The Pinnacle Of Empire (Book 6), page 12
part #6 of Neuyokkasinian Arc Of Empire Seroes Series
“Yes, yes. You’re right in that.”
The wizard returned to his tower. In his workroom, Xthilleon cast a spell over the basin of moon water. From a tiny drawer in a wall unit, he took a small tuft of Nemenese’s hair he’d had a servant collect daily from the king’s bed pillows. He touched it to the water and watched Nemenese in the pool as though through a window.
“Now I can follow all your activities so long as you wear that medallion, and you do wear it constantly as a trophy of support,” Xthilleon mumbled then laughed. “Even Nindax doesn’t know about the medallion’s ability to see and hear around the wearer.”
7: The Imperial Grand Tour
“I must make a tour of the provinces to show my support for the imperial governors and them for me,” Saxthor said to Tottiana in the empress’ apartment. Fuming, she laid prostrate on a divan. “It has been too long since I assumed the throne. I can’t delay any longer. I shall return before the baby is due. I’d hoped you could make the tour with me, but we must not risk endangering the baby.”
“What do you care for the baby?” Tottiana grumbled.
“Tottiana.”
“What’s my baby to you? What difference does it make to you if your heir is born well or not?”
Saxthor sat beside her and took her hand. She jerked it away and rose from her divan with difficulty, moving away from Saxthor. Saxthor got up and walked up behind her as she wiped a tear. As delicately as he could, he put his hands on her shoulders. She shook them off, but he gently embraced her again.
“I shall be here when you need me, Tottiana.”
“All men say that.”
“I won’t leave you alone long. I must undertake this tour. Boktorian has warned me repeatedly that I must not delay longer. The governors are skeptical of my support. They may become susceptible to rebellious thoughts and suggestions if I postpone the trip longer.”
“Go ahead and desert me, then.”
“I’m not deserting you, my dear.”
Tottiana returned to her divan, stretching herself out and smoothing her gown. She put her hands on her tummy. “He’s moving about. He’s protesting your abandoning us.” She reached out to Saxthor, who rushed to her side. She took his hand and put it on her abdomen.
Saxthor felt a rush of excitement as he felt the movement in Tottiana’s womb. He beamed at the empress and her face lit up at his response.
“He’s going to be a fighter, like his father,” Saxthor said.
“How do you know it’s going to be a boy?”
“I know.” Saxthor said. He strutted around the room.
“You men are all alike; you’ll make the world as you would like it.”
“It’s a boy.”
“What if it’s a girl?”
Saxthor stood up, his face slightly frowning. “Well, I suppose we’ll have keep her,” he said but then beamed a great grin, watching for her response.
Her face darkened and lines crackled her pinched face. “Of course we’ll keep her! What’s that supposed to mean? I suppose in Neuyokkasin, you’d abandon her in the hills, you barbarian.”
Saxthor took no offense. He broke up laughing at the empress’ burst of maternal furry.
“Yes, we’ll keep her and love her as much as a boy. We’ll name her after my late sister, Queen Nonee.”
“I was thinking of naming her after mother, Helgamyr.”
Saxthor felt a sting. He again sat beside Tottiana. “Not Helgamyr, she hates me. You may name her Tottiana if you like, but not Helgamyr. I would prefer to name her Eleatsubetsvyertsin or Nonee, after my mother or sister, but I shall let you select her name if it pleases you.”
“I suppose you’d like to name her Dagmar?” Tottiana spouted.
Saxthor’s heart jumped in his chest. He looked away then faced the fuming empress whose face was flushed. He rose but stood by the divan. “If the child is a girl, you may name her anything but Helgamyr.”
“I’ll think about it. What if it’s a boy?”
“I think it would be best to name him Augusteros or Saxthor to augment the new dynasty’s position,” Saxthor proposed.
Tottiana sat up, crossing her arms in front of her. “I insist the first boy be named Engwan, after my father and my dynasty.”
“Tottiana, that would only create a rallying point for opposition. It could divide and destabilize the empire later. It would make the boy the focus of those that wanted to restore the old dynasty.”
“That old dynasty, as you refer to it, is my dynasty, Saxthor.”
“I know that my dear, and I know you loved your father, but we must not create a potential rallying point the opposition could use to destabilize the empire.”
“Well, if it’s a boy, I’m naming him Engwan, come what may.”
Tottiana’s face was dark; her lips were pursed and her features hard as she stared Saxthor in the face. Seeing her stress, Saxthor patted her hand. “We shall talk of this at a later date. We’ve still time to think on it.” He started for the door.
“Engwan and that’s final.”
“You must rest now, Tottiana. Don’t stress yourself. I’ll send your ladies to attend you.”
Worried, he soon sent a courier to Bodrin requesting that the governor and his wife, Tonelia, leave Neuyokkasinian affairs in the care of Chatra Lemnos and attend the imperial court at Engwaniria. In the confidential enclosure, Saxthor asked his closest friends to come and watch over Tottiana and the baby in her confinement. ‘I must have someone I trust with her,’ he wrote, ‘someone I know I can trust in this nest of vipers.’
What will Tottiana think of Neuyokkasinians attending her in her confinement? he wondered as he sealed the letter with wax and pressed his crest ring into it. I hope she will accept Tonelia and not see her as a spy, or worse.
*
Saxthor left on his tour of the provinces two day later. The court had chattered about the tour for months. No advance notice was given, but all knew something significant was about to happen when Ossenkosk was a beehive of activity the week before Saxthor left. His itinerary was kept a state secret with the governors only notified just before Saxthor left one province for the next. He traveled through the first three provinces without incident, greeted enthusiastically along the route between capitals. Then he left for the fourth province, Mendenow in the state coach with his escort. He crossed into the forest just inside the border of Mendenow Province, arriving at one of his innumerable, but heretofore unseen estates, in late afternoon. The staff lined the avenue leading to the impressive manor, which was polished for the imperial visit for the first time in a generation. Clearly the imperial retainers were anxious to please and, though exhausted, Saxthor obliged the estate’s manager to give him an extensive tour of his holdings before nightfall. Then Saxthor ate a bit of the substantial feast laid out for him. His knife seemed to clang when laid on his plate in the dead silence of the great dining hall. He grew sad and lonely amid a dozen servants standing frozen at attention to serve his slightest whim. Tired and melancholy, he sent his compliments to the kitchen staff and insisted on retiring for the evening.
Saxthor had just settled down into the sumptuous bed linens under an elaborate canopy, and was studying the elegant carved bear and eagle conflict of the bedposts, when Delia sat up with ears erect staring at the window. She jumped off the bed and stood pointing at the window.
“What is it, Delia? What’s the matter, girl? It’s just someone in the courtyard.”
At the window, she glanced back at Saxthor and whimpered, and then again, staring out the window, she growled.
Saxthor rose and started for the window. Harsh metal smashing below in the courtyard shattered the night’s peace. He slipped on his shirt and pants, and was closing the clasp of Sorblade’s belt buckle when the estate’s manager banged on the door.
“Enter,” the emperor said.
“So sorry to disturb your rest, Majesty, but armed intruders broke through the manor gates, taking the guards by surprise.” The bowed man was trembling and dropped to the floor, pressing his forehead to the carpet.
“No need to prostrate yourself. Let’s see what this is about.”
“Please, Your Majesty, don’t go down there.”
“Nonsense, no one knew I was coming but the two provincial governors and their staffs. This must be a misunderstanding or mistake.”
The initial banging of metal grew to a full battle roar. Saxthor went to the window and looked down on the courtyard to see his entire escort embroiled in hand to hand combat with a substantial attack force. He turned and rushed past the man still kneeling on the floor.
When Saxthor reached the manor door, he met his retainers retreating before the attackers surge. He turned to the estate manager, who’d followed him. “Quickly, send a servant through the back gate to ride for the garrison at the border fortress!” An arrow flew just past Saxthor’s ear as he ducked. The manager disappeared in an instant. Saxthor drew Sorblade and, to his relief, it didn’t glow green. At least the assailants were sent by men and weren’t wizard creations. The emperor jumped into the foray and, seeing him among them, his guards redoubled their courage and pressed the aggressors into retreat. Before the soldiers could reach the manor, near dawn, the attackers had lost half their men. The remaining enemy turned and fled at the imperial troops approach. Saxthor looked over the courtyard littered with dead and wounded.
“See to the wounded,” Saxthor said to the estate manager, who had found his courage. “Have the men find any wounded assailants. I want to know who sent them.”
The manager bowed and rushed among the soldiers with their instructions. He reached one staff member who was among the fighters just as the man raised his spear and thrust it through the heart of a wounded enemy.
“Hold there!” the manager yelled a second too late. “Do not execute any of the wounded. The emperor wants to question them as to who’s behind this.”
Saxthor studied the frenzied staff member. Wonder how a groomsman got into the battle? he wondered. Why did he look so menacing? His eyes gleamed at having killed the wounded man.
Only one other attacker survived the battle, but he died before Saxthor could question him. Two cohorts from the border garrison on frothy, sweating horses rode into the courtyard just as dawn cracked the cold night. The estate manager was clearly traumatized by all that happened. Saxthor wanted to dismiss it as an attempted robbery, but it kept troubling him. Something wasn’t right. With order restored, he went to bed and slept until noon, then examined the dead attackers in the light of day.
“Any idea who those men are?” Saxthor asked the manager and the captain of the Mendenow forces from the border garrison. The men shook their heads. When Saxthor examined the bodies himself, he noted that, though the men wore no insignia or indication of their allegiance, two had imperial daggers which are issued to the imperial troops, and the men didn’t look foreign.
Saxthor rode on to the Mendenow provincial capital under heavy escort, including a cohort from the border garrison. Governor Hedrak led a delegation from the city, embellished with fresh troops, to greet the emperor as his carriage rolled over the hill above the city.
The governor was sweating profusely, bowing again and again. “Welcome, Your Imperial Majesty,” Hedrak said, quivering. “We were horrified to learn of the attack on Your Majesty’s person. My troops are scouring the province to determine the perpetrator of this unimaginable treason. We were greatly relieved to learn no one injured Your Majesty.”
“Yes, yes, Governor Hedrak. We’re certain the perpetrators will be found,” Saxthor said, staring at the governor who bowed low, not facing the emperor directly. “Is our residence by the sea you spoke of in Engwaniria readied for our visit?”
“Yes, Your Majesty, we have prepared everything for your visitation.”
“We will house our personal escort on the estate as well.”
“It shall be as Your Majesty commands.”
With Hedrak leading the way, the imperial party rode on, stopping in the provincial capital briefly to speak to the gathered throng, before the imperial entourage rode on to the emperor’s seaside estate. Unable to discover who was behind the attack, whether foreign or domestic, Saxthor continued on his tour of the provinces but shortened the visits and retained the cohort from Mendenow in addition to his personal Tashian bodyguards.
* * *
At Ossenkosk, Helgamyr paid a rare visit to her daughter now that Saxthor was away from the palace.
“You see, just as I warned you. That barbarian abandoned you just when you need him,” Helgamyr blurted out to Tottiana a month before the baby was due. “And what those Neuyokkasinians are doing here, claiming to have come to your assistance, is beyond me. The chatra tells me they are Saxthor’s closest friends. All the more suspicious, I say.”
“Yes, Mother,” Tottiana said. “But Saxthor did promise to return before the baby is due. The Vicksnaks are most patient and attentive.”
“That Tonelia woman… she insists on checking everybody and everything that comes around you as if I couldn’t protect my own daughter.”
“Tonelia has been most helpful and supportive, Mother. She did leave her own children to come to our aid. I must admit I was most apprehensive of them when they first arrived. They seem genuinely interested in me and the baby’s welfare.”
“Oh, Tottiana, you’re just too trusting.”
Tonelia knocked on the door and attempted to enter.
“Go away,” Helgamyr shouted at her. “I’m here now and can attend to my daughter’s needs without your help. I’ll send for you if I need you.” Endaquac brought Tottiana a cup of some herbal tea Helgamyr had researched in one of her spell books to ward off evil.
Tonelia glanced at Tottiana, who nodded back. Tonelia bowed to each of the ladies and withdrew.
“Don’t be rude, Mother.”
“When is this husband of yours supposed to return? I’m sure he will find some reason to delay until after the birth of the child.”
“He’ll be here before the child is born.”
“We shall see what we shall see,” Helgamyr snorted and strolled out the door with Endaquac close behind. They returned to the dowager’s suite.
“Where did I put those books? I want that last one you got me on moon water visions.”
Endaquac led the dowager to their workroom at the back of her suite. She removed a stack of linens and slid a traveling trunk away from the back wall. She reached behind it and took out a scroll wrapped in old worn leather. Without a word, she handed it to Helgamyr, who followed every movement. Then the maid pulled out a stone bowl, straining to lift it onto the worktable they’d set up. She poured water from a vase also stored at the back of the room. Helgamyr unrolled the scroll and searched for the spell. Endaquac attempted to point out the incantation to her, but the dowager slapped her hand and stared her down. Endaquac backed away with a slight bow.
“Oh, here it is,” Helgamyr beamed, glancing at Endaquac with a smirk. “I found it myself. Now, let me see, we need some of that dust, that fairy dust stuff you bought in the market. Where’s that? You hide everything.”
Endaquac retrieved the small clay pot from a shelf and handed it to Helgamyr. It was sealed with a cloth cover and tied securely with a string.
“This is a visionary spell. I should be able to see what Saxthor is up to and where he is now.” Helgamyr began chanting a spell from the scroll. A third into it she cast a pinch of the powder into the pool and dropped in a crystal with a plop. She continued chanting. At the end, she let the scroll roll up on its own and touched a small braided roll of Saxthor’s hair to the water. She held her breath in anticipation… Nothing happened. She repeated the process, and, again, nothing happened. In disgust, she threw the hair braid at the wall and stormed off toward the door. “Clean all that stuff up,” she said as she passed Endaquac. “Your spells are worthless; I’ve wasted my money on that charlatan’s trash.”
Endaquac mumbled something behind her. Helgamyr thought she saw a flash of light out of the corner of her eye. She turned around and saw a pale light flickering on the ceiling above the basin of moon water. Endaquac stood beside it, looking down into the basin.
“What’s that? What did you say?” Helgamyr said returning to the stone bowl. The light disappeared and, again, there was nothing in the bowl but the water. “What was that light? What did you say to make that light? Did you see anything?”
“No, mistress, a light flashed for a moment then there was nothing.”
“Cheap charlatan’s trick, I suppose, something to keep the customers coming back for more of his junk.” And with that, Helgamyr stormed out of the room, leaving Endaquac to clean up after her once more. As she passed out of the room she thought she saw another flash of light, but in disgust she continued on. “Cheap charlatan’s tricks no doubt,” she mumbled to herself.
* * *
King Zirkin heard of Saxthor’s grand tour by the time he reached the province abutting Zenobia. The king rode out to greet the emperor.
“Your Imperial Majesty, I would like to present you with this amulet that will warn you of evil in your presence,” Zirkin said when they were alone at the fortress guarding the pass between the two kingdoms.
“Your Majesty has already been too generous in sending Tittletot to my court. The empress and I are most impressed with the little fellow. He entertains us endlessly.”
“This amulet will protect you; please, accept it,” Zirkin said. He insisted Saxthor wear it around his neck.
“I should like to send you something as well, but I have no magic amulets that I know of. I shall ask Memlatec about it when he returns to court.”
