Accession Day

"How does one use it?" Sabinia asked, picking up the stone for a further look. The elf merely shrugged in response.

"It will do the hard part. The bearer must merely believe. Though I would caution against using it," he said sternly, "it is quite the tool, though her majesty has even greater tools at her disposal. You might think to penetrate the wards of her palace or even the Bank, and you may succeed, but she will unmask the thief in time and her justice will be swift and merciless."

"We had no thought to use it for ill," Sabinia said and Calyran laughed at her.

"Of course not," he chuckled, "your master merely acquired this stone because he liked the way it looked."

"Didius acquired it because other men wanted it, I am sure," Mantabé grumbled, knowing the ways of his master. "He thought it better in his hands than those of anyone else."

"Were there other bidders?" the elf asked in a deceptively aloof tone as he let his gaze wander back to his impatient concubine.

"A few," Sabinia said, "that Anhalmurian Radobel went in on it before Didius outbid him."

"Those impertinent upstarts," Calyran said, half to himself, "guard this stone well if you do not mean to use it. If you have no use for it, sell it to her majesty before it is stolen and used for ill. She would pay a hefty sum to keep it out of the hands of the city's roofcrawlers and sea rats."

"I will tell Didius as much," Mantabé said.

"We must be going then," Sabinia said as she prepared to leave, but Calyran laid a hand on her shoulder.

"So soon? My dear, my bed has missed you and we have so much to catch up on. Have I introduced you to my newest toy, Ilvina? She was plucked from the sea cliffs of the Ghostwood by slavers a year ago, and I have since made her the most beautiful mortal in Torvuls. She would be delighted to share her bed with you. And your gladiator if you wish."

"A tempting offer, Calyran," Sabinia mused, her eyes wandering over the naked girl in the garden, "but we have come here on an errand and must be going. Perhaps I will return some night in the future."

"Night, day," Calyran said with a shrug, "you are always welcome in here."

"Yes, well," Mantabé said brusquely, "we will let you return to your painting before you lose the light," Mantabé said and the elf just laughed, the waning sunlight dancing aglitter in his alien eyes. Mantabé felt foolish for saying such a thing as soon as the words were out of his mouth. His face burning, he tried to beat a dignified retreat from the room, though he feared he did not manage it.

Outside, he stopped and waited for Sabinia, who took her time admiring the fixtures of the sorcerer's house and negotiating his payment as she made her way out the door. Twice, Mantabé heard the elf offer to waive payment if Sabinia bedded him. Though clearly interested, she bargained him down to a kiss and some silver. Mantabé scowled at her as she finally came out onto the street.

"Well, we have neatly solved our problem of having no way into Kaunitzen's house," Sabinia said.

"Have we now?" Mantabé asked sourly.

"Oh, don't be so petulant," she laughed, "I dallied with the sorcerer before I met you, another stop on my road away from boredom. He was a flavor of the day." She reached up and pinched his dark cheek affectionately, "you are something special," she reassured him, but Mantabé remained unconvinced.

"Florian chokes back his jealousy and he has far more pride than you do," she admonished, handing the stone back to Alami for safekeeping. "And I only bed him on arrangement. But, as I was saying, we can use the stone to get into Kaunitzen's house and learn what he is up to."

Mantabé frowned, still unwilling to forget her flirtation with the presumptuous sorcerer.

"I don't know how to use it," he complained.

"Calyran says the stone will handle the hard work itself," she reassured him again.

"So what am I to do?" Mantabé demanded, "just walk up to the gate and wait for the stone to do everything?"

Sabinia sighed in exasperation. "Break in as you would anywhere else. If something gives you trouble, use the stone. Or let the stone handle it."

"Alright, but this stone had better be all your sorcerer says it is." Mantabé paused in thought. "What am I looking for?" he asked. "We still don't know what they want, other than money. But would they do all of this for money?"

"Kaunitzen must have an office with letters, and perhaps a ledger. Find them and we may know what he is after."

Mantabé scowled. "Shall I just look at everything then? Go through his entire library while trespassing in his house?"

"Well, then don't," Sabinia snapped, "it was you he tried to poison, after all."

Mantabé threw up in his in frustration. "Very well then. Lead the way to his house and let us see where this plan gets us."

Kaunitzen's house was a tall, slate-roofed building at the southern edge of Palace Hill, atop the chalky white cliff that divided it from the lower city. From the house's upper floors and high-peaked turrets, an observer would be afforded good views of West End, especially the grand guildhouse of the Spicers' Guild on West Square.

The narrow garden around the house was separated from the crowded city streets by a low brick wall topped with a wrought iron fence. A band of bronze ran along the fence, just below the sharp points of its iron fenceposts, encircling the entire property. The main gate, similarly banded in bronze and decorated with brass figures of leaping dolphins, was watched by a single guard. The guard was a tall, broad-shouldered man with brown hair and the classic sharp nose of an Anhalmurian. He wore a cuirass of polished steel and a heavy broadsword at his hip and armed with a spontoon. Despite his polish, as Mantabé and company approached, the guard was leaning lazily on his polearm, his eyes half closed in the dusky twilight.

They passed him by, stealing looks at the house as they pretended to be uninterested pedestrians on their way down the cliff to the nightlife attractions near West Square. The house was well lit, though no silhouettes moved in the upper floors.

Sabinia led them around the block to the side of the house, where the brick wall topped with iron was instead replaced by a stone wall ten feet high. Here the house hung over the courtyard, the support pillars of the upper levels descending from above to meet the boundary wall.

"Here you can peer over the wall into the back," she suggested. Mantabé wasted little time finding his footing in the aging masonry and slowly lifted his head to peer over the wall and into the rear courtyard of the house.

Just below him, he spied four ornate carriages, parked with their horses harnessed. The four coach drivers were dicing among themselves as they waited. Mantabé dropped down to Sabinia.

"There are four coaches here. Kaunitzen must be hosting a meeting of some kind," he whispered.

"Maybe you can overhear something," Sabinia suggested. "Look there," she pointed to where the pillars met the wall. "Perhaps you could climb up those to the window on the third floor."

Mantabé studied the climbing path she had indicated. The window she pointed out was high off the ground, but slightly ajar to admit a cool, late winter breeze. Well worn by wind and rain, the stonework offered many handholds, but the climb would have to be quick and silent to avoid the notice of the dicing coachmen.

"Alright," he whispered, "here goes."

With the aid of Sabinia and Alami, he clambered up the wall to where it met the support pillar. After ensuring that the coachmen were distracted, he pulled himself onto the pillar like a cat climbing a tree. Looking down, he could see moonlight reflecting off a band of beaten bronze that ran around the inside of the boundary wall. The merchant's house was well warded and Mantabé could only hope that the stone in his pocket would protect him.

Hand over hand he went up the pillar as quickly as he dared, all the while fearing an errant piece of stone would break off and fall clattering to the courtyard below. His fears proved unfounded, however, and soon enough he reached the open window. He peered inside, and found the room dark. Content with that, he pulled himself over the windowsill and alit on the floor. The wooden floor was solidly built, and no creak betrayed his presence. He peered out the window and signaled his status to Sabinia down below. She could only wave for fear of alerting the coachmen, so Mantabé withdrew into the house.

He crept from the window to the door. It was closed and when Mantabé tried to open it, he found it locked. Now was the first time to use the stone. He took it from his pocket and examined the stone. No obvious solution presented itself. Sighing, he grabbed the door handle again and squatted to examine the lock.

As he did, he fell, and tore the handle off. Staring at the door in bewilderment, Mantabé saw it swing slightly open. He rose to his feet and pulled the door the rest of the way open.

"Well, that was easy," he muttered to himself as he peered out into the hall. It was lit by candle sconces, but deserted. Voices echoed up to him from somewhere further on, audible but unintelligible. They continued undisturbed and he grew confident that his sudden clumsiness had not alerted anyone. Slowly, he crept down the hall towards the source of the voices.

He soon found himself in an upper galley, looking down into a grand dining hall. The walls were lined with tapestries and a long dining table of oak was draped in fine red cloth. Candlesticks of brass sat upon the table. The chairs were made of polished oak and masterfully carved. The seats were of rich red velvet. A dozen rich men sat at the table and some were those Mantabé recognized. Septimius of the Spicers' Guild was here, as was Bannert Guillen. Each of them had at their place setting a fine silver plate that bore the remains of a sumptuous meal. Crystal goblets, either in their hands or on the table, contained red and white wine, as well as more potent spirits from the city's distilleries. A pretty, young, serving girl wearing only a girl and sandals poured fresh wine for the assembled men.

At the table's head sat a short, rotund man who nevertheless had the classic Anhalmurian nose. He wore a coat of deep black velvet and white hose on his legs. His belt was embroidered with gold and his wore a wide chain of brass around his shoulders. Upon his fat hands were golden rings studded with many-colored gems that glowed in light of the enormous chandelier that hung above them.

Surely, this was the notorious Kaunitzen. Behind the man, Mantabé spied two men in dark blue coats and white hose, wearing tall, pointed, caps of black fur. The caps were trimmed with gold and decorated with roundels of red cloth on the front. Each man wore a sword as his hip and held a battleaxe at his side. They stood at rapt attention as Kaunitzen spoke in the Common tongue to his guests.

"Yes, debts will be forgiven," he said in his halting accent. "But only in exchange for your aid."

"Aid in what?" one of the rich men inquired around a mouthful of tender beef. While some of the men here were eagerly devouring the wine and meat, most were a good deal more suspicious in their demeanor. Mantabé spied that some men had hardly touched their meals.

"Aid in changing the course of history!" exclaimed the man at Kaunitzen's right hand. He was blonde and bearded, a finely cut thing that clung close to his fleshy jowls. His belly was even heavier than his host's and he was clad in red velvet all about him. Like Kaunitzen, he wore a brass chain about him and many rings.

"Indeed," Kaunitzen agreed, "my loyal companion Radobel speaks the truth. For I see what you long have not. This city is rich beyond measure--"

Bannert Guillen cut him off. "Damnation, you Anhalmurians are an arrogant lot. We can all see that!" He gestured around them, from his ravaged dinner plate to the fine wall hangings. "This is the richest city in all the world!"

Mantabé was glad Didius was not here, for he knew that, if he were, that little remark would have provoked a long diatribe from the Spicer about the opulence of the Imperial City and the Empire as a whole.

"Yes," Kaunitzen hissed, his hand tightening around a dinner fork, "I know that much. But you are all content to sit here feasting on scraps while the queen gorges herself on all the rest. The upjumped witch has a hundred palaces across this island and never sees half of them! She has grown complacent in her long life, and that had made her weak."

"Better men than you have tried to unseat her," a man in Zahiri robes scoffed. "Go and look for them now."

Kaunitzen continued disturbed. "You all owe me great sums of money. I could merely take my winnings, return to Anhalmuria and hire an army of mercenaries to install myself here. But I offer you an alliance instead. Make me king in her place, and I will divide the spoils among you. Her lands, her treasure vaults, her libraries, her slaves--they will all be yours! If you follow me.

"Tomorrow, at the banquet, with the aid of the Shrouding Stone, we will slay her. All her magical protections will be useless against it. Then, I will take the reins of power in this city, and you will all receive your dues. The queen's children rule the outlying islands, we will have to unseat them. But they rely on this city and their mother for their true strength. Without the city, they will be divided. We will descend upon each of them in turn and destroy them."

"You are a fool, Kaunitzen," the Zahiri man laughed. "Lamira commands the myriad pirate lords in way that you could never hope to!"

"And what of the Empire?" shouted another man in an Auric accent, "Lamira rules at the sufferance of the Imperial Armada! Overthrow her and you will see a thousand ships in the harbor before the year's end, flying the imperial eagle and disgorging the emperor's finest legions! Your arrogance will be no match for his guns."

"The emperor cares not a whit for Lamira!" Kaunitzen shot back. "He cares nothing for the Sea as a whole! The Spicers' Guild guides his hand when it comes to our corner of the world and all they care about is the spice monopoly. We will guarantee their sole right to trade in spice and they will accept us as they accepted Lamira these past centuries. Isn't that right, Septimius?"

Septimius shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "The Guild wants their monopoly," he agreed, "but trade must flow. If the disruption in trade through the Devouring Sea becomes too great, they will demand that the emperor send his armada."

"That will not be a problem," Kaunitzen waved his hand as he tried to turn his attention elsewhere. The disruption will only be temporary, as we crush the queen's children and their allies."

"Lamira has allies beyond her children," Septimius warned, "Her consort, Draithan---"

"We will kill him at the banquet as well," Radobel insisted, slamming a meaty fist down on the table. "Him and their little daughter. And all the queen's household in the palace!"

"What about the Sultan?" the Zahiri man demanded. "He and his forefathers have been allied with the queen since your people were building huts in the forest and dressing in rags!"

Kaunitzen's eyes narrowed. "The Sultan is a soft, indolent man. It will take weeks for news of the battle to reach him and months beyond that before he can reach us with a fleet. By then, there will be nothing for him to do, and he will slink away to his harem and his wives. Speed will be our ally, and confusion the bane of our enemies. We must strike quickly, and ruthlessly, leaving them no time to gather themselves. Without the queen to rally them, they will fall to indecision and infighting."

"Tomorrow, once the deed is done," Radobel added, "I will order my men to seize the channel forts and close the harbor to prevent news from getting out. The first news the queen's children will receive of her downfall will be when our fleet descends upon their islands."

"And where do you expect to produce this fleet of yours?" demanded another man, dark and swathed in many-colored robes. He drummed his fingers on the table impatiently. "Will you command the pirates? They will cut your throat and leave you naked and penniless in the gutter before you can even open your mouth."

"The pirates will obey me as they obey Lamira. They will not pass up the chance to loot her palaces. If need be, we will offer them an island to set themselves up as lords on its lands. The retirement every pirate dreams of; land, serfs and gold."

A quiet settled over the conspirators. Mantabé lurked in the upper galley, struggling to decide if Kaunitzen was making sense. He had charisma to be sure, but the queen had defeated all comers for a thousand years, if the legends were to be true. Could a man rise from fixing arena fights to unseating a mighty sorceress queen?

The door to the main hall swung open and, to Mantabé's surprise, a familiar figure strode inside.

"Well now, Kaunitzen, why have you summoned me here?" Didius demanded. "I have told you our business is settled, so why have you elected to harangue me so?"

Kaunitzen smiled as a wolf. "Master Didius, so good of you to finally arrive. I have been waiting for you."

"And I have been waiting for you to explain why I am here," Didius snapped in annoyance, "I have so many more important things to attend to."

"I am afraid you have nothing more important to attend to," Kaunitzen replied. "But first, give me the stone."

"I won the bet, Kaunitzen. I have heard many disparagements of your people, but I had expected that they would at least understand how a wager works."

"Indeed, you won the wager. But now I am demanding that you give me the stone." Kaunitzen beckoned to his guardsmen, who hefted their axes and advanced on Didius. A murmur went through the room as men rose from the table. Behind Didius, two house slaves slammed the door to the foyer shut.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Didius demanded. "Have you summoned me here to rob me? The gods will cast you down for this violation of hospitality!"

"What hospitality?" Kaunitzen replied, "I summoned you here to hear my demands, not to share my dinner table. Now give me the stone!"

"I don't have it!" Didius said, backing away from Kaunitzen's men until he ran up against the closed door.

"That is a shame," Kaunitzen gestured to his guards, who seized Didius by the arms and pressed the naked blade of an axe against his neck. "Where is it?"

"I--I gave it to my gladiator!" Didius cried as the axe blade touched his bare skin, "he took it to the queen's sorcerer!"

Kaunitzen balled up his fists and leaned forward on the table. "Well, then. Radobel," he said to the man beside him, "Send your men out and find this gladiator."

"No need for that," Mantabé whispered to himself as he vaulted onto the rail of the balcony. He looked down at the tall fur hats of the guardsmen and hoped they made a good cushion. Taking a deep breath, he leapt from the galley and came crashing down atop the nearer of the two guardsmen. The man's neck seemed to snap under his weight and Mantabé spilled to the floor.

The assembled men gasped in shock and went scrambling out of the way. Chairs fell to the floor, the great crack of one breaking resounded throughout the room. One panicking man bowled over a serving girl, sending a pitcher of wine spilling across the floor.

Mantabé fought his way to his feet and seized the fallen man's sword. The other guard shook off the surprise and raised his own weapon. Mantabé tried desperately to wrest the sword from the man's scabbard, but it had become hopelessly entangled in everything from the fall. He abandoned the sword and dodged out of the way of the oncoming axe. He ducked behind an ornate pillar, just in time for it to eat the axeblow meant for his head.