by Gene Wolfe
"Indeed. Next, ah, year. Spring. Not long now, hey, Councillor? Winter has, um, commenced."
"General, this is your area of expertise. Say another force is opposing yours, which is larger. Would you rather fight your way across a mountain range or a desert?"
"I'd want to see the desert," she hedged.
"You can't see either one, and if you won't answer you won't see anything." The teakettle tilted a little.
"Then I prefer the desert."
"Why?"
"Because fighting in mountains would be like fighting in tunnels. There would be narrow passes, in which we'd have to go at the enemy head-on. In a desert we could get around them."
"Correct. Patera, I haven't been giving you many chances, so you first. Two cities I'll call Viron and Trivigaunte are separated by a lake and a desert. A big lake, though it's been getting smaller and turning brackish. That's the situation, and here's the question. If the easiest city for Viron to attack is Trivigaunte, what's easiest for Trivigaunte? Think carefully."
"For, ah, them?" Remora's voice quavered. "Us, I should say. Viron."
"Do you agree, my dear General?"
She had begun a short prayer to Echidna while Remora was speaking; after murmuring the final phrase she said, "There could be other answers, but that's the most probable. Viron."
"I'm putting the kettle on again," Potto told her. "Not because you've passed, but because you may fail right here, and I want the water hot enough to do the job. Listen carefully, because we're going from geography to arithmetic. Listen, and think. Are you ready?"
She compelled her mind and lips. "I suppose so."
Potto tittered. "Are you, Patera?"
"Ah… I wish, Councillor-"
"Save it for later. It's time for arithmetic. The Rani of Trivigaunte has seventy-five thousand crack troopers in Viron. The so-called Caldé's general has fifty thousand untrained ones, and the traitor commanding the Caldé's guard has about eighteen thousand fit for duty, of doubtful loyalty. If these numbers have you mixed up, I don't blame you. Would you like me to stop here and repeat them, General?"
"Let me hear the rest."
"We're getting to the crux. Rani, seventy-five thousand. You, fifty thousand. Oosik, eighteen thousand. All these are troopers, armed bios. Now then, the Ayuntamiento, which opposes all three of them, has eight thousand two hundred soldiers and a thousand troopers underground, and another five thousand on the surface. The question is, who rules Viron? Answer, Patera."
"The-ah-you do. The Ayuntamiento."
"One drop for that," Potto said. "I'll fetch the kettle."
Maytera Mint squeezed her eyes shut, clenching her teeth as a single scalding drop struck her forehead. Locked in a private nightmare of fear and pain, she heard the opening of the door as if it were leagues away. A new voice spoke in the reedy tones of an old man: "What's this?"
Remora, overjoyed: "Your Cognizance!"
Almost carelessly, Potto said: "This is a nice surprise, I had men posted. Another prisoner's welcome, just the same."
She squinted upward. The sere old face over hers was one she had seen only at a distance; she had not realized then how its eyes glittered.
"Release her!" Quetzal snapped. "Let her go. Now!"
She tried to smile as Spider inquired, "Councillor?"
"Class dismissed for the present. It may resume soon, so think about the material." He sounded angry.
Spider stood, and she fell to the floor.
"I've talked to your cousin Loris," Quetzal told Potto, "and I've come to give you the news I brought him. If you decide to detain me afterward, it's the risk I run."
Potto spoke to Spider. "This old fox is the Prolocutor. If that's going to bother you, say so."
"Anything you want, Councillor."
"He's worth two of the general and ten of the butcher. Don't forget it. Old man, what tricks have you cooked up?" Maytera Mint scrambled to her feet, trying not to step on the hem of her habit.
"No tricks, Councillor. There was a theophany during my sacrifice at the Grand Manteion." Simultaneously, Maytera Mint received the impression that Quetzal was never excited, and that he was excited now.
Potto snorted and set his steaming teakettle on the table. "Another one? Who was it this time? Sphigx?"
Quetzal shook his head. "Pas."
"Pas is dead!"
Quetzal turned from Potto. "Great Pas, Maytera. Lord Pas, the Father of the Seven. If it wasn't him, it was his ghost. Which in point of fact is what the god himself said."
Chapter 2
His Name Is Hossaan
He himself had shut this door from inside and shot the bolt; it had been the final action of his exorcism. But if this door (the obscure side door of what had been a manteion, and what many passers-by no doubt assumed was a manteion still) was used to admit patrons who did not want to be seen entering Orchid's, there should be someone to answer his knock. By summer habit, he squinted up to gauge the width of the narrowing sun; it was masked by clouds dark with rain or snow, and the awe-inspiring mummy-colored bulk of the Trivigaunti airship.
He knocked again. His bearers had put down the litter and were making themselves comfortable. Did he dare risk their seeing him pound on a door to which nobody came? What would Commissioner Newt have to say about the effect on his prestige and popularity? What would Oosik say? Would it replace the fighting as the talk of the city?
He was smiling at the thought when the door was opened by a small and markedly unattractive woman with a faded rag over her graying hair. "Come-uh. It ain't any more, Patera."
"I am Orchid's spiritual advisor," Silk told her firmly. "Admit me." The woman backed away; he stepped inside and bolted the door behind him. "Take me to her."
"I'm cleaning up in here." She eyed Oreb with disfavor.
Silk conceded privately that the former manteion could use a cleaning. He glanced up at the stage to see whether the new backdrop was as blasphemous as the one he had cut down, and was illogically pleased to find that it was merely obscene.
"She'll be in her room. She might not be up yet."
"Take me to her," he repeated, and added, "At once!"
"I won't knock." The small woman sounded frightened.
"Never mind. I remember the way." He pushed past her and strode across the former manteion with scarcely a twinge from his ankle. Here was the step on which he had sat to talk to Musk. Musk was dead now. The memory of Musk's tortured face returned.
The courtyard beyond the manteion was deserted but by no means empty, littered with scraps of food over which crows and pigeons squabbled, spilled liquors, bottles, and broken glass. Oreb, bigger than the biggest crow, watched fascinated, cocking his head this way and that.
Orpine's naked corpse had sprawled on this wooden stair. There was no point in looking for bloodstains today, or in trying not to step on such stains as might be present. Silk climbed, his eyes resolutely fixed on the gallery above.
What faith he'd had then! That Silk would be praying now, as confident as a child that the gods heard each word, a prayer to Molpe as patroness of the day, and one to Pas, who was as dead as Crane, Orpine, and Musk. Most of all, that earlier Silk would have prayed devoutly to the Outsider, though the Outsider had warned that he would send no aid.
Yet the Outsider had come with healing when he had lain near death. And to be more accurate (Silk paused at the top of the steps, remembering) the Outsider had not actually said that he would get no help, but warned him to expect none-which was not precisely the same thing.
Buoyed by the thought, he walked along the creaking gallery to the door that Crane had opened when he came out to examine Orpine's body, and was about to open it himself when it was opened from within.
He blinked, gasped, and blinked again. Oreb, whom few things surprised, whistled before croaking, "Lo, girl."
"Hi, Oreb. Hello, Patera. All the blessings on you this afternoon and all that."
Silk smiled, finding it easier than he had expe
cted; there was nothing to be gained by berating her, surely. "Chenille, it's good to see you. I've been wondering where you were. I have people searching for you and Auk."
"You thought I was finished with this." The expression of her coarse, flat-cheeked face was by no means easy to read, but she sounded despondent.
"I hoped you were," Silk said carefully. "I still hope you are-that last night was the last night." If the gods did not care, why should he? He thrust the thought aside.
"Nobody last night, Patera. There wasn't enough to keep the other dells busy. You're thinking how about rust, aren't you? I can tell from the way you look at me. Not since the funeral. Come on in." She stepped back.
He entered, careful not to brush her jutting breasts.
"Now you're wondering how long it'll last. Me too. You didn't know I was a regular mind reader, did you?" She srniled, and the smile made him want to put his arms around her.
He nodded instead. "You're very perceptive. I was."
Oreb felt he had been left out long enough. "Where Auk?"
"I don't know. You want to come to my room, Patera? You can sit, and we could talk like we did that other time."
"I must speak to Orchid-but if you wish it."
"We don't have to. Come on, she's probably about dressed. Her room's up this way." Chenille led him along a corridor he recalled only vaguely. "Maybe I could come by tomorrow to talk? Only you're not at the place on Sun Street anymore, are you?"
"No," Silk said, "but I'm going there when I leave here. Would you like to come?" When Chenille did not reply, he added, "I have a litter; I've been trying to spare my ankle."
She was shocked. "You can't let people see me with you!"
"We'll put the curtains down."
"Then we could talk in there, huh? All right."
Silk, too, had come to a decision. "I'd like to have you with me when I speak to Orchid. Will you do it?"
"Sure, if you want me." She stopped before Orchid's door. "Only I hope you're not going to get her mad."
Recalling the small woman's fear, Silk knocked. "Were you leaving just now, Chenille? We can arrange to meet later, if this is inconvenient."
She shook her head. "I saw you out my window and put this gown on, that's all."
Orchid's door had opened. Orchid, in a black peignoir that reminded Silk vividly of the pink one she had worn when she had admitted him with Crane, was staring open mouthed.
He tore his own gaze from her gaping garment. "May I speak with you when you've finished dressing, Orchid? It's urgent; I wouldn't have troubled you otherwise."
Numbly, the fat woman retreated.
"Come on, Patera." Chenille led the way in. "She can put on a, you know, more of a wrap-up." To Orchid she added, "He's gimp, remember? Maybe you could invite him to sit."
Orchid had recovered enough to tug at the lace-decked edges of the peignoir, covering bulging flesh that would reappear the moment she released them. "I-you're the Caldé now. The new one. Everybody's talking about you."
Oreb offered proof. "Say Silk!"
"I'm afraid I am. I'm still the same man, however, and I need your help."
Chenille said firmly. "Have a seat, Patera."
"Yeah, sit down. Do I call you Caldé or Patera?"
"I really prefer to stand as long as you and Chenille are standing. May I say it's pleasant to see you again? Pleasant to see you both. I've been looking for Chenille, as I told her, and I've met so many new people-commissioners at the Juzgado and so forth-that you seem like old friends."
"Good friends." Chenille dropped onto the green-velvet couch. "I'll never forget how you stood up to the councillors at Blood's." She turned to Orchid. "I told you about it, right?"
"Yeah, but I never thought I'd see you again, Caldé. I mean to talk to."
He grasped the opportunity. "You saw me when Hyacinth and I were riding through the city, and we saw you. Have you seen Hyacinth since then?"
Orchid shook her head as she sat down beside Chenille.
Gratefully, Silk sat too. "I mean her no harm-none whatsoever. I merely wish to find her."
"I'm sure you don't, Caldé. I'd tell you if knew."
Chenille said, "You're going to ask me in a minute. I can't remember how long it's been since I saw Hy. A couple months. Maybe longer than that."
"No girl?" Oreb inquired.
Silk looked around at him. "Chenille is only one of the people we've been trying to find, actually. Now I'm hoping to find out something about the others."
"I'll call you Caldé," Orchid announced. "It feels easier. A hoppy was here asking about Hy. Did you know that?"
"I sent him, indirectly at least."
"He wanted to know about Chen, too. And Auk." Orchid glanced at Chenille, afraid that she was revealing too much.
"But you told him nothing. I can't blame you. In your place I would probably have done the same."
Orchid struggled to her feet. "I'm forgetting my manners. Maybe you'd like a glass of wine? I remember that time when you said you were sorry you only had water, but water was what I wanted right then. You got some for me, and good water too. You've got a good well."
"No wine, thank you. You told the Guardsman who came here that you didn't know where Hyacinth, or Chenille, or Auk was. I know you must have, because any information you provided him would have been reported to me, with its source. As I said, I would very likely have acted just as you did, if I had been in your place. This afternoon it occurred to me that you might tell me more than you'd tell someone you didn't know or trust, so I came in person. I take it that Chenille was already here when he arrived to question you. Was that yesterday?"
Orchid nodded. Chenille said, "It's my fault, Patera. I asked her not to tell anybody." For perhaps five seconds she was silent, nibbling at her lower lip. "Because of that other man. You know who I mean, Patera? He was at Blood's, too, and he didn't get shot like the fat one. The tall one. He saw me, and he heard my name."
Silk's forefinger drew small circles on his cheek. "Do you think he knew enough about you to search for you here?"
"I don't know. I've tried to remember everything Blood said, and I don't remember anything about that. Only he might have said something before or after or maybe even something I've forgotten. He'd seen me, and knew who I was."
"In that case," Silk said slowly, "I'm surprised that you came back here."
Orchid poured a pony of brandy. "It isn't as dumb as you think, Caldé. If somebody came around, we'd tell her so she'd have time to hide. We did with the hoppy, didn't we, Chen?"
"That's right, Patera. Anyhow I pretty much had to. I didn't have any money-"
"I must speak to you about that; remind me after we leave."
"Except a little here, and my jewelry's here, except for this ring." She held up her hand to display it, and the ruby glowed like a coal from the forge. "I think it's worth a deck, and so does Orchid."
Orchid nodded emphatically.
"Only Auk gave it to me, and I told him I'd never sell it. I won't, either. Remember when you and me talked in the front room of your little house, Patera?"
"Yes, I do. I'm surprised that you do, however."
"I didn't to start, but after a while it came back. What I was going to say is I had my best pieces on, my jade earrings and the necklace, only it got lost when my good wool gown did."
Silk nodded. "Patera Incus said Maytera Marble had made Blood give you the chenille one you had on there."
"Uh-huh. I'll tell you about losing the other one and my necklace some other time. What I was going to say is they hurt my ears, down in the tunnel. I took them off and gave them to Auk, and he put them in his pocket." She fell silent, her chest heaving dramatically.
"When I find Auk, I'll remind him to return them to you."
"There's something I've got to tell you about him, too. You won't believe me, but I've got to tell you just the same. Only not now."
"All right. Tell me when you feel ready to do so." Silk turned back
to Orchid. "Permit me to ask again. Do you know where Hyacinth is? Do you have any idea at all?"
Shaking her head, Orchid passed her brandy to Chenille. "Drink it, you'll feel better." Freed of the stem, Orchid's beringed fingers clenched. "Patera, I need a favor and I need it bad. Ever since I saw you in the hall I've been trying to think of a good way to ask. If I knew anything that would help you find Hy, I'd tell you and ask for my favor. I don't, but I got connections and they know places the hoppies never heard of I'll get them on it as quick as I can."
Oreb flew from Silk's shoulder to Chenille's. "Where Auk?"
"My question exactly," Silk said. "You told the Guardsman you didn't know where Hyacinth was, and you were telling him the truth. You lied when you told him that you didn't know where Chenille was. What about Auk?"
Orchid shook her head. "I've got a couple culls asking. He's got Chen's bobbers, like she says. We know he's around. We've talked to bucks that saw him. Isn't that right?"
Chenille nodded.
"But nobody seems to know where he dosses. A friend of mine told him I wanted to see him, and he said maybe he'd come later, but he hasn't." Orchid tapped her forehead. "He's cank, they say. Talking clutter."
"Let me know if he comes, will you please? Immediately."
"Absolutely, Caldé. You can count on it. Want me to keep him here until you get here?"
"He'll stay," Chenille interposed. "He'll be in my room."
"Yes, I do," Silk told Orchid. "You've offered me several favors, and I want them all. I want very much to learn where Hyacinth is. I want to learn where Auk is, too, and I want you to keep him here if he comes. He used to come here often, I know. You said you required a favor from me. I'll help you if I can. What is it?"
"Blood's dead. That's what Chen says, and it's all over town anyhow. They say-am I stepping in it?"
Chenille swallowed a sip of brandy. "They say you killed him, Patera. Thats what some people told me out at his house before the fighting was over."
Orchid took a step toward Silk. "I own this." Her voice was husky with emotion. "This house of mine. But I bought it with money Blood gave me, and I had to sign a paper."
Belatedly, Silk rose too. "What did it say?"