“Please forgive my intrusion, good sir. There are not many Tarvissi left in this area.”
I nodded, not sure what to say. I was probably the only Tarvissi left in the area.
“Would it be too rude of me to ask if, by chance, you are the member of Mespana who put an end to that abhorrent uprising on Maurir and slew its leader?”
That was an overstatement if I ever heard one. It’s true, I killed Peridion—and for a moment felt some irrational guilt about that. But the fight would probably be won even without my input. If I didn’t do it, someone else would. Confused, I looked at Adyar Lah.
He cleared his throat, slightly embarrassed. “That’s the version presented in media,” he explained.
The media. Unwittingly I reached for the mirror hanging at my belt. I didn’t think about checking the official reports, not to mention the media. Quite a leader, I was! But I realized there must have been a reason that this version of the story was being spread around. I thought of the late Laik Var and what he wanted me to do. I wondered if that meant…
“I gotta go.” I stood and darted off.
Chapter 27
Myar Mal looked like shit. The post-anaphylaxis swelling had subsided, but his eyes were still red and surrounded by deep shadows, his face pale and gaunt. Even his normally iridescent irises settled on a dull, stormy gray.
He pushed the scroll toward me.
“That’s all I could manage,” he explained. “The permission for your family to return.”
“Thank you, Myar Mal.”
He leaned back in his chair and assumed his usual emperor pose—right arm bent and propped over an armrest, left stretched out on the desk. He was sizing me up with a gaze that, although tired, was as piercing as always, and I lowered my head automatically.
“I was right about the conspiracy,” he started, not waiting for me to ask.
I wouldn’t, by the way. Curiosity was eating at me, but I would rather consult my mirror or wait for the newspaper. I still hadn’t managed to overcome the nervousness that the kar-vessár filled me with, and I had an irrational suspicion that despite him doing all the talking, he was getting more information from me than giving it.
“The conspiracy started with Sanam Il-Asa. I should have known. He was… a sensitive guy. Very self-conscious. He was fascinated by Tarvissian culture, and when Peridion and the others rebelled, he took it personally. You were his primary target, I presume, but when I allowed your promotion, he decided to get rid of me too. He roped Raison Dal in after the decontamination team took a hold of that nut you dropped. Then, got Ayrela Va-Roma to help. I’m not sure when they recruited Amma La. Anyway, it’s over now. The surviving traitors were sent to Xiburk. Except for Raison Dal—he’s in house arrest, only because I accidentally broke his back, and no one can be bothered to heal him.”
Xiburk was a Dahlsian penal colony: a small world with a barely breathable atmosphere and a rocky, mineral-rich surface. It merged with a tiny island on Tydus, so even if someone managed to escape, there was nowhere to go. Prisoners were set to work extracting noble gases and precious minerals, and all provisions had to be brought from other worlds since Xiburk had no native life or water.
As for the rest of his revelations, I was at a loss for words. Not for the first time, it struck me how little I knew about the world and the people around me. Like Ayrela Va—I never even spoke with her and yet she was conspiring to kill me!
If another next attempt at my life was made, would I even know it was coming? Would I stand any chance of protecting myself? But what could I do?
And Myar Mal—I witnessed him at his lowest, yet I thought I barely knew anything about him. It was like there was a glass wall between me and the rest of humanity, one I could never hope to scale.
I wasn’t sure why Myar Mal told me about the investigation, and even less so how to respond. So when he finished for a moment, we sat in silence.
“And there’s this whole mess with Tarviss,” he murmured, to me or himself I couldn’t tell. His next question dispelled my doubts, though, “have you heard? Tarviss wants war. Luckily, so many people want to enlist, a cycle from now, we’ll be able to double the number of Cohorts.”
He sent me a pointed look.
“I thought it was just an exaggeration,” I blurted, just to say something.
“It wasn’t. We’re already talking about opening a second training center.”
And all of it happened when I was sleeping the battle off. No wonder he was kar-vessár, and I was… not.
Speaking of which…
“I’m very sorry, Myar Mal,” I said, reaching to my sash, “I realize it’s not the perfect moment, but I have to resign from my duties.”
I was careful putting it down, but as it touched the surface of the desk, I snapped my hand back, as if it was a snake ready to attack, wrap itself around me and keep me in this stupid position.
“Why?”
He didn’t seem surprised, more disappointed, and I felt a pang of shame. Not enough to change my mind, though.
“I’m not suited for the job.” I chuckled nervously. “Let’s be honest, Laik Var only wanted me as an example and you as a bait. Now, neither of you need me.”
“We always need good men.”
I lowered my gaze to look at my hands, twisting them on my lap, but my heart actually skipped a beat at the praise.
“I can stay in Mespana,” I said uncertainly. In truth, I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere else. “Just… not as a vessár.”
He didn’t answer
