The Second Empire

“That second force you mention is entirely cavalry,” Aurungzeb pointed out.

“Yes, Majesty. They must be completely mobile, and swift-moving. Their mission is twofold. Firstly, they will protect the northern flank of the main body, in case the red horsemen and their allies are still at large in that area. If this proves to be u

“Why do you believe this enemy force in the north is no longer in the field?”

“They freed a large quantity of female captives that our troops had rounded up. I am certain they will escort these back to the Toru

“Hammer and anvil,” Aurungzeb murmured. “I like it.”

“It’s how he caught the Nalbeni in the Toru

“Who?”

“This Toru

“I am glad to see we are learning lessons from the behaviour of the enemy,” Aurungzeb said wryly, but his brow was thunderous. “Very well. Shahr Johor, when will the army move out?”

“Within two weeks, Majesty.”

“What if this vaunted general of theirs does not come out to meet us, but stands siege in Toru

“He will come out, my Sultan. It is in his nature. It is said he lost his wife in Aekir, and it has taught him to hate us. All his strategies, even the defensive ones, are based on the tactical offencive. These scarlet-armoured cavalry of his excel in it. He will come out.”

“I hope you are right. We would win a siege, no doubt of that, but then the war would drag through the summer, perhaps later. The Minhraib must be returned to Ostrabar in time for the harvest.”

“By harvest time, Your Majesty, you shall be using the throne of Toru

“You have, Shahr Johor—believe me, you have. This is very well. I like this plan. The Toru

A rustle of laughter flitted about the room.

“That will do for now. You will all leave, but for Mehr Jirah and his urgent errand. Ahara, my sweet, seat yourself. Shahr Baraz, are you a complete boor? Find my Queen a chair.”

The Merduk officers filed out, bowing in turn to Aurungzeb and Ahara. The door clicked shut behind them.

“Well, Mehr Jirah. What is so urgent that you must enter an indaba una

“Forgive me, Sultan. But when something momentous occurs which impinges upon the very faith of our people and the ma

“You intrigue and alarm me. Go on.”

“You recall the Ramusian monk who has come to us from Toru

“That madman. What about him?”

“Sultan, I believe he is not mad.” Mehr Jirah’s face grew stern and he rose to his full height as though bracing himself. “I believe he speaks the truth.”

Aurungzeb blinked. “What? What are you telling me?”

“I have been conducting researches in our archives for the last two months, and I have had access—which you so graciously granted—to all the documents that were saved from the ecclesiastical and historical sections of the Library of Gadorian Hagus in Aekir. They tally with a tradition that my own Hraib hold to be true. In short, the Prophet Ahrimuz, blest be his name, came to us out of the west, and it now seems certain that he was none other than the western Saint Ramusio—”

“Mehr Jirah!”

“Sultan, the Saint and the Prophet are the same person. Our religion and that of the westerners are products of one mind, worshipping the same God and venerating the same man as His emissary.”

Aurungzeb’s swarthy face had gone pale. “Mehr Jirah, you are mistaken,” he barked hoarsely. “The idea is absurd.”

“I wish it were, truly. This knowledge has shaken me to the very core. The monk whom we deemed a madman is in fact a scholar of profound learning, and a man of great faith. He did not come to us out of a whim—he came to tell us the truth, and he bore with him the copy of an ancient document which confirms it, having fled with it from Charibon itself. The Ramusian Church has suppressed this knowledge for centuries, but God has seen fit to pass it on to us.”

There was a pause. Finally Aurungzeb spoke, unwillingly it seemed.

“Ahara, what part have you in this?”

“I acted as interpreter for Mehr Jirah in his conversations with the monk Albrec, my lord. I am able to confirm what Mehr Jirah says.”

“Do you not think, Sultan,” the mullah continued, “that it is a strange twist of fate which has brought a western queen and a Ramusian scholar to you at this time? I see the hand of God at work. His word has been corrupted and hidden for long enough. Now is the time to finally let it see the light of day.”

Aurungzeb’s eyes flashed. He began pacing about the room like a restless bear. “This is all a trick—some ruse of the Ramusians to divide us and mislead us in the very hour of our final victory. My Queen: she was once a Ramusian. I can see how she was taken in, wishing to reconcile the faith of her past and the true faith which she has had the fortune to be reborn into. But you, Mehr Jirah: you are a holy man, a man of learning and shrewdness. How can you bring yourself to believe such lies? Such a blasphemous falsehood?”

“I know the truth when I hear it,” Mehr Jirah retorted icily. “I am not a fool, nor yet some ma

Aurungzeb was manageing to look both frightened and furious at the same time.

“Who else knows of this discovery of yours?”

“I have taken the liberty of gathering together the mullahs of several of the closest Hraib. They agree with me—albeit reluctantly. Our concern now is in what ma

“All this was done without my knowledge. On whose authority—?”

Mehr Jirah thumped a fist on the table, making the map of Toru