‘Solomon Akisi.’
Benzamir reached for the bottle, missed, and tried again. ‘I thought you hated him.’
‘Hate is too strong a word,’ said Va. ‘He was courageous and determined, but he sought the wrong goals. It made him misuse his power, to lie, to cheat, to steal, to kill. But he defied his emperor and unwittingly led us all to Great Nairobi. For that reason alone I’ll raise my glass to him.’
They were silent as they toasted Akisi, knowing what was coming next. There was only one more. And then they would have to part.
Benzamir coughed, took a deep breath and started.
‘No,’ said Va. ‘This is my duty. Elenya Lukeva Christyakova, Princess of Novy Rostov, loved me for six years without hope. Despite everything, she followed me, became my voice when I couldn’t talk, and my guide when I couldn’t find my way. I disappointed her, ruined her life, destroyed her dreams, and she still stayed with me. I hope and pray that wherever she goes, the Holy Mother, Saint George and Saint Basil will protect her.’
After they drank for the last time, Va smashed the bottle on the ground.
‘I’ve lost all feeling in my legs,’ said Alessandra.
‘Then I’ll have to carry you,’ said Benzamir.
‘How long will it take you, to get where you’re going?’ Va looked up into the broken sky, dark cloud partly obscuring the bright stars of heaven.
‘A week.’ Benzamir followed his gaze. ‘Depends on the amount of in-system travel we have to do, and what we find at the other end. City-ships sometimes have to move in a hurry. We’ll round up a fleet, some people to act as guards, then come back for the rebels. But we’ll resist the temptation to come and see you.’
‘That’s for the best, I think. I want only a quiet life.’
‘You’ll be patriarch before you die. You can’t help but do things well.’
‘I’ve no ambition for myself.’ Va clasped Benzamir to his chest and pounded his back. ‘But Godspeed to you. Finish what you started: take your traitors away and don’t let them come back.’
‘And you, Brother Va. Ready, Alessandra?’
‘I should really be asking you that question.’
‘You have a better offer? I don’t see anyone else around here with their own starship.’
‘Answer me, or I’ll leave you here.’
‘I’m ready.’
‘Elenya wasn’t for you, Benzamir Mahmood. But I am.’
When it was done, and Va was left staring dry-eyed up at the sky, he thought he saw a flash like a piece of turning diamond: red, green, blue. Then nothing.
He settled down cross-legged at the side of the piles of books and waited for the sun.
The great Kremlin bell marked the time until dawn, when the gates opened and the peasant farmers came out with cartloads of manure.
An old man wended his way down the paths from the tsar’s highway to where Va still sat.
‘Holy you might be, but you’re in my way. Shit doesn’t spread itself.’
‘I’ve a message for the patriarch,’ said Va. It suddenly struck him that he’d used that phrase before.
‘Well, I’m not His Holiness, that’s for certain.’ The peasant circled the two unequal stacks of books. ‘What are these?’
‘Get your filthy hands off them. They belong to the Church.’
‘Valuable, eh?’
‘Beyond measure.’
‘Perhaps you can sort something out with the watch.’ The man nodded at the two horsemen trotting across the ridged earth towards them.
‘What’s going on here?’ one of them called.
‘He says he’s got a message for the patriarch,’ said the peasant.
‘Oh crap,’ said Captain Mikhaelov. ‘Not again.’
About the Author
Dr. Simon Morden, B.Sc. (Hons., Sheffield) Ph.D (Newcastle) is a bona fide rocket scientist, having degrees in geology and planetary geophysics. He's also the author of a number of short stories blending science fiction, fantasy and horror. The Lost Art is his first novel.
‘Another fat book offering plenty of entertainment’
Independent
‘The Lost Art is fast-paced, readable and a lot of fun, with prose sparky enough to suggest that, whichever way he goes next, Morden is a man with a future’
SFX Magazine
‘Simon Morden is what sci-fi and fantasy fans alike have been waiting for . . . Totally satisfying and highly recommended’
www.thetruthaboutbooks.blogspot.com
‘Morden combines science fiction and fantasy in a novel with a cracking pace that pitches savagery and bigotry against reason’
TES
‘Highly recommended as a summer read for all s-f fans’
www.thebookbag.co.uk
‘There is no doubt that this novel is compelling. The various mysteries in the story combine to keep the reader turning the page, and the world in which it is set is fascinating’
www.writeaway.org
‘A potent vision of the future that cracks along at a fair pace’
www.dwscifi.com
‘This is science fiction, a whodunnit, an adventure and even a bit of a love story all rolled into one. Oh, and by the way, the author is a genuine rocket scientist, so he knows his stuff. Brilliant! *****’
www.flipside.org.uk
‘Morden is clearly a writer to watch’
www.sfrevu.com
‘If you like Iain M Banks Culture novels then this is an absolute must . . . A brilliant adventure for Sci-fi lovers of all ages’
www.waterstones.com
THE LOST ART
AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 407 07788 8
Published in Great Britain by RHCP Digital,
an imprint of Random House Children’s Publishers UK
A Random House Group Company
This ebook edition published 2012
Copyright © Simon Morden, 2012
First Published in Great Britain
Corgi Childrens 9780552553575 2012
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