Karl scowled. His hands squeezed hers. “Traitorous bastard. Handing us over like that. .”
She shook her head. She touched the leather pouch tied to the belt of her robes, and she could feel the throbbing of the Ilmodo trapped within it. But she didn’t tell Karl about it or show him the small globe inside. She held back, and she wondered at that. “I’m not so certain. I thought the same after he handed us over to the gardai, but now. .”
She shivered and stepped back from Karl. “I don’t know what Mahri wants, or why he does what he does, but I think he knew that neither of us would be long imprisoned.”
Karl moved his jaw as if remembering the ache of the silencer.
“What did he want?”
Ana shrugged and dropped his hands. “I don’t know,” she said.
“Not really. He. . gave me something, but what it does. .” She shook her head, catching her upper lip in her teeth momentarily. “I won’t last as Archigos, Karl. I think Mahri knows that, and Kraljiki Justi, and ca’Cellibrecca and the rest of the a’teni. I’ve been given the title because none of the a’teni would take it right now, not with the strong possibility that ca’Cellibrecca might return as Archigos when this is all over. I’m just the False Archigos, the Kraljiki’s Archigos.”
“They can’t all feel that way.”
She nodded vigorously. “That’s the way nearly all of them are thinking. Yes, there are some teni who support me: U’Teni Dosteau-and I must promote him; that would be a small help-Kenne, most of the
e’teni and o’teni who were part of Archigos Dhosti’s staff, even a few of the u’teni. But the a’teni. .” A breath. “At best, they will do no more than they absolutely must just in case the Kraljiki does win. They’ll wait and see what happens when the Hirzg’s army comes. I have a title, Karl; that’s all.”
“And you want more than that.”
A smile emerged momentarily. “You know me better than I thought. Yes. I want more.”
“What can I do?”
“You started to teach me. I need you to show me all you can do, and I need you to bend the Divolonte with me. . ”
The war-teni had assembled, as ordered by their new Archigos, in the Stadia a’Sute. With one exception, none of the a’teni had been invited; in fact, those few who tried to enter were forcibly turned away by the Archigos’ staff and the Garde Kraljiki, who patrolled all the entrances.
The war-teni were seated at the north end of the stadia; on the athlete’s field below, they could see a small stage erected on the grass and the Archigos’ throne set to one side of it. When the wind-horns sounded Second Call, the doors to the stadia clanged shut even as the teni were saying their prayers. A few moments later, the Archigos herself emerged from one of the field doors, accompanied by the newly promoted A’Teni cu’Dosteau and a few others, one of them quickly recognizable to the teni who were from the city.
“That’s Envoy ci’Vliomani, the Numetodo. .” The gossip moved rapidly through the ranks of the war-teni as the Archigos bowed to them and gave the sign of Cenzi, then took her seat on the throne. She gestured, and ci’Vliomani and another man stepped onto the stage.
“One of your duties,” Archigos Ana said, addressing the war-teni, “is to protect those around you from the spells of the war-teni of the false Archigos. What I’d like you to do now is show me how well you can do that. I think some of you have already recognized Envoy ci’Vliomani, who came to Nessantico to represent the Numetodo everywhere in the Holdings. I’ve asked him here today to play the role of the enemy. On my command, he will attack me-the spell itself will be harmless, I assure you, but your task will be to stop his attack from touching me at all. Let’s see how well you perform. Each of you: I know you’ve been taught by A’Teni cu’Dosteau, as he once taught me. Go on-you may start your counter-spells now.”
The war-teni glanced at each other, then several of them began to chant and move their hands, though they were obviously puzzled as the Archigos still made no command to Envoy ci’Vliomani to start his own spell. Finally, several breaths later, she turned to him. “Envoy,” she said.
“If you’ll begin your attack. .”
What happened then stunned them all. Ci’Vliomani spoke a single guttural word that sounded like the language of the Ilmodo but was no spell-word they knew, and he gave a casual flick of his hand. The word boomed thunderously in the stadia. Impossibly, a fire brighter than the sun glared in his hand and flared through the air, arrowing straight toward the Archigos.
But a moment after ci’Vliomani had begun his inexplicably rapid spell, Archigos Ana also spoke: again, a single word of spell-speech as she held up her hand. The flare of light spattered and exploded, as if it had struck an invisible barrier. The brilliant fury caused many of the war-teni to raise their hands, and the ball of fire shrieked like a dying animal as it expired.
A stunned silence wrapped the stadia as the war-teni stood, their own counter-spells-perhaps three quarters completed-forgotten.
Too fast: the whole exchange had been far too fast.
“You were all late. You all would have failed in your duty.” Archigos Ana spoke into the hush. She rose easily from her chair-neither ci’Vliomani nor the Archigos seemed unduly fatigued by the casting of their spells, and that was also strange-and walked onto the stage. “I know your thoughts,” she said. “When I first saw what the Numetodo were capable of doing with the Ilmodo, it shook me all the way to the core of my being. For a time, in my loss of faith, Cenzi punished me and I lost my own path to the Ilmodo, until He spoke to me again.”
She smiled briefly. “Or, let me be honest, until I was willing to listen to Him. I will tell you now what I came to realize: the Ilmodo was created by Cenzi, yes, and our way to the Ilmodo remains the most powerful. I know in my heart that this is the way of Cenzi. I will tell you, and Envoy ci’Vliomani will agree with me: the Numetodo might have the advantage of speed, but not of force. None of the Numetodo can match what the least of you can do on the battlefield with your war-spells. But. .”
She stopped and paced for a moment. “. . our way is not the only way Cenzi has created, and we are fools if we are not willing to learn from those other paths.”
She strode forward until she stood at the front of the stage, leaning forward toward the war-teni in the stands. Her gaze moved across each of their faces. “I tell you this: The Numetodo are a threat to Concenzia only if your own faith is lacking. ”
“That’s not what Archigos Orlandi believes.”
The challenge was loud, from a teni who stood abruptly in his seat.
Several of the war-teni around the man also rose, placing their hands on the speaker. “No!” Ana shouted at them. “Let him talk!”
The anger in her voice loosened the hands that had grasped at the war-teni, and he shook them away. He pointed toward Ana, toward Karl. “You’re the false Archigos,” he said. “Look who you consort with. The Numetodo mock the Divolonte. They mock the Toustour. They deny Cenzi. How can you stand there and say that we must learn from them?”
“What is your name?” Ana asked.
“I am U’Teni Georgi cu’Vlanti.”
“I know of your family, U’Teni. They’re good people and devout,
and I’m not surprised to find that at least one of them has chosen to serve Concenzia. If you think I’m the false Archigos, U’Teni cu’Vlanti, then it’s your duty under Cenzi and the Divolonte to strike me down. I give you that opportunity now. Pray to Cenzi to guide your hands and strengthen your spell, as I will pray to Him to guide mine.” Ana spread her arms wide. “Begin your spell,” she told him. She looked around the stadia slowly, especially to those on the stage with her. “I promise you that no one here will stop you.”