‘Are they ready to assume such responsibility?’
‘Most have had long experience of watching their masters in command.’
‘Assuming these promotions work, and you march out again, what will you do if Aurum once more chooses to fall back before you?’
‘I will pursue him.’
‘Even to the Gates of Osrakum?’
Osidian frowned.
‘Could you breach the Gates with your legion?’ Carnelian, who had seen them with his own eyes, knew how foolish such an attempt would be. Moreover it was clear to him that Osidian had not regained the confidence Legions had taken from him.
‘I believe you know, Osidian, that the only way you will enter Osrakum is if the Gates are opened for you from within.’
‘That will only happen if the political consensus among the Powers crumbles.’
‘Surely knowledge of your reappearance will widen the rift between the Wise and your mother: just as the part Aurum has played will divide her from the Great? And news of your edict of enfranchisement must cleave the Great from the Lesser Chosen and could not help but weaken confidence in any plan to muster the legions against you.’
Osidian shook his head. ‘The Wise control the means by which such news could reach Osrakum.’
‘Then send your treacherous commanders back to Osrakum with that news.’
‘The Wise have the means to stop them.’
Carnelian was taken aback. ‘Would they dare to have them killed?’
‘They would have no need to slay them, merely to delay them until the crisis has been resolved.’
Carnelian felt disappointed. He had been so certain he was following a thread out of this labyrinth. Then a way forward occurred to him. ‘But why would they wish to stop them?’
Osidian gazed at him, waiting for more.
‘Knowledge of your edict might very well serve the interests of the Wise…’
‘Go on.’
‘It would show the Great how you threaten the very foundations of their privilege…’
Carnelian could see his way clearly now. ‘The Wise cannot hope to keep news of what has been happening from Osrakum for ever. Since this is so, it behoves them to manage its revelation themselves. Why not allow the commanders through? Surely the Great will see you as the paramount threat? Is it not the primary function of the Great Balance to keep the Imperial Power from escaping Osrakum and assuming control of the legions? How could your mother explain your presence in the outer world? It would be in all their interests to join together to destroy you.’
Osidian frowned. ‘How would that help us?’
‘How long do you imagine such unity would last?’ Carnelian could not help a smile as Osidian began nodding. ‘All we have to do is remain beyond their reach as long as we can.’
‘And then what?’
Carnelian realized with surprise that at that moment, perhaps for the first time, he felt he and Osidian really were fighting for the same thing. Yet his confidence was already dimming. All the talk of grand politics had made him believe that they really might triumph. But on that issue Legions had spoken the clear truth. However fractured, the powers arrayed against them were unassailable. He tried coming at the problem from one direction after another, but always it was as if he were taking on a dragon with a spear.
‘I don’t know,’ he said at last. ‘We shall have to wait and see what opportunities arise. In the meantime you can weld our legion into a weapon that will be certain in your hand when we do choose to use it.’
Osidian gazed at him, clear-eyed, so that Carnelian felt he was seeing right through to his heart. ‘Very well. We shall do it your way. I shall return to our legion.’
‘I want to go with you.’
Osidian’s face tightened as if he was feeling some old wound. He glanced down and saw the homunculus. Carnelian realized they had both forgotten the little man was there.
‘What about Legions?’ Osidian said.
Carnelian felt the Grand Sapient was a burden he had borne too long alone. ‘Homunculus…’
‘Seraph?’ the little man said.
‘Can the Grand Sapient be lodged in a watch-tower?’
‘All the watch-towers of the Guarded Land are fully equipped with facilities designed to accommodate my masters.’
It was as Carnelian had guessed. Even sleeping in his capsule Legions must have needed to find accommodation on his journey from Osrakum.
Osidian was nodding. ‘It would make sense to abandon this place.’
Carnelian felt a surge of relief.
‘You can set off in the morning. Meanwhile, I will return to the watch-tower and make sure it is ready to receive them. The Lesser Chosen traitors will begin their journey to Osrakum tomorrow.’
Osidian lifted his mask up to his face, then let it drop again. ‘I will send you more Marula as an escort.’
Carnelian nodded. Then, after they had both remasked, he watched Osidian fade into the shadows.
TOWER SUN-NINETY-THREE
Hunger does not make bread bake faster.
Slack – mouthed, staring, the marula crept across the marble floor of Aurum’s chamber looking around them like children in a sorcerous cave. Among them, Sthax had become just another warrior the moment Morunasa had appeared. The Oracle glanced at the clocks as if he had seen such mechanical organisms every day of his life, but he jumped with the others when they saw themselves reflected in Aurum’s mirrors. It took the Marula only a moment to realize they were seeing themselves, but that was enough time for their fists to tighten on their lances. For all their beauty, in that Chosen setting, in their leather armour they did look crude barbarians.
He had them wait while he and the homunculus descended into the vault. The capsules were there, pale in the gloom. Earlier, while the homunculus had helped him into his commander’s leathers, they had discussed how his masters were to be moved. Carnelian set down his light and looked at him. ‘Let us prepare the capsules for transport.’
The homunculus gave a nod and they broke open the lid of Legions’ capsule. The Grand Sapient lay inside like a corpse. They administered the elixir through his mummified lips. The last thing they wanted was for him to wake in transit. They checked his restraining straps then repeated the procedure with the other Sapients. When they were ready, the homunculus resealed the lids, even as Carnelian returned to the chamber above and brought Morunasa and the Marula down with him into the vault. They stared at the capsules with unconcealed horror.
‘Corpses?’ Morunasa asked.
‘In a way,’ Carnelian answered. ‘We’re taking them to the Master’s watch-tower.’
Gazing at the capsules, Morunasa nodded. The homunculus located poles that Carnelian helped him slide into the carrying handles of Legions’ capsule. Carnelian was aware of the Marula watching him as if he were preparing for them a poisoned meal. He was careful to ignore Sthax.
The homunculus checked the poles were secure, then announced: ‘The capsule is ready, Seraph.’
Carnelian relayed this to Morunasa, who issued a command in his own tongue. When the Marula hesitated, Morunasa barked at them. Soon they had managed to slide the capsule horizontal, then, bending to the carrying poles, four on each side, they raised it into the air. As they began to climb the steps with it, the capsule started to tilt. Carnelian cried out in alarm.
The homunculus touched his arm. ‘My masters are as safe as butterflies in their chrysalises, Seraph.’
More like pupating maggots, thought Carnelian as he followed the capsule up the stair.
They crossed the fortress like a funerary procession. When they reached the watch-tower at the outer gate the homunculus showed them strange, wheeled carriages stowed in its stables. They dragged these up onto the leftway with their aquar. From that vantage point, Carnelian became mesmerized by the market teeming below. After having been confined for so long in the Legate’s tower it was a joy to see so much ordinary life. He raised his eyes to the horizon. Beyond the dun chaos of the earthbrick hovels of the city lay the rusty vastness of the land.