by Victor Poole
Ajalia waited, and watched Delmar pass into the darkness. She wondered what kind of a savage goat would try to eat a horse.
Ajalia stayed with Delmar's relatives for several days. She did, indeed, understand why Delmar had said she would see how his cousins felt about his uncles when she met them. Ajalia found that the wooden house, on a smaller scale, was an almost-exact replica of the palace on the mountain, and Delmar's uncle had three sons named Thorn, Elan, and Fallor. There was no female cousin named Corintha, but Ajalia found that one of the strange goats was called Corintha. The other jacken was called Fernos.
"We have kept separate from that part of the family for many years," Delmar's uncle told Ajalia, on the second day that she stayed with them. Delmar, once he had introduced Ajalia to his relations, and had seen her integrated comfortably among the inhabitants of the old wooden house, had vanished into the city of Talbos, promising to send news when he had settled matters among the leading citizens. Ajalia, who by this time was thoroughly saturated with adventure, watched Delmar go with a feeling of relief in her heart.
"And anyway," Delmar told her privately when he said goodbye, "it is about time I started doing things on my own sometimes. I have told Maren about you, and she is going to see that you eat food."
Maren, Ajalia found, was the maiden aunt in the family, and she ruled over the kitchen with an iron fist. Ajalia had thought, when she first woke up on her first day in the house, of sending word to Fashel, to find out how things had shaken out in the house Philas had taken, but the implications of such a message made Ajalia feel slightly overwhelmed, and she gave up on the idea. She had meant to stay in the house that Philas had taken, and to visit with the Eastern slaves before going up to the palace of the king. She had been sure that negotiations with the king of Talbos would have taken a mostly peaceful course. Ajalia had guessed, from what she had heard previously of the now-dead king, that he had sense, and would be able to see the benefits of altering the succession in favor of Delmar. She had anticipated several days of tense negotiations, followed by a round of fairly cordial hobnobbing.
"Fernos was an old bully," Delmar's uncle told Ajalia, when he took her out to see his farm on the second day. Delmar had warned Ajalia that his relations in the curious old house did not like outsiders, which she found was perfectly true, but when Delmar introduced her, and then she related her decided opinion on the awfulness of king Fernos, the whole family had rallied at once around Ajalia, and nominated her an honorary member of their household.
"She will stay here with us for as long as she likes," Delmar's aunt said firmly after this. "You would hate to stay in that ugly old palace on the mountain," Maren told Ajalia, and Ajalia had agreed that the palace was indeed creepy and inhospitable.
The dawn had begun to lighten over the black mountains soon after Ajalia and Delmar had arrived at the strange old house, and Delmar had, with many solemn oaths to protect him assiduously, ridden away on Ajalia's black horse soon after. Mop, having been shaken awake, and having stood sleepily beside Ajalia throughout the recital that Delmar had given his hosts about the happenings in the black palace, was introduced after Delmar had gone away, and the whole house of relatives clustered around the child.
"I rescued him from the palace," Ajalia told Delmar's relations. "He was languishing there as a stable boy."
"I'm Ajalia's fourth favorite boy," Mop had announced to the family, and two of Delmar's cousins, who were only a few years older than Mop, invited him to go and see their ponies. Ajalia had thought it rather odd that the whole house seemed to have been roused so easily, to come out in front of the house to meet her, but she soon found that the family was vigorously involved in their farm, and that Delmar had walked into a pre-dawn breakfast in the house.
Maren, once the elder cousins had finished saying hello, and had asked as many questions as Maren deemed suitable for the crack of dawn, had ushered Ajalia away into a small bedroom near the back of the house, and had brought her a very large tray of plain and wholesome farm fare.
"I will tell you a little about this house," Maren told Ajalia, "while you eat, and then I will leave you be. We are so pleased that Fernos is dead," she added with a shiver. "He was an embarrassment. This house was established by my father, the old king Talbos, in the very last days of his life. Talbos was the king before Fernos, and had passed on the crown to his eldest son, my brother Fernos, in his twilight years. It is our way here, to ensure a clean succession," Maren said. She watched Ajalia eat, and a soft light of appreciative pleasure came into her eyes at the earnestness with which Ajalia scooped thick porridge into her mouth. "I do not know how much Delmar has told you of our ways in Talbos. Delmar is a good boy," Maren added, and Ajalia thought that the old woman was refraining from adding that Delmar was vague.
"My father was called Talbos, after the founder of our city," Maren said. Delmar had told Ajalia that Bakroth had built Talbos, but Ajalia's mouth was full of warm food, and the old lady looked so decided about what she said, and had such a confident and serene look in her eyes that Ajalia did not want to mention Bakroth. She remembered how Delmar had told her that the people in Slavithe would be upset at the mention of Bakroth, and she wondered if the people in Talbos would react in a similar way. "I am the youngest of the children and heirs of king Talbos," Maren told Ajalia. "Talbos had two sons, and me. The oldest son of my father was Fernos, who is now dead, praise the spirits in the sky." Maren raised her fingers towards the sky, and let out a small sigh. "Fernos was a great bully, and a disappointment to my father. He seemed to turn out all right, up until that scoundrel Simon was banished. My father was furious about Simon, and he brought all of his decent family here, and built a copy of the palace just before he died. We have farmed and kept house here ever since. We had a family farm here from the olden days," Maren added, "but my father set aside this plot of land, and he brought many of the workmen in the city over to us, and we have lived in this house ever since."
Maren watched Ajalia scrape at the edges of her bowl, and the old lady smiled.
"I think we will get along with you," Maren said. "Delmar has come to visit us sometimes. He is the only part of that side who is all right." Ajalia, who was becoming somewhat stupefied with the plentiful food, blinked, and Maren swept away the tray. "You come out when you're ready," Maren told her. "We'll leave you alone. It was lovely to meet you, dear." And with that, Maren left, and Ajalia fell asleep clutching tightly to her bag.
Delmar came up to see Ajalia a week after she'd begun to stay with the royal family of farmers. Mop had assimilated into the clan, by dint of belonging with Ajalia, and he was soon dragged into all the work and games that the boy cousins shared. When Delmar came, Ajalia was in the front room of the wooden palace, altering the clothes of the women in the family. The servant who answered the door brought Delmar in to where Ajalia sat, and Delmar laughed when he saw the pieces of cloth scattered around her. The room looked like a tornado of clothing had struck it. Ajalia had several disassembled articles of clothing around her, and a long yellow gown was in her hands.
"Hello, dear," Delmar said, and then he waited for the servant to leave. Delmar rushed then to Ajalia's side, and sat down on the floor next to her chair. "I have been practicing being rude," Delmar told her anxiously, "and except for two failures, I think I have done very well."
"Tell me about your two failures," Ajalia said, and she turned a seam and listened to Delmar explain how he had clumsily snubbed a merchant who had turned cheeky over the arrangements for the coronation, and how he had told Philas off for being neglectful of Fashel.
"Fashel has been cooking for the Eastern slaves," Delmar told Ajalia, "and they are all fighting over her in the kitchen. They have begun to take lessons from her, and they are paying her to learn." Ajalia smiled, and asked for details of the encounter Delmar had had with Philas. She felt very curious to see Philas now; she wanted to look at him again through the lens of what Delmar and Savage had told her, about his lack of moral
character, and his worship of her.
Delmar explained how Philas had talked to Fashel as though she belonged to him already, and how Fashel had told Philas to keep a civil tongue in his head.
"Philas didn't like that at all," Delmar told Ajalia, "and I could see he was trying to think of something rude to say, so I told Philas that you would be ashamed to see him treat a fine woman like Fashel with so little respect." Delmar blushed when he told her this, but he plowed on with his story. "Philas got all red, and he told me that he hadn't meant to hurt her feelings, and of course she was only a friend. He apologized to Fashel, and I felt like I'd done something wrong. Do you think I did the rude thing?" Delmar asked.
"It sounds all right to me," Ajalia said.
"It's just that afterwards, I thought that maybe I was being aggressive, because I already don't like Philas. Fashel is making things for the coronation party," Delmar added. "I don't want to have one, but it's traditional. You aren't going to be my wife by then, but you are the sky angel, so you—" Delmar broke off, and his face turned bright red. Delmar looked around at the scraps of clothing that were scattered all around Ajalia. "Can I help you with any of this?" Delmar asked.
"They haven't been fitted very well," Ajalia explained. "I'm taking in things for Maren, and I'm changing the lines on your aunts' gowns. The clothes here are very old-fashioned." She meant that the shapes were plain, and square, but she did not think Delmar would care about the finer points of sewing.
"I wish I'd brought some of my things with me," Delmar said. "I sent a man to Slavithe, to get clothes from Calles for the coronation. Do you think it's all right, that I'm going to be king?" Delmar asked her.
"You didn't used to talk so much," Ajalia said. Delmar blushed again.
"I've been practicing," he said. "I don't talk like this around other people, but I've been thinking a lot about what you said, about how I never learned how to use words, and I want to learn to talk about things, like you do. Is it all right?" he asked. Ajalia thought that Delmar sounded nervous.
"I like it," Ajalia said. "It's soothing."
"Is soothing good, or bad?" Delmar asked suspiciously.
"Soothing is good," Ajalia said. "I like the sound of your voice."
"Well, good," Delmar said. "I hope you aren't angry, but I did a lot of magic on the mountain. I didn't like the way it looked. Are you angry?" Ajalia blinked a few times. She felt as though her brain had stuttered, when Delmar had said that he had changed the mountain.
"What kind of magic?" Ajalia asked. "Did you kill anyone?"
"Oh, no," Delmar said, shaking his head. "Not violent magic, or anything. I don't think you'll recognize the palace, though. Um," Delmar said, and he began to blush.
"What?" Ajalia asked. Delmar blushed harder. "What?" she asked again. Delmar took a deep breath, and held it.
"I brought over the dragon temple, and I made a copy of it instead of the palace, and don't worry, I put the dragon temple back. Please don't be angry. And the mountain looks different now." Delmar stared at Ajalia, and his eyes were as wide as saucers. "Please, really," he said, "don't be angry. I swear I cleared out all the little boys before I moved it, and I haven't been up into all the spaces, so I just carried it over so that I could make a copy, and as soon as I was finished I put everything right back where it was. I swear I didn't hurt anybody, and all your furniture is all right." Delmar studied Ajalia's face, and his mouth worked gingerly from side to side. "Well, what do you think?" he asked her.
"Why did you send someone for clothes, if you flew over there to get the dragon temple?" Ajalia asked. It was the first question that occurred to her; she could not have said why she asked this, instead of asking why he had brought the temple, or how he had managed to do such a tremendous feat. Ajalia remembered the tiny golden forest Delmar had made in his palm, with the miniature birds and the forms of the screeching metheros in the trees, and she thought that she probably did not understand yet how powerful Delmar really was. She tried to picture the big white dragon temple floating up into the air, and drifting over the long black mountains into Talbos.
"What does the mountain look like now?" she added, before Delmar had a chance to explain about sending someone for clothes.
"I'm trying not to do too much magic all the time," Delmar explained. "It's all right in Slavithe, because all of the temples have charmed doorways, and people have gotten involved in taking care of the witches, and the priests. The purge is going well in the farmlands west of Slavithe," Delmar added. "We're working on the quarries now, and we found a host of priests hoarding a whole body of little boys in a cave down by the dark valleys." Ajalia remembered the time she had gone to visit the dark valleys, to see how Nam and the other servants Card had sold for her were getting along. She had turned back without seeing the servants, or the way the dark valleys looked during the day. She had wanted to see the curious darkness that Card had described.
"So you're doing magic openly in Slavithe, but not in Talbos?" Ajalia asked.
"Well, just not as much," Delmar hedged. "You see, people don't want to think that magic is real here. They believe in the sky king, a lot of them do, and they don't want to think about getting up into the sky someday."
"Are you supposed to be taking people up into the sky?" Ajalia asked, threading a new needle. "Here," she said. "You asked if you could help. Can you make neat little stitches along this straight line?" She showed Delmar how to make small bites of fabric, and Delmar, putting his tongue into his cheek, took the needle from her and began to prod it through the seam.
"You're supposed to transport the pure of heart, because you're the sky angel," Delmar murmured, his eyes fixed closely on the needle and thread.
"Why? What is the story about that?" Ajalia asked. She had a lot of questions about this whole sky angel business, but the house was so cozy and quiet, and she thought that Delmar looked so handsome, that she wanted time to continue to march peacefully and calmly along. She did not want to wring up any emotion about what could or should be happening next. She wanted to sit like this with Delmar for a very long time, and hear the sound of his voice, and she very much wanted to stop thinking at all of his parents, or his bad grandfather the king, or of her own distant family. She wanted all the world to drop away, and to sit in peace and quiet with Delmar, just like this, for the whole rest of her life.
"Well, the first sky angel said that she would lead the pure in heart into the kingdom in the sky," Delmar said. His eyebrows were creased, and his eyes were fixed steadily on the stitches that were slowly growing beneath his hands. Ajalia could see that Delmar was intently focused on making the stitches all the same size, and to keep them marching on in a straight line. Ajalia found that she liked to watch Delmar sew. He looked thoroughly steady and calm just now. Sewing, she told herself, was good for Delmar. Delmar glanced up at her, and met her eyes. He smiled at her, and she blushed, and looked down at her own sewing.
"The kingdom in the clouds is like this world, but there is no darkness, and no evil," Delmar explained. "The peaceful life there is no good for most people, but the pure in heart can go there in the old stories, and they are welcomed by the king in the sky with joy. He is always on the side of the pure in heart, and the people in the sky, who are different to us, and made of white cloud and air, mixed through with sun, watch the people down on earth a lot of the time, and talk about us. This is the kind of story that is in the old books," Delmar said. "I'm telling you the true parts, and leaving out the stupid details."
"What are the stupid details?" Ajalia asked. Delmar's lips squinched to one side.
"Well, you know those books we burned?" Delmar asked. Ajalia nodded. "A lot of the things in those books are actually true, but there are obscuring details laid over the top. So for example, five of the books told this same story, but in different ways, and I can figure out which parts of the stories are probably true, and which parts aren't."
"Can you tell that by reading the books?" Ajalia asked. Delmar shr
ugged.
"I can tell." Ajalia did not understand how Delmar thought that he could tell, but she let it go.
"I am not just making things up," Delmar told her. "There are a lot of old stories, too, that the priests tell, and a lot of our festivals in Slavithe are based on the same stories. So some things I'm sure of."
"Tell me the things you're sure of, then," Ajalia said. She cut the end of her thread, and picked up another dress.
"What are you doing with that one?" Delmar asked, looking at her with interest in his eyes.
"Watch if you like," Ajalia told him. "I want to hear about these stories." Ajalia had been hearing bits and pieces about the sky angel, and the dead falcon, almost since she had first been in Slavithe, and she felt as though she had never gotten a straight and coherent picture of the whole story.
"Well," Delmar said, frowning. His needle was poised over the seam and his eyes looked drawn in concentration. "I can try to tell you," Delmar said to Ajalia, "but I want you to understand that a lot of these things are details that I have picked up in ways that I can't necessarily explain."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Well," Delmar said, and he thought for a while. "When I was a little boy, I came to Talbos with my mother," Delmar said. "She came here to ask for money, and when the king told her to go away, and never come back, two of the guards at the gate made the sign of the dead falcon, and one of them whispered something about maybe the sky angel would come too, one day." Delmar stared earnestly at Ajalia. "The sky angel and I are linked, and I don't know why the guards knew then that I had power. I still don't know why people are listening to me, but the stories all tell about a man whom everyone listens to in this way, and with that figure comes a woman, and the woman is called a sky angel." Delmar shrugged, and began, once again, to sew. "I don't want to tell you a simple story, and lead you to believe that everyone in Talbos, or in Slavithe, believes the same story. There are pieces from everywhere. I've been getting parts from books, and parts from the priests, and from feasts, and from watching people, all my life. So I think I have a wider picture of the whole than many people. Do you understand?" he asked, looking unsure. Ajalia nodded. "I want to tell you what I know," Delmar said, "but I don't want you to think I am a fool."