Adversaries Together (6 page)

“
Your scales confuse me
Kyrio Landico. You don’t believe we have anything to gain from
protecting our nation. You don’t believe we have anything to gain
from securing our resources. You don’t believe we have anything to
gain from sharing our glory with the oppressed of Essia. I say
again, your scales confuse me. Perhaps I and my cohort give greater
weight to security and freedom and our future
prosperity.”

“
Again with your false
rhetoric. I have grown weary of your sophistry and paralogy, you’ve
corrupted the word.”

“
And certainly good lord,
if you are weary perhaps you should retire.”

“
I will stand against your
arrogance, your egotism and greed until all life leaves my bones.
You stand here amongst this council as a gift, undeserved and
unearned. You are the legacy of your grandfather, a man I, and many
of us, knew and respected. His line was granted the seat you hold
through accident of birth, boy. Those of us who have earned our
seat, those of us who worked to forge this nation and those of us
who strove to maintain it are under no delusion of vanity. You and
yours want Essia destroyed for your own sport, you want their coin
and treasure for your own, you want to prove in some misguided way
that you are worthy by striking down that which has never harmed
you and which is in no way your equal. You’re merely throwing a
tantrum.”

“
It seems that you are the
one that is red-faced and wild, Kyr…”

“
I am the man who is
telling you ‘Enough!’”

The council was blanketed in silence. Kyrio
Landico‘s eyes beat down upon Kyrio Matias with a hard
admonishment, but he met it with his own contempt for punition.

“
We have gotten away from
our original point, good lords.” The steady voice of Kyrio Tamas
broke the tension as he stepped forward. Nodding slightly and
tapping Kyrio Matias’ elbow, “If I may have the floor, Kyrio
Matias.”

Kyrio Tamas’ tone and demeanor was
deferential and not looking to keep pressing the argument with
Landico, Matias bowed slightly as he receded to his seat.

“
Good lords, the question
before us isn’t war. It isn’t whether or not we are strong, it is
not whether or not we are free, it is not whether or not we are
secure, it is not whether or not we honor our ancestors, and it is
not a debate between action or inaction.” The Kyria listened
intently, many nodding in agreement although one suspected that
they were merely glad that the temperature of the room was now
cooling. Landico leaned back slightly to take in what Tamas was
saying.

“
The question before us is,
should we accept the conclusion of The Cathedral? If we do, what
shall we do next? If we don’t, what does that mean? These are
questions to be taken up after we have addressed this—do we accept
that Essia is in a crisis, near implosion, and that its collapse
will send shockwaves throughout our world disrupting not just our
lives but the lives of all nations? Do we accept that? And will we
take on the mantle The Cathedral has set down before
us?”

“
That mantle is of a
conqueror.” A voice from the council rang out.

“
Yes, good lords, it most
certainly could be…in the wrong hands. Yet The Cathedral didn’t put
this charge before Novosy or Adrenia or the Merchant Fleet or the
lone cities. The Cathedral knew only we, the Seven Spires of
Ardavass and not The Aral, could take this on without giving in to
the poison of conquest.”

There were mumblings and grumbling in the
council, but all were well flattered by Tamas’ words, the
patriotism of Silvincia and the lords of its capital could always
be relied upon to smooth over divisions. Although Tamas knew this,
his expression and tone betrayed no affectation. Landico could
sense a sea change in the council but it wasn’t clear where it was
going, he knew that the lords themselves hardly knew where they
were being lead. These leaders of men had more akin to the sheep
they presumed to rule than they knew. However, Landico knew that
Tamas was no warmonger or glory seeker like the hotheaded young
bloods lead by Matias.

“
Ours is a grand moment.
One that will define our great nation, not just to ourselves as our
ancestors have so successfully done, but to the world. We have the
opportunity to be a beacon, the ideal that all others strive for,
that all others covet. We merely need to decide.”

“
I am unaware of our
kingdom being unknown to the world, Kyrio Tamas.” Snickers went up
among not just the youthful lords but also among the mature
councilors, smirks and self-satisfied nods. Of course, Matias had
to throw in some snide comment, thought Landico.

Tamas was un-phased, “Certainly so, good
friend,” his verecund smile seemed to win over the younger lords,
“But I know you get my meaning, we could be not just great but
glorious without doubt, without hesitancy, without
embellishment.”

The councilors nodded in agreement as Tamas
continued, “We would be divine by right.”

Assent spread out in varying degrees as the
tone of the chamber changed; there was a confident energy to most
of the room now. Landico saw the danger here, he rose slowly, “I
would wonder what The Cathedral would think of such a claim.”

The effect was immediate, though not as
strong as he had hoped as about a third of the chamber hushed
appropriately reprimanded while the rest turned up into an agitated
hum.

“
Kyrio Tamas is certainly
correct and I do not mean to suggest he is coaxing us to some
gasconade, but we have to consider just what The Cathedral wants,
what they expect, and what they will do. Even if we grant their
claim and take on this mantle.” Landico couldn’t see a way out now,
too many were either hotheaded like Matias or had generated some
grandiose scheme of their own thanks to Tamas.

“
Perhaps we should adjourn
for now. Perhaps we all need to ruminate on what has been said
today and perhaps we need to consult with our constituents.” Kyrio
Parmentier announced, less a question than a decision made for all.
The lords all tacitly agreed. He nodded to the master-at-arms who
stepped forward, “Shall the Assemblage adjourn?” he called out in a
stern voice. Calls of “yay’ came from all quarters, “The Assemblage
is adjourned. It shall reconvene in two weeks.”

With that, the lords stood up and began to
leave the chamber; they clustered in their factions almost
immediately, obviously rehashing the day’s debate. Landico stayed
seated planning to get up to leave once the others had cleared the
aisles and were well on their way back to their individual spires.
He stroked his beard with the back of his hand staring down blankly
at the council speech floor. His own lieutenants patted him on the
shoulder and gave him praise for his speech; he nodded
absentmindedly hardly listening to any of them.

“
He’s stronger than you
think.” Landico tilted his head up to the side to see Tamas
standing beside him.

“
The fool thinks this is a
game.”

“
Kyrio Matias does love
trophies.”

“
What trophy will come from
slaughtering Essians?”

“
It doesn’t need to happen
like that, you know that. You’re being purposefully
negative.”

“
I’ve come to realize that
the worst-case scenario is always the best to imagine.”

“
I disagree, though I
respect and understand your caution and reasoning. It’s just
pessimistic for me.”

“
A pessimist can never be
disappointed, only surprised.”

Tamas chuckled, “Someday we’ll collect your
wisdom into a proper tome.”

“
I’m not that old.” Landico
smirked, rose, and laid a hand on Tamas’ shoulder, “Besides I have
no disciples to spread the word.”

“
Oh, you know you have
adherents. I would say more than you suspect.”

“
But not you.”

“
But not me.”

“
I know you don’t want
war…”

“
No, I do not.”

“…
but I don’t know what you
do want.”

The two lords turned to walk up the stairs
out of the chamber, Landico kept his hand on Tamas’ shoulder, he
pointed with his other hand at the younger man’s chest, “You are no
zealot either, no heathener to be sure, but definitely no true
believer.”

Tamas shook his head, “No, I have no love or
hate for The Cathedral. But one can hardly forge a path on such a
premise.”

“
True. You say what you
must, giving the appropriate praise. And I’ve always been amazed by
your ability to avoid hypocrisy…though often barely so.”

“
I know you detest false
speech, but I was taught well by a master of all tongues and
reasoning.” Tamas winked, and Landico smiled despite
himself.

“
But how will this angle of
serving The Cathedral avoid war? The Cathedral might not want
obliteration like Matias’ faction does, but they do want Essia
annexed.”

“
Brought into the fold, as
it were.”

“
Yes, The Cathedral adores
supplicants whether they come willingly or via attrition. But how
does this not merely make us their champion—at best—or puppet—more
likely?”

“
I am certain we can use
this to not merely curry favor with The Cathedral, but check their
ambitions. If we take on their charge but make it our own, take it
from them, we can neuter their desire for a proxy state in
Essia.”

“
I see very little chance
of the Essians seeing us as saviors given that we caused their
hardship. The Blockade will be our greatest sin, Tamas.”

“
Maybe. But things change,
memories fade, and reason…”

“
Can be manipulated.”
Landico stopped and looked at his protégé with a grave countenance,
“We cannot allow The Blockade to continue, we cannot leave those
people to die, we cannot murder those people, and we cannot allow
The Cathedral to dominate them.”

“
Certainly so,” Tamas put
his hand on either shoulder of Landico, “We can change course, we
can save everyone; we just need to be patient.”

Landico smiled, “Beware the wrath of the
patient man.”

25
^th
of Lammas

The corridors leading to the Spires from the
Great Hall were surprisingly tall and unusually wide for just how
few Kyrios there were a result of whittling away representatives
and the solidification of the ruling class. From each Spire now
came at most fifteen lords whereas originally there had been close
to two hundred from each. The vast passageways opened into the even
more cavernous space that was the Great Hall, where the Assemblage
gathered. Kyrio Tamas stood in the antechamber to the Great Hall in
a small circle with his fellow Spire lordlings. They were rehashing
some insufferably banal point of order, so Tamas was only
half-listening and scanning the space for the other Kyrios he would
need.

Kyrio Harcour’s spire had come to be
synonymous with the agrigy, the farm folk of Silvincia, yet Harcour
had never set foot on any plantation. In fact, he had never really
left the city except for trips to Elixem via luxury shallop. Still
the agrigy would routinely back his family to election and although
he was certainly of the same station as the other Kyrios, he was
seen as the voice of the rural workers. Such was hardly the case
and Harcour was looking for a way to break away from the bias. The
chance to heighten his profile, to break away from the dirt
merchants he constantly grumbled about, would be the way to sway
him.

Although she was of the most martial spire,
Kyrio Alois could be his most valuable ally. She held enough
influence with the referendary to get the bookkeepers on his side.
With them, he’d have enough leverage on the others. His mentor,
Kyrios Landico, was already primed to fall in line with Tamas’
plan, and between the two of them, they could certainly turn the
hawks to their line of thinking. Just then, Kyrio Matias, the young
blood hawk, entered. The headstrong fool was surrounded by his
clique of blue bloods each itching for war more than the last.
Fortunately, they were dimwitted, only Matias had any rhetorical
skill. Yet there were more martii in the other Spires than one
would suspect and they were more than willing to get on-board with
the elimination of Essia. The trick would be making them think that
what they were doing was not just virulent but necessary,
inevitable even.

Matias and his coterie brushed past Tamas’
group with more than a few schoolboy smirks and mumbled insults.
Tamas despised them more for their childishness than anything else.
The notion that this masturbatory twit was a lord infuriated him,
an obstreperous adolescent constantly demanding praise. Yet, he
always kept it in check and although no one thought him a friend to
Matias’ spire, no one suspected that he loathed him. Landico had
made no bones about his contempt for Matias, had almost nothing
good to say about Harcour, and though a close friend to Alois did
not consider her politics adequately magnanimous. Tamas was going
to have to thread the needle here.

“
You’ll excuse me
lords…”

“
But Tamas, we need to
reach a consensus here.”

Walking away, he nodded in accord, “I
certainly believe we do and I am with those who are in the
majority.” His fellow lords unsatisfied but unwilling to pursue his
departure fell back into their bickering.