The Blasted Lands (12 page)

Much like Desh Krohan, Tataya hated not knowing with a certainty what was occurring.

“Well now,” he said. “I’ve met a lot of people in my time, milady. Travelers always do.”

“I’ve been known to travel myself.” She looked away from him. Not because she was done studying his reactions, but because he wanted her to not look at him for the moment. There were few who could tell what a person wanted as well as she did. She had been trained to understand the finer aspects of desires.

Callan pointed to one of the crew with his chin. “Vondum tells me you’ve actually been to the Seven Forges. Is that true?”

It was Tataya’s turn to be cryptic. “I have been to the Blasted Lands.”

Callan was ready to ask another question when the youth climbing across the top of the sails called out again, “Ship coming, Captain! Ship coming fast!”

The captain looked up and followed the lad’s pointing finger with his eyes. And there it was, a long ship heading for them. The sails were clean and well tended. There was neither flag flying nor any colors to indicate alliances, but there were none of the ship she rode on, either. Flags tended to fly when there was a reason and currently there were no countries fighting against each other that she knew of.

Callan squinted and looked closely at the approaching vessel. “This could well be the day I earn my money from you, milady. That would be a Brellar ship.”

“How can you tell?”

Callan smiled again. “Might not be Brellar running that ship, but it’s definitely built by them. You can tell by the metal along the sides.”

Looking closely at the approaching vessel she could see what he meant. There was a rail along the entire length of the ship, and it had the dull gleam of steel.

“Why do they have a rail?”

“They use it to tie lines to the ships they’re planning to board.”

“Why would they need that?”

“Most times the Brellar run across another ship, they either make a sale or two, or they take what they want in tithings.”

Tataya looked to the captain and shook her head. “You couldn’t mention that before?”

Callan shrugged. “Hardly seems good business to have you too scared to go looking for them before you’ve paid me.” He smiled and waved an arm around to indicate his crew. “Besides which, we’re armed and you have money. One way or another, we’ll work these things out.”

There were many ways to work out the potential issues facing them, and not all of them involved spending the gold she’d set aside for negotiations.

“The money I brought with me is to deal with the Brellar in an official capacity.”

“Oh, to be sure, they’ll act very official when they get here.” Callan’s voice was as cheerful as ever. She found she liked it less under the current circumstances.

As she contemplated the best possible answer to his latest words, the ship ahead of them doubled and then tripled. Three ships. Three.

One quick look let her know that the captain was no longer quite as confident as he had been moments before.

The skies were just as blue as they had been a moment before and yet the feel of the air was a bit chillier.

“Do the Brellar normally run in fleets, Captain Callan?”

“To my knowledge, which is limited, no, milady.”

Tataya nodded to herself and then looked on as the three ships came closer. “And what do we do about that situation?”

“I would expect we wait and see how they receive us.” Callan shrugged his shoulders. “There isn’t much else we can do, to be fair.”

Tataya nodded her head. There was a great deal more she could do, but she preferred to see how the situation progressed.

***

There was no love lost between Danieca Krous and her much younger cousin, Nachia. That was a fact that few people outside of the immediate family knew. Desh Krohan knew, of course, because he made it a point to know. Amazingly little got past him along those lines. The careful study of the Krous bloodline was an extremely important part of his duties as the Royal Advisor. Currently he was also the man in charge of the nation and deciding who would ascend to the throne. He had actually already made his decision, but that didn’t stop the majority of the Krous family from continuing to demand he change his mind.

Currently it was Laister Krous who wanted that change to happen the most. Laister felt he should be the Emperor. He’d felt exactly the same way when Pathra ascended to the throne and he would likely feel that way regarding who should rule the Empire for as long as he was alive and possibly into any number of afterlives as well.

To make his point clear Laister had run to his second cousin, Danieca, who controlled a substantial fortune in her own right. Danieca was a large woman, and while few would have believed it in her time she had been a true beauty. A life of excesses had been unkind to her, but had not, unfortunately, calmed her attitudes in the very least.

Her voice was like the sound of a crying baby, shrill and impossible to ignore. Far worse was the fact that Desh could not make himself stop staring at the rash at her hairline. It was a fairly ugly rash, to be sure, but the angry red marks seemed to flare with every breath she took.

“I am hearing ugly rumors, about you and Nachia, Desh.” Her lips snapped shut for a moment and she glowered. “Ugly. Rumors.”

“The same sort of rumors once floated around regarding you as now float around regarding your cousin. Neither has any validity.” He forced himself to focus on her eyes. Hard to believe that she had ever been capable of seducing a man with the baleful things, but in her time she had managed repeatedly.

Danieca didn’t so much as blink now. Instead she sucked in a great breath and prepared to continue the debate at a new volume.

Desh held up his index finger before her and made sure it got her attention before he spoke. “Think very carefully about what you’re about to say. The wrong words will go a great way toward determining your lifespan.”

She paled. “Are you threatening me?”

“Not at all.” His eyes remained locked on hers. “I’m reminding you who you speak to, no more, no less. I have about had it with your accusations regarding my relationship with Nachia, who will be the new Empress in a matter of hours.”

“I could protest this.”

“You already have. You’ve been protesting since Pathra was slaughtered.” She flinched at his words. “You and yours seem to have forgotten that part. He was murdered.”

“And his murderer remains unpunished!” Danieca slapped her meaty hand onto the table and leaned toward him. “Where is the assassin who killed our Emperor, Desh Krohan?”

“I’m still investigating that very question, Danieca.” He spoke softly, but his eyes kept their grip on her gaze, not letting her look away. “Very little else has been on my mind of late.”

The woman no longer looked comfortable with the current discussion and if he had to guess it was the tone of his voice that was responsible for the change in her demeanor. When the latest wave of demands had started he’d been as patient as he could, but his tolerance for screaming was wearing thin these days.

Desh Krohan rose from the seat where he’d been leaning a moment before and rose to his full height, looking down on the woman who had, as a young girl, done her very best to seduce him – sometimes he thought it was a game all of the women tried to play as surely as the males of the Krous family tried to bed the Sisters – and spoke softly. “This conversation is over now, Danieca. The decision is made. I have listened to the endless prattling of Laister and yourself, and even done my best to ignore the veiled accusations you’ve thrown my way, but this ends now.”

“I have merely done what I must to ensure the safety of the throne in these troubling times, wizard.” Danieca’s voice was harsh, but of a lower volume. She was not cowed, but it was just possible she was remembering whom she was talking to.

“The throne is not the issue here. Your concern is Laister. Your concern has always been Laister. Let me make this clear to you one last time. Pathra Krous, the last Emperor of Fellein, stated who would ascend the throne when he passed. He named his cousin Nachia, as was witnessed not only by me but by the Lords in residence at the time. I have shown you the signed writ. I even allowed you to examine the royal seal before it was opened. Nothing has changed. Nothing will change. Laister is not fit to run the Empire. Nachia ascends to the throne before the end of the day.”

“You overstep yourself, Desh Krohan.” Her voice now was softer still, the faint whisper of a serpent preparing to strike. She was afraid of him, but she was not backing down.

Sometimes a person picks the wrong battles to champion.

“No, Danieca.”

He was still trying to find exactly the right words to end the discussion when she continued. “You forget yourself. I am not the Empress, that’s true enough, but you would do well to remember who you speak to. I have a great deal of influence with the right people and you know that to be true.”

“I do.” Desh nodded his head. “I know exactly how much influence you have. I know how much you are worth. I know your fortune is vast. I also know that Laister has done several scandalous things that have been brushed away by your influence.”

She started at that. Likely she would have tried to speak, but he continued on. “I am aware of everything that happens, Danieca. I knew about your delving into sorcery when you were younger, and I know exactly how well that went for you. I could, if asked, point to precisely where the bodies are buried.” He leaned closer. “Really Danieca, not everything you read about sorcery is true. I speak from experience here. I wrote most of the books that are studied.

“I know where Towdra keeps his money. I know who you trust to watch your wealth when you are away. I know exactly what you own and where you hide it.” His voice rose, though he was doing his best to avoid actually yelling. The good fortune of the day was that Danieca had come to his private offices before preparing to make her latest threats and the rooms were excellent at keeping their secrets. “I know more than you understand, Danieca. As clever as you think you are, there is
nothing
you have done that remains a secret from me for long.”

“You’re an advisor, Desh Krohan. Nothing more than that. You’d do well to remember your place.”

“My place?” It was Desh’s voice that became a whisper then. “I am not an advisor. I am the First Advisor to the Throne of Fellein. I am the Regent to the Empire. Until I surrender the throne to the proper heir, I am in charge of the Fellein Empire, the greatest single power in the known world.”

Desh managed to stand even taller. “And you? You are an old woman with delusions of importance. Would you like to test me, Danieca?” He leaned down until their faces were only inches apart, knowing full well that what she saw most clearly was the shadows of his hood. There had been a time when he allowed himself to go casually around her, but those days were long past. They had not been friends or allies for many a year. Instead she was a thorn and one that he tolerated. Sometimes he found her charming in her own caustic fashion, but not at the moment. He had tolerated enough of her veiled accusations of impropriety and the barely concealed warnings of how powerful she was.

“You won’t be the first member of your family to threaten me. You likely won’t be the last. But I will tell you exactly what I have told previous members of the Krous bloodline that have tried to force my hand. You do not want to push me any further. If I decide that you are a real threat to me, I will defend myself.”

That got her attention. The woman who had pushed into his office with a dozen demands now looked at him and nodded her head fearfully. She opened her mouth to speak and he stopped her again.

“Just to make this very clear, Danieca, I will defend myself in any way I feel best suited to protecting me, the Empire and the interests of the Empire. Consider very carefully the stories you heard about me when you were growing up and contemplate whether or not you wish to test their validity.”

She did not run out of his office, but she left with as much dignity as she could muster while walking at three times her usual pace.

Desh sighed and settled back into his seat. Usually one or more of the Sisters was there to stop that sort of confrontation, but they were away and he missed having the buffer.

His fingers found their way to his temples and once there started worrying at the knots of tension just under the skin.

The sound of Nachia entering his chamber was a small one, but he heard it.

Desh looked up and smiled at the woman. Nachia Krous was a beauty, much like most of her family. The entire group had married for money and success for generations and somewhere along the way they’d found a way to breed attractive children. He wasn't quite sure where things went wrong as they aged, but in most cases that seemed the case.

“My family has been here to see you again?”

“Of course they have.” He grinned and winced both. “Haven’t I told you it would be best to avoid sneaking into my chambers by way of the hidden passages?”

“Of course you have. But I’m about to be the ruler of the Empire, so I figured I could just ignore that rule.”

“There is that, I suppose.” Her logic was much like Pathra’s. That alone made him believe he was making the right choice by following the dead man’s wishes. Pathra Krous had been his friend as well as the Emperor of Fellein. He had been groomed and chosen by Desh himself. While Pathra had definitely been the one to suggest Nachia, it was also true that Desh had been planting that suggesting for a long time before the decision was made and that he’d spent a fair amount of his time grooming her just as he had her cousin.

“Have they convinced you that Laister is the better choice?”

“The world is many things, Nachia, but it has not gone completely mad. Laister will not be the Emperor. It’s you walking to the throne when the coronation takes place.”

“Have they all shown up?”

“Do you mean your family or the royal families?”

“Both I suppose.”

Desh sighed. “Well, it seems King Marsfel will not be with us.”