The Three Lands Omnibus (2011 Edition) (91 page)

"This is the spy whom the governor mentioned tonight," Peter told me. "He tells me that, as Lord Alan had hoped, the Jackal has moved his lair to somewhere in the city."
"Where, I do not yet know," said the man softly. "But I have received a summons from one of the thieves to visit the Jackal tonight, and then I will find out. Lord Alan had asked me to try to discover the true identity of the Jackal, but since I have not been able to do so, he has decided to have his soldiers attack the lair. The thieves have managed to slip away in such situations before, but they may not be able to do so here in the crowded city, where so many people can note their movements. I have promised to send the governor news by night's end if I can."
"It is brave of you to undertake this task," I said.
The spy smiled and nodded his thanks. "You are Koretian-born, sir, so you will understand the difficulty I had in deciding where my loyalties lay. But if the Chara were to end his rule here, this land would dissolve once more into terrible war. I hope to do what I can to help prevent that."
"So the governor may give us news of peace by tomorrow," said Peter. "That would be a welcome change."
The spy said, "Peace is what this land needs more than anything. Even the Jackal would agree with that."
I woke with a start the next morning. Opening my eyes, I found that I was sitting straight up as Peter gripped my shoulders and stared gravely at me. For a moment, all that I could see through the lingering traces of fire was the Chara, the vengeful ruler of my people's enemy. Then Peter slid back, resting himself on his haunches and regarding me silently. The present returned to me like a rush of cold water, and I buried my face in my hands.
After a minute, I looked up and said, "I ought not to have slept beside you this night."
"It's nearly dawn in any case." Peter's golden hair was tousled and dark with moisture. The dawn air could almost be called cool, but several hours had passed before either of us had been able to sleep in the heavy, heated air that we found even on the balcony.
I pulled back the light silk sheet I had thrown over myself the previous evening and said wearily, "I don't understand why I continue to have this dream. I've found my blood brother alive; I thought that the nightmare would end."
"I thought that it would grow worse," said Peter.
I looked over at him. He was sitting on the floor of the balcony, peering between the balusters at the ground below, where the soldiers were outdoing the birds with their boisterous calls to one another.
He met my eyes finally. "I didn't want to take you on this trip, Andrew. I knew that it would be hard for you, returning as an Emorian to Koretia. And now you've found your blood brother, and your loyalties are torn even more, like those of the spy we met last night."
"I made my decision long ago," I said. "You are the one I chose as my master, and John understands that."
"That doesn't make it any easier for you." Peter ceased looking down at the ground and slid himself around so that his back leaned against the balusters. "Curse those soldiers. They woke me long before your dream did, what with their clattering and shouting. . . . Andrew, I didn't want to pain you by bringing you here, but I very much need your help. I can't rule the Koretian people without knowing what is best for them, and I can't know that without understanding who they are. You are the only one I know who can tell me – unless I were to meet the Jackal himself, but that will never happen. I like to dream of the Jackal and me meeting under a peace oath, negotiating peace terms as one ruler does with another. But I cannot negotiate with a rebel; that would be as though I signed my approval to his law-breaking deeds. The Jackal and I will never come face to face unless he is my prisoner, or I am his. Therefore, you are my ambassador to and from the Jackal, showing me what sort of man he is."
Peter's face glowed on one side with the early light. Behind him, the land still lay mostly in shadow, dark and quiet before sunrise. I said, "Chara, you know that I would do anything for you; I would give you my life if you wanted it. I'm not sure I can help you with the Jackal, though. I've never understood the gods, not like John does, and the god taken human form baffles me. I don't know whether, if I met him, I would raise my hands in worship or whether he would prove to be an ordinary, vulnerable mortal."
"Well, if John knows the gods, then it is to John we must go for answers. That is what I don't like about this business: sending you to your blood brother as a spy." Peter slid forward onto his knees and began folding up the blankets. "I hope that our ever-friendly governor doesn't curse me when his slaves tell him what we have done with his precious Emorian cloth, placing it on this dirty balcony. I need the governor's good will today, for I'll be spending several hours going through his documents, trying to find the clue that will help me sort out what to do in this land. And I suspect that if the governor has miraculous information that would help me, he'll want to keep it to himself. It will be a tedious task, reading document after document, and you would be better occupied going down into the city and discovering what you can from John."
For once I allowed the Chara to be his own servant. I stood up and leaned over the balcony railing, seeking out a small breeze that had managed to crawl its way into the city. The streets below had begun to stir with activity: the stall-keepers were opening the market, the taverns were taking in a few early customers, and the traders wound their way between the shops. I asked, "Couldn't Lord Dean help you find what you need?"
"Lord Dean is always trying to take my decisions into his own hands. I'm not saying that he's disloyal, but he doesn't like following my orders, and he would make an easy tool for the governor to twist. I've had enough of my spies corrupted without having to place a council lord under the high doom for disobedience. While here, I will seek the assistance only of those I can absolutely trust, such as yourself." Peter pushed the blankets through the doorway into his room, and then came to join me by the balustrade. Looking out, he said, "It's a beautiful view. I'm glad that I overcame the governor's objections to my taking the one guest chamber that has a Koretian-style balcony. Shall we see whether Lord Alan's cooks have begun their work? Afterwards, we can go our separate ways."
When we reached the presentation chamber, we found that we had been preceded by Lord Dean and Lord Carle. Lord Carle was addressing the High Lord with raised voice. As we entered, the council lord broke off, staring at me with a furious expression. Then he bowed to Peter and said, "If the Chara will excuse me," before leaving the room in a rush.
"Has Lord Carle encountered a new form of Koretian barbarity that he dislikes?" I asked.
"I think that Lord Carle has left because he would prefer to give his opinion on Koretian barbarities to Lord Alan rather than the Chara," replied Lord Dean dryly. "The governor's free-servant just brought us news. A man was found on the palace grounds this morning, stabbed through the heart."
Peter was mute a moment before saying, "The spy?"
"The governor doesn't seem to have much luck with his spies. The soldiers who found the body believe that the spy was not killed on the spot, but that the body was brought here from elsewhere. A bold move, even for the Jackal. But the Jackal may have had a bold purpose to his move. The body was found under the Chara's own balcony."
Peter reached out and poured himself the last of the Emorian wine from the night before. "Well, then," he said, "I have narrowly missed my one opportunity to meet the Jackal. I suppose that this is the Jackal's way of sending me a message."
"It may be that the message was intended for the governor, whose room is close to yours," said Lord Dean. "But it isn't a comforting thought to know that the Jackal and his thieves were prowling the grounds while we were peacefully asleep. It is possible that the Chara ought not to have come to Koretia."
"It is possible that you are right, and it is possible that you were right when you told me this back in Emor. I am here now, though, and the best I can do is try to ensure that I do not become the Jackal's next victim." Peter stared reflectively into the air as he swirled the final golden drops of wine in his glass. "I am not going to give up the only room in the palace that allows air in. If the Jackal did not try to kill me last night, I doubt he will try to do so tonight or the night after. But to allay the fears of you and Lord Carle, I will ask the governor to post guards at my door and under the balcony."
"Just be sure that the guards aren't in the pay of the Jackal," said Lord Dean. "The Jackal often does his dirtiest work from within."
Peter put his glass down abruptly and stared at the pitcher. "He failed to succeed in corrupting the governor's new spy, anyway. Whatever this Jackal is, it seems he cannot respect another man's loyalties. If the spy's murder was a message intended for me, I doubt I will have much to say to the Jackal in the future."
 
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Dawn had broken by the time I reached John's house. Dodging in between two boys who were carrying an armful of dead hens to a merchant's shop, I made my way to the door and knocked.
Ursula answered my knock. She had a blanket tossed over her body, and I caught a glimpse of her shift under it. I stepped backwards and said stiffly, "I did not mean to wake you and John from your sleep. I will return later."
Ursula shook her head, gazing at me from under sleep-sanded eyelids. "Come in. John will be glad to see you this morning." She held the door open wide. After a moment's hesitation, I stepped in.
The house was empty but for Ursula. She stepped into the sleeping alcove, drew the curtain, and said from behind it, "John has been out since before dawn. We heard a rumor from a neighbor that there had been a murder in the city, so John went to see whether there was any truth to it." Faintly, through the outline of the curtain, I saw her abandon the blanket and reach for clothes. I hastily unshuttered the street window and seated myself there with my back to the curtain.
Ursula emerged soon after, dressed and holding in her hand a pitcher of wine and two cups. "Do you still like wild-berry wine?" she asked. "I've heard that all the Emorians think it tastes like poison."
"I told the governor last night that I disliked it, so that he would not doubt my loyalty as a true Emorian. But while my loyalty is sworn to the Chara, I fear that my body has never agreed to my oath. I hate Emorian winters, and I still love Koretian wine."
Ursula laughed and poured the wine for us before curling herself into the windowseat, opposite to me. Beside us, we could see the early-morning carts rattling over the stone-studded dirt path, on their way to the market.
We watched the city people for a while before Ursula said, "John and I talked once of going to live in Emor. He thought it would be easier for me there – that not so many people would hate me. And I was curious to see what life there was like. But John has his work here, and he wasn't sure it would be any better for me in Emor than it is here."
"He was probably right about that," I said. "Most Emorians hate Koretians just as much as most Koretians hate Emorians. In any case, it would be hard for you to become accustomed to life there."
Ursula tilted her head, a strand of black hair falling over her pale cheek. "Was it hard for you? I know that you love the land now, but you came there as a slave, and that must have made it hard for you to like the Emorians."
I watched with half an eye the familiar tapestry of city life: a small girl accompanying her mother to the market, laden down with a woven blanket that her mother intended to sell there; two small boys challenging each other to a dagger duel, and then looking cautiously around to ensure that adults were standing nearby who would stop them if they fought too hard; an Emorian soldier watching the boys' play with a look of disapproval.
I said, "When the soldier first took me prisoner, I tried to kill him – not only because of what he was doing to me, but because of what he had done to John and my mother. I think I will never hate anyone as much as I hated that soldier. Later I tried to kill the slave-seller to whom the soldier sold me. Then that man sold me to another slave-seller, and I tried to kill one of the seller's assistants. After that— After that, I decided to wait until I was a man and then take my vengeance."
Ursula was listening carefully to me, but she had dipped her head so that her hair covered her eyes. I had carefully kept all bitterness from my voice, but now, staring at her bowed head, I continued more gently, "Then, one day when I was older, I tried to run away from the master I'd been sold to. I was caught and beaten, and I think I would have died from that beating except that the Chara convinced his father to buy me. So my life was saved. About a year ago, I did something foolish that could have cost me my life, and again the Chara came to my rescue. But even if he hadn't done these things, I would remain oath-sworn to Peter because of who he is."
Ursula had gradually raised her head as I spoke. Now her face brightened and her hands burst forth into the air. "I don't think I've ever met anyone like your Chara. At first I thought of him only as a mighty conqueror who had done much harm to Koretia, but he spoke to me as though I were an old acquaintance instead of a common half-Koretian girl. He seemed like any other man I have known when he talked of how hard his life was when he was a boy, and how much your friendship meant to him. It was only later that I remembered he was the ruler of an empire and could execute any man or woman under his care. It was as though I had been talking with a god."
"Emorians don't regard him as a god," I said, "but he is the man who wears the face of the Chara, and that amounts to the same thing in the end. I know that the Koretians think the Emorians are impious because we don't have priests or goat-sacrifices or god-masks. But we do have the laws of Emor, and they are reverenced as much as any god could be. The Chara is the embodiment of the law. His task is to make sure that Emor's law is upheld, and he must do this at any cost, no matter what the pain to him or anyone else. If he went against his duty, it would be a kind of blasphemy to us. And that's hard for Peter, because he isn't a god but just an ordinary man."
Ursula considered this, her face turned to watch the passersby. Then she said with a sudden fierceness, "No one should have to bear that kind of burden. It isn't fair when the gods ask that of men."