he knew she’d pretended before with the other mistresses he’d taken. They kissed each other again, and Brie tucked his rain cloak around him as she might have for one of the children. “You must be careful,” she told him. “Come back to me a victor.”
“I will,” he told her. “Firenzcia always does.”
He embraced her again for a moment, inhaling the scent of her hair and remembering, instead, the smell of Elissa. Then he released her, and Paulus lifted back the painted flap of the tent, and he went out into the rain, pulling his hood over his head.
Starkkapitan ca’Damont and the a’offiziers stiffened to attention and saluted as he emerged, and he saluted them in return. Sergei ca’Rudka was there as well, dry in a carriage. “It’s time,” Jan said simply, and ca’Damont and the offiziers saluted again, and ca’Damont barked orders at them as they scattered off to ready their divisions. Jan strode through the muck to Sergei’s carriage. In the shadows of the vehicle, Jan could see the gleam of Sergei’s nose. “Ambassador?” Jan said. “You have what you need?”
In the dimness, Sergei’s hand touched his diplomatic pouch. “I do, Hirzg. Your matarh will be pleased to see this.”
“I suspect she’ll be more pleased to see the army of Firenzcia,” Jan said. “You’re certain you don’t want to travel with the army?”
Sergei shook his head. “I need to return to Nessantico as soon as I can,” he said, “if only to let her know that help is coming. I can travel much faster this way. I’ll see you there.”
Jan nodded, and gestured to the driver. “May Cenzi speed your path,” he said. “And may this rain stop before the rivers rise.”
Sergei was about to respond, but they heard a voice hailing the Hirzg. Jan turned-Archigos Karrol’s carriage had arrived. The Archigos was helped down by his teni attendants, holding a large umbrella over him. Despite that, Jan could see the gold-threaded hem of the Archigos’ robe was spattered with mud, and the man seemed out of breath. “My Hirzg,” the Archigos called out, waving toward Jan.
“The Archigos seems upset,” Sergei said. He’d poked his head out from the carriage window. Rain plastered the few strands of his gray hair to his skull and bounced from his nose. “I wonder…”
“You wonder what?” Jan asked, but the the Archigos reached them before Sergei answered.
“My Hirzg,” Archigos Karrol said again, giving the sign of Cenzi. “I’m glad that I found you. I…” He stopped, glancing at the carriage and seeing Sergei. He scowled.
“Go on, Archigos,” Jan told him. “If you’ve something to say, I’m certain the Ambassador should hear it as well.”
“Hirzg… I…” The man paused as if to catch his breath. His eternally bowed head strained to look Jan in the eyes. “I had ordered the war-teni to meet with me this morning, to give them a final blessing and my orders, but…” He stopped, let his head drop again. The rain beat a quick rhythm on the umbrella above him.
“But…” Jan prompted, but he already knew. He glanced at Sergei, who had withdrawn back into the shelter of the carriage.
“Most of them… They’re gone, my Hirzg. The ones who stayed told me that a message came during the night, that most of them left the camp afterward. The note…”
“Was from Nico Morel,” Jan finished for him. He spat. “Cenzi’s balls.”
The profanity brought Karrol’s head up again. Rheumy eyes looked at Jan reproachfully. “Yes, my Hirzg,” Karrol said. “The note was from Morel. The man had the audacity to order the war-teni to stand down, as if he were the Archigos. I tell you, Hirzg, once we find these traitors, I will punish them to limits of the Divolonte. They will never again listen to a heretic.”
“And in the meantime?” Jan asked him. “What is my army to do for war-teni?”
“There are still two hands of them, Hirzg.”
“Two hands of ten. How impressive. Two hands obey you, and eight hands obey Morel. Perhaps Morel should be the Archigos. He seems to have more influence than you.”
Archigos Karrol blinked. “I’m confident that the others will soon see the error of their ways. Cenzi will punish them, will make them unable to perform their spells, will haunt their dreams. They will come back, repentant. I’m confident of that.”
“I’m so pleased to hear of your confidence,” Jan replied flatly. He heard Sergei chuckle softly in his carriage.
“What will bring them back is Nico Morel’s death,” Sergei commented. “If we kill Morel, we end whatever authority he has.”
“Or we make him a martyr,” Archigos Karrol retorted, but Sergei answered quickly.
“No. Nico Morel says that Cenzi is leading him, that Cenzi protects him, that he is the voice of Cenzi. If Cenzi allows him to die, then that gives the lie to everything that Morel claims to be. The Morellis will vanish like a spring snowstorm.”
“It seems, Ambassador, that you and the Kraljica have but one answer for any problem that faces Nessantico,” Karrol muttered.
“And it seems, Archigos,” Sergei retorted, “that you have none.”
“Enough!” Jan snarled. He waved his hand through the rain. A lightning stroke sliced down nearby, and he waited until the thunder passed. “I expect that you, Archigos, are willing to accompany me-so that I don’t lose more war-teni than I already have.” The sour look on Karrol’s face was enough to tell Jan what the Archigos thought of the idea, but the man managed to lift his hands into the sign of Cenzi, and said nothing. His attendants all glanced at each other. “Ambassador, we’re delaying your departure. Tell my matarh to send either Commandant ca’Talin or one of his a’offiziers riding toward us as soon as possible, so we can coordinate with the Holdings’ Garde Civile.”
“Certainly, Hirzg,” Sergei said. “And I give you my own thanks-you’ll be a fine Kraljiki.” With that, Sergei tapped on the roof of the carriage with his cane. “Driver!” he called out. The driver slapped the reins and the carriage lurched forward, its wheels digging long and deep furrows in the mud. Jan turned back to the Archigos, still dry under his umbrella while the cold rain dripped from the oiled fabric of Jan’s hood.
“We’re leaving before Second Call, Archigos,” he said. “I would suggest you make yourself ready.”
“Hirzg Jan, I’d ask you to reconsider. I’m an old man, and I have duties to attend to in Brezno. Perhaps if my staff remains with you. ..” The umbrella shook as his attendants’ eyes widened.
“I appreciate your frailty, Archigos,” Jan told him, “but perhaps it’s time you go examine your temples in Nessantico, since you need to replace A’Teni ca’Paim, and since once I’m Kraljiki, the seat of the Faith will be returning there.” Archigos Karrol didn’t reply, his eternally-bowed back making it appear that he was examining the muddy hem of his robes of office. “You’re wasting time, Archigos,” Jan told him. “I’ll expect to see your carriage join the train of the army in a half-turn of the glass, without any more complaints or suggestions.”
With that, Jan spun on his heel. He called out for his horse and weapons, and made his way to where Starkkapitan ca’Damont waited for him.
Allesandra ca’Vorl
Allesandra had commandeered a balcony that overlooked the plaza. The Old Temple loomed across the way, though it was difficult to see much in the driving rain and the gloom of the storm. Erik stood behind her and at her shoulder, and his solicitude nagged at her.
“Really, Allesandra, you should move back from the window. Those are war-teni inside the Old Temple, and you’ve no idea what they can do, especially if they notice that the Kraljica is watching.”
“I know exactly what war-teni are capable of,” she told him tartly. “Probably better than you, Erik. And I don’t appreciate you talking to me as if I were a child.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, but there seemed to be no apology in his voice at all. “I’m just concerned for your safety, my love.”
“And I’m concerned for the safety of my people,” she answered. “The Garde Kralji isn’t the Garde Civile. Their job is to police Nessantico-they’ve never faced war-teni before, they haven’t faced an armed insurrection in a century and a half, and their Commandant is a prisoner in the place they’re about to assault.”
