Ken Scholes - Canticle

And now, he stood slack-jawed. He’d reached the entrance to the tent as Petronus fell and kicked his last. And he’d stood to the side, transfixed, as the woman-the one called Ria-first brought back that dead Pope and then restored Rudolfo’s son.

“I don’t know the cure,” Rae Li Tam had told him during one of her more lucid moments as the blood magicks consumed her. She’d spent her last days going over her small library and writing notes. She’d created lists for Charles of which books to find when he reached Santorum Lux. But even then, Rudolfo had known the chances for a cure must indeed be slight. To travel so far with so little result only to have it handed to him felt unfair. And to have it given in such a way. He knew it was blood magick-it had to be. Only deep bargaining in the Beneath Places could bring about that kind of power. Somehow, and for some purpose he could not quite fathom, this woman had healed his son, had saved his life.

But at what cost? He remembered the blood pipes. He remembered the smell of death and the screams beneath the knife.

Now, watching his wife as she huddled on the floor and held their son, the magnitude of the afternoon’s events settled upon him and he wanted badly to sit down, but he resisted gravity. He opened his mouth to speak, but the woman spoke first.

“Lord Rudolfo,” she said, inclining her head, “bear witness to this, for a time shall come when you are asked to give an accounting of this day.”

He blinked at her and said nothing.

She pointed to Petronus, who sat to the side, rubbing his throat in wonder with a lost look upon his face. “The last son has been forgiven the sins of his father and shall be released into exile. Look to me, Petronus.” When he looked up, she smiled at him. “Leave the Named Lands. Go east into the Churning Wastes from whence you Ash-Men came to steal our Home. Stay there. Life is your gift. Return at your peril.”

Rudolfo’s eyes narrowed. “Who are you to command him?”

She smiled and swept the room with her hand. “I am one who has proven that her Blood Scouts can strike when and where she chooses.” She paused to look to Meirov, and Rudolfo followed her. The Queen of Pylos shook with rage. “I am one who has proven that age and station do not give me pause from the course I am called to.”

“You are a murderer and an abomination to our people,” another voice said, and Rudolfo first noticed Winters, who stood now and brandished her Firstfall axe of office.

Ria laughed. “And you are a child, Winters, playing at queen with your dreams and your books and your white-haired Androfrancine boy. Bring the axe and come with me, little sister. Climb the spire and stand with me while I proclaim myself. Join me and we will take back our Home and make it what Lord Y’Zir promised us it would be in his Gospel. Take the mark upon you and find joy in servanthood and in Home.”

Rudolfo watched the anger upon Winters’s face and recoiled from it. Hanric’s loss had twisted deep in her, and the dark look she now gave Ria spoke of buried violence within her such as Rudolfo would not wish to face in a foe. “This is not the dream of our people,” Winters said. “This is not my dream.”

“Dreams change.” Ria’s eyes narrowed as she continued. “And so do the hearts of men and women. How long do you think your friends, your family, met in secret and worshiped in secret, preparing for this day? Quiet evangelists teaching and preaching what was to come to pass. The silent prayer of decades, awaiting the column of fire in the sky that would mark the advent of the Age of the Crimson Empress and an end to the home-thieves’ hold upon our land.”

Windwir. Could they have somehow had a hand in it? Brought about the fulfillment of their own prophecy? House Li Tam was certainly involved-Mal Li Tam obviously in league and in bed with this woman. Rudolfo found himself caught up in Ria’s voice and forced his eyes away from her and back to the girl. Winters stepped forward, and he saw her white knuckles upon the handle of the axe.

“I am the Marsh Queen, Winteria bat Mardic,” she said in a low and even voice. “I do not know who you are, but I am my father’s only daughter.”

Ria laughed. “Ask Seamus if that is so, Little Sister.”

Rudolfo watched Winters take another step and saw the rage growing upon her face along with her resolve. When she lunged forward to swing the Firstfall axe, Rudolfo knew it could not connect. Her feet were not well planted, and the weapon was too heavy and awkward for her to lift it with any speed.

Invisible hands seized the girl, knocking the axe from her hands. Lifting her up, the Blood Scouts held her as she shrieked and kicked at them.

Ria stepped closer, stooped and lifted the axe easily with one hand. Within its reflection, Rudolfo saw the Marshers that held the girl and measured the distance himself.

He stopped when Ria leaned in and kissed Winters upon the forehead. “Come with me, Sister. Take your place beside my wicker throne.”

The girl found her composure. “I will not come with you,” Winters said in a low and even voice.

Ria’s shrugged. “You are my sister. I will not force you.” She smiled. “The truth will call you unto itself in its own time. Come to me when you are ready, Winters, and I will show you a new dream.” Then she turned and took in the entire room. “Hear this and know it well: These lands were given to the Machtvolk for their service on the night of Xhum Y’Zir’s death. The lands from Windwir’s Rest and northward are mine, and I will watch my borders very well.” She looked to Rudolfo. “The kin-healing of House Li Tam binds us to your wife and child. And though the Machtvolk stand above these matters of kin-clave, kinship is another matter altogether. Our peoples were the first in this New World and the only that were granted deed and title by the Wizard Kings who kept it set apart. Will you live in peace with us and let us mind our own?”

Rudolfo looked around the room, saw that the wonder had passed now and only fear and hatred and surprise remained upon the faces of those gathered. As if they weren’t sure what to do with the information they now held. As he watched them, he avoided his wife’s eyes. He knew that he could not look into them and face Ria’s question. He looked back to the Machtvolk Queen where she waited for a response.

Rudolfo took a deep breath.

What do I say? Which way now to turn in this Whymer Maze he’d fallen into? Suddenly, his right path was not so very clear. And I cannot choose a war that I cannot yet win, he realized. An uneasiness grew within him, and he felt expectation on the chill air as she repeated her question.

“Will you live in peace with us and let us mind our own?”

For now, he thought. But my words must be careful.

“It is my desire,” Rudolfo finally said, “to live in peace with all people.” Especially now, he realized, standing upon the grave of Windwir. But he knew even as he said it that his desire for peace would ever be in conflict with his need to create a safe world for his son, a world that held to the light and eschewed the dark.

Ria nodded. “It is enough for now. The truth will come to you in time, as well, Rudolfo, and you will bare your heart to the mark of the Crimson Empress with joy.” She looked to her sister, then to Jin Li Tam and Jakob.

And then Winteria bat Mardic, Machtvolk Queen, turned and left with her escort of Blood Scouts.

Only then did Rudolfo look to his wife. She held Jakob close to herself, and the baby laughed and squealed, his face pink and animated with expression. He followed the line of her forearm, around the curve of her wrist, to the slender fingers that stroked the thin dark hair of Jakob’s tiny head. His eyes traveled the line of her neck and jaw, then settled upon her face. And when their eyes met, he saw despair and relief commingled there with surprise and with tears, and he knew in that moment that he loved the forty-second daughter of Vlad Li Tam and would spend his life on her behalf. That she truly was formidable and fierce and fair and that the child they had made would be the same, despite the price they had paid or the consequences that might follow after.