The Architect of Aeons by John C. Wright Read Free Book Online Page B

than half that extent, carrying the verdict of minds from beyond the Milky Way, to say whether mankind is condemned or vindicated.”
    Del Azarchel frowned, but could not contradict her. “I hope to lessen the period significantly.”
    â€œNo one is concerned with such remote futurity,” Amphith ö e continued artlessly. “The mission of the Celestial Princess is pointless, because whatever awaits her here will be nothing like the mankind she sought to free. One wonders what purpose so romantically mad a venture serves! No doubt it is because she had not the tranquility to resign herself with grace to fate.”
    Montrose barked, “Some of us standing right damn here are pestilent damn poxy concerned ! And I will be the damned whatever awaiting her here, my own damned self, with a grin on my gob and a pawful of poesies, and may Satan sodomize me in blue-hot hell if I ain’t! I am just set sick she set out to win the freedom for a race that includes such souls as yours. Do you like being a lickspittle? It weren’t tranquility she had none of; it was puling yellow cowardice !”
    Montrose was flabbergasted into silence when Del Azarchel interrupted in a mild voice, “Dear child, please realize that you are talking to Rania’s husband. He will die if he loses faith in her return. Your words wound him.” But then the smile of Del Azarchel grew and shined with malice. “Oh, well done! More of the same, please!”
    She looked so meek and miserable that Montrose was reminded of the look on the face of his Aunt Bertholda’s cat he used to dunk in the rain barrel every June to celebrate the Spring’s first snowmelt.
    Montrose lowered his voice and spoke in a gentler tone. “Sorry, there, I didn’t mean to shoot my mouth in your ear. Say! Who are you, anyway? I mean, you keep saying ‘we’ and ‘us.’ Who sent you?”
    She said, “Forgive me, I thought that was clear. My masters are the Remnant Order of the Post-Final Stipulation. We hail from the Madagascar peninsula. The Wise Manitra is our Judge of our Age for the span of years allotted us, and first among the Cliometric College. The Noble Angatra is Master of our part of the World and Lawgiver, and commands the Hermetic Scholars and the Warrior-priests. Our Celestial Princess for whom they compete is the Fair Ranavalona, whose gentle commands the common people, groves, glades, aquaculture, and the trees with love obey. Our commonwealth is therefore organized as you designed, as a balanced triumvirate.”
    Montrose raised an eyebrow. “As we designed—?”
    Amphith ö e bowed again, cheeks turning pink as if in shame. “I am of the serving class and design, and so am only permitted the First Comprehension. Many things are excised from the Second Comprehension for our ease of understanding, and to prevent vexatious debate. The received history says you three, the Princess, the Master, and the Judge, established our constitution and baseline law-equations. At least, so I was taught.”
    Del Azarchel made a dismissive motion with his hand, and said in a dignified voice, “Your teachers are to be commended for the care they took. Do not interpret any question of ours as implying that we contradict them. We are curious about the events that transpired on Earth while we sojourned in the outer Solar System, for we intercepted no signals, and saw no signs. What ended the war?”
    She said mildly, “Since the Celestial Princess left, there is always war.”
    Del Azarchel blushed. It was one of the few times Montrose had ever seen Del Azarchel turn red in the face, and Montrose was surprised. Then he realized: Del Azarchel was ashamed that his Hermeticists could not produce a world peace without Rania’s genius. The main justification for Del Azarchel’s dream of universal empire was that it would produce peace, law, order, and plenty. Without that, what