Wrath of Empire

Chapter 23

Michel wasn’t able to see Yaret until the day after he spotted Forgula meeting with Marhoush. Michel expected to return to the capitol building, where he’d meet with Yaret in one of the enormous offices upstairs. Instead, Tenik led him to a street a few blocks over from the capitol building, where a row of townhouse mansions lay within an easy walk of the engine of government.

The street was full and lively, packed with Dynize dressed in military uniforms and civilian clothing, and it quickly became apparent that the Dynize elite had simply moved into the homes formerly owned by their Fatrastan counterparts.

The Yaret Household was headquartered in one of the smaller townhouses at the far end of the street. It was a strange sight: Soldiers flanked the front doorway, while a pair of redheaded children played in the narrow garden out front and restless teenagers loitered on the sidewalk. Tenik scattered the teens with a sharp word and led Michel past the soldiers to the front hall, where Michel found a bustling household.

“Household,” it turned out, was an apt word for Yaret’s power base. Dynize of all ages filled the halls and rooms. Michel, with his limited Dynize vocabulary, overheard conversations involving political strategy, economic speculation, war projections, and plenty of gossip as he was led down the halls and up to a door on the second floor.

“Is this Yaret’s family?” Michel asked in a low voice as Tenik rapped on the door.

They both looked back down the hall at a pair of thirty-somethings sharing a cigarette and openly lambasting a rival family whose name Michel hadn’t caught. “Yaret’s Household,” Tenik corrected. “Family has importance in our culture, but Household comes first. Everyone in this building is loyal to Yaret through blood, action, or political ties.”

“How big is the Household?”

“Here? A few hundred, if you don’t include active soldiers.”

“And back in Dynize?”

“Tens of thousands.”

Michel let out a low whistle and wondered if every other house on this street had the same flurry of activity. He couldn’t voice the question before he heard a muffled sound from inside the room and Tenik swung the door open.

Yaret’s office seemed to be the only room in the house with a single occupant. It was a large room constructed in the current Fatrastan fashion with deep, built-in bookshelves, a wide window, and an immense desk. The window was open to allow a southerly breeze and the desk had been shoved to one side and replaced in the center of the room with a pair of lounging couches.

Yaret stood in front of one of the bookshelves. He spared Michel a glance, then removed a book from the shelf and flipped through it for a moment before tossing it on a large pile in the corner. “I’m amazed at the rubbish you people stack on your shelves just to look intelligent,” he commented. “There are histories, encyclopedias, medical texts, sex manuals. Very few of these books have ever been cracked, let alone studied.”

“You should see my mother’s house,” Michel said offhand. He immediately bit his tongue, wishing he hadn’t said that. Admitting to a living mother was a piece of information that enemies could use against him.

Yaret raised an eyebrow. “She likes books?”

“Loves them, sir.” Michel cleared his throat. “Mostly penny novels. She likes adventures.”

“Does she read them?”

“Every single one. Many times.”

“Then she chooses better books than the fool who owned this library.” Yaret tossed another book on the pile. “I don’t keep books unless I intend on reading them. Seems like a waste of money, space, and resources.” He gestured at Tenik. “You’re welcome to look through those and see if there’s anything you want for the Household library back home.”

“Thank you,” Tenik said with a nod. He seemed pleased with the allowance, and Michel wondered if such an act was a special privilege. At this point, he understood just enough about Household dynamics to know how little he actually grasped.

Yaret discarded one more book and walked to one of the couches. He lay down, propping his head up with one arm, and examined Michel with a sort of idle curiosity that nearly made him squirm. After a few moments Yaret said, “I understand you have information for me. Have you found the Gold Rose?”

Michel cleared his throat, trying to collect the proper words to explain a week of watching a building with nothing to show for it. He decided to tell it straight. “We’ve been following a man named Marhoush for a week,” he reported. “Marhoush is the second-in-command to a Gold Rose named Val je Tura, who I believe has remained in the city.”

“And you hoped Marhoush would lead you to this Tura?”

“Je Tura,” Michel corrected the vernacular gently. “Yes, that is what we hoped.”

“And has it?”

“It hasn’t,” Michel answered.

Yaret’s eyes flicked to Tenik with a clear unspoken question. Michel took that as his cue to forge ahead before Yaret could make assumptions about complete failure.

Michel said, “Marhoush didn’t lead us to je Tura, but he did lead us to someone equally intriguing.”

“Intriguing or useful?” Yaret asked, using the Adran word for both.

“ ‘Intriguing’ is the best term,” Tenik said, stepping in. “But I think it could be useful.”

“Well?” Yaret asked Michel.

Michel hesitated. In the Blackhats, he would have done his due diligence before such a meeting. He would have found out Forgula’s friends and enemies, whom she was useful to, and why. He would have known ahead of time whether her meeting with an enemy of the state was a surprise, a given, or something else. In short, he’d have a pretty good idea how Yaret would react to the news and whether it needed to be sugarcoated or spun. But Dynize politics was still an unknown, as was Yaret himself.

“We saw Marhoush meeting with Forgula,” Michel said. “We weren’t close enough to overhear the conversation, and Tenik didn’t think we should bring them in for questioning.”

Yaret glanced at Tenik, who gave a small nod. “Well.” Yaret tapped his chin. “One of Sedial’s cupbearers meeting with an enemy of the state. That is intriguing.” Yaret paused to sweep his eyes across the half-empty bookshelf on the other side of the room. “You were right not to bring them in. What do you make of this, Michel?”

Michel was surprised to be asked. This was no longer his territory. He simply didn’t know enough about the Dynize to create an informed opinion. But that wouldn’t keep him from trying. “I’m not certain,” he began. “It’s possible that Ka-Sedial has turned Marhoush and that Forgula is the intermediary. It’s also possible that je Tura is negotiating some kind of deal – again with Forgula as the intermediary.”

“Or …?” Yaret asked. The question was a single word, but it held, at least in Michel’s mind, a world full of menace.

How, he wondered, did the Dynize react to accusations of treason among their own people? “Or,” he finally said, “Forgula has been turned by the Blackhats.”

“Forgula is Sedial’s creature through and through,” Tenik said quietly. “I don’t think she would betray either him or the emperor.”

“I agree,” Yaret said, sitting up and leaning toward Michel. “But it’s also a possibility that we can’t entirely eliminate.”

Michel found himself nodding along.

Yaret continued. “Ka-Sedial’s Household is not supposed to concern themselves with spies and enemy agents. Sedial oversees the military and the temporary government on the emperor’s behalf. I do not –”

Yaret was cut off by a rap on the door. He nodded to Tenik, who opened it to reveal one of the youths Michel had noticed loitering in the hall earlier. “Pardon, Minister,” the girl said, “but Ka-Sedial is here to see you.”

“Now?” Yaret asked with some surprise.

“He is at the door, sir.”

“Send him in.” As soon as the door closed, Yaret stood and straightened his pants and jacket, rolling his eyes. “Do you have demons in any of the Kressian religions?” he asked.

“We do,” Michel answered curiously. “Uh, should we go, sir?”

“There’s an old saying in Dynize: Speak a demon’s name and he will appear. No, I’d like you to remain.” Yaret cleared his throat and clasped his hands behind his back, smiling at the door. Tenik took Michel by the arm and pulled him to one side just as the door opened.

Michel had heard more than a few things about Ka-Sedial’s singular meeting with Lindet just before the invasion began. Sedial was rumored to be an old man, but Michel had not expected him to be in his late seventies, wearing a teal cloak over a comfortable-looking maroon tunic. Sedial walked with a cane, though it was not clear if he actually needed it, and he had a grandfatherly but slightly hawkish face, with sharp eyes and smile lines in the corners of his mouth.

If Ka-Sedial noticed Michel and Tenik standing to the side, he did not give any indication. “My friend,” he said warmly to Yaret, taking Yaret’s offered hand in both of his.

“Good afternoon, Sedial,” Yaret said in a gentle tone. “I didn’t expect your visit. I apologize for the mess.”

“Oh, no need. I’ve been cleaning the bookshelves in my own new home. So much Kressian and Fatrastan rubbish. It’s a pity they wasted so much paper!”

The two men shared a laugh as if they were old friends. Michel watched the sides of their faces carefully, and despite the warmth of their conversation he thought he spotted a glint in the eyes of each man.

“My friend,” Sedial said, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye, “I was just passing by, but the truth is that a grave matter has been weighing on me for several days.”

Yaret spread his arms. “If there’s anything I can do …”

“There is.” Ka-Sedial’s face hardened. The change was almost immediate, like an actor switching masks in the middle of a street performance. The grandfatherly look was gone, replaced by severity chiseled out of marble. “I want the Gold Rose.”

Michel couldn’t help but frown. He wasn’t certain how much communication went on between the Dynize ministers and their Households, but it made sense that Ka-Sedial would know about Yaret’s quest for Lindet’s spies. Did he really micromanage this badly, or was there something more sinister going on?

Michel saw Yaret’s body tense slightly, but Yaret continued as if he had not noticed the change in Ka-Sedial’s expression. “We’re making progress on our search,” he said assuringly. “We believe we’re looking for a man named Val je Tura. Unless …” He paused. “If you’re looking for the item we used to open the third floor of the Blackhat archives, I believe the minister of artifacts has it now.”

“I’m not interested in the artifact,” Ka-Sedial said, “nor this supposed je Tura. I want your pet Blackhat. The one who gave you the Rose.”

Michel heard his own sharp intake of breath and fought to suppress the sudden hammering of his heart. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tenik glance at him with concern, while Yaret and Sedial ignored the noise as if he were a piece of furniture. Michel barely trusted himself to breathe, waiting for the moment Yaret pointed in his direction and ordered Sedial’s bodyguards to haul Michel off. Michel did not know much about Sedial, but Taniel’s warnings about the bone-eyes still echoed in his mind. And he still had the bruises from Forgula’s beating.

“Whatever for?” Yaret asked curiously.

“Because he’s a spy,” Ka-Sedial replied, as if that were all the reason in the world.

“Yes, I’m aware he’s a spy. That’s why he’s valuable.”

“He’s still a spy.”

“Ah.” Yaret seemed to consider this as if it were new information. “I think I see where the confusion is. You believe he’s still working for the enemy?”

Ka-Sedial gave the cold smile of someone who knew that Yaret was acting a fool but could not think of a way to politely break the facade. “I believe that is the case, yes. Some of my Household are concerned that you’ve given him too much trust too quickly.”

“Oh? I had no idea that the way I run my Household was under scrutiny.”

“I –”

Yaret continued before Ka-Sedial could interject. “If my Household is under imperial review, I would like to know immediately. If it is not, I would like to know why your underlings are watching me. The amount of trust I put in someone I’ve welcomed into my Household is entirely up to me.” Yaret’s voice continued in a gentle manner, but there was a new bite to his words.

“You’re not under imperial review,” Ka-Sedial reassured him.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“But I’d like you to consider handing over the Gold Rose for questioning.”

“He gave us entry to the Blackhat library.”

“True. But we have no idea what other secrets his head may hold.”

Michel felt his hackles rise while the two discussed him. He wondered whether Ka-Sedial knew that the man they were discussing was literally in the room. Sedial had given no indication. The thought concerned Michel, and he wondered if Yaret had known this conversation was coming – and if so, why Yaret wished him to stay in the room for it.

Yaret’s genteel facade finally broke. “I will not hand over a member of my Household to be tortured.”

“He’s hardly a member of your Household already,” Ka-Sedial scoffed.

“He is,” Yaret insisted. “He proved his usefulness when he gave us the Millinery library. He is one of dozens of Blackhats that my people have managed to turn over the last month. Not only is he already the most valuable of those, but he has given me no reason to suspect that he’s a double agent. He’s actively working with my people to hunt down his former companions.”

“And you truly trust him?”

“ ‘Truly’? Trust is a sliding scale, Sedial. He has begun the journey of earning my trust in good faith. I will not break that faith.”

Ka-Sedial’s hardened expression took on an air of annoyance. He was clearly a man used to being given what he asked for. For his own part, Michel was shocked that he hadn’t been handed over already. “He need not be tortured,” Sedial said.

“I won’t give him to the bone-eyes, either,” Yaret said.

Michel tried not to panic at the idea. Ka-Sedial said, “You could oversee the questioning. All we have to do is make sure he’s spilled all his secrets. If he has, he can return to your Household. No harm done.”

“You and I have very different definitions of ‘harm,’ ” Yaret said quietly. “But I think you already knew that.”

Ka-Sedial watched Yaret for several moments. His face was still merely stern, but his eyes spoke of a bottled fury. “Don’t let our past disagreements cloud your judgment, my friend.”

“And don’t let your reliance on your sorcery cloud yours,” Yaret retorted. He spread his arms. “You control the military and the government. If you try to manage even more, you will run yourself into an early grave. None of us wants that, so I suggest you leave the espionage to me.”

Ka-Sedial snorted. “Think on my request,” he said before turning toward the door. He paused halfway through his turn, eyes locking on Michel and Tenik as if noticing their presence for the first time. He gave a slight frown and opened the door. Before he could go, Michel spotted a figure standing down the hallway – a striking young woman wearing Privileged’s gloves. She was obviously waiting for Ka-Sedial, greeting him with a nod as he emerged. For some reason her presence seemed to drive the danger of this situation home to Michel; the realization that he could be destroyed by two different sorceries or any number of mundane ways made everything just a little more terrifying.

The door closed and Michel found himself alone with Yaret and Tenik again. He glanced between the two of them, his throat dry. No one spoke.

After nearly a minute, Michel cleared his throat. “Thank you,” he said.

Yaret looked up from his own deep thoughts. “Hmm?”

“Thank you for not turning me over to them. I have no desire to be tortured, or subjected to sorcery.”

“Ah, yes.” Yaret waved off the thanks. “You are a member of my Household, no matter how early or tenuous. If I make a precedent of handing my people over to a rival Household, it will make it clear to everyone that I am no longer fit to be a Minister.”

Michel waited for an ominous follow-up. Something like, Don’t make me regret this decision, or Betray me and I will kill you myself. It never came. Instead, Yaret frowned at the door for a few more moments before saying, “Do you know why I asked you to remain in the room?”

“You wanted to show me that you protect the people who work for you?”

Yaret gave a genuine chuckle. “Nothing so serious, though I do make a point of doing so … No, I did it to annoy Sedial. He’s a prick, Michel, and I don’t really give a shit who knows it.”

A long, awkward silence filled the room. Michel had the sudden realization that he’d just backed the underdog in a struggle he hadn’t known was going on. Yaret might have resources, but Sedial was in charge. This … couldn’t be good. “I think he’s up to something, sir.”

“Sedial is always up to something.”

Michel tried to piece together the fragments he had gleaned from his week with Tenik. “His underlings are meeting with a Silver Rose in secret. They tried to intercept me when I defected. I … sir, I know it’s not my place to say it, but if spying and counterespionage is your purview, Sedial is definitely making a play for your power.”

Yaret and Tenik shared a long look, and Yaret gave a sigh. “You’re not saying anything I don’t already know.”

“Doesn’t he have enough power?” Tenik asked. “He is emperor in all but name.”

“It is not quite that bad,” Yaret said with a gentle rebuke. He turned to Michel with an apologetic smile. “I realize you are getting a very swift – and possibly dangerous – introduction to our world. If you would like to remain with my Household but avoid the current scheming, I can send you back to Dynize.”

Michel was surprised at the offer. He’d never had a superior extend an offer of safety before – every day was always about what Michel could do to further the cause, no matter the danger. Yaret seemed to have a different respect for human life than Michel was used to. Funny enough, safety in Dynize would destroy Michel’s plans completely. “I believe I can handle it, sir. I promised to be useful in exchange for hostages. I’m not going to give that up.”

“Good,” Yaret said, giving Michel a tight smile. “Unfortunately, there are too many tasks and too few people to do them. I don’t mind telling you that I need someone with your skills right now.”

“Tell me how I can help,” Michel said. The farther I climb, the better chance I have of getting access to your records, he added to himself silently.

“I need you to keep looking for this je Tura, but I also want to know why Forgula is meeting with the Blackhats. Tenik will give you whatever assistance we can spare, including men to follow the Silver Rose.”

“I’ll get right on it, sir,” Michel promised. He waited for a nod of dismissal, then headed toward the door. He stopped with one hand on the knob, turning back. “Sir, I don’t mean to question fortune, but this seems … important. Why do you trust me with this already?”

Yaret chewed on the inside of his cheek, once again looking at the bookshelf he’d been in the midst of cleaning out. “Like I said, there are too few people to do too many tasks.”

Tenik took Michel by the elbow and pulled him out into the hall, which had emptied since Sedial’s departure. Michel scowled at the door as it closed, wondering what he’d gotten himself into.

“He’s trusting you,” Tenik said quietly, “because he knows having a high-ranking foreigner in his Household will annoy the pit out of Ka-Sedial.”

Michel swallowed. He liked Yaret, but something about his relationship with Sedial was personal. He knew enough about Households to realize that if Sedial decided to destroy Yaret, Michel would go down with him. It was not a pleasant thought – and more reason to find Taniel’s informant and extract her as quickly as possible.

“Where do you want to start?” Tenik asked him.

Michel thought for a moment. “I’m going to give you a list of Blackhat safe houses. I want them all watched – and I want Marhoush followed. In the meantime, I need to get closer to Forgula.”

“How?”

“I’m not sure. Do the Dynize have social entertainment?”

Tenik raised an eyebrow.

“Something like boxing or horse races – a place where Households can intermix?”

“We have … well, the best translation is war games. Very popular among all castes.”

“And Forgula?”

“She supports one of the players.”

“Can you take me to one of these games? I don’t need to meet her – I just want to observe her.”

“Is tomorrow soon enough?”

Michel took a deep breath. He didn’t need to just climb the ranks of Yaret’s Household. He needed to enter Dynize society. Anything that let him mix with more people would give him a better shot at finding Taniel’s informant. “I’m looking forward to it.”