Authors: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Stenwold frowned, recognizing the black and gold of its painting. ‘There must be some mistake,’ he said slowly.
‘Indeed?’ she enquired archly. ‘Ambassador, will you come forth?’
From around the Imperial heliopter’s side stepped a familiar figure. He was not dressed in uniform, but was a Wasp nonetheless, and one that Stenwold was well acquainted with through recent bouts in front of the Assembly.
‘Ambassador Aagen,’ he identified the man.
‘There are some few that I shall always be glad of, Master Maker,’ Grief declared. ‘Aagen is one.’ Her tone made clear that Stenwold himself was not in that number.
‘So I see.’ Despite himself, Stenwold felt slighted. ‘Well, Salma told me of the history between you and Aagen. I suppose freedom is a great gift.’
‘Hope is a greater one,’ Grief told him. ‘He comes of a cruel kinden, and yet he is kind. Consider that.’
Stenwold sighed, sourly.
And so I come from a peaceful one and yet make war, is that it? What does the woman expect me to do? Where does she think we would all be, if we hadn’t fought the Empire?
He looked at Aagen, who nodded to him levelly.
‘Aagen has sworn to me that he will take you to Collegium as fast as his machine can carry you,’ Grief explained. ‘Otherwise, Master Maker, you must rely on your feet.’
Stenwold could feel the sea-kinden growing restless, obviously sensing an insult but not understanding the cause. Only Aradocles held himself apart from it all, and no doubt he was used to the Butterfly woman’s ways by now.
‘You want to see if I can trust my enemy,’ he said tiredly. ‘Well, I gladly accept the assistance of Master Aagen. I am no Mantis-kinden, to cut off my own fingers rather than clasp hands with someone opposed to my city. ‘
It was clear that she considered this some kind of victory, and Stenwold could not help but think,
And when the Empire comes again, where will all this love and tolerance get you?
He derived a certain spiteful pleasure from the thought.
‘Master Maker,’Aagen said, without mockery, ‘shall we go?’
They made a swift departure, after Stenwold left a message instructing Jons Allanbridge to follow on to Collegium with all speed, and after Ordly Penhold had clasped Aradocles’s shoulder and given him some almost fatherly words of advice. The sea-kinden’s reaction to being in the belly of the flying machine, with its shuddering and clattering and the roar of its engines, was a sight to behold, and Stenwold spent most of the time with his arm about Paladrya, listening to Laszlo swearing at every jolt and lurch. Just once he went forward to where Aagen sat alone, the Imperial ambassador out flying without any staff or soldiers. The two of them exchanged a few civilized words on recent developments in artificing, and even on a play they had both watched the month before.
By silent mutual agreement they studiously avoided talking politics of any kind.
There was a sound from downstairs, and Helmess Broiler stirred sleepily. It must only be his servants pottering about, rising for the day to come.
Which meant it was later than he inwardly felt it should be. He yawned and stretched. Beside him, Elytrya murmured something, and Helmess again wondered precisely how late or early it was, and whether she could be persuaded into a little exercise.
He opened his eyes, looking for the grey of pre-dawn leaching through the east-facing shutters, but the room was near pitch-dark, and the only radiance that outlined the shutters was the faint rose of the street lighting outside.
So why are the servants . . . ?
He frowned, and wondered,
Am I being robbed?
Thieves seldom dared to intrude where Collegium’s great magnates lived. The city guard was prolific and dedicated in those privileged streets, and the lighting well maintained. He listened again but heard nothing.
Perhaps I imagined it.
But an uncomfortable feeling was growing on him. Something had certainly awoken him; his imagination was not to blame. Helmess sat up and slid his feet over the side of the bed, hearing Elytrya complain wordlessly as she, in turn, was awoken. He reached for a nightshirt and dragged it on.
Should I call the servants anyway?
he wondered.
If it’s nothing, after all, I’ll look a proper fool. But if it’s something . . .
It could be Teornis and his murderous rabble of Dragonflies, back from Princep. Creeping into the place unannounced would probably seem hilarious to that Spider Aristos. The more Helmess thought about it, the more that seemed likely, rather than mere robbers. It was surely about time for Teornis to blight Helmess’s life again, and so Helmess would have to find a way to do away with the Spider and his minions, and secure Aradocles for the sea-kinden. If the heir had been found, of course. If the wretched youth wasn’t years dead already. Helmess sighed. His world had become particularly vexing recently.
‘What is it?’ Elytrya sat up, brushing her curls out of her eyes. ‘Helmess . . .?’
‘Probably nothing,’ Helmess assured her, and then there was a distinct creak outside, a heavy footfall on the stair. He remained motionless, as his speculation suddenly broadened to include all manner of possibilities:
What if the Empire has tired of me, after all, and these are Wasp assassins? What if Teornis has sent that traitor Sands after me? What if . . . ?
The door opened, and Fly-kinden began filing in, so silently and politely that he wondered if he was dreaming. There were almost a dozen of them, men and women, all of them looking like absolute villains and armed to the teeth. Their leader seemed to be a black-bearded fellow who looked particularly ferocious even though he stood no higher than Helmess’s chest. Beside him was a little woman in artificer’s leathers, with a businesslike crossbow aimed at Helmess’s face.
The Beetle magnate stood up slowly, regarding this silent mass of Flies. Most of them looked straight back at him, save for a couple at the periphery who were obviously admiring a particularly expensive Commonweal statuette on his side table.
‘To what,’ Helmess asked in a hoarse whisper, ‘do I owe the pleasure of this unexpected visit?’ He was aware of Elytrya, sitting up in bed clutching the sheet to herself.
‘Oh, that’s grand,’ mocked the bearded leader. ‘That’s Collegium style, lads. Listen and learn. Well, Master Broiler, it so happens that a good friend of ours asked us to procure a private and intimate audience with yourself, without the need for your guards and servants and such. On that subject, I’d not go shouting for anyone just yet. Not unless you want to have the trouble of interviewing for some vacant domestic positions in the near future.’
‘Who sent you, and how much do you want?’ Helmess hissed.
‘You might as well talk to the man himself,’ said the bearded Fly, stepping to one side as a larger figure stepped into the room.
Helmess Broiler’s face twisted with immediate hatred. ‘
Maker!
’ he snapped out.
There was a wary silence after this exclamation, but Helmess Broiler was not a man to house his servants too close to his own chambers.
‘Hello, Helmess,’ Stenwold began calmly.
‘By what right do you invade my house?’ Broiler snarled at him. ‘This is intolerable. What do you think the Assembly will say when I bring this before them?’
‘Oh I’ve no right to be here,’ Stenwold told him lightly. ‘No warrant, no writ. I’m here merely because you’ve crossed a line, Helmess.’ He met the poisonous gaze of Elytrya without flinching, and nodded pleasantly.
‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’
‘You’ve taken the Empire’s coin often enough, Helmess. I know that well.’
Helmess’s lip curled contemptuously. ‘And of course you have proof.’
‘I don’t need proof, Helmess, because I’m not here to arrest you. I’ve known you to be the Empire’s man for years now. It was easier to leave you be than to root out the identity of whoever would replace you. But now I find it’s not just the Empire you’d betray your city to. The Spider-kinden, for example. The Spider-kinden and
her
people.’ He gestured at Helmess’s companion.
Elytrya bared her teeth. ‘You know nothing of my people!’ she spat.
‘Oh, I know all too much about your crooked-minded people,’ Stenwold replied, still perfectly calm. ‘I know now that you must be a Littoralist spy, and you’re desperate to help your people “reclaim the land”. And you’ve found a willing accomplice in Helmess here because he’s prepared to sell out his own people to any bidder at all, it seems.’
‘This is utter fiction,’ Helmess protested, with great dignity. ‘It’s no secret that you dislike me, Maker, since I’ve always been your political opponent. If you have some concrete accusation to make, rather than all these flights of fancy, then bring it before the Assembly, rather than—’
‘Danaen let your name slip, Helmess,’ Stenwold interrupted.
The other man’s eyes narrowed. ‘The word of a Mantis-kinden . . . ?’
‘She won’t testify against you. She’s dead.’
Helmess flinched, ever so slightly. ‘Maker, I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but—’
‘No formal charges,’ Stenwold informed him. ‘No militia. No Assembly hearing. No courts of law. No proper procedure. My Arianna
died
as a result of your treachery.’ And, at last, his voice shook a little with the force of the emotion he was holding back, and Helmess shifted uneasily, beginning to comprehend the magnitude of his situation.
Stenwold smiled to see it. ‘But I see you have your own companion. Not quite a Spider-kinden, but almost as decorative. Enough to pay the debt you ran up when you caused Arianna’s death, perhaps.’ Around him the Fly-kinden villains shifted and grinned, their weapons much in evidence.
Helmess’s fleshy face went taut and still, and Stenwold smiled. ‘Ah, good,’ he said, ‘so you
do
care about her. That will make this easier.’
‘Now, Maker,’ said Helmess hurriedly, ‘don’t do anything you might regret. This is Collegium, after all. You can’t just . . .’
Stenwold’s smile turned hard. ‘How swift you are to cling to Collegium when it suits you. Well, Helmess, I cannot tell you how much I would like to have you pay for your treacheries, and your sea-kinden spy alongside you.’ The Fly-kinden moved in on cue, surrounding the bed. The black-bearded man hopped up between Helmess and Elytrya in a flurry of wings, brandishing a blade in either hand.
‘On your word, Master Maker,’ he said, plainly enjoying himself immensely.
‘Maker—!’
‘Listen to me,’ Stenwold cut him off sharply. ‘I will give you and your woman one chance only. If you do what I say, then you live, for now. If something should happen to me, though, or any others that I care about, you will suffer for it, and for once I will be as heedless of civilized propriety as your beloved Wasp-kinden. No law and no procedure, Helmess. If you dare cross me then my people will gut you and leave you to die. Understand?’
The other Beetle-kinden met his gaze bleakly. ‘What then, Maker? What is your price?’
Stenwold nodded, and abruptly there was a dagger-blade touching Elytrya’s throat. ‘Madam,’ he said formally, ‘you will now tell me everything of your arrangements with Rosander of the Thousand Spines Train: how your messengers reach him, what words they use. I wish to meet with Rosander. You will compose a message for him immediately, and if he has not arranged to meet with me in a few days’ time, then I will let my followers do what they will with you.’
‘He . . .’ She was now staring at him, wide-eyed. ‘He will not come to the city, not without his army. He will suspect a trap.’
‘I shall have a boat moored out by the Edge, and he may meet me there. He surely cannot refuse such an invitation. We will tell him I wish to renew my acquaintance with him, so as to save my people from his wrath.’ Stenwold nodded to one of the Flies, a bald, hunched woman, and Helmess recognized her belatedly as one of the Smallclaw Onychoi. ‘Wys here will take the message – once you have briefed her on what to say, and who to say it to. If something happens to her, then something worse will happen to you – for I will keep you close, spy, until Rosander and I have concluded our business.’
‘You will regret this, Maker,’ Helmess growled softly.
‘Oh, I’ll regret letting you live, no doubt,’ Stenwold snapped, ‘but right now the good of my city comes above my own preferences. A novel perspective for you, I’m sure.’ He clicked his fingers abruptly, making Helmess start. ‘There is just one thing more.’
Helmess glared at him mutinously. ‘I sense it would seem rude of me to refuse. What do you want, Maker?’
‘Details of how the Empire is going to exploit the situation.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Wrong!’ Abruptly Stenwold had his sword aimed straight at Helmess’s sagging chins. ‘My crew here have followed you to meetings with Honory Bellowern, and why would you sell us just to two separate factions, when you can throw in the Empire as well? Tell me where they fit into this, or I swear you’ll be signing all your contracts with your left hand from now on.’
Walking away from Broiler’s place, with a hastily clad Elystrya under guard by the
Tidenfree
crew, Tomasso said, ‘I’ll have the ship made ready then, Master Maker, for this sea-kinden gambit of yours.’