Temple of the Traveler: Empress of Dreams

by Scott Rhine

  “Whatever became of the former occupants?”

  “The man’s boyfriend was a suspect in a recent unpleasantness with the crown, and he committed suicide rather than face questioning.”

  “Deaths are bad for real estate.”

  “It has a koi pond, and it’s worth easily three months more than this bill.”

  “With such transactions, I can’t give change.”

  She smiled. “In trade, you could provide me with a list of your normal special-event customers and amounts that they pay.”

  He kissed her hand. “A pleasure doing business. How will you hide so much money?”

  “The emperor’s scribe has been helping me, to the detriment of his duties selling the old school and zoo properties. Tomorrow, I will visit the nobles on your list to personally offer them some of these rare properties.”

  ****

  When Pagaose reached the dueling grounds, rain was already falling. Burningsand had seven students helping him place his ritual equipment. Pinetto sat cross-legged on his dais, meditating.

  Someone shouted, “His second is here; we can start.”

  “I’m his second?” Komiko said. “I’m going to drink for free for a year.”

  “A moment,” said the emperor. “You may wish to reconsider. I’ve taught this man some of the deeper arts. You won’t stand a chance.”

  “Like sex magic?” scoffed Burningsand from his raised platform on the other side of the tiny island.

  “What’s he talking about?” Pagaose asked the witch.

  “Later, sire,” said Komiko.

  “What’s this duel all about?”

  “The lord high wizard insulted Anna in order to force Master Pinetto into a fight.”

  Pagaose whispered in Pinetto’s ear, “Flow. You are not the power. You are the guide.”

  The seconds moved away to the perimeter. Men in robes swept the area with incense. Komiko explained, “The two wizards draw best wards, build power, plant their devices, and then try to summon stray spirits.”

  “Why is the judge turning that hourglass?”

  “It can take hours until the first attack, and to finish a combat can take days.”

  “Amateurs.”

  Komiko raised her voice. “Sire, you don’t understand. Master Pinetto is at an extreme disadvantage because he hasn’t slept in over a day.”

  People in the stands behind them exchanged betting slips. The emperor pulled out a sesterina coin, handed it to the witch, and said, “Bet this and anything else you have on my new dean.”

  “Sire?”

  To Niftkin, he said, “Bet all the money you have, too.”

  “Yes, sire,” said the guard.

  When the gong rang, Burningsand commenced his chant.

  Pinetto climbed off his own dais and walked over to the other man’s. Burningsand was a full pace above him.

  The crowd murmured, “Is he going to surrender?”

  Instead, Pinetto crouched over and took out his bolo. He tossed the metal-weighted balls around the enemy’s ankle. His opponent laughed . . . until the metal began to glow blue and his hair stood on end. Pinetto dove to the ground just as the lighting struck.

  Nothing remained of his challenger except a smoking boot. Steam rose from Pinetto’s skin as he muttered, “Idiot.”

  The crowd erupted in questions. “Are his eyelids glowing?”

  “What just happened?”

  Pagaose turned to the Burningsand’s second. “I believe this resolves the matter of Lady Anna’s honor?”

  “Yes, sire. You taught him this?”

  The emperor nodded.

  “Let the record reflect that the ward school votes for you also.”

  As the cleanup crew came out to the arena, the emperor said, “Leave the stain as a warning to others.”

  Komiko hooted and danced around her new mentor. “Five seconds—a record. No one will ever beat that. You are awesome!”

  “I’m going to be sick,” Pinetto said, swaying.

  Pagaose walked up behind the pair. “Witch, give him your oilskin cloak and hold him up.”

  They walked Pinetto over to a bench and sat him down. His eyes were closed and his energy drained.

  “Tell me about this sex magic my enemies are complaining about.”

  Komiko did so, in enthusiastic detail, as Niftkin collected their winnings from the bets.

  “This is revolutionary, but the rumors are ruining my credibility.”

  “Sire, you don’t understand—”

  “You will immediately go to the school and confess to sensationalizing the syllabus in order to gain more students.”

  “But . . . yes, sire.”

  “Change the name to marriage magic and specify that it is open only to married or engaged wizards and those enrolled in the Dance.”

  “We won’t make our minimum, then, highness. If we don’t reach twenty students, we lose our school.”

  “I have my votes without it. If you must, sign me and my dancers up. Niftkin, too”

  Niftkin said, “Me? Oh . . . sure, as protection. Good thinking, sire.”

  Komiko raised an eyebrow. “You cast wards?”

  “I’m a military officer. Wards are required training,” the head guard said proudly. Then, more modestly, he admitted. “I’m only marginal, but if you need the bodies, I’d be willing to . . . for the sake of the empire.”

  “The opposition is attacking my friends now, not just me. I want all the dancers brought to the palace tonight,” the emperor told Komiko. “Bring suitable clothing.”

  “Yes, sire.”

  Chapter 25 – Tetrachromatics

  After dinner, Pagaose noted, “The dinner was superb, Lady Evershade, but if I might impose . . .”

  She bowed her head. “You can’t sleep until Anna returns.”

  “No. I’ve checked everywhere.”

  “Sometimes when my husband and I fought, he’d sleep in his office.”

  “I had men check there over lunch.”

  “What did her manager say?”

  “Do you see her here?”

  She smiled. “He was covering for Anna. She doesn’t wish to talk to you yet. Did they search the women’s room?”

  Pagaose blinked. “No. Thank you, Lady Evershade. I am ever in your debt.”

  “We strive to please, highness.”

  He ordered his guards to check out this theory. While they waited, he had after-dinner drinks with his dancers and guests.

  Komiko told the story of Pinetto’s confrontation again for those who’d missed the actual events. Tashi kept staring at Sarajah and the door. Eventually, he faked a yawn. “I think I’m heading to bed. I’m really looking forward to tearing off those sheets and diving in.”

  Sarajah blushed and the girls giggled. The pair left for the Pleasure Dome.

  Even Bovinia said, “Subtle.”

  ****

  When Tashi started taking clothes off, Sarajah said, “Not so fast! A girl has to be in the mood.” He growled in exasperation, but she raised a finger. “I’ve been reading Pinetto’s syllabus and that massage thing sounds kind of nice for both of us. I had Violet heat the oils, and you can rub them all over my body.”

  “New money,” he said as she reclined on the mat.

  He just finished his first pass over her back when the door to the dome burst open. “There’d better be blood involved,” he grumbled.

  Nightglow escorted Anna into the room. The brewer was covered in garbage and worse. “She needs a bath and someone to talk to. She won’t talk about it, but I think my mother had a hand in this.”

  “What’s that smell?” Tashi asked.

  The young dancer winced. “Goat dung. The crowd threw it at her as they were calling her horrible things. They claim she got away with killing someone just because she’s rich and sleeps with nobles. Niftkin waded in and sent them all home. He was wonderful.” After a pause, she added, “Anna wouldn’t say a word to anyone on the way back. She just cried.” />
  Sarajah slipped her robe back on and said, “You’ve done the right thing. Leave her here and I’ll see she gets what she needs.”

  Tashi’s face fell. “For how long?”

  “It’ll take hours for her to get clean and hours more to open up to me. After that, I wouldn’t dare send her back out there to face Nightglow’s mother.”

  “But we go on the ship in just a couple days.” His left eye twitched a little.

  “Find somewhere else to sleep just for tonight, dear. She’s too vulnerable to have a man around.”

  The oil jar cracked in his hands and ran over the tile.

  Sarajah sighed. “Just leave. I’ll clean it up.”

  He climbed onto the roof, frustrated, and unable to sleep. At least he’d heal better in the open air and starlight. Just after midnight, he could hear the moaning coming from Lady Evershade’s open window. He walked to the far edge of the roof and could still hear it like birdsong. He wanted to break something. Instead, he went down to the docks and started loading the ship. There was an enormous pile of provisions for the voyage, and the physical effort helped take his mind off what wasn’t happening tonight. Some crates were supposed to take a few men to lift, but he would just mutter something like, “Why don’t we use the oil first,” and then he’d be angry enough to move it without help. The dock patrol kept a person watching him just in case his anger went too far.

  About four hours past midnight, the loading was done, and he was finally tired enough to sleep in the narrow ship’s bunk.

  ****

  The goat dung was the hardest to get out of Anna’s hair. Once she was finally clean, she wanted to sleep in the hammock; however, Sarajah kept crooning in her ear, “I can’t help if you don’t tell me your side. Let’s start about the charges. Are you married?”

  “Pagaose—”

  “I didn’t ask about him; I asked about you,” said the green-eyed woman softly, as she polished Anna’s nails.

  “Baran, my fiancé, was the youngest of seven.”

  “You were engaged for years, but since you were a bondservant, he couldn’t marry you.”

  “Then he became the bearer of the Defender, and the Kragens tried to use me against him. The Executioners kept telling me he was never coming back. Baran wrote me a letter releasing me from our engagement and leaving me everything he had. It was a suicide note. The Togg family helped me escape to sea, but the dragon wrecked our ship. Only Kirak and I survived. Kirak looks a lot like Baran, and he saved my life. In the process, he was stabbed through the side with a wooden spar. We were marooned on this little island for a long time. I took care of him. Delirious with fever, he confessed that he’d been protecting me for years, and that he’d fallen in love with me.

  “Can you believe it? Me? Now I had two men, both dead or dying.”

  Sarajah stroked her face. “Everyone here sees how beautiful you are, inside and out.”

  Anna snorted in disbelief. “Anyway, that tent on the shore was the happiest time I’ve had in my life.” Her tears flowed freely. “I’ve been a faithful follower of the Traveler all my life. I read the books even after the church was burned. It never occurred to me to seek pleasure the way other women did.”

  “But?”

  “When we were rescued, I had a dilemma. The monastery at Muro couldn’t let me land unless I was married. I couldn’t take care of Kirak unless I went to the monastery. He kept professing his undying love, and then he mentioned the rule in the Brotherhood where one brother could marry another brother’s widow. He said it could be in name only . . . just to allow the rescue.”

  “That’s what you told yourself, but he felt differently.”

  Anna sighed. “We had to share the same bed and I couldn’t leave the room for the monks to allow us sanctuary. He never pressured me, but three facts kept weighing on my mind. One: under the Brotherhood law, any child would take Baran’s name as father. I’d still be honoring him. Two: Kirak was the last of the Togg line, the only ones in the world carrying the Traveler’s blood. Three: this beautiful man died to save me; his body just didn’t know it yet. Seeing the way he looked at me, with all that love, day after day . . .” She sobbed so hard, Sarajah could hear the tears and extra water being sucked back in.

  The seeress gave her a handkerchief and said, “It was the humane thing to do. You were married. I’m sure you gave him the greatest pleasure in his life.”

  “The exertion killed him,” Anna wailed. “I killed the sweetest man in the world with my body.”

  “You did everything you could. The dragon killed him. Humi Kragen killed him. You made him the happiest man alive. I’ll bet you anything he was smiling when he passed,” Sarajah said.

  “The monks kicked me off the island. I had to get a job in Center to pay for his burial.”

  “But his family was wealthy.”

  “Everything that didn’t sink in the wreck or the other Togg wives didn’t take into the hills, the Brotherhood seized. I have less now than when I was a slave.”

  “Pagaose cares for you.”

  “I don’t love him. I help him because he’s the Traveler’s chosen emperor, but I won’t earn my living on my back, even if I don’t have my virtue anymore.”

  “He’d never ask you to do that.”

  Anna raised an eyebrow. “That’s what I thought until I caught Lady Evershade crawling out of his bedroom with some pretty convincing stories.”

  “Why don’t we go confront Lady Evershade about these stories,” Sarajah suggested.

  “Shouldn’t we wait until morning and ask her questions to trip her up?”

  “Nah,” said the seeress. “I can smell magic rolling down the hall from her room. I figure I’ll just surprise her in the middle of the night and torture the truth out of her.”

  Anna smiled. “That would be therapeutic.”

  Sarajah put a cloak on over her harem robe. The cloak faded to the same beige color as the walls. Together, the two women crept out of the Pleasure Dome and into the palace. They halted at the first door, and Sarajah put her ear to it.

  “Mmph. Yes, I’m a wicked vixen. Mmm. Oh. Again, sire.”

  Anna took out her master key and unlocked the door. Opening it wide, the two saw Lady Evershade laying on the bed in a submissive posture, wearing only her frillies. Her hands gripped the bedpost as if tied there. She backed into the next lashing and whimpered as her body reacted to the unseen flogger. She was alone and asleep.

  “In . . . teresting dreams,” remarked Anna.

  The two visiting women stepped into the room, and Anna closed the door behind them.

  “Yes, kiss it better.” She squirmed, climbing the bedpost with pleasure. “Gods, don’t stop there!” Lady Evershade shrieked when Sarajah threw the pitcher of water on her.

  She could see the two intruders by the light of the Compass star. Gasping, Lady Evershade said, “Is this some kind of joke?”

  “Do we look like we’re laughing? What was the dream about?” demanded Sarajah.

  “I’m calling the guards,” spat the noblewoman.

  Sarajah hit her in the throat with two fingers, and Lady Evershade made choking sounds. Closing the window and making a gag from the window sash, the seeress said, “Anna, hold her down. I’m checking for dragon marks.”

  Anna smiled as the thinner, less-muscular woman struggled in vain. Sarajah searched her everywhere, even untying the frillies on each side to peek underneath. “No sign, but there has to be. I can feel lucid-dreaming energy all through this room.”

  As the woman struggled, an orange fox hissed at Anna, snapping at her heels. “Ouch!”

  Sarajah picked up the young fox by the scruff of the neck to stop the attack. Suddenly, Lady Evershade’s eyes got wide and she went still. She whimpered and shook her head when Sarajah held the fox closer for a better look.

  “She’s afraid you’ll hurt it,” said Anna, climbing off the noblewoman.

  Sarajah rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe you’re mak
ing me do this. If you call out again or fail to answer my questions truthfully . . . the cute little fox gets it.”

  Lady Evershade nodded rapidly. She pulled her robe off the floor and donned it.

  Anna turned her back and covered her face to hide the smile.

  “Once again, what was the dream about?”

  When she could speak again, Lady Evershade said, “His highness was wroth with me for sending Miss Anna away. He was whipping me with the tails of my own fox stole.”

  “Doesn’t sound too painful.”

  Lady Evershade smiled. “If you ride out the discomfort, his highness soon shifts from angry to angry.” When the other two women looked confused, she said, “He’s not cruel, and the sight of a nearly naked woman moves the wind to other places. When he slowed, I explained that my cousin is on the purity committee.”

  “You made up the charges yourself?” asked Anna.

  Lady Evershade glared at her. “No. I suppressed them until we could insert a backdated amendment to the Dance rules. It allows widows of good reputation, vouched for by the church of Osos, to join the Dance as virgins. Then my cousin trimmed as much as he could for the first release. There are other copies. The rest will come out later, but we did what we could.” Pulling the number-one ticket from the pocket of her robe, she returned it to Anna. “When his majesty heard this news, he began to kiss every injury he’d made with such affectionate gentleness that I trembled. But as per the rules of night visits, my virtue remained covered.” She pulled her robe to her chest and sighed.

  “Too much information,” said Sarajah.

  “You . . . helped me?” Anna said, stunned.

  “I helped the Great Pagaose, long may he reign. You aren’t worthy to run his house.”

  “By all the gods, you love him, don’t you?” Sarajah said.

  Lady Evershade looked down and struggled not to weep.

  “Does he know?” asked Anna.

  “I told you; he gives me gifts, like Kitten. He takes souvenirs each day from my room: a feather from my dress, a lock of my hair, the tie to my robe.” The noblewoman’s voice trembled.

  “That’s how he finds you each night,” Sarajah explained. “Does he know that the dreams are real for you?”