Sterren stared down at the citadel and wondered whether he should warn him. Now that the palace was complete, Vond might not throw his power around so freely.
That brought up the question, of course, of what he would do.
Well, Sterren told himself, he could hardly learn anything about Vond’s plans sitting in his room. He headed for the door.
He had intended to go all the way down to the warlock’s audience chamber, but halfway down the first flight of stairs Sterren changed his mind, and at the next landing he turned down the corridor and knocked on the first door.
It opened, and Annara of Crookwall thrust her head around the edge.
“Hello,” she said.
“Hello,” Sterren replied. “May I come in?”
Annara hesitated, glancing back into the room, then swung the door wide and admitted him.
Sterren was not surprised to see Agor, the Imperial Theurgist, sitting on Annara’s bed. They exchanged polite greetings.
At Annara’s direction Sterren found a seat by the window. He settled onto the cushion, and then fumbled about, trying to figure out how to ask what he wanted to ask.
Annara offered him a plate of honeyed cashews, and he nibbled on those without speaking, while Agor chatted in his newly-acquired and horribly-accented Ethsharitic about the delightful weather that Vond had ensured.
Sterren glanced around the room, looking for something that might serve to divert the conversation along the lines he wanted. He noticed a sparkle on a high shelf.
Something shiny was moving up there, he realized. He squinted.
A coin, a silver bit, was spinning on edge, but he had not seen anyone spin it, and it showed no signs of slowing down as he watched.
“What’s that?” he asked, pointing.
The two magicians followed his finger. Annara said, “It’s a spinning coin.”
“How long has it been spinning?”
“Oh, three or four months,” Annara replied.
“But you haven’t lived here that long!” Sterren said, startled.
“I brought it with me from the castle,” Annara said.
“How could you do that?”
“It’s on a little card that folds up into a box for travelling,” she explained.
“What’s it for? What keeps it spinning?”
“It’s magic,” Agor said.
“I could have guessed that for myself,” Sterren said sarcastically. “I mean, what’s it for?”
“It’s a very simple little spell,” Annara said. “It’s called the Spell of the Spinning Coin.”
“And it just makes a coin spin on forever? That seems pretty pointless.”
“It does do a little more than that,” the wizard admitted. “Emner spun that one—I taught him the spell, as it wasn’t one he knew. It will keep spinning as long as he’s alive. If he’s seriously ill, or badly injured, the spinning will slow down, and it may even wobble a little if it’s very bad. If he dies, it will stop.”
“Oh, I see,” Sterren said. “So you would know if, say, he had been killed by bandits on the way to Akalla.”
Annara and Agor exchanged glances. “It wasn’t bandits I was worried about,” Annara said.
Sterren nodded. “I suppose not.” He hesitated, and then pushed on. He could hardly have realistically hoped for a better opening. “I see it’s still spinning, and he’s been gone for all these months. He must have contacted the Wizards’ Guild by now.”
“Yes,” Annara said, flatly.
“And they haven’t done anything? Have they communicated with you?”
She hesitated, then said, “My lord Sterren, why do you ask?”
Sterren blinked. “I’m curious,” he said.
“You’ll pardon me, my lord chancellor, but I’m not sure I care to satisfy your curiosity.”
He had half-expected this reaction. “Annara,” he said slowly, “I can understand your caution, but believe me, I’m not going to cause you any trouble.”
“You will forgive me, my lord chancellor, if I...”
“Stop calling me that!” Sterren snapped. “I didn’t ask for the stupid title! People keep hanging these silly titles on me, when I was perfectly happy just being Sterren of Ethshar. Look, Annara, I know you’re worried that I’m Vond’s spy, but I’m not his spy, not unless he can read my mind without my knowing it. If he wanted to know something, I suppose he could force it out of you easily enough by torture; you aren’t enough of a wizard to defend yourself against him. Or if you are, you’re also one hell of an actress, because you’ve had me fooled! I can’t force anything out of you, though.” He paused for breath, then continued more calmly, “If you’re worried about which side I’m on, right now I’m not really on any side. I think I know how to either destroy the warlock, or to keep him in power for at least a while longer, and I honestly haven’t decided which I want to do, or whether I should just leave well enough alone. I came here hoping for more information to help me decide. I can’t force it out of you; Vond can. You can tell me now, and if I’m telling the truth it won’t do any harm, and if I’m lying, Vond can come up here and convince you.”
He stopped, suddenly unsure what he was saying, and whether he should be saying it.
Annara threw a look at Agor, then turned back to Sterren and said, “All right, Sterren. I don’t suppose it will do any harm to tell you. I’ve had dreams. Some wizards can send dreams, you know, and I’ve had dreams where wizards tell me things. Some of them may be ordinary dreams, but I think at least some must have been sent. I don’t always remember them when I wake up; there are tricks to remembering your dreams, and I’m not very good at it. All the same, I think I have an idea what the Guild is doing.”
“Ah,” Sterren said. “What are they doing?”
“Nothing. At least, nothing yet. They’re watching the situation, using scrying spells and prophecies, and that’s all. Oh, and it seems that reports of the events here are somehow not spreading very well, particularly not to warlocks, and those warlocks who do hear about the new power source are being discouraged or diverted in various subtle ways.”
Sterren nodded. “You know, I had begun to wonder why not a single other warlock had turned up.”
“Remember, Vond’s invitations have all emphasized his own supremacy, and warlocks are not prone to play the sycophant. Even without my guildmates interfering, I suspect he would be attracting few converts.”
“True enough,” Sterren acknowledged. He sat for a moment, munching cashews and considering this news.
“So,” he said at last, “is the Guild contemplating any more drastic action?”
“No,” Annara said, after a moment’s hesitation. “At least, not that they’ve told me about. The general non-interference policy seems to be holding good.”
Sterren nodded, and as he did a thought occurred to him. He asked Agor, “What do the gods think about all this?”
The theurgist shrugged. “Like the wizards, they don’t interfere,” he said. “Not since the Great War.”
Sterren accepted that. “One more question,” he said, “and I’ll go.” He looked at the two magicians closely.
“For yourselves,” he asked, “do you want Vond removed?”
Annara and Agor looked at each other.
Agor shrugged.
“I don’t know,” Annara said. “I really don’t.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Five minutes after he left Annara’s room Sterren peered around a drapery into Vond’s audience chamber.
The warlock spotted him immediately.
“Ah, Chancellor Sterren!” he called. “Come in! Come in!”
Sterren obeyed, looking curiously about as he did.
He had seen the audience chamber before, of course—the rich red draperies down either side, the ornately-patterned marble floor, the luxurious red carpet down the center. Twenty-foot-high windows behind the dais let sunlight pour in from the palace’s central courtyard; stained-glass medallions set in
the windows painted colors on the floor, and the cut-glass bevels that edged the medallions ringed the colors with sprays of rainbows. Golden banners hung from the vaulted white marble ceiling; most were plain and unadorned, but three bore battle flags sewn onto them, representing Semma, Ophkar, and Ksinallion.
Three broad steps, alternating black and white marble, led up to the black marble dias, and above its center Vond floated comfortably in mid-air; he had not yet bothered with a throne.
That much was familiar. What was new to Sterren was the group of young women who stood at the foot of the dias.
He counted twelve of them, all young and all uncommonly attractive. Their garb varied from simple peasant homespun to the rich velvets and silks of the conquered nobility; their expressions varied from uncertainty to bold defiance. None of them were so much as whispering; the only sound was the rustle of their clothing.
“What’s going on?” Sterren asked, breaking the silence.
“I’m choosing a harem,” Vond replied.
Startled, Sterren took another look at the women.
“I’ve had my eye out for the last sixnight or so,” the warlock explained, “and I’d noticed these young ladies as promising prospects, so when I had a moment, I brought them here to look over.” He smiled wolfishly.
“Do they know what’s going on?” Sterren asked, seeing confusion and fear on several faces.
Vond shrugged. “I told them, but I don’t know if they understood.”
“May I speak with them?” Sterren asked.
“Be my guest,” Vond said with a wave.
“Ladies,” Sterren said, in Semmat, “I am Sterren, Ninth Warlord of Semma.” He did not know a Semmat equivalent for “chancellor,” if one existed at all, and he was not yet comfortable with the title in any case. “Do you know why you are here?”
His reply was a babble of voices; he raised his hands for silence.
It took a moment, but the women quieted. Sterren pointed to one. “You; who are you?”
The chosen one looked back at him blankly. “Ksinallioni?” she said, with an odd accent.
Sterren picked another. “Do you speak Semmat?”
This one nodded.
“Who are you?” Sterren asked.
“Kyrina the Fair,” she replied, “daughter to Kardig Trak’s son and Rulura of the Green Eyes.”
Sterren could easily understand how she got her epithet. She wore a simple green tunic and a brown peasant’s skirt, but even so, she was easily more beautiful than the most elaborately-attired noblewoman Sterren had ever seen in Semma.
“You live near here?” he asked.
“In the village,” she said, gesturing vaguely in the general direction of Semma Castle.
“Do you know why you are here?”
She shook her head, which sent a ripple through her long, gleaming black hair and wafted perfume in Sterren’s direction. “No, my lord.”
“How did you come here?”
She glanced at Vond, and at the other women, clearly not eager to act as spokeswoman. Nobody volunteered to take her place, and after an instant’s further hesitation she explained, “Perhaps an hour ago, something like a great wind, yet not a wind, snatched me up and brought me here. I found myself in a great hall, where I could move freely, but where all the doors but one were closed and barred, and the one open door was guarded by men who would not let me leave. Another woman was there, as well, and then these others were swept in, as I was, one by one, and when we were all there, the guards led us here, using their spears to keep us together.”
Sterren nodded his understanding.
“This is the Great Vond,” he said, gesturing toward the warlock. “You all probably guessed that.”
Several women nodded.
“You all know he now rules this land?”
Seven women, by Sterren’s count, nodded. He guessed the other five spoke no Semmat.
“You know he is a warlock, a magician?”
More nods.
“He is also a man. He has brought you twelve here to choose women to...” Sterren paused, wishing he knew more Semmat; he could think of a hundred delicate ways to phrase this in Ethsharitic. “To warm his bed,” he said at last.
That elicited not nods, but startlement, anger, fear, and at least one crimson blush.
Vond was watching all this, and, Sterren saw worriedly, looking bored.
“Sterren,” he said, “I take it you’ve just explained why I brought them here.”
Sterren nodded.
“Tell them,” Vond said, “that any who wish to leave are free to go, but that those who stay, and who please me, will be richly rewarded.”
Hesitantly, Sterren translated this speech into Semmat as best he could.
The seven who understood looked at one another, clearly considering the offer. Kyrina looked at the warlock carefully for a long moment, then turned and strode for the exit.
Vond waved a hand, and the great double doors swung wide to let her pass.
Another woman, a noblewoman this time, hesitantly followed her.
One of the five who did not understand Semmat seemed to catch on, and literally ran out the door.
Others followed, each after her own fashion, until five remained, three of whom spoke Semmat. The five eyed each other warily.
Sterren watched them, puzzled. Why had these five stayed? None of them was starving; in fact, two of the five were dressed very well indeed. They should not be so desperate as to choose slavery, and surely concubinage, in this case, was a form of slavery.
Perhaps, he thought, they didn’t trust Vond to keep his word, and feared he would take revenge upon them if they left. Certainly, all five looked somewhat nervous.
Or perhaps they didn’t see it the way he did. They might see sharing Vond’s bed as a route to power and wealth. If that was it, Sterren was sure they were wrong.
Or perhaps it was just curiosity or a sexual interest in the warlock. Sterren hadn’t really given the matter much thought, but he supposed Vond was attractive enough, and there were always stories about magicians. For himself, Sterren could see no reason a knowledge of arcane skills should imply a knowledge of erotic skills, but there were always stories.
Most likely, he thought, it was a combination of all of these that kept the five of them in the audience chamber. He found that unappealing, and decided he did not care to watch any further. He started to turn away.
“Sterren,” Vond said, “I need you to translate!”
He had forgotten that. He turned back, reluctantly. “Couldn’t one of your servants do that?”
“You’re here; they aren’t. Besides, you speak Ethsharitic better than any of them.”
Sterren had to admit that this was true.
“Let’s start with their names,” the warlock said, waving a hand at the women.
Sterren did the best he could, given that only three of the women spoke Semmat; a fourth spoke Ophkaritic, the fifth Ksinallionese. One of the Semman women knew a few words of Ksinallionese, and the Ksinallionese spoke some Ophkaritic, so that nobody was totally cut off.
And of course, gestures and facial expressions conveyed plenty of information as well.
After half an hour or so, Vond chose the Ksinallionese to take a stroll with him and become better acquainted, and Sterren escaped with a sigh of relief, while one of the palace servants, summoned by Vond’s magic, escorted the other four to the apartments they were henceforth to share.
Sterren made his way out the citadel’s main gate and looked down Vond’s artificial hill at the surrounding countryside.
The land had turned green with spring, and the peasants were out in the fields, tending their crops. The sky was a radiant crystal blue, with a handful of soft white clouds sailing like white-robed wizards across it.
A party of a dozen or so men was marching up the road toward the gate. Four of them were Vond’s red-tunicked palace guards, and the rest were in rags.
Sterren saw to his horror th
at the ragged ones were in chains. Most of them looked resigned, but two or three looked terrified.
“Hai,” he called. “What’s going on?”
The foremost guard saw him, acknowledged his presence with a bow, and called back one word.
Sterren did not catch it; the guard’s accent distorted his Ethsharitic beyond easy comprehension.
“What?” Sterren called back.
“Slaves!” the soldier repeated. “We bring slaves!”
“What for?” Sterren asked, as he and the guard approached each other.
The guard spread his hands in the Ksinallionese equivalent of a shrug. “The Great Vond ordered,” he said.
“Where did these people come from?” Sterren persisted.
The guard hesitated; clearly, his Ethsharitic was not very good. “We go to Akalla, buy them, bring them back,” he explained slowly.
Sterren stopped and stepped aside as the party marched up past him. He watched them go without interfering.
At least they had been slaves already, and not innocent peasants Vond had had enslaved.
In fact, he supposed that it was perfectly reasonable for Vond to keep slaves, but Sterren found it a little hard to accept. For most of his life he had been far more likely to deal with slavers as merchandise than as a customer. He had never quite been reduced to sleeping on the city streets, which would have made him fair game for the slavers, and he had never been caught stealing, which could also put cuffs on a person, but those had always been closer than the sort of wealth that would include buying anyone.
He had known a few slaves, either before or after their enslavement. He had never exchanged more than a few polite words with a slave-owner—except Vond.
Or, he suddenly realized, perhaps King Phenvel; some of his castle servants might well be owned, rather than hired.
He watched the slaves march into the palace.
Vond was buying slaves and acquiring a harem. Was this necessarily tyranny? After all, he bought his slaves on the market, and his chosen concubines were there voluntarily.
No, Sterren decided, it wasn’t tyranny—but it wasn’t a good sign, either.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Vond conquered Thanoria on the sixteenth of Greengrowth, 5221. He took a sixnight or so to consolidate his conquest this time, taking care of details he had been rather haphazard about in dealing with Semma, Ksinallion, and Ophkar. He arranged for taxes to be paid into his imperial treasury, appointed provincial officials from the former royal government, selected candidates for his harem, and so forth.
The Unwilling Warlord Page 25