Waking Olympus (The Singers of the Dark Book 1) (15 page)

“If you had not been so pre-occupied you might have noticed the murals on the wall.”

The others laughed.

He turned to the walls. Now that his eyes were no longer bleary he could see the remarkably preserved murals in detail. They ran continuously over all four walls but the important ones were on the long side walls. At the center of the large western wall, where they had entered, was a city with strange silver — ships — he guessed, floating in the air. Black space and stars above but not night in the city. It was clear from the accompanying writing that this was not Neti, this was Earth, the place that the old stories spoke of. The First Home. He turned around and there was another mural on the far side that showed a similar view but with Lake Baikal in the distance surrounded by several cities. Sanfran was in the foreground and very clear. It was magnificent. He spun around again and this time looked at the Earth city foreground in detail. The scale was different. It was pretty clear this city was enormous and dwarfed Sanfran. There were so many wonders in the image that he wished he had brought his notebook to record them.

“So what do you think,” Tei said.

Tei was now lower in the water. The view submerged.

“Beautiful.”

“Me or the murals?” She smiled.

“Both.” He didn’t feel embarrassed about saying it. He couldn't be more embarrassed so he would just be honest. Time to just get clean, get out and get dressed. The smiles on the looks of the other Traders implied she had been playing with him; it was all a well worn trick to play on all those unfamiliar with Trader customs. Knowing that didn't make him feel less stupid for his immaturity.

The Trader contingent, plus Mikel, reached the palace at sunset. The traditional start time. They were led through a candle lit corridor. The walls were plain, a hint of faded yellow color, no decoration at all. He wondered if the artwork of the defeated had been purged here, but then why had the bathhouse been left in pristine condition?
 

They entered a large area open to the sky. From the looks of it, it was once enclosed but the roof was now missing. One of the soldiers referred to it as the ‘Atrium’ but didn’t explain further. They walked across the Atrium to another entrance. This time the lighting was better, superior candles, and there were quite a few paintings on the wall. The paintings were clearly recent. Some were pretty good. He had friends in the Artist Enclave on Lind and would often visit, being shown around and inspecting new works, and somehow, somewhere in all of that he had picked up quite a bit. The Wizards and Artists shared ideas often, each trying to amaze the other in what Mikel now knew was a very unusual competitive environment that somehow seemed to make sense.

These works were mostly about battles; complex scenes and figures, overly stylistic, many dead and the victorious marching over the top of the corpses while flying the Sanfran banners. Some of the more recent works were landscapes and sensitive portraits that showed greater creativity or depth. He understood now that the paintings were arranged in a particular order. The order was approximately chronological, it was a testament to the civilizing of the conquerors. From barbarian horde to patron of the arts.

“Did you notice the paintings? The order?” He asked.

Tei was at his side. He wasn’t sure if that was because she was a friend or for appearances. She wore his bandana about her neck.

“Yes. We have been monitoring the cultural progress of the Cities since the Fall. Some, such as Sanfran, are far more cultured and less aggressive. Perhaps it is no surprise they are so keen to have us as guests.”

The troop of guests now entered into a large room lit by masses of oil lamps and a large central fire. The fireplace appeared to have been crudely hacked out of the floor tiles centuries ago. Colored cloth with many intricate patterns lined the walls, mostly yellow and red. At the far end on a raised platform about a meter high was the queen on her throne at the center of a long table full of food but empty of guests. The banquet hall was already full of mingling guests and trestle tables with less fancy food from what he could see.
 

A court official met them, Alin Mkar, dressed in ornate red and yellow clothes with an elaborate red hat like a flattened ball. Most of the trim was golden braid. Overall the man's dress struck Mikel as unseemly and decadent but still interesting.

"You will be sitting at the table on the dais." He informed them.

"It is a bit exposed." Mikel said to Tei.

Alin overheard. "Your party will be dining with the Queen. Her Highness has ordered that you,
scribe
, sit on her immediate Right. A great privilege. On no account must anyone sit on her direct Left, that would be most inauspicious."

Mikel felt flushed and flustered, why couldn’t he just be in some inconspicuous corner where he could observe and take notes?

The Queen was quite attractive and dressed in yellow with a delicate crown made of silver and sapphire, if he wasn’t mistaken.
 
He was escorted by a servant, also dressed in red and yellow, to his seat on her right hand. He looked towards her and saw that his eye level was about ten centimeters below hers. He presumed this was intentional because she wasn’t that tall. Just as the raised dais was a signal of her superiority the seat height was an indication that her guests remember their position.

The night seemed to be progressing well, from what he could tell, there was laughter and light banter. Then the Queen put down her golden wine goblet, faced Tei and her tone of voice changed to something more serious.

"How has your expedition to the West been? Any troubles?"

Tei put down her silver goblet, he noticed that her body posture imitated that of the Queen. "It was not as easy as in the past, but we haven't had any direct troubles."

"I am curious about the types of goods you are bringing. I hear that the other Cities have become too dangerous to visit, who do you sell to then?"

Tei was clearly in her element now, Mikel could see that she was relaxed and smiling.

"We sell to whoever wants our goods, which includes our own people, Lind, and Bethor. The Cities — I mean other Cities — may be a problem at the moment but I am sure the problem will pass and they will welcome us again."

Mikel wondered if anyone at the table believed that. It seemed to be a mantra that the Traders kept repeating: it will all get better. Yet individually everyone knew things would only get worse.

"What goods have you been trading lately?"

"Well, Your Majesty, we have been trading exotic metals and materials to Lind in higher than normal quantities, many Lind devices to everyone it seems, and expensive fashion items to Bethor; cloth, silk, gems, that sort of thing."
 

The discussion was lively on the Trader's side when it came to interesting goods and ideas but the Queen was showing signs of disinterest.
 

They did not say anything about Tanten itself. A question about it had been asked by the Queen but neatly sidestepped. That question had stuck in his mind. He wanted to know. He was reaching for another glass of wine, perhaps he had too much to drink. He took a glass of water instead hoping that no-one asked him anything complicated.

The Queen smiled. "Very interesting. But I would like to know more about Tanten? What is it like?"

Terl, a Trader he didn't know well, spoke. “Tanten is a city within the desert but not in desert country. It is an oasis. We travel to many places and not only bring back goods and wealth but knowledge. We have several excellent libraries and we retain the history of the Ancients.”

Mikel sat up. So did the Queen. The Traders knew the truth about the Ancients, there was even a common rumor to that effect, which likely was started by the Traders to discredit the notion. Perhaps the wine was making his thinking overly convoluted and confused.

Mikel leaned forward, he couldn’t lose this opportunity. But across from him Tei glared at him with a look that said:
shut up
. He relaxed, but Tei would answer some questions later or — she would be exposed to the full force of his curiosity, a grim prospect that most of his teachers dreaded.

The Queen interjected, “What do your histories say then about the Cities and before?”

Terl, stroked his short blond beard. “Well, your Majesty, when the Ancients came to Neti, they came in great ships that travelled between the stars. They called them ‘starships’ in the old language. They founded the Cities of the Plains, gave them the names of their old cities, and they knew Zeus.”

“Zeus was real?”, the Queen looked at Terl like a mother about to scold an older child for believing in fairies.

“Zeus
is
real.” Terl’s face hardened with the famous and often mocked look of defiance of the Traders. Now, having spent so much time among them, Mikel understood that look. It meant: we know things you don’t know and can’t accept.

“… and controls Neti. The wind and clouds and so forth?” The Queen posed to Terl.

Terl relaxed, “No ma'am. The people who first came to Neti named the entity ‘Zeus’ and became friends. But they never regarded it as a god. Just extremely powerful.”

“So where is the home of Zeus?” The Queen was relaxing into this now, was she genuinely curious or merely humoring them? Mikel saw another possibility, perhaps she was studying the Traders society analytically. The answers and beliefs would then give insight into Trader thinking and society. That would be quite ironic. Mikel decided that this 'intrigue mode' of thinking was far too close to paranoia to be healthy.

“To the north your Majesty. At the Snows of Olympus. There is the great Citadel of Zeus. Greater than any work of Man, those who see it are humbled and know that there are greater things in this world than the cares and troubles of humanity.” Terl was standing, right fist clenched making his point. He suddenly looked about, understanding that he had gone a little too far. “Sorry, your grace. I am not well educated in matters of protocol.”

The Queen slowly smiled and gave a slow clap. “Very entertaining. We do not worry about your beliefs, only your actions. The Traders have always been stable and reliable.”

The table’s focus rapidly blurred into various conversations that became an irrelevant buzz to Mikel.

“Now about you young Wizard,” the Queen was looking at him. He wished he hadn’t drunk quite so much. He best keep as much to himself as possible.

"What do you have to say about your travels across the Plains?"

"Tei and I visited Lindin. It looked like they are preparing for war. Soldiers everywhere." He blurted it out without thinking, alcohol and nervousness conspiring together against him.

"Really? Hmm. War against … ?"

She looked at him with a deeply focused intensity, as if her eyes could bore through his skull and find some answer inside.

“Ah. Y-Yes your Majesty. I don't know." He was in deep now, he didn't know the fine art of lying so he would just go with the truth and hope it didn't cost him dearly.

"When I was in Bethor." A flash of bad memories, huddled in a cage, dockside being insulted, casual insults from a stranger, banners, banners, banners everywhere.

"When I was in Bethor, it seemed the whole city was going crazy. They want a new war of conquest."

"
Retake the Cities? Destroy Tanten? Destroy the Center?
" she said.

"Maybe."

"Not maybe. It is almost common knowledge that a war is coming. You just confirmed it with your own account." She looked away distracted. Forehead creased, right hand in a fist, knuckles going pale.

"And you are a Wizard?”

“Only an Apprentice, Your Majesty. I was sent here to learn more about the trade routes around Bethor.” His hands were sweating profusely; he kept them under the table rubbing them against his pants.

The Queen’s eyes narrowed. “Hmm. A bit unusual sending a new Wizard so far from home don’t you think? Do you know what I think? I think you are an emissary to the Traders for a future Wizard/Trader Alliance.” At first Mikel thought that she must not have heard him properly, but then it occurred to him that on the contrary she must have decided that the ‘Apprentice’ description was a ruse.

The whole table was silent. The situation had become potentially serious and dangerous.

Mikel cleared his throat, “Ahem, well, you know alliances don’t have to be just two way. It can be three-way, creating a very flexible combination of skills and resources.”

The Queen smiled. Her blue eyes and golden hair radiant in the yellow light from the candles and fire. “Exactly my thoughts. But come on
my
young Wizard drink up, let’s have some entertainment.” She called for some dancers to entertain and shouted some orders. Mikel’s heart was pounding, he heard the emphasis on ‘my’.

“Mikel,” the Queen leaned over and whispered to him.
 

“Are you and the Trader woman bound together? If not then you would be very welcome in my bed after the feast. We could see what we can teach each other.”

“I’m sorry my Queen but we are bound,” he lied.

“Yes, I thought as much. Her eyes have not left you all night. But if you leave her your presence will be welcome in my court.”

Was that more intrigue or honesty, or in this world did they merge so you couldn't tell? The more he tasted this life the more he preferred his own.

“Were you looking at me all night?”

Tei looked away from him. They were standing on a balcony looking over the city. The stars were out, feebly challenged by the few yellow, flickering street lamps and home fires of Sanfran. Most of the lights were low, at street level, few people lived in the higher buildings outside the Palace. As he had suspected in Lindin, tall buildings look impressive but are terrible to live in, at least now. Now those tall buildings were invisible except for their ominous silhouettes against the low stars. Ghosts in stone.

“The city was once very beautiful according to the Records. Once it was a center of knowledge and culture. At night it would glow, shapes and patterns of light and color moving over the buildings and through the air.” She said.