Kallista

by David Bell

  “I suppose that means you are here to seek my help, Lord Kanesh. We must act quickly if you are to sail with all your crew on board, all your crew, I say, my Lord. When does the ship put to sea?”

  “Captain Potyr always sets sail at dawn if he can. The Lady Akusha sought an audience with the High Priestess today. I have arranged to meet her in the valley garden of the Palace afterwards.”

  “The Lady Akusha is here? I do hope that we shall meet again. After such a long time we have so much to talk about.”

  “Perhaps you shall. When it is cooler, after dusk, she will ride back to the ship. She has asked her son and me to escort the woman Leilia from the shipyard to the harbour in time to see the ship sail. It is a kindness to someone who was once of service to her. Leilia’s son, Naudok, is the creator, as he puts it, of our vessel but is now too obsessed with the warship he is building for him to give us any more attention.”

  “That is fascinating, my Lord, but why do you tell me all this?”

  “As you said, I am here to seek your help with the difficulty we must not mention.”

  “Of course; let me think. Yes, this is what we shall do. It is very simple, as all good stratagems are. I will find a young man sufficiently similar to assume the role the Lady Akusha rejects for her son. That will not be difficult: my net spreads wide and, given the conduct of the ceremonies involved, any lack of resemblance will not be apparent at the time. After all, a deception such as this will be no more than would have been, but that is another story. In return,” she went on smoothly, before Kanesh could voice any suspicion, “in return, you, my Lord will ensure, ensure, I say, that Luzar returns to me. I do not doubt your word but I suspect that once he sees his own land again, Luzar may be reluctant to return, even to me. And you know how he has the power to be present, or not, as he wishes.”

  “I accept.”

  “There is one more condition. You know I wish always to win. You will ensure that at the next Games after your return, my champion will receive the chaplet of Victor of the Games.”

  “If it is in my power, I shall do it.”

  “Oh, it is in your power, my Lord. I think I know how it was done last time. Now, if you will forgive me, I should like to retire to my chamber. I am a little tired. I have had so many visitors today and I must say farewell to Luzar before you take him away. Can you wait just a little time while I do that?”

  Kanesh was closely examining the almond blossom when Luzar came out of the house carrying a sack slung over one shoulder and a basket in the other hand.

  “Luzar,” said Kanesh, looking into the strange purple eyes, “you will find Sharesh and take him to the ship in the harbour and you will keep him there. The captain has ordered all crew to stand ready to sail at midnight. I will stay a while here in the garden.”

  “Soon I will take you to my land.” There was a rustle of leaves and Luzar was there no longer.

  Kanesh walked slowly up the road towards the Palace. Pasipha would be watching from the roof terrace of the mansion, waiting until he turned along the colonnaded walk that led towards the garden where he had told her he was to meet Akusha. When she was sure they were there, she would go to the Palace herself and tell all that she had heard to the High Priestess. He must not go too quickly. The sun was sinking and dusk was slowly filling the sky as wine fills the glass, but he must prevent Pasipha leaving and so delay the pursuit he knew would come, until it was dark and all was ready. He sat down on a stone horse mount at the side of the road and took a flask from inside his cloak. The evening air was still warm. A little water was very welcome. When it was too dark for Pasipha to see see the road, she would know they had left the palace from the sound of the horses’ hooves on the road past the mansion. He could wait. Akusha would go to where the horses were kept once darkness fell, as they had arranged.

  The porters were panting hard as they laboured up the ramp that led into the Great Courtyard. They did not notice two cloaked figures standing in the shadows.

  “There goes Pasipha in her chair on her way to warn the High Priestess,” said Kanesh. “Would you care to take the gelding and ride with me, my lady?”

  “Gladly,” she said, trying to match his humour, “although I find this black cloak rather heavy and hardly becoming.”

  “I think blue embroidered with red rather suits me, even though this feels somewhat tight about the shoulders. Be sure to let that scabbard show as you ride.”

  “Lamps are being lit in the windows and I think I see torches.”

  “It is time. Although they have been told the ship will sail at dawn, they are taking no chances. The change of cloaks and horses may deceive them and there is one other ruse that will, I hope, cause them further delay, as you shall see. Come this way. The mare knows me and will come when I whistle to her. The gelding will follow where she goes.”

  She felt the rush of wind on her face and saw it whipping up the horse’s mane as it had so long ago on mad rides across the dry plains of Anadolus and headlong gallops along valleys under snow-capped peaks where they had hunted deer and the great black bulls. For a few fleeting moments she forgot everything, the Palace, the danger, even Kanesh, even Sharesh, and became as she had learned to be, had been born to be: one with the horse and its plunging speed.

  Kanesh caught up with her, just in time, where the roads divided, one leading to the harbour, and the other heading towards the dunes and the shipyard. As they drew up to let the horses rest briefly, Namun stepped out from the cover of some bushes and called to them. In his hand he carried an unlighted torch.

  “You have your mount?” demanded Kanesh.

  “Donkey, over there, behind the bush,” said Namun. “I hope he’ll move when I want him to.” He pointed behind them. “I can see lights up there, moving, on the road.”

  Kanesh twitched the strap of the mare’s bridle making her sidle up to the gelding. He took Akusha’s hand and she turned to look at him, her face pale and clear in the moonlight.

  “We rode together again, as we did in the mountains,” he said. “And now we part again, as we have so many times before.”

  “I will return, and with him.”

  “I held him for the last time this morning.”

  Kanesh had no words to soothe away such sadness. If she did show tears, he felt that he would abandon everything, even at this last moment, and take her away, to the mountains, where they would never be found and never be parted again. He knew she would not go.

  “Hold him once more, for me,” she said and dug her heels into the gelding’s flanks and disappeared into the darkness.

  Namun listened to the sound of both horses’ hooves fading away into the distance. He wept a little, thinking he might not see the Lady Akusha again and then he lit his torch.

  The troop commander raised his hand when he saw the figure up ahead waving a blazing torch. He walked his horse forward.

  “Three riders,” shouted Namun. “One went down that way, on the harbour road. Had a blue cloak on, I think. Other two, one was a big man all in black, with a sword. Couldn’t really see the one with him, but he wasn’t as big. They went off along there towards the dunes.”

  “Who are you and what are you doing here?” demanded the troop commander.

  “They call me Kerma. Lady up at the Palace told me to watch out here and tell you if any riders went by. Look, they were galloping as fast as they could. You’d better hurry if you’re going to catch them.”

  “We’re wasting time! Get out of the way!” shouted the troop leader. “Follow me!”

  The troop galloped off towards the dunes. Namun doused his torch and found his donkey chewing thistles behind the bushes. Whacking its rear end with a stick was the only way to get it moving, and then it did, trotting quite quickly along the road towards the harbour.

  “There will be no escape, my lady,” said Pasipha. “The ship does not sail until dawn.”

  “The rite must be performed tonight when the moon is full and at its highest and
tomorrow we shall make the proclamation. It is the Lady Mother’s command. Is everything prepared?”

  Pasipha caught the slight breathlessness in the High Priestess’s voice, saw the flushed cheeks and shining eyes.

  “The lamps are lit, the perfumed herbs spread on the coals. Your priestesses are assembled in the antechamber, awaiting your appearance. The virgins have bathed the Lady Mother in holy waters and brought her into the chamber. All is ready for the High Priestess and for the chosen one. All that remains is for him to be brought into your presence.”

  “Her power will draw him through the labyrinth until he is one with her.”

  “Eighteen, counting the four from Kelata; carpenter, carpenter’s mate; quarryman – says we can call him Kerma – Leptos one and Leptos two, two archers from Kydona, Captain of Archers just come aboard, Dareka’s boy down below with that Luzar, and me and you, Captain. That makes us two short, Namun and the lord.”

  Potyr looked up towards the moon, full and gleaming bright, the fleeing clouds crossing her face seeming to make her press headlong through the night sky’s seas like a ship with bellying sail. What were those dark tarnishings on the silver: shadows of sorrow, bruises of pain, blemishes of ageless age on the Lady Mother’s face? Potyr looked and searched, all the time knowing he would never know.

  “Horses! Here he comes! Looks like he’s got the deputy commander with him. And he’s wearing somebody else’s cloak.”

  “Put a Leptos brother on each line and stand by to cast off.”

  “Namun’s still missing.”

  “He will be here.”

  Sekara and Kanesh dismounted, left the reins to a groom to pick up, and strode towards the ship. They gripped hands.

  “I left a squad outside the harbour gate in case the Palace troop discovers the deception earlier than we expect.”

  “Some might say you are dangerously close to treason in this.”

  “An accusation with which you yourself must be familiar. Do not concern yourself with me. A message is already on its way to the Commander expressing my anger at the bungling of others that allowed the fugitives to escape. I fear the Palace troop commander may spend the rest of his life in the quarries. What is that noise at the gate?”

  “If it is someone riding a donkey, have your men let him through.”

  “All aboard, there!” called Typhis. “Cast off bowline!”

  Kanesh tightened his grip for a moment then released Sekara’s hand and stepped on board. One Leptos slipped the rope from its bollard and followed him. An oar was pushed against the timbers and the ship’s bow began its drift away from the quay.

  “Cast off stern line!” The other Leptos stepped on board.

  Namun came racing along the moonlit quay and launched himself at the ship like a leopard springing at its prey. He landed on the deck in a sprawling heap and sat up rubbing his head.

  Typhis scowled down at him. “Nice of you to come,” he said. “Now get up there on the bow and take your friend with you.”

  Potyr watched the white dove he had released fluttering upwards, towards the moon, he thought at first, but then it turned and flew in the direction of the dunes.

  Akusha and Leilia watched the dark shapes of the troopers trying to whip their horses into a gallop through the soft sand of the dunes.

  “They have left it too late,” murmured Akusha. “The ship sailed when the moon was at its highest.” She drew the heavy cloak around her.

  “They are safe, my lady,” said Leilia. “The only ship that might have caught them lies half built, there, on the launch way. The Davina will pass close to that far point and the Lady Mother has given us sufficient light to see her if the sail is hoist. I will show you the way.”

  ***

  On a warm afternoon some days later, two elegantly dressed ladies strolled through the garden of one of them, breathing in the scent of the flowers and listening to the humming of bees.

  “My son spoke of you, on occasion,” said Akusha.

  “He is a handsome boy. Any mother would be proud of him,” said Pasipha warmly.

  “Even the Lady Mother?”

  “Especially the Lady Mother.”

  “You sound so very certain of that.”

  “My dear Lady Akusha, is it not clear to anyone, any woman? So handsome, so gifted in the ways that please the Lady Mother, and possessed of such lineage!”

  “Your garden and your mansion are quite as beautiful as he told me they were.”

  “There, you see? He is so well mannered. He was also most interested in my pool. Would you care to walk that way? There is a particularly interesting old statue to see, rather frank in its pose but that is excusable when one remembers it was carved in the Old Times.”

  “I am not surprised that you have such rare possessions. You have no children of your own, I believe?”

  “Alas no, that is an emptiness in my life that I have to fill in other ways. My husband is elderly, as you know, and no longer possessed of the full vigour of manhood, if you understand my meaning. I do not have your good fortune.”

  “I understand. I too am bereft. My husband is on Kallista and I am not sure when I will rejoin him.

  “And the Davina has sailed away, for how long we do not know, taking your heart with her. It is sad for you, Lady Akusha.”

  “And perhaps leaving some awkward explanations to be made, if you understand my meaning. It is sad for you, too, losing your gardener as well. What will you do now?”

  “The Wise Ones tell us to be thankful for the peace of our gardens, Lady Akusha. And what will you do now?”

  “I shall seek the peace of the sacred Jaduktas and the service of the Lady.”

  “Which you left some time ago.”

  “As did you, Lady Pasipha, so I recall. We both had our reasons.”

  “Husbands, Lady Akusha; we both had need of husbands.”

  “We are not alone in that, as we now know. I imagine that this is something that must be greatly exercising you thoughts, and doubtless those of others.”

  “Perhaps we should both put our minds to it.”

  “Perhaps. Why that should remind me, I do not know, but did I tell you that I met a young woman of whom you have some acquaintance, on Kallista who told me of some shocking experience here on Keftiu? Experience I thought belonged, like the statue you mentioned, to the Old Times?”

  “I am at a loss as to what that might have been.”

  “It is one of the reasons why I have decided to retreat to the sanctuary on sacred Jaduktas for a while. I shall seek the counsel of the Priestess as to what should be done about this. Perhaps you would accompany me, for you surely know this young woman? She was one of the Chosen Children and showed great talent as a dancer. It pleased me when my son came to know her, the two being much of an age, so suitable, you understand. No doubt we shall both see her again in time. Oh, forgive me. I am taking up too much of your time. Your maid let slip that you are expected at the Palace. May my carriage be called?”

  “Stay a little longer. My almond blossom is so rich this year. Let me show it to you and while we look at it, perhaps we may talk more of these matters.”

  THE WATER PEOPLE

  “White water, dead ahead!” shouted Sharesh from the bow. “It must be the reef the pirate struck,” said Kanesh.

  Potyr nodded. “Helmsman, stand clear to larboard and resume course when we are past.” Kanesh looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

  “We are in the lee of Kestera here but the wind will be near gale force in the Kapros strait and the seas will be high. When I see the water roughen I will need plenty of sea room to make the change of course and run free before the wind to the Pelos cape. I want us to be on the leeward side there before dusk.”

  “Not worth anchoring in the cove where we waited for the pirate until the wind eases, I take it?” said the Captain of Archers.

  “We could lose too much time.” Potyr looked up at the sky. “This wind may keep its strength for three, perhap
s four more days. We must be on.”

  “Well,” said Kanesh with a cheerful grin, “if we end up on the Libun shore we can follow that until we find the Endless Ocean.”

  Potyr gave him a faint smile. “One way or another,” he said. “I must go to the bow. Helmsman, wait for my signal.”

  Kanesh watched him go and then turned to look astern at the white waves leaping and foaming over the reef that now lay in their wake. The sea had swallowed the broken ship and all its crew, dead or alive when they fell into its embrace and now it seemed eager for more, reluctant to let them go. It was strange how gentle and harmless the water looked, away from the reef.

  “Hold hard to the rail and watch the water,” Potyr said to Sharesh as he took a grip on the stem post himself. The ship continued on her way, sail set but almost slack, with the oarsmen on a long easy stroke. Sharesh looked out to starboard where the green slopes of Kestera slept in the distance. The sea was blue, like his mother’s cloak, and slightly crumpled by small waves. It was a warm mid morning and the rhythmic creaking of the oars on their thole pins and the gentle tapping of the rigging started to make him sleepy. He rubbed his eyes and tweaked a hair from the back of his head to wake himself up. He wondered idly why two riggers were standing near the sheets securing the sail foot to the deck fittings and why Potyr had told him to hold hard to the rail. Still, you did not ignore any of Potyr’s suggestions.

  Potyr glanced to starboard. The coastline slanted away towards the last point on this near side of Kestera. He turned to look straight ahead. There! Twenty, perhaps thirty ship lengths away, a slight chop on the waves and darker water. He turned to face the riggers.

  “Shorten sail!”

  As the riggers loosed the sheets, Leptos and Leptos shipped their oars and stepped up to join them. Hauling on lines that ran up from the bottom of the sail and through bronze eyes on the spar, the four men furled and tied the heavy linen to half its length. They had hardly finished their work before the Davina began to pitch as she entered choppy water and the oarsmen shortened their stroke. Potyr raised his left arm, signalling steady as she goes to Typhis. Some waves now had white tops and the Davina’s bow rose and fell as she dipped and lifted through them, making it difficult for the oarsmen to catch the water with their blades. Still Potyr held her on course through the now blue-grey sea. Suddenly, Sharesh felt the wind strike hard across his face and the ship heel to larboard. Now he realised why the captain had told him to hold on hard. He saw Potyr bring his arm down smartly as if he were striking a blow, and looking quickly towards the stern saw Typhis leaning on the tiller as he struggled to hold it against the power of the waves. The Davina turned on a curving course to larboard, heeling over so far that her upper strake was near the wave tops. Sharesh was sure she would capsize, but she straightened, swung back level, and soon was leaping across the waves as eagerly as a dog coursing a hare. The half sail, as Typhis put it, swallowed the wind and bellied forward. The oarsmen resumed their long light stroke: the wind was now doing most of their work. Running before the wind, thought Sharesh, exhilarated by the ship’s bounding speed. You never ran before the wind: it was always quicker than you.