The Queen of Swords (10 page)

C
ORUM AND
J
HARY
hauled on the boat’s long oars while Rhalina lay sobbing in the bow. With every pull upon the oars the water was disturbed further and instead of a splashing sound a new babble of voices broke out. They sensed that the voices did not come from beneath the water but from within it—as if every single drop of water contained a human soul which expressed its pain and the terror of its situation. Corum could not help but wonder if every lake in existence were not like this and that this was the only one they could actually hear. He strove to shut his mind to such fearful speculation.

“
Wish that…
”

“
Would that…
”

“
If I…
”

“
Could I…
”

“
Love—love—love…
”

“
Sad soothing songs seeking souls so soft so sensitive seeming smooth silken…
”

“Stop! Stop!” begged Rhalina, but the voices went on and Corum and Jhary pulled the harder on their oars, their lips moving in pain.

“
I wish—I wish—I wish—I wish…
”

“
Curl awake in kitten time the condemnation of my…
”

“
Once—once—once…
”

“
Help us!
”

“
Release us!
”

“
Give us peace! Peace!
”

“
Please, peace, please, peace…
”

“
Opening without resort…
”

“
Cold…
”

“
Cold…
”

“
Cold…
”

“We cannot help you!” Corum groaned. “There is nothing we can do!”

Rhalina was screaming now.

Only Jhary-a-Conel kept his lips tight shut, his eyes fixed on the middle distance, his body moving rhythmically back and forth as he continued to row.

“
Oh, save us!
”

“
Save me!
”

“
The child is—the child…
”

“
Bad, mad, sad, glad, bad, sad, mad, glad, mad, bad, glad, sad…
”

“Be silent! We can do nothing!”

“Corum! Corum! Stop them! Is there no sorcery at your command which will hush their voices?”

“None.”

“Aaaah!”

“
Oorum canish, oorum canish, oorum canish, sashan faroom alann alann, oorum canish, oorum canish…
”

“
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha
…”

“
Nobody, nothing, nowhere, needless misery, what purpose doth it serve, which man benefits?
”

“
Whisper softly, whisper low, whisper, whisper…
”

“
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no…
”

Now Corum released one hand from his oar and slapped at his head as if trying to drive the voices out. Rhalina had collapsed completely on the bottom of the boat and he could not distinguish her cries, her pleadings and demands, from the others.

“Stop!”

“
Stop, stop, stop, stop…
”

“
Stop…
”

“
Stop…
”

“
Stop…
”

There were tears flowing down Jhary’s face, but he rowed on, not once altering the rhythm of his movements. Only the cat seemed undisturbed. It sat on the seat between him and Corum and it washed its paws. To the cat the water was like any other water and thus to be avoided as much as possible. Once or twice it cast nervous glances over the side of the boat but that was all.

“
Save us, save us, save us…
”

Then a deeper voice, a warm, humorous, pleasant voice, cut through the others and it said:

“
Why do you not join them? It would save you this misery. All you need do is to stop your rowing and leave the boat and enter the water and relax, becoming one with the rest. Why be proud?
”

“
No! Do not listen! Listen to me!
”

“
Listen to us!
”

“
Listen to me!
”

“
Do not listen to them. They are really happy. It is just that your coming disturbs them. They wish you to join them—to join them—to join them—to join them…
”

“
No, no, no!
”

“No!” screamed Corum. He plucked the oar from the rowlocks and he began to beat at the waters of the lake. “Stop! Stop! Stop!”

“Corum!” Jhary spoke for the first time. He clung to the side as the boat rocked badly from side to side. Rhalina looked up in terror.

“Corum! You will make it worse. You will destroy us if we fall into the lake!” Jhary cried.

“Stop! Stop! Stop!”

Keeping one arm on his own oar Jhary reached across and tugged at Corum’s scarlet robe. “Corum! Desist!”

Corum sat down suddenly and looked strangely at Jhary as if he were an enemy. Then his expression softened and he put the oar back in its place and began to row. The shore was not too distant now.

“We must get to the shore,” Jhary said. “It is the only way in which we’ll escape the voices. You must hang on a little longer, that is all.”

“Yes,” said Corum. “Yes…” And he resumed his rowing and avoided looking at Rhalina’s tortured features.

“
Molten sleeping snakes and old owls and hungry hawks populate my memories of Charatatu…
”

“
Join them and all the splendid memories may be shared. Join them, Prince Corum, Lady Rhalina, Sir Jhary. Join them. Join them. Join them.
”

“Who are you?” Corum said. “Did you do this to them all?”

“
I am the Voice of the Lake of Voices, that is all. I am the true spirit of the Lake. I offer peace and union with all your fellow souls. Do not listen to the minority of discontented ones. They would be discontented wherever they were. There are always such spirits…
”

“
No, no, no, no…
”

And Corum and Jhary pulled even harder on their sweeps until suddenly the boat scraped up the shore and there was an angry motion in the water and a huge water spout suddenly appeared and began to whine and roar and scream and shout.

“
NO! I WILL NOT BE THWARTED! YOU ARE MINE! NONE ESCAPES THE LAKE OF VOICES!
”

The water spout assumed a form and they could see a fierce, writhing face there—a face full of rage. Hands, too, formed from the water and began to reach out for them.

“
YOU ARE MINE! YOU WILL SING WITH THE REST! YOU WILL BE PART OF MY CHORUS!
”

The three scrambled hastily from the boat and dashed up the shore with the water thing growing larger and larger behind them and its voice roaring louder and louder.

“
YOU ARE MINE! YOU ARE MINE! I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO GO!
”

But a thousand tinier voices all babbled:

“
Run—run swiftly—never return—run—run—run…
”

“
TRAITORS! STOP!
”

And the voices stopped and there was silence until the roaring creature of water bellowed once more.

“
NO! YOU HAVE MADE ME DISPEL THE VOICES—MY VOICES—MY PETS! I MUST BEGIN AFRESH TO COLLECT MY CHOIR! YOU HAVE MADE ME BANISH THEM! COME BACK! COME BACK!
”

And the creature grew even taller as they ran all the faster, its watery hands reaching out for them.

Then, suddenly, with a scream, it began to tumble back into the lake, no longer able to sustain its shape. They watched it fall, they watched it writhe and gesticulate in anger and then it was gone and the lake was the peaceful stretch of blue water they had first seen.

But this time there were no voices. The souls were still. By accident the three had made the creature tell its captives to be silent and had evidently broken the spell which it had had over them.

Corum sighed and sat down on the grass. “It is over,” he said. “And all those poor spirits are at rest now…”

He smiled at the expression of panic on the cat’s face and he realized how much more horrifying their last experience had been to the little animal.

Then, when they had rested, they climbed the hill and looked down upon a desert.

It was a brown desert and through it ran a river. But it seemed that the river was not of water. It was white, like pure milk, and it was wide and it wandered lazily through the brown landscape.

Corum sighed. “It seems to go on for ever.”

“Look,” said Rhalina and she pointed. “Look, a rider!”

Mounting the brow of a hill and coming towards them was a man on a horse. He was slumped in the saddle and plainly had not seen them, but Corum drew his sword nonetheless, and the others drew theirs. The horse moved slowly, plodding on as if it had been walking for days.

They saw that the rider, dressed in patched and battered leather, was asleep in his saddle, a broadsword hanging by a thong from his right wrist, his left hand gripping the reins of the horse. He had a haggard face which gave no indication of his age, a great hooked nose and untrimmed hair and beard. He seemed a poor man, yet hanging on his saddle pommel was a crown which, though coated with dust, was plainly of gold studded with many precious gems.

“Is he a thief?” Rhalina wondered. “Has he stolen that crown and is trying to escape those who own it?”

When it was a few feet from them the horse stopped suddenly and looked at them with large, weary eyes. Then it bent and began to crop the grass.

At this the rider stirred. He opened his eyes. He rubbed them. He, too, peered at them and then seemed to ignore them. He mumbled to himself.

“Greetings, sir,” said Corum.

The gaunt man screwed up his eyes and looked at Corum again. He reached down behind him for a water bottle, unstopped it and flung back his head to drink deeply. Then, deliberately, he put the stopper back into the bottle and replaced the thing behind him.

“Greetings,” said Corum again.

The mounted man nodded at him. “Aye,” he said.

“From where do you travel, sir?” Jhary asked. “We ourselves are lost and would appreciate some indication of what, for instance, lies beyond that brown waste there…”

The man sighed and looked at the waste, at the white, winding river.

“That is the Blood Plain,” he said. “The river is called the White River—or by some the Milk River, though it is not milk…”

“Why the Blood Plain?” Rhalina asked.

The man stretched and frowned. “Because, madam, it is a plain and it is covered in blood. That brown dust is dried blood—blood spilled an age since in some forgotten battle between Law and Chaos, I understand.”

“And what lies beyond it?” Corum said.

“Many things—none that is pleasant. Nothing is pleasant in this world since Chaos conquered it.”

“You are not on the side of Chaos?”

“Why should I be? Chaos dispossessed me. Chaos exiled me. Chaos would have me dead, but I move all the while and have not been found yet. One day, perhaps…”

Jhary introduced his friends and then himself. “We seek a place called the City in the Pyramid,” he told the haggard rider.

The rider laughed. “As do I. But I cannot believe it exists! I think Chaos pretends such a place resists it to offer hope to its enemies so that it may give them still more pain. I am called, sir, the King Without a Country. Noreg-Dan was once my name and I ruled a fair land and, I think, I ruled it wisely. But Chaos came and Chaos minions destroyed my nation and my subjects and left me alive to wander the world seeking a mythical city…”

“So you have no faith in the City in the Pyramid?”

“I have not found it thus far.”

“Could it lie beyond the Blood Plain?” Corum asked.

“It could, but I’m not fool enough to cross it for it could be endless and you, on foot, would have a smaller chance than would I. I am not without courage,” said King Noreg-Dan, “but I still retain a little common sense. If there was wood in these parts, perhaps it would be possible to build a boat and hope to cross the desert by means of the White River, but there is no wood…”

“But there is a boat,” said Jhary-a-Conel.

“Would it be wise to go back to the Lake of Voices?” Rhalina cautioned.

“The Lake of Voices!” King Noreg-Dan shook his tangled head. “Do not go there—the voices will draw you in…”

Corum explained what had happened and the King Without a Country listened intently. Then he smiled and it was a smile of admiration. He dismounted from his horse and came close to Corum, inspecting him. “You’re a strange-looking creature, sir, with your hand and your eye-patch and your odd armour, but you are a hero and I congratulate you—all of you.” He addressed the others. “I’d say it would be worth a foray down to the beach and recover old Freenshak’s boat—we could use my horse to haul it up here!”

“Freenshak?” Jhary said.

“One of the names of the creature you encountered. A particularly powerful water sprite which came when Xiombarg began her reign. Shall we try to get the boat?”

“Aye,” grinned Corum. “We’ll try.”

* * *

Somewhat nervously they returned to the lake shore, but it seemed that Freenshak was beaten for the moment and they had no difficulty in harnessing the tired horse to the boat and pulling it up the hill and halfway down the other side. In a locker Corum found a sail and saw that a short mast was stowed in lugs along one side of the boat.

As they prepared the boat he said to King Noreg-Dan, “But what of your horse? There’ll not be room…”

Noreg-Dan drew a deep breath. “It will be a shame, but I will have to abandon him. I think he will be safer alone than with me and, besides, he deserves a rest, for he has served me faithfully since I was forced to flee my land.”

Noreg-Dan stripped the horse of his harness and put it in the boat. Then they began the hard task of dragging the vessel down the hill and across the brown, choking dust (all the more unpleasant now that they knew what the dust was) until they reached the nearest shore of the White River. The horse stood watching them from the hillside and then it turned away. Noreg-Dan lowered his head and folded his arms.

And still the sun had not moved across the sky and they had no means of knowing how much time had passed.

The liquid of the river was thicker than water and Noreg-Dan advised them not to touch it.