Temple of the Traveler: Empress of Dreams (11 page)

“Spends a lot of time on her tan, too. I don’t meet many women from Intaglios. Do you think she’d mind getting some free gowns and going to a few parties? We could have the gowns cut to accentuate her art.”

“I think that would scandalize the women of the court,” said Frond, relishing the idea. “I might persuade her.”

The emperor pulled a premade ticket out of his belt pouch. “Tell her Nightglow will vouch for me. She doesn’t have to do anything more than make eyes pop and tongues wag.”

“To what end?”

“I have a particular woman in mind to be my first wife. I wanted to have a few options that the nobles will believe but like less than my marrying her.”

“If you really want to get their goats, there’s an attractive, unmarried witch who teaches lore and language at the public school. She’s half-Semenosian and tall as the day is long. Every one of these boys has fantasies about her.”

“Why doesn’t she teach at the College? Lady Sulphur does.”

“Komiko’s father was a lowly seventh-tier, and she won’t sleep with Lord Sulphur. Through mutual friends, I happen to know that Komiko the witch doesn’t like men.”

“I’m not without pull. I could arrange for her to teach a class this spring if she feigns interest toward me in public. Since I need one woman from each kingdom to round out my dance, we could pretend that the new school was my gift for her attendance.” He handed over a second ticket.
Only two left
.

“You’re a conniving man, sire. I like that about you.” The old man went on to describe other ways to earn wealth and favors at the same time. He stopped lecturing when the emperor looked overwhelmed. “You came here for a reason. What can
I
do to help?”

“I want your permission to build a cow shrine by the amphitheater, the gaudier the better.”

Frond cackled. “Can we throw a party with loud music and bright costumes?”

“And rice wine.”

The old man stomped his feet. “Done. I’m going to have fun watching those pompous imbeciles squirm. Now that I’ve agreed, what aren’t you telling me?”

“I mentioned Muro’s fall, but Small Voice has been captured as well. I can’t do a thing about it.”

By the time the storm spent itself, the sun had gone down. Pagaose couldn’t sleep. He tried meditating, but Anna kept popping into his parlor. She rubbed a new coconut-based skin lotion into her skin each night for rough elbows. “I could get used to highborn luxury. This makes my skin sooo soft. Do you want to try some?”

“Lubricants make gripping a weapon difficult,” the emperor replied, nervously.

“Are you sure there’s nothing I can do to help you relax?”

He got tenser just thinking about it. “I’ll join you over breakfast tomorrow.” When she departed, he could smell her. Desperate, he left the royal bedrooms. The hammock did not soothe him and neither did the sauna. If anything, touching the ladle that Anna held last made him yearn to caress her gentle aura in person.

“I wish to go for a walk,” he announced to his door guard just after midnight. Seven weary guards were roused to follow him. Eventually, he wandered down to the dueling platform outside the harbor. His guards stayed at the narrow neck of land at the boundary of the Deep while he strolled around the tiny island alone.

The wind lashed him, but he sat in the center of the giant rune circle, trying to find the peace that eluded him in his new home.

After an hour, he heard a whisper. “Your guards are asleep, Sun priest.”

He didn’t open his eyes. “Greetings, Serog. I am called Pagaose.”

“You’re not afraid?”

Since this was officially in the Deep and uninhabited, she could trespass here. He heard claws over rock, but she stopped at the outer ward ring. She might breech the protective barrier, but he would have enough time to draw the One True Sword. “I’ve done nothing to offend you, have I?”

“No.”

“Then we can parley.”

“For what?” she hissed, suspicious.

“Sometimes, people just need to talk.”

“I am Fallen.”

“I can’t confide in humans. I freed the Traveler but can tell no one what I learned.”

She gasped.

He concluded with, “You’re wise and know suffering.”

She coiled around the perimeter of the circle. “You want nothing from me?”

“I don’t expect you to go against Sandarac’s orders—” He broke off as the wind from her wings knocked him over. He opened his eyes to find an enormous gray, stone-like dragon staring at him.

“He does not control me! I act for the sake of my new daughter.”

“I did not mean to offend. You’re a good mother; Sarajah said as much.”

“She speaks of me?”

“She did when I saw her last at the Final Temple. She was well. I sent her to safety in Kiateros before I ascended. I’ve invited her to my coronation.”

“What are you staring at?”

“In the light of the Compass Star, your scales are like pearls.” Her eyes were jewels the size of his fist. The intelligence behind them captivated him.

This made her preen a little. “They’re a mess. I rarely get time to care for them.”

“If you’re hungry for mana, I have a Door you can feed from.”

“You would strengthen your enemy?”

“You’re not my enemy. We’ll both outlast Sandarac and this current unpleasantness.”

“I am full, thank you. I have access to a seam. It leaks enough mana for my needs. Besides, how could I reach your Door? I’m forbidden to touch the shores of men by that sheriff.” She spat.

“As emperor and high priest of several religions, I can modify your strictures.”

“At what cost?”

“Goodwill. You can walk on my shores in human form whenever you want to parley with me.”

She stared at him, unable to believe the kindness. “Thank you, Sun emperor. What can I do in return?”

“This body is new to me. I was recently poisoned, and it has made me restless ever since.”

She sniffed the air. “You have no trace of poison. It is the killing that troubles you.”

He jolted back. “But I had no choice.”

The dragoness cocked her head. “When your spirit is not in alignment with your deeds, the whole suffers.”

“What am I to do?”

“Lay your hand on me. Tell me what happened. I will take the stain.” She closed her eyes in preparation.

The offer stunned him. He looked her over, and strode to the very edge of the containment circle. “You’re not afraid I’ll harm you?”

“You are incapable. Give me your pain.”

He described what had happened in the alley and placed his hand between her eyes, on her sloping forehead. When the transfer happened, he felt euphoric and could immediately breathe easier. “Bless you, Serog.”

She opened her eyes, fixing him with her gaze. “You really freed him?”

“Yes.”

“I look forward to our talks, but I have many miles yet to fly. May you have peaceful dreams, Pagaose.” So saying, she launched herself into the night, vanishing again.

He returned to his bedchamber and did just that. With the lingering feminine scent in the air, several dreams involved a certain brewer etched with tattoos of fire.

On Orphan Day, King Legato arrived in Therak, the ancient capital of Kiateros, ferried across the great lake with the hundred irregulars who could fit on the craft with him. A great many of his acquaintances from his misspent youth lined the shore to greet him. Several had the same reddening of the eyes and nose that marked his barroom career. They brought beer, musicians, and loose women to celebrate his homecoming. Legato was short even for a Kiateran, so he had to climb onto a stack of crates to be heard. As he gazed out in sadness at the rabble, he said, “They have crowned me already.” The word ‘crowned’ sounded like ‘killed’ in his mouth. Indeed, atop his black curls he wore a simple, golden torc with the symbolic, steel sword pointing up at its center.

The barkeep from the Pier Tavern, his old friend Bung, stared. “You’re not drunk, then? It’s true? Then come lift a pint of our finest.”

“There is no time to waste in revelry. The Intagliosian soldiers that survived the Battle of the Falls might be on our heels. I have returned with the Obsidian Throne; it must reach the holy mountain of the horned god!”

His men immediately commandeered a wagon. They loaded the throne but left several men behind. Bung noted, “Why do they just get to lounge about?”

“The wounded and my advisors have done their part. They faced an army to enable me to sneak past the falls with my throne. Now it’s our turn to finish the job. When the Pretender invaded our kingdom, he installed his own regional governor in my palace. How big is his garrison?”

Bung laughed. “They all left for parts south. He’s got a handful, maybe twenty foreigners, plus the constables he appointed to keep order.” The barkeep spat. “He and his men do anything they please to decent folk, but our singing the old anthem or a hymn to our god lands you in the mines for a year.”

The procession followed him through the streets and up the mountainside. People came out of their shops and homes to take part in Legato’s victory march.

“Who are these foreign advisors you bring?” Bung asked.

He spoke loud enough for the crowd to hear him. “Sajika the bold, the one in red with topknot, is the new ambassador from Bablios. We’ll be planting a holy orchard by her palace as a sign of our abiding friendship with her fine kingdom. My new vizier, Pinetto, is an Imperial wizard.”

The crowd around him booed until he raised a hand. “Pinetto is the staunchest of allies and a brilliant theorist. He personally led the troops who covered my retreat against five fire mages and over two hundred Intagliosian soldiers and won! I don’t think there’s a spot on his pale body that isn’t bruised or scratched.

“Also supporting our just cause is the Queen of Archanos, Sarajah the Seeress. She crowned me at the border and helped to close the temple of the ki mages for good. Watch her, though, she’s a powerful witch. She’ll ask for your socks and you’ll want to throw in your shoes for good measure. Her favored, Tashi, is a former sheriff. If you haven’t heard of his strength and fearlessness, you soon shall.

“I brought Lord Simon Builder from Reneau to help rebuild our defenses. He was the one wearing white for mourning. He left everything behind to assist us. As he drove the wagon with my throne during an earthquake, he lost his wife of thirty years.”

Bung nodded. “Rich?”

“Wise and kind as well,” added the king. “But we need him bound to our kingdom if we’re to survive.”

“I give it a year before he’s wearing something young and flesh-colored instead. Anyone else?”

“I’ve sent scouts back to the waterfall to find the last hero, Baran Togg, the smith who bears the Defender of the Realm. He forged this magic blade alongside the god Kiateros and used it to save me more times than I can count. As his only reward, he asked that the abandoned brewery and the lands around it be deeded to his beloved, Anna of Tamarind.”

“Ah, a saint, if there ever was one,” mused the barkeep.

****

News of the throne’s return reached the palace before the mobs.

The regional governor looked shocked as his native staff tossed him off the balcony to his death. The stolid craftsmen hadn’t enjoyed the occupation. The few guards that survived were sent to the iron mines. Legato limped onto the balcony into crisp and frosty air to address half the town. “I have restored the throne of our ancestors, the pride of our people!”

Soldiers and peasants alike cheered this news.

“Inside this smoking mountain lies the Forge of Kiateros, where incredible steel swords are formed. Our weapons are so powerful that the emperors of old ordered that a limited quantity could be given to each kingdom, lest they destabilize civilization. The notoriety that should have won our craftsmen riches brought us ruin instead. Twenty-one years ago, Sandarac and the kings of the north coveted this forge so much that they invaded our mountain home. They treated us as slaves. I was only seven, but I saw everything. The southern thieves raped our mines and women, while disparaging both.”

The men in the square below hung their heads.

“No more. Our shame ends today, my brothers!”

The crowd cheered even more loudly.

“I have brought with me great heroes of the Independence War to help us prepare for the possibility of war in the spring. We will have many tales to share with you in the mead halls by the hearth. As reward for their aid, I have made them my advisors and given them the old palace by the lake. They’re busy preparing the grounds for winter as we speak. I want you to join me in welcoming these allies to our grateful nation.”

****

In the decaying palace of Therak Umnarfor, Ambassador Sajika looked around the straw-covered floor of the kitchen. Designed to withstand heavy snow and extreme cold, the ancient walls were thick and squat. “My palace is a glorified chicken coop!”

Simon’s adopted boy, Brent, laughed as he pulled a brown egg from under a hen roosting in the cupboard. “Eggs are good to eat!”

“Go get me some water while I find a skillet in our packs,” she said, pulling back her long, chestnut hair that marked her as a citizen of Bablios. She fastened it in a topknot the way a soldier would. In her own country, little would have differentiated her from the crowd except a subtle lack of symmetry where one high cheekbone had been smashed by a boot.

He shook his head. “Dad said I have to help him patch the roof of the dining hall before it snows. We’ll all be sleeping in there until the other fireplaces are repaired.”

She sighed. “The other men are resting. Tashi can’t walk yet, and Pinetto shouldn’t. At least scavenge some firewood while I sweep this mess; otherwise, you won’t have anywhere to warm up when you climb back down.”

“I guess. Dad’s buying supplies in town now. I could gather wood till he gets back.”

“Where’s the seeress?”

“I think she went to a jeweler to sell some of her trove and that fancy necklace the empress gave her.”

“Good luck with that. I doubt anyone around here has that much gold. If they did, the Pretender would’ve carted it off,” she predicted. “Someone has to clean this place; I’ll start with the table.”