<My brother is trying to read me.> he telepathically transmitted to the old man.
In a soft whisper, Somar said: "Can he?"
<I do not believe so.>
"Can you read him?"
<Just a little.> Cassian shut his eyes to close himself off from his human senses and focused through his psychic lens. <He is somewhat afraid, but also eager.>
"Good! You can use that."
The corporal stared at the two of them, not understanding the nature of the conversation they were having in the least. After a moment, he spoke up: "I am sure the general will speak to you shortly. May I show you to your tent? One of the highest quality has been constructed for you with several beds in it. We anticipated you might come with servants and—"
"My companion is not a servant," Cassian said, the words snapping out almost by reflex. "This is Somar Dojinko. I am sure you have heard the name." Cassian felt some sense of satisfaction as a wave of awe overcame the corporal’s mind.
"My apologies, sir,” the youth stuttered. “We would be honored to construct a tent for the legendary General Dojinko."
"Please do not go to any such trouble on my account," the old man said with a chuckle. "I am an officer no longer—I have not been for many years."
Cassian heard Dimitris's voice whisper in his mind suddenly: <My brother, I am sitting down with our host. I would be honored if you would come and join us. I think it is time we finally met in the flesh.>
He mused at the relaxed confidence Dimitris was exuding. The telepathic voice was smooth and polished. He did not seem to know that Cassian could sense his fear, or perhaps did but wanted to show how insignificant it was. <Yes, I think it is time,> Cassian answered.
He turned to Somar. "I have been invited to sit with our host and my rival. You are free to join." He suppressed a smile, knowing the old man would not be able to resist this first confrontation any more than he could.
"I believe I will," Somar said, and the old man's tired body seemed to take on new life. Their shared love of challenge would surely be what he missed most.
Looking confused, the corporal spoke up: "I would be happy to escort you—"
"We require no escort, young man," Somar said as he strained to lower himself from his stallion. After Cassian had dismounted as well, the old man gestured to their horses and said in an abruptly authoritative voice: "Please bring our luggage to our tent and see to our animals."
"Yes, sir!" the corporal said, his body whipping into a salute.
After the corporal disappeared, Cassian said: "Do you miss being in command?"
"I am very fortunate to have found other pursuits since leaving."
Cassian chuckled softly at this non-answer. "Yes, I think things may be about to grow... exciting."
"Stay alert."
"Always."
The two of them walked together through the camp, Cassian's eyes shifting to the soldiers here and there, studying their weapons and armor. Denigoth had been moving away in the last decade from inducted militia into a professional military. These men—many of them close to Cassian's age—were not farmers and laborers called away for a brief battle but had chosen soldiering as their careers. Memories flowed from them here and there, flashing images of combat training that began around the age of twelve or thirteen and went on for years.
Cassian and Somar eventually came to a tent the size of a large house in the middle of the camp, the entryway of which was made of exquisite draperies of deep red embroidered with gold thread. Ten soldiers stood at attention, with five on each side of the threshold. The one closest to Cassian said: "You are Lord Asango, are you not?"
"General Romulus is expecting you." He gestured to the entryway.
Cassian nodded to the soldier and stepped between the two clusters of men, Somar following closely behind. He entered the tent and gazed around at the golden and marble statues that adorned the first room. The floor was made up of ornate rugs. There were tables with solid gold water urns, and even enormous paintings somehow carefully hung from the tent's intricately complex skeleton of wooden poles. They were only in the first room of a dividing path of doorways.
"Romulus enjoys his comforts," Somar said in a cautiously soft voice.
Cassian smiled. He knew from the way the old man lived that Somar had little desire for such opulence. This entryway was meant to convey power and prestige, but to Cassian, it felt…vulgar.
"Lord Asango," a deep voice boomed from a room to the right. "Please do come in."
Cassian walked over the carpeted floor and came into a second room where he saw a large man with a neatly trimmed beard of bronze and silver sitting in a carved wooden chair. Cassian’s eyes lingered on the man only long enough to give him a respectful nod, and then they locked on his one great rival. Rising from his seat at the enormous table in the room's center, Dimitris flashed him a smile and extended a gloved hand.
Dimitris was taller than Cassian, with a stronger and more athletic build. He was remarkably handsome with his manly chin and symmetrical features, his oiled, wavy black hair, and his deep blue eyes. Cassian could not help thinking that his brother looked far more like a great ruler than he did.
"Greetings, Cassian," said Dimitris as they clasped hands. "It is so good to meet you after all these years."
Cassian smiled back. It was good. He had been waiting for this moment for quite a long time.
"This is General Romulus," Dimitris said with a graceful gesture toward the enormous man.
Romulus rose, his rugged face contorting into a smile with which his fierce brown eyes did not wholly align. He held out a thick arm with a golden bracer at the wrist and said: "I have long wanted to meet the boy who faced Promethiock. My men have spoken of you as a legend for years."
Cassian smiled and extended his hand. He still disliked flattery – especially when that flattery was insincere. Romulus did not particularly like him. The general was not quite so talented at blocking telepathy as Somar, nor was he as subtle or charming. He had risen as high as he had in the empire for very different reasons, Cassian suspected.
"This is my tutor, Somar Dojinko," said Cassian to both men.
Dimitris flashed another charming smile and took Somar's hand and said: "It is a great honor to finally meet you, sir."
"The honor is mine in every way," said Somar.
"Please let me shake your hand as well," Romulus said, reaching across the table to Somar. The two men gripped each other’s wrists as two fellow generals.
"Pleased to meet you, Romulus," said Somar. "I have heard much about you."
Romulus held his smile for a moment longer and then made an arching gesture with his hand toward everyone in the room and said: "Shall we be seated?"
Cassian and Somar took up chairs next to Dimitris across from Romulus. Once they were all in their places, the general gazed at Cassian and said: "I am quite pleased that you arrived so quickly. I might enjoy entertaining a pair of Starborn in my camp under other circumstances, but I am afraid there is some degree of urgency to why you two have been summoned."
"Yes, why are we here?" Cassian said.
Romulus answered in a grim voice: "The emperor wishes to test the two of you in battle."
"Test us how?" Dimitris said. His voice was neutral and composed.
Romulus leaned forward in his chair and knitted the thick fingers of his hands together as he said: "A force has been raiding to the north of this position. I am to assign one of you to command this legion to eradicate the threat."
They stared at each other as Romulus said: "Whichever one of you produces the superior battle plan."
"What happens to the loser?" Cassian said.
"He will be under the command of the winner," Romulus answered.
Somar took in a deep, sharp breath through his nose. Cassian knew why. This was not a simple test of leadership
. He and Dimitris were being maneuvered into direct conflict with one another. Before eleven thousand witnesses, one of them was about to be forced to accept the superiority of the other. In Denigoth's current military-minded societal state, this contest would confer enormous weight upon the balance scale between them over who was the superior contender for the throne.
With raw telepathic force, Cassian ripped abruptly through Dimitris's psychic defenses, causing his rival to widen his eyes and draw back in shock. He was able to catch just enough from his brother’s mind before the mental walls redoubled to sense that this was not some clandestine plan Dimitris had known about, which could only mean the Emperor himself was behind the matter.
"You have two days to formulate sound, tactical plans," Romulus said, interrupting the silent psychic battle the two of them were waging. “You will both submit your proposals to me morning after next. I will then decide the winner by midday."
"Understood," Cassian said in a calm voice, but he did not understand at all. Why were the two of them being pitted against each other so early and so directly? He had assumed their competition would last years – even decades – and without any manipulation from the Emperor. They were both only twenty, and in the span of two days, one of them would receive a proclamation of inferiority to the other from the most decorated military officer in the empire.
"Good that you understand," Romulus said with a fair degree of smugness in his tone. "I would enjoy sharing mid-day meal with two Starborn, but if you wish time to formulate your plans, I understand entirely."
Again, Cassian gazed at Dimitris. The situation was not ideal, and yet they both faced the same circumstances. In the end, it had always been a contest between the two of them, and, whatever form that contest took, Cassian knew he had to rise to it.
"I believe I will begin now," he said, rising from his chair.
"I as well," said Dimitris, rising in turn.
"That is probably best for both of you," said Romulus. He turned to Somar and said: "You must not interact with your pupil during this trial."
"Is that right?" said Somar in a dry voice.
"You are a legendary tactician, sir, as many know. Your input would constitute an unfair advantage in a competition between two contenders for the throne." His bushy red eyebrows knitted together, and he said: "Such interference in a matter of state would constitute treason by my reasoning and would call for your execution."
Cassian's felt his blood turn to acid in his veins. Romulus was enjoying threatening his former fellow general. The bastard was drunk with power! Romulus started to add something, but Somar abruptly spoke up, saying: "I understand completely, General Romulus. Actually, I would very much enjoy taking lunch with you while the two Starborn go about their imperial business."
"Excellent," said Romulus with a satisfied grin that made every muscle in Cassian's body coil. Still, he knew better than to openly challenge a general of the Imperium over such a matter. The perfectly relaxed smile on Somar's face helped to calm him.
The general turned to Dimitris and said: "I have learned that you employ Sardonis Alexi as your military tutor. I require him to step away from this as well. Would you be so kind as to send him to me?"
"Of course," said Dimitris.
"Good, I dismiss you both," said Romulus, still sounding pompous.
Cassian and Dimitris left the tent together, walking side by side. When they had passed a few dozen steps beyond the ears of the guards, Dimitris said in a low tone: "You see what all of this is, I am sure."
"Of course, but I do not know why. The emperor cannot possibly be sick. He will not need an heir for many years to come."
"Perhaps the Senate is putting pressure on him to name a crown prince."
Cassian sighed. "Do you think anyone in this world could exert pressure on Tacitus?"
Dimitris chuckled softly. "No, I suppose not. We do not then get to know why we are pushed to each other's throats.” His voice took on a dark edge laced with mirth as he added: “But we are at each other's throats."
"Yes," said Cassian.
Dimitris hesitated, then said: "We might step off this path before one of us dies.” The implied threat barely disguised yet given with remarkably little hostility. They both stopped walking and turned to face each other. As the soldiers went about their business around the two of them, Dimitris said: "I know what you want, Cassian."
"Do you?" Cassian said. "I suspect your next words will closely resemble the dozen or so offers Telemachus has made on your behalf in the last few years.
Dimitris flashed him a brilliant smile. "Can you imagine what you and I could accomplish together?"
"With you as emperor? Yes. Not a great deal. Certainly nowhere near enough."
"I am willing to limit the powers of the Nemesai, Cassian—limit them to such a degree that nothing like what happened to your parents will ever happen again."
Cassian let a dark chuckle escape his throat. "Really? Is that what you told Bishop Cromlic when you accepted all the special tutors he provided you, or when he himself instructed you in all those terrible forbidden spells his order has kept secret from the world?" Dimitris started to respond, but Cassian interrupted him: "I would wager Cromlic has spent several million desseks preparing you to kill me, brother. Where do you suppose all that money came from? His men tore it away from poor families whom they deemed guilty of sin. You knew that, and you accepted all of his gifts, so do not stand there and smile at me and pretend you and I share the same ideals."
The muscles around Dimitris's eyes contracted and he closed his lips and said telepathically: <I understand that to change the world, I first need to deal with it as it is, Cassian. You seem to understand this as well. I did not see you refusing to work with General Romulus just now. He has killed far more innocent people in the last decade than the Nemesai Order in the entirety of their history.>
Cassian bristled. <Yes, he is a bloodthirsty beast who needs to be dealt with, but Denigoth ultimately requires a military to exist. It does not require hypocritical holy men who tear people out of their homes for daring to think about the world in terms other than their religion, or because a man feels attraction to other men, or for any of the other petty justifications they have to torture and murder and steal.>
<Yet your hands are not clean, my brother. That is my point. We both stand within moral shades of gray, and yet we both want to move toward the light.> Dimitris drew in a slow breath, keeping his eyes fixed on Cassian's. <You are the one I respect most in the world other than Tacitus himself. You are my brother. I would work with you over Bishop Cromlic in an instant, if you would only take my hand.>
Cassian stared at his brother for a long time. In his heart he had always longed for this friendship. He had never sought it though, and there was good reason. <You would not though—not truly.>
<I would!>
<If, as Emperor, you were to place severe limitations on the activities of the Nemesai, they would declare you an enemy of the church as they have done me. The Diaphan priests are Cromlic’s pets, and he would coerce them to speak against you, perhaps even to call on their parishioners to rise up, and then you would be forced to either tolerate revolt or send in the military against men of the church.>
<We could deal with—>
Cassian interrupted his brother: <Aside from that, if you were to attempt to end slavery, the nobility would turn against your rule. They would never give up their property and the absurd wealth brought in every year by slave labor. You would face revolt in your outer territories first, and it would grow like a cancer through the empire. Eventually, you would have to choose between bending to the terms of your own lords or, again, sending your armies. I know you, Dimitris. You would not place Denigoth in such a state of civil war out of friendship to me.>
<You have followers all over the empire, Cassian. Our people are becoming more and more ready for change. We could work together to sway public opinion even further from
the old institutions.>
<You think you can out manipulate the church?> Cassian smirked. <All they have to do is say the word 'hell,' and half the empire falls to its knees and does whatever they command.>
"And what would you do?" Dimitris said, resuming speaking with his human voice. He suddenly looked tense and desperate.
<What would I do?> said Cassian. <It is what I am. I am not afraid to stand up to them—truly stand up. I will execute Nemesai who attempt to torture and kill my citizens, because they are nothing but murderers. I will grant freedom of religion and protect that right with military force. I will flood the empire with copies of my translation of the Enumis and institute public education programs so that people can read it for themselves and see the hypocritical nonsense that is carried out under so-called theocratic law. I will laugh when I am proclaimed a damned soul, because the condemnations of Bishop Cromlic do not frighten me in the slightest.>
Cassian took a slow breath, calming himself. <It is not merely that the church is wrong. They are only able to do what they do because the people are kept ignorant and powerless by a grotesquely wealthy and powerful few.> He lifted his hands and gestured around. <All of this is built on the backs of slaves—on a system where ninety-five percent of the wealth and land belongs to a tiny handful of noble families, most of whom care more about the tapestries in their homes than the people they rule. With eyes wide open to every consequence, I intend to destroy that social order because it utterly disgusts me, and I will dedicate my life to building something better. I will overcome everything that stands between me and my vision, and if you do not step down, I will start by defeating you, my brother.>
The two of them stared at one another in silence for a long moment, Dimitris's brilliant eyes gazing with anger and shock at Cassian's words. Finally, he said: <Very well, Cassian Asango. Let us see which of us is the better tactician.>