"Terikel? She has returned to the winds, and is happy. She made me the only living man who has slept with her, and from her way of thought, that heals the past."
"Does it in truth?"
"No. Brave and fine men who knew nothing of me when they met her died because relieving my indulgent grief became her obsession. Now Dolvienne has lost Gilvray, and Merrial and her children have lost Andry, yet I am still alone. The gifts of dragons are of value only to dragons, Inspector. It was your example that restored me to myself."
This had me not a little surprised. People of Roval's stature should have little to learn from the likes of myself, and I could not remember ever setting a good example for anyone.
"So you really are happy, Roval?"
"Yes sir. I am free of her, and she is free of both her daemons and myself. Three wasted years are a high price to pay for a good and pleasant life, but at least I have my life back now."
What makes a good and pleasant life? I wondered as I left Roval to pack up. Did we fight the Lupanians for it, and win? Did we fight for it when we defended our electocracy? Wall-toun was part of a monarch's realm, yet if I had to stay here with Lavenci for the rest of our lives, we would not be complaining unduly.
Lavenci ended her tune and began to pack away her pipes. Mountain ponies clopped past pulling laden carts, a blacksmith's hammer was ringing out in the distance, and at the nearby market I could hear a man calling out that something was selling for "Four a copper!" The dancers were now crowded around the serving board, and other villagers were beginning to arrive for their lunchtime pie and pint. Under electocracy it might be merely an improvement, but under Lupanian rule it could not have been pleasant. If we were ever even contented, it would have been the contentment of sheep being cared for while fattened for slaughter. We would have been things, not people. Even now it was hard to believe that we were safe. I half expected a mighty Lupanian fighting tower to suddenly come striding out between the two nearby mountains where the road to greater Alberin led, with the relentless jingle-clink of its leg joints, its heat weapon held high, and its terrible cry of—
"Brothers! Sisters! You all know why we're here!" For a moment we all froze, then we glanced to each other in near-panic while the distant speaker at the edge of the marketplace paused to draw breath. I stood up for a better view. Riellen was standing on a cart, and waving a sheaf of pamphlets high in the air. She was about eight months pregnant.
"She looks like a broom handle with a melon tied to it," said the astonished Wallas.
Standing beside the cart I could see Costiger. Riellen continued, to an ever-swelling crowd.
"We are here to learn and spread the truth about the glorious revolution in Greater Alberin, where the oppressive, cruel, greedy, and unelected regent was brought low by the people. Not a king, not an emperor, not a duke, but the people. The people elected a presidian. The people elected the person who was best suited to rule. That man led the people to crush the might of the expansionist, genocidal, imperialist, warmongering Lupanian sorcerer-kavelars, then defeated an army sent by your reactionary, unelected and oppressive monarch to restore the former regent. But did Presidian Laron then send an army to invade your fair and beautiful kingdom? No! You, the people of Hadraly must overthrow your own rulers, you must vote for your own presidian. Down with the king of Hadraly!"
"What's votin', then?" called a carter from near where we now stood, hurriedly gathering our belongings together.
"That is a very good question, brother," replied Riellen. "The way of voting is explained in these pamphlets. Take them to those of you who can read, share them around, discuss them with each other. Start small. Vote for a committee to manage the marketplace, because running a marketplace is like running a kingdom."
"Are you that daft bird Riellen that all the travelers from Alberin speak of?" called someone from farther away.
"Yes I am, brother, but I am not important. Only my message is important."
"I vote Miss Riellen to be market presidian," called the wench who had been serving us, and there were half a dozen or so shouts of approval from the still bemused crowd.
"Please, no, I have not come to lead you. I am just a teacher. Sister Serving Maid, Brother Costermonger, it is people like you who should be standing for election—"
"Village militia!" cried someone.
"Save Miss Riellen!" cried several others.
By now we were packed and hurrying away from the tavern. Two monks were standing near the postings board as we arrived, both with their hands cupped to their ears to hear what Riellen was saying.
"You two, you are here in search of a larger party to travel to the border of Greater Alberin, right? We are that larger party. Now where is the third monk?"
My question was answered as the third monk came running over waving a brownish sheet of reedpaper and shouting, "Brothers, she touched my hand as she gave me a pamphlet!"
"Put that damnable thing in your sleeve, shoulder your packroll, and come with us!" I snapped irritably.
Wallas leaped up onto my pack with Solonor, and I hurriedly glanced around to ensure that nobody was watching us. Over by the market, a reasonably large riot was developing, and I could see Costiger helping Riellen down off the cart.
"I hate to say this, but should not we be helping?" asked Lavenci.
"The king of Hadraly is doomed, nothing we can do will save him from Riellen," I muttered as I seized Lavenci by the arm and pointed to the road back to Greater Alberin.
"But, but she's alone and pregnant, and she will be arrested," protested Lavenci, in spite of her hatred for my former constable.
"Lavenci, in order to break your constancy glamour I had contact with the future. I had help from ... look, I can't explain, but I do know some of what is to come."
"But Riellen and her child—"
"Will be safe! A thousand years from now the entire bloody world will be voting for its leaders, thanks to Riellen. There will be statues to her everywhere. I know that her child survives. I've met one of its descendants from twenty-seven generations in the future. Now we must go! Come on!"
"Brother Inspector, it says here that even groups as small as three or four can profit from an elected—" began one of the refugee sorcerers, reading from the pamphlet as he trailed after us.
"This group is an absolute monarchy, and / am the absolute monarch!" I declared with exasperation. "Now put that away and shut up or I'll charge you with treason."
We hurried out of the no longer tranquil mountain village, leaving Riellen, her followers, and whoever was unfortunate enough to represent the establishment to battle it out. I had not told Lavenci the entire truth, and I probably never would. Riellen was not just a brilliant and charismatic orator, she was a passably good student of sorcery as well. She had known that breaking the constancy glamour by Pelmore's execution would leave Lavenci bound to him for seven years, but plucking Pelmore out of existence would not kill him yet would still break the glamour. Lavenci would be free to touch me from the moment that Pelmore vanished.
I could just imagine Riellen educating her child, telling it over and over what she had done, and how someone must invent a time engine to go back in time and abduct Pelmore so that Lavenci and I could be together and happy—allowing for causality, whatever that was. Generations had passed, each with the message being handed on, until a thousand years in the future one of her descendants had advanced the cold sciences far enough to build some unthinkably complex mechanism and become a timefarer.
Lariella had recruited some future me to be her guide. By the look of that self, I was not much older, so it would probably be in months rather than years. She had then taken us back to a time when Lupanian tripods strode the land. We had abducted Pel-more, then taken him... where? To the past or the future? Did he live out his days as a eunuch in some ancient Vindician harem, tortured by the sight of pleasures and delights that he could never again experience? Perhaps I carried out the death sentence that I was obliged
by law and duty to do, and left his body lying in the streets of an Alberin two thousand years in the past.
We reached the mountain pass after half an hour at a rather forced pace, and there we paused to look back. Something was on fire back at the village.
"Looks to be that Riellen's supporters are already numerous enough to put up a good fight," I speculated.
"Looks to be that they might even win," said Lavenci, putting an arm around my waist and pressing against me.
"Brother Inspector," said one of the sorcerers, "we three have just formed the Free Sorcerers Liberation Voting Consensus of Hadraly, and have been discussing matters as we walked." "I was afraid of that."
"We have decided that Brother Daclari and I should stay to support Miss Riellen against the oppressive monarchist establishment's lackeys in Walltoun, while Brother Aclarasor will journey on with you to become our envoy in Alberin. The vote was unanimous on all issues."
"Vote? There's only three of you!"
"Yes, but—"
"Never mind, do what you will."
XXX
And so we journeyed back to Greater Alberin, aware that a force far stronger than an entire army of Lupanian fighting tripods was spreading out over the continent of Scalticar. That night, as I lay in my little tent with Lavenci asleep in my arms, I realized that I would soon see the entire drama of the Lupanian invasion again when I traveled back in time. It would be like reading a book whose ending I already knew. It would be exciting and fascinating, yet there would be no danger at all. If only I had realized how wrong it is possible to be.
Table of Contents
A TOM DOHERTY ASSOCIATES BOOK NEW YORK
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One TEMPORIANS
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Voidfarer Page 42
