Heretic Spellblade 2 Page 13

  Neither did a locked door, and it was how Nathan learned that the princess was a talented magic user. He didn’t use a strong lock, but the sight of the princess blowing the lock open shocked him, nonetheless. Not as much as it shocked Sen, who had been about to slip under his desk.

  No, the source of Nathan’s frustrations wasn’t even coming to the negotiations. Her name was Charlotte, and she had been hiding away in his fortress without letting anybody see her except Alice. If he didn’t know better, he’d think she wasn’t there. Nathan only got the occasional whiff of the perfume she always wore in a hallway or saw the duogem Champion from Falmir outside her quarters.

  Without any way to change that, Nathan piled into a carriage with Anna, Fei, and Narime. Leopold traveled with Alice, Seraph, and Nurevia. Remaining behind were Sen and one of Leopold’s duogem Champions, as well as Princess Charlotte and her bodyguard. The risk of an assault on Gharrick Pass was too high to leave it undefended, even if Alice’s safety was the priority.

  Sunstorm and Vera would meet them at the meeting location. As part of her mission, Sunstorm had been traveling back and forth from the frontier and Gharrick Pass using the gateway in Fort Taubrum. A decision had been made not to use it for this journey for strategic reasons.

  Namely, Nathan didn’t want Nurevia or Narime knowing he had it.

  Besides, it was late enough in winter that Gharrick Pass had begun to clear up from snow and ice. The pass was low enough and received enough sunlight during the day that it was now safe to send carriages through with spotters. Although Nathan wouldn’t be sending any companies of soldiers through anytime soon.

  “So, you’re Anna von Clair,” Fei said, her tone obviously confused. “Nathan’s father is Tharban von Straub. But Nathan is Nathan Straub, and the princess is Alice Arangar.” Fei made a face. “I don’t get it. Aren’t you all nobles?”

  “We’re not all landed nobles,” Anna said. “And it is confusing. An edict was passed by the Emperor a few centuries ago that standardized how nobiliary particles are used, because it got a bit ridiculous, but it also made it rather complicated.”

  “It’s not that bad,” Nathan said. “The ‘von’ means that the person is either the holder of the title, a child of the holder, or a child of the heir to the title.”

  Fei stared at Nathan in frustration. He sighed in response.

  “Look, let’s use Anna as an example,” he explained. “Imagine her father is still alive. He would be ‘von Clair,’ and so would Anna and her younger brother. That’s because her father holds the noble title to the county, and Anna and her brother are his children. Follow?”

  Fei nodded. So did Narime, surprisingly.

  “Imagine that Anna and her brother have children,” Nathan said. Fei’s eyes widened, and she looked at Anna, who scowled at Nathan. “I said imagine.”

  Fei giggled.

  Nathan continued, “Anna’s children will be ‘von Clair’ as well, because she is the eldest child and the family heir. But her brother’s children will only be ‘Clair,’ even though their father is a ‘von Clair’ because they don’t have a direct right of inheritance. A lot of people need to die before they can inherit the family estate, after all.”

  “It used to be simpler,” Anna said. “Everybody was a ‘von’ if they were part of a noble family, but it also resulted in people padding their surnames to appear special. The formal term for it is that the full noble name is inherited by primogeniture, with an exception for siblings.”

  “So why is the princess just ‘Arangar,’ then? Isn’t she going to become Emperor?” Fei asked innocently.

  Nathan ran a hand over his face as Narime grinned.

  Rolling her eyes, Anna said, “The Emperor is elected. You can’t inherit the name. She doesn’t have a ‘von’ because her mother married out of family and took on their name, so she lost her right of inheritance to her family estate. But Alice is still an Imperial Princess, so she’s required to use her grandfather’s surname while she remains unmarried.”

  “Oh.” Fei nodded, as if that explained everything. “Who is she going to marry?”

  “Nathan, probably,” Anna quipped, giving him a sidelong look.

  “No,” he said.

  “She barged into your office an average of twice per day, by my count. And she refuses to hold meetings unless you’re present.” Anna’s face was unamused.

  Nathan shifted uncomfortably at the stares from the three women. “I didn’t know that last part,” he muttered.

  “I feel Leopold’s caught between his desire to be an overprotective uncle, and his joy that his adoptive niece has a crush,” Anna said. Then she shrugged. “But, really, I doubt she’s thinking of marriage. It’s hard to say what she’s thinking of. Her position is so ridiculously complicated that it makes my problems look like a joke.”

  “You’re talking about her mother,” Narime said. So, she was aware of Alice’s family situation.

  “What about her?” Fei asked. “Is she…” Her eyes widened.

  “There’s nothing wrong with her,” Nathan said. “But she’s in a political marriage. Anna would know. I’m guessing you had tea with Alice’s mother when the archduke called you to a private meeting during the Diet?”

  “Mmm,” Anna said, looking out the window. “I met Alice’s parents, without thinking much of it at the time. I was mostly trying not to freeze up while being surrounded by some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the Empire. Now, I’ve spent hours and hours talking nonsense and other girly topics with an Imperial Princess and the granddaughter of my liege.”

  The carriage trundled on. It broke free of the icy pass, and the landscape opened up. Although it looked as barren as it did on the other side of the pass. It had been a harsh winter, even if it was warming up quickly. He hoped that didn’t signal a poor harvest season.

  “Eh, what?” Fei said, as Anna’s words sunk in. “Isn’t your liege Archduke von Milgar?”

  Anna smirked at Fei. “Yes, that’s exactly right. Alice is the granddaughter of both the Emperor and an archduke.”

  Fei’s tail and ears shot high enough to nearly touch the roof of the carriage. She tried to say something, but her mouth only opened and closed uselessly. Her ears flapped against her head like wings.

  “Calm down,” Nathan said. “Like we said, it’s complicated. For one thing, she may be the eldest child, but her father still needs to take over the archduchy first. It will be thirty years or more before she has a chance to become archduchess.”

  Nodding, Anna added, “What is a problem, is that she is technically forbidden from becoming Empress.”

  Both Narime’s and Fei’s eyes widened. Seven separate tails froze as both women processed Anna’s words, and their minds came up empty regarding why she had said them.

  “The Imperial Constitution forbids anybody with the right to a duchy or archduchy from being nominated for emperor,” Nathan explained. “It’s a way to prevent any one person from taking over the entire Empire. If an archduke took control of the Imperial Army, he could crush the other archdukes with ease and install himself as a dictator. As such, although Alice is the Emperor’s favored heir by many, she’s not actually allowed to become Empress.”

  Which was a shame, in Nathan’s mind. He hadn’t known the princess for long, but Alice reminded him a lot of Charlotte. Forthright, decisive, brave, and she cared about her nation.

  Nathan didn’t really care about the Empire as a whole, but he cared about the people in it. His last years in Falmir had embittered him toward his homeland, but he had already grown fond of many people he had met here.

  Not that it was personal. It had been politics that ruined Falmir for him. And similar politics threatened to destroy the Empire. The difference was that he had no intention of letting people like Tharban get their way, and he had the knowledge and power to stop them now.

  Alice felt like a kindred spirit, but the fact she couldn’t take the throne limited his ability to do much in th
e Empire in the long run. Falmir was different, because of Charlotte. Nathan could change things there.

  After a long trip, the carriages arrived at Fort Taubrum. This was for a rest stop, and the second leg of the journey took place the next day.

  Alice kept Leopold and Nathan up all night going over her notes, speeches, and peppering them with questions about contingency plans. By the time Nathan stumbled back to his room, it was only an hour from dawn. Fei was nice enough to cuddle up to him and let him nap on her soft pillows while she stroked his hair.

  Then, only an hour or two later, he was back in the carriage. This trip was much shorter. They arrived before midday.

  “You look like death,” Sunstorm greeted him when he arrived.

  Her onyx gem shined in the midday sun, and her black Imperial uniform caused her to stick out. Nathan wasn’t concerned about her visibility. Her gem abilities meant that she could disappear at a moment’s notice, however.

  Her short, spiky black hair showed clear signs of being cut with a sword. Probably this morning. Her olive skin gleamed with sweat, and Nathan guessed she had been working out while waiting for them to arrive. Sunstorm exercised for fun.

  Her other idea of fun was killing people, and the curved short swords at her hips weren’t for decoration.

  If there was one thing Sunstorm disliked about working for Nathan, it was that he hadn’t asked her to assassinate anybody yet. With Seraph’s help, she had managed to recover her collection of magically preserved heads from her hideout in the Federation, and Nathan pretended he was unaware of its existence. But he knew that Sunstorm wanted to expand it, and she sorely wanted his appreciation for killing his enemies.

  Like Seraph and Narime, Sunstorm was from the Kurai Peninsula. Unlike them, Sunstorm had fled her homeland as a child, rather than an adult. She was from the same part of the peninsula as Seraph. The differences in skin color and overall appearance between her and Narime were sharply apparent when they stood next to each other like they were now.

  “He hasn’t had much sleep,” Anna said. “There are more tents than I expected.”

  The meeting ground for the negotiation was an open clearing close to the new border between the Empire and the Federation. There was nothing to see for miles, other than a small village. Any border forts were well out of sight, which made it much harder for either side to station troops for an ambush.

  Sunstorm had already chased away a few companies that the Federation had tried to sneak close. So far, they hadn’t tried anything new.

  Because there had been nothing here, everything had to be built from scratch. Pavilions had been erected, wells dug, weatherproof warehouses for supplies constructed, and food and drink carted in over the past few weeks. The fabric of each pavilion was colored to match the nation intended to use it, with the Empire using white and black tents and the Federation white and orange tents.

  In the center was a solid white pavilion, and it was much smaller than those intended for accommodation or dining. No other structures had been erected within several hundred meters. Negotiations would be held there, well out of bowshot. An invisible magical barrier protected the pavilion from any magical attacks, although a keen eye would spot the occasional sparkle in the air.

  “Word arrived at the last minute that some representatives had changed.” Sunstorm shrugged. “They’re bringing more soldiers. I coordinated with Seraph, and we brought up more soldiers of our own, and Fei’s knights. There hasn’t been any real trouble. Some big burly folks tried to cause some trouble last night, but they backed down fast after their captain was put in the dirt by a wolfgirl.”

  “Normally that would cause a big brawl,” Nathan pointed out.

  “Not when said wolfgirl rips his armor off and crushes it in her bare hands.”

  Touche.

  Nathan was concerned by the change in representatives. An increased number of soldiers made things more volatile, and he worried this was a convenient excuse to prepare for an assault. Torneus had agreed to come after Alice became involved, but nobody trusted him.

  A small crowd formed outside the central pavilion. The negotiations weren’t scheduled to start for over two more hours, given the first day was intended to be a lighter session after everybody had traveled there. That made it odd for so many to be crowding the tent, even if the Federation wasn’t intruding on the clearance zone.

  Nathan signaled to Leopold behind him, who nodded in affirmation. With only a few words, the older Bastion redirected Alice toward the Imperial tents. She could take a brief tour and see where she was staying tonight before joining Nathan at the central pavilion.

  “Those are the burly folks,” Sunstorm said, pointing at a dozen heavily armored Federation knights near the pavilion.

  “An elite unit, maybe,” Nathan said. He walked toward them, feeling exposed as he stepped into the empty clearing that separated the central pavilion and the rest of the tents. Hundreds of eyes locked onto him, even though he couldn’t see them.

  “They’re King George’s personal guard,” Narime said. She remained close to Nathan and tried to put Fei between herself and the Federation side of the encampment. “Even if I didn’t recognize several of them, I’d know because they’re infamous.”

  “Infamously bad?” Sunstorm said.

  “They’re hulking brutes with a nasty reputation wherever they go. George usually has to cover up whatever damage they cause when he travels in person for the Regency Council.” Narime’s lips thinned. “I can guess why they were causing trouble with Fei’s knights.”

  The fury in Narime’s eyes told Nathan everything he needed to know about what sort of “damage” was being covered up, and it wasn’t property damage.

  No, Nathan realized. In the Federation, it probably did count as property damage. But the Empire felt differently.

  “Leopold will flip if I let them get close to Alice,” Nathan muttered. “Let’s chase them off.”

  “George won’t like that,” Narime said.

  “I don’t even remember any of the regents agreeing to come other than Torneus and Duke Terrius,” Nathan said. “I’m not letting his chubby ass ruin things or his useless guards try to assault the princess.”

  The guards leered at them as they approached. Well, leered at the women in the group. They didn’t care whether they were mentally undressing Anna, Narime, Fei, or Sunstorm.

  Given how openly crude they were being, Nathan wasted no time in shooing them back to the Federation tents.

  “You can’t do this to us,” one of them grunted. “We’re King George’s—”

  “I don’t care,” Nathan said. “You could be the goddess’s chosen ones and I would be telling you to fuck off. Consider this a favor, because if you don’t leave now, you’ll be going back to your tents in pieces.”

  The guards bared their teeth for a moment, their hands going to their weapons.

  A moment later, they froze. Four gems glowed simultaneously. Fei’s hands even flared with blue flames for an instant.

  Realizing how outmatched they were, the hulking brutes sauntered off.

  “Fei, could you go get some of your knights,” Nathan asked. “Only a few of them.”

  “Um, where are they?” she asked.

  “Sunstorm, go with her. But I need you to handpick those who will behave themselves. The Federation won’t be bringing beastkin, so if necessary, I’d like some knights who can manhandle any idiots that are brought along.” Nathan sighed, running a hand through his hair.

  The two Champions trotted off. A moment later, Nathan realized he had sent off both of his Champions and was now alone with Narime and Anna.

  The noblewoman stared nervously at Narime, fingering her necklace. She smiled nervously at Nathan.

  In his haste, he’d forgotten that Narime wasn’t his Champion, but one of the Federation’s. But he still had his strength as a Bastion, even this far from his binding stones. And it wasn’t as though his Champions were that far away.

&n
bsp; For her part, Narime either didn’t notice that she now had a golden opportunity to assassinate Nathan and Anna, or she ignored it.

  “Shall we?” Narime suggested, gesturing for them to enter the central pavilion.

  Now that the brutes were gone, the servants and guards posted here filtered back outside and resumed their posts. Nathan and company stepped past them and entered the tent.

  A massive oaken round table filled the center of the tent, surrounded by chairs of all makes and sizes. Platters of food lined tables along the edges, and kegs of ale had been set up for easy access to alcohol. Given the sensitive nature of the discussions, the servants wouldn’t be present, so it was expected that most guests would get their own food and drink.

  Although Nathan imagined that some attendees would be served by their Champions, if they had any present. He sincerely doubted that Torneus would be pouring his own tankards.

  The food wasn’t anything special. Winter still made it difficult to provide fresh or high-quality food. The platters were mostly of cold cuts and salted fish. Preserved vegetables such as pickled onions, brined olives, and sauerkraut were served alongside fresh produce such as peas and lentils. Two large pots contained an onion soup and a bean broth soup—kept hot using a fire enchantment—although Nathan knew their quality would pale in comparison to freshly prepared soups. Next to the soups were baskets full of small loaves of crusty bread.

  Despite the relatively poor quality of the food, one man happily helped himself to plenty of it. He loaded up a plate with a tower of salted ham and fish, piles of vegetables, and then stacked two small loaves of bread on top. Back at the table, he already had a plate full of food, plus two bowls of soup. A decorated pewter beer stein sat next to the food.

  Nathan noted that the stein used the old measurement, which was to say that it was roughly twice the size of the tankards being provided.

  “That’s George, isn’t it?” Nathan asked. The man was large, and Nathan doubted he could be anyone else.