Blood of the Mantis

‘In the Twelve-Year war…’ he began. It had been the cause of his meteoric rise through the ranks, his conduct at that war’s end. ‘… Towards the end, they were always springing surprise attacks, ambushes. They had inferior discipline, inferior equipment. We had broken their field armies by then, so they had to make up for it in tactics, using the land itself… those Dragonfly-kinden… I want to know any news received about Dragonfly-kinden.’

He stared out across the broken ground, hearing the hammering of the artificers as they straightened the rails, and knowing that his enemy was somewhere out there, staring back at him.

Eighteen

There seemed to be a Wasp soldier on every street corner, as though they had already occupied Solarno without the courtesy of letting anyone know. In the open-fronted tavernas the conversation hovered about them like a fly over fruit, but never quite touched on the awkward questions.

Che, Taki and Nero had gone out into the market district to see the true scale of the problem, with the Dragonfly Dalre and a couple of others shadowing them in case of trouble. It was hard to judge accurately, though, as the Wasps were spread out in groups of no more than two or three, but it seemed impossible to go anywhere without at least a glimpse of their black-and-yellow presence.

Nero had left them a short while ago, to undertake some aerial surveillance, and they had taken a table at a taverna to hear what the Solarnese themselves were saying. The uneasy local consensus seemed to be that one or other of the political parties had invited them in, or was even hiring them as mercenaries. That was the only way the locals could account for such an influx of foreigners in their midst. The idea that the Wasps might have an agenda of their own was not spoken about.

‘The problem is,’ Taki said, ‘it’ll become true. One of the parties will decide to make a deal with them, and that’s just the start of the downward slope. The Wasps will keep that party strong, and the same party will rely on the Wasps all the more.’

‘I don’t think the Wasps are likely to wait that long,’ said Che. ‘They’ll soon be making demands to whichever party looks most gullible. Will that be yours, do you think?’

‘I don’t have a party,’ Taki reminded her. ‘I’m not into politics. All I want to do is fly.’ She considered the thought further. ‘But it could be the Destiavel’s party, the Satin Trail, that I’ll grant you – or else the Crystal Standard lot. The Crystals are in the Corta Obscuri now, and they might risk a lot to stay on there. If they don’t alter their fortunes, word is there’ll be a new Corta soon enough, and then they’ll be out.’

‘What about the other cities of the Exalsee?’ Che asked. ‘Will they step in?’

Taki looked almost horrified. ‘That pack of pirates and lackeys interfere with Solarnese politics? If Princep and Chasme and the rest turned up here protesting against the Wasps, the only thing it would do is have every local inviting Wasps to marry their daughters and take over the family businesses. No, this is a Solarnese problem.’

‘Then we have to talk to Genissa.’

‘Domina Genissa is not happy with the Wasps,’ Taki agreed. ‘She just doesn’t like the look of them, and with her that counts for a lot. Mind you, she’s generally a good judge from first impressions, and like a lot of the Dominas she doesn’t want something new coming in and changing the mix. Actually, the only people who would really welcome that happening would be the Path of Jade crowd, and that’s because at the moment they’re in danger of dying out altogether. Mind you, they’re in for all sorts of odd ideas, like banning slavery and the like. Not the sort of thinking your Wasps will want to encourage.’

Che was about to reply when she noticed a pair of Wasp soldiers approaching, their attention clearly fixed on either her or Taki. She felt for her sword-hilt, loosening it in its scabbard. Taki moved away from the table a little, allowing herself room to fly.

The lead Wasp, obviously the one in charge, was both shorter and leaner than most of them, but he bore himself with an air of arrogant confidence that made up for his lack of stature. His barred cuirass was fashioned of leather, not the metal bands the imperial soldiers normally wore. His hair was still tawny but he was older than Che had first thought, with a little burn-scarring evident about his chin and neck. As he arrived at their table he nodded to Taki, ignoring Dalre and the other Destiavel men, who had stood up warningly as he approached.

‘Do I address the Bella te Schola Taki-Amre of the Destiavel?’ he said, fumbling slightly over such unfamiliar names.

‘What of it?’ Taki asked him suspiciously.

‘My name is Lieutenant Axrad of the Aviation Corps,’ he said. ‘I have sought you out to congratulate you on your flying.’

Taki stood too, sizing him up. ‘And what would you know about my flying, Sieur Axrad?’