Ghost in the Hunt by Jonathan Moeller Page B

said Claudia.
    “Yes to what?” said Caina.
    “All of it. I suspect most of the rumors you have heard are true,” said Claudia. “Things are…not well within the Empire. When the Umbarians declared themselves openly, most of the magi in the east joined them at once. You hate the magi, I know, but…I suspect the Umbarians actually deserve your hate. They have found a way to use pyromancy without having it devour their sanity, which makes their battle magi fearsomely effective. They use necromancy extensively, and have raised hordes of undead to use as armies. I have seen them use oneiromancy to shatter the minds of their foes, and they can summon and bind elemental spirits.” She shook her head, taking a deep breath as the dark memories washed over her. “The first few months after the golden dead were…bad, very bad. Rasadda fell, and then Arzaxia. The Empire has no ports left on the Alqaarin Sea. The Vytaagi provinces have been overrun, and Artifel has been attacked three times. The first time…we feared the city would fall, that the Umbarians and their troops would sweep through the Disali provinces and then attack Malarae itself.”
    “What stopped them?” said Caina.
    “The Umbarians are stronger sorcerers,” said Claudia, “but most of the Legions remained loyal to the Emperor. The Umbarians have Kagari horsemen and Ulkaari footmen. Doughty soldiers, but no match for the Legions. The most powerful magi are Umbarian, but more magi remained loyal to the Magisterium and the Empire. The loyalists can cooperate and aid the Legions, and the Umbarians have not been able to move further west than Artifel. So the war is presently a stalemate.”
    “What of your father?” said Caina. “Was Decius Aberon one of the Umbarians?”
    Claudia laughed without humor. 
    “What?” said Caina.
    “My esteemed father,” said Claudia, “had no idea that the Umbarian Order existed at all. None. When the Umbarians began their rebellion, my father tried to join them. He assumed he was their natural leader, and that the Order would naturally rally to his enlightened vision for the Empire.”
    “They tried to kill him, didn’t they?” said Caina.
    “Several times,” said Claudia. “They wanted him out of the way.” She felt a grim smile on her face. “So my father and his closet allies scurried to Malarae to ally themselves with the Emperor. My father is still the First Magus of the Magisterium, but since many of the high magi blame him for the Umbarians, he might have a fatal accident at some point.” 
    That did not trouble Claudia in the slightest. Once she had admired and revered her father, had hoped to use her sorcery for the good of the Empire in imitation of him. But then she had learned what kind of man Decius Aberon really was, had learned of his cruelties. She had learned how he had taken Corvalis and twisted him into an assassin, a weapon to use against the enemies of the Magisterium. She had fled from her father after that, and in repayment Decius Aberon had ordered Ranarius to turn her to stone. 
    Claudia looked at Caina, her anger flaring anew.
    “If the Empire wins the war,” said Caina, “I suspect Decius Aberon will have a long list of people upon whom he desires vengeance.”
    “I would be one of them,” said Claudia. “So would Corvalis. But you already took care of that for him, didn’t you?” 
    Caina flinched. It was barely noticeable, and few people would have seen it. But Claudia was looking right at her, and she saw the flicker go over Caina’s face.
    “The Moroaica killed him,” said Caina.
    “He followed you into the netherworld,” said Claudia. Her temper was starting to slip, but she did not care. “He followed you, and you’re the only one who came out again. He trusted you. He died for it.”
    Caina opened her mouth, closed it again.
    “You’re right,” Caina said. Claudia would have expected anger or defiance. Not the tired sadness. 
    For some reason that made