The Covenant Rising

8

As far as they could tell, no one saw them arrive at Domex’s run-down house.

Kutch fished a large iron key from the folds of his shirt and fumbled with it. Once the rusty lock was turned, Caldason unceremoniously kicked the door open. Bundling Kutch and the stranger inside, he shot the bolts.

‘Windows!’ he snapped.

Kutch went to draw the blinds. He was pale and unsteady. The stranger seemed calmer. He studied Reeth closely, tight-lipped, his gaze shrewd. But he held his peace. Caldason shoved him, not too gently, in the direction of the main room.

With daylight barred, save for tiny chinks in the tattered drapes, the chamber was gloomy and oppressive. Kutch lit a lamp. Cupping the taper with a trembling hand, he moved to the fireplace and applied the flame to the candles in a pair of bulky lead holders on the mantelpiece. Shadows played on the tattered spines of the books lining the walls.

‘Now sit,’ Caldason said.

‘You’re still treating me like a dog,’ Kutch complained, but did as he was told.

The Qalochian looked to the old man. ‘You, too.’ He pushed against the small of his back again, driving him towards an overstuffed chair. The stranger plumped into it, sighing. Dust motes swirled in the candlelight.

Even up close his age was hard to guess. He was certainly of advanced years, but more autumn than winter. It was his careworn appearance that made him seem older. Worry lines crimped his beardless face. His silvered hair, grown perhaps a mite too long for his age, gave him a venerable appearance. He dressed affluently.

When he spoke, his tone was easier, almost dulcet. ‘I owe my thanks to you both, and an explanation.’

‘You owe me nothing,’ Caldason replied brusquely. ‘I don’t much care who you are or what problems you might have.’

‘Yet you risked your life for me.’

‘I had no choice.’

The stranger scrutinised him. ‘I think there was more to it than that,’ he said gently.

‘Think what you like.

My

thought is that you’ve involved me in your troubles, and likely there’s more on the way. It’d be best to get out of here and not linger over it.’

‘I agree leaving would be wise. But word of their failure will take a while to get back to their masters. I don’t believe they’ll send more against me at this point. In any event, it’s not how they work.’

‘They?’

‘Our rulers.’

‘The government?’ Kutch piped up, wide-eyed.

The stranger nodded.

‘Who

are

you?’ the boy asked.

‘My name is Dulian Karr.’

Kutch straightened. ‘

Patrician

Karr?’

‘You’re well informed.’

‘Everyone’s heard of

you

.’

‘What’s an Elders Council member doing in a place like this?’ Caldason said. He was at a window, watching the path outside, curtain bunched in his fist. Now he let the drape fall back.

Once more, Karr studied him. ‘You have the advantage of me. You know my name, but -’

‘He’s Reeth Caldason!’ Kutch butted in, adding knowingly, ‘The

outlaw

.’

If the patrician was jarred, he didn’t show it.

It was Caldason who reacted. ‘You’re privy to my business only by chance, boy. I’ll thank you to keep it to yourself.’

The words were like a bolt to Kutch’s breast. Reddening under Caldason’s frigid gaze, he began an apology that faltered and trailed off. A brittle silence took hold.

‘And you must be Kutch Pirathon,’ Dulian Karr interjected, taking pity.

They stared at him.

Kutch stumbled through, ‘How did you know that?’

‘Grentor Domex was one of my oldest friends. He often spoke of you. I had no idea when I came here that he was dead.’

‘All right.’ Caldason showed his palms like a man surrendering. ‘I can see we’re not going to escape your life story. Just keep it brief.’

The suddenly lighter tone, typical of Reeth’s mercurial nature, Kutch was starting to think, made the apprentice feel a little better about the scolding. ‘So, why did you come to see my master?’

‘And why no bodyguards?’ Caldason added.

‘I had a phalanx of them when I set out. Good men, every one. My enemies thinned their ranks until I alone remained. That was why my would-be assassins were armed with no magic worse than a negating glamour.’

‘Yet still you came.’

‘As still you defended me. And for a similar reason, I suspect; I had to.’

Caldason said nothing. He leaned against the dusty table’s edge, arms folded.

‘As to why I came here… Many years ago, a group of like-minded individuals, Grentor and myself included, joined in a common cause. Our passion was to see true sovereignty restored to Bhealfa. To have genuine freedom, not the pretence of it, by getting our tormentors off our backs.’

‘Fine words.’ It was impossible to tell if Caldason meant that cynically.

Karr disregarded it. ‘We were young and idealistic I suppose, but that made the object of our anger no less real. In due course we each took the path we thought best to achieve our aim. I chose politics and talking us to liberation.’ He smiled thinly. ‘Others favoured the military, a mercantile life, even banditry, and some fell along the way. Your master carried on being what he always was, Kutch: a maverick. What is it they say? A square shaft in a round hole. But I’m damned if I know which of us has been the more effective.’ A fleeting reverie clouded his eyes. He gathered himself and went on, ‘I came here with news of the progress of… a scheme. A plan Domex helped conceive and steer over the years.’

‘You had to come personally?’ Caldason said.

‘Few others could be trusted with my report. And I wanted to see him; it had been too long.’

‘What is this plan?’

‘Forgive me. It’s a confidence I can’t share.’

‘So why mention it at all?’

‘You saved my life. That warrants some measure of trust.’

Caldason shrugged dismissively.

Kutch had fallen quiet during their exchange. Caldason noticed his crestfallen expression. ‘What’s the matter?’

‘I’m hearing about a side of my master I never suspected. I mean, I knew he had no love for the state. Now it turns out he was involved in something big. Something

important.

But… I didn’t know. He never told me about any of this.’

‘It was for your own protection,’ Karr replied, ‘on the principle that what you didn’t know couldn’t endanger you. Domex was engaged in a selfless purpose. That’s why they killed him, whatever pretext they may have used. Have no doubts about that. You’ve every reason to be proud of him, Kutch.’

The boy swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. ‘Is it because of this plan of yours that the government wants you dead?’

‘Perhaps. I don’t fool myself that they’re entirely ignorant of it. There are informers and spies enough in the dissident ranks.’

‘That messenger glamour in the likeness of a bird. It was sent to warn you of the attack?’

‘Yes, by associates in Valdarr. I could have wished it had arrived earlier! There’s treachery in my circle, and lately near to hand. But I think it more probable this latest attempt on my life was because I’m a general thorn in the authorities’ side. My death at the hands of apparently common brigands would suit them well.’

‘They’ve tried before?’

‘Several times.’ Karr sounded as though he took pride in it.

Caldason broke in with, ‘Why should they bother killing one of their own?’

The patrician regarded him narrowly. ‘What do you mean?’

‘The way I see it you

are

the government, or near as damn. You play their game.’

Karr laughed, half cynically, half genuinely amused. ‘You have a properly jaundiced view of authority. Politics has been my way of challenging the state. I don’t claim to be very effectual, and at best my views are barely tolerated, but it’s what I do.’

‘How much bread does it put in hungry mouths? When does it ever favour the weak over the strong?’

‘You’re right, politics is a fraud. I know. I’ve been a practitioner of the black art all my life. It makes accommodations, turns a blind eye, appeases those who tyrannise us.’

‘That’s rare honesty from your kind. So why bother with it?’

‘Because I believed governance was about the best interests of the citizenry; that the system could curb the excesses of our colonial rulers, maybe even help break their hold. They’ve branded me for that belief.’

‘I’ve heard. They call you naive, militant, insurrectionist, radical -’

‘And they call

you

pitiless.’

‘Depends on who’s doing the calling.’

‘Exactly.’

Kutch said, ‘If it means getting out from under those who grind people’s faces, isn’t radical a good thing to be?’

Karr smiled. ‘Well put.’

‘It was something my master used to say,’ the boy admitted, a little shamefaced.

‘Then it’s to your credit that you honour him by repeating it.’

Caldason shifted, looked down at Karr. ‘This great scheme of yours, it’s some kind of political manoeuvre?’

‘Politics… plays its part.’

‘What are the other parts?’

‘Protest takes more than one path.’

‘That sounds like another way of saying it’s something to do with the Resistance.’

Karr held his gaze. ‘I’m with the Opposition. Others are the Resistance.’

‘They’ve been known to shade together.’

‘As I said, our rulers slander those who stand against them. They’d have people believe all their opponents are terrorists.’

‘Does that mean you think the Resistance are terrorists?’

‘Why, do you?’

‘No.’ He glanced Kutch’s way and added caustically, ‘But then I’m an outlaw, remember.’

‘What’s your point, Caldason?’

‘Any plan meant to really change things would have to involve the Resistance to stand a chance.’

‘I repeat: opposition takes many forms. There are peace-loving witnesses of conscience and priests who disagree with the regime, let alone revolutionaries, agitators, protodemocrats and the rest. Even the Fellowship of the Righteous Blade’s no longer dormant. Did you know they’d reformed?’

‘So it’s said.’

‘Who are they?’ Kutch asked.

‘They’re an ancient martial order,’ Karr told him, ‘founded on patriotism. Their ranks boast some of the finest swordsmen in the land, and they’ve helped keep alive a tradition of valour that was once universally respected. They’ve often appeared in times when this country’s independence was threatened.’

‘And proved inept, if Bhealfa’s present state’s anything to go by,’ Caldason remarked.

‘Perhaps they would have achieved more if they’d had greater support from the rest of us,’ Karr replied pointedly. ‘At least they’re doing something.’

‘If you think a bunch of idealists with outmoded notions of chivalry have much to contribute to your cause, I suppose they are.’

‘Dissent isn’t as black and white as you think. The few politicians of my persuasion need all the allies we can get; we’re fleas on the backs of oxen.’

‘That just about sums up the size of your task.’

‘Even an ox can be brought low by enough flea bites.’

‘In your dreams, perhaps.’

Karr expelled a breath. ‘You seem less than enthusiastic about the idea of challenging those in power. Given what Qalochians have suffered, that surprises me.’

Reeth visibly stiffened at mention of his birthright.

‘Your people have faced massacres and enforced clearances,’ Karr continued, ‘and what’s left of your diaspora has blind prejudice heaped upon it. If any have a grievance against the regime, it’s the Qaloch.’

Knowing how sour Caldason could be about his people’s lot, Kutch expected a prickly reaction. He was half right.

‘The condition of Qalochians is well known,’ Caldason said, even-toned, ‘yet I see few taking up cudgels on our behalf. Why should we support you?’

‘Because it’s your fight too. And some of us

have

spoken out about the Qaloch’s plight. Myself included.’

‘That’s made a world of difference, hasn’t it?’

‘I understand your cynicism, but -’

‘Do you?’ Caldason’s passion began to show itself. ‘Have

you

been spat on because of your race? Have

your

settlements been torched, your womenfolk defiled? Have you had your life valued at less than a handful of dirt on account of your ancestry?’

‘For my ancestry… no.’

‘

No

, you haven’t. Your safety’s in peril, granted, but unlike me you have a choice. You could give up agitation and offer the state no reason to vex you.’

‘My principles wouldn’t allow that,’ Karr bristled.

‘I can respect a man who takes a stand. For me there’s no option. My blood allows me none. Because when it comes to prejudice and bigotry neither empire has anything to boast of. This land happens to be under the heel of one at the moment. In the past it was the other. The world is as it is.’

‘That’s where we disagree. I believe we could change things.’

‘Gath Tampoor, Rintarah; it makes no difference.’

‘I’m not talking about replacing one empire with the other, or trying to moderate what we have. There could be another course.’

‘Slim hope, Patrician.’

‘Perhaps. But history’s stood still for too long. Everything’s entrenched. Two-tier justice, blind to the crimes of Gath Tampoorians; Bhealfa’s youth conscripted to fight the empires’ proxy wars; distant rulers, cut off from the people; extortionate taxes -’

‘We know all this,’ Caldason interrupted. ‘This isn’t a public meeting.’

Karr looked mildly slighted at that. ‘All I’m saying is that it can’t go on.’

‘Why not? The empires are stronger than they’ve ever been. Even if it were possible to defeat one, its twin would fill the void.’

‘That’s certainly been true in the past. Now I’m not so sure. There are signs that their rivalry is beginning to erode their power.’

Kutch was sceptical. ‘Are you joking?’

‘I was never more serious. Rintarah and Gath Tampoor are straining under the pressure of outdoing each other. They’re hammering at the rights of citizens and subjects both, such as they are, and milking their colonies for all they can get. As to their strength… well, a bough’s hardy until lightning strikes, and ice is thickest prior to the thaw.’

‘Claiming the empires are losing their hold’s one thing,’ Caldason said, ‘proving it’s another.’

‘I can only cite instinct, and the evidence of daily experience. There’s a brutality in the air. Don’t you feel it?’

‘More than usual, you mean?’

‘I can’t blame you for mocking. But look around. Disorder’s growing, and at the edges things are drifting into anarchy. We could take advantage of that.’

‘You talk of striking a blow, but you haven’t told me

how

. Do you wonder I have doubts?’

‘No. But perhaps you’ll feel differently when you learn more.’

‘I don’t think we’re going to know each other long enough for that, Karr.’

The patrician eyed him thoughtfully. ‘Maybe we will. I have a… proposal for you.’ He took in Caldason’s wary expression. ‘If you’ll hear me out.’

Reeth considered, then gave a small nod.

‘I need to get back to Valdarr,’ Karr explained. ‘I’ve no protection, human or magical. If you could -’

‘No.’

‘You said you’d listen.’

‘I’ve heard enough. I’m not a wet nurse. I don’t join causes or form alliances. If you want protecting, Kutch here can sell you a shielding spell.’

Rightly or wrongly, the boy took that as a criticism of his effort during the ambush. He was hurt by the comment and it showed in his face. The others didn’t seem to notice.

‘I’m not trying to sign you up to anything,’ Karr said. ‘All I ask is that you see me there safely. After that we go our separate ways.’

Caldason shook his head.

‘You were going to Valdarr anyway, Reeth,’ Kutch intervened.

‘I didn’t say that.’

‘Why were you going?’ Karr ventured.

Caldason said nothing.

Kutch, feeling reckless after his reproach, dared to answer for him. ‘Reeth meant to seek out Covenant. Though I’m not sure he believes it exists.’

‘Covenant?’ Karr said. ‘It exists all right.’

‘See?’ Kutch reacted gleefully. ‘I

told

you so.’

‘What business do you have with them, Caldason?’ Karr wanted to know.

The Qalochian frowned darkly. ‘Personal business.’

‘Of course. That’s your prerogative. But if it’s magic that concerns you, and you won’t or can’t deal with officially sanctioned practitioners, there are none better than Covenant. Though it must be said that dealing with them has its dangers.’

‘Everything to do with magic has dangers.’

‘True. It’s part of the social glue in an unjust culture. It would be more fairly distributed under the new order I’d like to see.’

‘I’d do away with it altogether.’

Karr looked startled. ‘Really? And they call

me

a radical.’ He would have pursued the issue, but Caldason’s expression bode ill for further debate. Instead he declared, ‘I can put you in touch with Covenant. It would take my kind of contacts. You stand little chance unaided, believe me. So why not a trade? In exchange for leading you to Covenant, you’ll accompany me to Valdarr.’

‘And me!’ Kutch broke in. ‘I’ve got to have somewhere to go too. I can’t stay here.’

Karr seized on this. ‘For the boy’s sake, Caldason, if nothing else.’

The Qalochian looked from one to the other. At length, he said, ‘I’m a wanted man. That has implications for anybody travelling with me.’

‘I’m prepared to take that risk.’

‘Once we get to the city, Kutch would be on his own. I’d need an assurance he wouldn’t just be abandoned.’

‘I’ll see that he’s all right. You have my word on that.’

‘Let’s understand each other. If I get you both to Valdarr, my commitment ends and we part.’

‘So you’re saying yes?’

Caldason sighed. ‘I suppose I am. But don’t take it as meaning I support your cause or whatever this plan is you’re brewing. I’m doing it for the boy.’

Kutch beamed. ‘Great!’

‘Don’t get too excited, we’re not there yet.’

‘Thank you, Caldason,’ Karr said.

‘Save your thanks. You might end up regretting this. As I’ve said before…’ He eyed Kutch. ‘…people around me tend to die.’

‘Your enemies certainly seem to.’

That brought to the surface something Kutch had pushed from his mind. He rose to his feet. ‘Gods, Reeth, I forgot! Your

arm

!’

Karr joined the chorus. ‘Yes, your wound! We’re sitting here talking and -’

‘Easy.’ Caldason waved them back. ‘Don’t get into a panic on my account.’ With no particular urgency he rolled up first the sleeve of his jerkin, then the stained shirt sleeve beneath. His arm was caked with blood. He spat into his hand and began wiping the gore away. The exposed skin was unbroken. There was no wound. ‘I said it was nothing.’

Kutch gaped at the unblemished flesh. ‘But…’

‘Sometimes things look different in the heat of a fight,’ Caldason told him.

‘I could have sworn you took a blow,’ Karr said, puzzled.

‘A trick of the light maybe. It’s of no concern.’ He rolled down the sleeve. The action implied a finality, a closing of the subject.

Karr and the apprentice exchanged a look. Neither felt like arguing with him.

‘Now get yourselves ready,’ Caldason said. ‘We’re leaving.’