The Tears of Sisme

by Peter Hutchinson

  Not a bad pitch this, far enough from the city centre to avoid competition and out here he wouldn't be expected to offer fancy new items like those spherical black puddings that were all the rage this year. He'd move nearer the Enclave tonight for the fireworks, then back here for the rest of the Festival. There was plenty of shade under the leafy palpas for hot days like this and enough trade to keep him busy. Finding a pitch in the centre wasn't easy and within two minutes there'd be some slimy taxman round, demanding a crazy amount as City Trading Tax or whatever it was called now. You did more business there, then handed over all your profit.

  They wouldn't bother coming this far out. Or would they? There were a couple of worrying characters fifty yards down the street, lounging in the shade, but alert as hunting cats. They were missing nothing that moved and they'd been there three hours now: definitely on the watch. But who for? His poky little stall wasn't worth the trouble. Must be keeping an eye on those houses across the street.

  Nothing to do with him, but he'd move on soon, round the corner. A plain clothes stake-out like this meant something political, and he wanted no part of it. There were police and Special Forces patrols all over the place and foreigners being arrested and deported by the dozen, so he’d heard. Rumour had it there were some rebels lined up for the chop on the Day of Atonement along with that Geth Shul character.

  Bilussi gave a little shudder and started to fold up his stall. He'd move right now. No contest when it came to choosing between a little less trade and a whole skin. The gradient made him pant with effort as he wheeled his cart up round the corner. He cast a backward glance towards the watchers and ran the cart straight into a dark haired fellow hurrying round from the next street.

  "Sorry, grandfather. I'd give you a hand, but I'm in a real hurry just now."

  Strange accent. A well-mannered young man with a strange accent and a face that hadn't been born in Karkor, probably not in Belugor either. Worried eyes. Jumping with tension. Bilussi's weariness had not completely dulled his wits. Five to one this was the hunter's quarry. He was opening his mouth to growl a warning, when he caught himself just in time and pushed on by, angry with himself for almost making such a colossal blunder and furious at feeling guilty about it. He zigzagged through ten different streets before he felt safe enough to stop. What was life in the Empire coming to? Scared silly by his own imagination. Well, that's how it was for everyone these days.

  Behind him the young man crossed the street and knocked at one of a row of houses, oblivious of the eyes observing his every movement. He slipped in before the door was half open.

  "Tikka, Idressin's been arrested. They've taken him to the Enclave. Hennis..." He stopped and tried again. "Hennis gave him away. She came right up and..."

  He was leaning back against the wall in the dark hallway, knees trembly and head shaking in disbelief at what he had witnessed.

  Tariska silenced him by putting a gentle finger on his mouth and led him by the hand through to the kitchen. A soft push deposited him in a chair, before she busied herself silently putting together some food. The Tinker's trick for dealing with a crisis, she thought wryly: 'pause, eat, then talk'. Idressin arrested? Well, it sounded like a crisis alright; she'd never seen Berin so pale, quite unlike the lively cocky youth of a day ago. He sat limply, head back, eyes closed, content to wait until she was ready to hear him out.

  Yesterday Berin had returned late in the afternoon, full of elation after a day 'scouting' with Idressin. The tutor wanted to have a look around the Imperial Enclave and had walked straight up in the guise of a plumber, with his apprentice Berin struggling behind with an extremely heavy bag of tools.

  They had been stopped at the gate and again with increasing frequency as they crossed the vast open space inside the walls towards the towering red dome of the Ajeddak Temple and the Government buildings. Each time Idressin, chewing nonchalantly on a wad of yellow Stasska gum, had adopted an air of complete indifference at the guards' menacing questions. The drain from the lavatories in the Temple quarters was blocked, and if the guards didn't want them fixed, that was quite alright: he himself had plenty of work to do in the city: perhaps they would explain to the Archpriest that he'd just have to hold it all in for a while.

  "It was unbelievable," Berin had recalled later. "The words 'blocked lavatories' and 'Archpriest' worked like magic. They all stood aside and waved us on. Then when we got to the Temple, he told the priests that the City Police had sent us to check the water systems, because they'd had a rumour about an attempt to poison the Archpriest. My heart was in my mouth most of the time, after those stories Mursim told us about the priests sacrificing people to the Stone, but I needn't have worried. They welcomed us with open arms, - can you believe that? - let us go wherever we wanted, even fed us. I got very nervous when Idressin left me alone, while he sneaked off to search for this well he’s after. So I just pretended to be a half-wit and everyone ignored me.

  Coming out was even scarier. The priests wanted to pay us and the guards we’d passed on the way in kept asking about the lavatories. Idressin amused himself by inventing more and more outrageous stories about what had been blocking them, from dead goats to the Crown Jewels."

  The youth had shaken his head in amazement. "A thrill a minute, just like a fairground ride, but I'd like a long rest before I do it again. By the way, our esteemed leader, the plumber, is not coming back tonight. He's gone over to the far side of the city to meet some people, Mederros I think he said. Seems most of the country south of here’s in revolt and he wants to talk to the rebels.”

  It was a much quieter youth, grim of face, who told his tale this afternoon over the food Tariska put before him.

  This morning Berin had gone off to meet Idressin again in the city centre. It was the first official day of the Festival, although they had seen activity in the city rising for days. The wide streets were decorated with flags and streamers and replicas of the Imperial crown. Flowers bred in the Ring Parks to the special colour of Imperial purple were on sale at outrageous prices. Street traders had appeared on every corner, selling flags and hats and toys and cheap ornaments, many of them carrying representations of a round black stone.

  Now it was the day before the Equinox, Revelation Day, when the black Stone Of Ajeddak was hauled out on a ceremonial carriage into the centre of the huge square below the Temple, where the Archpriest performed a ritual ceremony before the Emperor and an enormous crowd. People came from hundreds of miles around 'to see the Stone' and to participate in the endless party which followed.

  A shopkeeper had told them confidently that the population of Karkor trebled for the spring festival, and it had certainly begun to feel like it in the teeming streets, even the widest avenues becoming clogged with slow-moving crowds, sight-seeing among the magnificent buildings of the city centre. The weather had joined in the spirit of things too. It had turned warmer and the sun began to light up the dazzling white stone of the capital and to bring a sudden riotous blaze of colour to the whole metropolis as the scarlet blossoms opened on the Firosa trees. Despite all their fears Berin had felt his heart lift at the beauty of it.

  The hour's walk to the Square of Victory had been a pleasure and watching Karkor's pretty girls walk by, while waiting in the sunshine for Idressin, had been no hardship. Only the black and red habits of the Ajeddak priests cast a chill on the morning. Berin noticed how everyone looked down submissively and moved aside when they walked past, creating a circle of fear as they moved through the streets. It made him sweat all over again at the thought that he had been inside the temple, in their very hands only hours before.

  There was so much to see that he did not think about the time at first. It was only when the tutor was over an hour late that he began to worry.

  "You know how it is. He just wouldn't be late, so I began imagining all the awful things that might have happened. And thinking how it was going to feel if the whole thing was left up to us. Just impossible, we wouldn't have a clue what t
o do."

  "But that's exactly how it is, isn't it, Berin?" Tariska put in quietly. "If Idressin's been arrested..."

  "I never thought it would be like this," Berin said slowly. "But then I suppose I never thought much about it anyway, you know, what we'd actually do when the Talisman appeared. I've just been following Idressin's lead all the way. If anything, I suppose I had a vague idea that there'd be a big crowd watching it all and we'd step forward and one of us would say 'I'm the Guardian' and that would be that." He gave a short hard laugh. "We don't even know what we're looking for."

  "You still haven't told me what happened. Why was he late?"

  "I'm not sure he ever intended to come, Tikka. I waited till past midday, until I was certain something was wrong, then started walking towards the Enclave. I didn't have a plan. No, let's be honest, I couldn't string two sensible thoughts together - just followed my feet.

  I was on the huge main avenue that runs up towards the Enclave when I saw him. I couldn't believe it. Sitting calm as you please at one of those fancy eating houses that spread out into the street. I was about to go across to him when soldiers suddenly poured out of the side streets all round and surrounded the place. A crowd started gathering to watch and it wasn't easy to see everything after that. I don't know where she came from, but next thing I saw Hennis was there at Idressin's table, pointing at him and..." Berin paused.

  "Sure it was Hennis?" the girl asked, hoping it was a mistake.

  "Oh yes, sure. But I was wondering why." He shrugged. "I don't really know how things are between those two, but in Razimir I could have sworn..."

  "...that she would die for him? I thought so too. But…” She made a helpless gesture. “Go on Berin, what happened?"

  After a short silence, the youth resumed. "Some people, not soldiers, jumped forward and got hold of him. Then the crowd got really noisy and excited and I couldn't see anything. So I pushed my way to the front and finally I got a glimpse of him in the distance being taken up the steps into the Enclave."

  He stopped abruptly and sat staring at the floor.

  "Tell me the rest." Tariska's voice was gentle. She came up behind him and put her hand on his shoulder. This time the silence stretched for several minutes, before Berin drew a deep breath and began to speak.

  "Word seemed to have gone round the crowd that Idressin was a rebel. They were all shouting and waving fists at him. The force of it......like a horrible wave of hatred out of nowhere.

  But it was after he'd gone it turned really nasty. Some men started smashing up the eating house where Idressin had been, shouting about spies, breaking windows and chairs and tables, and the whole avenue was packed with people cheering them on.

  Then a little bald fellow somehow got pushed out in front of the crowd and couldn't get back in. It was a sort of joke at first, people joining arms to keep him out. He looked frightened, but everyone around was laughing, until someone shouted 'Bannich'".

  "What's Bannich?" By now Tariska took for granted Berin's amazing gift for languages, one of the reasons the tutor had allowed him to venture into the city by himself.

  "It's an insult. Means foreigner, but nasty, like 'bloody foreigner'. Next minute someone else called out 'Frakka', rebel, and the whole mood changed. The people near him fell quiet, then the hush spread right along the avenue, but you could hear the whispers 'Frakka' going through the crowd like wildfire. All their appetite and violence focused on that little man out front. You could feel it, like a huge beast licking its lips."

  Berin hunched his shoulders, as if to ward off a blow. "He could feel it too. Knew he was done for. He didn't even try to run away, just stood there, with tears streaming down his face. People started chanting 'Frakka', 'Frakka' stronger and stronger. Then the men wrecking the eating house came up behind him with clubs and beat him to death."

  The youth fell silent, but Tariska could feel the tension in him as tight as ever. Something even worse was riding Berin.

  In a level voice, as though untouched by the horror of the story, she inquired, "How d'you know he was crying, Berin?"

  There was no reply.

  "You were close to him, weren't you?" The same tone, calm but insistent. Still no reply. "After the mine I didn't think you'd ever be afraid of anything again, so how..."

  "It's not like that, Tikka."

  She waited patiently, knowing now that it would come.

  "I was right there. At the front. It was just fun at first. Everyone was laughing, relief I suppose from the violence in the air. It felt good, linking arms with the people next to me and playing a game of keeping that man out. I began feeling a bit sorry for him, he was so scared. But the crowd was so strong, the power, like being a tiny part of some huge animal, I couldn't feel anything but that. Then the word Frakka went round. The gaiety just died and the hatred and rage came roaring back... and I felt it too. That snivelling treacherous thing in front of us could harm us all, like a poisonous spider. Stamp on it quick..."

  Berin's voice faltered to a stop. "What is it, Tikka? How does it..?" He made a helpless gesture. "Then it all changed. I looked round at the people next to me and all I saw were crazy faces, madmen with starting eyes, fists waving, mouths open, howling as though possessed by demons. I was scared right to my bones. I didn't even think what was happening to that little man, I just edged slowly backwards into the crowd, not looking anyone in the eye, pretending to shout, desperately hoping they'd take me for one of them. It took me ages to work my way out and even then I didn't feel safe. I wobbled on like a jelly for a mile or more before I dared stop."

  He looked straight up at the girl for the first time. "I'm still scared now, 'though it's fading. And I feel cowardly and guilty and ashamed and... I can't explain. It's not being frightened and running away, it's for being mad, like the others, for letting it take me over. I still don't understand. And, of course, more serious than my problems" he finished, attempting a matter-of-fact tone, "Idressin's gone."

  It wrung Tariska's heart to hear the bewilderment and pain behind Berin's words. But she sensed that there was little she could say to help him. Now that he had poured it out and told her, in time the wound would probably heal by itself. Standing behind his chair she put both arms round his chest and rested her chin on the top of his head.

  "So now we really are in a fix." Her tone was bright, almost amused. "Here we are thousands of miles from home. Don't know what we're looking for, don't know where or when or what to do with it if we find it. And this nice city is getting more dangerous every minute. Oh well, you're alright. You can always apply for a job as a miner's clerk. I'm unemployable, except maybe as a packer in that fruit warehouse down the street."

  She rambled on until she felt his rigid shoulders begin to relax. Gently he reached up to detach her hands and drew her round in front of him.

  "Thank you, Tikka. I'll be alright now." He gave a short laugh. "I still get a surprise when I see this girl with short dark hair. Takes a moment to realise it's you. I don't think even S’Bissi would recognise you. I reckon we're safe enough, but as for the Talisman... he shrugged. "What a mess!"

  "Yes, it's almost funny, isn't it? It all seems quite reasonable when Idressin's around or the Tinker. But without them you see that it's just us, a boy and a girl, facing the Emperor and the Archpriest, in fact the whole world. Or that's how it would be if I could take it seriously. All that seems to matter now is surviving and trying to help the others if we get the chance." Somehow she produced a smile. "Come on Berin, you're the thinker. How are we going to spirit Idressin out of the Enclave?"

  His eyes fell. "I wouldn't know where to begin."

  "Yes you would. Remember what you said after the mine, you'd never quite believe the word 'hopeless' again? You've walked into the Enclave once already with Idressin; could you do it again? Or could I?"

  There was no doubt who was the stronger now. Steadily she pushed and cajoled him, until Berin's brain started to work and the first ramshackle plan took shape. He wou
ld go back in on the pretext that his master had left some plumbing tools in the Temple quarters and had sent his apprentice to fetch them; once in, it was up to him to try to find out where Idressin was being held. Not much, but a start at least. The youth gave a sudden shiver at the prospect, then perversely felt his spirits start to rise.

  They spent another couple of hours going over the plan, Tariska thinking up tricky situations which might arise and Berin rehearsing the right responses. They need not have bothered.

  A light knock on the door gave them no cause for alarm. The owner of the house often had friends calling and the girl went automatically to tell the visitor that Mursim was out. Instead she found herself staring with open hostility at the expensively cloaked woman waiting on the threshold. The strikingly beautiful face framed by flaming red hair registered puzzlement at this reception, then tightened in determination.

  "I've come to see A’..." The golden eyes widened in recognition. "Tariska?"

  The girl stood firmly blocking the doorway. "He's not here, as you well know. What do you want?"

  The Empress' mouth opened to reply, but no words came. She lingered for a moment, sadness replacing her surprise, then with a quick shake of her head stood back. Without warning two large figures leapt into the doorway, seized the girl and snatched her outside before she had time to utter more than a squawk of protest. That was enough to bring Berin running, straight into the arms of the next two invaders who hauled him effortlessly into the street, even as two more disappeared swiftly into the house.

  "This them?" inquired one of Berin's assailants.

  "Yes." The one word from Hennis triggered such a surge of anger in Tariska that her captors tightened their grip on her without quite knowing why. But Hennis herself had already turned away and was walking slowly down the street, her back firmly to the scene outside the house.