Caught up in her own thoughts, Mara missed his abnormal abruptness. ‘Do so,’ she said in vague reference to words she had interpreted only by surface meaning. ‘But I will expect you at my quarters in the Holy City in one month’s time.’
‘Your will, mistress.’ Arakasi bowed with no trace of hesitation. As unobtrusively as he had entered, he slipped through the screen and vanished into the silvery afternoon drizzle. Still deep in thought, Mara allowed him time enough to leave unseen. Then she clapped for her runner and sent for her advisers.
The rain held almost everyone indoors, and within a few moments Nacoya, Keyoke, and Saric entered. Lujan arrived last, smelling of the oils used to preserve laminated armour. He had been in the barracks instructing young recruits, and his sandals added to the puddles left by Arakasi’s black cloak.
Without preamble, Mara said, ‘Nacoya, send messages to all the Ruling Lords of the Jade Eye Party, informing them that one month from this day we shall be in residence at our town house in the Holy City. The Acoma would be pleased to host each at a lunch or dinner . . . according to rank, of course.’ Almost without hesitation she added, ‘Send word to all members of Clan Hadama that a meeting will be held in the High Council hall in six weeks’ time.’
Nacoya paused in the act of straightening a drooping hairpin. ‘Mistress, many of the Hadama Clan were allied with Axantucar. They will have little inclination to return so soon to Kentosani, despite your request.’
Mara turned a hard glance toward her First Adviser. ‘Then make it clear: this is not a request. It is a demand.’
On the point of argument, Nacoya gauged the look in her mistress’s eyes. She reconsidered, nodded once, and with poor grace said, ‘Your will, mistress.’
From his corner upon the sleeping mat in Mara’s study, Kevin regarded the evening’s exchanges with a growing sense of disquiet. Something in Mara had changed, he intuited, though he could not put his finger on precisely what. Certain only that a distance had grown up between them, despite his best efforts at patience, he regarded the cold, remote look on the face of his Lady and decided. Whatever the resolve behind her thoughts, this time he was unsure that he wanted any part of knowing it. The game was no game, not in any sense he could understand. And by now familiar enough wjth the politics of Tsuranuanni, he could sense when events led to danger. Changes, he had learned, did not occur in this land except through bloodshed, and the fall of yet another Warlord promised the direst of trouble.
The rain beat on the rooftree, and darkness fell, and though the air remained every bit as humid and close as before, Kevin found he had lost all inclination to sleep.
The storm passed, and while clouds on the horizon proclaimed the approach of showers later, the day blazed brilliantly. Mara stood in the hot sun, her bearing erect and her expression unreadable. Lined up before her on the expanse of the practice field stood her entire garrison, every fighting man wearing Acoma colours. The only absent warriors were those assigned to far holdings in distant cities and the current patrol on duty along the perimeter of the estate itself.
At her right stood Nacoya, looking tiny under the weight of a formal robe. Her diminutive height was emphasized by the wand tipped with a fan of shatra tail feathers, official token of her office as First Adviser. Behind her and to the left stood Keyoke, Saric, and Lujan, also wearing formal garb. The lacquered dress armour, the jewels, and the shell inlay on the officers’ staves glittered blindingly in the morning light.
Squinting against the sunlight scintillating on polished armour, Kevin regarded the scene from inside the house, his vantage point a window seat in the large hall where Mara held court. Ayaki stood with his elbows propped on the cushion by the Midkemian’s knees. Behind the young master, with a pot of wax and a polishing cloth dangling forgotten from his hands, stood the elderly house slave, Mintai, who was assigned this chamber’s upkeep. The old man enjoyed the free moment that such ceremony brought, this being one of the -.are times he could lapse into idleness without fear of reprimand.
Mara had started off giving awards and promotions, then had gone on to accept the oath of loyalty of an even dozen young warriors called to Acoma service. Once the new recruits completed their final bows and stepped back to take places in the ranks, she addressed her army as a whole.
‘Now have the Acoma grown in strength to match their honour. Kenji, Sujanra!’ As the officers who were named stepped forward, Mara accepted two tall, green-dyed plumes from Keyoke. ‘These men are elevated to the rank of Force Leader!’ she announced to her companies, and as the two men bowed before her, she affixed the badges of their new rank to their helms.
Kevin dug Ayaki in the ribs. ‘What’s a Force Leader? I thought I knew all your ranks.’