Théca Kimo sat and pondered. Slowly, his body began to tremble as his muscles tensed, and the tattoos on his face stood out as the vessels in his face filled with blood. With a loud crack, the bamboo cup in his hand shattered.
“How did things get this way, Kuni Garu?” asked Théca Kimo. He howled with rage. “How?”
“He’s ill?” Kuni repeated, disbelief and rage infusing his voice. “He’s ill?”
“It is a most puzzling letter,” said Cogo, who had been summoned from Pan, where he was acting as Kuni’s temporary regent. “Théca claims that he cannot travel too far due to bad health, and thinks he can only go to the middle of the Amu Strait before having to turn back.”
“I don’t think puzzling quite captures it,” said Risana. “The word you’re looking for is preposterous. Not only has he declined to come to Karo to pay his respects to the emperor, but he’s now suggesting that the emperor meet him in the middle of the Amu Strait, each with a single ship. Who does he think he is?”
“He thinks we’re two Tiro kings negotiating,” said Kuni. “Or, knowing him, two street gang bosses sitting down to have some tea and discuss the division of protection money from indigo houses and bars and gambling parlors. He has rebelled. Oh, he has already rebelled.”
Everyone could hear the pain in his voice.
“I’m sorry that I had been so trusting of him before,” said Jia.
“Don’t be,” said Kuni. “It was your suggestion of a tour to the Karo Peninsula that finally allowed us to see the darkness in his heart.”
“Do you want to summon Gin Mazoti to prepare for an attack?” asked Risana.
“Kimo and Mazoti fought together for years against the Hegemon,” said Jia. “She might object to an invasion of Arulugi when you still don’t have ironclad proof. Besides, open warfare with Théca Kimo will confuse the other nobles and embolden the rebels in Tunoa—if you’re not careful, you might find even more old nobles raising the flag of rebellion, thinking to take advantage of the chaos. The more quietly we can resolve this, the better.”
“The empress is right,” said Cogo. “It might be best to agree to Kimo’s demands and meet him in the Amu Strait.”
“Why?” asked Risana. But then she saw the sly grin on Cogo’s face. “Ah, a plot.”
“Kimo helpfully ‘suggests’ that we each ride to the midpoint of the Amu Strait without escort ships to avoid ‘giving the appearance of disharmony to the other Lords of Dara,’ ” said Kuni. “I have no confidence that a single ship of mine can overcome his in a sea battle—”
“It’s also far too dangerous,” interrupted Jia.
“—and I can’t have airships to help, as they would alarm him. Cogo, just what are you planning?”
“He will see you arrive at the appointed spot on a single ship,” said Cogo. “However—”
“What you see is not always what you get, in smokecraft as well as in war,” said Risana.
Risana and Cogo smiled at each other.
Kuni looked from one to the other, and realization dawned on his face. He chuckled. “We might not have Luan Zya here with us, but this is a trick worthy of Dara’s prime strategist.”
“The emperor has agreed to my conditions?” Théca Kimo read over the letter a few more times to be sure he hadn’t missed something. “Cano, it looks like our plot has worked. Kuni Garu must have decided that he isn’t willing to go to war after all and will negotiate with me.”
“Kuni Garu is wily and full of tricks,” said Cano. “I suspect that things are not as simple as they appear.”
“It will be easy to verify if he’s adhering to the conditions I named in my letter,” said Théca confidently. “What can he do in the middle of the open sea? I’d be able to see any ambush coming from miles away. You worry too much.”
“It’s best to prepare for the unexpected,” Cano insisted.
The emperor and the duke, each riding on an ordinary merchant ship, approached to about a boat length of each other and dropped anchor. Both emerged from their respective cabins and sat down upon platforms erected on the deck for this purpose. Each had a small table in front of him, on which were placed food and drink. They would share a meal this way across the waves—though a far wider gap now separated their hearts.
Something about the scene triggered a memory in Kuni Garu’s mind—fifteen years ago, he and the Hegemon had sat across from each other on two flat-bottomed boats over the Liru to discuss ending a bloody conflict, and now he was sitting down with another fighting man across the water to discuss preventing one. History had a strange sense of humor.
“I’m glad to see Duke Kimo appears well,” Kuni called out across the water. “Your letter made it sound like you were on the verge of death.”
Kimo did look in the prime of health. Though he was dressed in thick, voluminous robes that would be more suitable for winter, there was no doubt that he wasn’t “ill” as he had claimed.
Kimo had the good grace to blush. “Rénga, hearing news that you were willing to be reasonable sped my recovery.”
“Oh? How have I not been reasonable?”
Kimo took a deep breath and started in on the speech Cano Tho had written for him. “Lord Garu and I were once coequal lords of Dara, dedicated to the ideal of overthrowing the despotism of Xana.”
Kuni’s face didn’t change at Théca’s addressing him as “Lord Garu.” That was to be expected.
Kimo continued. “Yet after the success of the rebellion, instead of returning the world to its familiar tracks, Lord Garu embarked on a path to replicate the abuses of Mapidéré. Instead of dividing the land into Tiro states all equal to each other, as the Hegemon had tried to do, Lord Garu assumed the title of emperor and kept most of Dara for himself. Only a few scraps were thrown to me and the other Lords of Dara.”
“A few scraps,” muttered Kuni. “I see, having three major islands and a territory greater than several of the old Tiro states counts as mere scraps.”
Kimo went on. “Yet even so, Lord Garu appears dissatisfied. Over time, your decrees have evinced the intent to weaken the enfeoffed nobles and strip them of their arms and land. It does not seem that Lord Garu would stop until all of Dara is under a single fist. For the sake of my heirs and those who have followed me, I demand justice from Lord Garu.”
“You demand justice?” asked Kuni. “You have supplied the rebels in Tunoa and amassed your troops and ships against me; I summoned you to explain, and you refused to come; feigning illness, you dictated terms to your lord, showing a heart intent on treason. I have been tolerant beyond reason because I do not wish more blood to spill, and yet you dare demand justice?”
“If you have already made up your mind that I will betray you, then nothing I say matters. Lord Garu, I ask you to grant me the title of king, and declare Arulugi, including Crescent Island and Écofi, to be an independent Tiro kingdom that owes you no submission. Then we shall stand together, you in the east and I in the west, as brothers in eternal friendship.”
Kuni laughed. Though Kimo had memorized a passingly well-composed speech, he still sounded like a street gangster demanding his cut. He shook his head. “And if I do not agree?”
Kimo gritted his teeth. “The navy and army of Arulugi stand ready to enforce my claim. We have prepared firework rockets in advance against your airships. Though my realm lacks the strength to invade the Big Island, yet I do not think you will find conquering Arulugi an easy task. And if you do declare war against me, the other enfeoffed Lords of Dara will see their future in mine, and rally to my aid. Think carefully, Lord Garu, before you make a rash decision you may come to regret.”