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"gifts" to Evocator clerks and priestly aides. An even more princely "gift" would have to be given to one
of the members of the Council to champion the merchantman's cause before his colleagues. There was no
getting around this, although it was rumored many had tried, been caught, and then banned from all trade
for life-assuming the Evocators had been kind enough to leave the errant trader a life to suffer.
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Next came lengthy and expensive purification rites, and then a Casting of the Bones by one of the
supplicants. A good omen was not necessarily assured, even if that small river of coin were a flood. For
sometimes an ill omen was so powerful it was impossible to deny. But a bad omen was guaranteed if the
merchantman was niggardly in distributing the "gifts." As "for the four rules of
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profit division, a wise merchant sweetened the part collected by the Evocators with more handfuls of
silver-privately disbursed. This was to get past another Orissan law, which stated that every object borne
by the returning expedition must be tested for spiritual purity. It was also a given, and no amount of
"gifting" could circumvent this, that anything that advanced sorcerous knowledge automatically belonged
to the Evocators. Any book, talisman, powder, or potion that met this definition had to be immediately
turned over to the Council. The penalty for breaking this law was death.
Since my Finding was for the explicit purpose of mapping a route through the mysterious and deadly
barriers-some physical, some sorcerous-that so narrowed our world at that time, a great deal of attention
would be paid to this law. The Council of Evocators would require brassbound guarantees if it was to
permit our expedition to the legendary Far Kingdoms.
But my father was an experienced and masterful hand in such things. In the art of wooing the Evocators,
Paphos Karima Antero had few masters. Despite his unpopularity with the Council, he was so
knowledgeable in negotiating the crooks and alcoves of its administrative maze, he rarely failed to win his
way and at a better price than most. A stroke of a quill in a ledger book or its absence can sometimes
have powerful results. So as I worried over my future from the perspective of a youth looking up at an
enormous mountain that must be mastered, my father went to work- dropping a word here, a purse
there, and cashing in old favors owed.
Finally the day came. It was early summer, a time of morning mists and warm afternoon suns. The scent
of orange and budding rosemary pleasured the air. The sunlight seemed exceptionally bright. We waited
in the gardens behind the Evocators' Palace. We wore the pure white robes of supplicants and were
freshly scrubbed and anointed with purification oils. Our innards were growling with emptiness from the
three-day fast and purging required for the rites. My tension was heightened by my father's last words as
we left the house. "Be on your guard," he'd warned. "Do exactly as you are told ... and nothing more.
The destination you chose for your Finding has aroused the interests of our enemies. They will be
watching and listening closely."
Janos was unusually silent as well. I glanced over the head of the small clerk whose charge we were in
and saw him nervously fingering his beard. He saw me, and the frown on his face turned
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to a quick grin. "Nothing to worry about," he said. "The worst they can do is tell us no." I thought of
Halab and did not answer.
A slave came running down the steps. "They are ready for you, masters," he said. The clerk tugged at
my sleeve. "Put this on, sir" he said, handing me a long bit of red cloth. "Tie it tight and do not remove it
until you are granted permission." As he handed a second blindfold to Janos, I breathed a prayer to our
hearthgod and wrapped the cloth about my eyes until there was no more light. The clerk led us stumbling
up broad stone steps and into the palace.
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The place was a whirl of scents and odd noises: a mixture of perfumes and sulphur, jangling chimes and
tap tap tapping of hollow wood on stone. As we moved from room to room the air grew cold, then
warm, then suddenly cold again. There were constant whispers, dark sibilants hissing from every corner.
There came a whoosh of dry air as a large door opened, and we entered a room that smelled of shed
lizard skin. A tug on my sleeve halted me.
"You may remove the cloths, gentle sirs," said a harsh voice. It was not the clerk's. I untied the blindfold
and entered a world of gray stone and dirty yellow light. A robed figure stood before us. It was the
Evocator Janos and I had encountered in the streets some time before.
"I bid you welcome, gentle sirs," he said. "My name is Jeneander. I am to be your guide on this
reckoning day."
I stood mute for a moment, then felt Janos' elbow in my ribs. "Praise the gods you are to be our light," I
intoned, and quickly took a purse from my robe and pressed it into Jeneander's eager hands. It
disappeared as quickly as a sea lizard plucks a gull from the air.
Jeneander leaned closer and whispered, "I will leave for a few moments. Refresh yourselves with this in
my absence." He passed us a small, oilcloth-wrapped bundle. "I am pleased to announce one of our most
promising young Evocators has found favor with your proposed expedition," he said loudly. "He will be
here presently to join in the Casting. You may know of him. His name is Cassini."
I buried a groan. "Good fortune continues to smile on us," I managed to reply. We exchanged bows with
Jeneander, and he slipped away to prepare for the ceremony. I hastily unwrapped the bundle and found
several large hunks of black bread drenched in wine. "But what of our fast?" I whispered to Janos. "I
thought all food was forbidden?"
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Janos chuckled and snagged a chunk of bread. "I have learned, my dear Amalric, there are as many
shadings to that word as there are coins in a rich man's strong room." He wolfed down the bread. "Eat
up. I believe our new friend was more worried about our food-starved wits than a minor bit of
blasphemy." I ate, gobbling down the bread with gusto. Immediately my mood shifted, and I began to see
things in a clearer light.
"Who is this Cassini?" Janos asked. "I thought we had a choice of the Evocator the Council will require
to accompany our expedition."
"Sometimes," I said. "Sometimes not."
Janos eyed me. "From your expression-artfully guarded, I hasten to add-I got the impression you know
of this Cassini."
"Dear me," said a voice. "It's only midday and already I hear my name being bandied about." We both [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]