by Diana Rivers
At last Cruzia, who was the smallest of us, smaller even than Zenoria, succeeded in wedging her agile little body into a crevice and worming a length of rope underneath the bolder. There was a hushed cheer and instantly many hands were reaching out to fasten it to a net of ropes already in place around that monstrous rock. Then, while Kazouri got herself off to the side with a pole the thickness of a small tree, ready to pry, the rest of us added our lengths to the rope and took our places along it. At Pell’s whispered count of three we all threw ourselves against the rope. Nothing moved. The rope might as well have been tied to a mountain. Four times we tried, panting and struggling and at the same time trying to keep our silence.
As we were catching our breath for another try, Pell began to talk of bringing back some of the horses. “We could try to fashion a rope harness for them. They are certainly far stronger than we are.”
“No,” Kazouri said instantly, “too dangerous, too exposed. There is no way of vanishing into the night with our horses tied to a boulder.”
This time when Pell counted, I heard Kazouri growl with effort deep in her throat while the rest of us pulled with a will. There was a strange tearing, grinding sound and suddenly those of us hauling on the rope fell forward in all directions, rolling out of the way of the boulder as it broke free from the tunnel walls.
The way was still blocked with large rocks, but now we all rushed forward to help each other pry them loose and roll them away. Pell kept warning us to quiet. Suddenly, in the midst of our efforts, there came the single owl hoot repeated three times more. Instantly we flattened ourselves to the ground. Almost at the same time I felt a clawing, dizzying pain and heard a high pitched screaming.
“Guards!” came the whispered signal passed from one to the next. A clump of guards, carrying something or someone, quickly disappeared out of sight around the other side of the Bargguell. I held my breath, terrified that they would swing around to our side, catch us all lying there and raise the alarm before we had even breached the city, but they appeared intent on their errand and unaware of our presence. Heaving what they were carrying in haste on the Bargguell, they turned and rode back for the city gates as if pursued by demons. The screaming went on.
I fought with the pain, unable to move from there till Maireth came and grabbed my hand to pull me up. “Come quickly, Tazzi, we need your help.”
I stumbled after her as best I could. When we got to the far side, several of the others were already there, crowding around whatever was on the Bargguell. Silently they moved aside to let us pass. The stench of fastfire and burning flesh filled the air. There were three dark forms lying there, two of them groaning and the other screaming. I gripped Maireth’s arm, trying to breathe, trying to remember all Alyeeta had taught me of shielding.
Alyeeta herself was holding up a light sheltered by her hand. In a voice rough and hoarse with feeling, she turned and said to us, “These two might be saved as Maireth was saved. The other is beyond all hope in this world. Only mercy can help her now.”
The screaming went on. Pell pushed up next to me, “Do something, Tazzi! For the love of the Mother, do something to stop this, give her something.”
So, I was being made into a murderer again. A sudden coldness came over me and with it a strange clarity. The pain left me. “Hold this,” I said, thrusting my pouch into Pell’s hands. “Alyeeta, turn your light here.” In that flickering light I fished around for what I needed. “I have some ghero-paste here. That is the best I can do as we have not time to make hot water for a brew of diraithia and orinth. Maireth, pour me a cup of water and hold it steady.”
With the tip of my knife I mixed the paste in the water. That cold seemed to encase me, filling my ears. I could barely hear the woman’s cries now. When I finished mixing, I said urgently, “Maireth, Pell, help me hold her. Alyeeta bring the light close.” I squatted down at her side. Even with three of us trying, much of the brew spilled out the corners of her mouth and afterward her screams were even louder. I stared down helplessly. Then out of that same cold and calm, I reached out my hands and pressed them firmly over her nose and mouth. The silence was loud and sudden. I could feel her struggling under my hands, but it did not touch me. If others came to help I did not know it. I stayed squatting there in that way even after the thrashing had ceased and her body had stilled under my hold.
I think I had left with her, gone away to some far place till Alyeeta shook my shoulder, “Enough, child, it is over. Come away from here now. Others will take her wherever she needs to go.”
I picked up my pouch and stood up slowly. My teeth were clenched. Grief was like a rock in my throat, but I wiped my hand on my pants as if from any ordinary dirty job and turned dry-eyed to see Maireth standing staring at me with tears running down her face. I thrust my pouch into her hands, “Here take this and see to the others with whatever help you can find in it. It is you they need now, not me. I cannot be a killer and a healer with the same hands.” Still without a tear, I turned away to join the others at the tunnel. Killing a second time is not like killing a first time.
All the rocks had been cleared from the tunnel entrance now and women were crowding around it. The air from there had a damp, fetid smell. The light Pell held up did not reach very far. It looked to be a narrow way. I had no great eagerness to go plunging into that dark trap, but at least it would take me away from the scene at the Bargguell.
When Pell saw me she said quickly, “Good, all here now. I will go first with the light and Askarth will follow. The rest of you save your flares. There will be little enough air in there as it is. Tazzi, you go last to guard the rear and make sure all is well.”
Shuffling and whispering, we wound ourselves into that darker darkness with Pell so far ahead I could barely catch a glimmer of her light. The smell of burning clung to me in that airless space. We each went following the back ahead of us, guided by whispered warnings and commands passed down the line.
Irdris in front of me muttered, “Goddess guide us through. I do not want to die trapped in this cursed place.” At that moment I was very glad for the watchers left outside who guarded our backs.
As we went on, the passages grew even narrower. Several times I bruised an arm or knee or bumped my head. How they could have brought condemned men through there, I could not imagine. In places rocks had fallen and we had to squeeze past, sometimes going at a crouch or even having to crawl on our bellies past dislodged boulders. Each time I felt a clutch of dread as if the tunnel were closing in on us. Suddenly there was a muffled cry from in front of me and I ran blindly into Irdris’ back. We both stumbled forward. Kazouri, who was just in front of Irdris, had evidently gotten wedged between some fallen rocks and the tunnel wall. I could hear her whispering desperately, “Wait! Wait! Wait!” The whisper passed forward in the tunnel like a strange echo. “Wait! Wait! Wait!”
Flares were lit ahead of us. I pressed up next to Irdris to help push Kazouri from our side while those on the other pulled. Kazouri was groaning and cursing, begging the Mother to let her go. For once her great size was a hindrance rather than a help. Here she could not even use her own strength. We could only move her inches at a time to the sound of tearing fabric and Kazouri’s gasping breath. Irdris kept whispering encouragements to her. After what seemed like a long, hopeless struggle, she suddenly slipped away from my hands. There was a groan and a cry, and then muffled cheers from the other side.
Not till I too had squeezed through the opening did I realize how wet my tunic was, though from dripping water or from sweat, I could not tell. Now it clung to me, and I was chilled through, shivering in that damp cool air. In misery I crept along after Irdris, dreading the next impasse. What if we could not go forward or go back? At least the way was fairly straight there, and except for falling rocks, it seemed to be level underfoot.
Just as I began to think the tunnel was endless and this misery would go on forever, flares lit up in front of us. By their light I could see that the tunnel had widened
. Here the walls were of stacked and mortared stones, no longer cut from the living rock. Now there was space enough for two or even three abreast.
The whispered word came back, “We are under the city now.”
My fears returned full fold. Eezore was above our heads, waiting for me.
I slipped up next to Kazouri and put an arm around her waist. She hugged me roughly to her. “Thank you, Tazzi, that was a hard place.” I hugged her back, but I think I was seeking comfort more than giving it.
Irdris came on the other side of me and laid her arm across my shoulder. “We do good work together,” she whispered in my ear.
After that there were several twists and turns. Then we all stopped again and I heard the words “first gate,” pass back along the line. Kazouri pushed up to the front. There were some muttered consultations. Then came a grating and grinding of metal, so loud it seemed that surely we were alerting the whole city to make ready for us. Those around me were silent. All our thoughts were focused on Kazouri’s hands. Suddenly we were moving again. I knew that Pell and half the others had left us at that gate for that had been the plan. I wondered if we would ever see each other again, Pell and I. It seemed as if the city and the night had taken a huge bite and swallowed them whole. By the time I reached that twisted, rusted gate they were gone and there was only silence from the other side.
Then, just as I was about to pass, Pell’s flare lit in front of me and her hand reached out to touch me, “May the Mother bring you safely through this night, Tazzi,” she whispered hoarsely. “Remember to wait for the signal.” Then she was truly gone before I could think to answer.
“Mother’s Luck go with you, too, Pell,” I whispered to the darkness.
The rest of us moved on, following Askarth now. This time, when we halted, I knew it was to be our turn. I could hear another gate opening with a jangle of keys and then the screech of metal on stone. We went forward once more till one by one we squeezed through a small gate and out into a wider chamber. From there we turned to go up a stairway with steps deep-worn by years of passings. The way was so tight and narrow my shoulders brushed against the stones on either side. I pictured Kazouri up ahead of me having to turn sideways to pass. A faint dim light shone down from somewhere above us. Suddenly, with my last step, I found myself out in the clear, standing in a courtyard under the night sky with a warm soft breeze blowing in my face.
We had come out at the back of a large block of stone, all deeply carved, that must have once served as an altar. It had probably helped to conceal that little staircase and keep secret the tunnel beyond it. This must be the deserted holy place Askarth had spoken of, I thought as I glanced at the ruins around me.
Everywhere great stones had been tumbled down and scattered about in confusion as if by violent hands. Clearly that was far in the past. Now ivy grew over it all. There was a strange silence there that even muffled our shuffling steps. It was as if we had emerged in some forgotten Goddess shrine deep in the country, instead of in the middle of a great city. I stood there breathing deeply of the fresher air. Relief and terror were mixed in me. I was overjoyed to be free of the tunnel, yet fearful of what lay ahead. Given the choice, I could easily have sunk down between those ancient ivy covered stones and stayed there among them. Even in that jumble there was a kind of peacefulness, like an invitation that called to me, or like a blessing, some faint memory perhaps of what once had been. Then I heard Rishka calling to me impatiently, “Tazzi! Tazzi!”
I went forward quickly to do my duty as second in command. “Into your groups!” I whispered harshly. “Quickly, hurry, we need to start leaving at once!” Forming into our groups, we speedily gathered around Askarth for her final directions.
“We will come out into the Alley of the Pebbles,” she said. “Follow it to the left till it turns into Long Street, the street that traverses the whole of Eezore at an angle. From there we go our different ways. I must warn you that Long Street is likely to be full of folk even at this late hour, but it is mostly thieves and whores and those who deal with them, or others on their own nocturnal business, none of them likely to ask questions or take much notice of some dark-cloaked figures hurrying by.”
Group after group, we began slipping out into the night, pieces of moving darkness in our dark cloaks. Our group was the last to go. No matter how well I had memorized the streets with Hereschell’s help, I was glad that Askarth was going with us, and very glad, in spite of our private troubles, for the toss of the pebbles that had put Rishka at my side. Irdris, Josleen, and Megyair, as well as Renaise’s friend Tzaneel, had been assigned as our street watch. Irdris I knew to be familiar with that part of the city that lay around the Great-House of Starmos so that was some comfort as well.
We followed Askarth, going from the ruins down a little alley so narrow and twisting it was more like a path. This suddenly opened into Long Street. Then the city hit me with its full terror: lights, horses, carts, carriages and wagons, people and more people and still more, all the rush and confusion and under it a hum and rumble that made my head ache and throb so that I wanted to cry out in pain. It all swept in on me. My eyes glazed over and my feet refused to walk.
“Move,” Askarth said impatiently, giving me a hard push. “Try to blend in. No use to stand gaping about. We are not here to view the city. It will bring us more notice than we have need of”
“She is spelled,” Irdris said quickly. “Take her arms.”
I found myself being propelled forward rapidly between Askarth and Rishka. We were rushing down the street through crowds of others, but I was lost in some space of my own, dizzy and nauseous, feeling as if I were spinning and falling through space, not even sure if my feet touched the ground. I shut my eyes against the sight of the street swinging and tilting before me. In the sudden darkness I saw the symbol I wore, shining gold, as if imprinted against the blackness, the circle inside the triangle inside the circle. With that I felt a sudden steadying. I pulled hard enough against Askarth’s grip to place my hand over my pendant. As its warmth flooded up from between my breasts, I opened my eyes again. The street gave a last heart-clenching lurch, then settled before my sight, a busy, crowded, dirty, street that stayed in its place while we rushed by.
I could breathe again. In a few minutes I got my bearings and was ready to collect my feet under me. I tried to shake loose of the others saying, “I can move on my own now. This is too dangerous.” It was also to hard on my pride.
“Easy, Tazzi,” Rishka whispered to me, “you can be our drunken comrade being helped home, not a bad disguise in these streets.”
I gave a slight nod and dashed on between them at a lurching stagger while at the same time trying to watch and pay attention to the way. Now that my head had cleared, Hereschell’s lessons started coming back. Even at that pace the city began to fall into place around me. With only a few signs to go by I knew the names of most of the streets we passed and how and where they connected to others.
Keeping our faces covered, and staying close to the walls and doorways and away from the light, we went quickly from Long Street into another alley and from there out onto a broad avenue. Straddling the avenue before us, the walls of a Great House rose dark and solid as if everything stopped there. It towered over the buildings around it. In front of it I glimpsed a whole company of guards marching back and forth. Behind them, the gates, lit by flares, arched higher than the roofs of most of the houses. The Great-House of Starmos, our goal for that night. I felt my knees go soft.
“And how are we to get in there?” Rishka hissed angrily, looking up at those walls. “This is work for fools.”
“Not that way, surely,” Askarth whispered. “We go elsewhere. That gate only leads into a formal courtyard and there are other walls behind it. Besides, it would not do to march up the main avenue to the front gate and demand my girls.”
Askarth was still rushing us on. Soon we had turned into a whole maze of little alleys that seemed to be leading us away from the Great-
House until at last we turned back on one of them. “Fish Seller’s Alley,” Askarth whispered. “This is the way the tradefolk used to come when the gates were open. Even here it will be well-guarded.”
Soon we came within sight of another wall. The gate there was much smaller, with a low stone door set into it. There were guards there, too, many of them. I noticed they were keeping some distance from the walls, staying far enough back so that nothing could shower down on them from above.
“That gate opens into the kitchen entry hall,” Askarth whispered. “It is there they will be watching for us.” She signaled us to follow her behind a refuse heap that blocked the corner. “This way, this way, quickly. From here we can watch them.”
We moved fast, squatting down together behind that pile of foul stuff. It had come, no doubt, from the kitchen of the Great-House when the gates were still open. Nowhere near the size of the Bargguell, it was still large enough to conceal us, and the smell was almost as rank.
“And how are we to get past all those guards?” Rishka growled after a while of watching. “What are the ways in?”
Askarth shook her head. “If I knew that I would have had them out of there myself. I would not have had to come begging your help. I have gotten you safely here. Now it is up to you.”
“What do we know of Great-Houses? That one was born in a dirt village, and I have lived all my life in the country of blowing sands.”
Irdris put her hand on Rishka’s arm, “Watch for a while and see where their weakness lies. They are only men, after all.” Our other two shadows had already disappeared into the night. Irdris had been so quiet I had all but forgotten her. Rishka shook off her hand and hunched into herself to watch.
The guards seemed restless and disorganized. Some were pacing, some lounging about and a few playing a noisy game of cards. One of the guards kept spitting and muttering, looking up at the walls. Another called out loudly, “Hey, Yanoff, where is your Leesha tonight? Whose arms does she sleep in, eh? Not yours surely while you are trapped behind those walls!”
