Retribution

Sulma Tan

Leana and I had been waiting in a small, well-lit antechamber at the front of the queen’s magnificent palace for at least two hours. It was a wood-panelled room with tall candles in sconces and vibrant red rugs. A stag’s head of considerable size was positioned on the wall to one side, one of many hunting trophies we had seen. While I looked at the colourful portraits of those I took to be of the queen’s family — one of whom appeared to be her militant father — we continued to wait by a splendid fire. Every few moments we were reassured by guards that Sulma Tan would ‘soon be here’. More periods of waiting and looking at the paintings followed.

At last a voice addressed me: ‘Are you Officer Drakenfeld? I’ve received no official notification of your visit — am I correct?’

The woman who entered the room spoke in a remarkably clear form of Detratan, without a hint of a local accent — in a way that was far too precise to be truly associated with someone from my home nation.

‘Good morning.’ Rising to meet her, I began to introduce myself formally, but she held up a hand.

‘I am Sulma Tan,’ the woman continued, ‘second secretary to the queen.’

Her black hair, with a heavy fringe, was worn down unlike many of the other ladies I’d seen in the corridors, who wore theirs pinned up or tied back decoratively, almost artistically. Framed between curls was her broad face, with delicate features. She wore a necklace of silver and emerald and heavy black boots, while her long, tunic-style dress was made of heavy blue silk. She was about my age — perhaps a couple of years younger. In complete contrast to the nervous guards, her hazel eyes met mine with confidence and intensity. There was an intelligence and analytical mind behind that gaze, with almost a sense of impatience with the rest of the world. Right now she was assessing me, processing why a stranger was here interrupting her busy schedule.

‘I know who you are,’ she said. ‘Or at least, who you represent. You are both from the Sun Chamber, yes?’

‘That’s right. We’ve just now travelled up from Detrata, after stopping off along the way. This is my colleague, Leana.’

‘Colleague?’ Sulma Tan asked, scrutinizing Leana, though without showing a sneer as the guards had done as they escorted us inside.

‘It’s a more preferable word to use than bodyguard,’ I said. ‘And I don’t know what the word is to describe someone who tries to keep me from taking myself too seriously.’

Sulma Tan once again weighed up my words, and chose not to follow my light-hearted introductions with anything like the same tone.

‘Though I note your brooch, I would like to see your papers. You must understand that to us a man travelling from Detrata may be on the business of espionage.’

‘Yes, of course.’ I rummaged in my satchel and produced documents stating my name, my station, and a list of honours within the Sun Chamber. ‘As you can see,’ I continued as she shuffled through them assiduously, ‘I am no spy.’

‘You are as you say, Officer Drakenfeld.’

‘Yes,’ I replied, ‘and any ambassadors here from Detrata may vouch for me.’

‘The Detratan ambassador, Carrus Mineus, has returned to your country,’ Sulma Tan declared. ‘He was recalled by your Senate.’

She noted the look of surprise, which must have shown on my face, with obvious interest. Admittedly I was confused as to why the Senate would withdraw its ambassadors. It was no good omen when a country withdrew its diplomacy. ‘Did Mineus reveal why he was leaving?’

‘He said only that he had been recalled.’

‘Did he indeed,’ I replied. There was no tension in her voice. She was very matter of fact about it. ‘Perhaps his departure has something to do with having so many soldiers around the palace?’

‘That is not the reason.’ She paused slightly, and studied me for a little longer. ‘You may as well hear it from me rather than some exaggerated rumour. There has been an attempt on the life of Princess Nambu Sorghatan.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that. Was she harmed?’

‘No. The intruder came close, but could not get through to her chamber. He fled out of one of the windows, with a surprising athleticism. It is why we are being extra cautious right now. But to matters more pertinent to your arrival. Am I to understand, then,’ she added firmly, ‘that my second message did not come through?’

‘Your second message?’ I pretended to have no idea what she was talking about, but knew full well what she meant.

‘Ah.’ A smile accentuated the lines of her face. Though this was not a warm expression at all, more of a knowing realization. Perhaps she suspected that the message had been received, but the Sun Chamber had decided to ignore it. There was something about her manner that suggested she was constantly one step ahead of me. ‘This will explain your. . presence. Well, for your information we have, it seems, resolved the issue of Bishop Tahn Valin.’

‘Is he well?’

‘The matter is resolved.’ She regarded me as if to say, why are you still here?

‘I would very much like it if you could introduce me to him, so that I might record the matter as resolved to my superiors. You must know how the Sun Chamber can be. We’re very thorough and I must report this case to be closed in a satisfactory manner, lest more officers be sent to investigate.’

‘If you insist.’

‘I get the impression you don’t appreciate outside influence,’ I asked as the three of us walked along the corridors of the palace.

‘Please, try not to take my actions personally,’ she said, then her voice softened. ‘It’s difficult for outsiders to understand what a proud culture this is. Though we’re openly part of Vispasia, we are people who like to do things ourselves. Or, at least, that is how it used to be. But Queen Dokuz Sorghatan is a lady of high culture and she welcomes ideas from the outside. The finest philosophers, poets and engineers from the surrounding nations are now often to be found in our court. Her donations and large salaries attract a great deal of interest from great minds and scholars.’

‘But when it comes to your bishops,’ I said, ‘you’d rather sort out your own mess.’

‘I would argue that it is not a mess, as you put it. But I see your point.’ Her words came slowly — not out of any difficulty in speaking Detratan, but because she was considering them carefully, like a diplomat or politician.

The corridors were much plainer than the rest of the building promised. There was little in the way of ornamentation, just one dark passageway after another, with bare stone broken by the occasional cresset or narrow window, some of which made a pattern of light across the floor and I could smell. .

I came round slowly and looked up from my position on the floor. I had obviously suffered a seizure.

Leana was peering over me and, to her side, stood Sulma Tan, with a deeply analytical expression upon her face. Leana was making excuses on my behalf, but my embarrassment was overwhelming. I had no control over these matters — they seemed to strike at will — but to do so immediately upon having met someone from this nation was humiliating, to say the least.

Leana helped me to my feet. I stared sheepishly towards Sulma Tan to make my apologies, weighing up if I should tell her the truth that the gods were punishing me for some misdemeanour.

‘Interesting,’ was all she said. ‘I have seen such things before. How long have you suffered?’

‘Most of my adult life,’ I replied tentatively.

She began to probe me with questions, as if a physician rather than a secretary to the queen, but my almost monosyllabic responses should have given her an indication of my discomfort. Yes, they were mainly in my sleep. There were sometimes headaches. No, they did not happen all the time, just on average every few days. No, I can’t remember what happened. The gods caused them. And so on.

‘I would be grateful,’ I concluded, truly worried for my safety now, ‘if you could keep this event quiet. Just between us. Only Leana knows I suffer such seizures, and it would make my job very difficult if people knew about it — they would not trust me. They would think me cursed by the gods — and they would refuse to work with me.’

Sulma Tan snorted. ‘Ridiculous superstition. I do not believe this is some affliction of the gods.’

It was remarkable that she could be so matter of fact about it. I was certain that I would be treated differently if anyone knew of my seizures. Yet Sulma Tan continued to regard me with as much indifference as previously.

‘I do not think you are tainted, no.’ She looked pleased with herself.

And with that she turned and beckoned us onwards. Leana simply shrugged, but her angry glare said much. I vowed discreetly to her that if we came upon an apothecary, we would get some more herbs. Together, the panic over, we moved on.

We eventually reached a large, brick chamber with several desks and wall-to-wall shelves that were rammed with old scrolls. There was one window that overlooked a sunny courtyard garden containing numerous rose bushes. However warm and pleasant it was out there, it was very cold in this old room.

‘This is one of our many copying chambers,’ Sulma Tan said. ‘The queen is very keen on creating copies of core Vispasian texts in both Kotonese and Detratan. We keep copies of each in our very large library elsewhere in the city.’

‘A very industrious process you have here,’ I replied.

‘There is much knowledge to be passed on.’

‘What texts are they?’ Leana asked.

‘Everything from plays to scientific observation, laws and discussions of moral rights,’ Sulma Tan replied. ‘Queen Dokuz wants everything from all over Vispasia — she wishes it to be copied and stored in Kuvash, to be discussed by our people so that we may be enhanced as a culture.’ For a moment she glanced out of the window, the sunlight catching her in profile. That last sentence almost sounded as if she had committed it to memory like an actor. ‘People may think it ambitious, but I’m truly glad that we now have a queen who appreciates these things. It is much easier to be a woman in Kuvash these days.’

‘Such developments are very recent,’ I suggested. ‘You were once a more primitive country?’ I immediately wished I had not used the word.

Sulma Tan gave me another patronizing stare. ‘When I was a child, we were living in a primitive country, as you say. This is not to say that women were never powerful. We were made up of tribes — and two tribes were made up entirely of women. They would hunt and fight, every bit as ferocious as men. Once a year, as the days grew shorter, they received the visits of males from surrounding tribes for the purposes of breeding. The babies would be born in the warmer months so they would be able to survive better. Any male children were cast from a cliff or sold into slavery, while the females were cherished and raised as part of the tribe. But eventually these two tribes were absorbed into others, and such practices petered out. That was centuries ago. There was no sophistication back then. Even when our nation became part of Vispasia, the results were mere lines drawn on a map to herd our tribes together, and we were very much of the old culture. We had little understanding of the outside world for decades because our kings and queens have always wanted to remain isolated.

‘But ever since Queen Dokuz took the throne — which was some twenty years ago now — she has been working hard to bring the arts and sciences to Kuvash. One can see the results in our buildings and our trade. Even our towns and cities — they may not appear much, but they are better than what was there before. And a woman can walk through the streets of the prefecture and not expect harassment all the time. Can your culture claim the same?’

‘If you speak of Detrata, then probably not,’ I replied. It was difficult for me to understand — and she was someone who I wanted to understand. Being a man I had no experience of what it was like to be a woman in normal society, to be hassled as I walked down the street, to feel threatened, or leered at, or debased in some way every day by the opposite sex, to have limited rights, or to be treated like a commodity.

I had engaged in such discussions before, with Leana, and knew there was no debate to be won. Everyone lost.

Sulma Tan glanced between me and Leana. ‘Though you employ a woman as your bodyguard. That suggests you are not quite as primitive as many men in our country.’

There was an awkward silence.

‘Are we to wait here to meet Bishop Tahn Valin?’ Leana asked impatiently.

Sulma Tan walked over to the large table near the front of the room, and reached under it. With a sigh she lifted out a heavy wooden box, which she then placed on top of the table and beckoned us forward.

‘There is no need,’ Sulma Tan replied with the same cool expression, and lifted open the lid of the box.

Inside it lay two pieces of a human arm.

The limb had been severed just above the elbow and was caked in dried blood. Despite the stain and decay, I could perceive faint tattoos and religious inscriptions. The limb still bore a slender silver bangle with strange symbols carved upon it.

‘This belonged to Tahn Valin,’ Sulma Tan announced.

‘You’re certain it belongs to him?’ I asked.

‘We are, yes. His religious tattoo indicates that it is him, the bangle that he’s wearing was of a bishop’s rank, the only decoration they wear, and we have verified this with a priest who worked at the same temple. This is all that remains of him and, in this state, we are confident that the bishop has not survived his ordeal. So it seems, Officer Drakenfeld, you have wasted your journey.’

‘I don’t know.’ I met her gaze. ‘You haven’t found the rest of him yet. And this. . Well this could easily be the remains of another priest.’

‘We have not found any other parts of a corpse, and we strongly believe this to be the bishop. He is the only bishop we know to have disappeared — no others have been reported missing.’

‘I must ask the obvious, but I take it you don’t know who did this?’

Sulma Tan shook her head and I could tell from her expression she was still trying to work out what my plan of action might be, but she was at least far more open in her manner than before.

‘Since I’ve come so far,’ I said, ‘perhaps I can assist in locating the rest of him? The rest of him might still be alive, for all we know. He’d be in a bad state, of course, but it is worth considering.’

Sulma Tan let out a long breath and regarded the remains in the box.

Leana leaned over to get a closer look. ‘This is curious. Why has the bangle not been taken?’

‘Yes. It was not a thief that killed this man,’ I agreed, ‘else why leave such a precious item? And we’re assuming that this man is actually dead. Even if it had been part of a robbery, which seems unlikely, what kind of thief would go to the trouble of butchering him in such a way?’ I turned my attention once again to Sulma Tan. ‘Where did you find these pieces?’

‘They had been thrown over the walls to the Sorghatan Prefecture,’ she replied coolly. ‘A soldier found them while on patrol, though the arm had been thrown into a rather public area. It was not necessarily for a soldier to find.’

‘And you keep the remains here, because it’s cool?’

‘I thought it wise to preserve them until we knew more, and since we have studied them this has become their temporary home.’

It was impressive that a queen’s secretary knew about the decay of flesh in warm temperatures. ‘Who’s been looking into this matter for you so far?’

‘We asked a soldier from the City Watch to investigate, but he has not been successful. Now his rotation has sent him to patrol further out of the city, the matter has. . slipped, admittedly. The staff here are very busy. Being the queen’s second secretary, I have little time to dedicate to this issue. We also have a large segment of the army returning from their posting on the border, which is an administrative headache, and I have plenty of work to be done. So yes, this has not received the dedication that perhaps it should have done. It was why I sent my first letter.’

‘And your second because you did not want the outside world prying too greatly?’

‘If you wish to believe that.’

This was a intriguing situation. It wasn’t merely my orders that were keeping me here. It was strange that someone would kill a bishop, not take his bangle, and then throw his body parts over a wall to be found by others.

‘If you’ll permit me, then, I’ll look into the matter for you,’ I said. ‘That will leave you free for whatever state business you were originally tasked with.’

Sulma Tan never relinquished eye contact during the ensuing silence, but eventually she said, ‘I will need to discuss it with the queen, though I see no problem with such a commission. Please return here tomorrow morning. Make sure to ask for me.’

‘Will we have to wait as long to see you tomorrow?’

‘That depends on how busy I am,’ she replied, choosing not to note my sarcasm.