The Burning City

by Jerry Pournelle

  “I made Etiarp teach me to swim, first time we docked near a beach. Etiarp was a Water Devil who tried to gather from a merchant ship. We taught a few of the Lordkin. If a Lordkin could swim, I promoted him. We taught Sabrioloy too.”

  CHAPTER

  29

  It was a night of storytelling, and it ran nearly to dawn.

  Freethspat told how he and Whandall had gathered a wine wagon. He still had a flask to pass around; only Yangin-Atep might know where he’d hidden it all this time. Whandall let him describe the escape. Then he told how he’d turned himself and Freethspat and the wagon into a garbage hauling business. He much enjoyed Wanshig’s open amazement and Freethspat’s determined grin.

  Wanshig let the flask pass him while he told a story of being chased by a snake-armed monster bigger than the ship. When Freethspat called him a liar, Wanshig only shook his head.

  The old Wanshig would have had some clever riposte. The new one saw how they stared, puzzled, waiting.

  He said, “We sailed into Waluu Port eighteen days after Jack Rigenlord drowned. A woman came down to the dock asking for Captain Jack.

  “Now Jack, he didn’t have more than one woman in any one port, and some of them thought he was captain, I guess. Fencia, she had a marriage contract. When Jack didn’t appear, she found us at the nearest saloon.

  “Manocane knew her. He made her sit down, and bought her a mulled ale and made her drink, and then he said, ‘Jack married the mermaid.’”

  Freethspat was delighted. “I’ve heard of mermaids when I was a boy—”

  “Oh, the merfolk are real enough,” Wanshig said. “They’re wonderful! They like to pace a ship, ride the bow wave. Where the magic’s weak they take the shape of a big fish, but they breathe air, not water. There’s a nostril right on top. Where the magic’s strong you see a man or woman with fishy hindquarters. We don’t offend the mers. They can drive fish toward a fleet or away, and show you where the rocks are when it’s thick with fog. We like the merfolk.

  “But it’s just a sailor’s way of speaking, ‘He married the mermaid.’ Jack Rigenlord drowned. We don’t like to say drowned. But Fencia of Waluu Port didn’t know that. She was furious. ‘He was going to marry me! I waited through six years and four voyages for him to get enough money, and now he’s married a mermaid? How does he expect to get children?’

  “We’d been drinking. She was so angry, you know, and I guess I thought it was funny. You know: married!” Laughter rippled. Wanshig didn’t smile. “Manocane opened his mouth, but I cut in first. I said to Fencia, ‘No, wait, they aren’t married yet. He says he wants your permission.’

  “I saw every head turn. I heard a lot of laughing choked back.

  “‘My permission!’ she screams, and she makes me tell her all the details. What was he doing when she popped out of the water? What did the mermaid look like? Did she cover her breasts? Did she sing him down into the water or did he just see her and jump? Did Jack even remember Fencia? I made it up as I went along. By now we were surrounded. Sailors have a deadpan way of telling a story, so they kept straight faces. If Fencia heard any cackling she must have thought they were laughing at her because her man left her.

  “I thought we were about to get some real entertainment. Sometimes an angry woman can remind a sailor why he left the land.”

  Whandall waited. When Wanshig didn’t speak again, he asked, “Then what?”

  “She gave it,” Wanshig said.

  “What?”

  “She didn’t do any more screaming that night. She just turned around and stalked out, head high. The next morning Fencia came to the dock and announced to a big crowd that her engagement to Jack Rigenlord was at an end and he was free to do as he liked. If she cried, it wasn’t where anyone could see her. Manocane and I got all the other sailors to hold their tongues. I heard what they said afterward, but me, I thought she was brave.

  “I’ve lied since,” he told them all, “but I don’t like it. People get hurt. And I’m home now, and I won’t lie again.”

  On subsequent nights, Shastern listened quietly to Wanshig’s tales of the sea. He concealed his thoughts, but when Wanshig spoke, Shastern always came to listen. Whandall noticed, and wondered if Shastern’s thoughts resembled his own. If Whandall was fated to leave Tep’s Town… despite Morth of Atlantis, might it be by sea?

  CHAPTER

  30

  Wanshig found Whandall on the roof garden. Whandall had developed the habit of seeing to the health of the plants. Wanshig said, “I want you to know that two of us couldn’t have done any more than I did. You could have got there in time to be blinded, that’s all.”

  Whandall had found a few bugs already, so he finished inspecting the row of tomatoes. He stood up to find Wanshig watching the sun fall into the sea.

  “What are you watching for, Shig?” Whandall asked.

  “Green flash. Just as the sun vanishes, sometimes, when it’s very clear, you can see a flash of green.” Wanshig said.

  “Have you seen it?”

  “Twice, but never from shore,” Wanshig said. “Just when we were at sea. It’s very good luck. The weather is always great the next day.” Wanshig stared westward, at the darkening hills. “Sunsets are better when the sun falls into the sea.”

  “You liked sailing,” Whandall said.

  “I loved it.”

  “So why did you come back? For Elriss?”

  Wanshig looked around to be sure they were alone, and still he lowered his voice. “That’s what I told her,” he said. “But Whandall, they put me ashore.”

  “Why?”

  Wanshig didn’t answer that day.

  He’d been home for nearly a week, then, and Whandall hadn’t seen him taste wine.

  Wanshig wobbled home long after dinnertime. Whandall found him washing in the courtyard tub, in the dark. “Shh,” he said. “I don’t want Elriss. To see me.”

  “What happened? You haven’t had a drink—”

  “Three weeks and a day. A teller found me, Whandall. Somehow he heard. A Lordkin went sailing and came back. He had some flasks.”

  Whandall nodded in the dark. “What did you tell him?”

  “Stories.”

  “Why you came home?”

  “Nonono! Not that.”

  Whandall waited.

  “They liked me, Whandall. I did them some good. Taught most of the crew to swim. Protected the merchants. Nobody gathered from our passengers! They really liked me.”

  “B—”

  “Shipmasters trade,” Wanshig said. “They don’t want to be known as pirates. Pirates aren’t welcome. Condigeo keeps warships. They can afford them because they hire them out to other towns, to hunt pirates, so you never know when you sail into a harbor whether they might have pirate hunters ready to come inspect you. Ships get a reputation.” He paused to stare at the first stars. “So they don’t want gatherers on board.”

  Whandall thought about that. “And you didn’t know this?”

  “I knew it. They told me the first day I was aboard. No gathering in port. Ever. Of course I didn’t believe them, until the first time they caught me. Took everything I had and gave it back, and gave my pay to the people I’d gathered from. Taught me a proper lesson, they did.”

  Whandall didn’t say anything.

  “But then I got drunk. There’s a town below the Barbar Mountains, three days’ sail west of here. Stuffy place, but lots of magic. Silks, arts, crafts. And I was coming home; I’d be here in three days! First time we’d put in here since I shipped out. Whandall, nobody wants to come here! Not often, anyway. So there was this shop, with a dress that would look terrific on Elriss.”

  “You thought she’d still be here?”

  Wanshig looked around again. Elriss wasn’t about.

  “Her or someone. But I couldn’t afford it. That was all right, I’d get it another time, but then I went down to the docks and some of my buddies had bought a whole keg of beer. We sat drinking all night, and come
morning—” Wanshig shrugged. “Well, it seemed like a good idea to go get that dress. Of course they caught me. The captain didn’t say anything about it, not then, but when we got here he put me ashore and told the other captains.”

  One morning Shastern was gone. When he didn’t come back the next day, Whandall told Pelzed. Patrols were sent out, and a formal question was sent to Wulltid of Bull Pizzle. Shastern was a loyal soldier of Serpent’s Walk.

  Wulltid’s answer was polite but brief. No one had seen Shastern of Serpent’s Walk. If anyone did, he would be well treated and delivered to his home.

  Three days after Shastern disappeared, Whandall sat with Pelzed in the Serpent’s Walk meetinghouse. Pelzed had made a complicated trade of services and protection. Now a kinless crew showed up to put on a new roof. Whandall thought he recognized two of the older workmen as woodsmen he’d seen with Kreeg Miller, but he didn’t speak to them. They’d never know him!

  A runner came to the long table where Pelzed sat most days. “Shastern is back, Lord,” he said.

  “Where?”

  “Peacegiven Square. There’s a wagon with a Lordsman in armor and a Water Devil.”

  Pelzed frowned. “The Lords are bringing Water Devils to Serpent’s Walk?”

  “Lord, he’s a boy. Small tattoo, no knife. He asks to speak to you, and there’s a Lord’s clerk there too. They ask you to come, Lord.”

  Pelzed looked around the meeting room. “Miracos. You’ll stay here. Whandall, come with me.” Pelzed selected two more guards. Whandall thought Miracos glared at him as they went out. Everyone wanted to stand near Pelzed when he spoke to the Lord’s clerks, and Miracos thought of himself as Pelzed’s chief advisor. Lately Whandall had been favored….

  Shastern lay on a litter in front of the Witness table. A helmeted Lordsman stood next to him. The wagon was nearby, driven by a kinless teamster and drawn by kinless ponies, not the big horses Lords used for their own business.

  The Lord’s Witness, with his tight-fitting cap and robes, sat at the table. He didn’t rise when Pelzed arrived with his retinue, but the kinless clerk stood and bowed to Pelzed, then intoned formally “Witness, we see Pelzed of Serpent’s Walk.”

  The Witness stood. His voice was thin and dry, very formal. “Pelzed of Serpent’s Walk, I am instructed to convey the greetings of Lord Samorty of the Lordshills. Lord Samorty wishes you well.” He sat again.

  The clerk turned to the Water Devil, an unarmed boy of no more than sixteen with hand tattoo only. “Speak, Lattar of the Water Devils.”

  “Witness, we return Shastern of Serpent’s Walk to his people,” Lattar said. “He was cast onto the docks by ship’s guards at Womb of Pele’s gangplank. Let the record show that his injuries are not of our making. We found him, we tended to his wounds, and he is now delivered to his people.”

  The clerk turned to Shastern. “Do you dispute this, Shastern of Serpent’s Walk?”

  Shastern mumbled something. The clerk frowned, and Whandall went over to his brother. He could see that Shastern’s mouth was swollen, and there were bruises showing through his tattoos.

  Shastern saw Whandall and tried to smile. “Greetings, big brother,” was what he tried to say, but only Whandall understood it. “Lost a tooth.”

  “Did Water Devils do this?”

  “No.” Shastern tried to move his head. “Shif’sh crew,” he managed to say. “Devils sen’ me home. Not their fault.”

  Whandall turned to Pelzed. “He doesn’t dispute it, Lord.”

  Pelzed nodded. “Serpent’s Walk is satisfied. Return my thanks to Samorty of Lordshills.”

  The clerk smiled wryly. “Witness, all parties are satisfied,” he said.

  The Witness spoke without rising. “Read the proclamation.”

  The clerk took a parchment from under his robe. “Proclamation. To all those who hear this, take heed, for it is the law.

  “Many shipmasters are unfamiliar with the customs of the Lordkin of Tep’s Town. This has resulted in unfortunate incidents causing disrespect and injury to Lordkin. Therefore, for the protection of the Lordkin, henceforth all Lordkin who wish to approach any ship in the harbor of Tep’s Town must first obtain permission from the Lordsmen officer of the harbor watch. We regret the necessity of this ruling, but it must be strictly enforced. By order of Samorty, Chief Witness of Tep’s Town and Lordshills Territories.”

  The clerk turned to the Witness. “The proclamation has been read. We will read it again each hour this day and the next.”

  The Witness nodded.

  The clerk turned back to Pelzed. “Pelzed of Serpent’s Walk, you have heard the proclamation of the Lords. Take heed. Your kinsman Shastern of Serpent’s Walk has been returned to you. The wagon has been hired for the day and is at your disposal. Witness, our fees were paid in advance, and there is no more business to be done.”

  Shastern healed fast. One tooth was gone, and his sisters fed him soup for a week while the swelling in his jaw subsided, but no bones were broken. At dinner Shastern told everyone he’d tried to gather from a harbor tavern, met a crewman and went aboard, and was beaten when the other crewmen saw him.

  But he spoke with Whandall on the roof, alone. “I thought if Shig could go to sea, so could I,” Shastern said. “But they wouldn’t let me on the ship at all. The whole crew beat me. I kept saying I knew they didn’t want gatherers, that I’d never gather, I didn’t come to gather, I just wanted to go to sea, and they kept kicking me. If the Lordsman hadn’t come, they would have killed me, I think.”

  Shastern fingered his tattoo. “Whandall, Pelzed of Serpent’s Walk is a name with power. They don’t call him Lord, but the Lordsman knew his tattoo. There was some kind of meeting with the Devils chief and the Lordsmen, and then they sent for a Lord.”

  “Samorty?”

  “Yes, they called him that.”

  Whandall nodded. “He goes on watch himself. What did they meet about?”

  “About me,” Shastern said. “I just wanted to get home. I was dripping blood, and I needed a drink. When the Lord saw me, he got angry. ‘Clean him up,’ he said. His voice was real low and mean. ‘Are you blind? Don’t you see that tattoo?’ So they got me a basin of saltwater and another of fresh, and a cup of wine. Good wine. Then they went in another room, but the big Lordsman wouldn’t let me go. He got me another cup of wine, but he went with me when I had to piss.”

  “Deciding what to do with you,” Whandall said. “I’m guessing, but it’s like them. They cleaned you up so if they let you go, you’d tell about that. Then they decided whether to let you go or feed you to the crabs.” Whandall put his hand on his brother’s shoulder.

  “Maybe,” Shastern said. “They were nice enough when they came out. Made the ship captain apologize. He gave me a bag of shells and two silvers.” Shastern held out a coin stamped with a hummingbird. “Then the Lord said, real slow and careful, that he regretted it but Lordkin had to stay away from the ships, and they’d draw up a proclamation. That was when he said nice things about Pelzed and Serpent’s Walk, like he didn’t want Pelzed mad.

  “But we can’t ever go to sea.”

  Whandall nodded and looked out over the Valley of Smokes.

  CHAPTER

  31

  He was twenty before the Burning came again. And this time everyone was ready.

  Hartanbath was more bison than man. In the Serpent Street region of Tep’s Town—Flower Market, Bull Pizzle, Serpent’s Walk, and several lesser bands—he was the man a fighter must defeat.

  His missing ear-and-a-half contributed to Whandall’s own reputation. Whandall could never have hurt him if Hartanbath hadn’t been powerfully distracted. Hartanbath seemed to have learned that lesson. He was never seen fornicating in public again, with or without a woman’s consent.

  Whandall did not want a rematch. Few did. Hartanbath didn’t lose.

  At seventeen Whandall had taken to driving Alferth’s wine wagons. Two years later he was present when Alferth held a street-
corner drinking party.

  A half-naked, dark-skinned, heavily armed looker ambled up and took a flask of wine with each hand.

  Hartanbath objected.

  The looker mocked Hartanbath’s ears.

  The looker was younger. Hartanbath was an inch taller and a stone heavier. Both could hit like logging axes. But Hartanbath ran out of strength first, sat down, and covered his head until the looker was satisfied.

  Then the looker finished the wine and consented to tell stories.

  He was Arshur the Magnificent. Some tremendous mountain range east of the Valley of Smokes had birthed his people. To the child Arshur, all was vertical, and all vertical faces were slippery with snow and ice. Arshur could climb any wall, enter any building, bypass any trap a householder might set for a thief (as if kinless would dare!).

  There were cities where a thief might be imprisoned, others where he might be hanged, and cities where no thief could escape the King’s magicians. Arshur had gathered fortunes in these places and others. He had fought monsters and magicians with his good sword—a huge clumsy mass of spelled bronze, thrice the size of a decent knife. A seer had predicted that he would one day be a King. When Arshur explained what a king was, the laughter angered him.

  “So tell us, Majesty,” Shastern asked, “what brings your magnificence to Tep’s Town?”

  Arshur’s face clouded only a moment. Then he downed the last of the flask and struck a pose. “I spent my last gold coin on a party,” he said. “This was up the coast, to the north and west, Great Hawk Bay they call it. They do have hawks, but mostly they have merfolk.”

  “Merfolk?” One of the younger onlookers was willing to admit ignorance.

  “Werepeople,” Arshur said. “You hear of werewolves? These are sea creatures. No? Shape changers. People who become animals.”

  “Old tales,” Alferth said. “Not told much anymore. Are you saying they’re real?”

  Arshur nodded vigorously. “Real, yes. You would not doubt my word?”