Bertrice Small - A Distant Tomorrow

“Terah,” Gaius Prospero said in a hard voice.

“Is there not a price to be paid for valuable information, my lord emperor?” Arcas said smugly.

“If you do not tell me what I desire to know,” Gaius Prospero said, “’tis you, Arcas, who will pay that price.” He clapped his hands, and two large men in the uniform of the Torturers’ Guild stepped from the shadows. “Prepare him!” the emperor said.

The torturers moved forward far more swiftly than Arcas thought possible, and pulled him first to his knees, then bent him forward so that his head was almost touching the floor. They ripped the back of his gown open and Arcas’s eyes grew round with surprise as he saw two gnomes run from beneath the emperor’s table carrying a small brazier, which they set upon the floor, and a branding iron that they thrust into the glowing red coals. The room was silent, but Arcas could hear his heart hammering in his chest. He was suddenly very frightened.

“Mark one of his buttocks with my mark,” Gaius Prospero said slowly and thoughtfully. “The left one, I think.”

Arcas’s mouth fell open with shock. “No!” he cried, and the cry grew into a scream as the blazing iron ground into his flesh. His eyes bulged from his face, and a small bubble of foam slipped from the edge of his mouth and ran down his chin.

“Now,” Gaius Prospero said, “unless you wish a brand on your other buttock you will answer my question. Refuse me, and I will spend the remainder of the day watching as you are slowly executed in the most painful ways devised by my torturers. After you are branded a second time there is a lovely metal dildo which is hollow, and can be filled with either coals from the brazier, or ice. I will personally shove it up your fundament, my lord. Where is Terah? I will not ask you again.”

“Across the Sea of Sagitta,” Arcas sobbed. He was a broken man.

The emperor came from behind his worktable, signaling the torturers to draw Arcas to his feet. His cold eyes surveyed the man. “Tell me about it,” he said.

Arcas swayed on his feet. He was very, very pale.

“My lord emperor,” Jonah spoke softly, “perhaps a sip of wine to restore him?”

Gaius Prospero nodded. “Give him some.” Then he waited while Arcas gulped down the wine.

Able to stand on his own two legs again, Arcas shook off the hands of the two torturers. “I can tell you little about Terah, my lord emperor. Not,” he quickly added, “because I do not want to tell you. Because I have never been there. None of our race has. Our vessels meet their vessels at the midpoint of the sea. Or at least what we believe is the midpoint. There we exchange our goods for theirs. They have never permitted us to come farther. It has been that way between our peoples for centuries.”

“How did Lara get to Terah, then?” Gaius Prospero wanted to know.

“I gave her to one of their captains for the Dominus. I hoped to curry his favor,” Arcas admitted.

“What goods do you take from them?” Gaius Prospero demanded.

“All the luxuries that Hetar loves, my lord emperor. The fabrics, the gold and silver products, the gemstones,” Arcas said.

“Your people do not create these products?” the emperor asked.

“No, we trade for them,” Arcas responded.

“You are no better than the Taubyl Traders then,” Gaius Prospero said, and he began to laugh. “What do your people do, Arcas?”

“We fish, we cultivate what we need to eat, we compose songs, and of course we manage our trade with Terah,” was the reply.

The emperor laughed a moment more, and then he grew serious. “For centuries Hetar has revered the Coastal Kings for the beautiful objects they brought to our markets, but it has all been a sham. Your people do little to justify your existence. That, however, will change come the spring. I am told by my Knight Commander who led the invasion of the Outlands that the Coastal province possesses much unused land, land that can be cultivated – and it will be. Your father has already been sent my instructions, Arcas, and he will continue to oversee the Coastal lands. As for you, you will report to my right hand, and obey his every directive. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, my lord emperor,” Arcas said, bowing in servile fashion. He was too terrified to remind Gaius Prospero again of his promise that he, Arcas, would be the governor of the Coastal province. His left buttock burned cruelly with the brand that had been impressed into his soft helpless flesh.

“Excellent,” Gaius Prospero said turning away, and returning to his seat. “You are dismissed, Arcas.”

“Wait for me in my privy chamber,” Jonah instructed the man.

When they were once again alone the emperor looked to the man he called his right hand. “I am almost sorry he cooperated,” he admitted. “I should have enjoyed shoving that dildo into him, and hearing him scream again. He thought I was weak, and that he could manipulate me, the fool!”

“In time you will have your amusement with him, my lord emperor. I am sure he would make a nice toy for the lady Anora to play with, don’t you think?”

“You are brilliant, Jonah! Of course that is just what I shall do. When he is no longer of use to us, Anora and I shall have him. She will enjoy that. It will please her greatly. I hope he will not die too quickly.”

“As long as you are patient and take your time with him I am certain he will provide a good evening’s entertainment, my lord emperor,” Jonah murmured.

“But now to Terah,” Gaius Prospero said. “I want you to speak with the representatives of the Shadow Princes when they return from the winter recess. I would have them transport you to Terah. Your eyes will be my eyes, Jonah. First we will open negotiations with them for trade. We will gain the goods we want more cheaply while keeping the price in the markets the same. We shall have a greater profit now that it is no longer necessary for us to purchase these goods from the Coastal Kings. And in time we shall learn the strengths and weaknesses of this Terah. Eventually we will make it a part of Hetar, Jonah.”

“The High Council does not resume its meetings until the spring stars appear in the sky, my lord emperor,” Jonah said. “As you have pointed out, the Shadow Princes will not return until then.”

“Make haste slowly, Jonah,” Gaius Prospero said jovially. “You must spend the next few weeks making plans to keep the people of the City calm and contented until I can bring this new prosperity into our world. Go now. Both Vilia and Anora are waiting for me. Both will have a litany of complaints, but I am more of a mind to listen to them now that I have gotten what I wanted this day. Go! Go!”

Jonah bowed to the emperor, and withdrew from him, hurrying back to his own privy chamber where Arcas awaited him. “Good,” he said to the man. “You are ready now, I assume, to accept my offer.”

“You let him mark me with his brand,” Arcas said resentfully.

“Did you actually expect me to stop him?” Jonah responded. “The emperor is a hard man, and you have learned a valuable lesson today. Do not cross Gaius Prospero.”

“Where is this room you have found for me?” Arcas said. “I find I am very weak.”

“Lionel will take you. Go to Maeve Scarlet’s Pleasure House tonight. She will see your wound is cured of its hurt. She has an excellent healer among her servants. Then relax, and enjoy pleasures with one of her women. I surmise you have not had them in many months now. It is unhealthy to bottle up one’s lusts, and it clouds the judgment, as you must surely have realized after this afternoon. Rest tomorrow, and then you will find the awning designated for you next to the seller of lotions, soaps and perfumes in the main market square. He is very popular with the ladies, and women do gossip quite a bit. Who knows what bits of information you will gain there? You will report to me on the last day of each week in the hour before the sunset. Do you understand? And Arcas, do try to remain discreet. You will be watched.”

“I understand, my lord Jonah,” Arcas responded. Then he said, “He will not create me governor, will he?”

“For now it is to Hetar’s advantage that everything remain as it has been,” Jonah said. “You are alive, Arcas, and you are now taken care of. If not in the manner in which you were raised, at least comfortably. You have a purpose, and in time you will, I am certain, regain your status among us. Go now,” he said, and watched as Arcas went slowly from the room. The brand on his buttock blazed bright crimson. “Lionel,” he called to his manservant. “Get him another robe.”

When he was alone again Jonah considered the afternoon that had just passed. So the emperor wanted him to go to Terah. That was going to present a problem, but he would figure it out in time. And he did have time. And Vilia would help him. Intelligent, she now realized her ambitions would be better served with him than with her husband. Yes, Vilia was a treasure. And while Gaius Prospero did not know it yet, she was Jonah’s treasure, not the emperor’s. The right hand of the emperor smiled to himself. Everything was going exactly as he had hoped.

MAGNUS HAUK watched his wife playing a board game with Prince Kaliq, and he was jealous. He knew he had absolutely no reason to be, but he was. That in itself added to his anger. He knew the look of intensity on Lara’s beautiful face was brought about by her concentration on the game, yet he found himself wondering if that was all she thought about.

The prince reached out with a single finger, and touched the tip of Lara’s nose. “Make your move,” he said softly, a hint of a smile upon his lips.

“Do not rush me, Kaliq,” Lara responded as she studied the pieces. “You always do that when you think you might lose,” she chuckled.

“I do not!” he denied it.

Lara laughed, and moved her game piece. “Aye, you do.”

“I think you have devised some manner of cheating that I have not yet figured out,” he said. “You have always been wickedly clever.”

Again she laughed. “I am just better at Herder than you are,” Lara told him. “Vartan and I played regularly.”

“Did he beat you?” Kaliq wanted to know.

“Now and again,” Lara admitted, “but women are really better at these games than men are, my prince. We are willing to wait for our reward, and are not so greedy.”

Kaliq moved his next piece on the board.

“Oh dear,” Lara murmured.

“What?” he demanded nervously.

“I should not have done that if I were you,” Lara said, and then she moved her final piece from the board. “I win.”

He grimaced. “I thought I had that piece blocked,” he grumbled.

“Would you like to play another game?” Lara inquired sweetly.

“And be humbled again? Nay, my love, I believe once a night is more than enough for me,” the Prince said ruefully.

“As you wish, my lord Prince,” Lara replied.

“It is late,” Magnus Hauk said loudly. They had been speaking as if he were not even there. “We should get some rest. I have been considering that it is past time we went home to Terah. I have been gone far too long.”

“Yes,” Lara agreed, not recognizing his pique. “I should pay a visit to the new Outlands to see how they are all getting on there. The rest of Hetar can wait.”

“You have other duties, Domina,” Magnus said sharply. “There is the small matter of an heir for Terah that should come before anything else.”

“I told you that I would give you an heir when I deemed the time right,” Lara responded. “I am not some brood animal, my lord Dominus.”

Kaliq felt sympathy for Magnus Hauk. He was hopelessly in love with Lara, but he was also filled with jealousy. Until he could gain a mastery of himself he was going to have difficulty with her. And Lara, the Prince thought, also needed to consider that for now, and perhaps for always, she was this man’s wife. Her destiny had not yet been fulfilled entirely, but neither was it going to be any time soon.

Lara, he spoke to her in her thoughts. He is jealous, poor mortal. While you and I know he has no reason to be, he does not know that. Be patient with him.

She looked directly at the Prince, and a flick of an eyelash told him she had heard. Rising from the game table she walked over to her husband. “You are right, Magnus, it is time we returned home to Terah. But a babe takes time to make. Before we set to work at such a pleasant duty I really should visit the new Outlands to be certain all is well. It is not just for myself, but it is for Terah. I have convinced you to introduce these new folk into your lands. I must be sure they have resettled well, and will be no bother to you, for that is what I promised you, Magnus, my husband. And, too, I have Vartan’s children to see. I need to know all is well with them.” She put a gentle hand on his muscled arm, and gave him a small smile. “I promised you a son, and I will give him to you in due time.”