Fortunes of the Imperium - eARC

by Jody Lynn Nye

  “Please, do not argue, my friends,” she pleaded.

  “Of course we won’t,” I said, lifting the tray off my lap. “We both care deeply for your well-being, don’t we?”

  “I care about Her Excellence and the well-being of this entire nation,” Toliaus intoned. He thrust the flaming ball toward us again. “The state of business will be precarious today and for the foreseeable future. It is best to hold the reins tightly in your hands!”

  “Yes, High Wisdom,” Visoltia said. “High Finance, please give me your report now. Do you see signs of what Lord Toliaus has predicted?”

  A thin-faced female with an unusually high crest on her narrow head stepped forward and gave her tablet to the Autocrat.

  “As you see, Your Excellence. And the reports from High Production will show growth that might lead us to a better financial forecast, if you will permit loosening bonds on certain commodities?” She beckoned forward a stout Uctu with almost gray-red scales. He glanced at Lord Toliaus as though requesting permission. Other ministers came forward with their tablets, pleading for attention, both from the Autocrat and Lord Toliaus.

  High Wisdom wore smugness like another robe. He made certain of his power over the others before swirling his long skirts and striding out of the room. Once the door closed behind him, the entire party of ministers surged forward.

  “Your Excellence!” “Your Excellence, the governor of Dneucia needs permission to undertake full infrastructure repairs on the eastern continent of Balawe Five.” “Hospital supplies are low in the flood zone in Nendoma City.”

  She began to read tablet after tablet, all the time looking over at me. There were so many other matters awaiting her attention, and I was distracting it.

  “With many thanks for an excellent meal,” I said, slipping off the divan, “I must remove myself from your august company and check upon my cousin and her friends.”

  “Oh, don’t go, Thomasin,” she pleaded.

  “I cannot in good conscience interfere with the sailing of the ship of state,” I said. “But I will come back later.”

  “Join me for lunch!” Visoltia said. She glanced at Ema, who nodded vigorously. “Our food is your food.”

  “I am honored. May my cousin and her friends return to you? Jil so enjoyed meeting you.”

  “Oh, yes, yesterday was the Day of Grace, but today is ordinary. Come at noon.”

  “Oh, this is so much better,” Jil said, stretching comfortably on the divan beside Visoltia. She and her friends had dressed to the nines and beyond in their new friend’s honor. They had also brought chests and bags of their own jewels for Visoltia to try on. Jil helped the Autocrat fasten a complicated chain anklet through her round-tipped toes while we waited for the fifth course to be served. “I would have been too exhausted to eat if I had to walk the maze again! Although passing through the kitchens was much closer to food preparation than I normally get. But your garden is just drenched with light! My goodness, do you ever get enough of that marvelous sunshine? I long to bask in it.”

  “Truly, I don’t get much time to sit out in the light,” the girl said, admiring the glittering aqua-colored gems studding the gleaming gold chains around her slender legs. “I have so many duties.”

  “You are a darling to be so responsible,” Jil said, “but it rots your brain to do nothing but work!”

  “I don’t work all day and night,” Visoltia admitted, with a sly look at me. “I do watch Ya!, for example. Usually at night, after Ema and the other night servants put me to bed.”

  I clapped my hands.

  “I thought you must be a fan,” I said. “I am delighted to know it.”

  “I cannot help it,” Visoltia said, her eyes full of mirth. “My ancient ancestors were the basis of the royal family,” she said. “But based only. It is scandalous that today’s viewers think that what they see is true history.”

  I leaned close, to impart the special knowledge that I possessed.

  “I have recently acquired the first three seasons in a boxed set,” I said, in low, thrilling tones. “The genuine article. A real collectible.”

  “The first three?” Visoltia almost whispered, awed. “I have never seen those!”

  Jil’s eyes twinkled. She knew what that usually meant, from a high official or an honored guest. I fetched a deep breath, but personal possessions were fleeting. The honor of the Imperium was forever. I placed my palms together under my chin.

  “May I offer you the set, Your Serenity? It would give me great pleasure if you would accept it from me. I will find another. Allow me to send someone to our ship to retrieve it for you.”

  “Oh, I could not, no,” Visoltia said, with a laugh. “It is too grand a present. But we must watch the episodes together, while you are here. That would be a greater gift to me.”

  I must admit, I emitted a deep sigh of relief. Jil laughed, knowing what was in my mind. But I took her generosity as an opportunity to broach another matter close to my heart.

  “I wish you would reconsider your attitude toward my friend, Redius,” I said. “He is also a devotee of Ya!, and he is not responsible for having grown up outside the Autocracy.”

  “That is his parents’ sin, but it could be corrected by positive measures,” Visoltia said, her small face tensing. “Will he return and swear allegiance to me?”

  “I very much doubt it,” I said truthfully. Her eyes were sorrowful.

  “Then, I am sorry, my dear Thomasin. I cannot forgive him.”

  The mood had fallen to the floor and was trying to mine its way through the colorful tiles. I hastened to retrieve it. I reached into the pocket of my amber-colored jacket and brought out a small bundle.

  “Your Serenity, I have brought a very special family relic of my own to share with you. One of my mother’s distant ancestors was renowned for having the second sight. These are her Tarot cards.”

  “What is ‘second sight’?”

  “Natural intuition of a strong type. She was believed to be able to see the future. And to do that, she used these.” I untied the cloth and displayed the contents. Visoltia looked at them in delight.

  “Truly? But how pretty!”

  Visoltia put the cards between her palms and closed her eyes. “These cards have been in many hands. I feel . . . personalities.”

  Jil peered at her, seeing if she was shamming, but I did not think the Autocrat was that accomplished at subterfuge. Her emotions were on her face for all to read.

  “I believe you do,” Jil said, in awe. “She’s much more in tune than you are, Thomas.”

  “Billions are,” I agreed. I admit that I was likely less sensitive than a girl for whom nuance could affect the lives of countless subjects. I had no more explanation for aura-reading as I did for psychic phenomena. “Would you like me to show you how to read them, Visoltiara? It is a most entertaining pastime.”

  “Oh, yes!”

  It was the matter of a moment to put the interpretation manual through a translation program to render it into formal Uctu. I set my viewpad on the divan between us and showed her how to lay out that most common of interpretive readings, the Celtic Cross. I encouraged her to deal out ten cards in the traditional pattern.

  The ladies gathered around us, complimenting the Autocrat on her gift for reading the symbols on each card. Not surprisingly, Uctu mythology had similar interpretations of common, everyday objects that both of our species used, such as cups and swords.

  “What is this terrible one, Thomasin?” Visoltia asked, turning up the Tower card. “What a terrible and violent image!”

  “Well, that is in your environment,” I said. “Something is preparing to come to smash. You just need to make certain you are not caught up in it. Does that bring something to mind?”

  “Like what?” the girl asked.

  I shrugged wildly.

  “I have no idea. It’s just a picture, you know.”

  I caught a summing glance from Banitra and Sinim. It would be best not to appe
ar too competent. Our journey would come to an end soon enough, and I did not want them seeing me as a strong and reliable helpmeet. I greatly preferred to have them as friends, or distant acquaintances, once we returned to Keinolt, not permanent love interests.

  Jil was not fooled.

  “Oh, Thomas, I am sure you have the entire manual memorized. What should Visoltiara beware of?”

  I never expected her to have my best interests at heart. I sighed.

  “Well, what are you fearful of losing? What would upset you if it ended?”

  “The love and well-being of my people is the most important thing in my life,” Visoltia said. “If it is destined that I should fail in their protection, that is the worst thing I can think of.”

  “The next card depicts your hopes and fears.”

  To my everlasting relief, she turned over the Sun.

  “Marvelous!” I exclaimed.

  I heard the door open behind us. Before I knew it, Lord Toliaus had appeared to loom over us. Disliking his arrogant attitude, Jil and I stared balefully at him, but he ignored our disapproval. Jil recoiled slightly when he did not retreat. She still did not quite understand our lack of influence. But Visoltia was eager to show him her new game.

  “Oh, High Wisdom, look at this! Lord Thomas brought this Tarot deck for me to see. It is full of such interesting pictures that my mind is quite filled with ideas!”

  He made the same hand sign that Visoltia had on our first visit, and made a great show of averting his eyes.

  “Cast these from you, Autocrat!” he boomed. “Terrible things are associated with this artifact. Contact with it will bring you evil!”

  “That’s a bit melodramatic, don’t you think?” I asked. “They are only a storytelling device. They are useful in helping to unlock one’s natural intuition, of which Her Excellence seems to have a sufficiency. She could find a great deal of wisdom in exploring her own thoughts through their assistance.”

  His eyes crackled with hate.

  “Give them to me!” he said. “I know what you say they are for, but it is a lie. They will brainwash her! She can be harmed!”

  He was doing his best to undermine my efforts to give her a tool that would aid insight. Clearly, if anyone intended to brainwash the Autocrat, it was the High Wisdom himself. I knew a fellow charlatan when I saw one. He had the Autocrat convinced that his way was the only way. That concerned me deeply. The Autocracy was our nearest neighbor and, for several years, had become our closest friend. Visoltia was so young, not only in years, but in experience. She needed a buffer between them so she could grow up, but now was not the time to fight this battle.

  “If you wish me to take them from your presence, Your Serenity, I shall,” I said. I rose and bowed, keeping the deck against my chest. The Autocrat put out a beseeching hand.

  “Oh, don’t go yet!”

  “As you please, dear lady,” I said. I sat down again.

  “Then I will take the cards,” Toliaus said, swooping down upon us. “They are too dangerous to her presence. She is the sun and stars of our nation!”

  But I was not a reigning champion of tri-tennis for nothing. Before he could touch them, I snatched up the cards and held them behind me, out of his reach unless he actually jumped up on the divan with us. His hands closed on empty air.

  “No, I am afraid you can’t have them,” I said. “But you can watch me enchant them so they will never hurt the lady.”

  I shuffled them before his eyes. Since she had never seen the skill before, and I was curious that such an advanced people had never created pasteboards for entertainment and gambling, it did look very impressive.

  “There is no magic here! You are just flipping them around in your hands,” Lord Toliaus said.

  “No magic? Then what do you call . . . this?”

  I took my hands away, and the deck kept dancing. The tiny devices I had added to the Tarot cards would not harm the ancient relics, and I could remove them easily later if my mother insisted.

  Banitra put her hand over her mouth. Her eyes twinkled.

  “That is indeed great magic,” she said. She turned to the High Wisdom, whose eyes were all but starting out of his head. “Lord Thomas is known as a wizard among noble circles.”

  “Very pretty, Thomas,” Jil said, dismissively. She had seen it time and again on the Rodrigo, of course.

  The High Wisdom was beaten and he knew it.

  “Well, you have control over them. I will trust you,” he added grudgingly, “to put them where they can do no harm to the high lady.”

  I inclined my head a polite degree.

  “Thank you.”

  “The High Wisdom can do wonders like that, too,” Visoltia said. “Perhaps you will favor me with one at the accession feast, Lord Toliaus?”

  “As Your Excellence wishes,” he said. He was so angry that I would not have been surprised to see his scales leaping from his body to get away from the heat.

  “I look forward to seeing what you can do,” I said, my tone halfway to a sneer. He could not have missed my implication.

  Gathering the skirts of his robe about him, Lord Toliaus skulked out of the room.

  I was glad to see him go. I did not like him. I vowed to take him down a peg or twelve. Not only would it benefit Visoltia and the Autocracy in general, but it would feed my sense of justice. I had no idea yet how I would do it, but I vowed not to leave the planet until I had. Plans began to percolate in my mind, each one more diabolical than the previous one. I believe that I snickered out loud.

  “Thomas!” Jil exclaimed.

  My attention came back to the discussion just as it reached a subject that I knew well: current fashion.

  “Will you help me to choose a costume for the accession feast?” Visoltia asked them in excitement. “It is my second year as Autocrat, a great celebration.”

  “Why would you wear human-style clothes on such an occasion?” Jil asked. “That is very important. It sounds like it ought to be all about you.”

  “Because you are my guests for the feast,” Visoltia explained. “It is an old custom, to exchange one’s outer shell for that of your visitors. We remember that it is the person inside who is important, not how they look, and we will come to understand more about one another in that fashion.”

  “In that case, we should all go shopping together,” Sinim said. “We look to you for advice on what we should choose in Uctu fashion.”

  “Oh, I would love to!” Visoltia said, beckoning to her servants. “Ema! Tcocna!”

  The ladies appeared at her side.

  “It is all arranged, my darling,” Ema said, smoothing the Autocrat’s gown as if she were a small child. “Flitters will await you at the palace door. They are programmed with the locations of the best shops.”

  They immediately began to discuss what to look for, and what colors and fabrics were appropriate.

  I cleared my throat, my deeper voice cutting through the soprano twittering.

  “I beg your pardon for interrupting. I wonder, Visoltiara, if you would mind if I joined you midway into the shopping expedition? I have an appointment that is to the benefit of all of us.”

  Visoltia nodded gravely.

  “I give you my permission, but do not leave us waiting too long, Thomasin.”

  I dipped my head in gratitude.

  “I will be there just as soon as I can.”

  I escorted the ladies to the palace doors and assisted them into the floating litter whose arched canopy would protect them against the fierce sun. A humbler vehicle bobbed along behind, carrying Tcocna, several more servants and containers filled with refreshments and iced beverages. The Autocrat, as was appropriate to her station, traveled in comfort as well as style.

  Once they had gone, Ema showed me to a room with a looking glass, where I changed from the soft fabric of my warmly-hued suit to my naval dress uniform. I smoothed every seam and combed my hair until every strand lay in the necessary direction.

  “Yo
u look terribly official,” I told my reflection. “I hope you can be as effective as you look.”

  CHAPTER 38

  Janice’s aide, Donal Nirdan, had confirmed to me by message the time and place of my appointment with the High Protector. At the very moment of that designated hour, I presented myself at the bronze-bound doors in the corridor. The two Uctu soldiers, one old enough to be my father, the other with light blue spots on his face indicating his extreme youth, took my name and repeated it to an audio pickup point in the lintel. I offered them a friendly smile and a compliment on the day’s weather, but apart from making certain they were pronouncing my name correctly, they returned neither to me.

  I waited, my back straight and my feet at the precisely correct parallel, until the door opened to me eighteen minutes later. I stayed where I was, until I heard an impatient bark.

  “Come in now!” The voice was that of Rimbalius himself.

  I marched forward and stood just inside the doorway. To my surprise, the office was a private one. It was no wider than three times the length of the desk behind which Rimbalius hulked. No one else was present, not a secretary, nor any mechanicals. He looked up at me with the same glaring impatience that most senior officers employed when faced with one Thomas Kinago.

  “I am very busy,” Rimbalius said, waving to an unpadded bench that stood at the side of the desk. “State your business and be gone.”

  I slid onto the bench, keeping my eyes on him.

  “Thank you for your time,” I said. He lifted a lip impatiently.

  “It is at the Autocrat’s behest. What do you want? What matters do you wish to discuss with me that you won’t with her?”

  “There are several topics of importance that I have been sent by my cousin the emperor to inquire about,” I said. “I have tried to bring them up to Her Excellence, but it occurred to me that I would probably get more action on the matters if I laid them at your feet. It is not lost on me, or anyone else who has had to deal with multiple layers of bureaucracy, that the person at the top of a pyramid of authority is not necessarily the one who can or will act upon a situation.”