The Pixilated Peeress (10 page)

             
"Ye'd beggar us!" grumbled Bardi.

             
"I am truly sorry, but this cannot be helped. Without resources I cannot carry on my great work for the ben
efit of mankind. Let it be agreed that one or the other shall return a
fortnight hence with the first payment, thirty-five hundred marks, in good Rhaetian gold or sil
ver." Orlandus rose. "Now let us part so that I can begin the arduous and costly preparations."

             
Taking each visitor by the elbow, Orlandus steered them to th
e gate, talking smoothly the while: "After this affair be wound up, my good Sergeant, I should welcome you as a subject for my mind-enhancing treat
ment. I do perceive you to be a man of great potential, combining the body of a mighty warrior with the min
d
of a scholar. This is a rare blend; we might even make a diaphane of you, could you stay the course."

             
"Gramercy for your compliments," said Thorolf. "But do your treatments require more money?"

             
"Certes! We cannot conduct this world-saving insti
tution
and maintain our headquarters and laboratories on air. But I am sure that arrangements can be effected, once you are enrolled amongst the followers of Sophonomy. We can rid you of all the fears and guilts accumulated in previous lives."

             
"For now," said
Thorolf, "my obligation is to the Commonwealth and its Constitution. I'll do nought that conflicts with those."

             
"But of course, my dear fellow! Many of my people also give loyal service to the Commonwealth in various capacities." He spoke to a gate guard
: "Where is the cart these gentlemen brought that tub in?"

             
"The carter returned and drave it off, Master," said the guard, placing a hand over his heart and bowing.

             
"Good! We are scrupulous in
such affairs. We shall discuss these matters further. Sergeant. And now, my friends, farewell. Remember, a fortnight hence!"

-

             
Leading his horse. Thorolf arrived at the barracks just as the morning's drill was being dismissed and the men were returning
their pikes to the huge rack at the side of the drill ground. Captain Bothvar came up with a scowl like a thunderstorm, saying:

             
"Where in the seven hells have ye been, Thorolf? Your leave went only till muster time this morn. 'Tis not like you to vanish
without leave."

             
"A matter of honor, sir. A noble lady who besought my aid met with an accident, and there was none but I to obtain her the proper medical care."

             
"Hmm. If ye say so, I daresay 'tis so. I put Sergeant Regin in your stead; ye can trade le
aves with him to make up the time."

             
After his midday meal, instead of retiring to his room for an afternoon of quiet study, Thorolf set out for the consular palace. He had to wait an hour before being admitted to see his father. While he waited, pictures
of Yvette floated through his mind. If only old Bardi had not blundered; or if the spell could have been post
poned for a single day
...

             
Thorolf had never felt apologetic about his virginal state, since the Paganist religion was fairly strict in its sex
ual standards. Because of his brawn, none of the soldiers beneath his orders dared to chaff him about it. after he had thrown one scoffer twenty feet into a ma
nure pile. His fellow sergeant, Regin, who notoriously flouted these standards, sometimes remar
k
ed after a weekend of revelry:

             
"Well, Thorolf old boy, hast become a real man yet?"

             
But he said it in fun. He could do it with impunity because he was Thorolf's closest friend among the sol
diers.

             
At last Thorolf was waved into the Consul's inner cha
mber. Clad in official scarlet, Consul Zigram over
flowed the chair in which he sat behind an oversized desk. The side of this desk toward the Consul was curved to make room for Thorolf's father's bulk, which his luxuriant snow-white beard covered. His go
l
den chain and medallion of office were hung round his neck atop the beard, which would otherwise have concealed
them.

             
"Greetings, son!" puffed the Consul. "How wags thy world?"

             
"Well enough, Father. Hast heard of my involvement with the Countess of Grintz?"

             
"Only that ye brought this fair fugitive to Vasco's inn for the night. Where is she now? We lust not for a confrontation with the Duke of Landai."

             
"At Bardi's urging, I le
ft her in charge of Doctor Orlandus, to treat her for an ill. Now I would fain ask some questions about this Orlandus and his Sophonomists."

             
The change in the Consul's aspect startled Thorolf. His fat features seemed to collapse like a ruptured blad
der,
while his eyes rounded with fear. Casting about furtive looks, like those of a rabbit stealing cabbages, he whispered:

             
"Son, son, mention not that name within these walls!"

             
"But Father, these folk might be dangerous to the Commonwealth! Orlandus' guar
ds go about with swords unwired, as if members of the army or the Constabu
lary
—
"

             
"Shh!" Zigram laid a finger to his lips. "Not a word about them or their leader! I cannot explain here, for the walls have ears."

             
Thorolf frowned. "As bad as that? Where can we talk frankly, then? In your private quarters?"

             
"Nay; I never know when a flunky or chambermaid hath been suborned."

             
"How about our old house? We could ask the tenants to leave us alone in a room
—
"

             
"Nay;
knew ye not? The tenant hath bought the place."

             
"I knew there was talk
—
" began Thorolf.

             
"Well, he did. Without your mother, I saw no use in keeping up that old pile, especially since I won the consular election. And speaking of your mother, I never tru
ly appreciated the lass whilst she lived." Zigram hastily wiped a damp eyelid with his sleeve.

             
Thorolf proposed: "Shall I take a room at Vasco's again? I must return thither to give Vasco a sheet I borrowed."

             
The Consul hes
itated, then said: "Nay, nay; they'd follow me." Still whispering, Zigram added: "My dear son, have nought to do with these folk, any more than youd pick up a viper with a bare hand! Flee all contact! A clean pair of heels is your only salvation."

             
"But I
cannot abandon the Countess in their cus
tody
—
"

             
"A pox upon your Countess! Some decadent aristo
crat from the benighted feudal regime of Carinthia
—
"

             
Thorolf interrupted: "With all due respect, you know not whereof you speak. You've never seen her. If
there be aught Yvette is not, it's decadent."

             
The consul's white-browed eyes narrowed. "So ve
hement, stripling? Art in love with the dame?"

             
"Of course not! After but one day and night
—
"

             
"Night, eh? I know these high-born jades. Didst have a good tim
e?"

             
"Father, you are impossible! I have
not
bedded her
—
"

             
"Well, then, do ye court her honorably? Titled wenches make chancy wives, being full of hoity-toity snobbery. They fancy themselves beings of a superior species by virtue of blue blood, when 'tis
well known that most noble houses were founded by successful ban
ditti who frightened some weakling ruler into granting titles."

             
"She has some of that," Thorolf conceded. "She thinks in the imperative mood. A pity; she's a fascinat
ing creature. But I w
ill do what my conscience com
mands."

             
"From what my spies tell me," said the Consul, "she is a combination of the goddess Rianna and a man-eating tigress."

             
"Not so formidable as all that, Father! She's a small person, but with more energy per pound tha
n I've ever seen."

             
Zigram mused: "I'm concerned for my line, with mine only son still unwed at nearly thirty. Since high rank in the state be close
d to you by our nepotism law, at least whilst I remain in office, ye were better-advised to court the daughter of some banker or rich mer
chant."

             
"And you," said Thorolf, "were better-advised to eat less and exercise more, if you'd fain live through that
second term of office you seek." He rose. "Come over to the barracks, and I'll work fifty pounds of that fat off."

             
"Speak not rudely to thy sire, boy!"

             
"Nor you to me. But come, walk with me to the barracks. It will do you good, and we shall be where
none can overhear."

             
"Oh, very well." With a groan, Zigram heaved him
self out of his chair and shrugged a black cloak over his crimson doublet.

             
In the street, Thorolf gave his father a sharp look. "Tell me, Father, what hold have the Sophonomists on yo
u? For some I'm sure they have, to make a brave man quail at their mere mention."

             
"Nay, son; meddle not. 'Twill do you no good."

             
"Father, I insist! Have they discovered something to your discredit in your past?"

             
"Nay, nay; 'tis
—
a small matter of no i
mport."

             
"If it were so little, you'd not flinch at its mere men
tion. Out with it! If it affects mine own future, I should be forewarned. Am I your son or not?" Thorolf used the tone of a professor to a refractory pupil.

             
"Oh, very well." said Zigram de
jectedly. "They dis
covered that, years ago whilst your dear mother was yet young, I had taken up with another woman, over in Uberunnen. I had in fact committed bigamy. If the tale were spread abroad, away would go my chances for a second term."

             
"Ha!" sa
id Thorolf. "And what of this other wench? Meanst that I have a stepmother across the mountains?"

             
"
Nay. She got a quiet annulment and hath since rewed. I've not set eyes upon her for years. But you comprehend the potential scandal. By Kernun's antlers, b
reathe not a word of this!"