The boy could barely get the words out through the wheezing and coughing. The anger in him seemed to make the affliction worse than usual, as if Archigos Kenne’s prayers had done nothing at all.
Sergei forced his features to close, to reveal nothing of what he was thinking. Let the boy have his tantrum. But the words made him worry: this didn’t seem to be Audric talking; he was hearing someone else’s words. Who had been speaking to the boy? Whose advice was being whispered in his ear for him to spout? One of the chevarittai, perhaps, looking for glory in war. Perhaps Sigourney herself, since her brother was commandant there.
Audric was staring past Sergei’s shoulder; he glanced back to the grim portrait of Kraljica Marguerite over the hearth. “I thought I had made my thoughts on this clear to you, Kraljiki,” he said, his voice carefully neutral, carefully bland. “I don’t think that’s wise, not with the size of the army the Coalition could raise if they decided to do so. This war in the Hellins is like a seeping wound; it cripples us and takes our attention away from where it should be: east, not west. We should be looking at what we can do to restore the Holdings.”
The boy’s gaze flicked from the portrait to Sergei and back again. “The Hellins provide us riches and goods that we can’t find elsewhere.” “riches… and goods… [cough]… that… we can’t… find elsewhere.”
“Indeed they do, Kraljiki, but we could obtain those goods by trade with the Westlanders as easily as by war. Easier, in fact. Once the Holdings are unified again, then will be the time to look across the Strettosei to the Hellins once more. We have lost too much ground there, because we can’t give the territory the attention we should.”
Audric’s face was flushed, either from the effort of speaking or from anger, or both. “That’s not what my vatarh said when the Troubles started, Regent. Do you think that because I was just a child then that I wouldn’t remember?” “… just a… child… then… [wheeze]… that I… wouldn’t… remem… ber?”
The mask of his face showed nothing. “When the Troubles started, Kraljiki Justi believed he had no choice but to respond. He believed what the a’offiziers told him, that the Westlanders were little more than savages, that they would soon be pushed back past Lake Malik. But I’d remind you that I didn’t share that belief. The news continues to worsen despite the best efforts of Commandant ca’Sibelli. We have misjudged the Westlanders, and it’s time to save what we can from a poor decision.”
“My vatarh did not make a poor decision!” The boy shrilled the words, managing to get them all out in one breath. He coughed then, long and deeply, and Sergei waited. “I want another division sent,” Audric persisted. “That is my will. That is your Kraljiki’s will.”
“You are the Kraljiki,” Sergei told him. He kept his voice low and soothing against the strident, high screeching of Audric. “But the Council of Ca’ named me Regent on your vatarh’s death until you reach your majority.”
“I’m nearly of age,” Audric answered. His face was so pale that Sergei thought the boy might faint. “Less than two years now. I could petition the Council to have you removed, to be permitted to govern fully. They’ve done that in the past. Maister ci’Blaylock told me: Kraljiki Carin dismissed his Regent at fourteen, the same age I am.”
Sergei lifted his hand. Gently. Smiling under his silver nose. “Yes, that’s been done. But you and I needn’t be at odds here, my Kraljiki.”
“Then don’t defy me, Regent. I will go to the Council. I will. I will have you removed.” The boy gesticulated wildly, and that sent him into another paroxysm of coughing.
“Audric…” Sergei responded patiently while the young man fell back on his pillow. Marlon, lurking in the rear corner of the room, was staring wide-eyed at Sergei, shaking his head. “Perhaps I’ve been remiss in not engaging you fully, in not having you take part in all the briefing and discussions. That can be changed; it will be changed. I promise you; if you wish to take part in all discussions of state, to read all the reports, to listen to all the councillors, to really see what it means to govern, then I will accommodate that. But the Hellins…” He shook his head. “It’s been almost seven years now, Audric. Seven years and the Westlanders have taken back most of what we’d originally gained there. Seven years, and we’ve lost far too many gardai and squandered far too many gold solas and red blood trying to hold back the tide. At the end of the day, I want what you want. I want the Holdings to have the riches of the Westlands. I do. But this isn’t the time. And this isn’t the time for us to discuss this. Tomorrow, when you’re feeling better…”
“Then get out! ” Audric shouted at him, loudly enough that the hall attendant opened the door slightly to peer in. Sergei shook his head at the man. “Get out and leave me alone.” He turned his head, coughing into his pillow.
“As you wish, Kraljiki.” Sergei bowed to the young man. As he turned to leave, he saw the Kraljica’s portrait once more. She seemed to smile sadly at him, as if she understood.
Allesandra ca’Vorl
The ceremony at Brezno Temple was excruciatingly long, as was Fynn’s speech of welcome to the A’Gyula of West Magyaria: Pauli, her husband. Allesandra’s face ached from maintaining a smile throughout Fynn’s droning greetings-written, undoubtedly, by one of the palais scribes, since Fynn sometimes peered quizzically at the parchment in front of him as he stumbled over unfamiliar words. Her spine ached from the uncomfortable, straight- backed pews of the Temple. Jan, sitting between Allesandra and his vatarh, fidgeted endlessly, enough that Pauli finally leaned over to the young man and whispered something in his ear. Afterward, Jan stopped his restless shifting in the seat, but the scowl on his face was noticeable even as Allesandra and Pauli proceeded from the temple behind Fynn, Archigos Semini, and his harridan wife, with the ca’-and-cu’ of Firenzcia following them like an obedient flock of sheep.
Then came the fete at the Grand Palais of Brezno. Now it was her feet that ached, and Allesandra imagined that the whalebone stays of her fashionably-cinched tashta were going to leave permanent furrows in her waist. The ballroom was a furnace on the stifling and humid evening, more like mid-Summer than the Spring the calendar insisted it was. The Archigos had stationed e’teni around the room to keep the ceiling fans a-swirl with the energy of the Ilmodo. The movement of the fan blades seemed to intensify rather than diminish the heat, churning the air into a fetid cologne of sweat, pomades, and perfumes. The night was raucous with the music of the orchestra at the far end of the room, the sound of feet dancing on the wooden floor laid down over the tiles, and a hundred separate conversations, all reflected back at them by the dome overhead.
Allesandra wished fervently to be elsewhere, but if the discomforts bothered Pauli, he hadn’t allowed it to show. He had separated from Allesandra as soon as propriety allowed, as he always did, and was standing in a cluster of young women around Fynn. Jan was there also, at his vatarh’s side, and Allesandra noted that he was receiving nearly as much attention as the Hirzg, and certainly more than Pauli. Fynn was regaling everyone with the tale of the stag hunt, his arm cocked back as if he were sighting down a bow as he laughed, slapping Jan on the back. “… the boy is nearly as good a shot as me,” she heard Fynn say, and Jan’s face was alight with a broad grin as the young women applauded and made the appropriate compliments.
Of course, it would be Pauli who would almost certainly find comfort and release between the thighs of one of them tonight. Allesandra was certain of that; her husband no longer bothered to hide his transgressions from her. She told herself that she didn’t care.
“A’Hirzg, are you enjoying yourself?” She turned to see Archigos Semini ca’Cellibrecca standing behind her with two iced drinks in his hand-Fynn had, at great expense, brought wagonloads of glacial ice from the mountains around Lake Firenz. He proffered one to Allesandra. “Please, take it,” he said. “Francesca seems to have vanished and the ice will be gone soon in this heat.”
Allesandra took the water-beaded glass gratefully. She sipped at the cold drink, relishing the chill as the honey-sweetened juice slipped down her throat. “Thank you, Archigos. I think you may have just saved my life.”
He smiled broadly at that, his beard glistening with oil. “Would you care to walk with me, A’Hirzg? I suspect there’s a bit of a breeze over near the windows.”
She glanced at the gaggle around Fynn, at her husband and son there with him. “Certainly,” she told him. The Archigos offered his arm, and she put her hand in the crook of his elbow as they walked. He said nothing until they were well away from the Hirzg, then leaned close to her. “Your husband enjoys the attention he receives as A’Gyula. But he’s a fool to leave you unattended.” His free hand covered hers on his arm.
