by Peter David
Naturally it did not. Naturally it all fell horribly apart, as I should have known it would. I have to think that my advancing years was somehow diminishing my usual and typical sense of belief that the entirety of the world was out to make my life as miserable as possible.
I left the Rama then. Ahmway fell into step beside me and said, “Congratulations,” in a low voice.
“Thank you,” I said. I was going to ask him why he was congratulating me but then realized it was because I was supposed to be getting married. Foolish of me that I was not considering that something worth being congratulated for.
“The Rama’s idea of having all the leaders of various countries here is a good one. The people continue to remain uneasy over our fractious relations with our neighbors. Perhaps he will be able to settle matters.”
“That is certainly something to be hoped for.”
“But I doubt it.”
I frowned at Ahmway. “Why do you doubt it?”
“I just do,” said Ahmway, shrugging slightly. “It is not my belief that the Rama is capable of dealing with the other leaders in anything remotely approaching a decent and reasonable fashion. That is my concern. But it is possible that I will be surprised. That we will all be surprised.”
And we were. But not in any manner of a pleasant way.
I decided at that point to go to Clea’s quarters, and Ahmway led me there. I was beginning to get the hang of where everything was laid out in the vast palace, but it was nice to have Ahmway along to guide me just in case I wound up becoming misplaced.
Moments later I was standing outside her quarters. I cleared my throat and rapped on the door. “Come in, Apropos,” her voice floated to me. I cast a glance at Ahmway and then strode in while he remained outside.
She was inside, sitting at a desk, and she appeared to be rendering some sort of drawing upon parchment paper. I extended my neck to see it better and saw that she was making a sketch of me. It was of my head and upper shoulders, and it was not a bad likeness. I said as much.
“Thank you,” she said. She placed down the feathered quill she was using to make the sketch and fastened her gaze upon me. “What can I do for you?”
“Your brother is planning our wedding. He wishes us to get married within a week. I was simply checking with you to see if that is satisfactory to you.”
“Of course it is.” She continued to stare at me for a time and then she interlaced her fingers and tucked them under her chin. “Ask what you want to ask.”
“There’s no point in doing so. You’ve already told me why you killed the slave.”
“But you don’t consider my excuse sufficient.”
“And if I say I don’t? Will you have me executed for finding fault with what you did?”
She appeared to be thinking about it, which certainly did not sit well with me. “I doubt that I would,” she said finally. I took some relief in that, although not much. “I have to admit, I am disappointed. It’s odd to feel disappointed. I don’t really recall the last time I felt that way, if ever.”
“Well then,” I said, “perhaps in the future, you want to do whatever you can to avoid disappointing me.”
“Either that or you decide that it is far better for you to approve of whatever I do.” She gave that some further consideration. “Yes, I definitely think that would be preferable. Does that seem like a reasonable move to you?”
Not remotely.
“In retrospect, it may very well,” I said.
She looked me up and down and then asked me the very last question that I wanted her to inquire: “Would you be interested in having sex with me?”
“Wh-what?” In retrospect, I should have been prepared for the question, but I admit that she caught me flat footed.
“Sex. Would you like to have sex? I watched what you did with the slave quite closely and I am reasonably certain that I can emulate her. Or is it too soon?”
That seemed as reasonable an explanation as any. “Yes. Much too soon. And…not only that. I would rather wait until we were married before engaging in that phase of our relationship.”
“You would?” She was clearly startled by the decision. “I find that somewhat puzzling. I thought males were always happy and anxious to engage in the practice whenever the opportunity was presented to them.”
“Young men, yes. That much is certainly accurate enough. But for someone older, like me…well, we tend to prefer to wait for the right opportunity where our ability to perform will not be in doubt.”
“And because it is evening, you are worried?” she asked.
I shrugged. “Something like that.”
“Well then,” she said, and kissed me upon the cheek, “we can easily wait until some other time when it better suits your body.”
“Yes, absolutely,” I said, and I immediately knew when I would see her again. She would show up in my quarters in the morning, because the morning hours were when the slave had called upon me, and I had certainly had no difficulties suiting her needs.
So I knew without question that I’d best be somewhere else in the morning.
I had Ahmway wrest me from my slumber an hour earlier than I had awoken the previous day. I cast a quick, longing glance at the tub before deciding that the absolute worst thing I could do was to denude myself in the room. That would only lead to very negative consequences insofar as Clea was concerned.
I decided to go down and speak with the only individuals with whom I felt I had managed to establish a true and solid bond: the team of horses that we had taken to the pyramid. They were wandering around in their corral and seemed to greet me most courteously when I entered. I rubbed their noses and scratched the backs of their heads, mingled with all of them and told them how excellent they were in soft words. Once again it seemed that my affinity for the animals might serve me well. I started to think about ways I might be able to rid myself of Rogypt immediately if I chose to simply go back on my word (a concept I had no trouble conceiving at all) and envisioned myself on the back of one of the horses, galloping away as quickly as I could. I had never ridden the horses for pure speed, but they seemed quite strong and I was sure that if I was astride one of them, I could put this place far behind me most expeditiously. Granted, the Rama would send people in pursuit, but perhaps if I fled after dark I could put much distance between myself and this hell hole before any of them became aware of my departure.
Yes, that was starting to sound like a satisfactory plan.
Of course, that would once again send me directly into conflict with what that god had desired of me, and one did not directly trifle with gods without considerable risk. Which brought me back around to where I was.
“You seem to be enjoying my horses.”
I was quite startled by the Rama’s voice that drifted in from behind me. I turned and there he was, leaning against the fence. “I have been here for some minutes and you did not notice me. I have never seen anyone so engaged with the horses before.”
“I tend to be focused,” I said simply.
The Rama stared at me for a time and then said, “Hitch the horses up to the chariot. I want to take you somewhere.”
I had no idea why, but one did not question the Rama when he issued an order. Quickly as I could, I attached the horses to the chariot and moments later we were riding away from the palace. I was apprehensive because this was a purely spontaneous action on the part of the Rama and so there were no soldiers in escort of us. If the people chose to assault us, I would be the sole means of defense between the Rama Lama and the people, and it was my intent—if it came to that—to get out of the way as quickly as possible.
Fortunately enough, no one bothered to impede our progress, and many bowed as we went past. Also fortunately, we did not go all that far. Within minutes the Rama had guided us to what seemed a large outdoor track of some sort. It seemed by my offhand estimation to be somewhere between four hundred and four hundred and fifty yards around. “What is this?” I asked.
> “A practice track,” replied the Rama, and he pointed to where he wanted me to guide the chariot. I did so and then Lama carefully stepped down out of the chariot. “Now,” he said, “I want you to take them around the track as fast as you can.”
“As fast…?”
“As you can, yes,” said the Rama. “I want to see what happens when you open them up.”
I shrugged but did as he instructed. I kept the horses paused for a moment and glanced down at the whip that was situated near my leg. I decided not to use it. I knew it was traditional, but I didn’t understand how inflicting pain or threats of pain on the creatures was supposed to somehow generate obedience and good feelings. “Okay, boys,” I said. “Let’s work together and impress the Rama.”
I snapped the reins and shouted, “Yaaahhh!” because I felt that to impel them to move quickly, I should certainly say something. The horses immediately understood my intention and leaped forward as one. They did it so violently and efficiently that I almost tumbled backward out of the chariot, but managed to hold on barely enough as the vehicle rumbled forward. I steadied myself, clutching onto the reins, and continued to snap them while bellowing encouragement.
The horses thundered forward, picking up speed with every passing moment. I was pleased to see the increase in their velocity and that I did not have to whip them to encourage it. Their hooves moved in amazing unison; it was as if they shared one mind and were capable of propelling themselves in perfect synchronicity. I was tempted to glance back at the Rama to see whether he approved or not, but I had to keep my attention fixed firmly on what was in front of me.
We covered half the track in what seemed barely more than an eyeblink and then I managed to keep them on course, clutching the reins tightly as they continued to pound their way around. As I approached the point where we had first started, I pulled back on the reins to slow the horses and they obeyed my direction as they gradually came to a halt. The Rama was standing there nodding with what I could only discern as approval. Once the horses had ceased their movement, I used my staff to clamber down from the chariot. First I went to the horses, patting them on the heads and making sure they were not too exhausted and then I made my way over to the Rama.
“That was excellent,” he said. “You handled them perfectly. They seem to have bonded with you, Apropos.”
Honestly, I thought he was overstating it, but I was not about to disagree with him.
“It is my intention,” he continued, “to have a vast chariot race as part of the celebration of your wedding. My team is going to race, of course, and I would be most honored if you were willing to take the reins and ride as my representative.”
“That sounds immensely interesting.”
“And of course, if you win, I will grant you a reward.”
“Really? What sort of reward?”
“Well, I would give you a ping pong. And you can use it to wish for something that I will grant you.”
There it was, right there. My means for solving everything. The Rama seemed obsessive about remaining faithful to the spirit of the ridiculous ping pongs, and if he adhered to that, I had him. All I had to wish for was for him to grant freedom to the Shews. If he did that, it would solve the entire situation. His tendency to slaughter their first born sons would be completely moot if he gave them their freedom, because there was no doubt in my mind that once he did so, they would take the opportunity to put Rogypt to their backs as expeditiously as possible. That was the only option that made sense. Why on earth would they remain in Rogypt and wait for him to change his mind and re-enslave them once more? No, they would unquestionably be gone, of that I was certain.
How would the Rama react? Probably not especially well. He would certainly be wroth with me, perhaps even order me slain. That would be something that I would have to deal with, if and when it came. I had to admit, this philosophy struck me as odd. That I was placing the well-being of others over my own. It seemed that perhaps I was losing my touch as a selfish individual. Maybe I was getting too old. Honestly, I had never expected to survive as long as I had, so I supposed that anything was possible.
But he would accede to my request. I was certain of that. Mostly certain of that. Perhaps fifty percent convinced. Which was, granted, not perfect, but at least it was better than what I had at the moment.
“That sounds like an excellent deal, your highness.”
“Good. You have two weeks to train the horses.”
“I’m getting married in two weeks, then? Not one?”
He nodded. “Mane assures me that that is the fastest that the leaders of other nations can assemble. Messengers are currently heading in all directions with invitations. No one, of course, would dare to refuse being summoned to such a gala event.”
“Well, good.” Then I glanced right and left as if I was concerned that someone was listening in on our conversation and lowered my voice to emphasize the way that we were speaking in confidence. “You might be able to aid me in that regard, Rama.”
“Aid you how?”
“Well, if I am going to be focusing on preparing the team, that is an all day endeavor. Every hour of every day. Even if I am not with the horses at the time, I must be focusing my energies and studying and preparing for the race. It is a very time consuming course of action.”
“All right,” and the Rama nodded. “I understand so far. How can I be of service, though?”
“Would you be so kind as to talk to your sister and command her to keep her distance from me during the intervening two weeks? She is, I must admit, somewhat enamored with the advent of our upcoming nuptials and is particularly interested in the impending sexual encounter. So she would like to pressure me into servicing her in advance of our marriage and such an assignation would be nothing but a distraction. And I cannot afford to be distracted.”
I was pleased to see that the Rama’s cheeks actually reddened. Clearly he was embarrassed discussing his sister’s sex life. He cleared his throat and said, “I would be happy to give her that instruction.”
“I doubt she will be thrilled to hear it.”
His face hardened. “I do not care in the slightest whether she is happy to hear my orders or not. If I issue the edict, she has no choice but to follow it.”
I was ecstatic to hear that because I had no desire to sleep with the murderous little bitch. I wasn’t interested in telling the Rama that, of course, but he was hardly in a position to have to know.
I continued to ride the chariot around the track for a time while the Rama kept watching, and then eventually returned him to the palace. I assured him that he would not have to accompany me to future ridings, but he replied that there was nowhere that he would rather be.
I could have timed down to the minute when he informed Clea of the new restrictions, because she was banging on the door of my chambers within seconds after hearing the edict. “Apropos!” she shouted.
Ahmway was standing nearby the door and stared at me questioningly. I nodded to him and he opened it. But when Clea endeavored to stride in, he put out one of his large arms and prevented her from getting more than a foot into the room. She stared at him with open incredulity. “Out of my way!” she instructed.
“I am under the Rama’s orders,” Ahmway said calmly.
Her hand flashed, but it was much too slow and Ahmway was far too skilled a soldier. He intercepted her arm at the wrist, snagged it, and twisted sharply. A knife slid out of her fingers and clattered to the floor.
“That was not nice,” I said.
Ahmway released her, allowing her to stumble back. She was shocked that she had been so easily disposed of and dispensed with. “You…dare…?”
“Dare what? Save myself for our wedding night? How is that daring anything?”
“This is about her, isn’t it. About the slave.” It was a question that was not a question, and she already knew the answer.
But I was not about to give her the satisfaction. “Not at all. I’m sure the Rama to
ld you the reason.”
“Some nonsense about horse training.”
“It’s not nonsense. I have to concentrate, and I cannot have you distracting me.”
“You’re lying.”
“Believe of me what you wish,” I said, “but the Rama’s instructions could not have been more specific. I strongly advise you to attend to them, because it will not end well for you if you refuse to do so.”
“What,” and she laughed incredulously. “You think the Rama would discipline his own sister if she—”
“I absolutely believe he would,” I told her in a flat voice. I had been lying on my bed but now I rolled off, my feet dropping to the floor. I strode over toward her, keeping my face impassive. “I believe that if you disobeyed him, he would not take it well at all. But we can find out, if you wish. Ahmway,” and I nodded toward him, “stand aside. Let her enter. And once you do,” I turned to her and continued speaking, “and endeavor to have your way with me, you’d be well advised to kill me. Because if you do not, then I will go directly to the Rama and inform him that his sister both ignored his ruling and may have endangered his desire to win the chariot race. So come if you wish, Clea. Perhaps you are right. Perhaps the Rama will do nothing. There is no way to find out but take the chance.”
I folded my arms across my chest and waited for her to advance.
She did not. She stayed right where she was for a long moment, and then she nodded toward me. “As you wish, Apropos. I will keep my distance if it serves you.”
“I think it serves both of us.”
She spun on the ball of her foot and walked away. Ahmway watched her do so and then turned to me with open incredulity. “I have never seen anyone refuse that girl anything and manage to live.”
“I have accomplished a surprising number of things in my lifetime, Ahmway,” I said carelessly. “As achievements go, this is truly something of a minor one.”
Except I knew that was not the case. For all I knew, on our wedding day, Clea might gut me in my sleep just to avenge herself for my having dismissed her so casually. I certainly would not put it past her.