Burning Tower

by Larry Niven

  Regapisk ignored that and turned to Saziff. “Then why were you looking for me?” He could afford to scowl now, and did.

  Saziff chuckled. “Why, man, you’re rich!”

  “Rich?” Regapisk and Black Stone spoke together.

  “Well, not rich, then, but you won’t starve. Your relatives in Lordshills sent money for you. I gave it to the money changer in your name, but now I have to introduce you to Jade Coin so that you can collect. Come on, man, you’re making me miss the tide!”

  The money changer’s hogan seemed different from the others. The entrance faced north, and logs formed a kind of anteroom to the main part. Saziff led Regapisk past the armed men who sat at the entrance, but two stopped him to relieve Regapisk of his sword. Then they waved him on.

  Jade Coin had almond-shaped eyes, and his coloring was different from that of the citizens of Crescent City. He looked like a Tep’s Town kinless. He listened quietly as Captain Saziff spoke.

  “This is Regapisk. I have left money and goods in his name.”

  Jade Coin nodded and turned his half-closed eyes on Regapisk. “Do you understand the terms?” he asked. His voice was smooth like old cloth.

  Regapisk said, “Only that you have money for me.”

  “I do,” Jade Coin said. “Not to be paid all at once, and not to be paid at all when there is a ship in harbor or a wagon train forming to go west.”

  “You can pay him for all of me,” Saziff said. “I’d as soon have a loose rattlesnake aboard as a former oarsman for a passenger.”

  “I understand. There is also a caravan departing for Condigeo.”

  “They’ll never let me on that!” Regapisk protested. “And I sure can use some money. Clothes, food…”

  “As to that, I have no problems,” Jade Coin said. He took a small bag of coins from somewhere beneath his table and poured them out. A dozen copper coins and two small gold. “That will be more than enough to buy clothing and food. Come see me when it is exhausted.”

  “So how much am I worth?” Regapisk asked.

  Jade Coin shrugged. “Over your lifetime, possibly quite a lot. Not all is here. Some was sent in obligations of money changers in Condigeo, to be exchanged another time as I need. But however much, you will never have it all at once. Such are my instructions.”

  “I am done here,” Saziff announced. “Lord Reg, it has been my honor to know you. Perhaps we will meet again, but not as shipmates.”

  Regapisk considered this. He was rich but he couldn’t claim the money! Who had done this to him? How had Sandry accomplished this? But in any case, now he could do better than charm a silly girl for bread and hot tea. Very nice girl, he added to himself, but silly.

  Regapisk bowed. “Good morning, Captain. And a pleasant voyage. Give my regards to the Oarmaster, and…” He paused, then selected four of the copper coins. “And use these to buy extra rations for my benchmates.”

  Saziff regarded the money with a slight smile. “I’ll just do that, Lord Reg. I’m sure they’ll be grateful.” He made an economical bow that took in both Regapisk and Jade Coin, and left.

  And with luck, I’ll never see you again, Regapisk thought.

  “There is one more matter,” Jade Coin said. He struck a metal rod held in place by small clay supports. It rang with a soft tone, and a girl, almost certainly Jade Coin’s daughter, came in. “That box the captain left with us,” he said softly. “Bring it, please.”

  The girl nodded. Minutes later, she returned with two boxes, one long and slender. “I presumed you wanted both.”

  “I did. My thanks.” Jade Coin waited until she had left. “This first item you may not have until you have left this establishment. The other is yours immediately.” He pushed the smaller box across the table.

  It held treasures. A small mirror. A carved ivory fork and spoon, and a pewter bowl. A salamander brooch of the kind that Lords wore when traveling away from Lord’s Town. A sigil stone cylinder seal, his own, that had been taken from him before he joined the ship. Regapisk quelled a powerful urge to weep.

  And a rolled-up letter.

  Regapisk opened it carefully. Aunt Shanda’s handwriting leaped out at him.

  “My dear Reggy,

  This is best for all of us. Understand, dear, this is all we could do and all we will ever do. Your exile is witnessed and signed, and if you ever return, the Lord Chief Witness will not even learn of your death until it has been accomplished. I speak bluntly because I know that that is the only way I can get your attention.

  I have begged you the privilege of saying that you travel on orders of the Lord Chief Witness. You may send reports to him, but I trust you will send them in my care. You do not wish to annoy Quintana. And do not try to make agreements in his name. He bears you no great ill will. Do not give him reason to regret that.

  And do not return. Let me say it again: this is Witnessed and signed.

  Grandnephew, I do hope you will make something of yourself. I always thought you were smarter than many of my relatives, and you always worked at proving me wrong. Please change that, my dear. You remain a Lord of Lordshills—at least until you try to come back—and I expect you to conduct yourself as a Lord. You’ve been taught well enough to know how.

  “With kindest regards,

  “Shanda, First Lady.”

  Reggy read it through twice. That was Shanda, all right, and she meant it. Witnessed and signed.

  He wasn’t ever going home again. It began to sink in. This was no adventure from which he would return. His life as a Lord of Lordshills was over. He wouldn’t be in the army or become a Witness or conduct a business or marry a wealthy girl and manage her estates. He wouldn’t be a leader in the Fire Brigades or return to his duties at the harbor. He would never go home again.

  Regapisk, now Lord again, put on the brooch Aunt Shanda had enclosed, and bowed. “My thanks, Jade Coin. I believe we may have further business to conduct.”

  “As you say,” Jade Coin said. His smile was unreadable.

  Lord Regapisk bowed again and left.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Partners

  The jeweler’s hogan faced east. Master Ruser lived alone, and had invited Regapisk and Arshur to share his quarters—whether out of pity or for companionship, they didn’t know.

  It was a bare place. Ruser had sold nearly everything he owned to stay alive during the siege. Now he had barely enough to live on himself, yet he shared with Arshur and Regapisk. He said it was because they had been kind to his old friend Zephans Mishagnos.

  Regapisk found Arshur and Ruser at the table in the hogan’s main room.

  “Rejoice,” Regapisk said. “We’re rich.”

  “Rich,” Arshur said. “How rich?”

  “Indeed,” Ruser the jeweler said. “I would never have expected that.”

  “Well, I don’t have it all yet,” Regapisk said. “But I’m rich enough to buy us a good dinner, and food for the week. And look, I have a new sword.”

  He handed it over to Arshur. It had a tooled leather grip, and the scabbard was thin wood bound in tooled leather. The blade was leaf-shaped.

  Arshur hefted it thoughtfully. “Good balance. Nice grip,” Arshur said. “I think I know the kinless who forged it. I like iron better than bronze, but this is good bronze. Should hold an edge.” He swung it experimentally. “Yep, a good one. Where’d you buy it?”

  “I didn’t. It was a present from Aunt Shanda,” Regapisk said. “It was on board the Angie Queen all the time.” He explained the arrangement with Jade Coin. “So I have money, but I have to stay here to collect it. Master Ruser, my gratitude for your hospitality, and we can pay our share now.”

  “I’m not staying,” Arshur said. “I’m going to Aztlan to be king.”

  Ruser nodded. “You are determined, then?”

  “I’ve always known I would be a king,” Arshur said. “And I will be.”

  “How do you propose to get to Aztlan?” Ruser asked.

  “I’l
l hire out as a sword for Ern’s caravan! That will get me to the trading posts. From there?” Arshur shrugged. “Leave that to my fate.”

  “I know the way to Aztlan,” Ruser said carefully. “I am minded to go again.”

  “Yes! You’ve been there,” Regapisk said.

  “I have been to the caravansary that stands next to the Palace of War,” Ruser said. “While I was there, a boat arrived. From Atlantis!”

  “A long time ago, then,” Arshur said.

  “Half a lifetime,” Ruser agreed. “But I was not invited inside the city itself. My brother Flensevan was invited in. I have scarce heard from him since. Is he married? Does he prosper? I would see him again before I die—not to mention that he owes me money. He will not leave Aztlan, but perhaps he will come to the gate to speak with me.”

  “Can you take me to that gate?” Arshur demanded.

  “Perhaps. If I had any way of going.” He gestured to indicate the empty shelves that should have held his goods. “I have uncharged talismans. If I sell them to buy a wagon, I will have nothing else.”

  Regapisk fingered his brooch and touched the cylinder seal sigil now bound to his wrist. I am a Lord of Lordshills. Without assignment, without duties, except to act like a Lord. And what does that mean? Arshur is ready, eager, to go to Aztlan. What will happen to him there, or on the way?

  He sighed, remembering a promise he had made. Whatever else Lords did, they kept their obligations and paid their debts. Tras Preetror gave me an obligation, and I accepted it: look out for Arshur. A nearly impossible task. The outlander barbarian does as he wills.

  “I’m coming with you,” Regapisk said.

  Arshur nodded as if there had never been any doubt about that.

  “In what capacity?” Ruser asked with amusement.

  “He’s not bad with a good sword,” Arshur said. “Better than any bandits we’ve met around here.”

  Regapisk still found that astonishing, but it was true. “I’ll fight if it’s needed,” Regapisk said. “But I had something else in mind. Master Jeweler Ruser, I’d like to be your partner.”

  Jade Coin was willing enough, provided that the caravan was not going west. He seemed almost enthusiastic when he learned that Ruser of Low Street would be a partner. Regapisk left the details to be negotiated by Ruser. Haggling was not a skill a Lord was expected to know.

  Presently, he found they had two wagons for the three of them. “I could have had more,” Ruser told them, as he led them toward the wagon camp. “You have more credit, and Jade Coin decided he would invest his own resources after he saw Arshur.” Ruser shrugged. “He doesn’t know your friend won’t be coming back. But two wagons is just right. My talismans don’t take up much room. We don’t have bulky cargo: my uncharged talismans, and gold from Jade Coin to pay our taxes at Sunfall.”

  “So what now?” Arshur demanded.

  “You must meet Wagonmaster Ern,” Ruser said. He sighed. “And usually we would buy provisions for the trip, but those will be very dear.”

  “Plenty of terror bird jerky,” Arshur said. He spat.

  “Better than starvation,” Ruser said. “Yes. And you lads can hunt. We should manage.”

  “Hunt better with a chariot,” Regapisk said.

  “A chariot. You continue to surprise me. You know how to drive a chariot?”

  “I do,” Regapisk said. “Lords are taught these things.”

  “A chariot,” Ruser said again. “Would Arshur be your spear man?”

  “I know how,” Arshur said.

  “There are horses here?” Regapisk asked.

  “Mules,” Ruser said. “Not as fast as horses, but horses are very rare here. There are also mares. Perhaps something can be arranged to take mares to Sunfall and return them to foal. The Emperor demands that all stallions be kept in his dominions, and since the terror bird attacks began, no mares have been put to stud. There is a tax for breeding horses, and it must be done there in his domains.”

  Regapisk pointed toward the corrals where the wagon train was forming. “Those are horses, and that is a stallion.” He paused. “Oh.”

  Ruser looked the question at him.

  “It’s Sandry’s team,” Regapisk said. “I suppose that means that Sandry will be going on this wagon train.”

  “You have reason to dislike your countryman?” Ruser asked. “I believe you told us once that you did not know him at all.”

  Regapisk opened his mouth to speak but thought better of it. “He broke a promise to me once. It was a long time ago.”

  “I suggest you mend your quarrel with him,” Ruser said. “We will be on that trail for a long time.”

  “I’ll do that,” Regapisk said. “Let’s go have a drink while I think how.”

  Book Four

  Aztlan

  Chapter One

  Two Wagon Trains

  Wagonmaster Ern seemed distracted. Sandry found that understandable. This wagon train was larger than the Feathersnake train commanded by Green Stone, and there was far less organization. Feathersnake’s wagoneers had all traveled the Hemp Road together many times and did what was necessary without being told. This group was different, and every dispute was brought to the wagonmaster for settling.

  Two wagoneers bickered over precedence. Ern listened to both, then casually assigned each a place in the order of travel. There was no dispute or quarrel. The wagoneers wanted someone to decide for them. Sandry thought that most of the wagon train disputes were like that, no real substance, but they had to be settled by authority. Eventually the wagoneers were finished, and Ern could turn to Burning Tower, Sandry, and Clever Squirrel. They had waited through much of the afternoon.

  “At last,” Ern said. “My apologies.” He was a serious man, stocky, around forty, and wore leather clothing decorated with symbols that Sandry didn’t understand. A painting on his chest depicted a long-legged bird pursuing a snake. His hair hung down his back in a long queue. “Admit no more of them today,” Ern told the guards at the entrance to his nest. He gestured for his guests to sit, then clapped his hands for tea. He served fragrant tea in small cups, and waited until everyone had a sip. Sandry recognized the flavor as one brought with Green Stone’s wagon train.

  “So,” Ern said, “it is settled. Lord Sandry, you will command all the wagon guards. Younglord Whane will be your second in command. When there is danger, you will have direct command over all the wagons. When there is no immediate threat, you will come to me first.”

  They all nodded. Whane grinned widely.

  “Good. And one of your duties will be to instruct the others in how to fight the terror birds.”

  “As much as I can,” Sandry said. “It’s not part of my duty to teach chariot warfare. I couldn’t anyway—we don’t have enough chariots or horses.” And no decent bows except mine, he thought, but there was no reason to tell these people about compound bows.

  “Yes. But you will fight as needed.”

  “Of course,” Sandry said. “I have my armor and weapons, and I am bringing chariot horses.”

  Ern sipped tea. “I confess curiosity about your ways of war, how you use those chariots, but there will be time enough to discuss that on the trail when there is little else to talk about,” he said. “For now, let us be sure we are agreed on more important details. Lord Sandry, you will instruct the guards in the use of weapons without magic, and you and Younglord Whane will aid in defense against both bandits and birds.

  “Clever Squirrel, you will share the duties of wagon train shaman with Fur Slipper, who will be chief shaman and receive the chief’s shares and privileges. This is agreed?”

  Clever Squirrel agreed without enthusiasm.

  “So. You may choose your own place in the wagon line. What more is there?” Ern asked.

  “Well,” Sandry said, “there will be others. Mouse Warrior believes it is his destiny to travel to Aztlan. He can train your wagoneers in better use of the sling. And Burning Tower has a servant boy who will accompany her.
”

  Ern nodded. “I am pleased that Mouse Warrior comes with us. I have heard that he killed four birds in the final battles. Of course your lady is welcome, but I was not certain she was to come with us. She brings the one-horn?”

  “Of course.”

  “We know little of such beasts,” Ern said. “They are said to be difficult.”

  “Burning Tower won’t have any trouble with Spike,” Clever Squirrel said. “Sandry, what of the Lordkin?”

  Sandry shrugged. “We will know when we leave. They haven’t said, and no one gives them orders.”

  “I have mixed feelings,” Ern said. “They are formidable warriors, but I have heard…”

  Sandry grinned. “We know.”

  “Feathersnake will pay, if payment is needed,” Burning Tower said.

  “So I have also heard,” Ern said. “So. We are agreed—”

  One of Ern’s sons scratched at the entrance to the wagon nest. The boy was about twelve, and Sandry knew him as Small Condor. The boy was eager to learn about throwing spears and other weapons and often followed Sandry around the wagon camp.

  Ern frowned. “Did I not say I was not to be disturbed?”

  The boy smiled nervously. “It is Master Ruser of Low Street,” he said. “He wishes to join the wagon train.”

  “Can he not meet me another time?”

  The boy grinned more widely. “I thought it important that he meet Lord Sandry. He has brought two warriors with him. One is a giant.”

  When Wagonmaster Ern stood to greet Master Ruser, Sandry got to his feet as well, so he was standing when Ruser’s companions came in. Sandry recognized the giant who had been with the teller Tras Preetror in Lord’s Town and Condigeo. And—

  “Hail, Cousin,” Regapisk said. He held out his hand.

  Regapisk. Sandry noted the salamander brooch and the tooled leather handle of a quality sword made in Lord’s Town. “Hail, Lord Regapisk,” he said formally. He stepped forward to grasp Reggy’s forearm. “I’m glad to see you in such good circumstances.”