“I’m definitely going to need new dancing shoes,” Giulietta complained loudly. “All the ones that I have are either worn out or completely out of fashion. I simply must go shoe shopping this afternoon.”
Signor Montecchi looked at his wife. “New shoes would be a good idea,” he said. And then much softer, “Walking shoes.”
“Shh,” she said, and gave him a small playful slap. “We will talk about it,” she proclaimed as her daughter continued down the stairs. Giulietta looked at them and wondered why they both seemed to be just a little sad, especially when she had her hair done up in such a pretty style today.
XIII
ELSEWHERE IN THE FLOATING CITY
The first pair of Seers, known as the Summer Seers, sat in their high chairs, with their eyes closed. They were very old. Way beyond one hundred summers. They were also so thin it looked as if their parchment-aged skin was wrapped tightly around their bones, holding them together. They were dressed in ornate green and yellow robes with arcane symbols embroidered into the fine cloth, and they wore stylized masks with gold leaf and feathers, symbolizing their season. And they each held the other’s hand.
In the dimness of the chamber it was possible to see the faint glow emanating from where they touched. They sat completely still, as if rehearsing for a time when they would leave their aged bodies, and only stirred when the door to the chamber opened. They looked up with piercing bright eyes, alive with an intensity that glittered in the dimness.
The second and third pair of Seers came in to the chamber. They were the Spring and Winter Seers, and each couple’s gowns and masks depicted their season. They were also aged, although younger than the Summer Seers. Each couple walked like a dignified old man and his wife might walk around the piazzas of the city, supporting each other, also holding each other’s hand. Also revealing that soft glow where they touched.
They made their slow way across the chamber and sat in a pair of high chairs to the left, and directly opposite the Summer Seers. Each pair then turned their eyes to the two empty chairs. The question of which couple’s chairs would be next to be left empty hung unasked in the air between them.
Finally the female Summer Seer spoke. “We feel the weight of the city has grown heavier.”
The Winter Seers both nodded. “The Othmen are determined that our time has reached its end,” the male said.
“Then they will find there is still fight in us yet,” said the male Spring Seer. His wife squeezed his hand in support. “They have sent beasts against us before,” she said, “and we have vanquished them.”
“But there were four of us then,” said the female Summer Seer, speaking in the plural. “Now we are but three.”
“It is harder to hold the city afloat,” said the male Summer Seer, his voice thin and soft. “Do you not feel it starting to crumble in places?”
“We feel it,” said the male Spring Seer, “but we cannot contain it and combat the Othmen at the same time. We must, I fear, sacrifice some of the city to save the whole.”
The female Summer Seer nodded her head. “The Othmen are growing stronger and will press home their attacks on us. We must be ever vigilant.” Then she said, “Come. We must look to our defences.”
Together the two Summer Seers rose and slowly stepped into the centre of the chamber. There was a dark wooden table there with four glass balls upon it. One was filled with water. One with fire. One with earth. And one appeared to be empty. The other couples joined them. They reached out and all six joined hands around the table. As soon as the connection was made the fire began to leap and dance inside its glass ball, the water churned and swirled, the earth churned and the last glass ball glowed with an arcane light.
“Water. Fire. Earth. And life,” the female Summer Seer said. “The Othmen shall take none of them from us.” Then she closed her eyes. As did the others.
“Can you feel some of the city’s buildings subsiding into the waters?” the male Winter Seer said.
“Our power weakens,” said his consort.
“No,” said the female Spring Seer. “It is just that our number has diminished.”
“I fear it is more than that,” the female Winter Seer said. “I feel we have seen the peak of our powers and now they contract.”
“It is just fear you feel,” said the female Spring Seer. “Put it from you. It is fear that weakens your powers.”
“And that weakens the city,” said her consort.
“We must sustain it,” said the female Summer Seer. “To let parts of the city sink would send fear and panic into the people.”
“No,” said the female Winter Seer. “Let them go. We must search the waters for the beast of the Othmen. It sends more terror into the people than any buildings in the city sinking a little.” Her voice betrayed her as she spoke, though, letting the others know that it was her that the beast of the Othmen sent more terror into than any part of the city sinking.
“There is time for that,” said the male Spring Seer calmly. “We should concentrate our efforts on finding new seers. We can renew our power by finding a young couple and uniting them. I can feel them in the city, but they are too young and immature to find easily.”
“But they have great potential,” said his consort. “Have you felt that too?”
“They may grow to be stronger than any of us if nurtured and taught well,” he said. “But they prove elusive. They are not even aware of each other yet.”
“We do not have the time,” the female Winter Seer said. “Our priority must be on defending our own lives.”
“They will come to an end eventually,” said the female Spring Seer. “And then what of the future of the city?”
“They will not come to an end prematurely though,” said the female Winter Seer, her white and frost-jewelled mask looking around at the others in turn. “Not if we devote our energies to protecting ourselves from the Othmen. It is the only way. We are not strong enough to fight them on all fronts.”
“Our lives should matter less than the lives of the citizens of the city,” said the male Summer Seer.
“We are the city,” said the female Winter Seer harshly. “Their lives are our lives.”
The female Spring Seer said nothing and her consort squeezed her hand to tell her to let the matter go. She gave him a small squeeze of acknowledgment and the male Summer Seer asked of the Winter Seers, “Have you had a vision?”
“We were seeking the younger seers,” the male Winter Seer said, his voice rasping a little in his throat. “But all we saw was death at the hands of a Djinn. We must prevent it!”
There was quiet in the chamber and then the female Winter Seer spoke again. “We must probe the waters of the canals and try and find this beast that has been sent to defeat us. And when we find it, we shall destroy it. Then we shall turn our energies to sustaining the city.”
“Are we agreed?” her consort asked.
Nobody disagreed.
The male Summer Seer said, “All right then. We shall turn our attention to the beast first, but we shall not ignore any chance to locate the young ones nor to allay panic in the city if we are able.”
“Or beasts,” said the female Spring Seer as they broke the circle and the light went out of the glass globes.
XIV
THE STORY OF DISDEMONA
Otello stepped out onto the city streets to find his captain, Casio, waiting for him. “Well met,” he said, holding out one arm to clap his captain around the shoulders, but Casio stepped back and said, “It would not be proper. We are no longer equal brothers in arms. You are my general.”
“Then we will walk together and recall the times when we were both equals,” Otello said.
“That would please me greatly,” said Casio with a smile, falling into step beside the taller man. “I remember well when you first came to us as an unknown mercenary.”
“I think there was much fear and suspicion of me when I first stood in your ranks,” said Otello.
Casio shrugged. “
We are not used to seeing one of such dark skin and fierce countenance within our ranks. But we only had to see you in battle against the Othmen one time to see what mettle you were forged from.”
“Well spoken,” said Otello, and he did reach out and clap Casio on the shoulders. “We have stood shoulder to shoulder many times, my friend.”
“We have fought many battles and survived them.”
“I remember you boasting that one day you would be my commanding officer,” Otello teased him.
Casio nodded his head. “I did honestly believe that,” he said.
“Does it not cause you ire that I have risen to such an office above you? Or that I have wed one so lovely while you have no sweetheart in the city even?”
“Who said I have no sweetheart in the city?” Casio laughed. “Although it might be true to say that I do not have a single sweetheart.”
Otello laughed too. “Ah, Casio, there is such joy from having a woman that you know is yours alone. It is a feeling that anchors a man and gives him strength. No matter what trials I face, knowing Disdemona will provide me succour allows me to continue on. Her embrace is the mortar that strengthens my soul and allows me to believe I can hold up the world.” He smiled. “I cannot describe to you the pleasures of lying abed with my sweet Disdemona.”
“But I’m sure you’re going to try nevertheless,” Casio said.
The Moor stopped and his face grew serious. “No,” he said. “Do not make fun of me where my lady is concerned. You can make barrack-room jibes about my quick temper and my undue haste to seek vengeance, but never think to lessen or make light of my feelings for her.”
Casio put up both hands quickly. “Your temper is quick indeed, but I would no more make fun of your feelings for your lady than I would ask for details of how she looks beneath the bed covers at night.”
The Moor’s face grew darker still. “It is more improper of you to speak so of your general than it is to let him embrace you!”
“Now I was too quick to apologize and am tripping over my words,” said Casio. “I mean no offence in any way and have only the greatest respect and love for you both. You know well that I knew her as a child and have a sense of familiarity with her because of it.”
“I know that, but now she is my wife, and your lady, you should pledge your respect to her as you do to me.”
“Then that is what I pledge,” Casio said. Then when he saw Otello had calmed down and turned to continue on, he added, “In truth, being a friend with you can be much more dangerous than being an enemy of the Othmen, though I think her company takes the bite off your temper and softens you. Have I not seen you playing with a stray kitten in the streets that once you would have kicked away from you?”
Otello gave him a glance.
“Though I would never tell anyone!” Casio said quickly, “lest they think your bite any less fearful.”
This time Otello smiled. “My bite seems worse than it actually is. Unless you are an Othmen.”
“And I have seen the way you dispatch the Othmen with sword, dagger and bare hands,” said Casio, “and I think it altogether more preferable not to risk your anger.”
“Then we will speak no more of my lady and instead will speak of the dangers to our city. The Othmen will be sending spies here to learn what they can. They will be trying to buy the favours of unscrupulous merchants. We need to hunt them down and turn them to our advantage.”
“I shall put men onto it at once. We will treat every stranger in the city with suspicion and treat them as a foe until proven otherwise.”
“And we must be vigilant for their assassins above all,” Otello said. “Before they send their ships against us they will try and weaken us from within. They have already slain two Seers and one of the Council of Ten – for this is more than a war of property and territory, but a war over beliefs. And we must ensure we protect the others from their reach.”
“I will put our best men onto the task of being their bodyguards,” Casio said. “They will not be able to piss or place a hand upon their wives’ privates without being observed.”
“That might prove a little close guarding for the comfort of the council,” said Otello with a wide smile. “But I will convey the intent of that to them, if not your actual words.”
“Ah, and I had always thought you a brave man,” said Casio. “And now you prove not willing to discuss the council’s wives’ privates with them.”
“The only privates you need to concern yourself with are those in your rank and file who must obey my commands,” said Otello.
“The day that my privates obey any man’s commands but my own will be a rare day,” said Casio.
“They will obey mine if I order it,” said Otello. “So don’t make me put it to the test.”
“Then I will make sure I have two privates posted outside your bedchamber. Just in case you find you have need of them in the night.”
“I warned you, Casio,” said Otello in a low growl.
“I apologize again for the jest and for the next ones I may make while not thinking,” Casio said. “I know our city is at war, and that is a dreadfully heavy thought, only made lighter by light banter.”
“I think I should advise you to put away your light banter and rather concentrate on the heavy thoughts for the time being, and rather than practise your quick wit, concentrate on practising your quick sword strokes. For I’m sure the Othmen will be even less appreciative of your humour than I am.”
The two men walked in silence for some time, and then Casio asked, “How are the council reacting to the crisis?”
“Like old women,” said Otello. “They are scared and divided. And as such are driven to make poor decisions. Like having me report to them at every hour of the day, and then quiz me as to why I am not spending more time on the streets keeping the city safe.”
“Rather you than me,” said Casio.
“Yes. I fear your mouth would get you into trouble,” Otello said.
“Which is odd,” said Casio, “as my father once advised me that a mouth would get a man into much less trouble than any other caves of delight he might seek.”
Otello laughed heartily and clapped Casio on the back again. “I suppose I could no more ask you to hold your tongue than one of your many wenches could.”
“Well spoken, my general,” said Casio. “And so you will have to watch your own words in front of the council.”
XV
ELSEWHERE IN THE FLOATING CITY
The climb to the top of the city bell tower was a slow and arduous one and Vincenzo the scribe lost count of the number of steps somewhere after three hundred. As he had long lost the stranger who had led him up the tower. When he finally got to the top he was panting and sweating and just wanted to sit down and rest.
The masked stranger had already led Vincenzo along many narrow alleys and over the smaller bridges of the Floating City, keeping away from the larger thoroughfares and remaining in the shadows wherever possible.
“Where are we going?” Vincenzo had asked.
“To see your fair city,” the stranger told him.
“Wait,” said Vincenzo, puffing a little. “You go too fast for me. I am not a man of action. I am a scribe.”
“You will become a scribe of action over the next few days,” the stranger had said, pausing to turn back to him. “Were you not a keen sportsman in your youth?”
“How do you know these things about me?” Vincenzo asked. “I do not even know your name.”
The stranger stopped and turned to him. “I have been called the Shadow Master.”
“I think it a fitting name,” said Vincenzo. “As would be the Peril Master or the Mystery Master.”
The stranger tilted his head a little and thought about those. “No,” he said. “They don’t have the same ring to them. Normally I’d say, don’t give up your day job, but in your case we’ll let it slide.”
“Slide?” asked Vincenzo. “I don’t understand many of your words.
You talk like a native of the city by your tongue, but the words you use often seem foreign to me.”
“Don’t worry about it,” said the Shadow Master. “You’ll get used to it.”
Vincenzo shook his head a little. “Please,” he said. “Tell me a little more of our endeavour.”
“First we are going to climb the tallest tower in the city,” said the Shadow Master.
“The bell tower?” protested Vincenzo. “It is a very tall tower. There are many hundreds of steps. Could I not use this power you have promised me to write it to be much smaller?”
The Shadow Master laughed. “You should not squander a gift so easily. Come, it will make you feel more alive.” Vincenzo groaned and fell into step behind the Shadow Master as he set off again.
Finally they reached the top of the tower, and Vincenzo sat down on a large stone and gasped for breath like a fish pulled out of one of the canals.
“Have this,” said the Shadow Master, who had clearly been waiting at the top for some time, holding out a small bottle to him.
“What is it?” asked Vincenzo.
“You will find it refreshing.”
Vincenzo took the bottle. He sniffed at its open mouth, but it had no scent. Then he took a small sip. It had a sweet taste and fizzed in his mouth. He felt it travel down to his stomach, and then smiled. “It is very refreshing,” he said. Then he drank the rest of the bottle. He was surprised to find his energies returning to him and he stood up and wiped his sweating brow with the sleeve of his shirt and let the cool breeze blow over him.
“How do you feel now?” the Shadow Master asked him.
“Surprisingly well,” Vincenzo said. “You must tell me where you obtain this drink.”
“All in good time,” said the Shadow Master. “Come over this side and look out over the city.” Vincenzo came and stood beside him. It had been many years since he had climbed the bell tower, and he had quite forgotten how beautiful his city looked from above. It was the view the birds and the angels of the ancients would have had of her. He could see the many red-tiled roofs and the curved domes of the larger buildings and the white flat roofs of others. He could see the canals snaking their way between the floating islands and the large S-shape of the central canal, and the many bridges linking the islands, binding them together. It was more than a city, he felt, it was like so many disparate floating pieces all held together by the buildings and bridges and the very life and history of the place.
The Floating City Page 5