Unicorn Saga - The Unicorn Peace Part 39

Varodias sat up sharply, his eyes wide. "You intend to abandon us?" His tone was incredulous.

"Ah, my liege lord, I would not have you see it so. I 213.

am an old man and my late emba.s.sy has taken me from your side. There are younger men who have counseled you in my absence and it is time for me to make way for them.*' He smiled gently, sweetly. "Have no fear, Sire," he said as if to a boy, "I shall be your devoted servant and loyal va.s.sal as long as there is breath in my body."

Malum listened, his heart suddenly beating faster. It was not unexpected, but the Elector had given him no hint.

"We shall have to think on this, old friend," Varo- dias said quietly. " 'Tis true that you have served our house long and well, but we were not expecting this and we are loath to part with you."

"I shall serve you unto death, if that is your will,"

Phalastra said simply, "but if you would reward me, let me go."

"We shall think on it. You must give us time," Var- odias replied.

"Should you accede to my request. Sire," Phalastra said, "I would commend Malum of Quern to your at- tention. He has served me well. He is loyal, discreet, he has a good mind and I have trained him."

"We shall think on these things. We shall think on them," Varodias said with a touch of irritation. The falcon studiously groomed its wing feathers. "Leave us now. We need to be alone." The fingers nicked out in dismissal.

Both men bowed and retreated, backward, from the presence.

Once they were outside and the doors were closed, Phalastra nodded to the guards and started off down the corridor with Malum trailing him. When they were out of hearing, he stopped and let Malum catch up.

"I'm sorry, lad," he said in the Common Mode, "That must have come as something of a shock- Truth to tell,

214 t JOHN LEE

I had not intended to bring it up today, but, over the years, I have developed an instinct when it comes to the Emperor's moods. When he allowed himself to be con- vinced of the success of our mission, I seized the op- portunity. Let us go back to my apartments and discuss things."

They ensconced themselves in the Elector's withdraw- ing room. The servants came and went and Malum sipped his wine silently, trying to put his thoughts in order. He had been counting on a spell here at Angom in the Elector's service to give him a better sense of where the next generation of power truly lay. An ap- pointment directly to the royal household would, of course be ideal, but what was he to do if Varodias did not act on the Elector's suggestion? Fond as he was of the old man, he wasn't prepared to go into retirement with him.

"I have spent so many years in these chambers that they feel as much home to me as my own castle," Phal- astra said, breaking the silence. "My older boy will probably want to redecorate them. It shouldn't worry me because I doubt that I shall ever see them again, but it does somehow."

"Are you sure that the Emperor will let you go, my lord? He has depended on you for most of his life and it didn't seem to me that he relished the prospect of losing you."

Phalastra smiled. "Varodias hates change, somewhat strange in a man who prides himself on being a scien- tist, but true nevertheless. No, he doesn't like the idea, but he is an intensely pragmatic man. There will be no emotion involved in the decision despite the years we have spent together. If he refuses me, it will be because I am one of the very few, man or woman, that he trusts.

His Majesty does not confide in men, but he trusts me.

"What I did today was to remind him that it is past 215.

time that he found someone to replace me. Neither of my sons has a head for politics and most of the capable men at Court would as soon replace him as serve him.

Fear is the only thing that keeps them in their place.

That is why 1 recommended you. If he takes you on, re- member this: it is not rank that counts, but influence.

A man of modest t.i.tle with the position of His Imperial Majesty's secretary excites little envy, but that man has the Emperor's ear and determines who gets to see him and when."

"But there is no such position," Malum interjected.

"I took great care that there should not be," Phal- astra said, "but that is where I should like to see you.

Varodias is an exceedingly volatile man. He needs a steady hand behind him, someone with the knowledge of the broader canvas and the skill to manage things from the shadows."

"You natter me, sir, but I fear that I am as ambitious as the next man," Malum said with a flash of honesty.

"What makes you think that I would serve the Emperor so selflessly?" The last was delivered jokingly, but he was serious.

Phalastra gave him a long, level look and drank some wine before answering.

"Because you are his son," he said.

Malum had been about to take a drink himself, but his hand stopped in midair. He stared at the Elector.

His mother had said something of the sort in the days before she died, but the wasting fever that took her had first stolen her wits and Malum had dismissed the no- tion as delirium. He couldn't remember now exactly what she had said.

He lowered the goblet carefully to the small table at his elbow. He felt surprisingly calm now that the first shock was over. The Elector was not the kind of man to make that sort of bitter jest. There would be turmoil

216 later, that he knew, but for the moment he was back in his habitual role of the observer. The difference was that he was a key player in this scene.

"Did you say what I thought you said?" he asked evenly.

"I did."

"Does the Emperor know?"

"You would not be alive if he did," Phalastra said tersely.

"I should be grateful, my lord, if you could explain,"

Malum said gravely. His hands, he was glad to note, weren't trembling, so he picked up his goblet again and took a drink.

"Your mother was my ward. She was a very beautiful girl and though she did not have much in the way of a dowry, I managed to make an advantageous match for her. Her husband was Master of the Imperial Hounds;

the position is normally a sinecure, a well-paid token of the Emperor's favor, but he took the job seriously. Af- ter the wedding, your mother was given a place at Court as one of the Empress's ladies-in-waiting- She caught the Emperor's eye and did not know how to refuse him.

Her husband was sent off to the outlying Electorates in search of new bloodstock for the kennels so she was all the more vulnerable. When she became pregnant, she came to me for advice."

He paused and sipped, watching the young man. The boy seemed to be taking the news with remarkable aplomb. There was color in his cheeks, but no other sign of emotion. He was simply waiting with a look of polite interest. The boy should go far. He had taken him on when he first came to Court out of an old- fas.h.i.+oned sense of obligation, but he had chosen well.

Malum had, in fact, retreated behind one of his masks to think. He had always supposed that the Elector had taken him into the household because he was a hunting

THE UNICORN PEACE t 217

companion of his son, Coppin. The real reason was now clear. A pang of fierce pride struck him. Imperial blood flowed in his veins. The young n.o.blemen at Court had made fun of him for his clothes, his lack of height and the modesty of his t.i.tle, behind his back to be sure, but he had known. He could ignore the smirks now, the whispers behind the hand, knowing that he was the Em- peror's son. ... He became aware of the Elector's eyes upon him and he produced his smile.

"What was your advice, my lord?" he inquired.

"I told her that if she valued her life, and that of her child, she should say nothing of it to Varodias; that there must never be a hint of scandal attached to the Imperial name. The problem was that her husband had been away from Angorn for three months and was not expected back from some time. Anyone who could count would know that the child was not his and, more to the point, the Emperor would know that he was the father. He has executed two of his legitimate sons be- cause cliques were beginning to form around them, so . . ." He let the phrase die. This time Malum did not prompt him.

"The normal solution would have been for her to retreat to her husband's estate to have the baby," Phal- astra resumed, "but in this case that was not possible.

Her mother-in-law had never approved of the marriage, thought that her precious son could have done better for himself." His lips tightened in remembrance. "Old Lady Belgaroth was a formidable woman was well as being an exceedingly unpleasant one. Had your mother taken refuge at Castle Belgaroth, she would undoubt- edly have died in the birthing."

"I always a.s.sumed that Quern was our ancestral home," Malum remarked.

"No, it was one of my estates. It reverted to me on

218 the death of one of my va.s.sals. It was far from Angorn and the cane harvest made it self-supporting."