Lord of Lies

by David Zindell

  Chapter 21

  In the morning, with the smells of freshly baked bread and roasting meats hanging heavy in the air, we gathered in the great open area outside of Sajagax's tent. My Guardians formed up in their three columns; Sajagax had summoned his own private guard: fifty Kurmak warriors, all of the Tharkat elan. All wore conical steel helmets over their long, blonde braids; their armor was of black leather studded with shiny bits of steel. This covered only their upper bodies, and left their arms bare and free for drawing their powerful bows. It was much lighter than the suits of diamonds that encased a Valari knight from neck to ankle. Being unused to battle at close quarters, the Sarni carried no shields, nor throwing lances, nor long lances either. Thus the load that their horses had to bear was lighter than that of our stout warhorses. Being unused to roads as well, they did not bother to draw up these lithe animals into anything resembling columns. The only order I could detect in the horde of snorting horses and fierce men that gathered to Sajagax was that Sajagax would ride foremost among them.

  Just before we set out, however, he nudged his horse, a young piebald stallion, over to where I sat at the head of my knights. He looked long and deeply at Altaru and said, 'It's a great horse you ride, Valashu Elahad. He has beauty and grace. A little too thick for speed over distances, but I would guess he's a terror in a short charge.'

  Sajagax and his guard led the way out of his city of tents, and this [took some time. When we reached the open steppe, his warriors fanned out to either side of him in a formation that reminded me of a flock of geese. We followed them at a distance of a hundred yards. They did not really need to lead the way toward Tria, for the during the rest of our journey, we would parallel the Poru as it wound its way through grassland and forest to the Northern Ocean.

  Atara and Karimah, who had said farewell to the Manslayers so that they could attend the great conclave, rode with me and my Guardians Despite what Sajagax had said about the Sarni warriors respecting the Manslayers, the Manslayers did not really trust their own men and preferred to keep a distance from them. Of course, they did not trust my men either. But as Karimah had with Lord Harsha, she kept her knife ready (and her sword and bow), and so my knights were careful how they looked at this jolly but violent woman. And as for Atara, everyone knew that she and I had been comrades-in-arms and perhaps something more.

  In truth, I welcomed the chance to be near her even though she seldom consented to speak with me. Her coldness along the sere miles of the endless steppe was a winter that I longed to melt away as with the waxing of the hot spring sun. I knew well enough the source of her silence toward me. And so I understood why she pulled her red mare next to Karimah, Behira or even Estrella, to speak with these females in a way that she no longer could with me - or perhaps any man. They comforted her in a way that I could not. It made me want to reach Tria all the sooner, to unlock the Lightstone's secrets and claim it as my own - and then to begin the great work of healing that I thought I must be born for.

  Toward this end, I spent as much time as I could with Master Juwain trying to recreate the language of the Galadin. With every mile of grass that our horses trampled beneath their hooves, it seemed that I remembered more words of Alphanderry's last song. Master Juwain, in an elegant and precise script, dutifully wrote each of them down in his journal. When I confessed that I had seen Alphanderry's face take shape out of Flick's shimmering form, Master Juwain grew very excited. He brought forth the akashic stone, and he said, 'Ever since we drew near the Lokilani's island, there's been something strange about Flick. And then in the astor grove, the music, his song, so like Alphandeny's - strange, strange.'

  On our first night out from the Kurmak's city, we made camp below some rocky bluffs overlooking the Poru. Master Juwain and I sat with Maram, Lord Raasharu, Atara and Estrella discussing the difficulties of unlocking the akashic crystal Master Juwain held the rainbow disc in front of a lackling woodfire and watched its play of colored lights. Just then Sajagax, with two burly warriors named Thadrak and Orox, rode into our encampment. Sajagax had with him a bottle of Sungurun brandy that he wished to share. He took his place by the fire, sitting between Atara and me. He gazed at the akashic crystal with lime curiosity, as if it were a mere jewel to be appraised and claimed as treasure But when Flick appeared to whirl above it, his blue eyes lit up with wonder and dread.

  'The imp returns,' he said. He made a sign of a circle above his forehead and held out is hand as if to ward off evil.

  'Flick is no imp,' Maram said. 'More like a spirit of the little people's wood.'

  'No, more than a spirit, I should say,' Master Juwain told us. 'Perhaps much more.'

  Sajagax hastened to fill our mugs with his fiery brandy, which was even better than our own good brandy that we had brought with us from the Morning Mountains. He gripped the bottle's long neck with great force: I sensed, to keep his hand from trembling. 'If not a spirit, what then?'

  'The Lokilani,' Master Juwain said, 'believe the Timpum to be some part of the Galadin.'

  'But what are the Galadin if not the greatest of spirits?'

  'The Galadin,' Master Juwain said as he took out his worn copy of the Saganom Elu, 'are men - and something much more. Would you like to read the passages that tell of them?'

  'I cannot read,' Sajagax said, making another circle with his finger and staring at the book suspiciously. I care not to learn that art.'

  'Not read! But why?'

  Sajagax tapped his finger against his head and said, 'To depend on words written on paper - this weakens the memory. And so the mind.'

  'But there are so many books!' Master Juwain said. 'So much knowledge! Far too much for anyone to remember!'

  'Books! Knowledge!' Sajagax spat out. 'What does a man really need to know? To shoot an arrow straight; to live like a lion; to die bravely. What good are books for this?'

  'But there is so much more! Why, the ways of the stars and the secret of making the gelstei, and -'

  'A man,' Sajagax said, holding up his great bow, 'teaches his son how to make his weapons and the ways of the wolves and other men. Your books might speculate as to where the sun goes at night and why winter comes. But it is better to know where the sagosk go when winter comes.'

  'But all of history!' Master Juwain said. 'The Chronicles! The Songs! The Prophecies! To understand why we are here and where we were meant to -'

  'We are here', Sajagax broke in again, 'that we might know joy. And as for the past, it is like the future: dwelling in these little tents, we lose the pleasure of life in the here and now, beneath the open sky. It is enough to know the deeds of the imakil and one's ancestors. These are told of in the sagas, and passed down from father to son. These words are written in the blood and heard in the heart, and so they

  never lie.'

  The implication that the writings in his book might not all be entirely accurate disturbed Master Juwain and angered him. But he took a deep breath to calm himself. He pointed at Flick and said 'This Timpum has somehow learned to sing. If we could hear his songs in our hearts, we might understand the Galadin's language. And so we might better understand the Law of the One.'

  'What I there to understand?' Sajagax, disdaining our day mugs, brought forth a golden goblet and filled it with brandy. He drank half of it in a single gulp. The Law of the One is simple: "Be strong. Do what you will. Keep your word. Seek glory. Bear no shame. Honor -" '

  'You speak of honor?' Master Juwain called out, now interrupting him. 'You, who honors not the wisdom of many great men who have given their lives to gain it?'

  Sajagax's eyes narrowed as he studied Master Juwain. He seemed puzzled that an old man who bore no weapons should yet bear the courage to dispute with him. 'I do speak of honor,' he continued. 'As it is spoken of in the Law of the One: "Honor your father. Honor your horse. Honor the wind, the sun and the sky. Honor your honor above all.'"

  He paused to drink the rest of his brandy. And Master Juwain asked him, 'And is that all you know of the Law,
then?'

  Sajagax peered at the scarred opening of Master Juwain's ear, which Morjin's priest had enlarged with a red-hot iron. And Sajagax said to him, 'No, I know this last thing, that my father taught me: "Live free or die."'

  Master Juwain sighed as he rubbed the back of his bald head. He said to Sajagax, 'And I know what the masters of my Order taught me.'

  He squeezed his leather-bound book and thumbed through its pages.

  'If that is different than what I have said,' Sajagax growled out then it is a lie, and I wish to hear it not.'

  'Is that why your people have always turned away the Brothers we sent to instruct them? Either that, or burnt them?'

  'Yes,' Sajagax said. 'We do not abide liars.'

  'The truth is only ever the truth,' Master Juwain said. 'And the Law is the Law. But men, according to their knowledge, according to their powers, understand it differently.'

  'Words, and more words,' Sajagax muttered.

  Master Juwain looked at the blazing logs before us. 'A man teaches his young son not to play with fire, does he not?'

  'Of course - what's your point wizard?'

  'And when his son is older,' Master Juwain continued patiently 'the same father teaches him to make fire.'

  Sajagax, like a lion sensing a trap, now only stared at Master Juwain.

  'A father,' Master Juwain said, 'makes rules for his children, but requires different things from an infant, a boy, or a youth.'

  Sajagax now gripped his bow with such force that had it been a man's skull, he would surely have crushed it. 'Are you saying that we Sarni are children who cannot understand this Law of yours?'

  'It is not my Law, but our Law - the Law of the One. And all who dwell on earth are as children in their understanding of it.'

  He went on to say that the Star People knew more of the Law, while to the immortal Elijin, much more was revealed. 'And the Galadin,' he told us, 'are given the sight and senses to apprehend the Law perfectly.'

  Maram, listening to his old master with great care, asked him, 'And what of the Ieldra?'

  'The Ieldra are the Law, the perfect working of the One's will upon the world and all the stars.'

  At these words, I couldn't help gazing up at the brilliant constellations illumining the sky. Somewhere, in this whirling array of lights, the Golden Band poured forth all the Ieldra's beauty, goodness and truth. But most men were too blind to see it.

  'If we could understand the Law of the One as the angels do,' Master Juwain said to Sajagax, 'then we would understand how the Lightstone might be used. And who might use it.'

  At this, I brought out the gold gelstei and sat turning it beneath the stars. Sajagax asked to hold it. I set it into his massive hands. The moment that the little cup touched his skin, his eyes brightened with a new light. He shook his head in wonder. I felt something change inside him then. The core of his being seemed like an iron heating for a long time in a fire and suddenly turning colors from black to red-hot.

  He gave the Lightstone back to me. Then he pointed at Flick and said, 'And you truly believe this imp might help in this understanding?'

  'We truly do,' I told him.

  Sajagax again made the sign of the circle with his finger. Then he gathered in all his courage and waved his hand at Flick as he might try to ward off a cloud of flies. We all watched as his hand swept through Flick's sparkling lights without disturbing them in any way.

  'All right,' he said. 'Speak, imp. Tell me of the Law of the One.'

  At that moment, Flick's radiance coalesced into the shape of Alphanderry's face. I gasped to see Alphanderry's curly black hair large brown eyes and fine features now woven of light instead of flesh. It was as if our old friend stared luminously out of the dark air before us.

  Sajagax jerked back his hand as if from a flame. And his eyes opened wide with astonishment as words poured forth from Flick's glowing mouth: 'Speak imp. Tell me of the Law of the One.'

  Sajagax tried to making his warding sign yet again, but he couldn't seem to make his arm move. He stared at Flick, dumbfounded, as we all were. For the voice that had boomed out into the night was not that of our dead minstrel but the gravelly blare of Sajagax himself,

  'Alphanderry was a great mimic,' Maram reminded me. 'Do you remember how he made fun of King Kiritan?'

  I nodded my head because I remembered very well And Sajagax shook his fist at Flick and said, 'Well, he better not make fun of me.'

  And Flick stared right back at him and said, 'He better not make fun of me.'

  Sajagax forced a smile and tried to put on a bold face. He muttered, 'Never ask an imp to tell you the Law of the One.'

  And then a moment later, still speaking in Sajagax's voice, Flick amazed us yet further, saying, 'To tell you the Law of the One: "Be strong and protect the weak. Work your will in accordance with the higher will. Keep your word as you would the truth. Seek the glory of the One." '

  And so it went, Flick adding to or altering slightly the words that Sajagax himself had already spoken. I heard him command the great Kurmak chieftain to honor both his father and his mother. And he finished by saying, "Live free and die gladly into the light of the One."'

  For a while no one spoke as we stared at Flick's numinous new face The sounds of the world suddenly seemed too loud: the popping and hissing of the wood in the fire; the crickets' chirping; the wolves far out on the steppe howling at the moon. Many of my men, sitting around fires in front of their tents, sensed that something extraordinary was occurring between me and my friends. They looked our way. But it seemed that Flick was not visible to them from such distances.

  Then Master Juwain turned to me and said, 'I think that Flick might be able to do more than simply mimic our words, Val.'

  'Val,' Flick said, now in Master Juwain's voice, and he looked up at the stars.

  'Val!' Master Juwain cried out. 'Do you see? Look where he's looking! Val - this is the Galadin's word for star!'

  Master Juwain set down his copy of the Saganom Elu and brought out his journal. He opened it to the first page and said, 'Arda!'

  And Flick replied, 'Arda', as he looked through the fire's wavering flames straight at Lord Raasharu's chest,

  'All right, then,' Master Juwain said, smiling happily, 'arda is "fire" or "heart", as I thought. Now then, we have halla, which could be harmony or beauty or -'

  'Halla! Flick repeated, and he looked at Atara sitting straight and still next to me, as cold and beautiful as chiseled marble. Then Flick's soft brown eyes fell upon Estrella, and his face lit up with a beauty of his own as he repeated one more time: 'Halla!

  This testing of words continued for some time. Sajagax poured more brandy into our mugs, and we sat sipping this sweet, old liquor as we listened to Flick speak. After a while, Flick seemed to grow tired of this labor. He closed his mouth and stared at Master Juwain. A twinkle of lights danced in his eyes. His face came alive with all of Alphanderry's old playfulness. And then, in Alphanderry's own voice, he sang out with heartpiercing beauty whole shimmering streams of song. When he had finished, even Sajagax had tears in his eyes. Then Flick smiled at him and laughed softly, and he winked once again into neverness. But his lovely voice lingered: it seemed to hang in the air like the after-tones of silver bells.

  Master Juwain, who had been scribbling furiously in his journal, put down his quill and said to me, 'Too much, too quickly - do you remember anything of what he said?'

  'Yes,' I told him. When I closed my eyes, I could hear Alphanderry's song inside my heart. 'I remember.'

  'Good. Well, we still have some hours before dawn' Master Juwain again picked up his quill. 'Let's get to work, shall we?'

  I yawned and looked up at the Swan constellation shining above the horizon. 'Whatever Flick really is, sir, I'm still a man and have to sleep.'

  'We all do,' Sajagax agreed as he looked at me strangely. 'Summer nights are short, and at dawn we'll ride hard for Alonia. And you Valari will be hard put to keep up with us. We don't want you fall
ing off your horses.'

  He grabbed his brandy bottle and leaned over to kiss Atara goodnight. Then he stood up and muttered, 'Horses! What was it that imp said to me? "Honor your horse - and all the creatures of the earth"' But how can anyone honor the worms and blowflies alongside the horse?'

  And with that, he stood up and summoned Thadrak and Orox, and they walked back to the Kurmak's encampment. All the next day, during our hot, long ride by the river, Flick did not return to enchant or mystify us. But I called up his words for Master Juwain to record in his journal. It amazed me that he managed to write with such a neat hand sitting on top of his swaying horse His need to learn the Galadin's language, 1 thought, was nearly as great as my own.

  We covered a good distance that morning, for the Sarni always rode swiftly, and we who guarded the Lightstone desired to reach Tria as soon as we could. Some of my knights complained of the monotony of our journey; the world was flat here, nothing more than endless miles of yellow and green grassland beneath a sheeny blue sky. There was little to engage the eye. Bees buzzed among the wildflowers, and we caught sight of some lions fighting over an antelope they had killed. I worried that my men, irritated by the heat and bloodflies that bit their faces, might themselves take to fighting: Meshians against Ishkans, Waashians against Taroners, Atharians against Lagashuns. But the truce that we had forged during our journey from King Hadaru's hall and tempered since the tournament held true. It touched my heart to see Kaashans and Anjoris treating each other with goodwill, as if they were brothers. It helped, I knew, that we Valari were all strangers in a strange land here, where the wind blew wild and fierce across the sere emptiness of the Wendrush. If it came to battle, we must fight as one - or die as knights of separate kingdoms. That there was something more in their giving up old grievances, Lord Raasharu reminded me during a brief rest along the bank of the Poru.

  'You are the Lord of Light,' he said to me as his long face brightened with reverence.