Lavanyia joined Sungui on the terrace, wrapping her arms about Sungui’s neck from behind. “You’ve been weeping.” She knew Sungui’s moods better than anyone ever had.
“You were right,” Sungui told her. “Something must be done about Damodar and his Skeptics.”
“What has happened?” Lavanyia asked.
“Do you know the city of Avantreya?”
Lavanyia nodded, moving to stand beside Sungui at the white railing. “It lies in the Outer Province of Yetva. Not a great city, but well known for its silver mines.”
“The population began rioting there days ago, and the Magistrates failed to stop it. The merchant lords who run the mines refuse to pay their former slaves a decent wage, so the Earthbound ceased working. The merchants hired mercenaries to subdue the rioters, and the city became a battleground.”
“Yetva was given to Zolmuno,” said Lavanyia, “one of Damodar’s brethren.”
Sungui breathed deep of the flower-scented air. “It was,” she said. “Zolmuno must have feared he was losing control of Avantreya. Not only did he murder his own Magistrate, but he called upon Damodar to help him pacify the city. Damodar gathered his Skeptics, and the pacification became a slaughter.”
Lavanyia exhaled heavily. “They are prisoners of the old ways,” she said. “Zyung’s method for trimming the Tree of Empire.”
Sungui nodded. “They rained Celestial Light upon the city for a day and a night. The message that I received estimates thirty thousand dead. Men, women, children. The Skeptics did not discriminate.”
“So Zolmuno restored order. But who will work his mines?”
“The few thousand men that survived have been pressed into that service,” said Sungui.
Lavanyia took her hand, pressed her forehead against Sungui’s.
“What will you do?”
“What I should have done months ago,” Sungui said. “Help me gather an emergency quorum.”
“I will send out the voice of my mind,” said Lavanyia.
“I will speak with Damodar,” said Sungui.
“Be careful what you say to him.”
Sungui shrugged. “I will offer him a choice.”
Damodar met her in the lower gardens. A dreadnought had carried him overnight all the way from Yetva. Even he did not dare ignore a summons from the High Consul of the New Seraphim. Surely he must have known the purpose of this summons. The dead of Avantreya had not even been buried yet.
Dark eyes glimmered above his hawkish nose. Sungui hated the sight of the silver robe upon him. Yet she hid that hatred, knowing it was her own weakness to feel this way. She must not let it pollute her heart or her judgment.
Damodar bowed briefly and joined her on a bench overlooking a sunken fountain. The sound of gurgling waters brought a welcome calm to Sungui. The early sun was bright above the green canopy. A circle of roses grew about the fountain, spreading petals red as blood. She found it an appropriate venue for this conversation.
“Greetings, High Consul,” said Damodar. “You wish to speak of Avantreya.”
“You are direct,” said Sungui. “I appreciate this.”
Damodar smiled. His arrogance was tangible.
“I need not remind you,” said Sungui, “that formal executions of imperial citizens are only permitted by consensus of the Senate. Yet you have spat in the face of our laws and executed some thirty thousand without our approval. I know that you do not share our respect for human life, but I had thought you at least respected our laws.”
“These were not executions,” said Damodar. “They were casualties of war. The people of the silver city were out of control, pulling merchant lords from their houses and putting them to death. Looting, burning, and instigating a full-scale revolt. If there is any fault here, it must be placed upon Zolmuno, who could not maintain order without our help.”
“Our help?” said Sungui. “You mean the Thirteen Skeptics. It was these noble personages who Zolmuno called upon rather than any number of the seven hundred New Seraphim who might have aided him in a legal manner. I sense a lack of trust among your brethren, Damodar. Or is it perhaps some deeper flaw?”
Damodar brushed a fallen leaf from his knee and shrugged. “You know well that we are not as you Eaters of Zyung,” he said. “We remain unchanged.”
“And unconvinced?”
Damodar smiled. “If you will.”
“Skeptics or no Skeptics, you have broken the law. You must face the Senate.”
Damodar’s smile turned to a frown. “As High Seraphim we are above the laws.”
“No longer,” said Sungui. “Once that was true, when there was no law for us but Zyung. Yet none of us are above the laws of the Reformed Empire. If you understand nothing else, you must understand this fact.”