The Wraiths of Will and Pleasure - By Storm Constantine Page 0,130

they did not approve. Seel could tell Caeru loved Pell passionately, but for how long? What love could stand up to such repeated battering? Seel considered that Pellaz was doing himself no favours in forcing that strength of feeling to become hate. Caeru would make a tough adversary, and Seel could envisage a day when the veiled hostilities might descend into a humiliating and public popularity contest. One thing was certain: no matter what hara in the street perceived or were shown, Pellaz and Caeru would never be chesna. A bloodbond was supposed to be sacred and hallowed: not to be undertaken lightly. What the Tigron and Tigrina had was the nuptial equivalent of pelki. Not even their son brought them together. Abrimel was closer to his hostling than to his father. Seel noticed the contemptuous way the harling looked at Pellaz, and guessed he’d been subject to some fierce indoctrination from Caeru. Pellaz did little to improve his relationship with his son. Abrimel witnessed some ugly scenes between his parents.

Observing most of the unpleasantness firsthand, Seel made a mental note to himself: don’t ever do anything like this. There are no hara in the world who are worth bonding in blood to. There are no relationships of that kind that truly endure. Humans were obsessed with marriage, and that was a sham. As Wraeththu, we have aruna, we are grown up. This is pathetic.

One time, Pellaz said to Seel, ‘I don’t know what I’d do without you. Don’t ever leave me.’

And Seel promised that he wouldn’t.

Thiede, however, had other ideas. He waited until Pellaz had settled firmly into his new life and had won round the most intransigent members of the Hegemony. He waited until he knew for sure that Ashmael supported the Tigron. He waited until Seel was complacent and then, with the brutal precision that was his mark, he summoned Seel to a private meeting.

Ever since Seel had moved to Almagabra, the Gelaming had been involved in conflict in Megalithica. They were strongly opposed to warmongering tribes like the Uigenna and the Varrs, and their objective was to oust these hara from power, so that they would not oppress weaker tribes. That was the propaganda, in any case. A cynical mind might suggest that the Gelaming were just as power hungry as the Uigenna and the Varrs, and that this was simply a war over territory. Ashmael was often away for months at a time, supervising the movements of the Gelaming army. When he was home, he often wanted to discuss the minutiae of his campaigns with Seel, but Seel wasn’t really that interested. Even the mention of Megalithica’s name made him feel uncomfortable, as if there was something important he should have done and he couldn’t remember what it was. To Seel, there was no point in talking about it. He took it for granted that Thiede would achieve his aims, whatever they were, and he had no desire to hear about combat. He did not think, for one moment, that eventually Thiede’s inevitable success would affect his own life in a colossal way.

Thiede received Seel in the office of his Phaonica apartment, and when Seel entered the room, Thiede was impatiently rifling through a pile of papers on his desk. ‘I can never find anything in this place,’ he said to Seel. ‘My assistants try to tidy everything away and then things are lost forever.’

Seel waited, but without any foreboding. He presumed he was there to discuss some trifling matter.

‘So,’ Thiede said at last, having found the particular piece of paper he was looking for, ‘I have a job for you.’

‘Fine,’ Seel said. ‘What is it?’

‘You will have heard our troops took the Varr leader, Terzian, into custody last week.’

‘Yes, I did hear talk.’

‘This is a very positive development. Soon, Megalithica’s barbarians will be utterly disempowered.’

‘Well, that is good news.’ Seel paused. ‘What has this to do with the job you have for me?’ It did not occur to him that there was any threat in Thiede’s words. He believed his duty was to be at Pell’s side for his entire life.

‘Can you put your affairs in order? I want you to go to Imbrilim, our enclave in Megalithica, next week.’

Seel felt his mouth drop open in shock. ‘What? Why?’

‘Oh, because eventually I want you to become the consort of Terzian’s heir.’

‘Am I dreaming this?’

Thiede considered. ‘No. Even before you came here, I did tell you I had important work lined up for you.’

‘Which I