Faces of Deception le-2

by Troy Denning

  It did not escape Atreus's notice that as he spoke, the eyes of the two Mar remained fixed on the basket. He shook his head, then took the pot and went off to milk the yaks. It was someone else's turn to worry about his gold.

  CHAPTER 5

  Atreus's first sound sleep in many days ended with a clap of thunder, then a flash so bright he saw it inside his eyelids. He threw aside the carpets he had been using as blankets and sat up, looking out the back of the wagon toward the fire pit. It was that gray time just before dawn when first light started to kindle a pearly sheen in the previous night's snow. Yago was nowhere to be seen, having risen early to hunt for something furry or feathered to supplement his inadequate diet. In the ogre's empty bed kneeled a pudgy silhouette, hunched over the open treasure basket and pressing palms to eyes. The figure took its hands away, then swiveled its head around aimlessly.

  "Blind!" The voice was Bharat's. "The devil has blinded me!"

  Rishi scrambled out from beneath the wagon and ran over to the treasure basket, barefooted and uncloaked despite the deep snow. When he saw the lid lying open, he pushed Bharat into the smoldering fire pit and began shrieking in angry Maran.

  "In Realmspeak, Rishi," ordered Atreus. He dug out a boot and began to pull it on. "How many times must I remind you?"

  Rishi switched instantly to Realmspeak shrieking, "Thief!" He kicked Bharat in the ribs.

  Bharat rolled into the snow and curled into a ball. "Have mercy, my friend. You are kicking a blind man!"

  "You were stealing my gold," Rishi accused, and kicked him again, this time in the back.

  "That's enough, Rishi," Atreus ordered. "He's no good to us injured."

  Rishi kicked Bharat one more time, then turned toward Atreus. "What good is he to us now?" he asked. "Who can trust a thief?"

  Bharat remained curled into a ball "It is not what you think," he Pleaded "I was only looking…"

  "Only looking?" Rishi reached behind the treasure chest, plucked the rucksack out of the snow, and asked, "What is this for?"

  He hurled the bag at Bharat, who flinched, then raised his chin defiantly.

  "Our split was supposed to be even…" Bharat said, "and now you are ready to take two thirds!"

  "Of course! Now I must go with this fool into the High Yehimals," Rishi said, then paused, seeming to realize what he had said, and spun toward Atreus. "Pay him no heed. Bharat has always been a thief and a-"

  "Yes," Atreus interrupted, "one is known by the company he keeps." He pointed at Rishi's bare feet and added, "You'd better get dressed. You won't be any good to me with frostbitten feet."

  Rishi glanced down at his toes, then ducked beneath the wagon and began to dig for his clothes.

  Atreus finished lacing his boots, then slipped his heavy woolen cloak over his shoulders and stepped out into the morning. The air was calm and clear, with the last stars fading from sight and the orange dawn spreading across the frigid sky. The yaks stood a short distance down the hill, tied nose to tail for easy leading. The one in the rear had a pair of canvas bags secured to its shaggy back. Over the shoulders of the other lay a blanket and ropes, ready to secure a rucksack full of gold.

  Yago came pounding out of the morning dimness, a half-eaten marmot dangling from one hand. "What..happened?" he huffed. "I heard a bang."

  "The trap on my treasure coffer." Atreus gestured at the open basket. "Bharat didn't think a third was fair."

  "I meant no harm!" Bharat protested. "I was only going to take my half-"

  "Bharat, this is the last time I'll warn you about taking me for a fool," Atreus said. When the Mar fell silent, he turned to Yago. "Keep an eye on him while you finish your breakfast. I'll get us ready to go."

  Leaving Bharat to Yago's watchful eye, Atreus retrieved the yaks and unpacked the beast in the rear. He found Bharat's belongings in the first bag and what remained of the food in the second.

  "What a disgraceful thief," Rishi commented, now fully dressed. "He meant us to starve. I will cut his throat, and then we can be on our way."

  Bharat swung toward the sound. "Two thirds of the gold is not enough for you? Now you must kill me for the rest?"

  "It is better than you deserve," Rishi said, "but we have no time for a proper punishment." He pulled one of his small knives and started toward Bharat.

  Atreus caught Rishi by the arm. "I thought Bharat was your friend," he said.

  "A friend does not steal his friend's gold," Rishi snarled.

  "It's not yours yet," Atreus reminded him. "The gold does not. belong to you until we reach Langdarma."

  Rishi's golden face darkened to the color of mahogany and he said, "Oh, begging your pardon, here I go getting ahead of myself again." He held his dagger out toward Atreus. "Of course, the good sir wishes to punish the thief himself."

  "The good sir does not." Atreus replied, pushing the dagger away. "As a matter of fact, I'm quite happy with how things turned out."

  Rishi frowned and asked, "You would let a man steal from you?"

  "If it is the only way to learn the truth, yes." Atreus took Bharat's arm and pulled the Mar to his feet but continued to speak to Rishi. "Had you tried to open the coffer, I would have known you have no idea where we are going. But since you're willing to wait for a larger share of the gold, I know we're near the edge of my map."

  "This was a test?" shrieked Bharat. "You blinded me to find if I was telling the truth?"

  "He didn't do nothing," said Yago, crunching a bone. "You're the one who tried to open the coffer. You deserve what you got."

  "Which isn't as terrible as it could have been," said Atreus, guiding Bharat to the front of the wagon. "Your blindness will pass."

  Bharat sighed in relief, then furrowed his brow and clutched Atreus's arm. "And what of our bargain?" he asked. "Was that only to see if we were telling the truth?"

  "If you will honor it, then I will." Atreus said as he helped the Mar into the wagon's passenger seat.

  Bharat did not release Atreus's arm. "But the split will be even, of course."

  "Even?" Rishi asked. He was beside them in an instant "Are you going to Langdarma? I am the one taking more risk."

  "Our agreement is already more than fair, Bharat" agreed Atreus. He peeled the Mar's hand off his arm. "Be happy with the gold you're receiving now. It's enough to make you wealthy many times over."

  Bharat shook his head stubbornly. "But I am a bahrana, just as Rishi. My share should be half. Anything less is to call me a tarok."

  "Only by the backward customs of Edenvale," countered Rishi. "The good sir and his gold come from the far realm of Erlkazar. We should honor the custom of that land, where it is the habit to honor a man's value and not his position."

  "But we met in Edenvale," Bharat said, turning his head away. "I will abide by its customs, or by none at all."

  "If that's your choice, I'll rekindle the fire." Atreus reached up to take the Mar's arm. "By tomorrow or the next day, you'll see well enough to start back with the gold I've already given you."

  Bharat's unseeing eyes grew wide. "And now you are trying to cheat me out of even my miserable third!" he shouted. "I am coming with you, whether you like it or not."

  Bharat folded his arms and let Atreus and the others pack the wagon and harness the yaks. Then the small company set off on a cold and solemn ride. They spent much of the morning angling up a wind-blasted mountainside, until their route joined several others and rounded the shoulder into a steep alpine gorge. The distant roar of a mighty river began to rumble up from a tiny ribbon of water thousands of feet below, and the road became little more than a perilously tilted track.

  Rishi stopped the wagon so they could look across the river. On the opposite side of the gorge lay an immense plateau of snowy hummocks and leafy green willow bushes. In the untold distance beyond stood a remote wall of ice-draped mountains, as jagged as ore's teeth and so high they were scratching tiny furrows of white cloud into the belly of the passing sky.

  "The Spine
of the World Dragon," Rishi announced, pointing at the peaks. "The valleys on your map lie there."

  Without any trees or animals for scale, Atreus could not quite comprehend the magnitude of the mountains. To him the range looked like the brink of the world, a sheer barrier of ice-coated spires as high as it was impassable.

  "Men can live there?" asked Yago, incredulous.

  "If it is the wish of the mountain gods," said Bharat. He was facing the peaks, though his sightless eyes were fixed on the sky above. "But more often, it is their wish that men die there."

  "And how could a cowardly rug seller who has never ventured beyond the safety of the roads know such a thing?" demanded Rishi. He glanced over his shoulder at Atreus. "Pay Bharat no mind. It is said the Mar were born there, and of course that is where we shall find Langdarma… if we are strong enough."

  For the first time Atreus wondered if he was strong enough. On his map, the peaks were little more than circles of fanning lines, with the names of the valleys written along serpentine spaces below. There was nothing to suggest the staggering height of the mountains or the sheer rugged-ness of their ice-caked flanks. That a paradise could be hidden in such a place seemed impossible, and yet the sight made Atreus believe in Langdarma all the more strongly. Sune taught that beauty had to be guarded, and he could think of no better protection than those mountains.

  "Perhaps the good sir and his servant would hide now?" asked Rishi. "Several roads pass along here, and we are certain to meet many foolish Mar who would be most alarmed to see Ysdar's devil riding in a yak wagon."

  Atreus and Yago ducked down between the carpet rolls, half-covering themselves beneath the cotton tarp Bharat used as a dust shroud. Rishi slapped the reins, urging the yaks forward onto the precarious canyon trail. The listing track turned out to be more heavily traveled than any of the roads they had been on so far. Several times an hour, Atreus and Yago had to pull the dust shroud over their heads as Rishi eased to the side of the road to let pass another wagon or a caravan of yaks. Twice, after hearing of an approaching patrol, he and Yago hid in the rocks below the road bank.

  As it happened, both patrols were heading back to the comforts of Edenvale and paid little attention to Rishi or the wagon. The leaders paused only long enough to brag about how close they had come to catching Ysdar's devil, assuring the two carpet sellers that they themselves had chased the fiend deep into the mountains and made the Yehimals once again safe for travel. Rishi and Bharat thanked them profusely for their efforts, and when a passing salt caravan mentioned yet a third company down in the willows, no one thought it necessary for Atreus and Yago to leave the cart. The two westerners simply remained in back, peering out between their guides, ready to pull the dust shroud over their heads at an instant's notice.

  After a time they rounded a bend and felt cold vapor in the air. Perhaps a mile ahead the shoulder of the mountain curved away, exposing yet more of the snow-hummocked plateau and revealing the head of the canyon, where a lazy river came twining out of the willows to plunge into the gorge. The result was a beautiful horsetail waterfall, so long it turned to mist before reaching the rocks below.

  The road left the mountainside just past the waterfall, then began branching off through the willows. One of the less traveled offshoots turned toward the sky-scratching peaks Rishi had pointed out as their destination, crossing the river via a suspension bridge of woven vines and swaying planks. They were halfway across when the third patrol emerged from the willows on the other side. The company had only two dozen warriors, but riding beside the leader was a small man in a cloak and sable hat. His face was paler and more fine-boned than those of his Mar companions, and in the crook of his arm he carried an elaborately carved staff decorated with mystic symbols.

  "Now look what your greed has brought on us, Bharat," hissed Rishi. "A wu-jen!"

  "Wu-jen?" rumbled Yago.

  "From Shou Lung," Bharat explained.

  "They are sorcerers of great skill. The equals of Ysdar himself, it is said," Rishi said, speaking so softly that Atreus could barely hear him. "But I have dealt with their kind before. Cover yourselves and have no fear."

  Atreus and Yago slipped down between the carpet rolls and pulled the dust shroud over their heads, then listened to the wagon rumble the rest of the way across the bridge. At the far end Rishi pulled far enough ahead so that he was not blocking the way, then stopped.

  "A pleasant afternoon to you and your men, sir," said Rishi. "What news of Ysdar's devil?"

  "Many rumors, but no news," came the leader's unusually frank reply. The hollow clop of hooves on wood sounded behind the wagon as the patrol started across the bridge. "For all the havoc he is spreading, he has proven a most elusive devil."

  "Then you will certainly be pleased to hear that he has fled," said Rishi. "Already this morning I have spoken to two different patrols who chased the devil deep into the Yehimals and were forced to turn back only because of enormous avalanches."

  The leader's good-natured laugh was cut short by the angry Wu-jen. "In Shou Lung, we find little humor in failure. Naraka, it is your people's barbaric love of lying that causes us to return without success. Had we not spent fifteen days chasing wild Mar rumors, I would have this devil hanging outside the Paradise Mahal already."

  "That is most certainly true, honored Wu-jen." Rishi's tone, at once sardonic and patronizing, managed to convey how sorry he felt that Naraka and his men had to endure such a pretentious Wu-jen. "I will not detain you further from your terribly important duties."

  Rishi slapped the reins, and the yaks started forward.

  "Did I say you are free to go, driver?" asked the Wu-jen. "Wait one moment"

  "Oh, begging the Wu-jen's pardon!"

  Rishi took his time halting the yaks, and the wagon traveled more than a dozen paces before coming to a stop "It was my impression that he had no interest in the words of a lying Mar," Rishi explained.

  "I find it wiser to pay more interest to what Mar do not say than to what they do," retorted the Wu-jen. Atreus heard two ponies pass back along his side of the cart, but the rest of the patrol seemed to be continuing across the bridge. "Where do you come from?"

  "Last night, we camped-"

  "Not you, driver," said the Wu-jen. "Let your master tell me."

  The two Mar were silent. For a moment, Atreus feared they were waiting for him to speak. Then the cart rocked as Bharat turned sideways.

  "M-me?"

  "Is there another master on the cart?" retorted the Wu-jen.

  Atreus clutched his dagger. Not for the first time, he wished that he had grabbed his sword instead of his gold when he jumped off the elephant.

  When Bharat did not answer the Wu-jen, Rishi said, "I hope the Wu-jen will forgive my boldness, but he is terribly mistaken. I am the master here."

  "Truly?" asked the Wu-jen. "That is most surprising. I would have thought a blind master needs a seeing driver. Tell me, Blind Helper, why does a seeing master need you?"

  "I am not a helper." Bharat's voice was indignant. "We are both bahrana carpet sellers. We are equals."

  "Ah, then why does the driver call himself master?"

  "Because he is a liar and a thief who thinks he can cheat a blind man out of his due," answered Bharat. "Tell me, good Wu-jen, is it fair that one man who is the equal of another should receive only a third of the profits?"

  Atreus bit his lip to keep from snarling aloud at the veiled threat, but Rishi took it in stride.

  "Pay the blind fool no attention," said the Mar. "Certainly, the Wu-jen will agree that when one man does two-thirds of the work, he should have two-thirds of the reward?"

  "The Wu-jen will agree that it is none of his concern," replied the Wu-jen. "But a blind man's senses are very sharp. Perhaps he hears this devil or smells him somewhere along the way?"

  "No, I heard nothing unusual." Bharat's answer came quickly-too quickly, Atreus thought. "And it is impossible in this cart to smell anything but my greedy partner."
>
  "Ah, most unfortunate for us. But we are grateful for your candidness. It is very unusual for a Mar not to make up a story." The Wu-jen's voice grew less suspicious, though the irony in his words was not lost on Atreus. "By what road did you come?"

  "By the Thanza road." Rishi answered quickly, robbing Bharat of the chance to malign him further. "From Edenvale."

  "Of course… the Thanza road," said the Wu-jen. "Strange, I do not recall anyone mentioning a blind merchant. You Mar are so full of gossip, and selling beautiful carpets is an uncommon occupation for a blind man."

  "That is easy to explain," Rishi said. "The old fool cannot tell whether his eyelids are up or down. It often looks like he is napping. And now, if the great Wu-jen permits, we must be on our way. We have far to go before dark."

  "And where are you bound, Blind Man?"

  Bharat hesitated. "I am not sure."

  "Not sure?" asked the Wu-jen.

  "I am never certain where my lying partner is taking me." Bharat shifted in his seat. "Since he does not consider me his equal, he does not often tell me."

  "You know this time," Rishi said. "We have already agreed, and it is too late to change now."

  Bharat remained silent, and Atreus grew so angry that his hand began to hurt from squeezing his dagger. After this was over, he would let the pudgy Mar know what he thought of blackmail.

  "I am waiting," said the Wu-jen. "What is your destination?"

  "Oh, begging the Wu-jen's forgiveness," said Bharat. "My friend is right. I recall now that we are going to Gyatse."

  Rishi groaned.

  "To Gyatse?" scoffed Naraka, the patrol leader. "You cannot sell carpets in Gyatse."

  "If the patrol leader has stayed in Gyatse, perhaps he has noticed that they have only stone floors," said Rishi. "There is not one carpet in the whole village… and a very cold village it is! They have a great need for our carpets."

  "Need, yes, but they are paupers in Gyatse," said the Wu-jen. "The whole village together could not buy a single carpet. Perhaps we should look at these carpets."