Pyramid Schemes

by Peter David

  What if she caused it?

  I had been walking quite briskly, but that stray thought brought me to a halt. If she had indeed raised the Rama, was it not entirely possible that he had learned many of his attitudes from her? Were there things she had said and done that had put him on this path where he felt more loyalty to ancient prophecies than he did to the lives of his people? Was it possible that she had somehow failed to teach the Rama to think for himself? Was she actually to blame somehow?

  No, that was ridiculous.

  Wasn’t it?

  I passed a guard and asked him for directions to Nuskin’s chambers. He pointed and indicated that it was down the hall, then a right, then the second door on the left. I nodded my thanks and headed where he had indicated.

  Even as I walked, my mind continued to spin. Was Nuskin going to be of any help? Or was I seriously barking up the wrong tree? Was I going to be consulting with the woman who was genuinely responsible for the creatures that the Rama and Clea had grown up into? For all I knew, the act of doing so might trigger some manner of fit or vengeance that she might try to take upon me. Anything was possible.

  I put all of that from my mind. I couldn’t second-guess my conversation with Nuskin. I saw her as an ally in all of this and I would get myself nowhere if I worried about what she might or might not say.

  I got to the door of her chambers. It was closed. I raised my fist to knock upon it, and then from within I heard a female voice cry out in what sounded like pain. I had no idea what was going on in there, but if she was being injured, beaten, perhaps killed, I was not going to accomplish anything by standing around on the other side of the door.

  Once upon a time, hearing someone in danger, my instinct would have been to turn and run the other way. Perhaps I might have summoned guards to show up and take care of what was going on. But I had come to like Nuskin, and if she was in some manner of jeopardy and I was on hand to provide assistance, then I was not going to hesitate to do so. In retrospect, that was an alarming development in my personality, but I suppose it could not be helped. Slowly but surely I was beginning to metamorphose into an actual hero.

  Naturally the fates, upon seeing this transition in my personality, felt compelled to remind me of the folly involved in such a change.

  I slammed my shoulder into the wooden door that prevented entrance into her chamber and at first it held. This surprised me; it indicated that the door was locked. Perhaps her assailant had entered and then bolted it behind him. I struck it again with even greater force and this time the door gave way to my assault against it. The door burst open and I half stumbled into the room, calling out her name even as I reached down to the dagger I kept on my hip. I had not expected to find myself heading into battle and so my bastard sword was back in my chamber, but the knife came with me everywhere. If nothing else, one never knew when one might encounter some bread that required carving.

  I yanked my blade from the scabbard and began to shout warnings, to whom I knew not since I had no clear idea what was transpiring. Then I skidded to a halt, realizing my error to my embarrassment, because there were two people upon the bed and they were engaged in the throes of what was obviously heated lovemaking. I could not have misinterpreted the situation more thoroughly, and I have no doubt that my face flushed red with chagrin.

  “Sorry,” I muttered, and was about to backpedal and vacate the room, leaving it to the pair of lovers upon the bed, when they sat up together and gaped at me. I stared back and my jaw dropped in shock.

  One of them was Nuskin, which I suppose I should have realized would be the case.

  The other was Simon.

  Chapter 10 Simon Says

  I could not believe what I was seeing. The man who had kidnapped us, the man who was threatening to kill us, was in bed with Nuskin? None of this made the slightest bit of sense.

  Anger threatened to overwhelm me at that juncture. If I had been wise, I would have sheathed the knife, but wisdom was no longer holding any sway in my mind. I swung my staff around and slammed shut the door as I drew closer, my face twisted in fury. “What was it?” I demanded. “Some sort of tortured joke? The entire kidnapping: you were working together? Are you out of your mind, Nuskin?”

  “It wasn’t like that!” she said, gathering the blankets around herself to protect what was left of her modesty. Then she sighed. “All right, it was like that. But we had to—”

  “To what? Trick me? Make me think that Simon and his men were going to kill me?”

  “That option is not entirely off the table,” said Simon. He had reached for his clothing, which was dangling off the edge of the bed and was slipping it on under the covers. As if I gave a damn what a naked man looked like.

  “Oh, shut up,” I snarled at him. “You threatened her and didn’t mean a word of it. How long have you two been together, eh?”

  They glanced at each other. “A year,” said Nuskin.

  “Year and a half, actually,” Simon corrected.

  I studied the both of them, endeavoring to get past the anger and try to deal with this logically. “You wanted my aid in convincing the Rama to…what? Stop killing the Shews? Free them, perhaps?”

  “That was the plan,” said Simon. He clearly was not thrilled to be admitting it, but obviously saw no choice.

  “Great plan, that. And it did not occur to you simply to ask me?”

  “Of course not.” Simon stepped out of the bed and I was reminded just how much bigger the man was than me. If we got into a battle right then, I would not wager heavily on my odds of defeating him. But that did not deter me the slightest in my fit of rage that was directed at him.

  “Why not?”

  “Because you are a stranger and we had no clue as to your plans.”

  “Then you could have asked,” I said, but I was addressing Nuskin rather than Simon. “You could have inquired as to my intent, instead of colluding with your lover and endeavoring to either frighten or pressure me into acceding to your desires.”

  “You’re right,” Nuskin said, lowering her head. At least she had the good taste to seem ashamed. “You are very right. I should not have…” Her voice trailed off and then she turned to Simon. “You need to leave. I need to speak with Apropos alone.”

  He began to bluster a response, but then he belatedly seemed to hear the determination in her voice and decided to give in to her request. He tossed me one final, annoyed look and then headed out, leaving Nuskin and me alone in her room.

  “Would you—?” and she spun her finger in a small circle. Realizing what she wanted me to do, I turned and presented my back to her. I listened as she clambered out of bed and heard the shuffling of cloth as she quickly clad herself. “All right,” she said finally and I turned to see that she was attired once more. “So… I suppose we should talk.”

  “I’m not entirely sure what there is to say.”

  She didn’t seem the least bit put out by my ire. Instead she gestured toward a short couch nearby, indicating that I should take a seat in it. I reluctantly did so, settling in. She remained standing, folding her arms across her breast. “Why did you come here?” she asked.

  It took me a moment to remember. “I wanted to discuss the Rama and Clea with you. But it doesn’t matter.”

  “No, it does,” she said firmly. She came and sat next to me. “What do you want to discuss about them?”

  I hesitated and then decided there was no reason I couldn’t be honest, at least about that. I told her quickly what had happened in my chambers minutes earlier. I felt slightly embarrassed over the circumstances of my love-making, but got past that as quickly as I could so that I could focus on Clea’s actions involving the slaying of the girl. Nuskin listened to all of it with her face carefully neutral. At one or two points she nodded but gestured for me to continue until I had managed to get through the entire story.

  “And so I decided to consult with you,” I said finally. “To learn why she would do this. Is she cold hearted? Indifferent?
Insane?”

  “Some of all three, I imagine,” said Nuskin after a few moments of consideration. “She simply does not prioritize human life in the same manner that you or I would. To her, humans exist simply as objects to be manipulated. Do you play chess, Apropos?”

  I blinked in surprise over the notion that the game had worked its way here to Rogypt. “Yes, of course.”

  “When you capture the pieces of other players…when you take them from the board…you are effectively terminating their existence. What else is death, really, except being removed from the board of life? Yet do you ever feel any compassion for them?”

  “No. Naturally not. They’re just playing pieces.”

  “Exactly. And I suspect that is how the Rama and Clea view the world around them. They see them as no different from playing pieces to be removed from the board as they see fit.”

  “But that’s ridiculous!” I protested. “Because when you’re done playing the game, the pieces just get put back, the same as before!”

  “And the Rama and Clea believe that anyone they kill will return in the next life. So that is why they are unconcerned about taking anyone’s life now. They just assume that they are sending them on their voyage into their next existence.”

  “That’s insane.”

  “No, that’s their religion.”

  There was something in the way she said that that caught my attention. “But not yours, is it. You’re Shewish, aren’t you.”

  Slowly she nodded. “Yes. I mean, I have never made a secret of it, but it is not something that I typically discuss. It’s a subject that the Rama can still be sensitive about, so I try to speak minimally about it.”

  “And you worked with Simon to try and convert me to your cause.”

  “From my understanding, you are already converted to our cause,” she pointed out. “You said that God spoke to you. Was that simply a lie on your part?”

  “No,” I said defensively. “Most definitely not. But I still have no idea how to convince the Rama to do what I wish. I had begun to think that perhaps marrying Clea and working my way in from the inside would be the way to go, but now I am not exactly convinced of that.”

  “It might be a way to proceed,” she said slowly.

  “Perhaps, but I’m not convinced.”

  “Do you have an alternative plan?”

  I shook my head. “Not really. I was hoping you might come up with something.”

  “Not readily. I have been an advisor to the Rama for the entirety of his life, and have not yet discerned a means by which I could convince him of my point of view.”

  “And I’m supposed to?”

  She shrugged. “God wants you to.”

  “It’s not as if He’s given me any guidance.”

  “Perhaps He expects you to think for yourself.”

  “Or perhaps He simply has no idea and expects me to come up with ideas that He Himself can’t even begin to conceive.”

  “That could be the case. It’s impossible to know how He thinks.”

  I growled low in my throat. The conversation was going nowhere. In fact, it was going in circles. I was no closer to coming to a conclusion than I had been earlier.

  “All right, then,” I said finally. “I will just have to go with the plan. To join with Clea in marriage and hope that I can use my new position to somehow influence her. But I am not enthused that the plan will succeed.”

  “Nor am I,” said Nuskin.

  The way she said that caught my attention. I stared fixedly at her and said, “What do you think will succeed?”

  “Honestly?”

  “That would be preferable, yes.”

  She paused and then said, “I think something very bad is going to happen. I think the prophecy is going to come true no matter what the Rama attempts to prevent it. I think the entirety of Rogypt is doomed to destruction, and there is nothing anyone can do to prevent it.”

  “What a cheery opinion,” I said.

  She shrugged. “You asked.”

  “That I did. And you are making me regret it.”

  She rose from the couch then and patted me on the shoulder. “The best of luck to you then, Apropos. I will be praying for success from you.”

  “But you won’t be counting on it.”

  “I have learned to count on nothing in my life.”

  I nodded, then got up from the couch and headed out the door.

  As I suspected, Simon was standing not far away.

  I stopped walking and we stared at each other. “Well,” I said after a time. “Are you here to threaten me once more? Or kidnap me? Or in some other way attempt to make my life more difficult?”

  “I am just here to remind you of what you’ve promised.”

  “A promise,” I reminded him, “that was obtained through trickery that you and Nuskin and who-knows-who-else conceived.” I cocked my head slightly. “Do the other Shews know of your alignment with her? Do they know that you sneak into the palace and have your way with Nuskin?”

  “Of course they do,” he said quickly, but far too quickly for me to readily believe him. I kept my gaze fixed upon him and he verified my suspicion by not being able to hold it, but instead dropping his eyes from mine.

  “I doubt that,” I said. “Furthermore, do I need to remind you that you are on my territory now. All I have to do is shout loudly that you are threatening me, and guards will show up to apprehend you. I could convince the Rama to have you executed immediately.”

  “Do it then,” he said challengingly. “Do it and prove that your promises mean nothing.”

  “Oh, my promises mean a great deal. But I never promised to keep you alive.”

  He began to respond, but then stopped when he realized that I was absolutely right. Then he shrugged. “That is true. Very well. Summon the guards and have me killed. You will doubtless sleep well tonight.”

  “And I will simultaneously then deprive Nuskin of your presence. You think I would do that to her?”

  “I don’t know what you would do, Apropos. I’m still waiting to see what steps you will take to keep your promise to us.”

  I glanced around to make certain that no one was listening, and then dropped my voice to a lower register. “What I have to,” I said. “And I expect you to tell the others of your associates to trust me. I don’t want to have to worry about being stolen away one night while I am attempting to do my best to free your people.”

  His jaw twitched slightly in irritation, and then he nodded. “As you wish.”

  I exhaled slowly. I was actually extremely relieved that Simon seemed to be content in acting in accord with my desires, whatever those might be. But I wasn’t about to show it. I felt that that would indicate weakness, and in dealing consistently with Simon, I could only do so if he respected me and my efforts. “Good,” I said, as Simon walked away from me without another word.

  I sagged against the wall then, unsure of where to go or what to do. I could have returned to Nuskin’s room, but I didn’t feel as if there was anything else to say to her.

  It was at that moment that Ahmway, with remarkable timing, found me in the corridor. “What do you need?” I said, anticipating his desire to bring me somewhere for some purpose.

  “The Rama wishes to see you.”

  “Fabulous,” I said. The Rama was absolutely the last person that I wanted to see right then, but I knew that I was not going to be given the option of turning down his invitation.

  So I followed Ahmway as he guided me to the Rama’s chamber. Moments later I was entering them, struck by the sheer size and majesty of it. I assumed that these were the traditional chambers of the Rama, and I had to say that they certainly had gone out of their way to make them appear as majestic as possible.

  The Rama was seated on a smaller version of the throne that was situated in his main room. It was not quite as majestic as the main throne, but it was still sizable and impressive. I could not help but notice that it was sufficiently tall that the Rama’s
feet did not quite reach the floor. Instead they dangled comically several inches above, and he was swinging them loosely as if he were a child sitting in a chair designed for adults. Which, I supposed, to some degree he was. Mane was standing near him, watching me with what seemed great fascination.

  “Apropos,” the Rama declared, “thank you for coming. It is time to discuss when you will marry my sister.”

  “Whenever you wish, Excellency,” I replied.

  “I was thinking in perhaps a week. I wish to make a vast celebration of it.” The Rama was leaning back in his throne, drumming his fingers absently. “The fact of the matter is that there are nearby nations with whom we are not on the best of relationships. I was thinking that it might be wise to use this opportunity to try and solidify relationships with our neighbors.”

  “That sounds like a plan. Are relationships dubious at the moment?”

  “They are always dubious,” Mane spoke up. “Rogypt is the mightiest empire in the east, and there are many who are jealous and suspicious of us. So it would benefit us tremendously if we could put an end to that. And we see this wedding as the ideal opportunity to do so.”

  “All right, then,” I said, feeling agreeable. “Make the arrangements and Clea and I will be happy to marry each other and present a united front.”

  “That is excellent,” said the Rama. Slowly he eased himself off the throne and walked carefully toward me. I remained where I was. Once he was within range of me, he made me feel most uncomfortable by throwing his arms around me and drawing me into a fervent embrace. “I am looking forward,” he whispered, “to you being my older brother.”

  “I’m happy to accommodate you, Rama.”

  The young man smiled up at me, and for a moment I actually entertained the notion that all this might genuinely turn out for the best. If I could manipulate the Rama’s obvious affection for me, I might well be able to accomplish the goals that had been set for me. It was entirely possible that I would be able to talk him into freeing the Shews after all. This insane plan might actually work.