Guns of the Temple (The Polaris Chronicles Book 1) (19 page)

Lotte lifted her chin, so that she now faced the Duke with unambiguous eyes.

“The Ursalans shout ‘inferior beings!’ when they rush into battle. But this is the
Dominion
. I will
not
have my unit take part in these activities again. While you are within your rights to do whatever you wish within your province, we of the Temple are bound by higher law and greater purpose. We are compelled to fight
foreign enemies,
not subjects of the basileus. If you have a problem with this, you may address it to Exarch Choniates.”

Gul looked taken aback, initially, but quickly assumed an indignant scowl.

“You think you are the only ones fighting a war? I fight
daily
for my daughters and my people. If you witches act against me, I will take you out!”

The corners of Lotte’s mouth curled upwards.

“Oh? And what if the Imperium forgives you and offers that Khazari world you dream about?”

“Never question my loyalty again, or I will run you through, fuck the wound, and make you beg for more. Niketas and I are bound by fate, and it is because of me that he is your basileus. Friend though he is, he is soft in the head and short on honor, and thus tolerates nonhuman filth like you among our numbers. I dislike having you witches here but at least your kind know your place. Most of the time.”

“I think I preferred it when you were drunk, Your Grace. Remember that we are feared for a very good reason.”

“I will have you whipped and shamed in front of your soldiers, I swear it. Now out of my sight, wench.”

Lotte rose, backed up three steps, and then turned. Taki felt shaky as he mimicked her, but managed not to fall. The ensign at New Petrovic had not lied, after all. The man was not a traitor to his lord. He was just following orders. Taki closed his eyes to try and calm his heart but found himself staring back into the trench where more than a hundred bodies lay sprawled in the mud. The irises of their eyes were black with hemorrhage, like those ancient black ivory balls marked only with the number eight. They looked back at him with those bloody orbs and remained silent.
I’m sorry,
Taki started to say, but his mouth was filled with sand. In turn, their pale lips began to move.
Why? You serve a hero,
they said. Taki buckled and fell to his knees.

“Natalis,” Lotte said. Taki opened his eyes and found himself half-slumped against the stone corridor leading away from the duke’s chambers. His captain’s hand rested on his face. It felt ice cold, but he realized that was only because his skin burned. He blinked, and righted himself.

“Sorry, Captain. I just…”

“Remember, Natalis,” she said. “Remember who you serve.”

Several days later, the squad received a letter by courier.

“Captain Satou:

Know that your correspondence has been received and your concerns noted. The Cloud Temple does not interfere with local affairs or challenge the rule of a member of the Council of Nobles unless explicitly authorized by His Grace the basileus. You and your squad are to carry out your tasks as ordered. I expect you to do your duty.

Long Live The Ethnomartyr.

C. Choniates, Exarch.”

Lotte looked up from the paper, folded it neatly, and stuffed it into a belt satchel. Draco and Hadassah looked at her expectantly. Karma idly dug under his fingernails with the tip of a push dagger, and Taki sat listlessly nearby.

Draco broke the oppressive silence. “So, what news? When do we act?”

“And exactly
what
do you think the exarch wrote?” Lotte asked.

Draco smacked a fist into his palm. “He wants us to immediately arrest the duke and his commanders, hold courts-martial, and take them all out back and shoot them in their fucking heads.”

“You know better than that.”

“Right.” Draco’s expression darkened. “Good ol’ Constantin,
always
a paragon of righteousness.”

“Lest you forget, he is our liege lord,” Lotte warned. “I will not tolerate the defamation of his name.”

Draco wiped at his eyes in frustration. “It’s just that I didn’t expect him to permit this sort of travesty,” he sighed.

“I think Lord Choniates,” Taki began, “is a righteous man who must sometimes say one thing but desire another.” He looked warily at the others, trying to gauge their response. Lotte raised an eyebrow but did not overtly shush him.

Draco smiled broadly. “Aye, he is! There have been many great leaders in the histories who’ve been muzzled in public, but had lesser men act behind the scenes for right.
We
are those men, Captain. That is, men and women.”

Taki continued, bolstered by Draco’s response. Though he was now resolved to temper his speech and his actions, as Lotte had told him to, his wrath still simmered. His captain hadn’t told him to quell his feelings, just to express them in a more acceptable fashion. Now, he would use the full range of his faculties and his knowledge, as opposed to brute force. “Aye, so a righteous man exacts his desire through deeds, not words. And perhaps the Duke should learn to fear that righteousness.”

“I could poison his wine.” Hadassah volunteered. “Or push him out a window.”

“But how can we deal with his footmen?” Draco started to pace frenetically.

“Maybe,” she said, “those two slave wenches will want some revenge. I could talk with them. They could come back to the Temple with us.”

“Stop,”
Lotte commanded. “No more of this talk. And Natalis, I thought you knew better than to wag a serpent’s tongue. If you pour treason in the ears of my men I
will
bend you over my knee and give you a caning you won’t forget.”

Taki felt his cheeks redden and he bit the inside of his cheek to stifle a retort.

“Captain,” Draco pleaded. “Whip me if you must, but you
must
also realize that something rots in Kosovo.”

“You’re being overdramatic,” Karma said with a long sigh. “We’re supposed to do stuff that the levy peasants can’t and the respectable soldiers won’t. Massacres are part of the job, or were you asleep for that part of the academy?”

“Silence, Gillette,” Draco said. “I’ve shanked more men in the exarch’s name than you ever will, but they were trained killers, not old ladies and kids. We may be witches but we’re not murderers of the innocent.”

Karma’s lips thinned into a smirk. “Oh? And who’s to say that the villagers didn’t deserve it? The truth is that practically the entire countryside is itching to go over to the padishah. They’re all traitors, and if you’re talking about killing Gul Hekmatyar then you’re traitors too.”

“When did you go native, you godrotting
deserter?
” Draco asked, balling his hand into a fist for a strike.

“Yeah, scumbag, it’s obvious you knew this was happening,” Hadassah demanded. “How long have you sat idle while all those people died? Why didn’t you do
anything
about it?”

“Emreis, Mikkelsen, this is your final warning.” Lotte snapped. “As much as I hate to say it, Gillette is right. Have you two forgotten the
first
article of the Code?”

“No, ma’am,” Draco said, through grit teeth.

“I know what the godrotting code says!” Hadassah protested. “But they can’t just cut little kids’ throats in front of us and expect us to scratch our balls and enjoy the show like it’s the annual passion play! At least
we
know the guy who always plays Jesus actually gets off on being hit and the blood comes from chickens. But these are real people getting murdered. Why are we even needed in this shithole? Why, when the real war is a thousand leagues to the east and the Imps are busy kicking our asses? We’re polaris! We’re supposed to be—to be fighting
evil!
”

Lotte stood and approached Hadassah, who flinched reflexively. Taki held his breath and closed his eyes, knowing what would come next. As abrasive as the redhead could be, he did not want to see her receive a beating.
Damn you, captain. I thought you were a good person, not some godrotting…officer!

When the thudding of boot heels and fists against flesh failed to arrive as promised, Taki cracked his eyes open. Lotte was in a crouch, gently holding Hadassah in an embrace.

“I know. I share your rage,” Lotte said. “I also want to kill the duke and everyone who serves him. But the fate of those above our station is simply not for us to decide. Our purpose as soldiers is to defend the lives and property of the lords of the Argead Dominion. Nothing more, and nothing less. So I forgive you this transgression, but I don’t want to hear any more talk from any of you about killing our betters. This is a trial we must endure, and though it is an unfair and heavy one, we must do so with grace and dignity.”

“Y-y-es, s-sorry Captain,” Hadassah whimpered.

“All of you, back to your quarters and rest,” Lotte said. “Get your wits back, or else.”

“Captain,” Taki began, “I mean no insubordination, but…”

“Spit it out, Natalis.”

He cringed. There was little to be done to please her, he lamented.
And does it even matter anymore?
He had just taken part in murder
—
mass-murder
—
after all.

“Yes, Captain. What will happen should we go to another village? Last time, we were just the rearguard, but what if we’re ordered to take part in the killing? There is nothing forbidding it in the Code, as you pointed out.”

“If that happens…” Lotte closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them. “I alone will take responsibility for whatever happens. Live or die, we follow the code and do our duty as the exarch expects. But I won’t have my soldiers dishonored. If necessary, I’ll have you all sent back to the Temple.”

“Captain, we can’t just let you just stay here alone,” Draco said.

“Are you going to follow my orders or not?” She fixed a glare at him, from which he promptly averted his gaze.

“Lucky for you, that’s a ways off,” Karma said with a shrug. “Next job is to run guard duty for the duke while he goes on one of his victory parades through the city. Pristina’s packed with his retainers, and security’s tight with his troops all bunkered here. There’s little chance we’ll actually see any action.”

“You mean he’s throwing parade over what just happened?” Taki asked, aghast.

“No, nothing so stupidly malicious. It’s a tribute to how he singlehandedly won the battle of New Istanbul. You know, he’s a hero of the lands.”

“But the basileus was there, too.”

“You think he doesn’t know that? Or that his men are going to really object? Anyway, it’s a tawdry affair. Mainly him riding around in a gaudy old relic blaring his personal anthem and his troops wasting 'grad firing into the air in celebration. There’s flower wreaths and singing children and a tiger cub, and that’s not even the start of the true idiocy. If it were me, I’d have a judging instead of a parade. A good hanging is what
really
riles up the public.”

“You’re twisted, you know that?” Draco said, jabbing a finger into Karma’s chest.

“Oh, spare me the self-righteousness, Emreis.”

“You know what you are, Gillette? A psychopath. I’ve met a few assholes like you in the past, and they all bled the same color.”

“I love it when you start monologuing like a protagonist. Especially when you see me talking with
her
.”

“Leave Dassa out of this. And don’t
ever
talk to her again if you know what’s good for you.”

“What’s wrong, neckbeard? I’m not allowed to flirt with
your property?
”

“Defend yourself, you little shit!” Draco roared as his fist smashed into Karma’s cheek and knocked him to the ground.

“Draco! No!” Taki latched onto his comrade from behind, struggling to restrain a hundred kilograms of muscle. Meanwhile, Hadassah held Karma back from landing a retaliatory strike.

“Oh, you’re so friggin’
cool,
” Karma sneered, blood streaming from his nostrils. “A
real
white knight. Do it again, asshole! Right here!”

Lotte’s closed fist smacked into his other cheek and he crumpled to the floor with white floaters streaking across his vision like hail.

“
Enough,”
she hissed, her voice barely rising above a whisper.
“
Any further talk from either of you earns a hundred blows with a
knout.
Do I make myself clear?”

Draco seemed as if he wanted to thank her, but her eyes warned him not to. Karma rubbed his jaw, silently avoiding her gaze. Eventually, both men nodded resentfully to signal their understanding. Taki swallowed against a dry throat as Draco shuffled out of his grasp and stormed away. At least he could be grateful that his captain had not demanded they shake hands.