Transcendent (Ascendant Book 2)

by Craig Alanson

  Ironically, much of the money he had borrowed to build up his military strength had come in the form of loans from the Falcos. Regin Falco was not only supremely confident in the strength of his own ducal army, he also understood an important truth: money is power. Burwyck had always been wealthier than Farlane. More of Farlane province was unproductive swampland and craggy mountains. Farlane had no broad rivers inside its borders, so all goods had to move by wagon, increasing costs. The northern border of Farlane was also the northern border of Tarador, and Duke Bargann was forced to keep much of his military strength in the north, to defend against orcs. To the east of Farlane were many small, bickering kingdoms which occasionally became adventurous and raided into Farlane, creating another constant drain on Farlane’s military forces. Farlane had a very large and rich gold mine, but only the one, while Burwyck had several mines which produced gold, silver, iron and other valuable metals.

  “It’s not the river that is important,” Kallron explained. “It’s a symbol. The Barganns have always felt the Falcos looked down upon them, because Burwyck traditionally has more wealth and power. Rills swore to change that when he took the throne; he was outraged over the insult to his father, when his father was already weak and dying.”

  “Then why have the Barganns always supported the Falcos in the Council?” It did not happen always, but certainly when Duke Bargann voted against the Falcos, it was a notable event. Kallron had told Ariana that he suspected sometimes the Falcos wanted the Barganns to vote against them, for one scheme or another.

  “Because they have to. Farlane has been beholden to Burwyck’s generous purse for centuries. And the Barganns in particular have owed their throne to the Falcos from the beginning,” Kallron explained.

  Ariana knew what her chief advisor meant. One hundred and forty years ago, the Tolsteads had ruled Farlane province, but the last Duchess Tolstead had died without an heir, and her only sibling had fled Tarador to avoid paying creditors. Several distant relatives of Duchess Tolstead had vied for the throne, and the Falcos supported Ilsa Bargann, first cousin to the duchess. After a short but bloody war within Farlane, Ilsa had become the first of the Bargann family on the ducal throne of Farlane province. And the Barganns had been partly under the control of the Falcos ever since. Ariana sighed. “It is all about money, then.”

  “Not entirely, Your Highness. Particularly where pride is involved. Rills Bargann knows that strip of land along the river would never be worth the price he would pay to retake it. But every time he looks at a map showing that land belonging to Burwyck, it reminds him that he is not truly his own man. And, worse, he knows that everyone knows that. It wounds his pride.”

  Pride. And money. Two great motivators of the Regency Council. “Losing that gold mine will hurt Bargann’s pride and his purse,” Ariana considered. She had been aiming only at the man’s purse. She should have included stubborn pride in her plans. Could Bargann’s wounded pride cause all of her plans to go awry? “How did you learn of the gold mine?”

  Kallron was not at all convinced of Ariana’s innocence in the collapse of the gold mine. He was, however, convinced enough; of the Regency Council called him in for questioning, he would have nothing to tell them. “The reason I know about it, Your Highness, is because apparently Duke Bargann himself learned about the disaster at his mine late last night. This very morning Bargann sought your mother’s assistance; pleaded with her to use the royal treasury as backing so the Duke could cover his debts temporarily. The Regent refused his entreaties, and Bargann is now reported to be quite desperate.”

  “Hmm,” Ariana mumbled over another mouthful of sweetcake. “The current Regent refused to assist Bargann. I wonder, Chief Advisor, if the Duke of Farlane province would be interested in seeing a different person holding the Regency.”

  “I believe,” Kallron said with great satisfaction and taking a sweetcake for himself, “that he would indeed. Very much so. The dukes and duchesses of the seven provinces will all soon be here in Linden for the war council. That makes it rather convenient for certain important items to be brought before the Regency Council.” He ate the sweetcake quickly, then wiped his fingers on a napkin. “Now, Your Highness, if you will excuse me, I should approach certain representatives of Duke Bargann, and begin discussing- What shall I call it? Possibilities. I will begin discussing possibilities.”

  “Please do,” Ariana responded with an ear to ear grin. “Make a bargain with Bargann.”

  “Your Highness?”

  “Yes, Chief Advisor?”

  “My advice, young lady, is not to do this sort of thing again. Not until you have the Regency, and I can, advise, you fully.”

  “I have no idea what you mean,” she said with a wink. “Yes, Uncle Kallron.”

  “However,” Kallron continued with a wink. “I am very proud of you right now. You will be a most formidable queen.”

  The boats and carriages had been expensive to Koren’s purse; with the war in Tarador, prices of pretty much everything had gone up. Fortunately, before he left the Lady Hildegard, the crew had voted an extra share of the profit for ‘Kedrun’. Whether he’d been granted an extra share out of gratitude for him saving the ship from pirates, or because the crew were happy to get a frightening source of dark magic off their ship, Koren did not know. It did not matter, all that mattered was that his pockets were full of coins, and he had plenty of money to pay for his journey north. He had spent what seemed to him too much money for a sword that had seen better days, a serviceable bow and a quiver of arrows that he could work with to bring into acceptable condition.

  The carriage he had been riding was going further north, but the road north along the river went into lands broken up into small kingdoms that were constantly squabbling with each other, when they were not banding together to fight off orc incursions. Travel through such lands were slow, with travelers needing to stop and pay tariffs at the border of every tiny ‘kingdom’. North of those kingdoms lay the tall, forbidding mountains that were orc territory anyway, and Koren wanted to contact the dwarves. So he changed carriages to one going west. West, first to the border of Tarador, then through Tarador.

  There were only two bridges across the river into Tarador for a stretch of almost eighty miles. In days gone by, there were more bridges, but those others had fallen into disrepair, or had been damaged during Spring floods and never rebuilt. Both of the current bridges had Taradoran Royal Army garrisons on their side of the river, and soldiers were checking every wagon, carriage and person who wished to enter Tarador. Koren could not take the risk that he could successfully pass as ‘Kedrun Dartenon from Durstwell’. There were several ferries that regularly ran back and forth across the river, but those were also met on the far side by soldiers of Tarador.

  What Koren needed was to hire a boat; a boat that would take him across the river at night, and land him at a place where no soldiers would be waiting for him. Standing at the shore, he looked along the riverbank at the town. There were rough-looking wharves and warehouses, and clusters of fishing boats. It all looked run down and shabby; a town that existed for the purposes of people and goods passing through, and a town that did not waste money or effort on appearances. Around those wharves, in a warehouse or a tavern or where racks of fish were salted and dried, he would likely find the sort of man he sought. A man who would look at the coins Koren offered, and not ask any questions.

  Regin Falco was enraged; Niles Forne had never seen his liege lord so enraged, and Regin Falco was frequently angry at someone or something. “You knew nothing of this beforehand? What else do I pay you exorbitant sums for?” Duke Falco demanded of his advisor. The duke had arrived in Linden only the day before, to attend what he thought was a Council of War. It was maddening and tedious for him to travel all the way to Linden, especially for a council meeting that could only, according to the law, ‘provide guidance to the monarch or Regent on conduct during time of national crisis’. Regin had considered allowing his eldest son Kyre at
tend in his place, rather than making the long as tiring journey from Burwyck province to Linden. It felt like he had only just returned to his home from the Cornerstone festival, when the summons for a Council of War arrived.

  To Regin’s enormous shock, the meeting of the War Council that morning had barely opened when, of all people, Duke Bargann had called for a vote of no confidence in Carlana Trehayme as Regent. Before Regin could recover his shock, the dukes and duchesses of Rellanon, LeVanne, Anschulz and Winterthur provinces had quickly seconded the motion. Regin had been forced to call for a brief recess to confer with Duchess Rochambeau of Demarche, and to give his head time to stop spinning.

  Regin humself had planned to call for a Council of War soon, so he could call for a vote of no confidence in the Lady Carlana, and so he could propose his own candidate to be Regent. But Regin had planned to wait until Carlana’s lack of leadership led to a major military defeat; when a no confidence vote was sure to pass. When Duke Bargann struck first, Regin had been caught completely unprepared. Following a quick discussion with Duchess Rochambeau, the two of them had voted no confidence in Carlana, making it unanimous. It had been a thoroughly obvious decision; the Falcos could not vote in favor of Carlana, and then propose a candidate to replace her.

  After the vote had been declared official, a thoroughly shaken Lady Carlana had left the council chambers. Until a new Regent was chosen, she would retain the title of Regent, but she no longer had any effective power.

  Just when Regin, quickly recovering from the shock, had been about to propose his candidate for the regency, Duchess Portiss of Anschulz spoke up. And Regin received perhaps the greatest shock since he had become Duke of Burwyck. Portiss proposed the crown princess Ariana Trehayme to become Regent! And four other provinces had voted in favor. Clearly, the entire affair had been arranged in advance. Regin had forestalled Ariana assuming her own regency by calling for a formal declaration of legality; that bought him perhaps a day as the royal magistrates investigated the intricacies of the law.

  That the leaders of Rellanon and LeVanne had voted together was no surprise at all; those two families had strong ties together, and strong ties to the Trehaymes. Such familial ties did not apparently extend to Carlana, who had married into the royal family of Tarador. That Anschulz and Winterthur had voted with Rellanon and LeVanne was also no great shock, although Regin wondered what deals had been cut behind the scenes to bring in those two votes.

  But Farlane! For Duke Bargann of Farlane to vote with the other four, and against the Falcos, was unprecedented. And shocking; it had stunned Duke Falco. Whatever machinations had happened before the War Council opened, it had happened completely without Regin Falco’s notice, and that shook him to his core. What else had gone on behind his back?

  And what else had his senior advisor in Linden missed completely?

  Niles Forne struggled to outwardly remain calm in the face of his duke’s fury, a fury directed at him. Forne knew that not only his position, income and family status was at stake; his very life was in great danger. If Duke Falco decided to fire Niles Forne, the duke would surely understand that Forne knew a great many secrets of the Falco family, and having such a man forced to seek employment elsewhere would be extremely dangerous. The Falcos could offer Niles Forne a pension, to live somewhere remote, existing on half pay and with no status or connections. But Regin Falco would live every day in fear that his former trusted advisor would betray his oath. No, it would be better for Duke Falco to have Niles Forne meet an unfortunate accident. Perhaps Forne would be attacked and killed by bandits on a lonely road. It was, after all, a dangerous world. Niles Forne had to admit he himself had advised his duke to take such action against people who could no longer be trusted; Forne had even arranged for such ‘accidents’ to occur.

  “No, Sire, I did not know anything about this beforehand. It is to my great shame. I have failed you,” he admitted. Forne had learned over his years of service to the Falcos that taking complete responsibility for setbacks, and making no attempt at excuses, was the only way to have even a chance of survival. “It was wise for you to call for a formal declaration of legality, Sire,” Forne said, even though that had been Forne’s hasty and desperate suggestion at the time. “Although I am almost certain that the result will be the magistrates declaring that, strange as it may seem, Ariana is eligible to become her own Regent. I must say, that is an absolutely brilliant use of gaps in the law. Gustov Kallron has outmaneuvered me, badly.”

  “Kallron,” Regin said the word as if spitting something distasteful. As chancellor of the realm, Gustov Kallron had been a thorn in Regin’s side; blocking almost every move the Falcos made. It had gotten to the point, some years ago, that Regin considered attempting to assassinate Kallron, to remove an obstacle in the most brutal fashion. At the time, Niles Forne, Regin’s wife and others had persuaded him not to make such a rash move. He now regretted that he did not act earlier. “I do hate that man. My hope was, when Carlana dismissed him as chancellor, that he would be out of the game. It appears I was mistaken.”

  “We were all greatly mistaken,” Forne agreed, even though he had warned his duke not to ignore Kallron. “I now believe that Kallron orchestrated his dismissal as chancellor, in order to serve the princess directly,” which is exactly what Forne had told Regin Falco at the time, and Falco had ignored him. “Kallron saw the Lady Carlana was a sinking ship, and he sought to attach himself to the future power. Now he has manipulated the situation so that he will become chancellor once again. He is a brilliant and subtle man.” That was high praise for Niles Forne, who rarely thought of anyone as his equal in the game of power. “Kallron has manipulated the entire situation to suit himself.”

  “You think Kallron persuaded Bargann to vote with the princess?” Falco asked, surprised. The Barganns hated the Trehaymes almost as much as the Falcos did, and Kallron had served the Trehaymes all his life.

  “Sire, I now think it is no coincidence that, just as the crown princess needed to find a fifth vote to assume the regency, Duke Bargann’s gold mine collapsed and flooded,” Forne hinted darkly.

  “Kallron is that clever?” Regin asked with admiration. If the chief advisor to the crown princess had indeed caused the disaster at the gold mine in Farlane province, then it had been a master stroke. With one blow, he had crippled Duke Bargann, and also hurt the Falcos financially. Without a steady income from that gold mine, Bargann was unable to keep up repayments on loans extended by the Falcos, and that in turn had caused a severe crisis in the Falco family finances. His own financial position was now so weakened, that Regin was unable to respond to Council politics the way he usually did. It was as if he were fighting with one hand tied behind his back. He did not like that at all.

  “He is most certainly that clever,” Forne said gravely. What he did not do was remind his duke that Forne had, many times, warned against getting so financially entangled with the Bargann family. Warned against extending more and more credit to a ducal family that was less and less a reliable ally. An ally which grew weaker as they borrowed more money for unwise purposes; purposes that in some cases worked directly against the interests of the Falcos. Niles Forne’s strong sense of self-preservation made him not say any of that. “Whether Kallron was behind the disaster at the mine, I do not know for certain. It could be merely that the disaster happened, and Kallron saw an opportunity to act now.”

  “Damn it,” Regin could not help admiring his enemy’s skilled maneuver. “But the Council of War was called before the mine collapsed,” he pointed out.

  “Yes,” Forne nodded. “That is another reason why I suspect the disaster was no accident.”

  “How could a mine be made to collapse and flood like that?” Duke Falco asked, alarmed. The mine supervisor was a trusted cousin to Duke Bargann.

  “There is, my lord, only one possibility, I fear,” Forne paused for effect. “Kallron had help from wizardry. A powerful wizard.”

  “A wizard?” Now Regin was t
ruly fearful. “Lord Salva would surely not-”

  “He surely would, Sire,” Forne said gently. “The court wizard has made no secret of his disdain for the Lady Carlana as Regent. He has warned, in Council meetings, that her conduct of the war will lead us only to defeat and disaster. What keeps wizards out of the affairs of politics is law, and tradition. Wizards are a law unto themselves, and traditions may be broke, if the need is great. If Lord Salva foresaw Tarador headed toward ruin, I believe he would act. I believe he would feel compelled to act, regardless of the law. And the Council cannot force a wizard to answer questions. That also is the law.”

  “Very clever,” Regin was beyond surprise, nearly numb with shock. He could see all his plans crumbling before him. He looked at his own advisor in disgust. “That is it, then? Ariana has the five votes she needs to become Regent? You have been completely outplayed?”