Interregnum (41 page)

Kiva sat as still as he could, though he wasn’t used to being out of bed and mobile for such an enforced long period, and his muscles were starting to give. Athas had a huge meaty hand on one shoulder and was keeping the general as steady as possible. They couldn’t see Sabian of course, hidden as they were round the corner and behind the door, but they could hear everything. Darius sounded nervous; if he wasn’t careful he’d give the game away. They continued to listen as the young man gradually recovered his normal confidence.

“Why the guard, commander? We’ve not done anything you didn’t advise us to do.”

A smile crossed Kiva’s face unbidden. The lad did have a way of coming to the point. No preamble. It possibly took Sabian by as much surprise, given the brief pause before his reply.

“You’ll never make a politician, Darius. No, I’m not here to chastise anyone this time. In fact, I’m about to make things a lot easier for you. In the next few weeks Velutio, along with myself and the army, will be moving out and away from the city, dealing with a number of the other lords. I think you need to carry out the bulk of your evacuation in about three weeks’ time, and be entirely gone within a month. As long as his lordship and I are away east, you’ll only have to deal with the island garrison.”

The commander went silent again and the two eavesdroppers in the next room fretted silently, unable to identify what was going on without enough sound. Finally, there was the clink of crystal on a bronze tray and Sabian spoke again.

“That’s why I brought this guard. I’m taking Cialo and his companies away with me to do battle. Every man I leave here tomorrow, the captain included, is a selfish, treacherous, greedy or hateful bastard, or any combination of these. They were all Crosus’ men through and through and the longer they stay around me the more chance there is of me having an ‘accident’ if you get my drift.”

There was a light chuckle, though Kiva couldn’t identify who had been the source. Certainly the next voice was Darius’.

“So,” the young man asked light-heartedly, “you want us to kill your enemies for you and in return we get freedom and don’t have to kill our mutual friends. That about right?”

Again, Sabian’s voice: “frankly I don’t much care whether they live or die, but it might be in your best interest to keep as many of them alive as possible. You never know what the future holds and as soon as his lordship finds out that they’ve let you escape, their careers are over anyway. And possibly their lives too. You see it’s best for all of us.”

In the next room, Kiva couldn’t help but nod. And now he had a considerably shorter timescale for getting well, he’d best make more of an effort.

“Commander,” Darius commented, “what do you intend to do once we’re gone? I mean, there’s no way Velutio’s going to let us go without a fight.”

Kiva could almost sense the commander shaking his head. “I’ve set the ball rolling. There’s momentum now and if my lord wants to sit on the Raven Throne, he can’t take his eyes off the goal or change his plan. This is the only way it can be done. But one day, when he’s ruling the land, I’ll come for you and you alone, Darius. Whether it means death or glory for you, you’ll not be able to hide from him, but by going to him you might be able to make him relent about the others.”

There was the scraping of a wooden chair being pushed back and Sabian spoke again. “Anyway, this is not a pleasant conversation and there’s much to do. I’d best go and find Sarios. I need to speak to him, but you might want to go and find Cialo. He’ll probably be in the barrack rooms in the Peacock Palace, but he’ll want to say goodbye, I’ve no doubt.”

There was the sound of footsteps leaving the room and as they echoed in the stairwell, Athas let out a sigh of relief and Kiva sagged in the chair.

“Busy little conspirator, isn’t he?” remarked Athas.

Chapter XXI.

Sabian found minister Sarios in the Ibis Courtyard as he left the Palace. The elderly man was looking sprightlier than he’d expected and greeted him with a warm smile. “Commander, it’s good to see you. Shall we adjourn to the dining hall and talk?”

Sabian shrugged. “If you’re not tired, I’d prefer to walk; particularly somewhere out of the way.”

The minister nodded and gestured towards the arch. “Let us amble then. I’ll show you what good work your sergeant has done on the baths.” With a smile he strode beside the commander through the arch and out into the Great Courtyard. A troop of twelve guards in black and white marched past with drill-hall precision, turning their heads in unison and saluting the commander. Sabian grudgingly raised his hand and nodded at them.

He waited until they were out of earshot and then grumbled. “They may look good, but they’re just greedy bastards who wouldn’t last five minutes in the field. Crosus didn’t pick proper fighting men for the guard, cos there’s no way they’d have played along with him. Give me ten of my men instead of fifty of them any day.”

Sarios regarded him curiously. “I did mean to ask about the guard, commander. Why they’re here, I mean.”

“Later” replied Sabian. “I’ve spoken at length about it to Darius, but I want to speak to everyone over dinner tonight. Everyone that you trust, that is. Cialo included.”

The minister shrugged. “I can only assume that what you’re doing has our interests at heart commander. You’ve never been anything less than honourable in that respect. Why do you need to speak to me if it’s not about them?”

Sabian glanced over his shoulder to see how far away the guard were, but they’d disappeared through the arch while the two of them were heading toward the doorway that would take them out away from the palaces and into the quieter areas. With another quick scan to make sure they were truly alone, Sabian cleared his throat.

“I don’t want officially to know about him” he said out of the blue. “I don’t want to know why he’s here or what his plans are.”

Sarios raised one eyebrow. There was no point in dissembling, but two could play the mystery game. “I’d be interested to find out how you knew?”

Without taking his eyes off the bright doorway in front that would lead them outside, Sabian shrugged. “Where else would he go? And his rescuers too. They had to be here and frankly, I had a feeling Darius and I were not alone while we talked a few minutes ago in your study. All I can say is: get him off this island as soon as you can. If his presence is discovered and reported, it’ll mean the end of my career and the death of every soul on this island.”

“You won’t take him then?” the minister probed. “I thought you might, good intentions notwithstanding.”

Sabian shook his head. “He’s done nothing wrong so far. He’s not broken any law, not attacked anyone that I deal with. In fact, I can’t see why so much effort has been bent toward him so far. Velutio is frightened of him, though; what he represents and possibly for all his blustering of the man himself. I refused to kill him before now for merely being a reminder of a different time. That’s not his fault. In fact I rather like him, but I can’t help him. I’ll turn a blind eye tonight and I’ll be gone tomorrow, but if any one of these new guard find him and manage to tell anyone, it’ll all be over. So get him off the island.”

Sarios narrowed his eyes. “You’re a strategist, Commander. Is it wise for you to do this? You can’t be sure that some day he won’t appear as your enemy, and you could avoid all that now.”

Sabian laughed. “And you test me? See how far my sense of justice stretches? Well, I won’t execute an innocent man. If he means some time to meet me on a field of battle, then that I’ll do. I might even relish the opportunity to pit my skills against his. He is, after all, one of the great tactical minds of the last few centuries. No” he said finally, “I won’t betray him now, but his very presence puts us all in danger, so deal with it. Velutio will be the next Emperor and I can’t conceive of a way anyone can stop that. I realise that there was some notion of opposition with Quintillian out there, but that’s over and rightly so. It never stood a chance anyway and I’d hate to have had to kill the Wolves. If you’re all sensible, you’ll find somewhere safe and go there. Somewhere like the northern border where Caerdin came from or maybe across the sea in Pelasia. Anywhere that keeps you all well out of Velutio’s reach forever more. He’s going to be too busy dealing with his opposing lords in the next few months to deal with any of you, I’ll see to that.”

Sarios smiled as they passed the old Imperial shines. “You’re a good man, Commander. Twenty years ago, you’d perhaps have been one of the four with Caerdin and your master. We will, of course, get away as soon as we can and he’ll go with us, but I cannot guarantee what the future holds. I am in charge solely of my own destiny.”

Sabian laughed. “I think you do yourself an injustice there, minister. There is one other thing I need to discuss, however. We need to speak about Darius.”

“We do?” The minister raised an eyebrow. “And why is that?”

“He’s important. To you. To me. Most of all to my Lord.”

Sarios stopped walking a moment and the commander turned to face him. “Velutio plans for Darius to follow him.”

The minister smiled knowingly. “I know. We’ve been training both he and Quintillian since they were babes, and we all knew what for. I won’t let Velutio take him though. He won’t be taught the ways of government by that man.”

Sabian shook his head sadly. “I don’t think you have much choice. Darius is going to have to follow him. I personally think he’s is the only logical choice, but I’ll come and find him once everything’s safe and calmed down. If he comes with me then his future’s secure and I can probably persuade Velutio that the rest of you pose no threat.”

He gestured down the slope and the two started walking again.

“There is something I want to know though. Darius doesn’t know he’s Caerdin’s son and Caerdin thinks his wife and child died twenty years ago. Right now, given they’re both here, why haven’t you told them?”

Sarios gave him an appraising glance. “I wasn’t aware that you yourself knew. The only people who did before you were myself and Velutio. I won’t ask how you found out, but I do suggest that you forget about it completely.”

“Why?” Sabian was insistent.

Sarios sighed. “Because it would cause them both a great deal of pain. Can we not leave it at that?”

Sabian shook his head. “I don’t think so. Given that I’ve risked my neck now for both of them and I already know the what, you have to tell me the why.”

Another sigh. Sarios dropped his eyes to the floor. “Have you not wondered why Darius didn’t die in the flames and how he came to be in Velutio’s hands?”

Sabian nodded. “Of course I have. Nothing short of miraculous, I’d say.”

“Nothing short of tragedy I rather think,” replied the minister. “He survived because he wasn’t in the villa that day; indeed he wasn’t in Serfium at all. Nor was his mother. The two bodies he found in the villa I fancy must have been two of the villa’s servants. No, it certainly wasn’t them. You see, I saw Livilla after the fire.”

Sabian’s eyes widened gradually as he listened. “Then they were here?”

“No.” The minister’s voice had fallen to a husky, sad whisper. “They were in Velutio; in a place that’s no longer there. Twenty years ago there was a palace on the headland opposite the Imperial one. The golden tower used for shipping warnings is the only part that still stands. That palace belonged to the Marshall of the Central Provinces, you see…”

His voice tailed off into silence. The tale was clearly causing the minister pain to relate, but he needn’t say any more. Sabian’s jaw dropped as the connection fired.

“She was with Velutio!”

Sarios nodded sadly. “Avitus as he was known then. They had been lovers for some time. Not long enough for Darius to be his, mind, but some months. She’d been left on her own with a young babe, you see, while Caerdin charged around the world unwillingly committing atrocities for the Emperor. The more Quintus’ madness began to manifest, the colder and bleaker Caerdin became. She couldn’t cope with him the way he was and I didn’t like him much myself towards the end.” He sighed. “So I can understand why she did what she did, but I can’t forgive it.”

“So what happened to Livilla?” Sabian enquired.

“She put a knife through her own throat the day after Caerdin fought Avitus. She was buried on the island here, in an unmarked grave near to her family.”

He turned to face Sabian. “You see now why this has to stay a secret. We’ve brought Darius up to think he was the son of a fairly well-to-do commander. Fulvius has no living relatives and Velutio commandeered the estate, so there’s no way to trace the truth. Unless one of us lets it slip. Bear in mind that the truth would not only destroy Caerdin, but may irreparably damage Darius. For both their sakes’ we have to keep the whole thing very secret.”

Sabian whistled. “Hell yes. It answers quite a few questions, though. I couldn’t help but wonder why his lordship was so determined to destroy all of you and any trace of the Imperial blood, but still wanted to adopt Darius. He must have actually cared for her, you know? I’ve never seen Velutio care for anything. It’s logic, whether good or bad, that decides his path, not emotion or values. Gods, I’ve got to get Darius to him after it’s all over. The lad deserves to inherit it all.”

The minister stopped as they reached the baths and raised his voice, pointing his finger at the commander. “Never! Caerdin and I may have had our disagreements, but he was a true servant of the Empire, loyal above all others, and it would be the worst dishonour I could do him to allow that to happen. If Darius ever inherits the throne, it will be in his own way and through his own merits. Not because of that adulterous coward.”

Sabian stood for a moment in silence. The minister’s face had taken on a high colour as they’d talked and for the first time in all his visits throughout the years, Sabian’d heard the man shout. It seemed wrong. The minister was the calmest, most stoic and moderate man the commander had ever met. He stood for a moment breathing as the minister glared at him and then turned and walked into the bath house. There was too much to absorb; too much importance here to dismiss it immediately. He’d have to think on it later. Gods damn Isera. Every time he came to the island, life became just a little bit more complicated. With an uncomfortable sigh, he entered the baths.