She nodded, as graceful as a swan. “That is to be expected. This tea is from Shila. It is different from the tea in Serica, just as we are different from the Serice. Some say that the first tea was found in the hills of Serica, but we believe tea came from our country, long ago. Who can now say which story is true?”
The thought came into his mind that Ashala would enjoy this tea, and then with dismay he remembered that she would never taste tea from Shila.
Miri saw his face. She put her teacup down and took his hand in hers, but she said nothing, only looked into his eyes. Shaken, Sandun had to look away. He felt she was seeing into his heart, something that he didn’t think he could bear. He tried to master his emotions, and so he drained the tea. She poured out more.
“I…I heard from Lord Vaina that you traveled a long way to get here?”
“True. A long journey. We sailed out from Pomoz just after the new year. We sailed for weeks till we reached the port of Urmatos, in the province of Anenohad. Merchants sold and then bought for a week, and then we put out from the harbor, heading south.”
She paused, as if considering what to say, and then continued. “Three days out, we saw pirates. They gave chase. Our captain ducked into a friendly port town. Jay and Ven were…disappointed that they missed their chance to fight pirates. I was not. Pirates from Budin have attacked Shila’s coastal cities for many years, and they have committed terrible crimes against my people.”
She continued, “We slipped out in the night with a pilot we hired holding the wheel. That pilot was a true sailor, and so we arrived safely in Ahnlas. From there, after some delay, our party boarded a shallow-draft river vessel, which made its way up the Copper River. We went far, far up the river. All the way into the heart of Torsihad.”
Miri absently rubbed her shoulder and then looked at Sandun and put her hands together. “A long, steep wagon road, up and over hills. Across streams and a lake. Trees all around and animals that are not found in Shila. After more than a month of travel, we reached Hutinin, and I could take off my disguise. From there an easy trip down the river to Tokolas. Five months to cover four thousand tik, so Jay claims while Ven says only three thousand and nine hundred.”
“Your disguise? Were you pretending to be a merchant?” Sandun smiled. He couldn’t imagine this beautiful woman being mistaken for anything other than a noble.
Miri smiled back at him and then put her hand up over her mouth and then set it down in her lap. “When we left our ship, I was acting the part of a priest of Ekon, or Eston as they say in Serica.”
Sandun wondered what she would look like dressed as a priest but he didn’t interrupt her story.
“We said I was on pilgrimage to the Flame Iris Temple in the Towers of Heaven. Priests of Ekon are generally well regarded in Serica, but even so, Jay and Ven had to kill several men who did not believe me.” She looked sad for a moment and then brightened up.
“Once, I nearly gave the game away when we shared a meal with an actual priest of Eston from Godalo. He was on a pilgrimage to the Towers of Heaven and while talking about the path of emptiness on the eight-spoke wheel”—Miri paused, and there was a faint blush to her cheeks—“I became confused, and he nearly denounced me as a false priest. But Jay was able to say the right things. My cousins, Jay in particular, have studied the doctrine of the void more than I.”
Sandun was impressed. Miri was not what he had expected, and he realized she had depths of knowledge concealed behind her lovely face. “You are as much a traveler as I. You came a long way to reach Tokolas.”
“Not so, my lord.” Miri looked at Sandun directly again. “No man has crossed the Tirala Mountains since the days of the Gold Kingdom. People from Shila often visit the Towers of Heaven. We had a guide for much of our journey, till he became sick and could not continue. You are the real explorer here.”
Sandun was flattered by her praise. In truth, no one in Serica seemed particularly impressed with his trip, or at least not to the degree he had expected. If a group of explorers from Serica had ventured all the way to Seopolis, there was no doubt the visitors would be the talk of the town, and every noble would vie for the honor of having them as guests at parties. Here, in Tokolas, he had the sense that the Serice somehow expected the Keltens to arrive—as though everyone, eventually, arrived in Serica.
However, in the pause that followed, Sandun remembered that he agreed to meet the woman because Lord Vaina had insisted. And now that he had done so, his duty was fulfilled. Sandun stood and bowed to Miri. “I must be off. Thank you for the wonderful tea.”
Miri stood, and then she sank to her knees. Sandun didn’t quite know how to respond.
Slowly she spoke, every word barely escaping from her lips. “My lord, a moment, I beg you. I think I know—I believe I know—what the governor of Kunhalvar wants.”
She looked up at him; her face was pale, and she bit at her lower lip before she continued.
“Please understand, I would be honored to be yours, to be your—wife—if you wish. I came here hoping to marry Lord Vaina, and he has…” She stopped and swallowed. “He has rejected me. If I return home, it will shame my house. We will lose bisbel before the other houses. You are close to the lord; you are a worthy man. When news reaches Shila, they will not say Miri of Kirdar has brought dishonor to House Kirdar. I ask you to consider this unworthy woman. Please, it would mean everything to me.”
Sandun was buffeted by a sudden strong current of emotion. It was unexpected in its intensity. Her appeal was heartfelt and intense. It was like a wave that rose suddenly out of the Methalassa and crashed on the sandy beach. As though he had been sitting behind a child’s sandcastle when the sea overtopped the walls, and now his defenses were breached, and he was exposed, shocked awake.
He felt a sudden empathy for young woman. What if he had traveled across the Tiralas only to find rejection: A hostile government, run by the Kitran, uninterested in trade with Kelten? He felt her fear, her dismay, and her hope that maybe her mission might still be saved, that he might be the one to save her.
A part of his mind raised the specter of Ashala, buried just four weeks past. And now this woman was asking him to marry her? Who was she to ask such a thing? But Lord Vaina wanted him to marry this woman. And Sho’Ash knew that Sandun had felt as miserable as he had ever felt in his life these past four weeks. Maybe this was the right thing to do.
“Don’t you think should get to know me first? Isn’t this hasty?”
Miri stood up and took his hand in hers and moved closer to him. She looked him in the eyes for the third time. It was like he was locked into her vision; he could not look away.
“In my country, we say that a pure heart cannot be deceived by anything less than the master of lies. You are not a master of lies and shadow. Of this much, I am persuaded.”
Sandun’s mind suddenly fixed on a new thought: Why not? All the ideas of marriage that he had grown up with in Kelten were meaningless here in Serica. He had no family connections that mattered now. He was not trying to gather advantageous property or seeking to increase the size of his family farm. He was not moving up the social ladder he had grown up with. All of these considerations had been left behind. He was a free man, and he could do things because of what he wanted, without regard for the social conventions of Kelten. The idea of marrying this woman was actually not out of the question. In fact, it was entirely possible.
His thoughts raced as he sorted out the implications. First, marrying her would improve his position with Lord Vaina, who would owe a debt to Sandun if he did this favor for him. That was a powerful reason on its own. Personal obligation mattered; it was the foundation of all acts. People advanced in life because they did favors for the powerful men who ruled the world. In Kelten, he knew men who married women the king chose for them, no questions asked. If he was now moving in such circles of power and influence, why should he not behave the
same? Point one for Miri Kirdar.
Sandun looked carefully at the woman in front of him. He walked around her, studying her figure. Miri stood still, but her fingers twisted together and then untwisted. She was young and beautiful; it was easy to say that she was, by far, the most beautiful woman who had placed herself within his orbit. She was the black-haired mirror to the golden-haired beauty Sir Ako had married and then left behind in Kelten. Ah, what had Sir Ako said after the battle in Erimasran? “Never marry a beautiful woman.” But that wasn’t always true. Not if you had power and status. Which he now had. This woman looked at him as a desirable match, a marriage that, while not as good as Lord Vaina, was still something worth begging for. Point two for Miri.
As to her personal qualities, she had grace, manners, learning, as well as courage and determination. She had already traveled a vast distance, leaving her family and homeland behind to come to Tokolas. She had come to Kunhalvar with no intention of returning to Shila. Having come so far, she could have no objection to going farther: to Kelten. She was unattached; she came with little baggage. Point three for Miri.
Finally, there was a certain appeal to these foreign women, strangers in Serica like himself. Sir Ako and his Rakeved princess were both strangers in this vast land; neither one was home here. They were on equal footing, in a real sense. The Lady Miri was in a similar position to Russu Ti Tuomi, adrift on the turbulent seas of Serica. Like himself, she was surrounded by currents and eddies hidden from view, a piece of flotsam on the surface, unable to see into the depths below and the dark beasts lurking there. Point four for Miri.
Finally, he returned to where he had started: Lord Vaina had asked—no, he had begged—Sandun to marry the girl. Why not obey?
“The Lord of Tokolas suggested that you would be a suitable match for me.” Sandun tried to copy the way the noble lords of Kelten talked but translated it to Serice. “Lord Vaina is wise and perceptive in all matters. Your beauty and manner please me. I agree to the marriage.”
Sandun moved close to Miri, and she took a step up to him. For a moment, she pressed her body against his; he felt her warmth through her silken dress, and her scent came into his nostrils. Miri then sank to her knees and, looking up at him, she said, “This one thanks you a hundred times, a thousand times. I, Miri of Kirdar, pledge to be your wife.” Rising to her feet, she said, “What does my lord wish of me?”
“The marriage must be soon,” Sandun told her. “Events are moving apace, and new war is threatening. Since Lord Vaina will have it so, let it be so.”
“As my lord wishes. An auspicious day and time can easily be found in two or three weeks. Your wife-to-be…her mind…my mind is settled.”
“Then let us find the lord of Tokolas and seek his blessing, as this was his inspiration.”
Outside the alcove, Sandun found a messenger boy and sent him to find Lord Vaina. While they waited in the evening air, Sandun looked up and saw the stars were dimmed by haze and smoke from the evening fires. Many people were living in rough shelters outside the walls of the city. Their wood-burning campfires made more smoke than the coal ovens found inside the city. Sandun wondered how many young women and men came to Tokolas, lonely, confused, and met another lost soul and married within a week or a month? Quite a few, he suspected.
Miri and Sandun talked about wedding customs for a few minutes before the messenger boy reappeared and told them that the governor had left the palace and gone to inspect the docks, or the west gate, or perhaps something else.
“The Lord Vaina is always on the move,” Sandun told Miri. “He once told me he should be called the Iron-Foot Duke.” Miri looked at him with a puzzled expression. “I shall escort you back to your lodging. There is no telling when he will return.”
“I need to find my cousins,” Miri responded. “Their swords are half-drawn if they do not know where I am.” She led the way to the guards’ building. Outside it was quiet, but inside ten or twelve men were listening as Jay and Ven chanted words that Sandun could not make sense of. Sandun guessed they were repeating essential elements of Eston philosophy, but he was not certain. Some of the guards seemed to not pay much attention and just fingered their swords, but others were listening intently. He remembered that the Rutal-lil had said that they read scripture in the evening. At least these palace guards thought highly of the Rutal-lil, perhaps even regarded them as holy men.
Standing beside the doorway and listening with one ear to the monotone chanting, Sandun wondered what Miri’s cousins would think about the marriage. They had come all this way, killed men who got too close to their ward, and now what? Did they approve? Would they stay or return to Shila? Lord Vaina thought they would stay, but why? And for how long? He searched his feelings and found he was unconcerned. It was as though he didn’t care. Most of his mind was awake, at last, but some part was still asleep or silent.
After about ten minutes, Jay and Ven stopped chanting, and then they nodded to the guards. The guards bowed in return. The two Rutal-lil picked up their swords and came over to Miri.
“Lord Sandun,” Ven said. He and Jay both bowed slightly to Sandun. “That was from the second chapter of the Book of Fire,” Ven said.
“I could not understand any of your words,” replied Sandun.
“Chanting the books of Ekon is not like normal conversation,” Ven said. “The words are not in common use in Serica, and without breaks, you almost have to know the text before you can understand it.”
“As a teaching method, it is curiously lacking,” added Jay.
While the four slowly walked the path leading to the western gate of the palace, Sandun decided to announce the news. “I have chosen to marry your cousin. Miri of Kirdar will be my wife.”
Miri moved close to Sandun, facing her cousins. He could not see her expression.
“Ekon rewards our prayers in unexpected ways,” Ven said with evident seriousness.
“We are, of course, pleased with this,” continued Jay. “Word of your deeds and your recent astonishing journey to save your friends has traveled throughout the city. We are honored to be allied through marriage to the Fire Sword.”
Sandun nodded in response. Marriage was a political connection in Kelten for the nobility, and in Gipu. Apparently, it was the same in Shila.
“Where are you staying?” asked Sandun.
“We are lodging at the Temple of Thundering Truth,” replied Jay.
“It is one of the most traditional temples here in Tokolas,” added Ven. “And the closest to our beliefs.”
The night was full upon the city, and beyond the pools of light around each lamp, it was very dark. A mist had drifted up from the river, pushed by a faint breeze out of the north. They were through the side gate and walking along the now-quiet main street. A curfew was in force from midnight till just before dawn. The night market was by law required to delay its operation until there was light in the sky. As they walked, little was said by any of them. Miri had been silent since she and Sandun had found her cousins.
“I have been told that many marriages in Serica are arranged in such a manner that the bride and groom meet for the first time on the day of the wedding.” Sandun proffered this statement to see what would result.
“Such is not our tradition,” responded Jay. “Instead, following custom, there is a meeting before the marriage ceremony when gifts are exchanged and the bride and groom are presented to both families and to each other.”
“This allows one side or the other to back out after seeing the prospective mate, without losing much bisbel,” said Ven.
“Bisbel?” Sandun asked. Miri had used the word earlier.
“Family honor, respect, status.”
“And shall such a meeting be held before our marriage?” inquired Sandun.
“The management of weddings is beyond my ken,” replied Jay. “Cousin?”
Miri hesitantly said, �
��There is an older woman from Sorabol who lives here. I will consult her. There is, as Lord Sandun says, some need for haste, due to the marching of armies. We may not have time for the meeting-exchange.”
“The only experienced woman at the embassy is Valo Peli’s wife,” Sandun stated. “I will ask her if she would act as a go-between.”
An air of unreality had entered the conversation. Sandun thought they could just as well be discussing the purchase of a horse or a grove of orange trees instead of marriage, his marriage. At the gateway to the temple, Sandun bid farewell to Miri and her two cousins. “I look forward to our coming nuptials, which I trust will be soon.”
“As do I, my lord,” replied Miri softly.
Sandun stood still for a moment, looking at her. But what could be said, given the circumstances? The decorations of guardian creatures carved into the temple’s ponderous wooden gate seemed to move behind Miri, hinting at life in the flickering light of the oil lamps hanging from the doorposts. But what did the carvings represent? He did not know. At a loss for words, Sandun bowed and left the three of them, retracing his route alone, back to the Kelten embassy
By the time Sandun arrived at the embassy, he had decided to tell his friends what he had done. For a time, walking back, he considered not telling anyone, but he dismissed that notion as childish. He had to face the criticism that was going to be directed his way.
He went first to Valo Peli’s room to see what he thought about the marriage.
Valo Peli was, typically, dour about the news. “The lord of Tokolas is responsible. That he would use his power in this way…he has a heart of stone. There is a darkness deep inside him, though he hides it behind eight faces.” Valo Peli paused for a time, his hands knotted in front of his chest. “It is said that all people attempt to pay for the sins of their past with present deeds, as though history could be rewritten, as though our crimes can ever be forgiven or erased…still, you have agreed to the marriage, and the people of Shila are at least civilized.”
The Fire Sword Page 13
