The Sea Watch

by Adrian Tchaikovsky

  And if I go to Teornis now? It was worse than that, of course. If she did not go to Teornis now, he would want to know why. His note to Stenwold showed he was well aware that swords were being drawn. He would not believe her if she pleaded ignorance, and she was not sure she could lie to him convincingly in any case. Every minute I stay away invites him to conclude that I’ve betrayed him.

  Stenwold. Teornis. The big, lumbering Beetle with the sharp mind, or the elegant, laughing Spider. Stenwold, who roused the whole city against the Wasps. Teornis, who held the entire Fourth Army with just two hundred men and some clever words. Stenwold, who kept the Vekken at arm’s length for days. Teornis, whose relief force drove them off.

  Stenwold, who gave himself to the Empire to save me from the crossed pikes.

  Teornis, who will make me one of his family.

  She felt her selfishness stir, at last. Who was she to sit in judgement on either the War Master of Collegium or an Aristos of the Aldanrael? She was just Arianna, Spider orphan of a failed family, also Rekef deserter, exile from her old home and parasite on her new one. What were honourable causes and noble sentiments to her? She had joined the Rekef readily enough when it suited her, and abandoned it just as swiftly. She had then taken up with Stenwold . . . well, Stenwold was the Big Man in Collegium in those days. Now her association with him had surely taken her as far as it could go. She might be the toast of the city, but this was a Beetle city and, however much they tried to mimic the glories of the Spiderlands, they would never seem more than clowns in borrowed clothing.

  Teornis would make her one of the Aristoi. She would be part of the Dance. She would be wealthy, and have slaves and riches and all good things. More, the Dance never stopped and she would never be bored. Beetles might strive for a comfortable life. Spider-kinden strove only to live.

  She slipped out of the house. If Stenwold had any sense, he might begin to suspect. She knew that he would not, though. He was a spymaster, and there were few of his agents that he held in total trust, but she was his agent no longer. She had stepped in too close, and he would no more suspect her of betrayal than he would have suspected Cheerwell his niece.

  ‘I’ve been expecting you.’

  One of Teornis’s people had led her to a townhouse overlooking the harbour, which still bore some blackening from the Vekken incendiaries. From without, it was just another two-storey Beetle tenement, squat and flat-roofed. Inside it had been draped with silks in the Spider style, and she found Teornis upstairs, stretched out on a couch. A Fly servant offered her wine as she came in, and she took it but did not drink.

  ‘You knew it would come to this when you first approached me,’ she accused him.

  ‘Time spent stating the obvious is time wasted,’ he reproached her. One hand indicated the couch opposite from him, and she sat there stiffly. ‘If you think I’ve misled you, then go back to your Beetle lover.’ He was smiling, and there was nothing harsh in his voice, but his words cut her nonetheless.

  ‘What is going on?’ she demanded. ‘Collegium’s shipping? Why so much trouble over so little?’

  ‘Oh, it’s not gentlemanly to bore a great lady with one’s plans.’ Teornis sipped his wine, watching her carefully. ‘One presents the finished work, or not at all. So . . . ?’

  ‘Stenwold will speak before the Assembly tomorrow.’

  Teornis steepled his fingers.

  ‘Raising the stakes on his very first move, very bold,’ Teornis noted. ‘Who is in his cadre?’

  The word was used by Spiders for an Aristoi’s closest agents and followers. ‘Jodry Drillen,’ Arianna recited, knowing that she might be signing death warrants even as she spoke the names. ‘Some militia officer called Pad-stock. A crew of Fly-kinden mariners led by a man called Tomasso. And Danaen, who leads the Mantis reavers that took the Very Blade.’

  ‘Mantis-kinden,’ said Teornis disgustedly. ‘You’d think they’d be grateful that I allowed them the glory of destroying the Fourth. Well, I’ve dealt with them before, and I can deal with them again. Speaking of dealings, how is our Beetle manipulus? Front or back foot?’ Meaning, on the attack or preparing a defence.

  ‘Standing firm,’ she told him. ‘But he will talk, if you will. I hope I have persuaded him not to make any direct accusations tomorrow, therefore to hold open the chance that some . . . agreement can be reached.’ She stopped because he was giving her a sharp-edged smile.

  ‘It is a noble and respected tradition to play two sides off against each other, and thus to pull their strings,’ Teornis remarked, very pleasantly. ‘However, you are not so skilled as to be able to play both myself and Maker for fools, girl. Content yourself with taking my instructions, and you will prosper. Try to turn this into your own dance, and I cannot vouch for your future.’

  She began to say something, but the words would not come out.

  He nodded slowly. ‘My dear Arianna, do not think that I do not understand sentiment. I am fond of Maker myself. I do not want to rid the world of him, for we will need him, like as not, when the Empire stirs again. Still, we must make him tractable, and he must learn that drawing a sword on the Aldanrael is not to be advised.’ He put down his goblet on a tray that his servant proffered. The metallic clack of it seemed very loud. ‘My cousin Elleria had command of the Blade, and Maker’s people killed her,’ Teornis said flatly. ‘The family will want blood for that. I cannot simply throw up my hands and abandon the plan. Whatever agreement is reached, however it may look to the dull Beetles and their Assembly, it will be a victory for us. If Maker will give way, then all the better, and we can then work out some mummery to make him look strong and us blameless. If Maker will be stubborn . . . Aristoi blood has been shed, so we cannot back down.’

  Abruptly he sighed, and Arianna had a brief window onto a genuine unhappiness. ‘Far be it from me to criticize the women of my family,’ he continued, ‘but Elleria was a fool. Why else would they have placed her in such a demeaning role? And even that she got wrong, and then she got herself killed. If there was any justice in the world, then she’d be denounced as a rogue element, and we’d all be friends again. However, she is family, and Maker’s agents killed her. I have sent to Everis to raise a fleet, a proper armada that will make the force that broke the Vekken siege look like a scouting party.’ His face was all brittle brightness and good humour again, in contrast to her aghast expression. ‘It will be up to us, my dear, to bring Maker to his knees in submission before that becomes necessary, however. Do not fret: outfitting an armada takes time. We have a few months, I would guess, before their sails are seen.’

  There was an expectant hush as Stenwold took the podium, called to speak without warning, unscheduled and before any other petitioners. Has word got out? he wondered. It was not impossible that Jodry had failed to keep the matter to himself. Looking at the Assemblers, though, he guessed not. It was simply that an old instinct had been reawakened amongst them. They were used to this: Stenwold Maker had been away from the city; Stenwold Maker had returned; Stenwold Maker would now come before the Assembly full of dire warnings. He had conditioned them to it, over the last ten years and more.

  Only now perhaps they’ll believe me, he considered, and the thought gave him a strange feeling of anxiety. Did I think I was safe, back then: was I secretly glad that, no matter what I said, nobody would pay any heed? Now that my words have consequences, I must be careful what I say.

  His gaze caught that of Teornis. The Spider-kinden was here by right, as an ambassador, but he seldom bothered to exercise that right unless he knew that something of importance would be said. He nodded coolly to Stenwold. We know, his look seemed to say. You and I, only we two know fully what we are about here.

  Stenwold had spent a long time countering the machinations of the Empire. The Wasps were almost like old friends now, for he knew them and their ways. The Aldanrael, however, were unknowable and subtle. For all Arianna’s assurances, he had not discounted a direct attempt on his life. He wore his sword, and
a tunic of hide and steel plates beneath his robes.

  ‘My fellows of the Assembly, Masters and Magnates of the city of Collegium,’ he addressed them, ‘as you hear my voice, I would ask you to consider another voice that has been strangely silent of late. The man I refer to was not shy of disturbing our councils here with his worries, and yet where is he now? I speak of Rones Failwright. Who of you here has asked himself where that man has gone? Not one of you?’

  He allowed them the pause, then took up again before they could start discussing with their neighbours.

  ‘Perhaps you are simply glad that the old ship-handler is no longer nagging us all about his lost profits?’ An undercurrent of mirth, and Stenwold frowned at them thunderously, for all he had engineered it himself. ‘Master Failwright has disappeared. He has not been seen for near three tendays now. I believe he is dead. I believe he was murdered.’

  That quietened them, and Stenwold took a deep breath. Now that he was under way he did not so much as glance at Teornis of the Aldanrael.

  ‘Should I not take this to the militia, you ask? Is this a matter on which to try the patience of the Collegiate Assembly? Well, Masters and Magnates, I have undertaken my own investigation into the issues that Master Failwright would so often raise before us. Why kill such a man, unless he had uncovered a truth amidst all his complaints? You will recall his grievance, of course: he claimed that the shipping of Collegium was under attack, that there was some force or pattern behind the loss and pillage of ships, something more than mere chance and independent brigandage could account for.’

  They were shuffling a little, shifting on their stone seats, wondering where he was going with this. Only a handful of merchants still actively involved with the sea-trade were listening attentively.

  ‘I took the liberty of conducting an experiment, as a good College Master should,’ Stenwold told them all. ‘I had, stashed aboard a trader bound for Everis, a hidden cargo of swords, just to see what might befall.’ He had them again, with that revelation. ‘As it happened, there was a pirate vessel out there that took an interest in my cargo. A vessel going by the name of the Very Blade overhauled our ship and tried to board her. Our crew and our marines threw them back and took their ship. It lies in the harbour even now.’

  There was a cheer at that, which surprised him. Perhaps they thought that was all: old Maker playing War Master on the waves for his own amusement, striking a few little blows for Collegium against the lawless. He raised a hand to hush them.

  ‘There was evidence aboard the vessel to suggest that Master Failwright was correct in his beliefs,’ he told them. ‘There was a hidden hand behind the actions of this pirate ship – and who knows how many others?’

  He had his silence, at last. It was a rare thing in the Amphiophos, that stillness.

  ‘What documents were recovered suggests an involvement from the Spiderlands, and I am sad to say that the family Aldanrael is named.’

  It was like dropping a stone on to clear water: the moment’s graceful fall, and then chaos. Fully half the Assemblers there were trying to say something: to each other, to him, to the chamber as a whole. Many were horrified, protesting that he could not possibly be right, for the Aldanrael had proved themselves firm friends of Collegium. I can only agree. I cannot see why they would do it, but here we are, nonetheless. Others, especially the shipping men, were calling down shame on the heads of all Spider-kinden, demanding justice and reparation.

  Stenwold’s eyes sought out the Imperial ambassador: Aagen was expressionless, but behind him there was a curious look on Honory Bellowern’s honest face – a man given an unlooked-for gift of incalculable value.

  Jodry stepped in just then, selecting someone at random from the crowd simply to shut the others up. Stenwold saw a solid, greying woman he could not put a name to rising to her feet.

  ‘This is preposterous!’ she snapped. ‘The Spiderlands? What gain is in this for them? Since the siege, we’ve been getting along famously with them, so why would they start robbing us?’ There was a fair amount of support for her, and yet a lot of muttering, too. Because they’re Spiders and you can’t trust them, seemed to be the meat of it.

  Jodry singled out another, but his finger drifted too close to Helmess Broiler, and his old adversary stole the moment, standing and holding his arms up for quiet. He had enough supporters still that he got it, or at least a semblance of it. ‘My fellows!’ he called out, and Stenwold braced himself for more opposition. What Helmess said instead, though, was, ‘We should not dismiss this just because we laughed at Failwright.’ This was sufficiently surprising that the rest of the Assembly started listening. Helmess looked left and right, his gaze stern. Stenwold had to admit that the man had a fine debating manner, crammed with authority.

  ‘We will see Maker’s evidence, of course. Master Maker and I are old friends in this chamber. We have crossed swords often and, although the admission must be wrung from me with pliers, he is a man who always has the city’s interest at heart, whether his suspicions are true or false.’ He smiled slightly, just for Stenwold’s benefit. ‘Surely it is time that we turned to the accused, Master Speaker. What do the Spiders say?’

  What is he after? Finding himself apparently on the same side as Helmess Broiler made Stenwold feel very uncomfortable indeed, and Jodry was obviously thinking the same thing. Nevertheless the Speaker nodded and waved towards Teornis. ‘What say the Aldranrael?’

  The Spider Aristos stood up smoothly, utterly untroubled. ‘These are grave words, Master Speaker. By all means, let us examine Master Maker’s papers, for I cannot think he would raise such a storm over nothing. Perhaps one of my family’s rivals seeks to drive a wedge between us. Our mutually profitable friendship has drawn envy in many quarters, I am sure. Perhaps it is some enemy of yours that seeks to plant the seed of conflict. Perhaps my own family has kept some plan from me.’ He spread his hands, seeming the soul of reason. ‘I place myself at the Assembly’s disposal, so that we may divine the truth in all of this.’ Teornis now looked Stenwold directly in the eye. ‘I’m sure that we would all prefer to explore every possibility before we commit ourselves to something unwise.’

  Fourteen

  ‘I have had word from Everis,’ Stenwold informed his co-conspirators. They were all in his study again: Arianna, Jodry, Danaen, Laszlo and Tomasso. Cardless had just poured the wine and absented himself.

  ‘Not encouraging word, I take it,’ Tomasso put in.

  ‘Well, I know at least that the Migrating Home was able to dock, unload and leave unmolested, which I suspect is part of how this Spider “good form” business works. However, my eyes in Everis say that a fleet is being assembled: warships, supply ships, troop carriers. A fleet in its infancy, as yet, but there are a lot of new sails along the Silk Road coast, and Everis is where they’re all bound.’

  ‘An armada, they’ll be calling it,’ Tomasso supplied.

  Stenwold nodded. ‘That they do. There’s precedent, then, for this?’

  ‘Oh, it’s a rare honour,’ the bearded Fly replied. ‘A whole load of Spiders have to be facing in the same direction at the same time to get an armada together, and none of them putting knives in the backs of the others, either. You’ve fired up the Aldanrael, Stenwold, and sounds like they’re putting most of what they’ve got into this one. Normally it takes a rebellious satrapy to kick up this kind of response. Of course, we know what hasn’t helped.’

  ‘The Arista on the Blade,’ Stenwold agreed.

  ‘Someone’s favourite daughter, no doubt,’ Tomasso concluded glumly.

  ‘She deserved her death,’ Danaen said contemptuously. ‘She deserved a worse death. An arrow was too clean. Do not tell me now that we should have spared her.’

  ‘Laszlo has explained to me the circumstances,’ Stenwold said, ‘and you did what you had to. Still . . . she was a fool to try and face you down. If she had been wiser, she would have lived, I’m sure.’

  Danaen’s expression was not so sure of
that, but Stenwold did his best to overlook it. Save me from over-zealous allies. ‘Well, if it comes to that,’ he said, ‘we’ll have to see how Collegium artifice matches up to Spiderlands cunning. The Vekken did not find it so easy to take us, either by land or sea.’

  ‘The Vekken, however, did a lot of damage – and so did the Empire after them,’ Jodry said miserably. ‘We cannot go on fighting wars. We cannot afford the cost in lives or goods. Stenwold, have you thought about finding allies in some other Spider house?’

  ‘Which?’ Stenwold asked him.

  ‘Well, I have no idea, but the Aldanrael must have enemies.’

  ‘Spider politics, Jodry. As you say, we have no idea. They change their faces daily in that part of the world. Each morning they get up and learn a new list of who their friends are, and who their enemies. Arianna, am I right?’

  ‘You would not lack for people willing to profit from you,’ she conceded, ‘but you would never know their hearts. Anyone you dealt with could easily be an agent of the Aldanrael. Do not enter those waters. You have neither compass nor chart.’

  ‘As an example of this, I received a message from the enemy, last night,’ Stenwold announced. ‘It was left on my pillow.’ He showed them the small slip of parchment. ‘It says no more than this: “You have heard your spies. Perhaps you would now wish to listen to us. State your time and place, if you would not have the ships sail.” I suspect I shall hear no more from my agent in Everis. He has done what the Spiders wished and told me of the threat to Collegium that they are assembling.’