Death and the Emperor

Book 1 Chapter XX: Searching for Answers

It would be so nice if something would make sense for a change. -- Alice in Wonderland (1951)

There was predictable outrage when Kilan informed his Counsellors of the Iqui's wishes.

"I knew this would happen," one of the Counsellors proclaimed angrily. "I just knew it!"

"Then you must have some precognitive ability you've never mentioned before," Chief Counsellor Dilves retorted.

Their bickering only worsened Kilan's headache. "Have you nothing better to do than snipe at each other? The Iqui wants me to give Istogu back to him. What should I tell him?"

"Tell him you won't agree under any circumstances!" Counsellor Jutin said heatedly.

Kilan could just imagine all the things that would go wrong if he did that.

"Ask him to wait for a year and a day before giving your answer," Counsellor Habek -- he of the linguistic mishap -- advised.

"No one is considering what the people of Istogu want," Counsellor Pelleas said. "Before making any decision, you should consult them. Do they wish to remain part of Carann? Do they want to be returned to Malish? Deciding their futures without consulting them will only make them angry."

Chief Counsellor Dilves scoffed. "And what if they want to be part of Malish? You will only anger them when you refuse to hand them over."

Kilan buried his head in his hands. "All of you, shut up. In fact, go back to your rooms. I want to be alone."

He needed to think this through.

~~~~

The days were slipping past with astonishing speed. The Iqui was perfectly polite, but made it clear he wanted an answer. And Kilan had no answer for him. The best idea he could think of was following Pelleas's suggestion and asking the people of Istogu what they wanted.

This was, he supposed, quite a good idea. No matter what the people chose they would anger someone, and this way he could keep as much of the blame off himself as possible. Besides, Death thought it was a good idea. He wasn't sure when Death had become his true Chief Counsellor, but he had to admit there was some sense in listening to a being who had seen the rise and fall of countless empires.

He conveniently ignored the little voice whispering in the back of his mind, that warned him it might be a bad idea to take advice from the End of All Things.

"I imagine the Iqui is having some political troubles of his own," Death said when he asked her why the Iqui would demand Istogu's return after so many years. "A son threatening to overthrow him, noblemen grown too powerful, a discontented population... Any of those things and more could put his reign in danger. To regain support he would need to show his power and regain his popularity, and what better way to do that than to force a foreign ruler to hand over a country? Especially when the loss of that country has rankled Malish for over a century."

"How did Istogu become part of Carann?" Kilan asked curiously.

"A war," Death said. "Uetlal-Iqui wanted control of a port city in Carann. Your great-great-great-great-grandmother Empress Híaru refused to give it to them. They declared war. They lost not only the war, but half their territories. Híaru gave most of their territories back on condition they never declared war on Carann again, and kept Istogu as surety."

This struck Kilan as rather a stupid way of preventing a war. "But wouldn't they have been more likely to go to war then, to get it back?"

Death bared her teeth in a parody of a smile. "Híaru thought so too, so she threatened to kill every Malishese citizen in the place if there was a whisper of another war starting."