Ghost in the Flames by Jonathan Moeller Page A

said Caina.
    “I do,” said Valgorix, reaching for a paper on his desk. “Or most of them, anyway. A few were too badly burnt to be identified.” 
    “Later,” said Caina. “I have a few more questions for you.”
    “Oh.” Valgorix sank back into his chair. 
    “Rasadda seems to have more than its fair share of beggars,” said Caina. “Why is that?” 
    Valgorix scowled. “More folly on the part of our honorable Lord Governor.” 
    “Folly of what sort?”
    The words started pouring out of him. Valgorix, it seemed, had a lot of pent-up frustration. “This business with the farmers. It’s illegal for a governor to buy land in his province, everyone knows that, yet Nicephorus and his cronies have bought up half the farmland in Rasadda. That’s bad enough, but he’s kicked the peasants off their land and converted it to pasture. There’s hardly any food coming into the city. We’re just getting by on fish and grain shipped from Alqaarin, but the prices are steep. There’s a grain dole for the poor, but a fish will cost a man two days’ wages.” He shook his head. “It’s a wonder famine hasn’t struck yet. And when it does, we’ll all be murdered in our beds, mark my words.” 
    “Why hasn’t there been a revolt yet?” said Caina.
    “What? Oh. Sister Tadaia. She’s keeping a lid on things,” said Valgorix.
    “Who is she?”
    “Sister of the Living Flame. Ah…priestess of the Saddai god, you could say. She’s been helping to feed the poor, all the dislocated peasants who’ve wound up into the city. They all adore her, and she doesn’t want a revolt. She knows what will happen if the Saddai rebel.” He scratched at his jaw. “I don’t know how much longer she’ll be able to keep things together.”
    “Why not?”
    Valgorix looked around, and then lowered his voice. “The Sons of Corazain. It’s a brotherhood among the peasants. See, Corazain was this…”
    “I know who Corazain was.”
    Valgorix swallowed. “Well, they’re a revolutionary group. They haven’t done anything yet, at least not anything drastic. They tried to kill an Imperial Countess this morning, but her bodyguard killed seven or eight of them and the rest ran.” Caina smiled behind her mask. “But they’re getting worse, and Lord Nicephorus won’t bother to crack down on them. Especially since Gaidan joined them.”
    “Gaidan?” Caina had not heard that name before. 
    “A priest, Brother of the Living Flame. A lot younger than Tadaia. More hot-headed. He’ll give these speeches calling for the Saddai to rise up and throw out the Empire. No one listened to him at first, but more and more of the peasants are coming around to his way of thinking. Tadaia’s kept him under control so far, but when the food runs out…” He shrugged. “A lot of people are going to get killed.” 
    “I doubt these burning murders have helped matters.”
    “No.” Valgorix shook his head. “From what I hear, most of the Saddai think Lord Nicephorus is behind it.”
    “And who do you think is behind it, Decurion?”
    “I don’t know,” said Valgorix. “If I had to guess, I’d say Gaidan. I’d arrest the bastard if I could find any basis for a charge, but he keeps his hands clean. Besides, it’d set the Sons of Corazain off, and then we’d have an insurrection.”
    “So you think Gaidan is behind these murders,” said Caina. “But I thought you said the Saddai blamed Nicephorus.”
    Valgorix shifted in his seat. “They do. Or, at least most of them do. I’ve heard that Gaidan’s lot think the burning deaths are a sign, an omen that an Ashbringer walks among them. In the old times the Ashbringers killed people with fire spells. In the Battle of Rasadda, Corazain used his sorcery to burn an entire legion to ashes, or so I’ve heard. And I wouldn’t put it past Gaidan to play at being an Ashbringer.”
    “Of if he is one in truth,” said Caina. “Do the priests of the Living Flame wield any