Андрей Кочетков
The Heavenly Lord’s Ambassador. A Kingdom Like No Other. Book 1
Dorgoe cut him off crisply. “You know the answer to that question as well as I do. Virilans refuse to trade with anyone else.”
“Is that true?” Ronko spread his arms and looked around the room for support. “Did they tell you that in person? The only way to find out for sure is to send a delegation to Virilan and establish direct contact with their ruler. I bet everything I have that he will find it profitable to trade with us directly. The Capotians are making millions of leros off of the both of us every year. It would be in the Virilans’ interest to cut the middleman out.”
“You are being short-sighted, Ronko,” said Forsey, shaking his head. “If you want to benefit the Empire’s treasury, you don’t need to send good men to their deaths in a country populated by demons. Instead, you should help us clean up house. Make the wealthy pay their full share of taxes. Your plan will end in disgrace for our Emperor if the Virilans refuse to speak to our ambassador. And that isn’t all. Do you think the Capotians will sit on their hands if you take away their only source of income? They will renounce their status as our protectorate if you so much as try!”
“Let them try,” Tameto growled. “My cavalry has been sitting idle for too long!”
“See!” Forsey exclaimed, leaping from his seat and pointing a finger at the commander. “Our generals whine that we have tied their arms and legs. Just imagine what will happen if we let them act on their own understanding.” Tameto scowled alarmingly, but Forsey could not be stopped. “Get it through your bronze skull that the Heavenly Empire cannot simply declare war on whomever it wishes!”
“These knock-kneed advisors have clouded your vision,” Tameto said, barely controlling himself. “What is the purpose of the army if not to maintain the unity of the Heavenly Lord’s domains?”
Forsey gave a theatrical sigh. “If it takes explaining the same simple thing many times in order for our military to understand, then I will undertake the task. The Heavenly Empire keeps its disparate peoples together not with fear, but through them understanding the mutual benefits of peace, trade, and prosperity. We declared that we will never force a country to be part of our Empire, and that is the reason why the twelve kingdoms chose Herandia as the symbol of their voluntary unity. How many empires have arisen in these lands over the past two thousand years? And how many have disappeared, no more to be recalled by any man? All of them were founded on brute force. People obeyed them when they had to, but they rose up against them as soon as they had a chance. Our Empire is like a granite obelisk. It has stood for over four hundred years and will stand forever, for we are the first to understand that profit binds people closer than fear of punishment. You must see, Tameto, that we cannot attack Capotia, even if they refuse to recognize our leadership. They are not barbarians to whom the law does not apply. It would be treason against all of our empire’s ideals and a signal for our own provinces to revolt against us! Now think a step further. What if the Capotians turn for help to the Arincils, who have long cast an envious eye on our lands?” He sat down to catch his breath, but he was not done. “Ronko, you had best count the money we will lose if Capotia falls away from the Empire and the losses we will incur if we push our closest ally into the arms of our most dangerous enemy! No, my lords, a delegation to Virilan would be a stupid way to risk destroying the Empire!”
Uni’s head was spinning from everything he had heard. With no preparation whatsoever, he was watching as important advisors decided the fates of millions of people.
“I wish I knew who was right.” At first, Uni had been very much in favor of a delegation to the land of his dreams, but after Forsey’s impassioned speech, a sliver of doubt began to worry him. “Who do I believe, when each side has such solid arguments?”
“Forsey, you should hear yourself talk.” Dorgoe spoke in a soft voice that made Uni’s skin crawl. “Are we bound hand and foot by our own vassals? Is our Emperor nothing but a functionary hired to sit on the Heavenly Throne, prevented from taking a step in any direction because of some ridiculous conditions we might have signed ages ago with a band of traders who have the whole empire by the throat? No, if you put the matter that way, then there’s no way I can agree with you!”
The green-eyed man turned to the secretary of the imperial council with a trusting, almost intimate smile. “I have listened to you carefully, Forsey, but there’s one thing I don’t understand. Where did you get the idea that the Empire has need of allies? They are the ones who should be striving to please us, not the other way around. Everything you said about the ideas of our Founder and the ideals of our Heavenly Empire was correct, but we must not go to the other extreme of allowing small nations to become parasites.”
“Exactly!” Ronko exclaimed. “If you want to benefit from friendship with the Empire, then join it! The Capotians think they are smarter than us because they sit on our shoulders and tell us where to go. I wouldn’t mind being a vassal under those rules. They pay us tribute, but then we turn around and give it back to them threefold when we overpay for Virilan grain. What are we left with? Our peasants pay higher interest every year on their loans for seed, and when they lose their land they join the cabals run by the strong dynasties. After that, just try to collect taxes from them! Each and every one of them manages to get exemptions of one kind or another. If we continue to take good care of the Capotians for another ten years, our treasury will be empty!”
“If you’re looking for allies, I suggest you’d be better off talking to the Virilans,” Tameto finally managed to put in. “My men in the field witnessed the effectiveness of their weapons when we rode to the aid of a Virilan band that was being attacked by nomads. I should say we only wanted to ride to their aid. They were perfectly capable of repelling the attack without us. They are fearsome warriors, and their weapons are beyond anything made anywhere else. I have seen a bronze cuirass that was split in two, front to back, by a Virilan sword. The blade sliced through it like paper. It must have been an impressive blow, but just imagine the blade that could withstand such a feat without breaking!”
“Did you actually see this blade, Necium? You sound so confident,” remarked the green-eyed man.
“With my own eyes! The Virilan warrior must not have had time to remove his sword, so it was left in the body of the dead nomad.”
“What I’d like to know is the name of the rogue selling bronze armor to the barbarians against the law!” grumbled Forsey with a side-glance at Ronko, but no one was listening to him.
“Be that as it may, events are proceeding according to the wishes of the Heavenly Deity, whether we like it or not,” Dorgoe provided a hasty summary. “The Empire and Virilan are coming into contact, and it’s just a matter of time before we send a delegation.”
“I believe the time has come!” agreed the green-eyed man. “This uncertainty cannot go on forever. If we have an opportunity to sign a trade treaty, then we must do it now. And if, in fact, the Virilans are prepared to display enmity, it is better that we know it in advance. I vote that we immediately send a delegation with full powers to Virilan.” He slowly raised his hand, palm outward, as if warding off a wave of anticipated criticism.
As it turned out, there were no objections. Ronko and Dorgoe voted for the motion in a display of unheard-of solidarity with each other. Tameto indicated his assent a second later, and couldn’t stop himself from adding a bit of commentary: “We must see the enemy’s face, for perhaps he is an ally.” Forsey shot Dorgoe a look of hatred before turning away and raising his hand in favor.
Dorgoe was appointed to organize the mission. That surprised Uni until he recalled that the man had a silent position directing the Empire’s foreign affairs.
“Who do you recommend as the ambassador?” asked the green-eyed man.
Dorgoe spoke up brightly. “You won’t find anyone better than Ontius Sanery. He’s been on multiple missions to Mustobrim and to the Arincils. I’m sure he’ll find a common language with the Virilans.” He offered this suggestion as if the whole idea of the delegation had been his from the very beginning. Uni felt a little sorry for Ronko, who was being sidelined from a scheme that he had personally conceived of.
“I do remember him, and he is an experienced diplomat, but I don’t know about the common language. We will need an interpreter, and probably more than one.”
“We could hire one from the Capotian merchants,” Forsey sneered.
“Would you let them interpret for negotiations to end their monopoly?” Ronko interrupted. “These are matters of great importance to the empire. The interpreter must be a loyal subject of the empire.”
“You mean him?” asked Dorgoe, pointing his fat double chin at Uni.
“There isn’t anyone else who can do it,” Ronko smiled sweetly. “And he’ll be the only interpreter involved. First of all, the fewer people who know about the talks, the better. And second, Enel Virando is unique in his ability.”
“Then it’s decided,” said the green-eyed man, his face brightening. “Young man, I hope you realize what kind of responsibility this is. If you make a mistake of any kind, the talks could break down and all our efforts will be wasted. It could even lead to war.” At this, Tameto’s eyes flashed. “I suggest you spend the rest of the time before your departure filling in any gaps in your knowledge.”
“One more thing,” said Ronko. “As of today, Enel Virando no longer works at the archive. That being the case, in addition to appointing him to the delegation, we must assign him a palace rank that will allow him to access all the documents he will need for the mission.”
“We will decide that later,” Dorgoe answered drily. “I have a more important question: how will the delegation travel to Virilan?”
Tameto stood up. “I suggest crossing the northern border. I have men who can take them all the way to the Virilans’ camp there. After that, it’s up to the Virilans to take them to the capital. I hope.”
Ronko shook his head. “I think traveling by sea would be safer. First of all, the wasteland is not entirely safe. Second, we must visit Manibortish to get an idea of how the trading is going and to collect information. Third…”
“Going by sea means traveling right under the Capotians’ noses,” Tameto objected. “Manibortish is their trading post. I don’t see the sense in your proposal!” He stared at Ronko.
“And we have no guarantees that the Capotians will let our delegation over the border into Virilan,” Forsey muttered.
The green-eyed man suddenly lost all patience. “Listen to you! They might not want to? The Capotian cities have a pact of protection with the Empire!” He leaped from his seat and strode across the room, accidentally bumping into Uni, who couldn’t collect his wits in time to get out of the way. “The merchants have gone too far! We will sign a treaty with Virilan if for no other reason than to put those avaricious wretches in their place!” With that, he turned and strode back to his seat, sat down, and pursed his thin lips.
Uni assumed that Forsey’s resistance would be broken after that, but the man grimaced and turned away to demonstrate his indifference to something he could no longer prevent.
It was only after leaving the palace and finding himself on the familiar streets around the Market of Plenty that Uni fully realized what had happened to him. While he was standing in that round room, the redemptive turn of fate somehow seemed inevitable, as if he had finally woken from a nightmare and found himself back in the real world on a sunny day in spring. Virilan! Virilan! The word echoed in his brain and he repeated it again and again, not quite believing his own good fortune. It was worth almost losing everything he held dear in this life in order to find the door to the land of his fantasy – a land so familiar and yet so mysterious, known to him only through books, and colored by his own imagination to such an extent that reality began to bleed into the edges of illusion.
“My heart and soul are already there,” Uni thought. “Now all I have to do is transport my body there. Interpreter for the delegation! The Empire’s fate depends on my words! Amazing! I will see the Emperor of Virilan, who holds power over the forces of nature and the heavens. I wonder if it’s true that he is immortal? Would it be proper to ask him?” He shook his head at his own folly. “After today, nothing will surprise me.”
Then he thought back to his conversation with Ronko after they left the council, and a chill ran up his spine. “How could I be so stupid!”
As they made their way back through the palace halls, Ronko seemed truly upset that the delegation was to be organized by his political adversary, but his deep-rooted buoyancy did not leave him. Instead, he explained to Uni how the power dynamic surrounding the Emperor functioned.
“No, I’m not too surprised it ended up this way. There are two types of people around the Emperor: the first are men like myself and Forsey who served his father. If you recall, Forsey was the current Emperor’s tutor. Forsey and I rarely agree on anything, but the Emperor sees us as old men whose influence he would like to free himself from.”
“Free himself? Is it that difficult?”
“The Imperial Council ran this country for ten years while the Emperor was still young and inexperienced. However, he proved to be a quick study and soon removed the extremists from the council. He also managed to get his own protégé appointed to the council. That is why he trusts Dorgoe more than me. Dorgoe depends on him for everything. And he never knew him as a child. He knows Forsey and I remember him as a babe in arms, and it drives him mad!”
“I can imagine. Is it true that Dorgoe used to sell meat pies in the streets?”
“More or less, but not for very long, to his credit. He put together a team of sellers. Then he opened a bakery. By the time Forsey met him, Dorgoe was selling bread to the best homes in Trikazinso. He was working with Capotians and made a fortune out of Virilan wheat.”
“That means he owes everything to Forsey?”
“Precisely! Forsey was the Emperor’s tutor, but he was lacking talent (as he still is). Dorgoe, on the other hand, had plenty of money, but he was lacking in important contacts. Rich men bought their bread from him, and nothing more. So he decided to use Forsey to get what he wanted.”
“But how did he get from there to here? What I mean is, how is it that the Emperor’s most important advisors are dancing to the tune of a baker?”
“If he’d just been that – a baker – it never would have worked. Dorgoe’s intelligence is limited, but he can guess what people are going to do with unusual precision. Then, once he knows their true needs and desires, he finds ways to satisfy them. First, he taught Forsey how to make use of his only resource, his access to the Emperor. Forsey’s influence rose steadily, but he wasn’t ready for the challenge, so in the end he recommended that the Emperor take on Dorgoe as an advisor. Dorgoe’s accomplishment was helping His Majesty get on a more independent footing with the council. Without damaging the existing system of governance, he managed to restring the inner workings so that the Emperor gained the real power he wanted.”
“Is that why Dorgoe is your enemy? Because he took power away from those of you who served the Emperor’s father and put it in his hands?”
Ronko laughed and looked away for a moment. “I always knew you were a smart boy. Sometimes you are too smart.” They walked on for a while before he spoke again. “Even I don’t know who actually holds the power in the Empire. When there are so many intersecting interests, the situation can change quickly and most unexpectedly. It’s an illusion that the Emperor is all-powerful. In reality, his hands are tied. The Solar Sentinels instituted a system of overseers who control the army and all of the generals. As a result, there is little risk of a coup, but our army is weak. That means we can’t use it to rein in the ambitions of the local dynasties. We’ve also had to patch together a dissatisfactory peace with the nomads. We are afraid of making a wrong move because any change could lead to lamentable consequences.
“But don’t the different forces cancel each other out?”
“Oh, stability is Dorgoe’s strong suit. It’s the magic word that opened the doors to power for him. Dorgoe has woven together a net of mutual obligations that no one other than himself is capable of even comprehending. He sits there like a fat spider in his web, taking from one person and giving to another one and then turning around and doing the exact opposite. That’s how he makes sure that no one group – whether it’s the military, the local dynasties, or the civil service – ever gets an advantage. So you see, the Emperor would be lost without him.
“Isn’t he afraid to have such a powerful advisor?”
“The Emperor knows that the rest of us will devour Dorgoe if he ever falls out of favor. No, Dorgoe is powerful, but his position is shaky. He’s an upstart, and he won’t last long. As long as the Imperial Council exists, he will never have real power.”
The two of them stopped by a wonderful fountain that was playing a lilting melody. The sunlight coming through the panes of glass in the ceiling of the great hall turned the streams of water all the colors of the rainbow, creating a magical atmosphere of carefree fun. Ronko reached out a hand and ran it over the water’s surface, as if testing that it were real and not a delightful illusion.
Uni was up to his ears in palace gossip and intrigue and failed to notice that Ronko was already tired out by his questions. “I thought he would support Forsey,” he opined cheerfully. “You really made a fool of him with my report. He’ll think twice before he touches someone else’s property again.”
“Aren’t you all worked up,” Ronko chuckled. The report wasn’t such a big deal. You see, Dorgoe never actually came out against the delegation. He’s too clever for that, and he reads the Emperor’s mood like a book. I was more surprised by Tameto. I’ve known him since the last war, and he can’t imagine diplomacy without a big stick. Those Virilans he saw must have impressed him greatly, and not just by slicing through a bronze cuirass. I’d like to know more about that.” He shook his head. “Well, Uni, I have some affairs to attend to. Your period of unemployment didn’t last as long as you expected, did it? Dorgoe may be a weasel, but he knows how to get things done. You can expect to be called to meet with the head of the new diplomatic mission within the next few days.”
“Thank you so much, Enel Ronko. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be here. Literally. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank you for your kindness…”
“No need for that. And remember this: you should never grovel in front of a person if your relationship is based on mutual benefit. You’ve helped me much more than you can even imagine. But don’t let it go to your head. You’ve had enough excitement for one day.”
“Can I ask you just one more question?” Without meaning to, Uni threw up his hands like a young boy. “Who was the fourth man in the room? Is he on our side? I mean your side?”
Ronko gave a long sigh. He found Uni both amusing and endearing. “You’ve outdone yourself, Uni. I understand that humble archive employees don’t often get to hold gold coins in their hands, but surely you have seen – at least somewhere – the face of our Heavenly Lord, the Radiant Emperor of the Herandian Empire, His Majesty Kergenius!”
When he heard this, Uni’s mouth fell open and he stared at Ronko with a prayer for mercy in his pale blue eyes.
“Forgive me, how could I…I never imagined I could have the great honor…”
“Nonsense! The extravagant rituals are designed to entertain the crowds and keep the nobles in their places. Truly important matters of state are always decided in informal discussion, where each person has time to state his position to the Emperor. And then we vote. Our council is like a big family. We’ve all known each other forever, we fight and make up again, we intrigue against each other, but in the end we are all working for the good of the Empire.” He smiled. “And another thing. If I had warned you who you would be speaking to, I know everything would have gone wrong. You would have been too nervous to open your mouth! Well, what’s done is done. Go home and get some sleep. I hope you finally learned that abstract knowledge can come in very handy in the real world.”
He turned to leave, but remembered one last thing. “Don’t drink that much wine ever again. You’re privy to state secrets, so you must guard your every word.” With that, Ronko winked and disappeared between the marble columns.
Uni felt strangely deflated. “What a day! I’ve had enough excitement to last me a lifetime. I suppose I should go see Mother now. It’s about time I gave her a reason to be proud of me!”