Temple of the Traveler: Empress of Dreams (23 page)

“You look flush, cousin, and you’re wearing blue. Is mourning over?”

“Such dress would be an ill-omen on Pagaose’s reign. My daughter is the prime contender for the hand of the next emperor, and he has asked me to plan his coronation. Even if Nightglow fails to win him, his entire dynasty will be tied to our family.”

“Are you certain we wish this?”

She put her hand on her chest. “He has powers beyond any other man alive. He’ll lead our race into a new era of strength. The votes are counted; we need to ensconce him before the Pretender claims the same seat. If Sandarac succeeds, Reneau is the capital and we pay tribute until our island fades away.”

“If you can keep Pagaose from making any decrees, we might have a chance.”

“I will do my utmost to restrain his majesty,” she smiled wistfully at the word choice, “and distract him with the ceremony.”

“Don’t announce your role just yet,” he said cautiously.

“But the cost will be ruinous. I need the College of Wizards to fund this.”

He raised a hand. “I need time to move certain alliances and make disclaimers. Use your shipping business to pay and the College will reimburse you.”

“If you’re certain.”

“It’s how our government operates.”

“Very well. We must weaken his detractors covertly and make your defection seem natural.”

“I am open to suggestions.”

“His most vocal opponent is the ward wizard Burningsand. Convince the man that Lord Pinetto is the weak link in the emperor’s chain. Without him, there is no fifth school, and he’s the only member. Thus, without his vote, there is no coronation.”

“For a woman, your skills at logic are formidable. Whoever wins the duel, we gain.”

“Pinetto will win. I’d bet on it.”

“I think I shall. How shall I allay Burningsand’s fears of such a formidable opponent?”

“Recall that at the party, when he became emotional, he lost control of his magic and had to be doused with water.”

“Yes, I can paint him as an inexperienced oaf with no degrees. So many will agree that no one will recall that I was the first to point this direction.”

“I need to take proof to the emperor that I am winning the nobles to his cause, so that he will give me more sway in his palace.”

“As a sign of goodwill, to let Pagaose know we are secretly on his side, give him this proclamation we found pinned to my office door.”

Pangborn slid over a parchment. She read it and exclaimed, “Anna of Tamarind is already married?”

“Widowed, under suspicious circumstances, and quite rich.”

Lady Evershade slid the paper back to him, calculating. “Can it be proven?”

“Several witnesses will testify that she lived for a time at Muro.”

“Yes, I recall this.”

“With the monks, only married women are allowed, and only sharing the same bedroom as the husband.”

She smiled. “Anna had to leave Muro when he died! Oh, for Miss holier-than-thou, this is priceless. It will be sweet to see her dragged to the gutter.”

“You do not wish me to bury the claim?”

“No. Copy it and publish it everywhere tomorrow afternoon. However,
before
you inform your committee, honor the request from the emperor’s scribe allowing chaste and faithful widows to enter the dance. Claim you do this to open the field to . . . that Babliosian baroness, or even me.”

“This is absurd. An emperor must have young loins to bear him many children.”

She waved the comment away. “Complain about the suitability of the other choices. Offer members of other families who’d be superior.”

“Not hard to do. In mere days, I think Bablios is the only kingdom he’s yet to pick from. The guests last night joked that his highness could have escaped his wine bill for the feast if the wine merchant had a daughter.”

“This loophole harms nothing but will look to the emperor like we’re bending the rules to help his favorite. He’ll owe us.”

Lord Pangborn straightened. “You’ve always been my favorite cousin. I like this. We leak the charges a few at a time. When he thinks himself safe from the marriage charge, we let his opponents seize on the key, unfortunate word ‘chaste.’ The widow Togg will still be out of the dance, freeing the way for precious Nightglow.”

“Togg?” she said puzzled. “Baran Togg died on Emperor’s day.”

“Kirak Togg, his oldest surviving brother and heir to the Togg fortune, died on his wedding night while consummating.”

“The gods favor us, cousin. Our fortune is made.”

Niftkin led Pinetto and Tashi to the dungeons. “Three of my guards and one of the retired generals volunteered to go with you on your mission to bring the queen’s navy.”

Pinetto snorted. “That’s underwhelming.”

“The emperor stressed that quality is more important than quantity and cited Sir Tashi as an example,” Niftkin explained.

“Good point,” agreed Tashi.

“General Conifer will bring a couple assistants.”

“Conifer,” said Pinetto. “Wait a minute. He’s related to me, a branch of my mother’s family.”

“Yes, lord wizard, sir. The general is very proud and can meet you at your convenience. The emperor signed over two men to you already. I’ll introduce you to them first for your approval. With your existing crew, that brings the total to twelve souls. I don’t recommend you take too many convicts with you, and your little courier ship won’t hold many more. The emperor suggested that each of your party leaders pick one prisoner who might fit whatever plans you have.”

“We have plans?” asked Pinetto.

Tashi said, “I do. Find out who’s currently in charge of the pirate ship we need, and then convince him to help us.”

“If the good witch can’t convince them with her charms?”

“You blow them up or I chop their head off. Repeat until someone says yes. Simple but effective.”

“You don’t plan your next meal.”

“These things take care of themselves when you follow the Way.”

“So our plan is prayer and intimidation?”

Niftkin first took them to a door with a sliding viewport. “Hindaloo the Despised.”

Tashi refused to peek. “We’re taking him regardless. We’re going to refuse him because he’s too ugly?”

Through the hole, Pinetto could see a man with dark-green eyes. His arms and neck had scars like sucker marks. “Where’d the marks come from?”

“I caught the plague and survived.”

Pinetto backed away from the door. “The brain-eating plague?”

Hindaloo looked bored. “No. The normal one from rats. I had black boils so my crew left me to drift in a dinghy. The Zanzibosian navy never would’ve caught me otherwise.”

“So you’re the man to see to get in and out of forbidden places. Why were you in the plague-lands?”

“Born there. I scavenge iron and other rare materials from the old settlements. I’m pretty good at dodging the shamblers.”

Niftkin shouted, “Listen to how brave he sounds. He used children to swim ashore and steal. If they didn’t find anything worthwhile, he left them in the death zone. If they did come back, he quarantined them below decks till the next raid.”

“It’s a better life than most of them had. If they live till they’re adults, I make them crew or send them on their way with a bit of money,” said Hindaloo.

“Why only children?” asked Pinetto.

Niftkin spat on the floor. “Because then he doesn’t get charged with plague running. It’s a loophole in the law. With slaves, serfs, or employees, he’d share the guilt equally.”

“What’s he in jail for? Green eyes?”

“One of the kids lied about his age to get adopted; claimed he was two years younger,” said Niftkin with a chuckle.

“I hate liars,” said the plague-runner. “He died the night after he testified.”

Closing the peephole, Pinetto said, “That man gives demons a bad name.”

Tashi said, “Regardless of your personal opinion, when we’re in the field, walk where he walks and eat what he eats. The man is a survivor, and we’re going into his backyard.”

Next, Niftkin led them above ground to a less-secure area. The housing unit was more like a low-cost dormitory than a true prison. It had chickens, a garden, and an exercise area. “The emperor started this program. These are our honor prisoners, none of them much more heinous than the folks running the kingdoms right now. They’ve all cooperated with the crown in the past and earned privileges.”

Pinetto asked, “Why don’t they just run?”

An overweight man doing push-ups answered. “Where would we go? I had a bloody death sentence commuted. I can feed myself in the farm and don’t have to rely on my lazy son.”

“This is Murali Patwash, the former gamekeeper at the zoo,” noted Niftkin.

Tashi stood beside the man and watched him exercise. “You weren’t always fat, water-finder.”

Blowing out air between repetitions, he replied, “You’re a strange man. You throw insults to provoke me. Since you are probably skilled at violence, I will choose to view your statement as fact and not subject myself to embarrassment.”

“How can you tell?” asked Tashi,

“You smell of blood but have no apparent injuries. You have a sword belt but enter my cell without it. You stand like a fighting master even to examine my strawberries.”

“He’s on the expedition,” said Tashi, turning to leave.

Popping to his feet in a surprisingly dexterous move, the large man said, “Did I ask to join?”

“We’re going to the wilds of Archanos, facing savage natives and bloodthirsty pirates. Traditionally half our members die, but even the ones who do are remembered as legends.”

“
Now
I’m in,” said the former zookeeper. “But I have one favor to ask.”

Tashi raised an eyebrow. “Go on.”

“I raised foxes for the nobility on the side. My son isn’t feeding them. Most can be set loose or harvested for the fur and tail, but I need someone to look after my Kitten.”

Pinetto scratched his head. “I thought a young fox was called a kit.”

“’Tis, but this one’s special. I raised him myself, using a cat to help suckle when he was little. He doesn’t know he’s a wild thing. He comes when called and lets me rub his belly. He’s a fine thing, and I don’t want him suffering or worrying about me not coming home.”

Niftkin nodded. “Technically, all of them belong to the crown now as reparation, but the emperor likes to gift his dancers with animals to care for. I’ll see that your Kitten is taken care of. In exchange for that, do you know anything about planning an expedition?”

The prisoner laughed. “A bit, lad. It’s a sorry lardhead indeed that sets off without freshwater barrels.”

“Why is that?” asked Pinetto.

“Because the sea of Archanos is saltwater, not fresh like ours. You’d go mad if you drank it.”

“Yeah. A list of standard supplies would be good. What job do you do here in prison?”

“I feed the other prisoners—not much different than the zoo, heh.”

“So you know a little about the others?”

“Why?”

“Anyone you’d like to see on the journey?” asked the wizard.

Murali scratched his stubble. “There’s a smuggler I met who was really a spear fisherman. When war broke out, he didn’t pay the increased bribes at the Crooked Island.”

“It’s an island in the Tamarind River delta. Technically it’s frontier land, but the same Zanzibos family has been running the trading post for years. They slapped him with arms-running charges and made them stick.”

“How is that Imperial jurisdiction?” asked Pinetto.

Niftkin said, “He had a harpoon with a head bigger than his hand. It violates the honor rule of Imperial weapon registration.”

Tashi shrugged. “I guess. We lost one of our sailors, so we should replace him with someone who knows the territory. Think big, though. Is there any talent in the prison that you’d want if you were running things?”

“Anyone? Baba Nesu. I’m no good with bureaucrats, or I wouldn’t be in here. Old Nesu could slip us through the checkpoints like a watermelon seed through wet fingers.”

Niftkin shook his head. “Bad idea. That guy’s on death row. He took twenty years and the cooperation of three kingdoms to catch. He’s in the bottommost cell in this place.”

Tashi smiled. “The boss man said we could pick anyone. What’s the criminal in for?”

“Tax evasion.”

“Pull the other one.” Tashi laughed.

Niftkin shook his head. “We have to keep a gag on him. He’s already talked his way out once.”

“What’s the Baba in his name for?” asked Pinetto.

The inmate shrugged. “That’s usually a title of respect for a teacher or sage, someone you go to in order to solve problems.”

Tashi laughed. “A person criminals go to?”

“I want to offer him a chance to come along,” said Pinetto, “for no other reason than it’ll give Sarajah a taste of her own medicine.”

“Let’s hurry up; I’m hungry. I want to grab some lunch before your training session.”

****

Over their two-hour lunch with Pagaose, Tashi ate more food than three normal men would while the emperor continued to read the
Book of Dawn
, marking the margins with notes. Pinetto carried most of the conversation as young ladies trickled in. “Baba Nesu is a genius. We should make him finance minister.”

Nightglow said, “He’s not noble. The College would never allow that.”

“He’s a philosopher, and he’s read everything. He could go toe to toe with Simon the Builder.”

Bovinia’s appetite made the former troll slow down to stare.

Pagaose told Pinetto, “We’ll see
after
he completes the mission. Meanwhile, I’ve highlighted the areas likely to give Lord Ashford fits, but I have an idea. You should add a line here about woman being treated equal to men.”

“The original doesn’t say that.”

When the emperor pointed out the section of text to Pinetto, Tashi whispered to the girl from Mandibos, “Sauce.”

“Where?”

He pointed to his face, chest, and both hands. As an afterthought, he touched his hair, and this spurred the girl to leave for the powder room.

Pagaose insisted, “It summarizes the concepts of this whole page. You could make it a subheading. Then let Ashford force you to take the words out.”