The Warring States (The Wave Trilogy) (40 page)

The procurator was waiting in the Basilica to welcome back the ambassadors and show them to their seats. The tiered arrangement suggested how Ariminumese expected the league to operate; the basilica’s grey-eyed board entered last and sat above the ambassadors like a row of judges.

‘I trust there are no objections, but we’ve taken the small liberty of rearranging the agenda,’ the procurator began. ‘We rather hoped to skip immediately to the Dalmatian situation—’

As he was speaking Sofia stood and noisily turned her chair round. When the rest of the ambassadors followed suit, the procurator bleated objections. Without turning her head, Sofia shouted, ‘We can’t hear you from up there. You’ll just have to come down and talk to us as equals.’

At this the Moor erupted with deep laughter. He walked down, carrying his chair, and joined the newly formed circle.

It took a while, and a separate round of negotiation, threats and pleas, but eventually everyone had a place, though Count Grimani, the Veian ambassador, proved especially hard to please. Veii’s and Salerno’s relationship was marginally less fractious than Concord and Rasenna’s – but not by much.

‘The Contessa’s trying to impress us with her equalitarianism, I expect, but we’re not blind,’ Count Grimani said aggressively. ‘Ariminum and Rasenna have been fighting for precedence for the last year.’ The count was young and ambitious, with a sharp nose, bulbous eyes and a shrill voice designed for objecting. The summit’s grand venue had inflated his self-importance. ‘Well, I didn’t come here with preconceptions; I came here to question the whole premise of the Southern League, so-called. To start with, you’re all Northerners to us. The way we see it, you’ll both have to give up something if you want peace. Procurator, Dalmatia is gone – accept it. Move on. And Contessa – well, I know peace is a dirty word in Rasenna, but the South’s not going to let you drag us into a war. The Concordians have lost face; that’s all this is about. Give it back, and we can go on with our lives.’

‘Your lives are going to change, whether you like it or not,’ Levi retorted, ‘and that’s why we need a league. Concord has built a canal to the sea, and you can bet they’re already building a navy. One thing they do well is plan. If Concord launches that navy, then the whole peninsula is vulnerable. No Etrurian city is far from the sea.’

He looked at the ambassadors of Veii and Taranto. ‘You won’t have the luxury of Rasenna or Ariminum fighting your battles when Concord can simply sail past us.’

‘All the more reason to make peace,’ Grimani insisted.

‘How can there be peace when Concord considers Etruria its property and every Etrurian its slave?’

‘I’ve heard of Rasenneisi, Salernitans, Tarentines, Concordians
and Ariminumese, but I’ve never heard of this strange creature, the Etrurian. Pray tell, where can one be found?’

‘Look about you, fool! No city can stand apart. Concord won’t rest till they’ve broken Etruria. It doesn’t want allies, it wants vassals – but you’re right, our unity’s too fragile to survive without allies.’ Levi straightened and cleared his throat. ‘That’s why I propose we accept Queen Catrina’s offer and send a delegation to Akka. Too long have the Marian peoples been divided. We have common cause, and reinforced by Oltremare, we can win!’

The procurator interrupted frostily, ‘That alliance is out of the question. Oltremare competes with our eastern trade, steals our colonies, taxes our merchants and blockades our galleys.’

‘And you do the same to them,’ Doctor Ferruccio remarked.

‘Oltremare is as great a threat to us as Concord is to Rasenna. No, I must—’ He paused as a notary whispered in his ear, then announced, ‘Signori, I’m afraid we’ll have to adjourn early today.’

‘Oh, but we’ve just started,’ Count Grimani complained.

‘Another ambassador has arrived.’

Sofia was delighted to hear it. ‘From where?’

The procurator attempted to be casual about it. ‘Concord.’

As they left the basilica, the Moor fell into step with Levi. ‘I’d have told you that involving the Oltremarines was impossible, had you asked.’

‘But I didn’t. I know the Ariminumese never forget a slight, but the Oltremarines might not be so short-sighted.’

‘Your information is some decades out of date. These days, Oltremare desires one thing only from Etruria, and that’s to keep her sea-lanes free of its pirates.’

‘I dare say your knowledge isn’t out of date,’ Levi remarked.

‘I haven’t been idle since your late employer persuaded me to vacate the premises. God despises sloth. You’ll be pleased to know the principle of contracting works as well on Terra da Mar as Terra Firma, with the minor difference that a condottieri in a boat is called a
privateer
. The skills transfer wonderfully.’

‘You were a natural, I expect.’

The Moor beamed. ‘I was! Until a year ago I commanded a small fleet, and we were paid a hefty fee to not pay a visit when we passed a city. The Oltremarines got tired of paying me, so I was obliged to plunder the queen’s shipments. Most unfortunate.’

‘And I bet you collected a nice bursary from the Ariminumese for your trouble.’

‘The very suggestion! The procurator would be outraged.’ The Moor laughed. ‘It’s nice to be paid for doing what you love, but eventually I tired of it. There’s nowhere to spend a fortune at
sea. Like you, I want to settle down. I’d my eye on a fertile strip of Barbary. Alas, my dream proved to be just that.’

‘The natives objected?’

‘On the contrary, they worshipped me. It was those damn Oltremarines. In the saddle, on a ship, one can always flee when faced with superior odds, but when one has a throne, one is obliged to sit on it. I lost my fleet but not, God be praised, my life. The sailors I had so heavily taxed rejoiced in the expectation of seeing me hang over Akka’s harbour, but Queen Catrina is singularly intelligent, for a woman. My activities were a minor nuisance compared with her trade-war with Ariminum. All maritime empires are rivals but they have one thing in common—’

‘A fondness for pirates?’

‘You mock me.’ The Moor sighed wistfully. ‘I have been many things, but never a diplomatic gift. That heartless bitch had me trussed up like a pig and sent across the water for the Doge’s delectation.’ His sudden anger cleared. ‘But in all her calculations, Catrina never suspected that her counterpart would be awaiting execution. The new Consiglio saw my activities in a more tolerant light.’ He saluted the Basilica reverently. ‘Instead of a noose, they awarded me an admiral’s baton.’

‘If Queen Catrina is as dispassionate as you say she won’t give a damn, because what I said in there is true: a Concordian navy will ultimately aim at her throne. The Oltremarines don’t know it yet, but they’re going to be involved in our war, like it or not. This is an opportunity. If we make the case to them, they’ll help – I’m sure of it.’

‘Rasenneisi were ever dreamers, and alas, Levi, you’ve gone native. Politics tire me. Come! Let’s watch the
battaglia
in the glassworkers’ ward – it’ll be great betting. No?’ The Moor bowed. ‘Then I will pray that you recover your wits. Farewell’

After the first day’s negotiation, Count Grimani invited some of the other ambassadors to dine on the Veian flagship. The Rasenneisi were not invited.

The Veian was dismissive of the whole venture.
‘You believe this navy business? I don’t
.’

‘The Rasenneisi are just trying to scare the Ariminumese. Can’t blame them. For them war’s unavoidable, for us it’s optional. I tell you candidly that if I signed up to this league, my job wouldn’t be the only thing I’d lose when I got back. I presume you are under similar pressure?’

‘For form’s sake I’m allowed to offer a few troops, nothing more. Look at it from their position – a few years ago Concord could march to our door unopposed, unless we bankrupted ourselves with condottieri. We were the ones agitating for the league then.’

‘Who’s that?’ Pedro whispered. ‘Is that the old fellow from Salerno?’

‘Ferruccio, yes. Shhh!’

‘That’s history. Should we just ignore the fact of Rasenna’s resurgence? They are effectively a wall between us and Concord: in the unlikely event that Concord ever gets strong enough again to march south, the Rasenneisi will dull the force of the blow.’

‘Lucky for us that the Rasenneisi are too pig-headed to think about making peace.’

‘The Ariminumese, on the other hand …’

‘I don’t trust them. How much did they pay you—?’

Pedro took off his earpiece. ‘We’re not hearing anything we didn’t already know.’

‘We’re on our own with Ariminum unless Salerno joins us,’ said Levi.

‘Ferruccio would if he could,’ Sofia said.

‘I’m more interested in what our hosts are planning. If Rasenna and Ariminum agree, the southerners will fall in. Can you get the annunciator up to the sixth floor?’

‘Should be enough power,’ said Pedro, ‘though we won’t be able listen for long.’

Sofia was looking out of the window at the Veian galley in the harbour. As Pedro operated the controls like a puppeteer, the little golden cone rose from its porthole perch and dropped silently towards the sea, falling in an arc, a chink of sunlight lost in the reflected evening ripples. They heard an argument of sounds: wind, water lapping, boatmen calling, gulls’ screams, horns and bells from the dock, and then different voices as the annunciator rose up the basilica’s many storeys.

‘The sixth floor’s where the Consilium Sapientium meets,’ said Levi, whispering, even though the annunciator broadcast only one way, ‘if I can trust my Ariminumese informants.’

‘If you can’t trust an informant,’ said Pedro, ‘who—?’

‘Stop!’ Sofia said. ‘Did you catch that? Drop it back to the third floor.’

Pedro checked the annunciator’s ascent and expertly brought it to rest on a windowsill, where it was helpfully concealed by a lace curtain rippling in the wind.

A familiar deep voice: ‘
Are you offering me a contract?’

‘I could use someone like you.’
The voice of a much younger man, level, serious.

‘You couldn’t afford me, boy. Ariminum’s larder is well stocked. I intend to stay here and eat my fill.’

‘You’re working
for
Ariminum. Work for me and I’ll
give
you Ariminum.’

‘Work for Concord, you mean.’

‘The army won’t be subordinate for ever. The Guild isn’t the power it was.’

‘What of the Apprentices?’

‘There’s just one left and he’s … I’m a patriot. As long as the triple-headed beast provided stability, I was content. That’s changed. Consul Corvis has taken charge.’

A tutting sound.
‘One defeat and you act like Heaven’s falling.’

‘I’m negotiating with my enemy in a city I should be dictating terms to. A government that let that happen does not command my loyalty. If I’m going to change things, I need strong men behind me. I need
you,
Admiral
.’

Levi stared at the annunciator as he waited to hear the Moor’s answer. Finally it came:
‘It’s uncanny how closely patriotism resembles ambition. Although it is a sin, I’ve grown inordinately fond of the local wine. Why should I gamble that for your advancement? Good day, Spinther.’

The sound of footsteps and a door slamming was followed by silence and the duplicated cries of the gulls.

‘I’m glad the Moor didn’t go for it. I don’t care to bet against him again.’

‘Should we leak it?’ Pedro asked. ‘Let the Collegio dei Consoli know their best general’s plotting a coup?’

‘So they can make plans against it?’ Levi was smiling. ‘Spinther’s just one boy. If we get him executed, the legions remain. But if he rebels, it’ll split the army. No matter who comes out on top, Concord will be weaker. The only thing to do with news as good as this, Pedro my boy, is to sit on it.’

At the beginning of the next day’s meeting, General Spinther was invited to address the delegates. Sofia took him in: a rather dark southern complexion for a Concordian, tall and clear-eyed – just a boy, but his youth, like everything else, was deceptive. They picked them for intelligence and trained them in the art of war, so they had all the vim of youth but none of its rashness; all the wisdom of age and none of its doubt.