Or was it only binding him to her? Although he was being forced to face the fact that Tariska had become important to him and might remain so for the rest of his life, he had to admit that he had not received the slightest indication from her that her initial indifference towards him had changed. Even the period of friendliness which had followed their rescue of the children in the sandstorm had been in the nature of a truce.
Once clearer about his apparently depressing situation, Caldar paradoxically felt a lot better. He was still baffled and not a little shocked by what he had seen in the Glasshouse. But whether it was something serious or something to laugh about was unimportant to him now. Better not jump to any conclusions before he found out what was really happening.
In this improving state of mind, Caldar took stock of where he was. He could still see the Glasshouse, although it was almost opposite him, right across the bay. It was already early evening and he set off briskly, knowing that he had many hours walking in front of him.
While he was still on the way, beginning to feel his hunger and his weariness for the first time, night fell. And the second night Caldar was not so lucky. He found his way down to the bay side and followed it round towards the Glasshouse, passing beautiful mansions with their moored pleasure boats sandwiched between long stretches of docks and warehouses, poor houses and evil-looking drinking dens. It was all the same to the youth. Focused on his own inner turmoil, he just kept walking, hardly noticing the drunks and the frequent offers from the scantily clad prostitutes of the waterfront.
Caldar was walking past an unusually large dock area when he heard a cry for help coming from an ill-lit alley just ahead of him. Running to the corner, he could make out nothing at first; then as his eyes accustomed themselves to the dark, he saw a vague shape lying on the ground. In a few quick strides he was bending over the still figure of a man, peering to discover the problem. The 'victim' suddenly gripped him by the arm and held him tight, while a stealthy step and a stunning blow to the head signalled the work of the second of this pair of experienced footpads.
"Not a brass lendar on the young bugger. Just this cheap charm round 'is neck." The first man had felt expertly through Caldar's clothes in a matter of seconds, and the pair of them now looked assessingly at their prize. "Clothes ain't worth much either."
"'Ow about seeing if they want 'im on one of the trader's boats."
"Tempit's in. 'E's always looking for 'ands and this young fella looks fit enough. We might get a good price."
"Nar. Tempit likes to sign 'em up proper. Bogoss might take 'im though. I say let's do it and get on. We're wastin' valuable business time."
Without more ado, the boy was hoisted over a sturdy shoulder and carried along the waterfront to a large three-master. The thieves stood on the quayside and hailed the ship, eventually raising a huge villainous-looking fellow whom they recognised as the mate Bogoss. A quick bargain was struck, and the goods handed over for a few coins. The mate bundled his new hand down to the main hold, locked an iron band on a chain around his neck, and went back to bed. He had several months on the long voyage south to break him in, so there was no hurry.
The two footpads had an unprofitable night. An hour or so before dawn they called into a waterfront tavern to try to sell Caldar's amulet for at least the price of a few drinks. A slim dark-haired fellow who had wandered in after them seemed quite interested in buying it. When he said that he'd have to come back in ten minutes with the money and would meet them outside the back entrance, they could hardly believe their luck. Another goose for plucking, and a foreign one too; he spoke Shattun with a funny accent they couldn't recognize even as dock rats. Foreigners were good; the authorities never followed up on them. And after all that they'd still have the charm! To be sure he looked young and fit, but they'd dealt with many of the type before.
It was an unwelcome surprise for them to be caught at their own game. They were waiting for their customer in the shadows at the rear of the tavern, when a drunk in an expensive cloak came staggering by and drew them irresistibly down the dark lane in pursuit. As they closed in, the drunk stepped to one side, tripped the nearest footpad and stunned him with a blow from the hilt of a dagger he had concealed under his cloak. The blade was at the throat of the second robber before he could turn and run.
The stranger held out his open hand and to speed understanding and compliance, touched the razor sharp blade to the thief's neck. With a little squeak of terror the man handed over the amulet, then made the mistake of making a run for it. When he came to, he was bound hand and foot, lying alongside his unconscious partner.
"Where is he?"
Their captor dangled the charm in front of the footpad, who looked blank and pretended not to understand. Instantly the knife darted in and stopped, the point poised unwaveringly in front of the thief's right eye.
"Where?"
This time there was a positive babble of confession, in which his companion joined as soon as he recovered consciousness. Once the stranger had heard enough, he cut the bonds tying their feet, hauled them upright, and ordered them to lead on, first showing them his dagger deliberately as he put it back under his cloak. They were not brave men. With no thought of resistance they led him straight to the quay where the ship containing Caldar was berthed, to find it a hive of activity. It was clearly about to sail, and already two longboats were laboriously inching it clear of the quayside.
The stranger did not hesitate. Abandoning his captives, he leaped over the widening gap onto the stern deck and was borne away as the sails were unfurled and the ship gathered way.
**
The first full day of the search for Caldar had been long and hard. They split up, Rasscu and Berin each using a guide from the Glasshouse staff and working along the waterfront and the lower parts of the city, and Idressin taking Tariska with him to the higher slopes. It was agreed that they would meet again at sunset, and it was a tired and rather dispirited group who assembled that evening. Two reports of sightings of someone rather like Caldar was the best that they had turned up, and it had been forcibly impressed on them what an enormous city Razimir was. Nevertheless not one of them would think of giving up and all of them wanted to continue the search that night. In the end it was only the tutor and Rasscu who crossed the causeway again, both of them armed.
"Razimir's a beautiful sight by day or night," Idressin told the disconsolate pair who were to stay in the apartment. "But there are quarters of this city as dangerous as anywhere in the Empire after dark. Your chance will come in the morning, when we're tired."
"What's happened to him, Idressin?" Berin asked for the hundredth time. "I can't believe he'd just walk out and not come back." He shook his head, bone-weary and near to tears.
"He certainly walked out, Berin, and he may walk back in again before morning. Let's hope. Meanwhile Rass and I will work our way round the waterfront and see what we can pick up. Make sure these two stay here, will you, Henba?" This was addressed to the Empress who had just entered the room.
"I certainly will. They look much too tired for anything except sleep anyway. I'll stay awhile and see them off, while you go out drinking with your debauched friend here. He's probably better off out of the building anyway. Vitzi and some of the other girls have been pestering me to pass on their offers of free entertainment. I'll lose control of my staff, if you don't remove him soon."
The flashing smile she directed at Rasscu was not returned. Hennis hesitated for a moment, as if about to say something; in the end she simply waved the two men out of the door. Then turning to the others, she enquired if they were hungry. Practised observer of people that she was, she did not miss the slight awkwardness in their replies and in their manner.
"You don't know whether to trust me." It was a statement rather than a question. "Well, I can understand that, particularly from you, Tariska. And you probably think that A'Delzir's crazy to be trusting me himself, when I've been betraying him. But then," to their astonishment her voice
began to falter, "he understands me so well."
As slow tears began to well from her eyes, the young pair found themselves in the unexpected situation of comforting this spirited lady. Tariska sat with her arms around her, while Berin racked his dull brain for something to say. Because he was tired, he eventually came out with what quite simply interested him.
"Was it all true? I mean that he was so rich and left it all behind? And that he found you and brought you up? And that you're going to be a Lady of the Empire?"
Berin couldn't see the expression on her lowered face, and he was a little alarmed when her shoulders began to shake. Then she raised her head and he could see that she was laughing through her tears.
"Oh Berin, Berin. That was straight to the heart. I see that we shall get on very well. You are as direct and brutal as I am. Yes, most of what you heard was true enough, except that I think your timely arrival has saved me from making a dreadful mistake and put paid to my Imperial ambitions."
Sensing that they really did want to hear more and realising that it would help to take their minds off their missing friend, she went on, "A'Delzir's name was Fordosk Attegor the Sixteenth. The Attegors are one of the Six Families. You don’t know what that means? Well, there are six powerful families from whom the Emperors are chosen. The Attegors are one and they're so rich and influential that many people thought Fordosk might well be next on the throne, if the Habbakals ever gave anyone else the chance. But if you want to be the most powerful man in the Empire, you have to pay the price, and that means spending most of your time at the court in Karkor, playing political games. Fordosk never did that. He was too wild at the start, too set on doing what he wanted to do, and then many years ago he just vanished."
She sighed, before continuing, "It was some time later he found me in Razimir. I've often tried to ferret out of him what happened in the intervening years; but apart from hints that he's travelled all over the world, I still know almost nothing. He met the Tinker in the Quezma Republic, and somewhere along the way he picked up this inner purpose of his, which makes me so mad."
She stared unseeing at the elegant glass table in front of her for so long that Tariska prompted, "What happened when he found you?"
"Oh, it was just as he said. I was about six or seven, I suppose. Doesn’t seem possible, does it, looking at us now? It’s infuriating, he hasn’t aged a day since then. I’d been abandoned by my family to scavenge the city's garbage along with other starving 'rubbish rats', as we were called. I was pretty good at it too - I survived. Then one day I noticed this man sitting watching me. I was very wary of him. The police would sometimes beat us or throw us in prison for no reason, and even at that age I knew what it meant when men sometimes took the older girls away and they never returned.
After he had turned up three days in succession, I couldn’t stand it any more. Tiny as I was, I went right up to him and shouted, "What do you want? Say something or go away and stop watching me." He looked right at me, the way no one ever had before, right inside me and said, "Hello, Hennis." I was so astonished by his look and by the fact that he knew my name that I just gawped at him. He patted the ground beside him and I meekly sat down. And I've been doing whatever he tells me ever since."
She laughed, a gayer sound than before. "All that stuff I was pouring out about the Glasshouse being all my doing was simply untrue. I have to build up a lot of assertiveness and self-confidence to survive when I'm here alone, and I think that was just my uncertainties surfacing the other night. I got quite strident about it, didn't I? The truth is that A'Delzir's uncanny in reading people and anticipating what will attract them; he always came up with the ideas and I carried them out. That is until recently. I seem to have gone a little crazy in the last couple of years, lost touch with what's real.”
"You know," she looked from one to the other, as she spoke, "that's what it's always been with A'Delzir. It's not good times or money or achievement. It's that he makes things real for me. He always has. So simple." She gave Tariska a hug and held out both hands to Berin. "It's so good to talk about these things again. One forgets so easily. Now come on, you two. I said to A'Delzir I'd see you to bed."
"I'm not sleepy now," Berin said, to be followed quickly by Tariska's, "Nor am I."
The Empress regarded them for a moment, then suggested, "Then tell me a little of what you know of A'Delzir yourselves. You don't need to give away any secrets. Anything you tell me about him, anything, is like a ray of sunshine to me."
Tariska was surprised by the intensity behind the words and had a sudden insight into the desperate loneliness of the abandoned girl, still imprisoned inside this beautiful lady. She herself spoke little and left it to Berin to tell of the times in the Norleng and of the long journey from Suntoren. She watched instead. At times the Empress' heart shone in her eyes when she would ask some question about the tutor, and Tariska became certain that the person in front of her now, listening enthralled to Berin's stories, could never betray Idressin. The dominating woman who had been her hostess for the previous weeks most certainly could.
After a couple of hours Berin ran down and went off to bed. Left alone the two women looked at each other for a long moment.
"You still can't bring yourself to trust me, can you?" the Empress asked slowly. "Or to forgive me? Oh Tariska, how I wish I could undo some of the things I've done. I can't understand myself. It's as if sometimes I try to pull down or destroy the very things I care most about."
"I know. I know." the girl replied, comforting, yet realising that in her own way she did know very well.
"I was jealous of you. I might have tried to get the information from you anyway, but the thought that he had a lovely young girl travelling with him, while I was tied here to this place, was like a poison to me. Ah, well. It's done now and can't be undone. I would have liked to have you all as my friends. There's something of A'Delzir's magic about all of you."
"There's nothing to stop us being friends," Tariska broke in firmly. "I'm not sure I want to know the Empress any better, although I admit she's impressive. But I feel quite close to Hennis already. I think it's really a matter of whether you'll let us be friends, or will you put your guard up again straight away?"
The Empress took both of the girl's hands and gave her a searching look. She started to speak twice, but the words wouldn't come. In the end a long fierce embrace expressed it all for her.
"Now you must go to bed and I must go back to my clients. Things really heat up at this time of night. Go on, off with you, while I straighten my hair. I look a real sight."
Chapter 21
Intelligence Report: Priority One
Subject: Fordosk of Attegor
Control: Resident Hopple Source: Simp 1
1.No overt political activity noted; but it is considered highly suspicious that the subject twice went to great lengths to throw off surveillance in the city and on each occasion was unobserved for several hours. The subject has also based himself in the Glasshouse: with the large number of visitors there daily he has almost certainly been able to make contacts without the knowledge of my operatives or my source despite being kept under close observation.
2.Subject is using previously reported alias A'Delzir.
3.Subject intends to proceed to Karkor, departing Razimir by Winterturn.
4.Subject's travelling party appears to consist of one man and two male youths. Possibly young female also. All are unknown, almost certainly foreign.
5.More information will follow as it becomes available.
Conclusions: Subject's travel to capital at this time under assumed name is grounds for serious concern. No move made here to detain him as per your strict instructions. Suggest arrest for treason/incitement or w.h.y. at early opportunity.
EYES ONLY PRINCESS SHKOSTA
EVALUATION OF HOPPLE’S REPORT ABOVE: Item 1.Hop is a windbag: F has slipped observation at will. Impossible for me to cover without help. Your choice. Items 2 & 3 confirmed. Item 4 confirmed at
arrival: now uncertain..
Summary: This may not be F: seems too young: 30 or 40, not 60. BUT subject still potentially dangerous. R's conclusion probably correct. Arrest at border? or terminate? KESTREL
Empire: Razimir
It was mid-morning when Tariska awoke. She sat up abruptly, remembering that she and Berin had wanted to make an early start in their search for Caldar. Berin must be sleeping in too. She hurried into the main room to find him already there, talking to Idressin.
"Why didn't you wake me?" she snapped, then checked herself. Something was wrong. Even Idressin's normally unreadable face looked tired and almost a touch defeated. That frightened her, so that her mind leaped ahead.
"What’s happened? You've news of him, haven't you?"
"Yes, Tikka, I have," the tutor replied wearily, "and as far as I know he's alright. But he's gone beyond our reach for the moment, so there's no need to waste time searching the city any more."
Tariska stared at him, wide-eyed, aware of Berin's worried face on one side. "Please, Idressin, don't spin it out. I want to know all of it."
"Well, I was just beginning to tell Berin, so I'll start again. We spent a few hours working round the waterfronts, talking to people in the taverns and the brothels. Nothing, not a trace of Caldar. Then by chance we overheard a barman talking to a sailor about two footpads who'd waylaid a young fellow that night and sold him off as a deck-hand. When we showed him some money, the man was ready enough to tell us all he knew, but it wasn't much. The only useful thing was a description of the thieves.
So Rass and I split up, going up the darkest alleys and into the sleaziest dives we could find. Shortly before dawn I found them. There was no doubt, the descriptions fitted and they admitted everything at once. But I was too late."
The Tears of Sisme Page 52
