by Guy Antibes
Pol leaned over and watched them scurry down the stairs and out into the compound. “Are they high-ranking bureaucrats?”
Ako shrugged. “I don’t know. Does anyone care?”
That attitude brought a smile to Pol’s lips. “I do, and it’s a good thing you don’t care. That means the Bureaucracy is still being underestimated.”
Val nodded his agreement. “I will look forward to the meeting if the Bureaucrats talk.”
“They were very circumspect when I met with them before I left Tishiko,” Shira said. “Their troops fought well on the border.”
“The bite is worse than the bark,” Ako said. “I stand corrected. I care, after all.”
~
With everyone disguised, Shira led them through the streets of Tishiko. She took them to the same paper shop the Bureaucrats had used to meet her. When they walked in, an old woman nodded to them and parted the curtain leading to the familiar stairway. They trudged upstairs.
“Lini,” Shira said, nodding to Queen Anira’s personal secretary. “I am surprised you still serve my mother.”
“It’s more of a matter of her wanting to keep an eye on me,” Lini said. “I am very happy you have returned. Your mother knows that Pol came with you.” She looked at Pol and Val. “I assume one of you is Pol Pastelle?”
Pol nodded. “That would be me. Will she try to have me killed like she did before?”
“If she has, she’s kept it close. I have not seen any signaling to the factions. Elder Furima is disturbed. She is generally angry and yells in the Queen’s presence, but she was more subdued and upset this afternoon. She had no idea you were so proficient in arms.”
“Did Horani, the Ambassador’s wife meet with the Queen?” Val asked.
“And you are?” Lini asked.
“Valiso Gasibli. I am an Imperial Seeker.”
“You were the one who scared them so badly?”
Val nodded.
“Neither of them saw the Queen, but the Chief Elder of the Lake faction did. Whatever you told them worked.” Lini looked at Pol and Val. “They are afraid of you both. The Queen isn’t afraid yet. Since she has spent her life without fear; Anira isn’t intimidated by anyone.”
“Do you want us to change that?” Val asked. “The Queen may require a different approach.”
Lini beamed. “You are a perceptive bunch. I agree. I know the Queen better than anyone. She won’t give up the present state of affairs. They will have to be taken from her.”
“That means the basic strategy we had discussed before I left Tishiko years ago is still valid?” Shira said.
Lini nodded. “It’s time to do a little faction splitting, and then the Great Ancestor will return to save Shinkya.”
“From what will he save Shinkya?” said one of the men, who listened in, but did not participate.
“The Winnow Society, of course,” Pol said. “I assure you that the threat is real. Shinkya and the Empire face the same army that will seek to destroy both governments. To prepare Shinkya, the new government must be in place, so we can mobilize the country. With the light population on your northern border, the Winnowers can plunge half the distance to Tishiko before you are able to lift a finger.”
“Unless we are prepared,” Lini said. “We are not without eyes and ears.”
“You have your own Sisters?”
Lini pursed her lips. “That is a secret, but of course we do. The factions don’t share information with us, only with the Queen.”
Pol looked at Lini. “Are you the leader of the Bureaucracy?”
She shook her head and pointed her finger at the same man who had brought Pol’s bags to him. “He is.”
Val smirked. “You are a secret, too?”
“I am, as a matter of fact. My name is Jukori. A council manages the Bureaucracy. Lini is a member due to her position with the Queen. There are seven others. Three others are with us.” Jukori introduced the two men and the woman. “We organize by functions, not factions. Our goal is to make sure Shinkya, as a society, works. The Bureaucracy has successfully managed the factions and its own internal forces for hundreds of years, but we’ve never faced such a large external threat before. The Empire has kept armies limited in size. Even the Imperial army sent to fight us wasn’t particularly large, five or ten thousand.”
“The Winnowers can bring three or four times that to your borders.”
Jukori nodded. “We know. When Shira met with us before, we only wanted to minimize or eliminate Queen Anira’s ever-increasing influence. The situation is different but just as serious. We have to do both.”
Their position matched the pattern that Pol had crafted for them. He considered the Bureaucracy the most conservative faction of them all. They did not want change. Under normal circumstances, the change would most likely reduce their influence, but their conservatism was a rational kind. Life in Shinkya could not persist in the present state with an enemy building an army like a huge storm on the horizon.
“So are your forces ready to leave Tishiko soon?”
“Tomorrow. We have a request that you visit the Scorpion faction after our meeting. We will assemble midday tomorrow at the manor where the Scorpions waylaid you. Our army has spent the last few days resting, and the Scorpions will be joining us. Are you able to do that?”
“I will come better prepared,” Pol said.
Jukori laughed. “You don’t have to believe me, but I trust you, and I will say that you can be comfortable trusting me, although that probably makes you uncomfortable.”
“I can’t serve Shinkya and the Empire on my own,” Pol said. “There are three I can trust, and we can go from there.”
Pol’s group left first. They stepped across the street and then began the long walk to the Scorpion compound.
“You can’t trust him,” Val said.
“Of course I can’t. However, if we are to succeed, I can’t afford not to trust him to some extent. We can’t turn Shinkya on our own.”
He wanted to grab Shira’s hand but restrained himself. “We may never get your mother’s consent after this,” Pol said.
Shira laughed. “As if I need it now. It would be nice, but our lives have diverged too much. I can live without my mother.” She gazed into Pol’s eyes. “Very happily.”
That conversation ended as they walked into more crowds. The pleasant evening drew Tishiko’s citizens out into the streets.
They took advantage of the anonymity of the crowds and bought food from a few sidewalk vendors. There were not as many as an Imperial city might have due to the Bureaucracy’s regulations, but they enjoyed what they purchased in front of the Scorpion compound.
“Are you angry?” Val said.
Pol shook his head. “If anger drove me, Karo would not have made it out of Deftnis when I first saw him.”
Shira smiled. “I thought you only had eyes for me.”
“I did, but I saw Karo first.” Pol pursed his lips. “They did what they thought best, and I’m becoming more convinced that they did us all a favor.”
Shira frowned. “I don’t look at it as a favor.”
“You should,” Ako said. “Think of five years as Crown Princess.”
Shira shivered. “I don’t know if I could have survived.”
“But you did in a much better place,” Pol said. “And you grew up as much as I did.”
“I haven’t grown any taller since then, unlike you,” Shira said. She gave Pol a sly smile. “Let’s face the specter of our pasts, shall we?”
Pol nodded. “That’s a better way of putting it. Facing our past.” He found that he needed a good, deep breath before he stepped from the sidewalk onto the cobbled grounds of the Scorpions.
They did not walk more than twenty paces before a Scorpion delegation stopped them. As expected, Karo tagged along to point Pol out.
They all bowed so deeply, their exhibition of honor affected Pol. “I have returned as you predicted. I don’t see your Chief Elder.”
A woman with silvery wings in her dark hair gave Pol a shorter bow. “You do see the Scorpion Chief Elder. The one you knew has returned to her ancestors. She would be very pleased for this day. If you will come with us.”
The Scorpion contingent turned. No guards approached them as an escort. Pol felt a bit exposed, but he had made sure everyone had shields before they came close to the compound. He slipped his Demron sword up and let it drop into its scabbard. He was ready for anything.
The faction compound remained as Pol remembered. The Chief Elder dropped back to walk with Pol.
“The male Grand Master. Did he survive?”
The Elder shook her head. “He was gone before that season ended.”
Pol thought the boy’s death a waste. Had Searl not repaired Pol’s defective heart, he would have likely joined the Grand Master in death. Nevertheless, that did not happen. One change, if he had the opportunity, would be to send Shinkyan healers to Anna’s Abbey in Port Mancus to learn how to restructure organs. There had to be at least a few Shinkyan Elders who could dedicate their lives to preserving those precious magical lives.
Pol gripped the hilt of the Demron sword. He might trust the Bureaucrats since their goals coincided, but he still felt uneasy walking within the walls of the Scorpion compound. He remembered the feeling of the place.
It was somewhat unsettling. The Scorpions worked their own agenda, made their own counsel, and that counsel didn’t easily fit into a pattern. Perhaps that unreliability made him uneasy.
“Normally, we would ask you to remove your weapons, but in your case, I think we can make an exception,” the Chief Elder said. “Have you had anything to eat?”
“We filled ourselves up on street food,” Shira said. “It brought back memories.”
“I’m sure it did, Princess Shira. There are more memories to be made, however, and that is what we want to talk about.”
The Elder showed them into a large conference room. Pol counted nine attendees. All but two were women. A leather bag sat on the table at one end. The Elder showed him to a seat in front of it.
“Those are your possessions. We took care of them in your absence.”
Pol restrained himself from opening the bag. “Thank you. You asked to see us?”
The Elder smiled. “We did. Our goals align.”
“In what way?” Shira said. “You’ve been very good in keeping them to yourselves.”
The woman grimaced a bit. “It is what we do, Princess, keep things to ourselves. Nevertheless, time has a way of prompting a change in everything, and that includes our penchant for secrets. We have always looked forward to the return of the Great Ancestor, always. When other factions have strayed from the old traditions, we clung to them. There are spells and wards that have fallen into disuse—”
“Wards that repress memories?”
“Yes. As you well know, they are quite effective, but they can be removed. You’ve experienced that as well. We had a plan to remove your ward, but events claimed a different way, and from what I know, they found a better path for you. Not every Great Ancestor can boast of redeeming an entire nation.”
“I don’t boast,” Pol said.
The Chief Elder leaned forward, “But you did save Zasos from itself. A slave state held in stasis by magicians.”
“There were plenty of Clan Lords eager to go along.”
The woman waved away the conversation. “The facts are the facts. You left Zasos a much better place than when you arrived.”
Pol felt uncomfortable with the praise. He merely carried out Traxus’s orders. He had to admit he put his own mark on those orders, but that did not make him a liberator.
“It’s time you did the same for Shinkya.”
“As a figurehead for the Scorpions and the Bureaucracy? What do the Scorpions want out of a change in regimes?”
“The Scorpions don’t care about Queen Anira. She can sit on that throne to her last breath if Shinkya takes its place in the world. For too long we’ve hidden. We strut in Kiria. Right, Karo?”
Pol noticed Karo standing, not sitting. The man nodded. “Kirians hate us, but we give them trade.”
“I think the truth is there is a complicated relationship,” Pol said with a sudden flash of a subtle shift in the Kirian pattern. “I don’t think anyone can dispute Shinkyan arrogance in dealing with the Kirians.”
“That is probably the case, but we look north to the Empire.”
“You seek to dominate?” Val said.
The Chief Elder shook her head. “Dominate what? We are not prepared to do any such thing. The Empire has much to offer.” The woman’s eyes brushed Shira and Ako. “The days of calling Imperials ‘humans’, while we think ourselves above them, are fleeting. Our young men with magic die, and yet,” the woman raised her hand towards Pol, “here is proof that doesn’t have to happen. The burden placed upon us by the Ancestors can be lifted.”
Pol realized that they did have areas of agreement. “And how does the Empire benefit?” he said.
“Trade. Access to our own magical knowledge. Although you know most of it, the Empire doesn’t. Do not mistake my words. We don’t look towards becoming Imperials in our culture, but cultures can be preserved amidst a healthy interchange,” the Elder said.
“Will you pledge not to seek the dissolution of the Empire?” Val said. “We have books that can relay messages. Emperor Hazett will make a similar pledge to ally and preserve Shinkya.”
Pol’s eyes shot up. “He speaks the truth,” Pol said. “Emperor Hazett, my stepfather, respects Shinkya and will happily agree to a more open relationship. Perhaps he can pledge healer training in Mancus Port. The monk who saved my life is a Deftnis monk and can teach your healers at the Abbey where Ako,” Pol nodded to the Sister, “has received training.”
“Can this happen?” the Elder said to Ako.
“The healer must be very powerful.”
The Elder rubbed her hands. “Consider it done. I speak for the Scorpions, not for Shinkya, but you have my support. There are Elders in other factions who will jump for joy at what you just offered.”
“Tell us what you have planned with the Bureaucrats,” Pol said.
~
Shira made a face. “You don’t have to wear that hat,” she said as he had just changed clothes on the way to the little manor where Pol had begun his journey to Daera.
“Yes, I do. The Scorpion Elder made that clear. There are pictures in the Royal vaults of Ancestors wearing hats like this. Ones they didn’t even show you,” Pol said. “The point is to tour Shinkya outside of Tishiko to build a groundswell of support and then enter Tishiko as the Great Ancestor with thousands of Shinkyans riding behind us.”
“You don’t have to worry about me following you anywhere. But they are parading you around.”
“Mostly. It’s not something I will look back on with fond memories. We are fooling the populace, although the Scorpions are convinced I’m the real thing.”
“As close to the real thing as Shinkya will ever see,” Shira said.
“I will have to fight faction champions, and those matches will only get tougher as we build a following. I am certain the Bureaucracy is right in predicting Tishiko champions will flock to us bearing challenges.”
“A Processional. Just like your father.”
“Both stepfathers did the same thing and for the same reason,” Pol said. “Except when I am proclaimed leader of Shinkya, I will demur, just like we agreed.”
Shira looked over at him. “Any other person would grab the throne, but not my Pol.”
“Nope. I just want to be Duke Pol of Redearth. That is enough for me.”
She looked back at Val riding behind them. “I don’t think you would grab the throne, either, Val.”
Val looked at Shira through hooded eyes. “Do you really think you know me enough to make such a statement?”
Shira turned her head back to Pol, who could not resist grinning.
“That is a joke,
Shira. Relish it, for Val’s humorous remarks come few and far between.”
She twisted her head again to see Val’s awful smile.
“He’s right. Ruling would only take me away from what I like to do,” the Seeker said.
“Don’t ask him what he likes to do. Please.” Pol said. “I’ll give you one thing he likes to do, and that is to keep secrets. No one does it better.”
Val grunted, and Pol could hear light laughter from Ako riding beside the Seeker.
Not long after, they passed a sizable force of soldiers camped in the field. Pol recognized the colors of the Bureaucracy and the colors of the Scorpions mixed in with Fearless soldiers. Soldiers guarded the entrance to the small Shinkyan manor house that Pol had briefly entered.
This time uniformed men and women stood at attention as he rode past. Pol had his Demron steel throwing knives and splinters on him. His shields were up. Elders from the Scorpions, the Fearless Faction, and men and women dressed in robes in the colors of the Bureaucracy lined up on the wide veranda of the house.
“Let us make our final pledges,” Jukori said. He adjusted his Bureaucracy robes and walked inside.
They followed Jukori, and others followed them. Pol nearly ducked his head when he walked through the foyer where Paki and Fadden once were offered as bait.
They sat at a long table with five chairs, two on one side and one each of the others. Pol brought Shira, who held the rune book that the Empire would use for the agreement.
“What you sign in the rune book, it will be copied in Yastan. We will make our marks on these copies in this room,” Shira said. “I will act on behalf of the Shinkyan Royal Family.” She caught her breath. Signing this document meant she no longer recognized her mother as the ruling power of Shinkya. Lini made clear that Shira could step aside at any time, but Shinkyan factions wanted a royal personage on their side. None of them cared about the Queen taking the Crown Princess title away from her.
The signing began to take place. Pol quickly read each copy of the documents they would physically sign and translated the agreement into Eastrilian on the pages of the rune book. Malden would underline the title when he had finished reading.
The written copies reached Pol. He looked at the mark that Shira made on the document and wrote his own signature four times. They passed around the rune book. Jukori needed a magician to duplicate his mark for his signature.
