Mark Newton: Retribution

It was remarkable that she could be so matter of fact about it. I was certain that I would be treated differently if anyone knew of my seizures. Yet Sulma Tan continued to regard me with as much indifference as previously.

‘I do not think you are tainted , no.’ She looked pleased with herself.

And with that she turned and beckoned us onwards. Leana simply shrugged, but her angry glare said much. I vowed discreetly to her that if we came upon an apothecary, we would get some more herbs. Together, the panic over, we moved on.

We eventually reached a large, brick chamber with several desks and wall-to-wall shelves that were rammed with old scrolls. There was one window that overlooked a sunny courtyard garden containing numerous rose bushes. However warm and pleasant it was out there, it was very cold in this old room.

‘This is one of our many copying chambers,’ Sulma Tan said. ‘The queen is very keen on creating copies of core Vispasian texts in both Kotonese and Detratan. We keep copies of each in our very large library elsewhere in the city.’

‘A very industrious process you have here,’ I replied.

‘There is much knowledge to be passed on.’

‘What texts are they?’ Leana asked.

‘Everything from plays to scientific observation, laws and discussions of moral rights,’ Sulma Tan replied. ‘Queen Dokuz wants everything from all over Vispasia — she wishes it to be copied and stored in Kuvash, to be discussed by our people so that we may be enhanced as a culture.’ For a moment she glanced out of the window, the sunlight catching her in profile. That last sentence almost sounded as if she had committed it to memory like an actor. ‘People may think it ambitious, but I’m truly glad that we now have a queen who appreciates these things. It is much easier to be a woman in Kuvash these days.’

‘Such developments are very recent,’ I suggested. ‘You were once a more primitive country?’ I immediately wished I had not used the word.

Sulma Tan gave me another patronizing stare. ‘When I was a child, we were living in a primitive country, as you say. This is not to say that women were never powerful. We were made up of tribes — and two tribes were made up entirely of women. They would hunt and fight, every bit as ferocious as men. Once a year, as the days grew shorter, they received the visits of males from surrounding tribes for the purposes of breeding. The babies would be born in the warmer months so they would be able to survive better. Any male children were cast from a cliff or sold into slavery, while the females were cherished and raised as part of the tribe. But eventually these two tribes were absorbed into others, and such practices petered out. That was centuries ago. There was no sophistication back then. Even when our nation became part of Vispasia, the results were mere lines drawn on a map to herd our tribes together, and we were very much of the old culture. We had little understanding of the outside world for decades because our kings and queens have always wanted to remain isolated.

‘But ever since Queen Dokuz took the throne — which was some twenty years ago now — she has been working hard to bring the arts and sciences to Kuvash. One can see the results in our buildings and our trade. Even our towns and cities — they may not appear much, but they are better than what was there before. And a woman can walk through the streets of the prefecture and not expect harassment all the time. Can your culture claim the same?’

‘If you speak of Detrata, then probably not,’ I replied. It was difficult for me to understand — and she was someone who I wanted to understand. Being a man I had no experience of what it was like to be a woman in normal society, to be hassled as I walked down the street, to feel threatened, or leered at, or debased in some way every day by the opposite sex, to have limited rights, or to be treated like a commodity.

I had engaged in such discussions before, with Leana, and knew there was no debate to be won . Everyone lost.

Sulma Tan glanced between me and Leana. ‘Though you employ a woman as your bodyguard. That suggests you are not quite as primitive as many men in our country.’

There was an awkward silence.

‘Are we to wait here to meet Bishop Tahn Valin?’ Leana asked impatiently.

Sulma Tan walked over to the large table near the front of the room, and reached under it. With a sigh she lifted out a heavy wooden box, which she then placed on top of the table and beckoned us forward.

‘There is no need,’ Sulma Tan replied with the same cool expression, and lifted open the lid of the box.

Inside it lay two pieces of a human arm.

The limb had been severed just above the elbow and was caked in dried blood. Despite the stain and decay, I could perceive faint tattoos and religious inscriptions. The limb still bore a slender silver bangle with strange symbols carved upon it.

‘This belonged to Tahn Valin,’ Sulma Tan announced.

‘You’re certain it belongs to him?’ I asked.

‘We are, yes. His religious tattoo indicates that it is him, the bangle that he’s wearing was of a bishop’s rank, the only decoration they wear, and we have verified this with a priest who worked at the same temple. This is all that remains of him and, in this state, we are confident that the bishop has not survived his ordeal. So it seems, Officer Drakenfeld, you have wasted your journey.’

‘I don’t know.’ I met her gaze. ‘You haven’t found the rest of him yet. And this. . Well this could easily be the remains of another priest.’

‘We have not found any other parts of a corpse, and we strongly believe this to be the bishop. He is the only bishop we know to have disappeared — no others have been reported missing.’

‘I must ask the obvious, but I take it you don’t know who did this?’

Sulma Tan shook her head and I could tell from her expression she was still trying to work out what my plan of action might be, but she was at least far more open in her manner than before.

‘Since I’ve come so far,’ I said, ‘perhaps I can assist in locating the rest of him? The rest of him might still be alive, for all we know. He’d be in a bad state, of course, but it is worth considering.’

Sulma Tan let out a long breath and regarded the remains in the box.

Leana leaned over to get a closer look. ‘This is curious. Why has the bangle not been taken?’

‘Yes. It was not a thief that killed this man,’ I agreed, ‘else why leave such a precious item? And we’re assuming that this man is actually dead. Even if it had been part of a robbery, which seems unlikely, what kind of thief would go to the trouble of butchering him in such a way?’ I turned my attention once again to Sulma Tan. ‘Where did you find these pieces?’

‘They had been thrown over the walls to the Sorghatan Prefecture,’ she replied coolly. ‘A soldier found them while on patrol, though the arm had been thrown into a rather public area. It was not necessarily for a soldier to find.’

‘And you keep the remains here, because it’s cool?’

‘I thought it wise to preserve them until we knew more, and since we have studied them this has become their temporary home.’

It was impressive that a queen’s secretary knew about the decay of flesh in warm temperatures. ‘Who’s been looking into this matter for you so far?’

‘We asked a soldier from the City Watch to investigate, but he has not been successful. Now his rotation has sent him to patrol further out of the city, the matter has. . slipped, admittedly. The staff here are very busy. Being the queen’s second secretary, I have little time to dedicate to this issue. We also have a large segment of the army returning from their posting on the border, which is an administrative headache, and I have plenty of work to be done. So yes, this has not received the dedication that perhaps it should have done. It was why I sent my first letter.’