The Flight from Kar (The Emperor's Library

by Frederick Kirchhoff

  “That’s all very well, but we’re supposed to be looking for something.”

  “Don’t be so negative, Jon.”

  Jon thought he was simply being realistic. But then he heard a voice.

  Where are you going?

  “Up the mountain, of course.”

  “What did you say?” Zoë asked, and when Jon heard her speaking aloud, he realized his mistake.

  Are you the one I met at the ocean? He asked, using the internal voice of the Rand.

  Yes, it’s me.

  Jon explained to the Rand what they were trying to accomplish.

  Then you are going in the wrong direction, the Rand told him. This slope ends in a cliff. You should have turned to the left when you began climbing. But you don’t have to go all the way down again. Just follow me.

  Jon had stopped during this interchange, while Zoë had gone on ahead.

  “Zoë,” he called to her. “We’re going in the wrong direction.”

  She answered from higher up. “I can’t see you, Jon. Why didn’t you follow me? And how do you know we’re going in the wrong direction?”

  Can I tell her?

  Yes.

  “One of the Rand is here. He’s going to help us find the way.”

  You are going to help us find the way, aren’t you? he asked.

  Of course. That’s why I’ve been following you.

  All the way from the ocean?

  Yes, all the way from the ocean. Crljena told me I should follow you. I had to go back to the island, but, when I returned to the mainland, it was easy to discover where you had gone and come after you. But I didn’t go down into the valley. I’ve been up here watching to see what was going on. It’s not clear to me how you got here, but there’s an easier way than the one you took.

  Is Crljena your wife?

  The Rand laughed, or at least communicated what Jon took as a laugh.

  Crljena is my mother.

  What’s your name?

  Saash.

  “Jon, say something again so I can follow your voice,” Zoë called out. “And keep talking.”

  “I’m here, Zoë. I can’t be too far away. Saash says we made a wrong turn when we left the valley. That’s the Rand’s name—Saash.”

  “So the Rand can talk after all?”

  “Yes and no. They don’t do it the same way we do.”

  “How does he know where we’re going?”

  “I told him.”

  Zoë emerged from the fog.

  “You said there was a Rand here. I don’t see anyone.”

  “I don’t see him either. He’s in the fog somewhere.”

  Jon could hear Saash laughing again.

  Zoë walked up to Jon and looked him in the face.

  “Why are you joking with me? This isn’t a time for games.”

  “I’m not playing a game. Did you ever know me to play games?”

  Zoë took a breath.

  “No.”

  And then Saash appeared, just to the right of where Jon was standing. Zoë gasped and took a step back. Saash was naked, but now he was wearing a whole arrowhead once more.

  “Here, Zoë,” Jon said, moving forward and reaching out to take Zoë’s hand. She was still looking at the Rand and pulled away in surprise.

  “I’m sorry. It wasn’t what I expected.”

  She let Jon take her hand and place it on his chest.

  She must touch your skin.

  And so he moved her hand inside his shirt.

  I didn’t mean to startle you, Saash told her.

  “How am I supposed to answer him?” Zoë asked.

  Just speak. I can understand your speech. But if you think your words, I can hear them through Jon, as long as you keep your hand against him.

  “How long have you been able to do this?” Zoë asked Jon.

  “Since the last time I saw Saash. He gave me a new arrowhead.”

  Arrowhead? Well, I guess that’s what it might look like to you. We have a different name for them. But it doesn’t matter. From now on we’ll call them arrowheads.

  No, I want to know the right word.

  Tritargon is our name.

  “That’s what John gave you—a tritargon? Saash, was my brother John able to communicate with you, too?”

  No. The tritargon John gave him was broken. It established a connection, but only an incomplete one. My mother and I knew Jon was wearing it. He was like a baby trying to talk but unable to form true words. We spoke to him, but he couldn’t answer, so we waited until he was alone and then approached him. We wanted to understand why we were receiving a garbled message. If your brother John once wore that tritargon, our people would have sensed his presence, but Jon is the first New Man I’ve ever talked to, and you are the second; and this is the first time I‘ve ever traveled so deep into the Old Land.

  “So you weren’t one of the people who helped Jon when he was escaping the Brotherhood?”

  I know that story. Jon told us about it when we met him by the ocean.

  “You met him by the ocean?”

  Yes, the day before you crossed the mountains. I had to go home to replace the tritargon I’d given Jon, but that was easy, since the maker remembered his first work. And I gave him the broken tritargon to see if it could be repaired, but he told me that was impossible. I should have brought it back with me to return to you, Jon, but I left it with him—there were so many things on my mind.

  Mother waited on this side of the water to see what you would do next. When I returned she told me that you and your friends had crossed the mountain and that I should follow you. She said that because Jon was now wearing my tritargon there was a bond between us.

  “Where is she now?” Jon asked.

  She has returned to our home.

  “You came this way alone?”

  Not alone. I’ve been staying with our people on the other side of this mountain—the ones who live at times in the Old Land. They gave me a picture of the route over the mountains and into the valley where there’s a lake shaped like a wallo.

  “A wallo? What’s that?” Zoë asked.

  One of our symbols. A line with two bends in the middle. Like this.

  Saash leaned over and traced a line on the ground with his fingertip.

  “So there is a way over the mountains here?” Jon asked.

  Yes, but it’s dangerous. Men in white are camped close to it on the other side of the mountain—but not too close. I don’t think they know about the path. Still, it wouldn’t be difficult for them to find. And it also goes near your archers. I heard their voices when I passed above them this morning. So many things appear to be happening here. It’s very interesting. New Men are active people.

  “Jon, the route over the mountains Saash used today may place those defending the pass in danger, and it’s also a way the enemy could get around them and enter Bent Lake.”

  She turned to the Rand.

  “Saash, is there a way to defend the path you took to reach us?”

  Defend? I don’t understand.

  “A place where a few men and women with weapons could stop anyone who tried to get through—no matter how many there were,” Zoë explained.

  There’s a narrow place where the path climbs between rocks. It’s not far from where the archers are stationed. But I could also take you to the very top of the mountain. From there, you can see anyone approaching from either direction. And it’s easy to reach. There’s even a stairway cut into the mountain for part of the way.

  “Could you take us there now?”

  ▲

  By the time they reached the place that Saash described, the sun had begun to burn through the clouds. After passing through a narrow, winding passage between rocks and climbing a long stair that zigzagged up a step slope, they found themselves on a level platform from which they could indeed survey the whole north slope of the mountain, as well as much of the climb they’d made from Bent Lake. As Saash had promised, anyone approaching from either d
irection would have been plainly visible, and they saw no sign of the Chosen.

  “We must return to the village, and bring soldiers who can guard this new, high pass,” Zoë said.

  Tell her to listen.

  “Saash wants us to listen to something,” Jon said.

  Pausing in silence, they became aware of voices below them.

  Follow me.

  Saash led them down by a circuitous way to where they could see the archers about two hundred feet below them—and, beyond the archers, the lower pass leading to Bent Lake from the River Road.

  “My mother and aunt are down there. If we can reach them, we’d have an easy way back to the village.”

  Tell her there is a way. I will show it to you.

  As the Rand spoke, an image of the descent appeared in Jon’s mind.

  “Saash says there’s a way. Just follow that ridge to your left,” he told Zoë.

  “And if there’s a way from where the archers are stationed to the high pass,” she replied, “then the archers will be able to send guards to watch it. I’m going down to them. Tell Saash to come with us.”

  I don’t like to go where there are so many New Men.

  “You go down there, Zoë. I’ll go back the way we came—with Saash.”

  “I thought you’d want to see Helen and Ethel.”

  “I do, but I don’t want to leave Saash behind.”

  You’ll have to leave me behind eventually. I won’t go to the village.

  Why not? Jon asked.

  It’s not the right time for me to meet your people. I may have been unwise to show myself to Zoë. We don’t yet know we can trust the New Men. We trust you, Jon, because we feel your thoughts.

  “What is he saying?” Zoë asked.

  “I think he doesn’t want to go with either of us just yet.”

  Ask her not to tell the others that you’ve seen me. It will be better if they don’t know.

  But they’ll do you no harm.

  Just be patient. You go with Zoë. Now that I’ve seen you, I’ll return to my friends, but I’ll come this way again in a few days and look for you. I would like to show you our home across the water, if that is possible. And my mother would like that also. She told me to invite you.

  Yes, I would like to go to your home, Jon said.

  “And he doesn’t want us to tell anyone about our meeting him here,” he told Zoë.

  “Why not?”

  “That’s what I already asked him, and he just told me to be patient.”

  “Saash,” Zoë said. “You can trust me as much as you trust Jon. Neither of us will tell the others what happened today. We are grateful for your help and will carry out your wishes.”

  Thank her for me.

  “He thanks you.”

  “He’s the one who deserves thanks.”

  And Jon knew that Zoë meant what she was saying.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  “Zoë, you amaze me,” the Emperor said. “First you lead me to an undiscovered land by the Western Ocean—you and Jon, that is—and now the two of you have discovered a new entrance to this valley. Once again, my Foresters have proven indispensable. And you saw no indication that the enemy has found the high pass?”

  Now, Jon saw, it was Zoë and Jon who’d led him across the mountains. Had he forgotten that she’d wanted to take the River Road? And my Foresters had always annoyed him. Didn’t the man see how patronizing it sounded?

  “We saw no sign that anyone had traveled that way in recent weeks,” Zoë replied eagerly. “And if the Chosen knew of it, they’d have used it—at the very least to spy on Bent Lake.”

  “Still,” the Emperor observed, “someone else must have been aware of its presence—if not today, then in the past. Men have traveled the River Road for centuries; some must have explored the land surrounding it. We of Kar understand how little is ever forgotten. And yet some things may fall out of mind.”

  He turned to Jon.

  “Perhaps you’ve come across further evidence of your Rand.”

  “There’s no way of knowing who’s used the pass,” Zoë said, saving Jon from the need to reply. “Someone constructed it—in places the access is cut deep into the rock. But it’s been there for a very long time.”

  “Well, whoever built it, we’ll find a way to use their work, although there’s no reason to publicize our discovery. With an alternative pass to the River Road we could encircle the Chosen.”

  Zoë was taken aback.

  “You’re planning an attack? Even if we took them by surprise, we’d be overwhelmed by their numbers. Besides, the last stretch of the pass descends a cliff face that must be visible from their camp. A few might get through unobserved, but not an army.”

  “In daylight, perhaps, but it might be possible to cross at night,” Jon suggested.

  “At night?” the Emperor asked.

  “Yes, of course we could do it at night. But that means we’d have to surprise them in the darkness,” Zoë said. “That would be less like a battle than a massacre.”

  The Emperor smiled.

  “True, but, without an army, we forfeit the luxury of conventional warfare. Years ago, when the eastern tribes revolted, they avoided open battle, but attacked convoys and soldiers unlucky enough to find themselves separated from their cohorts at night. In time, we brought them under control, but they held out for three years and in the end it took a massacre to subdue them. But what choice did we have? As my father explained, they were killing us, so we had to kill them.

  “But I wasn’t contemplating an attack, Zoë. We aren’t ready for that—even an attack by night. Our task is keeping the enemy out of this valley while we strengthen our forces. We repulsed the party they sent to test us, but if they throw their weight against the pass, they’re bound to break through, which means we have to keep them from throwing their weight. And we also have to bring more loyalists to Bent Lake. There must be men and women eager to resist the Chosen.”

  “That’s a big order,” Zoë said. Yet she was impressed by what the Emperor had said. His boldness was worlds away from the Foresters’ hesitation. And Jon liked it too—although he reminded himself that it was Herman and his cohorts, not the Emperor, who had repulsed the Brotherhood in the low pass.

  “You’re right,” the Emperor said. “It’s a big order. Still, we could bring it off. The Chosen must believe that only a handful of Bent-Lakers and women oppose them. They can’t suspect that I myself am here.”

  Does the man really think his presence could to overcome an army?

  “What we did at West House was intended to make you appear dead,” Jon pointed out.

  “But now it would be advantageous to disabuse them of that impression. If we could convince them that I never traveled west—that in the confusion I sent troops in that direction as a ruse—then they might postpone their attempt on the pass to await new orders and even reinforcements, and that would give us the time we need to assemble an army of our own. Who can doubt that the numbers still loyal to us are enormous. Word that I was here would bring thousands.”

  The idea was preposterous. The Emperor might have fled south, but he couldn’t have fled with an army. Wouldn’t their passage have been observed? Moreover, it would take months to gather the loyalists he was so confident about, and require organization to sneak them into Bent Lake. Surely the Chosen would not oblige them by holding off indefinitely.

  “But how would you locate the loyalists?” Jon asked, trying not to seem obstructive.

  “I’ll get to that point. But you must agree that we have two tasks—to convince the Chosen to postpone their assault and to recruit an army. As for the first, I’m willing to gamble that a brief delay will turn into a longer one, since it’s unlikely the Chosen will attempt the valley during the rainy season. They must have learned that the pass floods with little warning.”

  Jon had forgotten the rain. The road through the pass followed a narrow defile along the river; in the wrong place at the wron
g time, an army could be swept away in a single deluge, and the rains would begin soon. The Emperor must have been talking to the Bent-Lakers, and Jon was glad he was informing himself about the territory. But that made his proposal no less questionable. How could he raise an army hundreds of miles to the North and bring it to Bent Lake by the end of the rainy season? Yet Zoë accepted the Emperor’s plan without question. Was it because she saw little appeal in the alternative of hunkering down to await the enemy?

  Alf made a suggestion: “You speak of making the Chosen believe we have a force here. but don’t forget the Brotherhood. I know them, and I can tell you they’re not all of one mind about what’s happening. They’re controlled by thugs—like the men who killed Zoë’s brother—but that doesn’t mean everyone of the Brothers is like that.”

  “What do you mean?” Zoë asked.

  “I mean we can’t forget who the Brotherhood are,” he explained. “Strangers regularly join them—men who’ve heard about a nation of men and seek it out. They’re the ones to worry about. But the greater part of them grew up in the Valley of Women. If things hadn’t worked out the way they did, I’d be one of that group today, and I wouldn’t have turned into a monster.”

  “I’d like to hear what it was like for you among the Brotherhood,” the Emperor asked. “Unless you’d rather not talk about it.”

  “No, no, I can talk about it,” Alf replied. “Although there are a few things . . .”

  “Of course,” the Emperor said. “We understand that.”

  “On the trip from Bent Lake, everything is upbeat. They want you to believe they’ve rescued you from oppression. But you soon learn that the first year with the Brotherhood is designed to crush your spirit. They put you in the hands of men who ridicule kindness and reward cruelty. ‘Girly men,’ they call anyone who shows feelings. Some boys break under this regimen and are sent to work in the mines—at least that’s what the word was. They label them ‘losers,’ and tell us who remain that we’re real men and that our humiliations will give us the right to humiliate others, once we became members of the Brotherhood.”

  “But they didn’t succeed with you, Alf,” Jon said. “You never lost your good nature.”

  Alf looked at him grimly.