isn’t anyone else who can do it,” Ronko smiled sweetly. “And he’ll be the only interpreter involved. First of all, the fewer people who know about the talks, the better. And second, Enel Virando is unique in his ability.”
“Then it’s decided,” said the green-eyed man, his face brightening. “Young man, I hope you realize what kind of responsibility this is. If you make a mistake of any kind, the talks could break down and all our efforts will be wasted. It could even lead to war.” At this, Tameto’s eyes flashed. “I suggest you spend the rest of the time before your departure filling in any gaps in your knowledge.”
“One more thing,” said Ronko. “As of today, Enel Virando no longer works at the archive. That being the case, in addition to appointing him to the delegation, we must assign him a palace rank that will allow him to access all the documents he will need for the mission.”
“We will decide that later,” Dorgoe answered drily. “I have a more important question: how will the delegation travel to Virilan?”
Tameto stood up. “I suggest crossing the northern border. I have men who can take them all the way to the Virilans’ camp there. After that, it’s up to the Virilans to take them to the capital. I hope.”
Ronko shook his head. “I think traveling by sea would be safer. First of all, the wasteland is not entirely safe. Second, we must visit Manibortish to get an idea of how the trading is going and to collect information. Third…”
“Going by sea means traveling right under the Capotians’ noses,” Tameto objected. “Manibortish is their trading post. I don’t see the sense in your proposal!” He stared at Ronko.
“And we have no guarantees that the Capotians will let our delegation over the border into Virilan,” Forsey muttered.
The green-eyed man suddenly lost all patience. “Listen to you! They might not want to? The Capotian cities have a pact of protection with the Empire!” He leaped from his seat and strode across the room, accidentally bumping into Uni, who couldn’t collect his wits in time to get out of the way. “The merchants have gone too far! We will sign a treaty with Virilan if for no other reason than to put those avaricious wretches in their place!” With that, he turned and strode back to his seat, sat down, and pursed his thin lips.
Uni assumed that Forsey’s resistance would be broken after that, but the man grimaced and turned away to demonstrate his indifference to something he could no longer prevent.
It was only after leaving the palace and finding himself on the familiar streets around the Market of Plenty that Uni fully realized what had happened to him. While he was standing in that round room, the redemptive turn of fate somehow seemed inevitable, as if he had finally woken from a nightmare and found himself back in the real world on a sunny day in spring. Virilan! Virilan! The word echoed in his brain and he repeated it again and again, not quite believing his own good fortune. It was worth almost losing everything he held dear in this life in order to find the door to the land of his fantasy – a land so familiar and yet so mysterious, known to him only through books, and colored by his own imagination to such an extent that reality began to bleed into the edges of illusion.
“My heart and soul are already there,” Uni thought. “Now all I have to do is transport my body there. Interpreter for the delegation! The Empire’s fate depends on my words! Amazing! I will see the Emperor of Virilan, who holds power over the forces of nature and the heavens. I wonder if it’s true that he is immortal? Would it be proper to ask him?” He shook his head at his own folly. “After today, nothing will surprise me.”
Then he thought back to his conversation with Ronko after they left the council, and a chill ran up his spine. “How could I be so stupid!”
As they made their way back through the palace halls, Ronko seemed truly upset that the delegation was to be organized by his political adversary, but his deep-rooted buoyancy did not leave him. Instead, he explained to Uni how the power dynamic surrounding the Emperor functioned.
“No, I’m not too surprised it ended up this way. There are two types of people around the Emperor: the first are men like myself and Forsey who served his father. If you recall, Forsey was the current Emperor’s tutor. Forsey and I rarely agree on anything, but the Emperor sees us as old men whose influence he would like to free himself from.”
“Free himself? Is it that difficult?”
“The Imperial Council ran this country for ten years while the Emperor was still young and inexperienced. However, he proved to be a quick study and soon removed the extremists from the council. He also managed to get his own protégé appointed to the council. That is why he trusts Dorgoe more than me. Dorgoe depends on him for everything. And he never knew him as a child. He knows Forsey and I remember him as a babe in arms, and it drives him mad!”
“I can imagine. Is it true that Dorgoe used to sell meat pies in the streets?”
“More or less, but not for very long, to his credit. He put together a team of sellers. Then he opened a bakery. By the time Forsey met him, Dorgoe was selling bread to the best homes in Trikazinso. He was working with Capotians and made a fortune out of Virilan wheat.”
“That means he owes everything to Forsey?”
“Precisely! Forsey was the Emperor’s tutor, but he was lacking talent (as he still is). Dorgoe, on the other hand, had plenty of money, but he was lacking in important contacts. Rich men bought their bread from him, and nothing more. So he decided to use Forsey to get what he wanted.”
“But how did he get from there to here? What I mean is, how is it that the Emperor’s most important advisors are dancing to the tune of a baker?”
“If he’d just been that – a baker – it never would have worked. Dorgoe’s intelligence is limited, but he can guess what people are going to do with unusual precision. Then, once he knows their true needs and desires, he finds ways to satisfy them. First, he taught Forsey how to make use of his only resource, his access to the Emperor. Forsey’s influence rose steadily, but he wasn’t ready for the challenge, so in the end he recommended that the Emperor take on Dorgoe as an advisor. Dorgoe’s accomplishment was helping His Majesty get on a more independent footing with the council. Without damaging the existing system of governance, he managed to restring the inner workings so that the Emperor gained the real power he wanted.”
“Is that why Dorgoe is your enemy? Because he took power away from those of you who served the Emperor’s father and put it in his hands?”
Ronko laughed and looked away for a moment. “I always knew you were a smart boy. Sometimes you are too smart.” They walked on for a while before he spoke again. “Even I don’t know who actually holds the power in the Empire. When there are so many intersecting interests, the situation can change quickly and most unexpectedly. It’s an illusion that the Emperor is all-powerful. In reality, his hands are tied. The Solar Sentinels instituted a system of overseers who control the army and all of the generals. As a result, there is little risk of a coup, but our army is weak. That means we can’t use it to rein in the ambitions of the local dynasties. We’ve also had to patch together a dissatisfactory peace with the nomads. We are afraid of making a wrong move because any change could lead to lamentable consequences.
“But don’t the different forces cancel each other out?”
“Oh, stability is Dorgoe’s strong suit. It’s the magic word that opened the doors to power for him. Dorgoe has woven together a net of mutual obligations that no one other than himself is capable
