Beneath an Opal Moon (13 page)

“Now tell me the truth.” Her voice was still low and thick with suppressed emotion.

“Or you will slit my throat?” he inquired.

She said nothing, merely moved the blade of the dirk a fraction closer to the tendons in his throat.

“You have already heard the truth from me, Aufeya.”

“I warn you, do not fool with me!” Now the razor-sharp edge of the blade commenced to crease the skin. “You knew I am Daluzan. How could that be if you do not work for
him
?”

“I do not even know who ‘him' is.” He felt the trickle of blood even though the blade itself was out of his line of sight and he had not actually felt the thing moving. “I am a navigator, remember? I have been to many parts of the world. I have been to Dalucia twice. Daluzan names are unforgettable. I knew the moment you told me yours.”

She seemed to ignore this last and he became concerned that her hysteria had narrowed her perception to such an extent that she now would hear only what she wanted to hear.

“Where in Dalucia?” Voice as tight as a strung bow, pulled back, waiting for release. He had the uncomfortable impression that the arrow was pointed directly at him.

“The port of Corruña. We were bringing cedar and silks.”

“Descríbame la puerta de la Corruña,”
she snapped in idiomatic Daluzan.
“Jao de Corruña.”

So she came from that city; it was the capital of Dalucia, he knew. He told her everything he could remember about the harbor.

She tossed her head, hair like a burnished metal crown, even in this darkness. “This means nothing. If you are in his pay, you are sure to be well-coached.”

“My God, Aufeya, what do you want of me?”

“The truth, only.”

“Who is this man you speak of—?”

“
I
ask the questions!” she snapped.

“As you wish.”

“Yes, as I wish.” She paused as if considering. “Why should I waste my time explaining to you what you already know?”

“Perhaps I do not know it.”

She came to a decision, let him sit up against a section of closed jalousies; the point of the dirk hovered close, ready to strike should he attempt to attack her.

Behind her silhouette, he could see a thin line of pink begin to spread itself along the far horizon, broken in myriad places by the hulls of the ships at anchor. Gray was in the sky now, bleaching back the darkness and he could feel rather than see the wheeling of the gulls. Soon they would be calling, calling to the ascendant sun. “This is my favorite time of day, the dawn,” Moichi said. “The hour of the cormorant, we call it at sea.” He thought of his appointment with Aerent and the visiting Bujun girl. He would have to be going soon.

She watched him carefully. “If you had a ship, you would go home to Iskael. That is what you said.”

“Did I?” He was surprised. “How odd. No. First I would go to Kintai.”

It was as if he had delivered a physical blow, so shaken was she. But she recovered enough to say, “What do you know of Kintai?”

“Nothing,” he said, spreading his hands. “In truth, I only learned of its existence this morning. If you know something of the place I would be obliged—”

“How did you hear of it?” The tension had returned abruptly and he was wary again.

“There was a murder here last night. One of many, I have no doubt. But this matter is altogether out of the ordinary. Two disparate men were killed by disparate methods. One, the son of the tai-pan of the Ching Pang was slain by a professional and highly proficient swordsman. The other was tortured horribly. He was killed, I believe, by an arcane and ancient art known as
koppo
.” He paused here to observe what effect, if any, his words were having on her. Her eyes had gone dead, seemed now as flat and opaque as stones drying in the sun. “This man was an outlander. He came, we believe, from Kintai.” She was on her haunches, her gaze turned inward. He could now have disarmed her with the minimum of personal risk. Yet, curiously, he decided to remain motionless. “I think we can help each other, Aufeya. It seems more than coincidence that has thrown us together.”

Her eyes focused on him but she said nothing.

“Will you tell me about the man now? I truly know nothing of him.”

“His name is Hellsturm,” she said finally, her voice containing a strange metallic edge, “and he has pursued me for ten thousand kilometers. If I believe what you have just told me, only I am left now to stand against him. He has murdered Cascaras.”

“Is he the man from Kintai?”

She nodded. “Kintai was where he had just come from, where he had been searching for—He is—was—Daluzan, like me. A trader.”

“But what—?”

“It is the man in the black cloak. The one you bid against. He is Hellsturm.”

“And he killed the man from—he killed Cascaras?”

She nodded again. “It could only be him.” Her free hand curled into a tight fist, pounded her knee. “Oh, how he must have gloated to see me here! It was that cursed storm! I should never have been near Sha'angh'sei. Cascaras and I had split up, he to come here to hide and I—Well, it does not matter now.”

“It matters a great deal, Aufeya.” He lifted out a hand, palm upward. “Won't you give me the dirk now?”

“No,” she said. “No, I believe—I believe I can trust you now but I don't know this place. I will feel safer if I keep it for a while.”

“All right,” he said. “Keep it as long as you like.”

She put it away within the silk pants he had given her. They were a spare pair of Llowan's work pants which he had liberated on their way upstairs as they came into the harttin. His would have been far too big on her.

The sea was awash in pink and pale yellow as, abruptly, the sun heaved its top over the horizon. True to form, the gulls began their crying as they dipped toward the sea's flat face, searching out their breakfast. Their melancholy calling filled the air.

“You said Cascaras was tortured,” Aufeya said. “How bad was it, do you think?”

“As bad as it could possibly be, I'm afraid.” He described to her what they had discovered.

She shuddered and some of the life seemed to go out of her for a moment. “Then I must assume that Hellsturm has broken Cascaras, that he is now in possession of Cascaras' half of the information.”

“Information about what? Is there some form of attack being planned against Sha'angh'sei?” he asked, echoing Aerent's fear.

Aufeya laughed harshly. “Oh, no,” she said. “Nothing so mundane, I assure you.”

Below them, along the bund, sounds were starting up at such a rapid pace that they quickly began to overlap one another, the commencement of another day's city serenade. An armada of fishing boats was already out at sea, having successfully avoided the clogged shipping lanes through which laden clippers and schooners from the world of man were now maneuvering in order to take the spaces dockside vacated by ships that had spent the night in the harbor and that now, fully loaded, had raised canvas and weighed anchor just before first light. These passed each other in a stately quotidian dance, making up much of the morning's routine.

He had so many questions to ask her and so little time in which to ascertain the answers. In fact, he realized guiltily, he had no time at all. The hour of the cormorant was here and he must be off. No matter how much he wished to stay with Aufeya, he had his duty to think of, not only to the Regent but to the Dai-San himself.

“I want you to stay here,” he said, standing up. He could hear the movement downstairs of the kubaru and the stevedores. He thought briefly about asking Llowan for help but almost immediately realized that would be an unfair request. The bundsman already had more to do than he had time in which to work each day. And anyway, Kossori would be better able to handle Aufeya's protection until he could return. And return he would, as quickly as possible, with Aerent in tow.

Aufeya rose also, her beautiful face troubled. “Where are you going?” Her hand instinctively reached into her pants for the hilt of the dirk.

“I have an appointment. An official one, I am afraid, and it is one I dare not miss.”

“Then let me go with you.”

“No, I am sorry, Aufeya, that is impossible. This is an affair of state.”

“I won't stay here alone.” The fire had come back into her eyes and he was thankful of that. She was quite a capable individual when aroused. He smiled to himself at the double meaning.

“I do not mean you to stay alone, although I am quite certain that this is the safest place in all of Sha'angh'sei for you. Kossori will guard you until I return. He was with me last night at the Sha-rida.”

“The man who decoyed Hellsturm and the others.” She nodded. “Yes, quite clever. But what has taken him so long?”

“He would not risk coming here until dawn brought out the city's crowds. There was a chance they might try to follow him once they realized we were not with him.”

There was a clatter on the stairs, as if on cue. Aufeya drew the dirk with lightning speed and even Moichi, who was certain he knew who it was climbing the stairs, felt his hand close about the hilt of his sword.

But it was indeed Kossori and he relaxed visibly, making the obligatory introductions. There was no time for more than that. As his friend went to the desk, downing the wine he had poured for Aufeya, Moichi told Kossori he would be back as soon as he could and not to let Aufeya out of his sight until then.

“You had no trouble slipping away?” he asked.

“I led them a merry chase, my friend, you can be sure,” Kossori replied, pouring himself another cup of wine, downing this too. “All the way to the Tejira Quarter then down to the Serpentine.” He sighed, turning to face them. “I have had a most tiring night, my friend.” He grinned wolfishly as he eyed Aufeya. “And I see, as a hero, I am about to get my just reward.”

Moichi laughed shortly. “I would not be so anxious to try this one out, Kossori. She is as deadly as a snow wolf.”

“Is that so?” Kossori eyed her even more keenly. “The more arduous the chase, the keener one enjoys the spoils, eh?”

Aufeya was still brandishing the dirk and Moichi went over to her. “Pay him no mind. He is in rare good humor over this night's sport.”

“Sport?” she cried. “We are most deadly serious here. You cannot imagine the import of what has transpired.”

“No, not yet,” Moichi agreed with her. “But we shall soon enough, I promise you. Just as soon as I return from Three Kegs Pier. Nothing will happen while Kossori is here. A better protector in Sha'angh'sei you could not find.”

He changed rapidly into a fine honey-colored silk shirt with open neck and wide sleeves, tight rust-colored calfskin breeches. In the midst of this elegant garb, his old tattooed scabbard seemed out of place indeed.

He put his arm around Aufeya's shoulders, took her back out onto the veranda. They stood by the far railing. In the harbor, an enormous four-masted schooner, known as a globe-spanner in sailor's vernacular, was maneuvering slowly toward one of the long wharves reserved for just such behemoths. Even with fully half its canvas furled, it was a magnificent sight, guided as it was by a trio of Sha'angh'sei harbor boats, dwarfed like toys beside its grandeur.

“Aufeya,” he said softly, “I will not be gone long.” Looking into her eyes was a task now and he wrenched his gaze away with an effort. “I want to ask you something before I leave. Did you—did you feel it also? Last night at the Sha-rida? And then—when our lips touched just before?”

He was still conscious of his dirk in her left hand; it hung down loosely, its point toward the wooden boards of the floor.

She lifted her right arm and her fingers touched the contour of his cheek, tracing it. “We are unique in this land, you and I, Moichi.” It was the first time she had used his name and he felt a shiver pass through him. ‘We are both children of the one God. These heathens of Sha'angh'sei worship many gods—as do most of the people of the world of man. Many gods must dissipate power, don't you think? Some others believe in no God at all. Surely this is not good.” Her hand was at her side again but his skin still tingled where she had brushed it with her fingertips. No one had ever conveyed so much in such a simple common gesture. “I had thought the Daluzan were the only people left who believed in the one God. Now I find you. Surely this cannot be coincidence.”

“I do not believe in coincidence.”

“What do you think it is then?”

“
Sei
,” he said, noting her uncomprehending look. “The Bujun call it
karma
. There are many words for it, I imagine. Part of the life-force which brings people together at a certain time and place. For some reason.”

“What is the reason with us?”

He traced the features of her face with his eyes, resting for a moment on the half-open lips, rose-colored and shiny. Impulsively, he leaned toward her with his upper torso and kissed her. Then, surprised, he found her arms reaching up around his neck, the kiss prolonged, intensified, her body warm all along the length of his own.

“Go now,” she said, standing primly back. She shook her hair, copper where the sunlight struck it.
“Vejira con Dihos.”
And he saw her eyes glowing with the enormous fear she felt for the man Hellsturm. She struggled hard to suppress it, and only because he was so close-She went with him, back into the room. Kossori watched them silently as they parted and Moichi went quickly down the stairs.

He looked back just before the floor cut off his line of sight, saw her standing in the center of the room with the new morning's light spilling all around her, seeming to him, a physical manifestation of the invisible aura she possessed. Her eyes met his just before he disappeared down the stairwell but the confluence of emotions he saw there confounded him all the way to his assignation.