By now, Adrian was well into the spirit of the argument. “Don’t be silly,” he growled. “The Council’s always going to draw the central powers of the nation into it. Bound to happen. If, in addition, you let them decide on taxes—much less administer the collection!—you’ll be right back into the soup. The same crap will happen all over again. I think of it—okay, okay, Raj and Center call it—’separation of powers.’ ”
The argument went on for most of the day. By the end, Helga was not convinced of the merits of the idea. But she was willing to allow that it would probably, if nothing else, keep her father sane.
“Not him I’m worried about,” Adrian said quietly. “Verice Demansk will remain sane, whatever else. So, in all likelihood, will his successor. But after that? The third Paramount—much less fourth, fifth and sixth?”
He shook his head. “A tyrant is one thing, Helga. The world can survive that—even prosper from it. A state of tyranny is something else again. So, anything we can do now, however modest, which starts undermining the logic of what your Father’s done—and I helped him do it, mind you, and don’t regret it—is all to the good. Will this idea of mine work? Who knows? But it’s worth a try.”
Helga thought about it, for a time, as they prepared their portion of the army’s camp. Then, as evening fell, announced that she would support Adrian in the matter.
“As you said, why not give it a try?”
But Adrian was only half-listening to her. He was watching the Reedbottoms who had accompanied them, preparing their own bedding—but interrupting the work just at sundown in order to engage in a peculiar little ceremony.
Odd, he thought. Is that caterwauling prayer? Reminds me a bit of—but not to this extent—still—
A sudden suspicion came to him. “Helga, these people Prelotta asked you to bring with us back to Vanbert. I never heard of such a thing, but are they Young Word priests?”
Helga seemed to redden a bit. Hard to tell, though. It might just have been the sunset.
“Well. Yes and no. They’re a special kind of priest, not like the ones you and I are familiar with.”
“What are they called?”
“Uh, what’s the word? Oh, yes. ‘Missionaries,’ I think.”
Epilogue
Demansk, leaning on the balustrade, admired the sunset. In the three years since he’d transferred his capital—in practice, if not in legal theory—to the new city he was having built on the isthmus, he’d come to appreciate the place more. The weather was still too hot and muggy for his tastes, but the sunsets were frequently gorgeous. Granted, he’d been able to enjoy the sight of the sun setting over the ocean on his old estate. But the typically clear skies there didn’t produce the same magnificent color patterns.
Hearing someone padding up behind him, Demansk shifted the weight on his elbows and craned his head around.
It was Thicelt, not to his surprise. The big Islander was Demansk’s only close associate who actually “padded” when he walked. The old habits of a robber, Demansk wryly suspected.
“So?” demanded Sharlz, waving a hand at the sunset. “Have you finally become reconciled to admiring sunsets instead of sunrises?”
Demansk smiled. He’d still have preferred founding this city on the eastern side of the isthmus. But . . . that would be a little too near the Reedbottoms. Here, the Confederacy was close enough to crush them if necessary, not so close that the Reedbottoms could overwhelm the new capital with a sudden attack.
He left all that unsaid, however. Thicelt’s words, though the admiral had not intended them to do so, gave Demansk the opening he needed.
“As it happens, ‘sunsets and sunrises’ are the reason I summoned you all here.”
Thicelt’s face grew still then, even solemn. “Ah.” He glanced at Demansk’s oldest son—oldest living son—who was seated at the huge table on the balcony, chatting amiably with his sister. Helga had the third of her children, a baby girl, perched in her lap.
“Ah,” he repeated. “Have you discussed the matter with Olver?”
Demansk was pleased, even delighted, to see that Thicelt’s quick wits had not slowed down any since he’d seen him last. Sharlz had been gone for over a year. At Demansk’s command, Thicelt had led a fleet on a circumnavigation of the entire continent.