Authors: Adrian Tchaikovsky
‘Oh, that would be poor form,’ Arianna explained. ‘Inelegant. To commission the death of your chief enemy is an admission of defeat – or next to it. Spider-kinden do not simply have their dance-partners killed: they destroy them, piece by piece, until death would seem a mercy. I do not think Teornis will seek to have you killed unless you leave him no other choice by backing him into a corner. Your friends and allies are under no such protection, though. It is a long-standing tradition to attack someone through their household. Take Jodry, for example.’
‘Jodry?’ Stenwold shook his head. ‘Jodry’s the Speaker for the Assembly, after all. I can’t see Teornis causing that much trouble just to get to me. In fact, it’s more likely he’ll kill me to inconvenience Jodry, surely.’
‘No, Stenwold, no,’ Arianna insisted. ‘What does Teornis care about Beetle ranks and titles? What makes the true adversary is skill, not . . . public office. You are his enemy. You are the man he will dance with. For the rest – Jodry, your Fly-kinden, the Mantis and her crew, that militia-woman – fair game, Stenwold, all of them.’
‘And you?’ Stenwold pressed.
‘Oh, who knows what Teornis would do with me,’ she said, looking straight into his face and thinking,
I am telling you, Stenwold. Listen when I tell you. Understand me!
But he did not understand her. There was only concern in his expression.
‘I should have you leave the city,’ he started, and raised a hand to cut off her immediate objection. ‘And I know that would solve nothing. Distance is no shield. Instead I must make use of you. Your help here will be the difference between life and death, it seems.’
Oh, very likely.
‘What do you want from this, Stenwold? What will you count as a victory?’
‘Keeping Collegium safe,’ he replied immediately. ‘I do not know what the Aldanrael think to gain from this piracy – they would not risk so much just for plunder. Whatever it is, though, they must walk away from it. My people will be nobody’s prey.’
‘And if Teornis offers a compromise?’
‘If he does, is it likely to be sincere? Or merely a trap?’
She shrugged.
And I cannot answer that. I cannot see what Teornis seeks either.
‘It may be. But, even so, if he does?’
‘Will I treat with him, you mean? I would be a fool not to listen to what he might have to say, but I will not simply bare my city’s back for the rod. Men have died. Ships have been lost. If we offer some meek submission, then we simply invite worse.’
And that is true also
, she thought. ‘Think carefully on what you will tell the Assembly,’ she warned him.
‘I know. Words said openly cannot then be unsaid.’ He rubbed at his face.
And am I advising him now for himself, or for Teornis
? she asked herself.
What can I say that is not a betrayal of one man or the other?
‘If you give him no other alternative, he will fight,’ she said. ‘I know the Mantis say we are cowards, my kinden, but that is not true. It is just that direct violence is considered the last and ugliest way of solving any problem. We will take up the sword, if no other choice is left to us, but if you leave him an escape, he may take it. Public face is very important to us. When you make your speech, at least allow him some graceful way to step away. You never know, if the Aldanrael’s plans are still young, they may prefer to abandon them rather than risk a confrontation. Teornis himself may jump at a chance to wash his hands of the matter.’
‘I understand.’ Stenwold nodded soberly. ‘I will choose my words carefully.’
She left him at his desk, staring at a blank parchment.
Downstairs, she had Cardless prepare her a tisane, while she took stock of her options.
Tell Stenwold
was one of them, but the time for telling him had now come and gone. She should have mentioned it as soon as they were alone together. She should have mentioned it as soon as he returned from his voyage on the
Tidenfree
. Every moment that passed took her further away from the moment when confession would bring her absolution rather than blame.
Can I just walk away and vanish?
She knew she could not. She could betray Stenwold, but never abandon him. She could not stand apart, and know that he was facing this fight, and not know what would become of him.
If I am by his side, whoever’s side I am on, then there may come the moment when some act from me can . . . Can what? Save or destroy him, which?
Teornis would not let her run, either. He would judge her more harshly for taking flight than he would for remaining loyal to Stenwold, although he would not hesitate to be rid of her in either case. Even as Stenwold’s ally, she was valuable to Teornis as a means of applying pressure, while as a runaway she would be despised and worthless – fit only to be hunted down like an animal so that her incriminating knowledge could be capped.
And if I go to Teornis now?
It was worse than that, of course. If she did
not
go to Teornis now, he would want to know why. His note to Stenwold showed he was well aware that swords were being drawn. He would not believe her if she pleaded ignorance, and she was not sure she could lie to him convincingly in any case.
Every minute I stay away invites him to conclude that I’ve betrayed him.
Stenwold. Teornis.
The big, lumbering Beetle with the sharp mind, or the elegant, laughing Spider.
Stenwold, who roused the whole city against the Wasps. Teornis, who held the entire Fourth Army with just two hundred men and some clever words. Stenwold, who kept the Vekken at arm’s length for days. Teornis, whose relief force drove them off.
Stenwold, who gave himself to the Empire to save me from the crossed pikes.
Teornis, who will make me one of his family.
She felt her selfishness stir, at last. Who was she to sit in judgement on either the War Master of Collegium or an Aristos of the Aldanrael? She was just Arianna, Spider orphan of a failed family, also Rekef deserter, exile from her old home and parasite on her new one. What were honourable causes and noble sentiments to her? She had joined the Rekef readily enough when it suited her, and abandoned it just as swiftly. She had then taken up with Stenwold . . . well, Stenwold was the Big Man in Collegium in those days. Now her association with him had surely taken her as far as it could go. She might be the toast of the city, but this was a Beetle city and, however much they tried to mimic the glories of the Spiderlands, they would never seem more than clowns in borrowed clothing.
Teornis would make her one of the Aristoi. She would be part of the Dance. She would be wealthy, and have slaves and riches and all good things. More, the Dance never stopped and she would never be
bored
. Beetles might strive for a comfortable life. Spider-kinden strove only to
live
.
She slipped out of the house. If Stenwold had any sense, he might begin to suspect. She knew that he would not, though. He was a spymaster, and there were few of his agents that he held in total trust, but she was his agent no longer. She had stepped in too close, and he would no more suspect her of betrayal than he would have suspected Cheerwell his niece.
‘I’ve been expecting you.’
One of Teornis’s people had led her to a townhouse overlooking the harbour, which still bore some blackening from the Vekken incendiaries. From without, it was just another two-storey Beetle tenement, squat and flat-roofed. Inside it had been draped with silks in the Spider style, and she found Teornis upstairs, stretched out on a couch. A Fly servant offered her wine as she came in, and she took it but did not drink.
‘You knew it would come to this when you first approached me,’ she accused him.
‘Time spent stating the obvious is time wasted,’ he reproached her. One hand indicated the couch opposite from him, and she sat there stiffly. ‘If you think I’ve misled you, then go back to your Beetle lover.’ He was smiling, and there was nothing harsh in his voice, but his words cut her nonetheless.
‘What is going on?’ she demanded. ‘Collegium’s shipping? Why so much trouble over so little?’
‘Oh, it’s not gentlemanly to bore a great lady with one’s plans.’ Teornis sipped his wine, watching her carefully. ‘One presents the finished work, or not at all. So . . . ?’
‘Stenwold will speak before the Assembly tomorrow.’
Teornis steepled his fingers.
‘Raising the stakes on his very first move, very bold,’ Teornis noted. ‘Who is in his cadre?’
The word was used by Spiders for an Aristoi’s closest agents and followers. ‘Jodry Drillen,’ Arianna recited, knowing that she might be signing death warrants even as she spoke the names. ‘Some militia officer called Pad-stock. A crew of Fly-kinden mariners led by a man called Tomasso. And Danaen, who leads the Mantis reavers that took the
Very Blade
.’
‘Mantis-kinden,’ said Teornis disgustedly. ‘You’d think they’d be grateful that I allowed them the glory of destroying the Fourth. Well, I’ve dealt with them before, and I can deal with them again. Speaking of dealings, how is our Beetle manipulus? Front or back foot?’ Meaning, on the attack or preparing a defence.
‘Standing firm,’ she told him. ‘But he will talk, if you will. I hope I have persuaded him not to make any direct accusations tomorrow, therefore to hold open the chance that some . . . agreement can be reached.’ She stopped because he was giving her a sharp-edged smile.
‘It is a noble and respected tradition to play two sides off against each other, and thus to pull their strings,’ Teornis remarked, very pleasantly. ‘However, you are not so skilled as to be able to play both myself and Maker for fools, girl. Content yourself with taking my instructions, and you will prosper. Try to turn this into your own dance, and I cannot vouch for your future.’
She began to say something, but the words would not come out.
He nodded slowly. ‘My dear Arianna, do not think that I do not understand sentiment. I am fond of Maker myself. I do not want to rid the world of him, for we will need him, like as not, when the Empire stirs again. Still, we must make him tractable, and he must learn that drawing a sword on the Aldanrael is not to be advised.’ He put down his goblet on a tray that his servant proffered. The metallic clack of it seemed very loud. ‘My cousin Elleria had command of the
Blade
, and Maker’s people killed her,’ Teornis said flatly. ‘The family will want blood for that. I cannot simply throw up my hands and abandon the plan. Whatever
agreement
is reached, however it may look to the dull Beetles and their Assembly, it will be a victory for us. If Maker will give way, then all the better, and we can then work out some mummery to make him look strong and us blameless. If Maker will be stubborn . . . Aristoi blood has been shed, so we
cannot
back down.’
Abruptly he sighed, and Arianna had a brief window onto a genuine unhappiness. ‘Far be it from me to criticize the women of my family,’ he continued, ‘but Elleria was a fool. Why else would they have placed her in such a demeaning role? And even that she got wrong, and then she got herself killed. If there was any justice in the world, then she’d be denounced as a rogue element, and we’d all be friends again. However, she
is
family, and Maker’s agents killed her. I have sent to Everis to raise a fleet, a proper armada that will make the force that broke the Vekken siege look like a scouting party.’ His face was all brittle brightness and good humour again, in contrast to her aghast expression. ‘It will be up to us, my dear, to bring Maker to his knees in submission before that becomes necessary, however. Do not fret: outfitting an armada takes time. We have a few months, I would guess, before their sails are seen.’
There was an expectant hush as Stenwold took the podium, called to speak without warning, unscheduled and before any other petitioners.
Has word got out?
he wondered. It was not impossible that Jodry had failed to keep the matter to himself. Looking at the Assemblers, though, he guessed not. It was simply that an old instinct had been reawakened amongst them. They were used to this: Stenwold Maker had been away from the city; Stenwold Maker had returned; Stenwold Maker would now come before the Assembly full of dire warnings. He had conditioned them to it, over the last ten years and more.
Only now perhaps they’ll believe me
, he considered, and the thought gave him a strange feeling of anxiety.
Did I think I was safe, back then: was I secretly glad that, no matter what I said, nobody would pay any heed? Now that my words have consequences, I must be careful what I say.
His gaze caught that of Teornis. The Spider-kinden was here by right, as an ambassador, but he seldom bothered to exercise that right unless he knew that something of importance would be said. He nodded coolly to Stenwold.
We know
, his look seemed to say.
You and I, only we two know fully what we are about here.
Stenwold had spent a long time countering the machinations of the Empire. The Wasps were almost like old friends now, for he knew them and their ways. The Aldanrael, however, were unknowable and subtle. For all Arianna’s assurances, he had not discounted a direct attempt on his life. He wore his sword, and a tunic of hide and steel plates beneath his robes.
‘My fellows of the Assembly, Masters and Magnates of the city of Collegium,’ he addressed them, ‘as you hear my voice, I would ask you to consider another voice that has been strangely silent of late. The man I refer to was not shy of disturbing our councils here with his worries, and yet where is he now? I speak of Rones Failwright. Who of you here has asked himself where that man has gone? Not one of you?’