Dreams of Steel (17 page)

that I'll make myself presentable." Around here somewhere would be my imperial getup, that I'd worn last time, and my coach, that we had brought down from the north and had left here when we had marched on Ghoja.

"Ram, before we went south I had several men help me make special armor. I need to find them again."

I went to work sketching and estimating.

The coach was not as impressive with a four-horse team but people did gawk. I had enough skill to make hooves strike fire and to set a glamor running the coach's exterior. The fire-breathing skull of the Company blazed on both doors. The steel-rimmed wheels and pounding hooves rumbled thunderously.

I was satisfied.

I reached the grove an hour before sunset, entered, looked around. Just like last time, the cream of Taglian society had come out to rubberneck. Ram and a red rumel man named Abda, of Vehdna background, were my bodyguards. I did not know Abda. He was with me because Narayan said he was good.

They had spruced up. Ram cleaned up nicely when you held a knife to his kidneys. Bathed, hair and beard trimmed, in new clothes, he cut a handsome figure. But Abda did not improve much. He was a shifty-eyed little villain who looked like a villain no matter what.

I wished I had brought a Gunni bodyguard, too, to make a symbolic statement. You can't think of everything when you're rushed.

The Prahbrindrah rose as I strode up to him. He smiled. "You found me. I was concerned. I wasn't specific about where we'd meet."

"It seemed logical I'd find you where we met before."

He eyed Ram and Abda. He had come alone. A measure of his confidence in his people's reverence? Misplaced confidence, maybe.

"Make yourself comfortable," he invited. "I've tried to order things I think you'll like." He glanced at Ram and Abda again, perplexed. He did not know what to do about them.

I said, "Last time I was here somebody tried to kill Croaker. Forget them. I trust their discretion." I had no idea whether I could trust Abda or not. Didn't seem smart to make a point of it, though.

Servitors started with refreshments and appetizers. From the state of the grove you could not tell Taglios was a nation threatened with extinction.

"You look radiant this evening."

"I don't feel it. I feel worn out."

"You should relax more. Take life easier."

"Have the Shadowmasters decided to take a holiday?"

He sampled something that looked like shrimp. Where had shrimp come from, here? Well, the sea was not that far away.

Which sparked a germ of an idea. I set it aside for later examination.

The prince swallowed, dabbed his lips with a napkin. "You seem determined to make my life difficult."

"Oh?"

"You roar ahead like the whirlwind, giving no one time to think. You rush headlong. Everyone else has to concentrate on keeping their balance."

I smiled. "If I give anyone time to do anything but run along behind me I'll be up to my ears in grief. None of you seem to understand the magnitude of your enemy. You all have your priorities inverted. Everybody wants to dance around and get the angle on everybody else. Meantime, the Shadowmasters are planning to exterminate all of you."

He nibbled and pretended to think. "You're right. But people are human. Nobody here has ever had to think in terms of external enemies. Or really deadly enemies."

"The Shadowmasters count on that, too."

"No doubt."

A new course arrived, more substantial. Some kind of bird. I was surprised. The prince's background was Gunni. The Gunni were determined vegetarians.

Watching my surroundings I spied two things I did not like. There were dozens of crows among the trees. And that priest Tal I had embarrassed earlier, with several of his cronies, was watching us.

The Prahbrindrah said, "I'm under a lot of pressure because of you. Some from close quarters. It puts me in a delicate position."

Where was his sister? Were she and Smoke riding him? Probably. I shrugged and ate.

The prince said, "It would help if I knew your plans."

I told him.

"Suppose some important people don't approve or don't feel you're the right champion?"

"It wouldn't matter. There's a contract in force. It will be fulfilled. And I don't distinguish between enemies foreign or domestic."

He understood.

Nothing got said during the next course. Then he blurted, "Did you kill Jahamaraj Jah?"

"Yes."

"My gods! Why?"

"His existence offended me."

He gulped some air.

"He deserted at Dejagore. That cost us the battle. That was reason enough. But he also planned to kill your sister and blame me. He had a wife. If Shadar women are foolish enough to kill themselves over men, you can tell her to fire her ghat. Any priest's wife who has a husband like Jah had better start collecting firewood. She'll need it."

He winced. "You'll start a civil war."

"Not if everybody behaves and minds his own business."

"You don't understand. Priests consider everything their business."

"How many men are we talking about? A few thousand? You ever watch a gardener prune? He snips a twig here, a branch there, and the plant grows stronger. I'll prune if I have to."

"But... There's only you. You can't take on..."

"I can. I will. I'm going to fulfill the contract. And so are you."

"What?"

"I've heard that you and your sister didn't negotiate in good faith. Not smart, my friend. Nobody cheats the Company."

He did not respond.

"I'm not really good at games. I'm not subtle. My solutions are forthright and final."

"Forthright and final begets forthright and final. You kill a Jah, the other Jahs will get the idea their only option is to kill you."

"Only if they ignore the option of minding their own business. And where's my risk? I have nothing to lose. That's the fate planned for me once I'm used up, anyway. Why cooperate in my own destruction?"

"You can't just keep killing people who don't agree with you."

"I won't. Only people who disagree and try to force their ideas on me. Here in Taglios, now, there's no legitimate cause for conflict."

The prince seemed surprised. "I don't follow."

"Taglios must be preserved from the Shadowmasters. The Company contracted to do that. Where's the problem? We do what we agreed, you pay up as agreed, we go away. That ought to make everyone happy."

The prince looked at me like he wondered how I could be so naive. "I'm starting to think we have no basis for communication. This dinner may have been a mistake."

"No. It's been productive. It'll keep on being productive if you listen to me. I'm not beating around the bush. I'm telling you how it is and how it's going to be. Without me the Shadowmasters will eat you alive. You think they'll be impressed by which cult got a leg up on what with a boondoggle wall construction grant? I know how those people think. If they reach Taglios they'll slaughter everybody who could possibly make trouble ever. You should understand that. You saw what they did elsewhere."

"It's impossible to argue with you."

"Because you know I'm right. I have a list of things I need right away. I have to build an encampment and prepare a training ground immediately."

This could lead to a quick confrontation. The resources would have to come from that absurd wall project. The city was too-big to surround effectively. The project could not be justified. It was a tool for transferring the wealth of the state to a few individuals.

I said, "The men and resources devoted to the wall can be more profitably employed."

He understood. I was asking for trouble. He grunted.

I said, "Why don't we just enjoy our meal?"

We tried but it never turned into a festive evening.

A few courses along, with the conversation darting between his younger years and mine, I took the offensive again. "One more thing I want. The books Smoke hid."

His eyes got big.

"I want to know why you're afraid of the past."

He smiled weakly. "I think you know. Smoke is sure you do. He believes it was the point of your coming."

"Give me a clue."

"The Year of the Skulls."

I was not entirely surprised. I feigned bewilderment. "Year of the Skulls? What's that?"

He glanced at Ram and Abda. Doubt appeared. I recalled toying with my rumel while talking to his sister. He would not doubt long.

"If you don't know you should find out. But I'm not the best authority. Talk it over with your friends."

"I have no friends if I don't have the Prahbrindrah Drah."

"A pity."

"Do you have?"

That baffled him again. He forced a smile. "Perhaps I don't. Perhaps I ought to try to make some." The smile changed.

"We all need a few. Sometimes our enemies won't let us find them. I should be getting back. My number two is inexperienced and handicapped by his place in your caste system."

A hint of disappointment? He had wanted more than a discussion of princes and warlords.

"Thank you for the dinner, Prahbrindrah. I'll treat you in kind, soon. Ram. Abda." They stepped close. Ram offered a hand up. They had stayed behind me, unseen. I was pleased that they were alert. Ram would have been if only because of where we were. A man of his station had no hope of visiting the grove ordinarily. "Have a pleasant evening, Prince. I expect to hand you the heads of Taglios' enemies within the year."

He wore a sort of sad, yearning look as he watched us go. I knew what he was feeling. I had felt it often while I was empress in the north. But I had hidden it better.

Chapter Thirty

Ram waited till he was confident we were out of earshot. "Something is going to happen, Mistress."

"Trouble?"

"We were watched by sneaking Gunni priests all the time. They acted like they were up to no good."

"Ah." I did not question his estimate. He did not have too rich an imagination. I snapped fingers at a nearby servitor. "Fetch Master Gupta."

Master Gupta ran the grove, a benign dictator. He was attentive to his guests-especially those who were close to the Prahbrindrah Drah. He appeared almost instantly.

Bowing like a coolie, he asked, "What could the great lady want of this lowly worm?"

"How about a sword?" Dressed as a woman and empress I had not come heavily armed. I had one short dagger.

His eyes got huge. "A sword? What would I do with a sword, Mistress?"

"I haven't the faintest. But I want to borrow one if you can provide it."

Eyes even bigger, he bowed several times. "I'll see what can be found." He scooted off, throwing uncertain looks over his shoulder.

"Ram, help me shed some of this showpiece."

He was scandalized. He refused.

"Ram, you're pushing for the opportunity to spend your army time digging latrine trenches."

He took my word for it, accepted the disapproval of several dozen watchers as he helped me shed my most cumbersome garments. He was embarrassed.

Abda, not asked to participate, pretended blindness.

Gupta materialized. He had a sword. It was someone's show toy. "I borrowed this from a gentleman who was gracious enough to permit me to carry it to you." He was blind, too. I expect he had seen everything over the years. The grove was a place where lovers managed clever assignations.

"I shall harbor kind thoughts toward you forever, Gupta. Am I correct in assuming the staff sent for my coach when they saw me getting ready to leave?"

"The men responsible will be seeking employment elsewhere if it isn't there when you arrive, Lady."

"Thank you. I'll send this toy back shortly."

Ram again waited till he thought no one could hear, grunted a question. I replied, "If there's to be trouble it'll come just inside the gate. If we reach the coach we'll be safe."

"You have a plan, Mistress?" "Spring the trap. If there is one. We wipe them out or take them prisoner and carry them off, never to be seen again. How many might there be?"

Ram shrugged. He did not waste time looking at me now. He had eyes for trouble only.

Abda said, "Eight. And the one you embarrassed. But he'll avoid getting too close. He might have to explain if someone saw him." "Oh?"

"I was involved in two similar schemes when I was an acolyte."

I had no idea what he meant. It did not seem like the best time to fill myself in on his past. We were approaching a brushy area that crowded the path to the exit.

I say brushy but I'm no devotee of formal gardening. The area consisted of heavy vegetation four to eight feet high. Every single leaf was tended and considered daily. Its function was to mask the grove from the world so Taglios' lords would not be defiled by common eyes.

I started a spell as soon as we left Gupta. I was ready when we reached the shrubbery. It was another child's plaything but my most ambitious effort yet. I spoke the initiator and threw the resulting fireball into the growth to my left.

By the time the ball went ten feet it was hot enough to melt steel. It broke into fragments that broke into smaller fragments.

Someone screamed.

Someone else screamed. A man plunged out of the growth pounding his side.

I got another ball ready, threw it the other way.

"Wait," I said. "Let them come out. We'll push them down the path to the gate." There were three men on that path now, wild-eyed. Then three more came out like spooked cattle. The brush was burning. "That's long enough. Let's move."

We hustled forward. The baffled would-be assassins retreated. They piled up against the closed gate. The gatemen stared at the flames, stunned, unsure what to do.

"Ram. Bang them over the head. Put them in the coach." A guard recognized me, did his job by rote as Ram waded into the six.

"Mistress."

Abda was behind me. I turned. A man afire was charging us with an upraised tulwar, a weapon I had not seen here before. It looked like an antique.

Abda ducked, darted, had his rumel around the man's neck in a blink. I did not get to use my borrowed blade. The assassin's impetus broke his neck.