Treason
When Math woke, he was being carried up a flight of stone steps into a building with the familiar curves of a cenobium.
A wave of disassociation immediately followed, because Bashan Cenobium didn’t look like the classical cenobium design.
It had been built much later, after all.
No, the only building in Bashan that shared that architectural style wasn’t the Idallik Order’s headquarters.
Also, Math absolutely recognized it, because he’d been there just the day before: this was the imperial palace.
Math pretended he was still asleep. He was unsure what struggling would have done for his situation, anyway. He felt the itchy burn of rope around his wrists and drooled around a gag someone had thrust into his mouth. Not so long ago, that would’ve been enough to keep him from circling spells.
That was no longer true, but he didn’t think Talu realized that.
What was also true was that he was still grievously wounded.
Every jostle elicited a flash of pain across his abdomen.
He didn’t think his odds of fighting off other Idallik Knights—if that’s truly what they were—would be very good under such circumstances.
At least he could feel that Kai was unharmed—upset, worried, incandescent with rage, but unharmed.
He couldn’t believe Izhiik Talu had shot him. The man had practically raised him, and the gravefucker had shot him.
Then again, the man had stabbed Math in the metaphorical back enough times to make this the natural progression.
Quick footsteps rang out across the stone floors. “Hey, what are you—?”
That was followed by the sharp ring of metal and the slick gurgling sound of someone choking on their own blood.
Talu and his men proceeded to quickly and efficiently murder the palace guards. Math’s blood quickened, even as he tried to pretend at unconsciousness. The children were somewhere inside. His sister was somewhere inside.
“I don’t suppose it occurred to you to give them a chance to surrender,” Kai commented.
“If they did, they wouldn’t deserve to live, anyway,” Talu replied.
“Ah yes. Impeccable logic.”
“Be quiet, Lady Kaiataris, or I’ll forget why I need to keep you unharmed.”
And that shut down the conversation for a while. Math concentrated on healing himself and hoped that the magic was subtle enough to allow the spellcasting to go unnoticed.
Since no one commented or attempted to stop him, he assumed such was the case.
They went through the palace at an absurdly fast pace, but most of the palace guards were normal people, not Idallik Knights.
Finally, he heard large doors swinging open, and a strange man’s voice asked: “What is the meaning of this?”
“Where is Her Excellency?” Commander Talu asked congenially.
“I— She’s not here. I’m not sure where she is.”
“Are you certain? It’s important.”
“No, I—” The man’s denial was cut off by his own gasp, and a gurgling sound, followed seconds later by a loud thud.
Math was going to need to invent new swear words to adequately describe his new opinion of Izhiik Talu.
A second later, Math found himself dumped on the hard marble floor.
“How about you? Do you know where Her Excellency might be?” Talu’s voice still sounded perfectly friendly, even though Math was certain he’d just murdered a man.
Math opened his eyes to see Commander Talu holding a dagger with a dark teal sheen in front of a terrified noblewoman. It looked like a normal dagger; Math knew it wasn’t.
“Commander, she doesn’t know anything.” If Math had to use magic for his voice to be heard at above-whisper volumes, he wasn’t telling.
Across the way, he saw Kai give him a look that clearly meant to be quiet, but he refused.
He knew Talu. The man would go through every single person in the building to find the regent.
“Back with us, Math?” Commander Talu smiled at him, visibly amused. “How are you feeling, my son?”
“You don’t get to call me that.” Math didn’t spit at the man, although Tri-Mother knew he wanted to.
“Probably just as well,” Talu admitted, “considering your history with parental figures.”
Math swallowed a scowl before it could choke him. Talu had mentioned his parents to strike a nerve, and Math had more important things to worry about.
“As I was saying,” Math continued amiably, “apparently the regent hates talking to the cenobium commanders so much that any time she’s forced to do so, instead of returning to the palace afterward, she visits her favorite taverns. Possibly her favorite brothels, if you want to believe the rumors.”
Commander Talu’s expression turned to annoyance, then he laughed. “I can hardly blame her. Honestly, I wish I’d had the guts. But somebody here must have a way to contact her.” He bent down next to Math, ignored his flinch, and helped him sit up.
Now at Math’s eye level, Talu continued: “And how do you know this information, Math? You can’t blame me for being a little skeptical, hmm?”
“I know this,” Math said, unsuccessful at keeping the bitterness out of his voice, “because I came here yesterday. Snuck out of the cenobium to warn the regent that this morning’s mission would lead half the Order into a mass grave.
So believe me, I was just as frustrated as you to find her missing.
And you’re right. Somebody does know how to contact her: Commander Liradda. ”
“I see.” Talu looked over his shoulder at one of the other knights. Math didn’t recognize the man. He didn’t look Kaliri, but frankly, Math didn’t think they’d have sent over any spies who did. “Lieutenant, is there any chance Commander Liradda might still be…”
“No, sir. He’s dead.”
“Damn.” Talu stood. “Send someone to search his body and his room. He’ll have kept the means of contact close by.
Perhaps we’ll be able to recognize it.” In a much lower register, he muttered, “I don’t know why I’m surprised.
That bitch has never been anything other than a nuisance for a single moment of her life. ”
Math huffed out a laugh. He knew he liked the regent for a reason.
“Something amusing you, son?”
He smiled up at Talu. “Just thinking that this is not how I wanted to tell the Council of Commanders ‘I told you so.’” The gallows humor of it all was suffocating. “Although even I didn’t expect Kaliri’s invasion to be quite so … immediate.”
Talu’s expression turned annoyed. “I’m not Kaliri. This isn’t an invasion.”
“Is that so?”
“This,” Talu said, sweeping a hand, “is a coup.”
Math laughed. “Is that what they told you?”
“Math,” Kai said. “Please do shut up.”
Talu pointed at her while maintaining eye contact with Math. “You should listen to her. I’m told she’s smart.”
“You heard right.” Math staggered to his feet—an action made more difficult with bound hands. A knight advanced on him, but Talu waved him away.
“It’s fine. Let him stand. At the risk of insulting his dignity, there really isn’t much he can do in his current condition.”
“I don’t know,” someone said, “he seems to be doing a pretty good job of giving us all sad, puppy-dog eyes. Isn’t this the one who can’t manifest?”
“No, he recently had a breakthrough,” Talu said in a very conversational tone of voice. He stage-whispered: “It’s a shield.”
That was cause for laughter all around, and for once, it made Math glad. They were dismissing him as a threat. They were underestimating him.
Talu sighed. “I really do wish you’d taken the hint and just run after you managed to escape my assassins. We might have avoided all of this. Alas, here we are. I’ll do what I can to protect you, but it’s a very fine line. Don’t make me cross over it.”
“Those were your assassins? And you wonder why I think you’re working for the Kaliri?”
“Working with,” Talu confessed. “I believe they call it a mutually beneficial arrangement.”
“How you can think I’ll believe a single word you say is astonishing. I am curious, though: Why the sudden pressing need to kill me? For that matter, why go through all the trouble to send me away? You could’ve killed me at any time, at your convenience.”
Talu’s expression turned rueful. “I should have thought it was obvious. Because of Kaiataris. You told me that you’d figured out how to solve her maze.
I couldn’t allow you to do that. And I sent you away for the same reason farmers always exchange hogs to slaughter in the autumn. No one wants to butcher their own pet.”
“I came to you saying that we had to make sure her maze was never opened.”
Talu gave him a skeptical look. “I’ve been a young man, Math. It was only a matter of time before curiosity overruled sense.”
“Okay, great. You were trying to save the world from the Evil Grim Lord. That doesn’t explain this.” He looked around the room, took note of the cluster of nobles shuddering in a corner.
The old man sighed and dusted off his tabard. “I’m curious: Are you trying to delay me for a reason or are you just hoping I’ll spell out all my plans?”
Math gave him a small, weak shrug. “It was worth an effort.” He was hardly going to admit it was both. He’d hoped he might get the commander talking, and every second delayed was another second to heal his wound.
Talu looked mildly amused. “I’m sure. Anyway, you wouldn’t understand.”
The commander started to motion to someone, no doubt to some horrible instruction.
“Try me.”
Talu rolled his eyes. He stopped, looked thoughtful, then returned his attention to Math.
“Very well,” Talu said. “Let me explain it thus: we’re taken from our homes, forced to become weapons to protect the empire regardless of our feelings on the matter.
We’re allowed nothing—not wives or husbands, not children, property, or wealth.
And what is our thanks?” He glanced around the room, as if this were a class, and he’d just asked when the Innalova Accords were signed.
“Being spat on in the street,” a knight answered.
“And then shat on,” another added. There were murmurs of agreement from around the room.
“It’s your duty!” one of the nobles cried.
Said noble was immediately impaled by a knight with a dripping spear in his hands.
“Oops,” the knight said. “I slipped.”
Talu laughed, and he wasn’t the only one.
“And we’re expected to smile,” Talu said to Math. He was smiling, but it was a long way from being friendly. “And be grateful. So what if we took the gifts that people gave us for saving their lives? So what if we expected nobles to pay more than peasants for risking ourselves to protect them?”
“That’s called corruption,” Kai said.
“It’s called our fucking due!” Talu snapped.
“Am I really supposed to think that the nobility are somehow better when they’re demonstrably not?
They can’t do magic. Most of them can barely read.
Who has the Tri-Mother blessed again? Who protects the archives?
It’s not them!” He scowled and waved a hand.
“Someone find me Shovan!” Talu visibly collected himself.
“Where is Her Imperial Majesty, by the way?”
“Upstairs,” a female knight supplied. “We locked her in her room with her playmates. There was another knight up there with them. She caused a bit of a problem, but it’s handled.”
Math clenched his teeth together at the usage of past tense. Please, no.
Talu’s brows drew together. “Who was it?”
“Tanxi Kaven, Commander.”
Math inhaled sharply, even though he’d already known it couldn’t be anyone else.
A flicker of concern crossed Talu’s face, and he glanced quickly at Math. “What’s her condition?
“Alive, sir. A little worse for wear, but we’re keeping her unconscious.” She smiled wryly. “The children seem to like her, so we’ve told them that if they make any trouble, we’ll kill her. When she wakes up, we’re going to tell her the same thing about them.”
Math exhaled. At least Tanxi was alive.
“Well done, Lieutenant Wanimar,” Commander Talu said with feeling. “Thank the Tri-Mother. Something’s gone right today.” He pointed to Math. “Hear that, my boy? Your sister is proving to be our most valuable hostage.”
“I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to hear it.”
“I can well imagine her outrage.” Talu’s smile settled into something significantly nastier. “But more importantly, she’s someone I can kill. Which means I can count on you to behave now, can’t I? I don’t want to kill Tanxi. I like Tanxi. Don’t make me do something we’ll both regret.”
Math stared. Talu had said something similar before, but Math had been in too much pain to pay attention.
Why couldn’t Talu kill Kai? No, that wasn’t the real question.
It wasn’t why Talu couldn’t kill Kai. It was why he hadn’t killed Math.
He had already tried once. What had changed?
Why was Math’s cooperation now important?
If Talu was working with the Kaliri, keeping Kai alive made sense. The Kaliri might easily consider Kai nothing short of holy.
The Kaliri had no motivation at all for keeping Math alive. Unfortunately, though, Math knew one person out there who had a great deal of motivation to keep Math alive—as a hostage on Kaiataris’s behavior.
Talu cleared his throat. “Say the words out loud.”
“I’ll behave.”
Which was a lie. Math wasn’t behaving at that very moment. He was just waiting for the right opportunity. Which he hoped would come soon, because now he knew something that he hadn’t just a few moments earlier.
Now he knew who Talu worked for, and it wasn’t the Kaliri.
Talu worked for Sanistral.