by Tad Williams
"But the most powerful gods hate the Qar-you said that yourself! So what good would that do?"
"Ah, yes, the gods may hate the Qar," Saqri said, an invisible shape in the darkness beside him, "but I cannot help wondering how they feel about your folk?"
5
Haunters of the Deeps "… But in those days the Kracian hills were a fierce, lawless place. A clan of bandits came into the valley where Adis and his parents lived while he was out with the flock, and they killed his parents and took what little the family had."
-from "A Child's Book of the Orphan, and His Life and Death and Reward in Heaven"
"I am weary and heartsick,"said Olin Eddon. "Why must I remain here? I have seen the ships roll in, seen the soldiers in their thousands disembark. Yes, the autarch has ample might to humble my poor country. What purpose does this serve?"
Pinimmon Vash looked up to the deck of this latest, largest supply ship. The chief of the cargo-men waved a signal, letting the paramount minister know that the show was about to start. Other ships were unloading as well-the harbor that had once served mainland Southmarch was now the hub of the autarch's tent-city along the shore of the bay-but it was this one that was the object of the autarch's greatest interest.
"It was the Golden One himself who decreed that you must watch from here, King Olin," Vash said as politely as he could. "That is all you need to know."
"Why is no one in Southmarch firing on your ships?" Olin's face was pale and damp with perspiration. "Surely not even Tolly would fail to defend his own castle. What trick has your master played to land here unopposed?"
"Ask the Golden One about such minor matters, King Olin, not me." Couldn't the northerner see that all this had nothing to do with Pinimmon Vash himself, that he was only doing what his master required of him? The foreign king was less of a savage than Vash had expected, but his manners were clearly not up to the rigorous standards of a real court. After all, wasn't having to stand here on the sunny waterfront without even a parasol-where were those cursed slave boys, anyway?-much harder on the older, more delicate Vash?
He became uncomfortably aware that King Olin was staring at him. "Yes?"
"You seem like a civilized man, Lord Vash," said Olin, weirdly mirroring Vash's private thoughts. "An intelligent man. How can you do the bidding of someone like the autarch? He has said-if he is not completely mad, of course, if what he plans can actually be done-he has said he intends to bind up the power of a true god so that everything that lives on the earth will be his slaves!"
Vash almost smiled at that, but he had not lost all caution: he quickly looked around to make certain they were alone before answering. "And how is that different from what we have now, King Olin? The Golden One already rules absolutely, so what else can I do but comply? No, your question is naive, I fear. You might just as easily-and just as fruitfully-ask me why a stone falls to the ground when dropped or why the stars hang shining in the sky. That is how Creation is ordered. Only a fool would give up his life when there is no hope things will ever be otherwise."
Olin Eddon didn't appear offended, but neither did he seem convinced. "Then no tyrant in history would ever have been overthrown. The Twelve would not have cast down the dictator Skollas, and Hierosol would have crushed Xis a thousand and more years ago."
"If the gods willed it, so it would have been," agreed Vash. "But I see no such truth in the world we inhabit here, today. The autarch rules us, may he live forever-all else is but an airy game of what-might-be."
Olin continued to stare at him, intently enough that Vash began to feel quite put out. Didn't this northern upstart realize what an honor was being done to him, having the paramount minister of all Xis as his attendant? "You really should pay attention to the unloading, King Olin. It was the Golden One's express wish…"
Olin ignored him. "Not all southerners are as fatalistic as you, Lord Vash. I know many of your continent who fought back against the autarch-one in particular who became my friend."
Pinimmon Vash could not help laughing a little. "And what did it gain him? Not much, I imagine." A thought suddenly came to him. "Hold a moment. Do you talk about the traitor, Shaso dan-Heza? The Tuani general who tried to thwart the rightful claims of Autarch Parnad, the Golden One's father?"
Now it was Olin's turn to smile, a wolfish grin deep in his gray-shot beard. "Rightful claims? Now who is being purposefully naive? Shaso and his people fought Parnad and Parnad's father, too, and even though I hear a puppet of sorts has been put on the throne in Nyoru, I imagine some in Tuan will continue fighting until one day they drive you Xixians out. The Tuani are no cowards and they clearly do not agree that the autarch's rule over all the world is inevitable."
Again, Vash was nettled by this upstart king. "And your friend, the traitor Shaso? This mighty bulwark against tyranny? Where is he today?"
Olin's expression grew dark. "I do not know. Nor would I tell you if I did, of course."
"Of course. Now, enough of such contentious matters." Vash shook back his long sleeves and gestured to the gang ramp leading down from one of the larger cargo ships onto the mainland harbor's biggest loading dock. "Look. This is what the autarch most particularly wanted you to see."
Even many of the Xixian sailors on the dock and the soldiers on the beach had wandered over to watch as a group of large, awkward, man-shaped things made their way down the ramp. Each had two arms and two legs, but there the resemblance ended. Their stocky legs and short arms were covered in bony plates, with stiff bristles growing between them and up the creatures' backs. Their hands looked more like the digging-claws of moles, proportionately large and covered with leathery, warted flesh. But it was their torsos and heads that dragged at the eye: they had strange armored midsections, as if they were upright beetles or tortoises, and these rose up in the front to cover their necks and the bottoms of their heads from below, just as a continuation of their back armor curled down over the tops of their heads, so that all that could be seen of their faces were eyes peering out of the shadows between the unjoined pieces of bony shell, as if they were giant oysters or armored men wearing absurdly large helmets. But for all their defenses, the weird things seemed ill-they halted for no reason, or stumbled as they walked. One fell and could not rise, legs kicking slowly in the bright sunlight.
"These things…" Olin said, blinking, "they are monsters. Did you do this to them?"
"Vash did nothing!" said a voice behind them, floating down from above as if a god had spoken. Which, in a way, one had, since the voice was the autarch's, who was coming toward them across the sand on his ceremonial platform carried by slaves, as though he were himself some breed of giant, many-legged creature. "In fact, these splendid creations were first bred in my great-grandfather Aylan's day."
"So madness runs in the blood of your family," said Olin in disgust.
"Something you and I have in common, eh?" Sulepis grinned. "These creatures were of the Yisti once, who are the same blood as your northern Funderlings, although this breed, the Khau-Yisti, were larger and more savage, wild diggers where their Yisti cousins were almost as civilized as men." He spoke with the air of one who tries to impart an interesting lesson to a dull student. "My great-grandfather's breeders captured the wild tribes, took the largest and strongest of them and began to shape them to work the mines of the Xan-Horem Mountains, dangerous places where the earth often collapses. These Khau-Yisti, though, are strong and stolid, and they can dig their own way out after a cave-in-a most thrifty sort of worker to have." He frowned, watching the creatures struggling down the gangplank. "Traveling does not seem to agree with them, or perhaps it is your chilly northern air. Many died during the voyage, and these do not look to last much longer…"
"I'm afraid half of them have died already, Golden One," Vash said.
"Your people bred these poor creatures like hounds? Just to work in the mines?" Olin seemed surprised, as if he had learned nothing about the Xixian royal family. If Vash had not felt a little nauseated b
y the sight of the trudging, subhuman Khau-Yisti filing across the sand, he would have been amused by the northern king's naivety.
"Oh, not just for that," said the autarch cheerfully. "As you will see, they also make the best handlers for the askorabi-with their armored bodies, they are almost impervious to the creatures' stings. In fact, in our tongue we call these particular Khau-Yisti kalukan-'the shielded ones.'" He smiled and looked up at the sun, which had appeared from behind the clouds. "The only thing they truly hate is too much light. Hear them murmur in pain! I think you may be right, Paramount Minister Vash. I suppose we will have to use the human handlers instead." He didn't sound particularly bothered.
The creatures were in obvious discomfort, clumsily trying to keep the bright sun out of their tiny eyes with their plated hands, stumbling, halting in confusion in the middle of the ramp, blearily staring out from the depths of their carapaces. Every time they slowed, though, the handlers were on them, poking at the joints between their armor plating with sharp-tipped iron rods.
"Terrible…" said Olin quietly.
"Ah, you feel the tug of kinship." The autarch nodded sagely.
"What are you talking about?"
"All the Yisti are Qar. You have Qar blood yourself. Thus, these poor monsters are your kin, Olin." The autarch's tone was again one of an adult speaking to a slow child. "It demonstrates your good heart that you recognize that, no matter how bestial these relatives might be. Now remain silent and pay attention-wait until you see what comes next!"
The autarch was not even looking at Olin Eddon as he spoke, but Vash was, and he was surprised by the intensity of the cold hatred on the northern king's face.
The sky darkened. The day, which had been warm, suddenly took on an edge that reminded her it was still spring, and a cold one at that: true summer was still far away. The Lady Idite dan-Mozan sighed and clutched her bowl of gawa a little tighter. "Just a moment longer, Moseffir," she called to her grandson, who was digging between the stones of the courtyard with a stick. "Then it's time to go inside for your supper."
"Won't," the little boy said with the same careless certainty his father had shown at that age-and doubtless his grandfather, too, although of course Idite had not been present to see that. He wouldn't even look at her because he knew that as soon as he did he couldn't ignore her anymore, and that was like his grandfather Effir.
The thought of her merchant husband made the suddenly dark day seem darker still. She had lost him only a few short moons ago, and some days that terrible night of fire and blood actually seemed to be receding into the past, like a landmark seen from a barge floating down a river. But then at other times, like now, the hurt was so fierce, so… alive that it might have only just happened. It was moments like this that she had to fight off despair. Only her family gave her reason to go on. Were it not for her son and his daughters and young Moseffir here, Idite might have walked out into the cold ocean off Landers Port and let the gods do what they wanted with her.
She did not know how long she had been lost in thought when she became aware of Fanu standing and waiting for her. Why hadn't the girl said anything? Idite did not have the heart for anger, though. Fanu had always been shy, but she had been so pretty once…! Since the burns, though, she had crawled back inside herself like a desert tortoise retreating into its shell. Even in the company of the other women, some of whom had scars far worse than hers, there were days that scarcely a dozen words came out of her mouth between sunrise and sunset.
"What is it, Fanu-saya?"
The girl's attention had wandered to Moseffir, vigorously beheading stems of grass with his little stick. "Oh, Mistress! A thousand pardons! You have a visitor."
Idite was surprised. It was a strange time of the day for it. Still, she smiled and sat up straighter. "Truly? Well, do not keep her waiting-the Great Mother herself sometimes goes disguised, it is said, to see who honors her injunction to hospitality!"
"Oh, but, Mistress," said Fanu, "it is a man. A stranger." She said this last word as though it described something with claws and sharp teeth.
"Ah. Did he give a name?"
Fanu shook her head. "But… he is handsome!"
Hearing Fanu say something so much like her old self was more surprising than the sex of the visitor. "All the more reason to send him in then," said Idite, laughing a little. "You may stay if you wish."
The girl's eyes widened and she shook her head violently. "I couldn't, Mistress! I couldn't!"
"Then have one of the porters come in with him, so that propriety is maintained."
After Fanu had fled the courtyard Idite straightened her robes. Not that she cared very much what even a handsome young man thought of her, but neither did she wish to look like an old gossip. She had the honor of her son's house to think of, after all-it was her home, now.
The old porter led the visitor in, then went and sat cross-legged in the corner of the courtyard. Idite examined the newcomer as she gestured for him to sit in the chair across from her. Fanu had been right: he was easy to look upon, tall and slender, with a trimmed beard just a little longer than what was proper-it gave him a bit of a bandit look-and sumptuous clothes in the northern style, the sort of thing that might ordinarily be seen on a young nobleman of Tessis or Jellon. His skin and dark, almond-shaped eyes, though, showed that his blood originated from the same place hers did.
"Lady Dan-Mozan." He folded his hands on his breast and bowed his head above them. "You are very kind to see me."
The courtly gesture startled her. She had not seen it performed with such grace in years, not since she had been a young woman in Nyoru. It brought on a pang of homesickness that she covered by returning the Tuani greeting with one of her own. "I see you are my countryman," she said. "Or you lived there. What is your name, young man, and what can this useless old woman do for you?"
He smiled and she found herself remembering more of her youth, the hot desert nights and the whispers of the women as the men paraded past in their military finery at the beginning of the Ul-Ushya Festival. "Useless? I think not. Your kindness and wisdom are legendary, Lady Dan-Mozan. Again, I thank you for inviting me into your beautiful home and restful garden. I have ridden a long way to see you."
"I am flattered," she said, more certain than ever that something strange was afoot. "But you must know this is not my house, but my son's. He was kind enough to take me in when my own house burned earlier this year. It was a sad time, but at least now I have the chance to see my grandchildren as often as I wish." She gestured to Moseffir, who had managed to get dirt all over his face. Idite sighed. "Even a grandmother cannot keep that one out of mischief. Moseffir! Come here."
"The fire, of course," said the young man, nodding as she wiped at the boy's face with the heel of her hand. "Please accept my very deepest regrets on the death of your esteemed husband. Effir dan-Mozan was a prince among merchants."
"Better, I suppose, than being a merchant among princes," she said, surprising him a little. She freed Moseffir, who waddled back to his excavation. "I do not mock you, but please do this old woman the honor of dispensing with such flowery stuff. Of course I miss my husband more than anyone can ever know. I appreciate your courtesy, but since you did not know him…"
"Ah, but I did," said her visitor. "And I truly admired him, although I do not think he felt the same way about me."
She watched him in silence for a long moment. "You still have not told me your name."
"No, I have not, Lady Dan-Mozan. Because I wished you to have a chance to spend a short time in my company, so you might be prepared to think better of me than my name warrants." He sat up, fastidiously smoothing out the sleeves of his jacket. "I am Dawet dan-Faar."
It was as though he had thrown a pan of cold water over her. If Idite's entire body had not suddenly felt as limp and helpless as a trampled reed, she would have run to snatch up her grandson and flee the courtyard. "Prince Dawet…?"
"Yes, that Dawet." His face was a proud, hard mask,
but she saw something in it that she thought might be pain. "The one you have heard called murderer, ravager, thief, traitor. And I must admit that not all those names are unfairly given. But despite the worst of the tales, I have never harmed a woman. On that I offer my soul in surety to the Great Mother. You are safe with me, Lady. And neither will I harm anyone in your household if you ask me to leave this very moment. You greeted me very courteously. Will you hear me out?"
She looked to her grandson, then to the porter snoring gently in a pool of light. The afternoon sun had crept out from behind the clouds again.
"What is it you want from me, Prince Dawet?"
He shook his head. "Let us put away pleasantries, at least those which do not apply. That title was taken from me, nor do I wish it back. All I desire from you is information. Tell me what happened to your house. I have been told that the fire was set by men in the service of Baron Iomer. Why should he do such a thing?"
Idite now wished she had run from the garden when the impulse had first struck her. How could she tell this well-known criminal anything true without giving away that which could not be told? And if she told him lies, what would he to do her? To her family? His promise not to harm them was, if even half the stories about Dawet were true, as useless as shoes for the wind. "I… I do not know why the fire was set. The baron's soldiers were in our house, it is true, and many think they set it, but it could have been an accident…"
"Please do not waste my time with nonsense, Lady," he said, his voice firm but not threatening. "Otherwise the day will turn cold, and I will feel it my fault if you catch a chill. The rumor is that he was searching for King Olin's daughter, Briony, who was in your house. I have heard this from Briony herself, Lady, so do not bother to deny it."
"You… you have seen her?" After the girl disappeared that night, Idite had feared that Briony was dead or in a Southmarch dungeon, although in recent days she had heard rumors that the princess had somehow reached Tessis. "Truly? She is alive?"