Needs of the Empire

by Christopher Mitchell

  My daughter, Daphne thought. I’m a mother. An actual parent.

  ‘You all right?’ Bedig said .

  ‘Fine,’ Daphne said. ‘Are you ready for Rainsby?’

  ‘Let’s just get it over with.’

  ‘We’ll only be here one night. Two at the most. Just as long as it takes to buy what we need.’

  ‘It stinks like a piss trough,’ he said, gazing out over the dark wooden rooftops of the town. ‘What a dump.’

  ‘But it’s Kellach Brigdomin who live here now, instead of Rahain. I thought you’d like it more this time round.’

  He shrugged. ‘We’ll see.’

  A Rahain sailor approached them.

  ‘Sir, madam?’ He gestured to the gangplank leading down to the jetty.

  Bedig helped Daphne on with her backpack, the strap going round the armour protecting her crippled left arm. She nodded at the sailor, and went down the gangway first, keeping her eyes fixed on the slender plank beneath her feet. She stepped onto the solid stone of the jetty, and a flicker of a smile crossed her lips. She gazed around. Rahain sailors and dockers mixed with Kellach labourers, while Holdings troopers stood around in groups, eyeing the crowds with lazy stares.

  Bedig arrived next to her. Karalyn was craning her neck, wide-eyed as she looked around.

  ‘Let’s find the nearest decent place to stay,’ Daphne said.

  She went ahead, squeezing her way through the bustle of people, with Bedig close behind. She pulled on a small thread of battle-vision, just enough to take in the docks, and catch if anyone was looking in their direction, but apart from idle glances, no one was paying them any attention.

  ‘You settled on names for us?’ Bedig said.

  ‘I’m Beth of Hold Down,’ she said. ‘You’re my servant, Damon.’

  He frowned.

  She laughed. ‘Come on, do you think I’d make you a Domm? No, you can be Bryde. Sounds like the kind of name you lot have.’

  ‘Used to know a Bryde.’

  ‘Well then,’ she said. ‘Bryde it is. ’

  They came off the jetty onto a wharf lined with a long row of warehouses. The paved ground was littered with piles of crates, and wagons with both gaien and horses hitched to them. Workers swarmed over the wharf, and Daphne had to push her way through. Beyond the docks and the warehouses stood the town wall, with the road leading up to a harbour-facing entrance.

  The gates were wide open, and an even larger crowd was assembled in the courtyard in front of them.

  ‘We arrived on a holiday or something?’ Bedig asked.

  ‘What are they all doing?’ Daphne said. ‘Are they watching something?’

  ‘Or somebody,’ Bedig said. ‘There’s a group over by the town wall up on crates. I think the crowd’s looking at them.’

  ‘Can we get through?’

  ‘It’ll be tight, but I think so.’

  As they neared the crowd of Kellach, she realised that everyone was watching a group of Holdings. Half a dozen dark-skinned men and women in robes were up on a makeshift platform, with more surrounding them on the ground. They were speaking to the gathered crowd, though they were too far away for her to hear what they were saying.

  ‘Preachers,’ Bedig muttered.

  Daphne reached the edge of the crowd, and began to make her way through. Bedig put a hand out and gripped a handle of her backpack as he followed.

  Words started to come through from the platform.

  ‘You have lost your faith, we understand that,’ a strong voice was telling the crowd. ‘When the Rahain destroyed your holy mountain, you despaired. You believed your beloved god to be dead. But rejoice I say to you, rejoice! Your Fire God Pyre was not destroyed, for he is but one manifestation of the all-loving Creator, and the Creator cannot die. He loves you as he loves all the peoples of this world. Over time, your traditions replaced his name with that of Pyre, but the truth remained, that the Kellach Brigdomin are a people made by the Creator and loved by the Creator.’

  The Holdings man paused. A few in the crowd shuffled their feet.

  ‘Excuse me,’ Daphne said, pushing her way past a grizzled old man.

  ‘Now you must prove yourselves worthy of the Creator’s love,’ the speaker went on. ‘Turn your backs on the wickedness that has overtaken your hearts. Purify yourselves, for only in a pure state can you ever hope to be blessed. Forsake your drunkenness and your shameful promiscuity, cast away the drugs that are rotting your souls, and open your hearts to the true Creator. Give unto him your passions and your spirit, not to the bottle, or to the weedsmoke, or to the whores, those foul wanton wretches.’

  Daphne, Bedig and the baby were close to the gates. Some in the crowd were restless, but most were standing in silence. Karalyn let out a loud wail.

  Daphne glanced over to the platform, noticing that the speaker had stopped.

  The Holdings seemed to be arguing among themselves, then one of them looked in her direction.

  ‘Come on Bedig,’ she muttered.

  The masses of people thinned, and Daphne emerged in front of the gates. She checked to make sure Bedig and Karalyn were close behind, and entered the town.

  ‘Did they know we were due to arrive?’ Bedig asked as they walked at a brisk pace down the cobbled street. Traders, beggars and soldiers filled the road, and the crowd watching the preachers was soon out of sight. ‘Do you think they set up in the harbour so they could see us come in?’

  ‘I don’t know. Maybe they’re always there. It doesn’t matter, I think we got away with it.’

  They stood to the side to allow a large wagon piled with crates to pass. Ramshackle wooden buildings lined the road, interspersed with the blackened stumps of stone walls, relics of the town prior to its capture by the Sanang eight thirds before. The population was Kellach in the main, she noticed, apart from the troopers and a few Rahain. And Bedig had been right, the place stank.

  ‘Woah,’ Bedig said. ‘Did you see the size of that fucking rat?’

  ‘Hey!’ Daphne said. ‘Not in front of Karalyn, please.’

  ‘She’s too wee to understand,’ he said, as they stepped back onto the busy road and continued towards the centre of town. ‘And,’ he went on, ‘we’re in a town of clansfolk, and we’re going to see Killop, who’ll be surrounded by more clansfolk. Let’s face it, she’s going to hear some swearing.’

  Karalyn wailed again.

  ‘Don’t worry Kara-bear,’ Daphne said. ‘Teatime soon.’ She looked up at the streets ahead. ‘We need to take a left, head to the merchants’ quarter.’

  ‘If it still exists,’ Bedig said. ‘I don’t recognise any of this.’

  She saw a soldier on the street with a crest on her arm.

  ‘Sergeant,’ she hailed the trooper.

  The woman sauntered over, two troopers at her back.

  ‘How can I help you, ma’am?’

  ‘We’re a bit lost, I’m afraid,’ she said. ‘The street layout has changed since we were last here. I’m looking for a clean hostelry for the night.’

  The sergeant frowned as she stared at them, then froze when she saw the baby harnessed to Bedig’s chest. Her face lit with surprise.

  ‘Yes, ma’am, of course,’ she said. She turned and whispered something to the troopers behind her.

  ‘I know where the best establishments are located, ma’am,’ she said, facing Daphne again. ‘We’d be happy to escort you.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  The Holdings sergeant gestured down another street to their left, and they set off, the two troopers following a few paces behind.

  ‘If you don’t mind me saying, ma’am,’ the sergeant said, ‘I’d have expected you to be travelling with a little more security.’

  ‘I’ve got him for that,’ Daphne nodded at Bedig. ‘And I’m not bad myself. ’

  ‘Still ma’am, wandering about in public is running a risk, especially as your daughter is with you.’

  Daphne sighed. ‘I was hoping to slip through Rainsby without
anyone recognising me.’

  ‘Ma’am,’ the sergeant said, ‘the cavalry garrison here received word from Captain Suthers in Plateau City that you were travelling with a baby and a Kellach companion. She asked us to be of assistance if we ran into you. Did the One True Path see you at the gates?’

  ‘I don’t think so.’

  ‘Good,’ the sergeant said. ‘Some of them are... I don’t know how to put this…’

  ‘Fucking crazy?’ Bedig said.

  The sergeant shrugged. ‘This town is hard enough to police without those black-robed deacons stirring things up.’

  ‘Have they had any success?’ Daphne asked. ‘Converts?’

  ‘Not from the Kellach, but more than a few of the Rahain peasants have taken the faith. Several thousand live in a shanty town south of the walls, and another group of One True Pathers have set up camp down there. Got quite a following, I hear.’

  ‘You don’t sound too happy about folk joining your religion,’ Bedig said.

  ‘I’m a queen’s trooper at heart,’ the sergeant said. ‘Faith should be a private thing, between you and the Creator. The church should keep out of people’s business, and stop telling us what we can drink, or who we can love.’

  Daphne raised an eyebrow. ‘Who we can love?’

  ‘Haven’t you heard?’ the sergeant said. ‘The Emperor has declared it illegal for folk of different races to have any kind of sexual relationship with each other.’

  ‘Illegal?’ Daphne frowned. ‘Am I liable to be arrested?’

  ‘No, ma’am,’ the sergeant said. ‘The proclamation said “As of today”, so I guess that means from now on, at least that’s how we’ve been told to interpret it. ’

  ‘But I’m on my way to see the baby’s father, and I suppose you know…?’

  ‘Yes ma’am, if you’re referring to him being of the Kellach variety.’

  ‘Is the new law saying that if the father and I get together, then we’re committing a crime?’

  The sergeant nodded. ‘Looks that way, ma’am.’

  Daphne shook her head. The One True Path must be laughing at her.

  She noticed Bedig’s face was pale.

  ‘Just as well you ended it with Celine,’ Daphne said.

  The Brig man said nothing. Karalyn was squirming again.

  ‘Are we far?’ Daphne asked. ‘The baby’s hungry.’

  ‘Nearly there, ma’am,’ the sergeant said. ‘Not many decent places to stay in Rainsby.’

  ‘I was wondering,’ Daphne said, ‘if you knew of anywhere I could buy a wagon, horses, and supplies to last a third?’

  ‘We can sort that for you ma’am. Just give me a list and the money, and we’ll take care of the rest.’

  ‘You’d do that for us?’

  ‘Ma’am, it’s in our interests, and yours, to get you on your way with as little fuss as possible. Once we get to the hostelry, I would ask that you stay inside for your own safety, and we’ll come round as soon as we’ve bought everything on your list.’

  ‘How long will it take, do you think?’

  ‘We should have it all by lunchtime tomorrow, ma’am,’ the sergeant said. ‘I’ll get a squad on it. You got the money?’

  She patted her belt pouch.

  ‘Miss,’ Bedig said. ‘You can’t be thinking of handing gold over to a stranger?’

  ‘The sergeant’s not a stranger, Bedig,’ Daphne replied. ‘She’s Queen’s Cavalry.’

  Daphne looked up from stirring the powdered cows’ milk into a bottle of water. Karalyn was sitting on a rug, watching her.

  ‘Hi, Bedig,’ Daphne said. ‘You get everything?’

  ‘Aye, think so,’ he said, laying a basket down onto the room’s only table. ‘White bread, sausages, oysters, and the weakest ale the bar sold.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  ‘Don’t see the point.’

  ‘I don’t want to get drunk,’ she said, ‘and I don’t trust the water.’

  ‘What’s wrong with the water?’

  ‘It’s rank. You Kellach forget that the rest of us can get sick from bad food and water.’

  ‘You’re giving it to Karalyn.’

  ‘Did you know, Bedig?’ Daphne said. ‘She’s never been ill a day in her life. No sweats, no fevers, none of the normal sniffs and coughs. I almost feel I have to pretend that’s she’s been sick when other people ask, otherwise they’ll think there’s something not right about her.’

  She glanced over at Karalyn. The infant reached out for the bottle. Daphne passed it to her, and she grasped it in both hands and began to drink.

  ‘And see that?’ Daphne said. ‘She shouldn’t be able to do that yet.’

  ‘It’s normal for Kellach babies,’ Bedig said, ‘though it’s weird seeing a Holdings-looking bairn do it. She looks like you, you know?’

  ‘I hope Killop sees something of himself in her,’ she said, gazing at the child.

  ‘It’s getting dark,’ Bedig said. ‘Will I close the shutters?’

  ‘Thanks.’

  Daphne stood, and examined the food on the table. She prepared two cold meals from it, and poured the ale into pewter mugs, while Bedig secured the windows and door of their rented room.

  ‘Dinner’s ready,’ she said in Kellach.

  Bedig smiled.

  ‘I think we should start speaking in your language,’ Daphne said, ‘whenever we can. I need to practise. ’

  Bedig laughed and sat at the table. ‘You’re already fluent. I don’t understand how, mind.’

  Daphne sat opposite him, biting her lip, too embarrassed to tell him the truth, that Kalayne had imprinted into her head the structures of Kellach grammar, and a large vocabulary. It had been a slow and painful process over several days, but the language felt almost as natural to her as her own.

  ‘Quick learner, I guess,’ she said. ‘Helps that some words in both Kellach and Holdings are quite similar, you know, like beer, bread, mother, that sort of thing.’

  ‘Aye,’ Bedig said, ‘so they are. Never thought about it before.’

  ‘Laodoc had a theory,’ she said, ‘and so did Kalayne. They both said that maybe our two lands used to be joined together, thousands of years ago.’

  ‘But they’re at opposite ends of the continent.’

  ‘I’m only telling you their theory. Didn’t say I believed it. It is odd, though.’

  ‘Just random, probably.’

  She bent down to pick up Karalyn, who was crawling past on the rug.

  ‘Up you come, Kara-bear,’ she said. ‘Time for bed.’

  She carried her over to a dim corner of the room, where a cot sat. Karalyn cried out as she lay her down on the mattress, so Daphne sent a soothing feeling of love into her. She started to settle.

  From the room next door came a loud grunt, and then a long moan.

  ‘Dammit,’ Daphne said, as the sound of the couple in the other room continued. ‘That’s all we need.’

  She leaned over the crib, stroking her daughter’s head. ‘Go to sleep, little bear, the noise will be over soon.’

  ‘I’m not altogether sure about that,’ Bedig said as he ate. ‘When I was downstairs at the bar, there was a whole alcove of folk offering their wares for a price.’

  ‘You mean this place is a brothel?’

  Bedig shrugged. ‘A brothel and a hostelry. ’

  The sound from the other room stopped, and Daphne sat down.

  She picked up a piece of bread.

  ‘Maybe they’re guests, like us,’ she said after a few moments of silence. ‘Well, not exactly like us but, you know, a couple.’

  ‘We might be lucky,’ Bedig said.

  There was a loud groan, and the sound began again, this time accompanied by the regular beat of a bedstead hitting the wooden wall.

  Karalyn stirred, and began to cry.

  Daphne sighed. ‘It’s going to be a long night.’

  Apart from the bonfires of rubbish burning at street corners, there was very little light coming from t
he town of Rainsby. Daphne gazed over the settlement, and the sprawl of slums beyond the wall to the south. The seven stars were obscured by cloud, and a deep silence was on the land and the Inner Sea. A few troopers patrolled, enforcing the curfew, and a small collection of ships bobbed with the winds in the bay off the harbour. Street children played by the fires, throwing in whatever had been left on the roads during the day, while wild dogs yapped and barked around their heels.

  She had fallen asleep faster than she had thought likely, once she had learned to ignore the noises of bartered passion coming through the wall, and slipped into a lucid dream. Her vision had risen above the town, her sight focussed north in the direction of Plateau City.

  After an hour, she saw what she had been waiting for. A short burst of inner-vision shot out from the centre of the town, aimed towards the imperial capital. A few moments later, a much more powerful beam appeared from over the sea, and headed to the spot from where the first burst had emanated. Daphne soared down to meet it; her vision alighting on a tall building, one of the few stone constructions left standing in the town.

  The powerful beam of inner-vision entered the building, and Daphne followed. In a room in the attic a priest was kneeling, facing north. The thread of vision connected with his head.

  I received your signal, said the voice from over the sea.

  Thank you for responding so quickly, my lord, the priest replied.

  I assume you have news.

  Indeed, Lord Vicar, the priest said. Daphne Holdfast has arrived. I thought you should know.

  My thanks. Have you seen her?

  No, Lord Vicar. I have received confirmation from the harbour that her ship arrived this evening. I have an agent out looking for her current location.

  Good, the Lord Vicar said. I’m hopeful that she can slip through the town without any trouble. Deacon Yosin, I am sure, will have sent word ahead to the One True Path chapter in Rainsby, informing them that she is coming, and passing on my orders to leave her be.

  The priest nodded. May I ask, Lord Vicar, why does the One True Path hate this woman?

  They believe her child an abomination, and that she is a dangerous renegade against the church.