The Three Lands Omnibus Part 48

She was a year or two into womanhood, about a decade younger than John. Her hair was black and her eyes were dark, like that of all Koretians. But the eyes were set into a face that was paler than my own, and I realized that she must be the product of one of the informal and unfortunate unions that inevitably result when soldiers are stationed for long periods in a foreign land.

She smiled at me, but in a tentative fashion. That fact, added to the peace I was feeling once more in John's presence, caused me to give her one of my rare smiles. Immediately her face lit up, and she turned to look at John inquiringly.

John laid his hands on her shoulders, slowly turning her to face me. Looking down at her face as he stood behind, he said, "Ursula, this is my blood brother Andrew."

I saw the shock go through her like a bodily blow, and her face grew as white as the stones of the Chara's palace. John was still watching her and gently gripping her shoulders as though he were holding her up. Some emotion welled up inside her so great that it seemed that in the next moment it would explode. She took a step forward, heedless of John's hands, which fell away. The hint of a shout or a smile appeared on her face as she whispered, "But this is wonderful. You are-"

As she spoke, she took another step forward. She was within reach of me now, and still walking. I had not noticed that my smile had faded, but she stopped suddenly like a tame creature who has reached the limit of its leash. Whatever great emotion had been about to explode died out, as though cold water had extinguished it.

I noticed this because I had become accustomed in Emor to reading expressions. But this was not something, I think, that anyone else would have noticed, for in the next moment she smiled as she said, "You are alive! After all these years, you have returned home to your blood brother. I'm so glad to meet you. How did you find John?"

John had come forward. He touched Ursula briefly on the shoulder, looking down at her shining face, and then turned his back to us as he placed his pack on the table. He said, "Andrew came knocking at the door of the priests' house just as I was about to leave. I nearly walked into him."

Ursula laughed. "It's as though you had been sent by the G.o.d, Andrew. How is it that you were able to return to Koretia?"

John still had his back to us. I saw him bringing out the same items he had unpacked the night before: the clothes, the food, and the satchel. A small roll of white bandage material emerged as well. I looked at the half-breed girl, thinking that she of all people must hate the Emorians, but I found it oddly easy to make my confession to her. "I am a free-servant in Emor, and my master has come to Koretia on business. I did not believe that John was still alive, or I would have visited Koretia before."

Brendon was in the process of tossing his hat onto the table beside John's pack. I saw his eyes flick my way; then he handed John the satchel he had been reaching for. Ursula did not seem disturbed. She said over her shoulder, "I told you that he would find his way back here in the end, John. You needn't have made those long trips to Emor."

John did not reply; he was beginning to pull papers from his satchel. I said quietly, "You went looking for me?"

"I knew that I wouldn't find you. But I had to try."

He still had his back to me. I saw from his arms that he was tugging at one of the papers that must have caught itself in the satchel. I took a step forward to see what was in his face. But my path was blocked by Ursula, who skipped forward another step toward me and said, "The first time he visited, he went to the Emorian capital and saw the Chara's enthronement celebration. He said that it seemed as though everyone in the Three Lands was there. Did your master go? It would be strange if you and John had been in the same city at the same time."

"The Chara!" Brendon struck his forehead with the heel of his palm. "I'm a fool, John. Not only did I not listen to your news, I didn't give you my own. The Chara is here."

"Here in Koretia?" Ursula bounded to the table and leaned toward Brendon.

"I heard that rumor too, before I entered the priests' house." John closed the satchel and walked over to hang it on a hook by the hearth. "Do you suppose there's any truth to the story?"

"There is if your supply-keeper friend is to be trusted. He said the soldiers were saying that the governor expected the Chara to arrive soon."

John picked up his pack and carried it to the sleeping alcove, leaving it lying next to the curtain. "Perhaps we will see him when he enters the city, then. I expect that he'll be accompanied by an impressive array of troops."

"I thought the Chara never left his palace!" exclaimed Ursula. "I'd love to see him when he travels through the city. Andrew, have you ever seen him?"

"My master is a lord living in the Chara's palace," I said carefully, "and the Chara often walks about the palace. I have seen him many times."

"What is he like? John has seen him only once."

"Ursula," John said with a slight note of warning. "Andrew is our guest. You ought not to quiz him in this fashion. Andrew, please be seated. Ursula and I seem to have lost our manners as hosts."

I took the windowseat he offered. Brendon had already seated himself on one of the benches and was staring at the wine cask against the opposite wall with a reflective look. I said to John, "You saw the Chara?"

John smiled. "I saw a voluminous black cloak that the onlookers claimed was the Chara. I was in the crowd at the enthronement celebration when the Chara stood at the east palace gate to greet his people. Like Ursula, I thought the Chara never left the palace, so it seemed my one chance to see him."

"Do you suppose he'll speak to the Koretians while he's here?" Ursula asked wistfully, skipping around the table to take hold of John's waist. "I'd very much like to hear him."

"So would I," John replied. "I doubt, though, that he will leave the governor's palace, not with Koretia on the edge of war. The Chara has probably come to advise the governor on what to do here."

"Well, if I saw the Chara, I'd know how to advise him," said Ursula, her voice rising with pa.s.sion. "I'd tell him to free Koretia. That's all he needs to do."

Brendon laughed. "Ursula, if you saw the Chara, I know just what you would do. You would begin by scolding him and end by sympathizing with him for all his troubles."

Ursula lifted her chin. "I am Koretian. The Chara is my enemy. I wouldn't sympathize with him for the way he has oppressed us."

"Enough," said John. "Ursula, please bring out wine for a peace offering to Brendon. He needs it." He came over and sat by the trader. "Show me that bandage."

"You wrapped it yourself. Why do you need to see it again?" Brendon tried to edge away from John, but halted as John gripped his left wrist.

"Because I know how you take care of yourself. It is courage to die of a wound gained in battle, but folly to die of one that has been infected through carelessness. Now, sit still." John reached out and began with painstaking care to unwrap the strip of cloth on Brendon's right arm. He looked up, and his eyes met mine. "This isn't much of a homecoming for you, Andrew."

"It feels very much like home," I said. "Matters were always a-broil when I was living in Koretia."

"More so now." John paused a second as Brendon flinched; John had reached the wound. Then, ignoring Brendon's wince, he tore away the cloth that was sticking to the wound. "It looks fine at the moment," he reported.

"It's just a flesh wound, I tell you."

"You would say that if the soldier had cut you to the bone. But you're right this time." John began binding the wound with fresh bandaging, saying, "You have the cunning of the Jackal, Brendon, to escape from that horror with only a flesh wound."

"I call it luck. If I'd had a family to defend, like most men there, I'd be meat for the soldiers' table now."

"Yes." John's eyes drifted upwards to Ursula as she placed a cup of wine in front of Brendon.

She said, "I was going to give Brendon some nuts, but it has been five days since you promised to take me to the market, John, and I'm about to fight the rats for their food."

"You'll have to wait a short while longer, I'm afraid. Brendon and I are about to set off to the tavern and sort out some of this-" He waved his hand toward the business papers strewn on the table.

"Oh, John!" Ursula shook herself with frustration. "It won't take long for me to get what we need. Can't I go on my own?"

"No. I'm sorry." John began gathering the papers into a pile without looking up.

Ursula was silent. I said, "I can take Ursula to the market. I'd like to see what the new one looks like."

John looked over at me. With barely a pause, he said, "Thank you; that is kind of you. That will allow Brendon and me to do our business here, as I don't think our favorite tavern would appreciate having a wounded man bleed all over the customers. May I show you something before you go?"

I nodded. John tightened the bandage; Brendon gave an involuntary whimper, and John's gaze travelled up to his face, but this time John did not pause. When he had finished, he beckoned to me, and I followed him over to the sleeping alcove.

He ducked around the curtain without pulling it back, and I did the same. In the dim light of the alcove, I could see a plain-framed bed and beside it a wooden chest. On the chest was a single carving, that of the blank G.o.d-mask. John opened it and began rummaging through the clothing inside.

I could hear Ursula chatting with Brendon at the other end of the house. I said in a low voice, "You didn't tell me you'd married."

John bent over, trying to peer into the dark chest. "I didn't know how to describe Ursula to you. I thought I would let the two of you come face to face so that she could introduce herself to you."

"I like her very much," I said.

John looked back at me then, smiling. "I'm glad. I'd hoped that you two would enjoy each other's company. Ursula is friendly with anyone who will allow her to be, but I can see that she has taken a liking to you."

"I've hardly spoken a word."

"Ursula doesn't need words in order to judge a man. -Here we are."

I sat down beside him and watched as he brought out the iron dagger that had been at the bottom of the chest. He held it out to me, but I did not touch it. Instead I said, "I can scarcely believe that you still have it after all these years."

"It was dedicated to the Unknowable G.o.d; I would not have lost it. Nor would I have misplaced the dagger with which we took our blood vow."

I touched it then, very lightly, but withdrew my hand quickly. Looking up, I saw John's eyes on me. He said quietly, "I haven't forgotten what you told me before, but life in Koretia is dangerous now, especially for Ursula. I can go weaponless when I take her to the market because people here know me, but you're wearing an Emorian tunic. You need a blade on display to prevent men from starting fights with you and Ursula. I doubt that you'll need to draw it."

"John ..." I stopped to phrase my words correctly, and then borrowed them from another source. "John, when I nearly killed Lord Carle, Peter told me that I'm not the sort of man who can master my bloodthirst. I ought not even to wear a weapon."

"Lord Peter is right: you cannot be master over your rage. You can allow someone else to be master of it, though. I am your blood brother, bound to you by an oath to the G.o.ds, and I am placing Ursula under your care. In turn, place your anger under my care and swear to me that, while you carry my dagger, you will not do anything that would bring harm to Ursula. If you swear this, then I know that you will not break your trust."

I felt my heart pounding, and I was not entirely sure why. It had taken only a moment to turn gentle John, whom I had cared for when I was a boy as though I were the elder, into something much harder and firmer. It was like the moment when we had made our vows, or the more terrible moment later when I saw John with the dagger in his hand. Yet John's eyes looked upon me with their usual light touch, so I said, "I am Emorian now, and Emorians do not swear to the G.o.ds. But I will give you the oath I gave to the Chara, that I will obey the laws that you have bound me with, and I will use the dagger only as you would have me do."

John smiled and said in an easy voice, "Tell Ursula that we'll need plenty of blackroot nuts. I may invite some friends over soon, and we always seem to be short of food when that happens."

CHAPTER TWELVE.

It was a beautiful Koretian morning. The meadow-green cloth covering the market stalls shone in stark contrast to the deep blue sky. Moisture shimmered on the ground ahead, brought forth by the warm air that enfolded us in its arms. Holding an apple up to inspect it for wormholes, Ursula said, "So you and John saw the demon being stoned?"

I held Ursula's basket forward so that she could fill it with apples without my having to look at the fruit. I had stopped eating apples on the day that I learned Lord Carle owned one of the few orchards in Emor. "It was my idea to watch. I was rather bloodthirsty in those days. I had never seen John so angry a not at the demon, but at the men who stoned him. He said that of course such a man ought to be kept from doing wrong, but that there must be a way to exorcise the evil spirit from him, rather than destroy both the man and the demon at the same time. He talked about it for days."

"It's hard to believe such things ever occurred," said Ursula, handing a few copper pieces to the fruit-seller before taking her basket back from me. "The G.o.ds be thanked that the priests no longer allow such happenings."

I opened my mouth, and then closed it again. This was not the place to say that it was not the G.o.ds she should be thanking but the Chara. I could see out of the corner of my eye that the stall-keepers and customers in the market were watching suspiciously the half-breed woman and the man in Emorian clothes. It had taken no effort on my part to return to my usual cold expression; now and then I saw Ursula glance uncertainly at my face, but she made no comment on the fact that I had donned my old mask. Just as my rigid face had protected me in Emor from the back-stabbing palace dwellers a or from the more direct a.s.saults of Lord Carle a so too, here in Koretia, the men and women who muttered remarks about Ursula and me appeared unwilling to come close enough to be within striking distance. I was beginning to believe that John's dagger would be a superfluous weapon during our market visit.

As if she had guessed my unspoken thought, Ursula added, "Of course, the priests are to blame in the first place for ever allowing something like that to happen. When the G.o.ds gave us their law, they left it up to men to decide how it was used. Ceremonies like demon-stoning destroyed the whole purpose of the law. When you have seen the G.o.ds' law used properly, you can't doubt that it's a great gift."

I looked curiously at John's wife, who was swinging around a pole in order to turn a corner between the stalls. "Have you seen the G.o.ds' law used? Aren't you too young to have seen it before it was outlawed?"

Ursula turned quickly toward a nut-seller's stall she had just sighted. "Oh, well ... you know, even rites that the Emorians outlawed still take place. Not demon-stonings, of course, but good rites that shouldn't have been outlawed, like trial by the G.o.ds' law. Anyone who has seen the G.o.d in judgment isn't willing to accept the Emorian view on such matters."

She spoke as though she had witnessed the G.o.d himself p.r.o.nounce judgment, but I knew what she meant. I had witnessed the G.o.ds' law in use only once, when John had been unjustly accused of stealing money from the priests and had asked me to be his witness at the trial. The "trial" a as an Emorian, I no longer regarded it as such a consisted of John and me and John's accuser meeting with his tutor, Lovell, and answering whatever questions the priest asked about John, whether they were connected with the theft or not. I could not initially understand the point of many of the questions, though I was interested in what they revealed about John. I heard not only of his virtues, which I knew, but also of his weaknesses, such as allowing the younger boys under his care to go unpunished for their misdeeds and covering up the wrongdoing of others in order to help them escape punishment. This latter fault was how he had come to be accused of taking part in the crime. I would gladly have adopted such vices, since they were more n.o.ble than many of my own virtues, but I was concerned by the strained look on John's face when it came time for Lovell to p.r.o.nounce in the G.o.ds' name what sacrifice the G.o.d wished John to make for what he had done. John knew that the G.o.ds, being wiser to the consequences of evil than men, could require anything of him up to his death.

In the end, the punishment had been quite small, but I remembered Lovell telling John, "Though the G.o.ds' ways may seem mysterious to us, the life of Koretia depends on us obeying the G.o.ds' commands."

The memory echoed in my mind a surely I had heard those words at some more recent time a but a shout of voices roused my attention. I looked over at Ursula. We were standing now in the avenue, and she was waiting for me to speak, so I said, "I have seen the G.o.ds' law in use, and it is a wonderful tool in the right hands, but I think that if I had a choice between facing trial under a mediocre Koretian priest or facing it under a mediocre Emorian judge, I would prefer the judge. The G.o.ds' law is too easy to manipulate."

Ursula's gaze drifted away from me. Fearing that I was being too critical of her land, I changed the subject and said, "Does John know that you go to these unlawful trials, or do you-"

"Look out!" Ursula cried suddenly, pointing behind me.

I whirled, and had just time enough to thrust Ursula to the side of the road. There she fell into the arms of a black-bearded Koretian who, like everyone else, had darted out of the way of the approaching soldiers. Then the horses were upon me, squealing as they rose into the air above my head. The soldiers had stopped them just short of running over me.

For a moment, my vision went dark with fear. I heard shouts and footsteps, and someone grabbed my arms, pinning them behind me. My vision returned, and I discovered that I was surrounded by a half dozen soldiers, all holding swords unsheathed. Beyond them and the horses was a carriage, with a round-faced, clean-shaven man staring angrily out the window at us.

A lieutenant came up to him and said, "I'm sorry, Lord Alan. It's a Koretian blocking the way a probably one of the Jackal's thieves, trying to cause mischief."

"Well, you've played right into his hands, haven't you?" the governor said sharply. "How many times must I tell you? If anyone gets in the way, ride over him. I'm not going to make myself a target for a.s.sa.s.sins just in order to keep from offending your sensitivities. Now, get this man out of the way, arrest him, and carry on."

The soldier who was holding me dragged me aside as the other soldiers remounted. For a moment I could not speak because I was coughing from the dust flung up by the horses. Then, as the horses and carriage drew away and the lieutenant came forward, I said icily in my best Emorian, "Let me go. I'm no thief; I am free-servant to Peter, Lord through the Chara's honor, who has just arrived at the governor's palace."

The lieutenant looked doubtfully at my face a dark but beardless a and then at my Emorian tunic before nodding to the soldier holding me. As I pulled my numb arms back into place, he said, "Watch your step in the future, Koretian a Emorian a whatever you are. The governor doesn't take kindly to having his path blocked."

I made no reply as the soldiers mounted their horses and hurried to catch up with the others. My gaze was on the bystanders, who had not heard my words, but had witnessed the soldiers' quick release of me. No doubt if I had been some innocent Koretian, I would now be on my way to the governor's dungeon.

I felt a familiar sickness in my mouth as I turned away. This sort of episode was all too familiar to me. For the Chara's sake, I had sometimes returned to his palace slave-quarters to try to help settle disputes that had arisen between the Chara and his slaves. There, for a brief while, I had acted as though I were any other slave-servant again a until evening, when the slaves were locked in for the night, and I returned to my comfortable chamber in the Chara's quarters. The looks I had received then were the same as I received now.

I roused myself from my self-pity only when I realized that Ursula was nowhere to be seen. I could guess where she had gone; she had undoubtedly run back to her house to tell John what had happened. I began to make my way back toward the house.

I learned the error of my a.s.sumption when I heard Ursula scream.

Fortunately, she was not far away a I say "fortunately" because she was on the point of being dragged into a house near the market where she would no doubt have been gagged to keep her from screaming any further as the black-bearded Koretian took his pleasure. Not that anyone seemed ready to come to her rescue in any case. A few people glanced uneasily over at the half-Emorian woman struggling in the grasp of the Koretian man, but no one seemed ready to fight the man in her defense.

I skidded to a halt just a few paces from the Koretian, and his look of frustration a Ursula was biting his hand to keep it away from her mouth a changed to one of high delight.

"So, the apostate comes to claim the wh.o.r.e's b.a.s.t.a.r.d," he said. "You two are certainly well suited for each other."

"Then give her to me," I said. My palms were tingling, but I kept my hand well away from my dagger. His was already unsheathed; he had used it to persuade Ursula to come this far.

The Koretian smiled and thrust Ursula behind him into the open doorway. "Come take her."

A curious crowd had gathered around us. They were watching me closely. Behind the Koretian, Ursula tried to squeeze her way out of the house, but he pushed her back carelessly with his arm. I heard her cry as she fell to the floor. Slowly, feeling my blood throb in a manner it had not done for a year's time, I pulled out the blade and took a step forward.

A quiet voice next to me said, "Thank you, Andrew. You may give that back to me now."

I was ill-trained in these matters; I made the mistake of looking over to the side. The Koretian was not ill-trained; he chose that moment to attack me. He never reached me, though. The next I knew, John, unarmed, had him on the ground and was wrestling with him for possession of his dagger.

I would have joined the fight at once, but I found myself being held back by Ursula. She had fled from the house and had evidently decided that it was her duty to keep at least one of her protectors alive. Before I could push her aside, the fight was over: the Koretian, panting, had scrambled to his feet and was looking warily at his opponent. John had a cut on his cheek but was otherwise serene in expression as he held the Koretian back with the man's own dagger.

"Andrew," he said softly, "please take Ursula back to the house."

I looked uncertainly at John, raised in the priests' house, who to my knowledge had no more skill with a dagger than that which I had taught him as a child. But Ursula was tugging at my tunic, and I realized that John would have even less skill if he were distracted by worries about his wife's safety. So I took Ursula's hand, and we fled the marketplace together, running for the safety of the house.

The street window was already shuttered and bolted when we arrived. I waited until I had bolted the door as well before I flung John's dagger onto the table and leaned back against the door, trying to catch my breath. Ursula, who seemed well endowed with stamina and nerve, was already unpacking the basket she had quick-wittedly rescued on our way back. As she pulled out the nuts she had bought, I said, "Would you be safe if I left you here?"

Ursula looked up and gave me a rueful smile. I saw that her hands were shaking and realized she was not as calm as she appeared. "You needn't worry about John," she said. "This has happened before, and he knows what to do."

"G.o.d of Mercy," I said, lapsing back into a Koretian oath. "I had forgotten what Koretia is like. We have dangers in the Chara's palace, but they do not include rescuing women from dagger-wielding abductors."

"It isn't because I'm a woman." Ursula bent over the nuts, which she was wrapping in a cloth. "It's because I'm half Emorian."

I watched silently as she pulled up a trap door and placed the nuts into a cool cellar box. When she had raised her head again, she was smiling. She said, "You must be hungry. Would you like something to eat?"

"To witness the truth, my appet.i.te has fled me."