Scattered Suns - Kevin J. Anderson [88]
Gigantic and powerful, the rest of the warliners descended to hover overhead. The Dzellurian crowds that had come to see an expected military skyparade now looked up with growing fear.
Rusa’h frowned at his stubborn brother. “I am saddened that you force me to turn my invitation into a threat, Orra’h.” He raised one hand, and his Solar Navy officers transmitted instructions to the warliners above. Rusa’h waited.
High-energy weaponry blasted out like incandescent spears. Lances tore giant furrows through the buildings of the capital city. Explosions rippled, one after another after another. People screamed, and hundreds died instantly; smoke and flames filled the air. The warliners scribed a perfect circle of obliteration, a black trench around the Designate’s opulent residence.
Orra’h was unable to form comprehensible words as he witnessed the unprecedented destruction. Designate-in-waiting Czir’h cried out, “Stop this! Why are you attacking Dzelluria?”
“I am emphasizing my point.” Rusa’h turned to the appalled Designate. “I ask you again: Will you add your population to my supporters, or will you force my hand again?”
Orra’h shouted uselessly for his own guards, but the local soldier kithmen were far outnumbered, and the battle was short-lived. Within moments, fifty of the Designate’s handpicked guards lay slain around them. The blood on the warm sunlit stones had a moist metallic smell.
“You make me sad, Orra’h, but I am cheered by my resolve to do what is right for the Ildiran people.” He nodded to his nearest followers.
Rusa’h’s converted soldiers sprang forward like ravenous predators, pulling out their crystal knives and polished alloy clubs. They fell upon Designate Orra’h as he cringed and flailed. The assassination was quick, but brutal. The guards stepped back, their weapons dripping blood.
The Designate-in-waiting screamed his disbelief. Across Dzelluria, the death of the Designate reverberated through the old thism web, like the snapped string of a musical instrument. Although Rusa’h’s followers were separated from the dissonant agony, the population of Dzelluria felt the abrupt loss of their leader like a scythe across their legs.
Now Rusa’h turned to the pasty-faced and terrified young Czir’h. “Designate-in-waiting, you have seen the consequences and you know the stakes. Shall I order my warliners to level another portion of your city? Shall I have my guards slay you as well?” He put a finger to his lips, as if considering. “Dzelluria would be much easier to conquer if there were no Designate at all.”
Czir’h stammered. His arms were trembling. He looked around for someone to help him with the decision, but the Imperator’s gaze continued to bore into him. “Join me,” Rusa’h said, his voice tantalizing. “Let me untangle the corrupt thism that has confused you for so long.”
The Designate-in-waiting backed away, and Rusa’h’s voice grew suddenly hard. “Join me now—or die!” He reached beside him in the chrysalis chair and held up a vial of pure pearlescent shiing, a milky fluid stronger than any processed powder. “Because you are a son of Jora’h, you must accept my thoughts voluntarily. This will make the process easier for you.”
Seeing nothing else he could do, trapped and desperate to stop further slaughter, Czir’h accepted the vial of shiing as if he had been instructed to swallow poison. His hands trembled, but he raised the vial, saw the light shining through its murky substance. With a final frightened glance at the bloodstained stones, the mangled body of Designate Orra’h, he looked back at the rebel leader. Rusa’h gave him the slightest reassuring nod.
Czir’h reluctantly tilted the vial and poured the thick substance into his mouth. He licked his lips, leaving a white smear as his tongue played over the last of it. Rusa’h could see him swallow, then swallow again.
The two guards holding the young Designate-in-waiting by the arms released him. Czir’h swayed a little on his feet, the shiing already working. Rusa’h knew full well how swiftly the plantmoth drug would take