The Golden Sword (11 page)

“When Celendra heard this, she locked herself in her keep and commenced a fasting and a keening that lasted a full set’s time When she once again opened her door, she went straight to Vedrev and demanded an inquiry into what had occurred upon the trail. Vedrev answered her that it was doubtful they even reached the falls by that day. Celendra then informed Vedrev that her son was dead, that she had seen Sereth, in a vision, bind the boy up in a brist pelt and throw him into a great crevice. And that he had failed to protect Estri of Astria, who was lost now forever to the spirits beyond, and that Sereth had killed four chalded men and left them, their chalds upon them, for the hulions and the harths. I know this, because it was to my lecture hall she came, and demanded Vedrev at once attend her will.

“This the Day-Keeper did, leaving us thirty would-be forereaders in the learning hall, waiting. Celendra’s unquiet voice rang through the hide corridors, and in our ears, as she charged Sereth with all the un-Sevenly acts I have mentioned, and more besides.

“Vedrev tried to calm her, but the seeds of doubt were planted in his mind, and he went himself upon the trail to the Falls of Santha, taking with him Ganrom, Celendra, and at Celendra’s bidding, the Liaison, for it had passed between Dellin and Celendra that they would take the one-year couch-bond traditional between Keepress and Liaison.

“One who should have known once said to me that but for this pledge to Celendra, Dellin would have stood for Sereth in his need, and had that been true, things might have taken a different turn. But he did not.

“Let me point out that at the time Celendra first approached Vedrev, it was with forereader’s knowledge. It was her forereading Vedrev trusted, and as it proved true in some things, it seemed true in all. It was her forereading that destroyed Sereth.” Her voice was wistful, and I knew she saw him before her eyes, even as I did.

“Just upon the plateau of Santha,” Khemi continued, “Vedrev’s party found some badly savaged bodies.

“Embedded in the chest of one of them was a knife with the Seven’s device engraved upon the hilt. There was the Slayer convicted before trial, for he had not collected the chalds of his dead.

“The body of Tyith was not among them. Celendra demanded that they press on, and the dharener’s party continued, until they found their way was blocked by a great crevice in the earth, Deeming it impossible to pass over the chasm’s width or around its length, they turned themselves around and headed back to Arlet. The fact that the crevice was as Celendra had described it was enough for Vedrev.

“By this time I had finished my seminars and was released to my wellwork for a pass, to put what I had learned in the hide into practice upon the customers.

“It was market day in the Inner Well, first first of Jicar. Vedrev and his party were still in the Sabembes. Sereth crill Tyris came riding through the gates with a coin girl at his side, and she upon one of his finest threx. Tyith was not with him, nor was the Keepress of Astria.

“I was standing with a chalder near the outer gate. I had long coveted the Seven’s attentions, and always greeted him when the opportunity arose. He had in the past often stopped to speak with me. This day he did not stop, and his face was awful to look upon. He rode straight to the hostel and disappeared within, taking the coin girl with him. He did not even see to his threx himself, but handed them without ceremony to the slayer at watch. What more eloquent statement of something sore amiss than Sereth crill Tyris, not caring for his prized racing stock?

“There was a great buzzing in the Inner Well that day. Sereth had brought a coin girl into Arlet. None dared to question him, but behind his back the people wondered aloud at his brashness.”

“And where was Tyith? And the Well-Keepress of Astria?”

“It is said that Sereth called then upon Vedrev, and finding him gone from Arlet, and Dellin and Celendra and Ganrom also, was apprised of what had occurred by some Slayers whose loyalty he still retained.” Khemi coughed, shifting in place.

“By Vedrev’s order, the Seven was confined within the halls of Arlet until the Day-Keeper’s return. There were few among the slayers who would have moved to restrain him, should he have chosen to flee to the south or west. But Sereth was a proud and arrogant man, and he told his fantastic story before his men, and a great many of them believed him. He did not flee, but settled himself and his coin girl into the Slayer’s hostel to await Vedrev’s return.

“On Jicar first second did Vedrev, Dellin, Celendra, and Ganrom return out of the Sabembes, to find Sereth, Seven of Arlet, there awaiting them.

“An open hearing was set for the first sixth, four days hence, within the common room of Well Arlet, that all concerned might attend. The hall was so crowded with the Slayers of Arlet that I could only find standing room in the back.

“I saw Ganrom and two other Slayers of rank lead the Seven in. They passed so close to me, I saw the tears in Ganrom ‘s
eyes.
Nor was he the only one among the Slayers so moved. Sereth walked between the two, Ganrom just ahead, making way through the crowd to the makeshift dais. He wore his formal leathers and the Seven’s sword, and his chald lay shining around his waist, that it might be easier for Vedrev to strip him of them.

“Open hearing or not, the outcome of it was long decided, and all knew it.

“The Slayers of Arlet were by this time polarized into two groups: those who believed their Seven and those who were for some reason or another glad to see one so mighty brought low. There were weapons aplenty in the common room of Well Arlet that day.

“The Seven were brought to stand before Vedrev, upon whose right was Celendra, and upon her right, the Liaison Second. It became very quiet. I squeezed through the crowd until I was parallel to them, between a number of restless Slayers. Vedrev read the charges. He presented the chalds he had found in the Sabembes. He asked if Sereth denied that he had killed those men and left them chalded.” Water was passed, and Khemi stopped and drank, her dark hair falling over her shoulder.

“Sereth admitted to that. Vedrev then presented Celendra’s allegations and asked the Slayer to produce, if he could, Tyith and Estri, or explain their absence.

“Sereth crill Tyris told his story in that chill voice of one who has done so many times and has no hope of being believed. He spoke of the crack that opened before them in the earth, of the malignant spirit that assailed them, of Tyith’s death and Estri’s disappearance beneath the Falls of Santha.

“At his mention of Tyith, Celendra threw herself upon him, scratching and shrieking, and Dellin needed the help of two Slayers to get her from the common room. He did not return.

“Vedrev, resplendent in his Stothric priest’s robes, stood on the dais. He said that he had seen the crevice and no man could have crossed it, and therefore all after that point was mere fabrication. He asked again of Tyith and the Well-Keepress. Sereth stood with his head bowed. Vedrev repeated his charge of negligence, unseemly murder and misuse of power and sentenced the Seven to be stripped of all rank and cast chaldless from the gates of Arlet, never to return. Then Vedrev pulled out his curved Stoth blade to cut away the Seven’s sword and chald. When Sereth saw this, he raised his head, and his own sword flashed in his hand, and he cut the belt from Vedrev’s waist with an easy flick.

“I did not hear the words of his challenge to Vedrev. The common hall erupted in a roar around me. Some Slayers drew their blades to disarm the Seven, and others to restrain them, that Sereth and Vedrev might have what each other had long desired of the other. In moments, death whirred over my head and all around me. There was swordplay everywhere in the great hall as Slayer turned against Slayer. Those who supported the Seven hacked their way toward him, drawing me with them. A Slayer held me against him by the neck as he fought, a human shield. And a good one. None struck at me. I could see anguish upon faces of men suddenly enemies, of men who had slain friends with whom they had this day ridden. I saw two, recognizing each other, put up their swords. One was struck down from behind. The other knelt in the frenzy. The stone slabs were slippery with blood; men skidded and fell. I saw one fall onto a blade and die there. I saw Vedrev dead, and Sereth leaping bodies toward the door. The Slayer still dragged me before him. Out into the Inner Well we went, and from somewhere threx were produced, and, like a number of other wellwomen, I was captive of the renegade Slayers until they had ridden the night long into the south. There I was dumped with no ceremony by the side of the trail. I did not see Sereth at any time once out of Arlet, but I have heard he lives. I would not tell any more, for I do not like to remember what followed, and I have a long day ahead tomorrow.” And Khemi smiled a shy smile and turned upon her side with her back to us, not knowing what effect her words had upon me.

I was glad for the darkness. I lay down upon my back and stared blindly at the ceiling.

Aje’s hand touched my hair. His chain
_,
rattled as he shifted his body closer to me. His arm went around my shoulders.

Khemi’s story, though distorted in gossip and retelling, doubtless had truth to it. It was strange to hear about myself in the third person, and about these affairs from such a different perspective. I rolled against Aje in the darkness.

How could Dellin have behaved in so unprincipled a manner? I thought bitterly of the M’ksakkan, for putting Celendra’s goodwill and the trade balance in Arlet before his own honor. Perhaps he had none. I could understand Vedrev, for he and Sereth had long been at odds. And Celendra was either a disastrously incompetent forereader or a vicious liar, though I had never seen her as either.

And Sereth—who could help him now? He had slain a Day-Keeper, a dharener even worse. There would be no straightening out of this tangle by a simple explanation. Estrazi had told me both of us were needed to set the balance aright. But to what authority could we take a plea? And upon what grounds?

How different things would have been if my father had allowed me to send my word to stand for the Seven. What purpose could be served by Sereth’s ignominy? I worried these thoughts into nightmares that had no sense and no ending.

I
_.
was awakened by the crellkeep with the others, and went to my first day of crell life upon an empty stomach. Khemi, also on the seven schedule, worked beside me straining the sand in the threx stables of wetness, and muck. Once a set, the sand must be taken out of each stall, and clean sand put in its place, then the soiled sand must be strained and wheeled in carts out the back door of the stable, where other crells wait to tend to its disposal as fertilizer upon certain crops. This was that day. The work was strenuous, and we were soon filthy smelly and coated with the foul sand, which clung to our sweating bodies. Once, when water was brought, I looked up to see Chayin watching me from the harness area, thirty stalls down the row. He was waiting while Saer was made ready. I turned and leaned against the stone partition, the water dipper in my hands. I drank slowly, staring back, but he did not look away.

Khemi got up off her knees and came to stand beside me.

“Lower your eyes,” she warned me in a soft voice, taking the dipper from my hands and filling it again. The crell with the water cart fidgeted. “You will bring down his wrath upon us both.”

“I think not,” I said to her, but dropped again to my hands and knees and took up my two-handed scoop. When Chayin rode out, he chose the long way, which by happenstance brought him past the very stall where I was working. He stopped Saer directly behind me. I could see the threx’s legs by looking between my own. I continued to work on my knees, bending over that I might scoop the sand up from the lower floor of the stall’s doorway. Khemi, inside the stall and facing me, blushed and smiled at the cahndor, but I did not look up. After a time, he rode away.

Khemi and I did our ten stalls each; we were given some grain gruel for lunch, and a quarter each of a green tuber where we worked. Then the threx were brought in, all filthy from rolling outside, and we cleaned and polished their hides and picked their tripart hooves and set about their feeding. It seemed as if no two of them got the same meal, and each special diet had to be mixed by us from great bags of grains with the device of Yardum-Or upon them.

Among the threx we fed were Besha’s Guanden and the red threx whose name I never learned. It is possible that somehow I mismixed his feeding. I think more likely it was some previous negligence.

We were checking stall locks before being taken to our own stalls for the night, when I noticed the red was down upon the sand. Low groaning noises came from deep within him; his nostrils were flared wide and running with mucus. There were bloody chunks upon his bloated belly where he had bitten himself. I was in the stall in a moment, calling Khemi. In vain did we struggle to get the beast up on his feet. We pulled him by the head, but though we could drag him up, we could not keep him standing. He sank back three times, and with a gasping groan upon our fourth attempt he laid his head back on the clean sand and died.

Khemi looked at me in horror. I was crying. I always cry over animals.

“Besha will be furious!” she whispered, her eyes wide.

Sheltering wing of uritheriar cursed the jiask summoned by Khemi’s wails. He in turn got the crellkeep. Khemi and I were not taken back to our chain for the night, but kept there in the threx’s stall to await his owner, Besha, my owner, Hael, and Kherni’s owner, the cahndor.

The crellkeep and the threxmaster were engaged in spirited debate with three jiasks as to the cause of the threx’s death. They fell suddenly silent.

The dharener stood in the stall doorway, surveying us. I was crouched by the dead beast’s head, Khemi stretched out on the sand on her back. She sat up.

Hael put his hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he said, “Threx upon the square of death,” and sat himself down in the doorway, his bearded chin resting upon his fists, his elbows upon his knees. He stared at us.