Chartomancy

Chapter Forty-four

7th day, Planting Season, Year of the Rat

10th Year of Imperial Prince Cyron’s Court

163rd Year of the Komyr Dynasty

737th year since the Cataclysm

Kunjiqui, Anturasixan

“Yes, my lord, it is magnificent.” Nirati’s eyes shone brightly as she hung on Nelesquin’s arm and stared up at the huge ship. In design, it reminded her very much of the Stormwolf, yet this ship was bigger in every dimension. The figurehead was a bear rampant, clawing the air as if, by the strength of his massive arms alone, he could drag the ship through the waves. “What will you call it?”

Nelesquin chuckled warmly. “This is the Crown Bear. I’m having my smiths create a crown of gold for the figurehead.”

She looked up, surprised. “What if it falls off?”

He turned to her and took her face in his large hands. “What if it does? Anturasixan could produce a crown for every person in the Empire-nine times over. The riches in this land know no equal-and the greatest treasure here is you, my love.”

She smiled and stood on tiptoes to kiss him. “You are too kind, my lord.”

“Only to you, Nirati.”

She smiled and looked back at the ship, secretly acknowledging the truth of his comment. Nelesquin had moved heaven and earth for his building projects. He’d required Qiro to find a slice of his continent where vast forests could be raised, then another where creatures suited to harvesting them could be created. Once that work had been done, mountains rose to create the valleys through which rivers would flow to carry the wood to the coast, and there the shipwrights could begin their work. Back in the mountains, yet other creatures burrowed, and fires burned within the mountains as smiths worked day and night-both of which passed swiftly there-fulfilling the demands of Nelesquin’s army.

Nelesquin drove everyone hard, and while he did grant them rewards for their successes, his punishments were often cruel and final. He tolerated no revolt, accepted few excuses, and seemed more content to have her grandfather create a new race that would bend to his will than retraining those who had already failed him.

Only once had she seen his darker side directed at her. Her fondness for Takwee had inspired her to set aside a portion of Anturasixan where surviving members of the races he’d destroyed could live in peace. Ever practical, Nelesquin would not destroy one group until another was ready to take their place, which gave her time to spirit a small population away.

When he discovered what she’d done, his fury had been monumental. She’d quailed and Takwee had bristled, baring her teeth. This show of defiance seemed to amuse him and broke his mood. From that point forward, he allowed Nirati her sanctuary. He referred to it as the Land of Lost Toys, and seemed further amused by what these creatures did when left to their own devices.

Fortunately, he did not have much time to observe them. “The Crown Bear will be magnificent, and I cannot wait to be on the ocean again. I used to love it so. Wind in the face, spray washing the deck. I was quite the mariner in my youth, but then other interests and politics drew me home to Erumvirine.”

He smiled, but his eyes focused differently. “Before the Turasynd ever threatened the Empire, the Dark Sea pirates bedeviled us. A great deal of trade came through Ixyll to Dolosan ports and across the Dark Sea to the Empire. The pirates preyed on all of it. The Emperor tasked me, among others, to crush the pirates. Fight them we did, and ended their scourge. I was part of the conquest of Dreonath.”

Nirati shook her head. “I know nothing of that, my lord.”

“No?” Nelesquin drew her down with him to sit on the grasses in the Crown Bear’s shadow. “I can barely believe subsequent events have eclipsed what was the greatest naval campaign ever waged. The pirates had gathered under one leader, a Viruk named Dosaarch. Outlaws all, and renegades against Imperial authority, they fought us tooth, claw, and blade.

“We chased them from the sea to Dreonath. The Viruk claimed a ruined fortress, saying it had once been a family holding. I don’t know the truth of that or not, but it was an evil place-a fell warren full of traps and sorceries that killed many a valiant man and hero alike.”

His face tightened as he spoke. “In that campaign, your Cataclysm was born-and had I known what would have resulted in years hence, I would have counseled my father to show mercy to the pirates. Whatever they could take in raids would be a small price to pay for the preservation of his Empire.”

Nirati caressed his cheek. “You could not have known the future, beloved.”

“Perhaps not, for men’s hearts can be as black as Gol’dun and we have no way of knowing.” He glanced down and snorted a laugh, rocking back slightly. “Back then, I was young and had many a companion I counted as good friends-men I would trust with my life; and not just men. As we went into Dreonath, a Viruk named Rekarafi was at my right hand, and Virisken Soshir was at my left. A few of those who would join me in the vanyesh were there as well. Some meant to win glory, but for many others the glory was in serving.”

She smiled despite recognizing the name of the Viruk who had attacked her brother, and kissed Nelesquin’s shoulder. “Serving with you should have been glory enough for any.”

“You’re right, of course, but many could not see the wisdom in that.” He frowned for a moment. “Back then, the provinces you now call the Nine were just provinces. You didn’t think of yourself as Naleni or Morythian; you were just of the Empire. You might owe your allegiance to a Naleni noble, but that was just a geographical descriptor, not any sense of nationality. In fact, generals and administrators often bore a title from one place, but served in another, which made it difficult for anyone to gather enough power to rival the Emperor.”

He smiled at remembering. “My father had two types of wives-just like the Emperors before him. Wives of blood were the daughters of nobles whom he married in formal ceremonies. Their children would be princes and princesses, and he could designate any of them to be his heirs. I was third from the throne when I went to fight pirates, and I shall admit I had hopes of moving up were we successful.

“His other wives were wives of pleasure. They, too, might be the daughters of nobles, but more often were highly trained courtesans who were gifted to the Emperor to curry favor. Their children, if there were any, were bastards who drew titles from their mothers, or earned them through merit. Despite their illegitimacy, however, they were treated equally at court with the rest of us, and many were the schools that vied to have them join up for training.”

Nelesquin’s smile split his black beard. “We had adventures in the Empire, but facing the pirates, that was to be the grandest of all. And so off we went, getting our feet wet with water and blood. While our fleet landed an army in the north, I took three companies in from the east. Rekarafi knew a way into the pirate stronghold and while their eyes were on the roads from the north, we attacked. We chased them down through that warren and I harvested Dosaarch’s head myself. I presented it to my father and he made me Crown Prince.”

“A position you certainly deserved, Highness.”

Nelesquin took her right hand in his and kissed her palm. “You flatter me, for you do not know how much I’ve lied in this recital.”

“I think you were far too modest.” She smiled. “If you were Crown Prince, why did your father not send you out to deal with the Turasynd threat?”

“There were many reasons, complicated reasons.” Nelesquin sighed. “My father was very good at paying attention to details-more suited to the bureaucracy than leading the country. The pirates threatened how smoothly his Empire ran; they did not threaten the Empire. The Turasynd did both, and while my father scrambled to keep the Empire running, he didn’t have enough perspective to see how to deal with the threat.

“And then there was politics to contend with.” His voice shrank. “I shall not deceive you, Nirati; I played at politics. My position was not assured, so I took steps to solidify it. My friend, Virisken Soshir, was rewarded with the leadership of my father’s bodyguard. I courted other factions and became initiated in the ways of the vanyesh. This frightened some nobles, and they conspired to turn my father against me. When he most needed my counsel, I was not permitted to see him. He made no decision when one was sorely needed. He dithered and Cyrsa, one of his pleasure wives, murdered him and usurped his throne.”

“Then she sundered the empire and headed off into the wilderness to face the Turasynd.”

“Exactly.” Nelesquin’s lips pressed tightly together, then he looked away. A tear glistened on his left cheek. “I joined her, bringing all those who felt loyalty to me. She’d humored me by making me Prince of Erumvirine. She mocked me. She gave me and the vanyesh an impossible task, then betrayed us, and we were defeated. And we had to be, since her usurpation would never have withstood my return.”

“You sought the best for the Empire, my love.” Nirati reached up and brushed the tear away with a finger. She brought that finger to her mouth and tasted the tear. “I know that you do what is best now as well.”

“There are wrongs that must be made right. I have waited a long time for that.”

She listened to him, but only distantly. While he spoke sweetly, she tasted bitterness in his tear and knew he had not told her everything. She did not imagine he was lying to her. While she had no doubt he was capable of deception, she also knew he would not willingly deceive her.

By the same token, what he had told her did not easily reconcile with the stories she’d grown up hearing. The vanyesh were evil and, therefore, their leader must have been evil. Empress Cyrsa was a heroine for saving the Empire. While she was willing to accept that there might be more than one point of view, and that those who survived the Cataclysm had a vested interest in casting the status quo as legitimate, it seemed that truth lay closer to what she had learned as a child.

She had no difficulty in imagining a prince choosing to patronize those bards who sang tales that vilified Nelesquin. If Nelesquin were correct, had he returned, their claim to power would have evaporated. Just as what her grandfather drew on maps determined how the world was seen, couldn’t history likewise be shaped?

Her brothers had enjoyed the tales of Amenis Dukao, one of the soldiers who had ventured to the west with the Empress. The stories of his adventures had been labeled as fiction, though many of the observations in them, especially about the Wastes, were deemed accurate by those who had traveled to such places. What if the stories were true, and just deemed fiction to render them impotent?

And what if I choose not to remember dying so I can rob death of its potency? A shiver shook her. Kunjiqui had always been her paradise, a perfect place conjured of dreams that had been a sanctuary when she was a girl. Her grandfather had somehow made it real to provide her a retreat from something horrible in life. And after my death have I accepted this place as a heaven to which I am entitled?

Nelesquin reached out and gently took her chin in his hand. “What is it, beloved? You shivered.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Tell me.”

She looked up into his eyes and saw them brimming with compassion. “I have died, and I cannot remember why or how.”

He nodded slowly. “I have died as well, and I do recall the circumstances. Be comforted that you do not.”

“Yes, my lord.”

He lifted her chin. “I have been remiss. There is a task I’ve meant to perform, but I have neglected it. I beg of you forgiveness and permission to act.”

Nirati frowned, puzzled. “To do what, my lord?”

“To do for you what I have been doing for myself.” He gestured with his left hand, closed it, then opened his fist. A beautiful green butterfly with wings edged in black flapped peacefully there.

Nirati smiled. “Oh, my lord, it’s lovely.”

“And it shall serve you well.” He raised it to his mouth, whispered something she could not hear, then launched it skyward. The insect fluttered about for a moment, then began a lazy, meandering flight toward the north.

“What is it doing?”

“I have been devoting myself to righting the wrong that destroyed the Empire. Now I’ve just set about righting the wrong of your death.” He bent his head and kissed her. With his lips brushing hers, he added, “The person who killed you will soon find himself dead.”

Nirati kissed him back, softly and fleetingly. The idea of violence being done in her name bothered her, but slaying the person who killed her did seem just. “It will be quick?”

“From one perspective, yes.” Nelesquin pulled back and smiled. “From his, probably not.”

She considered for a moment, then nodded. “Thank you, my lord.”

“It is my pleasure.” He stood and pulled her to her feet. “Come, my love, I shall show you the grand cabin we shall share as we sail north. This ship shall take us home and allow me to reclaim the throne that has long been meant to be mine.”