by Джеффри Лорд
Eventually Nris-Pol ran out of both things to say and the breath to say them. As his hysterical rabble-rousing died away, so did the hysteria of the rabble. Silence came down on both the council chamber and the listening chamber like a fog. Eyes swiveled toward Blade, and also toward Mir-Kasa. It was up to her now. Blade hoped devoutly that she would not stick her graceful neck out too far for his sake. That would be putting the pleasures of her bed before sensible planning for her revolution, as Bryg-Noz had feared. But Blade knew he could only hope. He did not dare say a word to Mir-Kasa. That would only make his enemies and hers more suspicious, more ferocious.
The silence dragged on, until Blade felt sure that his nerves were going to snap with audible pings, like overstressed wires. He took a deep breath and again fingered his swords.
Mir-Kasa's eyes met his briefly as she rose to her feet. Then they flicked away, and fell on Nris-Pol, who was kneeling before the council table, trying not very successfully to look humble.
«Nris-Pol, councilors,» she said. Her voice was flat and toneless, but Blade could detect the effort that amount of self-control was costing her. «A charge of treason of the vilest sort has been brought against my steward. I had thought him a virtuous man. Hold!» Her hand shot out, to still the rumble of protest that rolled around the room. «Perhaps he was once. But it is clear that he has wandered into evil ways.» The faces around the table relaxed-except for Nris-Pol's. His face split in a triumphant grin. «Therefore he is no longer worthy to remain in his office, nor among the High People. By the Peace Wisdom it is given to me alone to pronounce sentence upon him.»
She turned to Blade and her eyes again met his. «Blade-Liza, formerly Queen's Steward. I degrade you from among the High People. I declare that you shall be sent among the Low People, there to live or die as chance wills it. Never for all the remaining years of your life shall you again come among the High People. If so you do, your life shall be forfeit upon the instant.» She raised her voice to a shout. «Queen's Guards! Come forward, and take Blade-Liza down among the Low People!»
Chapter THIRTEEN
Mir-Kasa's taking the initiative so quickly silenced the opposition for a moment. That was long enough for the guards to reach the council table. Their leader bowed low to the queen, then turned to Blade. «Come with us, traitor. Leave your weapons, which you are not fit to bear, with the First Warrior.»
Blade rose to obey the order. But the mention of his name seemed to rouse the old man from his silence. «Your Splendor-«he began.
«Yes?» said Mir-Kasa coldly.
«It makes no sense-I cannot see-«
«What makes no sense and why cannot you see it?» said Mir-Kasa, an edge in her voice.
The First Warrior's mouth opened again, but this time no sound came out. Before anyone else could speak up against the angry Queen, the guards had surrounded Blade and were hustling him toward the door. As they passed Nris-Pol, Blade noticed the expression on the warrior's face. He looked as though the queen had just kicked him in the stomach. And Blade could see why. Sending him down among the Low People would put him out of Nris-Pol's reach. And he would be a major addition of strength to Bryg-Noz's «army.» Nris-Pol obviously knew the first, Blade hoped he didn't know about the second.
The guards did not slow down below a trot until they were through the listening chamber with its staring and muttering crowd and out into the corridor. They stopped for a moment to tie Blade's hands behind his back, then set off again even faster than before. Blade found it hard to keep his balance on the slick floors, and several times one of the guards had to keep him from falling on his face. It was obvious that the guards themselves were as much on edge as Blade, and he suspected that their reasons were much the same. They might not want to be involved in Mir-Kasa's conspiracy. But neither would they want to be involved in Blade's lynching. And that was a distinct possibility unless they got him down to the comparative safety of the Lower Levels as fast as possible.
All six of the guards let out audible sighs of relief when the door of the shaft of the warriors closed behind them and the car began its downward plunge. But all six immediately sprang to the alert when the door opened again. Two of them slipped out into the corridor and looked up and down it before signaling to the other four to lead Blade out. That made good sense to Blade. He didn't know how fast Nris-Pol was likely to recover from his surprise and start spraying orders by far-speaker to all his supporters in the tower. And he was certain to have supporters all over. The First Warrior and the two women were obviously in his pocket, but he would hardly have moved so far so fast without rank-and-file support as well. Blade hoped that Nris-Pol didn't have so many supporters that he would be tempted to launch a revolution of his own against Mir-Kasa.
By the time Blade had run through these thoughts, the two scouts had signaled that the corridor was clear. All six guards surrounded him again, and led him down the corridor to a recessed door. There they stopped, and again the leader turned and spoke to him.
«Here you leave the High People forever and enter among the Low People, Blade-Liza. Here you leave behind your name as one of the High People. Here you leave behind your honor as one of the High People. Here you leave behind your family as one of the High People.» The chant went on for several minutes, listing all the things that Blade was leaving behind in passing through the door into the levels of the Low People. Then the leader stopped, cut Blade's bonds with his sword, and barked a one-word order.
«Strip!»
As all six guards had their hands on their short swords, Blade decided not to argue the point. He pulled off his helmet, and began undoing the fastenings of the armored tunic.
As he pulled it over his head, momentarily blinding himself, he heard one of the guards say, «What and who are-«Then he heard the sound of several sets of feet approaching rapidly-and the unmistakable rasp of swords being drawn. He struggled the rest of the way out of his armor with more haste than dignity. He was just in time to see five fully armed warriors come up to the guards and stop. All five had their swords drawn, and as Blade stared the six guards drew also.
The leader glared at the five. «What do you here, comrade? This is the queen's affair, not yours-or that of those you serve.»
The five snorted contemptuously. One of them growled, «Nothing of the kind. This is the affair of all in the Tower of the Serpent who believe in the Peace Wisdom. This-creature-from the Beyond came to us, won the queen's favor, and now seeks to stir up the Low People. If the queen is so blinded that she cannot give proper judgment-«
«Watch your tongue, man,» snapped the guard leader. He had dropped the «comrade,» and his knuckles were white on his sword hilt.
«You watch yours, you shelterer of traitors,» snarled the man who had spoken. «And what is he to you now anyway? We all heard you proclaim him degraded, by the Wisdoms.» The other four men nodded. «Then by the Peace Wisdom he is naught but one of the Low People, and no law of the High People can have anything to say for him. And no warrior of the High People, either. Not even the queen herself, in fact.» The guard leader nodded reluctantly. Blade swore mentally. Once more he was going to get caught in the meshes of this damned people's wretched rule-mindedness. And it looked very much as if it might be the last time.
«Is this all true?» he asked the guard leader.
The guard leader did not condescend to speak to a Low Person. But he did nod again.
«Then stand back and let me have a fair chance at these louts,» snapped Blade. «I can break any of them over my knee without even taking a deep breath.»
The guard leader's mouth opened and he stared at Blade. «But you cannot-«
«Defend myself? I'll be damned if I'll just stand here and let Nris-Pol's gang cut me down like an administered slave girl.» And before anybody could react to that remark, Blade moved.
His left hand rose and shot out, driving a clenched fist into the back of the guard leader's head. The man staggered. As he did, Blade's hands darted downward and
snatched both swords from the falling man's belt. As the guard leader thudded to the floor, Blade glared around him and flourished both swords.
«Take your leader and get out of here,» he growled to the queen's guards. «I've nothing against you. And you'd better go back to Mir-Kasa and tell her that Nris-Pol is sending gangs around to work against her royal justice. Get out of here, I said! I can take care of myself, and most of these floor sweepings too!»
He might have been degraded into a Low Person, but his tone was that of a man in command. And it was the tone that the guards heard-and obeyed. They snatched up the body of their leader and vanished down the corridor as if they were running from a forest fire. Blade took advantage of the surprise of his five opponents to set his back against the door. Then he flourished the swords again and grinned savagely.
«All right. Who wants to be the first to die? Or are none of you even worthy to wait on the Low People, let alone join them?»
The remark provoked a mad charge, as he had hoped it would. It was a charge much too frenzied to have any hope of success against a competent opponent. Blade was more than competent. It was no trouble at all for him to put his short sword into one man's throat and lop off the arm of a second. The scream from the second man echoed down the corridor like the blast of an explosion.
«Damn him,» swore one of the surviving warriors. «He'll have the whole tower down here. You!» he snapped at the man on his right. «Run to a far-speaker, tell Nris-Pol we need help. Six warriors, at least. Run, I said!» The man was off like a shot from a gun, and the two remaining warriors turned to face Blade.
Blade licked his lips. «So Nris-Pol is your master. Not that I ever doubted it, of course. But Mir-Kasa may be interested in knowing this.»
«She'll never know it from you,» said one of the warriors grimly. «You'll not live that long.»
«I wonder,» said Blade. «Remember the war against the Eagles!» And he lunged forward.
If he had wanted to get away, he could have done so easily. But he knew that in the long run his only safety lay behind the door into the chambers of the Low People. His problem was to stay alive until the uproar brought somebody who could and would let him in. After that-but he would worry about that later.
Nris-Pol chose his warriors well, that was at once obvious. Both were first-class fighters, and Blade could not afford to take his eyes off either one. A continuous clang of swords echoed down the corridor. Blade also began to worry about attracting unwelcome visitors.
But when the response came, it came from behind the door. Blade heard it slide open with the familiar hiss. Footsteps sounded behind him, running hard, and he swung around and leaped to one side. Again he flattened himself against the wall, just as a slim figure in warrior's garb dashed out of the doorway, swords flashing.
The newcomer ignored Blade as if he were a part of the wall itself, and charged straight at Nris-Pol's two warriors. In an instant he was closely engaged with both of them. In the next instant it was obvious that he was badly outmatched. The leader's long sword came down with a terrific crash, and the newcomer's long sword sailed into the air and clattered on the floor. A moment later the other warrior closed, grabbed the newcomer's left arm, and twisted hard. The newcomer let out a high-pitched scream of pain and dropped his short sword as well.
But in their eagerness to defeat and disarm the newcomer, the two warriors had forgotten Blade. He reminded them of his existence by coming out from the wall in a lightning-quick lunge, with his long sword extended. Its point drove straight into the open mouth of the leader, smashing teeth, splitting tongue, and going on up into the brain. The warrior's eyes went blank, and he toppled to the floor so suddenly that he pulled the long sword out of Blade's grasp.
But the other warrior did not wait to take advantage of Blade's situation. Before his leader had hit the floor, he had released the newcomer with a yell of sheer terror. As Blade turned to face him, he turned also, and sprinted away down the corridor as hard as he could go.
Blade bent to help the newcomer, who was kneeling on the floor rubbing his bruised arm. «That was a damned foolish thing to do,» Blade said sharply. «You didn't even try to coordinate your attack with me. If you had, neither of those louts would have escaped.»
The newcomer nodded. «I know,» and raised a wide-eyed face to Blade. Blade stared.
«Kun-Rala!»
Unmistakably, the face under the slightly askew warrior's helmet was that of the girl he had seen using the great wand the night of Mir-Kasa's «demonstration.»
She nodded. Then she rose and grabbed his arm, almost dragging him toward the doorway into the area of the Low People. «Come with me, quickly. We have to get below, to Bryg-Noz!»
«How did you come to be here at all?»
«Please, we can't stay here. That one got away, and he'll warn everybody and-«
«It's your own damned fault that he got away,» said Blade irritably. He didn't like being dragged about like a barge at the end of a towline without knowing why. He had put up with a good deal of it from his enemies, but he'd be damned if he'd put up with it from his friends-if they were his friends.
A moment later he wished he hadn't sounded so angry. Kun-Rala's face crumpled, and she burst into tears. Blade grimaced. He wished the girl would make up her mind whether she was a warrior or a woman. He didn't know how she was at being a woman, but so far she hadn't done very well as a warrior. He put his arms around her, and pulled her against his bare chest. The warmth and the pressure of his arms seemed to calm her. Her voice was steadier the next time she spoke.
«Please, Blade-Liza. I know I'm no good as a fighter. But Bryg-Noz didn't have many he could trust, to send up to watch for you. And I can lead you down to him. Let me do that, please. You must realize that. There's nothing left for you up here. And you can help us. You must help us.»
Blade could not help wondering why he «must» do anything of the kind. But he decided this was the wrong time to ask any more questions. A moment later his decision was reinforced by the sound of feet and voices approaching down the corridor at a run.
Kun-Rala sprang out of his arms and slapped a section of the wall. She must have touched a hidden switch, for the door hissed shut behind them. The feet and voices stopped outside, and Blade could hear the faint pounding of angry fists on the door. Kun-Rala turned frightened eyes toward him.
«Please, Blade-Liza. Come with me down to Bryg-Noz. They may think you are so dangerous they will want to break through the door. And then they will kill us both.»
Blade nodded. He hardly had any alternative to trusting her, other than going back outside and taking his chances with the warriors Nris-Pol had obviously massed outside. And it sounded as though there were a good dozen of them.
«All right, Kun-Rala, take me to Bryg-Noz.»
Chapter FOURTEEN
They found Bryg-Noz far below, in a small chamber just off the large chamber where Blade had seen the great wands demonstrated. The general of Mir-Kasa's literally «underground» army rose to greet him, hand extended.
«Welcome to our ranks, Blade-Liza. Or am I being premature in welcoming you?» He made a quick gesture, and several men who had been lounging against the wall of the chamber stood up and drew their swords.
Blade laughed. «You obviously don't trust me much more than I trust you. I let Kun-Rala lead me down here because I would like to stay alive a little while longer. And up above that would hardly be possible. There were a dozen or so of Nris-Pol's henchmen pounding on the door behind us as we started down the stairs.» A nod from Kun-Rala confirmed that statement.
Bryg-Noz stared at Blade for a moment, then shook his head wearily. Another gesture caused the men to put up their swords. The leader sighed. «Blade, perhaps you had better tell us what has happened today. Tell all of it, as it has appeared to you, and only what you have seen with your own eyes and heard with your own ears.»
Blade did so. As the tale ran on, Bryg-Noz's face grew longer and longer, and he be
gan pounding one fist into the palm of the other hand. Blade saw tears glisten in Kun-Rala's eyes and flow quietly down her cheeks. One of the men by the wall was cursing quietly to himself. Finally Blade came to the end of his tale.
Bryg-Noz sighed again. «Quite a tale, Blade. Now»-and his voice was harsh-«tell me how you understand Queen MirKasa's plans for-for the future of Melnon.»
«You must have heard them often enough,» said Blade.
«I have,» said Bryg-Noz. «I certainly have. But I want to know how they sound to you. You may hear or see them differently from me.»
«Suppose I do?» said Blade. He was even more tired of mystery-mongering and implied threats than he had been up above. «What will you do? If it involves violence, think twice before you do it.» Again the men along the wall drew their swords, but this time Kun-Rala also drew hers. «Please, Bryg-Noz,» she said. «Consider what he has been through today. You are behaving like Nris-Pol himself, with all your threats and growling like a hungry animal.»
Bryg-Noz glared at the girl, but her words seemed to sink in. He sat down again and held his graying head in his hands for a moment. Then he raised infinitely weary dark eyes to Blade and said slowly, «Blade, I apologize. I–I am more tired than any man should be, who has to bear the load I do. If I could just get some sleep … But I must ask you again-tell me how Mir-Kasa's plans look to you.»
Blade told him.
As Blade talked, he saw Bryg-Noz's eyes widen and some of the weariness leave them. Finally Bryg-Noz stood up again and began to pace back and forth, a broad grin on his face.