by Gav Thorpe
"No, General, right enough," said Gelthius, rearing up from his stupor and banging his fists against his chest in salute. He collapsed backwards, helmet tipping over his eyes.
Ullsaard laughed again and urged Blackfang through the gate. He rode quickly through the city, heading directly up the Royal Way. The last time he had been here, Ullsaard had been fleeing the city, fearful of a mob. The time before he had been parading in triumph with Aalun, the masses of Askh cheering his name. Today, those people cowered behind their doors and shutters, terrified of him.
Give it time, he thought. They'll be cheering your name again when you bring them the wealth of Salphoria.
There were no guards at the palace, and it looked deserted. Taking Blackfang to the stables himself, Ullsaard saw the evidence of a hasty evacuation. Once inside the palace itself, the emptiness was even more pronounced. Statues and tapestries had been taken, and there were empty alcoves where once golden vases and silver busts had stood. He had not seen a legionnaire so he knew the palace had not been looted – not by his men at least, but he suspected the king's servants had taken what they could once the king had fled.
His bandaged ribs ached as he walked along the corridors and halls, and it was with a weary hand that he pushed open the doors of the audience hall.
"I expected you earlier," Lutaar rasped. Ullsaard looked along the hall in surprise.
The king sat in his throne, wearing a golden-threaded robe, a scarlet cloak hanging from his shoulders. And on his head sat the Crown.
"I thought I'd have to hunt you down," said Ullsaard as he walked towards the king.
"I'm not running away from you," said Lutaar. "Besides, what would be the point?"
"And Kalmud? Erlaan?"
"They are not here. They have been taken somewhere safer."
"You know that you don't have to die, don't you?" said Ullsaard, striding up the steps to the throne's dais.
"If you want this," Lutaar took the Crown of the Blood from his head and waved it at Ullsaard, "then you'll have to prise it from my dead fingers."
Ullsaard unsheathed his sword but Lutaar held up his hand, staying the blow.
"Listen to me before you do this deed," the king said. There was no scorn in his voice; instead his words were edged with sadness. "Please do not do this. I do not ask you for myself, but for the empire. As I once implored Aalun to understand, Kalmud must become king; it is Kalmud's destiny to wear the Crown. Rule the empire as you wish, use him as a puppet if you must, but do not make yourself king."
Lutaar stood up and, placing the Crown on the seat of the throne, approached Ullsaard to lay a hand on his sword arm.
"You have won, Ullsaard," he said. "The empire is yours to do with as you wish. You are the most powerful man in all of Greater Askhor. You have defeated your enemies, and your allies respect you. You do not need to become king in name."
Ullsaard pulled his arm away.
"What is it that you are so afraid of, Lutaar?"
"I am afraid for us all," replied the king. "Askhos decreed that the Crown pass from eldest living son to eldest living son; it has done so for two hundred years. There is a chain of the Blood that stretches back to Askhos, and you will break it. The Blood must rule Askh; it is our doom and our privilege."
"I am of the Blood," said Ullsaard.
"I have heard such rumour, but it cannot be possible."
"It is true. You bedded my mother and Cosuas helped her escape before she was handed to the Brotherhood."
Lutaar's eyes widened with surprise for a moment and his expression changed. Ullsaard was not quite sure what he saw, a
fleeting glimpse of speculation, perhaps hope.
"How old are you?" the king asked quickly. "Are you older than Kalmud?"
"I am not sure," replied Ullsaard, stepping back, disturbed by the king's sudden interest. "We are of a similar age, but I grew up in a place without the benefit of the Brotherhood's count of the years."
Lutaar dragged the tips of his fingers over his wizened, stubbled cheeks and continued to look at Ullsaard with that strange, calculating gaze. The king walked back to the throne, lifted the Crown to his head and sat down.
"Very well," said Lutaar. "Kill me. Take the Crown. Become king of Askh."
Lutaar craned his head to one side, exposing the artery in the side of his neck. He folded his hands neatly in his lap and waited expectantly, eyes fixed on Ullsaard. The general walked cautiously towards the throne, sword held ready, perturbed by the king's odd behaviour. Ullsaard expected some kind of trap, and his eyes darted left and right as he stood over the frail king.
Lutaar nodded once and closed his eyes.
Blood sprayed as Ullsaard drew the edge of his sword across Lutaar's neck. The gush became a stream and then a slow trickle. Lutaar did not move. Blood pooled in his lap and started to drip onto the marble floor from the hem of the robe.
Ullsaard had killed many men, but he was unnerved by this act. The splash of blood on stone seemed to echo around the hall. He turned away and strode to a high window, throwing open the shutters for a gulp of fresh air. Ullsaard shuddered as he looked over the city, the energy of the last few days draining away from him, leaving him feeling sick and weak. His hand throbbed and his gut ached.
Raising his eyes, he looked duskwards over Askh, where the sun was disappearing behind the city wall. The sky grew red and purple as the sounds of the looting legionnaires was carried up to him from the streets below. Steadying his thoughts, Ullsaard smiled.
He liked the moment. Tonight the sun set on the reign of Lutaar, tomorrow it would rise on the reign of Ullsaard. It was a fitting end to one life and start of another.
II
Ullsaard stood at the window until the moon was rising above the domes of the palace. Not a single soul had disturbed him as he had admired the city that was his.
He turned, seeing again the body of Lutaar. A small crimson pond surrounded the throne, and the king seemed more slumped than before. Ullsaard's eye was drawn to the gleam of gold upon the king's brow.
There was his prize. All he had to do was reach out and take it.
Ullsaard ignored the slickness underfoot as he bent over the dead king, his good fingers curling around the Crown of the Blood. There would be a proper coronation later, he told himself, but it wouldn't hurt to try it on, just to make sure of the fit.
Looking at his reflection in Lutaar's blood, Ullsaard placed the Crown on his head.
III
Pain lanced through Ullsaard's mind, needles of agony driving into his brain. He fell to the ground and writhed as he felt his mind being shredded and gouged, torn at and pulled apart. His clothes soaked up the blood of Lutaar as he floundered across the floor in a swirl of crimson, a silent scream twisting his face.
Rolling to all fours, Ullsaard dipped his head and vomited as the Crown fell to the floor with a clatter.
The pain stopped and Ullsaard slumped to the tiles, gasping for breath, eyes screwed shut. He lay there for some time, the memory of the pain he had felt almost as much as the pain itself. When his breath came steadily and his heart was no longer hammering against his breastbone, Ullsaard opened his eyes and pushed himself up to his knees.
He looked at his reflection in the blood-spattered gold of the Crown. He could see no wounds upon his head or face, and he looked the same as he had done for the last few years. But something felt like it had changed.
Leaning forward to peer closely at himself, Ullsaard had the strangest feeling that someone else was looking out of his eyes.
"Who are you?" he whispered, looking at his distorted features around the rim of the Crown.
Askhos, replied a voice inside his head.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I'd like to thank Marco and Lee of Angry Robot for having faith in my ambitious idea, and Matt Keefe and Guy Haley for their continuing help and support.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gav Thorpe works from Nottingham, England, and has written more than
a dozen novels and even more short stories. Growing up in a tedious town just north of London, he originally intended to be an illustrator but after acknowledging an inability to draw or paint he turned his hand to writing.
Gav spent 14 years as a developer for Games Workshop on the worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 before going freelance in 2008. It is claimed (albeit solely by our Gav, frankly) that he is merely a puppet of a mechanical hamster called Dennis that intends to take over the world via the global communications network. When not writing, Gav enjoys playing games, cooking, pro-wrestling and smiling wryly.
mechanicalhamster.wordpress.com
Extras…
A GUIDE TO GREATER ASKHOR,
ITS PEOPLES AND ENEMIES
The empire of Greater Askhor has existed for more than two centuries. Over that time, it has relentlessly expanded, bringing a disparate group of peoples under its common banner. Guided by the wisdom laid down in the Book of Askhos, the empire has been brought together not only by military conquest but by advanced trade, technology and organisation. This section looks at some of the factors that make Greater Askhor such a powerful force.
Time
The need for accurate timekeeping was met by Askhos during his formation of the first legions. By use of water clocks and meticulously made watch candles, the offices of state and war can adhere to a routine common across all of the empire.
Askhan time is based upon the rota of duties employed by the legions. The basic element of time is the watches, which run from the start of the day in the following order: Dawnwatch (the official start of the day); Low Watch; Noon Watch; High Watch; Duskwatch; Howling Watch (or simply Howling); Midnight Watch (or Midwatch); Gravewatch.
Each watch is further divided into four equal hours, so the Askhan day is broken into 32 hours in total. The accepted format is to number the hour of the particular watch. For instance, second hour of Gravewatch, or first hour of High Watch. In everyday use this is contracted, so that one might refer to "second Grave" or "first High".
In legion camps and major towns, the start of each watch is signalled by an established pattern of bell rings or horn notes, followed by a number of chimes or blasts equivalent to the hour.
While the Brotherhood has a centralised calendar for taxation systems and organising agriculture, its use is not so widespread as that of the clock and many parts of the empire retain their tribal dating systems. Based upon complex solar and lunar observations, only a few academics understand this calendar outside of the Brotherhood. The only widely accepted date is that of midsummer (where it can be determined) and it is on this day that a new Askhan year starts.
Distance and other measurements
As with the gauging of time, most distances in the empire are derived from legion origins. The Askhan mile is a well established measure based upon the distance a legion can march at a regulated pace. One mile is one tenth of the distance covered in a full watch of marching, so the average marching speed of a legion is two and a half miles per hour.
Other measurements are graded by the Brotherhood, including the "pack" (based on the weight of a legionnaire's wargear), "heft"(the weight of an Askhan spear) and "cast" (seventy paces, the distance a javelin can be reliably thrown). Various commonly agreed crafts, engineering, masonic and trade weights and measures are also used, particularly in the oldest parts of the empire.
Coinage is based on a metric system devised by the Brotherhood. The highest value unit of currency is the Askharin, a gold-based coin whose weight is also a universal measure. An Askharin is worth one hundred sindins, which are half the size and made of a silver alloy. A sindin is worth ten innats, usually called "tins' due to the metal used in their alloy. There is no formal imperial mint and individual governors and even nobles are free to make their own coinage, subject to appraisal and approval by the Brotherhood. When dealing with imperial contracts, a system of promissory notes are used, and in recent decades these have become a form of paper money when large sums are involved. In many parts of the empire, barter is still the preferred method of trade. Iron is rarer and more valued than gold, but it still in such short supply that by royal decree it cannot be used as coinage.
Politics
The empire is divided into a number of provinces, run on behalf of the king by appointed governors. Each province is a semi-autonomous state, responsible for the raising of taxes and legions, and the payment of imperial contracts and pensions, in addition to providing an agreed stipend to the Crown that is reviewed every ten years. In practice, trade taxes are levied by the Brotherhood and so are consistent across all provinces, while property and personal taxes depend upon the individual circumstances and governors in charge.
The king has absolute rule in law, though he is advised by the High Brother of the Brotherhood, the Council of Governors and various crafts, academic and trade representatives. Alongside this civic administration is a more complex network of influence originating from the ancient noble families, provincial kings and tribal chieftains brought into the fold of Greater Askhor. The majority of non-noble families do not have the wealth for independent investment or trade and are directly employed by the empire or rely upon pensions or contracts originating from the king and governors.
The Blood
The Book of Askhos has a considerable section dedicated to the rights and responsibilities of his descendants. In law, the word of the Blood is sacrosanct and any judgement made by one of the Blood is absolute unless directly overruled by the king. By right, all members of the Blood are granted the dual ranks of Prince and General, although in recent generations not all princes have pursued military ambition.
A Prince of the Blood has the right to requisition any resource he requires from a provincial governor. Many Princes of the Blood serve as governors in their later years, although in recent generations the law has been amended so that a prince who does so must relinquish the title of general and may only command legions attached to his position as Governor. Some unruly princes have been forced into Governorship in the past to curb their powers.
The Governors
The Governor is the head of imperial power within each province, second in authority only to a member of the Blood. Appointed by the king, a governor essentially leases his province from the empire through the provision of taxation and supply of soldiers. Within the laws of the empire, he is free to run whatever system of government he wishes within his province. In reality, provinces are run on autocratic principles, with contracted agreements to other bodies such as colleges, merchants' organisations and the nobility.
A governor is required to maintain at least one legion for the defence of the province; the expense of which is deducted from any taxation levied by the king. The king can also compel a governor to raise new legions as required, again at the expense of the Crown. As raising a legion can be a costly and time-consuming business, most governors maintain several in existence in readiness to respond to the king's requests. A governor has nominal command of all legions in his province, unless they are under the authority of one of the Blood or a general named by the king.
The Brotherhood
The High Brother is leader of the Brotherhood and enjoys considerable authority in matters of commerce and law, subject to approval by the king. Individual precincts are empowered to levy taxes, adjudicate disputes, impose judicial sanctions and prosecute criminal law on behalf of the governors and the king.
In addition, the Brotherhood provides personnel for managing the essential tasks of the empire. This ranges from arbitrating trade disputes, managing the maintenance of waterways, roads and other infrastructure, providing supplies and payment to the legions, overseeing the minting of coinage, and several banking duties for the nobility and merchants.
While an individual Brother has little legal authority on his own, as a representative of the Brotherhood he is by extension a direct servant of the king. Any person, even a governor, who defies the wishes of a Brother would need a very good reason
to do so, and can expect repercussions if found to be obstructing the running of the empire.
The Legions
It was Askhos who revolutionised the strategy and tactics of war at the founding of the empire. The First King established a professional body of fighting men from the retinues of the Askhan tribal chieftains and organised them into the First Legion. Welldrilled, well-equipped and well-rewarded, these soldiers were more than a match for the tribal warbands they faced and after several crushing victories over the disorganised militia forces of other chieftains in Askhor, their mere existence was enough to subjugate all of the Askhan people to Askhos's rule. Emulating their new king, subservient tribal leaders adopted the legion principles, and with license from Askhos the conquest of Greater Askhor began.
