Traveller.’
‘You mean they’re not from the Aspect of the Noble Warrior? I thought this was their temple.’
I didn’t add that the arch-priest I had met was the head of the Aspect of the Emperor’s Discerning Hand. There would be time enough for that later, in more private circumstances. I was very curious that the arch-priest had said I could tell Haddad, and I wanted to know what he thought about it, for I felt he was the one person I could trust, based on what he had already done to keep me alive.
Also, like all Masters of Assassins, he had been directly assigned to me by the Imperial Mind, which meant by the Emperor Hierself, so surely he was completely trustworthy? Though I was a bit confused about that now that I was connected to the Imperial Mind myself. Was it actually the Emperor talking to me when the Imperial Mind spoke in my head? It didn’t feel like an individual, like when a priest was mentally communicating with me. In some ways it was almost like hearing myself think.
‘There are always priests of other Aspects in any temple,’ explained Haddad. ‘However, each temple is consecrated to a particular Aspect and managed by priests of that Aspect.’
‘So I’ve got a dozen Inward Traveller priests. They’re Psitek specialists, right? Navy communication and control? That kind of makes sense.’
‘It leaves your household very weak in Bitek and Mektek, Highness,’ said Haddad. ‘Though perhaps this weakness is counterbalanced by a strong and highly redundant connection to the Imperial Mind. In any case, as soon as Your Highness has been assigned quarters, you will meet your priests. In time I hope we will be assigned more, from other Aspects, and I will also be able to recruit apprentices from the nearest Temple of the Aspect of the Shadowed Blade.’
‘Good,’ I muttered. ‘Uh, how do I get more priests? And how many am I allowed to have, like in total?’
‘The basic allotment is, as we have discussed, somewhat random,’ replied Haddad. ‘More can be granted to you by your superiors in whatever service you join, in this case the Navy, for particular tasks; or by the Imperial Mind, as rewards and acknowledgements of particular services. Certain Imperial honours also come with assignments of priests or other additions to your household. It is worth noting that priests can also be taken away by the same process. As for apprentice assassins, the number depends upon the rank of the Master.’
‘How many apprentices can you have?’ I asked.
‘Between four and forty-eight apprentices, graduated in fours, Highness,’ answered Haddad.
‘So how many can you have?’ I repeated.
Haddad hesitated, which was interesting. I thought a Master of Assassins had to answer their Prince’s questions without hesitation. And also act on their orders without delay.
‘Thirty-six, Highness,’ he said, very softly so the priest on the bridge couldn’t hear. ‘But it would be best to keep that to yourself.’
So Haddad was a very senior Master of Assassins indeed. Why had he been assigned to me? And why had I been sponsored to join the Imperial Mind by an arch-priest, the head of an Aspect I’d never even heard about, read about, or suspected existed?
It was all very puzzling, and slowly—much more slowly than I should have—I was beginning to realise that I needed to know a lot more about what being a Prince of the Empire actually meant. In fact, I needed to know a lot more about the Empire.
The naïveté of my youth and the arrogance that had been built up in the process of making me a Prince had combined to make an impressive barrier of ignorance. But that barrier now had the slightest crack in it. At least now I knew that I might not be the best thing the galaxy had ever had the fortune to see, and that I was about as uninformed as a cockroach. Hopefully, despite this lack of information, I would prove to be as impossible to eradicate as those dull, black-carapaced beetles that had
‘You mean they’re not from the Aspect of the Noble Warrior? I thought this was their temple.’
I didn’t add that the arch-priest I had met was the head of the Aspect of the Emperor’s Discerning Hand. There would be time enough for that later, in more private circumstances. I was very curious that the arch-priest had said I could tell Haddad, and I wanted to know what he thought about it, for I felt he was the one person I could trust, based on what he had already done to keep me alive.
Also, like all Masters of Assassins, he had been directly assigned to me by the Imperial Mind, which meant by the Emperor Hierself, so surely he was completely trustworthy? Though I was a bit confused about that now that I was connected to the Imperial Mind myself. Was it actually the Emperor talking to me when the Imperial Mind spoke in my head? It didn’t feel like an individual, like when a priest was mentally communicating with me. In some ways it was almost like hearing myself think.
‘There are always priests of other Aspects in any temple,’ explained Haddad. ‘However, each temple is consecrated to a particular Aspect and managed by priests of that Aspect.’
‘So I’ve got a dozen Inward Traveller priests. They’re Psitek specialists, right? Navy communication and control? That kind of makes sense.’
‘It leaves your household very weak in Bitek and Mektek, Highness,’ said Haddad. ‘Though perhaps this weakness is counterbalanced by a strong and highly redundant connection to the Imperial Mind. In any case, as soon as Your Highness has been assigned quarters, you will meet your priests. In time I hope we will be assigned more, from other Aspects, and I will also be able to recruit apprentices from the nearest Temple of the Aspect of the Shadowed Blade.’
‘Good,’ I muttered. ‘Uh, how do I get more priests? And how many am I allowed to have, like in total?’
‘The basic allotment is, as we have discussed, somewhat random,’ replied Haddad. ‘More can be granted to you by your superiors in whatever service you join, in this case the Navy, for particular tasks; or by the Imperial Mind, as rewards and acknowledgements of particular services. Certain Imperial honours also come with assignments of priests or other additions to your household. It is worth noting that priests can also be taken away by the same process. As for apprentice assassins, the number depends upon the rank of the Master.’
‘How many apprentices can you have?’ I asked.
‘Between four and forty-eight apprentices, graduated in fours, Highness,’ answered Haddad.
‘So how many can you have?’ I repeated.
Haddad hesitated, which was interesting. I thought a Master of Assassins had to answer their Prince’s questions without hesitation. And also act on their orders without delay.
‘Thirty-six, Highness,’ he said, very softly so the priest on the bridge couldn’t hear. ‘But it would be best to keep that to yourself.’
So Haddad was a very senior Master of Assassins indeed. Why had he been assigned to me? And why had I been sponsored to join the Imperial Mind by an arch-priest, the head of an Aspect I’d never even heard about, read about, or suspected existed?
It was all very puzzling, and slowly—much more slowly than I should have—I was beginning to realise that I needed to know a lot more about what being a Prince of the Empire actually meant. In fact, I needed to know a lot more about the Empire.
The naïveté of my youth and the arrogance that had been built up in the process of making me a Prince had combined to make an impressive barrier of ignorance. But that barrier now had the slightest crack in it. At least now I knew that I might not be the best thing the galaxy had ever had the fortune to see, and that I was about as uninformed as a cockroach. Hopefully, despite this lack of information, I would prove to be as impossible to eradicate as those dull, black-carapaced beetles that had
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