"How could I?" she asked him, speaking more like a small child confronted with some horror than like a woman repentant. "Holy Flower, how could I have contemplated such dishonor, even for a moment? And all the while not ceasing to love you?"
"The answer is in your hand," he told her gravely.
She lowered her eyes to the talisman. "I do not believe you." But her fingers opened and she let the Three-Winged Circle drop, swinging from its neck-chain.
He said, "While I was Denby"s captive I discovered things about the Sceptre- about the magic of the three talismans-that you will have to confront and deal with, Haramis. Let me tell you-"
"Go away!" she said in a voice roughened with misery. Her eyes brimmed. "You have always been a liar and a manipulator. Now I have become like you. Iriane and the Teacher were mistaken. Our love is a despicable thing and I will root it out of myself or die in the trying!"
She attempted to climb to her feet, but her legs were bereft of strength. He helped her up. Then, before she could protest, he kissed her lips fleetingly.
"We will talk again," he said, "when you have meditated upon this meeting further. And when other events have helped to clarify your thoughts."
"Go!" she cried, holding the Circle between them with both hands trembling, her eyes squeezed tightly shut against the fresh tears that would have poured fourth. "Go!"
He gathered up his discarded vestments and the second Star, put on his own medallion, and went away.
Chapter Nine.
LUMMOMU-KO, Speaker of Let, leader of the Wyvilo Folk, and devoted friend of the Lady of the Eyes, had willingly obtained pa.s.sage for her and her party on a flatboat owned by his cousin that was bound down the Great Mutar River.
Over her protests, he had insisted upon accompanying Kadiya as far as the capital of Var, which lay at the rivermouth on the southern coast of the Peninsula.
Kadiya had been tense and moody during the days they had already spent on the voyage. And now the Archimage had come to her in a Sending, and Lummomu had waited for over an hour outside the forward deckhouse while the two sisters conferred secretly. When the Lady of the Eyes emerged at last, the Wyvilo felt his heart sink. Her body was taut with suppressed anger and the grime on her face betrayed the tracks of dried tears.
"The Sending from the White Lady contained evil tidings indeed," Kadiya declared. "I must speak at once with Wikit-Aa."
"My cousin is at the tiller," Lummomu said. "Come with me and watch your footing."
From behind, the Wyvilo chief had the appearance of a very tall, robustly built man; but his race"s sizable admixture of Skritek blood gave him a face that was pointed like that of a beast, having fearsome white teeth and prominent golden eyes with vertical pupils. Both his neck and the backs of his hands were partly scaled and partly clothed with short red hair. Indulging the proclivity of the Forest Folk for human finery, the Speaker of Let was sumptuously attired. His raincloak was supple maroon leather with embossed golden borders at the hood-edge and hem. He wore pantaloons and a jacket of ocher brocade beneath a sleeveless jerkin of emerald green milingal hide. His matching jackboots had platform soles and spur-leathers, even though he had never sat a fronial in his life. The outfit was completed by a glittering gem-studded baldric and scabbard of flamboyant Zinoran workmanship.
To the untutored eye, the young woman trailing the splendid aborigine looked to be nothing more than a servant. She wore drab gray wool and scuffed black leather, and only her magnificent sword and her a.s.sured bearing hinted that she commanded the expedition.
Kadiya and Lummomu made their way cautiously to the stern of the big boat, dodging around bales and hampers and casks of cargo. The deck was slickened and treacherous from the endless rain. Mist clouded the air and made the distant riverbanks nearly imperceptible, so that the flatboat"s midstream progress seemed deceptively slow. But the Great Mutar was already in full spate and the aboriginal trading craft raced through the turbulent brown water almost as fast as a mounted courier could gallop. It was expected that they would reach the twisting river"s mouth, and the Varonian capital of Mutavari, within another nine days.
As she pa.s.sed the lamplit afterdeckhouse, she saw young Prince Tolivar and his crony Ralabun through the thick, bubbly windowpane. They were watching the Oathed Companions and the off-duty members of the Wyvilo crew play game after game of dance-bones to alleviate boredom. Jagun had discovered years earlier that he and Ralabun were not destined to be congenial, and so he spent most of his spare time with the Wyvilo skipper, Wikit-Aa.
Kadiya and Lummomu found the pair in the small sternhouse that gave the steersman meager cover from the elements. With a little crowding, all four of them shared the shelter.
Jagun beheld the despondent look on the Lady"s face and murmured, "Bad news, then, Fa.r.s.eer?"
"There has been a signal disaster," she said, and proceeded to describe how Queen Anigel had been swept away in the flooded mire near the Virkar River. "Antar"s warriors and the Nyssomu scouts accompanying the royal entourage have searched for two days. They rescued Immu, who was carried off by the waters at the same time as the Queen, but of my poor sister they found no trace."
"Surely the White Lady"s talisman-" Jagun began.
But Kadiya shook her head. "It will not show where Ani is, nor reveal anything else about her state, not even if she is alive or dead. Clearly, there is dark magic at work."
Jagun, Lummomu, and Wikit-Aa bowed their heads and intoned, "May the Triune and the Lords of the Air have pity."
Kadiya continued. "Since the Queen"s Mireway was ruptured-perhaps by lightning, more likely by the sorcery of the Star Men-the royal caravan has had to turn back to Ruwenda Citadel. It will be impossible to perform road repairs until the Dry Time."
"And the hunt for the poor Queen continues?" Lummomu inquired.
"It does," Kadiya said, "with reinforcements from Bonar Castle and the local Nyssomu settlements. But the search may be futile. Just before my sister disappeared, a parry of warriors was sent out from the royal train to guard a viaduct site near the mireway. These men have also vanished utterly."
"By the Holy Flower!" Jagun exclaimed. "Then it is virtually certain that the Star Men have abducted them all through that viaduct!"
"Certain as the changing phases of the Three Moons," Kadiya said with a grimace. "And the almighty White Lady says she can do nothing about it. Nothing! She has been dallying with that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Orogastus, and he has somehow got her all in a swivet.
and she says she must think over the alternatives before taking action! While she dithers about, my poor pregnant sister and the others could be dying-or enduring torture. And so I will go to their rescue myself, since Haramis declines to do so. We must turn back at once."
"Lady, no!" exclaimed the Wyvilo skipper, in a voice full of dismay. "You do not understand the difficulty-"
"I have made up my mind, Wikit-Aa," Kadiya stated. "You will be handsomely reimbursed for any losses."
"That is not the point," Wikit said. "I would gladly sacrifice my cargo if it would help to rescue your sister the Queen. But to return to Let the way we came, against the flow of the Great Mutar in flood, would take no less than two tennights. Possibly three."
Lummomu-Ko added, "And then it is still nine days or more of travel from Let to Bonar Castle via Ta.s.s Falls, Lake Wum, and the mireway. After so long a pa.s.sage of time, how can you hope to find the Queen alive if the White Lady herself has failed?"
"I will seek them until the Conquering Ice freezes the ten h.e.l.ls!" Kadiya declared. "As to how... the answer came to me moments after the Sending of the Archimage had withdrawn. I shall go to the site of that viaduct with a force of brave warriors, and I will command it to open, using words the White Lady taught me. Wherever the viaduct leads, my comrades and I will go-and at the other end we will find the Star Men"s hideaway, and the Queen and the other persons held captive."
"Your Royal Sister may already be dead," Jagun said quietly.
"Anigel is alive!" Kadiya insisted. "We are Daughters of the Threefold-Petals of the Living Trillium. I would know if she had expired. Wikit-Aa, I order you to turn back."
The Wyvilo skipper said, "Lady of the Eyes, you must understand that this boat is not suitable for upstream travel against a strong current. It is little more than a ma.s.sive raft with twin deck housings, as befits a watercraft that must withstand the rigors of vicious rapids and the battering of floating debris while hauling much cargo. It is our usual custom, after descending the river to the capital of Var, to sell the boat for its timber after the cargo is disposed of. We make the return journey paddling small Varonian canoes through the shallows."
"Then you must put me and my knights ash.o.r.e at the nearest village," Kadiya said. "I will procure other small craft and boatmen to take us back to Ruwenda. Prince Tolivar and Ral-abun will remain with you, and take ship from Mutavari as we had planned."
"There are no human villages in these parts," Wikit told her. "Until the Truce of the Mire, the people of Var were too terrified of the savage Glismak Folk dwelling hereabouts to even consider using the Great Mutar as a trade route. Even we Wyvilo shunned the lower section of the river pa.s.sing through Glismak tribal territory, and this prevented commerce between the Varonians and us. Now, of course, the merchants of Mutavari eagerly welcome our boats. But human settlements along the river are still almost nonexistent because of the uncertain temper of the Glismak. There are only rude outposts here and there where factors of the Mutavari companies trade with tribal gold-gatherers or trappers." He gestured toward the right bank, which was largely obscured by fog. "One such trading post is nearby, but it is an unsavory place-"
"Pull in," Kadiya ordered, "and we will review the situation."
It was midday when the flatboat docked. The Varonian factor in charge of the dismal outpost was a stocky bearded fellow named Turmalai Yonz. He wore greasy buckskins and had a suspiciously enthusiastic manner. When Kadiya and her party came ash.o.r.e, he greeted them cordially and brought mugs of salka, the bitter cider that was the national beverage of Var. He went away then, promising to check into the availability of manned small boats. The day remained dark and gloomy and the rainfall was unabating, leaking through the ill-thatched roof of the porch attached to the factor"s squalid lodge. Kadiya, Lummomu, Jagun, Wikit, and Lord Zondain, the senior knight of the six Oathed Companions, sat waiting on crude stools at a rickety table.
"At least the factor seemed sanguine about being able to a.s.sist us," Lord Zondain said in a hopeful tone. "Can"t say that I like the fellow"s looks much, though." The knight was a burly man of two-and-thirty whose spa.r.s.e hair was already going gray, a native of the Dylex country in northeastern Ruwenda. His younger brothers, Melpotis and Kalepo, who were also part of Kadiya"s company, had remained on the boat with the other three knights.
"This Turmalai has the smile of a brigand," little Jagun said, scowling. "I have seen his like skulking about the waterfront of Derorguila and the Trevista trade fairs. They will promise you anything, but delivery is something else again- especially if you have paid in advance."
"I doubt any well-found craft can be obtained in this wretched pelrik-hole," growled Lummomu-Ko. With increasing unease he had been watching the activity down by the dock, where figures could be discerned loitering around the Wyvilo vessel. "The humans in these regions are poor and lawless. The honest merchants of Mutavari hold them in contempt."
"That is true," said Wikit-Aa. "These river people also hate Wyvilo Folk, since we are so much more hardworking and prosperous than they. We never stop at these sorry outposts if we can help it. And I tell you with all sincerity that we would be wise to quit this one promptly and move on." He tapped his muzzle with one taloned digit. "My nose itches-and amongst the Wyvilo, that is a sure sign of trouble ahead."
"I must find a way to return to Ruwenda!" Kadiya was undaunted. "I don"t need a royal trireme, only three or four dugout canoes to accommodate me and Jagun and the knights-"
"And I myself," Lummomu appended. "You require a trust-worthy guide to lead you through Glismak country, and can hardly hope to find one here."
Wikit-Aa tossed salka down his throat with practiced ease. "It will be touch and go for the Lady and her party, even with your redoubtable a.s.sistance, Cousin. Would it not be wiser to continue downriver to Mutavari, and there embark with the young Prince on a ship sailing around the Peninsula to Labornok?"
"The sea voyage would take even longer than going up the river," Lummomu said, "because of the greater distance and the adverse winds at this time of year."
"And we would then have to travel overland from Derorguila to Ruwenda in order to reach the viaduct," Kadiya said, "crossing the Vispir Pa.s.s. With the yearly monsoons, we could find the pa.s.s snowed in by the time we arrived. No... I am determined to return up the Mutar."
The sagging door of the lodge creaked open, and there stood the beaming factor with a tray, on which stood a steaming crock, a stack of chipped bowls, and a collection of wooden spoons. "n.o.ble guests! This humble one begs you to partake of a nice fresh karuwok stew. Although the utensils are lowly, you will find the dish both bellywarming and delicious on this dreary day."
Kadiya frowned. "That is most civil of you, Factor Turmalai, but we did not order food."
The bearded man chortled and began setting out the bowls. He nodded at a pair of tall shabby youths who had emerged from some rear door and were carrying a covered cauldron and a big wicker-covered salka jug down the muddy path to the river. "I have taken the liberty of sending my sons with refreshments for your companions on the boat. The cost will be modest, I a.s.sure you. While you eat, my a.s.sociates are looking into your request for small boats with paddlers."
"The stuff smells edible," Lord Zondain conceded, sniffing the portion of stew that had been ladled into his bowl, "and I for one am famished."
"Splendid!" The factor rubbed his hands and grinned. "I"ll fetch more salka." He hurried off into the lodge.
Kadiya stared at her dish without enthusiasm, but Zondain was already eating heartily. "Dig in!" the Companion urged. "It"s actually quite tasty."
Jagun lifted his spoon and touched his long tongue to the contents. His yellow eyes popped out on their stalks and he spat, leaping to his feet and knocking over the table so that bowls and salka cups and the stew crock scattered onto the rotting planks of the porch. "Sacred Flower-it"s laced with yistok root! Don"t eat it!"
Kadiya, Lummomu-Ko, and Wikit-Aa flung away their spoons and started up, reaching for their weapons. But Lord Zondain still sat on his stool, head lolling forward on his breast.
"Poisoned!" cried the Lady of the Eyes. "Oh, the treacherous worram-scat! Lummomu, do what you can for poor Zondain, then go deal with Turmalai. You others-with me to the boat!"
She went flying down the path, her great steel sword shining in the rain, with the Wyvilo skipper and Jagun following. The dock area was an untidy collection of rickety sheds, baled furs and hides, carelessly stacked lengths of timber, and beached water-craft. The factor"s sons were evidently aboard Wikit"s flatboat. Three other tatterdemalion Varonians guarded the gangplank, one waving a rusty saber and the other two holding long knives.
Kadiya screamed to those aboard, "Poison! Poison! Don"t eat the food!" At the same time she swung her blade at the saber-bearer. He parried her blow clumsily, then rushed at her in an attempt to push her from the dock into the fastflowing river. She sidestepped and thrust forth her booted foot. As the Varonian howled and lost his balance she clubbed him at the base of the neck with her heavy sword hilt. He hit the brown water with a loud splash and was swept away.
Wikit-Aa had already disposed of his human foe, running him through with a fine blade of Zinoran steel. His muzzle opened in a hideous grin of triumph. "I"ll see what"s happening aboard!" he shouted, and leapt aboard the boat and ran to the afterdeck-house, from which came sounds of fighting.
Kadiya whirled around to help Jagun. He had sliced his attacker"s left leg, drawing blood, but the ruffian had backed the diminutive Nyssomu into a cul-desac formed by two big bales of tarenial hides. Giggling in antic.i.p.ation, the human was drawing back his arm to fling his knife into Jagun"s throat when Kadiya hacked off the limb below the elbow. The Varonian fell screaming in a welter of blood.
At that moment a human form crashed out through the starboard deckhouse window. It was one of the treacherous factor"s sons, who hit the boat"s rail, clung to it precariously for a moment, then slid screeching into the river as a knight leaned through the windowframe and swiped at him with a b.l.o.o.d.y sword. There were cheers from inside.
Another Oathed Companion, Sir Bafrik, came to the deckhouse door and yelled, "We"ve done for the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, Princess! How fare you?"
"Go up to the lodge, some of you! See if Lummomu needs a.s.sistance." As several knights dashed away she turned back to the injured Varonian, who sat clutching his severed arm with an ashen face. "Will you die, fellow, or shall I tend to your wound?"
"If-if you please, gracious Lady," he moaned.
The rain had stopped and it was nearly dark. Sir Bafrik and Sir Sainlat brought out a gore-smeared youth and flung him unceremoniously onto the dock next to the dead man, where he lay half-conscious. Young Prince Tolivar crept from the deckhouse with the Nyssomu Ralabun, both of them seeming to be dazed with terror, and surveyed the scene. Wikit-Aa gave his crewmen a few orders, then came and stood impa.s.sively with Jagun, watching Kadiya minister to the wounded man.
She used his belt to make a tourniquet, which stanched the deadly spurting of blood. Her nearly clean kerchief served to bind the stump. "Do you have halaka resin among your stores?" she asked the patient when she had finished. "It is the only thing that will do for treating this kind of injury."
"I-I know not," he whispered. "Factor Turmalai keeps all such medicaments under lock and key."
"If there is none I shall have to sear the stump with fire," Kadiya warned, "or you will die of the putrid rot. On your feet, then. The skipper and I will help you up to the lodge."
With Jagun following, she and Wikit supported the one-armed Varonian, who was on the verge of collapse, and dragged him to the factor"s dilapidated hovel. Turmalai, alternately bellowing curses and sobbing, had been lashed to a stout wooden chair and was guarded by Lummomu and Sir Edinar. Kadiya directed the two Wyvilo to put the injured man in another room and care for him as best they could. Then she noticed for the first time that Sir Melpotis and Sir Kalepo knelt beside an improvised pallet in a corner. Lord Zondain rested there, unmoving and with features pale as wax.
"How fares he?" Kadiya asked.
Young Melpotis shook his head. His cheeks were wet with tears.
Kalepo said, "Lady, our n.o.ble brother Zondain has pa.s.sed safely beyond, borne into glory by the Lords of the Air."
"May the Triune G.o.d grant him mercy," Kadiya whispered. For a minute she gazed down at the dead Companion. Then her blazing brown eyes lifted slowly and regarded the captive factor, who had not ceased his noisy lamentation.
"Maggot-ridden offal," she said, striding to confront him. "Is it your usual mode of hospitality to poison your guests?"
Turmalai Yonz made no reply, but only continued to keen and sob wildly over his lost sons. He had seen the fight on the dock before being captured and tied up by Lummomu.
"Tchaa!" Wikit-Aa exclaimed in contempt. "The one murderous stripling was only knocked senseless after receiving small wounds, while the other who went overboard was seen to reach sh.o.r.e some fifty ells downstream."
"My precious boys are alive?" the factor cried. "Praise be to Tesdor the Compa.s.sionate, the Life-Giving!"
Kadiya seized a handful of the factor"s dirty hair and hauled his head erect. Her other hand held a poniard. "You are indeed blessed, you sack of woth-vomit," she remarked conversationally. "Your misbegotten whelps have escaped death they justly deserved." Her blade"s point p.r.i.c.ked Turmalai"s throat. "But you will face the judgment of your G.o.d not two minutes from now unless you give me true answers to my questions."
The factor squirmed and gave a gargling cry.
"Why did you poison our food?" Kadiya demanded. "Was it only for merry mischief"s sake, in order to rob us... or did you have another reason?"
Turmalai"s eyes rolled desperately. The sharp steel at his throat drew a threadlike trickle of blood.
"There was... an offer," he croaked. "To all of us who dwell along the river. If we were able to capture you, dead or alive, and bring you to a certain spot before the next fullness of the Moons, there would be a reward of a thousand platinum crowns."
"Zoto"s Holy Heel-Spurs!" exclaimed Sir Kalepo, for the amount was literally a king"s ransom. He and his brother Melpotis left off their vigil beside their dead brother and stood with the Lady of the Eyes.
"Who promised this extravagant largesse?" Kadiya let loose of the factor with a grimace and sheathed her dagger.
"There was no name given," Turmalai Yonz said sullenly. "Only the place where you were to be taken, beside the Double Cascade that lies up the River Oda, which has its confluence with the Mutar some twenty leagues downstream from here. I could not believe my good fortune when you came ash.o.r.e."
Kadiya reached beneath her cloak and drew forth a folded piece of cloth, which she opened. "Can you read a map, qubar-dropping?"
"Yes, Lady."
She indicated a river on the inscribed napkin. "Here is the Oda. Is this red dot the location where the reward was to be paid for us?"
He squinted at the cloth thrust beneath his nose. "Y-yes. The very place. You were to be brought there at dawn on any day during this present moon, and those putting up the reward would be waiting."
"Dawn..." Kadiya gave a curt nod, then put away the chart of viaduct sites and turned to the knights. "Companions, bring Lord Zondain"s body down to the dock. We will build his funeral pyre with the trade goods of this pitiful a.s.sa.s.sin."
"No!" Turmalai Yonz cried. "I"ll be ruined!"