Land and Overland - Omnibus (15 page)

The rider was approaching slowly and nonchalantly. By taking a slightly more circuitous route he could have made the entire journey to Glo’s residence under the smothering nets of the city’s ptertha screens, but it looked as though he was enjoying the short stretch of open sky in spite of the slight risk of having a ptertha descend on him. Toller wondered if the messenger had a spirit similar to his own, one which chafed under the stringent anti-ptertha precautions which enabled what was left of the population to continue with their beleaguered existences.

The great census of 2622, taken only four years earlier, had established that the empire’s population consisted of almost two million with full Kolcorronian citizenship and some four million with tributary status. By the end of the first two plague years the total remaining was estimated at rather less than two million. A minute proportion of those who survived did so because, inexplicably, they had some degree of immunity to the secondary infection, but the vast majority went in continual fear for their lives, emulating the lowliest vermin in their burrows. Unscreened dwellings had been fitted with airtight seals which were clamped over doors, windows and chimney openings during ptertha alerts, and outside the cities and townships the ordinary people had deserted their farms and taken to living in woodlands and forests, the natural fortresses which the globes were unable to penetrate.

As a result agricultural output had fallen to a level which was insufficient even for the greatly reduced needs of a depleted population, but Toller—with the unconscious egocentricity of the young—had little thought to spare for the statistics which told of calamities on a national scale. To him they amounted to little more than a shadow play, a vaguely shifting background to the central drama of his own affairs, and it was in the hope of learning something to his personal advantage that he stood up to greet the arriving king’s messenger.

“Good foreday,” he said, smiling. “What brings you to Greenmount Peel?”

The courier was a gaunt man with a world-weary look to him, but he nodded pleasantly enough as he reined his bluehorn to a halt. “The message I bear is for Lord Glo’s eyes only.”

“Lord Glo is still asleep. I am Toller Maraquine, Lord Glo’s personal attendant and a hereditary member of the philosophy order. I have no wish to pry, but my lord is not a well man and he would be displeased were I to awaken him at this hour except for a matter of considerable urgency. Let me have the gist of your message so that I may decide what should be done.”

“The message tube is sealed.” The courier produced a mock-rueful smile. “And I’m not supposed to be aware of its contents.”

Toller shrugged, playing a familiar game. “That’s a pity—I was hoping that you and I could have made our lives a little easier.”

“Fine grazing land,” the courier said, turning in the saddle to appraise the pasture he had just ridden through. “I imagine his lordship’s household has not been greatly affected by the food shortages…”

“You must be hungry after riding all the way out here,” Toller said. “I would be happy to set you down to a hero’s breakfast, but perhaps there is no time. Perhaps I have to go immediately and rouse Lord Glo.”

“Perhaps it would be more considerate to allow his lordship to enjoy his rest.” The courier swung himself down to stand beside Toller. “The King is summoning him to a special meeting in the Great Palace, but the appointment is four days hence. It scarcely seems to be a matter of great urgency.”

“Perhaps,” Toller said, frowning as he tried to evaluate the surprising new information. “Perhaps not.”

“I’m not at all sure that I’m doing the right thing,” Lord Glo said as Toller Maraquine finished strapping him into his walking frame. “I think it would be much more prudent—not to mention being more fair to you—if I were to take one of the servants to the Great Palace with me and … hmm … leave you here. There is enough work to be done around the place, work which would keep you out of trouble.”

“It has been two years,” Toller replied, determined not to be excluded. “And Leddravohr has had so much on his mind that he has probably forgotten all about me.”

“I wouldn’t count on it, my boy—the prince has a certain reputation in these matters. Besides, if I know you, you’re quite likely to give him a reminder.”

“Why would I do something so unwise?”

“I’ve been watching you lately. You’re like a brakka tree which is overdue for a blow-out.”

“I don’t do that sort of thing any more.” Toller made the protest automatically, as he had often done in the past, but it came to him that he had in fact changed considerably since his first encounter with the military prince. His occasional periods of restlessness and dissatisfaction were proof of the change, because of the way in which he dealt with them. Instead of working himself up to a state in which the slightest annoyance was liable to trigger an outburst, he had learned—like other men—to divert or sublimate his emotional energies. He had schooled himself to accept an accretion of minor joys and satisfactions in place of that single great fulfilment which was yearned for by so many and destined for so few.

“Very well, young man,” Glo said as he adjusted a buckle. “I’m going to trust you, but please remember that this is a uniquely important occasion and conduct yourself accordingly. I will hold you to your word on this point. You realise, of course, why the King has seen fit to … hmm … summon me?”

“Is it a return to the days when we were consulted on the great imponderables of life? Does the King want to know why men have nipples but can’t suckle?”

Glo sniffed. “Your brother has the same unfortunate tendency towards coarse sarcasm.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re not, but I’ll enlighten you just the same. The idea I planted in the King’s mind two years ago has finally borne fruit. Remember what you said about my flying higher and seeing…? No, that was Lain. But here’s something for you to … hmm … think about, young Toller. I’m getting on in years and haven’t much longer to go—but I’ll wager you a thousand nobles that I will set foot on Overland before I die.”

“I would never challenge your word on any subject,” Toller said diplomatically, marvelling at the older man’s talent for self-deception. Anybody else, with the possible exception of Vorndal Sisstt, would have remembered the council meeting with shame. So great was the philosophers’ disgrace that they would surely have been deposed from Greenmount had the monarchy not been preoccupied with the plague and its consequences—yet Glo still nurtured his belief that he was highly regarded by the King and that his fantasising about the colonisation of Overland could be taken seriously. Since the onset of his illness Glo had shunned alcohol, and was able to comport himself better as a result, but his senility remained to distort his view of reality. Toller’s private guess was that Glo had been summoned to the palace to account for the continuing failure to produce the efficacious long-range anti-ptertha weapon which was vital if normal agriculture were to resume.

“We’ve got to make haste,” Glo said. “Can’t risk being late on our day of triumph.” With Toller’s help he donned his formal grey robe, working it down over the cane framework which enabled him to stand on his own. His formerly rotund body had shrunk to a loose-skinned slightness, but he had left his clothing unaltered to accommodate and hide the frame, hoping to disguise the extent of his disability. It was one of the human foibles which had earned him Toller’s sympathy.

“We’ll get you there in good time,” Toller said reassuringly, wondering if he should be trying to prepare Glo for the possible ordeal that lay ahead.

The drive to the Great Palace took place in silence, with Glo nodding ruminatively to himself now and then as he rehearsed his intended address.

It was a moist grey morning, the gloom of which was deepened by the anti-ptertha screens overhead. The level of illumination had not been reduced a great deal in those streets where it had been sufficient to put up a roof of netting or lattices supported on canes which ran horizontally from eave to eave. But where there were roofs and parapets of different heights in proximity to each other it had been necessary to erect heavy and complicated structures, many of which were clad with varnished textiles to prevent air currents and downdraughts from carrying ptertha dust through countless apertures in buildings which were designed for an equatorial climate. Many of the once-glittering avenues in the heart of Ro-Atabri now had a cavernous dimness to them, the city’s architecture having been clogged and obscured and rendered claustrophobic by the defensive shroud.

The Bytran Bridge, the main river crossing on the way south, had been completely sheathed with timber, giving it something of the appearance of a giant warehouse, and from there a tunnel-like covered way crossed the moats and led to the Great Palace, which was now draped and tented. Toller’s first intimation that the meeting was going to be different from that of two years earlier came when he noticed the lack of carriages in the principal courtyard. Apart from a handful of official equippages, only his brother’s lightweight brougham—acquired after the banning of team-drawn vehicles—waited near the entrance. Lain was standing alone by the brougham with a slim roll of paper under his arm. His narrow face looked pale and tired under the sweeps of black hair. Toller jumped down and assisted Glo to leave his carriage, discreetly taking his full weight until he had steadied himself.

“You didn’t tell me this was going to be a private audience,” Toller said.

Glo gave him a look of humorous disdain, momentarily appearing his old self. “I can’t be expected to tell you everything, young man—it’s important for the Lord Philosopher to be aloof and … hmm … enigmatic now and again.” Leaning heavily on Toller’s arm, he limped towards the carved arch of the entrance, where they were joined by Lain.

During the exchange of greetings Toller, who had not seen his brother for some forty days, was concerned at Lain’s obvious debility. He said, “Lain, I hope you’re not working too hard.”

Lain made a wry grimace. “Working too hard and sleeping too little. Gesalla is pregnant again and it’s affecting her more than the last time.”

“I’m sorry.” Toller was surprised to hear that, after her miscarriage of almost two years ago, Gesalla was still determined on motherhood. It indicated a maternal instinct which he had trouble in reconciling with the rest of her character. Apart from the single curious shift in his perception of Gesalla on his return from the disastrous council meeting, he had always seen her as being too dry, too well-ordered and too fond of her personal autonomy to enjoy rearing children.

“By the way, she sends her regards,” Lain added.

Toller smiled broadly to signal his disbelief as the three men proceeded into the palace. Glo directed them through the muted activity of the corridors to a glasswood door which was well away from the administrative areas. The black-armoured ostiaries on duty were a sign that the King was within. Toller felt Glo’s body stiffen with exertion as he strove to present a good appearance, and he in turn tried to look as though he was giving Glo only minimal assistance as they entered the audience chamber.

The apartment was hexagonal and quite small, lighted by a single window, and the only furnishings were a single hexagonal table and six chairs. King Prad was already seated opposite the window and by his side were the princes Leddravohr and Chakkell, all of them informally attired in loose silks. Prad’s sole mark of distinction was a large blue jewel which was suspended from his neck by a glass chain. Toller, who had a strong desire for the occasion to pass off smoothly for the sake of his brother and Lord Glo, avoided looking in Leddravohr’s direction. He kept his eyes down until the King signalled for Glo and Lain to be seated, then he gave all his attention to getting Glo into a chair with a minimum of creaking from his frame.

“I apologise for this delay, Majesty,” Glo said when finally at ease, speaking in high Kolcorronian. “Do you wish my attendant to retire?”

Prad shook his head. “He may remain for your comfort, Lord Glo—I had not appreciated the extent of your incapacity.”

“A certain recalcitrance of the … hmm … limbs, that is all,” Glo replied stoically.

“Nevertheless, I am grateful for the effort you made to be here. As you can see, I am dispensing with all formality so that we may have an unimpeded exchange of ideas. The circumstances of our last meeting were hardly conducive to free discussion, were they?”

Toller, who had positioned himself behind Glo’s chair, was surprised by the King’s amiable and reasonable tones. It seemed as though his own pessimism had been ill-founded and that Glo was to be spared fresh humiliation. He looked directly across the table for the first time and saw that Prad’s expression was indeed as reassuring as it could be on features that were dominated by one inhuman, marble-white eye. Toller’s gaze, without his conscious bidding, swung towards Leddravohr and he experienced a keen psychic shock as he realised that the prince’s eyes had been drilling into him all the while, projecting unmistakable malice and contempt.

I’m a different person
, Toller told himself, checking the reflexive defiant spreading of his shoulders.
Glo and Lain are not going to be harmed in any way by association with me
.

He lowered his head, but not before he had glimpsed Leddravohr’s smile flick into being, the effortless snake-fast twitch of his upper lip. Toller was unable to decide on a course of action or inaction. It appeared that all the things they whispered about Leddravohr were true, that he had an excellent memory for faces and an even better one for insults. The immediate difficulty for Toller lay in that, determined though he was not to cross Leddravohr, it was out of the question for him to stand with his head lowered for perhaps the whole foreday. Could he find a pretext to leave the room, perhaps something to do with…?

“I want to talk about flying to Overland,” the King said, his words a conceptual bomb-blast which blew everything else out of Toller’s consciousness. “Are you, in your official capacity as Lord Philosopher, stating that it can be done?”