Another nod and an encouraging gesture.
“You’re perhaps wondering what to do after that, my Lord?”
Velutio smiled. “I will be sixty years old this winter. My life has been a constant struggle to improve and control; to bring things to better order. People may hate my methods and praise the heroic and short-sighted general Caerdin, but they also forget that it was Quintus’ dynasty that brought chaos and terror to the Empire and Caerdin and his loyal few that destroyed all we had of order and control. Between Caerdin and the Emperor they plunged the world into chaos because of their need to do the right thing. I have been called cruel, a tyrant, a murderer, unjust… many things, but I have taken a world gone to seed and brought order and control to it once more. There are no bandits in the Central Provinces now; no Pirates on the Nymphean Sea. The system of tax and tithe works again. You see I am rebuilding the Empire they destroyed.”
Sabian blinked. He’d never heard Velutio talk like this. Moreover he’d never looked at it from that particular point of view and the idea was seductive. It was true indeed that the lot of many people and places had improved.
“I can see your point, but I’m not sure where it’s leading…”
Velutio smiled again. He was smiling more often than usual and the effect was rather disconcerting.
“Commander, I intend to be Emperor within the year. I see no reason why not. All Imperial dynasties have to begin somewhere, and it’s time the Empire was whole again.”
Sabian nodded; a sentiment with which he wholeheartedly agreed.
“There is one problem though,” Velutio went on. “I am old. I shall be sixty before we can safely declare a new regime. I have no family and therefore no dynasty.”
Sabian shifted uncomfortably. This was a conversation he wasn’t sure he wanted to be involved in. “In the old days, my Lord, some of the Emperors adopted their heirs with a fair level of success. Dynasties are not necessarily the most secure way to control an Empire.”
Velutio nodded. “That is my thought too. The problem then remains when and who do I adopt? It needs to be before any Imperial control is declared. An individual Emperor with no heir apparent is an easy target for assassination among the greedy. If there is someone to inherit instantly the temptation is greatly decreased. But who?”
Sabian swallowed. “Why are you asking me these things? You have political advisors to deal with questions like this. I’m a military man.”
He was answered with a smile. “That’s exactly why it’s you and not them I must ask. I believe that as a career military man you have no intentions toward political power yourself. You’re also a sensible and honourable man. As such, who else should I trust the judgement of?” Without waiting for an answer, Velutio went on. “I cannot adopt Quintillian. That is plainly obvious. There must be a clean and complete break with the past.”
Sabian leaned forward and cradled his hands. “By ‘complete break’, do I assume you mean the removal of all those connected with the last dynasty?”
“Yes.”
Sabian sighed. This was something he’d seen coming for a long time and dreaded. “So no one from the island will survive your succession my lord?”
Velutio nodded. “It has to be so. As long as they remain they are a reminder of a past regime and can be used in plots and coups against anything we do. It is not enough then to imprison or exile them. We must start with a clean sheet.”
Sabian frowned. “We?”
“Of course ‘we’. I shall need a commander for the Imperial army. As such, you will be one of the closest advisors I can have. You’ve been instrumental in bringing us to this stage and it shall be greatly your doing when we achieve our goal.”
Velutio gazed out of the window. “There can only be one heir as far as I can see. Only one real candidate.”
Sabian sat straight again. “This is why you’ve made sure no harm comes to Darius?” The commander slapped his forehead in irritation. “Of course! You’ve been planning this for twenty years. That’s the only reason you kept them all on the island this long isn’t it?”
Velutio nodded. “Indeed. I needed Darius trained by the best people in every aspect of Imperial life. On Isera he’s been tutored in the military arts, numerous fine arts, but also in politics, economics, geography, history, trade… everything a boy could need to take control of an Empire. He’s probably been better trained than any Imperial heir in history.” He smiled, and the effect made Sabian shudder. “But now things are almost ready. I have the monopoly and the world is bowing to me. When we have the last lords beneath us, I can bring Darius back from Isera and his education will be complete. At that point the rest of the island become dispensable and Isera can revert back to its palatial status.”
Sabian tried his best not to let his feelings show in his face. Darius would make a good candidate for Emperor, but there were so many problems his lordship hadn’t accounted for. Darius carried the blood of both the parties Velutio was planning to wipe out and he couldn’t surely believe that Darius would accept the adoption at the cost of the deaths of everyone he knew. The goal of a new Empire was sensible and reasonable and Velutio was the only man who stood a chance of actually doing this, but his methods spoke of paranoia. So many deaths of innocent and useful people were entirely unnecessary. Of course, there was no way to tell his lordship all this. Instead he forced a smile.
“What of all those across the Empire with leanings toward the old Imperialism?”
Velutio nodded. “Most of those are soldiers; mercenaries even. Mercenaries will become unnecessary once we have a united Empire again with one army. Mercenary units will be outlawed and those who do not resist can be split up and shuffled into our army. Those who do will have to be removed. In any case, the majority of the people of whom you speak are middle aged at least. By the time I have passed on and Darius is in control, there will be few alive who can remember the old dynasty.”
His lordship smiled. “I do not really care whether I am remembered fondly or with bitterness, but I will be remembered as the man who rebuilt the Empire.”
Sabian shuffled again. His discomfort was increasing with every sentence.
“I’m still not sure why you’re telling me all this right now, my lord.”
“Because,” Velutio replied, “you will be my instrument in much of this and I need you to be primed for everything as it comes to pass and to think in advance of any stumbling blocks for which I have not already accounted.”
Sabian leaned back again. “There’s a lot to think on.”
“Yes. Perhaps you’d best go and think on it. I want to meet again in a few days and go over anything you can come up with. I intend to be fully prepared for every eventuality.”
Sabian nodded and stood. With a salute, he turned and left the room. As he trod the corridors of the palace on his way back down his mind reeled. There really was a lot to think on and very little of it was good. One thing was certain: he couldn’t let Velutio execute so many innocent people out of simple paranoia. That was never a good way to start a new regime. It would be as likely to make him enemies as to remove them.
Leaving the palace proper, he walked out into the Imperial gardens. His men patrolled the low wall at the edge in pairs and he strolled out among them, returning their salutes and he passed flowerbeds and the few large old trees that dotted the lawns. Reaching the wall, he stood on the gravel path, with his arms folded and his elbows leaning on the stonework, gazing out over the sea. Across the bay, with the constant white froth of waves breaking on the reefs, he could see Isera like an emerald set in a sapphire sea. How could he let so many people die for nothing, so that the island they had worked to turn into a home could be used by a new dynasty of Emperors responsible for their death?