Circles, Chapter 1.7

My life sort of imploded again the past two days. Sorry for those reading Circles or waiting on Murder by the Acre. Trust me, I'd rather been writing on them than what I was doing. Sewer troubles, stomach troubles, money troubles, depression, etc. The usual Black Dog Gang. There were good things, too. A couple of nice lunches. Sold three greeting cards. Managed to get a few things done around the house. And sewer is fixed, and stomach is settling down. So ... back to the grind. Oh, here's my participant badge for Camp NaNoWriMo. 

Without further ado, here's Chapter 1.7, where we learn more about Emperor Tanalos.

Circles

Chapter 1.7

Maze of Madness

His Majesty Tanalos III -- Emperor of the Seven Honored Lands, His Royal Highness of the Undaunted Freed Lands of Stemtis, King of Glorious Nola Farnatho, Protector of the Overson Territories and Principalities of the Blackened Throne, Governor of Serene Nola Scrone, High Lord of the Glori and Thorn Converges, Exalted Chief of the Endless Plains, Over-Knight of the Order of Fire, Arch Priest of the Church of Sandtros, Duke of Sorin, Grand Master of the Merchant Guilds, High General of Armies, Chief Admiral of the Navies, Sky Commander of the Imperial Arial Warriors, Source Lord of Beatifically Waters, and Defender of the Faiths -- looked around the table of his advisors and wished he was dead.

Or if the gods wouldn't grant that -- and he would rather they didn't -- he wished terrible death upon his advisors, particularly the First Concubine and General Abetis. High Mage Granite could die along with them. The rest of them could be exiled. Except for good old Arch Priest Severn who seemed the only advisor appalled by the latest atrocities committed in the Emperor's name but executed by the Councilors.

As if catching his thoughts, Allanna glanced his way. He dropped his gaze and continued to play with his game, a ball and cup. The cup, of course, was carved of crystal, and the ball of rare blood wood. He had become proficient with it over the years, once going 300 times without missing one. Immediately, Allanna called a Court Celebration of his accomplishment. And because of the role forced upon him, he had to pretend to be pleased and excited as did the courtiers, although he knew they held only contempt for their imbecilic emperor.

Except he wasn't an imbecile. He should have been one. From the time his great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather Maxicus the First took the Blackened Throne, his family married only those deemed noble enough. Maxicus the First married his second cousin. Their son Maxicus the Second married his first cousin. Their son Tanalos the First married his half sister. Their son Tanalos the Second married his niece. Their daughter Queen Tanaicus married her brother. And so on. With each generation, more undesirable traits arose. Naturally the Councilors said that royal blood was not subject to the laws of trait inheritance. In a way, Tanalos thought, his family had been the subject of an extensive breeding program to produce a line of easily controlled idiots.

But trait inheritance didn't follow the dictates of the Council. From what Tanalos had read in the rarely used Imperial Library, he was a throwback. A fluke. Although no one would call him a genius, he easily held the highest intelligence of his line for several generations. He also had regained an ability no one besides him and his poor father knew he held. If Allanna or Abetis ever found, he would die of a mysterious aliment soon after, one of his many idiotic sons would take the throne, and the Council would continue to rule.

Since childhood, he and his father had planned to change that. And after his father's death, he had continued on. Carefully he had gathered allies. Lais, the Third Concubine, stood with him, mostly because she desired the status of First Concubine. Hashan, his wife and second cousin, also supported him. He could count on Archpriest Severn and perhaps Admiral Melleon who hated Abetis. The Emperor's Guard would stand for him. Unfortunately, it had taken him seven years to gather this meager amount of allies. They weren't enough. He wasn't enough. And there wasn't not enough time for him to change this mad course the Council had embarked on.

Allanna had turned her eyes away from him. He focused once again on Councilors' discussion.

"All the Southern Circles have signed a loyalty pledge," Mage Granite said. "And most of the Western. Of course, we expect the Eastern to do so. Only Gritgarth might be a problem."

"I have two airships on route to Gritgarth," Abetis said.

"What of Mongarth?" Allanna said.

Granite smiled coldly.

Tanalos shivered.

"Unfortunately, Argent didn't sign the pledge," Granite said. "We were forced -- regrettably -- to act with extreme prudence toward Mongarth. The battle is going on now, but I expect a favorable report soon."

"Was the pledge even offered to him?" Severn asked, his face severe with anger.

Allanna slowly turned her head to look at the old man. The priest met her gaze firmly, impressing Tanalos. He couldn't do that. Not even when he had to do his yearly duty. He always made certain the servants extinguished all the lamps and closed the drapes before he joined her in the Imperial bed and touched her icy body. He couldn't repress a shudder thinking about it now.

"The records will show he was offered and refused," Granite said. "The loss of life is upon his head."

"See to it that the Criers know of his refusal," Alanna said. "We do not want to be charged with his crimes."

"What of the Aspirants?" Severn asked.

"Naturally, our troops will do everything they can to protect the students," Abetis said smoothly. "Battles are unfortunately beyond the control of anyone. The early dispatches say the majority of the students chose to stand with Argent. May the gods give them wisdom to submit to the proper rule of law before any of them are harmed."

Melleon snorted, but said nothing. The only Circle that his ships could reach sat on the Island of Lone, and for now, the Council had decided to not risk a conflict with a Circle that could easily shut down shipping through the Three Arms of Dovus if provoked.

"I still don't understand why this action was taken," said Councilor Cyran of Nola Scrone. Tanalos would have approached Cyran, but the man approached every problem with the finesse of a hammer.

Most of the nineteen Councilors sighed, but a couple looked as if they supported Cyran. Tanalos noted their faces and names.

"We've already discussed this exhaustedly," Allanna said, her voice sharp. "The Circles were not promoting loyalty to the Empire and the Emperor. The other schools teach obedience and citizenship, but the Circles were refusing to do so. Many were contemplating open rebellion, perhaps in league with the Blood Horde."

"Not all the Circles," Granite broke in, looking sharply at Allanna. "Only a handful of Mages who have grown too powerful and arrogant. Idiagarth, my Circle, has always served the Empire with unswerving loyalty."

"Of course," Allanna muttered. "Of course. If only the other Circles were so wise."

"Hear, hear!" one of the other Councilors, a toady of Granite named Ferus.

"I still don't understand why we didn't hear of this so-called rebellion by the Circles until a month ago," Cyran said. "This seems to be a failure of our intelligence division!"

Melleon bristled on that. "There had been nothing to find until then. The Circles had been very careful--"

"Or perhaps your spies weren't diligent enough," Cyran cut in.

The Council dissolved into bitter shouting as it often did.

Tanalos continued to play with the cup and ball, but he noted Allanna's face. As the discord grew, she smiled slyly. For some reason, the First Concubine was pleased by the fighting. He wondered why.

He also wondered why she and Abetis had attacked the Circles. The trumped-up charges had been quickly brought into the Council and acted upon with just as much haste. He knew Abetis hated Mages -- the general delighted at any chance to strike at them -- but what did Alanna have planned? And why was Granite helping them, particularly since he and Abetis had always been enemies until this?

He couldn't shake the feeling that the Empire was in terrible peril. And he, its supposed protector, could do nothing to save it.

Copyright 2011 by Stephen B. Bagley. All rights reserved. No copying without prior express written permission. Thank you for reading.

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