by Scott Rhine
Niftkin nodded. “Technically, all of them belong to the crown now as reparation, but the emperor likes to gift his dancers with animals to care for. I’ll see that your Kitten is taken care of. In exchange for that, do you know anything about planning an expedition?”
The prisoner laughed. “A bit, lad. It’s a sorry lardhead indeed that sets off without freshwater barrels.”
“Why is that?” asked Pinetto.
“Because the sea of Archanos is saltwater, not fresh like ours. You’d go mad if you drank it.”
“Yeah. A list of standard supplies would be good. What job do you do here in prison?”
“I feed the other prisoners—not much different than the zoo, heh.”
“So you know a little about the others?”
“Why?”
“Anyone you’d like to see on the journey?” asked the wizard.
Murali scratched his stubble. “There’s a smuggler I met who was really a spear fisherman. When war broke out, he didn’t pay the increased bribes at the Crooked Island.”
“It’s an island in the Tamarind River delta. Technically it’s frontier land, but the same Zanzibos family has been running the trading post for years. They slapped him with arms-running charges and made them stick.”
“How is that Imperial jurisdiction?” asked Pinetto.
Niftkin said, “He had a harpoon with a head bigger than his hand. It violates the honor rule of Imperial weapon registration.”
Tashi shrugged. “I guess. We lost one of our sailors, so we should replace him with someone who knows the territory. Think big, though. Is there any talent in the prison that you’d want if you were running things?”
“Anyone? Baba Nesu. I’m no good with bureaucrats, or I wouldn’t be in here. Old Nesu could slip us through the checkpoints like a watermelon seed through wet fingers.”
Niftkin shook his head. “Bad idea. That guy’s on death row. He took twenty years and the cooperation of three kingdoms to catch. He’s in the bottommost cell in this place.”
Tashi smiled. “The boss man said we could pick anyone. What’s the criminal in for?”
“Tax evasion.”
“Pull the other one.” Tashi laughed.
Niftkin shook his head. “We have to keep a gag on him. He’s already talked his way out once.”
“What’s the Baba in his name for?” asked Pinetto.
The inmate shrugged. “That’s usually a title of respect for a teacher or sage, someone you go to in order to solve problems.”
Tashi laughed. “A person criminals go to?”
“I want to offer him a chance to come along,” said Pinetto, “for no other reason than it’ll give Sarajah a taste of her own medicine.”
“Let’s hurry up; I’m hungry. I want to grab some lunch before your training session.”
****
Over their two-hour lunch with Pagaose, Tashi ate more food than three normal men would while the emperor continued to read the Book of Dawn, marking the margins with notes. Pinetto carried most of the conversation as young ladies trickled in. “Baba Nesu is a genius. We should make him finance minister.”
Nightglow said, “He’s not noble. The College would never allow that.”
“He’s a philosopher, and he’s read everything. He could go toe to toe with Simon the Builder.”
Bovinia’s appetite made the former troll slow down to stare.
Pagaose told Pinetto, “We’ll see after he completes the mission. Meanwhile, I’ve highlighted the areas likely to give Lord Ashford fits, but I have an idea. You should add a line here about woman being treated equal to men.”
“The original doesn’t say that.”
When the emperor pointed out the section of text to Pinetto, Tashi whispered to the girl from Mandibos, “Sauce.”
“Where?”
He pointed to his face, chest, and both hands. As an afterthought, he touched his hair, and this spurred the girl to leave for the powder room.
Pagaose insisted, “It summarizes the concepts of this whole page. You could make it a subheading. Then let Ashford force you to take the words out.”
“Leaving the ideas unchanged.”
“Precisely. I approve the first two levels of the Book of Dawn for use in instruction. There are a few . . . enhancements I can suggest, but we can add these later. Make eight copies for our libraries before you leave. Scribbles can arrange for this.” Pagaose handed the book back to Pinetto.
Once the ambassador’s daughter was gone, Tashi said, “I don’t mean to pry. Bovinia has a beautiful face. What does his majesty see in such a young girl?”
Pagaose said, “She has vast . . .” He paused a heartbeat too long.
“Tracts of land?” suggested Komiko.
“Vocabulary of curse words?” offered Nightglow.
“Knowledge of animal husbandry?” said Ember.
“Target on her back?” whispered Pinetto. “Remind me never to leave this room.”
Lady Evershade came into the room with tea service for the emperor. “Girls, we must maintain decorum. As your chaperone, I implore you to behave as ladies in word and deed at all times. The purity commission is most strict on these matters. A coarse word from a prominent figure such as yourselves could cause insult to our friends across the sea and result in a lean spring. When she returns, I insist that each of you says something complimentary to her.”
In a bright, red dress, she bent over in front of him to pour a cup of tea for everyone, and Pagaose felt the stirrings again. To dampen these smoldering feelings before they got started, he put his hand in his pocket in order to clasp the carving. His hand brushed the peacock feather instead, throwing oil on the spark. He contemplated some way he would be allowed to bite that behind like an apple.
Ember whined, “How am I supposed to find something nice to say about her?”
“A lady of breeding always has a store of vague pleasantries to draw upon,” she countered. “I’ll bet his highness could come up with one in an instant.”
Caught completely off guard, he muttered, “Apples.”
“Pardon?”
“Cheeks. Cheeks like apples, teeth like their blossoms.”
Lady Evershade swept her arm wide. “You see, his highness knows how to make a woman feel wanted.”
You have no idea.
She excused herself to write invitations and plan seating. As Pagaose watched the widow leave, her daughter said, “I’m surprised that she didn’t complain to all of you about how she has no decent quills for correspondence. The accountants steal all hers.”
Remembering the rule from the dream, Pagaose said, “Scribbles, that white peacock in our courtyard, is it rare?”
“The only one on the islands, sire.”
“Pluck a single feather from its tail and gift it to Lady Evershade for her unflagging efforts.”
“Very good, sire.”
****
On their way to the beach, Pinetto, Tashi, the ladies, and their entourage of guards picked up a few young aristocrat boys. “Look at the new dean.”
“Where did he graduate from? I’m Too Stupid to Move Somewhere Warm University?”
“He’s married some Kiateran.”
“Don’t they all have beards?”
“That smell like beer!”
Pinetto smiled and replied, “That’s my housekeeper, Hildegard. Besides, kissing a beard isn’t always bad.”
The girls giggled; Bovinia roared the loudest. When one of the boys made an obscene gesture, she held up her pinky and said, “I think this is more like yours.”
By then, they’d reached the beach and large, tanned gang members formed a wall. Ember cocked her head and told the beach crowd, “I’m taking some heroes of the north to get some advice from Frond. Keep these wet noodles out of our faces.”
Just when he was feeling cocky, Ember told Pinetto, “Don’t pick up any glass you find on the beach; it might be carrying spirits. If you get stung by a jelly, lay over your board and yel
l for help. That way, when the paralysis sets in, you won’t drown.”
However, Frond was busy holding court, so Tashi decided to start the lesson while they waited. “Pagaose always lectures about things like: go with the flow and don’t fight it. Roll with the energies. Do not rage—until you can. This is excellent advice when you’re faced with a superior opponent or surprised.”
Pinetto asked, “Why does he want me to learn to take a fall first?”
“In your life you’ll fall or get pushed a lot. We can practice it in soft sand. Learn how to survive and turn it to your advantage.”
The young wizard had the basics down when the old man with the big, floppy hat stepped out of the hut. “Why are you ruining the harmony on my beach?” Frond snapped.
Tashi opened his mouth, and the rich eccentric said, “Didn’t ask you. I asked the one spitting sand.”
“The emperor said I need to learn something from you. I sleepwalk . . .”
“The mind is a dog chasing its own tail. Shut up and grab a board.”
When he started to object, Ember slapped a paddleboard into his hands. Pinetto’s cape flew back and his hands struggled to hold the board. Tashi removed the cape for him and handed it to the old man for safekeeping. Tashi explained, “The boards are warded to keep away stray spirits in case they blow in with the storm. The tattoos help prevent attacks, too.”
Ember stripped down to her silk frillies and ran past into the waves. “Hurry up.”
Tashi blinked before stripping down to his own breeches.
“I’m a married man,” complained Pinetto watching the girls shed their excess clothing to go swimming.
Frond smacked him on the back of the head and said, “Stop thinking!”
“Nice ink,” Tashi said, complimenting the large man who handed him a beginner board.
“Nice scars,” the man countered.
They paired up and the beach crowd taught them the basics of surfing. Niftkin and his men watched from the fringes; although, Pinetto grew suspicious when the head guard brought Nightglow her third towel.
Tashi was a natural at most things physical, but the board kept throwing him. Frond shouted, “Ember, teach him to bodysurf for an hour, and then try again.”
As the day wore on, the wind and waves picked up. Pinetto finally caught his first wave and rode it halfway to shore. He swam the rest of the way in to the teacher. “Did you see that?”
“Do you feel different?”
Pinetto blinked. “Not as charged or tense.”
The old man popped him in the center of the forehead with a finger. “In here.”
“Ouch.”
“When you’re one with the wave, it’s quiet.”
“Oooh. But how do I ride a wave in our lake in Kiateros?”
“Ride another one before you ask me.”
They kept riding until sundown. Pinetto came up to Frond out of breath and said, “I get it, I just need to remember this inner quiet, and I can shut off the thing that was collecting energy all the time. I just need to learn how to attain—”
“Shh,” said the old man. He pointed to bubbles in the sand that formed when the tide went back out. “You know what this means?”
“Clams?”
“Clam bake!” shouted the old man. People scrambled over with bamboo shovels. Others brought a pot and driftwood. Everyone in the large group worked with practiced precision. Pinetto said, “Allow me,” and lit the fire, impressing everyone. By dark, they had all dined on a local clam dish. The dancers dried themselves by the blue-tinged bonfire and put street clothing back on.
“I’m so full and exhausted I can’t move,” complained Tashi.
“You can sleep here in the hut,” offered Frond. He handed Pinetto’s cloak back. “I have to go home. You are worthy students. Accept your practice boards as my gift. Perhaps you can use them in the Archanos Ocean.”
A few of the locals offered to engrave Tashi with their gang tattoo as his rite of passage. “I don’t think the emperor or queen would appreciate that, but maybe some kind of water symbol.”
Pinetto brightened. “Oh! The symbol for waterfall on the battle map. That way it can be a memorial for your mastery of water as well as your victory over two hundred soldiers.”
“I will if you will. You did the same things.”
The wizard pondered for a moment. This would likely be his last wild day as a bachelor. “I’d like that.” Pinetto drew the symbol in the sand for the artist.
The man with the needle asked, “Two hundred soldiers?”
They told the story again while they had their shoulders inked.
Chapter 22 – Night Magic
Tashi lay in the hut, too tired to walk back to the palace. “I think I’ll heal better under the stars. I’m still sore from the transformation. Every time someone clapped me on the back today, it hurt.”
“It might be sunburn,” Pinetto said, “but . . . since I haven’t discharged today, sleeping on the sand is safest.”
The surfer boys went home, leaving the dancer girls and a few guards around the fire. Pinetto walked the seven paces to join them.
The faculty witch with glasses, Komiko, was passing around a bottle of rice wine, offering it to Ember more often than the others. “So, Dean Pinetto, what’s your magic specialty?”
“Um . . . unified theological theory with specialization in power mechanics and feminocentric transference techniques.”
“What?”
“Gods, you make everything boring. Show them the cape,” bellowed Tashi trundling over to the fire.
Pinetto rolled his eyes. “Fine. Ember, put your board here in the light where everyone can see it.” When she did so, he performed several minor feats of levitation for the audience.
“A circus performer?” asked Komiko.
“Applied repulsion theory. Ember, lay down on my cape. We’re going to wrap you tightly in it; do not move. Niftkin, grab her ankles.”
“I will,” said Komiko. “I want to see how you do this trick.”
“Hold me tight,” Ember said, eyeing the fire nervously.
“Balance her just over the ward on the board, and presto,” he said, removing his hands from her shoulders. The girl was prone, suspended a span off the ground with only the witch holding her ankles.
“This is magic,” gasped Komiko as she felt the active repulsion.
“Duh,” Pinetto said. Ember laughed so hard she fell sideways into the sand.
The witch fussed over the girl. Assured that Ember was unharmed, Komiko examined the cape. Pinetto handed her the shard of storm crystal from his pouch. “Use this and you’ll see that the grid is active.”
The shard glowed when waved over his six-pointed ward, and nowhere else.
“I’m impressed,” Komiko admitted.
“That wand you have is worth over seven years’ of farm work,” noted Bovina loudly. “I wouldn’t walk around with it after dark.”
“After dark is when I need it most, milady.”
“Where most people draw a simple circle, you put a squiggle through the center, like two tadpoles circling,” said Ember. “I’ve seen tattoos like this before, but I don’t know what it means.”
“This represents the man and the woman entwined, the night and day, two parts of a whole.”
“The ward is very strong for being on all day,” said Komiko.
“Twelve days. It’s about half strength now.”
Tashi bore witness. “He hasn’t charged it since.”
“Your wardsmanship is fantastic,” said Ember. “You should teach it!”
Komiko grabbed his arm. “I’d be your assistant, even change schools to learn this.”
“I was only a third year before the war, and I made a few discoveries.”
“Don’t tell them that. Let them think you came out of nowhere.”
“I couldn’t teach. We’re leaving soon. I’m no professor.”
“But you have to teach something. Pagaose’s changing the ru
les. No students means no funding. You’d lose your council seat.”
“I don’t know.”
Still in awe, Ember said, “People would climb over each other to learn this technique.”
“Darn close,” said Tashi with a chuckle. “It’s sex power.”
Bovinia giggled loudly. “You’re just saying this to cover someone.”
“What?” asked Pinetto.
“You know, insemin-eminate,” said the tipsy farm girl.
“No, I’m happily married to my magic partner and need no others.”
“If this is true, you’ve opened a whole new field of the magic arts. You have to share it before you leave, in case you’re killed,” Komiko insisted. “Just do a one-hour class for the upperclassmen and I’ll repeat it until you return.”
Pinetto pulled back. “Even with my partner, I couldn’t demonstrate a simple three-pointer in less than two hours.”
She prostrated herself at his feet. “I humbly beg to be your apprentice.”
“What I really want to tell you about is power mechanics and the Book of Archanon—that’s the real power.”
“We need at least twenty students willing to pay for your class tomorrow. I’ll handle the curriculum, the politics, everything. Just tell me one secret,” the witch begged.
“I suppose I could sketch the theory and any reasonably competent ward caster could fill in the rest.”
“Pretend we’re your class,” said Nightglow, eager to hear more.
“Explain it like you would to Legato,” hinted Tashi.
Pinetto winced. “We begin with the principle that the creative force of women is far stronger than the methods of pain and fear ward schools have been teaching for years. This cloak is proof.”
Ember asked, “Is this what the Church of Archanos teaches?”
“Among other things.”
Nightglow chimed in. “I heard they preach equality between the sexes, but the Council is cutting that part out of their books.”
“They’re holding us back? Oppressing women because they know we’re stronger?”