Марк Ньютон - Drakenfeld

After the initial position had been secured, hundreds of soldiers filed in and escorted Lacanta’s rolling cage through the streets as the news was called out. Apparently people gaped in awe: this was the first time many of them had even seen the king’s sister, who was all the more famous since her staged death.

Lacanta and her eunuchs were paraded like the spoils of war through the city to Optryx. She remained outside the residence while soldiers began searching the premises – and that was what brought them here, to me.

I told them we had Licintius; they told us that Callimar and all his men had been found dead.

Poor Callimar had done so much to help me. Was it wrong of me to feel a little relieved at the fact that their knowledge of my seizures had died with them?

The whole process continued at breathtaking speed. Commissioner Tibus came personally to address the king and placed him under arrest. I’ll never forget seeing his expression falter just the once at the acknowledgement of what might happen to him.

While our military personnel filled the residence, Licintius was taken to a safe room where he could be placed on suicide watch until his trial. A message went out to every senator of Tryum that by Vispasian, not Detratan, powers, an emergency session of the Senate would start within the hour. Attendance was mandatory.

However, what Licintius had told me was already starting to haunt me. If he wasn’t bluffing and he was removed from control of the nation – with a warmongering senate taking control – just what would that mean for Vispasia? What if Detrata without Licintius then wanted to pull out of the Union, the very thing that the Sun Chamber worked so hard to bind together with its law? Ultimately, in some roundabout way, I could be responsible for that. The thought did not sit well with me.

Many of the Sun Legion’s forces and auxiliaries were present in the upper city, maintaining order surrounding Lacanta’s carriage. There had been one crazed attempt at freeing her from a fanatic, but he had been killed on the spot and disposed of without further comment. No one else tried after that, though thousands wanted to see her in the carriage.

I gave my statement to the men and women of the Senate, the enormous domed building situated in the heart of Regallum. Veron was sitting in the front row, and made a brief wave before he maintained his serious countenance. Several rows of benches extended back behind him, each filled with senators.

It seemed strange to repeat all that I’d done in front of the gaze of Licintius and Lacanta, both bound and heavily guarded. Her expression was empty, her shoulders were stooped, and her skin grubby from travel across the country. In her simple dress she must have felt humbled, having previously been someone used to looking more glamorous in front of the senatorial class.

So I told my story, from the locked temple through to Maxant’s body on the beach. My father’s role as an accomplice was discussed, much to the surprise of those gathered there. After about half an hour, Tibus took over again and proceeded with the prosecution. Knowing that the spectacle could go on for hours – for this was just as much a theatrical production as a legal debate – I decided to leave, barely caring what would happen to Lacanta and Licintius.

My job was done, I was exhausted. I wanted to go home.

My property was vacant and had long been cleaned of corpses, so I sat alone by the fountain in the garden, staring at the spot where Titiana had hung. Sunlight streamed in over the roof of the house, and I basked in the sultry evening warmth. This place contained so many memories for me, so many happy occasions from my youth, all the way through to that horrific departure.

Leana stood over me.

‘Do you mind if I ask you something?’ I asked.

She shrugged.

‘Forgive me for bringing it up, and I apologize if I offend, but how did you manage to cope with your husband’s death, all those years ago?’

I was wary of bringing up the subject. Over the years I’d gleaned only that Leana’s husband – she never told me his name – had died while protecting a prince as the wars raged throughout Atrewe.

‘What makes you think I cope with it?’ Leana replied.

‘I can’t pretend that Titiana’s end hasn’t somehow wounded me inside,’ I whispered. ‘I don’t mean to even compare it to what you had – it’s trivial, in relation, but it still hurts.’

‘Of course it will,’ Leana said softly. ‘It is fine to feel pain. You want words of advice, Lucan?’ She looked at me sincerely.

I nodded.

‘It will hurt you whenever you think of it. But soon you will think of other things and the hurt will not strike you as often. But it never goes and it is foolish to pretend otherwise.’ Leana placed her hand on my shoulder. ‘I am sorry for your loss. I grieve with you, my friend.’

Senator Veron was the first to come and find us and I was glad to see another friendly face. He told me that he had ‘acquired’ my house after the king had ordered my property forfeit when I left the city. He had not done anything to it yet, except clean it up.

‘I was preserving it for you,’ he said, and I genuinely believed him this time. ‘But it seemed to be filled with foul spirits after what we found when we arrived. Some people tried to blame you at first – since you were the one who had gone missing. I knew better than that, and argued your case. It’s all yours if you still want it.’

‘Thank you, Veron.’

‘Don’t hang about here, Drakenfeld. The bad memories will eat at you. Stay at my place. My wife is still out of the city and I have plenty of wine for company. If you want, I’ll buy this place off you and turn it into something without such memories. It could even become a prison to go with a new batch of cohorts.’

‘That’s a kind offer.’

‘Of course it is. Look at what you’ve done, at all you’ve been through. Come back to mine. I’ll see you’re looked after well.’

‘What did you do with Titiana’s body?’

His expression softened and he sat beside me on the edge of the fountain. ‘We burned her in a multi-god ceremony. We had a few priests of different temples. Her and the cohort – all of them were sent off together. It must have been a terrible sight for you to discover in your own home.’

That statement didn’t warrant an answer. ‘How did it go today?’

‘He’s dead,’ Veron said. ‘Licintius is dead and it took us six hours to arrive at that conclusion – rather short by our standards. It helped that Lacanta admitted much of it. She could hardly not, given that her being alive contradicted any possible defence.’

Veron told me that the king was not charged with the murders of the priestess, Drullus and Maxant, nor for the gods-angering relationship between brother and sister. Instead he was executed for willingly deceiving his Senate and his people.

For treason.

‘He was dealt with in the same way as all those who commit such a crime, and beheaded. His execution happened in the Senate gardens, so at least he had a nice location for it. I’ll show you his head later if you want. It’s on a spike outside the Senate building.’

‘Thank you, but no,’ I replied. ‘I’ve had quite enough of it all. What about Lacanta?’

‘She has been exiled from Detrata for a period of ten years.’

‘Really?’ I asked.

‘Yes. After you left, Licintius claimed that he acted alone, that Lacanta was merely following her king’s orders. He said he’d personally banished her from the city, and that everything was his responsibility.’