Part 23 (1/2)
No no no...
The Prince seemed to see his mother's face, tears pouring from her eyes. She called his name again and again, pleading for him to surrender the coronet to the sorcerer so that her life and the lives of the babies in her womb would be spared. But Tolivar had been unaccountably struck dumb. He could not answer her. No matter how hard he tried, he could not p.r.o.nounce the single word ”yes” that would free his mother.
Could not give up his talisman.
No! Never!
He woke with a start, rising up on his elbows, and looked frantically around the feather-loft. It was much later in the day. A beam of afternoon sunlight illumined dancing dust motes. The four knights had apparently awakened and gone downstairs. Only his own mind's ear still perceived the echo of Queen Anigel's heartbroken appeal and his own shameful refusal.
Unless it had been a dream after all.
He would have to discover the truth of it. The promise he had made to his aunt now did seem naught but the words of a gullible, frightened child. What right had the Lady of the Eyes to demand that he eschew magic, especially when his mother's life might depend upon his use of it?
”Talisman,” he whispered, tightening his grip on the hidden metal circlet. ”Show me Queen Anigel.” He closed his eyes, and into his mind sprang a vision, as though he were one of the Sobranian birds soaring down from a height and coming to rest upon a tree branch a few ells above the ground.
In a sizable forest clearing, several hundred heavily armed warriors took their ease. Some of them were Star Men, wearing steel breastplates over their wizard garb, and helmets with pointed metal spikes. In the midst of the army was an open-sided cloth pavilion. Orogastus sat beneath it, drinking wine from a golden cup. Just outside the shelter stood Naelore, clad in gleaming black-and-silver armor and smiling triumphantly as the army cheered her. She held a longsword.
Tied to a small tree before the sorceress was Queen Anigel.
The prisoner's robe was stained and torn, her blond hair straggled in disarray, and her wrists and ankles were bruised and b.l.o.o.d.y from the rawhide thongs that bound her. As Tolivar watched in horror, Naelore's sword descended until the sharp point rested between his mother's b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Very lightly, the blade moved down her belly, inscribing a short vertical cut in the robe's coa.r.s.e cloth.
As always, his talisman's vision was silent. The Archd.u.c.h.ess appeared to be plying the Queen with questions, but Anigel remained serenely indifferent, her gaze unfocused. The throng of soldiers and Star Men were laughing derisively.
”Mother!” Tolivar moaned softly. ”Oh, Mother.”
Queen Anigel could not hear her son-but evidently Oro-gastus could. His head turned and he seemed to look directly at the Prince. The Star Master's helmet had rays longer and more ornate than those of the other Guild members. A visor masked the upper part of his face, but his sardonic silvery eyes were clearly visible. Even though the sorcerer's lips did not move, Tolivar heard his voice speak distinctly.
Tell no one what you have seen, or else the Queen and your brothers in her womb will be executed here and now. Remember: Meet me at midnight at the fountain near the palace. I will be in disguise, but you will know me. Bring both the coronet and the star-box. Do you understand?
Tolivar was finally able to say the word.
”Yes,” he whispered. ”I will do as you say.”
The vision vanished, and the Prince saw only a reddish void behind his closed eyelids. Bitter tears flowed their way out and slid slowly down his face. He paid them no heed, lying still as a stone with the talisman clutched in his hands until his helpless rage melted into numb misery. After a long time, his Aunt Kadiya called his name and told him to descend for the evening meal.
”Coming,” he said, and tucked the Three-Headed Monster back into his s.h.i.+rt with its sharp cusps turned inward, so that they p.r.i.c.ked his bare skin.
It was an hour past sunset on the next day when the Cadoon sailing craft, manned by Critch alone, came slowly into the harbor of Brandoba. Behind it, across the estuary to the west, were towering clouds tinted with sullen purple-a sure portent of rain before morning. The light wind that had slowed their pa.s.sage now also swung around to the west, helping the aboriginal skipper to guide his small boat through waters crowded with galleys, lofty-masted merchantmen, and a myriad of lesser craft anch.o.r.ed in the roadstead. The rigging of most of the vessels twinkled with colored gla.s.s oil-lamps, in honor of the Festival of the Birds.
Inland, the Sobranian capital city was ablaze with light. Fire-baskets on tall pylons lined the boulevards and main streets, and festoons of lanterns hung from every building. The waterfront esplanade was thronged with costumed people who danced and cavorted and even swung from the ornamental bal.u.s.trades along the quays. Several bra.s.s bands on the wide esplanade stairs were apparently having a musical contest, seeing which could drown out the others.
Critch's pa.s.sengers stayed belowdecks when his boat neared the sh.o.r.e, since it would have been suspicious if humans were seen on an aboriginal vessel. Kadiya and the others peered out from the boat's portholes, watching the spectacle, until Critch tied up at a quay used only by Cadoon traders, situated some distance from the central harbor area.
The feather-hunter went briefly onto the dock to speak to the local Folk, then reboarded and called down into the cabin. ”It is safe for you to come up and disembark.”
Jagun and the Prince climbed the companionway ladder first, followed by those who were going ash.o.r.e. Kadiya and the Oathed Companions wore costumes purchased from Critch that would enable them to pa.s.s unnoticed among the festival celebrants. But because the cabin had been so dark and cramped, this coming on deck was the first opportunity for them to see each other clearly in the fancy dress they had donned with the help of Jagun and Tolivar.
The Lady of the Eyes wore a cape and under-robe of gorgeous iridescent purple plumage. Atop her matching hood was a tall yellow crest, and a golden beak above her brow shaded her face. Her talisman in its scabbard was concealed beneath her cloak.
”You look splendid, Fa.r.s.eer,” Jagun said, and she made a mocking bow.
The brothers Kalepo and Melpotis were both dressed in dark blue costumes intended to represent nyars. Their large, enveloping headpieces had wide-open befanged beaks, through which they were able to see. Edinar's plumage was bright red, with a peculiar flat bill attached to his hood. When Melpotis snickered at the young knight's droll appearance, Edinar found the built-in noisemaker in his headpiece and blew a raucous quack that sent the two nyars into gales of laughter.
The final costumed figure to emerge was Sir Sainlat. Because of his heroic physique, only one avian disguise had been found to fit him-that of a marine pothi-bird. It was fas.h.i.+oned of bright pink feathers and had a ludicrous wide-spreading rose-and-black fantail mounted at the rear. The feathered hood left Sainlat's face exposed except for his nose, which was concealed behind a big cone-shaped black beak.
”I feel like a perfect idiot,” the big knight said cheerfully.
”You look even worse,” Edinar a.s.sured him.
”I congratulate your family's skill,” Kadiya said to Critch. ”The costumes are excellently made. They do not restrict one's motion overmuch, and our armor and weapons hidden beneath are quite unnoticeable.”
The Cadoon opened a large wicker hamper that stood on deck and took out a net bag filled with rounded colored objects. ”Perhaps you would like to take some of these. They are griss eggs, blown dry, filled with confetti and sneeze-spores and sealed with wax. It is an old carnival custom to smash them and scatter the contents on other revelers. The eggs may prove useful if you are impeded by the crowds.”
”Thank you,” Kadiya said to him, ”but my magic will suffice for us. I do not wish us to be further enc.u.mbered. Now then: If we have not returned by dawn tomorrow, or if serious trouble breaks out in the city, put out to sea with Jagun and Prince Tolivar. I will bespeak Jagun through my talisman in due time, and he will transmit to you new instructions.”
She nodded to the knights, and the men made their way down the gangplank and awaited her on the dock. In contrast to the mob scene farther along the waterfront, the area used by the aboriginal vessels was nearly deserted except for a few sailors from the handful of small boats similar to Critch's that rocked gently in the dark water. The Cadoon Folk paid no attention to the out-landishly dressed humans.
Before departing herself, Kadiya went to Prince Tolivar, who had gone to sit in the bow, and spoke a few words of admonition to him. He responded meekly. Then she returned to the waist of the boat where Jagun and Critch were standing.
”Watch the boy carefully,” she told them in a low voice. ”Never leave him alone for an instant. He seems very downcast and I do not think he will attempt any rash action. But if he does, bespeak me at once.”
”We will take care of him, Fa.r.s.eer,” the old Nyssomu a.s.sured her.
She would have gone then, but Critch bade her stay. ”Lady, I have some strange tidings I must impart before you leave, told me by a certain wherryman of my race whom I encountered while securing our lines.” He pointed toward the murky outer reaches of the harbor. ”Do you see that great s.h.i.+p out there, with but a single red light at the stern?”
Kadiya nodded.
”It flies the ensign of Zinora and arrived only this afternoon.
My friend has a.s.sured me that it is not an ordinary coastal trader but a three-masted trireme galley, one of the speediest vessels afloat. Its crew are not Zinorans but Sobranians, and the owner is a n.o.bleman named Dasinzin, known to be a sympathizer of the rebel Archd.u.c.h.ess Naelore.”
Kadiya muttered an imprecation and drew forth her talisman. Aiming the sword at the mysterious s.h.i.+p, which was little more than a black silhouette against the fading evening sky, she said, ”Burning Eye, tell me if this vessel belongs to the Star Men.”
The question is impertinent.
”Give me Sight of its cargo hold.”
The command is impertinent.
Her face grim, Kadiya sheathed the magic sword.
”I think,” Jagun said, ”that your talisman has answered your query by not answering.”
”Star Men-or I'm second cousin to a cross-eyed togar!” She addressed Critch: ”Do you know if the Emperor's port officials have gone on board this s.h.i.+p?”
”Nay. Because of the impending festivities, all inspections have been postponed. Cadoon wherrymen such as my friend have brought fresh food and other supplies out to the galley, and the crew were careless in their speech around them -as humans often are when dealing with my people, thinking us dull-witted and inferior. The wherrymen learned that the vessel came not from the east, where Zinora and the other human nations lie, but from the distant northwestern lat.i.tudes, beyond the country of the lawless tribes, where none dwell save the tiny Mere Folk.”
Kadiya's eyes narrowed. ”Do you mean those aquatic aborigines who have Iriane, Archimage of the Sea, as their guardian?”