The Wizard from Earth

by S. J. Ryan

  “Take it back,” Carrot said. “I am not going to any party.”

  “Oh at least put it on!” Nilla said. “It's so pretty. Look, it's got skwins!”

  “Sequins, girl,” Gwinol admonished.

  “I'll bet they're diamond!”

  Matt pushed forward. “What is this about?”

  Carrot growled, “Ivan hasn't scanned already?”

  She gave him the note that was clasped in her hand. Matt opened and read:

  'Much appreciation for the restoration of my vigor by the tonic you provided. Most refreshing! I wish to express my gratitude more fully. A party at my home tonight. Invitations serve as passes and are enclosed. Let us talk of the future for your land and people. Let Archimedes be your chaperone, and if you wish, bring also that strange boy who follows you like a dog. I am indebted: H.'

  Nilla, peering beside Matt's shoulder, asked, "Who is 'H.'?"

  “Hadron,” Matt said.

  The servants stared at him.

  Nilla: “As in . . . the Emperor . . . Hadron.”

  “Yes.”

  “You are joking.”

  “No.”

  Nilla examined his expression, and said, “What's he to do with our Carrot?”

  Matt realized Nilla didn't know Hadron had come to visit because Carrot had been the one to open the door. And then he wondered, Do people think I follow her like a dog?

  Carrot pushed the dress back to the captain. “I have no interest in attending any party at the Emperor's palace. Please inform him of that.”

  “Carrot,” Archimedes said, “it's not wise to turn down an audience with the Emperor.”

  “Well, then I'm not wise. And I'm not going to mingle with senators while – “ She looked at the soldiers. “Well, while. That's it.”

  The captain hadn't budged. “My lady, the Emperor has another gift which may change your mind. Right now they are outside – “

  “I'm not interested in any more – did you say 'they?'”

  The captain went to the street door and made a signal. The soldiers brought in four men in simple civilian robes.

  Carrot screamed, “GETH!”

  While she hugged them, Nilla poked and sniffed at Matt's rumpled clothes and said, “Barbarian, I do hope you'll bathe before you're seen by the Emperor!"

  “Didn't have to last time,” Matt murmured.

  He watched Carrot closely. He had never seen her cry so profusely. He thought about her being in the palace, where she would be surrounded by a thousand armed-and-armored soldiers of the imperial guard. He decided then that he needed to give her a gift too. Whether she wanted it or not.

  39.

  After Carrot had given her assent to attend the party, the captain and the soldiers departed the courtyard. Carrot dried her tears and listened while Geth gave his account.

  "Following our capture in Britan, we were taken immediately to a plantation on an island where they grow grain for the legions. Despite the food all around us, we were ill-fed. Croin became so thin, I was so worried that he would die. Then a few days ago, we were taken off work and brought to another island, where we stayed at a villa and were fed a livable diet until we regained our health. And then we were brought here. Not much of a story. And you?”

  Matt coughed. "I think I'll go take a bath."

  Carrot watched him go, then turned to Archimedes. Archimedes looked behind his shoulders, as if he thought she were looking at someone past him. Then he too coughed and said, “Come on, ladies and Jaros. I sense this is personal – and we do have a party to prepare to attend.”

  Once they were out of earshot, Carrot related an account of her activities, though purged of Matt's wizard-like properties and her encounter with Inoldia. By then her scars from the fight had completely healed or were covered by her dress, so Geth was none the wiser.

  “I came here to Rome to find you and every day I looked for you in the slave markets,” she said. “To have you delivered to me like this . . . it's amazing. For once in my life something is going right.”

  “I'm rather puzzled,” Geth said. “What services did you render to the Romans that caused them to deliver prisoners of war to your care?”

  “I did not betray Britan,” she said sharply.

  Geth bowed. “I will take you at your word.”

  Dran interrupted. “I don't know what the attitude is in the Northland, but we Midlanders don't feel comfortable surrounded by Romans, and there seem to be a lot of them in this city. Is there a possibility we could leave for Britan before the powers change their minds?”

  “An excellent idea,” Carrot said. “There are ships that head for Espin every day. We'll get you on one right now.”

  “I'd like to stay a bit and sight-see the city,” Croin said.

  Carrot noticed that Jran, apparently, was content to sight-see her and the servant girls.

  “I too vote to leave promptly,” Geth said. “Now, did the Emperor include funds for our repatriation?”

  An interesting question as to why not, Carrot thought, but she was already thinking ahead to the docks. “I'll take care of that. The breeze picks up in mid-morning, so ships will be departing soon. Even if that were not true, we should leave without hesitation.”

  Grabbing coat and sandals, she was off with them through the streets of the city. Croin gawked at the buildings, taller than any in Londa. Jran gawked at every other girl. Dran and Geth were like twins, staring firmly ahead with their hands on non-existent hilts, cocking eyebrows at every louder than usual noise.

  Their first stop was her former residence in Rome, the hole in the wall. She left them outside and emerged a moment later with two bulging bags of silver, which she distributed to the older men.

  “This will be sufficient to pay passage to Espin, and there to board another ship to Britan. Of course, that part will be tricky, so you'll have to – “

  “Smuggle ourselves,” Dran said cheerily. “I have some experience in that.”

  Geth inspected the contents of the bag. “If naught else, we can purchase a fisherman's boat and I can pilot us home. Carrot, where did you get all this silver?”

  “The Leaf funded me to pay for your manumission.”

  “You mean, Ral funded you. He'll catch fire from the Inner Circle for using Leaf funds for personal matters.”

  Thinking of how she had returned their investment several-fold, Carrot replied, “I trust they have forgiven him.”

  “Wait,” Dran said. “You two know Ral? Of Londa?”

  “She's his niece,” Geth said.

  “After I was chased from bookselling I served as one of his couriers.” Dran shrugged. “It is a small world.”

  “It's a small Leaf,” Geth replied.

  Perhaps for not much longer, Carrot thought.

  Sensing that she had taken the role of a mother hen, Carrot herded the foursome to the docks. An hour scouring taverns and quays found her a captain embarking for Madra that morning who looked as if he would not rob and murder his passengers on the way. After paying passage, her group spoke for a while of pertinent details of travel, deciding that Ral would be their contact in Londa if they were to reach there. Carrot was not all that close to any her fellow fighters in the Leaf, and there were few messages to send.

  And so once dockside, Dran, Jran, and Croin boarded the ship. Geth started toward the base of the plank, then turned.

  “Arcadia,” Geth said, his face contorted. “You should come with us now.”

  “I have a party to attend. I gave my word.”

  “What is the Emperor of Rome to you?”

  “He is the man who liberated you and who may liberate Britan if I can speak reason to him.”

  “Will he listen to a Britanian?”

  She showed him the note. “He refers directly to that. See?”

  “I see. But as a – friend, I must warn you that men who are rich and powerful often will make promises they have no intention of keeping, so that they might enjoy a woman's gratitude for one
night.”

  “I can take care of myself.”

  “How many times have I heard that?” He chuckled. “I think the first time involved a haystack and a certain overeager boy.” His expression sobered. “Carrot, Croin may be simple but he is older and can handle a sea voyage and I trust Dran to watch over him too. And it's good that they're leaving now. But you're here, surrounded by legions, about to go into what is their den. I will stay to lend my assistance if needed.”

  “You're not invited to the party, so what good will that do even tonight?”

  “I have no idea. But to have an ally on the outside is always an advantage.”

  “You'll be one more person for me to worry about.”

  “And who is the other, I might ask?”

  She remained silent.

  “I think I have an idea on that,” he concluded. “But as long as you're staying, I'm staying.”

  He folded his arms.

  “If you don't get on that ship,” she said. “I will carry you.”

  “You wouldn't.”

  “I will.”

  And she folded her arms.

  They stared at each other. Finally, Geth blinked and looked away.

  “Very well, then,” he said. He gathered and hugged her tightly. “I will miss you greatly, as I have already. How cruel is fate, that I came over these weeks to expect never to see you again, and now I see you only for a moment and then we are parted and perhaps this time is last.”

  She found herself crying again, and whimpered, “Now you're hurting me!”

  “There's room on that ship for one more, Arcadia. Come now. You know an emperor's promises are worthless and you owe no word of bond to a tyrant who has merely rectified a tiny portion of the evil he has done. Let's return now to Britan together before he knows we're gone.”

  “I am staying and you are going. Go! GO!”

  He sighed and headed toward the ship, then stopped and turned toward her.

  “Then farewell, Arcadia. You know that I – I . . . . ”

  He bent, looked deflated, and turned away.

  She watched him climb the plank. She watched the sailors pull the plank and cast free. The ship caught the breeze and sailed upon the shimmering surface of the Bay of Rome. Geth and the others waved and she waved back for the minutes it took for the ship to disappear as it mingled with the other sails in the crowded waters.

  “Farewell, Father,” she said. “I love you too.”

  She returned to the house of Archimedes, and was by then dry-eyed. Nilla scolded her for having gone missing when time was so short and dragged her to a room where the servant-sisters doused her in a tub, toweled her off and applied sweet-smelling creams, and wrapped the togalike-dress so that her walk was all but reduced to a shuffle. Out came a box full of jewelry in various shapes, and while Carrot sifted through the selection, Gwinol's keen eye observed, “What have you against flowers?”

  “Nothing at all,” Carrot said. “These look rather expensive. Where did you get them?”

  “Jaros. But he rarely wears them anymore.”

  “I see,” Carrot said, though she didn't.

  Carrot almost chose a daffodil to prove Gwinol wrong, but decided instead to go with a diamond brooch of the constellations of the Bears, which Matt said looked almost the same as from Earth, though Little Bear's Tail Tip was called Polaris there because it was the Pole Star.

  Matt, she thought. Perhaps I can talk to him tonight. Before he leaves.

  But another part of her felt reluctance at approaching him. If she did it the wrong way, then he might take offense, and then there would be little opportunity to make amends once he was gone from the house and busy with his medical practice. For she had no doubt that he would be busy.

  I've made overture after overture, she thought. He doesn't respond. Maybe the problem is me, I don't seem feminine enough.

  “Do I look like a man?” she blurted.

  Gwinol and Nilla stopped their ministrations and looked at each other. Wordlessly, Gwinol rolled over a full-length mirror. Carrot saw jeweled and high-heeled sandals, a flowing dress that glittered with diamond sequins, a hairdo that piled and swirled and was kept in place by a network of silver stickpins.

  Nilla clasped onto her bracelets and necklace of silver and ruby, then stepped back and said, “Personally, I rather think not.”

  Gwinol looked around and said in whisper, “Carrot, I realize the Emperor is just a fat old man, but he has his pick of women nonetheless and he picked you above them to socialize this evening. That should tell you something!”

  Carrot stared at the mirror image and stroked her lip with her teeth. “Maybe he prefers manly women.”

  Gwinol sighed and slapped her on the back. “Stand up straight, girl!”

  Carrot did so, but frowned. “I'm dressing for the party and not a romantic evening, and I wouldn't have him even if I could.”

  “Yes yes,” Nilla said. “We all know, you'd really prefer Matt. But watch how that one fails.”

  “I thought you liked Matt,” Gwinol said.

  “I do. But watch how he fails.”

  As Carrot teetered on her high-heeled sandals, her respect for the endurance of normal-strengthed women increased.

  "COACH IS HERE!" Jaros bellowed in late afternoon. "Ladies, I realize he is lord of only half the world, but it would yet be good manners not to keep the Emperor waiting!"

  Gwinol and Nilla led Carrot out to the courtyard. Matt was standing there already, dressed in formal robes and freshly scrubbed.

  Mola faced Matt, gestured to Carrot, and asked, “What do you think?”

  He was staring at Carrot, but at the sound of Mola's voice he seemed to break out of a trance. He looked at the faces looking at him and stammered, “It's very, uh . . . very . . . nice.”

  Nilla's elbow nudged Gwinol.

  Archimedes bowed deeply to Carrot and said, “Truly a vision of loveliness that the imperial household will be honored to treasure. Don't worry about Matt, he'll find the right words to say – in a decade or two. And the coach does await, so let's go.”

  They boarded the coach and Carrot bent to an uncomfortable degree to keep the 'beehive' hair style intact. She resisted the urge to kick off the ferociously pinching silverware sandals. Then, once they were off, she could slap his face with them.

  Did I just think that? she asked herself.

  The purple-limned coach sent from the palace was a glorified litter. A team of carriers and an ample guard wound them to Water Street to where it joined Golden Street, well to the south of the Temple of the Sisters of Wisdom so they did not have to pass before it. The carriers were the top of their profession, and despite the cramped interior, the jostling was so minimal that no passenger touched the other. Matt was expressionless and he was looking at anything Not Carrot. Carrot felt it was the most uncomfortable ride of her life.

  As they ascended the grade, the crowds thinned and streets widened and estates grew larger.

  “A beautiful evening,” Archimedes observed. “See how the sun has turned red as it sets toward the bay?”

  Carrot, who was about having it with all men just then, replied, “The sun is not turning red and it is not setting. Our position on the planet is rotating away from the sun, which diminishes the angular distance viewed between sun and horizon. As a consequence of planetary rotation, at this time the amount of atmosphere between sun and our position is increasing, which filters sunlight to appear as redder to our eyes.”

  She glared at Matt.

  “Have I done something to offend you?” Matt asked.

  “See how the clouds have become reddish as well,” Archimedes continued.

  “You have done nothing to offend me,” Carrot replied. “Nothing. At. All.”

  “Orangish, pinkish, reddish, purplish. Quite a variation, actually.”

  They didn't speak for the rest of the ride. Archimedes continued admiring the view. Matt looked like he was talking to himself, and in a manner of speaking p
robably was.

  Carrot daydreamed. The Emperor would receive them and agree to the autonomy of Britan. She would return home and become a teacher – after all, surely she knew enough math and science now to rival the best scholars on Ne'arth. Matt would tire of Rome and come to visit, and set up practice as a healer, and –

  Then she emerged from her reverie and saw Matt staring out the window, and she thought, He doesn't even notice me, and now he'll be going. I should have gone on the ship with Geth.

  The ground leveled and they approached the palace. The walls were high and decorated with mosaics, scenes of pastoral beauty alternating with battles. At the gate they showed their invitations, which the guard held up to lantern light and rubbed the paper with a frown, though he admitted them in the end.

  They were transported around a large fountain with statues of oversized humans, animals, and human/animals spewing water from various orifices. They dismounted at the base of a hill of steps bordered by statues of fat winged children blowing on horns.

  Archimedes waved greetings at middle-aged men in maroon- and purple-fringed robes, who waved back at him but all the while were staring at her.

  Mystified, Carrot looked down. Her dress was in order, the girls had seen to that. Perhaps it was the way that she wobbled when she walked. Constricted by the dress, tilted at a precarious angle by the high heels, she was handicapped and expected the onlookers to make allowances. But instead they just stared mercilessly, and it was all she could do not to shrivel.

  The steps peaked before pillars of marble that were stained orange and red by what most people still referred to as simply a sunset. Within lay a hall big enough to swallow a North Umbrickan village. Chandeliers of crystal as large as village huts were suspended overhead and gleamed with ethereal power against tapestries, mosaics, and statuary. An orchestra played and Carrot recognized what Ivan had called 'Mozart.' Purple finery was everywhere.

  In spite of herself, Carrot thought, This is sublime. At the threshold, with the city below and the great hall of the imperial palace ahead, for a moment it seemed as if she were on the border of a new and better world of unlimited hope and possibility.