sound like weather to you? It might as well be, for all the sense it makes to me. They want my head , Arian. They and half the leading families in Alizar. That is what they’ve come here to ‘strategize.’ On behalf of your unhappy father and his bankers. I am certain of it.”
Arian swallowed her impatience. At such times, her husband needed propping up, not dressing down. “Viktor, any Factor would feel as you do in times like these. But none of what’s happening out there is your fault. Everyone knows that. I married you because I trust and believe in you. My father let me do it because he trusts and respects you too — as do these trade representatives. Trust me in this. I grew up among them. They are greedy savages sometimes, but they are not fools. Seeing you deposed would only double Alizar’s unrest and further undermine the very productivity and commerce they want bolstered, not to mention end the considerable trade benefits my family has enjoyed here since we married. What possible gain could any of that bring them?”
“Perhaps they’ve made some better arrangement with another family.” He leaned toward her conspiratorially. “Orlon has had several cannons made this year. Hivat did tell me that much. And Gentia Suba-Tien seems to be burning through a rather astonishing amount of her husband’s money suddenly, for someone without greater prospects than any Hivat or I are aware of.”
“ Viktor .” She gave him the look, perfected over many years: one-third pleading, one-third maternal fierceness, and one-third puppy love. Her masterpiece.
He glanced away, then looked down to fiddle with the embroidered lapels of his brocade robe before raising his hands in apology. “This is all that damned corpse’s fault. And the Mishrah-Khote’s. Don’t tell me I am wrong in this as well.”
“The Mishrah-Khote is even less fond of the Butchered God’s cult than we are, husband. You know that.”
“But it didn’t hurt them any to have a god wash up on our doorstep, did it? These priests never cease craving their old prominence, and whatever that great slab of meat really was, it plays far better in support of their claim to authority than it does to mine. There is nothing to prevent them from denouncing this new cult, while stirring the ignorant masses under their sway against the discredited secular authority I wield too. How am I to compete with a tangible god? Even a dead one.” He looked bleakly at the ceiling, as if petitioning some divinity himself. “You were right, though. I should never have insisted it was some kind of sea monster. That … was just desperate stupidity.”
Arian composed her elaborately painted face in sympathy and remained silent, having long ago learned that feeding his shame only damaged her tenuous power to steer him. Her husband was as good-hearted and honest a Factor as Alizar had known in many generations. But he was not a man well made to rule. Perhaps the two qualities were incompatible. She had often wondered since coming here from Copper Downs to be his bride.
Her husband looked away. “Do you think it was a god? Could the gods be coming back to Alizar too, now … from … wherever they have been all these ages?”
She gave him a smile designed to reassure. “If there are gods in Alizar, I know less of them than you do, love. But whatever that giant was, we are fortunate that it was dead.” She shrugged. “Its appearance has been followed by no further miracle of any kind, has it? Let it go, love. We’ve more pressing questions to address tonight.”
“But, what if —”
“Listen to me now,” she interjected. “These men tomorrow will want nothing from you but some marginally credible report for their superiors, who, in turn, want nothing but some vaguely plausible justification to leave everything just as it is. Any serious effort to fix things would be an egregious affront to my country’s chronically over-extended bureaucracy. Just tell the
Arian swallowed her impatience. At such times, her husband needed propping up, not dressing down. “Viktor, any Factor would feel as you do in times like these. But none of what’s happening out there is your fault. Everyone knows that. I married you because I trust and believe in you. My father let me do it because he trusts and respects you too — as do these trade representatives. Trust me in this. I grew up among them. They are greedy savages sometimes, but they are not fools. Seeing you deposed would only double Alizar’s unrest and further undermine the very productivity and commerce they want bolstered, not to mention end the considerable trade benefits my family has enjoyed here since we married. What possible gain could any of that bring them?”
“Perhaps they’ve made some better arrangement with another family.” He leaned toward her conspiratorially. “Orlon has had several cannons made this year. Hivat did tell me that much. And Gentia Suba-Tien seems to be burning through a rather astonishing amount of her husband’s money suddenly, for someone without greater prospects than any Hivat or I are aware of.”
“ Viktor .” She gave him the look, perfected over many years: one-third pleading, one-third maternal fierceness, and one-third puppy love. Her masterpiece.
He glanced away, then looked down to fiddle with the embroidered lapels of his brocade robe before raising his hands in apology. “This is all that damned corpse’s fault. And the Mishrah-Khote’s. Don’t tell me I am wrong in this as well.”
“The Mishrah-Khote is even less fond of the Butchered God’s cult than we are, husband. You know that.”
“But it didn’t hurt them any to have a god wash up on our doorstep, did it? These priests never cease craving their old prominence, and whatever that great slab of meat really was, it plays far better in support of their claim to authority than it does to mine. There is nothing to prevent them from denouncing this new cult, while stirring the ignorant masses under their sway against the discredited secular authority I wield too. How am I to compete with a tangible god? Even a dead one.” He looked bleakly at the ceiling, as if petitioning some divinity himself. “You were right, though. I should never have insisted it was some kind of sea monster. That … was just desperate stupidity.”
Arian composed her elaborately painted face in sympathy and remained silent, having long ago learned that feeding his shame only damaged her tenuous power to steer him. Her husband was as good-hearted and honest a Factor as Alizar had known in many generations. But he was not a man well made to rule. Perhaps the two qualities were incompatible. She had often wondered since coming here from Copper Downs to be his bride.
Her husband looked away. “Do you think it was a god? Could the gods be coming back to Alizar too, now … from … wherever they have been all these ages?”
She gave him a smile designed to reassure. “If there are gods in Alizar, I know less of them than you do, love. But whatever that giant was, we are fortunate that it was dead.” She shrugged. “Its appearance has been followed by no further miracle of any kind, has it? Let it go, love. We’ve more pressing questions to address tonight.”
“But, what if —”
“Listen to me now,” she interjected. “These men tomorrow will want nothing from you but some marginally credible report for their superiors, who, in turn, want nothing but some vaguely plausible justification to leave everything just as it is. Any serious effort to fix things would be an egregious affront to my country’s chronically over-extended bureaucracy. Just tell the
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