Chapter 41

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He paced back and forth in his rooms before a large roaring fire, and held out his hand to warm the cold metal that he thought was still there. In his mind, he realized. He’d become so used to the feel of it, his mind still believed the arm was mechanical. He smiled for a moment, flexing his fingers. Flesh and blood.

He liked this body. It was fit and young, though some of the aches he himself had caused. He was suffering at the moment from withdrawal systems of the ramping drugs, despite the injections Eldelar had already given him. It set him on edge. His back bothered him when he stayed on his feet too long. There were the headaches to contend with, but as each hour passed, they grew less severe. Caused by his unexpected invasion, he knew. This time to take up permanent residence. It was so simple really, amazed he hadn’t thought of it before. When his body died, mentally he remained with Dain, submerging himself inside the pitifully weak mind he already owned. Most of it, at least. He found the last part that resisted, to the near ruin of all his plans. That small part still troubled him on occasion, many of them inopportune, still fighting.

He would have to do something about that. Maralt just wasn’t sure what. He wasn’t sure how much harm he could cause the body’s owner without damaging himself. He had to be careful how he proceeded.

At first, it seemed like an insurmountable setback to his plans, to the fulfillment of the prophecy, but at the same time, he felt it possible that this was the way it was meant to be. This way, there was a chance of surviving. There was power here, to collect and use, being so close to the blazing flame. He would drain it for his own uses and then cast it off, an empty husk. He would move on to the next source of power. And the next. There were still a number of surviving Telaerins.

When he thought he’d reached the boundary of his abilities, an area of discovery opened, challenging him to explore it, use it, conquer it to his will. There were many intricacies he hadn’t been aware of before in living in someone else’s mind, hadn’t considered it possible until faced with death. He discovered there were many things he once knew how to do, forgotten now, that he had to relearn.

The first had been his awareness of Marc Talryn’s attempt to communicate with Dynan. That had to be stopped. Maralt wondered how many times they had spoken. He was sure now that he would know it if Marc made any further attempts.

He paused in his pacing, the room so familiar and alien at the same time. A layer of dust covered everything. Kamien had sealed the room closed. Dynan’s as well. It would take weeks, he thought, to clean it all out, and not one servant had yet set foot inside.

The King’s quarters would be more fitting, but those had yet to be touched, this time because the doors were locked. He wondered how long it would take before Allie Ahreld broke the code. Soon Maralt hoped, or the smell might become intolerably noticeable.

“He’ll figure it out. He’ll figure out who you are soon enough, and what you’re doing.”

“I don’t recall asking for your opinion, Dain. Shut up, or are you forgetting what I can still do to you?”

“Are you sure about that? Wouldn’t you be doing it to yourself? Figure that one out, if you can.”

“Oh I will, rest assured, and when I do, you will cease to exist, except no one will know it.”

“You think you’ll be able to hide from Dynan? He’ll know it the minute he wakes.”

“If he wakes, you mean. I could kill him easily enough.”

“You keep saying that and somehow it never happens. He’s still alive. You, on the other hand, are not. Your existence here is temporary, so tenuous, I can feel how it frightens you.”

Maralt gritted his teeth, and in his mind took them to his Palace on Muri, appearing outside a cell at the end of a stone corridor. Beside him, Dain reeled back, suddenly aware of what he intended. Maralt grabbed him and slammed him into the wall beside the closed cell door, hard. He wrenched the door open and threw Dain inside. He followed, beating him as he went, pushing him toward the far wall where the chains hung.

Dain fought him, trying to get away when there was no escape this time. Maralt laughed at him as he locked first one manacle then the other around his wrists. “Scream all you like, Your Highness. Here is your new home. Live here and rot for all it will matter. When I’ve no more use for you, when your brother is dead, I will rule in his place. Then perhaps I’ll come here and release you from life. Perhaps I’ll let you live here, locked for all eternity in this pit of night. Rest assured, it’ll be a pit of darkness somewhere. Goodbye, Dain.”

The room swirled back into focus. He heard a noise behind him, turning in time to see Arlon Drayer. In the instant it took Maralt to realize Arlon didn’t know him, he was able to enter his mind and force him to aim the weapon he held harmlessly away. Logue Riztrin jumped out from a corner he’d been hiding in with the same intent, and Maralt waved a hand at him, turning the weapon with a mental shove both men knew and responded to.

Maralt smiled and revealed himself to them. They fell to their knees, blabbering about nearly killing him when they’d never come close. He thought how he might use them, but recognized a real danger that they could give him away before he was ready. That time, he thought, when Marc fully understood what was happening, was coming sooner than Maralt wanted.

“You can’t stay here,” he told them. “Leave the Palace – for now. Find my old quarters in Rianamar and take it. I’ll have further instructions for you soon.”

Marc squinted at the screen. “What are all these files here that I can’t get into?”

Allie pushed his chair across the floor, looking over his shoulder. “Lord Chancellor and King. You can’t get into them because I haven’t gotten the code yet. It’s on my list.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“No problem. You can even add to it if you like.”

Marc glanced at him. “How about a crash course in this System?”

Allie smiled. “Which part? The entire Cobalt System, or the screen you’re sitting in front of?”

“I was just starting to get a handle on the history of Brittallia. We never had much opportunity to go over how each individual System actually worked. I don’t know how to do any of this stuff.”

“Sure you do, Marc. Here, repeat after me; get someone to patch up that window and clean Prince Dain’s rooms before this evening.” Allie smiled when Marc looked at him. “Now this; contact the Ag Guild and have their Guildmaster come up here at his earliest convenience. Sure Marc, right away. See how easy that is?”

“Thanks Allie. Could you see about getting Kyle in here?”

“Yes.”

Marc shook his head. “I feel the same way now as when Dynan handed me the First Commander pins. I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m not even from here.”

“Sorry. You’re it.”

“I don’t want to be. Carryn should.”

“We haven’t found her yet, you know.” Allie glanced at him.

“Has everyone else been accounted for?” Marc asked, starting at that revelation. Where could Carryn have gone?

“Not yet. They’ve identified most of Kamien’s staff, though a couple of them are still missing. I expect we’re going to find them dead, or else they got away with Kamien before it all started. All of us are accounted for except Carryn. They found some traces of her blood on the floor and stairs of the dais in the Throne Room. More than a little. I made sure that the Medic Center knows it’s a priority, but they’re pretty inundated right now. There are a lot of dead and a lot of injured. We’re not even getting the injured from this battle and the staff is overwhelmed.”

“Where are they going?”

“Base Medic.”

“How many Medic Centers does the System have?”

“Thousands, some bigger than others.”

“And physicians?”

“I’d have to look up the actual number, but I think I know what you’re getting at. We could use some help.”

“Can we order them here?” Marc asked.

“Yes, but it would be better to phrase it as a request,” Allie said. “Let me get these other things taken care of. I’ll get your next list in a minute.”

“All right, and Allie, if I start to get on your nerves just tell me to shut up and go away.”

“You’ll be fine, Marc.”

He didn’t believe that, but nodded his thanks for the sentiment anyway. “I’m going to poke around in here a while.”

“Just be careful which buttons you hit. Wouldn’t want to delete anything.”

“Right. How far down your list is Lord Chancellor file access?”

Allie laughed. “Shut up, Marc.”

“That’s the one I really need though.”

Allie returned to look at his console, touching a few keypads in quick succession, switching screens faster than Marc was able to tell what he was doing. He moved farther out of the way, watching in quiet amazement at the speed that Allie was able to access files Marc didn’t even know existed. A moment later, a bunch of symbols started printing across the screen.

“What’s that?”

“A decryption program. When it’s done, you’ll hopefully have access to all Lord Chancellor files, past and present.”

“Am I authorized for this?”

“You are now.” Allie shrugged. “We don’t know if Dynan will choose Dain as his Lord Chancellor, if he lives through this, and personally, I’d rather it be you.”

Marc lowered his eyes quickly, hoping Allie hadn’t already guessed what he needed the Lord Chancellor’s files for. “Well, really all I want to know is how things work around here. If Dain wants access to these files, you give it to him. We won’t survive dissent among us, Allie. Dain is in charge. Dain has access to everything. All right?”

Allie plainly didn’t like it, but agreed. He moved back to his own console, shaking his head briefly, then settled to work on those things that had been requested. He sent a messenger to Dain with the transmitter and a comboard containing instructions on its use. Kyle came in and reported the Palace almost entirely secured, every room checked. “The only room we haven’t gotten into is the King’s quarters. The access code you gave us didn’t work.”

“Really? That’s a little odd, though not outside the realm of possibility,” Allie said. “That particular door locking system is meant to operate separately from the Palace. Guess Kamien felt insecure enough to see that it did. I’ll go up in a while to look at it.”

“Where’s Gaden?” Marc asked, seeing a growing weariness in Allie’s face. There was a lot for him to do, with few people to help him.

“He’s still down in the field with Morlin and from what I’ve heard, making quite a name for himself. He and the Exile Base troops may be responsible for saving the day there. They were instrumental in keeping order in the ranks. Morlin’s a smart man for allowing them the authority.”

Marc nodded. “And Dain wants him replaced.”

“Why?” Kyle asked.

Allie turned to hear the answer and Marc realized he shouldn’t have blurted that out. “They didn’t hit it off too well, I guess. Maybe after today, he’ll change his mind. I told him I’d look into it, but I don’t have to look into it quickly.”

“Dain is being Dain in other words.” Kyle shook his head. “I’m not so sure we can afford too much of his interference. Don’t get me wrong. I’m relieved beyond words that he’s alive, but Morlin is an exceptional man. Dain won’t find anyone better suited for the job of High Commander, not anyone who’ll be able to keep us all alive. Is there someone from your base he has in mind?”

“He might, but they aren’t here,” Allie said. “I doubt he even remembers many of them. He never paid all that much attention to those people anyway. The few times he was there he was always training with the troops.”

“He couldn’t mean someone from here.”

“For all I know, he means you, Kyle,” Marc said. “But, it isn’t an immediate problem. If he brings it up again, I’ll tell him what you just told me.”

Marc shook his head then, having lost what he had been trying to remember to tell Kyle. That was a growing problem, he noticed. It was difficult to concentrate on any one subject for more than a few minutes before another came to their attention, quite often needing immediate action, either required by necessity or demand.

“I can’t remember what else he wanted,” he said finally.

Allie smiled easily. “You’re only a little exhausted Marc. You probably shouldn’t even be here. I mean, anyone who can fall dead asleep the way you did, sitting on the floor, maybe ought to take himself to a bed. You also have a few days of getting beat up on top of it all. Give yourself a break. Tell Dain you’re going to sleep and we’ll see that no one bothers you until you wake up.”

“Sleeping isn’t an option for me right now. Do you remember what else Dain wanted us to do?”

“Yes. I’ll fill Kyle in. Go back and get some rest.”

The console screen before him stopped spitting out symbols, printing out a series of numbers in its place. “Is this the new code?”

“No, that’s the old one, which I will change and send the new one to your office, where you’re going to go get some rest.”

“Allie, I really don’t—”

“Marc, shut up and go away.”

By Kyle’s expression, Marc could see that Allie’s tone and the command shocked him. When Marc immediately stood up, he laughed at Kyle’s surprise. “Right.”

“Thank you.”

“Anytime,” he said as he walked back to the Lord Chancellor’s office, stopping suddenly when he realized how Allie had referred to it. His? He shook his head, sitting behind the desk anyway. The code came back a moment later, with a huge page of instructions containing dire warnings should the code be forgotten, misused, or otherwise disseminated to anyone not authorized to use it.

After reading all that, Marc wondered what sort of information he was obtaining, a little afraid to find out. After reading a few files, he became convinced of it, deciding he really didn’t want to know more.

There were several files in particular that caught his eye, though only one he was actually searching for. That one was entitled Declaration of Incompetence. Another contained information on the procedures involved with taking the oath of office, detailing the documents required before a Lord Chancellor had any authority. He saw who could appoint a Lord Chancellor, frowning over that bit of information briefly.

Another file detailed how to set up an alternate communication code and Marc realized that he should probably get that done immediately, just in case. Doing so would allow him to activate or shut down the communications system if he needed to without needing Allie to give him the codes. It would also prevent anyone else from having that control. Considering the circumstances, it seemed like a good idea. He followed the directions on how to make it happen, committing the new code to memory.

With that task taken care of, he turned to the other file, and found out that the Lord Chancellor had the authority to determine a King, or Heir to the Throne incompetent, or unfit to rule with the concurring opinion of the Palace Chief of Medicine. Eldelar Elger, Marc thought, relieved to know that. He wasn’t sure if both Dynan and Dain qualified as legitimate heirs, making a note in a comboard to look up rules of succession later. He’d have to have the First Governor, Gemern Taldic, go along with it as well. There was also a succession committee made up of Regional Governors that would have a say in it.

Marc wondered then why these same people hadn’t acted with Kamien. From what he knew of Gemern Taldic, the First Governor had little love for Kamien. Eldelar was also firmly on Dynan’s side of things, then and now. That left the succession committee responsible for keeping Kamien in power. When Marc looked at their names, he realized he recognized some of them. Governor Alse’s name stood out from the others, memories crowding through his mind of past difficulties. A very long time ago, Alse had tried to have Dynan removed as heir.

Marc pulled in a breath, trying to control the sudden flood of memories that came over him. He wasn’t completely sure where they were coming from, since he was seeing them both, Dynan and Dain, as though his were a third perspective, which wasn’t possible. In a blink, he was involved in a crash in some sort of high-speed craft. He fell down a hole, picked up a talon that regurgitated from the ground, and was nearly killed by a group of madmen he recognized as Maralt’s Black Guard.

He didn’t know why those memories were coming to him so strongly now and had to put them aside. There were other things he had to deal with. He forced his mind back to problems and events closer at hand, like how he’d convince Gemern Taldic, or his fellow Governors, or Eldelar Elger for that matter that Dain was incompetent. He didn’t think they’d believe him at all. He shook his head and went back to reading the file.

The High Council, he saw, by majority vote could also rule on incompetence. If it came down to that, Marc thought, the Cobalt System would cease to exist.

There weren’t any other ways to remove a ruler from power, barring the way Kamien had done it. Marc searched the document for anything else. They didn’t have a Lord Chancellor, missing Xavier Illothian and his insights tremendously. Marc wondered what he’d have to say of this situation.

He did find one other piece of information that surprised him. The Lord Chancellor had greater authority over everyone except the King. Marc realized that included the Heir to the Throne, who could appoint a Lord Chancellor, which to him seemed a little odd. The heir would have to have implicit trust in his choice of Lord Chancellor in that case. The Lord Chancellor had full powers to act on the King’s behalf, or on behalf of the Heir to the Throne in case of the King’s death. Unless that Heir was underage, Marc read, which explained why the Governors had the authority to appoint Kamien the Regent in the first place. It was all fairly convoluted. Marc started to get lost in the reading of it. There were a number of counters to the power of the King, though none of them had seemed to work with the last one.

It didn’t tell him what to do in the absence of the King and the Lord Chancellor, but he already knew what he would have to do if he had any hope of stopping Maralt from seizing total control of the System. If he didn’t stop him, all of Brittallia was in jeopardy. The moment Maralt, in Dynan’s absence, gained power, he would turn his attention to subjugating all of Brittallia to him.

He saw again what he would have to do to stop him, shuddering in abhorrence at the vision playing in his mind. There wasn’t any way to avoid it if Marc meant to stop him. The only way he could kill him was to become like him.