One Land, One Duke

by Emerson, Ru

With the doors closed behind them, she hesitated, then turned to go on in the direction they'd been going. “Kitchens,” she said softly over her shoulder. “We may get farther, going this way, than by attempting the gardens."

  "Whatever works,” Jennifer replied. “Let's go.” Before I lose my nerve, she added to herself. This is not what I do.

  There was another narrow staircase, this one only marginally better lit than the first, and the treads here were worn in the middle, damp in places. Jennifer set her jaw and went down them right on Lialla's heels, trusting to luck to get her to the ground in one piece. She heard Edrith's bo clatter against the wall, his muttered curses, a quick rush of steps as he regained his balance. Moments later they were in a large, open chamber lit by fires in two enormous hearths. There were a number of people—possibly cooks or kitchen boys—asleep between the hearths, visible only as tousled heads and mounded blankets. Lialla edged to the far side of the chamber and turned to hold a hand to her lips, then began threading a way between tables, stools, and past a long trestle with benches pushed just under its edge. Somehow they made it through without tripping over anything; Jennifer's nose wrinkled as dust rose from fresh, very dry straw underfoot, and she pressed a finger hard over her upper lip to keep from sneezing. Something in the darkness near the wall they were approaching smelled terrible—garbage or even an indoor compost heap, by the nearly overwhelming odor—but they were past it and through the door, into another hallway. It was unlit, bare stone, and cold. A distance away, they could see light through a partly open door—enough to guide them.

  There were voices, too: As they neared the door, Jennifer realized at least one was familiar. Aletto's. The reply sent a shiver up her back: She'd never actually heard Jadek's voice before, but it was unmistakable.

  Lialla hesitated at the end of the hall, turned back briefly and caught Edrith's hand in one of hers, Jennifer's in the other. “Luck,” she whispered. Both nodded. Jennifer tightened her fingers around the bo and watched Lialla slip around the edge of the door, pause there; one hand came back in sight, a finger beckoned. Edrith gave her a long, grave look and gestured, letting her go ahead of him.

  * * * *

  It was a good-sized room, though not as massive as she might have expected from what she'd seen of the overall size of the building itself, from vague recollections of grand halls in Ivanhoe-type movies. The walls were pale, the ceiling no more than ten feet high; there were windows along two walls flanked by heavy curtains, a parquet floor that looked like a giant chess board of two shades of polished wood. A long table ran nearly the length of one wall, a number of high-backed chairs along the other. The only thing that particularly marked it as a nobleman's hall was the low platform between paired windows. Two oversized armchairs of black wood stood there, upholstered on the seat, the center of the back and both arms in dark red plush; but there were no additional markings of rank on or behind them.

  There were people everywhere; silent men, for the most part. A clutch of thirty or more in Jadek's colors, standing together and nervously watching those who'd come with Aletto. At first Jennifer couldn't see much beyond the two groups: She couldn't see anything of Chris, or Aletto. Or Dahven. Where Jadek was, certainly: But there was a break in the conversation as she edged into the room and she couldn't even be certain where he stood.

  Lialla edged around the side of the room, away from the dais, neck craned, eyes searching as she worked her way around Jadek's men. She nodded once, beckoned. When Jennifer came up beside her, she could see a little farther into the room: a handful of civilian men—local citizens, perhaps, most showing signs of hasty dressing. These stood slightly apart from Jadek's guard but well away from Afronsan's two clerks and the men wearing the red and gold of Emperor's armsmen. Many of them whispered together, or stood in silence eyeing the observers; others peered in the direction of the dais, craning their necks—surely, that must be where Aletto was, Jennifer thought; she glanced at the observers and let out a sigh of relief as she spotted Robyn's blonde hair in their midst. Spread along the far wall and blocking a large double door, some of Gyrdan's men stood—none of them held weapons but Jennifer doubted anyone would expect to simply ask and be let from the chamber. There were half-clad, sleepy-eyed household servants farther back, small huddles of them near the neatly set banquet chairs. She could see tense faces, saw lips moving as they whispered anxiously to one another; couldn't even hear the least sound. But Jadek's servants would be good at maintaining silence and a low profile, she thought.

  Lialla drew in a sharp breath, touched Jennifer's sleeve and let her eyes indicate direction: a very slender woman stood at the edge of the dais, holding onto the back of one chair as though it was the only thing keeping her on her feet. She wore black, a full-skirted gown that might once have been attractive but now hung on a too-thin frame, exposing fragile-looking collarbones and even more fragile-seeming wrists; the narrow length of sheer black fabric that crossed her head and fell over both ears didn't conceal heavily grayed hair; a wide and impressive necklace of figured gold and dark stones seemed heavy enough to drag such a frail woman down. Her eyes were wide above a haggard mouth, and she gazed desperately straight before her. Lialla let her own eyes close briefly, then squared her shoulders with a visible effort and began working around the room once again. Edrith pressed past them both to clear a path; Lialla caught hold of his loosened shirttail and let herself be pulled along.

  Aletto's voice, muted as it was by the room and the number of people in it, seemed overloud and all three jumped. “I said we would speak. Uncle, and I meant that. Concerning that chair, and my right to it.'

  "I will not discuss anything with you, not in the face of such a threat as you bring into this house,” Jadek replied with finality. Jennifer heard worried murmuring behind her. It was hushed abruptly.

  "There is no threat. Uncle. But I have said before that I would not come here to discuss these matters with you unless I had an absolute guarantee of my right to leave this house thereafter if I so chose. These men—you know many of them, since they were friends of my father; others are sons of those friends. They and these few men from the Emperor's household are my guarantee."

  Another silence. “I am deeply offended that you feel I constitute a threat to you, after so many years in my care,” Jadek said. He'd sounded angry at first; the anger was gone now—from his voice, at least, replaced by sorrow and heavy patience. A thin, tremulous alto voice broke the hush.

  "Son, please, don't—"

  "Hold your peace, Lizelle!” Jadek turned to hiss furiously. Jennifer, who had a brief line of vision between groups of huddled men, saw the woman close her eyes and take an involuntary step back. She could see the back of Aletto's head, and then all of him—Aletto: She'd seen the change coming in him, slowly, over so many long days and through so much adversity, and she wondered what these men thought, seeing it for the first time. He'd tossed aside the cloak and stood very straight—no sign of deformity and none of drink—no weapon. The knife he usually wore at the small of his back was gone as well. Braver than I am, she thought grimly. His clothing was plain and bore the mark of travel and hard use; his dark hair was ruffled.

  Just behind him and a little to one side, Chris, who looked off indeed against a background of Rhadazi guardsmen with his spiked hair, his bulky denim jacket and blue jeans. Jennifer was relieved to see the tip of his bo sticking up above his head. Aletto probably was right not to come armed to speak to his uncle; Jadek would make a noise about that. But somebody up there should have a weapon to hand. Dahven—surely she could see his hair, just beyond Chris's shoulder? She thought so, but that was all she could make out. Gyrdan—there, at Aletto's back, arms folded.

  And now she could see Jadek himself. Lialla came to a halt, clearly uncertain what to do next. Jennifer dropped a hand onto her shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

  Jadek. He couldn't have not known they were so near; he must have had some warning. If so, he was doing an excellent
job of pretending otherwise: Nearly black hair, only lightly touched at the temples with silver, was mussed as though he'd been pulled from sleep and his chin was shadowed with beard. He wore a loose, silky robe of deep blue that came to just below his knees; his bare feet had been shoved into soft, low shoes.

  Lialla never mentioned his looks, Jennifer thought in surprise. No one had ever mentioned them. But she would have counted Jadek as handsome—actor or GQ-model attractive, if she hadn't known so much against him. His face was a little too wide across the cheekbones for her taste, his jaw very square, his lips a little full. He had powerful shoulders under the robe, which was belted to a narrow waist, the fabric itself thin enough to show off a lean body.

  What a waste. She shook that aside; don't be frivolous, Cray she ordered herself, and began to study his face closely. She couldn't see any sign whatever that Light had hit him after the fiasco in that meadow, certainly nothing like what Lialla had gone through in Podhru. Perhaps Lialla had misread. He was very pale—but in a world where tans weren't fashionable, that might be normal.

  Just now, he was playing what he must count as a powerful card: his reputed charm. The smile was warm, a little sad. “Nephew. You've changed, visibly. If leaving Duke's Fort—and frightening your mother badly, incidentally—did this for you, then perhaps it was worth it."

  "I think it was, Uncle,” Aletto replied steadily. “And I would apologize to my mother, but I believe she understood my reasons. Surely, she knew there was no danger to me outside the Fort. After all, who would wish harm upon Amarni's son and heir?"

  "Why, no one, of course,” Jadek agreed. Aletto turned away briefly to exchange words with Gyrdan; Jennifer could see he was white to the lips. Gyrdan shook his head at first, finally nodded reluctantly, and went across the room. He spoke to the men who'd come from Podhru; they walked in a tight, stiff-backed group down the room, sending the whispering pack of servants farther toward the kitchen hallway door. Aletto now turned back and took two paces away from Chris, so that he stood nearer his uncle than his remaining two companions. Chris and Dahven exchanged glances that even halfway across the room looked grim. Jadek laughed very quietly as Aletto faced him once more: The charm was already wearing thin, the impatience beginning to show once more. “If you believe sending your hired thugs down the length of the chamber will serve, you clearly do not understand how things are done, boy."

  "Oh, I understand well enough,” Aletto said calmly. “Your men are between them and us, if you still think in terms of violence. If you choose not to take my word there will be nothing between us but words."

  Jadek merely shook his head, the faint smile indicating to those around him that the notion wasn't worth an answer. Chris's voice cut through the whispers all around them. “Who're you trying to kid with the act, dude? No one's buying. And you know more about hired thugs than we do, anyway, don't you?"

  Jadek tilted his head back and stared down the length of his nose in Chris's direction. “I wasn't aware I'd given leave for you to speak. Or that the boy had."

  "Chill, man,” Chris growled. “I don't take off you.” Aletto touched his arm, shook his head very faintly. Chris's shoulders tensed. He was still staring flatly at Jadek, who gazed back at him offensively.

  The older man sighed elaborately and turned to his nephew. “So far as Zelharri is concerned, we can discuss whatever you like, since you are here and I see I have little other choice. I do fail to see how your present and recent behavior would serve to show me that I should place you in power."

  The tone of voice was that of a loving elder chastising a foolish child. Jennifer felt Lialla's body tense and she realized after a moment she was holding her breath. Aletto merely folded his arms across his chest. “Explain your meaning, please—to those here, not simply to me."

  "If you wish it. You have wandered throughout the land to stir up enmity against me, spreading rumor regarding my part in my own brother's death. You will have it that I have dealt in foul magic and ill-used your birthright, your mother, your sister and your own person. You have spread other rumors regarding the death of my cousin, a man I held dear—a man you yourself killed, deny it how you will. And now, you return home with force at your back, thinking to oust me from this place by threat of death or pain, overcoming my household with violence and violent men, counting upon whatever outrageous—and unsupportable—tales you've given to the Emperor to clear you of any act you contemplate against me. After your use of my poor cousin, you can't wonder that I choose to regard your arrival here, at this dreadful hour, as an active threat against Zelharri and my own person, can you?” He smiled unpleasantly. “Which does remind me—mention of lies and outrageous tales. Where is your sister?"

  "She is not your business,” Aletto said quietly. “Nor does the matter between us at the moment concern her."

  Lizelle mumbled something, too quietly for Jennifer to hear. Jadek heard; he spun around to glare her into silence. Jennifer could see it in the set of his shoulders, the reddening of the back of his neck and his ears. He was slow to turn back to face his nephew—perhaps trying to gain control over his features first. Aletto shifted his weight and waited. Jennifer felt cloth sliding from under her fingers and clutched, but too late. Lialla was gone, pushing past men to reach Aletto's side. Jennifer swore under her breath, tugged at Edrith's sleeve to get his attention, and went after her.

  "Why. Here is Lialla, after all.” Jadek's face showed his surprise when he saw her. Jennifer, who had just come into the open, gave Lialla a worried look, then cast an anxious glance at the woman on the dais. Lialla was as pale as Jennifer had ever seen her and her fingers were twitching as though she longed to wrap them around her uncle's throat. Lizelle's eyes were fixed on her daughter and she was trembling; quite possibly she would have fallen if she hadn't the chair for support. Her hands were white with the effort of holding herself up. God, Jennifer thought; but Lizelle was going to have to look out for herself a little longer. I don't dare leave Lialla, she just might murder the guy.

  She gave Lizelle one last look and her eye caught cautious movement off to the right: Robyn had eased herself away from Afronsan's men and was working slowly and quietly around the side of the chamber, now up behind the two chairs. Lizelle started violently as a strange woman came up behind her, but transferred her desperate grip to Robyn's fingers and allowed herself to be led around the side of the chair. She stumbled, sagged into the padded seat; Robyn eased down onto her knees beside the woman, largely out of Jadek's line of sight between the two chairs. She edged forward a little, her eyes on Aletto. Lizelle clung to Robyn's fingers desperately, but Jennifer thought she had forgotten her companion at once. Her eyes were open again, and they moved from Jadek to Lialla, to Aletto, back again, never still.

  "Uncle,” Lialla said, and her resonant voice filled the chamber. “You speak of lies and outrageous tales. If you accuse me of either, I deny it. If you claim proof of either, then bring it forth now, before all those here, and let me refute it."

  Jadek was already shaking his head. “In my own time. I'd not shame you in public."

  "No. Because you have no proof for any such charge.” She took a step back so she stood just behind Aletto and a little to one side. “Since that is so, I agree with you, there is no need to discuss it now. Let us instead keep it a—personal matter—shall we say. Between the two of us. Brother, I am sorry, I did not mean to interrupt you.” She turned her head away from her uncle; her gaze went to her mother and remained fixed there.

  There was another long silence, broken only by faint whispering at the edges of the room, and then by Aletto. “I, too, deny your accusations. Uncle. There were no lies or outrageous claims, as you named them. Whatever I said against you to any man I knew for fact. Any violence I committed against any man was initiated by those ranged against me. I have made it clear almost from the first that I would return with sufficient men to see me safely into Sehfi's walls and then out again if that was my choice. Let any man come forth
and say to my face I threatened to claim my birthright with violence, and I say that man lies.” Another silence. Jadek simply stood, arms folded, and let him speak. The older man's face showed nothing at all of what he might be thinking. “All the same. Uncle, since we seem unable to find a beginning point for discussion, I would be willing to set the matter before the Emperor by a formal petition. Let him decide, if you would rather, whether I am capable to accept from you what is by right mine."

  "By right,” Jadek said so softly Jennifer could barely hear him, close as she now stood. “By accident of birth only—"

  "But that is all that was ever required,” Aletto overrode him.

  "Do not interrupt me,” Jadek said, even more softly.

  Aletto shook his head. “When I was your ward, an underage boy, you had the right to command such obedience. No longer. You have lost, Uncle. I will have what is mine—and you can give it willingly now, or perforce when Shesseran comes to my side. Use sense, give over now."

  Jadek laughed. “Do you honestly think me so soft and witless? But you are the fool if you hope to sway the Emperor with your outlandish tales, yours and your sister's. Oh, of course. Lest I forget: The lies of these outlanders the old woman obtained—to aid you, wasn't it?” He turned to look at Jennifer and smiled, but his eyes were hard. She gazed into dark-rimmed pale blue eyes and kept her face expressionless. Beyond that first shock of hearing his voice and truly seeing him, she felt no fear of the man. Foolish, she chided herself. But something inside her had changed in the past hour.

  "Not only our wild tales. Uncle,” Aletto said, and Jennifer pushed aside her own thoughts to bring herself back to the moment. She wondered how the nera-Duke was managing to keep his temper—his cool—and actually face up to a man who'd been an overbearing parent to him for so many years. His voice was very calm, even; there was no indication he was afraid of his uncle, ever had been; no sign Jadek was getting to him in any fashion. He was, in fact, doing impressively under trying circumstances. “There are other people, other tales, plenty of both.” He held up a hand and folded fingers down one at a time as he enumerated. “The armsmen you sent into the desert between Sikkre and Bez; others inside Bez itself and still others just before Podhru. Certain manifestations of Light and uses of a Triad—"