The Edge of the World

by Kevin J. Anderson

  "No. We have met before." Aldo was pleased to keep Dolicar off guard. "What is it you want of me? I have much work to do." He didn't go into further detail about how the man had taken advantage of him, duped him with a counterfeit map, made Aldo excited about possibilities that were, in fact, a lie.

  Recovering with a proud flourish, accustomed to pressing ahead in spite of his listeners' suspicions, Dolicar produced an intriguing metal cylinder from within his tunic. "I have traveled from the soldanates of Uraba and survived many perils to bring

  this to you. I accepted this dangerous mission from a Saedran woman named Sen Sherufa na-Oa--and here I am."

  Aldo blinked. Sen Sherufa! How could Dolicar know her name, and Aldo's connection to her, unless there was some kernel of truth to what this man said?

  He reached out for the cylinder, and Yal Dolicar pulled it back. "A certain financial arrangement was made. I received a partial payment for expenses before I departed from Olabar, and Sen Sherufa promised me an additional one hundred silver pieces upon delivery of this item."

  "One hundred silver pieces--did she, now?" Aldo was no longer the gullible man Dolicar had once duped. "Then let me see what I am paying for."

  Grudgingly, the man handed him the cylinder. Aldo read the engraved markings and deciphered the instructions on how to work the locking mechanism along with its carefully set combination. The inscription in Saedran characters convinced him the message was real. He smirked. "Forgive me, Yal Dolicar, but this says I am to pay you fifty silver pieces, not one hundred."

  "That's not true!" Dolicar protested, but without much conviction.

  Aldo pointed to the incomprehensible letters, and he could tell by Dolicar's face that he would not further argue the point. "Wait here." He left Dolicar standing on the threshold. When it looked as if he might presume to step inside, Aldo closed the door in his face. The man wouldn't leave without his money.

  Aldo's family kept some of their own funds in the house, and he withdrew the appropriate number of coins, put the rest back, and rearranged the books and furniture, so that an observant man like Dolicar would not guess where the money was hidden. He opened the door, and Dolicar held out his hand, patient

  I

  THE EDGE OF THE WORLD 559

  and content. Aldo counted out the coins. "There--forty silver pieces."

  "We agreed that I am to receive fifty!" Dolicar sounded annoyed.

  "Yes, fifty silver pieces -- but I have deducted ten silvers for the false map you sold me when I was a young man." Dolicar blinked, drew a quick breath and recovered himself. "I sold you a map? I am sure you are mistaken." "I'm sure I am not. You made a fool out of me then, but you also taught me a lesson."

  "Ah, I vaguely remember it now." He ran a finger along his lips. "So that map was false? I assure you, the man who gave it to me was quite believable." "You said you drew it yourself."

  "Then perhaps the lesson I taught you was worth ten silver pieces?" He sounded unreasonably hopeful.

  "No."

  Dolicar shrugged. "All right then, forty silver pieces, damn you. You've taught me a lesson, too--never deal with Saedrans." Aldo took Sherufa's sealed cylinder, and the man walked away in a huff. Once he was alone, Aldo followed the instructions and worked the container's clever mechanism. He noticed numerous tiny scratch marks around the side and the seal, which suggested that Yal Dolicar must have tried to foil the locks himself. Aldo opened the cylinder and reached inside, his pulse pounding. He drew out a few pages of tightly rolled parchment and unfurled them to reveal a map showing the coastline of a strange land, as well as a letter that Sen Sherufa had written him. She described her journey across the Great Desert, the discovery of the new land to the south, and the unexpected coastline and another whole sea! Aldo stared, taken aback. It was too

  fantastic to be true. The continent of Uraba was far larger than anyone had ever guessed.

  He and Sherufa had already redefined their perception of the world and greatly expanded the Mappa Mundi, but this discovery went beyond anything he had ever dreamed. Now that the Arkship had been destroyed, he would not be going on his long awaited voyage of discovery... at least not soon.

  But this sketch changed everything. Aldo rolled the map, reinserted it into the cylinder, and sealed the end. Then he ran to the Saedran temple to see Sen Leo.

  125

  Olabar

  Not caring that she was covered with blood, Istar turned on the dock to face all the frightened fishermen, merchants, customers, and the horrified handmaidens who had accompanied Cliaparia. She felt cold, impenetrable, and utterly justified in her actions.

  She looked down at her hands, saw the red wetness coating her blade and her fingers. Almost casually she tossed the knife into the water, where it sank near the net-wrapped body of the treacherous woman.

  Istar had killed more than her baby's murderer--she had killed the anger and grief within her. She had purged herself of vengeance, hatred, all emotion whatsoever, like a torch that had flared brightly in a wind gust, then flickered and died. The woman she truly was, a woman named Adrea, had perished long ago in a raid on Windcatch. The best part of her had not survived that day.

  m

  THE EDGE OF THE WORLD

  561

  All the subsequent years in Uraba had a strange dreamlike quality. She had made hard choices to protect Saan, but he was a strong young man who could fend for himself and make his own decisions. He had a life, thanks to her, though it was not the life she would have chosen for him. From now on, Istar did not, in fact, feel she had any stake in what might happen to him.

  Leaving the horrified audience and the bloody stain in the water beside the pilings, she walked back off the pier to be enfolded in the winding streets of the bazaar. She realized how ruthless she had become, and it made her feel hollow.:

  Far behind her, one of the handmaidens screamed again. Istar turned a corner and walked deeper into the labyrinth.

  Over the years, she had learned from Omra; he had taught her to accept the requirements of survival without regard for her passions or her heart's voice. She had learned how to protect herself and her family... except that she had failed baby Criston. She had just discovered that she could commit murder without hesitation and without remorse, when necessary. Both Altiara and Cliaparia were dead at her hands, within the space of hours.

  That would have been inconceivable to the bright-eyed young woman named Adrea, who had waved goodbye to her brave young sailor in Calay.

  Hushed voices followed her through the marketplace, rumors spreading with the speed of a furious squall. Her golden-brown hair was unkempt. Crimson stains covered her clothes. She wandered like a lost woman, seeing little, as she headed in the vague direction of the Olabar palace. People shrank back into doorways as she passed. Merchants ducked into the shadows beneath their awnings.

  Istar stopped next to a purveyor of exotic items to get her

  bearings, to think. The man looked at her nervously but did not speak, did not offer his wares. On the table beneath his purple silk awning, he displayed odd trinkets, mystical pieces of twisted driftwood, coral-encrusted artifacts retrieved from sunken ships, all manner of flotsam and jetsam tossed up by the vagaries of the sea.

  Her eyes were drawn by one particular item--a rolled up, water-stained letter inside a chipped and dirty glass bottle. Something tugged at her--the handwriting was in the Tierran language, words that had become unfamiliar to her for so long. She reached out to touch it. The mostly dried blood on her fingers left a faint red smudge on the side of the bottle. She removed the cork, pulled the brittle papers out and unrolled them.

  Stammering but falling back into his old habits, the merchant said, "It is a letter found floating in the sea. But it hasn't been translated, since nobody can read the Aidenist scrawl."

  Many of the words had faded with time and the elements, but she could read what it said. She saw a strand of golden hair clinging to one of the pages.

  She knew
the hand that had written it.

  Swept away, her mind floated in even greater disbelief. She was stunned. She drank in the longing thoughts that Criston had written to her--to her! Her long-lost dear sweet Griston. According to the date, the letter had been written only three years earlier. Three years! He still remembered her.

  She picked up the letter, holding it, reading the lines over and over again. Criston! The ice in her heart shattered and melted. The hollowness in her chest was filled by a sudden crashing tide of emotion.i

  As abruptly as she had lost everything, surrendered everything, Istar--Adrea--realized how much she had truly lost, how much had been taken from her. She clutched the papers to her

  breast and closed her eyes as tears trickled out from beneath her eyelids, tears of both sadness and joy. Tears of longing. Tears of hope.

  126

  Calay

  When he arrived back in the capital city, Criston Vora felt as if he had emerged newborn and infinitely changed from a long sleep within a chrysalis. He made his way to King Korastine's castle, carrying only his satchel with a few belongings. He had trimmed his beard and hair and washed himself, but it was the expression on his face that captivated the eyes of those who saw him, like a lodestone's hold on a floating needle.

  He squared his shoulders and stood unhurried and unconcerned as he presented himself to the guards at the gate. "I seek an audience with King Korastine. My name is Griston Vora, and I sent a letter to the king years ago. I am the last and only survivor of the Luminara expedition. And I have a tale to tell him. I think he would like to hear it."

  Wandering through Calay, he had seen the burned wreck of the Arkship and learned of the king's continued dreams of exploration. Criston considered it a sign. So the dream did not die with the Luminara.

  He was led into the castle's throne room, where the weary looking king sat on his blockish throne beside Princess Anjine in a gilded chair that had been raised to the same height on the platform. On her lap sprawled a mottled cat, whose golden eyes watched the activity in the room.

  Criston formally bent his knee and bowed his head. People

  from the castle rushed into the chamber, chattering about who the mysterious stranger claimed to be.

  "Majesty, a dozen years ago, I set sail with Captain Andon Shay aboard the Luminara, but our ship was destroyed by the Leviathan." An astonished reaction rippled throughout the room, but Korastine merely watched him. "The crew was lost, but I was eventually rescued by Soeland whalers. I made it back to my village of Windcatch, only to find that Urecari raiders had wrecked my life at home, killed my friends. My wife was gone, either taken or killed."

  Anjine spoke up. "Where have you been all this time? We knew from our ship model that the Luminara had been destroyed, and we received a letter--"

  "That was my letter, a long time ago." Criston hung his head. "I could not bear to come to you in person, until now." He didn't elaborate.

  "We have all been scarred in many ways." Korastine called for food and wine, then shouted, "Send for Sen Leo na-Hadra. He will want to hear this as well. We read your letter, but didn't know how much to believe."

  "Believe all of it." He reached into his pack and removed the battered, leather-bound book of Captain Shay's sea-serpent sketches.

  Criston had known he would need to recount his story of the voyage, the sea serpents, the island of skeletons and their never ending war, the Leviathan. He would have to tell about being cast adrift with Prester Jerard, then being pulled along by the black sea serpent. He had rehearsed his words many times, and now he was prepared to lay them out like a supplicant offering a confession. There would be time, and there would be many questions.

  While he waited, servants set up a table for the food. Curiosity seekers gathered in the doorways to listen. Criston slung his pack

  off his shoulder and opened it to withdraw his detailed hand carved models of new ship designs. He presented the models to the king. "I know of your Arkship project, Majesty. I come not only to offer you my story, but my services as well. I have already been to the edge of the world. If that is where you need to go again, then I want to be part of the expedition."

  ABILAN one of the soldanates of Uraba.

  ADREA wife of Criston Vora.

  ADREALA first daughter of Adrea by Omra.

  AIDEN one of the two brothers who sailed from Terravitae to

  discover the world. The descendants of his crew populated

  Tierra. AIDEN'S LIGHTHOUSE a tall lighthouse on the western side

  of Ishalem.

  AIDENIST follower of the Book of Aiden. ALAMONT one of the five reaches of Tierra, rich agricultural

  land led by Destrar Shenro.

  ALDO NA-CURIC young Saedran, chosen as a chartsman. ALTIARA one of Istar's handmaidens in the Olabar court. ANDOUK soldan of Yuarej, father of Cliaparia. ANJINE the daughter of King Korastine. ARKSHIP ancient vessel wrecked in Ishalem, believed to be ;¦ the original vessel belonging either to Aiden or Urec. ARIKARA capital city of Missinia.

  ASHA second wife of Soldan-Shah Imir, a lover of animals. ASADDAN Nunghal refugee who crossed the Great Desert to

  Missinia.

  ATTAR soldan of Outer Wahilir, cousin of Soldan Huttan.

  BAINE prester-marshall of the Aidenist church; he called for

  further exploration of the world. BARTHO father of Prester Hannes. BIENTO NA-CURIC Saedran painter, Aldo's father. BOOKOFAIDEN Aidenist holy book. BORA'S BASTION capital city of Alamont Reach. BORNAN, EREO father of Mateo, a captain in the royal

  guard who died saving the king. BORNAN, MATEO ward of King Korastine, raised in the

  castle after his father was killed in the line of duty. BROECK destrar of Iboria Reach.

  BURILO the son of the Missinia soldan, Xivir, Omra's cousin. CALAVIK capital city of Iboria Reach. CALAY capital city of Tierra.

  CAPTAIN'S COMPASS a compass that always points home. CHARTSMAN a Saedran navigator possessing perfect

  memory. CIARLO brother of Adrea, lame in one leg. He mends fishnets,

  and is studying to become a prester.

  CIMDOJV Criston Vora's small boat, named after his father. CITHARA daughter of Cliaparia and Omra. CLIAPARIA Omra's second wife. COMDAR leader of Tierran army and navy. CORAG one of the five reaches of Tierra, a mountainous region

  led by Destrar Siescu. CUAR Uraban unit of currency. DELNAS, COMDAR leader of the Tierran military. DESTRAR the leader of one of the five Tierran reaches. DIREC NA-TAYA Saedran candlemaker in Ishalem. DOLICAR, YAL a confidence man willing to take on any job. DOLPHIN'S WAKE merchant ship.

  EDICT LINE the boundary agreed to by the leaders of Tierra

  and Uraba, dividing the world in half. ERIETTA one of the five reaches of Tierra, mainly rangeland,

  led by Destrar Unsul.

  ERIMA ur-sikara from Lahjar, successor to Lukai. EYEOFUREC symbol painted on the sails of Uraban ships. ; FARPORT capital city of Soeland Reach. FASHIA the wife of Urec. FENNAN prester in the village of Windcatch.

  M; FILLOK brother ofthesoldan of Outer Wahilir, killed in an ill advised raid against a Tierran trading ship. FISHHOOK Tierran trading ship captained by Andon Shay. FRANCOSI new captain of the Dolphin's Wake. _., FYIRI young sikara. "¦ GILADEN Uraban ambassador who brokered the Edict.

  GOLDEN FERN fern with mythic properties, supposedly planted by Urec before he became the Traveler. Anyone who finds the fern is destined for greatness.

  I GREAT DESERT arid wasteland in the south of Uraba. GREMURR secret Uraban mines on the northern coast of the

  Middlesea, in Tierran territory.

  HANNES prester assigned to live among the Urecari to observe K their culture.

  HUTTAN soldan of Inner Wahilir, cousin of Soldan Attar. IBORIA one of the five reaches of Tierra, the region to the far

  north, led by Destrar Broeck. ILNA NA-CURIC younger sister of Aldo. ILRIDA daughter of Destrar Broeck, second wife of King

  Korastine.

  IMIR the soldan-shah of
the Urabans, father of Omra. INNER WAHILIR one of the soldanates of Uraba.

  ISHALEM the holy city, site of the wrecked Arkship, considered the center of both the Aidenist and Urecari religions.

  ISTALA second daughter of Adrea by Omra.

  ISTAR young wife of Zarif Omra.

  JERARD old prester serving aboard the Luminara.

  JIKARIS khan of the Nunghal-Ari.

  JORON the third son of Ondun, who remained behind in Terravitae when Aiden and Urec sailed away.

  KEL rank of captain in the soldan-shah's army.

  KELPLILIES flowers on the migratory seaweed that drifts into the Windcatch harbor.

  KEMM one of Anjine's handmaidens.

  KHENARA port city on the Oceansea coast of Uraba.

  KIRAGLE Korastine's father, previous king of Tierra.

  KIRK Aidenist church.

  KJELNAR Iborian shipwright.

  KORASTINE the king of Tierra, father of Anjine.

  LAHJAR port city on Oceansea coast of Uraba, the farthest settlement south.

  LANDING DAY Aidenist festival commemorating the landing of Aiden's Arkship.

  LEO NA-HADRA, SEN old Saedran scholar, adviser of King Korastine, teacher of Aldo na-Curic.

  LIORAN, SEN chartsman aboard the Dolphin's Wake.

  LEVIATHAN terrible sea monster, possibly legendary.

  LITHIO first wife of Soldan-Shah Imir, mother of Omra.

  LOOM, THE a constellation.

  LUKAI ur-sikara of the Urecari church.

  LUMINARA magnificent exploration vessel dispatched from Tierra to discover the world.

  MAYVAR influential noble from Alamont, father of Queen Sena.

  MIDDLESEA vast sea to the east of Ishalem.

  MIROS nephew of an ancient rebellious destrar of Corag.

  MISSINIA one of the soldanates of Uraba.

  NAORI third wife of Soldan-Shah Omra.

  NIKOL NA-FENDA, SEN Saedran chartsman on the Luminara.

  NUNGH AL a race inhabiting the Uraban continent to the south of the Great Desert. They are composed of two branches, the nomadic Nunghal-Ari and the seafaring Nunghal-Su.