'And you were expecting?' growled Thicelt. 'No one's ever accused we Islanders of being pussies, you know, whatever else they say about us.'
Demansk finished his wine. For a moment, he considered a second cup, but dismissed the idea. Pleased or not, he still had a titan's work ahead of him.
'Let this be a lesson to you, scion of mine. If at all possible, always leave your enemy with an escape route. A cornered rat is dangerous, always is. Whereas a rat huddling in a hole, after you've taken the house, is just a nuisance.'
He toyed with the empty cup in his hands, for a moment. 'What Albrecht should have done is immediately offered Preble the same kind of terms I gave the Islanders elsewhere. News of my conquest of the archipelago will have reached the defenders of Preble too. They'd know, then, that further resistance was hopeless.'
'Why didn't he?' asked Trae. 'I know you always said he wouldn't, but why not? He's not really that much of a hothead.'
'You might be surprised. Albrecht's cool enough, most of the time. But when he gets jabbed unexpectedly, he tends to react like a maddened boar. I've never been convinced he's fully sane, frankly.' Demansk placed the empty cup on the table next to his couch and pushed it aside. 'But it doesn't matter, given Albrecht's ambitions. After I'd conquered the archipelago, mostly through negotiations, he needed a 'real victory' at Preble. If he'd settled for a negotiated surrender, he'd just look like a midget version of me. Instead, he can at least claim to be a 'real Vanbert conqueror'-and you can bet everything you own that his people in the capital are already accusing me of being false to our traditions.'
'They'll be accusing you of worse than that, Triumvir,' chortled Nappur. 'For sure, Albrecht will try to claim that you undermined him.'
Demansk shrugged. 'Let him make the claim. I was careful to leave Jeschonyk a way to murk it all up politically. I didn't interfere at all-directly-with Albrecht's military command. But, as the Triumvir in charge of the new province of Western Isles- all of the islands-I saw fit to provide shelter for the relatives of my own new subjects.'
He frowned at Trae. 'Which is why, by the way, I'm personally glad you didn't have to attack any of Albrecht's ships. That would have made things a lot harder for Ion in the capital.'
Trae's scowl was coming back, introducing itself with a snort of derision. 'Them! Only two of his triremes even came around to my side of the island. The rest of his ships were supporting the assault. They took one look at me-they remember this steam ram, for sure, from last year-and kept their distance.'
'Speaking of which,' said Thicelt, 'did it make it across the ocean?'
'Ha! I had to have it towed into Rope, where I left it,' grumbled Trae. 'Even with this mild weather, the damn thing takes on so much water in the open sea that the whole crew had to spend all its time bailing. Didn't dare keep the boilers going.'
The scowl was in full bloom now. 'All of which doesn't deal with my problem, Father! Sinking two ships of mutineers is not exactly the kind of reputation I need for-'
'Be quiet, boy.' Demansk's tone was stern, almost cold. 'Grow up, damn it. Who cares what kind of a reputation you have with Vanbert soldiers? I've got enough of that to do for the whole family-even leaving aside what Forent's men will make of it.'
The giant was back to chortling. ' 'So fierce was the countenance of young Trae-so terrifying the very name of Demansk itself-that Albrecht's navy recoiled and fled from his wrath.' We'll start there. By the time we get done with the mutiny, it'll sound like something out of the old ballads.'
Even Trae chuckled. Demansk rose to his feet. 'And what's more important-much more-is that you'll now have a reputation among the Islanders.'
'We're partial to saints, y'know,' drawled Sharlz. 'It's a most important aspect to the creed of the Lady of the Sea. And Lemare's a far more important goddess to the common run of Islanders than the ones the former kings favored.'
His face assumed an unusually solemn expression. 'I'm not joking, Trae. 'Pirates' we might have been. But pirates are seamen, first of all, and no one understands better the dangers of the sea-or the blessedness of a man who rescues people from shipwreck. Which you just did on the largest scale in history.'
'And now, up, youngest son of mine!' commanded Demansk. 'You haven't got time to wallow in misery. I've got new work for you, and lots of it. First thing tomorrow morning, you're meeting a man named Marzel Therdu-he's the one who wound up in charge of Casull's armament works-along with about a dozen other Islander manufacturers. The owners of the largest foundries and smithies. As a group, they're the core of the new weapons industry Adrian Gellert created for the Islanders.'
He headed for the door, with Trae following. 'All of them are now destitute, of course, and their employees are even more desperate than they are. So I propose to get them all back to work, and on a larger scale than before. With you in overall charge of coordinating the work.'
'We don't have much money left, Father,' protested Trae. 'The family's coffers are empty, as near as matters.'
'Money!' jeered Demansk. 'I don't need to use my money, Trae.' He stopped in the doorway and pointed a finger back at Thicelt. 'As it happens-what a coincidence-the Governor just issued a new decree. Any business in a Western Isle province which is one-third owned by a reputable citizen-which requires three generations of citizenship, so no Islander can qualify-is exempted from paying tribute. They'll still have to pay the regular taxes, of course.'
Trae stared at Thicelt. Sharlz smiled seraphically. 'What else could I do? My people were starving. '
Trae stared at his father. Who was smiling also, if not seraphically. 'You see how it works? Since I'm the most reputable citizen there is-and, what a coincidence, am the only one moving immediately-I estimate that, within a year, I'll own a third of practically everything that makes money in this archipelago. I've even had fishing crews starting to approach me. Even a fruit vendor!'
'But-' Trae was frowning fiercely. 'You still need money, Father. Immediately.'
And now, Demansk's smile was seraphic. 'To be sure. Which I don't have, any longer-but lots of Emerald merchants do. Especially now, when they're flush from all the money I poured into their coffers over the past year. Ropers, too. None of whom, alas-being only partial citizens or auxiliaries-can qualify for the exemption. So the Islanders provide the wherewithal and the skilled labor, the Emeralds and Ropers put up the money, I put the whole thing together.' He cleared his throat. 'For a modest third.'
Trae was almost ogling him. 'You-swindler! Um, sorry. 'August father possessed of, ah, extreme acumen.' But still…'
Demansk took his arm and led him into the corridor beyond. 'It'll work, Trae. Okay, I'm guessing again-no conqueror's ever tried to do it this way before, instead of grabbing land-but I'll be surprised if, within a few years, the Demansk family's fortune isn't twice what it was at its best.'
Again, he made that modest throat-clearing noise. 'Olver, as you know, is the man I appointed the new governor of the Emeralds. And as it happens-what a coincidence-I've just been informed he found it necessary to decree a change in the tax laws. It seems the Emeralds were getting so rich that the sumptuary taxes were eating them alive. So, alert to the needs of his people, he decreed that any wealth accumulated in another province would be exempted from taxation beyond the usual initial levies-provided, of course, that the riches were obtained in a legitimate enterprise. Which-what a coincidence-requires a Vanbert partner.' With a chuckle, and a nod toward the northeast, where the harbor lay: 'I think half the moneylenders and merchants of Solinga and Rope are here already. The gods know, I've had enough of them clamoring for an audience with me.'
They were now entering that portion of the palace which had formerly contained Casull's hareem. The giant eunuchs who once guarded the doors were gone, replaced by two Vanbert infantrymen, and the doors themselves were open instead of being barred. The men came to attention as Demansk and Trae passed through.
'This is the hareem, isn't it? I'd think you'd be more careful,' said Trae with a little smirk. 'You know Vanbert soldiers.'
'I'm counting on it,' snorted his father. 'If I thought I could get away with it, I'd have already done what the conqueror of legend did-ordered all my men to marry native women. Since that would be too much of a breach with custom, I've done the next best thing. Planted thousands of single men, their purses full, in a place full of destitute and desperate women.' He nodded toward the harbor again. 'Of which you just brought another huge batch, most of them widows.'
