The Gate of Ivory

by Doris Egan

  A few minutes later I got up and started moving stiffly after Ran, heading out of town. "How did you get through that window?" I asked.

  He smiled. "There's no point in being a sorcerer if you can't cheat," he said.

  There was a clearing in the woods a few minutes' walk north of Verger's Ford. We dropped our packs and sat on them. Ran said, "We have to wait for somebody."

  So we waited. I was still stiff and careful about jarring my back. I thought about a lot of things: Vale, first of all, and Seth and the Old Man and the people I used to do The River with and the kitchen workers. I hadn't said good-bye to anybody. Now it was too late.

  Hours went by. "Who are we waiting for?" I asked.

  "Friends," he said.

  More time passed. Then there was the sound of rustling, and Ran stood up. He looked as though he wished I'd bought a pistol, and I was beginning to have similar thoughts. Then somebody broke through the trees.

  It was Seth! He ran over and hugged me. "Tymon," he said. He lifted his face to Ran. "I brought them," he added.

  Two men followed, one of them the disreputable character I'd seen speaking with Ran earlier. He was about forty, bearded, with the bead-rim cap of a follower of the Quiet Way (a na' telleth organization, a contradiction in itself which made one wonder about the logical faculties of the man wearing such a cap). He lived alone in a small house in Teshin and had a reputation for being able to get you cheap beer when the hall was closed. The other man was much younger, in his late teens, but tall and well-muscled; I didn't know him. "My uncle and cousin," said Seth to me, bowing.

  "Peradons?" I asked.

  "Somerings," he said.

  "But perhaps not for long," said the older man, as he bowed also. "I'm Karlas, and this is my nephew Tyl. Seth and Tyl are both my nephews, from different lines." He smiled as he struck Tyl's lower back, and Tyl bowed uncertainly.

  I should have known; everybody in these little villages was related in some way.

  "Not for long?" I repeated.

  Ran said, "IVe promised them membership in Cor-mallon if this works out."

  "I see."

  "For my brother Halet as well," said Karlas, "but he'll have to join us later."

  "I see," I said again.

  Ran took my arm and pulled me aside. "Vale says they're all right. That's why I went to see him, to consult him about which villagers might be suitable."

  "Ah," I said, not wanting to say "I see" anymore.

  "Look, Theodora, what's the problem? What do you want from me?"

  I said, "I want to know everything that's going on and everything you're planning."

  He gave a short laugh. "Is that all?"

  We looked at each other. "As soon as I get the chance," he said. He turned to Seth. "Thank you, and say thank you to the Hall Manager for me. You'd better get back and get a little sleep."

  "Wait a minute, Seth," I said. "I think that they'll let Vale go once they find out we've left—"

  "They already have," he said.

  "He's all right?"

  "I heard that he was."

  "Good." I pulled out my notebook and tore off a sheet of paper. I wrote "Good-bye" and handed the page to Ran. "Put the symbol for "Teacher" next to that," I told him.

  He took the pen. "Vale will know it's not your handwriting," he said.

  "But he'll get the message."

  Ran wrote and passed the sheet to Seth, who folded it and stuck it in the pocket of his robe.

  "Good-bye, tymon," he said.

  "Good-bye, Seth. You're a prince of storytellers."

  "You make things up, tymon," he said, and vanished into the trees.

  Ran picked up our packs. "We've stayed here long enough," he said. "We're better off out of this whole area." He handed me my pack. "Well, tymon? Want to stand here all night?"

  Tymon, eh? "It's almost morning," I pointed out.

  "So it is."

  And so we started walking north. All four of us.

  Karlas and Tyl pulled their weight, I had to give them that. In fact they pulled more than their weight, for they often passed my pack between them, and after the first few hours I stopped offering to take it back. (Would Grandmother offer to take it back? Would Kylla offer to take it back? Certainly not. Anyway, as time passed the aching in my shoulders and lower back made abstract ethical considerations seem more irrelevant.)

  That inglorious tumble from the Mullets' window had jarred me more than I thought. I was thrilled when we finally sat down. We stopped that afternoon for a rest and I didn't wake up again until the next morning.

  Ran woke me just before sunrise. "There's a town just a quarter hour away. Karlas is going to get us some supplies, is there anything you need?"

  "Uh, I'd better go with him."

  "Are you joking? You're too recognizable."

  "Come on, Ran, I'll wrap a scarf around my head and I'll just be a short, pale person." I got what I needed from my pack; it would be less noticeable if I left it here.

  "It's not a good idea," he said.

  "I've seen blonds and lightskins every day in the capital."

  "This isn't the capital. It's the back-end of nowhere."

  Karlas said, "It is a fairly large town. I mean, if the gracious lady has her heart set on going, I think she could blend in. As long as she kept on the scarf, you know."

  Ran shrugged. So Karlas and I set off for Jerrinos, which was a fair-sized river town over three times as big as Teshin. Karlas was impressed with it—the streets were paved, at least in the center of town, and the lighting around the square was modern. He told me that he'd always dreamed of going to the capital, that it offered more opportunity for a man of scope, and he saw from Jerrinos that it was just the sort of place that would suit him. Then he went off to buy some new cloaks, shoes, and, I assumed, pistols. I thought about getting boots, but it was nearly spring and my present pair were still sturdy. Then I toyed with the idea of getting a pistol of my own… but they were expensive. If the prices for the ones on display in the market were firm, I'd clean myself out, and for what? I wasn't experienced in using them, and if anyone pulled one on me it would be too late to do anything about it. Possibly I could get one secondhand, but I didn't know whom to approach. In the end I compromised by getting a new energizer for my hotpencil, a covered warming bowl for food, and a larger canteen.

  Then I sat down on the town hall steps and waited for the indigent's breakfast to be handed out. No point in wasting money on a meal. It was rice and meat, with celery and ground tasselnuts sprinkled over the top, not bad for a place like Jerrinos. I put half of it in my new warming bowl to share with Ran. Then I met Karlas back at the square and we returned to the woods.

  "No problems," I said to Ran when we got back. Karlas handed a pistol to him, and one to Tyl. There was a new green cloak for Ran, lighter than his old winter coat. He rolled it up and put it in his pack to wait until the weather got a little warmer.

  "Are we going?" asked Tyl, standing up.

  Ran said, "In a few minutes." Then he took my arm and pulled me off to one side.

  "What's the matter?" I asked.

  "Nothing," he said. "You wanted to hear my plans."

  I grinned. "And you're actually going to tell them?"

  He said, ' 'I never know what you think is funny. Listen, this is what I want to do: First, I want to get to the capital as soon as possible. I know the territory there, I have contacts there, and I think there's a better chance of protecting us both in the city than in some little village where nobody feels any obligation toward us. It only took two Imperials to get all of Teshin on good behavior. All right so far?"

  "So far, yes, the capital is a good idea. I was heading there anyway before Teshin."

  "All right. Once in the capital I can look up old friends, do some research, see what I can do about fixing things with the family council. I can't make any specific plans until I see just how it looks. Satisfied, tymon?"

  I said slowly, "But look, Ran, assumi
ng Eln is responsible for our troubles—and I guess he has to be involved—I don't think he's going to let you get anywhere near the council. Or anybody else who might help."

  He didn't say anything.

  I said, "This must have occurred to you."

  He said, "Don't worry about it," and picked up a twig and scraped mud off the bottom of his boot.

  "Look," I said.

  "Here's the problem." He took the twig, squatted down on his heels, and scratched a vague map on the earth. "We can go all the way around Mountain's End, and up through the pass along the coast. That's the way everybody goes, and it'll take us a good three months by foot. Or we can take a straight line through the Simil Valley, and be in the capital in six weeks. The problem," he said, "is the timing. Every spring the ice along the range melts and turns Simil Valley into a lake. It drains into the Silver River, that's why they've got dikes all the way from Verger's Ford northward to the valley."

  I said, "It's almost spring now."

  "Yes, that's the risk. We'll have to walk very quickly. IVe spoken to Karlas and Tyl about it, they're willing to take the chance."

  "I see."

  He waited. I said, "Well, if everyone else wants to go, I may as well go, too." He looked pleased. "I mean, why get picked off by Imperials all by myself when I can die in company? I'd rather be done in by the forces of nature anyway.''

  "I appreciate it, Theodora, I really do. How are the cards coming?"

  "Oh, wait." I took out the warming bowl. "I got this in town. May as well start on a full stomach."

  He opened it and swept up a mouthful with his fingers. "Mmm. Good tasselnuts." He ate some more and said, "But this is supper-food. Are they serving dinner for breakfast these days?"

  "Well, in a way. It's leftovers from the hall—it's the indigent's breakfast.''

  He stopped chewing and for a second I thought he was going to spit it out. For another second I thought he was going to dump the bowl. "What?"

  I said uncertainly, "The indigent's breakfast?"

  "Are you trying to insult me? What can you have been thinking? Are you begging on provincial steps now—a Cormallon house member?"

  I found coldness creeping into my voice. "Look, friend, you may have been the First in Cormallon, but that doesn't buy you a dinner roll out in the sticks. If you'll think back to your recent incapacity, you'll remember sitting on a lot of hall steps between here and Issin—and you wouldn't be alive today if we hadn't. Just what do you mean by criticizing me? I'm an outlander. How am I supposed to know you've got a fetish about free breakfasts?"

  Ran was staring at me. It was the first time I'd ever told him off. What's more, I couldn't seem to stop.

  "And as for today, I got us a free meal. Do you want me to apologize for that? Do you know how many bakras I've got left in my wallet right now? Not very precious many, I'll tell you that. And where do you think our finances are coming from? Do you think your two new allies are going to throw their life savings into the pot— not that it would amount to much, I'm sure? Not if they've got any brains they won't. They'll be holding most of it in reserve in case we fail. Which leaves you and me, and I don't know how much you've got on you, but…"

  I found myself trailing off and starting to sniffle. Ran looked horrified.

  "I'm sorry, Theodora. I beg your pardon." He put another handful in his mouth and chewed. The look on his face suggested he was chewing sawdust, and not very good sawdust either. He swallowed manfully.

  "Oh, gods who watch over scholars." I no longer could tell if I were sniffling or chuckling. Ran finished the bowl and wiped it clean with a cloth.

  He handed it back to me. "Thank you very much," he said. Then he said, "I'm sorry for my behavior. But, Theodora—we're not going to do this again."

  "All right," I said.

  We rejoined our two allies, who tried to look as though they hadn't heard anything of the last five minutes. We took up our gear and started moving. Try to look at it as a camping trip, I told myself as we walked.

  Chapter Thirteen

  As it turned out, our new ally Tyl was almost neurotically shy, so it was some time before he brought himself to tell us that he'd turned his ankle. Even then he mumbled the information to his uncle Karlas, who passed it on to Ran and myself. I didn't appreciate it at the time, but this was the best thing that could happen to me—already I was having difficulty keeping up with the others. Not surprising; the three men I traveled with were all taller than I was, their legs coming up well past my waist, so that I had to jog to keep pace. Nor was this good jogging country. But we all had to slow down for Tyl, who made shift with a stick to try and keep the weight off his left foot.

  That first night after Jerrinos I took out the cards. Ran saw what I was doing from across the campfire, but he went on arranging the undertunic he'd just washed so that it was closer to the heat. I started the configuration with a center-card for Ran, not something I usually did, but I suppose his condition was still bothering me. The card that turned up was the Aftermath, a scene of people running down a city street, one woman holding a baby while others crawled out from the rubble of destroyed buildings. It symbolized rebirth. As I touched it the buildings recoalesced into the house at Cormallon, the street became a hill, and the woman with the baby was Kylla holding a torch. She joined Eln on the hilltop under a night sky and they began reciting something. Like all my pictures it was silent, but I knew they were enacting Ran's official disownment.

  No new information here. But as I kept my fingers on the card it occurred to me that perhaps I wasn't going far enough. I treated the cards like Net transmissions, I took what came over the lines and assumed that was all there was. What if there were more? Studying with Vale had meant finding level after level… now there was a thought. I still felt that "de-energizing my na'telleth" was so much double-talk, but calming down and opening up had seemed to help my performance at tinaje. Perhaps it would help with this as well. I took a few deep breaths and made myself as still as possible. I tried not to think about anything at all, and after a bit I let my mind creep up slowly on the card, gently, not grabbing for information but more as if I were just wondering…

  At once I was pulled away. It was like falling down a well. I was on the hilltop again, but this time it lacked the air of solid reality it had held earlier; strange, since now it felt as though I were actually present, not simply watching a picture. But present at what? Kylla was holding a torch again—or was it Kylla? Her face was older, and not as kind. She took Eln's torch away from him and handed it to someone standing behind her. Then she lit the kindling in the huge marble bowl on the crest of the hill. Eln said—and I could hear him!—"I'll light the rest of the funeral fires." She said, "It's too late. You don't have a torch." She sounded angry with him. I remember thinking that it hardly seemed fair of her under the circumstances.

  The card was jerked out of my hand. Ran was bending over me, looking unhappy. "Theodora? What are you doing, are you all right?"

  "Yes, of course. I was running the cards, what's the idea of interrupting me?"

  He said, "I couldn't interrupt you. You didn't hear me. What were you doing?"

  I told him. I thought he would say at once, "Try it again"—he was fond of information, and he'd been after me to run the cards for days. But he just looked thoughtful and said, "I don't know if this is a good idea."

  "It was working all right until you pulled the card away."

  "Working how? I never heard of card-reading like this. You say it didn't feel like a real event—"

  "No, more like something symbolic, or something from the future—"

  "I don't like it. How sure can we be about that kind of information? I've never thought much of oracles—and it might not be safe for you."

  "It felt all right. I wasn't scared."

  He said, "No. We don't know what would have happened if I hadn't been here to take the card away from you."

  "Presumably the scene would have finished." I sounded a lit
tle irritated even to myself, like someone whose terminal shorted out at the end of a mystery story.

  Ran said again, "No." So I put the cards away for the time being. Karlas had been squatting on the other side of the fire, waiting politely for us to stop talking; now he came over to me.

  He said, "My nephew would like to ask you to give him tinaje. He hopes to ease the pain in his ankle."

  I looked over at Tyl. He sat with his face averted, one hand clasping the ankle in question. I said to Karlas, "There's no guarantee the pain would be reduced. It's possible, but not certain." According to Vale's teachings, I wouldn't touch the ankle itself tonight, even if I did full tinaje, but direct the energies around it instead, which might or might not be of help.

  Anyway, that's what Vale would have said to do. Karlas said, "I know. This is why Tyl wants to know something of your moral character.''

  "I beg your pardon?"

  "Your character. Obviously the success of a tinaje session depends heavily on the moral character of the practitioner. This is well known."

  The mind reeled. "It is, is it? Look, Karlas, you've got it backward. If it has anything to do with personality, it depends more on the attitude of the person receiving the tinaje. If he can relax and participate, it's reflected in his body and his body receives the benefit. But that's as far as it goes."

  Karlas went on, "But I've already reassured him that your character is exemplary, or you would not be on this journey with us. I'm sure that the sir Cormallon would not have brought anyone into this who is not of the highest sort."

  "Well, thank you," I said, as I gave up on achieving communication. "That's kind of you to say."

  "So will you have a look at my nephew? He is a fine boy, I know he doesn't complain, but he is troubled by this."

  "All right." I got up and went over to Tyl. "Hello," I said.

  Tyl shifted his hulking shoulders and mumbled back. I assume it was hello.

  Ordinarily I would talk to a client, to learn about him and put him at ease. It would probably have the opposite effect here, knot up all those hard-gained muscles. "Turn over," I said, making it an order.

  He turned over gratefully.