Keeper of Secrets: Fatal Empire Part One

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

My mother had been a spy.

My mind reeled. In the honor-bound society of the empire, spying was one of the most shameful occupations. It was punishable by death. It was also the only thing Admon could have told me that was worse than learning my father was a w***e. Once again, my mind tugged at the inconsistency. If she had been a spy, why poison? If she had been caught, her execution would have been a public affair. Poison hinted at secrecy.

“Razi, I know you are young to be learning all this, but there is much you do not understand. I have waited until you were ready to ask me the questions I have dreaded answering since your mother left you here. Would you like me to explain?” Admon’s brown eyes were filled with concern, and something else. A hidden pain perhaps?

“Tell me everything.”

Admon’s eyes lowered in regret. “If I am to keep you safe, that is not possible. I will tell you as much as I can.

“The empire is not as it seems. Although we claim to live by a strict code of honor, it is only a mask that hides the ugly truth. Our ancestors came here as exiles, driven from their homeland in the west for their cruelty after a brutal civil war. Upon finding these lands, they quickly became conquerors, overwhelming the peaceful natives and making them their servants, in many cases, little more than slaves.”

Admon’s words flowed past me as I sat in numb shock.

He paused, as if trying to determine the best way to explain. “Once they had settled these lands under their rule, they began looking farther east, but internal bickering began to arise over which family should rule the new empire. Another civil war ensued, wiping out several of the original noble families from the west. Soon only eight families remained: Tahlidi, Sharihati, Abrieli, Isketi, Zhahadi, Livani, Khalmedi, and Dharakmeni. The Dharakmeni clan was quite large, and took advantage of the other clans’ decimated numbers to place itself as the ruling power of the new empire. The weakened clans could do little but accept the situation and begin carving out provinces of their own to rule within the empire.

“But the defeated clans were bitter, and began plotting against their new emperor. They realized outright war must be avoided at all costs because so many of them had already perished, and so they instituted a code of honor and tradition, which would prevent bloodshed unless a noble failed to play by the rules. Rather than recruiting new armies, the nobles began massing magi and spies to do their dirty work in secret, while still publicly maintaining the code of honor.”

“Nobles have spies?” I shook my head in disbelief.

“Yes. All of them do, although they cannot be publicly accused. They all know it, but choose to look the other way. It is a part of the game of politics.” Admon held out his hands and shrugged. The odd, crescent-shaped scar on his left palm caught the light.

“But I thought spies were evil and without honor.”

My foster-father gave me a pitying smile. “And some are. But one could say the same for some bakers, or merchants, and many nobles I could name. Spies are just people, Razi. The goddess judges them by their actions, not their profession.”

I flushed at his kind reprimand. The world as I knew it was being turned on its ear. “Why would the goddess have anything to do with spies?” I pressed, trying to reconcile this new information with my old beliefs.

“Have you ever heard mention of the Veiled Huntress, or the Keeper of Secrets?”

I considered before nodding. It seemed I had heard those names whispered in hushed tones before, perhaps in the trading village or the Imperial City.

“Those are the titles given to the face of the goddess dedicated to thieves, spies, and assassins. Of course, her real name is a secret held by her initiates.” Admon spoke in an offhand manner, as if the matter were of little importance.

A patron goddess of thieves? Assassins? This was all too much. I felt a sneaking suspicion growing in my mind. A prickle of fear crawled over my flesh.

“You’re one of them, aren’t you?”

“Excuse me?” Admon’s tone was deceptively mild.

“You’re one of the goddess’s initiates. Why else would my mother come to you? You said yourself you had been working together. Are you a spy too? An assassin?” I choked on the last word, every muscle in my body tense for Admon’s response.

A long moment of silence passed as he held my gaze. I couldn’t move. After what seemed like an eternity, he closed his eyes and sighed. “Razi, I—”

I didn’t want to hear any more. I stumbled to my feet and bolted from the room, nearly tearing the screen from its track in my haste to escape.

Half-blind with panic, I retraced my steps to the side door and ran outside, not even bothering to take my sandals. I fled past the startled gardeners and continued running all the way to the edge of the forest. I wasn’t permitted to enter it. For a moment, I paused in front of the trees before forcing myself to pass under their shadow.

It was blessedly cool and quiet. My bare feet slowed and I collapsed at the base of an ancient birch, resting my head against its white, peeling trunk. My breathing was a ragged, panting sob. I drew my knees to my chest, and allowed my shock and grief full rein. How had this happened? Was it real? Was it true? I felt as if I couldn’t be sure of anything anymore. The world I had woken in that morning was now a thing of the past.

It had hurt to learn my mother had been a spy. I knew Admon would never lie about something like that. But nothing could have prepared me for the revelation of Admon’s occupation. My mother was a figure from my past—someone I hardly remembered. Admon was all I had.

I didn’t know what to think anymore. It was all too much. As isolated as I had been growing up, I had never felt so alone. I lowered my forehead to my knees and wept.

I don’t know how much time passed before I became aware of my surroundings. My eyes were stinging and swollen. I wiped my dripping nose with the sleeve of my tunic. The air of the forest was completely still.

I had never been within its borders before, so I’m not certain what I expected, but the hush seemed unnatural to me. I couldn’t hear the sound of a single wild creature, yet somehow I felt as if I were being watched. I judged from the gooseflesh on my arms and the prickling on the back of my neck, my unseen watcher was not pleased by my intrusion. I sat frozen in place, barely daring to breathe. My eyes darted from shadow to shadow, searching for the author of my unease.

One of the shadows detached itself from the trees and began moving toward me. I scrambled into a crouch. The figure stepped forward into a beam of sunlight that shone through an opening in the branches above. My tense muscles went slack, and I let out the breath I had been holding. It was only Admon.

My relief quickly gave way to wariness. My foster-father had become a stranger to me. But Admon appeared calm, stopping to stand a respectful distance away. He held out his empty hands to show he meant no harm.

“What do you want?” The words came out harsher than I intended. Admon flinched, but stood his ground.

“Razi, I’m sorry. I never wanted to keep these things from you, and I’m sure it’s a lot to take in all at once, but I didn’t know what else to do. The last thing I ever wanted was to make you fear or mistrust me. You have to believe I was doing what I believed was best.”

“And what about my mother? Was she doing what she believed was best when she was spying on people? Are you doing what you think is best when you kill people?” I hated myself for asking these questions, but I couldn’t seem to help myself.

Admon frowned. “I would like to try to explain this to you. May I come closer? I’d rather not shout these things for anyone to hear. This forest is strange. The elves do not like intruders.”

I narrowed my eyes and nodded. I sat with my back against the tree. Admon sat across from me, moving slowly and deliberately in an effort to keep me calm.

“Well?” I asked as soon as he had settled himself.

“Razi, I never told you anything that wasn’t true. Your mother was a good person, and what we were working on together is very important. Will you hear what I have to say?” Once again, I nodded. I felt completely wrung out and numb.

Admon sighed, as though uncertain where to begin. “As I said before, every noble in the empire employs their own spies. But the spies do not serve of their own volition. They are slaves to their masters, held by spells cast by the nobles’ magi to prevent them from working for anyone but themselves. The magi are slaves of another kind, but that is another tale.

“My great-grandfather was a Tahlidi pureblood, who decided to dedicate himself to the Veiled Huntress in secret, as many commoners have learned to do. Although he was not in line to inherit the position of Clan Sire, which can only be held by a pureblood of the clan, he used his skills to incur a debt from the ruling Clan Sire at the time. He called in this debt to attain his own House and estate, becoming a ruling lord in his own right, and so the Zamadi household was born. Once he had created his base of operations, he continued using his skills in secret to try to learn a way to free the spies, thieves, and assassins who are forced to serve the nobles and perform their dirty work. With each generation, his legacy was passed on. And so every Zamadi lord has served the Veiled Huntress in an effort to free her followers.

“When I met your mother, she was already working independently to find answers on her own. Once we realized we were on the same side, we joined forces. The night she was killed, she had just learned something of great importance, which could help us free the enslaved spies. She stopped at the Veiled One’s temple before going to pick you up from a friend. While she was there, she began experiencing the symptoms of poison. Rather than going straight home for her store of antidotes, as her poisoner assumed she would, she brought you to me instead to make certain you were safe. She had enough experience to know the poison she was showing the symptoms of had no known antidote.”

Admon swallowed before continuing. “After she died, I dedicated my life to serving our cause and tracking down her killer. It shames me to tell you I have yet to succeed in either venture, although I have managed to find many clues.” Admon wore a faraway expression as he concluded his tale.

“How did you know her poisoner would be waiting for her if she went home?” I asked, trying to absorb as much information as I could.

Admon’s eyes refocused. “The poison that was used was a rare and special mixture called bloodsbane. Not only does it have no known cure, but it makes it impossible for its victim to lie. They will answer whatever question is asked of them willingly and truthfully before they eventually die. Whoever poisoned her clearly wanted information. If they had only wanted to kill her, there are any number of other poisons they could have used instead.”

I felt as if I were living in some strange nightmare come to life. What kind of person would do such a thing? I felt a surge of anger. I dreaded the next question, but I had to ask it.

“Have you ever killed anyone?”

Several damning moments of silence passed before Admon finally answered. “Yes. I have killed. But only to protect you, your mother, and our mission. It is imperative no one learn what I am doing. Sometimes that has required me to eliminate someone who knew or suspected too much, and would use the information for their own ends.”

I found myself believing it. Admon had never so much as raised his voice at me before, even when I had deserved it. He was always calm and calculating. I couldn’t picture him slaughtering some helpless victim in a murderous rage. I wasn’t certain I understood everything he and my mother had been working for, but it made their occupations easier to swallow, knowing they were trying to achieve a greater end. He had loved my mother. I could see it in his eyes when he spoke of her, and I heard it in his voice. I realized I had one more difficult question left to ask.

“My mother, did she... Did she suffer?” This time I held Admon with my gaze, silently pleading for his answer to reflect my own hopes.

Admon shook his head. “I’m sorry, Razi. Bloodsbane is... well it’s not a pleasant way to die.” His brown eyes looked haunted. “I did everything I could to make her comfortable.”

I wanted to cry, but I had no tears left. A bubbling anger took their place. Somewhere out there was someone who had killed my mother. They had made her suffer. I wanted them to pay. Nothing else mattered. I embraced the anger, allowing it to wash over me, giving me new strength, fueling it to a simmering lust for vengeance.

“What can I do?” I asked.

Admon shook his head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“How can I help? How can I bring my mother’s killer to justice?”

“It’s not that easy Razi. Because of what your mother was, and what she was doing just before she was poisoned, there was no way I could involve the authorities. As far as their honor-bound code is concerned, nothing ever happened.”

“I want them to pay,” I seethed. “I know you know a way. You’ve been working on this for years.”

“Razi, I—”

“Tell me!” I suddenly found myself standing. My hands were balled into fists at my sides.

Admon’s face was expressionless. “You won’t like it.”

“Tell me.”

“I’ve been using my spycraft to search for answers.”

“Tell me what you have learned.” My whole body was trembling.

“No.”

“What do you mean, ‘no?’ Tell me!” I launched myself at him.

Admon was on his feet before I could blink. His hands gripped my small wrists, holding me back. His gaze was sympathetic, but his expression was firm.

“It is dangerous, and you are very young. I will not fail your mother in her last request. What you are asking of me is something I would not tell anyone who is not sworn into the Veiled One’s service. I have already told you more than was wise.”

“Then swear me in. Make me like you.” I didn’t even hesitate to think about what I was saying.

“You want to be a spy? A thief? An assassin?” Admon’s eyes narrowed, measuring my commitment.

I gulped and nodded. The code of morals I had held to be true up until this conversation suddenly seemed childish and outdated. Someone had killed my mother and made her suffer. They deserved to die. I wanted to make that happen by any means necessary. And so I swallowed my pride and prepared to make a devil’s pact.

“Even if you did become an initiate, I still would not tell you until after you had completed the necessary training,” Admon said. “Vengeance is a dangerous business, Razi. I won’t have you running off and getting yourself killed. The training will take years to complete. You must understand that if you do this, your life will never be the same.”

Sometimes I wonder if I had only listened to his warning what my life would have become. I realize such conjecture is futile. I would not be dissuaded.

“Whatever it takes. Do it.”

Admon held my gaze for a long moment, and I felt my soul laid bare. He released my wrists with a tired sigh. “So be it. I cannot swear you in. It must be done by the head priest at the Great Temple in the Imperial City. We must be careful to do it in secret. Although some of the other nobles may suspect me of having hidden skills, we must not hand them any proof. Perhaps you should take a few days to think over your decision before we set out.”

I didn’t fall for Admon’s ploy. I knew if I hesitated, it was likely I might talk myself out of my decision. I shook my head.

“Tomorrow,” I said.

Admon closed his eyes and bowed his head before meeting my gaze once more.

“Very well. We will set out tomorrow.”