The Apocalypse Script (36 page)

When the two men were gone, the women again faced
each other and began speaking Agati.

“
Consort,” said Lady Del without
inflection.

“
It is just that
things have been moving so very fast. Ben lacks a single consort.
It is quite unacceptable, don’t you think? He will at some point
need someone from outside our home for companionship. Persipia is
attractive and intelligent. A good sense of humor, too, or so I’ve
been told.
Much like her
mother.
”

Lady Del looked like she’d spied a
cockroach in her drink. “Yes, thank you, but…consort? As you know,
she has spent her life training as
sereti
, learning the skills
requisite to serving as asatu to a noble. Or, perhaps, senior
serretu.”

“
I see,” said Lilian. “Then I wish
you good fortune in your hunt for a suitor. It may prove a
challenge in the coming days, but you are aware of that, I’m
sure.”

The other woman weighed this.
“Persipia may agree to serve as second
serretu
to a man of proper stature.
She would have much to offer in that capacity. She knows all the
right people and speaks several languages. She also has an
incredible eye for fashion, which would any noble’s wife would
appreciate.”

“
She has many wonderful
qualities,” acknowledged Lilian, “yet, she is thirty-one in a world
of twenty year olds and, let us be frank, an eye for fashion in the
next age will be less useful than the ability to sew.” She
shrugged. “It is a harsh reality, but there it is.”

“
Consort
,” the woman said again, as
if by repeating the word it might become less repellent.

“
To a king,” said Lilian. “As you
are aware, consorts may become serretu. In time.”

Lady Del tugged absently at one
ear. “It is perhaps a
possibility.
”

“
One wonders if it shall remain
so,” responded Lilian with less warmth. “Your daughter is
exceptionally beautiful but I am told she is weak-willed and
requires constant supervision. It is no wonder that she is a decade
short of forty years and has yet to find a suitable
position.”

The older woman deliberated on
this for a moment before replying, “There is no assurance Benzira
will become a king, or remain one. If Persipia agreed to be consort
this day, she could be killed tomorrow for treason by the other
Houses.”

“
Or if they fall and she rejects
this offer, she may find herself ravaged by an Ardoon mob.
Precarious times, these, but everyone must choose a side. I do not
require an answer this second, Lady Del. You must confer with your
daughter. If she is not agreeable, I will not hold it against her,
but neither shall I grant her refuge if she appears at my
gate.”

“
And if she were
agreeable?”

“
Send her to me.”

“
Would your husband accept her as
consort? He seems uncomfortable with our ways. How would you
convince him?”

“
I would tell him the truth, Lady.
If he is not pleased to avail himself to Persipia then he need not
do so.”

“
But then why should he take her
as consort?”

“
Because to do
so would please
me
. I love my sister Fiela as I love
none other but she lacks refinement and a proper education. She
knows almost as little about the nobility as my husband. It would
be pleasant to have a noblewoman with whom to exchange ideas as we
rebuild the Ardoon. I would certainly seek her input on
many
things.”

Lady Del ran a finger around the
rim of her glass. “She would, in a sense, be an advisor, to
you?”

“
In a sense, yes, and I’m sure her
presence would be beneficial to your family’s fortunes. But,”
Lilian added, dropping her voice ever so slightly, “do not
misunderstand me. She must still fulfill her role as
consort.”

The other woman gazed a Lilian for
a moment, trying to read the hostess’s thoughts and confirm her own
suspicions. Finally, the lady said, “As consort to the king,” the
woman said, pointedly.

Lilian gave her a distressed look,
as if the lady had just said something very stupid. “I’m sorry, I
thought for a moment that we had an understanding.” Pivoting, she
said, “I have many things to attend to. Enjoy the
brunch.”

“
Wait!” the other woman said
nervously. “I will speak to her!”

Looking bored, Lilian waved a hand in the air and
said, “Do as you wish,” but as she walked away, she smiled.

They were, by the driver’s
estimation, thirty-five miles from the turn that would take them to
Steepleguard. They had acquired a new BMW with all the amenities
for the trip but the man at the wheel, dressed in a black silk suit
and tie, hadn’t enjoyed the drive. He was unfamiliar with the
steep, twisting road up the mountain. The fog and heavy rain had
made every mile a white-knuckle nightmare. The skies were a rolling
sea of gray and black clouds that too-frequently flickered white
and blue, their booms of thunder rattling him.

He wrestled with the steering
wheel as the storm’s unrelentingly violent winds buffeted the car.
The winds were the reason the helicopter flight to the top of the
mountain had to be cancelled and the hellish drive was
necessary.

He glanced at his watch. It was a
few minutes after three o’clock.

“
We’re fine, Sullin,” said Jathus,
the woman next to him. She was dressed in a sparkling black evening
gown, cut low to display a great deal of both her breasts and the
diamond necklace dangling from her neck. “The attack isn’t for four
hours. All we’re going to do until Lilitu’s surrender is to sit in
the car and stare out the windshield.”

“
Sorry,” the man said. “I don’t
drive much, anymore. That’s what Mr. Fetch is for.”

“
Enjoy it,” said Lord Nizrok from
the seat behind him. “After tomorrow, you’ll have few opportunities
to do so.”

“
That’s right,” said Benidita, the
other backseat passenger, a middle-aged woman who was dallying with
her Rolex. “The cars won’t start after the EMP blasts.”

“
Not that it would matter,” Nizrok
added. “It will be impossible to find a road that’s not jammed with
abandoned vehicles and corpses.”

“
I know,” said Sullin. “But I
hadn’t expected to spend the day before the end like this. I’d
always envisioned myself sitting at my favorite Italian restaurant
slowly drinking myself into a stupor and carb-loading. I’d even
recruited an Italian cook as a fetch.”

“
A good investment,” said Nizrok,
pulling a cigar from a pocket and biting off the end. The aroma of
the Cuban tobacco comforted him. The woman next to him wrinkled her
nose disapprovingly but he didn’t care. He was a Peth lord whose
troops were about to root out a serpentine rebel. If he wanted a
cigar he was damn well going to have a cigar.

Benidita, like the two people in
the front of the car, was a dignitary from another House. She was
from the Fifth, while Jathus was from the Eighth and Sullin from
the First. The Seven had required representation from those
kingdoms not participating in the attack to be present during
Lilitu of Sargon’s surrender.

Ostensibly the dignitaries’
presence was intended to show that the Seven were united in their
opposition to Sargon’s daughter, but the Peth lord suspected that
the other Families did not trust Moros and Nizrok to represent
their interests when negotiating the surrender of the aristocrats
who would be present. The First, Fifth, and Eight Kingdoms wanted
their fair share of the fame and spoils that came with victory over
Lilitu even though they had not committed a single Peth to the
battle. The Fifth would undoubtedly stake a claim on Steepleguard
when the smoke had cleared.

Not that there should be a battle.
Lilitu’s guests were professionals, aristocrats, or tradesmen, and
there had been no signs of troop movements anywhere around
Steepleguard in the past forty-eight hours. The woods and hills
around the old hotel were devoid of human life. If Lilitu had
banked on bringing warriors in by helicopter, she had picked the
wrong day for the reception. Nobody would be flying anywhere in
this weather.

“
Road block ahead,” Sullin
grumbled.

Nizrok and Benidita leaned toward
one another and peered through the windshield. The rain was
relentless but between swipes of the wipers they could see a
highway patrol car with its flashers on. It was parked on the other
side of a collection of large rocks that had rolled onto the road
from the muddy bank above them.

Nizrok said, “No need for concern.
Lord Moros and I have arranged for a few roadblocks to prevent
Lilitu from calling in reinforcements and to prevent Ardoon
involvement. Speak to the man in Agati.”

Sullin nodded. As they slowed to a
stop, a state trooper in a fluorescent orange raincoat emerged from
the other car and trotted over to the BMW, a battery-operated baton
glowing orange in one hand. When he reached the car he tapped on
the driver’s window. Sullin lowered it, recoiling from the icy rain
that pelted his face.

“
Rock slide?” he asked, squinting
to keep the water out of his eyes.

The trooper nodded. “Yes sir, one
here and one about four miles further up. It’s a bad day to be on
this road. The bank above is falling apart.” He peered in, saw the
other occupants, and said, “I’m guessing you folks aren’t
hikers.”

“
No,” said Jathus, switching to
Agati. “We are representatives of the Seven come to witness the
surrender of Steepleguard. Lord Nizrok is with us. You will let us
pass.”

“
Right away,
sir,” said the state trooper who was not a state trooper, also in
Agati. “I’ll make sure no traffic is coming from the other
direction.
Please drive
slowly.
It really is
dangerous.”

“
I will,” said Sullin.

Switching back to English, the man
in the fluorescent raincoat said, “Alright, you folks have a good
day.” He trudged back up the wet road to the rockslide, fighting
the wind. When he got to the boulders in the road he waved the
orange baton toward the car before pointing it to the outer limits
of the slide.

The driver cautiously moved the
BMW into the oncoming lane of traffic and was focused on the
policeman’s baton when Jathus suddenly gripped his leg.

“
I know that man,” she
gasped.

“
He’s from your House?” asked
Sullin, mildly annoyed at her because he was trying to focus on the
maneuvers necessary to clear the obstacles in the road. There were
large boulders a few inches to the right of the car and a guardrail
a few inches to the left. Driving between them with almost zero
visibility was like threading a needle.

“
No,
he
was
from my House.”

The driver grunted an
acknowledgement.

“
Sullin, he’s a
rebel!
Maqtu!
Stop the car!”

“
He -
oh,
shit!
”
cried Sullin, slamming on the brakes. He turned to warn the
passengers in the backseat but it was too late. A spray of bullets
shattered the windshield. One of the bullets sailed cleanly into
the side of his skull above his left ear, scrambling his brain
before tumbling out of his right jaw, showering the passengers in
the back with blood.

“
Maqtu!” screamed the woman in
front, reaching for her phone. A small metal canister rocketed
through the shattered windshield before she could punch the panic
button. The object hit the driver’s corpse in the chest before
plopping into his lap and rolling to the floorboard between his
feet. The hiss of escaping gas filled the car’s
interior.

Jathus began to
convulse.

Nizrok tried to open his door but
the adjacent guardrail blocked it, just as boulders blocked the
doors on the other side of the car. Cursing, he pulled his pistol
and shot at the window next to him only to find that the bullet
made a hole in the safety glass instead of shattering
it.

As Benidita screamed, the Peth
leaned back and kicked at the window with his heels. It was too
late. Millions of barbed particulates wafted up through his
nostrils and into his lungs, where they released their payloads
into his bloodstream. The muscles in his legs constricted and his
chest emptied of air as Bendita’s screams became gargles and her
body began to spasm.

The Peth lord would never see the
new world.

After Ben had left her in the
kitchen, Fiela had gone outside and found a remote iron bench where
she could cry in peace and meditate on what had happened. When she
was done she returned to the hotel and asked one of the servants
that had come up from the city if they had seen Ben, describing him
in detail. She was told a man matching her description was in the
Great Hall with Lilian. Fiela went there immediately and was
stunned at how much the room had changed since just the previous
evening.