by Doris Egan
Ivory wasn't a poor planet, but they didn't seem to import much. I remarked on it to Eln as I unwrapped the bedrolls. Ran and Kylla had gone off to collect wood for the campfire.
"Well, what do you expect, Theo," he said. "You know aristocrats. A century ago the emperor managed to bully us into pooling our resources and bringing in the Net. And the aircar. And a few other things. But how long can you expect nobility to cooperate? Not to mention semi-nobility." He grinned.
Eln had a more detached way of looking at things than most Ivorans, a more historical perspective. History to anyone else I'd spoken to seemed to mean their immediate family tree. I told Eln so.
"It's the way I was brought up," he said, rather cryptically I thought, and taking his bedroll off the back of the floater he dropped it at my feet. "Don't forget this one."
"Thanks a bunch." I put it with the others. "Don't you import anything from Tellys these days?"
"One or two things, privately bought."
"What sort of things?"
"Theo, darling, why this fascination with our balance of trade? The Emperor talks about it all the time, but you don't have to."
"I'm interested," I said, a little hurt. "I get interested in things."
"Well, try to get interested in something else. It's not a subject I long to pursue." He was silent for a moment, then said, "Let's find a topic more in common. Your situation, for instance. One can't help but notice that you and Ran arrived here rather precipitously. I hope you're not in any trouble?"
I couldn't tell if he was genuinely concerned or not, or how much he knew already. "It's not a topic I care to pursue," I said.
"Ouch." He reached into his sidebag and pulled out another in his never-ending supply of wine bottles. It was amazing that he never seemed to be drunk. "Will you join me? We may still find a lawful subject for conversation, after a few swallows."
"Why not?" I took the bottle. "May dawn follow night." It was a toast I'd heard in Trade Square.
"And night follow dawn," he said, taking it back. I'd never heard that one before, but it had the ring of "ishin na' telleth" about it. "Did I hear Ran questioning you about sorcery this morning? It seemed a little odd. I was under the impression he knew more about the field than you."
"He's teaching me." I took another swallow. "It's not going well."
"Oh? What seems to be the problem? I can imagine my brother isn't the most patient teacher."
"It's the book. It just isn't very clear about some things. I've memorized all I could—"
"Aah, now that's always fatal. Rote memorization. You have to pick up the patterns, the reasons for things. Then you won't have to memorize."
"There aren't any damn reasons," I said, more sharply than I'd intended. But trying to fight my way through that vaguely written mishmosh of a textbook was very frustrating. They seemed to have a whole other way of looking at scholarship here.
"There are always reasons. Look, what part are you reading?"
"Part One." There are only two parts to the Red Book. Part One's title would translate as: Things Tend to Become More Diverse. Part Two reads: Things Tend to Become the Same. Neither of them made a lot of sense.
"How would you find someone who wanted to remain hidden?"
"Location spell," I said, glad to have something easy.
"What's the hierarchy of search in a location spell?" When I didn't answer he said, "Outside to inside? Or vice versa?"
"The book doesn't say. I couldn't find it, anyway."
"All right, break it down. What are 'outside' traits?"
"Outside traits are those most liable to change," I parroted. "They would usually include color of hair and eyes, name, and clothing. And inside traits," I went on as he opened his mouth, "are more fixed and less easy to change. These are often intangibles, and would include hobbies; entertainment preferences; handwriting; and height, which is hard to change without surgery." I took a deep breath.
Eln applauded. "So now," he said, "which does the spell search for first? Inside or outside traits?"
"I don't know! The book doesn't say."
"Oh, Theo, this isn't like you at all. Is this how they train Athenan scholars? You're letting yourself be thrown by the strangeness of it all. Think of it as a problem in logic."
"What's the answer?"
"I'm not going to tell you. Think about it tonight before you go to sleep."
"And you criticized Ran's teaching methods!"
"Getting testy? It doesn't become you. Have some more wine."
"Thanks." I always get a nice glow from alcohol. I thought about location hierarchies, and Eln sang a song about "a girl of the open sea," who had apparently had an interesting life. It was about then that Kylla came out of the trees with an armful of dry sticks.
"Oh, no, he's singing," she announced. "Theodora, you shouldn't encourage him. His mouth will be open the rest of the night."
He raised one eyebrow and took out a harmonica for the refrain.
We were camped that night near "the very skin of the barrier," as Eln put it. Perhaps the Cormallons liked to go as far as they could, when they had the chance, without actually crossing into strangers' territory.
Kylla passed around cups from the pot of tah she had resting over the fire. "Temple's not far from here, is it? We could visit. Theodora's never been there."
"It's about a mile over the hill," said Ran, with a slight tilt of his head toward the northeast. "But aren't you tired?"
"Well, I was thinking of tomorrow."
"Let's go now," said Eln, poking at the fire. I'm not tired."
Kylla said, "Oh, yes, Ran. Can't we go now? Theo, you want to come, don't you?"
"I'm willing," I said, not to disappoint her.
Ran looked tired himself, but he let the majority rule. We went to see the temple.
It was more like the ruin of a temple. Moonlight cast a bluish tinge on the light stone at the top of the hill. We came in through the gaps in the circular wall and stood on a marble floor that still showed a clear picture of a burning torch at its center. The torchfire was inlaid red and yellow strips of stone, its smoke black and gray. Part of the flooring around the picture had been pulled up, and grass grew high there.
"Ishin na' telleth," said Ran softly.
I was surprised. I thought there was still enough beauty here to be worth caring about. Then I realized he was paying respects to the purpose of the temple.
There must have been a dome once. Now we stood under naked starlight. "It was damaged," said Ran, seeing my glance run over the broken masonry where the roof should have joined the walls, "during one of the wars of succession. Which dynasty was that, Ky?"
"The Prian," said Eln. "Eight centuries ago."
A historical mind. "Who won the war?" I asked him.
"We did. At least, our candidate won the throne. Otherwise we wouldn't be here."
There had been no war on Ivory for the past two hundred years. They still kept up the barrier, of course.
"Let's sleep here," said Kylla.
Ran said, "All our things are back at the camp."
"We can get them tomorrow. Who's going to take them?"
He shrugged. But the marble was too cold for sleeping, so we laid our cloaks down on the grass. Kylla offered her cheek for her brothers to kiss. There was a pause, then Eln, followed by Ran, kissed me good night as well. I lay down near Kylla. She reached out her hand and took mine. "Good night, Theodora," she said. It was a long time before I went to sleep.
"Where is everybody?" I asked Kylla when I woke. The sun was well up, and Ran and Eln were nowhere to be seen. Our camping gear had been deposited in a pile nearby and her horse was contentedly chewing the grass beside the temple wall. "Won't that stuff hurt him?" I asked her, pointing it out worriedly.
She laughed. "I'm glad you're here, Theo. Everything seems new and different when you're around." She handed me a jar that proved to be berry-flavored tah; the smell when I unstoppered it was heavenly. "Grandmother said
I could have an outbuilding of my own, for when I want to be alone. Eln and Ran have gone to argue over where it should be."
"Shouldn't you be there, then?"
She shook her head. "It's men's work."
I knew that the great families were old-fashioned, but it was the first time I'd heard that phrase. I was shocked.
"Kylla, it's going to be your place."
"I know," she said, unruffled. "I'll veto anything I don't like. Meanwhile, it's a nice morning, and I'd rather sit on this hill with you."
There was nothing I could say to that. She broke off a piece of bread and handed it to me. "Just a minute," she said, going through her pack, "there's jam in here somewhere."
I munched and thought. I found myself remembering the story of Ran's curse, and exactly what his grandmother had said: He was the last male in the immediate family to be initiated. And Eln had said that he was Ran's older brother. So why was Ran ranked first in the family? Shouldn't it be Eln? How had he lost the rights of inheritance? Unfortunately it was not the type of question one could ask.
I said instead, "Is there some reason I shouldn't talk to Eln?"
"It's an awkward subject," said Kylla, "but I suppose it's made no less awkward by confusing you about it. Eln can be… difficult, sometimes. It's hard to explain unless you've seen it happen. He gets hurt, and he doesn't hold back. Well, I suppose it's not easy for him, being the most intelligent of us and seeing all the rewards go to other people. He can't even be sure he'll have a place in the library when he dies… He is the brightest of us," she said, seeing my look. "If you'd grown up with him you'd know. He has Cowper's Disease. He got it when he was ten… a side-benefit of Tellys' contact with us. It doesn't affect them the way it does us. You've wondered about the floater, naturally. Artificial limbs wouldn't do any good. The nerve damage goes too far." She put her breadknife jam-side down in the grass, not noticing. "Our father couldn't stand it. We have high standards in the family… and I found out later he'd had Eln's cards read at his birth. I don't know what they said, but this seemed to confirm everything. He tried to trade Eln to another family, but Grandmother wouldn't hear of it. After that… he just paid no attention to Eln at all. It was horrible. Father died a couple of years later, but meanwhile…" She was silent, then said very quietly, as though sharing a great shame, "Eln declared ishin na' telleth on the family. He moved away to the capital. After Father's death, Grandmother had him brought back. He was very ill. Cowper's Disease makes you vulnerable, you know, it does something to the part of your body that fights sickness."
"The immune system."
"I suppose. When he was himself again, he just stayed on. Grandmother never lets anyone remind him he declared ishin na' telleth."
That was the shame, not that he declared it but that he went back on it. When done sincerely—not just as an expression of discontent, the way I'd heard it a,thousand times in the capital—you were not supposed to be able to care again. The object of your declaration was no longer part of your world. The man who went back on ishin na' telleth had never done it properly in the first place. He was beneath contempt, a buffoon, worthy of whatever happened to him now. Because such things could never work out. As sure as the moons rose and fell, he would be hurt again.
"Ran reminded him once," she said softly. "He was first in the family by then, and Eln said something to him. Things were very bad." she repeated, "Things were very bad."
We ate bread and jam. The sun rose higher.
When the brothers came back, we packed up and began riding again. Ran decided school was back in session and started to quiz me on what I'd learned of sorcery.
"How do you find someone who doesn't want to be found?" was his third question.
"Do a location spell," I said, and added, when he did not seem disposed to question further, ' 'the hierarchy of which is, of course, from inside to outside."
"Why 'of course'?"
"The spell works by elimination. Inside traits are less liable to change, so the subject pool is more likely to contain the person you want. For example, say you're looking for a man with blond hair who likes classical music and lives in the Northwest Sector. There would be more variables, but I'll just use those three."
Ran was looking at me. I went on smugly. "The blond hair would be easiest to change. If you began with an outside trait like that, the spell would isolate, say, a few hundred people in the Northwest Sector with blond hair, and then begin eliminating those who don't like classical music. But the man you're looking for probably isn't even there among the ones you've isolated—he's probably changed his hair color and moved out of sector. If you start from the inside, the odds are much higher that somewhere along the line you'll find the one you want." I paused. "It's also easier to recast—"
"All right, you've made your point." He turned to Eln. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing," said Eln.
Since I seemed to be getting the hang of things, Ran let his questions go for the rest of the afternoon, and time passed pleasantly. That evening he and Eln went off to< look over another possible site for Kylla's outbuilding. When they came back, they weren't speaking.
"I'm sorry the jaunt turned out so badly for you," Kylla said to me.
We were in the dining hall of the main house, setting up for supper. Kylla was gathering hearthwhistle into vases for the table. "I'm sorry it was spoiled for you," I replied.
The last night out had been awful, the tension between Ran and Eln unable to be ignored. We all tiptoed around it, Kylla speaking to Ran, Ran to me, Eln to Kylla… pretending things hadn't changed. It was no use, we cut things short the next morning and came back. I did feel partly responsible; I was the one who brought up Eln's coming along in the first place. Ran and Kylla, at least, might have had a good time alone. "I'm not looking forward to supper with them, either," I added.
"Perhaps Eln won't come," she said. "He often doesn't."
But he did come. He came and seemed totally unchanged, his attention bent on keeping Grandmother and Kylla and me amused. The fact that he never addressed Ran might well have gone unnoticed had we not known the way things were.
Grandmother looked brighter than she had when we left. She let herself be charmed by her older grandson, who seemed to be her favorite. She allowed him to help her up when the main meal was complete, so that she could take dessert in her room.
She grasped her cane with one hand and Eln's shoulder with the other, and peered at Ran. "Have you given thought to your problem?" she asked him.
"Yes, Grandmother. I've decided that we'll be returning to the city tomorrow."
It was the first I'd heard of it.
"You'd best take care of Theodora, now," she said sternly, in the tone of one who says, "these things don't come cheap."
"Yes, Grandmother."
"Kiss me good night, then; and come see me tomorrow morning."
He did so. She and Eln left the room.
I looked at Ran.
"I was going to tell you after supper," he said.
"You said that you hadn't been able to find out who did it."
"Maybe no one did it. The fire could have been a coincidence, you know."
"You don't believe that any more—" I began, and Kylla said, "If she's really in danger, Ran—" when Eln walked back into the hall.
"I certainly know how to quiet a room, don't I?" he said. "Pass me the wine, will you, Ky?"
She handed him the bottle. He didn't bother to pour it, but wiped off the lip with the palm of his hand and took a swallow. "Sorry to hear you're leaving, I should say. I should say it, brother, but I won't. Don't feel you have to hurry back for my sake."
Ran touched the rim of his fragile crystal wine bowl, gently twirling it a half-circle. There was a thimbleful of red wine inside that raced after the tilt of the bowl.
"Don't feel you're under any obligation to answer me, either," Eln went on.
"Why should I answer you?" Ran said idly. "Ishin na' telleth."
Eln's face grew very red. " 'Ishin na' telleth' is a good refuge for the incompetent," he said. "For the sort who can't afford to care if he succeeds or not, because he fails so often. The sort of person, I'd say, who annoys someone enough to have a curse put on him. Who loses his card-reader, the life of a family member, through his own negligence. Who's probably about to lose another reader the same way. Don't tell me about ishin na' telleth." I knew, from what he said and how they took it, that Ran's problem had never been spoken of before, and that Eln was trampling on a Cormallon taboo in order to inflict the greatest hurt with the least amount of effort.
Kylla said, "Stop it, Eln, please. You're going too far. You know what happened last time—"
"I don't need advice from someone who's admitted strangers into her bed within the very bounds of our property.''
A servant who had come out to scrape and clear away the dishes dropped a knife. It clattered into the bucket. We all looked over at the sound. The man bowed stiffly and walked away, leaving the dishes out and a wine bowl balanced on top of the bucket.
I wanted to make him stop. I felt hurt for Kylla's sake, and acute embarrassment at being there at all. But if he could hurt Kylla … if I spoke, what would he find to say to me? I didn't want to know. And it was none of my business anyway.
She said hoarsely, "I'm not fighting with you. Listen to what I'm saying. I love you. Haven't I always loved you?"
"And you've always supported our brother. Don't change now."
"I'm not going to fight you, Eln," said Ran. "Give it up. I'm older now."
"Then tell me you don't care—"
"Na' telleth" was the word he used, "—really tell me. Declare me out of your life. Why put us through all this?"
Ran said nothing. After a moment he stood up. His hands tightened on the wine bowl; he seemed about to speak. Then he lifted it up over his head and brought it crashing down on the table. Crystal shards and wine spilled over. He left the room.
Eln looked as though he were trying not to cry.
In the cool of early morning I packed to leave. I'd brought nothing with me, but now I had three robes, undergarments, belts, a bracelet, and a spare pair of sandals—all presents from Kylla. When I'd tried to give them back she had said, "Don't be silly, Theo," in her best aristocratic manner. She had her brothers' highhandedness, sometimes. I put it all in a canvas pack-that was from Eln, another present; he gave it to me for the jaunt.