Vankara (Book 1) (29 page)

Irondale raised
his iron gavel and slammed it against his podium, a motion instantly garnering
the immediate attention of all the delegates.

“I now call to
order this session of parliament,” he bellowed.  “Please take your seats
gentlemen and ladies so that we might deal with today’s agenda.”

An uneasy quiet
settled over the room as if the delegates were expectantly waiting for the
showdown between me and Irondale to begin.

“The first matter
of business concerns the Queen’s request for a revote on the Population
Reconstruction Bill, which was passed yesterday almost unanimously by this great
governing body.  She has asked to say a few words before the vote is retaken.” 
Irondale inclined his head to me.  “Your majesty, the floor is yours.”

I indiscreetly
took a deep breath, not willingly wanting anyone to see how nervous I was, and
rose from my throne.

“Gentle ladies and
men of parliament, I humbly ask you to consider my argument against the bill in
question.  I would first like to say thank you to Chief Prime Minister Irondale
for constructing such a bill for the benefit of our countrymen.  I believe it
has brought light to the fact our nation needs to seek out ways to rebuild what
has been taken from us so tragically in the past few years.  I realize his only
concern is for the people of this country but I fear the proposal, as it stands
now, would further drag our people down into a situation they may never see fit
to climb out of.  It is my belief if we allow people to choose not to work and
simply draw their living from the government we will in fact not be helping
these people but inadvertently dooming them to lives where they expect the
government to take care of all of their needs.  In ten years time, do we expect
these same people to go back to work after treating them like our children?  I
suspect we will end up having to take care of these people for the rest of
their lives.  And what of the children they produce during this time?  We will
end up having a generation of citizens who will have never seen their mothers
and fathers work for what they have.  Will these children assume the government
will take care of them for the rest of their lives also?  What good can come
from dragging our people down into a pit of apathy about their own well being? 
If we are to rebuild our country, we should be looking for ways to make our
people stronger, not weaker.  If you pass this bill, we will end up going
backwards, not forwards.”

“How would you
have us rebuild this country, your majesty?”  I looked to my left and saw
Constance Wright, leader of the black party standing.  “Do you have a better idea?”

From Constance’s tone, I knew she believed I didn’t have a counter proposal which was most
likely the same thought as many in the hall that day.  It was something Gabriel
and I had planned for.

“With the help of
my advisor Gabriel, we are drafting a bill which should be ready by the next
session of parliament.  In it we intend to incorporate the best parts of Chief
Minister Irondale’s bill such as giving extra aid to families which produce
more children than their jobs can afford to take care of but we will not be
paying them to stay home all day and not work at all.  Any family who wants the
governments help will have to prove they are trying to support their family on
their own.  If sufficient proof is presented, we will help supplement their
incomes until their children are of age to work.  We also intend to add
incentives to factory owners to provide jobs to the living and discontinue the use
of automatons.”

Not to be outdone
by his counterpart, Samuel Able, leader of the white party, asked. “What sort
of incentives?”

“We haven’t
completely worked out all the details but basically we intend to offer every
factory owner who replaces an automaton with a living worker a tax incentive.”

“But won’t that
just deplete the money we gain from taxes?” Constance asked.

“If our numbers
are correct, we should come out even.  The factory owner will pay less in taxes
but the worker he hires will start paying taxes.  In the end, things should
work out evenly and we can begin integrating life back into our factories.”

People beside one
another began to quietly discuss what I had just said and I saw many of them
nod as though they liked what they heard.  I decided to take advantage of the
positive momentum.

“All that I ask of
you today is to overturn your passing of the population reconstruction bill.  I
promise you we will have the details worked out on my bill by the time
parliament meets again in the spring.  Please, consider what is best for
Vankara and follow your conscience and good common sense.”

When I turned my
back to the delegates to retake my seat, I saw Gabriel’s eyes smile at me.  He
couldn’t outwardly show his pride, but I saw the sentiment.

As I sat back down
on the throne, I looked across the chamber and saw a different set of eyes
staring at me.

Jeffery Irondale
was furious.

I knew in that
moment I had made an enemy of Inara’s father and was helpless in knowing how to
heal his wounded pride.  He was not a man I wished to offend or make an enemy
of but to allow his bill to go through uncontested would have produced a
travesty in Vankaran society.  Jeffery looked away from me in disgust but
quickly squelched his personal feelings behind an iron will before drawing
attention to himself once again by the hammering of his gavel.

“Thank you, your
majesty,” he was able to say without a hint of his true feelings.  “I believe
we should have a recasting of the votes now and adjourn until this afternoon
for the results.”

I let out a sigh
of relief, one only Gabriel could have heard.  Gabriel walked from the side of the
throne to stand in front of me, offering his arm for me to take.

“Now that you’ve
defused this problem, let’s go take care of the second matter of the day, the
Royal Sage.”

The Royal College
of Magical Sciences was on the other side Iron City near the outskirts of
town.  The location had been chosen to prevent any unintended ‘magical accidents’
from bothering the good people who lived in the capital.  Gabriel and I took a
coach to the college without sending word ahead of us to expect our arrival. 
Neither of us wanted to give the Royal Sage warning of our visit.  But,
apparently someone
had
warned her.

When we arrived,
the Royal Sage herself was standing outside the large iron gates which were the
only entrance and exit outside the great brick wall surrounding the grounds of
the college.  Not only had the founders of Vankara not wanted the college to
affect the lives of regular vankarans but they also didn’t want those from the
city to affect the pupils perfecting their magical abilities.

After our carriage
came to a stop, Gabriel opened the door for Isabelle.  Without needing any more
of an invitation, the Royal Sage stepped into the carriage and sat across from
us.

“How did you know
we were coming?” I asked, feeling uneasy she had surprised us with her presence
when we had hoped to have the upper hand.

“One of my pupils
has the power of foresight,” Isabelle explained.  “He told me when you would be
coming.”

“Did he tell you
why we are here?”

Isabelle shifted
in her seat uneasily, pretending to be adjusting her robe.

“No,” she admitted
with a small lift of her eyebrows.  “His powers aren’t strong enough to see
more than a few seconds of the future at a time.”

Her gaze shifted
from Gabriel to me before asking, “Why are you here, your majesty?  I can’t
imagine why you would visit without sending word first.”

From the fox fur
muff sitting on my lap, I pulled out the vial of melted snow Queen Nuala had
given me and stretched out my arm to give it to Isabelle.

“Would you mind
examining this vial for me?  I was told it holds the key to something rather
important.”

Isabelle took the
vial causing the water within to burst into the phosphorescent yellow I had
seen while visiting the fae.

Isabelle
immediately dropped the vial on the floor of the carriage.  The glass was thick
enough that it didn’t shatter but the Royal Sages façade did.  Her controlled
expression quickly changed to one of surprise and fear.  She looked up at me
like a deer just shot by a hunters bow.

“I guess I don’t
have to tell you what is in the vial?” I asked.

Isabelle shook her
head, trying desperately to quell her trembling.  “No, I know what it is.”

“I won’t bore you
with the details of how I came to be in possession of the vial and I won’t try
to pretend I don’t see the fear in your eyes right now.  I would be thankful if
you would extend me the same courtesy and tell me the truth to one question,
and keep in mind if I find out your answer is a lie, I will have no problems
stripping you of your title and station.”

Isabelle adjusted
her robes in an effort to control her nerves.  She cleared her throat and
asked, “What do you want to know?”

“How long have you
known the plagues were magical in nature?”

“We’ve known since
the first plague.”

“Why didn’t you
say anything?”  The question came out more as an accusation.

“Because we knew
the other nations would assume we were the culprits.”

“And your telling
us you aren’t?”  Gabriel asked.

“That’s exactly
what I’m telling you,” Isabelle said, leaning forward slightly to emphasize her
words.  “We are
not
responsible.”

“Then who is?” I
asked.  “Could the fae be responsible?”

Isabelle shook her
head.  “I don’t believe so.  They have very few mages among their people.”

“How do you know
that for sure?” Gabriel asked.  “Maybe they’re keeping their power hidden.”

Isabelle gave a
sad smile.  “I wish I could tell you that were so.  But we have ways of sensing
magic and they only have a handful of mages over there, at best.  There’s no
way they could conjure enough power to cause this spell.”

“Then if the
college isn’t responsible,” I said.  “Who else has enough magic at their disposal
to cause the plagues?”

“Dracen.” 
Isabelle said the sorcerer’s name in a reverent whisper.

“That’s
impossible,” Gabriel was quick to say.  “He wouldn’t do such a thing.”

“I would hope not
and have never thought to accuse him,” Isabelle said, wanting to believe the
words.  “But he is the only one powerful enough to cast the spell so many
times.”

“No,” Gabriel said
with finality.  “It’s not him.  It can’t be.”

I wanted to ask
Gabriel why he was so adamant about Dracen not being involved but felt the need
to keep such information private.

“Are you sure no
one else could be responsible?” I asked the Royal Sage.  “Someone of another
nation perhaps?  Surely we can’t be the only country with mages.  They’re born
randomly all the time.”

“No other nation
has enough mages in one place to make such a spell happen.  We would know.”

I glanced in
Gabriel’s direction and saw the stubborn set of his jaw.  I needed to know why
he felt so strongly Dracen wasn’t involved.

“Thank you for
answering our questions, Isabelle,” I said.  “If we need further assistance I
assume we have only to call on you?”

Isabelle bowed her
head to me.  “You have my word we will help you in anyway possible, your
majesty.  Thank you for taking my word on the subject even though I have kept
you in the dark all these years.”

“I would
appreciate it if you didn’t keep such things from me anymore.  If I had known
sooner…” I let the words hang in the air for Isabelle to think about.

Isabelle lowered
her eyes to the carriage floor and nodded.  She understood her inability to
confide in her monarch may have caused more lives to be lost than needed to
be. 

“We will leave you
to your students,” I said in way of dismissal.

Isabelle opened
the carriage door and climbed out.  As she turned to close the door, she said,
“I am sorry, your majesty.  I was only considering the welfare of my charges
here at the college.”

“I understand,” I
told her.  “But I can’t condone withholding such important information from
me.  Perhaps you can find a way to make it up to me at a later date.”

Isabelle bowed to
me and closed the door.

Gabriel agitatedly
rapped on the roof of the carriage and yelled, “Palace!”

The driver turned
the carriage around and headed back towards the palace grounds.

We sat in silence
for a few minutes with only the clip-clop of the horses hooves against the
cobblestone street outside to break the silence.  Finally, Gabriel spoke.

“What she is
insinuating can’t be true.  Dracen would never cause harm to anyone much less a
world full of people.”

“Are you sure?” I
asked, watching Gabriel’s face carefully.

He seemed taken
aback, as if he didn’t expect me to question his judgment at all.

“Of course I’m
sure.  I’ve known the man long enough to know he can’t be the source.  There
has to be another explanation.  We’re still missing an important part of the
puzzle.  I refuse to believe Dracen had anything to do with it!”

I put a hand on
Gabriel’s arm.  “I know you believe what you say.  But I believe we should go
to Dracen and tell him what we have discovered.  If he is the friend you
remember, then perhaps he will help us solve this mystery.”

Gabriel looked
over at me and placed his hand over mine.

“You’re right.  We
should go see him.  He’ll help us find the truth.”

Gabriel squeezed
my hand tightly.  I wasn’t sure if he was trying to reassure me or himself.

Chapter 20

As soon as we
arrived at the palace, Gabriel sent a message via one of the numerous guards
roaming the halls to Inara, asking her to ready the airship for travel to Ledmarrow Mountain.  Unfortunately, Dracen’s home would take at least two days to reach by
airship.  I suppose I should have felt lucky.  If the trip were taken by horse
and carriage, the time could have been extended upwards of a month considering
the hazardous terrain.