The Autumn Republic (19 page)

Adamat had seen that kind of behavior before in men in the Adran police force. Tamas had a knife wound – between the ribs, lucky enough to miss anything vital, but painful as all pit and likely to fester. There were rumors that Hilanska had stabbed Tamas before he fled. They certainly fit.

“Inspector?”

Adamat snapped out of his own thoughts. Tamas had been talking. “I’m very sorry, sir. Could you repeat that?”

Tamas tilted his head to one side, a twitch of anger crossing his face. “I asked if you know why I didn’t arrest you after you confessed your treachery.”

“I don’t.” Adamat felt a bead of cold sweat on his forehead and his jacket was suddenly too tight. It
was
something he’d asked himself, though he hadn’t dwelt on it. There was too much to do, too much at stake.

“I didn’t arrest you because that’s what the enemy would have expected.” Tamas climbed to his feet and crossed to his desk, pouring water into a glass. He didn’t offer any to Adamat. “It was a feint, to throw him off your trail. You mentioned in your report that Vetas thought you had been imprisoned.”

“So I did,” Adamat said, his throat dry. “It worked.”

Tamas took a sip of water, watching Adamat with a look that Adamat had seen on men deciding whether to put down a lame dog. “Yes.”

“And now?”

“I still hold you responsible for Sabon’s death, Inspector,” Tamas said. “I had told myself that you would stand trial when all this was over. That you would face the consequences of your actions.”

Adamat suddenly felt a fire in his belly.
The consequences? He, who brought me into this whole mess, has the gall to speak to me about consequences? I’ve faced the consequences of my actions a hundred times over during the last six months.
Adamat had to bite his tongue to hold his peace.

“I had told myself that – right up until the moment I had to choose between leading my men into battle and rescuing my son from being murdered in the wilderness by traitors. You’re a good man, Adamat, and you did what you could. There are so few good men left, and I will not send one to the guillotine. But I need your help.”

Adamat barely trusted himself to breathe. “
My
help?”

“There is more work to be done.”

Adamat felt his chest tighten.
Of course. Always more to do.
What would Faye say to this, were she here with him? She would tell the field marshal to stuff his consequences in his ass and to toss himself into the pit.

“Something funny, Inspector?”

“I was just thinking of what my wife would say if she were here.”

“Oh? And what was that?”

“She’d ask, ‘What can I do to help, Field Marshal?’ So. What can I do to help?” There was nothing else to say. Tamas would expect nothing short of obedience. It was the same arrogance that Adamat had seen for decades among the nobility whom he’d served.

Tamas seemed thrown for a moment. “I see. I still have to finish this war, and when it is done, I’ll need to deal with the Brudanian army that holds Adopest. Some kind of contact needs to be made. You shall be my liaison with Lord Claremonte. Find out what he wants. What are his goals? What will make him go away and, if that is not within our reach, discover his secrets and weaknesses and report them to me so I may destroy him and give our country the republic it deserves.”

Adamat felt something niggling deep inside his bowels. It felt an awful lot like despair. He’d dealt with the servant Lord Vetas, and now he had to deal with the master, who could only be many times the worse? It would undo him. “I will not put my family in that danger again, Field Marshal. Not for my life.”

“Your country needs you.”

Adamat wondered if Tamas knew how hollow the words sounded. “You cannot entrust me with this. Not possibly. Lord Claremonte, through his agent, used my family against me once and he will do it again. And if he does that, I will betray you again, I promise you that.”

“Your family is no longer in the equation. There is nothing Claremonte would gain by threatening them. You will be a politician and nothing more.”

“He can compel me to give you misinformation.”

“You have my guarantee of their safety.”

Adamat found himself standing once more. “You cannot make that guarantee! This man is a beast and will use any means necessary to win his twisted game. I have seen his machinations!”

“And that, Inspector, is why I need you so badly. You are the only one who knows anything about him. You are the only one who hates him enough to be ready to destroy him on a moment’s notice. Your family will be safe, Adamat. I swear it. You will hear no such guarantees from Claremonte while he holds the city.” Tamas took another sip of his water.

“I’m sorry, Field Marshal, but I must refuse.”

“You said —”

“I asked what I could do to help. I did not offer to put myself and my family back into harm’s way. No, sir, I will not deal with Claremonte. I have already put my family through enough as it is for this cause. I have lost a son!”
And to something far worse than death
.

Tamas frowned down into his cup. “I see.”

Adamat realized that his heart was pounding. He’d not expected to come in here and start shouting, but he had to draw the line somewhere. The lives of Tamas’s men were in his own hands, and damn him if he thought he could use guilt as leverage against Adamat.

“You’ll be going back to Adopest soon?” Tamas asked.

“First thing in the morning,” Adamat said. He lowered himself back into his chair. He felt so incredibly old.

“Would a lesser request sway you?”

Adamat cocked an eyebrow, sensing a trap. Tamas had backed off of that far too quickly for one of his kind. “What is it?” He cleared his throat and lowered his voice. “What can I do, sir?”

“Offer Ricard your help in his political campaign. He’ll need all the aid he can get – especially from men he trusts. You two are friends, are you not?”

“Ricard is running against Claremonte,” Adamat said. The very man Adamat wished to avoid.

Tamas made a calming gesture. “I’m not asking you to get too closely involved. Just give him some help. A kind word. Lend him your talent for memory. Whatever you can spare.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Adamat said after a moment’s consideration. “But I don’t guarantee anything. I will not get caught up in Claremonte’s web again.”

Tamas responded with a tight nod. He opened his mouth to say something else, but they were interrupted by a light rap on the tent pole and a messenger putting his head inside. “Sir?”

“What is it?”

“I’ve a messenger from the king.”

“What king? Deliv? They’re here already?”

“No, sir. From the Kez. Ipille has sued for peace. He wants to parley.”

Adamat’s presence was forgotten the moment word came that the Kez wanted to discuss terms of peace. He slunk back to his tent amongst the ensuing round of late-night messengers and sudden meetings and managed just a few hours of restless sleep before his carriage was ready to take him back to Adopest.

He bid his driver to wait for him, and stole through the morning chaos of the camp, working off directions from the field marshal’s bodyguard to find one particular tent in a sea of thousands.

He was saved the embarrassment of having to put his head in tent after tent to find Privileged Borbador by spotting the Privileged himself sitting beside a smokeless fire, long-stemmed pipe clutched in his teeth. His jacket was immaculately pressed, his muttonchops trimmed. He looked as dapper as an officer with half a dozen batboys. Adamat wondered how sorcery could be applied to help one’s morning routine, and at the same time noted that the fire had no fuel.

“Good morning, Inspector,” Bo said softly. He put a finger to his lips and pointed to the tent behind him.

“Good morning, Privileged.” Adamat took his hat in his hands and tried not to look nervous.

The Privileged glanced up from his sorcerous fire. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“I…” Adamat cleared his throat. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. Maybe it would be for the best if he just left things alone.

“Yes?”

“It’s a sensitive matter.”

Bo took out the pipe from between his lips and scowled at the empty bowl. “Haven’t had a spare minute to find any pipe tobacco. You wouldn’t happen to have any, would you?”

Adamat felt around for his own pipe and pouch, and removed it from his pocket. “Just a little.” He gave the rest of the pouch to Bo, who nodded his thanks, taking a moment to pack his pipe and light the bowl from a flame that sprang from his finger. He looked up, meeting Adamat’s eyes.

Whatever the Privileged had been pondering when Adamat approached had been tucked away. He now had Bo’s full attention, and he wasn’t sure he wanted it.

“Does this have to do with your son?” Bo asked.

“It does.”

“I promised I would help you get him back. Tamas is trying to recruit me, and that complicates things. But I still plan on holding to my promise.”

“I’m returning to Adopest,” Adamat said.

Bo watched him carefully, his eyes soft. “Have you given up?” His voice was not unkind.

“Circumstances have changed.”

“In what way?”

Adamat licked his lips. It was time to be strong. For himself. For Faye. For Josep. “My son has been turned into a Warden. A Black Warden. I saw him myself at the battle. He would have killed me, but I called his name and he fled.”

“Can you be sure?”

“As sure as I can.”

Bo seemed to consider this for a moment. “I can’t do anything for him. The process of creating a Warden cannot be reversed. The Adran Cabal has tried. And these Black Wardens, even their corpses stink of Kresimir’s sorcery. I would likely die trying to counter that.”

“I know. I mean, I read a book on Wardens once. Only a few chapters, really, but I know that the process can’t be reversed.”

“Then why are you here?”

“I wanted to change the terms of our agreement.” Adamat thought that Bo might disagree immediately. After all, an agreement was an agreement. He expected Bo to hold to nothing but the letter of it.

“I’m listening,” Bo said.

“I want you to find my son. And I want you to kill him.”

I
t took four days to arrange the parley. During the uneasy peace, brigades on both sides were reinforced and allowed to posture, and messengers were exchanged. Two days after finalizing the parley, Tamas found himself in a town just off the southern highway about fifteen miles north of Fendale.

Calling it a town was actually quite generous. There were less than a dozen buildings, the biggest of which, a Kresim chapel, had been appropriated for the purpose of the meeting. There was no sign of the previous occupants of the town. Whether they’d evacuated months ago or been enslaved by the Kez, there was no way of knowing, and it wasn’t high on Tamas’s list of questions to ask the Kez king.

Riders came and went for the better part of the morning, and Tamas passed his time watching Ipille’s retinue where they camped on the other side of the town, about a mile away. Not a lot of the camp was visible – Ipille had set up in a shallow ravine, out of the wind.

And out of sight of any powder mages.

Tamas commented on the fact to Olem, who lifted his looking glass to examine one of Ipille’s royal guard standing on a hill overlooking the Kez camp.

“He doesn’t trust you, sir,” Olem said.

“I can’t terribly blame him. I did try to kill him once.”

Olem lowered his looking glass and removed a cigarette from the corner of his mouth. “He’s tried to have you killed a dozen times, at least.”

“True,” Tamas said wistfully. “But I’ve wrapped my fingers around his throat. That’s a little different.”

“Ah. You ever going to tell me that story?”

“Maybe when I’m drunk someday.”

“You don’t drink, sir.”

“Exactly.”

One of Olem’s Riflejacks rode up to give his report, and a moment later Olem conferred with Tamas. “Sir, my boys have given the all-clear. The town is empty except for a couple of Ipille’s royal guard, and they’ve scouted everything within half a dozen miles. If it’s a trap, Ipille is far cleverer than we give him credit.”

“Ipille
is
far cleverer than we give him credit. Fortunately for us, the one skill he lacks is the ability to select for talent. That’s why all of his generals and field marshals have only ever been half-competent at best. You’ve had a few Knacked checking for Privileged and Wardens?”

“No Wardens. And just one fifth-rate Privileged. Supposedly she’s the head of the royal cabal now, with everyone stronger dead.”

“Tell Vlora to keep the Privileged in her sights, in case she tries something.”

“You know, sir,” Olem mused, “Ipille is doubtless traveling with a kingly entourage. We’ve only brought fighting men. We have the superior force. We could…” He imitated a pistol with his thumb and forefinger.

“Don’t tempt me.” The thought had already occurred to Tamas. Several times. “We’re in position to end this war. Kill Ipille, and one of his bloody stupid sons will call for our heads and might even gain sympathy throughout the Nine. Taniel!” Tamas waved his son forward. Taniel looked up from speaking with one of the Riflejacks and waved back. He said a few more words and walked over.

Taniel had cleaned up well since his ordeal in the mountains. He’d shaved, bathed, and been given a new uniform. He bore a dozen more scars than when Tamas had sent him up South Pike Mountain, and there was a patch of white hair around his right ear that Tamas hadn’t noticed before. He wore the powder keg pin of a powder mage on his breast, but no rank.

Tamas drummed his fingers on his saddle horn. “I gave you a promotion, you know,” he said, eyeing Taniel’s empty lapels.

“Technically,” Taniel responded, “I’m not one of your soldiers anymore.”

“That’s rubbish and you know it.”

Taniel let his weight fall to his back leg and his hand rested on the butt of one pistol. Even here, surrounded by allies, he adopted the stance of a casual killer. Similar to Olem, but without the bodyguard’s watchfulness. Taniel wasn’t ready to kill because he needed to. Just… because.

“I made an agreement with Brigadier Abrax. I’m a member of the Wings of Adom.”

“And I told you that you never left my service. Your dismissal was orchestrated by a traitor on one side and a war profiteer on the other. No court, military or civilian, would uphold the results of that court-martial.”

“Of course, father,” Taniel said quietly.

Tamas bristled. They’d had this conversation a dozen times, and each time Taniel made a show of conceding the point. But he still had yet to attach the major’s pins to his lapel.

“This could be a trap,” Taniel said.

Tamas shook his head. “We’ve checked.”

“It’s the real thing? Ipille wants peace?”

“That’s what we’ve been led to believe.”

“We could just kill him,” Taniel said.

Olem nodded emphatically. “That was my suggestion.”

Tamas sighed. No need to dignify that with a response. As much as he wanted Ipille’s head on the end of a bayonet, he was acting as a politician now. This had to be done right. And, he reminded himself at the sight of a group of riders cresting the highway a few hundred yards distant, he wasn’t doing this himself.

“My lady,” Tamas greeted Lady Winceslav when she arrived.

The
L
ady wore a sharp red riding dress with black boots and rode with a carbine laid across her saddle. She pulled up next to Tamas and looked him up and down.

“Abrax is furious with you.”

“I know.”

“So am I.”

“I assumed as much.”

“You’re a fool. And you almost lost us this war.” Her tone was level, one eyebrow raised as if she were slightly bemused. Despite her outward appearance, Tamas had known the
L
ady long enough to see that she was quite put out.

“But I didn’t,” he said.

“You’re incorrigible. Hello, Olem. Hello, Taniel.”

Olem nodded. Taniel stepped to the
L
ady’s side and kissed her hand. “Good afternoon, my lady.”

“I’m glad to see you’re still alive. No thanks to this one.” She jerked her chin at Tamas, and Tamas forced himself to swallow a biting remark. “Are you sure,” she continued, “that you want to remain in the employ of the Adran army? I’ll double whatever they’re paying you.”

Tamas eyed his son for a moment, and Taniel seemed to enjoy the uncomfortable silence that followed. Finally, he said, “My place is here, my lady. For now.”

“Pity.”

“A word, my lady?” Tamas asked.

They both led their horses off to the side and Tamas leaned over to her. “Will the Wings of Adom continue their support of this battle?”

“I’m having serious doubts as to the mental fortitude of the Adran field marshal,” Lady Winceslav said, looking him up and down.

“Oh? And you’ve made better decisions in the recent past? Shall I bring up a certain scandal among your brigadiers that’s only a few months old?”

Lady Winceslav pursed her lips. “Tell me, can you count the number of younger women you’ve slept with on one hand? On two? How about we include toes?”

“This bickering is unbecoming,” Tamas said, giving her a tight smile.

“Is that the best you’ve got? Where’s that famous grin you used to bag them all with?” Lady Winceslav shook her head before he could answer. “I’m here in my capacity as a member of your council. Not as the head of the Wings of Adom. We took impossible losses last week and we haven’t yet decided what to do about it.” Tamas opened his mouth, but Lady Winceslav leaned close and whispered, “We’re going to withdraw. But I won’t make that announcement for a couple of days. As far as this parley is concerned, we will provide a unified front.”

Tamas’s throat was dry. “Thank you,” he said back quietly. Louder, “Well. I’ll look forward to hearing your answer.” He was not happy to hear her decision. If Ipille continued the war, he would need her mercenaries more than ever. But he couldn’t make an issue of it now.

Tamas noted that someone else had ridden in just behind Lady Winceslav’s escort. He frowned and wheeled his mount toward the approaching rider.

“Nila, was it?”

The laundress-turned-Privileged nodded her head. She kept a white-knuckle grip on the saddle horn, and scowled at the roan stepping nervously beneath her.

“Been riding long?”

“No, actually. This is only my third time.”

“I see. You’re doing remarkably well, if that’s the case.”

“Thank you.”

“Nila, may I ask what you’re doing here?”

“It’s Privileged Nila, sir. And yes. I’ve been sent by Privileged Borbador.”

“Have you now, Privileged Nila?”

“Indeed.”

“For what?”

“Why, to attend the negotiations.”

Tamas blinked at this. “I don’t mean to be rude, but you’re a laundress who has only recently become a Privileged apprentice. What makes Bo think you belong at a negotiation between nations?”

“He said I should get used to it.”

“Did he? Well, you can go back to Bo and tell him that this is not appropriate.”

The smile wavered, but to the girl’s credit she did not flinch. “I won’t do that, sir.”

“Even if I order it?”

“With all due respect, I am not under your command, sir.”

He could see the nervousness in her eyes now. The slight shake of her hands on the reins. What was this, some kind of test that Bo had put her to? Face down Field Marshal Tamas?

“It is within my power to bar you from the negotiations.”

“You can’t, sir. I have every right to be here as the representative of the Adran Republic Cabal.”

“The what? Taniel!” Tamas whirled his horse and beckoned impatiently for his son. Taniel arrived a moment later. “What the pit is your friend playing at?”

“What friend?”

“Don’t act coy with me. Borbador. What is this business about the Adran Republic Cabal?”

Taniel looked at Nila, then at Tamas, suppressing a chuckle. “He’s not playing at anything, sir. You’ve asked him to help with the war effort and he’s the last trained Privileged left in Adro. Nila is his apprentice and, from what Bo tells me, she is even stronger than he is. Those two are the Adran
C
abal now, and since we’re trying to be a republic, he thought it pointless to continue calling it the royal cabal.”

Tamas opened his mouth once, then closed it, trying to think of an argument against this that didn’t end with him saying “because I say so.” He couldn’t come up with one. Bo was, technically, still a government Privileged.

“Don’t say a bloody word,” Tamas said, pointing at Nila. “I’m grateful for what you did at the battle last week and it’s earned you my goodwill. But I will not have a former laundress arguing points of politics with the bloody king of Kez.”

Nila’s ingratiating smile returned. “Of course, Field Marshal. I’m only here as a representative.”

Tamas spurred his horse back to Olem. “The laundress is going with us.”

“Yes sir. It’s almost the appointed time.”

Tamas gave a silent prayer of thanks that Olem had accepted the news without comment. “Send a man ahead. Vlora, you have command until I return. If anything happens, kill Ipille’s Privileged first, and then Ipille.”

“Yes sir.”

Tamas led his delegation across the lonely field to the outskirts of the town, where they waited for their messenger to return and tell them that Ipille was already in the chapel. They dismounted and left their horses tied beside one of the small houses, then walked the last hundred yards of the journey.

Two of the Kez royal guard flanked the chapel. Tamas looked them up and down – they wore gold on black, with gray trim. Their feathered, flat-top hats were tipped forward, chin straps hugging their jaws. Dark, unflinching eyes gazed back at Tamas, and he wished he had his powder cabal with him. The Kez royal guard was not to be trifled with. He doubted even Olem’s Riflejacks measured up to them.

“I’m here to see your king,” Tamas said.

One of them snapped a nod and turned sharply on his heel to open the chapel door. Olem left two men, one for each of the Kez, and then went first, followed by Lady Winceslav and Nila. Three of Tamas’s generals, two colonels, and a lawyer who had come along with Lady Winceslav filed inside.

Taniel hung back, a sour look on his face as if he’d swallowed a lime whole.

Tamas waited patiently for Taniel to finally come forward. “It’s time to end this,” Tamas said.

A muscle jumped in Taniel’s jaw. For a moment, Tamas thought his son’s discipline would fail him, but ever the soldier, Taniel gave a sharp nod and headed in, leaving Tamas to steel his own emotions before he followed to complete the delegation.

The chapel was poorly lit by a single window on the eastern side. It was one large room, only about twenty feet by thirty. The pews had been stacked along the walls and a large table brought in, covered with a gold cloth and a small feast of fruits and desserts. Candelabras had been lit and artwork hung along the walls – no doubt, additions made by Ipille’s retinue to give some semblance of royalty to the place.

A small group of politicians occupied the far end of the table. Field Marshal Goutlit sat on one side with a pair of generals Tamas did not recognize. On the other was a thin woman with delicate, birdlike features in the official tan-and-green robe of the Kez royal cabal. Beside her sat a pale, limp-looking fellow named Duke Regalish – Ipille’s closest adviser. A few other noblemen stood along the back wall.