The Nonborn King (10 page)

It was evident that the mountain hideaway was eminently suitable for Elizabeth's needs, and Creyn would stay with her The others, however, would continue to Hidden Springs as they had planned It was possible that the separation would be permanent, despite their being able to communicate through the golden torcs now worn by Basil and Chief Burke. Thus the conversation was desultory, with the pain of parting spoiling everyone's appetite

Finally they left off the attempts at false cheer and reminisced about the terrible journey that was now virtually at an end The interminable trek along the devastated Aven Peninsula, during which the tnracial mob of evacuees grew to a logistic and psychosocial nightmare. The treacherous moonlight flit of the Firvulag contingent, who absconded with the bulk of the survival gear just as the worst of the rainy season came upon them The struggles with sick and injured and defeated and exploitative refugees The headlong flight from Celadeyr of Afaliah and his gang of ancien regime fanatics- The dreadful tnp across the Catalan Wilderness, following a littleused track that degenerated into a quagmire alive with venomous snakes, giant mosquitoes, and biting leeches- - And then sanctuary The foothills of the eastern Pyrenees, rich in mines and plantations, and the dangerously depleted cities of Tarasiah and Geroniah eager to welcome new citizens (By then news of the Firvulag seizure of Burask in the distant north had seeped southward, and there were hints that other inadequately defended cities were next on the hit-list.) Perhaps a third of the 3?00 displaced humans and Tanu decided to resettle in Spain. The rest, hoping to reach their old homes, continued to the smiling shores of Lac Provencal, where the generosity of Estella-Sirone of Darask showered them with every comfort. (They were, after all, the companions of Elizabeth, who had saved the Lady's life in childbirth.)

The decimated Languedoc cities vied with one another in sending recruiters to the refugee camp Even more intriguing offers came from distant Goriah in Armorica, where Aiken Drum was consolidating his position, offering high status and nches to any rootless Tanu who rallied round, and a golden torc to any human fighter who pledged fealty to Lord AlkenLugonn Alken had sent his persona] farspoken invitation to Elizabeth herself, promising her complete autonomy "under his protection " She had declined with cool thanks

Dionket Lord Healer and other surviving members of the Peace Faction went off to join Minanonn the Heretic in his remote Pyrenean enclave, where the erstwhile Tanu Battlemaster presided over a tiny population of Tanu, Firvuiag, and a few free humans, all dwelling together in Spartan amity Dionket had urged Elizabeth, for her own safety, to go with them But she knew, even without metapsychic foresight, that pacifistic withdrawal could never be her destiny in the ManyColored Land Later, n had been more difficult to tell Chief Burke and Basil Wimbome and Sister Amerie Roccaro that she could not accompany them to the Lowlife center at Hidden Springs She required an isolated retreat, where she could stay for the immediate future, recuperating and meditating upon the new role she had freely chosen

"And so," Elizabeth said, rising from the luncheon table, smiling as she brushed crumbs from her black gown. 'the fatal moment is almost upon us Shall we go and explore the balcony? I think it goes all around the chalet "

Creyn was out of his seat and opening the half-glazed doors before the others could stir The Tanu had put off his rough traveling clothes for the meal and wore again the scarlet and white formal robes of a high-ranking redactor As he followed the others into the sunlight, his pupils shrank to pinpoints, the inses within his deep eyesockets becoming an unearthly, opaque blue His fair hair had been cut short for the exodus, and he towered behind Elizabeth like some attenuated El Greco seraph, looking both worldly and vulnerable He was six hundred and thirty-four years old, and he was prepared to stay at Black Crag Lodge for the rest of his life, if need be, acting as the senior servant of the human woman whom Brede Shipspouse had called "the most important person in the world "

Basil leaned on the railing, affecting to admire the eastern panorama "I should think this place would suit you admirably, Elizabeth'" His voice was too hearty "Isolation, security, d magnificent natural setting, and our friends at Darask on the

THE POSTDILUViUM

43

other end of the lake near enough to keep you comfortably supplied Lady Estella-Sirone was quite right The lodge is a perfect hermitage It's an Odin-seat' A perch for scanning the world'"

All of them laughed at the mental image he projected, except torcless Amerie, who growled, "Not another damn mindreaders' in-joke'"

"A funny picture " Elizabeth took the nun's arm "Imagine a third-rate production of a Wagner opera A plaster mountain with a lot of strobe lightning and tinny thunder And me as a Nordic goddess, posed on top of my fake Asgard, wearing a winged helmet and a tembly portentous expression as i survey Middle Earth down below If I spot any mortal jiggery-pokery, I have this handy basketful of thunderbolts to smite with "

"Except, you don't," Amerie said

"No "

"And therein lies the bloody rub " Peopeo Moxmox Burke spoke fiercely, even resentfully, all the while trying to shore up the inexpert mental screen that decently veiled his emotions from Elizabeth Damn the golden torc' !f it weren't necessary

Good old Basil caught wind of his floundering, the impending gush of anxiety and maudlin sentiment that was going lo make things even worse for Elizabeth and all the rest of them And with hih donnish tact. Basil bespoke Creyn on the intimate mode

Help him Help us all put a lid on it.

There was no overt sign that the Tanu had heard But immediately the two human men found that it was possible to rein in their misgivings and present a civilized front, both externally and in the outermost, "social" aspect of their mental auras Basil was the epitome of practical common sense Burke, the former judge, was the archetypal Red Man, all stoic and stem like a carving in cedar.

If Elizabeth was aware of the metapsychic maneuvering, she let none of them perceive it She walked along the balcony inspecting the quaint woodwork, marveling at the breathtaking vista In the southwest, glittering against the sky and dividing it from the dark lowlands, was the white fess of the high Pyrenees The air was calm, faintly oppressive, with that preternatural transparency that often forecasts a storm in the moun tains

"I can farsee Minanonn's country," she said "A valley, with tall snowy peaks all around it, like Shangn-La "

"You would have been safer with him and Dionket," Amerie said "Or even up in Hidden Springs, with us We can't trust that bastard Celadeyr He can fly, you know, and carry one person What's to prevent him from coming up here and kidnapping you? You'd make a great hostage And our tncky little pal Alken Drum might just have similar plans "

Elizabeth faced her three human friends, projecting a great wave of comfort and reassurance Creyn hovered in the background She said, "I've tried to explain why I can't live with Minanonn, or even up in the Vosges with free humanity I can't show partiality I must remain approachable by all factions in the Many-Colored Land if my new role is to be successful And that especially includes Atken Drum and Celadeyr of Afaliah "

With one finger, Basil traced the features of a grotesque carving on the balustrade It was a goblin face "And what about the Firvulag? They outnumber us nearly ten to one now, and Sharn and Ayfa are quite a different breed of cat from poor old King Yeochee Lady Estella's man Kennedy told me that Little People from the Helvetides have been farsensed gathering in the vicinity of Bardelask That's a rather small citadel on the Rhone, about 80 or 90 kloms north of Lac Provencal The place is exceptionally vulnerable, with Lord Daral and most of his banner-knights having been drowned in the Flood Kennedy thinks that the Firvulag plan to pick off the weaker cities one by one m spite of our cardboard armistice agreement Sharn and Ayfa can always blame the attacks on Howlers "

"If you came to Hidden Springs with us," Burke said, "we could protect you with iron "

Elizabeth taid a small hand on one oi the Native American's massive, scarred forearms "I have my own methods of defense now, Peo Believe me The Firvulag won't harm me Neither will anyone else "

Burke scowled, touching his new golden torc with a ritualistic gesture "If there should be the slightest threat, from any quarter, you must call on us We can't forget what Brede said about you "

"Brede'" Elizabeth laughed, turning away from them "The Shipspouse always was a melodramatic old soul And she knew very well how to manipulate the lot of us'" The Grand Master metapsychic whirled around, arms opening She seemed to embrace the three of them, enfolding their souls in great wings "But manipulation's not my way I'm going to be a magnet, not a force majeure "

Amerie appealed lo the Tanu redactor "If she needs us, Creyn, will you calP"

"I will. Sister " He hesitated, then added with regret, "If you intend to continue on to Sayzorask with the caravan today, you must leave here very shortly I'll wait downstairs to say goodbye " He withdrew with a courteous nod

Tears gleamed in Amerie's eyes The symbolic separation of the three human friends from Elizabeth had been made in an instant, with none of them expecting it until the finality was upon them

"Don't worry " Elizabeth's face and mind still smiled "It'll be all right We all have our jobs to do that will help "

Basil broke the spell, stepping forward to take Elizabeth's hand "Creyn fine chap Human as they make 'em He and his people will take good care of you I'm confident "

"Dear Basil " She kissed him on his weathered cheek

He moved back, then paused at the balcony door "You can coun' on me to do my utmost in the Sugoll matter And when this is over and things have quieted down, I'm going to take you mountain climbing, just as I promised "

She projected mock skepticism "You're going to have to prove to me that there's a Pliocene Everest over there in the Alps. I can't farsense anything of the sort, you know "

"It exists'" He waved an admonishing index finger "Very difficult for amateurs to estimate height, you know Especially with the mind's eye " With a last farewell gesture, he vanished inside the chalet

It was Burke's turn He loomed over the woman in black, his face immobile, and spoke haltingly through the unfamiliar mind-amplifying device

I will learn farspeech technique Talk you overkilometers

My dearest Peo, I am still not sure that it was wise for you and Basil to take the golden torcs

Creyn tested us Wecompatible he proved You not worry aboutus Only answer when weneed advice

"You know FH always be ready to advise you," she said aloud "That is my way But you and Basil and the other strong ones must lead humanity and the exotics of good will I can't The evacuation of Munah was only the beginning, but it was a good start, thanks mostly to you Even the Firvulag who ran away learned that friendship between the human and exotic races is possible Necessary "

"Hah " The Native American let all his lawyer's cynicism show "The exotics were docile enough right after the disaster, when they were still glassy-eyed from shock None of those Tanu and Firvulag ever had their world pulled out from under 'em before " Unlike us poor time-traveling human schmucks' "So they were willing enough to follow my leadership on the trek out of Aven But you saw how fast things deteriorated once we approached Afaliah on the mainland Just one sniff of business-as-usual, one psychological anchor, and kapow' Same old arrogant Tanu and bloody-minded Firvulag mindset as before Things couid have turned very nasty if the Little Folks hadn't scarpered off into the bushes about then "

They communed wordless reassurance for a moment Then she asked, "How many human refugees do you plan to take all the way to Hidden Springs?"

"We've narrowed it to thirty stout hearts and true Useful technicians, daredevils who won't stick at our little aircraft salvage expedition We've scraped up twelve former gravomag specialists with flightdeck training "

"Wonderful' And if Sugoll and Katlmel will help, "

THE POSTDILUVUJM 4?

'They'd belter " Burke was somber "Felice and the others who knew the precise location of the Ship's Grave are dead "

Elizabeth and Burke had forgotten Amerie But at the mention of Felice's name, the nun could not help uttering a low cry Burke's thoughts were written on his face Oh, hell Me and my big mouth Aloud he said, "It's time for me to go " He wrapped his great arms about Elizabeth, said. "Mazel lov'" and strode rapidly into the lodge

"I'm sorry that I interrupted," Amerie said stiffly "But when he reminded me that, that Felice was, " Anguish drew the nun's face taut "And with Gibraltar on her sou!, to die that way, "

Elizabeth said, "I thought it best for the others to believe that But you loved her You deserve to know the truth "

The priest stood stock-still before the mmdreader Sister Amerie Roccaro wore no golden torc, possessed no overt metapsychic powers, but at that moment the temble knowledge passed from the other woman's brain to her own

"Felice isn't dead,' said Amerie

"No "

"How long have you been sure of it'?"

"Perhaps six weeks I'd been hearing, farsensing, that is to say, these peculiar calls They hardly seemed human at first I paid little attention The day-to-day problems ot the journey were so overwhelming You lend to screen out other mind-emanations to conserve your own energies, otherwise you'd go crazy from the mental static But this calling, "

"You're certain it was Felice?"

"She farspoke me only once, when you were all on your way down the Rhone to invade the torc factory But I remember her mind-signature " Elizabeth turned away, staring at the distant mountains "It's a thing we Grand Masters are rather good at "

"Elizabeth, why, why, " Amerie's voice broke ah she tried to regain control of herself "Why did she do it? I knew she wanted revenge, of course When we were first tested together in Castle Gateway, when the Tanu woman told us we'd have to bear Tanu children like the rest of the human slaves, Felice was beside herself with fury It was as if the enslavement of humanity in the Pliocene was a personal affront "