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."

The more Kilan heard about his ancestors, the more he began to wonder if they were just as barbaric as the Malishese. "But that would only make the people of Istogu hate and fear her!"

"Híaru is a firm believer in the philosophy that it's better to be feared than loved."

Well, this was just wonderful. Not only did he have the Iqui to deal with, but the Istogians were unlikely to think kindly of the House of Caranilnav. Was life supposed to be this difficult?

"How should I know?" Death said when he asked her that. "Your life is much easier that some, so stop complaining. That's one of the few certainties in this world. No matter who you are or where you are, there is always someone out there who's worse off than you."

Like many things Death said, this was not comforting.

~~~~

"Good morning, Emperor Tinuviel!" the Iqui greeted Kilan on the last day of his visit. "Have you reached a decision yet?"

"Not yet, your Majesty," Kilan said. The words "your Majesty" left a sour taste in his mouth. "I believe it is only fair to ask the people of Istogu what their wishes are in this matter."

"Dear, dear!" The Iqui seemed highly amused by this idea. "How unique!"

If he considered that unique, then he had just unwittingly given away a great deal about how things were done in Malish.

"I should have an answer for you within a year and a day," was all Kilan said.

~~~~

"I have never been so glad to leave a place in my life," Kilan said aloud to no one in particular as he watched Malish fade into the distance. From the observation deck of an airship, it looked like a pleasant, peaceful place. It just showed how appearances could be deceiving.

There was a snort from one of his Counsellors who happened to overhear him. "Get used to it, your Majesty. Before your reign's over you'll have to visit a few more places you'll be glad to leave."

Kilan decided the best way to deal with that was to ignore it.

~~~~

The first thing Kilan did upon arriving in Carann was pay a visit to Nimetath. His aunt had remained Chief Inquisitor despite the High Council's protests. Kilan didn't care if it was traditional for each new ruler to pick a new Chief Inquisitor; by all accounts Nimetath was a perfectly competent one, and there was no reason to replace her.

He explained the situation to her over a cup of yiowanberry[1] tea.

"It has been suggested to me that the Iqui is doing this to regain lost power or popularity," Kilan finished, carefully omitting any reference to who had suggested that.

Nimetath set her cup down carefully. "That is one possibility," she said in a grim tone. "Another is that your uncle promised to give him Istogu."

Kilan blinked. "I beg your pardon? Why would Emperor Vretiel do that?"

She sighed. "Have some more tea, Tinuviel. There is something I must tell you."

~~~~

"My uncle was a traitor." Kilan tried to wrap his mind around the enormity of that statement. "My uncle was a traitor. How-- But-- Why-- I knew he was guilty of some crime, but I thought it was just something about money, not-- Are you sure?"

Nimetath nodded solemnly. "I checked and double-checked the documents. I had my spies watch him at all times. There can be no doubt about it."

"My uncle was a traitor." Kilan could hardly have been more astonished if he had discovered snow was black. He made a desperate attempt to marshal his thoughts. "That... that complicates things."

His aunt raised an eyebrow, as if to say, You don't say. "What do you intend to do, your Majesty?"

Do? Oh, yes. He had things to do. He had... he had to speak with whoever was in charge of Istogu. Was it one of the countries that governed itself or was its government linked with another province's?

"Who rules Istogu at the moment?"

"You do," Nimetath said, giving him a mildly concerned look.

"No, I mean, does it have a government of its own?"

"Princess Ixerthi rules it. She is a very distant cousin of yours, I believe, descended from one of Empress Híaru's brothers."

~~~~

"What do you mean, you're going to Istogu in person?"

Leave it to the High Council, Kilan thought, to make a song and dance over the simplest things.

The majority of the High Council currently looked as if he had announced his intention to set fire to the city. Chief Counsellor Dilves had collapsed into her chair with her mouth hanging open. Kilan suppressed the urge to tell her she looked like a fish.

"I mean exactly what I say," he told them, speaking slowly and clearly. "It's only polite to personally explain the situation to Princess Ixerthi. And while I'm there, I can see for myself what state the country is in and whether its people are happy to be part of my empire."

He sat down in his throne and waited for the shouting to begin.

The Counsellors did not disappoint. As one, they all cried, "But, your Majesty!"

The Council meeting from then on descended into everyone shouting over everyone else in what sounded like twenty different languages.

~~~~

As a child, Kilan had had an idea that it would be fun to be the Emperor. If he were Emperor, he had thought, he would have exactly what he wanted for dessert and no one would tell him to eat his vegetables.

When he thought of that idea now, he wanted to laugh. How could he have been so naïve?

"What happened? The Council being unusually troublesome? You should do what your Great-Uncle Volodar used to do, and bring a gun into the Council room with you."

Leave it to Death to come unannounced and make absurd suggestions.

"Hello to you too," Kilan said, leaning back in his chair to see her. She was leaning against the back of his chair, and so he could only meet her eyes by craning his neck. "I'm not going to start carrying weapons. That would be a disaster waiting to happen."

She shrugged and rounded his chair to stand in front of him. "Has it occurred to you that sometimes force is the only way to get things done?"

"Only tyrants resort to force," Kilan said firmly. "I won't be a tyrant."

Death gave one of those strange, morbidly amused smiles. "So you say."

Kilan glared at her. "Was there a reason you came to visit, or do you just want to insult me?"

"Who said it was an insult?"

His glare intensified. Death relented with a sigh.

"You're in a bad mood today," she observed.

He thought of Nimetath's revelation, followed mere hours later by the Council bellowing at him. "You would be too, if you'd had the day I've had. Did you know Emperor Vretiel was a traitor?"

"Yes."

That one word, and the indifferent tone she used, stole the breath from his lungs. "You knew?"

She sat down on the armchair opposite him and regarded him with a slightly puzzled expression. "I know the circumstances that lead to the death of each soul I collect. So, yes, of course I knew what led your uncle's sister-in-law to assassinate him."

Just when he thought this day couldn't get any worse... "Assassinate?"

"Well, yes. That is how your family -- and royal families in general -- deal with those who step out of line."

Kilan got up to stare out the window. From his bedroom window he could see a portion of the gardens given over to niryk[2] trees. Their curiously wavy, almost spiral branches made them an eerie sight in daylight. Now, the silvery light of the moons shone on some of the trees while plunging others into pitch darkness. What little he could see of the branches looked like gnarled hands reaching toward the palace.

His uncle had been a traitor, and had been assassinated. His Chief Inquisitor was the assassin. His High Council were throwing a tantrum. The Iqui was waiting for an answer. By all the gods, when would this madness end?

"Sometimes I don't think you're my friend at all," Kilan said quietly, still staring out the window. Death made an enquiring sound. "I told Aunt Biënth about you, years ago. I said you were my friend. She said Death has no friends.

"Sometimes I like being around you. Sometimes you're funny and you have good ideas and you're almost... kind. But then there are the times like this, when you mock me and tell me horrible things and make my life worse."

He felt Death move to stand behind him.

"I am Death," she said. Her voice held some strange, indefinable quality he had never heard before. "Sometimes I am kind, sometimes I am cruel."

"But how?" Kilan demanded, frustrated. "How can you be both at the same time?"

"Easily. Even mortals are both at the same time. You yourself are both, though you don't realise it."

He turned to glare at her. She was so close to him that a single step forward would bring her into his arms... or him into hers.

"Think of it this way," Death said, looking away from him to gaze out across the garden. "Imagine a woman dying of old age. Her death is kind. Now imagine a man cut to shreds by a machine. His death is cruel. But I bring death to both of them. Does that make sense?"

Yes, Kilan thought, that makes a sort of sense. But in the end they're both just as dead.

"It's still hard to understand," he said aloud.

Her eyes met his. "Many things are. Even you are, hard though that may be to believe."

This was bloody stupid, he knew. He would in all likelihood regret it in the morning. It would make his life immeasurably more complicated. There were a million good reasons why he shouldn't. But then, idiot that he was, and as much as he tried to deny it, he loved her. And people in love do stupid things.

He kissed her.

Chapter Footnotes:

[1] yiowanberry = A sort of fruit similar to a blackberry.

[2] niryk = A sort of tree designed to grow in unusual shapes.