by Hugh Cook
'Not everyone has my advantages - but think about all the things that were in this room. Raunen Song, the death-stone, the red bottle - all worth killing for. Sooner or later, your own earth-scum guards would have cut your throat to claim them.
'And if you planned to use Prince Comedo as a figurehead for your conquests, even he would have plotted against you sooner or later. You must realise that. I've taken what would have tempted others, but at least I've left you alive. Others wouldn't have been so kind. Think on that when I'm gone, Alish.'
Hearst put the death-stone into a small leather bag. He picked up the leather bag and the red bottle, turned the ring that he wore on one finger - turned it with his teeth, since he could not turn it with his hook hand -and was inside the green bottle. Hearst left the death-stone and the red bottle there, then returned to Alish's chambers.
iil leave you now,' said Hearst. 'Don't try and follow us. We've got fast horses - we've stolen your best. And there's death waiting for anyone who follows us.'
* * *
Hearst rejoined Miphon, Blackwood and Ohio outside the walls of Runcorn. 'How did it go?' said Ohio, it went just as we planned.' 'You took a long time.'
!
i was being careful.' 'We were worried.'
'No need to be. Come on, let's go. The more distance we've covered by daylight, the better.'
They set off in darkness, heading south along the Salt Road toward the distant city of Selzirk, capital of the Harvest Plains. Hearst decided that, on reaching Selzirk, he would leave Miphon and travel back to Rovac. He had fulfilled his oath: he had delivered the death-stone to Miphon for Miphon to take south.
He was free.
i
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
They travelled south through the flatlands of the Harvest Plains, sheltering in mud-dirt villages which, as they neared Selzirk, slowly became towns. As the prospect of pursuit became increasingly remote, they relaxed. They bought new boots, new clothes, and more food than was good for them. They risked their gold in taverns and elsewhere; Ohio and Hearst were almost killed in a brothel-brawl in a place called Kelebes, but other than that the country proved hospitable.
Miphon, who had been this way before, lectured them at length about the dams and irrigation canals that drew water from the Velvet River. All dams were upstream of Selzirk, leaving the river between Selzirk and the port of Androlmarphos free for navigation by shallow-bottomed trading galleys.
Miphon went on to discuss local law, labour tax, art, poetry, song, industry and agriculture - at length. Hearst retaliated with infinitely detailed stories of the birdlife of Rovac and the combat cults of Chi'ash-lan, but Miphon, though he became irritated at Hearst's prolixity, failed to take the hint.
In the end, Ohio spoke bluntly, and silenced the pair of them. But, after that, there were arguments about stupid things such as when to stop for lunch. Without hardship and danger to unify them, they were, really, a disparate bunch of people.
For Ohio, everything lay in the future. He'd decided not to go to his brother Menator as a beggar; instead, he'd south to the great trading city of Narba, and set up in business. For Hearst, everything lay in the past: he
was a ruined, crippled veteran, a man who had lost his hope, his friends, and all sense of purpose.
Blackwood, who had realised by now that the everyday savagery of human society was too much for his heightened sensitivity to bear, thought to follow Miphon to the Castle of Controlling Power, there to see if he could find a wizard to tell him how to blunt his perceptions of the pain and suffering of the world. Now that he knew Mystrel was dead, his only responsibility was to himself.
Of the four, only Miphon still carried the burdens of heavy responsibility. Though Hearst had not announced his plans, Miphon realised, none the less, that the Rovac warrior did not intend to go south with him beyond Selzirk. Yet, from that city, it would be five hundred leagues to the Castle of Controlling Power -and that was as the crow flies, it would be longer by road.
And, once Miphon actually delivered the death-stone to the Confederation of Wizards at the Castle of Controlling Power, it would still have to be returned to the Dry Pit. Which would be a dangerous journey all on its own. And then some way would have to be found to ensure that no wizard ever again followed Heenmor's footsteps into the Dry Pit.
How?
For that question, he had no answer.
* * *
They closed with Selzirk on an afternoon when the spring weather was hinting at the heat of the summer to come.
'That's a big city,' said Hearst, studying the prospect of walls and soaring towers. 'Some of the towers look like they were built by wizards.'
'They were,' said Miphon. in the Long War, wizards raised a castle here, on the northern side of the river.
Now the gatehouse keep of that castle is part of the palace of the king-maker, Farfalla. Many bridges span the fire dyke, and as you can see the wizard castle is only a small part of the city.'
'I hope we don't run into trouble there.'
'We won't,' said Miphon. 'The people of the Harvest Plains are very hospitable.'
'At Kelebes - ' began Hearst.
'You were drunk,' said Miphon. Then: 'And not for the first time, cither. I have to tell you that neither your brain nor your liver benefit from - '
'Oh, nara zabara jok,' said Hearst, which, in the Trading Tongue, was obscene in the extreme.
'Should I bash your heads together till your brains splinter?' said Ohio. 'Or just cut your tongues out?'
'Peace,' said Blackwood, pained by this exchange. 'Let's plan out what we'll do if we do meet danger.'
'We won't,' said Miphon, demonstrating - not for the first time - a wizard's need to be seen as an expert. 'I've been this way before. I know this place.'
'There's been a lot of fish in the net since then,' said Hearst. 'With Alish holding Runcorn and threatening invasion, they're bound to be suspicious.'
'Then we'd better not try to avoid the city,' said Ohio, 'or they'll think us spies for sure.'
'Well then,' said Hearst. 'Let's do what we can -which means stay alert and take precautions. I'll carry the death-stone. Miphon, you take the green bottle and the ring commanding it. And Blackwood - the red bottle and the ring for that.'
i'd rather not,' said Blackwood.
'No?' said Hearst. 'Then Ohio can carry it. Let's arrange that now.'
They did so, then went on toward the city. On either side of the road, bentbacked peasants were working in a leisurely rhythm in fields of rape and panic.
Hearst watched a barefoot boy shooting at small birds in a fallow field. The boy had a stave bow; he shot
arrows into the air so they climbed high then plunged
down, skewering their targets and pinning them to the <
ground. Hearst noted that the range was extreme and I
the archer's accuracy was excellent. I
* * * |
The travellers were entering Selzirk by the northern ]
gate when the challenge rang out: I
'Azat!' |
A moment later, soldiers grabbed the reins of their j
horses. Then the gate commander stepped forward. j
Lurking behind him was a furtive, anxious individual, a j
man Hearst knew he should recognise from somewhere. '.
He cast about for a name. j
Erhed! Yes, that was it. Erhed, one of Prince j
Comedo's soldiers who had deserted in dragon country j
deep in the interior of Argan. j
'You,' said the gate commander, in the Galish j
Trading Tongue. 'Come with me.' >
Hearst glanced around. The gate commander had numbers on his side, but it might be possible to
intimidate him. Hearst put his hand to the hilt of his j
sword: i
'Who are you to command me?' ;
'My name is Watashi,' said the gate commander. 'I'm
eldest son of the kingmak
er, Farfalla, highest power in 1
the Harvest Plains. Mark me well: I'm the best swordsman in Selzirk, and my blade is faster than yours.'
Hearst judged the boast to be true. Clearly Watashi
was a young man, about twenty-five years of age, but I there were battle-scars on his face; his voice and stance indicated that he had the habit of command. He looked
tough, capable, relaxed and dangerous. j
'I've been here before,' said Miphon. 'Then, Farfal- , la's eldest son was Sarazin Sky.'
'So men have called me,' said the gate commander. 370
'But names may change with the times. Watashi is my name now, as I have told you. Come.' Hearst hesitated.
'Let's go with him,' said Ohio. 'He's not polite, but at least nobody's drawn a weapon. And think of it - the ruler's son doesn't stand watch on the gate unless for something the ruler wants badly.'
'We'll come with you,' said Hearst. 'We'll let you take us to Farfalla.'
'Dismount, then,' said Watashi, who, Hearst saw, was unimpressed by the ease at which the travellers had divined his immediate intentions.
As they followed Watashi on foot, with a squad of guards behind them, Hearst murmured to Miphon:
'What does Watashi mean?'
Miphon sorted through the few dozen words of the language of the Harvest Plains which he knew:
it means blood,' said Miphon. it means fear. It means death.'
* * *
Watashi led the travellers through the noisy, crowded streets of Selzirk, a city which - according to Miphon's lectures - was a centre for trade in grain, silks, pottery, and also tin and copper mined in the Chenameg Kingdom in mountainous country to the east. It was also, of course, the capital of the Harvest Plains.
i wish we could stop,' said Ohio, i see some Galish merchants. We could learn a lot from talking to them.'
'We'll have a chance later,' said Hearst.
'You hope.'
'Why shouldn't I hope? Remember this word: intelligence.' intelligence?'
'Yes. If I say that word, use the ring.' Hearst's last words were drowned out by the racket of a group of men with shaven heads and saffron robes,
who stood on a street corner banging drums, beating tambourines and chanting over and over again the Mantra of the Sun.
'You've got the word?' said Hearst.
'Intelligence,' said Ohio.
'Right. If I say it, use the ring.'
'As you wish,' said Ohio.
They stopped then, for the way ahead was blocked by a funeral procession, and Watashi showed no desire to force a way through the mourners. Horns and trumpets blared discord to the skies: to scare away evil spirits, said Miphon. Hearst, who could hardly make himself heard over the uproar, gave his instructions to Miphon. Then the way was clear again, and Watashi led them onwards.
* * *
Farfalla's High Court was housed in one of the buildings crowding what had once been the central courtyard of a wizard castle. Her throne room was a vast chamber with a vaulted roof arching high overhead; it was open on every side to the sun and the wind. Watashi introduced the travellers, speaking for their benefit in the Trading Tongue:
'To the kingmaker, mother of all the peoples, ruler of the See of the Sun, greetings. Here before you stands the Rovac warrior Morgan Hearst, and here, the wizard from the south, Miphon. This one here we believe to be a peasant from Estar, Blackwood. And this one, perhaps with truth and perhaps not, tells me he is a Galish merchant by the name of Ohio.'
Watashi took up a position by the side of the throne, and Farfalla studied the travellers. Her silence did not intimidate them: they met her scrutiny with bold stares of their own.
Farfalla was a woman of middle years, her hair red, and her skin - thanks to a dye - the same colour. She
wore earrings of twisted copper; broad copper bracelets adorned her bare forearms. Her light woollen robes were the colours of blood, iron, earth and clay. Her throne, raised on a small dais, was made of white marble padded with white satin. She looked like a blaze of fire on pure white snow.
Unlike some courts Hearst had seen, overpopulated by lacquered flunkeys and ceremonial attendants, Farfalla's throne room held only a couple of scribes, some guards in grey livery, and a few serving women who stood to one side ready to obey any command that might come from the throne.
'So you're Morgan Hearst,' said Farfalla.
'Yes,' said Hearst, taking a step forward, watching out of the corner of his eye to see how Farfalla's guards would react. The guards held their positions.
'We've heard much of you,' said Farfalla.
'Then you have the advantage over me,' said Hearst.
He studied the woman. Her forearms were strong, muscular; her hands large, fingers broad, knuckles big. Her neck was thick, like that of a wrestler. The features of her face were coarse and generous: heavy bones, large eyes, large nose, large mouth, strong line to the jaw.
'You know much about me, if you care to think about it,' said Farfalla. 'I hold power over an empire. I am told the Rovac have a good understanding of imperial power.'
'Certainly we understand the limitations of such power,' said Hearst.
Watashi said something in the language of the Harvest Plains; Farfalla silenced him with a word.
'Power, for example,' said Hearst, 'gives no protection against lies. At the city gate I saw one of the world's scavengers, a deserter from a defeated army. I hope his tongue has not been allowed to guide your councils.'
'You speak boldly for a man with only one hand,' said Farfalla. in some places, you'd lose the other for speaking like that to the throne.'
'If murder is today's entertainment,' said Hearst, recklessly, 'then proceed.'
'You tempt me,' said Farfalla, who did not look tempted at all. 'Even so, I'll give you a chance to outgrow your adolescence. I have brought you here because you can be of service to me.'
'Says who? The man Erhed, whom I saw at the gate? That weak-minded gallowed and gutless coward? A runaway? A deserter?'
'Whatever his defects,' said Farfalla, T regret to say that his manners are better than yours.'
'On Rovac,' said Hearst, 'we believe in the diplomacy of steel'
'My son, I'm sure,' said Farfalla, 'would be happy to join such negotiations. However - fortunately for you, my hero - I prefer to exercise my own intelligence rather than my son's sword-arm. Hear me out, for I have a tale to tell.'
'Then tell away,' said Hearst.
Farfalla, without protesting at his abruptness, began:
'When your men deserted you far inland, they made their way down the Velvet River, through the Chena-meg Kingdom and all the way to Selzirk.
'Rumours came to me of wild tales being told in the taverns: fantastic stories of ring-magic, dragon-killing, battles between wizards, the destruction of armies. You know the truth of what you've been through; as you can imagine, a little strong liquor soon set some weird and wonderful tales afloat in the stews of Selzirk.
T didn't quite believe the story of how Morgan Hearst, riding on a dragon, led armies against the Red Emperor of Tameran. Nor the tale of the Temple of Eternal Love by the shores of the Araconch Waters, with its trees of gold and its gardens of diamonds. Still, it was clear that something had happened that I should know about.
T gave my orders. As you can imagine, rumours take more than a day from a riverside bar to my throne
room. Some of the men had left with Galish convoys, others on ships sailing from Adrolmarphos. A few had joined the criminal fraternities of Selzirk and proved impossible to locate.
'But my men arrested twelve. We interviewed them in isolation, giving them no chance to rehearse lies; once all twelve stories matched, I knew I had the truth.
'So I know you marched from Estar to pursue the wizard Heenmor, who had a power-source known as the death-stone, capable of turning men to stone and bringing rocks to life. I know all about your expedition to the point where the soldiers deserted you.
&nb
sp; 'It was midwinter when I extracted these truths from your soldiers. I knew that if you succeeded in capturing this . . . this death-stone, it would probably come south by way of Selzirk. For months my three sons have taken turns to command the guard at the northern gate: I wanted no errors, no mistakes. We've a great need for a weapons such as this, for our entire coastline is menaced by the pirates of the Greater Teeth, now grown strong enough to seize Stokos - a conquest of which you, no doubt, have yet to hear.
'More recently, from Runcorn, we have received an ugly little embassy demanding our surrender in the name of Elkor Alish and the death-stone. Knowing this Alish to be sworn to the service of wizards, and lacking any evidence of a death-stone slaughter said to have taken place near Runcorn, I have chosen to disregard this threat. Yet I see this Alish is not of your party. So is he dead? And if not, does he indeed command the death-stone?'
'On that point,' said Hearst, i am not sure whether I should furnish you with any . . . intelligence.'
He heard Blackwood protest as Ohio grabbed him, then there was the noise behind him of the red and green bottles hitting the stone floor. Hearst pulled the death-stone from where he had hidden it inside his leathers. He whipped away a bit of cloth that had been wrapped around it, and held it aloft.
'The death-stone,' he said, wheeling to survey the room. 'Move and you die.'
