Ashes by Craig Robertson

Author:Craig Robertson [Robertson, Craig]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9780999774229
Publisher: Imagine-It Publishing
Published: 2018-05-14T06:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-TWO

Three Adamant sat in a dimly lit conference room. They had mugs of bone broth grown long cold. None of them had taken a sip. Two were Wholes, Quildrod and Fenopteic-Val. The third was Wedge Leader Dorcilmas. He would have likely been promoted to Whole if there was anyone left alive with the authority to advance his rank.

“These are dark times, my friends,” Fenopteic-Val feigned to lament. “Our losses, militarily, culturally, and spiritually, are almost more than a body can bear.”

Dorcilmas shot furtive glances from one dog to the other, reading the tea leaves if such was possible. “Dark to be certain. One of my wife’s cousins lived on Dare Any that was lost in the catastrophe.”

“I am truly sorry to hear of your loss. If there is anything I can do to help you, just bark the word.” Fenopteic-Val tenderly patted the back of Dorcilmas’s paw.

“But we who survived must recall only our duty to the empire. As the wise Loserandi Jonsol said long ago, all is darkest before the dawn. I have studied that great canovir’s work, and I know he was referring to precisely the situation that presents itself to us today.” He paused in reverential reflection upon his false statement. “I see the dawn of a new Adamant Empire, a mightier one. Not better, mind you.” He wagged an admonishing finger in the air generally. “Only newer, stronger, and more able to serve our new emperor, whoever that person might turn out to be.”

“I could not have said it better, old friend,” Fenopteic-Val humbly praised. He looked to the ceiling for inspiration and to time his next sentence optimally. “As a puppy, I once wondered why the emperors were never anointed from the military ranks. I went as far as to ask my father. He said he did not know the reason, if there were actually such a tradition in existence in the first place. I had forgotten that conversation until this very moment.” He shook his head briskly. “How odd.”

The intensity and frequency of Dorcilmas’s examination of his companion’s expression shot to maximum. “Seemingly odd,” he muttered as noncommittally as he could. He was both a poor politician and a poor actor.

“As I just now mentioned, I am a student of history. Along with absorbing the wisdom of the Loserandi, I have also made it my life’s work to read and fully understand the Book of the Adamant.”

“A noble undertaking,” Dorcilmas complimented boldly. “You are to be praised for your dedication to our species.”

“No praise is needed in such a pleasurable and sacred duty as that. The point I wish to raise is that in my reading of that series, I recall no mention of the exclusion of military members as candidates to form new imperial family lines. Mind you, I never considered that aspect of ascension until you, Fenopteic-Val, mentioned it just now. But in my humble opinion, such an outcome is possible.”

“But without a Secure Council to select the next emperor,” asked Dorcilmas

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