by Chad Huskins
“He said that’s why he had your mother teaching you all sorts of lessons other than just the feminine arts.”
“Is that right?” Drea smiled. She so enjoyed hearing other people’s accounts of her parents.
“Yes. You know, House Kalder and House Syphen were among the very first investors in these new industries. They had the foresight to see just how powerful the Collegium and others could make Drith, solidifying its Empire and making sure it always had power over other nations.”
Drea nodded. “The Empire must not fall. It was one of the few things my father agreed with Lord Syphen on.”
“They had differing views on how to go about it, though. The Kalderus believed in industry as a simple source of jobs for the people, but the Syphenus believed that industry inevitabely fed war, and that war fed industry. An endless loop of progress.”
Drea nodded. “My father certainly was clever. My mother, too. I suppose that’s why they respected each other so.”
“Yes, your mother was certainly clever. In fact, I think it was she who suggested to your father that you might be the first ever female member of the Collegium Qoria,” said Izyru.
“The Collegium Qoria?” Drea asked. “What’s that?”
“Hm? Oh, a Qoria is the ruling body of any major company. It’s a council of sorts, made up of men who have the largest shares and make decisions about the company’s future.”
“I see. Was my father ever on the Qoria?”
“No. In order to be a Qoriai, a person must own very large shares of the company—your father and Lord Syphen were investors from the beginning, sure, but they never had such large shares that they were invited into the Qoria.”
Drea nodded. Then, a curious thought came to her. “What if their shares had merged? Let’s say, if my father had sold all his shares to Lord Syphen. Would Lord Syphen then have enough to become a Qoriai?”
The old man scratched his chin. “Yes, I think so. Barely enough, but yes.”
Drea looked down at the tabulators, astounded by the sheer amount of work it took to keep such a massive company running. “It’s like ants in an anthill, isn’t it?”
Izyru looked down at the busy workers. “You know, I’ve never thought of it like that. But the similiarities are there.” He looked at her and smiled. “You’re like your mother. I met her a few times, and she was always clever with metaphors and similes.”
“She was a poet,” Drea said.
“Ah, that explains it,” Izyru laughed.
“And did you know my father very well?”
“I did, yes.”
“What did you make of him?”
Izyru sighed and looked at the ceiling, as if searching for the right words. “He was a man with a long view of things,” he said. “He liked to plan ahead.”
Drea nodded. She was about to ask Izyru something else when she heard Vaedris call out, “There you are! We’ve been looking all over for you.” She came rushing up the steps, pulling up the hem of her stola and looking upset. “Uncle’s outside waiting to leave, but we couldn’t leave without you. Now come on, he’s got other stops to make and we shouldn’t make ourselves a burden.”
“Forgive me, new-sister,” Drea said. “I’m afraid I let myself get carried away.” She turned back to Izyru, and said, “Thank you so much for your time. I’m sorry if I troubled you.”
“Not at all.”
Vaedris turned and was already heading down the steps. Drea rushed to follow her, but just as she passed by Izyru, she heard the man whisper something. “When Blackveil extends the offer to meet, you should accept.”
Drea stopped, turned to him, and said, “I’m sorry? What did you—?”
“Drea!” Vaedris called. “Hurry up! You’ll make Uncle even more wroth than he already is!”
Izyru gave her a stoic look, then turned and walked away. Drea was left pondering the mystery of the man’s last words as she regrouped with Lord Syphen and her new-sisters outside.
On their way back home, Lord Syphen met with a number of men who walked right up to him in the streets, some of them clapping him on the back like they were old friends, others behaving like simpering lickspittles, begging for one type of favor or another.
As they walked, Drea became aware of a great din. A noise that rose in volume. She knew they were nearing the greatest amphitheater in all of Drith: the Den of Beasts.
When they came within sight of the huge amphitheather, Drea was struck with awe, as always, as anyone would be by the sight of such a huge structure.
Before the Great Generator had been built, before the Aqueduct had been erected, the Den of Beasts had been the most ambitious structure in all of Drith. It was a massive arena made of rough gray stones from Drith’s founding, but expanded by more recent marble and granite. It was an elliptical building with no roof, reaching almost two hundred feet high and three hundred feet long. The arena inside was eighty feet long, built for chariot races, jousts, sword fights, and, of course, sentencing men to die at the teeth of large predators.
It was said the Den of Beasts could hold fifty thousand spectators, that it had a thousand electric globes that lit it up at night, and that it had over five hundred wild animals kept in the bestiary hidden underground. The beastmasters trained the animals all day, fed them a steady diet of human meat and flesh, and bred them to have no fear.
Drea had never been inside the Den of Beasts, and never had any craving to. Ever. She’d heard the tales of men, women, and even children sentenced to die there for heresy or treason, and torn to pieces by tigers, wolves, bears, lions, and even feral kudrai.
At the moment, the crowds inside could be heard roaring, and when Drea looked at Vaedris, her new-sister smiled, and nodded towards the large building. “Have you ever been inside, Drea?”
“No,” she said. “Gods willing, I hope never to.”
“Oh, but it’s most exhilarating,” Saephis said, ceasing a conversation she was having with Daedoris and jumping into theirs. “Just last month, a group of forty slaves was sentenced to death for conspiring with one another to steal all their masters’ jewelry and use it to buy passage to another country. The executions were most inventive. Even Daedoris thought it was excellent, didn’t you, sister?”
Daedoris offered a smile. “They were all placed on teetering planks, which I thought was clever.”
“Yes!” Saephis tittered. “Such ingenuities from the denmasters!”
“Why was that clever?” Drea asked, confused.
“Because,” said Daedoris, “the planks were like seesaws. Each man just stared at the other, not understanding, until the floor beneath them opened up and revealed a pack of ravenous wolves down below. The men then realized they had to try and knock the others off, so that the wolves would eat the fallen men instead.”
“Yes!” Saephis said. “And I heard that the games are about to get far more festive! Do you know Magysa from House Koron? Well, she said that a fell beast from Mathysia was recently delivered by both. Some terrible thing called a dahzoletch, a monster that no Drithean has ever laid eyes on.” She touched Drea’s arm, whispering in confidence. “Apparently, it will be unveiled on the day that Uncle and the other Triumvirs are officially ordained by the augurs.”
“How exciting,” Drea said, listening to the roaring crowds inside the Den of Beasts as they passed by. She heard screams, and she heard the roar of some evil beast inside.
Drea looked away from the foul building, hoping she never had to see it again. But then she heard a familiar sound. It came from somewhere behind her.
Sssssssssssssssssssss-chhhuuuuuuuuuu
Drea would know the sound anywhere. So distinct, so somber, so pitiable. She turned at once, and saw Lord Hiss stepping out of a carriage. The massive iron golem was attended by the same managers she’d seen him with last time. Everyone on the street stopped to marvel at him as he walked towards the main entrance of the Den of Beasts.
“Oh!” Saephis said. “I haven’t yet had the ch
ance to see Lord Hiss in action. I’ve very much been anticipating his return to the arena.”
Daedoris had stopped walking to marvel at the mechanized warrior. “I admire the artistry of the armor. I’ve heard he must wear it at all times, or else he dies, and that, before each battle, he stands before his enemy, whether animal or man, and utters the words, ‘Kill me, I beg you.’ Can you imagine? A gladiator who asks to be killed? A fascinating brute if there ever was one.”
“Oh, I do hope he’s going to be at the ceremonies when the augurs bless Uncle and his Triumverate,” Saephis said.
His Triumverate? Drea thought. Already she presumes the Triumverate belongs to one man, instead of three.
Another roar went up from inside the Den of Beasts. The crowd cheered. It almost sounded like the thunder of a fellstorm.
As Drea watched Lord Hiss disappear, she tried not to think of what was going on inside that horrible building. She and her new-sisters followed Lord Syphen across a bridge, then walked the banks of the Split River.
As they walked, Lord Syphen entertained many other visitors, men who approached him during his leisurely walk to grovel and plead their case on some matter or other.
I’ve only ever seen one man treated that way before, Drea thought. The Imperator.
They traveled down the Avenue of Song, which was always in high spirits. Streamers of every color hung from every window. The Fountain of Omaras, goddess of beauty, was surrounded by green- and red-cloaked bards playing their lutes, mandolins, and flutes. Beyond the fountain, jugglers and dancers performed for small denominations of coins. An acting troupe had put on a performance of The Whispering Willows of Veridice, or How to Woo a Woman, and Saephis took a moment to dance with one of the actors who took to the crowd to show off his skills at flirting.
Finally, at the Hour of the Ram, Lord Syphen declared, “That’s enough fresh air for today, girls. What’s say we go home?”
Once at home, Drea’s mind was elsewhere. Lord Dustrang’s words still plagued her. She weaved with her new-sisters but found her focus lacking, and she made quite a few mistakes. Later, when she returned to her quarters, she busied herself with her harp lessons.
As night fell, she was unable to sleep, and so she lit a lamp and walked across the lawn beneath Janus’s light. A pair of house guards spotted her, but they said nothing to her.
At the Hour of the Wolf, she found herself back in the library, going through the genealogy books of House Syphen again and reading the books beneath electric globe. Drea was struck once again by the facial similarities of the modern Syphenus to their ancestral portraits.
Drea’s mind had gone back to the words of Izyru Omp, and so she searched through the shelves of the library until she came to a section on the businesses and industries of Drith. She plucked one that dealt with the Qoria laws.
The Qoria, the first page read, are institutions created to help the government keep oversight on large industries. They are not part of the Drith government, as such, but Qoria members—called Qoriai—are expected to communicate to the government any problems or needs that the company has, so as to stave off possible troubles that could potentially collapse the Drithean economy.
Large economies such as Drith’s depend greatly on industry and expansion, the book continued. If something should go wrong, should expansion ever stop, or resources dry up, the entire civilization would collapse. It is a mathematical certainty.
So then, as Drea saw it, the Senate of Drith answered only to the Imperator—which, for the moment, was a vacant office being represented by a Triumverate—and the Qoria were groups of men who controlled all the giant companies of Drith. And, while they weren’t controlled by the Senate, the Qoriai did have to make regular reports of profits and losses, so that the Imperator and the Senate could make decisions on how to correct any economic problems that could bring down the Empire of Drith.
Drea recalled what Izyru Omp had said about her father, about how he had wanted her to be the first woman ever to serve on a Qoria. She started leafing through pages, searching for any laws that would prevent women from serving as Qoriai. After an hour, she found no such edict.
So then, my father’s shares in the Steamwright Collegium and other businesses are frozen until such time that I’m married, Drea thought.
Her mind worked slowly, sussing it out.
But, according to Drithean law, once I’m married, I may use my inheritance and those shares however I wish, as long as I have my husband’s consent. And if I were to gather enough shares, I could even serve in his stead on a Qoria. Again, as long as I had my husband’s consent to do so.
Drea thought about that for a while, wondering if there was any angle of the law that would permit her to control her fate. But if history was any guide, women were not likely to soon find favor with the law.
She finally put all the books away disconsolately and left the library. When she stepped out onto the lawn, Janus was covered in a caul of mist, dimming her moonlight. Drea’s lamp flickered and died out halfway to her cottage. She tried to make the rest of her way by memory, but soon became turned around.
The trees around Drea’s cottage were easy enough to find, they were simply at the dark end of the grounds. But the path through them was a bit difficult to find in the dark. She felt around for familiar markers, letting her eyes adjust to the dark. When she finally came within sight of her cottage, Drea felt relief.
Then, she heard something. The shuffling of feet against leaves. She turned and looked behind her. Nothing there. The forest was as still as the sky.
Drea turned back to the cottage. Halfway to the door, she heard whispering. And…laughter? Drea stopped and looked around again, listening…
“Is someone there?” she called.
Laughter again. Girlish laughter. Distant, but detectable. Or was it only her imagination?
Drea made it to the door, and had her hand on the latch when she heard more shuffling. Something was coming at her! She turned around, and what she saw…
Gods above and below!
It was a thing made of pure darkness, somehow pulling the shadows of the rest of the forest into itself. It came at her with many eyes. It was shapeless, formless, like water, or like ink spreading across a black tablecloth.
Drea screamed and fell backward through the door, which her hand had somehow remembered to open. She collapsed on the floor as the thing came barreling at her. She crawled backward, her mouth open but too terrified to utter a scream. The thing came right up to the door, its many eyes peering at her with sinister glee.
It reached out at her with a hand made of night.
The last thing she remembered before passing out was the image of Saephis, standing outside her door, her hands to her mouth, covering her laughter.
: The Forum:
Drea awoke with a start, lying on the floor and feeling her heart beating in her skull. She was hardly able to catch her breath. She was suddenly aware of two things: First, that it was morning, and second, that someone was knocking at her door.
Was it a dream? she asked herself. Gods below, am I losing my mind?
Another loud knock at the door.
She composed herself quickly, and rushed to gather up her things for meeting with Taja Osween, for surely it was her rousing Drea and letting her know she was late. The woman hates me enough as it is, what will she do when I’m tardy?
Drea tried to shake off her nightmare in time to answer the door, but when she finally did, she was surprised to find that it wasn’t Osween.
“Vaedris,” she said.
“Good morning, new-sister.” Vaedris was in a long, red stola, which looked to have been spun out of kudrai silk, with a golden brooch that had the White Boar of House Syphen engraved on it. Her dark hair was held up by rows of pins and combs, and she smelled of jasmine and honey. “How are you feeling this morning?”
“How…how am I feeling?” Drea asked.
“Yes, you look awful.” Vaedris looked her up
and down, her lip forming a moue of distaste. “I’m sorry, have the slaves not been attending you? I’m sure those are the same clothes you wore yesterday.”
Drea felt irritated, but hid it well. “Yes, they are. Apologies for my appearance, new-sister, but I fell asleep at the drawing board last night. I was more exhausted than I thought.”
“I see. Well, I don’t think it should stop us from today’s journey.”
Drea shook her head. “Journey?”
“Yes. I thought we might take a turn about the market today. How long has it been since you visited the Forum?”
She had to think about it. “I would say…probably just before my father promised me to the Imperator. After that, I became in-waiting, and I never saw much public life.”
“No, I imagine not. Well, go ahead and freshen up a bit, the carriage is out front.”
“But, my lessons with Taja—”
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Vaedris said. “I’ve already seen to it. Today there will be no lessons. It’s time we all got some fresh air. We’ll go to the market and see what’s to see.”
“Oh…certainly. Of course.”
Vaedris departed and Drea shut her door. She looked about her cottage a moment, feeling a cold chill come over her as she recalled last night’s nightmarish vision…the hand reaching for her…the image of Saephis standing there, laughing at her…
She shook it off, and quickly changed into a new green stola and sandals, then wrapped her head in a white palla. It was chilly out, so she pulled on a thin cloak and laced gloves.
All three of her new-sisters were waiting for her at the clockwork carriage. Their necks were draped with gold and silver necklaces, some of which flashed with stygian crixstones, jypsite, and bluestones. Each girl also held a basket, which they surely hoped to fill by day’s end with their shopping.
When Drea saw Saephis, her blood went cold.
“New-sister,” Saephis greeted her. “Your clothes are quite ordinary. But don’t worry, I’m sure we can find something today that’s more suitable to your eyes and complexion. You should be looking beautiful in autumn clothes for the Festival of Hyra next week.”
