Sleep came easily. It was peaceful and deep, the best for weeks. I woke up refreshed and saw everything with a heightened sense of clarity.
After an initial debate between myself and Callimar, we decided to wait a couple of days in the villa with Lacanta while our agents did their work. If there had been regular contact between the property and the king’s men, then our soldiers would intercept any carriages or horses travelling to the property. At first it seemed strange that Lacanta had brought such a small entourage with her, but perhaps she had wanted as few people as possible knowing the plan.
The men with her, it transpired, were all eunuchs. We only found out when one of them stripped himself naked before Callimar’s men and pleaded with them not to hurt him. A lot of people who find themselves in captivity tended to do that when they had run out of options and become desperate.
We permitted Lacanta to walk in the gardens, both inside the property and out, with an armed escort. There was no reason to be needlessly cruel while waiting for her sentencing. Whenever she did, however, I decided to accompany her. Sometimes people would tell me strange things when they were more relaxed and sanguine about their fate. Her talent for conversation, when she opened up to me, was beguiling. It was obvious she was far more well read than myself, so before the beautifully serene view I merely let her talk more so that I might learn one or two things about the gods and the stars.
The conversation turned again to my father’s involvement, and she asked me how I could so easily bring shame upon my family.
I reminded her that it was not I who brought the shame in the first place, and that I forgave him.
‘Polla, I’m sure, will see that my emotion is kept out of such decisions when the time comes. Besides, given there is shame in my family, it only seems fair to correct that. Polla would approve. I hope.’
‘What is so special about your goddess that makes you regard her so highly?’
‘Nothing, I suppose, which is exactly why she is special. She encourages me to cast light into dark places, to investigate matters in the physical plane as best as I can, to the best of my abilities and to the benefit of Vispasia. She enables me to think on my own, to question everything. We respect our gods and goddesses like we would our own parents, but Polla seems to be a goddess whose advice is constantly effective. Her scriptures are practical, not judgemental; her priests and priestesses full of useful advice.’
‘She sounds far more pleasant that Trymus. His priests seem more concerned with perpetuating his own glorious myths and moral absolutes than with advice.’
‘You spoke of shame on my family,’ I said, ‘but do you have no shame about your sexual unions with your own brother?’
I expected her to say nothing, to look away, but instead she began to justify her actions. ‘We shared a mother and a father – it hardly seems much of a bother to share a bed as well.’
‘The gods disapprove,’ I replied. ‘The laws of nature disapprove. But, more importantly, the laws of Vispasia also disapprove.’
‘Laws and gods . . . they do not understand matters of love. Our union was one of deep affection, full of tender and caring gestures. How many marriages in the city can claim such enjoyment? Not that many, I’ll wager. How many women can claim to be so happy? Again, far too few. We have always been close, Licintius and I. The first time we slept together, it felt so perfectly natural – the most natural thing in the world, in fact. We merely had to create the pretence that it was not going on.’
‘I could never connect your very austere room, and the fact that no one could actually claim to have been sleeping with you, with the reports that you flirted with everyone around you, and led a rather wild social life. It simply made no sense.’
‘Well, now you know,’ Lacanta said.
‘It’s such a shame that an innocent priestess had to lose her life over it. So many people have ended up dead because of your actions.’
‘Who else?’ she asked, quite surprised.
‘You realize General Maxant is dead?’
‘No . . . No, I didn’t. What happened?’
She could have been lying about her ignorance, but I told her anyway – that he was murdered, that it was staged to look like suicide. I admit to still not knowing why Maxant died. My suspicions were that the king had silenced his general for knowing too much, but there was no proof of this.
Lacanta told me that she did not know Maxant well enough, but he seemed an honest if somewhat dull person. ‘Hardly a man one could have a meaningful conversation with,’ she said. Lacanta received little contact from Tryum and knew nothing of what was going on there. I tried to question what the arrangement was between her and her brother, how often they might meet up, but she was not forthcoming on the details.
In the end the clouds began to move in, bringing in a gentle, sideways rain that I first mistook for sea spray. Our conversation had, for the moment, reached an end. Together we headed inside.
The Sun Chamber Commissioner
Five long, repetitive days later we received notice that one of the most senior Sun Chamber officials was already on their way to the villa from Free State, and they would arrive the following evening.
Upon receiving the message, Callimar looked at me and muttered, ‘You realize I’ve never even met a Sun Chamber commissioner, let alone worked with one?’
‘Well, don’t look at me like that,’ I replied, ‘neither have I.’
‘Why are they sending her and not an administrator, or a commander?’
I shrugged. ‘Maybe they fancied a holiday in Destos.’
We waited another six days, as it happened, due to the rough weather around the coast. The storms were glorious: forked lightning ripped between clouds in the late afternoon in a way I hadn’t seen for years. However, the mornings were deceptively calm, allowing me to wander the local paths and discovering several plants that Lacanta said grew only in this region.
No incidents had occurred with her: she had been an intelligent and polite companion, and not at all as I had expected. It was obvious to see how she would have worked her brother’s policies through the Senate so effectively, and made the hearts of many a senator skip a beat or two in her company.
On the morning of the sixth day, an entourage of Sun Chamber officials and soldiers were spotted approaching, so Callimar – strangely nervous – arranged for his veterans to tidy the place up as if it was on military parade. We saw to it that Lacanta was put in her room with two guards; her eunuchs, too, were under watch.
The rest of us stood on the front lawn, looking up to the dirt track, waiting for the arrival of our officials.
Eventually, they came: there must have been twenty horses at least riding down to meet us, with a dozen soldiers on foot. On the horses rode officials in resplendent Sun Chamber robes: largely black or dark colours, but with bold, yellow detail, and a huge embroidered golden sun upon the chest and back. They passed the line of trees and down into view, the officials at the front riding towards where we were standing.
One woman raised her palm for the entourage to stop. A man behind slipped off his horse and moved around to ease her down to the ground. She must be the commissioner.
After she had dismounted, the others followed suit. Two women and four men, each of them much older than myself, stepped in alongside her, each garbed in their fine silken robes of office.
The commissioner stepped forward to greet us. She was a woman of at least fifty years, with a good posture and ferocious, dark eyes. Her shoulder-length grey hair contrasted with her tanned skin; her nose and face were broad, and she had clearly become used to a good meal or two in later years.
‘Which one of you lot is Lucan Drakenfeld?’ she called out above the noise of the sea.
I stepped forward and descended to one knee.
‘Oh do get up, Drakenfeld,’ she said. ‘You’re the bloody reason I’ve come all this way. Save the ceremony for Free State.’
‘Thank you for coming so soon, ma’am,
’ I replied.
She waved away my politeness and regarded the villa. ‘Does this place have couches? Does it have a stove?’
‘It has both,’ I said.
‘Good. My arse is sore and I’ve not had anything decent to eat since we left land.’ She stormed inside, the others following in a long, equally glum chain. I suspected I was not the only one who didn’t like travelling by sea.
We commandeered one of the studies, which did not have too many scrolls or books – but there were chairs and desks, which was enough to claim this as a base for operations.
I stood before the group of officials and the rather miserable commissioner, who introduced herself as Commissioner Tibus, third in rank of the entire Sun Chamber. Like Callimar, I had never met someone so senior, and I found myself quite nervous. It didn’t help that her temper could have been improved.
I set out the scene for the officials, starting with the night back at Optryx where Senator Veron summoned me because of the murder of Lacanta, sister of the king. I took her step by step through my findings and methodology, discussing the trail down-city to investigate the actors, Drullus’ death, my observations around the king’s residence, discussions with other senators, the picture of deceit that had been cleverly built up over a long period of time, Maxant’s death and, finally, the missing priestess of Ptrell – whose symbol I had seen in Optryx.
Commissioner Tibus regarded me without expression as I continued. I said I had confirmed that the body of the priestess had piercings, but that wasn’t enough to go on, which was why the only proof was to track down Lacanta herself. Which is, I concluded, why we were all here, and I informed them of what Lacanta had told us so far – largely of her relationship with Licintius.
Commissioner Tibus nodded. ‘Is there anything else?’
‘There is, ma’am.’ I took a deep breath before revealing my father’s role in the set-up: that he supplied a lookalike for Lacanta so that everyone could be fooled, and that he did this to pay off his gambling debts. I concluded my story with Licintius’ soldiers creating carnage in my home and our hastily arranged exit from the city.
‘Licintius was obsessed with the theatre,’ I added, ‘and only now do I realize that everything had been staged, and he was busy scripting my own story.’
‘The theatre, indeed.’ Tibus whispered to one side, ‘I never did have him down as a man of taste.’
‘I suppose at first he had not wanted me there. But, as long as I was investigating the case – visibly – and trying to solve a murder that never actually happened, I was helping him to demonstrate his innocence. So long as I didn’t make the connection, I would have been a boon to his case. He welcomed me there, but he had people watching my every move. He probably relished his own theatrics, attending public events lamenting Lacanta’s death . . .’
Commissioner Tibus cleared her throat. ‘Well now, have you anything else to add to this saga?’
‘Only that for my family’s role in this affair,’ I said, ‘I apologize. To you and before the wise gaze of Polla.’
Each of the gathered Sun Chamber officials regarded me with a cold stare; some made notes, others whispered something to the person beside them. I could not read the situation at all.
‘Now you’re quite sure of Calludian’s – your father’s – involvement?’
‘I am, unfortunately.’
‘Such a shame.’ Tibus shook her head. ‘He was a good one. Didn’t we pay him enough?’
‘As I said, he formed a habit for gambling – he had huge debts.’ I left out the question of how my brother might have led him astray.
‘So it goes,’ Tibus declared. ‘Still, that business could prove rather tricky to cover up. It won’t go down well, I can assure you. That said, having the man’s son expose him does seem to put a nice, honest spin on the matter.’ Some of the officials nodded in agreement.
I had no intention of being seen as someone who exposed him; my father ought to be remembered for all his good points.
‘Is Lacanta here still?’ Tibus demanded.
‘Yes, we’ve looked after her well. Someone remains with her at all times.’
‘Good. I’ll want to see her later. She must remain alive if I’m to bargain with Licintius. We must tread carefully – Detrata has a vicious streak of nationalism in it, more than any other nation in Vispasia. If we try to arrest Licintius outright, they could see it as a threat, and I daresay that will raise the chances of separatism from the Royal Union. Which we’re honour-bound to prevent, lest anyone forget.’
‘What should our next move be?’ I asked.
‘It’s a tricky thing, dealing with royals,’ Tibus said. ‘It is through national donations that the Sun Chamber does so much. Yes, we help facilitate stability and trade, and all of those pretty things we say to each other when we’re in council; but generally speaking we are meant to help kings and queens. The law is designed around the protection of such individuals and their property. We’re not really supposed to arrest the buggers.’
‘Ah,’ I said, fearing that Licintius may go unpunished for the sake of diplomacy.
‘So then,’ she continued. ‘I think that it is best this business be dealt with by Detrata’s own Senate, and in Tryum. But we must present Licintius to the Senate in such a way that they can sentence him appropriately. These two siblings – do they claim to love each other?’
‘As far as Lacanta tells me, they’re obsessed with each other. They’d have to be to go to such great lengths.’
Tibus shook her head. ‘In that case, we must send an army to the gates of Tryum and demand that Licintius present himself before his own Senate. Showing that Lacanta is alive – and more importantly showing to the people of the city that she is alive – will hopefully be enough of a combined threat so that he gives in to our demands. It will be a humiliation for him. We leave first thing in the morning. We will send word immediately to drum up auxiliaries from Theran and Maristan to accompany whatever we can send up from Free State. We’ll not need more than two thousand soldiers – we’re not starting a war. At least not yet.’
My eyes widened at the reality of bringing the Sun Legion to the gates of my home city. ‘What if Licintius doesn’t give himself up?’
Tibus gave me a big grin. ‘He will when Tryum’s cut off and under siege,’ she said. ‘There’s nothing like a starving populace to make a king come to his senses.’ She turned to one side and called back, ‘Let it be known widely that Lucan Drakenfeld’s work has shown excellence, and guts, the likes I’ve not seen for a good long while. More of this, please.’
Commissioner Tibus stood up with a groan and placed a palm on her lower back, rubbing it vigorously. ‘But may Polla bless us – we are about to bugger with Vispasia’s political fabric and unleash Polla knows what devilry onto the continent if we’re not careful. Hopefully only just a little blood will be spilled if Detrata can be left to settle its own affairs. Makes the job rather unpleasant otherwise.’
Tibus marched to the door and the others rose to follow, but she paused in the doorway. ‘Now then, young Drakenfeld – I take it Callimar’s soldiers haven’t yet scoffed all the food?’
It took a little over a week to muster the necessary forces to march on Tryum. During that time we ate and drank, pillaging the stores in nearby villages and gathering the rations brought up from the boats. Commissioner Tibus and Callimar took it upon themselves to plan the assault on Tryum, and questioned me on its potential points of weakness.
‘It’s difficult,’ I replied. ‘There are a good number of loyal and patriotic soldiers based there, and the walls are high, wide and engineered to withstand an attack.’ Though I was momentarily relieved not to have the responsibility of decision-making, I felt that I wanted to argue against the siege: to negotiate, to find a non-violent solution to the whole matter. ‘It does not seem fair that a city will suffer because of the lust of two people.’
‘It’s about more than that,’ Tibus declared. ‘It is about p
unishing a king who has deceived his own people. If the people suffer, too, then they’ll blame the king. Anyway, such a man is not fit for rule, though that decision is for Tryum to decide for itself – all we need to do is help that along. Besides, worry not, Drakenfeld. Hopefully it won’t come to that. I’ve already sent agents into the city to see about bribing members of the King’s Legion. Loyalty to gold is often stronger than that to a royal.’
The officials who came with her seemed to have little to say on the matter. Though apparently soulless and without much in the way of personalities of their own, they were adroit planners and would consult Tibus on every point of the forthcoming military operation, as well as hypothesizing over the political consequences. Letters and riders were dispatched with surprising regularity.
I merely contented myself with taking it in turns with Leana to watch over Lacanta, who now seemed to have accepted her fate. When there were just the two of us, she would talk quite openly: when others were around, she kept her thoughts to herself.
Eventually the time came for us to move out. Two small, barred wagons had been brought for Lacanta and her eunuchs, though she had one vehicle to herself. These mobile gaols were cushioned inside, and possessed a roof, so they were not entirely humiliating. It was, however, a world away from what she would have been used to as a royal. Once they had been marched to the top of the slope, the eunuchs were crammed into the other carriage. The huge trail of Sun Chamber officials, soldiers and prisoners eventually rolled up the hill and started on the long journey towards Tryum.
Siege Conditions
Two thousand soldiers marching towards my home city was a breathtaking sight. Through the dry grasslands that stretched for miles around the city, a handful of Sun Legion soldiers marched alongside auxiliaries from the neighbouring countries, following the line of aqueducts. Maristanian troops, it seemed, were only too keen to lend a hand in humiliating their ancient rivals.
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