In the Heart of Darkness by Eric Flint & David Drake

Sanga did not have time to ponder the significance of the fact, however. Lord Tathagata, again, could not restrain his outrage.

“Your Majesty—Great Lady Holi—I must insist that this Rajput be punished. Severely. What is at stake here is nothing less than the most essential military discipline. This—this—this dog disobeyed my express—”

Great Lady Holi’s tone of voice was as vacant as her eyes. But the words themselves were like a knife. Cold, thin, sharp.

“What is at stake here, Tathagata, is the incompetence of our military command. Every word you speak illustrates it further.”

Tathagata gasped. Sanga, watching, realized the man was utterly terrified. The Rajput kinglet transferred his gaze back to the Great Lady. His face bore no expression, but his mind was a solid frown of puzzlement. He could see nothing in that elderly female figure to cause such pure fear. Except, possibly, those eyes.

Is she a power behind the throne? he wondered. I’ve heard tales—witchcraft, sorcery—but I never took them seriously.

The Emperor spoke now, to Tathagata. Like a cobra might speak to its prey. A short, pudgy, unprepossessing cobra. But a cobra for all that.

“We have just discovered—only this morning—that Rana Sanga attempted to warn us once before that Belisarius was deceiving us. But you silenced him then, just as you are trying to silence him now.”

“That’s a lie!” exclaimed Tathagata.

“It is not a lie,” spoke a voice from the rear.

Sanga turned. Lord Damodara was seated in a far corner of the room. The Rajput had been so ­preoccupied when he entered the imperial chamber that he had not spotted him.

Damodara rose and advanced into the center of the room.

“It is not a lie,” he repeated. “At the Emperor’s council at Ranapur, when Rana Sanga gave his opinion on Belisarius’ actions, he attempted to speak further. To warn us that the Roman was planning treachery. You silenced him.”

“Yes, you did,” growled the Emperor. “I remember it quite clearly. Do you call me a liar?”

Tathagata shook his head feverishly. “Of course not, Your Majesty! Of course not! But—I did not know what he was going to say—and it was a Malwa council—he is a Rajput—and—” Almost in a wail: “How does anyone know what he meant to say?”

Damodara: “Because I asked him, afterward. And he told me. That is why, when the council reconvened, I demanded that—” He fell abruptly silent. “That is why I demanded what I did.”

Damodara pointed toward Sanga with a head-nod. “I said nothing, at the time, of Rana Sanga’s words.” Bitterly, contemptuously: “Lest he be penalized by such as you. But I finally managed to tell the Emperor and Nanda Lal and—Great Lady Holi—just this morning.”

Bitterly, contemptuously: “Which was the earliest moment you would allow me an audience with them.”

“I knew nothing of this,” whined Tathagata.

“That is why you are guilty of incompetence rather than treason,” said Great Lady Holi. Her words, for all their harshness, were spoken in a tone which—to Rana Sanga, at least—had absolutely no emotional content whatsoever. She might have been speaking about the weather. A thousand miles away, in a land she had never visited and never would.

“Leave us, Lord Tathagata,” commanded the ­Emperor. Skandagupta sat up in his chair. He was still short, and pudgy. But he reminded Rana Sanga of nothing so much as a cobra flaring its hood.

“You are relieved of your command. Retire to your estate and remain there.”

“But—Your Majesty—”

“You are now relieved of half your estate. The richer half. Do not attempt to dissemble. Imperial auditors will check your claim.”

Tathagata stared, wide-eyed, paralyzed.

The Emperor:

“If you are still in this room one minute from now, you will be relieved of your entire estate. In two minutes, I will have you executed.”

Tathagata was out the door in four seconds.

The Emperor glanced at Lord Damodara.

“Inform Lord Jivita that he is now the commander of the army. I will see him in one hour.”

Lord Damodara bowed and turned to go. Great Lady Holi stopped him.

“Tell him to meet the Emperor in his western chamber, Lord Damodara.”

Again, Sanga was struck by the cold, icy tone of her words.

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