by Gav Thorpe
"What did you say?" said the governor. "Do me the courtesy of making your pathetic excuses audible."
"The morning shift at dock three are not working because they haven't been paid, governor."
Urikh lifted the man's chin with a finger and stared into his narrowed eyes.
"You know what my next question is going to be, don't you, Liirat?"
The dockmaster nodded and shuffled his feet. A tablet dropped from his grasp and broke on the ground. Two more tumbled out of his arms as he stooped to retrieve the pieces.
Urikh's kick caught the man in the ribs, sending him sprawling, wax plates falling around him.
"They haven't been paid because you are an imbecile!" Urikh rasped. "Money comes out of my treasury and the payment coming in disappears somewhere between the docks and my vault. That is not just my fucking money; it is the empire's money!"
One hand nursing his side, Liirat crawled in a circle, gathering up the scattered slates. He piled them neatly and rose to his feet, a look of sudden defiance on his face.
"I ain't stealing your money, governor. It ain't my fault, honest. The Brothers used to work the payroll, taking out the taxes and such, but I don't know how they worked it out. There was twenty of them, used to run these docks, and now there's just me."
"Can you count?" said Urikh, calming himself.
Liirat nodded.
"Then count one tin to the taxes for every askharin in pay. It is not difficult. That means one whole askharin for every twenty the ship captains pay you for berthing. Do I need someone else to do this for me?"
"No, no, governor," said Liirat. "I can do that. But… Maybe I could have some help with the wages, someone who looks after the money going the other way?"
Urikh tapped his foot impatiently and folded his arms.
"I have sixteen wharfs and four harbour masters," he said slowly. "Three of those harbour masters are having no problem at all. Why should I spend more money hiring another person when I could replace you at no extra cost?"
"Please, governor…" The dockmaster wrung his hands and fidgeted with the belt of his robe. "I'll try harder. I need this work."
"The empire needs many types of men, Liirat. Perhaps you would be better suited to a hoe and plough than a tablet and stylus?"
"It's my back, governor. Can't work the fields, not with my back."
Urikh sighed, shook his head and considered what to do. It had been a lie that there were no problems with the other dockmasters. Across the whole river harbour a third less ships were being passed through each day. Now was the worst time to remove an official while he found another, with the harvest cargo and last surge before winter moving up and down the river.
"Go on, get back to it," he said, waving the dockmaster away. Liirat scurried along the quay, only to turn at a shout from the governor. Urikh pointed at the pile of wax tablets still on the wharf. "You will need these! Get the men paid and get them working."
Urikh heard laughter and turned to see three pilots leaning against the planks of a warehouse a short distance away. The men sheltered under the eaves of the roof as the rain fell harder, chewing strips of cured meat. They straightened up as Urikh stalked over to them.
"Enjoying an early lunch?" he asked. The men shrugged. Infuriated, Urikh grabbed the shirt collar of the closest and dragged him around the corner of the building and pointed out across the river. "See that? That's a berth at dock five empty. And you see that? That's a ship in mid-channel waiting for a pilot to bring it through the flats. Why are you here?"
"No boat, governor," the pilot replied sullenly. "Can't get out to a ship without a boat."
Urikh let go of the man and clenched his fists, causing the pilot to shrink back, fearing a punch.
"Why are there no boats?" Urikh barely stopped a scream of frustration.
"They're all up round docks ten and eleven, governor," came the reply from one of the others. "The rotation is all out of order, governor. Boats not coming back to where they started and leaving from docks where the ship ain't coming in. It's a mess, governor."
"Let me guess; the rotation was organised by the Brotherhood?"
There were nods of agreement. Urikh walked over to the pilot who had spoken and laid his arm across his shoulders, pulling him close. When he spoke, the governor kept his anger in check, his tone mild.
"Do you remember how the rotation worked when the Brothers were running it?" he asked gently.
"Yes, I do, governor," said the pilot, trying to edge out of Urikh's grasp, his discomfort clear.
"What is your name?"
"Kiraan Allin, governor."
"Tell me, Kiraan, could you run the rotation for me?"
Kiraan looked around nervously for a moment.
"But I'm a pilot, governor," he said.
Urikh smiled, adding to the man's unease.
"For an extra Askharin a week, I could make you chief pilot, in charge of the rotation. Would that suit you, Kiraan?"
The pilot smiled, eyes widening as he imagined his wages doubled.
"I think I could do that, governor, yes I could," said Kiraan.
Urikh fished into his pouch and brought out a golden coin.
"You best get started, chief pilot," said Urikh, pressing the askharin into the pilot's hand. Kiraan took a step away but was tugged back by Urikh's tight grip on his arm. "By tonight, I want every boat and every pilot working as fast as possible. If they are not, you answer to me. Is that understood?"
Kiraan nodded and swallowed hard.
"Yes, governor. Can I go now, governor?"
Urikh let the man go and watched all three of them hurry away along the quayside. He slumped against the wooden boards of the warehouse, kneading his forehead to ease the ache there that had plagued him since coming to Geria to take up office. Twenty days of misery, confusion and frustration.
Without the Brotherhood, nothing was working as it was meant to.
It had been more than two years since his father had removed the Brotherhood and though there had been problems before, it was not until now, with a province to govern, that Urikh realised how much had changed.
Without the Brotherhood's calendars, sowing and harvesting crops was haphazard, and the yield was perilously low; without the Brotherhood's records, taxes were not being collected and payments not being made; without the Brotherhood's courts, wrongdoers were left to old tribal justice, with mob beatings and executions increasing at an alarming rate; without the Brotherhood's communications, goods were sitting on wharfs and in warehouses, while ships pointlessly plied the Greenwater with empty holds or slowly rotted at their berths.
Without the Brotherhood, Greater Askhor was degenerating into isolated towns and villages, breaking apart from within.
Urikh was not given to despair, but when he contemplated the task of administrating Okhar with the people he had, he was unsettled. He had rounded up every man and woman in Geria that could write and count and pressed them into service as clerks, accountants and overseers. As many of these people came from the nobility, it had taken days of wrangling and concessions to have them leave their comfortable estates to take up office. Most of them were clearly serving their own interests as much as the empire's but they were his only option at present.
Leaving the riverside docks, he kicked at loose cobbles on the road and wondered whose job it was to fix them. Maintenance of public properties had been another area dealt with by the Brotherhood.
One sight lifted his heart slightly as he moved out of the shadows of the warehouses into the square behind the harbour; a company of his legionnaires stood in solid ranks waiting for his return. His father had been blunt in his advice, and had told Urikh that no matter what else his first priority was to keep the legions equipped, fed and paid; without them, his tenuous rule was worthless.
Urikh had done just that, and for the moment the officers and soldiers of the Seventeenth seemed content enough. Everything else was falling apart around the governor, but his legion wa
s still at full strength and loyal.
The First Captain, Harrakil, was stood to one side of the troop, in animated conversation with another man. Urikh recognised him as one of the chief Gerian merchants, a man called Liitum; he waved his hands expressively and pointed hotwards while Harrakil continually shook his head in disagreement. The two of them broke off their talking at Urikh's approach.
"Why are you haranguing my First Captain, Liitum?" Urikh said. "I thought you were bound for Cosuan?"
It irked Urikh that his father had seen fit to name the new town at the mouth of the Greenwater after his dead mentor, but he had been wise enough not to argue the point. A large part of the task he faced as governor was sending men and supplies to the fledgling territory over two thousand miles to hotwards.
"I was due to leave this morning, governor," said Liitum. "Have you not heard the news?"
Urikh answered this with a hard stare.
"Three ships have been lost heading to Cosuan," the merchant explained. "Hotwards of Daasia, they were attacked."
"How do you know this?" asked Urikh.
"My nephew was one of the survivors. He arrived on a galley from Daasia last night and found me as I was readying to leave. He says that rumour has it two more ships were lost only five days earlier."
"Rumour can have all it wants, what has this to do with me? Besides, the Mekhani have no ships, so just make sure you don't put in on that stretch."
"That's the thing, governor," said Liitum. "My nephew says that the Mekhani did have ships, and they were further coldward than he's ever known."
Urikh looked at Harrakil.
"Have you heard anything about this Mekhani activity?" said the governor.
"Nothing like this," Harrakil replied. "A few accounts of bands moving out of the desert to raid the odd caravan, but they have never attacked on the river before."
"You have to give us protection," said Liitum, grabbing Urikh's sleeve.
The governor looked down at the man's hand until he slowly peeled his fingers away and mumbled an apology.
"Protection?" said Urikh. "You mean my legionnaires?"
"Yes, governor, yes," said Liitum. "Just a company on my ship would be all I need. I won't sail without them."
"If that is the case, perhaps I should give the contract to a man with more spine?"
"If you must," said Liitum. "I will happily sell you back the timber, ore and salted meat I have aboard."
Urikh looked at the merchant with narrowed eyes, trying to work out what advantage Liitum was hoping to gain. It made no sense for him to give back the goods at cost after paying for the berth and labour to load it. There was only one conclusion; Liitum was genuinely scared of sailing to Cosuan.
And if Liitum was scared – one of the greediest men Urikh had met – it would not be long before other traders and captains refused to travel hotwards. With winter coming it was vital that the settlement on the coast had enough stores to last out the season.
"Do we have any spare companies?" Urikh asked his First Captain.
"That depends on what you mean by 'spare'," said Harrakil. "I've got half the legion patrolling the border with Near-Mekha to protect against Mekhani brigands. The rest, well, they're here and spread out as garrisons along the river."
"How many?"
"Allowing for messengers and march time, I could have two thousand in Geria in ten days' time. What is it that you want to do, governor?"
"We have to make sure Cosuan is supplied for the winter," said Urikh, glancing between the two men. "It is impractical to send off a company here and there as needed, especially as there is no certainty that the Mekhani will attack again. I think we need to assemble a flotilla of ships and galleys and move everything Cosuan needs in one journey. A show of force to the Mekhani, and far easier to protect."
Harrakil nodded obediently while Liitum rubbed his chin, his expression one of calculation.
"Ten days is not a lot of time to organise such a thing," said the merchant. "And not with the docks working as poorly as they are. You could send out word to some of the ships meant to be unloading in the towns to coldwards and have them carry on here with their cargoes. Yes, it could be done, but it won't be easy and it won't be cheap."
"It will have to be done," said Urikh. "The king would never forgive us if we allowed Cosuan to fail. We will sail hotwards in ten days' time, bolster the settlers and garrison, drop off all the supplies they need for the winter, and then we can worry about the Mekhani in the spring."
Liitum and Harrakil signalled their agreement but to Urikh's annoyance, they continued to loiter, perhaps expecting further instruction.
"Why are you still here?" Urikh snapped at the two of them. He shooed them away with a flick of the hand. "We all have lots of work to do."
II
Vapour swirled, moisture dappling the marble walls and pillars. Somewhere in the haze a servant splashed more water on hot coals to send a fresh cloud of steam billowing across the sunken bath. Black hair wetly plastered across her flushed face, Luia lay with her arms along the side, panting.
The water thrashed with bubbles and Huurit surfaced, gasping for breath. Muscles taut from years of wrestling, he paddled across to lounge beside Luia. With one hand he absently caressed her breast, massaging himself with the other. Luia glanced at him a flash of annoyance and took his hand from her chest.
"I'm not finished," she said.
"I'm a man, not a fish," Huurit protested.
"Prove it," said Luia, grabbing his hair to force him back down into the water. She lifted up her legs and thrust him beneath her, trapping his head between her thighs. Huurit flailed for a moment before dragging himself free, emerging with a splash at the other side of the pool.
"Trying to drown me," he spluttered, answered by Luia's laugh. The wrestler pulled himself out of the water while Luia ran an appreciative eye over his short, wiry body.
"Do not go too far!" she called out as Huurit stalked into the steam, bare feet slapping on the tiles.
She lounged for a while longer, eyes closed, until she heard someone entering the bath room.
"Back for more?" she said.
"Hardly, mother."
Luia opened her eyes to see Urikh pacing through the vapour, a thick robe wrapped around him. He pulled off the robe and used it to make a cushion on the bench alongside the bath. He lay down, arms behind his head.
"I will be leaving Geria in ten days," he said. "I trust you can keep the city from destroying itself while I am away."
Servants came forward with towels and a robe as Luia pulled herself from the pool. She stood with arms outstretched while they dried her.
"Why this sudden departure?" she asked.
Urikh sighed and rolled over to his side, head propped up on one hand.
"Something has happened with the Mekhani," he said. "They have been attacking ships between here and Cosuan. I am assembling a fleet and taking the legion to teach them a lesson."
"Surely you have officers for that sort of thing," said Luia. A stool was put before her and she sat down, allowing one of her maids to comb her hair. "There is no need for you to leave."
"Not on the face of it, but I have to be seen to be a leader. You know, I am the only heir of the Blood who has never been a general? That sort of thing can be damaging. No, if I want to ensure the loyalty of the legions, I have to establish myself as a competent commander."
"And how will you do that, my dear? You know nothing about war. You were always bored by your father's stories, never listened to a word of them."
Urikh flopped to his back again, eyes fixed on the mosaic patterns on the ceiling.
"I learnt a thing or two from father when we took Magilnada. Besides, the whole point of going with the legion is to see how it all works, pick up a few things from Harrakil. Father chose him for me, so he must be good at what he does. I need to learn quickly."
There was an intensity in Urikh's expression that Luia knew well. It filled her with a m
ixture of pride and concern; pride because of his determination, concern that usually it heralded obsession.
"You have to be patient, dear. I know that already you are thinking up plots and schemes to become king. Do not deny it; I know you, I taught you! Do not be so hasty to replace your father. The empire is very fragile at the moment. Let your father establish his rule, and demonstrate your right to be his heir. If you do not, the Crown will be worthless when it passes to you."
"Ullsaard courts danger like a mistress," said Urikh. "I grew up half-expecting to hear of his death, and I have always known I have to be ready to take his place as head of the family. Now that he is king that is truer than ever."
