He did not hear the rifle ball that ricocheted into a powder keg, nor see the flash. The tannery exploded in a blast that smashed the surrounding streets to rubble, annihilating everything within and sending bricks and flaming timbers looping through the air to hiss and steam as they landed in the river, or to smash through walls and shutters. The earth shook, rattling even the fixtures of the Imperial Keep, and a great dark column of smoke belched upwards from the smouldering remains, to climb skyward and pollute the perfect summer's day.
'You know that my words make sense, Anais.'
The Empress glared at Barak Mos across the low table. They sat on pillows in one of the western rooms of the Keep, an informal meal set before them of fish and rice and crabs from Mataxa Bay. Durun paced back and forth before the pillared arch that let out on to a wide balcony for catching the afternoon sun in spring and autumn. As summer ascended to its zenith, they stayed in the shade; the humidity was hard to bear even there, and scarcely a breath of wind came to relieve them.
'Gods, wife, why don't you listen to him?' Durun cried, his long black hair sweeping as he came to a halt and gestured in exasperation at his spouse. 'It's the only way.'
'Durun, stay out of this!' his father commanded. 'You aren't helping.'
Anais used her tiny silver finger-forks to spear a morsel of slitherfish from her plate, making them wait while she ate it thoughtfully. Durun seethed in the background like a leashed dog in sight of a rabbit. Mos watched her.
'I am not sure I see the need. The single greatest cause of the disruption in Axekami is gone,' she said. 'The threat of Unger tu Torrhyc's army has been removed.'
'Indeed,' Mos agreed. 'But at the cost of two cohorts of your Imperial Guards. You were overstretched already, Anais; now you are worse off. Riots tear through the city; fires rage unchecked. The forces of Blood Amacha and Blood Kerestyn have arrived outside the city, and are squaring up to each other within sight of the walls. Chaos breeds chaos, my Empress; the city is falling apart, and it's beyond the strength of your forces to quell it. Should Amacha or Kerestyn strike at Axekami now, your men would be too busy dealing with the populace to put up any resistance.'
Anais raised an eyebrow. From the usually taciturn Barak, this validation sounded rehearsed. He had obviously been thinking about it for some time.
'Please,' Durun said, unable to resist interrupting again. 'We are next to defenceless here. I won't let our thrones be taken because we were too busy mopping up after the ungrateful cattle down in those streets. Let my family's men do that!'
'Ah,' said Anais. 'So you propose that the forces of Blood Batik will only be deployed for the duties of policing the city?'
Mos cast a furious glance at his son, who was too haughty to have the decency to blush. Instead, he snorted and turned his head away to look out on to the balcony, feigning indifference. He had just given away a potent concession that Mos no doubt had intended to use as his coup de grace in this argument.
'Yes,' Mos grated. 'I'm aware of your caution in allowing any force into Axekami that is not blood-bound to your will, though it puzzles me that you don't seem to see we have the same interests. I
have as much to lose as you if Axekami falls to an invader.' He took a breath. 'In order that you don't feel threatened, I propose you withdraw your Imperial Guards to their usual duties of guarding the Keep and securing the walls of Axekami; my troops will be used only in putting down the riots and restoring order to the city, unless you wish otherwise.'
'I may wish to use them in the defence of Axekami in the event of Blood Amacha or Kerestyn making an assault upon the walls. Is that acceptable?'
'Of course,' Mos said. 'My son and granddaughter are here.' Durun snorted again at this, making clear what he thought of Mos calling Lucia his granddaughter. Mos gave him a sharp look, which he ignored, before continuing: 'I would hardly let an invader storm the city while I had any power to prevent it. In fact, to prove my dedication in this matter, I'll stay in the Keep myself, with your permission. Whatever befalls you or Durun or Lucia will befall me as well.'
'This is not a small risk,' Anais replied evenly, her food forgotten before her. 'There would be few of your bloodline left if we were to lose.'
'Ah, but Anais, with my forces and yours combined, and the walls of Axekami protecting us, we won't lose. Amacha and Kerestyn together would have scarcely a chance of beating us. Squabbling and divided as they are, there is no hope of victory for them.'
Anais thought on it for a moment, returning to her food. He made a convincing argument, and she was aware that her situation was worsening with every passing day. In truth, she already knew in her heart what she would do; she had decided before Mos had called on her. She had to agree; she had no other choice. Yet no matter how trusted the ally, to invite a foreign force into the heart of the capital was dangerous. There were always angles she could not see, vested interests she was not aware of, even with men as plain-speaking and guileless as Mos and Durun.
It was a risk she had to take.
'Very well,' she said. Mos broke into a broad smile. 'But not one of your men shall set foot in the grounds of the Imperial Keep,' she added. 'Not even a retinue for yourself. Are we understood?'
His smile faded a little at the edges, but he nodded. 'Agreed. I will send for my men immediately.'
'You will have to use Vyrrch to contact your Weaver,' Anais said with a wrinkle of distaste. 'Be careful what you say to him.'
'I speak to Weavers as little as I possibly can,' Mos replied.
'I will make the necessary arrangements with my men,' Anais said. She looked at Durun, who looked back at her blandly, his dark eyes piercing on either side of his hawk nose. Typical of him: he had got what he wanted, and yet he acted as if it was his due rather than something granted by his wife. She dismissed him from her mind. She had him under control, anyway. His thoughts and loyalty were dictated by one organ alone, and it was not his brain.
'I'll talk to Vyrrch now,' said Mos, getting to his feet. 'Better to get it over with.'
'And what of the Bloods Amacha and Kerestyn?' Durun asked. The question indicated who was the mind behind this meeting, as if Anais could not have guessed.
Mos flexed his shoulders in the manner of a man relaxing at home, not in the presence of his Empress. Anais almost smiled at his lack of grace. 'Leave them be,' he said. 'Barak Sonmaga tu Amacha will never let the Barak Grigi tu Kerestyn approach the city; and he has not the strength to assault it himself, for that would mean turning his back on the armies of Kerestyn. Let us see if the arrival of a few thousand of our men from the other side of Axekami won't take some of the enthusiasm out of them. My intelligence tells me Sonmaga's ill-equipped for civil war anyway; not enough time to gather troops. And Grigi must know he can beat Sonmaga, but the losses he'd take would mean he'd have no chance of taking Axekami. They're at a stalemate. This might be just the thing to make them cut their losses and go home, and that would be one less problem to deal with.'
Durun stalked over to stand by his father's side. Anais got up from the table and saw them to the doorway of the chamber. 'Then may Ocha bless us and keep us all safe.'
Mos bowed deeply. 'You are wise, Anais, to choose as you have chosen today. The country is in good hands.'
'We shall see,' she replied. 'We shall see.'
The Heir-Empress Lucia tu Erinima knelt on a mat before her pattern-board, her shadow long behind her in the low, bright sun of the evening. She had been there since midday, on the upper terraces of the gardens. There she had settled herself amid