Tetrarch (Well of Echoes) (76 page)

Her hearing picked up Ghorr’s voice at once, even through the closed door of the dining room. Unfortunately it picked up every other sound as well. The clatter of cutlery was like the clashing of cymbals. The chatter of the scrutators resembled a squad of soldiers marching across a boardwalk. She could hear every chew, every swallow, every grunt and belch.

Ullii endured the cacophony during the interminable dinner, which consisted of eight courses, some so pungent that she could smell them through her noseplugs. When a servant hurried down the hall with hot napkins, the noise was so loud that Ullii almost wept.

There came a single rap, as of a knife on a table, and everyone fell silent.

‘We have much to discuss,’ echoed Ghorr’s voice clearly. He listed a number of items, most having no interest to Ullii, but at the end, ‘and what to do about the crafter.’

Irisis
. Ullii listened intently, though it was a long time before she heard anything of interest. Ghorr was speaking again.

‘The device is finally ready. I will give it to Scrutator Flydd at dawn and he will immediately leave for Snizort.’

The debate went on for another hour before they turned to Irisis. Ullii’s ears were throbbing and her headache was worse than ever.

‘Ah, now we come to Crafter Irisis,’ said Ghorr. ‘Scrutator Flydd went to visit her last night.’

A low comment from someone; Ullii could not make out what was said.

Ghorr chuckled. ‘If Flydd could have broken the spell on the door he would have taken her. There seems no limit to the man’s villainy.’

‘It certainly seems that he cannot be trusted,’ said another. ‘As if we should be in any doubt.’

‘I’ve not trusted him since that incident thirty years ago,’ said Ghorr. ‘I voted that he be put down then, if you recall.’

‘And you were outvoted,’ said Halie, ‘as
I
recall. The man is a problem, I agree, but that is outweighed by his talent. He has served us well in the years since his … punishment. That he survived it shows his indomitable will. We need him until the war is won. After that –’

‘After could well be too late,’ snapped Ghorr.

‘If we lose the war, as is likely without the use of his talents, it will not matter.’

Several people spoke at once and Ullii could not make out what was said, then Ghorr again, with seeming reluctance. ‘As you say, he is a problem for another time. Irisis is a problem for now. I have finished my interrogation of her.’

‘What did you discover?’ came the voice of black-bearded Fusshte.

‘I don’t think there is any more to learn from her. There is no doubt that she killed the mancer on the aqueduct by manipulating the field. The woman’s body was torn apart by explosive anthracism. I’ve not been able to have our best artisans duplicate it on prisoners, but I was careful not to reveal too much. I’m sure it can be done, though, and that leaves us with a problem.’

‘One that’s already out in the open,’ said Halie.

‘Only Irisis knows, and Flydd, Jal-Nish and us. The soldier witnesses can be discounted. Flydd won’t spread it around; it threatens him as much as it does us. Jal-Nish likewise. That only leaves Irisis.’

‘And the seeker,’ said Fusshte in a tone that sent chills up Ullii’s back.

‘That squeaking little mouse,’ sneered Ghorr. ‘She can barely dress herself without bursting into tears. Spare me, Fusshte.’

‘Besides,’ said Halie, ‘we plan to use Ullii later on.’

‘Irisis must die,’ said Ghorr. ‘She’s too much of a risk. But not tonight. I’ll wait till Flydd is safely away. He might become uncooperative, otherwise.’

‘A pity,’ said Fusshte. ‘The woman is a great beauty, and of child-bearing age. And quite a lover, too, I’m told.’ He gave a lascivious snort.

‘Beauty is everywhere,’ said Ghorr coldly, ‘if that is
all
that you require. Irisis must die. Agreed?’

The scrutators voted. Most agreed. Several did not, Halie among them.

‘Tomorrow,’ said Ghorr. ‘After he’s gone. Keep an extra watch on him tonight. No, lock him in. I wouldn’t put it past Flydd to try again.’

Chairs were thrust back all at once, creating such a racket that Ullii had to push in her earplugs. She heard nothing else. She crouched under the table until they were all gone, making sure by the smell of each. Her heart was thumping. Irisis was going to be murdered.

Ullii flooded with memories of all the times the crafter had treated her kindly, most notably when she’d knocked down Jal-Nish after he had struck Ullii. That had been one of the greatest moments of her life: she’d realised she had found a true friend. Since then, Irisis had sometimes treated her unkindly in little ways, but that no longer counted.

Ullii wanted to help her friend, though she would not have dared had it not been for Myllii. She was too selfish – she had to be – and too afraid. She’d always been helpless. What could
she
do, if even the scrutator could not save Irisis?

The seeker spent another hour or two under the table. It was as good a place as any to agonise. Dare she try? She dared not. She dared. She dared not. As she was sitting there, a mouse emerged from a crack between wall and floor and scurried along the line of chairs, snapping up crumbs and other morsels fallen from the table. There was not much; the room had not been used since breakfast. Ullii smiled and felt in her pocket, where she had a piece of bread. She did not like large meals, preferring to snack through the day.

Breaking a corner off, she flicked it across the floor. The mouse skittered away, then came creeping back and swallowed the morsel before fleeing again. She flicked another piece of bread, not so far. This time the mouse did not run. She rolled out her hand, containing a larger morsel.

The mouse was more wary this time. It sniffed the air as it watched her with little pink eyes. She approved of its caution. Its whiskers twitching, it ran forward, grabbed the piece of bread and ducked behind the leg of a chair.

Very slowly she put out her hand with a length of crust held between two fingers. Ullii had often watched mice in her dungeon cell, and grown friendly with them. This one was young. An older mouse would have been more careful.

She consulted her lattice but of course the mouse did not appear in it. Animals rarely did. Only lyrinx – not that she thought of them as animals, the nylatl, and those flesh-formed monsters in the ice houses.

Claws dug into her fingers, painfully. Ullii had to restrain herself. The mouse had climbed onto her hand and was nibbling at the crust, trying to get it out from between her fingers with its front paws. She held on for a moment, then let it go. The mouse took the morsel in its mouth, swallowed, and sat back on its haunches, staring at her. Its long snout twitched.

What do you want, little mouse? More bread? Then you’ll have to trust me. She slowly raised her hand until the mouse was level with her face. Its back legs tensed but it did not spring off. She twitched her nose. It twitched back. It must like her. ‘I have some bread in my pocket,’ she said softly. ‘Would you like it?’

She lowered her hand until it was level with her pocket. The mouse sniffed the fabric, thrusting its snout right against it. Ullii lifted the flap to reveal the opening. The mouse darted inside. She felt it munching at the bread. Ullii sat there while it ate, not wanting to frighten it. She loved the little scurryings and munchings it was making there.

It gave her courage too. If the mouse could be so brave, maybe she could. She crept out from under the table. The mouse tensed, relaxed. There was no one about. She looked through the door into the scrutators’ dining hall. The table had not been cleared. She filled her pockets with leftover bread and fruit, then made her way back to her room.

‘Well, mouse,’ she said, sitting on her bed. ‘What can we do?’

It poked its snout out of her pocket. She stroked its brow. The mouse ducked out of sight. Where was Irisis? Ullii searched her lattice and located the crafter, who was away towards the other end of the building, and lower down. The direction was precise but how to get there was unclear.

She went along the hall. The ceiling was nearly six spans above her head and Ullii felt like a little mouse herself, creeping along, ears cocked for anyone coming. She was afraid; there was nowhere to hide. But then, she didn’t have to hide. Nobody noticed her.

It took her a long time to get close to the crafter. Ullii felt as though she was walking though a series of endless rectangular tunnels. The lower floors were dark at this time of night. Irisis was that familiar black ball in her lattice, unlike others because it was impenetrable. It covered up a carefully concealed secret.

It was hard to keep Irisis in mind as she walked, for her position in the lattice no longer seemed to match the shape of Nennifer. Ullii went down a set of steps but at the bottom lost the crafter for a moment. She had to crouch down in the dark and search all over again.

Irisis was not there. It was as if her knot had
shifted
. Ullii felt more afraid. Things should not shift in her lattice unless, like air-floaters or flying lyrinx, they were moving away rapidly.

Were they taking Irisis away to be killed? Ghorr had said it would be done after Flydd left in the morning, but maybe that had been a lie. What if Ghorr had known Ullii was out there, spying on them? This might be a trap. Maybe he was hunting her right now. Manipulating her lattice.

She searched it for the chief scrutator. He was up in one of the towers of Nennifer. Relief was followed by panic. Some of the other knots seemed to be moving in her direction.

Ullii resisted the urge to run into the dark. It took all the courage she had, which was not very much. Life had taught her that bravery was stupidity. Were they coming towards her? It was impossible to be sure. Another problem: normal, human, talentless guards did not show up in her lattice. Ghorr might have a hundred of them hunting her and she would not know it until she heard them coming.

I can’t, she thought. It’s too hard. Irisis, where are you? Ullii turned left at the bottom of the steps and immediately knew that was the wrong way. She went the other way, then stopped, listening. Was that a boot on the steps far above?

She took off her own boots and socks, tying the boots together by their laces and pressing her socks well inside. She liked the feel of the tiles under her bare feet. It felt more secure. Fleeting down the hall, making no more sound than the mouse in her pocket, Ullii tried to reassure herself. No one here had her talent. They could not track her unless they used dogs, and she had not smelt any in Nennifer.

Ullii scurried upstairs and down, along one corridor after another. She checked the lattice. Those other knots had stopped moving, which was nearly as worrying as having them coming in her direction.

She still could not see Irisis, no matter how hard she looked. Then, it was as if something slipped and she caught a faint glimpse of the black ball. She felt more afraid. Were they hiding Irisis from her? Was Ghorr watching, in some mancerly way, everything she did?

Though Ullii could see most forms of magic, and the people who used it, she did not understand the Secret Art. As far as she was concerned, everything she’d heard about mancers was true. They could do anything.

She began to go down another set of stairs but the terror overcame her and she collapsed halfway. Pulling herself into a ball, Ullii squatted there, rocking. She had an urge to take her clothes off and scream herself into a fit, as she had often done when younger. She could not go on. How she wished Myllii were here. Ullii could not remember his smell, but it must have been much like her own. Myllii, where are you? She did not think she could go on, even for Myllii. Ullii just wanted to run and hide.

The mouse was scratching around in her pocket. She slipped her fingers in and it sniffed at them. Its tongue touched a fingertip. It felt nice; tickly; friendly. For some strange reason the mouse reminded her of Nish, and that brought to mind the attack by the nylatl, where she had saved Nish’s life. Though she was little and terrified and weak, she had saved brave, bold Nish, her hero.

The mouse sniffed its way into her hand. She brought it out, cupped in her palms. It had no fear of her. She must have none either. With a swift movement she slipped it back and stood up. She must try to save Irisis.

Ullii searched for that blot in her lattice that seemed to be hiding the crafter. It was hard to locate; it seemed to change shape all the time. She turned her lattice around in her head and saw Irisis’s mark at once. The chief scrutator was trying to be too clever, but he did not understand her talent at all.

Her wanderings had carried Ullii down into the lower levels of Nennifer, well below the surface of the ground. These were not dungeons but airy corridors with rooms off them, where people worked during the daytime. Now they were dark.

Irisis’s level was lit by lamps at intervals. A guard sat at the far end of the hall. She crept along the wall, in the shadows. He scanned the corridor every so often but did not see her.

She found the room. Ullii could sense Irisis inside. The door was held closed by the Art; she could feel the strength of it without even looking in her lattice. She slid by and kept going. How could she get Irisis out when even the scrutator had failed?

Ullii found an empty room further down, sat in the dark and ate some bread, sharing it with the friend in her pocket. Surprising how comforting she found him. Ullii knew that it was a him.

She considered the spell on the door. For all that she could see the Art in its myriad forms, Ullii was unable to break the simplest spell and this one, she could tell from the convolutions of its knot in her lattice, was not simple. She rotated the lattice, examining the knot from one side and another. Knots could sometimes be undone, but that was dangerous; she might be attacked by what lay hidden inside.

This knot was beyond her, for its tightly woven structure gave no clue to how it was tied underneath. She left it, looking for the dark ball that was Irisis. She was obscured again. The knot now seemed to surround the space where the crafter was held.