seemed to be casting the look of judgement upon him. ‘Needless to say, we were pinned between the Gartens and the newcomers. In the end, when it became apparent that we could not win, Grand Master Tudor helped us to escape, while Grand Masters Anthem and Gallivan remained behind to battle.’
‘In your opinion, if you had stayed, could you have helped to decide the battle?’ asked another man,who had a tiny sliver of a black moustache sitting under his nose. Samuel had heard him referred to as Councillor Madhaven.
‘Not at all. If we had stayed, I believe the outcome would have been the same, except that we would have died, too. We were tremendously outnumbered. When we climbed to the top of the valley, we could see that the new army had,in fact,two forces. One attacked from the south and the other from the north, driving the Gartens towards us so we were forced to battle on both sides.’
‘And do you know the origin of these forces?’ a third man asked excitedly. ‘Do you know who they were?’
‘Grand Master Tudor believed them to be desert people. Indeed,they had dark skin and looked like some of the merchants I have seen in the markets. I think his judgement was fair.’
‘Do you know what they want or why they attacked us? Did they send any statements or demands?’ Donovan asked.
Again, Samuel could only shake his head. ‘Not at all. I don’t think anyone knows.’
There was quiet in the room while Chancellor Donovan scratched his chin in deep thought. ‘Very well,’ he said finally, with a closing tone.
At this, Anthem waved his finger at the pair of magicians and gestured towards the door. ‘Wait outside,’ he whispered to them.
Samuel and Goodfellow did as they were told without hesitation,keen to be from the room. They waited idly in the hall, until the door opened and the men all filed out with their papers and bundles cradled under their arms. Anthem poked his head out last and drew the two magicians back inside, where only the Empress and her attendants remained. Young Leopold now slept, held in the arms of one of the seated ladies. His head had fallen back and his mouth was wide open towards the ceiling as he snorted in his sleep. He looked like a chickthat hadfallen asleep midway through begging for its dinner.
‘I wanted to speak with you two alone,’ the Empress said. Her face was calm and graceful. She was truly a regal beauty, which was even more remarkable considering her humble rural origins. ‘My advisers tell me so many wild and wonderful things. I never know what to believe.’
But old Grand Master Anthem was not one to mince his words. ‘Those infernal imbeciles plan to send a delegation to meet the Paatin and warn them off. They refuse to accept that their precious Empire could be overwhelmed by desert savages. They probably think we must all be making up this story to cover our incompetence, as if we had somehow lost a few armies on the wayside. Or perhaps they think we sat down with the Paatin and had a fine afternoon tea! It boggles the mind! Forgive my scepticism, Your Majesty, but these cretins can’t see past their own Turian vanity.’
‘It seems remarkable that they could doubt us, Grand Master,’ said Goodfellow. ‘I didn’t think that anyone could doubt what we saw.’
‘Inconvenient facts are easily dismissed, Master Goodfellow.’
‘I must agree-in part at least,’ the Empress said. ‘Even General Ruardin, bless his golden heart, is blinded by his Imperial pride and is easily goaded by the others. What do you think is happening, Grand Master Anthem? Tell me what you believe these invaders are intending.’
‘It seems obvious the Paatin are taking advantage of our warring with the Gartens, but their final objective remains to be seen. Their motivecould be anything from religious zeal to cultural intolerance, or simple plunder. Whatever the case, it seems sure they are set on taking Cintar, for reports indicate they have plotted a course directly towards us. We know nothing about them and we can’t even begin to guess their motivebut,from what I can see, they do pose a great threat.
‘Even so, the Empire is in danger of falling long before even one bow is drawn before the city. These bureaucrats need to stop their filibustering and start making plans. They seem more intent on keeping you from making your own decisions than saving their own empire. I find myself longing for the days of the Emperor,although I never thought I would hear myself say such a thing, if you forgive me for saying so, Your Highness. He would have cut off twenty heads the moment he caught wind of such sedition and put an end to it at once. Still, he may have cut off many good heads in the process, so I can’t say those old days were truly all too grand.
‘There is no doubt that they are trying to usurp your power, Your Majesty,and it makes my blood boil. At a time like this, when every delay costs hundreds of lives, it is unforgivable. Do you know, I have heard them casting doubt on the lineage of your son? I bet my old whiskers they plan to intervene before he can become of age. I had the feeling something like this would happen, so I had several mages scry the boy to prove he is the true heir. Do you know what they did then? They began to undermine me and the Order as well! Calling me a Garten upstart! Damn the fools!’
Empress Lillith gasped at this. ‘This is despicable! Why haven’t I heard such things before?’
‘I have been busy at the front, Your Majesty, and that has kept my attention, but I see now that things have begun to get out of control. We need to rein back this madness before it goes any further.’
‘I will speak with them immediately,’ she said.
‘We may need to do more than that,’ Anthem said. ‘They will placate you with the most sincere of apologies, but they will only continue their plans behind your back until your rule is symbolic at best. They could even resort to violence. I would not put it past any of them to arrange the murder of a mother and her son. I only hope they have more sense than that. The people of Turia haveinstilledtheirlovein your boy.’ He mulled over the thought solemnly. ‘No, far better that they keep you, remove your power and manipulate you for their own gains. Once young Leopold is of age, they will not need you at all, for they will have ensured that his education wastailored to fit their schemes. He would be nothing more than a puppet.’
The Empress considered his words carefully. ‘I don’t want to offend you, but Chancellor Donovan did tell me to expect the Order to attempt to strengthen its position in the palace. I have long trusted you, Grand Master, but all this is quite shocking and confusing.’
Old Anthem only smiled at this. ‘I’m sure he has told you much, but that only proves to reinforce my feeling that Donovan is a conniving wretch. The Order has no interest in running an Empire. That is far too much trouble for us. We much prefer our books and quiet places. I must admit we have had our own fair share of politicking in the past, but I will allow no more of that. I think the Magicians’ Council has learned its lesson in that regard.’
‘Then we shall see about this,’ Lillith stated defiantly. ‘I am not about to see the Empire falling to such upstarts. With Ruardin spellbound by their verbal trickery, I don’t know who else I can depend upon. Will you support me,Grand Master Anthem? Since Lord Samuel made his great display of saving the city, the Order is in favour like never before. The people will rally behind you.’
‘Of course, Your Majesty,’ old Anthem declared with a bow. ‘This battle will be fought on many fronts. Perhaps the greatest will be here within the walls of the palace and this is a battle that I will not lose. The Empire and I have had our differences in the past, but I refuse to see it fall into the hands of scoundrels like Donovan and Madhaven. I will begin by subtly letting them know their place and,if that does not work, we can look at taking more drastic measures. In the meantime, we will need to shore up our defences against the Paatin. Recall our forces from the territories-as many as we can possibly afford.’
‘So be it,’ Lillith responded.
With that, the meeting ended and the Empress and her entourage departed, with one of the maids carefully cradling the sleeping boy in her arms, so as not to wake him. Samuel believed what the wily old Grand Master had said, for he had a glint in his eye and his hackles were up; a sure sign he meant business. He would not be surprised if Anthem simply turned the royal advisers to ashes just to teach them a lesson.
It was only as they were striding away from the room that the Grand Master surprised them both by chuckling to himself.
‘Did you see how that works? Now, we have the Empress in the palm of our hand.’
‘What do you mean?’ Samuel asked of the old magician.
‘It is a simple matter to plant some suggestions and let others believe they had come to their own conclusion. In one swift move, we have the Empress onside. If it’s a war they want, it’s a war they’ll get and no pompous Turian can match this old Lion. When I begin to show my claws, those fools in their counting houseswill
