Pegasus

"Remember that your report may be read by anyone who goes to the library and asks to see it."

"Which might include Fthoom."

"Which will undoubtedly include Fthoom."

"Will you help me?" she said sadly.

"I will certainly help you, if you wish it."

"You mean you are a magician too."

"I am indeed a magician too. But my similarity to Fthoom ends there, as I would most humbly beg the lady Sylviianel to remember."

She thought of the Hall of Magicians, where he could go and she could not. She thought of Redfora; she thought of the fact that Ahathin was one of her oldest friends. She let her mind drift . . . and for a moment she was standing in the little valley with an army behind her, and the king of the pegasi was sweeping his wingtip across the bottom of a long piece of soft white paper: she could hear a faint rustling as some human hand shifted its grip. And the two magicians with the human king looked up. She remembered the one-the one whose smile, back in the Caves, said, It is too late. It is done. It is too late. It is done.

But the second one looked at her now and in his eyes she read, Try. Try. "I believe you," she said aloud. "And I would be grateful for your help." "I believe you," she said aloud. "And I would be grateful for your help."

"It shall be my last official act as your tutor," said Ahathin. "I thank you for that."

At night-especially on the three quiet clear nights that would have been perfect for flying-she told herself that there had been many perfect flying nights they had not gone flying because Ebon wasn"t there. There had been many weeks when Ebon had been at home among the pegasi, having lessons from his master, teasing his little sister, being bored by council meetings-not with her at the palace, among the humans. This had not seemed strange to her then. But that was then, she thought. That was before I visited their country, and their Caves.

She had after all told no one, not even her father, that she had spoken to other pegasi in Rhiandomeer-pegasi other than Ebon. It turned out that it was easy-miserably, painfully easy-not to tell anyone. It was not only that no one asked directly-who was going to say to her, "Did you find, in Rhiandomeer, that you could speak to the rest of the pegasi too? That for you almost a thousand years of the way things are were nothing at all?" She had not thought of this clearly; she had been too busy bracing herself to lie. She had been, before she was brought back to the human world, so full full of her experience of the pegasi, it had seemed to her that anyone who met her might read the truth of it, somehow, off her face, her bearing, as visible as a siraga around her shoulders. of her experience of the pegasi, it had seemed to her that anyone who met her might read the truth of it, somehow, off her face, her bearing, as visible as a siraga around her shoulders.

Instead there was a new, curious distance, an awkwardness, between her and-everyone. She had thought everyone would be longing to hear about her visit, the adventure that no one else had had before. And perhaps they were. But no one asked. Even Ahathin, helping her organise her thoughts and her notes into a presentation she could give to her father and the senate, asked her no questions except about what she had already volunteered, already written down. She wanted to ask him, Do you think the pegasi shamans" magic is ant.i.thetical to human magicians" magic? Would you go to Rhiandomeer if you had the chance? Do you think it would make you confused or sick or powerless? Have the magicians ever discussed this barrier between humans and pegasi? Do they know why so few shamans come here, and why they never stay long? Is there a special group within some magicians" guild that studies the situation, like Fthoom looking for stories of friendship between human and pegasus? Has it taken you over eight hundred years to reach no conclusions?

She wasn"t even sure she could, here, in the human country, speak to pegasi, any more than Hibeehea could speak to humans, here. The air, like the silence, lay against you differently here, and she put her hand to her cheek as if to brush back a veil. The difference did not seem to make her ill, as it made the pegasus shamans, but it made her feel as if she had not come home after all-as if some of her had not come home, the part that understood sky views and sky holds, the part that found human noise and human sitting-down banquets normal.

She had dreaded what her father might ask her about speaking to the pegasi: she dreaded it because of the look in Dorogin"s eyes, because of Hibeehea"s advice, because she did not want to think about why she knew in her bones it was good advice. Lrrianay, on that first incredible night when she had begun speaking to the other pegasi, had told her what the two kings hoped, and her father had noticed that her speech at the banquet had already become more fluent after only a day among the pegasi in their own country. She dreaded almost anything he might now ask her about her journey, but he asked her nothing at all. The morning he and she had seen the doorathbaa doorathbaa pegasi who had brought her back leave to fly home to their country-the morning she had had to hold on to her father to keep herself standing as she watched Ebon vanish-he had said to her afterward, "I"m sorry, young one, that it"s so hard. But I"m glad to have you back." pegasi who had brought her back leave to fly home to their country-the morning she had had to hold on to her father to keep herself standing as she watched Ebon vanish-he had said to her afterward, "I"m sorry, young one, that it"s so hard. But I"m glad to have you back."

But he said nothing more, that day or the following days. And she never seemed to see him except in some councillor"s company, or among a group of senators-or with Fazuur and Lrrianay. She could have asked to see him alone, but she didn"t. She wondered if he thought she was avoiding him. She wondered if he was avoiding her. It was so easy to avoid someone, here at the palace, with all the bustling, clattering humans, all the comings and goings, all the meetings, all the discussions, all the messages, all the different groups of people concerned about different things and insisting on the greater importance of whatever their subject, their charge, their preoccupation was.... She had never realised before that it was too much. But it hadn"t been too much, before. Before Rhiandomeer and its birdsong, rustling-tree silences, the hum of the pegasi; before the taste of her porridge, of fwhfwhfwha, fwhfwhfwha, of the llyri gra.s.s. Before the Caves. Before of the llyri gra.s.s. Before the Caves. Before ssshuuwuushuu. ssshuuwuushuu.

She didn"t try to speak to any other pegasus, and none tried to speak to her. She felt that if she did try, she might fall down, as she had that evening she had first spoken to Niahi and then Lrrianay. She felt that despite the things that wouldn"t change-the two legs, the big hands with the rotating wrists, the lack of wings-that she was less secure in her humanness than she had been before she visited Rhiandomeer, and that was exactly what she dared not risk revealing. She dared not risk trying to speak to a pegasus. And-changed as she was in other ways-she dared not risk the despair if she failed.

She wondered if Lrrianay had said anything about her to the other pegasi at the palace, about what had happened to her in Rhiandomeer-and if so what might he have said? Had he told them not to try to speak to her-she the wingless biped who had spent five days in the Caves, who, in Rhiandomeer, could speak to all the pegasi, and not only to Ebon? Had Lrrianay guessed about the despair? Or was it only that Lrrianay agreed with Hibeehea-although Lrrianay had, in the end, said nothing about what Hibeehea had told her. Lrrianay"s last words to her had been on the morning of her flight home, merely: Thank you for coming. Thank you for coming. And she had replied, And she had replied, Thank you for having me. Thank you for having me. Her aunt or her uncle might have said just the same, and she responded the same, at the end of one of her visits to her cousins. Her aunt or her uncle might have said just the same, and she responded the same, at the end of one of her visits to her cousins.

But her state of mind was not as important as the fact that any hint of communication between the princess returned from Rhiandomeer and any other pegasus than the one she was so strangely bound to would be reported directly and immediately to Fthoom. Fthoom, the powerful and power-mad, Fthoom, about whom a pet.i.tion was gathering support and signatures, calling for him to be reinstated in his former place of authority and influence in the king"s council; Fthoom, who hated her.

She thought Lrrianay was avoiding her-but she knew she was avoiding him. From the outside, she thought, the pegasi looked just as before-formal, aloof, polite, perhaps kind, but disinterested. That was a good thing, she reminded herself. She was supposed to pretend-to appear appear-that nothing had happened except that she had been gone for three weeks; except that she had made history. I won"t make any of the kind of history anybody will have to learn later. I promise, she had said to her father. And he had replied, Be careful of your promises. I"m not going to hold you to this one.

The pegasi she met were careful to acknowledge her-but the pegasi were always careful to acknowledge any human bound to one of their own, and any pegasus in the palace grounds knew who the bound humans were. She wondered, as she punctiliously responded to pegasus acknowledgements, just as punctiliously as she responded to human acknowledgements, how many of the pegasi disapproved of her visit to their country. Was it that she was human, and was accustomed to reading human gestures and expressions, that she so often knew immediately which humans disapproved of her journey, or was it that humans made their disapproval so obvious? She could not read the pegasi any more-was that because she had lost what she had learnt of them in Rhiandomeer, or was it that they held themselves differently-as she felt she held herself differently-here in Balsinland?

She could almost hear Ebon saying, Disapprove? That"s another of your human things. What"s it for? Once something"s been decided, that"s it, isn"t it? Disapprove? That"s another of your human things. What"s it for? Once something"s been decided, that"s it, isn"t it?

But what if someone-call it dislike rather than disapprove? Hibeehea didn"t like me talking to the queen when I first arrived. Hibeehea didn"t want me to come at all. . . .

But she couldn"t hear his answer. Faintly she heard Redfora"s voice, but she couldn"t hear the words she said-and furthermore she knew she was making it up, to comfort herself.

She said aloud, "Gonoarin, wheehuf "-"the best of good days, n.o.ble sirs, n.o.ble madams"-making the correct human motions with her human hands. She could say the pegasi vowels, the "-"the best of good days, n.o.ble sirs, n.o.ble madams"-making the correct human motions with her human hands. She could say the pegasi vowels, the ff ff"s, the the mrr mrr"s, better now than she had been able to a month ago. This much at least she could keep of her journey; a few clear superficial words, a slightly greater fluency with sign.

The pegasi bowed their heads to her so that their long manes swept forward like curtains of silk: beautiful, remote, unknowable.

Of course she never went near the pegasi annex. She had no reason to.

Once she met Hirishy alone, outside her mother"s rooms. She paused to make her bow and when she raised her head Hirishy was very close to her, reaching out one tiny feather-hand to stroke her cheek. Sylvi thought-she almost thought-she heard Oh, poor sweetheart- Oh, poor sweetheart- and in her mind she saw, briefly but so vividly she could not, and in her mind she saw, briefly but so vividly she could not, could could not, have imagined it, one of the cultivated hill-meadows of the pegasus land. There were pegasi hoeing between the little green rows, and a pavilion at one corner of the field: a simple, comforting, not, have imagined it, one of the cultivated hill-meadows of the pegasus land. There were pegasi hoeing between the little green rows, and a pavilion at one corner of the field: a simple, comforting, homey homey scene, nothing demanding or formidable, like the Caves, or the Dreaming Sea . . . or the palace where they stood. scene, nothing demanding or formidable, like the Caves, or the Dreaming Sea . . . or the palace where they stood.

And then Waina, who was one of the ladies-of-the-queen"s-chamber on duty that week, opened the door. Hirishy moved unhurriedly away from Sylvi"s side, nodded a slow human-style nod to Waina, and stood waiting for Sylvi to precede her through the door. The moment-whatever it had been-was over.

Sylvi had been rather hopelessly making notes toward the presentation she was going to have to give about her journey, writing down three things she thought she could talk about and then crossing two of them off again. It would be so much easier to have a pegasus to ask, she thought.

She sighed, and pushed herself away from the table, and went and sat on the window-sill. She had been given her own office when she began to work on dams and waterways, so she could receive reports and have a place to unroll the charts and diagrams that various people brought her. She had been offered rooms on the ground floor, where most of the rest of her family had their offices, but she had wanted something as high up as possible and was in fact in an attic."I may try that," her father said. "Anyone who will climb four flights of stairs to consult me must really want my advice."

The attics had only slightly lower ceilings than the rest of the palace-and the wind that came through the windows tasted a little more like free air than house air, although when she had chosen the rooms almost four years ago she"d chiefly been interested in the view. She looked out over one of the palace"s smaller courtyards, then the outthrust bulk of the Great Hall, with a curl of old trees softening its outline. Beyond it there was parkland, and beyond that she could see the faint haze over the practise yards-and very far away, the thick dark line that was the Wall.

She sighed again, and had just stood up to go back to her desk when there was a quick knock on the door-and the head that was put round it was Danacor"s.

"Oh!" she said, and ran to throw her arms around him, her mood lightening immediately.

"How"s my favourite sister?" he said, smiling, but when she looked up at him she thought he looked tired and worried."I"m sorry I wasn"t here for your arrival. How did it go? Or is that a bad question?" And he looked at her table. "When"s your presentation?"

"Three days," she said glumly. "Three days before the party."

"Dad"ll have scheduled it before you left. And written the list of questions. Which he wrote an addendum to after he got back, am I right?"

There was a list of questions, and there was an addendum, but her father had said, "These are only because I can"t help myself. This is your your report. Tell us what you choose to tell us." She had looked at him quickly and looked away. Lrrianay was standing just behind him; if she looked into her father"s face she risked catching Lrrianay"s eye. Fazuur sat at a table set end-on to Corone"s desk. He looked up from the papers he was reading and smiled at her. report. Tell us what you choose to tell us." She had looked at him quickly and looked away. Lrrianay was standing just behind him; if she looked into her father"s face she risked catching Lrrianay"s eye. Fazuur sat at a table set end-on to Corone"s desk. He looked up from the papers he was reading and smiled at her.

Danacor added, "I hope I"ll be back in time to hear you."

"They"re sending you away again immediately?" she said, dismayed.

He sighed."We haven"t got any quiet borders left at the moment-except the Starclouds. It"s just a question of how far in, and how much effort to force them back. The wild lands are the worst, but we"ve got Ipinay and her Queen"s Own holding the most hazardous stretch of that line. I"m off to look at Pantock-there are reports of sea monsters. Sea monsters are a new one."

Fthoom is from Ghorm, thought Sylvi, which is next to Pantock. Maybe it"s his family come to visit.

"From some other messenger I"d be inclined to say, "Mm hmm, send me another report in a month," but the mayor of Pantock is pretty reliable. If he says sea monsters, there probably are sea monsters. But I"ll be back for your party. So finish your presentation so you can enjoy it."He looked at her, smiling."My little sister, all grown up. Well, maybe not up, up, exactly. . . ." exactly. . . ."

"Troll," she said equably. "Think of all the horse-fodder bills I will save the realm by never getting tall enough to ride anything bigger than a pony."

"Of course. My future chancellor of the exchequer thanks you." He paused again. "You look so much like Dad. It"s uncanny."

"And you look more and more like Mum."

He grimaced. "Yes. I"m the warrior, not the negotiator. You"ll have to take over the negotiating when Dad retires. Farley wants to raise horses and Garren wants to find new plants for his herbalism."

"Not me," she said. "I"m going to-to-" But her usual declaration of her future-I"m going to become an engineer, and build dams and bridges all up and down the Kishes and the Greentops-wouldn"t come. What came to her instead was, I"m going back to Rhiandomeer, if they"ll have me, and then I"m going to find out if there"s a little not very interesting Cave somewhere that someone would let a human try and sculpt. A human no one would miss much, being the king"s fourth child. And I"d come back occasionally, and visit you humans.

But she couldn"t say that, even to Danny.

Danacor said, "Mum warned me your journey had changed you. Maybe it"s a little like after Mum said yes to Dad, or after the Sword accepted me. Everything does change. But n.o.body-no human-has ever been to Rhiandomeer before. You"re the pegasus expert now. Everyone will want to know what you think about anything to do with the pegasi, now."

"No!" she said, horrified. "I am not not the pegasi expert! I"m going to learn engineering, and build dams! They are-they are-oh!" She remembered her father sitting down through the long pegasus banquet; she remembered telling her mother about the pegasi expert! I"m going to learn engineering, and build dams! They are-they are-oh!" She remembered her father sitting down through the long pegasus banquet; she remembered telling her mother about chuur chuur and and chuua chuua."Knowing more-oh-it"s more like knowing less!"

Danny laughed. "Yes, I-er-know. But you"re the expert to the rest of us. Dad would tell you he"s not the expert on running a country, and I would certainly tell you I"m not the expert on making taralians and norindours-and sea monsters-go away and stop bothering us. But we"re all we"ve got. You too. You"d better get used to it."

She stared at him. He was right, of course. But it hadn"t occurred to her before. She was too busy thinking about herself-and missing Ebon-and worrying about her presentation. She wondered if this was why her father had not asked her any private questions about her journey-that he had guessed what she was feeling. The warrior had blurted it out when the negotiator had chosen to say nothing.

"But you"ll give a brilliant presentation. Just like Dad would. It"s written all over you, as well as on all those papers." He kissed the top of her head and was gone again.

[image]

At the prospect of being the pegasus expert she had been even more careful what she had, and had not, said. Was it all right to describe the crops they cultivate? The fields of llyri gra.s.s so tall she could not see over their waving ta.s.sels, even in spring? The colonies of spiders they fed and tended, that they might harvest their silk? The spinning, dyeing and weaving, the paper-making? That they had no houses, but that each trade had its small cotes or cabins or cottages? Could she describe the pavilions, the furniture, the ingenious way they harnessed each other to carry loads? The last was done at the palace, but somehow humans rarely saw them doing it; nor would humans ever have seen them carrying their long tables on poles, and fitting the pieces together, and the tray-frames that let them carry full serving-bowls or anything else that must not be jostled, and the various pokers, prodders and hooks that let them shift the things they carried; and the deft way they used their knees, their chests and their teeth-everything based on, and arising from, their weak but clever hands. Why did did humans see so little of this creative dexterity? On the rare occasions the pegasi hosted an event, they did it in one of the Courts, and there were human servants to do the fetching and carrying. Was this sense-there were human servants, why not make use of them-or was it the humans barging in where they were not needed because barging was what humans did? humans see so little of this creative dexterity? On the rare occasions the pegasi hosted an event, they did it in one of the Courts, and there were human servants to do the fetching and carrying. Was this sense-there were human servants, why not make use of them-or was it the humans barging in where they were not needed because barging was what humans did?

Ahathin had come to see how she was getting on a little after Danacor had left her.

"I"m not," she said."Getting on. Danacor was just here and . . . " But there was nothing she could ask Ahathin when she wasn"t telling her own father the truth. She looked up from her increasing pages of notes. Ahathin was looking at her thoughtfully.

"If you had come back from a month at your cousins" and been asked to give a report, what would you have said?"

"I was asked," she said, half laughing and half impatient. "I was always always asked. I hated it when I was younger, you know, I felt it spoilt the holiday. It was more interesting lately, when I could talk about rivers and bridges. But the pegasi don"t need bridges." asked. I hated it when I was younger, you know, I felt it spoilt the holiday. It was more interesting lately, when I could talk about rivers and bridges. But the pegasi don"t need bridges."

"It is the role of teachers," Ahathin said tranquilly, "to spoil their students" pleasure. As I recall, when you were younger, you said a good deal about the food and the countryside."

"But that was just a holiday, like anyone might have," she said dubiously. " This was-"

"That you went is as much as anyone needs to know," he said."The rest you may treat more or less as a holiday, as you choose."

The Caves? she thought. Can I treat the Caves as a holiday outing? I must say something about the Caves.

So she (again) praised the pegasi"s hospitality, she described her feather-bed and her hot breakfasts-she described the pavilions, and the harnesses and frames, and the way almost everything the pegasi used came to bits small enough to be made and then fitted together by the tiny pegasi feather-hands. She described the paper and the weaving-and the spiders. She described the countryside, that it was like and unlike their human lands-she had mentioned the lack of bridges, and of dams, and the way the paths all connected within an area, but that there were no roads between discrete areas-and she described the fields of koy and fleiier for drying and weaving, of barley and oats and djee, of pumpkins, maize and zorra; the orchards of apples, pears and plooraia-and the fields and fields and fields of llyri gra.s.s.

Of the Caves she said only that she had seen but a fraction of a fraction of them-she allowed it to be implied that she had spent perhaps a single afternoon there-and that the corridors and individual chambers were often very large, and very beautifully decorated, some with great washes and swirls of muted colours, and some with representational scenes of landscapes, and of pegasi galloping or flying.

She did not mention that a shaman must accompany you into the Caves. She did not mention ssshuuwuushuu. ssshuuwuushuu. She did not mention Redfora and Oraan; she did not mention the Dreaming Sea. To the best of her ability she made her journey sound like a kind of royal progression, as if she had been the king"s amba.s.sador to a barony a little farther away and a little less known than most, as if the strangeness could be contained in a description of the food and the clothing, and possibly a few local peculiarities about the raising of crops. She mentioned She did not mention Redfora and Oraan; she did not mention the Dreaming Sea. To the best of her ability she made her journey sound like a kind of royal progression, as if she had been the king"s amba.s.sador to a barony a little farther away and a little less known than most, as if the strangeness could be contained in a description of the food and the clothing, and possibly a few local peculiarities about the raising of crops. She mentioned sssha.s.ssha sssha.s.ssha as a visitor to the palace might mention seeing the mural of the signing in the Great Hall, and the affecting historical token of the framed treaty. as a visitor to the palace might mention seeing the mural of the signing in the Great Hall, and the affecting historical token of the framed treaty.

Part of her training as king"s daughter had included how to give a speech: speak slowly and distinctly, and don"t keep your nose buried in your pages; look up as often as you can, and make eye contact with members of your audience. She had done these things, but the eyes she had met had stared back at her like painted porcelain. When she was done, she shook her pages together again, looked out over the faces looking up at her and smiled a trained princess" smile. She had been aware of them-senators, blood, courtiers and councillors, about a quarter of them with pegasi present who stood beside their bondmates" pegasus-tall chairs-listening closely to everything she said; no one had so much as sneezed while she spoke. But she had picked up nothing from them, any more than she had been able to read anything in the porcelain eyes. She permitted herself to glance to her right, where her father sat; he smiled encouragingly at her, and that made her feel a little better. But her eyes drifted to Lrrianay standing behind him, and to Fazuur"s hands falling still as she fell silent-and she wished, again, for Ebon. She wished for Ebon as she wished every time she saw Lrrianay at her father"s shoulder, or any pegasus at any bondmate"s shoulder, or any pegasus. Or any time she took a breath, she wished again for Ebon.

She turned back to her audience.

The first question she was asked was if there were any representations of humans in the Caves. She was ready for this, but she was a little shaken that it was the very first question: shouldn"t her audience be more interested in the zorra and the djee? Or the flying? How could any human not not want to hear more about the flying? But she smiled again, and looked levelly at Senator Chorro and said that she did not remember seeing any, no, but that even the little of the Caves she had seen had been rather overwhelming in its size and magnificence-"Imagine spending a day at the palace and then trying to report on what you"d seen." That, finally, gained her her first laugh of the afternoon, and the atmosphere in the Little Hall eased somewhat; Sylvi was grateful, not least because that should make them less likely to notice that she was lying. want to hear more about the flying? But she smiled again, and looked levelly at Senator Chorro and said that she did not remember seeing any, no, but that even the little of the Caves she had seen had been rather overwhelming in its size and magnificence-"Imagine spending a day at the palace and then trying to report on what you"d seen." That, finally, gained her her first laugh of the afternoon, and the atmosphere in the Little Hall eased somewhat; Sylvi was grateful, not least because that should make them less likely to notice that she was lying.

She had originally planned to say that she had seen the signing of the treaty on one chamber wall-but when the time came she found she could not. It struck too near to what had really happened to her-admitting even so much felt dangerous, as if it were a crack in a dam wall, and the water might use that one tiny crack to bring the wall down, and the lake behind rush out.

There were murmurs in the hall now, neighbour speaking to neighbour, and one or two more questions, and Sylvi concentrated on appearing candid and at ease. She was wearing a long cream-coloured robe with the siraga the pegasi had given to her over her shoulders; she touched it once or twice in what she hoped was an appreciative but offhand manner. Young Vlodor stood up, smiling tentatively. He was tall enough that he could do this gracefully, despite the height of the Little Hall chairs, which was to allow for the presence of pegasi. Vlodor had only recently taken his father"s place among the blood councillors; he had been introduced to her at the banquet welcoming her home. He was bound, and his pegasus" name was Nyyoah. The Holder of Concord recognised him, and he bowed to Sylvi and said, "I am sure this is a frivolous question and unworthy of our august company, but, princess, might you be kind enough to indulge us in a little more description of what flying flyingis like?"

That produced another laugh, and Sylvi almost relaxed. In other circ.u.mstances she had thought, the other evening, that she might like Vlodor; she thought so again now. "I have both longed for and dreaded that question," she said lightly, jokingly,"because flying is most amazing-it is beyond amazing-I fear it is indescribable, and I wish it were not; I would like to tell you how amazing it is." She paused and glanced at her father and they exchanged reminiscent smiles. "You ride in a rope sling-but you are riding on air. air." She had to be careful not to be too enthusiastic; she had to remember that nothing had changed, except that she was now sixteen years old and had visited Rhiandomeer. She had to remember she did not miss Ebon with very breath she took-she had to remember that the only flying she had done was in a drai. She finished by saying, "It is a little embarra.s.sing to discover that some of our most famous sky holds and sky views are inaccurate."

But it was Senator Orflung who asked the question that was, she was sure, in everyone"s minds-she felt she could almost see it shimmering in the air, like she could almost see the magic that held the draia ropes taut-even more she felt she could see it flickering in Fazuur"s eyes.

Senator Orflung got slowly to his feet and was recognised by the Holder of Concord. He then bowed to Sylvi and said,"My lady, we are glad to have you back. And I wonder if you can tell us now, my lady, now that you have turned sixteen, if you-if you and Hrrr Hrrr Ebon-are prepared to begin some of the task of translation and mediation between our two peoples, as your father the king hinted four years ago might be permitted once you had attained your majority." Ebon-are prepared to begin some of the task of translation and mediation between our two peoples, as your father the king hinted four years ago might be permitted once you had attained your majority."

She was conscious of Fazuur and Sagda, Lord Cral"s Speaker, standing behind her on the dais. Ebon was not there, so Ahathin was not there. She had wanted to ask him to come, for fear of exactly this question, but for fear of exactly this question she had decided it was better to face the senate alone.

"Yes," she said at once, and her voice rang out as clear and calm as her father"s might have done."Yes, my sir, and all my sirs and ladies, all my barons and granddames. I am ready to do anything I can for my people and my country-and for our peoples and our countries. Ebon and I have discussed this many times, and Ebon has a.s.sured me he feels the same." Almost-almost-she could hear Ebon saying, a.s.sured? Dearheart, I"ll promise to do anything you like, but I don"t a.s.sured? Dearheart, I"ll promise to do anything you like, but I don"t a.s.sure a.s.sure.

It"s just king talk, she said back to him, knowing that she was making him up-and felt a pang of loneliness and loss every bit as severe as she had the evening she had met Niahi-just before she met Niahi-when her father"s absence seemed too terrible to bear. " Tomorrow, my sir, you will be able to ask him yourself," and she was almost sure she kept the longing out of her voice. she said back to him, knowing that she was making him up-and felt a pang of loneliness and loss every bit as severe as she had the evening she had met Niahi-just before she met Niahi-when her father"s absence seemed too terrible to bear. " Tomorrow, my sir, you will be able to ask him yourself," and she was almost sure she kept the longing out of her voice.

But it was her father who came to stand beside her now on the dais, and Lrrianay briefly left her father"s shoulder to stand at hers. "We have already begun the discussions about how best we may use our daughter and our son for this work," said Sylvi"s father, Fazuur"s hands flicking in counterpoint, "and if any of you wish to contribute to that discussion, you may wait upon us."

And Lrrianay said, "Araawhaia," which meant "I agree," and added the gesture for emphasis, which was to drop his right wing almost to floor level and give it a tiny, scooping sweep. But in her mind she heard him say-she was sure she heard him say-well done. And she unmistakably heard Fazuur murmur to her and her father both, "The king compliments the Lady Sylviianel on her poise and clear-headedness."

Ebon"s return was the first time she had been a part of the formal ritual of welcome to the pegasus king. Lrrianay had flown home immediately after her presentation, to escort the pegasi coming to the human princess" birthday party, and there was to be the full ceremony of reception when the company arrived. She was still, that day, half in a daze from having given her report successfully the day before-that, and her answer to Senator Orflung"s question had instantly begun a deluge of messages, papers and requests for appointments.

"We must ask your father for a secretary," said Ahathin.

Ahathin had appeared at his usual hour that morning, to ask her how her presentation had gone, and found her sorting through the first courier"s delivery in increasing dismay.

"I don"t know most of these words in my own own language," she said, handing him a letter from a philosopher who seemed to want to discuss the pegasi"s understanding of the nature of reality and epistemological truth. That had been six hours, two couriers and seven special messengers ago. language," she said, handing him a letter from a philosopher who seemed to want to discuss the pegasi"s understanding of the nature of reality and epistemological truth. That had been six hours, two couriers and seven special messengers ago.

Sylvi pushed her chair back violently and went to stand by the window. It was raining again; with Ahathin present-and the likelihood of the next courier arriving at any moment-she decided not to lean out in it, but she did put her hand through the open pane and let a few raindrops pool in her palm. She didn"t want a secretary; she didn"t want to be tied down by more fuss and commotion, more meetings, more quacking human voices demanding she do things, more piles of paper, paper, till her desk resembled her father"s. She rubbed the palmful of cool water over her face. "Yes," she said. "I suppose so." She turned round. "Can you-will you stay? Were you planning on writing the history of the world as soon as you were relieved of your duties as tutor? I don"t know what to till her desk resembled her father"s. She rubbed the palmful of cool water over her face. "Yes," she said. "I suppose so." She turned round. "Can you-will you stay? Were you planning on writing the history of the world as soon as you were relieved of your duties as tutor? I don"t know what to do do with a secretary." with a secretary."

"I am still the princess" adviser as well as her somewhat superfluous Speaker," said Ahathin in his usual calm tone."I will attend her as long as she wishes my a.s.sistance."

"The princess is extremely grateful," she said, and sighed.

She went back to her rooms for a quiet tea and to dress for the ceremonial meeting, thinking, Ebon will be here this evening. Ebon. Ebon. And yet her best friend of the last four years seemed, for the moment, almost as unreal as her journey to his land seemed, after her cool dry recitation of pegasi food and furniture. The barrage of requests for their services as translators seemed only to push him even farther away. And yet her best friend of the last four years seemed, for the moment, almost as unreal as her journey to his land seemed, after her cool dry recitation of pegasi food and furniture. The barrage of requests for their services as translators seemed only to push him even farther away.

Pansa had laid her topaz robe out ready for her when she brought her her tea. Sylvi went to lean against the window-sill again, holding a cup of tea, looking out-but her bedroom faced in the wrong direction to see the pegasi returning. Pansa brought her a plate with some of the food from the tray on it and said,"Lady, remember to eat eat something," and jiggled it under Sylvi"s nose. Sylvi sighed and took it, went back to her chair and sat down. She looked at the robe lying across her bed: the orange-gold of the topazes, soft in lamplight, reminded her of the colours of the Caves. Pansa hovered, wanting to help her into it. Sylvi looked at the plate still in her hands, picked up something at random and put it in her mouth. And then there was a knock on the door, and a courtier saying that the pegasi were in sight. something," and jiggled it under Sylvi"s nose. Sylvi sighed and took it, went back to her chair and sat down. She looked at the robe lying across her bed: the orange-gold of the topazes, soft in lamplight, reminded her of the colours of the Caves. Pansa hovered, wanting to help her into it. Sylvi looked at the plate still in her hands, picked up something at random and put it in her mouth. And then there was a knock on the door, and a courtier saying that the pegasi were in sight.

Lrrianay was escorting not only his youngest son but also his wife, his daughter, and an a.s.sortment of other pegasi-including an unusually high number of shamans." That"s Hibeehea," Hibeehea," Sylvi whispered to her father, as the two of them stood, waiting, while the pegasi landed, lightly as sparrows, shook their wings and folded them, and walked toward them. Behind the king and the princess were ranks of gorgeously dressed humans, including the queen and the king"s heir; at their elbows were their Speakers, Fazuur and Ahathin, and Ahathin was wearing his Speaker sticks. Sylvi whispered to her father, as the two of them stood, waiting, while the pegasi landed, lightly as sparrows, shook their wings and folded them, and walked toward them. Behind the king and the princess were ranks of gorgeously dressed humans, including the queen and the king"s heir; at their elbows were their Speakers, Fazuur and Ahathin, and Ahathin was wearing his Speaker sticks.

"Yes, it is," said her father. "For the birthday celebration of the only human who has ever visited the pegasus Caves."

She was silent, but the crowd around them meant she did not have to try and respond to this. Hibeehea had said he would come again to the palace-to visit her, her, the human who had walked into the human who had walked into sssha.s.ssha sssha.s.ssha and seen the signing of the treaty of Alliance. and seen the signing of the treaty of Alliance. You have changed the world, little human child, You have changed the world, little human child, he had said to her when they parted, and she stood waiting to greet him now in her beautiful topaz robe, and felt ashamed. I have not changed the world, she thought. I am not a hero, and the world is too big. he had said to her when they parted, and she stood waiting to greet him now in her beautiful topaz robe, and felt ashamed. I have not changed the world, she thought. I am not a hero, and the world is too big.

She walked forward when her father did-trying not to think about anything, trying not to think about the fact that she was now the pegasus expert, and stood beside her father while the queen and the heir stood behind her. She tried especially not to think about the sight of Ebon walking toward her, a black hole in the twilight, next to his pale father. Lrrianay was wearing Balsin"s opal, and her heart sank even further; he only wore it for very special occasions. No, she thought again. I have not changed the world. I am too small.

She did not run forward to throw her arms around Ebon"s neck, as she wanted to, as she might have done if they were alone, as she had done with her brother. But here there were hundreds of people watching them, including some of those who wanted their interpretive skills, including some of those who had tried to block her visit to Rhiandomeer-and everyone present knew the prohibition on touching the pegasi.

The formal greeting ritual was hands held up, palms pressed together, then parted and held out; then you picked up a handful of flower petals, fresh or dried, according to the season, which a footman would be offering you from a bowl, and you scattered them on the ground between you. Lrrianay walked gravely forward and bowed to her father, the opal at his breast glowing like fire; Ebon, when it was his turn, did the same to her. He was wearing a black siraga, invisible against his blackness, so that the gems st.i.tched to it looked as if they had been strewn over Ebon"s naked shoulders. As neither of them had ever been a part of the sovereigns" ritual, they had never greeted each other this way before either. Missed you, Missed you, was all he said. was all he said.

And I you, she replied-her joy at seeing him muted and confused by the strangeness of their meeting; and there were Speakers listening. She even found she was relieved that she could still talk to him-of course I can still talk to him! she thought. That"s where it all she replied-her joy at seeing him muted and confused by the strangeness of their meeting; and there were Speakers listening. She even found she was relieved that she could still talk to him-of course I can still talk to him! she thought. That"s where it all began began!