The Road to Hell - eARC Read Free Page B

hiatus until the issue of Andrin’s marriage was resolved, the Conclave had agreed virtually unanimously that the elections must move forward on the assumption there would be an Empire of Sharona for the winners to govern. Even Chava had agreed to that, given the news from Fort Salby.
    “I’ve assumed that if you thought it was important for me to know why you were doing it, you would’ve told me, Your Majesty.” Taje shrugged ever so slightly. “That’s not to say I haven’t wondered about it, of course. I’ve never known you to invest as much effort in support of someone’s ‘political future’—or to be as discreet about doing it—without having a very good reason for doing so.”
    “Oh, yes. You could certainly say that,” Zindel said softly. “Sit back down, Shamir.”
    The first councilor obeyed, but Zindel didn’t find a chair of his own. Instead, he clasped his hands behind him and began pacing slowly and steadily back and forth across the rectangular chamber’s shorter dimension.
    “I’m sure someone as astute as you has to recognize how valuable someone like Kinlafia could be to us,” he said. “The Voice who relayed Shaylar Nargra-Kolmayr’s final transmission. The man who warned all of us that we were at war with another universe…and the man whose pain and grief and anger spilled over onto everyone with enough Talent to See that transmission. It’s hard to imagine anyone more intensely identified with this entire crisis by the public—unless it was Shaylar herself! That kind of recognition and stature would provide an instant, incredibly strong political base, and there are enough political operatives to grasp that. Janaki”—the emperor’s voice wavered, but he went on firmly—“certainly grasped it, just as he understood someone would try to make use of Kinlafia, whatever Kinlafia himself wanted. And, as Janaki pointed out, it would be far wiser to attach Kinlafia to our interests than to find ourselves in a position in which someone tried to use him against us.”
    He paused, looking down at the first councilor, and Taje nodded.
    “I hadn’t realized Prince Janaki had directly suggested supporting the Voice, but his potential to assist us—or someone else—was certainly obvious. Yet I have to admit I haven’t quite been able to convince myself that’s the only reason you’ve been quietly opening so many doors for the young man.” He smiled faintly. “Nor do I think young Kinlafia truly realizes just how many doors you have been opening, Your Majesty.”
    “I think he might surprise you,” Zindel said dryly. “He’s surprised me more than once, and it would be a mistake to underestimate him. He’d never considered a career in politics before those godsdamned Arcanans blew his life apart with the rest of his survey crew, but there’s nothing at all wrong with that man’s brain. And whether he realizes it or not, he has excellent political instincts.” The emperor resumed his pacing. “In fact, those instincts of his are good enough to have made launching and supporting his political career worthwhile all by themselves.”
    “Obviously, however, Your Majesty, they aren’t ‘by themselves,’ are they?”
    “No. No, they aren’t.”
    Zindel inhaled again, deeply, a man obviously marshaling his thoughts.
    “Janaki had a Glimpse, Shamir,” he said finally. “One that concerned Kinlafia…and Andrin.”
    It was Taje’s turn to inhale this time, not so much in surprise as at the confirmation of something he’d suspected—even feared—from the beginning. The hallmark Talent, mightiest weapon, and greatest curse of the House of Calirath, were the Glimpses which came to its members. Visions of the future, fragmentary bits and pieces of things to come. Those Glimpses had allowed Calirath emperors and empresses to change the course of history more than once throughout the centuries of the Empire of Ternathia…and more than one of those emperors and empresses had