John Carr - Siege of Tarr-Hostigos

"Have a seat, Phrames. Would you like some of Ermut's Best?"

"Please."

While Cleon came and filled two goblets with brandy, Kalvan noticed that Phrames was clearly agitated.

"What's wrong?"

"It's Nestros." He looked sick. "Your Majesty, he's turned down the alliance with Hos-Hostigos."

"Really! He needs the alliance more than We do. It's not as if I was ordering him to attack Hos-Ktemnos next spring! At the least, I was hoping for at least five thousand Rathoni troops for next year's campaign."

Phrames took a long drink, shuddered and said, "No, we'll be lucky if we're not fighting the Rathoni right along with the Styphoni."

"How could this be?"

"From the day we reached Rathon City, we observed that Nestros was avoiding us with delay after delay. In our talks he was distracted and making unrealistic demands, such as Hostigos sending him a flying battery and a hundred rifles with gunsmiths."

Kalvan whistled and then lit his pipe. "He must have known those requests would never have been granted."

"Exactly. Then a big delegation from Balph arrived, headed by Speaker Anaxthenes and the Commander of Styphon's Own Guard."

"Ouch! Nestros must have been waiting for them. Maybe he was planning to play both sides off each other?"

Phrames nodded. "We were in Rathon City almost a moon-quarter and Nestros wouldn't grant us even a perfunctory audience-until after the Styphoni arrived. At the meeting Nestros was very distant and it was apparent he'd already made his decision to ally himself with Styphon's House. At a later meeting, when Chartiphon accused him of being dishonorable,

Nestros blew up and told us that it was only because of his honor that we weren't already in chains being marched to Balph. He then stated that our alliance with his enemy Sargos had freed him from any obligations to either Hos-Hostigos or Your Majesty. We were then ordered to leave Rathon at all haste."

Kalvan shook his head; this was completely unexpected. Nestros had sold out to Styphon's House for something-but what? "Do you have any idea why Nestros is allying himself with our enemies?"

"Prince Bosphro of Distros, a man who fought alongside Your Majesty, gave us some information. It appears that Styphon's House has bought Nestros' loyalty with the promise that he will be recognized as Great King by all the legitimate Kingdoms. Prince Bosphro claims that the Archpriests have promised Nestros military aid in his war against the Sastragath as well as an alliance with Hos-Ktemnos, which Nestros believes will give Hos-Rathon true legitimacy as the Sixth Great Kingdom. That's what he's telling his Princes."

Kalvan made a bitter laugh. "Until Styphon's House doesn't need him any longer. Will we now be facing Rathoni troops in the spring?"

"No, Nestros told Ptosphes, as long as we recognized his territory and made no claims upon Hos-Rathon, he will continue to remain neutral in the Fireseed War."

"The silly bugger! If anything happens to Hostigos, the Styphoni will dismember Hos-Rathon, enslave his people and eat him alive."

"True, Your Majesty. Roxthar will feast upon his corpse. The stink of his betrayal will reach the very Throne of Dralm!"

As Anaxthenes entered the ornate private chamber of Styphon's Voice On Earth, his eyes traveled over the room's decor: fine paintings, with depictions of Styphon throughout the centuries by the Five Kingdoms' greatest artists; elegant wall hangings; the wall-sized Fireseed Tapestry, displaying the struggle between the fiend Dralm and Styphon, as he struggled to steal the Fireseed Mystery from the Palace of the Gods on Mt. Vynarth after the Trickster had stolen it from Ormaz's Pit; and thirty-six cast gold images of Styphon, each with upraised hand to hold a candlestick. One day soon this will all be mine, he thought.

Sesklos had not regained his full health since ingesting small portions of Thessamona's poison throughout summer and fall, and Anaxthenes was the first visitor to enter this chamber in over six moons. Other Archpriests had attempted to visit Sesklos since his recovery, especially Dracar, but all audiences had been refused. He wondered if Sesklos had figured out that he'd stopped the poison not out of loyalty, but because the timing was not right.

Sesklos, wearing the red robe of primacy, was sprawled on a large purple velvet divan. His bald head peeped out of his robe like a dead turtle's skull stretching out of its shell. Sesklos lifted a frail hand and waved him to sit down upon an ornately carved highback chair.

"Speaker, your poison has not yet killed me, as you can see."

Anaxthenes sat still as a stone. "I do not know where you get such ideas, but-"

"Do not attempt to cover your deeds with lies. You have used your little vials too many times at my bequest. Make no denials. Just be careful that you do not put any of your other mistresses above the Lady of Death who shares your chamber. For who knows where her fang may strike next…"

Sesklos pointed his skeletal finger at his face. "Next time make sure the poison works. I am tired of this life and all its travails. Archpriest Roxthar sent me a missive from Harphax City reminding me to appoint Dracar as my successor."

So Roxthar is already in Harphax City. Since his leaving, the City of Balph had let out its collective breath and a celebratory air had blown through the City. The Investigator is mistaken if he believes all of Balph will jump at his commands while he is in Hos-Harphax.

"After my most recent illness, death holds few terrors for me. Of course, I will do no such thing-I'd as soon appoint Roxthar my successor, as Dracar. Don't look so anxious, old son. After all, everything you know, you learned at my knee. One does not blame the panther for its sharp claws. Don't interrupt-let an old man have his last words. I have made many mistakes in my long life, but entrusting the fate of Styphon's House into your stewardship was not one of them."

Anaxthenes forced himself to contain his glee and put on a solemn face.

Sesklos lifted up from the divan. "Don't waste your pity or guilt on this old man. I have committed many sins in the name of Styphon because of my own ambition and lust for power-too many to judge anyone else. But during my reign, Styphon's House flourished and grew prosperous, and made its first real advances into the Northern Kingdoms. We now have our own Great King in Hos-Harphax. This is my legacy. I had always thought when I died, all would pass with me. But I know now that I was wrong.

"A vision came to me while I was ill: an image of a great black raven, with a man in its beak, which flew around Balph. I was that man, but the black bird did not hurt me. Instead it cradled me in its beak and flew over hill and valley until it came to a great Temple, mightier than Styphon's Own Temple in Balph. I watched as a great army descended upon this fortress and shot all manner of big guns at its walls. Still, despite all their efforts, the walls of the Temple held. Finally, the Temple door was opened and hundreds of white rats scurried out of the Temple. The army chased after the rats, stabbing and clubbing them until they were all dead. I know this was Styphon's Own Message to me that Roxthar and his Investigators will be driven from Styphon's House!"

No, thought Anaxthenes, not another true believer!

"Now more than ever, I know the Temple will not share my fate. Save it, Anaxthenes, save Styphon's Own House from Kalvan and from Roxthar. That is my last request." Then the old man fell back down on the divan, panting.

Tears began to leak from Anaxthenes' eyes.

"Ahh, real emotion. There is still flesh inside that heart of stone. I have made the right decision."

Anaxthenes tried to keep the smile, which followed those words, from cracking his lips. Little did the old man know but those were but tears of relief upon learning Sesklos was not going to denounce him to the Inner Circle for attempted murder. And, possibly, from relief that he did not have to strangle the old lizard inside Styphon's Inner Sanctum-after all, he would be living there soon, after the anterooms were rebuilt and expanded.