The Gazels

Chapter 27

He reined in his tongue before spilling out that he would far rather have lived an ordinary life. No one would have believed him. A nasty impulse led him to add, “Or are you saying that it’s bad enough to have one Carmen lording it over you without adding another?”

A moment of silence answered him, of indrawn breaths, of sudden stillness of hands. That was exactly what they had thought. In that hush, Danilo leaned forward.

“If any of you wish to accuse Damion Carmen of an a***e of rank and power, do so properly, openly, but not at this time. We are here at Lord Carmen’s behest and in the presence of one newly come among us. Decency and dignity require that we give Rinaldo Carmen a fair hearing.”

All eyes now turned toward Rinaldo. He had listened, quiet and serious, to the debate. Now he rose to his feet, a movement both supple and dignified. He lifted his head so that they could all see his milk-pale skin, his eyes colorless as an overcast sky, and his delicate, almost ethereal features.

Emmasca . . .? whispered through their minds.

Just as I suspected when I first saw him!

But if he cannot father an heir—

Damion cannot possible expect us to—

Damion can, Damion formed the thought and dropped his barriers so that his mental communication resounded through the ambient psychic space. And Damion does!

“Vai domyn.” If Rinaldo had sensed any of the roiling thoughts, he gave no sign. “I am not here to challenge the established order. Indeed, I have spent my life in obedience to authority. Judge me if you will, as you will, but I beg of you, cast no aspersions upon my brother. He has been the soul of kindness to me. I would hear no evil spoken of him.”

Rinaldo waited for his words to sink in. “As for myself, you see me as I am. I have no ambition for myself nor any desire to found a dynasty.”

With a gentle smile, he invited their agreement and was rewarded by a nod here and there.

Damion did not like the way Valdir watched, careful and intent, as if assessing how hard it would be to mold Rinaldo to his own ends. Now, where had that thought come from? Damion wondered. He had caught no power thoughts from the Ridenow lord.

“My work at Nevarsin was primarily copying ancient manuscripts and teaching those younger than I to do the same,” Rinaldo explained. “So you see, I know a fair amount of history and very little of current worldly affairs.”

At this, someone chuckled. Damion felt the iron tension across his shoulders relax a fraction.

“If you have lived your life cloistered at Nevarsin, you are cristoforo, are you not?” Dom Ruyven kept his voice neutral, but he could not disguise the challenge in the carriage of his shoulders, the suggestive angle of his chin.

By ancient law, the sole surviving heir to an estate was f*******n to become a monk, owing to the required vow of celibacy. But Rinaldo was no longer a monk, he was not the only son of Carmen, and those days were long past.

Rinaldo met Ruyven’s stare. “Although I have been released from my vows and am free to marry and lead a secular life, I am now and always will be the servant of the Holy Bearer of Burdens.”

“My brother’s faith or lack thereof is not an issue for public debate,” Damion said, before anyone else could jump into the discussion. “We are not living in the Ages of Chaos. Elsha is part of a confederation of planets, and it is time we behaved like civilized people, not superstitious savages.”

“A confederation?” Valdir’s voice was soft, but it filled the room. At his side, Francisco straightened in his chair.

“A fellowship, if you will,” Damion replied, instantly regretting his choice of words. “An alliance. But on equal footing, on our own terms, not as a poor relation.”

“Change comes upon us, whether we invite it or not,” Valdir said. “Reason dictates that we would be better off to control as much of it as we can. Perhaps our best hope is to return to the days when each Domain was free to direct its own destiny.”

On the surface, Valdir was discussing the right of the Carmen Domain to run its own affairs, to satisfy itself as to the legitimacy of any nedestro heirs and to grant them whatever rights it saw fit. Damion had learned through years of painful experience, of betrayals and schemes and hidden meanings, never to take anything a Council lord said at face value. His Grandfather had begun the lessons, and the unfolding politics of Domain and Council had reinforced them.

The implication of Valdir’s argument was clear. If Damion agreed for the sake of Rinaldo’s inheritance, then Valdir could—and most likely was even now readying himself to—apply the same principle of Domain autonomy to negotiations with the piantss.

Ridenow will join the Federation as an independent nation, whether the rest of the Domains follow or not. The prospect was beyond terrifying. Division would follow, then civil war and the disintegration of social order. The Federation would eagerly intervene. They would send troops armed with Compact-banned weapons. The Expansionist agents would seize whatever resources they could. They would be worse than the World Wreckers, for they would have no need for secrecy and no reward for restraint.

Was that what Valdir wanted? Or did he simply not see the logical progression of consequences?

Wishing he could be anywhere but in that suddenly hostile chamber, Damion conceded that Rinaldo had been right. He had been a very unworldly, optimistic person after all.

Damion could see only one way of avoiding the destruction of the world he loved. “Vai Council, these are indeed unpredictable times, and as Dom Valdir has so eloquently pointed out, change breeds uncertainty. We must look to our strengths for guidance and stability: our connections with one another and with the past, our unique Gifts, our love for this world and its people. Now more than ever, Elsha needs all our leaders.”

“No one questions your qualifications, Lord Carmen,” said the Castamir lord. Others nodded agreement, Ruyven among them.

“I have called you here out of respect for our ancient traditions. Set your minds at rest, I have no intention of relinquishing my responsibilities as Head of my Domain. Honor demands no less. As has been pointed out, we are not so many that we can afford to exclude one who has so much to contribute. For this reason, I ask for your approval of full Council rights for my brother as a member of Carmen.”