A Distant Tomorrow

by Bertrice Small

  Jonah shrugged. “Does it really matter, my lord emperor? We have the Outlands, and for now our problems of overcrowding and unrest are behind us. And you will, of course, avail yourself of the best tracts of land. I think the area near the sea might be best, with its mild climate. You can probably harvest two, possibly three crops, yearly. And with your gracious permission I might take some acreage near you, my lord emperor. I have a mind to plant a vineyard there.”

  “Naturally, dear Jonah,” Gaius Prospero replied. He was beginning to feel better now. Jonah always made everything clearer to him. “You shall have whatever you desire in the Outlands. A vineyard, you say? What a delightful idea.”

  “We have a great deal of work cut out for us, my lord emperor. I would advise that we visit the Outlands once all is secure. Before the winter. You should see what you have gained for Hetar, my lord emperor. I am sure the Shadow Princes will transport us with their magic, so you need not be burdened by the difficulty of travel.”

  “Which of the Princes is in the City now?” Gaius Prospero wanted to know.

  “I will endeavor to learn that, my lord emperor,” Jonah said.

  “Have a faeriepost sent to my Knight Commander with the larger army telling him to remain where he is, but to send a small expeditionary force ahead to ascertain that the Outlands are completely free of those evil barbarians. They are to meet up with John Swiftsword and his group. Then send a faeriepost to Swiftsword as well telling him to stay at his encampment, and expect the smaller force to join him. When we are certain of our facts, Jonah, we shall announce our great victory over the Outlands,” Gaius Prospero declared. “But I should still like to know where the clan families disappeared to, dear Jonah. We should not like them coming back, would we?”

  “In time you will explore the possibilities, my lord emperor,” Jonah replied. “For now you must make the Outlands secure and prosperous. It is important that your people be happy. Contented folk never rebel. Give the masses safe shelters, enough food and a purpose in life just difficult enough to keep their attention, and they are usually well gratified. Those who are not you can use to your own purposes, or dispose of, my lord emperor. But you know these things, and it is impertinent of me to remind you of them.” He bowed low. “I beg your forgiveness, my lord emperor.”

  “Jonah, Jonah,” Gaius Prospero said, his mood expanding with goodwill. “Of course I forgive you. I know that in your loyalty you but speak to aid me. You could never displease me. Only one thing disappoints me about this easy conquest. I do not have Lara’s Fiacre children in my charge.”

  “My lord, first things first,” Jonah advised. “Once you have made Hetar so powerful and so inviolate that no one will dare threaten us, you will learn all we seek to know. Remember there is this place called Terah. You shall find it, and when you do, the faerie woman will be yours. Her children will not matter, my lord emperor.”

  “First the Outlands,” Gaius Prospero said. “Then I will make the Coastal Kingdom an Imperial province with my own governor. I had promised the position to Arcas, but he is not to be trusted. And something must be done about the Forest Lords. They have not been particularly cooperative of late. They do not send their young men for our Mercenary forces. When the Outlands situation is settled I will want to see the Head Forester, Jonah. It is past time he paid me a visit, and that I made certain of his loyalty to me. Lord Enda is a wily fellow, but I believe he has more intelligence than his unfortunate brother had.” The emperor’s voice grew low. “Lara killed him, you know. She admitted it to me, Jonah. Said he was her first kill. She sounded as if she had enjoyed it, Jonah.” Gaius Prospero shuddered with the memory of her words.

  A small smile touched Jonah’s lips. “Perhaps she did, my lord emperor,” he replied. There! Let the fat coward consider well the woman he coveted so greatly. If I were emperor, Jonah thought, I should imprison the faerie woman, and force her to use her magic for my benefit. Gaius Prospero is guided only by his lust. All women are the same. Soft breasts, and hot, wet holes for pleasuring a man. To become ensorcelled by them is a weakness. Vilia and I understand one another.

  “I think I find Lara more exciting as a strong woman than she was as a girl,” the emperor said. “And more frightening. To conquer such a creature would be a victory.”

  “In time, my lord emperor,” Jonah replied. “First we must conclude your conquest of the Outlands.”

  The next few weeks brought to light that nothing remained in the Outlands but the mountains and the plain itself. All trace of the people who had once inhabited it had disappeared. There were no villages to move into, no planted fields to till and no slaves. Nonetheless a great victory was declared. The emperor proclaimed two days of celebration and opened his own private warehouses to distribute bread, meat and wine to the populace of the City. The Head Mistress of the Guild of the Pleasure Woman was instructed to open the Pleasure Houses to any who wished to avail themselves of the women within. Records were to be scrupulously kept, and each Pleasure House would be reimbursed by the emperor. No one seeking pleasures was to be turned away.

  When the two days had drawn to a close, an announcement was made that those wishing land in the new province of the Outlands were to assemble in the main square of the City and be interviewed for their suitability. The sons of the Midland farmers would be given first choice, for it was important that the land be made fruitful. Houses and villages would be built for all who qualified, all who could contribute to Hetarian society. The celebrations had dulled the hum of the complaints that all was not quite as they had been promised. And now what appeared to be a fair distribution of the new territory distracted the remainder of the malcontents.

  Gaius Prospero in the company of Jonah, and with the aid of the Shadow Princes, transported to the Outlands. He was astounded by its vastness and its fertility. He chose a large chunk of land overlooking the sea for his very own, and arranged to build himself a small summer palace. Jonah sought land a few miles inland for his vineyard, and made preparations for a house, and the planting of the vines. Then he and the emperor spent the next ten days riding across the plain to the foot of the mountains where the encampment of John Swiftsword was located.

  “You could take some of the onus off the Forest Lords by taking lumber from these forests on the mountain,” Jonah suggested to the emperor.

  “Yes,” Gaius Prospero agreed. “Better for now to keep Lord Enda in our camp, eh, Jonah? Besides, the forests on the mountains are thick, and we will have to take the trees down if we are to reopen the mines. We must locate them again, Jonah. They were very rich, and I should be reluctant to lose such wealth.”

  Jonah remained silent. It would take several years and great skill to find the mines of the Tormod and Piaras, if indeed they could find them at all. The magic that had rendered the Outlands empty of any evidence of the clan families was strong magic. The Shadow Princes would have been involved, but he would say nothing to Gaius Prospero about his suspicions. The Shadow Princes were probably the strongest power in Hetar. Only their disinterest kept them from interfering seriously in Hetarian politics. If the truth be known, the princes did not need the City or the Midlands, the Coastal Kingdom or the realm of the Forest Lords. As long as their desert was respected they seemed content to leave the rest of Hetar to itself. Until now. However they had emptied the Outlands, Jonah knew that the faerie woman, Lara, had been involved somehow. There was obviously a bond between her and the princes. Perhaps she had done them all a favor by preventing the bloodshed that would have ensued from another war. They might not have villages, planted fields, flocks, herds and a fresh supply of slaves, but they had land. And no one had perished. In time Hetar would go to war again, but with whom? Jonah shrugged. It was a puzzle yet to be solved.

  And the Outlands were now open to Hetar, and the people came. Farmland was distributed with orders to plant and harvest in this same year. The people of the City needed to be fed now, and through the winter. They lived in cloth shelters while
the trees were felled, and lumber cut and transported across the great plain to the sites delegated for new villages. But some of the land was found not to be good for growing. It was rocky and impossible to plow. And a means for getting the produce to the City was proving difficult as well. The Outlands had been far from the civilization of Hetar.

  Gaius Prospero was not pleased. It had all begun so well, and now it appeared things were not going at all as he had planned. The autumn was rainy, and landslides occurred on the mountainsides now devoid of trees. They had not been able to find the mines yet. Winter was coming, and the markets were little better off than they had been the previous year. Even his warehouses were half-empty. The emperor found himself at a loss, and Gaius Prospero did not like being without answers to his problems. Only the icy winds and bitter weather kept the people from the streets, from the rebellion he so feared.

  “Terah,” he said to Jonah one afternoon after Winterfest had just passed. It had cost him half of what was left in his warehouses to give the populace their expected fete and keep them at bay a while longer. “We must find Terah. Their riches can help us recover from this debacle the Outlands has become. Find Arcas for me, Jonah. He knows something, and I want to know what he knows. Is he in the City?”

  “Indeed, my lord emperor, he is,” Jonah replied. “He has been exiled from the Coastal Kingdom by his father for his attempted patricide.”

  “Archeron was right,” Gaius Prospero said. “Arcas is a fool. He should have killed the old king with a single dose of poison instead of attempting to make it look like a natural death. But he will know where Terah is, I am certain. Find him!”

  Jonah sent two Imperial guardsmen to the house where he knew Arcas rented a sleeping place. “Say nothing more than the emperor wishes to see him immediately,” Jonah instructed the guardsmen. “Do not harm him, but bring him quickly.”

  The guardsmen returned less than an hour later with Arcas, who was less than gracious to the emperor’s right hand. “It’s about time I was sent for,” he began. “What have you been waiting for? I was promised the governorship of the old Coastal Kingdom when the emperor sent down the kings.”

  “The Coastal Kingdom remains as it ever was, my lord Arcas,” Jonah said. “At this time it is not to the emperor’s advantage to change things.” He wrinkled his nose. “When was the last time you bathed? You cannot greet the emperor stinking like a cow byre. I hardly recognized you with that beard, and long matted hair. And your garments are filthy.”

  “My father sent me from the Coastal Kingdom with no means of support,” Arcas snarled. “I earn my sleeping space and what little I can find to eat reading and writing letters for those who cannot. It is hardly a gracious living considering my status.”

  “You no longer have a status that matters,” Jonah said, “but I can help you to regain such a place if you are willing to help me.”

  “How?” Arcas demanded suspiciously. “I will not betray Gaius Prospero. I am not that big a fool. I like my head where it now resides.”

  “The Celestial Actuary forefend, my lord,” Jonah said. “You know I am called the emperor’s right hand, and none is more loyal than I to Gaius Prospero. I serve him in many ways. But if you serve me, you will be serving him as well. First, my lord, let us get you bathed, and shorn, and garbed in more suitable garments.” He clapped his hand, and told the answering male servant, “Take Lord Arcas to the baths. See he is properly attended to, and find some decent garments for him. He is to have an audience with the emperor shortly.” Turning to Arcas he said, “Go with Lionel, and he will take care of you, my lord,” Jonah told him.

  Surprised yet suspicious, Arcas followed the servant from Jonah’s privy chamber.

  Jonah could not restrain the smile that came to his face. Yes, he had full intention of binding Arcas to him, and using him. Better the fool be loyal to him, and he would be grateful briefly for the bath and clean clothing. But Jonah intended still more. He would pay for a decent room for Arcas, and in exchange Arcas would be his ears in the City.

  A man in his position could never have too many ears, Jonah thought. He went to Gaius Prospero immediately.

  “I have found Arcas, but his condition was so poor that I sent him to be bathed and barbered properly before I bring him into your presence. I know how delicate your nose is, my lord emperor,” Jonah said. “It would seem King Archeron has exiled him, and cast him off as a son. He has been earning his living as a reader and a scribe.”

  “Then he will be more than willing to cooperate with us, will he not, dear Jonah,” the emperor said, pleased. “He will come before me, but I shall leave the management of his person to you, Jonah. You always know how to handle people to my advantage.”

  “My fate is tied to your success, my lord emperor,” Jonah replied, “and I am a man who desires great success.”

  Gaius Prospero laughed, delighted by the admission, and Jonah withdrew to wait for Arcas to be returned to him. And while he did he gave certain orders to his own minions. Finally Arcas reappeared, and Jonah nodded, pleased. Arcas had been scrubbed so that the white of his skin shone again. His blond hair had been cut, and the barber had left just a small fringe of beard upon his pale face. He had been garbed in a simple long dark blue tunic, and new leather boots.

  “There is no decoration on my gown,” he complained.

  “Remember, you have no status, and decoration is for men of status,” Jonah reminded him. “But you will eventually regain your status, my lord.”

  “How?” Arcas demanded in a hard voice. His life over the last months had been wretched, and he found he did not like scraping out an existence. But he was not beaten. “And when do I get to see the emperor? Gaius Prospero owes me a debt.”

  “I have already spoken with the emperor, my lord. You will not return to your miserable sleeping space. You have been given a room in the mercantile district above a small shop. You will have privileges in the Pleasure House of Maeve Scarlet. In return you will continue to offer your services as a reader and a scribe. A small awning has been set up for you in the main market. The location will be given you later. And while you go about your daily life you will listen for any scrap of gossip that could be of interest to the emperor. The main marketplace is always a hotbed of gossip both important and unimportant.”

  “You want me to spy?” Arcas almost sounded offended. “I was promised a governorship.”

  “If you expect to gain that position, my lord,” Jonah said quietly, “you need to show the emperor your total obedience, and just how useful you can be to him. When you are eventually returned to the Coastal province it will not be to rule in your own name, but in the emperor’s name, my lord. Everything you do will be at the emperor’s command. You will be a tool, and nothing more. If you choose not to accept the position currently being offered to you then you will be returned to your sleeping space, but I imagine the landlord has already rented it out by now, housing being what it currently is.”

  Arcas looked just briefly as if he wanted to physically attack Jonah, but then taking a deep breath he said, “And how much will I be paid in this position?” His voice dripped sarcasm, and his eyes were cold.

  “You may keep what you earn as a reader and a scribe,” Jonah said. “Your room and your privileges at Maeve Scarlet’s will be taken care of by my office. If you should bring me a particularly juicy bit of information you will of course be remunerated for it.”

  He gave Arcas a quick cold smile. “Are you now ready to see the emperor?”

  “I have not said I would accept your offer,” Arcas responded.

  “You have not said you would not,” Jonah replied. He turned and walked from the room. When he heard the sound of the step behind him he smiled again, but said nothing, nor did he turn about. Domination was a game he was becoming very good at. Reaching the emperor’s privy chamber he briefly knocked, and entered. “I have brought you Arcas of the Coastal province, my lord emperor,” Jonah said, bowing.

  Gaius
Prospero was seated behind the great table that served as his workplace. He waved Arcas forward with an impatient hand. “I wish to know where Terah is,” he said without any preamble.

  Arcas felt a sudden sensation of doom. His father, curse him, had been right. Hetar wanted the secret of the Coastal Kings, and when they had it, the Kings would fall. But he, Arcas, would be the emperor’s governor then. Curse the Coastal Kings who had exiled him, and forced him into the dirt of the City! “Terah?” he murmured. He wanted to enjoy this moment. He had something Gaius Prospero wanted, and he intended that the emperor pay for it.

  “Terah,” Gaius Prospero said in a hard voice.

  “Is there not a price to be paid for valuable information, my lord emperor?” Arcas said smugly.

  “If you do not tell me what I desire to know,” Gaius Prospero said, “’tis you, Arcas, who will pay that price.” He clapped his hands, and two large men in the uniform of the Torturers’ Guild stepped from the shadows. “Prepare him!” the emperor said.

  The torturers moved forward far more swiftly than Arcas thought possible, and pulled him first to his knees, then bent him forward so that his head was almost touching the floor. They ripped the back of his gown open and Arcas’s eyes grew round with surprise as he saw two gnomes run from beneath the emperor’s table carrying a small brazier, which they set upon the floor, and a branding iron that they thrust into the glowing red coals. The room was silent, but Arcas could hear his heart hammering in his chest. He was suddenly very frightened.

  “Mark one of his buttocks with my mark,” Gaius Prospero said slowly and thoughtfully. “The left one, I think.”

  Arcas’s mouth fell open with shock. “No!” he cried, and the cry grew into a scream as the blazing iron ground into his flesh. His eyes bulged from his face, and a small bubble of foam slipped from the edge of his mouth and ran down his chin.