"I-I refused to let him see my captive, whereupon he blew the curtains open and saw the Princess. I was afraid he was about to eat her! So I told him who she was, and that it was most important that I bring her here. He made me untie her, and of course she jumped out of the litter and began to run! I gave chase, but alas-" Pezi placed both hands on his stomach. "Alas, I could not catch her." "Oh, really?" Flayh smiled coldly.
"Really! Then the strangest thing happened! The dragon became most confused, and began arguing with himself! Now I followed instructions to the letter; I mean I have never addressed the dragon as if it were two dragons rather than one-" "Of course not. You're still here," Flayh muttered.
"But that's what happened! The beast screamed, and flew up into the air, and by that time the girl had taken my horse and ridden off!" "Back to Chaomonous," Flayh observed to himself.
"No! To Ngandib-Mar!" "What?" Flayh grunted in surprise. "Why?" "I don't know," Pezi lied, "she just turned that way! Perhaps she felt she could best escape me there-" "And she was right enough in that! You gave chase?" "Of course," Pezi lied again. "But it was no use. She had too much of a start, and a far better mount." "And then?" "Then I got the column together, and marched all last night and all today to get here to tell you!" Flayh nodded, thinking to himself. "A young girl alone in Ngandib-Mar, on a horse wearing Ognadzu colors. Shouldn't be too hard to find. Tohn mod Neelis may even have picked her up already." Flayh turned-to spear Pezi with his eyes. "Assuming you are not lying." Pezi managed a weak grin. "Oh, no, sir." Flayh continued to gaze at his nephew for a long, tense moment-then smiled. "Of course not. You must be hungry-" He stepped to one side and motioned toward the table. Pezi wasted no time getting to it.
Flayh leaned back and peered up through the trellised vines shading this enclosed garden. The sun was passing midday. In a few hours he would talk to Jagd and Tohn mod Neelis. The plan could still succeed.
Assuming, he thought again, watching Pezi stuff himself with a roasted turkey leg-assuming Pezi wasn't lying.
Tohn mod Neelis was the elder of the house of Ognadzu in Ngandib-Mar. As such he ruled vast lands, much greater than those Flayh controlled in Lamath. For Ngandib-Mar was less an empire than a feudal confederacy, ruled in name alone by the King of the great city of Ngandib. Still, the Mar of Ngandib presented a united front to foes from beyond Dragonsgate. Though divided into small principalities and fiefdoms, the Maris, or men of the Mar, viewed themselves as one people, united against all other races.
Of course, that didn't stop them from fighting frequently among themselves. In the centuries of thrust and counterthrust on the part of scores of petty Princes, the trading houses had carved out their own fiefs. Between them they controlled most of the highlands near the west mouth of Dragonsgate, and lived in royal splendor as parties of two worlds: rich merchant traders, and recognized lords of the feudal confederacy.
It was a very good life, Tohn mod Neelis was thinking, as he walked the ramparts of his hold and gazed down at the green fields below him. The harvest would be good this year-if events allowed the harvest to come. He raised his head and inhaled deeply of the scent of spring, brought to him by a pleasant breeze that blew his stringy gray hair wildly. It was such a simple life-what need had he for more money, for more power? He had all the money and power he needed, plus he had this-a homeland.
It was the others who pressed the plan-always pressing! Flayh and Jagd, those merchants dwelling in the flatlands, in the noise and confusion and the constant dust. They were the ones who pushed so hard for the changes-who connived to start the war. Well, Tohn thought to himself, let them have their war. But let it pass by the Mar of Ngandib. Let it waste the wheat of Lamath-but let it pass by these gentle hills.
He glanced at the sun. Soon it would be time to communicate with the others. Strange business, this, he thought as he left the parapet, walking the stone steps by memory. Strange to be planning in conjunction with the chief elder of Uda. The two powerful houses of Uda and Ognadzu had wrestled so long together for trading supremacy that they were in danger of becoming one house instead of two. There seemed to be much truth in the old saying that merchants were all of one clan, regardless of their colors. Was he of that clan anymore? Tohn wondered. Or had he been so long in the Mar that he thought more like a Mari than a merchant? He evoked the powers on the wind that they would not force him to make a choice between the two. The powers said nothing-he knew the truth already. Should the war by chance swing toward Ngandib-Mar he would be forced to choose, and choose quickly.
As he descended into the courtyard, the powers and the problems all receded. There was noise in his keep, much of it, with dogs barking, children running, mothers shouting and laughing. It was confusion, but not the confusion of masses of strangers in transit. This was the confusion of home. Each voice was recognizable individually, if one took the time to sort it out. If the changes came, this too would be lost-but how could he stop the changes, Tohn thought to himself, pushing past two nephews playing at swords with sticks in the main inner doorway. He stopped for a moment to regard their play. "No, too high, too high!" he heard himself instructing. "Thrust, don't hack. Let the enemy hack. He'll wear himself out-then you kill him." He acted this all out for the youngsters, who watched him carefully. "You see?" he asked. They both nodded wisely, then immediately went back to hacking at one another when Tohn turned away.
He chuckled as he entered the long dark hallway into the inner court. But his chuckle died in his throat as his mind swung back again to the plan, and the war, and the changes. These little boys-would they be carrying real swords by fall? Grown suddenly old by the whim of events? There was a heavy wooden door set in the stone wall to his left. This he opened after some fumbling in the dark for the key, then closed and locked it behind him. He turned to climb a dark stairway.
More steps, he thought to himself, and put his hand over his chest as if that would stop the pains that came now whenever he exerted himself. At the top of the stairs was another large wooden door, also locked, and Tohn struggled longer to find this key. When finally it was found and turned in the lock, Tohn opened the door with caution and a sense of awe. He was always in awe when he entered this room. This was a room full of powers.
The room was lit only by the bluish glow of an object sitting on a table. It was a triangular table, made of polished cedar wood for the express purpose of bearing the glowing object. Once again Tohn shook his gray head, amazed that he should be privileged to use it.
Jagd, in Chaomonous, had one just like it, but the chief elder of Uda did not treat it with such honor and respect. To him it was a device, nothing more-a communicator provided by science to be used as an effective tool for toppling governments. Flayh, in Lamath, felt the same way about his; though of course in the rarefied religious atmosphere of Lamath it would probably be referred to as a miracle. But to Tohn it was a magic thing, controlled by the powers, and belonging, really, to them.
Now it glowed with greater intensity, meaning the others were focusing upon it, forming the link. Tohn wasted no more time. He took his chair on one side of the triangular table and began to visualize the other two in the chairs to his left and right. As he did, he gazed into the pyramid-for that was the object's shape. It was a three-sided pyramid, tall and slender, formed of a crystal substance that burned with the blue-white light of a bolt of lightning. As Tohn focused his gaze on the side facing him, he began to see the face of Flayh on the inner plane to his left. Gradually the bluish clouds that normally kept the object opaque cleared from the righthand plane as well, and there was the face of Jagd. The triangle was complete. The meeting began.
Jagd was smiling. Flayh was not.
In his excitement, Jagd spoke first. "It is working. It is working well." "Don't be too certain," Flayh grumbled.
"Why? The plan is functioning perfectly. The girl is gone-carried off to Lamath by slavers. The people of Chaomonous will be in a frenzy by the end of the week!" Tohn grunted. "I expected Talith to
stifle that news." "Of course he did," Jagd snapped, "but my people have spread the word in every tavern on the port. The story will be known, you may trust me for that." "We shall, Jagd, we shall," Flayh growled, "but here is a part of the story you had best keep to yourself. My fool of a nephew has bungled it. The girl escaped while coming through the pass." "What!" Jagd screamed, and Tohn covered his ears. It amazed him how well the crystal transmitted sound. He reacted with more subdued shock-this was a serious blow. He noticed that heavy feeling in his stomach again. He was dreading the rest of the news. "How did it happen?" Jagd yelled again.
"A long story," Flayh shot back, implying that he wasn't about to waste time retelling it. "My concern is that it did happen, and we need to move quickly if the plan is to succeed at all. Tohn." "Yes," Tohn murmured.
"The girl rides toward you." The bottom seemed to drop out of Tohn's belly. He was involved after all. "Have you seen her? Have your guards picked her up?" "I wasn't looking for her!" Tohn replied. "How would I know if I've seen her or not? I'll put my people on it right away." "Wait!" Flayh called, for Tohn was about to break the link, and much remained to be said. All three of the pyramids needed to be in use for the link to be maintained. Tohn was obviously shaken by the news that these events were moving into his sector.
"I'm still here," Tohn grumbled.
"Unless my nephew is lying, she is alone, mounted on a horse wearing the blue-and-lime. She is still clothed in Chaon gold, unless she's been clever enough to filch a change somewhere. She should be no problem to find it your riders are competent." "My riders are most competent," Tohn snapped.
"They had best be so. There is no way of manipulating the course of events if we do not recapture her." "Not necessarily," Jagd broke in. "There's no reason for us to tell Talith that his daughter is no longer a captive. He trusts me implicitly, and expects me to deal with you as his agent. As long as we can maintain his belief that his daughter is in your hands in Lamath, we have his emotions in a vise." "And the people will be aroused regardless." "Right. But if she should somehow find her way back to Chaomonous-the lives and lands of all Ognadzu are forfeit in this golden empire." "Why should you fret over us, Jagd?" Flayh sneered. "Won't Uda then reign supreme?" "Of course. But to what effect, my friend Flayh? The plan will have failed. The changes will not occur. We will really have gained nothing for all our trouble except for a petty trading advantage." "So you say," Flayh snorted. "As to the lives of my family members in Talith's dungeon, I care nothing. I made every effort to post all of my clan rivals-" "Most of your clan rivals?" Tohn chuckled.
"All of my clan rivals who would go to Chaomonous before launching this plan." Flayh ignored Tohn's continuing chuckle. "But the Ognadzu holdings and lands in the Golden Kingdom are expansive-I should not like to lose those." "Then Tohn had better look to his best, and find this Princess. That is, if you are still with us, Tohn mod Neelis?" Tohn had been planning his search party, but he had been listening. One did not become an elder in Ognadzu by daydreaming. "I am still with you. We will find her."
Tohn sighed. "Can we get on with this? I'm tiring." It took a great deal of energy to maintain the ephemeral link, even with the aid of the pyramid.
Flayh rushed ahead. "There is more news, of a distinctly threatening nature. Something is bothering the dragon." "What? Is he sick?" Jagd asked.
"Perhaps. Who could tell? But Pezi said the bargaining erupted in confusion the other day when the two heads began bickering with one another." "Impossible!" Tohn shouted, surprising the other two. Tohn was an old hand at dealings with Vicia-Heinox. He had more caravans of experience than did any merchant living.
"I thought so too, but Pezi assures me it is so. Jagd, when does your next regular caravan pass Dragonsgate?" "Two days." "Have your trading captain carry a blue flyer with him. When the caravan is through, have him send the bird to me with the facts regarding the dragon's behavior. If the beast is behaving erratically, we will need to know soon." Jagd chuckled. "Who can tell? This may be the perfect timing to insure our plan's success. If the dragon is divided, think of the disruption the news will cause in Lamath. That land will be ripe for political plucking." The three merchants pondered that for a moment, then suddenly Jagd spoke again, sharply. "Flayh, did Pelman arrive there safely?" "Pelman? Dragon's-breath, no! I haven't seen that meddler in ages, and prefer things to remain that way." Jagd spoke quickly then, with such intensity that he gripped the other two men as tightly as if he had seized them by their tunics. "We have a problem. Pelman was with the group of slaves Pezi was taking to Lamath." There was a long moment of silence. Then Flayh spoke. "I haven't looked at the new slaves . . ." "Then look at them. If Pelman is not there, we will need to assume that Pezi lied-and that Pelman and the Princess may be traveling together through Ngandib-Mar!"
Tohn reeled with pain. Only a few moments before he had been hoping to keep the entire scheme out of his part of the world. Now, if Pelman were involved, and if Pelman were in his sector . . .
"Tohn! Tohn!" He heard Flayh calling him as if from a great distance; remembering where he was, Tohn fought to re-establish the link. The faces of the other two men shimmered before him, then once again grew solid. "There," Flayh grunted, as clarity came back into the vision. Flayh took a deep breath, then spoke quietly and calmly. The other two men knew this for a sign of his rage. "So Pelman the player has crossed over again. I'll check my dungeons-but I'm skeptical. I have felt no emanations of his presence here." "If Pelman is free, he is probably in Ngandib-Mar. And if Pelman is there," Jagd muttered the words that all three acknowledged as simple truth, "he is Pelman the powershaper." "And our plan," Tohn finished for him, "is in terrible jeopardy." Tohn was holding his head, for it was threatening to split in half from the inside. They had held the link too long. He knew that when they broke it, he would have to be sick.
"We shall see, then, what we shall see," Flayh muttered. "The link is breathing. We know our responsibilities. Until tomorrow at-" Tohn broke the link, and rolled out of his seat to fall heavily onto the stone floor. It was several hours before he was able to stand. With what shallow breath remained to him, he committed every possible rider to the search, then lay back in his bed to await the news. That feeling of dread never left him. Indeed, it grew stronger by the hour.
It seemed to Bronwynn that the ride would never end. She clung to Pelman, her arms locked around his chest, her head braced against his back, and fought to stay awake. It became more and more obvious to her that this man she rode behind was more than just a traveling player. But what? What was he, that he knew so well the valleys and forests of Ngandib-Mar? He seemed to be able to sense the presence of other riders, for three different times during the night he had slowed their horse and hidden them in the thickets or the rocks or the fields as silent troops of grim-faced raiders slipped stealthily through the darkness. He would turn in the saddle to hold Bronwynn's head close to his chest, gently covering her mouth and keeping her quiet until the danger had passed. Each time, as they continued on, Bronwynn would wonder aloud of the race and destination of the raiders, and Pelman would cheerfully tell her.
"How can you know so much about them?" she asked, as the black sky behind them began to turn purple in preparation for the coming dawn.
"I have had my share of dealings with slave raiders," he answered. He seemed unwilling to go on.
Bronwynn leaned up to speak in his ear, to make herself heard above the noise of hoofs beating the ground. "Are you one?" she asked. She felt Pelman jerk in surprise at her question; then a chuckle rumbled through him that she, clinging so closely, felt all the way through her body too.
"No, my Lady. Not I. But I have traveled with them--traded with them-been traded by them-" "You'd been a slave before my father sold you to Pezi?" "Yes, my Lady," he rumbled, for she heard his words less from his mouth than from the echo through his chest. "Several times, in fact." "What is it like?" She had often wondered, but had never asked even one of the many women who attended her. It was not
proper for a Princess of Chaomonous to concern herself with such trivia as the personal lives of her slave women.
"It is like bondage of any sort," Pelman said, turning their horse in another of his sudden, mysterious changes of direction that always seemed to help them avoid meeting other riders. "It stops you from being yourself and forces you to be something quite different." "Sounds terrible." "Not always," Pelman continued, and that surprised her. "Oh, the capture and enslavement is of course no fun. A slave raider is a land pirate, with no regard for the goals and sufferings of others. People aren't people to him, they are potential merchandise. Its hard to be friends with merchandise." Bronwynn thought of her own relationship to her servants, but said nothing. "As to the bondage itself, I discovered it can be instructive. Of this you may be sure, my Lady Bronwynn. The slaves know much more about the workings of the castle than the Lord and Lady do, for they give it their undivided attention." "But to be caged, bound-" Bronwynn felt again those impossible ropes that just yesterday had gripped her wrists and ankles. "How can that ever be good?" "It can make you appreciate freedom, Bronwynn. That's something that royalty sometimes is never able to do. Hush now." He guided the horse toward some large bushes. They ducked together as their mount moved into the cover, pushing branches aside, cracking some, others whooshing back into place as they passed. Pelman stopped the horse, and they waited again.
The Prophet Of Lamath Page 4