew Galys rarely indulged in bravado of any kind. He nodded uneasily and sat down, leaving her the floor.
‘I believe Empress Lerena Kevleren was able to strike at General Third Prince Maddyn Kevleren with the Sefid all the way across the Deepening Sea because she had help from someone who came with us on the expedition to Kydan.’
There were unsettled gasps from many in the gallery and around the council table. Galys glanced at Kadburn and Gos and saw the shock on their faces. Each of them wondered whom she could possibly be talking about.
‘The Sefid is very powerful, we all know that, but even if Wielded expertly it weakens over distance. I think, I am almost certain, that Lerena learned there might be a way to counter that, and was resolved to try it. I also think she learned this from a source outside her family.’ Galys’s voice wavered, but the journey she had just started had only one destination and she could not turn around if she wanted to protect the city she had made her home.
‘First, why destroy the general in this way? Why not just slay him back in Hamilay? Most importantly because Kevlerens do not kill Kevlerens. It is – or was – the family’s cardinal rule, broken only to make a supreme sacrifice for a Wielding of the highest order. To kill a fellow Kevleren for revenge or advantage or as a matter of state policy was unheard of. Yet I believe Lerena thought she had no choice. Maddyn had taken for a mistress a woman called Alway Selford, someone from outside his family, and she had become pregnant. Although such a thing was not unknown, and although very rarely a pregnancy might ensue from it, no half-blood child was ever allowed to come to term. But Maddyn was determined to keep both mistress and child.
‘Lerena pretended that sending Maddyn across the Deepening Sea was a handy compromise. Maddyn was free to keep Alway Selford, and even their offspring, as long as he and they never set foot again in the old world. In her heart, though, she must have been planning his death from the very beginning. She would not suffer to live a child who was not fully Kevleren and yet who might have access to the Sefid, and in turn allow that ability to spread generally in the population over time. That would be anathema to any Kevleren, except possibly Maddyn.’
‘In the end, Maddyn cared nothing for the Kevlerens,’ Kadburn said gruffly.
‘Be that as it may, he may have believed his child would inherit his inability to Wield. But Lerena was not going to take that chance, and I think if she had not been shown that another way was possible she would have found an excuse to eliminate Maddyn and his family in the old world.’
‘What other way?’ Kadburn urged, leaning forward in his seat.
‘Kitayra,’ Galys said in a voice so thin only Poloma heard her. She swallowed and said loud enough for everyone in the Assembly to hear, ‘Through Grammarian Kitayra Albyn.’
Everyone started talking at the same time. Only Poloma remained quiet. It was another reason, he understood now, why Galys was going to make her proposal to the council. And he understood, too, why Galys felt it was she and no one else who had to act on the proposal.
Galys drew papers from underneath her jacket and waved them in the air. ‘I have shown you papers like these before, all in Kitayra’s handwriting.’ She lowered them and flipped through them. ‘She was interested professionally, obsessed perhaps, in two things. First, why the Kevlerens were afraid of change and technology, and how they used their control to suppress both. Second, in the Sefid itself. She was a grammarian, after all, but unlike many of her colleagues her writing makes clear she wanted to Wield. She wanted to know first-hand what it was like to access the Sefid.
‘I think it was Kitayra who told the empress either directly or through Chancellor Malus Mycom of the University of Omeralt about her theory that the Sefid could be Wielded over greater distances if there was a receptacle, a channel, at or near the destination. Lerena wanted to put the theory to the test, but did not want it known among her relatives that she was doing this, particularly her extremely powerful sister, the Duchess Yunara. I think Kitayra suggested she might be the channel. For Kitayra, it was a chance to experience the Sefid for herself.’
‘She conspired with Lerena to kill Maddyn?’ Kadburn demanded, standing, his face blushing with sudden anger.
Galys shook her head. ‘No. I don’t think so. At least not at first. And I hope not at all, but I cannot prove it. For Kitayra, I believe it was just a test of her theory.’
‘But why would Maddyn want a grammarian on his expedition?’ Gos Linsedd asked.
‘He didn’t,’ Kadburn said dully, his anger flooding out of him. ‘He wanted a strategos.’
Galys nodded. ‘I thought as much back then. What none of us realised was that the selection for colonists was manipulated by the empress and the chancellor to ensure Kitayra was chosen. I flattered myself by thinking it had all been for my benefit. All the time it was for Lerena’s benefit.’
‘I don’t understand,’ Gos said. ‘If Kitayra was part of the experiment, why did the empress kill her?’
‘Lerena could not let Kitayra live once her theory was proved; she wanted to keep it a secret for herself, but Kitayra was a grammarian, an academic, whose duty was to publish the findings of her research.’ Galys swallowed. ‘And more, I think. I hope. Kitayra would have resisted being used by Lerena to kill anyone, let alone Maddyn, would have resisted being used like a slave. I think Lerena wanted not just to kill Kitayra, but to punish her as well, which is why Kitayra died so horribly.’
‘This makes for interesting history,’ said Kysor Nevri, ‘and explains a great deal of what happened subsequent to Maddyn’s arrival, but what has it to do with our present situation?’
‘Simply this,’ Galys said, ‘if Lerena once used someone to extend her Wielding as far as Kydan, she can do it again.’
*
When the watch on Sayenna’s keep shouted a warning that three warships had appeared just outside the bay, Arden hoped they were from Kydan but could not help being afraid they were Hamilayan, and come at last to bombard the city as they had Kydan, and even perhaps to land a raiding party. He ordered Velan Lymok to rush down to the harbour to prepare defences there, and to get civilians away from the foreshore. Just as Velan was about to leave, the watch called down again that the ships were each flying a red jack with three horizontal gold stripes across the middle.
Arden and Velan exchanged puzzled looks, then Arden barked in laughter. ‘Stand down!’ he ordered. Then to Velan, ‘Get an honour guard ready! It looks like Kydan has adopted a flag!’
‘How do you know?’ Velan asked. ‘It might be a Hamilayan trick!’
‘Three stripes, three islands. And using the new colours of the city, red for Kydan and gold for the old world. How likely are the Hamilayans to pick that up?’
‘If they had been to Kydan first they may have seen the new flag and decided to copy it,’ Velan suggested.
‘But they don’t yet know that Kydan controls Sayenna,’ Arden rejoined.
‘They would know if they captured a single trading ship anywhere along this coast.’
Arden grimaced. He had not thought of that. The two hurried down and quickly organised the honour guard into a line of defence, although what they could do against ships armed with longgons was anyone’s guess. Arden cursed himself for an overconfident fool. But then he noticed that none of the longgons was crewed. The ships dropped anchor and a single boat was launched. If the initial arrival of the ships was a shock for Arden, the figure in the bow of the boat was an even greater one.
‘By the Sefid,’ he said under his breath.
Velan looked at him curiously. ‘Are you
all right, Arden?’
‘And she’s got her children with her,’ he said, still speaking to himself. He looked for Poloma but could not see him.
When the boat reached the dock a ladder was lowered and Heriot Fleetwood slowly appeared. She reached down and, with the assistance of another woman in the boat, helped up a small girl and a baby, then stood there, a child carried in one arm and another holding her spare hand. The other woman in the boat followed up and stood behind Arden, silent and watchful. Arden went forward to greet Heriot, taking long strides, grinning from ear to ear. Everyone from Sayenna who saw it stared in wonder. None of them knew Arden could manage much more than a weak smile.
Heriot was not smiling, though, and Arden’s own disappeared and his strides got shorter.
‘Governor Arden Hassouly?’ she said.
‘You know very well –’
‘Governor Arden Hassouly?’ she asked again, almost imperiously.
‘Aye. And you, Heriot, are –’
‘Councillor Heriot Fleetwood, here on official council business.’
Arden scratched his head. ‘Is that right? What business would that be?’
Heriot glanced over her shoulder. ‘Those. Three warships. Taken from Hamilay, crewed by us, and given to the city of Sayenna as a symbol of the unity we share and the enemy we suffer in common. The Kayned, Herris and Karhay.’
‘The gift’s mighty welcome,’ Arden said truthfully, and could not help the great sigh of relief that shuddered through him, for not only did it give Sayenna a defence she could never have hoped to build on her own, it meant the Hamilayan flotilla had been defeated by Kydan, or at least the bulk of it.
Heriot walked up to Arden and looked up at his great bearded face. ‘You haven’t said hello yet.’ Then she smiled.
Arden’s grin returned. While the little girl retreated behind the folds of Heriot’s dress, the baby reached out and grabbed a tuft of his beard.
*
‘You think there is someone else here whom Lerena can use to reach Kydan with the Sefid?’ Kysor Nevri demanded. Some of the calm determination among those in the Assembly seemed to fray at Galys’s suggestion. Against men and longgons and ships they could at least stand and fight, but against the Sefid what could any citizen do, no matter how brave? It struck like lightning from a clear sky.
‘For all your talk about technology defending us against the Sefid,’ Kysor continued, ‘we seem very vulnerable.’
‘Oh, Kysor Nevri, you have seen for yourself how any citizen can use technology. Any of us can use the steam carriage, or fire one of the new longgons. But only a Kevleren can use the Sefid, and judging from the reports Avier and the merchants are bringing back to us from the old world, and from what we’ve learned from the sailors we captured, only one Kevleren at that. The empress herself. And no, she has no one here she can use, though I have reason to believe her reach is still great if not very strong.’ She fingered the birth chain in her pocket; although cold now, it was a constant reminder of the empress’s capability. ‘But what is to stop her sending another Sefid-sensitive grammarian, or one of her surviving relatives, with an invasion fleet?’
‘It still comes down to this, then,’ Kysor said, ‘against the Sefid we have no real defence.’
Galys turned to Kadburn and Gos. ‘What is said in Hamilay? Why just defend yourself . . .?’
‘When you can go on the attack,’ Gos finished for her.
‘Attack what?’ Kadburn asked. ‘We are over here, the enemy is over there,’ he pointed west, ‘and the Deepening Sea is in between! No offence to Commodore Avier and the fine ships he now has under his command, but our small navy is not strong enough to storm the old world’s defences.’
‘No, that is true,’ Galys admitted. ‘But the empire is too big to guard all its borders all the time. We need only one merchant ship to get through to Somah.’
‘And what then?’ snickered Rodan Semjal. ‘Flood the market with cheap goods? That will throw the empire off its perch!’
‘If only it were that easy,’ Poloma said, sending Semjal a look which told him he did not appreciate the sarcasm. ‘But it isn’t, is it, Strategos?’
Galys shrugged. ‘No. Not really.’
‘What specifically isn’t that easy?’ Kysor asked.
‘Getting through to Omeralt from Somah and killing the empress.’
*
Quenion and Velan were trying very hard to appear relaxed and casual around Sookie, but their smiles were so fixed and their posture so stiff that the girl was not sure whether they were people or statues. Naturally, experiments had to be carried out. Arden watched Sookie’s progress with wary amusement, lest he be her next subject, while in turn Heriot, breastfeeding Berrat, keenly watched Arden.
After a light meal, Hattie said she was going to sort out the rooms Arden had given them in the keep, while both Quenion and Velan made their excuses and left to do other work. Heriot and the children were alone with Arden for the first time since their arrival.
‘Well,’ Arden said, as if sorting something out in his mind, and then as if a decision had been made took a huge breath and scooped up Sookie in his arms. She giggled and squirmed but eventually he was able to hold her up high and study her. ‘Hmm,’ he said, and flipped her over. ‘Hmm,’ he said again.
‘Again?’ Sookie said.
Arden flipped her a second time to good effect. ‘You and your brother will grow up more like your father, I think, than your mother.’
‘Just as well,’ Heriot said calmly. ‘They’re Malvaras. Heirs to that family. Won’t hurt to look like them.’
‘But they’ll have your eyes, Heriot Fleetwood. And Sookie here has your chin, all stubborn and looking for a fight.’
He brought Sookie down as he himself took his seat and she made herself comfortable in his arms, burying her head in the crook of his elbow. Moments later she was snoring softly, and Arden gently placed his free hand on her body as if measuring her breaths. ‘She’s such a tiny thing, Heriot. So small.’
‘A cow is small next to you,’ Heriot scoffed. She wiggled Berrat, still happily sucking. ‘Now this one is small. Barely weighed a feather pillow when he was born. Awful tiny.’
‘Nothing wrong with his appetite. He’ll grow.’
At that moment both sighed as if they had found something they wanted at the same time. Then, embarrassed by the sudden silence that fell between them, Heriot asked, ‘Will the ships really be useful?’
‘Aye,’ Aden said. ‘But crewing them will be hard, because I’m assuming the crews on now aren’t for keeping.’
‘Some are, those that originally belonged to the ships, but you’ll need to watch them for a while.’
‘That’s better news than I was expecting, then. The schooner we’ll put on patrol, I think, doing the run between here and Kydan just in case the Hamilayan navy tries another sortie. The two big ones, though, are proper warships. Sayenna can support one, but the other we’ll convert to merchant work, and use its longgons on land to help defend the harbour. At least, that’s what I’m thinking today. Ask me tomorrow and you’ll probably get a different answer.’
‘Do you like being a governor?’
‘Very much,’ he said.
‘I’m thinking there’s an awful lot in those two words.’
‘How are you and Poloma? I have to say I was not surprised when I got a letter from him telling me what had happened.’
‘You would have been more surprised if I’d written the letter,’ she said, teasing him.
‘You’re not answering my question.’
‘Here we go. Just like before. I’m the one who asked the question that wasn’t answered. You’re doing your usual thing and fighting a question with another question. It’s typical Arden, and I bet being governor lets you do it to everyone all the time.’
‘Saying “There’s an awful lot in those words” isn’t a question.’
‘As good as, Arden Hassouly. I like the name, by the way.’
‘Thought you might.’
‘That’s the mountain, right? Near Omeralt.’
That’s it.’
‘So.’
Arden stared at his feet for a moment. ‘I miss you all the time.’
‘I knew that already.’
‘But being governor is the best thing I’ve ever done. I’m good at it, Heriot. And the people here in Sayenna and around about like me being governor. I feel like I’ve found my place in the world.’
Heriot leaned across and patted the hand covering Sookie. ‘My turn?’
‘I’ve said enough.’
‘You never were a big talker.’
‘Your turn, remember?’
‘There are three men in my life, sweet grim Arden. Two of them are in this room. The other one is back in Kydan. I love all three more than my own life. And then there’s the brat in your arms, sweet Sorkro, who’s the sky and the sea to me, and more. End of story.’
Arden snorted. ‘It’s not like you to stop chatting so soon. What about your work as councillor?’
‘It’s good and hard and if I get my way I’m pretty happy, and if I don’t there ain’t no one much likes being around me. I’m trying to get schools for everyone.’
‘That’s a good idea. I like that one. Might steal it for Sayenna, soon as trade picks up and the treasury builds.’
‘It’s not going well?’
‘Well enough, but word gets around that things aren’t finished with Hamilay. That doesn’t matter much to people inland, but on the coast, and for traders from the old world, it makes all the difference. The recent attacks by the likes of those ships out in the harbour won’t help, either.’
‘As soon as the first school is built, I’m going to it. I’m going to learn to read and write. Then I’ll write you letters until Kydan runs out of paper.’
Arden got up slowly so as not to wake Sookie, went to a cupboard and fished around in it for a moment before returning with an ink bottle and pen. He dipped the pen in the ink and then wrote six letters on Sookie’s arm. The girl murmured but stayed asleep.
