A Shout for the Dead (101 page)

'Thank you,' said Roberto.
‘I
know I've said it already but you have done me and the Advocacy a great service. I am in your debt.'

'No, you aren't,' said Arducius. 'By the time we reached Estorr,

Ossie and I had worked out there was no other way.'

'Perhaps not.' Roberto almost regretted what had to happen. He had formed a new respect for Arducius in particular that had surprised him. 'And everything is ready?'

'Yes, yes,' said Arducius. 'The Academy is empty of books and papers. The trunks are packed and loaded and the strands all understand what is happening. Not all of them like it but they understand, I think.'

'And do you really understand yourself? Plenty of support hereabouts, not least from my new Chancellor.'

Roberto smiled. He still didn't know what had possessed him. It would be a relationship to rival the last one between Advocate and Chancellor. Arducius chuckled.

'Maybe but Julius Barias is all against fire for anything other than light and cooking and that's an element we treasure even more than before Mirron
...'
He tailed off and glanced at Jhered for a moment, needing a change of subject. 'Disbanding the Armour of God is a brave move. Bringing the Order closer to the Advocacy, very wise—'

'Not a difficult decision, though, Arducius. The backlash was quite something to behold. There has been almost no dissension. Apart from the Speaker Council and Horst Vennegoor, as you might expect. But we'll see if this really brings state and Order closer together. I think my mother would tell you that a certain amount of distance and friction keeps both arms grounded.'

'But you are the Advocate,' said Arducius.

'Yes, I am and I will choose different battles within my government if I can. And one of them wouldn't have been with you. Not in the end. Part of me wants to keep you close where I can better control you. But I am no dictator.'

'The fact is, my Advocate, that the Conquord does not need the complication that accompanies us. Your own inner debate is apt evidence. I don't think the world will ever be ready for us. I know we speak about evolution but there's so much more still to learn. Perhaps nature should be allowed to take its course on this one. Perhaps the Ascendancy Echelon were wrong from the start. Best we take our leave until the Omniscient deems it the right time for natural-born Ascendants to appear.'

'And you think that'll happen?'

'I think it is inevitable,' said Arducius. 'But what we, the firstborn and our younger siblings represent is a continuation of the memory of Gorian and all that he did. I cannot live with that. Neither can Ossacer. And the young strands do not deserve to be tarred with it either. They, among all of us, are true innocents in all this. The Conquord must be allowed to return to glory with us as a chapter in history. But I hope they remember it was not always an unhappy chapter.'

'I can agree to that,' said Roberto. 'But how do I know that one amongst you is not another Gorian, eh?'

'Because I give you my word that it will not be allowed to happen. Kessian is Mirron not Gorian, believe me. None that are alive now may demonstrate such tendencies and live. And our child-rearing days are already over. The Ascendancy will diminish and fade. In a hundred years or so, all that will be left will be the books. And they will be in the safest of hands.'

Roberto held out his hand and Arducius took it.

'Your word is enough for me, Arducius. You at least are a good man. Your wisdom will be missed by the Advocacy.'

'But not my abilities.'

'No.' Roberto shook his head. 'Not those. Never those. Not for me.'

'Goodbye my Advocate.' Arducius thumped his right arm into his chest. 'My arm and heart remain yours.'

Roberto handed him a sealed roll of parchment that was lying alone on a small table.

'Arvan Vasselis will be there well ahead of you. Along with the Sirranean negotiator but just in case there's a problem, this should get you an audience with Tarenaq and Huatl. They are good people.'

'Thank you, my Advocate.'

'Have a safe voyage. I'm surprised you aren't going overland. It's a very long way round to Sirrane.'

'I think avoiding people is our primary concern.'

'And no one wants to see Gorian's legacy,' said Roberto. He tensed a little. You know we think it is a perfect circle, the ruined land? Almost eight thousand square miles where man nor animal will willingly tread and where nothing grows but a quartet of trees at its absolute centre. Quite a sight, I'm told.'

'It is a monument to a failed experiment that I have no desire to see. I can only say I am sorry so many times.'

'Yes, yes. And it could have been worse, eh?' Roberto managed a smile. 'Paul? I understand you are seeing the Ascendants to their ship.'

'That I am. Come on, Ardu, the tide will not wait.'

Arducius bowed his head to Roberto, turned and walked from the state room. Jhered patted Roberto's shoulder and followed him out. Roberto waited until the carriages had all left the palace under the last flag of the Ascendancy guard before returning to the gardens to speak with the bust of his mother.

The captain of the
Hark's Spear
was anxious to get away. The tide was on the turn and he wanted to make best use of the wind. But Paul Jhered was not quite ready. The rest of them were on board. Only Ossacer and Arducius remained on the shore, one foot on the gangplank.

'So this is it, then?' said Jhered. 'I find it a little hard to believe I am not just waving you off on some mission to a corner of the Conquord.'

'It's for the best,' said Ossacer. His eyes bored into Jhered. 'Don't feel loss. We are not lost.'

'I will never work out how you do that.'

'I know. And I will leave it maddening you because you would never really understand even if I told you.'

'Well, I will feel loss, Ossie. If anyone was my family it was the four of you. Two are gone and now I am losing the other two. Not a great record for a father.'

Ossacer laughed and it lightened Jhered's heart. But the laughter was short and the serious face that was his signature returned.

'I couldn't ever have stayed here. Every day wondering if the knock on the door will come dragging me to my death or sending me out to battle. The Ascendancy started out as a benevolent force and look at what we became.'

'I think that's a little unfair,' said Jhered.

They fell silent for a while.

'You should be coming with us,' said Arducius. 'If Mirron had still been alive, you would have come.'

Jhered nearly cracked then. 'Perhaps I would. Or perhaps you would never have chosen to leave. We'll never know. But my place is here, in the heart of the Conquord. It will always be my life and my destiny. And so here our family must go its separate ways. And that is a regret I will take to my grave.'

'Us also,' said Arducius.

Jhered pulled them into embraces, one after another, holding them close, patting their backs.

'Look after Kessian for me,' said Jhered. 'He is all that remains of Mirron.'

'And he is as close to our hearts.'

'I know. Safe journey. And be good. My crew will report and I don't want to be disappointed.'

The three of them laughed and Jhered waved them up the gangplank. It was raised almost immediately and the captain ordered the ship push out into the harbour. No fanfare, no civic farewell. Just a Gatherer ship rowing sedately out into the Tirronean Sea on a beautiful, Omniscient-blessed morning.

Jhered stood and watched until the ship was out of sight around the south fort. He smiled to himself, nodded and turned away, deciding a walk back to the palace was in order. Something inside him refused to believe that this really was the end of the Ascendancy, and of his work with those two fine young men. After all, the cork was pulled from the jug. Could it really be stoppered back up?

Whatever the will of the people, and their attitudes, Ascendants were alive and would still walk the earth. Hidden, maybe. Out of the reach of friend or enemy. But alive. Jhered wondered what that meant for the balance of the world and how the Omniscient would deal with them. As faithful disciples or as threats. A conundrum that only a God had the authority to solve and there was some real satisfaction to be found in that thought.

Jhered turned and looked back out past the harbour. A small white cloud was floating out beyond the south fort. It was travelling against the wind and was the shape of an upturned mouth. He laughed out loud, turning a few heads.

'You cheeky little bastard.'

Jhered swung about a final time and walked back up the hill towards the palace, his Advocate, and the rebuilding of the Estorean Conquord.