The Lost Star's Sea

by C. Litka

  04

  From the top of the pass and through the lane of trees, the Dondar March spread out before us under a pale twilight sky. Glowing high-piled white clouds caught the light of the bright sky over the horizon, while the lower clouds were pink and soft orange from the edge light. A wide valley, forever on the brink of twilight, stretched away to indistinctness, lost in the haze of a trailing skirt of a small, low raincloud. Mauve and green forests clung to the steep ridge lines that encircled the valley. The grassy road we were following ran down the steep hill and along the center of the valley to a smudge of a town and a tower perhaps half a dozen kilometers' distance. A string of stone towers set in a patchwork of green, gold and brown fields lined the road, as did scattered grey cottages, sheds, and barns. It was clear from the closest one, that each compound was surrounded by a combination of a tall stone curtain wall and deep moat.

  'Those are the Clan Towers. Each of the major clans in every march have a refuge tower that can shelter the clan's members and livestock.'

  'Raiders from the shadow lands?'

  Py laughed. 'No, not in these marches. The extensive ranches of the great plain ranches may still suffer the occasional cattle raid by one of the nomad tribes of the shadows, but these forests hold few tribes and most of them are peacefully settled. We could travel through these shadow lands with little fear. No, the towers are protection from the winds of the serratas. We're on the high horn of Daeri, and the windstorms can be fierce. As for the high walls, they just keep the livestock that are grazed on the common land out of the cultivated fields.'

  'What sort of livestock do they raise?' I asked, picturing virtual dinosaurs. I could see several large herds, but they were too distant to make out what type of animals they were. 'Those walls look to be all of ten meters high from the bottom of the moats.'

  'Lopemounts for riding, Dindar sheep for wool and meat, March cattle for meat and leather, and Fimi lizards for eggs and meat,' said Py, with a laugh. 'None of them are large nor dangerous. However, the lopemounts and sheep are nimble, and if they set their mind to it, they could clear any lower fence. Food crops grow slowly in the margin and shadow lands, so you don't risk sheep or lopes grazing in your gardens.'

  'That's reassuring,' I said. The lopemounts, Dindar sheep and March cattle proved to be fine-feathered livestock, clearly introduced from the Nebula, local variations of livestock that originally evolved on old Terra itself, many eons ago. However, the Fimi lizards, were pure Pela. Standing a meter high on two legs, they could be viewed as either a cross between a chicken and a lizard, or a miniature predictor dinosaur. They are omnivores, eating bugs, grass and grains, and considered mostly harmless - though once you've been around the marches long enough, you'll hear tales of docile herds of laying Fimi "hens" turning on their masters, attacking them in mass. They'll even show you the scars to prove it. Of course, you can't believe everything you hear in the marches, and despite those stories, they're treated pretty much like chickens. Their eggs are tasty, if a little oily, but spaceers have a tough digestive system, so what the Neb, I've acquired a taste for Fimi eggs.

  'Let's be on our way. I'm beginning to grow hungry, and I suspect we won't have to travel long before we'll be invited to one of the clan towers for a meal and a bed. They inevitably feel that it pays to be nice to the traveling magistrate, and Magistrate Din says that we shouldn't discourage that idea. A fine meal and a soft bed at the end of a long road is not something to be sneered at.'

  'Lead on, my dear Py,' exclaimed KaRaya. 'We didn't waylay you for nothing.'

  We left the chattering of the unseen birds of the forest behind for the singing and soaring birds, and buzzing beetles of the grasslands. The flying lizards of the small islands were noticeably absent on this bigger island.

  We had not gone half the distance to the first tower, when a rider on the large deer-like lopemount appeared from its gate, and in long, graceful bounds, raced towards us, covering the distance in a twinkling.

  The young man of perhaps Py's age, alighted his mount in a bound, and seeing who it was, beamed, cupped his hands as KaRaya had done, and exclaimed, 'Greetings Teacher Py! It is grand to see you again! Alone? Can it be Magistrate Py now?'

  'Greetings, my dear NaRen. It is indeed, Magistrate LinPy,' he said with mock dignity, adding with a smile. 'And may the Great Dragon of the Way help us all! By which I mean, may the Dragon of the Way give us wisdom and guidance, for wisdom and guidance is sorely needed, I'm afraid.'

  They gave each other a hug. 'You needn't wear your Magistrate's face in our house, Py. We have nothing to bring before you this time. We have been good and have rigorously followed the Way with diligence,' said NaRen.

  'You've simply not been caught,' replied Py. 'And lying, I must tell you, is well off the beaten path of the Way.'

  'Then I'll say nothing more, other than my father invites you and your servants to the meal we are even now preparing.'

  'These are my companions, KaRaya, Wilitang, and the little dragon behind us in the sled is Hissi. I have met them along the way...'

  'Bandits, just as you dreamed of!'

  He shook his head sadly. 'Alas, no. Not this time, though they do look the part,' he added with laugh. 'They are something even more interesting. Shipwrecked sailors direct from the Outward Islands. They are good companions, and wonderful swords masters. We shall take them on after the meal, and you shall see.'

  'Sailors from the Outward Islands, swords masters, and a Simla dragon - oh, you are so very welcome. My father will have you staying for many rounds - it is too quiet in this march for him. Still, I know how serious and conscientious Py is in pursuit of his duties, so we mustn't be greedy,' NaRen laughed, as he grasped our wrists in greeting.

  'Are there many cases for me?' Py asked as we started for the tower

  NaRen walking beside us, leading his mount, said, 'Oh, the usual, I suppose. I've not heard of any serious crimes.' He went on to relate the gossip of the valley and clans as we made our way to the gatehouse and up through the cultivated fields and shed towards the old, grey stoned tower of the Dondar Marches' Quinda Clan.

  KaRaya, Hissi and I were served a fine feast, heavy on meat and root crops, in the kitchen, with the staff while Py ate with the clan chief's family. As promised, we were invited to the armory after our meal, offered a selection of practice weapons and masks, and then led outside to the courtyard to spar with Py, NaRen, and then some of the youth of the clan until we were exhausted.

  And then, for the first time since that week or two on Redoubt Island, I slept in a room that didn't move and on a bed rather than a hammock. I'd been sleeping rough, of course, on our journey here, but this was the first room I'd laid down to sleep in that wasn't a vessel of some sort, space ship, zep, ship's boat, slaver or dragon boat since Redoubt island, and for decades before that. Not exactly how I envisioned it, when I dreamed of retiring from space. It would take some getting used to.

  The next round, we pushed on to Dondar, the town and tower of the Master of the Dondar March, where we were welcomed again with much laughter and talk. As before, KaRaya Hissi and I were given a small room in the tower's servants' quarters. Py stayed in the upper stories in the Master's quarters. A round was spent drawing up a trial schedule, and then sending out the word, though by then, it was common knowledge that it was now Magistrate LinPy, along with two, possibly ex-pirate, servants who had arrived to hold court.

  While the inhabitants of the margin marches use the Saraime style spring charged air guns, for hunting, they still take great pride in swords and swordplay - a relic of countless thousands of rounds of living on the edge of civilization. Py, while sharing this love, also knew that it played well with peoples of the marches, so it became our custom to begin each new round exercising with swords before an interested audience in the courtyard of the Master's tower that hosted us. Py would take on both KaRaya and me in a set of swordplay sequences, lighthearted, athletic, flashy routine - falls and tumbles, climbing the wall
s and long leaps and lunges - each of us getting a turn to play the star. And then, after having warmed up, he'd invite any of the crowd who wanted to match their skills with us to don a mask and take up a sword. We'd spar and instruct until both KaRaya and I were exhausted. Py seemed to have unlimited energy.

  After the swordplay show, Py would meditate for perhaps an hour, while KaRaya and I caught our breath, and then emerge as Magistrate LinPy to hold court. Court was held in the great hall of each of tower we visited. This tower was always adjacent to or surrounded by the only town of each march. Half of the inhabitants of the march, the skilled trades people and the people of clans without a major presence in that particular march, lived in town. The other half lived in stone cottages, in or near the compound of their clan tower. There wasn't much to these towns - a few taverns, shops and inns, plus tanneries, spinning mills, canning factories for preserving meat, and warehouses to hold the valley's products until they could be shipped to either the bright side or to the shadow lands mining towns. Beyond admiring their quaint, well-worn and weather beaten beauty, there was little to do. As Magistrate LinPy's lieutenants in training we were to steer clear of the taverns, unless on assignment, which left only the marketplace to find some life. However, we were expected to attend court when it was in session, to observe and act as Magistrate Py's rather mysterious assistants - Captain KaRaya and Captain Wilitang - so we soon had plenty of duties to keep us busy.

  'How serious are you? About this Magistrate's lieutenant berth?' I asked KaRaya as we were looking at the small pile of our trade goods near the end of the Dondar March court session.

  'I think, Wilitang, it is a good berth. Truth be told, Daeri is the last island I would've chosen to land on. My former owners are here in Quandadar, and I'm well known in the anchorage island of Daedora. All things considered, I'd rather stay dead for a while longer. And you can't be much deader without being actually dead than drifting through the margin marches. At least, I hope not. Of course, we'll not make any coins, but then, we live as guests, so we won't spend any either. Besides, I think it will repair my poor, battered karma. So, I'm content, but, we're partners. What do you say?'

  I considered my reply. The idea of paying for, or paying back, my luck or karma (I was pretty confused as to which and what) did appeal to the superstitions I harbored. And as I had decided to give Naylea time to forget her old life for both our sakes, a year or two with Py would not be too long. In the meanwhile, I could learn about my new home - including how to read again.

  'I agree. Let's make the circuit with young Py, if he'll have us. Four hundred rounds as a magistrate's lieutenant seems as good a berth as any, and I suspect, better than most. After that we'll decide what to do next.'

  'Good. From the tales Py has told us of his adventures, I'm sure we'll find it interesting work.'

  With that decision, we sold our trade goods in Dondar, all except the Shadow Hawk feathers which would bring many more coins in Linjyn, and took to the road carrying our life on our backs like Py - confident of our welcome everywhere we went.

  And for the better part of 500 rounds, nearly two years, Unity Standard, we gradually grew to become Magistrate Py's trusted lieutenants in the marches and his good friends and companions on the grassy road.