“How?” Vespasian demanded. “I will do anything!”
“You can stop the terrors by using your untested gifts to help us win this war,” the cleric answered. “The story is a complicated one, and at long last it is time for you to hear it. Please allow an old mystic to tell the tale.”
As Gracchus started his story, Persephone approached, and Lucius eyed the cleric cautiously. As the shadows lengthened outside the tent and day turned into night, Vespasian, his empress, and the First Tribune found themselves engrossed in Gracchus’ unfolding saga.
CHAPTER XLIII
“YOU BASTARD!”VESPASIAN SCREAMED. “HOW DARE YOU gamble with mylife ?”
The emperor’s face was red with rage and the cords in his neck tensed as though they were about to snap. Rising from his bed, Vespasian grabbed Gracchus’ robe and pulled him so close that their faces nearly touched.
“I should kill you where you stand!” he screamed. “You, and all those other scheming harpies who make up thePon Q’tar! You usedall of us-me, Lucius, Persephone-the legions, the Priory-everyone! Is there no end to your treachery?”
Given the depth of Vespasian’s rage, Gracchus knew that he would have but one chance to make his case. If he failed to convince the emperor here and now, Vespasian would likely kill him on the spot or send him home to suffer a violent death in the coliseum. At the least he would linger for all eternity in the Ellistium dungeons.
Just now he had few allies in this war tent. Vespasian was enraged, Persephone would do anything to protect her husband, and Lucius would like nothing better than to see thePon Q’tar stripped of its power. Gracchus knew that he must convince all three that his secret reasons had been just or suffer Vespasian’s wrath. Just as Gracchus had feared, his explanation of Vespasian’s special gifts had sent the emperor into a heated frenzy. If Vespasian chose to kill him, even Gracchus’ vaunted gifts in the craft couldn’t save him from the Blood Royal’s anger.
His rage taking over again, Vespasian summoned the craft, and he threw Gracchus the entire length of his private quarters. Gracchus landed hard, taking down an ornate table as he crashed to the ground. Lucius smiled broadly at the sight, and Persephone gave her husband a quick nod of support.
Gathering himself, Gracchus stiffly arose, then took a seat in an upholstered chair. He could not overpower Vespasian, so he would be forced to rely on his wits. The success or failure of his entire life’s work would be decided in the next few moments.
“You haven’t answered me, you piece of filth!” Vespasian snarled. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you here and now!”
“We clerics did what we must to ensure our eventual victory over Shashida, Your Highness,” Gracchus answered calmly. “The entirePon Q’tar was in agreement. When you were brought to us as a helpless orphan, we were astounded to learn that your blood signature held the long-sought-after Vagaries halves that would one day allow the ultimate supremacy to your blood. We had searched for such a child for aeons. In the name of Rustannica, we made the best use of your upbringing that we could. But there remains more to tell you. Should you wish to kill me after hearing me out, I cannot stop you. But if you want to live and to see Shashida vanquished once and for all, you will listen to what I have to say.”
At once Lucius stood and drew his gladius. Striding toward the cleric, he placed the point of his sword beneath Gracchus’ chin and forced it higher.
“You dare to bargain with the emperor’s life?” he demanded.
“I only wish to save him,” Gracchus answered. “Sheathe your sword, Tribune. If you kill me, he will surely die. There will be nothing that you, the empress, or anyone else will be able to do to stop it.”
“Explain yourself!” Persephone demanded. “No more tricks, cleric!”
Although Gracchus had rehearsed his speech a thousand times in his mind, for his explanation to succeed, it must be heartfelt and believable. More importantly, Vespasian must be convinced that what had been done to him was in his own best interests. But Gracchus remained confident of his chances, for although what he was about to say was not the whole truth, it was the truth nonetheless. Moreover, the emperor would have little choice but to follow Gracchus’ orders if he wished to avoid a gruesome and painful death. Taking a deep breath, Gracchus gave Vespasian a beseeching look.
“Your highness, thePon Q’tar has long awaited the terrors that you have been experiencing,” Gracchus said. “But not because we wished to see you harmed. In fact, your continued well-being is of prime importance to us. The terrors are your blood’s way of calling out to your mind, begging you to make use of the banned spells. These spells are much evolved from those that caused the unexpected rise of the Tolenka Mountains so long ago. They are the strongest forestallments ever conceived by man. Only your blood and the blood of the reigningJin’Sai can accommodate them without causing your deaths. By reaching out to your psyche, the spells are indicating that your blood is finally mature enough to employ them without harm to your person. We enchanted some memories of your darker youthful training sessions to remain hidden from your consciousness and to arise only when your blood finally came of age. This isyour time, my emperor-the era of Vespasian Augustus I. There has been none like it in the history of the world, nor is there likely to be again.”
Vespasian was still seething, but he had calmed enough to resist killing the cleric. With a wave of one hand he ordered Lucius to sheathe his gladius.
“You said that if I do not listen to you, I will die,” Vespasian demanded. “Explain yourself.”
“We granted you these spells so that one day you might summon unheard-of power and vanquish Shashida once and for all,” Gracchus answered. “That time has finally come. If you do not heed my advice, the banned forestallments in your blood will keep causing the terrors to unfold in your mind. The banned forestallments and the memories of your training sessions were planted in your psyche by me and the otherPon Q’tar clerics while you were still young. It had to be this way lest you become too powerful and perhaps choose to refuse the forestallments because their use would violate the Borderlands Treaty. Even so, far darker sessions still linger in your subconscious. Many of them were put there before you lost your youthful fear of me, such as the one during which you watched the two dogs fight to the death. If they keep surfacing, they will drive you mad, the madness soon leading to your death. In the end, they will literally tear your mind apart.”
“You toyed with my verylife!” Vespasian shouted, his rage surfacing again. “You took a great chance, did you not? How could you be sure that you would recognize the signs before the terrors killed me?”
“It was a certainty that as the terrors increased in frequency and strength, you would be taken ill,” Gracchus replied. “I must admit that you did an excellent job of keeping them a secret, for even we of thePon Q’tar did not know. Even so, they would soon have become so terrible that you would have been forced to seek out our help. So you see, the end result would have been the same.”
His thoughts racing, Vespasian started angrily pacing the tent. So much of his world had been irrevocably turned upside down that he scarcely knew what to believe. After a time he stopped pacing and looked Gracchus in the eyes.
“Is this all that I am to you?” he demanded. “Am I but some ultimate tool of the craft that you would use for your own purposes? Why didn’t you tell me about this before now?”
Despite the emperor’s anger, Gracchus realized that Vespasian was reaching out to him, begging to understand. Now is the moment, Gracchus thought. I must console him and reclaim my role as his mentor and his friend. Only then will he do what we ask of him.
Rising from his chair, Gracchus walked across the room and took Vespasian’s hands into his.
“It was for your own good that we did not tell you,” Gracchus answered. “Had you known, we believe that the temptation to use the banned spells would have been far too great for even your will to resist. Using them without our guidance could have killed you, and at the very least, might have resulted in harm to Rustannica. We need each other, Vespasian, and the time has come. You cannot resist or ignore the spells. If you wish to survive, you must activate one of them. Only then will you have attained all that the craft has to offer and cause the terrors to stop.”
The anger in Vespasian’s eyes flashed again. “What other lies have you told me?” he asked. “If I learn that you have deceived me further, your life won’t be worth a single sesterce!”
“Nothing, my liege,” Gracchus answered. “I swear it.”
