Брайан Макклеллан - Sins of Empire

“Michel…”

“I met Taniel and Ka-poel seven years ago,” Michel said without preamble. He didn’t bother looking at his mother. He didn’t want to see her face as she realized she’d been lied to for so long. “I bluffed my way into some politician’s gala in Upper Landfall and went looking around for someone to con. Taniel and Ka-poel were supposed to be my mark – I was gonna rob them blind. But we got to talking, and there was something different about them.”

He chuckled to himself, glad he’d not gone through with his plan to nick their wallets. Taniel would have probably turned him inside out. “Ka-poel saw through me right away, but instead of getting me kicked out of the gala they took me under their wing. They introduced me to people I had no right talking with, and over the course of a couple of hours I’d created a whole different persona. I was a disenfranchised young count from Starland trying to wrestle my fortune back from my duplicitous little brother. The idiots at that gala ate it up, and I left with ten thousand krana in donations to help me win back my title.

“I found out later that my new friends weren’t who they said they were, either. They’d bluffed their way into the party just like I had, but they weren’t there for money. They were creating a network of contacts that, I have to admit, were probably far more valuable to them than the ten thousand I left with were to me.

“I ended up working for them – petty thievery, forgery, that sort of thing.” He ignored his mother’s indignant snort and continued: “It wasn’t long before I figured out that they weren’t crime bosses or cons like I first suspected. They were playing a longer game, a bigger one. They were positioning themselves to take on Lindet. They championed the Palo, and I liked that because, well, because of Grandpappy.”

He finally looked at his mother, wondering if the names Taniel and Ka-poel meant anything to her. Her memory tended to slip, so the chances of her remembering an old war hero – aside from her late husband – were slim. She peered at him cautiously through the dust, eyes narrowed as if seeing him for the first time.

“I don’t know what you’re saying, Michel,” she finally said, “but it scares me.”

“I’m saying” – Michel reached into his shirt and drew out his Gold Rose, letting it dangle from his fingertips as he stared at it – “that before I became this, I was something else. This,” he said, bouncing the Gold Rose up and down by its chain, “is not me.”

“What are you, then?”

There was a sudden knock on the door and Michel leapt to his feet, crossing the room as quietly as he dared and putting a finger to his lips. He approached the front door, palming his knuckledusters, and slowly moved the brass cover to the peephole to look out into the hall. He let out a soft sigh and stepped away from the door, pulling it open.

Taniel and Ka-poel stood in the hallway. Taniel was himself – not Gregious Tampo or any of the other faces he’d worn over the years – and Ka-poel hadn’t aged a day in the years since Michel had seen her. Michel and Ka-poel exchanged a hug, and Taniel stalked into the room, giving it the same thorough inspection that Michel had when he first entered.

“How did you find me so quickly?” Michel asked. “I just sent a message minutes ago.”

Taniel looked out the windows, then closed them against the increasing smokiness of the outside air. Michel’s mother sat silently on the couch, as still as a frightened deer, eyeing the two new arrivals with something between suspicion and anger.

“We had someone watching your mother’s home,” Taniel said. “We were down at Fort Nied about an hour ago when we got the message that you attacked Fidelis Jes. We checked the home first, then came here hoping to find you. Your cover is blown, I assume?”

Michel nodded. “I slipped up.”

Taniel gave a frustrated snort. “How?”

“I tripped a ward looking for some sign of the godstones in the Millinery upper library. Fidelis Jes came for me at Mother’s home, and I was able to get the drop on him and escape.”

Taniel and Ka-poel exchanged a glance, and Ka-poel shrugged as if it were of little consequence. Taniel seemed more annoyed. “It can’t be helped, I suppose,” he said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the note Michel had left at the bank yesterday. “I haven’t gotten the chance to check this yet. Care to explain?”

Michel quickly ran through his visit to the Millinery library and the dig site south of town, and as he spoke the irritation drained from Taniel’s face until he was finally smiling.

“So we have it?” Taniel said.

“I think so. You’ll want to be sure. I’m not sure if it’s what you expected, though. It’s huge – maybe eighty feet long; one of those big obelisks they dig up from time to time around the city.”

Taniel crossed the room and sat down beside Michel’s mother, his hand on his chin, seemingly without noticing she was there. His brow furrowed. “You’re right, that’s not what we expected at all.”

“Michel.” His mother finally spoke up, her voice an octave higher than usual. “Who are these people?”

Michel wiped his brow and glanced from Taniel to Ka-poel. Ka-poel gestured to herself, then to his mother, as if to say go ahead and introduce us . He hesitated for a long moment, wondering if his mother had fully grasped the importance of the story he’d told her just a few minutes ago. “Mother, this is Taniel and Ka-poel. They’re the ones I work for.”

“So you’re not a Blackhat?”

“I am. Or rather, I was. I imagine Fidelis Jes is hunting for me now.”

His mother leaned back from Taniel, taking him in. “Who are you?” she asked.

In answer, Taniel tugged at the fingers of his glove and removed it, revealing skin the color of fresh blood. His nails were long, his skin smooth, and he gave her a little wave.

Michel’s mother inhaled sharply. “The Red Hand?”

“One and the same.”

“He’s a revolutionary. A guerrilla fighter.”

“So is your son, Mrs. Bravis.”

Michel gave his mother a tight smile. She blinked at him, and he could see the moment it all came together in her head. “You’re a double agent,” she said.

“I am.”

She rose from the sofa, rushing across the room and throwing her arms around Michel before he could stop her. She clung to him, face buried in his neck, and he thought perhaps she was crying. He took her in his arms and gently patted her back, giving Taniel an apologetic smile. “It’s okay, Mother.”

“You’re not a Blackhat, then. You’re a good Palo boy, fighting against Lindet?”

“That’s right.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I couldn’t.”

“I’m your mother!”

“That’s why I couldn’t,” Michel said. He wondered if he should explain about being caught and tortured and all the risks and horrible things that could have happened to both of them if she’d known his true identity and slipped up. But that seemed like a bit much for her now. “I’ve been climbing the ranks from the beginning. Spying, informing, helping the Blackhats mop up the streets. A couple of years ago Taniel helped me catch a rogue powder mage. It earned me my Silver Rose, and I’ve just been aiming for my Gold ever since.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Taniel said quietly. “But we have a problem.”

Michel slowly extricated himself from his mother’s grip and deposited her back on the sofa. She beamed at him, and he felt his cheeks color. “We have a lot of problems. Fidelis Jes wants my head.”

“I don’t think he’s worried about you right now. That Dynize fleet out beyond the bay is threatening to attack. They want the godstones. I imagine all of Fidelis Jes’s efforts are heading in that direction right now.”