44. A View from the Tower (Dalanat)¶
The last shreds of sunset clung to the eastern Eyewall as Dalanat Kenem surveyed her city, laid out below her under a spiral of glowing mist. The nights were growing warmer. Soon it would be time.
“Quite a view, wouldn’t you say, Minister?” the Vorkyrda said, turning to the figure behind her.
“Stunning, Your Radiance,” said Belosveka, joining the Vorkyrda at the molded silver railing. The balcony projected from the top floor of the Tower of the Tempest, its dizzying height making it an excellent place to meet with foreign dignitaries. The Dzharian wasn’t easily intimidated, though.
“After my uncle was assassinated in his bed, I vowed to unite Telua,” Dalanat said. Of course, she and Belosveka both know that Dalanat herself, with covert Dzharian backing, had been behind the assassination. That knowledge didn’t need to be spoken. “I swore to end this eternal bickering between nations and deliver an era of peace and prosperity. And that is still what I intend to do.”
“A laudable goal, Your Radiance,” Belosveka said evenly. “But if you mean to unite Telua under Sarmalan rule, as you meant to during the Reconquest, I suspect the Regent might take issue with your approach.”
Dalanat chuckled and turned back to the view, gesturing at the city. “Each of these points of light represents one of my citizens. My responsibilities. My children. Any parent would do whatever is necessary to protect her children, would she not?”
“As you say, Your Radiance,” Belosveka said, her voice still neutral.
“The Feiçeira have always been dangerous, but their attacks used to be confined to the provinces. As we’ve squeezed them in Cantereia, they’ve spilled over our borders, threatening our security here at home. I’m told you have similar problems in Dzhar.”
“They are a common foe,” Belosveka said carefully, not sure where Dalanat was headed. “Which is why we shared our intelligence with you.”
“Yes, and we remain grateful. Your information led to a very successful raid, and we’ve made further progress since then. We’re close to eliminating the immediate threat to Thelenza. But that’s precisely why we can’t rest. If we give them the chance, they’ll simply regrow their presence here. We must strike now, while they’re weak, and remove their ability to ever attack us again.”
Belosveka frowned slightly, as close to an open display of emotion as the Dzharian ever got. “You mean to invade Cantereia? I must remind Your Radiance of the treaty, which stipulates—”
“One cannot invade one’s own province,” Dalanat interjected. “The treaty stipulates that I inform Dzhar of my intent in advance, which is what I’m doing now. Rooting the Feiçeira out of Sarmalan Cantereia is a police action, nothing more. But without Dzharian support, the rebels will simply flee across the border into Dzharian-controlled territory, and it will all have been for naught.”
She paused for a moment, feeling a sudden pang of genuine sadness that so much loss would be necessary. Despite her public stance, she found much to admire in Cantereian culture. But the greater goal of uniting Telua would always outweigh the cost. Her descendants—well, Tadevi’s descendants, technically—would thank her.
“What manner of support?” Belosveka said. “As per the treaty, Dzhar does not maintain a standing army in our Cantereian province.”
“Nor does Sarmala,” Dalanat replied. Both sides did, in fact, maintain sizeable garrisons in their provinces, along with a common fiction that the soldiers were merely police. Some lies were simply more convenient than the truth. But those garrisons were a far cry from the army she intended to march into Cantereia, and they both knew it. “However, I believe Dzhar has the capacity to secure the Pass of Rogaleão, which is the escape route that the Feiçeira are likely to take. This is my request to the Regent: secure the border against the Feiçeira. In return, Sarmala will expend her troops and treasure to deal a death-blow to our common enemy. An excellent deal for Dzhar, I should think.”
Belosveka tapped her hand against her thigh, looking out over Thelenza. “An interesting proposition, Your Radiance. As Trade Minister, I lack the authority to approve such things, but I will send word to the Regent immediately.”
Dalanat smiled. The idea that Belosveka was a mere Trade Minister was yet another lie they both chose to perpetuate. “Thank you, Minister. That’s all I ask.”
They turned from the balcony and went back inside. The circular chamber was designed for hosting visitors, and the furnishings were as beautiful as they were uncomfortable, couches and chairs upholstered with stiff witchglass-laced brocade. The real star of the room, though, was the inner wall, a stylized frieze depicting the Eyewall. The swirling gray and white plaster was sculpted to look like clouds, threaded with intricate, branching witchglass lightning. The floor below was occupied by an unbearably-hot chamber filled with braziers, each of which had a flapper that opened and closed automatically. The resulting flicker was channeled up the wall into the ersatz lightning, sans heat.
Belosveka stopped short at the sight of Tadevi, who was reclining on a low couch, sipping wine from a tiny witchglass cup shaped like a nude woman. “Your Luminance,” Belosveka said. “I didn’t know you were here.”
“Didn’t want to interrupt,” Tadevi drawled.
Dalanat took a deep breath, swallowing her irritation. “Where have you been, brother?”
Tadevi took a sip from his infuriatingly small cup. “I was interrogating Jovadão. Lost track of time. My apologies.”
Belosveka’s face, for once, showed true surprise. “You were interrogating a member of your own high command?”
Dalanat winced inwardly, but played it off as though Tadevi hadn’t just revealed a state secret. “Yes,” Dalanat said. “Turns out that he was an agent of the Feiçeira. We will, of course, share any intelligence relevant to the Dzharian territories. But I would appreciate your discretion with this information. His involvement isn’t public knowledge.”
Belosveka bowed, her composure returned. “Of course, Your Radiance.”
Tadevi, heedless of his gaffe, raised the wine bottle. “Care for a drink, Minister?”
“Thank you, but I must be on my way. Another time.” Belosveka bowed stiffly to them both and took her leave.
Dalanat waited until the Dzharian’s footsteps died out before rounding on her younger brother. “What is wrong with you?” she snapped. “Are you drunk?”
“Not yet,” Tadevi said, setting down his tiny cup. “Although I’m sensing that I will be soon.”
“I told you to be here by sundown, so I could brief you before the Minister got here.”
He shrugged. “Politics is your job. My job is gathering intelligence. And, of course, to squeeze out a few heirs and hope that one of them is an Apogee.”
Dalanat gritted her teeth. Tadevi was Tadevi, but this was going too far. “I wanted to brief you so you wouldn’t do something foolish. Like revealing highly sensitive information to an agent of our enemy.”
“Enemy? I thought the Dzharians were our allies now,” Tadevi said, leaning back against the sumptuous velvet couch. “Also, wasn’t she the one who pointed us to their safehouse? I assumed she already knew.”
“You assumed wrong!” Dalanat shouted. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, calming herself. When she opened them, Tadevi was staring down at his cup, rubbing his thumb over the rim. Despite his broad shoulders and thick mustache, he suddenly looked like he had as a child, when their drunken uncle had shouted at him for some failing or another.
“I’m sorry, Dalanat,” he said, not looking up. “I got here as soon as I could.”
She sighed, feeling a stab of regret for losing her temper. She took a glass off the shelf, then sat down beside him, accepting his apology by sliding it toward him. “How much did you overhear?”
He filled her cup before responding. “I heard you ask for Dzhar to secure the border, to prevent the Feiçeira from escaping. But I thought the Feiçeira were already done for in Cantereia. Didn’t we fund the Tementeira to get rid of them for us?”
“We did.”
Tadevi frowned. “Aren’t you worried about that? I get that we want to keep the Cantereians divided, but using the Tementeira to get rid of the Feiçeira is like breeding rats to get rid of bugs. Then you just have a problem with rats.”
“Yes, but we’re the cats,” Dalanat said. “Remember, power isn’t just about strength. It’s about organization, discipline. The Cantereians outnumber us three to one. The only reason they haven’t already taken everything back from us is that they’re divided and disorganized. The Feiçeira have the power to unite them, and we can’t allow that.”
“Yes, I remember. That’s why we didn’t go after the Feiçeira directly.” Tadevi seemed more interested now, ignoring his wine, which was a step in the right direction.
“The Tementeira have kept Cantereia weaker and more divided than we ever could,” Dalanat agreed. “Those fools think magic should only be used for prayer. Our army will roll right over them.”
“But why tell the Dzharians our invasion plans at all?”
Dalanat picked up her own cup and took a sip. The vintage was a Hoshin Mountain, cask-aged by the syrupy texture of it, but still a bit astringent for her taste. “If you recall, the treaty isn’t just with Dzhar, but also with Hoshin. It was written that way to keep the peace by way of threat: Hoshin is obligated to intercede against whoever breaks the treaty first. However, the treaty only involves moving troops into the provinces. Moving them back out of Cantereia isn’t Hoshin’s concern.”
Tadevi crossed his arms. “So it was never about the Feiçeira.”
Dalanat smiled. “No. As you said, they’re already done for. They’re just a pretext to get our troops into Cantereia without involving Hoshin. Once we’re there, we’ll take out the Tementeira. And if the Dzharians concentrate their forces near the Pass of Rogaleão, it means they pull them away from other places.”
“Other places... such as the border of Anash,” Tadevi said, grinning.
“Precisely. By the time Dzhar realizes where we’re really headed, it will be too late. Especially when our second force moves in from Baranaath.” Dalanat drained the rest of her cup, then poured a refill for herself and Tadevi. “And once we take Anash, all of Telua will be ours.”
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