Part 23 (2/2)
”Even so. But it has been said that the Blue Lady is now dead, and her Folk subjugated by the Star Guild.”
Kadiya and Jagun exchanged glances. Both of them knew of Iriane's immuration in the enchanted ice, and of the probability that Orogastus had compelled the Mere Folk to gather armament of the Vanished Ones from beneath the sea. If the trireme did belong to the Star Men and carried such arcane weaponry, it might well be the precurser of an invasion.
”Thank you for this important information,” Kadiya said to Critch. ”I urge you to warn the local Cadoon Folk to give that s.h.i.+p a wide berth. Whoever it belongs to, it is here in Brandoba for no good purpose.”
”I will do as you say.”
”At present,” Kadiya went on, ”I dare not make any attempt to investigate the galley in person. I must first tell Emperor Denombo how the Star Guild abducted the other rulers, and warn him that his nation and his own life may also be in imminent danger. I will inform the Emperor of the trireme's presence and let him deal with it.”
Jagun said, ”We will watch the mysterious s.h.i.+p, Fa.r.s.eer. If the crew attempt to bring any suspicious cargo ash.o.r.e, or if they act as blatant invaders, I will bespeak you.”
”Pray that the Lords of the Air will be with us tonight.” Kadiya commanded her talisman again to s.h.i.+eld her and the knights from the magical Sight of the Star Men. Then she ran down the plank onto the dock, where the four Oathed Companions waited impatiently. Inside of a few minutes the costumed infiltrators had vanished among the warehouses, leaving Jagun and Critch staring after them.
”They will not find it easy to reach the Emperor tonight,” the Cadoon observed. ”He will first be occupied with ceremonial duties on behalf of the G.o.ddess Matuta, and then he must preside over the great fireworks display. There will be an enormous crowd round about the palace precincts, and sometimes there are riots. The guardsmen will be on the alert. But the crowds are usually peaceful during the first night, especially if the fireworks show is a good one and the Imperial Handsel that follows is generous.”
”What is a handsel?” Jagun asked him.
”A lucky gift, distributed by the Emperor to the common people in honor of the festival. Tiny packages are thrown to the crowd by maidens riding in a parade of decorated wagons. Most of the handsels contain a slip of paper with a wise or humorous saying wrapped about a candy or some other sweetmeat, but a few hold silver or gold coins-and there is always a single platinum piece to be found by the luckiest human of all.”
The noise of the merrymaking crowds became louder. In addition to the music of the roving bra.s.s bands, there were now rhythmic blasts of sound from ma.s.sed birdwhistles as the people formed into impromptu parades and marched through the streets. Critch the Cadoon turned away from the colorful extravaganza on sh.o.r.e and stared glumly at the anch.o.r.ed trireme.
”The wind tonight carries upon it a scent of cold rain out of season-and of some great evil.” Critch pointed overboard to the harbor waters. ”And do you see how strangely discolored the sea is hereabouts? It is gray as baby-gruel, and I have never seen such a thing before, nor heard of it. I wish with all my heart that I had not agreed to bring you to Brandoba, Friend Jagun.”
”By doing so, you may enable my Lady to save many lives.”
Critch muttered, ”Human lives!... How can you serve a mistress belonging to the race of our oppressors?”
”In our Mazy Mire country,” Jagun said, ”certain of my Folk have been the close allies of humankind for many hundreds, earning their respect and even their love. And in recent times, thanks to the three women known as the Petals of the Living Trillium, of whom my Lady is one, the ancient antagonism between humans and Folk has been much alleviated. We know now that the same blood flows in the veins of both our races, and so we strive to be true brothers and sisters even though we differ in appearance.”
”The Sobranians think differently,” Critch said, ”and so do the Cadoon Folk. Why, then, are you so sure your beliefs are true?”
Jagun spent some time telling him the history of the Vanished Ones, and the great war between the Archimages and the Star Guild, and the near-destruction of the world that had resulted, and how the survivors had fared for twelves times ten hundreds until the present. When Jagun finished, Critch the Cadoon marveled at the tale-although he took a gloomy satisfaction in knowing that the world was mysteriously out of kilter, since this confirmed his own formless anxieties. Then the two aborigines stood together at the boat's rail in silence, until Prince Tolivar came away from the bow, where he had stood alone out of earshot, and addressed them.
”I slept poorly last night,” the boy said. ”I think I will go below now and turn in. It is not very amusing to watch a festival from so far away.”
”I will go with you,” Jagun said.
The Prince smiled. ”There is no need.”
”All the same,” the old huntsman persisted, ”we'll go together.” He waited until the boy began to descend the companionway ladder, then followed closely behind.
Tolivar helped Jagun clear up the discarded clothing and other litter from the costuming, then climbed into one of the sailboat's narrow forward bunks and pretended to go to sleep. The Nys-somu sat for over an hour in the boat's tiny galley, then quietly crept back up on deck, just as the Prince had hoped he would.
None of the boat's portholes was more than two handspans wide and the after deck hatch was dogged shut, so the only way topside was up the ladder. Tolivar was quite certain that Jagun or Critch would guard the companionway all through the night, and he was also sure that neither of them seriously expected him to attempt an escape. They thought he was still in mourning for Ralabun, and that he would keep his word not to use magic. Since they also believed that Queen Anigel was still at liberty, they would think he had no motive to go off seeking her.
Wrong, the Prince said bleakly to himself, on every count.
Sliding out of the bunk, he put on his boots, then drew the coronet out of his s.h.i.+rt and settled it onto his head.
Talisman, he commanded silently, tell me where Jagun has hidden the star-box.
It is within the central locker in the galley.
Tolivar then commanded the talisman to render him invisible. He secured the box, which he put into one of the bags that had held a costume, and then tied the long bundle to his back. When both bag and star-box were also made invisible, he addressed a fresh request to the coronet: Tell me how I may put Jagun and Critch into an enchanted sleep.
Simply see them so in your mind, and order it done.
Will-will the spell harm them?
They will eventually perish of thirst and hunger unless you release them betimes, or else modify the spell.
Can I order them to sleep only until sunup?
a.s.suredly.
Prince Tolivar closed his eyes and imagined the two Folk lying down and drifting peacefully into unconsciousness. Then he visualized them awakening at dawn, commanded the magic, and opened his eyes.
Are they asleep?
Yes.
Venting a sigh of relief, the boy went up the ladder and onto the deck. The aborigines were curled up, one on either side of the wicker hamper filled with colored eggs. Tolivar dragged little Jagun over beside Critch and covered both of them with a tarpaulin against the chill and the possibility of rain. He looked thoughtfully at the hamper, and then took from it a net bag of the missiles, which he fastened to his belt and made invisible.
”Talisman! Tell me where my mother is now.”
The request is impertinent.
The Prince felt his heart plummet. ”Is she concealed by the power of the evil Star?”
The question is impertinent.
But the Prince knew that it was so. Before, when Orogastus had wanted him to know of his mother's jeopardy, the Sight of her was clear enough. ”Well, I know how to find her,” Tolivar said to himself.
He looked up into the sky. A veil of high clouds had drawn ghostly haloes around the Three Moons, and a rising wind whined in the sailboat's rigging, making an eerie countermelody to the distant braying of the bra.s.s bands. He had no idea how many hours there were until midnight, when he would have to meet Orogastus.
Tolivar had yet a single question to ask of his talisman-one upon which his last faint hope hung.
”Will Orogastus be able to see me, even though I am invisible?”
Yes, for you still waver in your rejection of him.
The Prince had suspected as much.
Still invisible, he went down the gangplank and onto the quay, not bothering to look out at the s.h.i.+ps in the harbor. One of them, a very large trireme lacking the festive lighting of the other vessels, seemed to be dragging its anchor in the pallid waters and slowly drifting closer to sh.o.r.e.
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