'That is not your business!' Anais snapped, her pale skin flushing.
Zahn held up his palms placatingly. 'Forgive me,' he said. 'I forget myself. Do not let us argue; there are more important things at stake here.'
Anais searched his eyes for hints of mockery, but she found him honest. She relaxed. When Zahn saw she was ready to listen, he spoke again.
'If you are adamant on staying, Anais, at least let your allies help you,' he said. 'There could be a thousand troops here in two days,
ten times that in a week. You could put down the uprising, keep the people safe, and once within the city we would be unassailable. Amacha or Kerestyn would not dare enter.'
'Zahn,' Anais said wearily. 'I trust you. But you know I cannot allow a force like that into Axekami. There are too many families involved, too many political uncertainties.'
'Word has reached me that Barak Mos of Blood Batik has offered his troops, and that you accepted.'
'Your spies are inept, my Barak,' Anais said without rancour. 'Mos has offered me troops, but I have not accepted yet. He is a different matter, anyway. My defence is in his interest: he has his son and granddaughter to protect. Durun would just as likely be killed as I if either Blood Amacha or Blood Kerestyn took Axekami.'
'Mos is also the head of the only other family strong enough to take the throne,' Zahn reminded her.
'His son already has the throne,' Anais replied. 'I have not annulled our marriage through these years despite the obvious unsuitability of my husband. He has no reason to think I might now.'
'Do you believe you can hold Axekami against your enemies, with the very people of the city against you?' Zahn asked.
'The people will learn to accept Lucia,' said Anais. 'Or I will make them learn. As to now, they are like children in a tantrum, and must be punished. I will keep them in order.'
They turned a corner, into the long shadow of a rearing thing that might have been a stone cobra, or perhaps a man and woman entwined. The evening sun shone through the gaps in the sculpture, reddening imperceptibly as dusk came on. Zahn gave it barely a glance. They walked on for a time in the sultry heat of the Saramyr summer before Anais spoke again. 'I owe you an apology,' she said. Zahn was surprised. 'For what?'
'I have been presumptuous. I have been so busy trying to win my opponents over that I have not considered one of my greatest allies. For weeks I have been introducing Lucia to the high families in an attempt to dispel the myths that have arisen about her; but you have supported me from the start in this, and I have never once invited you to see the cause you fight for.'
Zahn inclined his head. She knew as well as him why he was on her side. 'You are right, of course. I never have met her. I would be honoured if I might do so now.'
The Heir-Empress Lucia had finished her lessons for the day, so she went up to the roof gardens to enjoy the last of the evening light. Zaelis had stayed with her. She liked the tall, white-bearded tutor. He indulged her relentlessly, and his deep, molten voice was comforting. She knew – in the unique way that she knew things -that he had her best interests at heart. She also enjoyed the freedom she felt when she was alone with him. He was the only one around whom she could use her talents overtly.
They were sitting together on a bench, a picturesque arbour within a shaggy fringe of exotic trees. Berries hung in colourful chains amid the deep, tropical green of the leaves. Insects droned and clicked from a hundred different hiding places, occasionally swooping past them in languid curves or hurried, darting rushes. Ravens perched all around them. The ravens of the Keep had learned to accept Zaelis, and he had learned to relax in their presence. They were fiercely protective of the young Heir-Empress. Saramyr ravens had a strong territorial instinct, and it bred in them a desire to guard and protect. They watched over Lucia as if she was an errant chick, motivated by parental drives they were not intelligent enough to understand.
'Are you worried, Lucia?' Zaelis asked.
She nodded. He had become adept at reading her moods, even though they rarely showed in the dreamlike expression she always wore.
'About what is happening in the city?'
She nodded again. Nobody had told her anything – the tutors and guards had been instructed to keep outside matters secret after Durun's outburst in front of the child – but Lucia knew anyway. How could you keep something like that from a girl who could speak to birds? Zaelis had ignored the edict and elaborated on the situation for her. Lucia had not told him that the dream lady had informed her of most of it anyway.
'This was my fault,' she said quietly. 'I started this.'
'I know you did,' Zaelis replied, in the casual mode of address used for – and by – children, even the Heir-Empress. 'But we've been waiting for you to start it for a very long time.'
Lucia looked up at him. 'You'll look after me, won't you?'
'Of course.'
'And my mother?'
Zaelis hesitated. There was no point lying to her; she saw right through him. 'We'll try,' he said. 'But she won't see things the way we do.'
'Who is "we"?' Lucia asked.
'You know who we are.'
'I've never heard you say it.'
'You don't need to.'
Lucia thought about that. 'Do you think I'm wicked?' she said after a time.
'I think you were inevitable,' Zaelis replied.
She seemed to understand; but then, with Lucia, who could say?
'Mother's coming,' she murmured, and almost simultaneously the ravens took wing, disappearing in a raucous flutter of black feathers, rising into the red sky.
A moment later, the Blood Empress came into view, walking with Zahn along a tiled path between a stand of narrow trees. She glanced once at the departing ravens, but no other reaction crossed her face. Zaelis got to his feet, ushering Lucia up with him.
'Barak Zahn tu Ikati, allow me to present my daughter Lucia,' the Empress said.
But her words seemed scarcely heeded by either the Barak or the child. The two of them were staring at each other with something like amazement on their faces. Anais and Zaelis exchanged a puzzled glance as the moment became awkward; and then Lucia's eyes filled with tears, and she flung herself at the Barak and hugged him around the waist, burying her head in his stomach.
'Lucia!' the Empress exclaimed.
Zahn folded his hands over the little Heir-Empress's blonde tresses, a strange look in his eyes, a mix of bewilderment and shock. Lucia pulled herself away suddenly, glaring at him through her tears; then with a sob she turned and fled, disappearing into the leafy folds of the garden.
All three were dumbstruck for a moment before Anais found her voice.
'Zahn, I cannot apologise enough. She never-'
'It's quite all right, Anais,' Zahn said, his voice sounding distant and distracted. 'Quite all right. I think I should go now; I seem to have upset her.'
Without waiting for her leave, Zahn turned and began to walk slowly to the entrance of the garden. Anais went with him, leaving Zaelis alone on the path. He sat back down on the bench.
'Well, well, well,' he murmured to himself, and an odd smile creased his face.
Twenty-Four
A sara killed again in Chaim. It was an unwise risk, for she had no need to feed; but she sought diversion, and there was no other in the bleak, empty trading village to interest her. She chose a man this time, because she had less respect for them than for women, and she was less likely to suffer something like guilt for robbing their life as a source of amusement. This one was drunk, a leathery, tough brawler who had no fear of the short, dark route from the bar to his house, where no lights burned. Asara taught him otherwise.
Afterward, when she had hidden the body far away where it would not be discovered for days, she returned to her room. She was not worried about being caught. There was not a mark on him, nothing to link them. He had simply got lost on his way home in the dark, and fallen victim to exposure. Or perhaps his heart just stopped. He was a drinker, after all, and well-known for it.