Mistress of the Empire

by Raymond E. Feist

  The confounded expressions upon the faces of the three so named were comical. Never had they considered the prospect of dirtying their hands in battle! And yet, with their weaknesses exposed, they recognised that magic by itself would no longer command awe. Others as bold as Mara would start uprisings, and the Assembly would be pressured by politics and circumstance to take sides. They would have no choice but to absent themselves from scholarly study to manage the mechanics of governance.

  To a body accustomed to acting at the whim of the individual, the prospect was distastefully daunting.

  Motecha looked distressed. Sevean edged unobtrusively behind Shimone, while Tapek masked dismay behind bluster. 'We are not a council of Lords, given to haggling over trivia! Our calling is loftier than mandating the punishment of warring Houses!'

  Hochopepa actually laughed.

  Mara gave a demure bow. Still the blade remained in her hand, unswervingly pointed toward her breast. Her eyes were stony. 'Those are your choices, Great One. Either administrate this Empire or cease interfering with those of us who must.'

  In the face of his colleagues' dumbfounded stillness, Hochopepa waved a weary arm. 'It is over.'

  Tapek yet looked ready to argue, but Akani intervened. 'I agree. The Assembly as a body will no more wish to govern the Empire than we have in the past. Gods above, our debates have extended for days in deciding a single issue!' Unable to restrain a loaded glance at Shimone and Hochopepa, he sighed, then bowed gravely to the Servant of the Empire. 'Lady, you shall not take your life before sundown. The public would create too much outcry, and my colleagues are likely to be blamed. Our choice is clear: chaos or a new order. You were first to see that not all of us hold enough command of our nature to kill without hesitation. Most magicians, in fact, would be hard set to harm an insect. No. Our might over the Empire has arisen from blind obedience over the years. Without that, we are . . . powerless.'

  'Powerless!' Tapek fumed. 'Not I, Akani.'

  Fumita restrained the red-haired magician with a crushing grip. 'Tapek, one foolish act shamed you nearly beyond forgiveness. Listen to reason for a change! Mara does not act for herself. She never has, could you but see that. You will never win over the Assembly to endorse civil war and chaos. And bloodshed unequaled is what we would have if you and your cadre of young-bloods do not accept the inevitable. I strongly suggest that you start repairing your reputation by appearing on the walls and commanding the attacking armies to cease fire and lay down their weapons.'

  'I will go with Tapek,' Shimone announced. He turned a stern, even pitiless look at his younger colleague, then grasped his teleportation device and disappeared. Few magicians in the Empire dared to cross Shimone when he was aroused. Still, Fumita showed no sign of releasing his hold until Tapek lowered his eyes and conceded the point. The young magician was then freed to vanish and rejoin Shimone.

  Hochopepa managed an affable shrug before the panoply of religious orders and ranking Lords backing Mara, 'I have no wish to govern, nor do I intend to attempt to murder wholesale the most powerful priests in the Empire.' This statement was pointedly directed toward Motecha, who sought the support of other colleagues to back him, but found his cadre dissolving. In Shimone's absence, Sevean had sidled behind Fumita. Many more magicians were nodding agreement to the fat magician's capitulation. Gently Hochopepa reached out and removed the dagger from Mara's fingers.

  Then he announced loudly, 'A remarkable man, the magician Milamber, from Midkemia, once exhorted that our Empire had a stagnant culture brought into decline by our rigid adherence to our traditions. I think he was right' - the stout magician awarded Mara and the magnificence of the Chakaha mages a smile of admiration -'for why else would the gods have preserved this remarkable woman?'

  To Mara he added, 'Lady, if the Light of Heaven may allow, we will withdraw and meet formally, but you may rest assured what our official position will be.' Then he was first among the Black Robes to step forward and repeat his bow of homage to emphasise that the boy on the dais was beyond dispute the ninety-second Light of Heaven.

  The magicians as a group followed suit, most of them humiliated enough to do so quietly, though a few in the back were heard to grumble. Fumita gave these dissenters a stern glare, and the Chakaha mages fixed each with an agate black eye that reminded of the singular ability of the cho-ja hive mind to remember.

  Mara felt a giddy relief sweep through her at the unequivocal capitulation of the most fearful enemies she had ever dared to provoke. As the Black Robes acknowledged her son's sovereignty, she went weak at the knees. Hokanu's heart-warming perception anticipated her need, and gratefully Mara accepted his support as he stepped to her side and put his arm around her waist.

  As the Great Ones filed out, and the central floor of the great hall slowly cleared, Lord Keda, Imperial Chancellor, swept forward in his glittering robes of office. Over his earlier bout of nerves, the old man had lost none of his command or his gifts as an orator as he announced, 'As chancellor, let me be first among your nobles to swear my loyalty to Emperor Justin.' He knelt and uttered the time-honored oaths, and tension seemed to flow from the crowd. Suddenly what might have been an armed camp was transformed into a hall of men kneeling, repeating the words of devotion to a boy who had been conceived as the get of a slave, and who had risen from being heir of the Acoma to become the ninety-second Emperor of Tsuranuanni.

  When the newly sworn members of his court arose, Justin squirmed on the dais, distress obvious on his face. To his mother, and the father who had adopted him for his own, he whispered loudly, 'You instructed me on everything else, but what do I do now?'

  Jehilia looked mortified by his lapse.

  Not a few of the priests stifled chuckles behind their ceremonial masks, while Hokanu pulled off his battle helm and laughed outright. 'Tell your people, "Let the celebration commence!"'

  Justin jumped up from his throne, all but dislodging the heavy golden helm with its crown piece that denoted imperial majesty. Dragging his lady wife by the hand, he looked far from decorous - more like a boy who had mischief in mind the moment his elders were not looking. 'Let the celebration commence!' he shouted.

  A cheer rocked the great hall of audience, more deafening for the fact that the siege engines of the Omechan had fallen silent. No more rocks crashed down upon the Imperial Precinct. And when the voices and the clamor had quelled to a more tolerable level, the great gongs in the temples of the Twenty Gods pealed out, calling the populace into the streets to accept largesse in the name of Justin, ninety-two times Emperor of Tsurannuanni.

  In the midst of the commotion as the great hall emptied, and the imperial heralds cried the news throughout the city, the small, mouselike figure of Jican descended upon the palace staff. The great bulk of the imperial hadonra caused him only the briefest pause. After an agitated argument, the immense official backed down, huffed words to the effect that royal propriety was going to be irretrievably ruined, and stalked off to his quarters. Jican turned his tongue-lashing on the rest of the palace staff, and within minutes the imperial household was turned upon its collective ear. They would produce a festival for their new Emperor, Jican commanded, whether it killed them all to the least of the pot boys and drudges. His determination proved infectious. Within hours the nobles in residence had exchanged battle armor for silk robes, and entertainers were converging upon the city officials, vying for the honor of providing music and poetry. Throughout the city, celebrations began as word spread that the new Light of Heaven had been chosen, and more, that Lady Mara, Servant of the Empire, had taken the stewardship of the Nations.

  33

  Imperial Council

  Lamps burned.

  Their light transformed the night into kaleidoscopic patterns of colors as silk-robed revelers danced in the streets and masked players staged joyous entertainment. The sounds of lacquered bells and laughter replaced the thudding impacts caused by siege engines. Within an ornate suite in the royal apartments of the Imperial Palac
e, Mara sat before a painted screen. The noise of the happy populace gave her deep satisfaction, but the half-smile of contentment that curved her lips was all for the small girl child who lay sound asleep in her lap. The Lady's expression of tranquillity was so profound that Hokanu, arriving at the door, hesitated to disturb her.

  But she had always been sensitive to his presence. Though he made no sound, Mara looked up. Her expression flowered into a smile of welcome. 'Hokanu.' Her greeting expressed all, from tenderness to deep love to the ache of separation that had lasted through the late troubled times.

  The Lord of the Shinzawai crossed the floor, his step a whisper on tile. He wore silk, not armor, and had replaced his studded battle sandals for leather-soled ones with cloth ties. He reached his wife's side, knelt, and offered his hand to Kasuma. The little one grasped his finger, comforted by his presence although she did not fully waken.

  'She has grown so much!' Mara murmured. When she had left for Thuril, Kasuma had been but an infant. Now she was a toddler, already trying her first words. The Lady's finger traced the line of her daughter's brows. 'She's going to have your scowl,' Mara mused to her husband. 'Probably that means she's inherited your stubbornness, also.'

  Hokanu chuckled. 'She's going to need it.'

  Mara joined him in laughter. 'Surely. She had better develop a sharp tongue, too, if she's to keep your cousin Devacai in line. Perhaps we should send her to Isashani of the Xacatecas for her finishing?'

  Hokanu was unusually silent at this. Mara missed his moment of stillness, touched as she was by memories of Nacoya, the irascible nurse who had raised and schooled her to the skills of Ruling Lady. Then reminiscence was abandoned as Hokanu's hands lifted Kasuma and settled her gently on her sleeping mat. He reached next for his wife, with the intent to perform the same office.

  'Your battles have not depleted you, I see,' Mara said as her husband settled beside her, and she began to work free the ties on his robe. 'Thank the gods for that, for I have missed you sorely. I don't think I could have endured another night of lying awake wondering whether you were alive or dead, or whether our children were going to fall as the victims of politics . . .' She paused, letting Hokanu's hands smooth away the unpleasant memory of dread. Somewhere in the city, a temple gong sang notes of felicity, and a laughing couplet of dancers ran on light feet past the window. Mara settled in the crook of her husband's arm. 'You came from the imperial suite, I presume. How is our Justin handling himself?'

  Hokanu muffled a snort of laughter in the warmth of his wife's hair. 'The little barbarian,' he said, when he could speak. 'The boy came to me with the shakes, his face as red as his hair, asking if he was expected to perform his husbandly office with Jehilia. Tonight.'

  Mara grinned. 'I should have thought he'd ask that before anybody else would have found time to inform him. He's stared down the shifts of the maids since he was big enough to climb up on the furniture. What did you say?'

  'When I could keep a straight face, you mean?' Hokanu said. 'I told him that he'd have to wait for the privilege until his manhood ceremony at twenty-five.'

  Playfully shoving her husband, Mara said, 'You didn't!'

  Hokanu grinned. 'I don't think I've ever seen regret and relief so evenly mixed. Then I explained that Jehilia, being two years older than he, might decide she wished to visit his bedchamber when she came of age, and that as he would be only twenty-three, it would be her decision to make.'

  Now Mara exploded into merriment. 'Oh, that's perfect! The poor boy thinks he's to remain a chaste husband for another eleven years!'

  Hokanu shrugged. 'He'll figure it out soon enough.'

  'Don't let Jehilia discover what you've told Justin. She'll make his life miserable.'

  Hokanu planted a kiss on Mara's forehead. 'At least he'll think twice before he tries pushing the girl into a fishpond again.'

  'She's Empress.' Mara chuckled. 'She'd have every legal right to pull him in after her.'

  'And I expect one day, in a year or two, the rough play will turn friendly and Justin's concerns about husbandly duty will vanish.' Moving so that his face was above hers, Hokanu said, 'And speaking of husbandly duties . . .' Conversation died as Hokanu's lips found hers, and their embrace slowly blossomed into passion.

  Much later, the lanterns still shone. The revelers in the streets were fewer, but no less joyously raucous. The Lady of the Acoma and the Lord of the Shinzawai lay twined close, replete with their lovemaking. Neither felt inclined toward sleep. Both had much on their mind, and this was the first peaceful moment they had gained in which to speak of personal issues.

  Hokanu was first to broach the subject. 'Lady, with Justin now responsible for continuing the imperial line, you are again left without any heir for the Acoma.'

  Mara turned in her husband's arms, her hands tracing the firmness of a shoulder yet muscled from the sword. She took a moment to reply. 'I am content. If the line should end, there is no more honorable way. And it may be that Jehilia will be fecund, or that Justin will father sons on a later wife. His issue might be numerous enough that one can take on my mantle without harm to the imperial succession.'

  A moment later, she added, 'I could also adopt a child.'

  But both husband and Lady knew this was not something she would do. Tradition required that the child have some connection to the adopting family, and no direct blood relatives survived the early days of the Minwanabi war upon the Acoma. Some distant linkage could be discovered, no doubt, but the Acoma line had too old and honorable a name to bestow upon a child of obscure descent.

  Hokanu smoothed Mara's hair. 'The problem has already been resolved,' he murmured.

  Mara felt the slight tension enter his body; she knew! He had done something irrevocable, which he was certain before he spoke that she would argue. 'What have you done, Hokanu?' Her voice was sharp, with fear, worry, and concern. And then, by his very reluctance to answer, guessed. 'Kasuma,' she blurted. 'You have -'

  He stole her words, said them for her, but without her snap of outrage. 'I have given her over to the Acoma.'

  Mara surged up, but he caught her. He stopped her rush of words with a gentle finger, and shook her, tenderly, to subside. 'Wife, it has been done! You cannot revoke the oaths sworn this day. Fumita and the priests of a half-dozen orders were witnesses, and the altar of the Temple of Juran was the place where Kasuma's heirship to the Shinzawai was renounced. Then I swore her to the Acoma, as is my right as her father. She will continue your house and lineage, as is fitting and proper. You will know far better than anyone what instruction a girl needs to become a Ruling Lady.'

  Hokanu's finger fell away, leaving Mara struck speechless - not with happiness, Hokanu understood, but with hurt and rage that was entirely for his own sake. 'You will leave yourself heirless!' she said finally. 'It's too dangerous in these times, with Devacai plotting to assume your mantle. The Omechan and other Ionani allies may relent and swear fealty to Justin, but many Lords with old jealousies will foment traditionalist rebellion. You will face their threats for years to come, Hokanu. Justin and Jehilia need every advantage we can give them, and that means a secure Shinzawai succession!' Her voice became half strangled by tears as she added, 'Do not tempt our enemies to target you for murder! I could not bear to see you die like your father, struck down for someone else's venal ambition!'

  Hokanu gathered her close. 'You are right to fear,' he murmured into her hair, 'just as I was right to place Kasuma in custody of the Acoma heirship. She is my daughter!' The ring in his voice was all pride now; there never had been any rejection of the girl in his heart. Mara knew a pang of sorrow that she had ever known doubt.

  'I am her father,' Hokanu repeated. 'And to my knowledge, there are still laws and traditions that support my right to make this decision.' He traced the tense line of her jaw. 'My Lady, you are overruled in this matter, perhaps for the first time in your life.'

  Mara's reply was an explosion of weeping. To have Kasuma as heir was a joy, yes, but sh
e would feel that later. For now she was consumed by the hurt of knowing what Hokanu renounced to give her this supreme gift and sacrifice.

  She could not help but know what he held back: that he would have no Shinzawai child of her loins to grow and inherit the blue.

  'I have dozens upon dozens of cousins,' he was saying, his voice compelled to lightness. 'They are not all avaricious like Devacai. In fact, most are honorable and worthy. It might ease my family difficulties if I chose among my rival for an heir. That would divide Devacai's faction.'

  Mara hoarsely found her voice. 'You will take no concubine.'

  Her tone did not indicate a question. And her husband's steely stillness became answer in itself, until he acknowledged the truth. 'My lady, you are all the woman I could wish in this world. So long as you are at my side, I will have no other.'

  Mara bit her lip. In the undertones behind her husband's statement she heard the personal longings he had hardened himself to deny. A like hardness entered her own heart. But she said nothing of her inward resolves as Hokanu's arms closed around her and his lips sought hers in the light.

  The doors to the grand audience hall boomed open, and trumpeters and drummers sounded fanfare. In the open square outside, those commoners still celebrating the new Emperor's accession fell silent out of respect. Two imperial heralds stepped to the entry, their matched voices pealing out the announcement that the inaugural council of the ninety-second Light of Heaven was officially called to session. They followed by shouting the list of names of those to appear before his Imperial Majesty, Justin.

  First to be summoned were the high officials and servants who had held office under Ichindar. These all filed inside as they were named, dressed in dazzling finery, though their faces were sober or apprehensive. The Lord of the Keda led the procession. He advanced between the ranks of assembled Lords and made his bow before the railing that fronted the pyramidal dais.