Needs of the Empire

by Christopher Mitchell

  ‘He was too busy playing with Karalyn,’ she said. ‘The great oaf’s besotted with that wee lassie. I think Daphne’s taking her to see him just now.’

  ‘And you?’ Killop asked. ‘Were you standing up for her?’

  ‘Fucksake Killop,’ she said. ‘Daphne can handle herself, she doesn’t take shit from anyone.’

  ‘Good,’ he said. ‘We’re getting married.’

  ‘Alright.’

  ‘Is that it, “alright”?’

  ‘You’re starting to get right on my tits,’ she frowned. ‘What’s wrong with you? You’ve no idea the shite I’ve had to put up with since Karalyn turned your brain into mince. And knowing that at any moment she might do the same to someone else just because Daphne gets annoyed at them, and having to keep that a secret, well fucksake. I wouldn’t have covered up for anyone else, you fucking know that, right?’

  He sat back into his chair and started to smile, unable to stop himself.

  ‘Fuck off,’ she said.

  He shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, Bridget, maybe I’m not altogether fixed. I know it must have been rough for you.’

  She regarded him with suspicion.

  ‘What’s been going on, then?’ he said.

  ‘Rahain’s gone to shit,’ she said. ‘Or it’s heading there fast. ’

  ‘Nothing new.’

  ‘It’s getting worse, but,’ she said. ‘Laodoc’s big new army marched south to find the rebels, but the Old Free aren’t stupid, they led the army on and on into the mountains, then outflanked them and cut their supply lines. So right now the army is traipsing all the way back with no food, while bands of rebels are wreaking havoc up here. They’ve hit alliance bases, assassinated Holdings priests and members of the government, and get this Killop, they’ve started targeting free Kellach.’

  ‘The Old Free have come into Slateford?’

  ‘No,’ she said. ‘Not yet, but they’ve been attacking groups out on the road, and have burned down a few isolated Kellach farms.’

  He nodded.

  ‘Our folk are also getting shit from the New Free.’

  ‘Who?’ he said.

  ‘The New Free,’ she said. ‘That’s the name the old Rahain slaves are calling themselves, the ones that worship the Holdings’ Creator. Them and the One True Path are demanding that the Kellach convert to the same faith, or get out of Rahain.’

  She caught his eye and held it.

  ‘Folk are starting to leave,’ she said. ‘Slateford town’s practically a transit camp these days. Small groups are coming in every day from the rest of Rahain, and larger bands of hundreds at a time are setting out, heading home.’

  ‘I thought this was our home.’

  ‘So did I, Killop,’ she said, ‘but some folk don’t think it’s safe for us here. They want to be in their own land, where no one will hassle them.’

  ‘Slateford is our own land.’

  ‘But for how long, Killop?’ she said. ‘The rebel insurgency is turning into a religious war. Any peasant who doesn’t believe in the Creator is being treated by the New Free as a rebel sympathiser, and many of them have moved out of the capital, leaving before they could be lynched. And every follower of the Creator is on Laodoc’s side, desperate to stop the Old Free from enslaving them all again. And we’re stuck in the fucking middle.’

  ‘But we’re not neutral in this,’ Killop said. ‘We support Laodoc’s government.’

  ‘But Laodoc aside,’ she said, ‘the rest of the New Free hate us, because we won’t allow missionaries in. They think we’re just as bad as the rebels.’

  Killop bowed his head.

  Bridget pulled a hip flask from her jacket pocket and took a swig.

  Killop sipped his water.

  ‘How’s everyone else?’

  ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘Lilyann’s still mental, she’s turned her room into a shrine to the fucking Creator, and she’s even stopped boozing. Draewyn’s got a wasp in her hair about Daphne. I think deep down she just doesnae like Holdings folk, or any other folk for that matter. Kalden’s exhausted, trying to keep order in Slateford town.’

  ‘And Bedig?’

  ‘Hung like a donkey.’

  Killop grimaced. ‘Are you trying to put me back into a coma?’

  She grinned, sipping from the flask.

  ‘He treating you all right?’ he asked. ‘I heard a few stories about what he got up to in Plateau City.’

  ‘I’m not a bairn,’ she said. ‘I know what he’s like. We’re just having a bit of fun.’

  ‘Fair enough.’

  ‘So,’ she said. ‘You’re getting married.’

  ‘Aye.’

  ‘Well,’ she said, ‘as your herald, I’ll organise the biggest fucking party Slateford’s seen. Nothing like a chief’s wedding to cheer folk up.’

  ‘I think Daphne was hoping for something low key.’

  Bridget laughed. ‘Then I guess you’d better break the news to her.’

  Chapter 17

  Sister’s Son

  A rakhanah City – 30 th Day, Second Third Autumn 506

  A large rat ran across the road in front of them, before scampering into a boarded-up tenement block, its bricks crumbling and sagging.

  Jayki swore.

  ‘Stop worrying,’ said Shella.

  ‘I’m not happy about this trip, miss,’ he said. ‘We should have brought guards with us. This area’s not safe.’

  ‘It’s just poor,’ she said. ‘Doesn’t mean the people living here are all criminals.’

  He shook his head. ‘I’m from a poor district,’ he said. ‘This is different. Rotten.’

  They paused to allow a bent-over old woman pushing a cart to pass them on the narrow pavement between the tenements and a slime-covered canal.

  Jayki wrinkled his nose.

  Shella noticed several pairs of eyes watching them from the broken windows of a dilapidated tenement on the other side of the water. More street children, abandoned and feral. She had seen groups of them on her tour through Arakhanah, squatting in deserted districts, living off the enormous garbage dumps that bordered the slums.

  ‘Not far to go,’ he said, as they began walking again.

  ‘Thanks for finding them for me,’ she said. ‘Didn’t realise it would be so hard.’

  ‘Would have been easier if they hadn’t changed their name. They didn’t want to be found.’

  ‘You want me to turn round? I can’t come all the way to Arakhanah and not visit them.’

  ‘I don’t like all the sneaking about,’ he said. ‘What if someone sees you?’

  She pulled the hood further over her face.

  They halted at a tenement, one of a few on the street where most windows weren’t boarded up.

  ‘Here we are, miss,’ Jayki said. ‘Are you sure you…?’

  Shella snorted and barged past him, pushing the door open and entering a shadowed stairwell.

  ‘Which floor?’ she said.

  ‘Fifth.’

  She nodded, and began climbing, Jayki following in silence.

  Shella was out of breath by the time they reached the correct floor. Jayki shook his head at her, and began reading the nameplates attached to the four apartment doors.

  ‘This one,’ he said.

  Shella walked over.

  ‘Yalopo?’ she read. ‘What kind of stupid name’s that to choose? Noliyalopo? I can’t even say it right.’

  She knocked.

  After a moment, the door opened a few inches, a thick entry chain across the gap. A face appeared.

  ‘Hi, Zonnie,’ Shella said.

  Her sister’s face froze in a look of terror. She began to push the door shut.

  Shella put her foot in the gap. ‘Wait! ’

  Zonnie turned, and ran down the dark entrance hall.

  ‘Shit,’ Shella muttered, glancing at Jayki.

  She heard more steps from inside the apartment, then saw Noli charging towards the door. She crashed into it, jamming Shella’s f
oot.

  Shella let out a yell, and fell to the floor.

  She rolled over in agony. ‘Ahhh, fucking fuck, my foot!’

  Noli unchained the door and came out onto the landing.

  ‘Get in,’ she snarled, ‘before the neighbours hear you.’

  Jayki helped Shella up, and supported her over the threshold. Noli shut and re-chained the door.

  ‘Follow me,’ she said.

  Shella staggered with Jayki’s help, and Noli led them into a small room where Zonnie stood waiting, her hands clasped together, and a forced smile on her face. Their brother Lenni was also there, sitting and looking amused.

  Noli pointed at a chair, and Shella fell into it.

  ‘How dare you come here,’ Noli said, her face red with rage.

  Shella took off her shoe and rubbed the sole of her foot, the pain receding.

  ‘Am I to conclude from this welcome,’ she said, ‘that you won’t be calling me your Highness?’

  Lenni let out a snorted laugh, silenced by a glare from Noli.

  ‘Fate’s idea of a twisted joke,’ Noli said. ‘You, a fucking princess.’

  ‘You never used to swear Noli,’ Shella said. ‘Sounds weird coming from you.’

  ‘Yeah, well the death of a husband and four children can change someone.’

  Shella fell silent, her mouth open.

  ‘That right, little princess,’ Noli said. She walked over to a cheap wooden stand, where she uncorked a bottle of spirits and picked up some tiny glasses. ‘Four. Two were taken by cholera, one from an infection when the doctors ran out of medicine, and the other died of starvation. Thymo died in a riot. He was coming home with food and went down a wrong street. Got beaten to death. ’

  She approached Shella with a glass, her face steady, but her hand shaking.

  ‘And,’ Noli went on, ‘our sister Chapu, also from starvation.’

  ‘The others?’ Shella whispered. ‘Asta, Marru?’

  ‘Both alive,’ Noli said, sitting. ‘Out working.’

  ‘Sami’s well.’

  ‘Of course he is,’ spat Noli. ‘Living the life of a prince.’

  She turned to her other sister. ‘For fuck’s sake, Zonnie, sit down.’

  Zonnie sat, her expression unchanged, regarding Shella with a base fear.

  ‘And you,’ Noli said to Jayki, ‘whoever you are, have a drink with us. Celebrate the family reunion.’

  ‘I need to keep a clear head, miss.’

  ‘Drink!’ Noli cried. ‘You will drink. Sit.’

  Shella nodded at him, and Jayki took a seat.

  Noli turned back to Shella. ‘Did you know that Lenni went to see you get crowned? Idiot. I told him not to bother. Half the tenement went along for the free food, and to laugh at you, perched on your fucking throne like a gaudy bird.’

  ‘I quite enjoyed it,’ Lenni said. ‘She made a nice speech.’

  ‘Yeah?’ Noli said. ‘Was it about how terribly sorry she was for killing half the population of the city?’

  ‘The Rahain annihilated the Migration,’ Shella said. ‘I should know, I was there.’

  ‘But little old you escaped, didn’t you,’ Noli sneered. ‘Then the Holdings made a mockery of justice by rewarding you with a crown instead of the noose. I know which I’d have preferred to see you wear.’

  ‘I did my best,’ Shella said. ‘My conscience is clear.’

  ‘You could have stayed. You choose to leave. The sea walls collapsed first, because all of the best flow mages had gone. Then the spawnpools went bad, because there weren’t enough workers to clean them. There was no one to collect the harvest, though that hardly mattered as most rice fields were under the sea by that point. Money became worthless, nowhere would accept it, you had to barter whatever you had for a scrap of food. Whole districts, including Brackenwell, were evacuated, and everyone was crammed into the centre of the city. When the food ran out, people started behaving…’

  Noli lowered her head for a moment, her eyes half-closed.

  ‘You couldn’t go outside,’ she went on. ‘Men, women, even children were being killed if they had any food on them. My husband was one of them.’

  She took a sip from the glass, and refilled it.

  ‘I don’t blame the government for selling us out to the Holdings,’ she said. ‘What else could they do? We’d turned into savages. Then the food started to arrive. Great wagons, filled with sacks of cornmeal and flour. Soon a new police force were on the streets, armed with crossbows, and the city calmed down. But no one who was here will ever forget those days.

  ‘In fact, the one joyful memory I have from then was when I learned of Obli’s death. Just imagine if she’d survived, and the Holdings had made her queen...’

  Noli shivered, then glanced at Shella.

  ‘Did you see how she died?’

  ‘She took her own life,’ Shella said. ‘I was trying to persuade her to escape with me, but she had already drunk the poisoned water, after watching her spawn die.’

  ‘Obli had spawned?’ Noli cried. ‘That makes it all the sweeter. It was worth you coming here to know that she had to watch her babies die, her life in ruins, before she met her own end. Just a pity you didn’t do the honourable thing and join her in a suicide pact.’

  ‘Miss,’ Jayki said. ‘You’re out of line. Shella worked hard to save the Migration, and…’

  ‘Shut up,’ Noli said.

  ‘Do you want to come back to Plateau City with me?’ Shella blurted out. ‘All of you?’

  The room fell silent.

  Shella glanced over at Lenni, who looked confused.

  ‘I could find you jobs,’ she said. ‘I’m the fucking ambassador. Jobs, and somewhere decent for you all to live. Let me do one tiny thing to make your lives better.’

  ‘To accept this,’ Noli said, ‘I’d have to leave Arakhanah, and that I’ll never do.’

  ‘Nor I,’ said Zonnie. ‘I couldn’t bear to live in the same city as you.’

  Shella glanced back at Lenni.

  ‘No, Shella,’ he said. ‘You might live in a palace, with servants bowing to you, and your food served on silver plates, but here at least we have a community, friends. We’ve all lived through something worse than we could imagine. I’d feel like I was deserting everyone if I left.’

  Noli narrowed her eyes.

  ‘What about one of the children?’ she said. ‘Would you take one of my babies if I were to trust you with their future?’

  ‘Are you serious?’ Shella asked. ‘You’d give up one of your children?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Noli said. ‘Maybe I should. My heart would break, but it’s been broken so many times in the last few years that I might be able to bear it. And I always have this.’ She raised her glass.

  ‘You can’t,’ cried Zonnie, her eyes widening. ‘Don’t think of it.’

  Noli hung her head. ‘But Zonnie, maybe I should gamble that at least one of my children has a decent life.’ She looked up at Shella, her eyes cold. ‘Would you do this for me, Shella? If you truly want to help, would you look after one of my sweet babies, feed, clothe and educate them? Would you love them?’

  Shella stared at her. ‘Yes.’

  Noli laughed. ‘You’d make a terrible parent. No, it was a stupid idea.’

  She stood, and walked over to the window, where a small grimy pane looked down over the street.

  Shella glanced at Jayki, who eyed the door.

  Noli turned. ‘Wait here,’ she said, then left the room by a side door.

  ‘Where’s she gone?’ Shella said.

  ‘Kids’ bedroom,’ Lenni said.

  Shella gulped.

  ‘Ha,’ Lenni said. ‘You look terrified.’

  ‘Shut up. ’

  They sat in silence for a few moments.

  Jayki coughed. ‘Miss…?’

  The side door opened and Noli re-entered, carrying a pack and leading a small boy by the hand.

  ‘This is Thymo,’ she said, as the boy stared at
Shella. ‘Named after his dad.’

  ‘Hello,’ Shella said.

  ‘He’s quiet for a five year old,’ Noli said, putting the pack down, ‘but he takes everything in…’ Her voice cracked, and she sobbed. She got down on her knees and embraced the boy.

  ‘This is Auntie Shella,’ she said. ‘She’s going to look after you. She’s going to take you to a beautiful place, where you’ll be happy.’

  ‘Don’t do it, Noli,’ Zonnie said, standing by her sister, laying a hand on her shoulder.

  ‘I have to,’ she said, stroking the boy’s hair.

  Thymo remained quiet, eyeing Shella.

  Noli stood.

  ‘Swear to me,’ she said to Shella, ‘that you’ll do your best for him, that you’ll protect him with your life.’

  ‘I swear it.’

  ‘Then go,’ Noli said. ‘Now, before I lose my nerve.’

  Shella stood, and reached out her hand to Thymo. The boy stared up at her, then took hold of her fingers.

  ‘Good bye, my sweet baby,’ Noli said, tears streaming down her face. ‘I will see you again one day.’

  ‘No, Noli,’ Zonnie cried. She lunged forward to grab Thymo, but Noli restrained her.

  ‘Lenni,’ Zonnie shouted. ‘Help me!’

  ‘It’s up to Noli,’ he shrugged. ‘One less mouth to feed, and let’s face it, that boy’s the least likely to thrive out of all of them.’

  ‘Fuck you,’ Zonnie yelled, her eyes welling.

  Noli pushed Zonnie to the side, and ushered Shella, Jayki and Thymo through the front hall of the apartment. She opened the door and pushed them out, slamming it shut behind her .

  The three of them stood and stared at the closed door, listening to the sound of weeping from within.

  ‘Well,’ said Shella, ‘that didn’t go exactly how I expected.’

  She took the boy’s hand.

  ‘Come on Thymo, let’s get out of here.’

  Shella rubbed her temples, her head aching from the raw alcohol she had drunk at Noli’s house. She got up from the sofa and began throwing her things into a trunk, keeping half an eye on the boy, who was sitting in an armchair, watching her in silence.

  ‘We’re beginning a long journey tomorrow,’ she said. ‘You’ll see a lot of new things on the way.’

  The boy said nothing.