410 - When the Sword calls the Knife Sharp

“Imperator.  You Whose Wit is the Bulwark of Arko…”  Intharas, still bullish, barely paused.  “Would You submit to truth drug along with… at the same time as… in the same session as…Ser Itrean and Serin Aan?  I want to ask if you have gone crazy.”

Again there was the deathly silence on the end of the words and then Chevenga smiled sunnily at Intharas.  “Certainly.”  There was an explosive snort from a non-Arkan writer… a Yeoli… and Chevenga chuckled himself.  “I mean I will certainly undergo truth drug, not certainly I have gone crazy…”

That brought out a few more relieved chuckles.  “I’ll clear some time for this, later this evening,” Chevenga said .  “And you’ll be able to assure yourself I’m not under any kind of delusion, insanity or coercion. A bead after dinner.”

“Hrumph.”  That was Intharas.  “Thank you, Imperator.”

Chevenga looked around the room at the slightly stunned group of writers.  “I assume we’ll see you all here this evening? As Minis, Kallijas and I have sworn to speak truth I’ll trust you all to write truth. Thank you all for coming.”

**

When the writers had all filed out, I gently laid my head upon the table in front of me. “Dear and Vengeful Gods that was hard!  Ch’venga... Kallijas... did I do all right?”  My stomach was starting to unlock enough to let the nausea up and I swallowed hard.

“You did fine, don’t worry,” says C.  “You were thrown some hard questions, and you answered them well.  It’s as I said in the note... get used to it.”

“You were passing notes,” said Kall.  “I was wondering.  It won’t ever be quite so hard again, Minis.” He clapped me encouragingly on the back, as if I’d done a good move on the training ground with him.  The one place where Arkan men can easily touch, especially if it is firm enough.  I rose up and drank all the rest of the water in my glass and scrubbed my hands over my face.  My fingers were shaking.

“I hope I did you proud.  I have so many people I’d fail if I don’t do this well enough!  Dear and Vengeful Gods!”

Chevenga looked entirely calm as I pushed myself up to my feet to join them. He smiled at me.“You dispelled some fears, corrected some misconceptions, laid out straightforwardly what you stand for.  You got a little passionate, but you did it the right way, in my opinion at least,” he said. “You’ll get a much better idea of how you did when the Pages comes out, as well as other Arkan papers that were there.  Giving quotes that translate into stories that favour you is an art... you can only get it with experience.  And sometimes you can’t control it at all anyway; they will write what they will, when it comes down to it.  You did right saying you were open to more interviews; make friends with them and you’re golden, and best start to doing that is to make their work easy for them.” The office door closed behind us and I sat down.

“I was getting comfortable at one point.  It was like oratory classes...”

“Good.  It’ll be easier the next time, easier again the time after that.  You’ve got to consider your plans for campaigning... or did you do them all up while I was in Yeola-e?”

I pulled my list of notes out of my inner shirt pocket, and unfolded the damp pages so the ink not run any further. “Kyriala got everyone together and wrote up a whole plan of what I/we can do.  She’s better than a general when it comes to social things... and... Grandfather and mother both approve.”

“How about where you’re going to go, to speak?  And the things you’re going to put out in writing?”

“Kallijas and I talked about it.  I’d like to ask what you think... unless you think it’s too much interference...” I’d sweated the list blurry.

“No one need know I’m helping plan; how you do your campaign is not public business.  It’s when you’re Imperator that they’re worried about my influence.  Since I’m recommending you people are probably expecting me to be helping plan it anyway. The only thing is I can’t take too long away from the Constitution.  Ask away.”

He picked up my sodden piece of paper, the list of cities where Kall and I would speak. 

“You might want to save time by splitting up entirely, now that time is short,” says Chevenga.  “And...” He suggested we change the order to take advantage of wind direction and flying weather and Kallijas made several suggestions in addition and I made the notes in clear ink.  “I’ll see that Ky gets a copy of these and Kall you too.  I need to get back to the Liren manor through the gauntlet, for the private interviews that I bet are being demanded immediately, until just after dinner when I’ll be back for this truth-drugging.  Thank you... I’d forgotten the Aras Helm Fest in Dirinitz and the Weaver’s Gathering in Esh.”

I had left the rest of my afternoon open for private interviews... Kall had, as well -- his secretary would be taking the requests, while  Gannara and Farasha were going to be organizing that for me.  As far as I knew they were out there taking down times...  Binchera was no doubt taking them down for Chevenga, too, within limits.

“Ch’venga... the one thing... I think I’ve come up with a contingency plan for if I lose... for Ilesias and I, it depends on who wins, though.”

“That’s good... depends on who wins, how?”

“Well... the problem is, 14.8... no one brought up that law and I was surprised… but if either Kin Kazien or Kallen win I think they’d be too nervous to leave me alive.  Torii Itzan... he might let Ili and I get altered to make sure we never have children.  That would work and it would save Ili’s life and mine.  It’s not just our lives... to protect Arko’s future we can’t have any descendants.”

“So what if Kin or Adamas wins?”  

I bit my lip.  “I’d still ask that Ili have the option.  They might be persuaded to let him live that way.”

“I suggest having him in a safe place, not to mention yourself, before you undertake any such negotiation.  A very safe place; whoever is Imperator will have everything at his disposal that the Imperator does.”

“I’m not going to do anything illegal, Ch’venga...”  I checked myself... “I am most tempted for Ili’s life.  But it would be wrong if he just vanished... for all the reasons I turned myself in.”

“Being in a safe place is illegal since when?”

“If being in a safe place makes me a fugitive... that is illegal.”

“Look, Minis.  14.8 is only there because some genius of an Imperator left it in there when he meant to strike it out.  But I was diligent with the rest of the laws, and it is now an aberration; even if it were brought to bear, it could be argued that it is unconstitutional, because the new constitution sets out that a person is innocent until convicted of a crime, and no one has the right to do anything to hurt him.  You cannot be considered a fugitive from justice unless you are charged with one.  You can go where you please.  It could even be argued that 14.8 doesn’t apply to you because you renounced the Imperatorship unless voted in.  You’re being far too solicitous against yourself here, Minis.  I don’t like hearing it, tell the truth.”

“I have to win.” He sat down on the divan next to me, Kallijas in the chair opposite, content to let Chevenga lead the verbal charge.  I appealed to him.  “Kallijas, I want to do the most honourable thing, here, for Arko.”

“At the moment, Minis, I think you should listen to your Imperator’s arguments.”  I shut my eyes.  Why did people insist on making this kind of planning so hard?

“The voters of Arko can choose you, or not, as Imperator; they cannot decree your death. They don’t have that right.”

“Imperial 14.8 is still on the books, still being debated, and now the Arkan Assembly will know why you wanted it removed at this time.  They might well stall until after the Assembly... because they know that I am running and I could hardly hide the fact that I have Ili in my care.  14.8.” It felt like those three numbers were like a sword cutting through spinal bones when I said them.

“That’s why I pushed to get rid of it. But it’s not as if you can’t take measures against.”

“And you are saying I should run away again, Ch’venga?  This time from my own new Imperator?  Away from the voters of Arko?”

“Of course not. There’s no law says anyone has to stick around Arko so as to have 14.8 enacted upon him. Also, you could mount a good legal defense, arguing that you are no threat because you ran in the election, which in and of itself is an expression of adherence to its validity and your loyalty to the will of the Arkan people. You have accepted their choice and so are not a plausible rival. Wouldn’t that hold up under truth-drug?”

“I could swear never to have children, and as I said we could agree to be altered, so no royalists could use them.”  Not that I would ever have children anyway, and if given the choice I thought Ili would rather live than keep his potency.

“Yes, you could do that. If that doesn’t go against what you want.”

“The problem is that there are royalists who would hatch such plots…”

“Or you could stay whole and declare that you and your descendants accept forever to be barred from the Imperatorship,” He suggested. I had to sigh.

“That would work, too.”

“And hire a lot of security.”

“I’d be willing to do that. No more running, though. I’m sick of hiding.”

“I can understand that,” he said. “And yet if it’s that or death…” His face was full of confusion as to why I was arguing that I should submit to getting myself killed.  When he did it symbolically ever four years for his people.  “Maybe I should ask this: what else were you thinking? You’d just let Adamas behead you?”

“If Assembly wanted that, I’d argue it, and if they still wanted that... I’d have to. That’s almost my higher duty.”

I could see that he wanted to shake me. “Look, 14.8 specifies Imperator, not Assembly,” he snapped. “Now the Assembly might decide to amend the law to make it their purview. But there are many arguing to repeal it entirely, saying it is against the constitution as we are writing it, since it sets out that a person should not be arrested or charged for anything but a crime suspected, and punished in any way for anything but a crime proven in trial, and no one has argued with that. If they leave 14.8 in force, you’d be able to argue same in court, and if the judges did right the law would then be struck down.”

“If I had to live the rest of my life in a tower with heavy security... so be it. Better that…”

“Than dead, yes. That’s the way to think. And yet, I’ve had very thick security on me as Imperator, and was still fairly free.”

“I don’t want to go running up and putting my own head on the block... but some part of me is wondering if anything less is enough.”

He threw his arm around my shoulders and shook me. “Yes, Minis. It’s enough. You know, you’ve got far too much of a tendency to think of death as your higher duty. You deserve to live… don’t you know that?”

“Oh?” I stared at him, suddenly struck by how hard he was arguing I didn’t deserve to die for my people. “Does it seem like madness, Chevenga?” I asked him.

“Madness is a strong word,” he said, sighing. “But… let’s just say, it doesn’t seem… like a streak of health in you.”

I hugged him, hard. “I am deeply honoured to find myself being taught this,” I said, “by the expert.” His breath caught and Kallijas laughed.

“Sword... listen to the knife when it calls you sharp!” Kallijas said. “You both tend to run straight toward this, you realize?”

“I know. I know. I’m seeing a good healer for it. Stand down.”