Cold Steel

Brennan chuckled in the manner of a man desirous of any excuse to laugh.



Lowering his hand with a sigh, Vai looked at Chartji. “Have you anything to add to this litany of my faults, Chartji?”



“It is clearly a fascinating discussion for you rats,” said Chartji, “but I am more interested in the case you wish me to bring to the law courts.”



Brennan saw a man with a tray and waved him over. “I think we can now send Rory to ask Cat if she wishes to join us.”



“No need to send anyone,” said Vai in his smuggest tone. “She’s been standing behind us the entire time.”



Bee squinted into the darkness. “Cat? What a frightful spy you are, dearest!”



I waited until Brennan had spoken to the server and sent him off before unwinding the shadows.



“That is truly astounding,” said Brennan with a startled smile.



Kehinde asked, “Has anyone ever studied you, Cat? There must be some explanation for how you can do that. Were you taught, or did you teach yourself?”



Vai rose to give me a place to sit next to him. He was staring at the ground, lashes shadowing his lovely eyes. When I hesitated he looked up, and I could not breathe. I saw exactly how it would go if he and I were left alone. I took a place next to Kehinde, facing him. Vai sat with a resigned smile, but when a stout meal of mutton stew simmered in wine, pears poached in brandy, and fresh bread arrived, he ate just like anyone else and looked at me only ten or twelve times that I noticed, for every time I glanced at him he was watching me.



“If you apologize to him for leaving the mage House, I shall kick you,” Bee said under her breath as I savored the moist meat, turnips, and carrots. Beneath the table the toe of her boot nudged my shin in warning.



“This seems to me a conundrum, Magister,” said Kehinde. “Are you a radical or a cold mage?”



“ ‘He who tries to wear two hats will discover he does not have two heads.’ That is what I have had to consider, is it not? I am a cold mage whether I wish to be or not. But why should I have to choose? It is not that mage Houses cannot exist in a just world, but that they must change. For example, the princely law courts are often used merely to stamp and seal the wishes of the prince and his noble kin. But that does not mean law and courts are not necessary, or cannot serve justice. Chartji and I have discussed how to use the law courts to challenge clientage.”



Bee shook her head. “Every prince has his own law court. Furthermore, the mage Houses need not bow before princely law because they rule themselves and their lands as if they are princes. That does not even take into account the various different legal codes of the empire of Rome, the Iberian city-states, the Oyo kingdom that Kehinde comes from, and all the rest. Camjiata’s legal code is meant to supersede all these individual local codes into a universal civil code that addresses specific natural rights.”



“There is much to favor in the general’s legal code,” agreed Vai. “But when he dies, the princes and magisters who were forced to comply by force of arms will revert to their old ways. The princes who have already thrown their lot in with Camjiata will hope to avoid the legal implications of his civil code, thinking they can escape the provisions that shift their power and privilege most. Furthermore, the Iberian city-states that have banded together to support Camjiata’s imperial enterprise will want a reward if he wins. When he dies, do you suppose the Iberians will go home so easily? They have hated the Romans for centuries—”



“For good reason,” said Bee.



“—and may even draw all of Europa into a war between these two powers. How do you think your own people will fare, Beatrice?”



“I would suppose my own Kena’ani people are already working for Camjiata. The motherhouse of the Hassi Barahal family lies in Iberia, in the city of Gadir.”



“That is my point. Even if Camjiata brings peace for a time, it will dissolve. Even if he puts his legal code in place across much of Europa, when he dies there will be a counter-revolt against that code.”



“But the mark will be made,” she protested. “People’s expectations will have changed.”



“We have a scheme to bring suits claiming that clientage goes against the natural right of every person and community to possess their own selves,” said Chartji. “We will file suit in the courts of every prince, duke, and city-state. It will be remarkably interesting to see how each different case proceeds compared to the others, and what repercussions they have in each locality and then, in the larger arena, on each other.”