‘It is wise,’ Pieper went on, ‘for the ordinary folk to see with their own eyes that their monarch cares for them, but I would also advise a certain amount of reticence, lest too much contact diminish the royal aura.’
‘For once I concur,’ Hodang said. ‘Kings do not conduct their business in the town market.’
Agang sighed. ‘Stop nagging.’
The lead soldiers halted, and Agang looked up. Ahead, on a junction leading to Temple Square, a large building stood, towering over the shops and houses nearby. It still had bars on the windows, despite its change in function.
‘The old slave market?’ Pieper said.
‘Yes,’ Agang said. ‘I thought I’d see for myself how the freed slaves from your lands are doing. Since the proclamation that all Holdings captives are to be brought here, hundreds have passed through these gates. You yourself have told me of the condition of some.’
Pieper grimaced.
‘I forewarned the administrators that we were coming, your Majesty,’ Hodang said.
‘Thank you,’ Agang said. ‘Shall we?’
A soldier opened the front door and Agang walked into the hall, flanked by Hodang, Pieper, servants and more soldiers. On the left were desks, where Holdings clerks sat, taking the details of lines of emancipated slaves. On the right, Sanang slave-owners stood gathered in groups, haggling with officials over the price of their property, who remained huddled in chains by the wall.
Hedgewitches went from slave to slave, healing the worst afflicted. Most were in poor shape, emaciated or carrying wounds. All had a beaten look in their eyes, and these were the survivors, taken from the great victories Agang had won over the Holdings at the River Twinth over two years before, close to the very place he was standing. Who knew how many had died since that day?
A group of officials approached.
‘Your Majesty,’ they said, bowing.
‘You honour us with your visit,’ said one.
Agang nodded.
Several of the slave-owners saw him, and began staring in his direction.
‘Should we speak to them, your Majesty?’ Hodang said.
‘All right,’ Agang said, and they walked over to the slave-owners, who gathered round, kept back a little by the presence of several burly warriors in black.
‘These men, your Majesty,’ said one of the officials, ‘are here to fulfil their duty under the law, to release all of their Holdings slaves.’
‘As long as we’re well paid for it!’ yelled one of the owners.
‘I don’t like it,’ cried another. ‘I don’t see why we’re getting forced to give up our slaves. I’d rather have them than the money.’
There was a chorus of agreement.
‘The Holdings are our friends and allies,’ Hodang said, his voice ringing out. ‘We cannot keep our friends as slaves.’
‘We heard that you want to free all the slaves,’ an owner said, ‘not just the Holdings ones.’
‘In time,’ Agang said, gaining a look from Hodang. ‘All shall be free in our kingdom.’
‘There will be a long transitional process,’ Hodang cried over the growing growl of complaint. ‘Everyone will be compensated from the treasury.’
‘It’ll never happen,’ shouted one. ‘Every chief would rise up rather than hand over their slaves.’
‘Would you?’ Agang cried, his rage boiling. ‘Would you rise up? Or any one of you here? This kingdom will see an end to slavery. I shall make it so. And I will strike down anyone who stands against me.’
The slave-owners backed away, the black-clad soldiers glowering at them, their hands close to the hilts of their swords, waiting for the merest gesture from their king.
‘Come now,’ Hodang said. ‘At present the law speaks only of Holdings slaves, so that is the law we must all obey. Your Majesty, let us leave these gentlemen to their business, I am sure they are eager to carry out their duty.’
Agang nodded, his temper fading.
He turned, and the officials led them across the hall, nervous glances shared among them.
‘A brave stand, your Majesty,’ Pieper whispered as they walked.
They halted at the row of desks. The lines of shuffling ex-slaves paused to stare.
‘This, your Majesty, is where the emancipated slaves are processed,’ an older official said. ‘Clerks take down all their details, in the hope that their families can be contacted. Once that is done, they are taken upstairs to where they are fed, bathed and given clean clothes.’
‘And where do they stay?’ Agang said.
‘They are housed in the old slave quarters at the rear of the building, your Majesty.’
‘In the cages?’
‘Unfortunately, yes, your Majesty. We’ve had them cleaned up, of course.’
‘How many have died?’
‘Almost none of those who survive processing have died, your Majesty, though many have expired in this very hall. Sometimes captives are brought in, and the whole batch is in a terrible condition, and we haven’t enough healers to save them all.’
‘There are rumours, your Majesty,’ another official said in a low voice, ‘that some owners are deliberately maiming their Holdings slaves, knowing that they will be paid the same amount under the law, so long as they are still alive at the time of trade.’
‘Is this true?’ Agang said.
‘I couldn’t say for certain, your Majesty,’ the older man said, ‘though some slaves have come in with what look to be fresh injuries.’
Agang glanced up at the lines of freed slaves, many of whom had been beaten.
‘Why are almost all of them men?’ Pieper asked. ‘Didn’t you capture an equal number of female soldiers?’
Agang frowned, saying nothing.
‘It appears most did not survive,’ the official said, keeping his gaze down.
There was silence among the men stood present.
After a moment, the older official gestured. ‘Your Majesty, do you wish to visit the old slave quarters?’
‘Thank you, but no,’ Agang said. ‘We’ve seen enough.’
‘Your Majesty,’ the officials bowed.
The royal party turned for the doors, and were soon back out onto the street.
‘Don’t say anything, Hodang,’ Agang said.
His chief minister nodded, the faintest of smiles on his lips.
‘Your principles on ending slavery are to be applauded, your Majesty,’ Pieper said, as they walked along the street, soldiers fanned out around them. ‘The plight of those poor souls troubles my heart deeply. Is there any way we could speed up their transfer home?’
‘We’re going as fast as we can,’ Hodang said. ‘We’ve already sent five hundred of your people back, and convoys are leaving every half-third. And may I remind you of the utterly exorbitant drain on the treasury this whole operation is costing the kingdom?’
Pieper shrugged. ‘The gold you stole in Rahain is paying for your earlier transgressions. There’s a certain poetry to that.’
‘And it’s making a lot of people who dislike us very rich,’ Hodang muttered.
Behind them there was a clamour of noise and Agang turned back to look down the road towards Temple Square. A small group of Holdings missionaries, each dressed in long black robes, were haranguing the crowd of Sanang walking past. Several had stopped to watch, separated from the preachers by a line of soldiers. A few were shouting back, while others laughed.
‘You have to admire their persistence,’ Hodang smirked. ‘Two thirds they’ve been here, and how many converts?’
‘Um, three at the last count, I think,’ Pieper smiled back.
‘You should tell them to give up before one gets hurt.’
‘They wouldn’t listen to me,’ Pieper said. ‘They’re members of the One True Path, a rather zealous sect within the church. To them, I’m just a boring old fart sent out by the church establishment, while they’re the daring pioneers, bringing the faith to the wild forests of Sanang.’
> ‘Are you not the Lord Vicar’s representative?’ Agang said.
‘Indeed, your Majesty,’ he said. ‘However I am but one man, while there are thirty brothers and sisters of the Path living in their mission on Temple Square. They wouldn’t worry too much about anything I had to say to them.’
‘Do any of these Path fanatics have the same mage powers as you?’ Hodang asked the priest.
Pieper shook his head. ‘Not in the slightest,’ he said. ‘They’re all deacons. I am the only one here with the full range of vision powers, excepting a few in the Imperial Legate’s guard, who possess battle-vision. I’m the only one who can communicate with the priest stationed at the old frontier wall, and so receive and pass messages to the capital.’
‘So the Emperor can check up on us?’ Agang smiled.
‘I do have a bit of news from home,’ Pieper said, his eyes lighting up. ‘About someone I have just remembered you know. Daphne Holdfast.’
‘Ha!’ Agang laughed. ‘Daphne. How is she? What’s the news?’
‘She’s fled,’ Pieper said. ‘Again. Making it a habit, that girl. The church had plans to question her, and she took off with her baby.’
‘She has a child?’
‘Yes,’ he said, ‘and listen to this. The father is none other than a Kellach Brigdomin.’
‘Your races can breed?’ Hodang said.
‘Evidently,’ Pieper smirked. ‘Anyway, that’s another of the world’s most powerful mages on the loose.’
‘Is she likely to come here?’ Hodang said. ‘Bearing in mind her old association.’
‘No,’ Pieper said. ‘She’s off to Rahain, to find the father.’
They slowed as they reached the gates of the town’s upper citadel, spread out on top of a low hill. It had a high stockade surrounding it, and they passed through a line of saluting guards.
‘Now that our little excursion’s over,’ Hodang said, ‘I’d better get back to work. Lord Badranga will be arriving from the south in a few hours, and there’s a feast to prepare.’
‘You worry too much,’ Agang said. ‘Come on, I need to get washed and changed.’
They parted from Pieper in front of the Great Hall, as the priest had his own quarters in a small chapel converted from an out-building of a brewery at the other end of the citadel. Agang entered the hall and turned for a private set of stairs leading up to his apartments, leaving Hodang to organise the feast.
Agang, a servant, and two guards ascended the narrow stairs, which led out to a long balcony, with a removable wall leading into a large reception room. Chane was sitting there, her legs folded under her, reading a book.
‘Good afternoon, Council Minister,’ Agang said.
She looked up and gave him an amused glance.
‘Enjoy your trip into town?’
‘Hodang will no doubt tell you it was a disaster,’ he said, taking a cup from a tray held out by a servant, ‘but I learned a lot.’
‘Did that slimy priest go with you?’
‘Pieper’s all right,’ Agang said. ‘I find him quite entertaining.’
‘I can’t stand being around him,’ she said, swinging her legs off the comfortable chair and picking up a half-smoked weedstick. ‘He knows I’m not a believer.’
‘Did you hear his latest theory,’ Agang smiled, ‘about how the Sanang War God is a manifestation of the same Creator the Holdings believe in? It allows him to claim that I’m already a follower of his religion, and not only that, but also that I must be blessed indeed, to have the Creator speak to me twice in my dreams.’
‘And you believe that?’
‘It has a certain logic to it, I suppose.’
Chane snorted.
A door opened and Giles entered, wearing a thin robe.
‘I heard you were back, your Majesty,’ he said, bowing. ‘Will you be requiring anything?’
‘A bath, Giles, if you please,’ Agang said, watching the young Holdings man, ‘and a set of fresh robes for our meeting with Lord Badranga.’
‘Very well, your Majesty,’ Giles smiled. ‘I shall prepare it at once.’
He turned and left, while Chane glowered at his back.
‘Don’t be like that, Chane,’ Agang said. ‘I told you what the situation would be when we returned. You’re no longer my slave, but one of my chief advisors. I cannot share my bed with you as we once did.’
‘But to be replaced by him…’ Chane sneered.
‘Keep your voice lowered, woman,’ Agang frowned. ‘Must we go through this every time? What occurs in my private quarters is no longer any concern of yours, and I will not have you repeating gossip, understand?’
She nodded, but her eyes were lit with anger.
‘It doesn’t mean that I no longer favour you,’ he said, sitting down next to her. ‘In fact, I value you more than ever.’
Chane looked away. ‘Sometimes I wish I’d gone back with Rebecca and Gertrude.’
‘I’m glad you didn’t.’
She sighed. ‘Alright then. Shall we go through what Badranga is probably going to say?’
Agang nodded.
‘He’ll be wanting aid, first of all,’ she went on. ‘More soldiers to combat the raids in the south of his territories. B’Dang D’Bang…’
‘Is a fool.’
‘His attacks have been spreading,’ Chane said. ‘It might be time to take him more seriously.’
Agang laughed. ‘He knows nothing of warfare, nothing of strategy or tactics. I’ve watched him several times on the battlefield. He can slaughter peasants, but he’s hopeless at being a general.’
‘But you’ll send Badranga reinforcements nevertheless?’
‘A few regiments,’ Agang said. ‘I was thinking of some of the new ex-slave companies. Get them blooded.’
‘You may need more than that,’ she said. ‘Badranga’s reports have stated that B’Dang is gaining recruits among the disaffected in his lands.’
Agang nodded. ‘I’ll think about it. What else will he say?’
‘He’s bound to bring up his eldest daughter again.’
He groaned.
‘She’d be a good match, politically,’ Chane said. ‘Bind the north and south closer together.’
‘Is that what you really think?’ he said, looking into her eyes.
‘You know what I think,’ she said, ‘but you should do what’s best for the kingdom.’
‘I’ll think about that too, then,’ he said, his mind starting to run through the excuses he might give the southern chief.
‘Lastly,’ she said, ‘he should be bringing with him the last of any Holdings slaves from south of the Tritos.’
‘Good,’ Agang said. ‘Once your people have been freed and sent on their way, I can use the money to buy out more Sanang slaves. Free as many as I can before I have to change any laws.’
‘Even if Broadwater was built from gold,’ she said, ‘it wouldn’t be enough to purchase every slave in Sanang. At some point you’ll have to use your authority, and back it up with steel if necessary.’
‘We have years before we are obliged to free every slave,’ he said. ‘We’ll have something worked out by then.’
‘On the subject of obligations,’ Chane said, ‘we still haven’t recruited any hedgewitches to send to the Plateau.’
Agang shrugged. ‘The pressure on that has eased. The legate said that the institute in the capital has managed to enlist a couple of Sanang healers from alliance army units. If they find enough locally, they may even drop the demand altogether.’
‘That would be good,’ Chane said. ‘The amount of bad feeling the suggestion generated was an eye-opener. I hadn’t realised how attached you all felt to your hedgewitches.’
Agang frowned. ‘Even the most meagre hedgewitch knows things. Things we would rather keep secret.’
‘The soulwitches, you mean?’
Agang nodded. He disliked her giving the name to his deepest fears, but kept his face steady.
‘I forgot,’
she smirked. ‘I’m not supposed to talk about them. It upsets you.’
He stood. ‘I must get ready.’
‘See you down there,’ Chane nodded, a tiny smile on the edge of her lips.
The Great Hall of Broadwater was filled with people, all awaiting the arrival of Lord Badranga. Black-armoured warriors lined the walls, while lords and merchants of the town were accepting drinks from servants on the main floor in front of the throne where Agang sat.
To his right, one step lower than he, Princes Echtang and Gadang stood, dressed royally, with great decorative swords strapped to their waists. Hodang was on his left, chatting in a whisper to Chane. Behind them hung an enormous regal standard, depicting a golden tree on a green background, with a crown above. It covered the entire back wall of the hall, framing his throne in a reflected glow.
The front doors were wide open, to allow in the humid summer air. Outside, a heavy squall of rain was hitting the streets and rooftops of the town, adding a low roar to the background noise of conversations. Dotted among the crowd were a fair number of folk from the Holdings: merchants, and officials belonging to the Imperial Legate’s staff, who lived and worked within the guarded citadel of the town. They seldom left, and when they did it was always with a squad of guards. The legate himself was present, talking to a small group which included the priest Pieper.
A soldier at the gates raised a staff.
‘Here they come, your Majesty,’ Hodang said.
Agang nodded.
The sound of drums and horns blared out, and the hall hushed, everyone turning to face the front doors. A herald walked in, holding aloft the banner of the southern lands, a black boar against a red field. Behind him strode Badranga and one of his sons, followed by a long retinue of advisors, guards and servants.
The crowd parted to allow the party to approach the throne.
When he was ten yards away, the herald halted.
Hodang raised his arms. ‘Welcome to the court of his Majesty King Agang Garo of the Sanang Realm, Lord of Broadwater, Beechwoods and the lands beyond the Mya, Conqueror of the Rahain Republic, Royal Partner of the Alliance and Empire.’
Badranga’s party bowed low.
‘Greetings to his Majesty,’ the herald cried, ‘from Chief Badranga Lecht, Lord of Oakenvale, Master of the Lands below the River Tritos.’
The Magelands Box Set Page 95
