《Gift and Power series 5: The Sherrif of Hnut (Aliens/Romance/Thought-hearing/Sci-Fi)》
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 1: Arrival
The Sheriff of Hnut
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 1: Arrival
Pre-contact discovery notes
New city and town-dwelling life found on planet 673GH3. This is yet another wet, Mars-sized planet on the edge of this star formation region. Most of the planet seems to be sea, and there''s one continent and a few islands, which seem to be the result of recent volcanic activity. The planet orbits the close-binary stars with a local year of about 6 earth months. Local stellar radiation is approximately Earth-normal. The central stars comprise a white dwarf with about 0.5 solar masses, and an orange-yellow dwarf star (class K, 0.5 solar masses, 0.25 solar luminosity). There are two small moons.
The inhabitants seem to be warm-blooded, oviparous, wear clothes and have very obvious (assumption: sexual) dimorphism. One type has large ostrich-like feathers that come from the back of their head, the other type (gender?) has no such feathers, but a crest on their heads. Both features seem to grow after adult height is reached. Tentative hypothesis is that they correspond to sexual maturity.
Based on the samples seen so far, either the feathered type stay disproportionately inside and so out of sight or are outnumbered by the crested type by about 30%. On the first day, the probe witnessed several couples of locals (one of each type) depart from their respective houses together, go to (different) isolated spots and engage what looked very much like an extended courtship dance. Certainly there was a lot of caressing of these external features. At the end of the dance they raced back to their home. The dance began in the middle of the night, just after both moons had risen at about the same time, and the dances ended at different times, but before sunrise. Two weeks later, three eggs were displayed to visitors at the house of the couple who engaged in the longest dance, in the care of the feathered intelligence. Most village activity observed so far is conducted during the hours of daylight, or early evening. One exception to this is a gathering of people in what looked rather like a book-club meeting or bible study group. This activity took place outside a large building that was otherwise unused. The weather was fine and approximate calculations predict this is summer. Large life on the planet seems to be generally hexapodal, with avians having wings, feet, and grasping appendages used in nest-building and presumed mating activities. The intelligences have two pairs of hands.
A conflict was observed between two crested intelligences, whose crests were not as developed as those who appear to be part of family groups. Audible (challenge and response?) patterns were louder than normal conversation. One of the crested types was in the company of a feathered type, who quickly stepped away at the challenge of a larger newcomer. The conflict seemed to start as a shouting match, but moved on to what seemed to be a formal conflict. The feathered type ran to several nearby houses and adults came out but did not seem to intervene. Young who had been playing near houses were bustled inside. The conflict then moved forward in earnest, and weapons were offered by a number of crested adults. One fighter refused a number of spears from different adults and instead took a heavy-looking club. The smaller crested fighter, who had been talking to the feathered being at the beginning, appeared to refuse all offered weapons and took a knife from a pocket. The appearance of this knife seemed to have a dramatic effect, and the feathered being tried to interpose themself between the two fighters. My human interpretation was that the feathered one was pleading with the club-wielder to not fight, and/or the knife-wielder to not wound too deeply. The club-wielder pushed the feathered one away, apparently roughly, and seeming to threaten the feathered one. the knife-wielder demonstrated an astonishing turn of speed, and interposed themself between the club-holder and the feathered one. The feathered one left the immediate vicinity. An adult crested being gave some kind of verbal signal and the club was swung with considerable force. The knife wielder was able to avoid it easily. After several more swings, easily side-stepped, the knife wielder seemed to dance past the club-wielder and cut their belt. More verbal exchanges followed, followed by more ineffective club swings. The upper arms held the club, and the being''s lower arms held up his trousers. There was no noticeable impairment of mobility or speed of swings, but they were far too slow to contact the much faster knife-wielder. A series of similar sequences continued, resulting in significant damage to the clothing of the club-wielder. Eventually, the club-wielder rushed the knife-wielder with a wind-milling club. The knife-wielder not only totally avoided the club once more, but wounded one (club-holding) wrist of the club-wielder, causing loss of control of the club. The club wielder persisted in attacking one handed, and after dancing around these further attacks the the knife-wielder addressed the crowd. The feathered being appeared to address the club wielder, who made a charge towards the feathered being with the club. Several members of the crowd moved to protect the feathered one (their reaction speed comparable to the club-wielder), and the knife wielder neatly hamstrung one leg of the club wielder, who fell to the ground. This seemed to end the conflict. The crowd seemed to bear the knife-wielder no ill-will, but all of those who had moved to protect the feathered one kicked mud at the fallen club-wielder. A similar conflict was later witnessed between a club-wielder and someone with a short spear. In that battle, the spear-wielder scored a hit to the abdomen of the club-wielder, and in the course of this attack received a blow to the head. The head-wound appeared to result in a crushed skull and death. The abdominal wound caused the ''victor'' to collapse soon after. It was not evident what sparked this second conflict. There were feathered beings in the crowd, but no interaction between the crowd and the fighters during the fight, and no kicking of mud. After the battle, the wounded fighter received some kind of first aid, and the dead fighter was burred. Some kind of speech (sermon?) was given at the grave-side.
It is clear to me that these conflicts are an accepted part of the society, that they are carried out with deadly seriousness, and that the reaction-speed of the knife-wielder were somehow extremely unusual.
Capital city, 250(local) years after contact with aliens
The commandant of the city guard looked Dirak up and down, and wasn''t impressed. Dirak had a small crest, and his main-arms were weak-looking. Surely his sub-arms weren''t strong. But on the other hand, there was the report in his own hands, written by his officers on the scene.... ¡°Single handedly?¡±
¡°I was angry, sir. They just leapt out on the girl.¡±
¡°And you decided to leap to the rescue?¡±
¡°I don''t want to hear I should have looked away. It was the right thing to do.¡±
¡°Oh, it was. Incredibly foolish, though. Most people would have thought that five were too many.¡±
¡°Actually... seven, sir. Two got away.¡±
¡°Was she pretty?¡±
¡°Yes, sir. As pretty as the suns in the sky after a month of fog.¡±
¡°And suitably grateful?¡± the officer asked with a certain amount of leer.
¡°I don''t know who she was, which part of the city she lives in, even.¡±
¡°Hmph. So... you took on seven strong thugs, because they were intent on robbing a pretty girl.¡±
¡°I don''t believe that robbery was their goal, sir. It might have possibly been an aggravated kidnapping, but the way that four of them were pinning her down while the others were ripping her clothes off....¡±
¡°Hold on... you said you saw them leap out on her?¡±
¡°I was... quite a long way away when I saw that bit, sir. Down the road, in my study. I should have been revising, but the tune she was whistling caught my attention.¡±
¡°I see, I think. You heard her, saw her, thought ''pretty'', watched her feathers go down the street, then you saw her getting attacked, and ran to the rescue?¡±
¡°Yes, sir.¡±
The officer looked at the scene of crime report again. ¡°At which point you ripped the door off it''s hinges?¡±
¡°It was probably rotten. All it took was a kick.¡±
¡°And then you punched, kicked and gouged and hit out with a table leg like a madman and actually beat them?¡±
¡°I understand the word is like a zerker, sir. My maternal grandfather was a Zerker. It was the first time it''s come over me.¡±
¡°A Zerker apprentice wizard,¡± the police captain said in amazement. Weak-looking arms wouldn''t matter at a Zerker''s speed. He''d heard tales... everyone had heard tales, of course, but the ones he''d heard were well researched. Even seven against a Zerker in full anger wasn''t really an even match. ¡°Not any more, sir.¡±
¡°But they let you keep your staff.¡± It wasn''t often that he had someone with a wizard''s staff in his office.
¡°Yes, sir. I made it anyway. Some on the council said there wasn''t really much point in them taking it away, and that position won the day.¡±
¡°And you couldn''t vow it would never happen again.¡±
¡°That would be a lie sir, I realised I cannot stand by and let the innocent suffer injustice. It would be wrong.¡±
¡°So much for the long-established ethic of non-intervention,¡± the officer laughed bitterly. ¡°So.. they sent you to me. What am I supposed to do with you?¡±
¡°Make me a policeman, sir?¡± Dirak asked hopefully. ¡°My vow of community service sort of fits.¡±
¡°No. A Zerker on the city watch? It''d be a disaster. I''m not talking prejudices, though they''re real enough, I''m talking about discipline, morale, things like that. Your colleagues would probably try to let you do all the work. And with that staff in your hand? No, you''re never going to be a policeman out on the city streets, young Dirak. You''re going to have to have some kind of office job or be a sheriff out in some remote village. Or maybe you''d make a crime scene investigator? That could fit. We''ll see how you do. Right now... basic training. What did you do with the staff when you were defending the girl?¡±
¡°Technically, sir, it was defending the girl, I was introducing the culprits to the idea of justice.¡±
¡°Justice is served by the courts, cadet Dirak.¡±
¡°Sorry, the idea of Citizen''s justice.¡±
¡°And you gave the staff to the girl?¡±
¡°I planted it in the ground and made it form a protective barrier around her.¡±
¡°That''s pretty advance wizarding for an apprentice, isn''t it?¡±
¡°I was about to re-take my final exams, sir. I failed one of them last year.¡±
¡°Which one?¡±
¡°Philosophy and ethics,¡± Dirak replied.
¡°Hold on... how were you taking final exams if you were an apprentice?¡±
¡°I have a problem passing philosophy exams, sir. So technically I''m still an apprentice.¡±
¡°But you''ve been taking more advanced classes?¡±
¡°Yes, sir.¡± Considerably more advanced, but Dirak wasn''t supposed to let on just what he''d studied.
¡°Don''t tell anyone that. Tell them you were an apprentice, an old one because you kept failing your exams, and finally you got kicked out after getting into a fight over a pretty girl.¡±
¡°Certainly sir,¡± Dirak agreed readily. The fact that he was one philosophy exam away from being a fully trained wizard wasn''t something to be flaunted. Even though his training in wizarding had hardly played a part at all, what he''d done counted as intervention. And wizards had decided and declared they wouldn''t intervene.
On the road, Motherday, 253 after aliens
Three years later
Tired and dusty from the travel, Dirak reached the top of the hill and reined in the thlunk that was plodding on underneath him. It was a reliable beast, and had carried him the last two weeks without complaint, but it wasn''t the fastest. There was the Utt river valley below him, with the village just at the bottom of the slope, as he''d been promised in the town he''d stayed in the previous night. His future home; the village of Hnut, or ''Ho on Ut'' as it was called on some piece of ancient parchment in the city. Dirak wasn''t sure what ''Ho'' meant, maybe just a name. His future home. He rolled the idea around his mind. It would be nice to have a permanent home.
Maybe, down there somewhere, was his future wife too. He prayed for patience on that front too, but the thought he might meet her made him try to beat some of the journey dust off himself. It didn''t work very well since there had been a shower earlier.
¡°Come on thlunk, let''s move on.¡±
A child who had been idly throwing stones at a fence looked idly up at the road and saw him. Dirak waved with his staff in greeting, and the child bolted towards the church. Dirak guessed he''d been set to watch.
It seemed the official welcoming committee consisted of the village priest and, deliberately lagging behind, the child Dirak had seen earlier. ¡°You are our new sheriff?¡± the village priest asked, taking in Dirak''s now-impressive crest, his uniform and his carved staff as he dismounted from the thlunk to greet him. The boy had said he''d seen a wizard, not the sheriff he''d been sent to watch for.
At Dirak''s affirmative, he asked ¡°How old are you?¡±
¡°Twenty-five, sir,¡± Dirak replied.
¡°We''re a God fearing village,¡± the priest started, preparing for his favourite diatribe on the evils of the big city, and how this young man had another thing coming if he expected anything like that here.
¡°I''m glad to hear so, sir. I was wondering when services are, sir. And is there by any chance a mid-week study?¡±
¡°What?¡± the priest asked, his crest fluttering in visible confusion.
¡°A mid week study? Less formal discussion about scriptures? Pooling our ignorance, as we used to say back home.¡±
¡°I know what a mid-week study is. Why do you want to know?¡±
¡°I''d like to attend, as is my custom.¡±
¡°You... are a believer?¡±
¡°You expected that they would send a heathen to your village, reverend pastor? Your firm requests were heard, almost all of them were fulfilled. They did not send you an unbeliever, not did they send someone on a temporary posting, nor I hope, did they send you a bumbling idiot.¡±
¡°But you''re not married?¡± the pastor asked. That the sheriff come with a wife had been the last request.
¡°No, I am not a married man. Not that I have objections to that entering that happy state.¡±
¡°You hope to find a wife, then?¡± the priest asked, ¡°here?¡± Dirak thought he looked somewhat bemused.
¡°I have met a few young men my age who feel called to singleness, sir. I am not one of them. But so far I''ve not met the right girl.¡±
¡°Well, you''ve got a more limited choice round here than you had in the city that''s certain. What are you doing with that staff, if it''s not a rude question.¡±
¡°I made it when I was a teen. I''ve found it useful from time to time. Keeping off felons, keeping growlers off on this journey, for instance.¡±If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
¡°You carved yourself a pretend wizard''s staff? Aren''t there laws against that?¡±
¡°I''ve never been told so,¡± Dirak replied, ¡°Nor read anything in all the law books, neither.¡±
¡°Hmm. The law. Are there changes?¡±
¡°Always, your reverence, in minutiae, and some trends have continued. Some taxation changes. Things that were frowned upon have become illegal, some things that were looked on with distaste are further limited, and so on. The question I have is when the village last heard of changes. It is perfectly normal to assume that you are out of date, but how out of date?
¡°Since last year, the marriage age is unchanged. But since a decade ago? This matters, reverend. As sheriff, I must apply the law, but I can be far more lenient when those who break the law do so in ignorance.¡±
¡°You believe in lenience, then sheriff?¡±
¡°I do not believe in upsetting my new neighbours too much, reverend. Unless you have heard from the city recently, some of the changes will affect you.¡±
¡°How recently?¡±
¡°The one I am thinking of, two years.¡±
¡°Three years ago, I received an update on laws affecting the faithful. I have not heard since.¡±
¡°I assumed as much. Reverend... I warn you, I expect there will be people who are not happy with all the changes.¡±
¡°Myself included?¡±
¡°How much contact have you had with wizardry, Reverend? Do you fear it? Do you understand it is not a spiritual force?¡±
¡°Preaching against is is illegal?¡±
¡°It has been for a decade, reverend. The penalties have risen, however. Significantly.¡±
¡°I understand enough that it is a tool in the hands of fallible people. I also heard... three years ago, of someone being protected from thugs by an apprentice wizard. Is it also illegal to preach against their normal non-intervention?¡±
¡°You may freely preach what you wish on the ethics or morality of those who walk by and allow others to suffer, reverend. As long as you distinguish between the things they study which are merely a tool, and the concern that drives non-intervention ¡ª that they will intervene in such a way that causes far greater suffering in the long term. But I think the greatest challenge for your flock is that this village ¡ª all villages ¡ª will be expected to host a competition, to see if there are any suitable candidates to take up wizarding. Someone has realised that half the population lives in villages, but four-fifths of wizards are from the city.¡±
The pastor sucked his breath in through his teeth. ¡°To lose a child to the city? To send them into that moral cess-pit?¡±
¡°Not all parts are equally bad. But yes, the apprentice quarters are not in the nicest part of town. There is some scope for the village to decide additional criteria. One frequently quoted example would be that a village might decide it would never send the only child of a widow. But there can be no exceptions once such by-laws are passed. All deemed capable should be examined, male or female, rich or poor.¡±
¡°But the village could decide to only send those who have impeccable moral standards?¡±
¡°It would be possible. But... do they only have impeccable standards because they''re afraid of being caught out? It''s sometimes difficult to tell, and faced with a city full of temptation, some people change.¡±
¡°Yes. And we value our children''s innocence. What happened to the apprentice, do you know?¡±
¡°They kicked him out, found him another role; He was determined that he had done the correct thing.¡±
¡°He did. Entirely.¡±
¡°I''m not so sure. Afterwards he realised that he could have rescued the young woman without breaking nearly so many heads.¡±
¡°There are always might-have-beens. Do you know him?¡±
¡°Yes, sir.¡±
The pastor looked once more at the staff.
¡°But that''s not a wizard''s staff?¡±
¡°No sir,¡± Dirak said, ¡°I''m sure I''d know, since I made it. And I''m sure a wizard''s staff wouldn''t show the mark of where it cracked open the head of a growler.¡±
¡°What would a wizard do confronted with a growler pack?¡±
¡°I believe it''s one of their examination questions, though that might just be an insulting rumour. If it is a rumour then the correct answer depends on whether the growler pack is after the wizard or his or her travelling companion.¡±
¡°There are female wizards?¡±
¡°Yes reverend, and they are allowed to marry. They are allowed to intervene in the lives of their husband and any offspring they are blessed with, but not using any wizarding abilities.¡±
¡°You seem somewhat scornful of the law of non-intervention.¡±
¡°It is not a law, good Reverend. It is an ethic that the wizards have chosen and impose on one another. They have their reasons, but what was a once a useful guiding principle of keeping out of political debates has become a hard-hearted tradition they apply to even common decency. Forgive me... you do not need a sermon on helping one''s neighbour from me.¡±
¡°You are more familiar with them than us, good sheriff. They do not come this far from the city.¡±
¡°Not on foot, no. And they would not normally deliver messages as that would be intervening. One will come in a year or two, to assess any candidates.¡±
¡°Here?¡±
Dirak looked around. ¡°Is that field always empty?¡±
¡°The fair pasture? It''s never sown, but sometimes grazed.¡±
¡°Well, I expect they''ll arrive there, or the town square. And I doubt they''ll stay for a whole day. There are not so many wizards, and a no shortage of semi-isolated villages.¡±
¡°We rejoice that you have come, sheriff.¡±
¡°Really?¡± Dirak knew that his presence meant another mouth to feed. He would try not to be totally unproductive on the food front.
¡°I rejoice, anyway. It is not good for the village''s confessor to also be the one judging disputes or solving mysteries.¡±
¡°Are there unresolved disputes? Or mysteries to solve? I worked in the investigations department in the city before I was assigned here.¡±
¡°Investigations?¡±
¡°With the right tools ¡ª my packs have them ¡ª it is possible to determine if blood on a knife is from a person or an animal, or who last held a club, assuming they wore no gloves. Perhaps even who last touched a boundary stone, if it was recent.¡±
¡°Ah. And can you also tell poison from infection?¡±
¡°It depends on the poison, but sometimes. What are the symptoms?¡±
¡°The most noticeable symptom was death. Your two predecessors. The similarities.... it is just my personal lurking suspicion you understand.¡±
¡°But it may be that someone did not take kindly to them?¡±
¡°I think it is fair to say that some of their attitudes did not go down well. They did not look at this village as a home, but as a necessary inconvenience.¡±
¡°I know the type of person, they wish to grow their crests at the expense of others. But to suggest they were killed, reverend...¡±
¡°As I say, just a private suspicion. The first died after six months. The second, after a year and a quarter, just after he told us he was leaving. Both had just visited the town. Both apparently complained of a headache when they got home, which is not unusual on the journey. Neither woke the next morning. Both had their admirers and detractors. Beyond that, I do not know. They may have left relevant records in town, but I did not have the authority or sufficient justification to search.¡±
¡°And no one else has died in the same way?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Both were city people, I presume?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°And it was summer?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°And on the way from town, no-one sane would think to cool themselves in the waterfall I saw, I presume?¡±
¡°The sulphur springs? Never! You think... surely they''d not be so foolish!¡±
¡°In the city, there are cooling baths. Some look quite like your sulphur springs. I saw them, but I recognised the smell, and did not approach. Not a healthy place to be for long.¡±
¡°Certainly not! I am relieved, sheriff. Most relieved! It never occurred to me!¡±
¡°I am glad to be of service.¡± Dirak said. He didn''t feel the need to mention that he''d seen tracks there. Signs that juveniles, probably juvenile females, from the tracks, frequented the place. Juveniles were significantly less sensitive to sulphur than adult males or growlers; girls were practically immune, which is why it made a safe place for girls to hang out, perhaps even bathe. Some things went without saying, if you were village-bred like Dirak. He wondered, however, if his predecessors had been lured there by some girls with a very nasty streak or had gone by their own misguided thoughts. In either case he was prepared to consider it death by misadventure.
The village meeting, Hnut, Motherday
¡°Good people of Hnut,¡± Dirak said, ¡°I present myself, I present my permanent commission as sheriff to this village, and I present a letter of recommendation from the pastor of my old congregation. In presenting myself I make known to you that I was named Dirak by my parents, my father was Mungar son of Yangar and Dinga, my mother was Hana daughter of Zerker Hiniq and Razatha of the village of Qnut.¡± Qnut was not very far away, perhaps a day''s walk. Maybe he had relatives here. Hopefully there was no residual blood feud. As sheriff, he ought to be excluded, but it would still be awkward. ¡°I, Pastor Ruath, welcome our new Sheriff, I remind my fellow villagers that it is a requirement of this ceremony that the sheriff present any link he may have to our village or cause for feud, and thus presented, none may blame him as he forgets these previous troubles as he becomes one of us. I also remind you that in God there is no blood feud. I ask, Sheriff, for the sake of saving us all from rumours, does your mention of your maternal grandfather indicate that you have ever found your movements sped by his legacy?¡±
¡°On my way here, pastor Ruath, as my thlunk and I were passing through the mountain pass, I was set upon by a pack of six growlers. None will trouble another traveller, unless he or she has a sensitive nose or strays from the path and so trips over their carcasses.¡± A murmur passed through the crowd. One man beating six growlers was an impressive feat, even if the thlunk probably took out one or two with its tail-club. ¡°I am Gakak. Might we know the weapons you used?¡±
It was the perfect opportunity, Dirak decided, to say why he had the staff he did. ¡°I cut this stick I carry when I was almost a teenager. Searching for the wood took me some time, for it is of straight angar wood, as are the staffs of wizards, and the best ploughs were back home of course. I carved it in my spare time, as I understand trainee wizards do. If the children are interested, then some long boring winter''s evening I will explain my carvings, for they tell a story that is worth them being reminded of. Some burglars and thugs have thought it was a wizard''s staff, which gave them pause, and so helped me to arrest them. But this is no wizards'' staff, I think I ought to know, as I made it myself! And I carved its name upon it myself, it is called intervention, which I think you''ll agree is not something anyone would call a wizard''s staff.¡± He waited for the laughter to die down before continuing. ¡°But intervention makes a good tool for walking and helping old people stand up and a good tool for stopping growlers, burglars or thugs. Now you know what I used, though I do not think of it as a weapon, I''ve never trained to use a sword or a bow, I''m no hunter nor soldier. But this lump of wood and metal is a good tool, and I don''t like to leave it behind in case I might need it.¡±
¡°Does it let you do anything else, beyond tell a good story, kill growlers and confuse criminals?¡± The speaker had piercing violet eyes, and her head plumage was even bluer than Dirac''s mother''s had been. Her voice would have had a pleasant tone, if it wasn''t also dripping with quite so much suspicion.
¡°My daughter, Lenepoli,¡± Pastor Ruath supplied. ¡°One of the two unmarried girls in the village.¡±
¡°Ah, fair Lenepoli, you are perhaps asking why a young male might want a stick twice his height which he could carefully climb to reach the branches of his mother''s red-fruit tree? It''s been a long time since I tried to do that, and I''ve put on some weight too. Allow me to practice, please, before you ask for a public demonstration of why only straight angar wood would do.¡±
¡°Oh, I don''t insist on it being public, Sheriff. But tell me, do you recognise this tune?¡± she whistled the tune her friend had been whistling just before Dirak had rushed to her rescue. The tune that Lenepoli had been following, as she tried to catch up with her.
¡°How could I not?¡± Dirak asked after she finished the first stanza. ¡°My grandmother was from Qnut and taught my mother.¡± With an impish smile he asked ¡°I don''t know what your father will say, but are you publicly inviting me to sing the refrain back to you?¡± It was a love-song, from that village, and Lenepoli suddenly blushed as she realised what she''d done. She''d been focussed so intently on proving to her own satisfaction that she did recognise her friend''s saviour, that she''d just fuelled the next year''s worth of rumours. Spluttering, she said ¡°I was merely checking, Sheriff. Forgive my suspicious nature for not really believing you might be a distant cousin.¡±
¡°I hope you do not allude to some old family feud.¡±
¡°None I know of, Sheriff.¡±
Dirak found himself invited to the pastor''s house for the evening meal, and a mortally embarrassed Lenepoli tried to avoid him as much as possible. But she couldn''t; as soon as they''d sat down to eat, her parents'' eyes fixed on her.
¡°Lenepoli, will you explain your questioning of our new sheriff?¡± her mother asked, ¡°I know you''ve said you''re not husband chasing, but it certainly looked like it.¡±
¡°Must I explain myself, mother? I wish to know the truth of a thought I have, which I presume he does not want public, given the way he dances verbal games. But I do not want to dance any more verbal games with the Sheriff; every time I ask a veiled question he turns it to make it look like I''m after him or fishing for compliments. I''m not. But I expect he will tell what I wanted to know if he wants to, and I''ll never get it out of him otherwise.¡± She faced Dirak and demanded ¡°I''m right, aren''t I?¡±
¡°You are the second most beautiful girl I''ve ever seen, and the most beautiful I''ve spoken more than five words to. Does that answer your unspoken question?¡± Dirak replied, with a grin.
¡°See, mother? He does it again!¡±
¡°And you''re not prepared to accept that? Is second place in his estimation not good enough?¡± her mother asked, totally misunderstanding.
¡°I know I''m in second place to Shashana in anyone sane''s estimation,¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°What I want to know is if Sheriff Dirak is the reason she''s still alive and due to marry next week, but he turns my every question into my fishing for compliments!¡±
¡°I don''t know anyone called Shashana.¡±
¡°She was rescued by an apprentice wizard. An apprentice wizard who looked very like you, Sheriff, as he shot past me in the street, and then let me get to her to comfort her, except your crest is far more impressive. Was it you?¡±
¡°Ah. A straight question! If it was me, beautiful Lenepoli, why would it be important for you to know? Have you taken a vow to publicly throw yourself at that ex-apprentice wizard? That would be most embarrassing, I think, as we do not know each other. Or have you a deep-seated anti-wizardry prejudice that means you''d never listen to another word I said If I were he? Equally sad, since I''ve things I must explain to everyone here in the village. I''ve told your father that I do know who the infamous apprentice is, if I say I''m not him, have you developed such a hero-worship for the mysterious stranger that you''ll never speak to me again unless I introduce you to him? That would be sad too, because while I admit I''ve had fun twisting your questions, I''ve certainly not been trying to hurt you, just tease. Perhaps one day, as we get to know each other better, I might decide that your inner beauty is an great as you outer beauty, and then I''d have life-changing questions of my own that you might seek to dance around for a while. But do you see how it is that I, a newcomer here, not knowing anyone, not knowing what lies behind questions prefer a certain amount of ambiguity?¡±
¡°I understand, and I have no need to know. I just hate mysteries.¡±
¡°But you present me with one. What were you doing in the city, three years ago? Other than almost getting your plumage trimmed by a zerking apprentice in his haste, I mean?¡±
¡°I was qualifying as teacher,¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°Ah. And as a trainee teachers, you and Shashana visited the museum?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°And confused by the symmetry, you left by the wrong door, and found yourselves in the wrong street to be innocently whistling the Qnut song, which has sadly taken on another meaning in that part of the city.¡±
¡°Another meaning?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°My mother was careful to warn us, when she taught it to my sister and me. In Drana district it is often whistled in low tones to those who frequent that place.¡± Drana district was one of the most heavily policed part of the city, but the police presence did little good; all manner of illegal trade continued.
¡°No one warned us!¡±
¡°I expect if you''d whistled it around the teacher training college, few would have known; what contact do they have with Drana? And Wizards do not intervene in non-wizarding affairs.¡±
¡°But your mother knew?¡±
¡°My parents lived a time in Drana. It was not as bad then as it is now; and even now, not everyone there is a criminal, most are simply poor. Once they found work, they moved, once they were established, they moved to Reqiq, where my mother had a red-fruit tree.¡±
¡°Reqiq is a sad name, these days..¡± pastor Ruath said. The village had been obliterated by a landslide. ¡°Yes. It was a happy place to be a child. My parents, my remaining grandma, and my sister were at home, I was studying in the city when it happened.¡±
Lenepoli put all her hands to her mouth. ¡°No! Your whole family?¡±
¡°My whole family, and I have no cousins I know of.¡± Dirak replied. ¡°I am glad the hills here are not steep. I did not sleep well crossing the mountains.¡±
¡°I apologise for our curiosity, Sheriff Dirak.¡± Lenepoli''s mother said, ¡°but new members of the village are rare, except by marriage. Village attitudes... people assume they have a right to know all about everyone, and we will ourselves be quizzed about you. May we make it known that your family was lost in Reqiq?¡±
Dirak nodded. ¡°And you may also tell, if you wish, of the sad use of the Qnut song in the most disreputable part of the city, and that Lenepoli embarrassed herself by whistling it to me because she was wondering if she''d seen me in the city. I would prefer however if her suspicions are not circulated. Perhaps it is also better if the exact song that Shashana was whistling on the edge of Drana just before she was attacked is not circulated.¡±
¡°But you know what she whistled,¡± Lenepoli said with a gasp.
¡°It is easy for one friend to tell another why he looked out of a window, fair Lenepoli, and why he kept on looking at one as beautiful as the blue sky over mountain peaks after weeks of fog.¡±
¡°Shashana''s plumage is no longer as blue as it was,¡± Lenepoli''s mother said, ¡°the fear or the attack, perhaps.¡±
¡°Perhaps. But I''ve not heard of that affecting plumage. Sulphur poisoning does, of course. I hope your friend has given up such childish activities, Lenepoli.¡±
¡°So do I,¡± she agreed with a surprised glance at him.
¡°''Given up?'' Sheriff, what do you mean , ''given up''? Are you suggesting that the girls of villages around here play in the sulphur springs?¡±
¡°My sister and her friends did, Reverend. My mother said she did also, when she was young. I assumed it went without saying that such habits pass naturally from generation to generation. And to young girls, it does no harm I''m aware of, and some good as neither growlers nor sensible males venture near sulphur.¡±
¡°And foolish males?¡± the priest asked.
¡°Learn reason,¡± his wife said, ¡°hopefully before they harm our girls or kill themselves. But you know what boys are like; a quarter die before becoming parents. I would rather that selection happened because of foolishness rather than blood-feud or a duel over a girl.¡±
¡°Especially as causing a death by duelling is now a crime,¡± Dirak said.
¡°Do I assume, Sheriff, that the ex-apprentice who may or may not be in this room now was not accused of any crime?¡±
¡°Your friend''s testimony and that of ''a bystander'' were sufficient. Did you testify?¡±
¡°I did,¡± Lenepoli said. Dirak remembered, amongst the chaos, another girl coming, asking him to let her comfort her friend. Demanding it after kicking the nearest thug out of the way.
¡°And you didn''t get in trouble for giving the groaning thugs the odd kick?¡±
¡°Who said I did?¡±
¡°Probably no one said anything,¡± he smiled, ''it being hard to speak with a broken jaw. Citizen''s justice has limits though. Sufficient force as needed to remove all threat from an aggressor, but no punishment beyond that. That remains the prerogative of the court.¡±
¡°Sheriff, are you implying that I might have been tempted to go beyond what the law permits?¡±
¡°I am sure you were tempted, Lenepoli. Anyone would be who wasn''t terrified into inaction. I''m not saying you gave in, I''m just... educating as the matter came up, as is my duty.¡±
¡°What punishment did they receive from the courts?¡± Pastor Ruath asked.
¡°They were found guilty for attempted gang-rape. The wife of one applied for a stay of execution upon her husband until she could have a child with him. A week was given.¡±
¡°Just a week? Was it breeding season?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°She was instructed how to harvest and preserve his sperm. The court decided that was sufficient.¡±
¡°And then execution?¡± Pastor Ruath asked.
¡°No. It was only attempted rape.¡±
¡°Father, the law says that a rape-attempter will longer capable of reproduction, and no longer have a crest,¡± Lenepoli said. ¡°But I don''t know if that''s done surgically, or how.¡±
¡°Do you wish to know? I don''t want to spoil your meal,¡± Dirak said.
¡°Perhaps later?¡± Lenepoli''s mother suggested.
¡°Certainly.¡±
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 2: Competition
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 2: Competition
Extracts from report of first contact group
These guys are friendly and really bright. The grasp concepts and patterns really quickly. They also have incredible fine motor control on their ''lower arms'', and would have no need for micro-manipulators. Given a magnifying glass or microscope and the necessary nasty chemicals, they can basically hand-paint a functioning thousand-transistor integrated circuit in about an hour. It''s incredible to see them work.
But their traditions are really strong. Law is basically subservient to honour in most subject areas, it only gets much of a look-in when family honour is not at stake, e.g a common brawl.
We''ve just lost another bright translator to a ''blood feud'' which is basically a legal convention that justifies the males of one family having a go at murdering one or more males of another, after which the other side can have a go. It also involves the females too, in that a guy marrying a girl whose family has a blood feud means he''s semi-expected to murder her clan-enemies too. There are some further complications (of course!).
One is that you can''t attack kids under ten. This leads either to widows raising implacable enemies as in ''you killed my father, prepare to die'' or a hiatus in the bloodshed as one side waits for all the under-aged males to grow up. Another complication is that there are things called limited blood feuds, joint blood feuds, and forgotten blood-feuds.
A forgotten blood feud is where no one claims to remember the cause, and in that case a marriage can heal the rift. There seem very few other options to solve a blood feud, once one has broken out, but the turn-based attacks mean that they can be very drawn out, especially when the head of a family is a believer. There''s no requirement that a revenge attack be launched, and their scripture even says ''I will repay, says God. I will not overlook the one who continues a blood-feud nor the one who caused it. Forgive as I forgive.¡± Interpretations of what exactly this means vary, and some actually consider it a blessing on the system.
Hnut, Fatherday morning,
¡°So, I understand you''ve got your wedding planned before I''ve even met him?¡± Yagah challenged Lenepoli the next morning.
¡°No. I''m not looking for a husband, and our new sheriff was not expecting to decide on a wife on his first day. He''ll be here a long time.¡±
¡°Until his father or mother needs him, or something.¡±
¡°His family lived in Reqiq. He was away from home, studying.¡±
¡°Studying What?¡±
¡°He didn''t say.¡±
¡°You didn''t ask?¡±
¡°Our new sheriff is... suspicious, I guess the word is, about why we want to know so much about him, when we say so little about ourselves. He''s also an expert at twisting questions into making it see like you''re throwing yourself at him, like with my whistling the Qnut song, to see if he really was from there. That turned out to be even more embarrassing than I thought.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Have you heard of Drana? Part of the city?¡±
¡°Where males can.. buy company?¡±
¡°Females too, I think. The Qnut song is often used as an... advertisement.¡±
¡°He knows that from his police work?¡±
¡°From his parents. They were poor, and lived there for a while, before moving to Reqiq.¡±
¡°Reqiq? You mentioned that place, didn''t you? Is where the landslide was?¡±
¡°He wasn''t at home. The rest his family were.¡±
¡°Poor guy. What else did you talk about?¡±
¡°Crime and punishment, mostly. Like what happened to Shashana''s attackers: Crest-rot.¡±
¡°That''s a disease, isn''t it? From not keeping clean?¡±
¡°And a punishment. Twenty-four hours in an infected pool, by which time it''s fully established and untreatable.¡±
¡°The government keeps a pool specially?¡±
¡°No, but health inspectors keep finding them.¡±
¡°Yuck.¡±
¡°I know. No wonder we were told to wash well if we ever swam in a public pool. It infects other parts too, reproductive organs. Apparently one of them was married, and his wife begged the court to let her have a child with him. She got a week to harvest his sperm.¡±
¡°Do I want to know how?¡±
¡°I don''t. I expect if you ask, then Sheriff Dirak will tell you in graphic detail or lend you a book.¡±
¡°His thlunk didn''t seem to that laden down.¡±
¡°He came on ahead, the cart arrived after dark. Dad says he''s never seen so many books outside a library. I think it must be his hobby.¡±
¡°What, buying books?¡±
¡°And reading them.¡±
¡°He must be very lonely.¡±
¡°Yagah, that''s the thing... he''s not lonely, he''s got his work, he''s got faith, and he''s got his library. He''s no more looking for a wife to fill his time than I''m looking for a husband to fill mine.¡±
¡°He called you beautiful, though.¡±
¡°He called me beautiful, he called Shashana ''as beautiful as blue sky over the mountain peaks after weeks of fog'', but he might have been quoting, but that''s just outside. He''s used to the big city where some stupid girls dye their plumage purple to attract male attention, to make them stand out in a crowd because they think they need to do that. To him it just makes him sure they''ve nothing more to offer. He just about said that he''s not going to be interested in marriage unless he decides one of us is beautiful inside too.¡±
¡°What does that mean?¡±
¡°He''s not going to judge us on appearances. There''s an expression in the city, ''you don''t judge a book by the cover''.¡±
¡°I don''t judge a book by anything; books are books. So you''re not going to mind me chasing him.¡±
¡°I thought you were after Girt; have you changed your mind?¡±
¡°If Girt looked at me like he looks at you, I would be his in a flash.¡±
¡°If the sheriff looked at me like Girt tries, I''d be angry at him too. But I''m never going to marry Girt. It''d be a disaster; I''d claw his eyes out. I''m not nearly so certain about the sheriff.¡±
¡°You''re trying to tell me you would mind, aren''t you?¡±
Lenepoli looked at Yagah. ¡°If you chase Girt, I''ll cheer you on. If you chase the sheriff too much, then I might do some chasing too, just to let him know I''m not totally immune to his crest.¡±
¡°Impressive, is it?¡±
¡°Girt''s crest is probably more impressive, actually. But there''s the rest of him too. The sheriff certainly wins in the thinking things through and being sure department, which I really like.¡±
¡°What about muscles?¡±
¡°Girt wins, again.¡±
¡°I''m a simple girl, with simple tastes. I like muscles.¡±
¡°Then please, take Girt!¡±
Sheriff''s office, Fatherday morning
An impressively built male walked into the office and looked Dirak up and down, somewhat dismissively. ¡°Good morning, sheriff. I''m Girt, thought I''d introduce myself. Son of Rangar the thlunk farmer. Good animal you rode in on, and I guess you need ''im for work, but if you''re interested in a second one, or you find you don''t need him, give us a shout. Top of the hill on the right.¡±
¡°Thank you for the information Girt. I''ll bear it in mind.¡±
¡°One other thing to bear in mind: Lenepoli''s mine. Everyone knows it.¡±If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
¡°She didn''t seem to.¡±
¡°Pastor doesn''t hold with duelling, calls it barbaric, and normally I''d agree with him. But I might think of making an exception if someone made a move on my Lenepoli.¡±
¡°Girt son of Rangar the thlunk farmer, the law has changed on some things you ought to know. Firstly, duelling is no longer a legal cause. If someone is killed or injured in a duel it is just like them being injured or killed in a bar-room fight, which is to say criminal wounding or murder. Secondly, it is no longer acceptable to intimidate someone into marriage. If you try to make a girl your sexual partner or wife by force, or intimidation of her or her relatives then you are are attempting rape. If you are found guilty of attempting rape, the punishment is castration by Crest-rot infection. If you are found guilty of actual rape ¡ª which includes marriage by intimidation ¡ª the punishment is of course public burning.¡±
¡°So... it''s true, you are making a move on my Lenepoli.¡±
¡°I have said nothing about my attitude to that female. I am the representative of the law in this district, be that as judge, policeman or educator. I have just educated you on various aspects of law. My greetings to your relatives.¡±
¡°If you try to take my Lenepoli, I''ll rip your head off.¡±
¡°Threatening a sheriff is a criminal offence, Girt. So I''m going to assume you didn''t mean that and it was just a figure of speech. I hope you don''t mind, I''ve got to read these reports.¡±
Girt looked down on the male behind the desk; he looked calm, bored even. Girt could feel his own crest pulsing in anger. In as insulting a manner he as he could he said ¡°Oh, /I''ve got to read these reports, so I''m going to ignore your threat./ Nothing to do with being a coward then. Go back home, Mr desk-polisher from the city, it''ll be much healthier for you. Who are you going to call on to help you arrest me? I call you a coward, and I repeat myself, that I''ll fight you and smash you if you make a move on my Lenepoli. Go back to the city or I challenge you to a duel.¡±
Dirak couldn''t help himself; he laughed. ¡°Where is she? Did she put you up to this? You''re a good actor, Girt, I''ll tell you that. You almost had you believing you were serious for a moment there. Go on, scat. I''ve got work to do.¡±
¡°Stand up and fight, you poor excuse for a pencil pusher!¡± Girt shouted, loud enough to gain attention.
¡°Girt, that''s enough, game over,¡± Dirak said, still laughing. ¡°No one''s stupid enough to challenge a sheriff to a duel, that''s a criminal offence, and no one''s stupid enough to challenge a Zerker to a duel either, well, not unless the nurses in the hospital are really pretty. Come to think of it, is there a village hospital?¡±
Wiping the laughter-induced tears from his eyes, Dirak noticed Girt''s crest was full-red. ¡°Girt, son of Rangar, you are joking, aren''t you?¡±
¡°Girt doesn''t know how to joke, Sheriff,¡± Yagah said, attracted by the shouting.
¡°Duel, sheriff Pencil pusher!¡± Girt shouted once more. It was almost a trumpet. Dirak stood up slowly, ¡°Girt, son of Rangar. I understand that you are upset that I thought you were acting and joking, and I do not want to have to arrest you on our first meeting. Leave now, and we will say it was all a misunderstanding.¡±
¡°Girt, you can''t duel the sheriff!¡± Yagah said.
¡°Duel.¡± This time it was a full trumpet. Dirak calmly held his staff in one hand and stepped to one side of the desk, in front of the open cell door. ¡°Girt, you are under arrest for threatening a sheriff. If you resist arrest you may be wounded in the process. Get your red-flaming crest in this cell and cool off a bit before you get hurt.¡±
¡°Die!¡± Came the next trumpet from the enraged male and he leapt towards Dirak. Anger at the stupidity of the situation had fuelled enough Zerker enzymes for Dirak to move out of his way easily. ¡°No, thank you,¡± Dirak said, in a quiet voice, calmly sliding the cell door shut before Girt had even managed to slow himself. There was a noisy crash as he hit the opposite wall.
¡°Coward!¡± Girt raged as he turned and saw the sheriff stepping away from he bars. There was blood on his forehead, but he hadn''t damaged his crest, Dirak saw.
¡°Thank you for not resisting arrest, Girt son of Rangar. Can I be of assistance, miss...?¡±
¡°I''m Yagah, Sheriff. You were very fast.¡±
¡°I was slightly fast. I assume my crest has gone slightly green?¡±
¡°Yes. I''ve never seen that before,¡± she tried not to sound disgusted, but couldn''t really hide what she felt at seeing the colour and the way his crest was looking... under-full. ¡°Zerker enzymes do it.¡± He turned round, ¡°Your words didn''t get me angry, Girt, just the situation. But you still didn''t stand much of a chance. If you really see me angry, my crest will be full green, and you''d barely see me move unless I was toying with you. So, the situation. Who told you that you could call Lenepoli yours?¡±
Girt didn''t reply. ¡°Hmph. Next question, who told you that I was after her? Who set you up to be the first idiot in the village to trigger my Zerker enzymes and almost get your bones shattered?¡±
¡°It was probably me, Sheriff,¡± Yagah said, in a small voice. ¡°Don''t be too harsh on Girt, please, sir. It was my fault. He''s been after Lenepoli for years, even before she went to the city. While she was gone he''d say things like ''she''ll come back to me, you see.'' But she''s always told him to get lost. I thought... I thought he might look at me if she wasn''t single.¡±
¡°You told him that I was after her?¡±
¡°I told Girt she''d told me that I was welcome to him, which is true. And that you''d been talking to her late into the night and she was really glad you''d come to so she wouldn''t need to stay single. That''s not really what she said, but...¡±
¡°Right, young woman, for your part in provoking that attack, I''m putting you under arrest too. You probably get out of jail by supper-time tomorrow, I''ll need to check up on the law. I also need to seek advice about what to do with your boyfriend there. You get that cell.¡±
¡°She''s not my girlfriend,¡± Girt said, after the second cell had clanged shut.
¡°That pretty girl''s just got herself arrested for your sake, Girt. She says she likes you and I''d say getting arrested for you is proof. And I''m not sure I''ve not seen any plumage redder than hers anywhere in the city. You know what they say about reds, surely?¡±
Yagah blushed. It was more than a little humiliating, being compared to stereotypes, but... she did want to capture Girt''s attention. Did that make her ''eager for bed'' as they said? Compared to Lenepoli she guessed she was. ¡°Sheriff?¡± she asked, ¡°If I can convince Girt to marry me as soon as he''s out of jail, would that count in favour of a reduced sentence?¡±
¡°Well... It would certainly reduce the risk of a second offence,¡± Dirak said.
¡°And... If I''m to live up to the vulgar stereotype you''ve just been discourteous enough to mention, just how short might his incarceration be?¡±
¡°I''ll have to seek advice, Yagah. Conveniently for your plans, I''ll be asking Reverend Ruath.¡±
Yagah blushed even more deeply.
¡°Yagah, you mean it?¡± Girt asked, as his brain slowly realised an alternative future to prolonged singleness he''d get from Lenepoli. ¡°You''d marry me to get me out of prison?¡±
¡°Not just out of prison. I don''t want you moping about how beautiful Lenepoli is if I marry you.¡±
¡°She''s not beautiful. You are.¡±
¡°Girt, why have you been chasing Lenepoli if she''s not beautiful?¡±
¡°Dad says I''m ten times more stubborn than any thlunk. Guess e''s right.¡±
Dirak checked the locks and left them to finish that conversation on their own.
Pastor Ruath''s office, Fatherday lunchtime
¡°Lenepoli, come in, I want your help. Sheriff Dirak here is just asking what to do now that he''s arrested Girt and Yagah.¡±
¡°You what?¡±
¡°I arrested Girt for threatening me in front of a witness, Yagah. Her, I arrested for inciting Girt to get into a fight with me. She admitted as much, asked me to be lenient on him because it was all her fault for lying to him about what you told her.¡±
¡°Oh no... what did she say to him?¡±
¡°That we''d been talking late last night and that you were glad I''d come because it meant you didn''t need to stay single. He then came round to the office and claimed you were his exclusive possession, keep out.¡±
¡°And you said she''s not interested in me either?¡±
¡°I said that he wasn''t allowed to call you his until you''d agreed to it, and that the rape law had been extended to include marriages through force or intimidation. I guess he took that as saying I was going to stop him from getting near you, and he started calling me names and challenged me. You''d not mentioned him at all, so I thought you''d set it up as some kind of ''welcome to the village, see, we''re not stupid'' stunt, with Girt acting the offended dumb boyfriend.¡±
¡°Girt hasn''t the brains to act.¡±
¡°Was I supposed to know that? When you didn''t come out from behind the door when I burst out laughing, and I couldn''t get him to admit he''d been acting, I realised he might be a bit offended by me saying no one was stupid enough to challenge a sheriff to a duel, nor a Zerker to one either, and offered to let him go rather than arrest him. For some reason that didn''t appeal and eventually he worked himself up into full red-crested-rage, trumpeting ''Duel'' and ''Coward''.¡±
¡°How badly injured is he?¡± she asked, with a horrible feeling of where the story was going. ¡°I was just in front of the cell door when he charged me. Sidestep and slammed gate, prisoner one behind bars. All because Yagah wanted to turn his head. But it seems to have worked.¡±
¡°What do you mean, it ''seems to have worked''?¡±
¡°She''s asked if I can release the prisoner into her loving custody, and he''s admitted that not only was he persisting after you because of stubbornness, but that he ¡ª sorry if this hurts your ego ¡ª actually thinks she''s prettier than you.¡±
¡°You find this funny, don''t you?¡±
¡°Don''t you, beautiful Lenepoli?¡± Dirak asked ¡°If it was in the theatre it would be counted as a farce. Now, on the plus side, they''re talking now, and he''s happy that she''s willing to marry him to get him out of jail. Eventually, however, they might just realise that if she refuses to testify, then ¡ª legally speaking ¡ª the case against him, and consequently her becomes less water-tight, and a competent lawyer might get them both off on some technicality.¡±
¡°So, daughter, how attached are you to the constant aggravation of Girt assuming he''s your suitor and asking you to marry him, and how long should we give the village to think of him and Yagah as a pair, before the marriage ceremony?¡±
¡°Urm, why are you asking me?¡±
¡°Because you''re going to tell Yagah''s parents about it, I''m going to get back to the office, and your father has volunteered to tell Rangar and wife. We wouldn''t want you to have to deliver a message you didn''t feel comfortable with.¡±
¡°I imagine the whole village will know they''re in jail together by night-fall,¡±
the Reverend said.
¡°In separate cells,¡± Dirak said at that suggestion. ¡°What do you think of letting her out tonight and the wedding tomorrow? Or shall we let them have longer to think about it?¡±
¡°Longer to think means him in jail longer?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°There is a principle... the normal minimum jail term is at least a week. Release for marriage is an allowable mitigation.¡± Dirak said.
¡°What about release to help his dad on the farm?¡± Ruath asked.
¡°Hmm... day release, under suitable guard to make sure he doesn''t escape?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°Who''s going to guard him?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°How about we task Yagah with that? I expect she''ll want to be spending time there anyway,¡± Ruath replied.
¡°All agreed?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°Wonderful. Now that''s one happy couple sorted,¡± pastor Ruath said. ¡°what about the other one the village is talking about?¡±
¡°Which one''s that?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°My beloved father is probably talking about us, Sheriff,¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°You do realise that by sorting out Girt''s future you''ve now cut your choices down to singleness, me, or going somewhere else to look for a wife?¡±
¡°Well, I do have the other villages in my patch that I need to visit every so often.¡±
¡°That''s a relief,¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°I happened to ask my fellow pastors whether there were any other girls roughly your age without a pair, daughter. Guess what the answer was.¡±
¡°Father, that''s not called reducing the pressure.¡±
¡°Well... as I think I said yesterday, Lenepoli, I don''t know you well enough to make any life-changing decisions, and of course you don''t know me well enough, either.¡±
¡°Absolute agreement from me.¡±
¡°So there can''t be any decisions, can there?¡±
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 3: The bargain
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 3: The bargain
Extracts from report of first contact group
While there are plenty of problems in the city, there are no (official) blood-feuds practised there, as it''s a ''city of refuge'' in the Old Testament sense. So, it looks like if we do set up a local group of experts like normal, the city might be the best place for them to be based. Quite what that does in connection to not being political I''m not sure.
There''s certainly no way we want someone taking a forcefield spike or disk to his blood-feud, or a duel, for that matter, it''d make our contacts more feared than Zerkers. See initial observation report for why people fear Zerkers, plus parallel report.
One of the major causes of duals is when one unmarried male starts to talk to a female desired by another. If the pre-existing relationship has progressed to the point of gaining her parent''s blessing, then killing of her intended would provoke a full blood-feud. Normal male experience is that anger blots out rational thought and thus the expectation is that single boys don''t talk to an engaged girl, because they''ll end up dead one way or another.
The blood feud, however, would still be triggered if the death was not caused by a duel over the girl, but a fight over some other matter, or even if it was accidental (though in this case it would be a limited blood-feud, not involving other family members). Hence the need for a city of refuge.
Hnut, Brotherday, 40th of autumn, just after lunch.
After a busy four and a half weeks of settling in, studying cases and listening to things that the villagers were concerned about, getting to know the villagers and a bit of the village life, and not to mention a few days visiting other villages on his patch, Dirak realised that he''d not seen Lenepoli at all in the last week, not even at the well-attended mid-week discussion meeting. In his first week she would spend time at the school gate, chatting to parents as the kids went home after a studious morning, and when he''d wandered over she''d introduced him to a lot of people there. But he hadn''t seen her there either this week. Was it because of approaching winter? He didn''t think that was likely, and he hoped she wasn''t ill, and decided to visit.
¡°Lenepoli! You have a visitor.¡± Her mother called.
¡°Male or female?¡± Lenepoli shouted back from upstairs.
¡°Dirak, with flowers, hoping you''re not sick!¡± he shouted himself.
¡°Well! The guilty party returns!¡± She said, bouncing downstairs.
¡°I''m moderately cross with you, but the flowers are a nice touch, so I''ll forgive you. Oooh, my favourites, thank you!¡± She clutched them to herself and did a girlish pirouette. ¡°Why did you think I was sick?¡±
¡°You haven''t been outside the school all week, and I didn''t see you at the midweek-meeting either.
¡°Ah! He observes the effects of his crime. It''s certainly all your fault,¡± Lenepoli said, accusingly.
¡°What have I done?¡±
¡°First and foremost, got Girt married off. Secondly, you''ve not been studiously making an effort of being seen with me.¡±
¡°I didn''t realise that was a problem, sorry.¡±
¡°It wouldn''t be, you''ve been busy. But all the men Girt had kept away ¡ª even some twice my age ¡ª suddenly decided when you were away last week that you''ve decided if you''re not interested, they are, and therefore I''m their perfect wife. I can barely move out of doors without someone protesting their desire to woo me.¡±
¡°So... you''d like me to woo you instead?¡±
¡°You I don''t know well enough to prefer decapitation over marriage. You don''t mind, do you, just pretending you want to get to know me better?¡±
¡°I don''t need to pretend that, I do.¡±
¡°Oooh, did you hear that, mum? Sometimes he says the nicest things. One person, a widower, collected his child from class on Motherday and then right in front of me and everyone, asked the carefully anonymous child what he or she thought of him starting to woo me.¡±
¡°What did the child say?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°That they liked me but valued their grades, so stop being so stupid, dad, in case I thought they''d put him up to it.¡±
¡°Does the anonymous child get extra grades for that answer?¡±
¡°No. I''m tempted, but there''s always the risk it might encourage others. There are quite a lot of widowers, you might have noticed.¡±
¡°I have. It was one of the peculiarities I noticed and haven''t had time to research. What''s happening to the mothers?¡±
¡°Growler attacks. Most often its in the early winter,¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°It''s almost winter now. What''s special about this time of year?¡±
¡°The packs are moving then, and while the men do early-winter repairs to corrals, fences and out-buildings that always seem unimportant in the autumn, the women collect nuts and berries.¡±
¡°You included?¡± He asked, concerned.
¡°Sometimes.¡±
¡°Do you go armed?¡±
¡°Not very effectively. We normally take some men with us... let me rephrase that. The women with husbands who aren''t busy with repairs take their husbands, the girls with boyfriends take their boyfriends. To ask someone to go is a pretty strong suggestion that you''re very interested, so I''ve not asked anyone. Girt tried to notice when I was going. I tried to make sure he didn''t, which wasn''t very sensible from the growler perspective but certainly saved my sanity.¡±
¡°Will you please tell me when and where you''re going, because I could easily consider going a part of my duty, even without the attraction of your company. And I would very much hate anything to happen to so excellent a source of information about this village as yourself. I presume there''s some organisation? Or does everyone go in dribs and drabs? If there is any time when there are less men than normal, it would be only right and proper for the ladies to ask me if I could come.¡± He saw her face cloud at the suggestion that he go with others. ¡°Not right and proper. Sometimes it''s not just a time for picking berries.¡±
¡°Ah. Winter nut collecting happens and so do some other outside activities that pass the time?¡±
¡°So say the rumours. Very discretely, of course. But.. the woods are large, and couples do sometimes disappear without many nuts to explain what kept them.¡±
¡°Now, learning that, my policeman brain thinks people getting separated in a big wood... and asks if the deadly growlers are always seen, if the victim is always found, and so on.¡±
¡°You think some of the deaths could be murders?¡±
¡°I''ve not found statistics. How many growler victims were there last year?¡±
¡°Three. All had been harvesting together. And yes, the growlers were seen, including by me, much too close for comfort. It was a large pack, perhaps twenty of them. The year before, none. The year before that, two I heard of in separate attacks.¡±
¡°Nut and berry collecting only happens in a short window of time, though?¡±
¡°No, all of autumn and until the snow in winter.¡±
¡°Three events in about a hundred and fifty or sixty.¡± he nodded, ¡°people try to stay vigilant, but the first growler group...¡±
¡°Exactly. Or actually, the last, after everyone thought they''d gone past.¡±
¡°A wizard could set warning alerts,¡± he mused.
¡°What about an apprentice?¡±
¡°Apprentices don''t leave the city.¡±
¡°Ex-apprentices? Don''t bother,¡± she laughed ¡°I know some questions don''t get answers.¡±
¡°There are other ways of course, lower technology. More easily made and replaced. Bells, on ropes, for instance. Or... do any people here catch fluffies? Or keep them for meat even?¡±
¡°I do, sometimes. The small ones.¡±
¡°How about this: A light cage, or a leash to keep the fluffy from straying, a reasonable distance from the gatherers. The fluffy eats its fill on lovely fresh forest gleanings or whatever, a welcome variation in diet and less food you need to supply. A growler pack comes, smells the fluffy and goes to investigate. The fluffy screams, because it can''t get away. Sad for the fluffy, but the nut-gatherers are warned.¡±
¡°And run away to be eaten as they run,¡± Lenepoli concluded.
¡°No. They climb trees and call for help.¡±
¡°Have you seen the trees?¡±
¡°You haven''t taken me yet. A first experiment, then. See if I can help you climb trees quickly and safely. Are you busy this afternoon? And may I cook you a meal sometime? I have some dishes I like to cook which serve even numbers best.¡±
¡°When you say ''you'', are you inviting my parents or just me?¡± Lenepoli asked, realising her mother had left them to talk in private.
¡°If you want to invite your parents along, I don''t mind.¡± Dirak said, not wanting her feel under pressure.
¡°As in, do I want my parents to experience the delights of your cooking and keep things safe and non-romantic? I actually quite like the idea of getting rid of unwanted suitors. If you don''t mind me using you like that?¡±
¡°I don''t mind spending time with you at all. I enjoy it even. I just didn''t want to fuel rumours. But if you want rumour fuel, will you take me nut collecting this afternoon?¡±
¡°Happily. And let me suggest you cook tomorrow evening and depending on how many nuts we find I''ve a recipe I''d like to cook for you. And would you happen to have a book or other information on the colours of a Zerker''s crest? I hear that green means angry, what does orange mean?¡±
¡°Would you like to guess?¡±
¡°If I guessed it might be embarrassing.¡±
¡°if I told you it might be embarrassing.¡±
¡°Hunger? Excitement? Embarrassment? Anticipation?¡±
¡°Anticipation sounds like a good approximation.¡±
¡°I was going to suggest attraction next.¡±
¡°Hmm, have you seen orange there before today?¡±
¡°Not really.¡±
¡°Attraction should have been around for a while.¡±
¡°Hmm. Your crest can''t be growing still can it? I''m sure it''s larger than it was when we first met.¡±
¡°As a teacher of the young, Lenepoli, you should well know that certain situations make the male crest swell.¡±
¡°Such as the presence of a prospective mate?¡±
¡°I was going to say an attractive female taking an interest in a male''s crest. I guess it amounts to the same thing.¡±
¡°Oooh and more orange still. Your crest is giving you away, Dirak. It seems that you''re developing feelings towards me.¡±
¡°I am trying to remain rational about our plans of spending time together today and Restday, and to remind myself it''s just you using me to keep others away. I apologise if my crest''s behaviour causes you embarrassment. ¡±
¡°I''m not just using you, Dirak, we need to get to know each other to know if we''re really interested and it''s not just novelty or something. And Embarrassment is not the right word, anticipation might be a better word. But maybe I shouldn''t be discussing what seeing your crest respond to me does where anyone can walk in on us.¡±
¡°Maybe we shouldn''t be discussing it at all? Until we know each other better?¡± Dirak asked, starting to get embarrassed himself. She nodded. Then in a detached, but curious voice she asked, ¡°What is it about that colour that makes me want to reach out and touch it?¡±
¡°Probably the knowledge that you''re causing it. But if you do I''m going to decide that you are not just interested in a pretend suitor.¡±
¡°Drat, too late for mere curiosity. It''s got a different structure to my father''s.¡±
¡°Probably. The Zerk influence again. Most crests rise in anger, mine deflates now¡±
¡°Meaning you''re not likely to get a burst crest in a fight. Clever. Why didn''t I learn that when I was specialising?¡±
¡°You specialised? What did you study?¡±
¡°Basic anatomy, medicine and herbology.¡±
¡°That''s very useful.¡±
¡°I thought so. I''ve not been able to make much use of it. We do have a full doctor, after all.¡±
¡°And you''re never called on to help?¡±
¡°Not so far. Are you prepared to share anything about what you studied?¡±
¡°Most lately, I''ve studied law, and the principles and science of crime scene investigation.¡±
¡°Practical for your current role.¡±
¡°You make it sound like I won''t have this role for long.¡±
¡°Sorry. I was thinking that you''d had a different one previously.¡±
¡°One of these days, I''m going to surprise you and answer one of those questions,¡± he said.
¡°Surprise me? It''ll be a great surprise if you tell me you never studied any wizardry.¡±
¡°Oh, I did. Most police have done. The wizards do not intervene, but they do use their abilities to give aid to state officials if you ask properly.¡±
¡°You know what I meant, Dirak, but still, I find myself surprised. Can you talk to me about it?''
¡°Certainly.¡±
¡°What? There are no great oaths of silence?¡±
¡°None. None at all.¡±
¡°But... The wizards don''t share their secrets openly!¡±
¡°You are wrong. They are busy, mainly because they are careful and they are rightly terrified of the forces they manipulate, but they do not hide their secrets. They are happy to educate. The preservation and dissemination of knowledge is their purpose.¡±
¡°They don''t do a very good job.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
¡°No? For hundreds of years they have succeeded in teaching ignorant and wilfully foolish students the intricate knowledge of the forces that are or at least were far beyond the understanding of most of the scientifically advanced race that developed them. They educate educators and your own studies have benefited from their learning, I''m sure.¡±
¡°I stand corrected. And I would like to ask you to teach me what you can, and also teach my students. As you have pointed out, passing on knowledge is a challenge. And you did mention this search for new candidates...¡±
¡°I did.¡± he said, and then laughed.
¡°What?¡±
¡°I can guess what the first test will be. Can you imagine the assessor''s face if the entire class says ''oh, we did that last year, that was fun!¡±
She laughed, and then asked, ¡°Will it be fun?¡±
¡°I hope so, to those who want to learn. And also a little challenging to organise. Or maybe not. Qnut is famous for the bits of copper you can just pick up if you look around. Is there any around here?¡±
¡°Some. Hence the dangerous copper jewellery you''ve probably seen. How much do you need?¡±
¡°Not much in terms of weight. But I''d need wire. Long lengths of thin wire, if I''m dreaming why not ask for the impossible? So I''ll ask for a roll of it, like a spool of sewing thread, thin enough to break without much effort.¡±
¡°I need to introduce you to some more people in the village, then. Eventually.¡±
¡°After we''ve collected some nuts?¡± Dirak asked. ¡°Yes. Now the question is, do we go hand in hand?¡±
¡°Lenepoli... are you that attracted to my crest?¡±
¡°Probably not. But I''m that convinced that you''re not going to assume that pretending to be my boyfriend means we''re going to get married by Shortnight. Wow, that''s next week, isn''t it? I''m actually reasonably convinced that before you start getting seriously annoying, you''re going to be very keen to work out what I think about you. And therefore not annoy me.¡±
¡°I think you find me more of a potential mate that anyone else you know.¡±
¡°Yes. But I''m not sure that marriage is for me. And despite what your crest thinks, you are being very undemanding and not pushing yourself on me. I find that really really attractive at the moment. Does that make sense?¡±
¡°You want space to think about it, I''m giving you space, I''m hoping you''ll give me space too. There''s a point where we ''click'' there ¡ª in our uncertainty.¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°But we do seem to get on fairly well.¡± Dirak said.
¡°I''d noticed that.¡± Lenepoli agreed. ¡°So, shall we hold hands without it representing a serious attachment, but more a mutual exploration of what that feels like?¡±
¡°You don''t expect it will feel like it''s feeding our emotions but not helping us make sane decisions?¡±
¡°You''re probably right. But on the other hand... Maybe my attitude to marriage is fear. So logic won''t help.¡±
¡°Whereas I know I''m attracted to the idea of marriage, and the blue of your plumage, but... I guess for me the fear comes from not being certain that I might make a mistake, and fall for a beautiful girl that I can''t actually get on with. Extra attraction doesn''t help there.¡±
¡°Prayer might. After all, God promises wisdom to those who ask,¡± Lenepoli said. ¡°Prayer might might help you get over your fear of marriage too.¡±
¡°Yes. It probably will. But actually... I don''t think I am very scared of marriage to you. I think that I''m feeling uncertain about why I''m not scared. Shouldn''t I be?¡±
¡°Lenepoli, let''s not hold hands, I don''t think we''re ready.¡±
¡°All right,¡± she said. He heard disappointment in her voice.
¡°But it would be very discourteous of me to not help you over any obstacles. I presume there are some.¡±
¡°A few,¡± she agreed. ¡°Do you need anything in particular to help me get up an unclimbable tree?¡±
¡°I''m looking forwards to seeing the trees so I can work that out. Why do you say unclimbable?¡±
¡°They''re tall and thin with no low branches.¡±
The woods. Brotherday
¡°What sort of trees are they, do you know?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°Hynf, if that helps at all.¡±
¡°Not much.¡±
¡°They drop some leaves every winter, more if its very cold. And they drop branches if it gets really cold or too windy.¡±
¡°That doesn''t sound like an ideal climb, a tree that can let go of its branches.¡±
¡°No, and the branches come off quite easily.¡±
¡°And the nuts are from the trees?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°What do the berries grow on?¡±
¡°Fallen branches, see?.¡±
¡°Ooh! So the tree gets its fruit down low if it''s cold?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°These are hynfruit?¡± Dirak asked, looking at the berries.
¡°You''ve heard of them?¡±
¡°I''ve only seen them dried. A favourite snack of someone I knew.¡±
¡°Really? They''re supposed to keep you awake at night if you dry them.¡±
¡°That''s what he said, too. That tree over there is a different sort.¡±
¡°Yes, glue tree.¡±
¡°That''s what you call it? OK. And people tap the glue?¡±
¡°Yes. You know it by a different name?¡±
¡°Gum tree, or angar tree,¡± he said.
¡°Angar? That''s the tree your staff is made from?¡±
¡°Yes. Any straight ones around?¡± he asked, looking at the wizened twisted form.
¡°Some. They''re fairly rare.¡±
¡°Like worms with teeth, now that Reqiq is no more. They grew there. I didn''t realise...¡± he looked around. ¡°It''s so like the hills above where I was born, except for the Hynf trees. I''ve missed walking in woods, thank you.¡±
¡°Does that mean we should tell people not to use them for bean poles?¡±
¡°Bean poles? Oh what riches misused... For what some apprentice wizards would pay for one straight pole of angar wood for a wizard''s staff, you could probably buy a month''s food and lodging in the city for a large family as long as they didn''t mind staying in Drana.¡±
¡°We don''t have much use for money here. Nor see many wizards.¡±
¡°I know. It''s a lovely place you have here. But would wizards be welcome?¡±
¡°To come and barter for some bean poles? Some of them are longer than your staff. If they came with useful things to barter, I''m sure they''d be welcome.¡±
¡°Perhaps I ought to have a look, so no one''s journey gets wasted.¡±
¡°Yes. It''s a long way from the city, whether that''s by thlunk or cart.¡±
¡°I doubt they''d use either, being wizards. But straight trees should be looked after, allowed to grow and reproduce, not just be cut down.¡±
¡°Genetics, yes. We don''t want to eradicate the most useful genes.¡± She looked at him shyly. ¡°Have you met many other Zerkers, Dirak? Your genes seem worth preserving.¡±
¡°Zerkers are very rare, and unless we''re in love or in battle, hard to spot. You know that we were once hunted down? Purged?¡±
¡°Fear of the other. Yes.¡±
¡°That''s what the wizards are afraid of, you realise? The alien''s arrival protected the Zerkers. I''ve seen the records, a final purge was being planned. But if the populace feared Zerkers, what about Wizards whose studies could kill hundreds if they went wrong?¡±
¡°There were some hiding in our village, you know.¡±
¡°Your mother''s ancestors.¡± It wasn''t really a question.
¡°How do you know?¡±
¡°Blue plumage in a female is a sign of at lest some Zerker ancestry, you have it, so does your mother.¡±
¡°You''re saying I am part Zerker, Mum too?¡±
¡°You''re bluer than my mother. You might even be able to make Zerker enzymes.¡±
¡°How?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°It takes something significant to first trigger the enzymes. Like seeing someone innocently and happily whistling while she walked into danger and no one stopping her. Once triggered they come more easily.¡±
¡°You''re saying that you wouldn''t be a Zerker if you''d not seen Shashana''s attack, aren''t you?¡±
¡°I am.¡±
¡°What happened to keeping secrets?¡±
¡°I can''t remember why it was important.¡±
¡°Because you didn''t want me falling for my idea of a hero who wasn''t the real you. Or you were afraid I feared wizardry. Did you mean it about killing hundreds?¡±
¡°The advanced stuff. Like the shield I put round Shashana. If I''d got it wrong, could have decapitated them all and maybe you too, depending how close you were.
¡°I was outside the building to start with.¡±
¡°Absolute distance is what matters, obstacles get cut.¡±
¡°But you didn''t get it wrong.¡±
¡°No. Praise the Saviour.¡±
¡°What is it like? The Zerk?¡±
¡°For me... Calmness, almost serene awareness of the things that were important to do, other emotions pushed aside, along with pain and fear.¡±
¡°Distractions ignored. Singularity of purpose. Time and other people just seem so slow.¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°You feel like you could dance around their clumsy attempts to get to you.¡±
¡°You can.¡± he corrected. ¡°Who were you quoting?¡±
¡°I felt terrified when I heard Shashana''s whistle cut off, and saw her dragged away in the distance. I screamed for help, but it was as if no one understood what I was saying. And what could I do? One weak girl against so many thugs? They were too many, what could I do? But when you came, so fast and I thought, I can comfort Shashana and I ducked past the fleeing thugs, they were so slow, then I went into the room and couldn''t get to her. Then you''d knocked the legs from under the last thug, and I told you to let me get to her, and you did. And then the thug hit the floor. But it didn''t make sense, how could those things happen in the time it takes for someone to fall? So I thought I must have imagined it. Then when I came home, they let us graduate early; we''d taken our last exams, and Shashana was so scared all the time. Then I got here, and Girt met me. His breath smelt the same as the thugs''. Drunk on lust, and thoughtless desire. I told him to get away, leave me alone and he said ''nice to meet you too,'' and tried to kiss me. I didn''t think of it at the time, but I got away from him too easily. He said something about me vanishing, I didn''t vanish, I just ducked under his slow arm, so easily, and ran past him to home. He always had been a bumbling fool. So I thought nothing of it.¡±
¡°You were in zerk, in your own way.¡±
¡°I must have imagined it.¡±
¡°Your genes are worth preserving, Zerkess Lenepoli. Your memories of that last thug are the same as mine, I just didn''t realise. I thought it was the fog of battle. But it wasn''t. You know what the Zerk is like. And you don''t need to climb a tree; If you''re in zerk, growlers are slow and bumbling too.¡±
¡°You think I should run round them? Or attack?¡±
¡°Which would you prefer? To save yourself, or to defend others?¡±
¡°I don''t know how to fight, I''m not strong, what can I do?¡±
¡°You don''t need much strength when you have the speed of a zerk attack. I''m sure I''m weaker than Girt, but he wouldn''t stand a chance against me if I had a tool like a strong stick, or a knife.¡±
¡°Which should I learn? Not both, surely?¡±
¡°How much do you want me to teach you of wizardry?¡±
¡°As much as I can learn? But what does that have to do with a weapon? You''re not going to convince me I can wield a staff like yours.¡±
¡°Catch.¡± He said, throwing intervention to her.
¡°It''s so light!¡± she exclaimed. ¡°How?¡±
¡°Under the bark, the outer edge of the angar wood is quite light but very strong, and once it''s cut it becomes even stronger, because of the glue or the gum that''s in it. But beyond the outer shell, there are a series of hollows separated by thin walls, full of glue or gum, which is heavy. But if you can break those walls before it hardens, you have a strong light pipe. And if rather than smashing the walls, you put a small hole in, then you can plug the holes in the end sections, and replace the gum. which gives you a good strong waterproof staff, suitable for helping you pick redfruit, or knocking out the teeth of growlers, or smashing their legs or necks. And of course you can heat the gum and put things inside it when you learn how to make them. Wizard''s things, that enable them to do what they do.¡±
¡°Like not intervene, you mean?¡±
¡°Well, that too, but I meant the things that would enable them to cut their names onto inaccessible distant mountains if they wanted to ¡ª quite a lot of journeymen do, for some reason, or to talk from one part of the world to another part, or travel quickly from place to place, and even to the stars, to talk to the different alien races.¡±
¡°Different races plural??¡±
¡°The aliens that met us are called humans. There are 2 races of them, but even they find it hard to tell the difference from a distance. Much like us, the Zerkers and the majority. The Humans discovered us, and other races before us and after us. And taught us about the Saviour, and how to use the forces they have discovered, even though most humans do not know how. Even though most humans are not trusted to know.¡±
¡°They are so untrustworthy?¡±
¡°The humans are an ancient species, with six thousand years of written history, their planet is only two thirds ocean, and full of people and they have had hundreds, thousands of religions in that time, weapons of war that could have destroyed all life on the planet, and the things they taught us could be weapons even more terrible. It was onto that world, so sinful, that the Saviour came, two and a half thousand of their years ago. And I should add that some of their most deadly wars have been between different peoples who claimed the Saviour, not just God, was on their side.¡±
¡°Politics is the same, sin is the same, it seems, the universe over. Religion used for politics.¡±
¡°It is. But recently, some who worship God in truth, discovered that what they had thought were inviolable laws of the universe could be broken, and they learned to make shields, to fix a staff or a wagon in the air, defying gravity, and travel faster than the speed of light.¡±
¡°Light has a speed?¡±
¡°The light from stars has been travelling to us for years, centuries for some stars. They travelled such distances in a few days, and as well as teaching us about the Saviour, they taught the wizards about their discoveries, so that the knowledge would not be lost, even if their worlds ¡ª for they now live on two ¡ª plunge back into war. Because they pass on to us the message of hope ¡ª that God has entered history, and does not want any to perish. Those who call wizards blasphemers are doubly wrong, Lenepoli. There is no full wizard who is not a true believer. I over simplified before. Most wizarding knowledge is not secret, the science that all on the humans home planet know, but the greatest wizarding knowledge is only passed on to true believers. It is a sacred trust.¡±
¡°All on earth know how to make a shield?¡±
¡°No. But I know how to do everything I''ve told you about.¡±
¡°You know how to travel to the stars, to talk to aliens?¡± Lenepoli asked in surprise.
¡°Yes, well, I studied it all. I didn''t put bubble-travel into my staff.¡±
¡°But you were an apprentice? They teach that to apprentices?¡±
¡°I was technically an apprentice, because for five years I failed to pass a single philosophy exam. You could say I had a problem with the philosophy professor, with non-intervention.¡±
¡°And then you intervened.¡±
¡°Yes. And I told them that I was right to intervene.¡±
¡°And you just threw it all away, to become a policeman?¡±
¡°They thought it was best. You see, they couldn''t allow someone to be part of the college of wizards who had intervened in such an obvious way, without changing their policy on intervention. When they heard I was a Zerker, they realised that I would never back down. We''re well known for begin stubborn.¡±
¡°Who, me, stubborn?¡±
¡°Who decided I had to visit you, when you were missing me so much that you practically danced downstairs?¡±
¡°Hey, don''t you go applying your policing skills to how I feel! That''s entirely not fair.¡±
¡°So, don''t feel you really need to avoid touching my crest, Lenepoli. I''m pretty sure already that you don''t only want a pretend boyfriend. Just... be aware that when you choose to do that, I''ve decided in my own stubborn way that you get a persistent suitor when you do.¡±
¡°It''s such a beautiful colour. What made the difference for you? That I went into zerk?¡±
¡°Actually, no. I was praying on the way up here that I''d feel comfortable sharing my background with you, and that I''d stop being afraid of scaring you away, and also that somehow I''d get to know you well enough to know I wasn''t making a mistake when the time was right. And then.... your eyes have been on my crest and your plumage has been fanning since you said my genes needed preserving. And I realised that not letting you know how I feel would be a real mistake, and so was trying to ignore you doing that for the time it''s going to take me to teach you what I know. Plus of course your genes need preserving.¡±
¡°That''s just so illogical. How do you know what my plumage is going to do?¡±
¡°But I still want to preserve your genes for future generations, and you''ve pretty much said that its me or no one. There, logic, see?¡±
¡°You''re crazy. Don''t change your mind about me, please.¡±
And seemingly of their own accord, the plumes on her head caressed his crest and their hands interlocked. ¡°I ask what you offer as suitor, Dirak.¡± she whispered.
¡°I will pursue your good opinion, listen to your criticism, accompany you into danger and protect you, Lenepoli, until that time that we decide to marry and of course beyond. I will teach you what I can, and in the matter of wizardry teach you to the all the knowledge of an apprentice, such as any may be taught. Further, I will seek permission to teach you all I know, that you may be my equal in knowledge and true companion in all things.¡± He''d considerably elaborated on the traditional wording, and she looked into his eyes in surprise.
¡°You didn''t need to make that part of our courtship, Dirak.¡±
¡°It will be though, won''t it?¡±
¡°I accept you as suitor, and look forward to all you offer. In exchange for all you offer, I freely give to you my time, my affection, my good opinion and my accompaniment in your travels, because how else can you protect me if you have to go elsewhere? I give to you my cooking when you choose to eat with me, and my company when you choose to cook for me. I give to you the freedom of my parent''s home, and their blessing which they have already promised me. May God not part us before death, nor allow death to part us before we have many offspring to preserve our almost-destroyed people''s genes.¡±
¡°May our enzymes speed us quickly in time of need, our claws be strong in defence of the needy, and never raised against the innocent.¡±
It was part of an old Zerker prayer he''d learned from his grandfather. He wasn''t sure what to make of Lenepoli''s addition of offspring; normally that was part of a marriage vow, so he didn''t quote the prayer to the finish.
Eyes sparkling with mischief, Lenepoli did. ¡°And may our children inherit the gift of our race in their time of need, but may no time of need come until they are mature.¡±
¡°Just how many children are you planning?¡±
¡°I plan on helping my betrothed make a home for us that''s suitable for twins to start with, and then for my last few clutches to be quadruplets. As grandma said, ''I''ve got four arms, after all''.¡±
¡°You''re amazing. Your grandmother had quadruplets?¡±
¡°Yes. Sadly there was a blood-feud, my mother''s three brothers died.¡±
¡°But the feud is no more?¡±
¡°The last two of the attacking line died with them. The brothers were only ten, the attackers twenty.¡±
¡°Blood feuds are so wasteful.¡±
¡°Yes. The crazy thing is it was almost forgotten. You have none, I hope. I should have asked.¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°None. I should have asked you too. No others affect you?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Praise the Saviour. My grandparents declared blood feuds a work of pure evil. Not a popular view but I hope we have daughters.¡±
¡°Just daughters?¡± Lenepoli was surprised.
¡°Mostly daughters, anyway. Too many boys means fights.¡±
¡°And we train them to be wizards, wizardesses?¡±
¡°If they''re interested, certainly.¡±
¡°And you''re going to have time for all this while you''re still sheriff?¡±
¡°Your father had time to be pastor as he was acting sheriff.¡±
¡°That''s not the same.¡±
¡°I know. What did my predecessors do? How busy were they?¡±
¡°From my memory, they spent a lot of time going to town ¡ª they did the trip at least weekly ¡ª and coming back talking politics with the men of the village, and mothers warned their daughters that they weren''t going to stay or take anyone with them.¡±
¡°So if I don''t go to town, I save a couple of days a week, don''t I?¡±
¡°Isn''t it part of your job?¡±
¡°I''ll let you in on a secret.¡± he whispered to her, ¡°the first test is to build a little radio receiver, to listen to news from the city, the second test is to build a little radio transmitter, and retune the radio from the first test to listen to what that transmits.¡±
¡°So every family with a child could listen to news from the city?¡±
¡°Sort of. The first radio whispers very quietly in your ear. There are more parts needed to make the volume loud enough so that any in a room can hear. But by the end of their first year an apprentice can make something that does this.¡± Dirac stroked a pattern on part of his staff, and suddenly there was a voice telling them that it was not yet time for the news.
¡°Can he hear us?¡± whispered Lenepoli.
¡°No, and it''s a recording anyway. But I certainly don''t need to go to town to listen to the weekly news summary. And nor do I need to spend time passing on what I''ve heard, if the interested people choose to listen with me.¡±
¡°You could have been doing this the last month?¡±
¡°I''ve got another little box I''ve been listening to. I don''t think it''s time to tell the village I was that over-skilled apprentice wizard. Or is it?¡±
¡°They''re going to feel that you tricked them. So since it was really about catching yourself a girlfriend without any hero worship, I think you should say that, and not hide it any more.¡±
¡°How blatant do you want me to be?¡±
¡°How blatant? I don''t understand.¡±
¡°Do you want me to pick you up and fly you to the village? Or have my staff glow? I''ve not got a secret set of clothes that say ''wizard'' on them. And I''m not a wizard. I never passed my philosophy exams. Hence my staff can''t be a wizard''s staff can it?¡±
¡°Can you do anything useful? Like find out if there are any growler packs around?¡±
¡°No. Oh... well, maybe I could but Thuna would be very cross with me if I did it that way and Girt and friends went out to hunt the growlers.¡±
¡°Who''s Thuna?¡±
¡°Thuna is a senior wizardess whose hobby is finding out about the migration paths of growlers. She puts radio transmitters on some of them to let her follow their paths. Selectively hunting down her test subjects would ruin her experiment and be a very good way of getting into her bad books, and poor thanks for her support when some people said I ought to be locked up for using wizardry to intervene.¡±
¡°You didn''t, not really. But what would she think of people avoiding the area when one of her packs came past?¡±
¡°I don''t want to guess," he said, then paused. "But... I''ve just had a silly idea. Shall we ask her if she wants to come for a chat?¡±
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 4: Old friends
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 4: Old friends
Extracts from report of first contact group
On Zerkers and the Zerk:
The Zerk is without doubt a genetically linked normally-dormant capability. It is associated with distinct colouration in females (blue, compared to the normal reds, greens or yellows), and male crests show different physiology and an entirely different reaction to anger (deflating rather than inflating, and different colour changes from emotion).
The latent capability may become active as a result of extreme anger or stress during childhood or early adulthood, in which case the stress reaction includes the release of ''zerker enzymes'' which seem to be a hormonal cocktail that speeds nerve conduction speed, as well as muscle efficiency. Those who react to stress or anger with zerker enzymes gain the title / rank of Zerker or Zerkess.
The Zerker in popular culture is a figure of mythic qualities: an unconquerable hero, a genius, a sly stealer of fianc¨¦es or even wives, or a dangerous assassin.
There is some truth behind all of these. Typically, a Zerker will not kill his opponent in a duel. Thus although a Zerker''s opponent may feel pain, humiliation and resentment, the result of a duel is decisive, the honour system will not permit a rematch on the same subject, and a full blood feud is not triggered.
The normal courtship contract includes the male promising protection to the female. If the male is defeated in a duel over the female''s attentions, this term is deemed to have been broken. Thus it is very unlikely that a grudgingly accepted courtship contract will survive the approach of a Zerker male.
The zerker-producing subspecies tend to be more intelligent themselves, and typically prefer intelligent spouses, thus to selected as the object of a Zerker''s desire is a flattering thing to many females, and a Zerker suitor is often portrayed in folk tales as the equivalent of prince charming.
This combination means that Zerker males can, almost with total impunity, select their preferred mates without suffering the normal risks associated with interrupting an established courtship, assuming the female does not object. Even if she does object to the arrogant approach of the Zerker, and re-establishes the contract with her previous suitor, then apart from the risks that come from firmly establishing his credentials as a Zerker ¡ª a title worn with pride despite the risks ¡ª and irritation of a rejection, the Zerker suffers no real loss. Thus some Zerkers feel they can flout convention and operate outside the normal limits of society.
Official fears of assassins combined with a general distrust of Zerkers fed by some immoral individuals leaving a trail of disrupted relationships behind them have led to historic pogroms, attempting to destroy the Zerkers. These have so far failed. Natural blue colouration is often dyed, (sometimes a small patch is discretely left by an unattached female to prove her legacy in case a Zerker comes to town).
Open conflict only stands a chance through overwhelming military force, and a rampaging mob has little chance of succeeding in catching a Zerker. During a pogrom or purge, therefore, a secret attack is organised with whole families being bound as they sleep, and then publicly executed for their race. Thus many Zerker families live in a climate of fear of discovery and try to hide their identity. The rumour of an imminent night raid can of course fuel the Zerk and has led to assassinations.
The permanent solution to this racial tension almost certainly requires an end to the fear-inducing pogroms, and for Zerkers to adopt a strict moral standard of never interfering in established relationships and only using their biological advantages in strict self-defence. This has long been recognised, but deemed impossible.
Some religiously minded villages are said to have formally rejected participation in government pogroms on this basis, with Zerkers there vowing to use their abilities only to defend themselves and others. The impact of the gospel has led certain officials to suggest this model could be applied to the whole populace.
Hnut, 4pm, Brotherday, 40th of Autumn
As Dirak and Lenepoli walked along beside the Ut river and into the village hand in hand, various single males looked up, took in the sight of her face, smiling up at his, and of her plumage radiating exuberant joy, and quietly abandoned any plans to pursue her. There was clearly no point unless they wanted to fight a duel with the sheriff, and even start a blood-feud with Lenepoli''s family, if a blessing on the couple had been given. They were just reaching that conclusion when there was a crack not unlike the sound of a close lightning strike, although not as loud. If was followed by a gentle rumble. The sky was clear. The couple looked up and onlookers saw the sheriff take some steps away from his beloved and start waving his staff around his head as if scaring birds except there didn''t seem to be any. The end of the staff end sparkled and flashed in a most unnatural way as he did so. Some people leapt to the wrong conclusions and grabbed spears.
¡°Don''t worry! A guest is coming!¡± Lenepoli shouted, seeing the people running. ¡°Visiting wizard.¡±
¡°Why is the sheriff fighting off invisible birds, then?¡±
¡°He''s not. He''s helping her see where the village is.¡±
¡°What was that noise?¡± one of the members of the crowd said.
¡°Me showing off like the teenager I am at heart,¡± an woman on the verge of being elderly said from behind the crowd that had gathered around Lenepoli. No one had seen her arrive.
She was holding a staff much like Dirak''s, and added a shouted ¡°Hey, stop waving, Dirak, I''m here.¡±
¡°Welcome to my new home, Thuna!¡± Dirak shouted back. ¡°Either you were fast or we were slow. We didn''t get to tell anyone you were coming.¡±
¡°That explains the spears, then. Now, what''s this all about?¡±
¡°Stretching non-intervention all the way past its illogical limits, Thuna. First, let me introduce the lovely girl who''s just agreed to me wooing her, Zerkess Lenepoli.¡±
¡°Ah! Do I recognise a witness to your little intervention?¡±
¡°You do. I had no idea she lived here though, so I put it down to a little bit of God''s humour.¡±
¡°And you too know the Zerk, Lenepoli?¡±
¡°I didn''t recognise it until Dirak told me what it was like, but yes, I ran to comfort my friend and I stepped away from the almost-embrace of an unliked would-be suitor who wouldn''t take no for an answer. Both times everyone else seemed to move through treacle. There was another time, too, which Dirak doesn''t know about.¡±
¡°And so your testimony does make sense, if only we''d recognised it,¡± Thuna nodded. ¡°I''ll quietly pass word around, if you don''t mind. It might help in other situations to know that ''a Blue can truly blur'', as the saying goes. Now, would you like to talk publicly about growler migration, not to mention upsetting the status quo some more, or shall we go somewhere else?¡±
¡°Forgive me, Thuna, first I''d like to show you someone''s bean-poles.¡± Dirak said. Selecting a boy on the edge of the crowd who lived near by, he asked ¡°Rinif, do you have any glue-tree bean-poles sitting around unused at home?¡±
¡°Yes, sheriff, think so.¡±
¡°Could you run and get one for Wizardess Thuna to look at? I want to see the look on her face.¡±
¡°What look on my face?¡± Thuna asked, puzzled.
¡°This one is good. Isn''t that the perfect picture of puzzlement, Lenepoli?¡±
¡°You always were a rascal. Dirak. What are you plotting?¡±
¡°I''m plotting to show you a bean-pole, talk you into intervening enough so the people here don''t decide to ruin your research project, and/or help you get more data. I''m also wondering what you''d think of me teaching all the kids in the school some fun assessment stuff, along with all the kids that Lenepoli snuck into her reply to my bid for her affections.¡±
¡°Hmm. You mean that having set you loose in the world, you''re planning to actually share as freely as we are supposed to?¡±
¡°I heard recruitment was low, and Lenepoli is the village school teacher. Sheriff is a teaching position, too, in some ways. I''m sure the villagers would be happy to have radios to talk to relatives out in the fields, for instance.¡±
¡°Hmm. And the lovely thing about you telling me this in public is that if anyone wanted for some perverted selfish reason to stop you from spreading knowledge, some form of intervention would be required, of a sort that''d be unwelcome by the populace? Am I right?¡±
¡°When intervention that would be welcome is so often refused, and a wizard''s lack of intervention has become a nasty joke.¡±
Speaking to the growing crowd, as well as Thuna, Lenepoli added, ¡°The Zerker prayer that we wove into our courtship contract does not countenance non-intervention, but we still hope our children will want to learn as much wizardry as the aliens taught. I have never dyed my plumage, as my grandmother did. Duels which fuelled the hatred of my race are slowly becoming not just unacceptable but illegal in more and more situations. No longer can a duel be called just because of a hastily spoken word or a withdrawn comment. Anger is no excuse for a duel. And so that source of hatred against my race has mostly vanished: look at our village: reds and blues have lived side by side here for generations, and bonded by our love for God, it has always been thus. Even during the purges, it was the deepest reds who prepared dyes for their naturally blue sisters-in-law.
¡°But while we who are capable of being zerkers and zerkesses have lived free from hatred, we have also forgotten what it means to be who we are. We do not recognise the Zerk when it comes upon us as a growler approaches. We do recognise the inner calm that comes with the enzymes that cause the outer storm. We do not think this is a slow beast whose horns cannot catch me as I embrace the gift of my genetics and dance around them. Perhaps we think of flight, but we do not think we could defend our slower, stronger cousins and neighbours, if only we carried a light staff or a Zerk-knife. I do not say we should always carry the knife as my grandmother told me of her grandfather''s time, after all, duels are rare now. But when we go to collect nuts and berries, and the passing growlers think to collect some of us, should we not go prepared? Is it not right for us to prepare to defend others? We laugh bitterly when we hear sick jokes about wizards not intervening. Dirak apologises for dancing around the questions I asked about if he was the one who saved my friend. He was, but he did not know what I am sure of ¡ª that this village has no fear of wizards any more than it has fear of Zerkers. I would fear more non-intervention. Non-intervention of wizards or wizardesses who know that growlers come, non-intervention by those who could defend us from the growlers.
¡°And to those of us who have grown icy calm in anger and fear, be prepared to intervene yourselves if you can. The Zerk does not always come nor does it always come as strongly as other times, so do not run into danger. But if the outside world slows when you see a growler and you outpace it easily, recognise that the growler may be too clumsy to dance with you, and if it is too clumsy, perhaps you can make it regret thinking of you and your strong cousins as food.
¡°To the relatives of my lost friends, I can only apologise. We all ran, we all tried to dodge, and I was the weakest of all of us, I thought myself the most helpless. I did not think my dodging might be zerk-driven. I did not think I might have even more speed available, and I had no tool to turn speed into protection. I will not make that mistake again. And I also offer to go and collect nuts and berries with Dirak, when there are not enough men to guard against migrating growlers otherwise. I don''t say every day, or the children will never have lessons, but perhaps we could be more organised. And perhaps I should let our visitor speak.¡±
¡°Thank you for your speech, Lenepoli, the things you spoke of, the logic of it, makes a lot of sense to me. As Dirak has told you, I assume, I''ve made my life a study of growler migrations. I''ve never studied them exactly here, but I can tell you that unless your growlers are unique, the ones that come this year are not the same as the ones last year or even the year before that. They travel on a path, and each group''s path is different, and each path takes four years. When I say the same path, I mean that exactly. unless their path is barred, unless they see prey, they will not divert even a step from the path they took four years before. If none came in sight of the village four years ago, it will be the same this year, unless some landslide has diverted them so badly they cannot find their way back to their old path. But if four years ago the pack leader came through the village, for whatever reason, it will return here again, unless it fled for its life exactly back the way it came. If growlers come to a wood where there is prey, where you collect nuts and berries, then you can guess what happens ¡ª they return to where the leader fed, and the leader will be the one that found food in that place last time, with a memory triggered by the place. Then all will go that route, and all will go that route every time unless another has a fresher memory of a meal, or they see prey, of course. What this means to you as villagers, is the first growler you must kill is the one who has eaten, the second is the growler who has been closest to your village, or the best nut collecting place. But it also means that if you can make a strong fence, that a growler cannot pass, and which surrounds the place where you gather nuts, or channels the growlers in a certain path, then after four years the fence can be left with some holes. Unless they see food and go through a hole to get it, they will not stray from the path.
¡°Me telling you this is not intervention, it''s education. Me telling you what frequency my trackers work on is not intervention either. But I have not put a tracker on every growler, or even on every tenth pack of growlers. So I would trust a fence more than a radio. Or a group of zerkers and zerkesses, of whom I expect you have more than you think, having watched your faces as Lenepoli spoke.¡±
¡°Thank you for the education, Thuna.¡± Dirak said, ¡°Now, I really want to see your face when Rinif shows you his spare bean pole.¡±If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
¡°What''s so speci.. oh dear Saviour be praised! It''s angar wood! Dirak you''re a hero! The last few months they''ve been trying to make do with other wood, and the things just keep falling apart! Treasure those trees, I beg you!¡±
¡°How revolutionary do you want to be, Thuna?¡±
¡°Pardon?¡±
¡°Let me do a quick poll, please. Farmers, herdsmen and craft workers, I know you value barter rather than money, because money always seems to buy you less than you''d get from barter, and transport fees always end up growing. But just an hour ago, Thuna was in the city, I expect. Or maybe she was somewhere else, it doesn''t matter, she could have been in the city, and she''s probably going to go back without accepting any proper hospitality, the silly woman, but I''ll stop teasing her. Would you like to trade directly with Thuna and her friends? It might mean that some produce was traded to people who are used to paying city prices, or perhaps bartering with things from the city? What would you think of that? What would you think if Thuna and some of her friends came and lived here, among us? If they taught some students here? The city is full of dangers and distractions, so full of worthless ideas from politicians and professional beggars who prey on the gullible and earn more than most working people, that it''s hard for a busy person to tell genuine need from false. What would you think of rather than sending sons and daughters to face the daily moral and physical dangers of the city, we accepted some other youngsters to stay here? Here where as long as growlers stay away, the main risks seems to be the inevitable disagreements over romance and getting sunburnt while they help with harvest? It would mean the wizards could meet real working people and not just politicians and who make ridiculous requests, and of course concentrate on their studies without worrying about who might be trying to break into their home this week. What do you think, neighbours? Do we welcome Thuna and some of her friends to come and worship God with us here?¡±
¡°How many is some?¡±
¡°If all the wizards came, all the students, it would be two hundred, I think. I don''t think it would ever be more than half that number.¡±
¡°And would they pretend it wasn''t their problem if a thlunk fell under a cart, or a grazer escaped into a grain field? Or would they be good neighbours like the Scriptures say?¡± Pastor Ruath asked.
¡°Myself,¡± Thuna said, ¡°I would not see those things as intervening, but of helping. Intervening I would see as using wizardry to push growlers away from all my neighbours'' grazers, and so make them run away in panic from the burning terror I unleash. Such a panic might mean that they are so ravenously hungry when they get to the next village that they attack the school. Another intervention would be killing all the growlers that enter the woods here, without thinking of how many fluffies there''d be, eating all the grain in the fields, if the growlers didn''t eat three each per day. Intervening I would see as something you might regret one, ten or thirty years later. Something you did mainly because you thought you could, and while your motives were good, it caused trouble you didn''t think of.
¡°The aliens who taught us wizardry intervened, they caused a massive change in our culture that we still feel the ripples of, but they predicted that there would be a momentum of changes, and we would have to stay flexible. I''ve argued that we''ve become too rigid, that we''ve become too aloof from everyday problems, that the mantra of not intervening has become a moral failure. Dirak has just suggested something I''ve argued in Council we should ask for. I was shouted down because asking was seen as intervention, of using our prestige to get what we might want. Personally I''d love to live and teach here, but don''t let me sway you. And if you offer me hospitality, of course I''ll accept it, Dirak. As long as it''s not in a prison cell.¡±
¡°I have blessed Dirak as my daughter''s suitor, and I think his library doesn''t have a bed in it any more, so in his name offer you the hospitality of our family home, Wizardess. My wife would be here, but she has just slipped away to prepare a celebratory meal.¡±
¡°Can I help her while you discuss the changes a bunch of crotchety lecturers and party-loving students would bring to your village?¡± Thuna asked, ¡°I''m sure you don''t need me around inhibiting your discussions.¡±
¡°I''ll show you the way, Thuna.¡± Dirak said. ¡°They probably don''t need me around either.¡±
They had gone about ten steps before Lenepoli joined them. ¡°I need to tell mum what you promised me. Thuna probably needs to hear it too.¡±
¡°I think you ought to get some advice about what you promised me, and I''m not going to hold you to repopulating to village if it gets dangerous for you.¡±
¡°Repopulating the village?¡± Thuna asked.
¡°He''s exaggerating.¡±
¡°Start with twins and work up to quadruplets, she said,¡± Dirak said, ¡°I''m no expert but I sort of thought it wasn''t up to either of us.¡±
¡°Boys...¡± Lenepoli said, dismissively. ¡°They always think it''s all up to random chance.¡±
¡°I did too,¡± Thuna said. ¡°Not that I ever found myself a suitor. I think I must have frightened them away.¡±
¡°My grandmother said it''s never too late to find love.¡±
¡°Is this the one who had quads?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°No, that was mum''s mum. Dad''s mum remarried about ten years ago. She lives in Qnut, and always has done. I expect she even knew your grandmother.¡±
¡°I guess so. She''s still alive?¡±
¡°Very much so, last I heard. Why did she leave?¡±
¡°She was an only daughter, he an only son. Their parents knew there was officially a blood feud between the families, but neither wanted to fight, neither told their child because of their faith. But not fighting is not the same as ending the feud. So when they were told, my grandmother and grandfather, each brought up to hate blood-feuds, offered each other their lives has husband and wife to settle the feud. Thus I know there is no blood feud in the sight of God, whatever people may say. How can there be as I am of both bloods? As part of what their courtship bargains, he offered his declaration of all blood-feuds as a work of evil and she did too. The parents were ecstatic, and blessed the union. The traditionalist priest of the village chased them all out as heretics. I will not dishonour them by being party to a blood feud.¡±
¡°Grandmother has told me of that event; she was your grandmother''s friend, and also declared she''d be no party to a blood feud. I''m sure she will be pleased to meet you.¡±
¡°What will you do, if you have a daughter and her blessed suitor is killed in a duel?¡± Thuna asked.
¡°Arrest the killer as a murderer and send him to court for trial. A duel is no excuse to kill under law now, as I keep telling people.¡±
¡°But a blood-feud is?¡± Thuna asked. ¡°An unregistered blood feud is not. A registered blood feud is an admission that the law has not provided a solution, and is only permissible after all legal solutions have been tried for five years. The world becomes safer.¡±
¡°I hadn''t realised. There will be an excess of boys.¡±
¡°There will be different sorts of duels, I expect. It''s already happened in some places. Contests against risk rather than one another. There will still be a place for deadly competition, I think.¡±
¡°And if someone came and tried to take Lenepoli from you?¡±
¡°It has been five years since resisting kidnap or preventing rape was classed as a duel.¡±
¡°Ah. I am behind the times.¡±
¡°So are most people. The changes in the law are rapid. Perhaps too rapid.¡±
¡°And we are not blamed?¡±
¡°It is not wizards who take such decisions, Thuna, it is parliament, in which wizards take no part.¡±
¡°But we do make information known.¡±
¡°Of course. We''re all educators.¡± Lenepoli said, as they entered the house. Her mother came from the kitchen. ¡°Mama, I formally present my accepted suitor, Dirak grandson of the pair driven from Qnut for marrying across a blood-feud, and who saved Shashana.¡±
¡°And may I know what won your heart, dear one?¡±
¡°Many things, mama. But, oh mama there is so much to tell! Dirak spoke to me of the Zerk, and I have experienced it, the inner calm when all around is chaos, I did not know, so I did not do all I could have done, but I am Zerkess. It makes sense of so much. And glue-trees are not just a bit like angar wood, they are angar. But the contract: as well as company and protection, and good opinion, Dirak offered to listen to my criticism and teach me all he can teach me, not just all the knowledge of an apprentice, because any may be taught that, but he will try to get permission to teach me all he knows, so we may be equal in knowledge, and true companions in all things.¡±
¡°There are not many who would find those things nearly as appealing as my daughter, Dirak. You chose your offering well.¡±
¡°I think I chose Lenepoli well, for she desires what I have long felt I had to offer.¡±
¡°Will you hold him to breaking his promise if I teach you, Lenepoli? If you are as interested in wizardry as it seems and if you have talent, it would be yet another reason to come to this beautiful place. And no one can stop me training someone.¡±
¡°Maybe that''s wise, even if its not so romantic,¡± Lenepoli admitted. ¡°As school teacher I know that sometimes teaching can be frustrating, after all. Thank you, Thuna.¡±
¡°But what did you offer in return, Lenepoli?¡± her mother asked.
¡°I will accompany him in his travels, for how else can he give me the protection he has promised? I have promised to feed him and to eat his cooking when he wishes to cook, I passed on your blessing and the freedom of this house, and I asked God to bless us with many children to preserve our people''s genes, and we wove the prayer of the Faithful Zerker into our acceptance, and then Dirak asked me how many children I planned.¡± She shyly cast her eyes down at that.
¡°And she spoke of her plans to repopulate the school, if not the village, so she plans to help me make a home large enough to hold a small college of wizardesses.¡±
¡°Don''t exaggerate other people''s plans, Dirak.¡± Lenepoli chided.
¡°I thought they were our plans now, beloved?¡± Dirak laughed, ¡°Lenepoli spoke of starting with twins and her last few clutches as being quadruplets. I don''t know quite how serious she was, nor do I quite know how we''ll feed so many hungry mouths, but as I thought all such matters were in the hands of the Saviour, I will not be cross with my beloved if she cannot fulfil her offer. Nor will I advise her to keep it if it does somehow depend on her choice and it is unhealthy for her.¡±
¡°And you think you can raise that many and teach and study at the same time? Daughter you''re even more daft than my mother! But you know why you''re an only child, and my regrets. I''ll certainly do what I can to help.¡±
¡°Thank you, mama. Dirak prefers the idea of daughters, by the way.¡±
¡°But... is it really possible to choose how many children? And whether they are boys or girls?¡± Thuna asked in confusion.
¡°To some extent, yes.¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°It takes some care with timing, and the right herbs to pick gender.¡±
¡°Ah, and I know someone who studied herbology.¡± Dirak said.
¡°And it''ll take a lot of patience and perseverance from you young man,¡± her mother added, ¡°you''re going to need to take her away from any distractions and keep her thinking the right thoughts for a long time, not just enjoying each other''s company.¡±
¡°How long a time?¡± Thuna asked.
¡°According to my mother ¡ª I was one of four ¡ª dad was dancing with her and feeding her titbits for six hours before they couldn''t restrain themselves any more.¡±
¡°That sounds like more patience than I''ve heard of from the average youngsters, not that I''d know.¡± Thuna agreed, wistfully.
¡°You''ve never married?¡±
¡°No. There was someone I thought might turn into the right guy, but... he left the college when we were still apprentices, and he wasn''t a believer anyway.¡±
¡°He got thrown out?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°No, he got called home, which was somewhere near Qnut, but I never did know where. His elder brother had been killed in a duel.¡±
¡°And he had to take on the farm, or take part in a blood-feud?¡±
¡°Probably both. I don''t know.¡±
¡°Just... you know villagers and gossip. But I heard a story a bit like that from an elder in a church two or three villages away. Was an apprentice, then his big brother was killed in a duel over his beloved. ''come home restore the family honour'' etc, except that by the time he got home the other boy who''d been wounded in the duel and lost first his crest, and then his life to an infection, and the idiot of a bride-to-be had admitted that actually she''d been lying to both, and hadn''t spoken to her parents about either, and neither lad had sought to discuss anything with them. Hence the whole matter was more a brawl over a floozie than one of honour.¡±
¡°Ouch.¡±
¡°And both families declared blood-feud on the girl?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°No. Her father publicly plucked and burned her plumage, and gave a third of his family farm to each family. So the guy who''s now an elder needed to help with the expanded farm.¡±
¡°What happened to the girl after that?¡± Thuna asked.
¡°She died bravely, actually; defending a couple of children from a growler.¡±
¡°What''s the elder''s name?¡±
¡°I don''t remember, I''m sorry, and I can''t remember the village either. But Ruath probably knows. I do remember that the ex-apprentice never married, if you want to restart the relationship.¡±
¡°He''s a believer?¡±
¡°Very much so. Yanak, Yenek, might something like that be his name?¡±
¡°Yanek,¡± Thuna said. ¡°Oh, I''ve met Yanek,¡± Dirak said. ¡°He saw my staff and said something about leaving one unfinished in the hands of a good friend, but he wouldn''t elaborate. He also said he might come over and talk sometime. He probably heard your arrival, Thuna.¡±
¡°You think I should go and upset his happy life, don''t you?¡±
¡°I think I''ve been planning to take Lenepoli for a little trip to see her friend Shashana in Gorp, and Tnut is sort of on the way, now that I''m not hiding my past. Might we invite Shashana and husband to the meal?¡±
¡°It''ll be over before you''re back, if you go to Gorp via Tnut. If you don''t cross the river here, the next ford is almost in Qnut.¡±
¡°I expect he''s going to cheat and make a boat by wizardry, or something like that, mama.¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°Or just fly, if he remembers my lessons on that,¡± Thuna said.
¡°I wasn''t sure I was supposed to make it that obvious how much I studied, Thuna.¡±
¡°Just make sure you let me check your maths if you plan to travel by bubble.¡±
¡°I certainly hadn''t planned to. I''ll need to make the emitters for one thing, since I didn''t bring any with me out of the lab. But certainly I will let you check my maths.¡±
¡°Good. If the village meeting says no, you''re just going to keep it a friends-and-family affair, aren''t you?¡±
¡°Urm, I was thinking we''d just teach apprentice level stuff, and send them to the city if they wanted to study more.¡±
¡°You''re think you''re going to send convinced Zerker interveners to the city? Oh no, my brave ex-student. Until the city wizards change their attitude, You''re going to have a balancing pole of ideas here, a second school teaching everything you know. In exchange for all I''ve taught you, and will teach Lenepoli, I require you to do that, whether the villagers accept outside lecturers and outside students from the start or not.¡±
¡°You think I should set up a competing school?¡±
¡°You said it yourself, the non-interventionists cannot intervene in what you do here by their own precarious and cowardly logic. They may have cast you out, but the vows you took to teach what you learned had no get-out clause. By all means start slow, but you have an oath to keep, young Dirak.¡±
¡°I hear and obey, teacher.¡±
¡°Good lad. Now, go see what Lenepoli thinks of flying, and tell me the way to Tnut.¡±
¡°Let us accompany you, Thuna. Yanek''s home isn''t in the centre of the village after all.¡±
¡°And they don''t get visitors?¡±
¡°Not ones who arrive out of nowhere.¡±
¡°I don''t arrive out of nowhere. I arrive out of somewhere which is a long way overhead, but all right, I''ll let you make the reintroductions.¡±
Tnut
¡°Yanek! Do you know Lenepoli from Hnut? I now court her, as well as shake her up with rusty flying skills.¡±
¡°Congratulations! And this brings you here?¡±
¡°No, but I no longer hide who I was, what I learned, before I intervened and got thrown out of the college, and we had a visitor this afternoon. You may have heard her arrive in a thunderclap; my old mentor, Thuna.¡±
¡°Thuna? She mentored you?¡±
¡°And just lectured the half the village of Hnut on the migrations of growlers, but that''s beside the point. She wanted to meet you.¡±
There was a rush of air, and Thuna stepped out from the centre. ¡°I''ve come to carry you off for a private chat, Yanek, if you don''t object. Sorry I left it so long, but you never did tell me where you came from.¡±
¡°And I didn''t write either. I''ve often regretted that, but thought five, ten years later...¡±
¡°I was bound to be happily married? No. You?¡±
¡°I never met anyone who could compare to you. It actually works, then?¡±
¡°The number of times I have to say an old friend gave me the idea... they still think it''s my personal trick. Dirak, just to settle it once and for all, Yanek gave me the idea of the travel cone.¡±
¡°And it''s surprised many an apprentice, I can tell you,¡± Dirak said, ¡°Especially the way she then makes it plain that she''s been invisibly listening to your conversation.¡±
¡°That bit is my invention. But anyway, Yanek, may we talk?¡±
¡°Certainly, Thuna.¡±
¡°Want to go somewhere by cone, or foot?¡± she offered, ¡°Cone is a bit hard on the knees sometimes, not to mention the stomach, and you''ll have to be indecently close to me and hold tight to this lovely staff you gave me.¡±
¡°And you don''t mind me being indecently close, Thuna?¡±
¡°I''ve missed our talks, Yanek.¡±
¡°I''ve missed our talks too. But all I''ve got to talk about now is farming and village life.¡±
¡°That''s OK. I''m thinking about taking up village life. Dirak is thinking of opening a second school in Hnut. The village is just talking about whether they want outsiders to be allowed in, or if it''s just Dirak teaching their own kids.¡±
¡°What will the council think about that?¡±
¡°He''s been thrown out, which means they have even less authority over him than they have over you. I''m going to call them all sorts of names if they think they can intervene in a village''s decision.¡±
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 5: Mysteries
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 5: Mysteries
Extracts from report of first contact group
As there is only a single nation and no external threat, there is no real need for a standing army. There are bandit groups, but these are almost always hunted down by ad-hoc possies of respectable citizens in the local vicinity, though the city guard can be called on for more organised squads if needed. Our contacts look at us with incredulity when we speak about different cities with different sets of laws, although local by-laws are certainly part of their community system.
Almost all production occurs in the villages, and local representation is normally from messages sent from the village priest direct to central government. The law comes from the city, the food from the countryside. The only thing that the city provides, beyond a market and distribution centre, is the training of teachers, doctors, sheriffs and pastors. Mostly, people going to the city for training return to their homes afterwards, although those who have sought refuge in the city will not return home.
Some trades only exist in the city. These include beauty-products, cosmetic surgery (repair of crests after duelling-wounds is a highly developed sub-branch), production of newspapers, and the vices: prostitution, gambling, and commercial distillation of spirits. Thus the city is seen by distant villagers as a moral cess-pit.
Apart from some Zerker outcasts, in villages people are strictly monogamous and a son or daughter who brings shame on their parents by two-timing a girl or boyfriend can expect public humiliation, banishment, disinheritance or even death as a result of a joint blood-feud, depending on the exact circumstances and consequences of their actions.
The time between the public declaration of a courtship contract, betrothal, and marriage varies between a few days and a month or more. No discernable pattern could be determined. Some seem to skip the formal courtship process and leap straight into betrothal, in other couples the courtship contract proceeds straight to a marriage ceremony, without a period or betrothal.
Female fertility varies with the availability of food, and is reportedly higher during full moons. A double full-moon in spring is regarded as particularly auspicious. When (bearing in mind the data in the pre-contact report) our most elderly female respondent was asked if there was a link between how long the courtship dance and how many eggs were laid, her response was ''shh, don''t tell anyone, or some people might start dancing in daylight.''¡±
Gorp, just before sunset, Brotherday 40th Autumn
Lenepoli''s second experience with flying went better than her first, and she wasn''t even tempted to scream as the earth disappeared beneath her feet this time, let alone empty her stomach. Maybe Dirak''s better control helped. She agreed, the view you got from holding on to a walking stick and standing on invisible stuff that wasn''t air was fantastic. As long as you weren''t in a panic.
After flying to just outside the village, they walked to one of the first houses, where the owners ¡ª Shashana''s parents ¡ª directed them to her new marital home. Ethepoli''s description of her as not so blue as she had been was very true. The colour was now more of a blue-green colour.
¡°Shashana! What''s happened to your plumage?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°I''m married, I''ve got a lovely husband ¡ª he''s called Yaluf ¡ª and I''m not pretending to be what I''m not.¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°Yaluf asked me to stop dying my plumage.¡±
¡°You dyed your plumage blue?¡± Lenepoli asked, shocked.
¡°Yes, didn''t you know?¡±
¡°Not at all.¡±
¡°It started as a ... sort of a social experiment at college. Didn''t we know each other in the first week?¡±
¡°I think I first met you when you started coming to the discussion group.¡±
¡°Oh, of course! But I saw you, and decided I''d see what life was like as a blue. Naturally I''m a yellow.¡±
¡°And a very lovely yellow she was too,¡± a male said, coming and and standing next to Shashana. ¡°Will you introduce me to your friends?¡±
¡°Beloved Yaluf, this is Lenepoli, who I met in the city. But... do I recognise you, sir?¡±
¡°I''m Zerker Dirak,¡± he replied, ¡°Happy to be Zerkess Lenepoli''s suitor as of this afternoon. And yes, Shashana, we have met, sort of, three years ago. You probably had your eyes shut though, and it wasn''t the time for introductions.¡±
¡°Zerkess Lenepoli?¡± Shashana asked, too surprised at that to process the rest.
¡°I asked Dirak what the Zerk was like. I never knew, when I was growing up, but I recognised it from his description. You know how I said that my memory of the attack didn''t make sense? It does if I was in zerk with fear for you. And Dirak was equally confused, it never occurred to him that someone else in the room might have been in zerk and determined to comfort you. I''m just sorry I didn''t recognise the experience at the time or maybe I could have done something to stop them.¡±
¡°You were my rescuer?¡± Shashana asked Dirak.
¡°Yes,¡± Dirak said simply.
¡°They didn''t let me thank you.¡±
¡°They had a lot of wounded attackers to arrest, and some non-intervening wizards had to decide what to do with a recently-zerking apprentice wizard who was convinced not intervening would have been sin.¡±
¡°I thank you for protecting Shashana, Zerker Dirak, I owe you so much,¡± Yaluf said.
¡°You owe me nothing, Yaluf,¡± Dirak corrected him, ¡°God gave me my genetics and I have sworn to help as I could. And as for the change in my life''s role: God has so ordained that I''m now sheriff in Hnut, where Lenepoli recognised me as soon as I arrived.¡±
¡°And I was the only single girl in the whole of his district, so he eventually realised he just had to try to get on the good side of me.¡±
¡°If you remember, we started today agreeing we both needed to get to know each other better before making any decisions.¡±
¡°What happened?¡± Shashana asked.
¡°I was doing OK at resisting Lenepoli''s charms until she got me to promise that I''d teach her all I could about wizardry, and I realised that as a wizardess and Zerkess she was certainly going to be able to intimidate any rivals I could dig up from under some stone somewhere. Plus of course I wasn''t going to be able to resist the way her plumage was waving ''come here'' to my crest for long, either.¡±
Lenepoli blushed furiously at that and said ¡°Anyway, you are formally invited to the meal my parents are throwing tonight.¡±
¡°To celebrate the future peace that will reign in their home, once I take Lenepoli away,¡± Dirak added, bowing to her a formal bow.
¡°Are you suggesting that I''m a troublemaker?¡± Lenepoli asked, dangerously.
¡°I''m suggesting that you''re a perfect match for me,¡± Dirak replied.
¡°Hmm. I can''t really be angry with him for that, can I?¡± Lenepoli asked her friend.
¡°Probably not. Did you come by thlunk, or by cart?¡±
¡°Actually.. we came by holding on to Dirak''s staff and standing on something invisible.¡±
¡°That sounds scary,¡± Shashana said.
¡°It was, and very bouncy while Dirak got used flying for the first time in years. Fortunately sick washes off invisible really well.¡±
¡°It didn''t need to wash off.¡±
¡°You mean you got my feet wet for nothing?¡±
¡°That was an accident too, sorry,¡± Dirak said.
¡°I''d recommend you come by thlunk or cart if you can borrow one,¡±
Lenepoli said.
¡°No need to borrow, we''ve got a thlunk,¡± Yaluf said. ¡°Thank you for the invitation,¡± Shashana said, ¡°I don''t deserve it, really. I misled you.¡±
¡°About your plumage?¡±
¡°I wanted to see if it was true, what they say about blues not getting bothered by unintelligent males. But I didn''t really want to end up disappointing a real Zerker. When I said we should stick together... Sorry. I was really asking you to be my insurance policy, if that makes sense, if someone was after me I''d have said ''My colour''s from a jar, but Lenepoli''s the genuine article, if that matters.''¡±
¡°But you were right. It was safer to a pair, and if I''d been alone I would have really stuck out. So thank you for your experiments, Shashana, you might have had extra motives, but your ideas were good. Did it work?¡±
¡°I''m not actually sure. No baseline for comparison.¡±
¡°Did I tell you about Girt?¡±
¡°Big on muscles, small on tact and brains? Plenty of times.¡±
¡°Dirak got him married, I think it was all a cunning plan to drive me into his arms, really. Dirak was publicly ignoring me, and Girt was out of the way, so suddenly I was everyone''s favourite target. Intelligence didn''t seem to be a factor as much as hope.¡±
¡°That''s probably because you were the only one around.¡± Dirak pointed out.
¡°But I wasn''t, there had been Yagah the deep-red, before Dirak locked her and Girt up next to each other. No one chased her, as far as I know.¡±
¡°Sorry to ruin your theory, Lenepoli,¡± Dirak said, ¡°I was told ''you''ve met Lenepoli and there''s also Yagah the picky, she won''t consider anyone who''s not as strong as Girt or from outside village or preferably both.'' I guess they''d all tried beforehand.¡±
¡°Oh. I should have told people that I was praying that I would know if I was just curious about Dirak or interested in him.¡±
¡°What made up your mind? Dirak asking you?¡±
¡°No... It was the way that he told me I was Zerkess, and kept on surprising me. Freely sharing things I didn''t know, that I thought were deep secrets. Changing my perspective on all sorts of things. And still not asking. And he pointed out that I''d been missing him but doing nothing about it out of pure stubbornness the previous week, he and he was right. But he didn''t press me. Not at all. He let me choose. Of course I asked him what he''d offer me as a suitor, rather than the fools who know less than me about farming, let alone the rest of knowledge.¡±
¡°You''re probably exaggerating about the farming, Lenepoli.¡± Shashana chided.
¡°When I started teaching, some of them came and asked me what I was teaching the kids about crop-rotation; they''d never heard about it. One man asked if he was supposed to dig up his grain and turn it round.¡±
¡°He was joking. Surely he was joking,¡± Shashana said, ¡°Please tell me he was joking!¡±
¡°If he was, then it''s the first joke he''s been known to make. They do practice it, sort of. They say, ''What did we plant here last year? Tubers, wasn''t it? Let''s not plant them there this year to confuse the fluffies.'' I don''t know what happens. The kids are bright, but the grown ups... especially the ones who farm on the upper slopes, it''s like they lose their brains in their first summer.¡±
¡°And they tell me there are no mysteries.... Lenepoli, tell me these things, please!¡±
¡°Dirak?¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°I''ll tell you them as soon as I remember them, OK? I''m not used to having an expert on all things mysterious to discuss every stray thought I''ve ever had with. You want to go and look at the upper fields now, don''t you? Be very careful, I like your brain.¡±
¡°Don''t children help their parents?¡±
¡°Of course. And their neighbours.¡±
¡°So maybe we should talk to people first. Get some real data.¡±
¡°See, Shashana? Scientific method. I''m in love!¡±
Hnut, Sisterday, mid-morning
The head elder of the village congregation spoke in front of the assembled group, in the village church. ¡°We''ve talked, wizardess Thuna. We are a god-fearing village. Not all of us are true believers, but those of us who are not still respect, still help, still expect to give in to God one day. We have talked and slept on it and talked some more. We do not want to be inhospitable, nor do we want hoards of immoral students used to city life, nor any immoral staff, nor bad neighbours who do not help return a straying thlunk. But we understand that there are firm believers among you, as Dirak has proven himself, and asserts you to be. Dirak was nervous when he arrived, uncertain how the changes in law would be received, we welcome most of them. We are nervous of these changes, but some things we would welcome. We would welcome extra voices for the church choir, we would welcome extra hands at harvest time. We would welcome learning more of this creation that God has made, we would welcome more eyes looking for growlers, and any kind of protection that those extra eyes feel able to offer. We will not look kindly on those who look the other way when they could help. That would be gross sin in our eyes, and indeed a crime, And so I ask our mayoress to read the bylaw that was enacted over three hundred years ago.¡±
An elderly female stood, ¡°This bylaw says ''It is hereby enacted that no-one in Hoo on Utt or its surrounding villages shall fail to protect their neighbour, on pain of banishment. Let the stranger, the Zerker and the Zerkess walk safely amongst us without fear of purge; let the swift be swift to defend and protect as they are able. Let their stronger neighbours treat them with respect and be respected. Let dyes be stored against time of purge, and let it be recognised that God''s law triumphs over any mortal law, and that the betrayer will face God''s wrath as well as that of their neighbours in joint feud.'' This is written in the by-laws of this village. If wizards wish to come here, live here, and teach here, let them know this law. The stranger, which means one not born here or married here, is welcome, and may walk in safety, but they must protect and defend their neighbour.¡±
¡°I thank you, lady mayoress, honourable elder, for this welcome. I will pass it on to the council of wizards, of which I am a member, along with the other news you have entrusted to me. And I will not delay in delivering this message or the reply. How long the deliberations between my delivering it and the reply is not something I can predict. Unless there is any more to say, I will bid you farewell, as I have students waiting even now.¡±
¡°Travel safely, lady wizard. We have had more of your time than we expected.¡± Ruath said, ¡°but do not feel you need to stay away if the deliberations will take weeks.¡±
Thuna bowed respectfully, stepped out of the building and was replaced by a cloud of dust. Once again, she used her favourite travel method; an artificial gravity field contained in a forcefield cone that enabled her to ''fall'' high into the sky. Getting the field strength and timings right had been a complete pain, usually in the physical sense, as an over long or over-short pulse on arrival meant she was going up or down and that meant a hard landing. But she really enjoyed the stomach-lurching feeling as she fell away from the planet, and the look on people''s faces as she landed from a few hundred metres above their heads in under a second.
But now it was a time for fun of another kind. A hundred metres above ground, she made a call to a colleague. ¡°Steev, I''ve got some journeymen to teach now, but I''m calling for an emergency council meeting for right after lunchtime.¡±
¡°Where have you been? They''re hanging around outside your office looking lost.¡±
¡°A little seat of rebellion called Hnut, What''s the weather like there?¡±
¡°Sunny. What do you mean, a seat of rebellion?¡±
¡°Stick your head out the door and tell them to meet me on the roof can you?¡± Thuna asked.
Once he''d complied she said ¡°Thanks! There''s a pre-contact anti-purge bylaw that says the stranger and zerker or zerkess can walk freely; threatens any that people who don''t help and protect their neighbour with expulsion and warns that anyone who betrays another will face God''s justice as well as ''that of their neighbours in a joint feud''.¡±
¡°OK, that''s rebellion. What were you doing there?¡±
¡°Educating, being educated, listening to the village meeting, and meeting old friends. Yanek never married, Dirak has a deep blue girlfriend, and the village has a growler problem, in that it seems all the growler packs in the area get funnelled into the near-by woods by geography and geology.¡±
¡°And Dirak called you to ask if he could blast growlers?¡±
¡°No, to ask if I had any tagged ones in the area. Anyway, I''ve got to make a dramatic entrance. They expect it.¡±
¡°You''re going to break your ankles one of these days.¡±
¡°Naah, I did that years ago. The trick is to measure carefully and make sure your knees are bent.¡±
Council chamber, Sisterday 2pm
¡°Fellow council members. What I''m about to tell you will probably cause some ''I told you so'' recriminations, but I don''t want to dwell on the past. I had a call from over-educated ex-apprentice Dirak yesterday. He is now a sheriff in the village of Hnut, and he asked if my research on growler migration had taken me up there and how to stop growlers eating people who collect hynf nuts and hynberries in a wood that seemingly every growler pack in the vicinity use as a transit point.
Dirak''s girlfriend is the pastor''s daughter and school teacher there, and interested in learning about wizardry, and Dirak plans on taking his vow to pass on what he can seriously. He also takes seriously the recent law about preparing suitable kids to take assessment classes. Since some of our copper wire comes from Hnut, you can assume that candidates from Hnut will have made their first radio by the time anyone anyone gets out that far.
This morning I learned that before first contact, the village of Hnut passed a bylaw protecting Zerkers. About half the women of the village are blue, so I believe that the village of Hnut could theoretically supply half our annual intake of students. But that would be bad for harvest, and the villagers are a God-fearing bunch who don''t want to send their beloved offspring into this moral cesspit. I expect the same is true for other villages too. And Dirak has suggested that we educate the kids there. The village meeting where I heard of the bylaw felt it did not allow them to refuse admission, and though they will not be happy if we send them hedonists or heathen, they will welcome us, will welcome new voices in their church choir, new faces in their village, new trade opportunities. They therefore encourage the establishment of another school there, and Dirak will teach as his time as sheriff allows, come what may, because that''s what the vow he took says he should do. The village has made its decision, Sheriff Dirak and his future wife have made their decision. If we value non-intervention, then we will in no way act to stop the formation of this second school of wizarding. If we''re true to our own vows, we''ll not refuse to educate. But there''s a but, as you might expect.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Their bylaw, the Zerker prayer that the zerkers and zerkesses among them know and pray, do not allow them to stand by while others suffer. The sermons of the pastor do not fail to point out all the injunctions against the self-centred non-involvement that we''ve wrapped on top of non-intervention. Dirak tells me they knew the jokes before he got there, but they don''t know us. They expect us to ignore a straying thlunk, and ignore the command of God. And they say that such God-dishonouring behaviour will not be welcome. Despite this they welcome us, as long as we are prepared to be good neighbours. Dirak has named his staff intervention, he and the whole village are convinced that he was right to intervene to protect. Of course they are, that is their law! But Dirak did not use wizardry to prevent the crime. All he did was put a shield around the victim, in case one of the thugs decided to try to kill her while his back was turned. He understands this council''s decision, he has spoken in defence of it, within the context of our policy of how we understand non-intervention. But that policy will not sit well with the new apprentices we will be getting from villages, inculcated with the principles of good neighbourliness.
¡°It has not sat very well with me either, of course. So I ask this council, will we change policy? Or are we happy with a future where there are two schools or wizardry, one here trying to justify an ethic of non-involvement against people''s consciences, and another that leaves people''s consciences unbruised while prohibiting intervention in politics or using wizarding skills to deliberately injure?¡±
¡°Your own preferences seem clear, Thuna,¡± the philosophy lecturer said.
¡°As are yours, Ranth. But I feel our choices are stark. Either we choose to end non-intervention, involve ourselves in village politics and try to shut down a school eagerly desired by the village, we end non-involvement but preserve non-intervention, or future generations of wizards will be divided in two groups.¡±
¡°Who will teach all these future wizards? Just young Dirak?¡±
¡°Will you prevent him from teaching his children? Will you call Zerker Dirak to a duel? You''d lose. Will you use wizardry to stop him?¡±
¡°Of course not. But one or two offspring does not make a school.¡±
¡°There are others in the village! and the grandmother of Dirak''s beloved had quadruplets, and passed down the knowledge how to achieve this to her. I know no reason why Dirak and Lenepoli should not raise four or five clutches, and they are both in civil service, their children will not lack.¡±
¡°You exaggerate, Thuna.¡± Steev chided her.
¡°Slightly. As part of their courtship contract she offered him twins for their first clutch and building up to quads for the last few.¡±
¡°What have offspring to do with a courtship contract?¡± Ranth asked.
¡°Intent, Ranth. Intent, and desire and hopes and dreams. She tells him that although she was not certain she wanted marriage for the sake of it, she wishes their genes to survive in future generations. And she studied herbology, so expect a glut of intervention-minded wizardesses in a decade or two, all with deep blue plumage and the potential to experience the Zerk.¡±
¡°My two sons are going to be happy, then, if they share my good taste,¡± Brm, a wizard with a blue-plumed wife a little older than Dirak said. His sons were newly hatched. ¡°I don''t suppose this secret of large clutches can be shared?¡±
¡°I am sure that Zerkess Lenepoli would share it with your wife, Brm. Along with other advice. But this isn''t the time.¡±
¡°Dirak''s intended is full acknowledged Zerkess?¡± Ranth asked
¡°It seems so. Their courtship contract also included the Zerker prayer, if you know that. It dedicates their speed to defence of themselves and others.¡±
¡°You are proud of your mentee.¡± Ranth said.
¡°Of course I am. We put him in an impossible situation, and he has done excellently.¡±
¡°We put him in the situation?¡± Brm asked surprised.
¡°Of course we did. Well, the teaching staff. We knew he had been raised as the grandson of a Zerker. We saw his philosophy papers, where he coherently argued from scripture that a non-wizarding based involvement to protect the innocent could not legitimately be covered by any rule of non-intervention. And every time he was failed on a technicality, and although we don''t live by his ethic no one tried, as far as I know, to convince him there was a flaw in his reasoning. I not sure there is one.
We just hoped he''d never get into a situation where he would be forced to choose between obeying God and obeying our comfortable rule. So if he wants to set up a school of ethical wizardry, and let''s face it, the vow he took says he has to pass on what he knows; and if this council decides to split the wizarding community in two, you ought to know that I''ve already promised that I''m going to be teaching Lenepoli and her kids.¡±
¡°You can''t pre-judge the council''s decision!¡± someone exclaimed.
¡°I haven''t. I''ve promised to teach a very intelligent young female what she wants to learn, and what her husband can teach her anyway. You set the course books, you wrote a lot of them, and you told students they could buy copies if they wanted. Well, Dirak loves reading, He has quite a complete library up there in Hnut. We do NOT interfere in such matters as personal possessions. Nor do we control the distribution of knowledge by others. We teach, we decide who we teach lethal knowledge to based on moral criteria. No one has ever told me that Dirak saving that girl from gang-rape was immoral. If there was immorality it is in this council, who punished someone for obeying scripture as he understood it.¡±
¡°You defy the council, then Thuna?¡± Ranth challenged.
¡°I do not defy this council, but I think this council has started to defy scripture. So I do rebuke any who find abandoning a basically amoral position so abhorrent that they think it is better to split our community, and to have wizards outside the authority of this council, which is basically the result of our decision when we expelled Dirak.¡±
The chair of the council put down his pen and stood. He was an old man, twice Thuna''s age, and rarely spoke. ¡°Thank you Thuna, for reminding us of what we hold dear. Of what we have vowed to uphold. To split wizardry is horrendous, to oppose Scripture is unthinkable. I find, as I reach the end of my life, that things further back become clearer, and things more recent become vague.
"I remember a debate long ago, before most here were born, on the nature of intervention. From my memory of that debate, which must be recorded somewhere, the consensus of wizards was that: if young Dirak used no wizardry and no persuasive words, he was not there as a wizard.
"Someone who is not there as a wizard cannot use his status of wizard to intervene. If he used wizardry to protect the innocent in a way that caused no additional risk to the evildoers, he interfered in the work of evil, and should be praised. If he injured others using wizardry, he should be tried by the courts, for brawling under unfair conditions. If he damaged animals or property or natural features, that counted as intervention, we don''t do that. That was the decision then. And of course intervention also meant exerting power or influence over people because you can. We need to tread softly.around politics and laws and the like. But why was the boy ever tried for intervention? Sounds like he did the right thing, and setting up a new school in a village? Excellent! Thuna, be a good lass and bully him onto the council as you take over as chairwoman. Course we can''t split wizardry. This council needs a good shake up. Defy scripture? Shame! And on my watch too.
"Bah, can''t have that. Let''s pray for forgiveness and educate ourselves from God''s word. And when we''re finished, let''s look for those archives. It was just before I graduated, I remember. Not that I remember when that was.¡±
¡°Mr Chairman,¡± Thuna said, ¡°I don''t think it''s decided that I will take over as chairwoman.¡±
¡°Course it is. Very honourable way to do it. Rebuke the committee, call for repentance, take over with the blessing of the old chair who realises that he''s been in the job far too long. God bless you as you lead this rabble, Thuna.¡± he handed her the paper he''d been writing. ¡°Watch them better than I did recently, they''re a slippery bunch, these wizards. Let''s pray.¡±
¡°Mr Chairman, you can''t do this,¡± Ranth said.
¡°Can, too!¡± he said in a childish manner. Then he commanded in his old voice, that spoke with solid assurance that no one would dare challenge, ¡°Look it up under the authority of chairman. I am ceding my place to Thuna. Now, we pray. God, look after these wizards with their dangerous toys. Don''t let them break this lovely world. Don''t let Thuna let them wander from your paths as she takes over. Forgive me Lord, and let me come home to you soon. Thank you father for setting things right. Oh thank you, Lord.¡± And then with his last breath, ¡°Oh! Lenepoli, not Dirak. That''s so lovely, Lord. Thank you, father, so be it.¡± Then slowly, he toppled over.
¡°So be it, Lord,¡± echoed all voices but one. Ranth, lecturer in philosophy, was not happy with any prayer, let alone that one.
After death had been confirmed, and the ex-chariman''s body removed, Brm approached Thuna. ¡°Congratulations on your new role, madam chairwoman. Do you understand that the late chairman meant it should be Lenepoli who sits on the council?¡±
¡°It feels right to my heart. Dirak has been expelled, and has a job which in some ways makes him political. There would could be complications. We don''t intervene in politics, and nor do we want to cause trouble for new council members. We''ll therefore hold council meetings in Hnut for the foreseeable future. ¡°You''re not seriously raising someone who''s not even an apprentice to the council?¡± Ranth objected.
¡°There is precedent,¡± Steev said.
¡°Ranth, the last words of my predecessor were quite clear, that it should not be Dirak who fills the missing place. The council has twelve members, it is not right for us to leave a seat vacant.
"I will of course put it to the vote, but I will certainly veto any decision to split wizardry, and of course we cannot intervene in the village''s decision to have that school. Therefore, to my mind, the school should be constructed with the blessing of this council. Having a council member in the village makes it clear, I think, that we are involved and are in favour. Also, Dirak and Lenepoli will be starting to build their new home as a school soon, I expect, if they do not hear from us. But I think it would be wise for the school to be separate from their family home. We don''t really want the corridors to be overrun with hatchlings, after all. In case some journeyman''s experiment goes wrong, if for no other reason.¡±
¡°Tripping over ones own hatchlings is bad enough,¡± Brm agreed.
¡°Are we still in session?¡± Magz, who was a little younger than Thuna, asked, ¡°because I''ve got to report that I''ve totally failed to find any suitable replacement for Angar wood except crystal.¡±
There were cries of dismay around the room.
¡°Surely the entire species weren''t all above Reqiq!¡± Steev said.
¡°We''ve found crooked angar,¡± Brm said, ¡°but no straight at all.¡±
¡°It''s just too useful, that''s the problem.¡± Thuna said, ¡°It''s tough, it doesn''t rot, it doesn''t split. Did anyone ever see a mature tree of straight angar? Up in Tnut the church spire is from an enormous log of angar. It''s amazing, It must have been a massive work to hollow it our and raise it. But nowadays none grow near there, and in Hnut they harvest the saplings for bean poles, can you believe it?¡±
¡°But it still grows?¡± Steev asked, excitedly.
¡°It does. Dirak has suggested that nine of every ten straight angar trees found be preserved under a local bylaw. A total ban on harvesting for a decade or three would be better. The problem is that people still want bean poles.¡±
¡°Give them crystal!¡± Magz said. ¡°We can''t allow the species to vanish.¡±
¡°That''s intervening,¡± Ranth growled.
¡°Isn''t it equally intervening to let people pay the current rate?¡± Magz shot back.
¡°I''ve heard of people planning on harvesting expeditions, determined to find every last angar sapling on the planet so they can to sell them to us. What''s that if not us interfering in the natural world?¡±
¡°I hope you told them no way, Magz,¡± Steev said.
¡°I did. I said ''don''t, we''re going to find a substitute, and then you''ll have wasted a year or two and destroyed a species for nothing.''¡±
¡°Intervening!¡± Ranth growled again.
¡°No, Ranth, that''s not intervening. That''s correcting a misunderstanding that we''d be a party to someone destroying God''s creation, no matter how valuable angar wood is to us, we won''t wipe out a species.¡±
¡°So what do we do?¡± Brm asked.
¡°Let''s crush the practice of burning a dead wizard''s staff, to start with. It''s a terrible waste.¡± Magz suggested.
¡°Anyone object?¡±
¡°Carving your staff is good practice for circuit building,¡± someone said.
¡°People can carve pine or other wood, it''s what people should practice on anyway.¡± Magz countered.
Keef suggested ¡°We can put crystal inserts in the end.¡±
¡°That''s no good for apprentices,¡± another voice protested. Thuna, busy reading the document in front of her, didn''t bother working out if it was Steev or Durrun. ¡°Yes for apprentices. Exactly for apprentices. It''s journeymen who need the strength.¡± Brm said, ¡°and they can learn to make crystal.¡±
¡°So, who gets a dead wizard''s staff?¡± Ranth asked.
¡°The dying wizard can choose who to pass it on to, of course. I think our late chairman would be happy for his to go to Zerkess Lenepoli.¡± Thuna said,
¡°He didn''t leave a will?¡± Magz asked.
¡°He did. It''s here, the paper he was writing and gave to me.¡± Thuna said.
¡°Well, read it!¡±
¡°I, Lepnew of Uttown, chairman of the council of wizardry, see clearly now that my end is near. My mind has been fogged recently, fogged with pain and with regrets. But bless the Lord who saves, I am rebuked, and I acknowledge my failings. To Thuna I leave my position on this council. To Journeyman council member Ranth, who probably should not be on this council, I leave my regrets that I raised him here despite his lack of faith. I hoped he would learn faith, but instead he has confused us; be gentle to him, Thuna, he tries hard. I leave him in your care, and I leave him also my copy of the alien scriptures, given me by my predecessor, and him by the small alien called Bob.
"I expect he will enjoy the challenge of reading their script, if nothing else. I beg you, God, will you speak to him though your word? The rest of my possessions I leave to Dirak and Lenepoli as wedding present and for their school. We could have saved so many lives, if only we''d checked, but we did nothing. What regrets I have, forgive me!
"Written during the council meeting, this forty-first day of autumn, 253 years after we learned of the Saviour of the Universe. Ps. I think you should build the school out of crystal. The aliens wanted to build this one out of it, but the stone-masons'' guild said that wasn''t fair on their members.¡±
¡°Wow! A school out of crystal!¡±
¡°That''ll cut down on the repair bills.¡±
¡°And make it pretty hard to nail things to the walls too.¡±
¡°I am no more an architect than I share your faith.¡± Ranth said, subdued by hearing that his mentor had written that he shouldn''t be on the council. ¡°But I do have a few ideas how the layout of this building could be better. Let whoever plans, plan well. And... I would be overjoyed to work on such a project. It will be a real challenge.¡±
¡°There are no architects familiar with crystal on this planet at the moment, unless someone knows something I don''t.¡±
¡°Well, no one''s said ''Hello, we''re visiting'' in the last decade. So either the receiver''s broken or they''ve forgotten how to be polite, or there''s no one visiting.¡±
¡°When was the news beacon last updated?¡± Thuna asked.
¡°Oof, long time ago now,¡± Steev said, ¡°You were going to get Dirak to do it weren''t you?¡±
¡°And there''s been no one with promise since?¡± Thuna asked. ¡°Ouch! Right, well, someone will need to update that with news of our brother''s departure from life, and the coordinates of Hnut, too. I think it''s worth saying that duels have basically the same legal status as brawls now, and blood feuds are very heavily regulated. You never know, they might decide we''re not too dangerous to visit now.¡±
¡°Or you could visit them?¡± Ranth asked.
¡°Theoretically, yes. Theoretically it''s no different than going to look at one of the moons. But when they travel, they have machines to stop them if there''s a rock in the way. We don''t normally go faster than light. You don''t need to, the distances we''re going. It''d an enormous risk without having that sort of flight computer.¡±
¡°For which we need multi-million transistor circuits,¡± Brm said, ¡°Probably masked, not hand-drawn.¡±
¡°Better lenses, larger crystals of flawless semiconductors, vacuum pumps...¡± Durrun trailed off.
¡°A scientific populace wouldn''t come amiss, so we wouldn''t need to do all that ourselves.¡± Brm said.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°The new school is a step in the right direction.¡±
¡°Once we''ve helped set up this one to the North, perhaps we should see if anyone wants to set up others in other directions.¡± Ranth said.
Hnut, Sisterday, 6pm
¡°Could sulphur do it? The upper fields aren''t very far from the sulphur springs,¡± Lenepoli suggested.
¡°Lenepoli, we''ve blamed the sulphur springs for two dead sheriffs and Shashana''s plumage. We now know that my immediate predecessor had lung problems. I''m not going to blame every mystery on the springs.¡±
¡°OK. It was just an idea.¡±
¡°I''ll make a note of it. But surely people wouldn''t plant and harvest if there was sulphur in the air!¡±
¡°You''d hope not. But we''re a stubborn lot around here.¡±
¡°I''d never noticed,¡± Dirak said with a smile at his beloved. Then he noticed she''d started to cut the inedible bits off the tubers. ¡°Hey, no helping. I said I was cooking for you today.¡±
¡°Are you sure you don''t need help?¡±
¡°Do I need help? Maybe. Do I want help? Absolutely certain I don''t, thank you.¡±
¡°So, what do I do?¡±
¡°Do you see that book on the table?¡±
¡°Yes, you want me to put it away?¡±
¡°No. I''d like you to argue with it,¡± Dirak said. ¡°See how many mistakes you can find in it.¡±
¡°Is this a test?¡±
¡°If you like. See how far you get before you feel like screaming out loud.¡±
¡°I don''t know what some of these words mean. ''ennaat veelicausity''¡±
¡°It''s old, pronunciation has changed. Imagine it''s written by someone trying to sound like they''re a high lord from centuries ago.¡±
¡°Oh! So that''s ''innate bellicosity''?¡±
¡°Exactly,¡± Dirak said.
¡°''While is clear that ultimately all conflicts can be traced to the innate bellicosity of the female of the species''? What is the author talking about?¡±
¡°Keep reading.¡±
¡°Dirak, what is this?¡±
¡°Didn''t you read the cover?¡±
¡°''On the state of knowledge, a treatise.''¡±
¡°That''s what it is. Sorry, I need to cook.¡±
¡°Was this a course book?¡±
¡°No, but it''s an absolute classic.¡±
¡°''Absolute classic''. Hmm. When was it written?¡±
¡°I think it says, just inside the front cover.¡±
¡°''Published in celebration of the fifteenth year of our reign.'' Whose reign?¡±
¡°You''ll work it out if you keep reading, I''m sure,¡± Dirak said, and got back to pealing the tubers.
By the time he''d finished the first one, Lenepoli was engrossed.
¡°A full quarter of males die in duels and another quarter in revenge duels!¡± she exclaimed.
¡°Violent times.¡±
¡°But what''s a ''revenge duel''? A blood-feud?¡±
¡°No, they get mentioned later on.¡± Dirak said.
¡°Oh yes. What? Another quarter of males die in blood-feuds? Three quarters die?¡±
¡°Keep reading,¡±
¡°Females duel too? Is this about growlers?¡±
¡°It talks the blessing of growlers later.¡±
¡°Growlers are a blessing?¡±
¡°They eat fluffies that eat people''s food.¡±
¡°And people.¡±
¡°Yes, the author mentions that too.¡±
¡°As a negative I hope.¡±
¡°Guess.¡±
¡°This is from a noble perspective. He probably thought that killing a few commoners was OK.¡±
¡°Actually, no. Keep reading.¡±
¡°That''s disgusting!¡±
¡°You''ve got to the bits about harems?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°It''s a Zerker book, isn''t it?¡±
¡°You''re guessing.¡±
¡°The only people who kept harems were Zerkers, this is promoting that.¡±
¡°And when you read on...¡±
¡°Oh. We can''t beat them, so join them?¡±
¡°Keep reading.¡±
Two pages later she said, ¡°Do I have to read this, it''s terrible!¡±
¡°Think of it as a conversation starter.¡±
¡°I hate this book. Why are you making me read it?¡±
¡°Argue with it, Lenepoli. In your head, or out loud.¡±
¡°I can''t just burn it?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Please?¡±
¡°You''re going to be surprised,¡±
¡°Can I skip ahead?¡±
¡°Why spoil your surprise?¡± Dirak asked, starting to fry the tubers.
¡°It''s going to recommend eating eggs next.¡±
¡°Did you know, that the aliens do eat eggs? Not their own of course, they keep certain types of birds for meat and eggs.¡±
¡°Are you trying to put me off your cooking?¡±
¡°No. You eat fluffies and if we lived by the coast we might eat fish. They eat birds, and their equivalent of fluffies too, and fish.¡±
¡°Catching fish is hard, I hear.¡±
¡°Easier where there are fish in the river. They do it from boats, with nets, or some of them swim and do it with a knife. Back to your book.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Getting to know you.¡±
¡°But it''s horrible!¡±
¡°It is about knowledge, though. All apprentice wizards need to read it.¡±
¡°I thought you said it wasn''t a course book.¡±
¡°It''s not,¡± Dirak said.
¡°Then what is it?¡±
¡°Oh, lots of things. See what you make of it by the time you get to the end, you''re almost there.¡±
¡°I''m not even half way through.¡±
¡°You''d better keep reading then,¡± Dirak prompted, with a smile.
Silently fuming, Lenepoli read on. ¡°Slavery!¡± she exclaimed, ¡°He''s advocating slavery?¡±
¡°I told you you''d want to argue with it,¡±
¡°He''s wrong.¡±
¡°What about?¡±
¡°''This is where what we know gets us,'' What about God? What about love, what about compassion?¡±
¡°Guess what my advice is.¡± Dirak said.
¡°Keep reading,¡± Lenepoli said. ¡°This is just horrible!¡±
¡°You''ve got to the conclusion section?¡± Dirak asked, drawing in his breath to suggest she read on.
¡°Yes. I know, I need to read it to the end for the big surprise. He''s a she?¡±
¡°That''s the little surprise,¡± Dirak said.
¡°She had a sad life. That doesn''t excuse her writing the book. I never knew female nobles duelled. I guess it explains why they died out.¡±
¡°They didn''t, read on.¡±
¡°This is where that rhyme comes from?¡±
¡°It is indeed, but there are differences to the one you hear today.¡±
¡°Yes. ''The noble reed is ready to breed,'' The noble red?¡±
¡°There''s a reason that reds are stronger, braver, and mature earlier. The reds and their offspring were the nobles, and they fought far more than the commoners. That selection by competition it talks about, that was what was happening, back then.¡±
¡°What about the pale reds and pinks? They''re missed out,¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°From what records show, they''re relatively recent.¡±
¡°I never knew that!¡± She replied. ¡°And yellow is from a Zerker-noble mix?¡± Lenepoli asked, a bit further down.
¡°Yes. Not a very common colour these days, is it?¡±
¡°Oh. Oh wow. She''s praying for intervention! Praying that God will be better known, that the prophecies will come to pass before society collapses!¡±
¡°And in the rest of the book there are exam questions, to see if you were paying attention.¡±
¡°''The state of knowledge is that right and wrong are getting warped, the nobility are fighting so much they are a plague on themselves and cannot survive. So I must put a stop to these evils.'' This is basis for the reforms of Queen Poli?¡±
¡°It is. People often say that reform started with the arrival of the aliens. No, Queen Poli started it. Before her reform, duels could be re-fought, it was normal practice in a blood feud for the females to seek to smash any eggs in the other family''s home while the males were fighting. It was illegal for a noble female to marry a Zerker ¡ª think what it would do to a blood-feud ¡ª but some Zerker males were so immoral, some noble females so thirsty for revenge, that they would give themselves to a Zerker for a year to win him as an assassin.
"That''s why she speaks of yellows being a shameful colour and sign of blood feud.¡±
¡°And that''s where the expression ''selling your bed to get revenge'' comes from?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Queen Poli''s reforms were amazing, she overthrew the entire system of nobility. Are you saying she convinced everyone her reforms were right by this book?¡±
¡°Tell me what you think.¡±
She didn''t deign to reply to that. ¡°And all apprentices have to take an exam on it?¡±
¡°Yes, Feel free to look at the questions to work out why.¡±
¡°They''re trying to sort out who''s sane, who wants to learn wizardry to gain power. What could happen if they made a mistake?¡±
¡°In what sense? As in someone used wizardry wrongly, or what could the council do?¡±
¡°The latter.¡±
¡°The debate has raged quite a long time. One solution used to be a duel. Not an option any more. Fortunately it''s never been tested.¡±
¡°There''s no law against misusing it?¡± Lenepoli was aghast.
¡°The law sees wizardry as no more than a knife. You can''t stab someone with a knife, you go to prison.¡±
¡°There are no special laws at all?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°And no one has special powers to arrest or anything like that?¡±
¡°What could someone do to stop them?¡±
¡°I don''t know. You tell me.¡±
¡°What they do is try to be preemptive. They keep secrets of the more dangerous aspects. It wont work long term, so the unbelieving philosophy master tries to instil an ethic of non-involvement. I was his biggest failure.¡±
¡°And as his failure, what solution would you offer?¡±
¡°Personal faith, great sense of responsibility, and persuade the council and parliament that there ought to be stand-by laws, that allow, probably compel wizards of good repute to hunt down a bad guy and kill them.¡±
¡°Just taking away someone''s staff wouldn''t be enough?¡±
¡°There''s no reason to put things in a staff except for convenience. Without the right materials to start with, it''d take me maybe half a year to re-create all the things in my staff. If I was in a hurry, if I felt under threat, I could make it really dangerous to approach me in a couple of weeks. Someone who knows they''re going to be hunted would prepare, I expect. It would be very difficult to stop them without killing them. Praise God that it''s never been an issue.¡±
¡°But we''re starting up a rebel school.¡±
¡°I hope not. I think Thuna was just encouraging us to think harder. I don''t think I want the responsibility for testing people''s ethics.¡±
¡°How do the aliens do it?¡±
¡°They have more ways of killing people than we do, And they have people who hear thoughts.¡±
¡°That''s impossible!¡±
¡°That''s what the people there thought too, for centuries. Apparently it''s not, at least among them.¡±
¡°But we don''t know about us?¡±
¡°There are some hints, that''s second year stuff. But let''s eat, shall we?¡±
¡°Why is it second year stuff?¡±
¡°You can''t read it yet. It''s in one of the alien scripts.¡±
¡°One?¡±
¡°They used quite a few, apparently.¡±
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 6: Tnut spire
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 6: Tnut spire
Cultural notes from first contact team
growler ¡ª Six legged oviparous, lactating pack-carnivores approximately half a metre high, and weighing as much as a person, but faster on the ground. Packs are migratory at certain times of the year.
Fluffy ¡ª Small six-legged oviparous herbivores sometimes raised for their fur or for meat. The main prey of growlers. Larger fluffies are bred in some areas for milk.
Spiky ¡ª A large six-legged viviparous herbivore. Adults are unsuitable for riding and impervious to growler attack due to sharp bristles. Spikies are strong docile creatures kept as draft animals, with one Spikey able to pull several times its body weight over a rough road. A spikey with a heavy load is a hard working animal, dedicated to arriving at the end of the road. However, they are said to disdain easy tasks, an alternative theory is that they forget they are pulling something if it''s too light; the observable fact is that if it has no appreciable weight in its cart, a spiky will tend to wander from place to place along a road, looking for grazing opportunities. This
causes traders considerable anguish at the thought of an unladen journey, and has led to most traders operating the two-tariff system: light cart rate, which ensures that the spiky has enough weight that it does not forget their load, and heavy cart where the trader earns profit. See separate article.
thlunk ¡ª A large six-legged herbivore possessing an armoured clubbed tail, The tail is an effective defensive weapon against growlers who will only rarely attack a thlunk. and gives the creature its name. Thlunks are often used as riding animals but are unsuitable as draught animals as they react violently against anything that would restrict their tail.
Hnut, Restday, 42nd of Autumn
¡°Hello, Thuna,¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°Rest-day''s blessings upon you! What news do you bring us from the council? Have they decided to meet yet?¡±
¡°We met yesterday. Council Chairman Lepnew died just after praying. He... remembered some things, like the old definition of intervention.
"According to which you did acted entirely correctly, Dirak. Finding what he''d remembered was a bit tricky, but we managed it by midnight, and he was right.¡±
¡°What does that mean?¡± Lenepoli asked. ¡°Dirak''s supposed to give up being sheriff and go back to the city?¡±
¡°No. We''re not asking that. But it means that we''ve repented of our attitude, and we''re hoping that you''ll forgive us.¡±
¡°And there are no objections to us teaching kids here?¡±
¡°Well, we don''t want to split wizardry, if that''s OK with you. So, expect full support. As to exactly what that means... that discussion will be continuing for a while, I expect, especially since one of Lepnew''s final thoughts was that building it out of crystal would be best.¡±
¡°Crystal!¡± Dirak exclaimed.
¡°What, out of glass?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°No. Alien stuff. Good for bean poles, or at least, better than angar wood; that''s too precious to cut down.¡±
¡°Even for a wizard''s staff?¡±
¡°Yes, the council has decided that no new staffs will be made using angar wood. Old ones will have their bits removed like normal, but not be burned, that''s immoral. They''ll be passed on in wills or if not then the council will decide. Apprentices who don''t inherit one will practice with normal wood and then either add inserts of crystal or have a whole crystal staff. Lenepoli, you inherit one.¡±
¡°Pardon?¡±
¡°Lepnew of Uttford died before we reached the decision on angar, but his will ¡ª which he wrote during our discussion of why we wouldn''t stop you teaching ¡ª leaves you two his possessions for the school and as a wedding present.¡±
¡°So I get his staff?¡±
¡°Yes. It probably needs a good scrub, but it''s yours.¡±
¡°I''m speechless.¡±
¡°Oh, don''t be too speechless, Lenepoli. I''m just winding up to the best bit.¡±
¡°What''s that?¡±
¡°Lepnew ceding his seat to me, I''m ceding mine to you. We didn''t really want the accusation of political power from you being on the council, Dirak, sorry.¡±
¡°I wondered why you asked me if Lenepoli had read queen Poli''s treatise.¡±
¡°You never told me Thuna had suggested it.¡±
¡°She didn''t. She asked last night. But it is the main step to officially becoming an apprentice.¡±
¡°But don''t tell people that,¡± Thuna said. ¡°It''s always given in an informal context. And I was very happy to hear of your response.¡±
¡°The way I wanted to burn it?¡±
¡°My mentor wasn''t persuasive enough or fast enough,¡± Thuna said, ¡°Therefore my copy has singed pages. Anyway, council member Lenepoli, when would you like the next council session?¡±
¡°You''re serious?¡±
¡°Very. Not today of course. I''m just here because I thought I''d drop in and tell you on my way to Tnut.¡±
¡°Ah, We mustn''t keep Yanek waiting.¡±
¡°He''s not waiting, this is a surprise visit.¡±
¡°Complete with thunderclap.¡±
¡°Did you hear it?¡±
¡°No, actually. What did you do?¡±
¡°Went higher. Is Earthday afternoon OK? We''ll bring food. Not to mention some crystal bean poles and your staff.¡±
¡°Urm, I''m free... We were going to go and collect some nuts. Mother was a bit disappointed with how few we came back with last time.¡±
¡°Probably because we got there, talked for quarter of an hour and rushed back with the news of your visit.¡± Dirak supplied, ¡°But if Lenepoli doesn''t mind, we could try to collect loads tomorrow.¡±
¡°Our day off?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°Spending time with you is my favourite activity for some reason, I don''t mind combining it with other things.¡±
¡°He must be in love.¡± Lenepoli said ¡°Either that or he''s caught the summer crazies at the wrong time of year.¡±
¡°What''s the ''summer crazies''?¡± Thuna asked.
¡°People get odd ideas in the summer, you know,¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°No,¡± Dirak said.
¡°You don''t know it? I thought it happened everywhere.¡±
¡°Never heard of it.¡± Thuna said.
¡°Are we talking everyone, or just the grown men?¡±
¡°You think there''s a link?¡± Lenepoli asked, shocked.
¡°A link to what?¡± Thuna asked.
¡°Lenepoli''s noticed that once boys turn into adults they seem to lose some intelligence. Particularly the ones who work the high fields,¡±
¡°Girt, for instance, was never top of the class, but he used to be pretty good with poetry. On my hatchday, he used to write me a poem. It was sort of his suborn tradition, They used to be worth keeping, despite my deep dislike of him and his bullying ways. This spring''s went ''Your feathers are blue, I really want you to like me.¡±
¡°That doesn''t even rhyme,¡± Dirak said.
¡°I noticed that straight away. How''s your poetry by the way?¡±
¡°I''m really not sure. I''ve not written any in years.¡±
¡°Don''t feel you need to write any bad poems for me. I get enough at school.¡±
¡°So there''s a mystery mental illness in summer, and it may or may not be linked to people suffering some kind of reduced brain function?¡± Thuna asked.
¡°I think Dirak''s right, there could be a link, we''d have to ask the doctor.¡±
¡°Well, I''ll ask Yanek if it''s known there. If it is then we might not want the school here in summer.¡±
¡°Dad''s never had it, I know that, and I don''t think it''s contagious.¡±
Skyday morning, 43rd of Autumn, the woods near Hnut
¡°Hello, doctor!¡± Lenepoli greeted the older female, ¡°would you like company or solitude?¡±
¡°Oh, I don''t mind company, young Lenepoli, Don''t you two want some solitude?¡±
¡°I''m actually wondering if there''s a deep mystery to solve, or just a well known medical problem in the area I''ve never heard of.¡± Dirak said.
¡°Oh yes, what''s that?¡±
¡°Lenepoli''s... urm observation, I guess, is that the boys are pretty smart until they grow up and help with harvest. Especially on the high fields.¡±
¡°Oh. yes. They get the crazies up there, and that''s not good for your brain.¡±
¡°What are the crazies? I''ve never heard of it.¡±
¡°Very good question. My strong recommendation is just stay down in the valley in harvest time. Well spotted for saying harvest, Lenepoli. That''s when most people get it. As for what it is... I can tell you what it''s not. A predecessor thought it might be dehydration, but they took extra barrels of water up there and made the harvesters drink until they could hold no more, and still people came down with the crazies.
"Someone thought it was fumes from the sulphur springs blowing on people, but three came down with it on a day when there was a strong breeze the other direction. Someone else thought it was insect bites, but there are the same numbers of people getting bitten up there as down here, by the same bugs.
"One person thought it was working too long during the day and sunburning their crests, so set people working during the night and wearing hats. Result was lots of tripping injuries and the like, overheating because of the hats, and people still came down with it. I''m pretty stumped, and no one listens when I tell them not to plant up there.¡±
¡°And it only affects men?¡± Dirak asked, looking up from the nuts he was collecting.
¡°I don''t think so, no.¡± the Doctor said. ¡°But while the symptoms are different, I think it affects women too. Like your mother, Lenepoli, sorry to be so close to home. When Vana''s husband was sick, she helped with the harvest up there. Next day she was sweating and shivering just like a male with the crazies. Vana too, but she was past carrying, so she got off more lightly.¡±
¡°That''s when...¡± Lenepoli asked, ¡°... that''s the illness that stopped her carrying more eggs?¡±
¡°Yes. It''s a bad thing; and If she''d have actually been carrying, that''s even worse. I saw it once. The permanent damage to the mother just the same, and her eggs green and lifeless.¡±
¡°How terrible!¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°And it hits at any time during harvest?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°I don''t know. Like I say, I just tell people to stay away from up there during harvest.¡±
¡°Has Girt ever had the crazies, doctor?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°Girt? Not that I remember. And he''s off selling during harvest anyway. Why?¡±
¡°I used him as an example to Dirak about what happens to people. I hope he''s not going to be sending me poems for my birthday any more, but it used to be as regular as the sunrise. They''ve got worse and worse in stages. I wonder if there''s some longer-term thing going on.¡±
¡°If he was suffering slow poisoning, and the crazies are from a big exposure?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°Well it''s not sulphur, though I''ve seen the effects of that often enough,¡± the doctor said, picking up her basket, ¡°There''s something bad up there during harvest, that''s all I know. Stay in the valleys and you don''t suffer the crazies. You can investigate it more, but please, Lenepoli, tell the kids that much at least. Especially the girls. I''ve told adults enough, but half of them have already had the crazies, and they sure get stubborn after that.¡±
¡°I will, doctor, certainly,¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°Thank you doctor,¡± Dirak said, ¡°I''ll run some tests on the soil and stuff up there.¡±
¡°You can if you like, lad. But my predecessors and I have been warning people about the crazies for a century. I don''t see much how your tests''ll help if people keep on ignoring good advice.¡±
¡°You''re leaving Doctor?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°I think I''ve got enough for now,¡± she said, ¡°and this conversation''s getting a bit too much like work for my day off, sorry.¡±
¡°We''re sorry, Doctor,¡± Lenepoli said. ¡°And thank you for your help.¡±
¡°Thank you once again,¡± Dirak said, and waited until the doctor had left, before asking,
¡°Lenepoli, do the kids here get lessons in collecting survey data?¡±
¡°Yes. Traditionally announced on the first of winter, actually. Every year I get the same twenty surveys of shoe size, ten surveys of how tall people are, and so on. I''ve been teaching three years and already I''m convinced they pass them down from sibling to sibling.¡±
¡°What about if you got them to do a survey of how often people have had the crazies?¡±
¡°And map that with where they were harvesting?¡± Lenepoli said. ¡°Don''t do it as the same survey. Get part of the class surveying where people live compared to where they normally harvest and where they sometimes help out, and another comparing where they live and getting the crazies. Oh, and another comparing where people live, how many clutches couples have, and clutch size.¡±
¡°Why like that?¡±
¡°Because it seems people don''t believe the crazies are linked to harvest, or aren''t afraid of the crazies. But if you can convince them that it''s bad for their family size, that might get through. I expect there''s a link.¡±
¡°Mum wanted five big clutches, but their courtship dance got interrupted by a thunderstorm, so she ended up with just me, and then she got the fever.¡±
¡°Our plans and God''s aren''t always the same,¡± Dirak said.
¡°No.¡±
¡°But if we''re going to be teaching wizarding skills here, we need to make sure that our students and lecturers don''t end up with the crazies.¡±
¡°Very true,¡± Lenepoli agreed.
¡°But I remember being told about some chemical that carrying females shouldn''t go near because it harmed their eggs. I need to look it up.¡±
¡°First you need to fill this basket, or mum will think we''ve spent all our time seeing how orange I can make your crest.¡±
¡°I presume it''s not orange at all at the moment?¡±
¡°I''d be worried if it was, given we''ve been talking about mental impairment, sterility and dead eggs.¡±
¡°Can we change the subject, then? It occurred to me I don''t know when your hatchday is.¡±
¡°How incredibly remiss of you,¡± Lenepoli said, her eyes sparkling.
¡°And I''m guessing that you''re about my age, or a bit younger, since you''ve been teaching three years, and teacher training is four years if you specialise. But actually you could have started teacher-training earlier than 17 or later couldn''t you?¡±
¡°I could have, yes. Would it matter if I was older than you?¡±
¡°No. I''d just like to know how old you are, and when your hatchday is, and I''d rather you told me so I don''t have to look it up in the village records.¡±
¡°Oh, so much for making you suffer. I''m twenty three, and I hatched on the first of spring,¡± she said, ¡°would it pain you deeply to tell me how old you are?¡±
¡°Not at all, beloved. I''m twenty four, and I hatched on the thirtieth of spring. My sister hatched two days after you.¡±
¡°You''ve never said much about her.¡±
¡°No. It was my third spring at college when Reqiq vanished. She was great at puzzles and mysteries. I sort of hoped she might join me studying at the college, she was certainly bright enough to. But she wasn''t sure. She was thinking of studying law.¡±
¡°What was she called?¡±
¡°Ethemagz, but I called her Eth, mostly because it irritated her.¡±
¡°And she was blue?¡±
¡°She started out as a fuzzy blue ball of hunger. I held her a few times to feed her, mostly when my parents were out and gran was looking after us. I was terrified that I''d done something wrong when her down started coming off.¡±
¡°It must have been traumatic. Have you ever been back to Reqiq?¡±
¡°Yes. It''s changed so much. There''s going to be a huge lake on one side, unless the landslide gives way.¡±
¡°What was it like?¡±
¡°The village was where two valleys sort of met, one was higher, with a waterfall, about a hundred and fifty steps high, there''d been a lot of rain, and there was steep cliff on the other side. Above the waterfall was the woods, and then there were two mountains either side of that valley.
"I remember doing a school project, trying to work out how much water ought to be going over the waterfall based on rainfall. I couldn''t get it to add up with how much actually went over the falls. If I''d only known...¡± he shrugged. ¡°Who''d have believed me anyway?¡±
¡°It was building up somewhere?¡±
¡°That''s what they decided. It was to do with the geology. There was a layer of cracked sandstone in the mountains, which collected a lot of the rain from the sides of the valley. The woods were sitting on top of that, in clay.
Normally water just trickled out slowly, but it had been a warm winter, so the ground didn''t freeze, and a lot more water went in during the winter. And then there was almost a month of rain.¡±
¡°I remember. The river flooded, almost to the church doors; people couldn''t cross the ford.¡±
¡°Yes. So that whole mass of sandstone was full of water. It was sitting on clay, and like I say, there was clay on top too. The water was squashed into the clay, above and below, which just got really slippery.
"They say that first the clay with the woods on top just slipped down on top of the town, and then a lot of water gushed out and took a lot of the sandstone itself too. Basically the village got buried in liquid mud and then washed and buried in a layer of rock.
"That hundred and fifty-steps high waterfall is entirely gone; it''s almost flat there now, nearly the whole way across the valley. People downstream think the river''s still flowing, but when I looked it wasn''t the same river, it''s water from the sandstone. The main river is slowly building up a lake behind the landslide.¡±
¡°Which might eventually give way and the whole lot wash further down the valley?¡±
¡°Maybe. But there are three thousand people buried there. No one really wants to disturb their grave. And there is some water leaking around the edge of the landslide, so it probably won''t fill all the way up.¡±
¡°Will you take me there sometime?¡±
¡°If you''re sure.¡±
¡°I''m sure. And I want you to talk to Thuna about making sure there''s a spill-way or something that stops the lake growing too big.¡±
¡°You can do that yourself, Lenepoli. You''re on the council of wizardry now. You''ve got far more say than I have.¡±
¡°And you won''t object?¡±
¡°Why do you think there are some leaks?¡± he asked.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
¡°I think my caring boyfriend wanted to make sure that no one else got buried.¡±
¡°And then got worried because if the mud erodes too quickly then the very thing he'' was worried about might happen. Unintended consequences of intervention. If you start it, then you''re more responsible for what happens than if you do nothing. You can''t let out six years of water in even a year without major consequences.¡±
¡°That''s a big lake.¡±
¡°Yes. It was big when I was there three years ago. And people were starting to catch fish there. If you drain it now, then you''re probably destroying livelihoods.¡±
¡°So why did you make leaks?¡±
¡°The same reason you wanted to. Then I thought again and again. But I haven''t been back since I got kicked out.¡±
¡°How''s your basket?¡±
¡°Pretty full.¡±
¡°So''s mine. So assuming there''s no emergency at home, and you don''t mind flying me there, I''d like to put some of these flowers on your family''s grave.¡±
¡°I don''t mind flying you there,¡± Dirak said, looking in wonder and love at this compassionate girl he was intent on marrying.
Site of Reqiq, Skyday, 43rd of Autumn, afternoon
Lenepoli had just laid down the flowers and said a prayer for Dirak and other survivors of the disaster when Dirak''s staff gave a buzz.
¡°Hello?¡± Dirak spoke.
¡°Hello Dirak, it''s Brm here. Long time no chat, I know, but Thuna tells me your beloved can tell Saneth about clutch sizes and the like.¡±
¡°You''re finally marrying Saneth?¡± Dirak asked, slightly bemused. Brm and Saneth had spent most of their student days arguing.
¡°Oops, you didn''t know? We''ve been married a year. Our two little balls of hunger are currently with her parents and we have space to talk about our next adventure into parenthood. Are you free for us to come up?¡±
¡°Urm, sort of. Lenepoli wanted to lay some flowers at Reqiq, so that''s where we are right now.¡±
¡°How are your leaks?¡±
¡°Still leaking. Not growing more than the water-depth would explain, as far as I can tell.¡±
¡°I''ve been checking up on them, knowing you probably wouldn''t. You did well there, Dirak, very carefully calculated and implemented. Whatever Saneth would say.¡±
Dirak laughed, ¡°Lenepoli wanted to drain the lake when she first heard of it. I think she''s changed her mind now.¡±
¡°That''d be a lot of water downstream.¡±
¡°Exactly. And there''s a fishing village on the side too ¡ª not on the dam itself ¡ª people who''ve moved out from Drana, very happy to have somewhere safe for their kids to live. They say the level''s hardly different to this time last year.¡±
¡°That''s really good news,¡± Brm agreed.
¡°Lenepoli, would you like to meet some old friends of mine here, or at home?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°Home. Hnut that is, not their home.¡±
¡°OK. Brm, We''ll be starting in a few minutes, but I don''t do bubble travel, so give us some time.¡±
¡°Oh, Saneth prefers to see where we''re going too, can we meet up somewhere? I don''t have any kind of mental map past the mountains.¡±
¡°And you don''t want to ask directions? OK, You know that mountain ledge, where you almost spelt your name wrong?¡±
¡°I was teasing, Dirak, you know it.¡±
¡°Meet you on the path below there. There''s a good view I want to show Lenepoli.¡±
¡°Better than flying?¡± Brm asked, confused.
¡°My first view of the Utt valley.¡±
¡°Oh, OK. We''ll meet you there.¡±
¡°Wrap up warm, it might snow up there this close to Longnight,¡± Dirak advised his friend.
Mountain pass, Skyday, 43rd of Autumn, afternoon
¡°You heard me warn him, didn''t you, Lenepoli?¡± Dirak said.
¡°The sky was blue. I thought you were joking.¡± Brm said, shivering.
¡°Did you see your view?¡± Saneth asked.
¡°We caught a bit of it just before the snow arrived, So, since visibility isn''t great, I suggest we get a move on.¡±
¡°Above or below the clouds?¡± Saneth asked.
¡°How good''s your dead-reckoning?¡± Dirak asked in reply.
¡°Mine is pretty good, But it''s Brm''s staff, I wouldn''t dream of commenting on his abilities in that area.¡±
¡°How did you two end up married?¡± Dirak asked, ¡°You never agree on anything.¡±
¡°Of course we do.¡± Brm corrected, ¡°We agreed that you''d land on your feet, and we agreed that we didn''t want to lose the chance of having more arguments by either of us marrying anyone else. And of course we agreed that blue plumage is far more beautiful than any other colour. Not to mention that Saneth is cleverer than I am.¡±
¡°So, let''s get airborne and go above this stuff. I think we go that way.¡± Dirak''s wave was far too vague to be able to determine a direction, but all they could see was white flakes of snow on a grey background anyway.
Once in the air, and surrounded by a wind-proof forcefield, Lenepoli asked Dirak,
¡°How do we find our way home through this stuff?¡±
¡°Well, every couple of seconds a little box at home sends out a homing signal if the sky''s not clear and blue. You don''t need to tell them that though.¡±
¡°You cheat, in other words.¡±
¡°I put the idea behind Thuna''s trackers to good use. It''s not hard to see the city, even at night in a blizzard, so I expect they''ve never thought of it.¡±
¡°My beloved is practical. I like that in a wizard.¡±
¡°I try. And speaking of being practical...¡± he trailed off.
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°While we''re whizzing through the air at great speed, entirely free from anyone overhearing us. I''d like to say thank-you for a lovely day, and that I''m wondering how long a courtship and how long a betrothal is considered decent for a pastor''s daughter in Hnut.¡±
¡°Especially when you can whip me away to far-flung places, out of parental oversight?¡±
¡°That too. I don''t want to harm your reputation.¡±
¡°Well, dad had no problems marrying Girt off after a week. I expect he wants a bit
more decorum from us. But don''t you need to ask me a question before you go assuming that I''ll marry you?¡±
¡°I am not the one who mentioned clutches, beloved. But let me float an idea.¡±
¡°While we''re floating,¡±
¡°It seemed appropriate, and I love the way you twinkle your eyes like that. Let''s face it, I think I love everything about you. But... I wonder what you''d think of me waiting two to four weeks before asking you an important question that I hope you know I''m going to ask. Would that be too long, or too fast? And how long is a betrothal around here, normally?¡±
¡°Normally... What''s normal? Normally the betrothal starts house building.
The dead of winter''s not a normal time for house building. If there''s no house to build, there''s no purpose to betrothal. Normally, people know each other, courtship is about changing the relationship from ''does he / she like me'' to things like: ''does this person make my heart skip for joy just by existing?''; ''after an argument do I feel like I lost even if I won the argument?''; ''can I put up with this person''s flaws the rest of my life?''
I don''t know the answer to those last two, I don''t know your flaws, I''ve never won an argument, because we''ve never had one.¡±
¡°OK. So you want to wait.¡±
¡°Of course I don''t want to wait. I want to throw myself around your lovely orange crest and caress it long enough that I feel eggs growing inside me. You make me feel incredibly loved and cherished and I want to respond in an entirely shocking manner, and I don''t know if this is what love is or if somehow I''ve come over like it''s breeding season. And I know I''m going to be so embarrassed about saying this, when I go to bed tonight.¡±
¡°Oh,¡± Dirak said, sounding a little annoyed.
¡°Oh? That''s all you can say? Oh!¡±
¡°Oh, Annoyingly, I think we''ve just overshot home.¡± He waved the others to descend. ¡°Beloved, Lenepoli, I don''t want to rush you, and I don''t want to rush into decisions we''re going to regret, driven by the first flush of true love or some such poetic sentiment. But if you don''t want to admit how you feel to your mother, talk to Saneth about things. There weren''t that many of us on the Zerker end of the colour spectrum, and she knows quite a lot of my flaws, I expect.¡±
¡°Are you saying you chased her?¡±
¡°Me? No, she was far too busy running rings around Brm, I''m not really surprised they married, despite what I said. I just sort of expected it to take a few more years before they worked out what was obvious to me.
"She''s a year older than me, by the way, Brm is two years older.¡±
¡°Why was it obvious to you?¡±
¡°My parents used to go out of their way to give the other one something to snipe at. They both knew it they were doing it, they both enjoyed the light-hearted sniping, so they enabled it. I saw the same in those two. Like Brm spelling his name with an ''n''¡±
¡°But you didn''t write your name?¡±
¡°Not then. I just convinced Brm to write his name just above where I''d hidden Saneth''s with some snow, and then I drew a heart around them. Then I showed her where he''d written his name.¡±
¡°You... you utter stirrer!¡±
¡°That''s my young reckless self, yes. Oh look, we''re above Tnut.¡±
¡°Shall we show them the spire, since we''re here?¡±
¡°Urm, If you really want to,¡± Dirak said. Lenepoli thought he sounded embarrassed.
¡°This is Hnut?¡± Saneth asked, as they landed.
¡°No, this is Tnut, we overshot,¡± Lenepoli said ¡°The church spire is worth seeing. There''s a sort of tradition, that men in the area sneak out at night and climb as high as they can, to write love poems to their beloveds on the spire, the night before asking them to marry them.¡±
¡°Does that prove their worthiness, or that God''s blessing is on them, or something else?¡± Saneth asked.
¡°I think it just proves how crazy they are. Or whether they can spell under extreme pressure? But maybe it''s supposed to be a measure of their love, I don''t know. What does writing your name on a cliff-face mean?¡±
¡°It means Dirak''s been telling tales. Did he tell you what he did?¡± Saneth said.
¡°Hid your name with snow and persuaded Brm to write his above yours, then drew a love-heart around the two of them?¡±
¡°Not just one heart. A heart made of hearts.¡±
¡°Well, I was right wasn''t I?¡±
¡°But for at least five minutes you let me lash into Brm before telling me you''d done the hearts.¡±
¡°It was a trust exercise.¡±
¡°What, letting me know I couldn''t trust you?¡±
¡°No. Letting you know that when Brm denied doing something, you could trust him.¡±
¡°You''re trying to convince me that it was for my good?¡±
¡°Saneth, you didn''t really trust anyone back then. Remember? I hope I made you realise that Brm wasn''t out to embarrass you. Do you know how long it took me to find your name, and get the snow looking natural?¡±
¡°Watch out for this one, Lenepoli. He''ll wrap you round his little finger and then try to convince you it''s for your own good.¡±
¡°I''d noticed. Please feel free to share any of his other flaws, he says you know him pretty well. I don''t just want to fall for his pretty orange crest and Zerker enzymes.¡±
¡°OK, I''ll share. But first I want to know why he was looking all ''oops I''ve been caught out'' when you were telling us about the spire.¡±
¡°I noticed that too,¡± Brm said. ¡°Where did you write it, Dirak?¡±
¡°I neither confirm nor deny anything,¡± Dirak said.
¡°Is there any way to get him to tell you something before he wants to?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°Not that I''ve noticed.¡±
¡°You realise, Saneth¡± Lenepoli said, watching Dirak closely, ¡°that if he has written me a poem up there and he doesn''t tell me the next day, it''s because he''s having second thoughts,¡±
¡°No one told me that!¡± Dirak said.
¡°Ha! Look, the guilt, the horror of making a mistake!¡± Saneth said, ¡°Now that look is suspicion.¡±
¡°You''re teasing, aren''t you, Lenepoli?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°Just a bit. You''ve got a week. Where is it?¡±
¡°This is Dirak Lenepoli,¡± Brm said, ¡°If someone said he had to climb as high as he could, he probably climbed up the steps, and shimmied up to the top of the cross.¡±
¡°Yanek told me the cross is off limits, as is climbing up the inside.¡± Dirak said.
¡°But he probably wrote it in Mer or something to show off,¡± Saneth said. ¡°But he''ll tell you that he''s written it in Mer so that the words aren''t for common eyes to see and demean.¡±
¡°I expect that he not only wrote it in Mer, but probably encrypted it too, using the first words you spoke to him or his first words to you as the encryption key,¡± Brm said.
¡°Where does Lenepoli look, Dirak?¡± Saneth asked,
¡°I think your friends know you pretty well, Dirak,¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°Fairly well, but they''ve forgotten some important things. Shall we go to Hnut now?¡±
¡°What have we forgotten?¡± Brm asked.
¡°I''m an officer of the law, not a reckless teenager, and I don''t live here, for instance.¡±
¡°And last night you were fixing a locator beacon to your roof,¡± Lenepoli accused.
¡°No, that was the day after we flew to find Shashana.¡±
¡°Oh, so much for that hypothesis.¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°What does the law say about climbing church spires?¡±
¡°You''d need permission. And a law officer is supposed to demonstrate safety and caution, not reckless behaviour, so if I wanted to climb up the spire I''d be honour bound to get permission, have ropes and so on.¡±
¡°Or use wizardry?¡±
¡°That''d be cheating.¡± Brm contradicted. ¡°Expect creative interpretation of the rules from officer Dirak here, but no actual cheating.¡±
¡°Dirak, when were you last in Tnut?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°A few days ago, Lenepoli, urm... Brotherday, we brought Thuna here to meet Yanek.¡±
¡°And you''ve not been here since?¡±
¡°No, I''ve not been in Tnut since.¡±
Brm looked suspicious. ¡°And would the rules and your understanding of them prevent, say, writing on the spire with a laser or forcefield from outside the village boundaries, or shooting an arrow or other projectile?¡±
¡°Or getting a villager or other creature to deliver the message?¡± Saneth added.
¡°I don''t think any of those include the necessary components, no.¡±
¡°Lenepoli, he''s not going to give it away,¡± Brm said.
¡°Is the bride-to-be supposed to read it?¡± Saneth asked Lenepoli.
¡°It''s not necessary, but it is sort of normal,¡± Lenepoli answered.
¡°Therefore it''s not somewhere dangerous. It might be somewhere difficult for Dirak to get to, but not dangerous for you. He''s like that.¡±
¡°Dirak,¡± Lenepoli asked. ¡°Is there any point, from any perspective to us staying here?¡±
¡°Well, if you want to say ''Hi'' to Thuna, I expect she''ll be around soon.¡±
¡°But not in terms of me getting to see the poem you''ve written for me?¡±
¡°Who says I''ve written you a poem, beloved lover of mysteries?¡±
¡°We might as well go home.¡± Lenepoli sighed. ¡°And I did so want to see what you wrote for me last night.¡±
¡°How do you know I wrote something last night?¡±
¡°You said you''d not tried to write any poems for years, yesterday.¡±
¡°And you said not to write you any bad poems.¡±
¡°Uh oh, The poem''s not a poem, he''s not so proud that he''d decide his first poem in years would class as good,¡± Brm said.
¡°So it can''t be written high on the church spire.¡± Saneth said.
¡°Because it doesn''t follow the rules at all!¡± Brm exclaimed, excitedly.
¡°So we''re looking for something low down, not on the spire, not a poem, not put there by Dirak,¡± Saneth said.
¡°But it''s going to be carved or engraved. Because that''s something Dirak does.¡± Brm said.
¡°And does well. Microscopically small, probably.¡±
Dirak smiled in spite of himself, his friends did know him pretty well. ¡°Keep on guessing friends, can we show you where the new school will be? And Saneth,.don''t forget you and Lenepoli need a chat.¡±
¡°Don''t worry I won''t. OK, let''s go.¡±
Hnut
As Lenepoli and Saneth went off for a private discussion, Dirak said, ¡°Ruath, can I have a little talk?¡±
¡°Privately?¡±
¡°Oh Brm, finds out most of my secrets eventually. I''d like some advice.¡±
¡°Go on.¡±
¡°On our way back here, Lenepoli was saying something about how she was feeling, and I forgot to slow down and we overshot, and ended up in Tnut. Lenepoli spoke about the tower, and the thing with lads carving love-poems on it, and I acted like I might have written something on there. Then the trick back-fired on me because Lenepoli said that if I had, then I needed to propose within a day, or it meant I wasn''t interested any more. I looked mortified, I expect, asked her if she was serious, and she said ''I exaggerated, you''ve got a week.''
"My two friends analysed me to pieces, and came up with all sorts of fascinating bits and bobs about my character, totally forgetting to mention that I love to I tease people, and can''t stand ruining a good wind up. but I really don''t want to disappoint Lenepoli. And I''m pretty sure she''s now expecting a poem on the church spire or a non-poem somewhere else and a proposal within in a week.¡±
¡°And you''re wondering how to let her down gently?¡±
¡°Well, that''s one option. The other option is I get engraving, and propose. But I don''t want to rush her into a quick decision, we were mostly talking about how silly that would be.¡±
¡°What about rushing yourself?¡±
¡°It seems crazily quick, but I can''t imagine anything changing my mind or my heart about her. I hate the thought of hurting her. But she said some good things, about sensible people not getting betrothed until they''d had their firstbreal storming argument.¡±
¡°So...¡± Ruath said. ¡°Option one is that you cause a real storming argument, and as you say, risk hurting someone we both love, and option two is you throw caution to the wind and try to build a home in mid-winter? You''ll not convince people you''re sane if you do that.¡±
¡°I could cheat, and use wizardry for it. At the very least for keeping the weather off, but... that sort of thing seems a bit ostentatious.¡±
¡°Whereas flying around isn''t? Sorry, I understand. No one expects you to fly them places, though I guess in an emergency we''d ask. But putting up a snow shelter so you can work inside... there''d be lots of people wondering how to ask if you could set one up for them.¡±
¡°And of course the other question is where to build. The doctor told us all about the high fields and summer crazies, so certainly not up there.¡±
¡°Yes. I thought it was superstition, when I was younger.¡±
¡°My guess is some kind of poisoning, maybe something in the soil, It doesn''t just affect harvesters. Girt''s away every harvest time, but Lenepoli tells me he''s been getting progressively worse at thinking.¡±
¡°Well, if she says anything good about him then it''s probably true, if grudging.¡±
¡°Progressive mental impairment?¡± Brm asked.
¡°Yes. And the doctor also spoke about a female who''d been carrying, producing dead green eggs, and becoming sterile. There''s sulphur springs not far away but the doc says is not that.¡±
¡°Green eggs is ingested copper compounds.¡±
¡°There are copper nodules around.¡±
¡°More in the upper fields,¡± pastor Ruath confirmed.
¡°Copper ores?¡±
¡°No, metallic.¡±
¡°Wow. That''s a seriously reducing environment. Carbon monoxide, or Hydrogen sulphide, maybe? Probably the latter. But the water''s not blue?¡±
¡°No.¡± Dirak said.
¡°So it shouldn''t be copper sulphate,¡± Brm pondered.
¡°Is that bluestone? There''s some part way to the sulphur springs,¡±
¡°Well keep everyone away from that, it''s nasty stuff.¡± Brm said, ¡°Sorry, I''ll let you get back to dealing with your wind-up, Dirak. I told you your love of a good wind-up would come back and bite you one day.¡±
¡°Thank you for that ''I told you so''.¡± Dirak said.
¡°What are friends for?¡± Brm asked with a grin.
¡°Offering advice?¡± Dirak begged.
¡°My advice, stop playing Mr Mystery and talk to her, Dirak. Silence is only going to hurt more in the end. Admit your biggest fault, you don''t know whennto end a joke.¡±
¡°I think I agree with your friend, Dirak.¡± Ruath said. ¡°Honest apology is a good policy.¡±
¡°I will honestly apologise,¡± Dirak said. ¡°And with your permission, I''ll also ask her if she wishes to hold me to the promise my failure to admit the joke implied.¡±
¡°I gave you my blessing, Dirak. And I give it to you again now.¡±
¡°You''d better get engraving, Dirak, just in case,¡± Brm said.
¡°Hmm. On a nut I think,¡± Dirak said, seeing one of the baskets they''d picked that morning.
¡°That''s appropriate, then you can squirrel it away somewhere,¡± Brm said.
¡°Very funny.¡±
A letter on a nut
Beloved, dearest Lenepoli. I wrote nothing on the spire, but you thought I did. I grovel at your feet and say sorry, and say I will gladly ask you the question you expect when you choose: within a day, within a week, or before your hatchday.
My friends forgot my love of wind-ups, of how I delight to see people run away with an idea, carried away with their own cleverness, of how I can encourage their belief in a falsehood by facial expression or tone of voice. I did not plan to visit Tnut, my idea of making you think I had something to hide on the tower was a mistake, and I realised that the joke had gone too far when you told me I had a day to propose, or a week. I did not envisage such a turn. Why didn''t I stop it? It was too such fun, dancing around your questions once more. So, the joke is on me, and your anticipated disappointment burns my heart,
I will not refuse to build a house in mid-winter, if that is your desire. But I have no plot to build it on, nor plan to build it to. So I beg you to at least give me the week to solve such issues. But if you are impatient, and angry with me, for my grand jest, I know I do not deserve such luxuries, only the criticisms I so richly deserve and you promised to me.
Sorry once more, Dirak
¡°You''ve finished, then? Writing on that nut?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°I didn''t hear you come down! You might want to read this. Or just jump up and down on me.¡±
¡°What for?¡±
¡°They forgot something else about me.¡±
¡°You like verbal games.¡±
¡°That too. My confession.¡± He handed her the nut, and curled up at her feet.
¡°What are you doing?¡±
¡°Grovelling at your feet. I said I would in the first sentence or two.¡±
¡°Wind up,¡± she said, the words jumping out at her.
¡°Guilty. Repentant, your humble guilty repentant servant. Don''t squash me too hard please, miserable worm though I am.¡±
Lenepoli read the nut, and coughed and spluttered . ¡°You had us all... You... you''re a complete maniac. I don''t know if I should laugh or cry. Saneth! You forgot to tell me he''s a wind-up merchant.¡±
¡°Who can''t stop his own jokes.¡± Brm added, ¡°Hence for fear of hurting you he almost proposed.¡±
¡°He''s almost proposed in this barely readable bit of carving here,¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°Get up and stop kissing my ankles, Dirak.¡±
¡°Just seeking your good opinion.¡± he said.
¡°It''s not down there, it''s up here, and that means not kissing me but listening.¡±
¡°Yes, most beautiful Lenepoli?¡±
¡°Stop it. Let me tell you something. First I''m sure I''ve got a crush on you, and it feels like love and maybe it is love but its too fast to act on.
Secondly you''ve just proved I don''t know you well enough, and thirdly today''s little performance scared me something silly and I''ve been plotting with Saneth upstairs how to let you know that I don''t trust my emotions and I didn''t care if you''d engraved a love poem for me on the Tnut spire, I still don''t want a proposal from you yet.
"Fourthly, don''t you dare propose until we''ve agreed on a plot of land and agreed on a design for our house and things like that, or you''ll make us both laughing stocks, and I guess my ego''s not strong enough to face a class who are laughing at me.¡±
¡°Can I kiss you now?¡±
¡°No, you''ve put me through an emotional roller-coaster and I''m feeling as burned out as a stalk at harvest time, and while I''m glad I''m not about to get a proposal, I''m cross with you for putting me through that because you can''t admit you were teasing.¡±
¡°I''m very sorry, Lenepoli.¡±
¡°How sorry?¡±
¡°Sorry enough to offer to cook for you, sorry enough that I''ve not leapt on a clue, sorry enough to ask you what you want me to do.¡±
¡°Write me a poem.¡±
¡°Pardon?''
¡°Write me a poem. You have half an hour. I need to talk to Saneth some more.¡±
¡°What sort of poem?¡±
¡°Your choice. Give me your best effort in the time available. Recite it to me or read it to me when I come down.¡±
¡°Urm, I don''t have any paper.¡±
¡°I just make the rules, I don''t provide solutions. You may not scratch any more nuts, nor may you beg, borrow or buy any paper from my parents.¡±
¡°You''re deliberately trying to make this hard on me, aren''t you?¡±
¡°Guess.¡±
¡°But you still want me to produce something good.¡±
¡°If it''s too good then I''ll let you write me love poems but will have to make the next challenge harder. I want to find out what you''re not good at. If you don''t put your full effort into it I''ll be very cross with you. Your staff please.¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°I''m pre-emptively intervening. I''ll look after intervention, don''t worry, just no solving the problem through unexpected application of wizardry.¡±
¡°So if I decide I need some paper, I need to run home.¡±
¡°You''re certainly not embarrassing me in front of my neighbours.¡±
¡°Beloved, stern and beautiful Lenepoli, please can I beg, borrow or buy several sheets of paper from you? And a pen, burnt stick or something?¡±
¡°Of course you can, Dirak,¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°was asking so difficult?¡±
¡°No, just realising that you''re giving me some of my own medicine regarding indirect questions took a while.¡±
Smiling, Lenepoli said, ¡°Paper and pens are in the desk draw, there.¡±
Poetry
Radiant Lenepoli
Daughter of Ethepoli
Fan of famous Queen Poli
Lender of this pen to me.
This verse I must write
with all of my might,
Punishment right
for giving you fright.
You ask for my best,
in this strange test
before we can rest
and design our new nest.
This poem''s no good;
a complete waste of wood
I''m wasting short time
on a poem that doesn''t scan or rhyme properly.
I''ve hurt my love Lenepoli,
Caused her panic, caused her shame,
Made her wonder, made her think,
Worried by my silly game.
My flaw you''ve found Lenepoli,
I don''t back down, I don''t give in
can''t stop a jest started in fun,
became of brainless stupid sin I panicked my Lenepoli
Addicted to my silly pride
Not trusting her, just trusting self
till Brm stepped in, my faithful guide
I do love you, Lenepoli
and want to change, your trust regain
''til you feel safe, and so agree
to be my wife and thus remain
Dirak drew in his breath, looked at the clock in regret and put down his pen. He was out of time. ¡°Hmm,¡± Lenepoli said, from over his shoulder.
¡°I didn''t hear you come down. Again.¡±
¡°Told you,¡± Saneth said. ¡°He gets totally wound up in what he''s doing, and ignores other things that might be happening. Not the best trait in a sheriff, it means that if a prisoner can get him to really involved in a crossword puzzle he might forget to lock them in.¡±
¡°Thank you for your vote of confidence, Saneth. Are all the mysteries of life revealed?¡±
¡°No.¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°We both agree that males are totally strange creatures.¡±
¡°But useful to have around sometimes, like when a moon is full.¡±
¡°Tonight, for instance,¡± Lenepoli said. ¡°I didn''t realise... Breeding season is a myth.¡±
¡°Not quite a myth.¡± Saneth said, ¡°Spring is a fun time, but any full moon will do it when you''ve got an interesting male around.¡±
¡°So Lenepoli''s sanity will be restored in a few days?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°Tomorrow, Lenepoli might be feeling grumpy about missed opportunities. The next day expect sanity. Then Ethe is full the night after that.
I know that blues are supposed to prefer Lene, but I prefer the light of Ethe. Take note of that, Brm.¡±
¡°Are you sure it''s not just that Ethe comes more often?¡± Brm asked.
¡°What a thing to say!¡±
¡°It is Lene tonight, isn''t it? And it''s fifty days until your birthday, Lenepoli.¡±
¡°Yes, Dirak, Lene will be full on the night of my birthday.¡±
¡°And if Ethe is full in three days time...¡± his jaw dropped.
¡°You mean nights, Dirak,¡± Saneth said, ¡°You can''t have a full moon during the day, that''s basic geometry.¡±
Dirak''s mouth was still half open.
¡°Shut your mouth, Dirak, you''ll catch something. I''ve known it a long time, My twenty-fourth hatchday coincides with a double full moon. Shame.¡±
¡°Lenepoli,¡± Saneth said, ¡°Shame is not the right word. A double moon in early spring, and on your twenty-fourth hatchday? And you plan to resist your God-given instincts? You are joking! I''ve actually studied this stuff, purely for scientific interest you understand.¡±
¡°I believe you Saneth. It sounds just like you,¡± Dirak said.
Saneth ticked points off on her fingers, ¡°Point one: you''re turning twenty-four, that''s a bit late to find yourself a husband and your body knows it, that''s why you''re feeling like you do today, your body wants to make up for lost time and hasn''t lost interest.
Point two, your hatchday is an emotionally important day, well known fact, any emotion or urge is stronger on hatchday. Hence tears and fights in the playground and such like, you must have noticed it. It''s not even mental, one year olds and elderly people who can''t remember their hatchday still get affected. Point three, Spring. Early spring is a lovely time for laying eggs, the days are warmer, the grass is greener, everything feels fresh and lovely and if you''ve got a male around your body wants filling with eggs, and your Dirak''s crest is going to be so orange in your eyes it''ll practically glow in the dark. But it won''t need to because it''s going to be a double full moon. Either Dirak needs to be on the other side of the planet or you''re going to be hunting him down and tearing his clothes off him, married or not.
"My purely practical advice, break up and be an emotional wreck for the day or make sure you''re married. Preferably get married at least a moon before, so you''re not so excited and clumsy that you don''t make the most of the opportunity.¡±
¡°Well, that was brutal.¡± Brm said, ¡°Have a lovely time anchoring your forcefields to keep the wind off in the dead of winter, Dirak. How cold does it get up here?¡±
¡°The ground will be frozen in a fortnight,¡± Ruath said from the doorway.
¡°But your friend is right, Lenepoli.¡± Ethepoli said, ¡°If Dirak''s not your husband by your hatchday, you''re going to need locking up or something. I know I did on mine, to stop me clawing your father''s eyes out when he sensibly wouldn''t marry me on the spot. We''d only been courting a week then, and it was just one moon.¡±
¡°What do I do, Dirak?¡± Lenepoli asked, practically throwing herself into his arms.
¡°Well firstly, we eat, and then we start planning our house-cum-school.¡±
¡°Oops,¡± Brm said, ¡°Advice from the council: keep hatchlings and experimenting journeymen in very different buildings.¡±
¡°Good idea,¡± Saneth agreed.
¡°OK,¡± Dirak said, ¡°And then, based on Saneth''s advice, we don''t make decisions today.¡±
¡°Yes.¡± Lenepoli agreed, hugging him closely, ¡°I mean, you are not exactly an impartial source of advice about what we ought to do about our impending marriage, are you? So apart from you being a source of good hugs, why am I here?¡±
¡°Because he''s promised to protect you, of course.¡± Ruath said, getting a hug from Ethepoli. ¡°What you''re doing there is quiet evidence that you''re getting ready to leave the family nest, little one.¡±
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 7: Winter-born
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 7: Winter-born
Cultural note: Cargo tariffs
When a trader is only providing transport rather than acting as a travelling merchant, then goods are transported at three possible (distance-related) tariffs: light cart, fixed price, and heavy cart. A fixed price tariff is negotiated before transit, normally when there is a regular agreement between the trader and the owner of the goods or a middle-man. Normally a fixed-price contract will not be offered for a load that would fill the cart, as this would be to the disadvantage of the trader compared to a heavy-cart tariff; however a multi-year contract that ensures regular income may allow a certain number of full loads. When a fixed price tariff is not negotiated, cargo is carried ''at tariff''. If the cart is very light ¡ª below the weight that keeps the spiky hauling at good speed ¡ª then any cargo is better than none, and so light cart tariffs with their attractive rates are offered. However, as the tariff is always calculated for the separate legs of the journey, a cart may be at light tariff from a village to the town, but on reaching the town the trader will do his utmost to increase the weight of the cargo into the heavy-cart tariff. In this situation he may well offer a fixed price tariff to a certain extra cargo, or accept a regular contract from a middle-man so that he knows to only load his cart to a certain level, safe in the knowledge that the light-cart rate will not last long. Once on heavy cart tariff, then all goods carried ''at tariff'' are charged three or four times the light cart tariff for the following leg. The weight of goods in a cart are thus carefully documented by tariff officers, so that the trader has documentation for what he charges his customers. Needless to say, customers in remote villages frequently feel cheated when their goods sent to the city are loaded at light-cart tariff, and then charged at heavy-cart tariff after the trader reaches the next town.
Customers near the big cities, however, look enviously at the light-cart and fixed-price tariffs, as carts to and from the city are always (nearly) fully laden.
Especially bulky goods are often charged an additional fee, as they would prevent the carrying of another cargo.
Middle-men, or trading agents, are often based in towns and present themselves as a way for remote villagers to get their goods to market without paying the heavy-cart tariff, however their reliable source of goods to transport is often the very reason that the villagers end up paying heavy cart tariff, as a trader will not want to keep his cart stationary for hours. Thus, making use of a trading agent is seen as a betrayal of one''s fellow villagers, and a trading agent is not seen as a respectable career choice.
Earthday afternoon, 44th of Autumn
¡°Welcome to my home,¡± Dirak greeted the council, who had arrived without any thunderclaps, but with a large hand-cart.
¡°Sheriff Dirak,¡± Thuna said. ¡°I understand that the villagers now have to register any discovery of a growth of straight angar. Such searching ought to come with some kind of reward, therefore we gift the village with these rods of crystal. I leave the exact distribution to the village council, but expect that distributing them as some kind of finder''s fee might be appropriate.¡±
¡°I thank the council on behalf of the village. Is this a one-off donation?¡±
¡°Not at all, just that''s all we could fit in the cart.¡±
¡°Just... it had occurred to me that it would be much easier to prevent the use of new glue-wood bean poles if no one had any old ones. But that''s a lot of crystal rods.¡±
¡°And a lot of straight angar. We''ll discuss it. Brm said there is a source of bluestone nearby.¡±
¡°I''m told that there is, yes.¡±
¡°Useful, but dangerous. And sulphur, and copper nuggets.¡±
¡°Yes, all in the area of the upper fields, towards the sulphur springs.¡±
¡°But people actually grow stuff there?¡±
¡°Not if they listen to the doctor.¡±
¡°We''ll listen to the good doctor, and not allow any students to go up there. So, tell us Dirak, where were you thinking of putting the school?¡±
¡°I''ve been in discussion with the mayor and other council members this morning. Would you like to come and see a map?¡±
¡°Certainly, but where''s Lenepoli?¡±
¡°I suggested that the school room might be a better place to discuss things than the jail, so she''s probably still tidying up. The village hall is a bit of a mess at the moment, the juniors are preparing something for Longnight.¡±
¡°Lenepoli is the only teacher?¡±
¡°She teaches the older ones.¡±
¡°Well, were you going to lead the way?¡±
¡°I''m just thinking about that cart.¡±
¡°Oh, good reminder, Steev, can you bring Lenepoli''s staff? And then turn on the forcefield? We don''t want anyone wondering how it can fly with their knife, do we?¡±
A little girl came up and looked at Thuna. ¡°Are you a wizardess?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°And all these people are wizardesses too?¡±
¡°We call the boys wizards,¡± Thuna said.
¡°Wow. And you can fly places?¡± the girl asked.
¡°I put a little thing I''d made in this piece of wood, and that lets me fly, yes.¡±
¡°And you can put a thing round people to stop them getting hit?¡±
¡°Yes, I could.¡±
The little girl nodded seriously. ¡°But you don''t.¡±
¡°I''ve never had to, no. Sheriff Dirak has.¡±
¡°And that''s why you stopped him being a wizard.¡±
¡°It is, but we think that was a mistake which God used. I think Dirak is quite happy to live here.¡±
¡°He''s going to marry Lenepoli. She''s very pretty.¡±
¡°And very clever,¡± Thuna said, ¡°And I''m going to teach her almost as much as I taught Dirak.¡±
¡°Only almost?¡±
¡°There''s some things that Dirak''s going to teach her, I expect. He''s taught her some things already.¡±
¡°I don''t want to be a wizardess. I want to help people.¡±
¡°Why don''t you become the sort of wizardess who helps people, like Lenepoli wants to?¡± Dirak suggested.
¡°Won''t they stop her if she helps people?¡±
¡°No. Like Thuna said, they made a mistake. People do that sometimes, but then they say sorry to God and he forgives them.¡±
¡°Did you say sorry to God?¡± she asked Thuna.
¡°Yes, we all did. Well, except that man there, who''s called Ranth, but that''s because he doesn''t believe in God.¡±
¡°Why not?¡±
¡°I don''t know, he won''t tell me.¡±
¡°It''s rude not to believe in the person who keeps him alive,¡± the girl said.
¡°Yes, I know. Will you pray that God will help Ranth to stop thinking God''s not real?¡±
¡°Can''t I pray that God zaps him for being rude?¡± she asked.
¡°Which one does God want to do?¡±
¡°I don''t know.¡±
¡°Well in scripture God says ''Turn to me and don''t die.''¡±
¡°Oh. You need to turn round, Mr Ranth, and say sorry to God. He doesn''t want to zap you. It''s going to snow tonight or tomorrow.¡±
¡°Is it?¡±
¡°Yes, I asked God, because it''s my hatchday tomorrow, and I like snow.¡±
¡°Oh. But what about people who don''t like snow?¡± Thuna asked.
¡°They''ve had their turn. And there won''t be much. I didn''t ask God for lots of snow, that would be greedy.¡±
¡°Oh, OK.¡±
¡°Mister wizard Ranth, I''m going to pray that you really do turn round like you need to, and your mummy didn''t die, she went to be with Him so it wouldn''t hurt any more. That''s different.¡± With that, she turned and skipped away, leaving the adults looking stunned. ¡°Well, that conversation ended differently to how I expected,¡± Thuna said. ¡°Do you know who who that young girl was?¡±
¡°No. I''m afraid I''m not an expert at telling them apart at that age.¡± Dirak said. ¡°I imagine there aren''t many with a hatchday tomorrow,¡± Steev said, ¡°Well, Ranth, would you consider our young evangelist a thought-hearer, or a prophetess?¡±
¡°I have never been convinced of the existence of either.¡±
¡°We''ll have to see if it snows tomorrow, then,¡± Steev said.
¡°I was going to say that I was thinking of my mother''s end.¡±
¡°Inconclusive,¡± Durrun said, ¡°Either are possible. Quite the one for making you think though. ''I don''t want to be a wizardess, I want to help people.'' Lovely village you''ve got here, Dirak. Nice people.¡±
¡°Shame about the poisons lying around.¡± Magz said, ¡°Come on, Dirak, let"s move before we get snowed on.¡±
¡°This way,¡± Dirak led them on towards the school.
¡°Snow at this time of year? It''s not even winter!¡± Ranth mocked.
¡°Maybe God will have mercy on your shrivelled soul and hear the other prayer of his bold little prophetess, too,¡± Keldi, the eldest wizardesses on the council except Thuna said, ¡°But I expect at least a few flakes of snow tomorrow. I think she deserves that at least for saying what she did to a bunch of wizards. Dirak, I''m planning on adding an agenda item to try to make sure that young one and her family get well looked after, and kept away from the poisons, just in case she is a thought hearer.¡±
¡°Welcome to Lenepoli''s domain,¡± he said, opening the door. ¡°I''ll certainly be talking to her parents just as soon as I find out who they are,¡± Dirak said.
¡°Whose parents?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°She''s about this tall, has a patch of orange-yellow fluff on top of her head, and is very certain that God''s going to let her have some snow tomorrow because it''s her hatchday, and everyone who doesn''t like snow has had their turn. Oh, and she doesn''t want to be a wizardess because she wants to help people.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
"My suggestion that she be the sort of wizardess who helps people, like you''ll be didn''t get much movement on the career front, but it did turn into a discussion on why Ruath should believe in God, because not doing so was rude.¡±
¡°That sounds like Yalinth. Did she suggest that God would zap him if he didn''t?¡±
¡°Thuna turned that very well, I thought; she pointed out that God wants people to turn and be saved. She''s going to pray that he does.¡±
¡°And then she either heard some of Ranth''s thoughts or God''s comment on his thoughts, and corrected them for him.¡± Keldi said, ¡°Therefore I am going to intervene if the family are in any sort of trouble, because in all my years I''ve only heard of one possible thought-hearer, and he was helping his dad with a grumpy thlunk and got a tail-club in his head before I could talk to him. That was twenty years ago.¡±
¡°Keldi,¡± Thuna said, ¡°would you like to go and talk to her now? We''re going to be spending the next half an hour or so talking to Lenepoli about how the council works and recent decisions and things anyway.¡±
¡°I''d be delighted, overjoyed, and... and.... and extremely happy,¡±
¡°OK, now, where do we need to go?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°Her parents are Kalb and Yagel, three houses down from Girt and Yagah''s new home.¡±
¡°Yagel is Yagah''s big sister?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°OK, I''ve seen them, but we''ve never talked.¡±
¡°Then I suggest you take mum or dad to make the introductions. It''s more polite.¡±
¡°Ah, OK.¡±
¡°Do they have any other children?¡± Keldi asked.
¡°Not as far as I know. Oh, they might have a hatchling.¡±
¡°Do you know the mother''s family?¡± Keldi asked.
¡°Yes. I think I saw them going to town today, but her grandma, Yanepoli, is still alive and there''s a high chance you''ll find her there too.¡±
¡°Then we''ll certainly want to be properly polite and on our best behaviour,¡± Keldi said. ¡°I''m assuming that all the females are deep red?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°And there was some opposition to the marriage with Kalb?¡±
¡°How did you know that? Yes.¡±
¡°Names, Lenepoli. Names and attitudes. I''m sure that Kalb''s crest turns orange for his wife, with a Zerker name like that, and I strongly expect young Yalinth is going to turn into a gorgeous yellow.¡±
¡°Oh!¡± Lenepoli said. ¡°And her great-grandma will remember ancient laws.¡±
¡°Exactly. Yes, we''ll definitely have to be formally introduced.¡±
¡°Hello, pastor Ruath!¡± Yalinth said.
¡°Hello, Yalinth, are your mummy and daddy at home?¡±
¡°Yes. And great grandma. Have you come to arrest great grandma, sheriff?¡±
¡°I don''t think so.¡± Dirak said. ¡°Do you think I should?¡±
¡°No, probably not.¡±
¡°Yalinth! Who are you talking to?¡± An elderly voice asked from inside.
¡°Pastor Ruath''s come, great-grandma, to introduce Sheriff Dirak and Wizardess Keldith..Keldithanapoli who wants to talk to me.¡±
¡°I certainly do. Very well done, Yalinth.¡±
¡°I feel a little redundant after that,¡± Ruath said, ¡°but may we enter?¡±
¡°Come in pastor, Sheriff. And Wizardess Keldithanapoli, eh?¡±
¡°Most know me simply as Keldi, and I certainly don''t use another title, Lady Yanepoli.¡±
¡°My granddaughter''s humble house is honoured. More than she knows, I expect.¡±
¡°Times pass, your ladyship, and laws keep on changing. Not many of us remember what names mean.¡±
¡°Hmph. No duels at all now, I hear. Back when I was young it was a point of pride to have some would-be suitors to mourn over.¡±
¡°And what did that do to our gene-pool, your ladyship? My ancestress saw where constant duelling was going.¡±
¡°She did. But do we need so many changes? Look at this one!¡±
¡°I have looked at her, your ladyship, and heard her saying my name, too, when Dirak introduced me to pastor Ruath as plain Keldi. A yellow, and not just a yellow but that greatest rarity, a winter-born yellow. There is no shame for what your grand-daughter has done, your ladyship. She should be honoured and praised.¡±
¡°It will mean trouble for her all her life.''
¡°There will be a school of wizardry on her doorstep. The door will always be open to her, I promise.¡±
¡°What good will that do, if no one''s going to lift a finger?¡±
¡°You think Zerker-Wizard Dirak will not lift a finger? And Zerkess-Wizardess Lenepoli, once she''s learned? The high council of wizardry now includes Lenepoli as a member, as well as myself. And while we will not intervene in politics, we have repented of not following the law of God. We will protect the innocent, and certainly we will intervene to protect this one, and any other winter-born siblings I can persuade her parents to clutch. The planet needs their legacy. Twenty years have passed since the last winter-born I heard of was killed by a thlunk in a stupid accident. Even he wasn''t from pure stock. Twenty years I have looked. If my name has any meaning in this house I charge you, your ladyship, to protect this little one from all insult that might make her ashamed of her gift, with your life if need be, and to teach your granddaughter all about the great heritage she has the power to bring into this world, and yes, to encourage her to do so.¡±
¡°I hear and obey, Keldithanapoli.¡± the old woman said ¡°I hear and obey, but one does not make a lineage.¡±
¡°I will of course seek for others, because Yalinth and her brothers and sisters cannot, as you say, preserve that heritage on their own.
"But I urge you to point out to me others of pure blood you know of, for there might not be many generations more where the blood-lines are pure enough.¡±
¡°Yagah has married Girt son of Rangar. There will be at least one more generation of noble blood.¡± Yanepoli said.
¡°But something Girt does is poisoning him with copper from these hills every year, even though he''s never had the summer crazies.¡± Dirak said.
¡°The summer crazies is from copper?¡± Kalb asked, finally speaking up.
¡°So I believe, Kalb.¡± Dirak said, ¡°I don''t know where it''s coming from, but I know that bluestone eaten, drunk, or breathed in can be deadlier than sulphur.¡±
¡°And it kills eggs, sterilises mothers.¡± Keldi said.
¡°Rangar washes his thunks in bluestone before they go to market.¡± Kalb said, ¡°It kills any lice.¡±
¡°And then Girt breaths in the dust as he takes the thlunks to market, I expect,¡± Dirak said.
¡°Rangar tells him to wear a cloth over his face. Girt doesn''t like to,¡± Kalb said.
¡°I''m a great believer in the power of a wife to persuade her husband of anything.¡± Keldi said, ¡°And of a male to place his grandchildren above profit. I will speak to Rangar about the cost of breeding. Dirak, you and Lenepoli should plan to have some sons, to marry Girt and Yagah''s daughters.¡±
¡°You don''t think Brm and Saneth''s lads will do?¡±
¡°With all respect to Brm, his grandmother was orange, and I don''t know if his sons will ever know the Zerk.¡±
¡°Queen Keldi?¡± Yalinth asked.
¡°Shhh, we don''t have queens any more, Yalinth, not really. Just call me Keldi.¡±
¡°Great-grandma wants to know if you''ve got any sons or daughters and so do I.¡±
¡°Dirak might remember my son. He was killed in a duel. And I wrote to parliament, saying ''The only son of the heir of queen Poli who formed this parliament to stop duels has just been killed in a duel. Stop tinkering at the edges and do your job.'' And they have finally banned duels. Praise be to God, I have a daughter too, who is sixteen, and who dyes her plumage purple, because it helps her fit in. So I look for pure blooded noble families for two reasons. So that there might be some boys who started off yellow and girls with lovely yellow plumage like I''m sure yours will be, Yalinth, and even some who can hear people think which is a wonderful gift, and also that my daughter can find a suitable husband. I knew that there were those of Zerker blood up here, I did not expect to find nobility too.¡±
¡°This village has always been a God-fearing community, Wizardess,¡± Ruath said ¡°We were formed by five noble families, four Zerker families, and a few familiesnwho were of normal stock. We have... tended not to intermarry, but to seek husbands and wives outside the village. There are similar communities in Tnut and in Gorp, and some other places. Our famous neighbour Qnut is a mining village with a very different legacy, though an above average amount of Zerker ancestry; and of course Uttown has been a market town for centuries, full of good honest farmers and not-so-honest tradesmen.¡±
¡°Ah! I should have paid more attention to histories. I did ask about Qnut and Uttown, and never thought... now that''s good, very good. Now, Yalinth, do you know why wizards think its very important that there be people who can hear thoughts?¡±
Yalinth laughed. ¡°You just thought it!¡±
¡°I did, didn''t I? But do you understand what I thought?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°A long time ago, but after Queen Polithanapoli, our planet had some visitors.
"One of them was a female who God had chosen to give a wonderful gift to. A bit like the gift God has given you because of who your mummy and daddy are, and when you were born, but the real amazing God-blessed version. And while you could think messages to someone near you, they can think to people from their home all the way to here. The one who came was called Maggie, after a famous grandmother or aunt or something like that, and people called her Magz, and if you meet anyone here called Magz, they they are named after her. Now, her people grow up slower and live longer than most of us, and the people she had met died but there were more people she could talk to. And after Maggie died, someone called Tim talked to the people Maggie had talked to. And then most of those people got old. And eventually Tim passed the task on to Jim, who only had one person here to talk to, who was called Mira. And Mira told the wizards, that Jim said there wasn''t anyone else he could call, on the whole planet, but every few years he''d have a look, and see if there was anyone.¡±
¡°But there wasn''t?¡±
¡°There was. Eventually there was one, who was very grumpy about hearing thoughts all the time, and didn''t like talking in her head to strange people she couldn''t see. And then she died too. But there hasn''t been one for a hundred years.¡±
¡°So is Jim dead too?¡±
¡°I expect so, He was quite old before she died and a hundred years is a long time. I think he''d be eighty years old by their years, which is a hundred and sixty of ours.¡±
¡°I''m six.¡±
¡°Yes, I thought you might be. But if you hear anyone who doesn''t live on our planet, then can you tell Dirak or Lenepoli?¡±
¡°OK. Not you?¡±
¡°You can tell me if I''m around, certainly, Or any of the other wizards or wizardesses.¡±
¡°Even wizard Ranth?¡±
¡°Ranth might not believe in God, but he can pass on a message.¡±
¡°To you?¡±
¡°To Thuna, would be best.¡±
¡°Thuna''s not a mummy.¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°She should be. She''s nice.¡±
¡°When my mummy and daddy died, she looked after me,¡± Dirak said, ¡°So in some ways I think of her a bit like my mummy.¡±
¡°Her mummy was yellow,¡±
¡°Really? I didn''t know that.¡±
¡°She thought of it when she saw me. When am I going to have lovely long feathers like you?¡±
¡°When you''re a little bit older, you''ll have little feathers, and when you''re almost ready to get married you''ll grow long feathers to help boys notice you.¡±
¡°And that''ll be when her troubles really start,¡± muttered her great-grandmother.
¡°Not if Yalinth keeps close to God in her heart,¡± Keldi said, firmly. ¡°She might have more or less would-be suitors than others, depending how things turn out, but she''s not a fool yet, and as long as her loved ones keep their thoughts under control she''s not likely to turn into one.¡±
¡°Keldi needs to visit auntie Yasinth.¡± Yalinth said.
¡°Yes, probably.¡± Ruath agreed, ¡°And Rangar and Nathlin, Girt and Yagah, and lots of people.¡±
¡°Perhaps another visit, with your family?¡± Dirak said. ¡°And let Lanthi see what sort of reaction purple feathers get around here.¡±
¡°Good idea, Dirak.¡±
¡°Why would anyone want to dye their feathers purple?¡± Kalb asked, ¡°And does it wash out, or is she stuck like that for the next year?¡±
¡°I insisted she use something that washes out.¡±
¡°You''re a good mother,¡± Yagel said. ¡°I''d be ever so tempted to let a daughter of mine use permanent dye and make her pluck herself when she works out what a stupid idea if was.¡±
¡°The ''ennaat veelicausity of the female of the species'' is alive and well, I see.¡± Dirak commented.
¡°Yes,¡± Keldi agreed with a sigh, ¡°Some things never change.¡±
¡°Sheriff Dirak, are you referring to On the state of knowledge?¡± Yanepoli asked.
¡°Yes, lady Yanepoli,¡± Dirak said. ¡°I got Lenepoli to read it a few days ago.¡±
¡°And she got to the end?¡±
¡°I didn''t make her read all the study questions,¡± Dirak said.
¡°You have the study edition? Amazing! Yagel, you must borrow that book.¡±
¡°As long as the fire is well and truly out,¡± Keldi added. ¡°No few copies in the college have singed pages. If Yalinth might join us, it would be better if she doesn''t know how it ends; we ask people to read it.¡±
¡°It won''t work on Yalinth, Keldi.¡± Dirak said, ¡°Look how she''s sniggering already.¡±
¡°Yes, I remember reading about that problem,¡± Keldi said, ¡°Oh well.¡±
¡°Do you by any chance have a copy of On the role of government?¡± Yanepoli asked.
¡°I do, yes,¡± Dirak said.
¡°Really?¡± Keldi was surprised.
¡°A modern edition is required reading for the police, but I found an unrevised copy.¡±
¡°How unrevised?¡± Yanepoli asked.
¡°Third printing.¡±
¡°Ranth''s earliest copy is tenth.¡±
¡°I noticed that.¡±
¡°I heard you had quite a library, young man, I didn''t realise...¡±
¡°You may of course come and make yourself reacquainted with old friends, lady Yanepoli, not to mention old enemies.¡±
¡°Old enemies?¡±
¡°I doubt your education would have skipped Justice or control, but I assume you would not name it a friend,¡±
¡°Certainly not!¡± Yanepoli exclaimed.
¡°Where on the planet did you find a copy of that?¡± Keldi asked.
¡°There''s a little book-binder''s shop on the corner of Skew street, near the bakers. Lepnew introduced me to the owner; he''s got a huge attic of old classics. He sells duplicate copies. I almost certainly got it from him. He''ll only sell you one book, assuming you come with the right recommendations, and you need to talk to him intelligently about it before he''ll ever sell you another one.¡±
¡°A lover of books who only sells to lovers of books,¡± Keldi said, with a smile. ¡°Lanthi might have a new occupation. An old bachelor, I presume?¡±
¡°A widower, but I met his son and daughter-in-law ¡ª they sometimes help binding books ¡ª and I remember thinking she could have been your twin, Keldi, so I suggest you go and make introductions, pass on my greetings, and maybe give Lanthi''s full name.¡±
¡°What are you implying?¡±
¡°I''m guessing that without you being there, they''re not going to believe Lanthi if she tells them her full name with purple plumage. I can''t remember how old their son is, so it might be totally wasted on that front.¡±
¡°You think they are of noble blood?¡±
¡°Who else would treasure such a stock?¡±
¡°You would.¡±
¡°My library is small, very small. And perhaps they are not nobles, but are only descended from the royal archivists or something.¡±
¡°Who were noble. This attic is in Skew street?¡±
¡°No, that''s the shop. The attic is above the family home on Archive road.¡±
¡°You''re not telling me someone''s selling the royal archives, are you?¡±
¡°No. I''m telling you that the attic of the royal archives holds an eclectic private collection, which the owner fills from auctions and home clearances and then sells duplicate copies.¡±
¡°And Lepnew knew this?¡±
¡°Yes. He told me about it soon after my parents had died, when I was moping around the college library looking for something I hadn''t read yet, and wasn''t too advanced for me.¡±
¡°I''d throttle him if he wasn''t dead. But then I guess he never met Lanthi after she became a book-worm. I don''t know if I should show her your library or this treasure trove first.¡±
¡°Mine to occupy a seat in, the treasure-trove to dream about,¡± Dirak said.
¡°If he is archivist-royal, Keldithanapoli, He may be trying to preserve the royal archives.¡± Yanepoli said.
¡°That is very very true.¡± Keldi agreed. ¡°And I should certainly thank him for his faithfulness.¡±
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 8: Wizard at large
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 8: Wizard at large
Extract from revised and updated cultural notes, for upload to satellite
Schooling: The school year follows the calendar year, spring equinox to spring equinox, with exams in winter.
Typically lessons are all morning with the afternoons for homework. Village school teachers do not set much homework during the harvest season, but schooling continues.
Most children in villages study until 15, leaving with no certificate. Those who study to 16 attain a basic schooling certificate (BSC), and those studying to 17 get an intermediate schooling certificate (ISC). An ISC is needed to go onto higher education. Bright children may be advanced a year, less able ones, may take an additional years to finish their BSC. An Advanced Schooling Certificate is available for those who have taken the first year of higher education in a highly demanding course, such as Wizardry, law or accounting.
Teacher training: A basic 2 year teaching certificate is sufficient for a village teacher to train children up to 15 years old. A 3 year teaching degree allows teaching to BSC level, ISC-level teachers are required to have a specialisation topic. Thus many village children will need to travel to a town for education past 15. Hnut is fortunate that Lenepoli can teach to ISC level.
Wizardry training: Students (normally) study apprentice level wizardry for 2 years, and journeyman wizardry for a further 3 years. Finishing the first year of study with a passing grade entitles the student to an Advanced Schooling Level Certificate (ASC). Accelerated entry students take 2 years to reach ASC level but can join at any age from 12.
School house, Hnut, Earthday, 44th of Autumn
¡°Dirak, come in, the council has something to say to you, I think.¡± Keldi said.
¡°Uh oh. What did I do now?¡±
¡°Dirak, welcome.¡± Thuna said. ¡°We, that is to say, the academic staff, have decided to rectify a mistake. Well, two, actually. Firstly, your final philosophy paper has been re-graded. It was felt that the technical mistake you made in it, although it merited a penalty, it was not so serious that you should be denied a passing grade. Consequently, in correcting this error, we grant you the full title of wizard-at-large, that is to say one we have trained and met all the requirements of the College of Wizardry, but who also has another profession. As a wizard-at-large, you are not required to decide if you are acting as wizard or as your other profession at any instant, but are expected to be fully conscious of both sets of obligations at the same time. Thus as wizard-at-large and sheriff, we would expect you to defend the helpless and administer justice while trying to also ensure that you do not in any way use wizardry to injure, or impose your will, but only protect. If you feel that the only way to prevent an injury to an innocent is to interpose a forcefield between the two in a way that does not otherwise restrain the aggressor, then we will bow to your professional judgement. We would entertain a formal complaint against you, however, if you placed a forcefield around an aggressor. If you want to restrain someone, use your muscles or a rope.¡±
¡°I trust the council understands that in making this rule they require me tostrike and injure rather than use wizardry.¡±
Keldi said ¡°The alternative is that Wizardry may become seen as a tool of control. There is one circumstance we will allow and participate in that: to control a rogue wizard or wizardess, and deliver him or her to justice.¡±
¡°Justice, or citizen''s justice?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°We expect, sheriff, ¡°, Keldi said ¡°that it is unlikely that even the most desperate criminal wizard would pose much threat with their fingers encased in a block of angar-gum. Therefore, we anticipate no major difficulty delivering them to the courts once caught. If we have to revise that expectation one day, so be it. I trust that you will not be overly concerned about the methods we use to trap someone intent on mass murder.¡±
¡°I understand, and I thank the council for giving me this title, and in a convoluted way that they made it possible for me to prove that I was not a coward. Some said it of me, when I chose to join the collage, that Dirak chooses to study and not fight because he is a coward. It is possible I am aware, that this accusation motivated my intervention. I don''t know. I do know I was angry. Angry that a girl should walk towards danger and no one bother to tell her. Angry I could not call out to her from where I was about that danger.
And angry that my intervening would exile me from my previous life. But I was angry at the injustice to her, that she might suffer because of all these things that made me angry. And when I saw her attacked, it was too much. I have repented of my selfish anger, but not my decision to intervene. Thank you for your allowing me to continue to intervene. Next time, if there is a next time, it will be without the feeling that I have anything to prove, or anything to gain or lose, but only an expression of my desire to protect. And thank you also, Keldi, for all the things that you allowed me to witness today.¡±
¡°Thank you for being circumspect, Dirak,¡± she gave a shrug, ¡°most council members know what you''re avoiding saying anyway. So, please Dirak, be a witness to what you saw, and what you heard.¡±
¡°After finding pastor Ruath, and I had introduced Keldi as one of my former teachers, we proceeded ¡ª that''s a good policeman''s word ¡ª we proceeded towards the home of young Yalinth, where she greeted us. Her great grandmother Yanepoli queried who was at the gate, and Yalinth stated ¡ª another policeman''s phrase ¡ª ''Pastor Ruath has come to introduce sheriff Dirak and Kelditha... Keldithanapoli.'' I wish it to be clear that this was the first time that I had ever heard that name, but its meaning was clear to Yanepoli and became clear to me through the rest of the conversation. Of particular relevance to this council is the clear and multiple demonstrations I witnessed that Yalinth hears the thoughts of those around her, without ceremony, ritual or effort; and that either I somehow missed that lecture or my teacher Keldi did not teach all she knows on the subject, and was using words that Yelepoli knew or suspected.¡±
¡°It would do you no harm in her eyes, Dirak, if you used the title ''Lady'' for Yanepoli. I am certain that she wore it with pride and honour when younger.¡±
¡°However, as an officer of the law... I need to be a little careful, regarding titles that have passed out of use, do I not?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°Oh, probably,¡± Keldi said. ¡°For those of you wondering what deep secret Dirak''s trying not to publish, Yalinth wasn''t quite so careful and called me queen. Technically inaccurate, but there''s certainly a throne in the city that I could sit on if I wanted to plunge the world into far more chaos than Dirak managed to cause. As a wizardess, of course, I''ve no intention of getting that political. But, you may as well know that Dirak knows I wrote a very impatient letter to parliament when my Krl was killed in that stupid duel. I did not in any way write that letter as wizardess, just as irate heir to the throne, impatient that three hundred years later they still hadn''t finished the job Polithanapoli gave them of putting an end to duels.¡±
¡°Assuming you quoted yourself literally,¡± Dirak said ¡°I think you were very diplomatic, in the circumstances.¡±
¡°He''s a nice boy, Lenepoli, with a big generous heart. Keep him.¡±
¡°Of course given the kerfuffle there was in parliament with a letter being very rapidly circulated to all the parties just before the unanimous vote, I wonder if in your quotation in front of young Yalinth and the good pastor you might have decided to omit various hypothetical possibilities that you may or may not have speculated about in the letter.¡±
¡°Oooh, isn''t he well informed?¡±
¡°What I want to know is why it has totally failed to leak out,¡± Thuna said.
¡°I expect the press are entirely terrified of being tried for publishing the private correspondence between the throne and parliament,¡± Dirak said. ¡°The punishment for which I seem to remember is being tied to the tail of a thlunk and sent into a pack of hungry growlers.¡±
¡°They came up with some creative punishments back then didn''t they?¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°That version''s only forty years old,¡± Athrel said ¡°I think it used to include burning oil as well.¡±
¡°Now, let''s move on to business, boys and girls. Is there more to add?¡±
¡°I believe I''d like Lenepoli to know what you told Yanepoli; about us having a son or two.¡±
¡°Ah, yes. Council members, as Dirak has pointed out, I know more about thought hearers than I was ever taught in the college. Because I was taught it at home. Is it the desire of this council to know what Yalinth in my mind has proven, and that I was taught as maybe, possibly, who knows?¡±
¡°Do we not exist to promote knowledge?¡± Ranth asked.
¡°I don''t know. Do we?¡± Athrel asked ¡°Or do we try to do the least we can and preserve knowledge for ourselves. Sometimes I wonder.¡±
¡°Let''s assume we exist to preserve is in order to promote it,¡± Thuna said.
¡°OK. As you all ought to know, a Yellow is born from the union of a noble female and a Zerker male. The other way round, by the way, and you end up with an orange. I was told that a yellow, or similarly bred male, hatched when there is fresh snow on the ground is called a winter-born. A winterborn is a thought hearer. I assume the bit about fresh snow is myth, that it is something to dowith atmospheric water or something like that. In any case, the laws prohibiting the marriage of Zerker and noble were not to do with blood-feuds, though of course it would have been bloody. The whole life of nobles back then was bloody; even Yanepoli thinks of ''having a few would-be suitors to grieve'' as a matter of pride, and as Dirak noticed, us noble females are basically inherently bellicose. Don''t try to contradict me, Ranth, or I''ll carve it on your tripes from the inside. We are. We''re more civilised than we were, but we are. No, it was nothing to do with avoiding bloodshed. It was to prevent winter-borns, like lovely little Yalinth. Her great-grandmother predicts that Yalinth is going to face trouble wherever she goes, and probably be trouble wherever she goes. That is the noble attitude to the winter-born. I have promised Yalinth and Yanepoli that our door is always open to her, that if there is trouble we will intervene to protect such a rarity, and I explained to Yalinth how it is only via people like her that we were able to stay in contact with the aliens. I also exerted a little tiny bit of my name''s prestige and told Yanepoli that she had to protect Yalinth from anyone who''d try to make her think badly of her wonderful abilities.¡±
¡°With her life if need-be,¡± Dirak said.
¡°Of course. A command from royalty is an task bound up in honour, and her life isn''t worth more to her than her honour, she''s noble. Of course she''d rather die than fail me. It''s been programmed into us through millennia. By the way, there''s no way you''re going to stop nobles from duelling, Dirak, sorry. All the change in the law means is that the non-nobles are going to think twice before gutting each other, and hopefully think four or five times against using the word duel or the one with c they used about you to a noble. Be really careful with that one, Dirak. Just hearing that you got called it got my blood racing and I was looking around for someone to claw. But anyway, winter-borns. What does a winter-born do that causes so much trouble? They''re honest, they see through lies, they unpick mysteries and intrigues, they know when people are lying, and they might say it. Can you see what that does to a section of society where honour is more important than life? They go though the honour-based society about as quietly as a growler with his tail on fire goes thorough a grain-field. But we need them. We wizards need them, and society needs them.
"The race to mediocrity and merging of the genetics has meant that I''ve had to search all over the place for a possible husband for Lanthi. If she marries a commoner then that''s the end of the royal line, constitutionally. If the nobility vanishes, then there will be no more winter-born. In the city it''s too late, as far as I have seen. There are no nobles left in the city who aren''t my cousins. Up here, it''s not too late. So, for the good of interspecies and interstellar communication, Lenepoli, you did a great thing in pairing Girt up with Yagah. That''s one more generation of nobles you''ve helped to secure. But to have another winter-born in this village, on this planet, then I''m looking for one of your sons to marry one of Yagah''s daughters, or the daughter of another noble-noble pairing that you know of. But otherwise encourage your kids to keep the line pure. I''m also going to ask you to teach me and all the other deep-reds what you''ve learned about raising big families, because purely for the sake of my grand-daughters, I want there to be a population boom among pure-blooded nobles so they''re not stuck marrying someone brain-dead from his idiot of a father painting his thlunks with copper sulphate to kill the ticks. But that''s not your battle. I''m going to wield some more royal pressure, and Dirak is going to threaten him with whatever the penalty is for knowingly poisoning people via his thlunks.¡±
¡°There is no great secret to large clutches, but... it is strenuous. My grandparents who clutched four danced with one another for six hours.¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°And do you know what the secret is of that sort of stamina?¡±
¡°Lots of dried hynfruit to keep you awake?¡± Joked Haks, the youngest female on the council prior to Lenepoli.
¡°That''s a myth.¡± Brm said, ¡°And any way, They... oh wow.¡±
¡°Would you like to share, Brm¡± Haks asked.
¡°No, I''m going to be collecting lots for personal consumption. You might have noticed I don''t eat dried hynfruit these days. When they totally failed to help me stay awake, I stopped eating them. I noticed the next day quite how alluring Saneth''s plumage was, Since I still had some, I ate a few, and Saneth was just looking like a friend again, Then I asked Saneth to not eat any the next day either. And that is the story behind our whirlwind romance.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
¡°The trick, apparently, is to just feed each other enough dried hynfruit along with other bits of food that you don''t get exhausted or rip each other''s clothes off or overdose and lose interest,¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°So they don''t keep you awake all night, they keep you dancing all night,¡± Haks exclaimed.
¡°While we''re getting all the married people excited, and bringing forward Dirak and Lenepoli''s wedding plans, I''ll add another idea,¡± Ranth said, ¡°I''ve never had the opportunity to try it, of course. And nor has it seemed right to talk about it. We have as historic records the reports that the aliens wrote about us before contact. They have never been translated in written form, because of some of their content. They describe, various events with no understanding, no cultural awareness, but something akin to the scientific detail you might expect from someone seeing a pair of aliens doing something you don''t understand.¡±
¡°You mean they''re scientific pornography?¡±
¡°I don''t think I''d go that far, but they certainly recorded a few courtship dances, and they recorded how long they were, and made a connection to the number of eggs. They then had the... I guess the same kind of scientific curiosity we''re displaying in this meeting, and described what they''d noticed about the clutch size to one of their helpers. Her reply was recorded as don''t tell anyone or everyone will start dancing in daylight.¡±
¡°That''s a stupid idea.¡± Haks said. ¡°It''s hard enough keeping urges under control long enough to conceive in moonlight.¡±
¡°But what if that''s the point of what she said, Haks?¡± Keldi suggested. ¡°A quick daylight dance to really offend public decency and relieve pressures, and then a long dance that night.¡±
¡°Feel free to try, Keldi.¡± Haks said.
¡°What, raise more eggs at my age?¡±
¡°Isn''t it your duty to your lineage?¡± Magz asked.
¡°That''s not a thing to joke about.¡± Keldi said, quietly.
¡°Sorry, Keldi.¡±
¡°But you''re right. How much do we let fear of public censure get in the way of doing what we know is right. It is a matter of duty, and I could have been raising more young, rather than bemoaning that the weight of the throne was resting on my single daughter now.¡±
¡°Most noble Keldithanapoli,¡± Gabant said, ¡°You are not right in saying there are no pure nobles in the city. My wife and I are both of very minor noble lines. Blood calls to blood, as people sometimes say. But, like your daughter, she has long dyed her plumage to avoid jeers in the playground, so she looks like an orange. We had certainly planned to make good use of this coming double moon, but I will talk to her about hynfruit as well. I don''t think we''ll risk the full public censure of experimenting with daylight dancing though.¡±
¡°Gabant,¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°A village is nothing if not for its rumours. But the woods are deep, and sometimes couples disappear from nut-collecting before a full moon, with little to show for their absence, But my personal observation is that the parents who bring triplets to school are the ones who disappeared into the woods a few years earlier. And there are more isolated places than the woods which you could travel to.¡±
¡°You''re saying that daylight dancing works.¡± Gabant said.
¡°I''m saying... it works or it''s a disaster. I''ve also seen couples who disappeared into the woods and returned home very happily who had very miserable faces the following day. As for hynfruit, it is potent. My mother says her mother told her to just grind one hynfruit into a batch of honey cakes, just to take the edge off. You don''t want to totally lose interest.¡±
¡°Is it only dried hynfruit?¡± Dirak asked. ¡°I''m just wondering if the unhappy couples didn''t know and snacked on some on the way home, like I''ve seen people do.¡±
¡°That''s a possibility. It also occurs to me that we''ve strayed from the agenda.¡±
¡°That''s fairly normal,¡± Thuna said. ¡°But, as one of the reasons we''re here is to learn about what living in this lovely place might do for our community, I''m not averse to discussing the different potentials it offers happily married couples who want to do some experimenting. But yes, let''s get back to the new school of wizardry, can we? Books you''re going to have no problem, staffs you''re going to have an abundance of, and from the faces of some people around this table I think I''m going to say that for staff, and I''m going to give first refusal to those whose genetics fit in with what we''ve learned today: Gabant, Keldi and Brm, if you want to be on staff here, tell me. Otherwise, my priority is good relations with the village, so I don''t want to give Yalinth and friends too many opportunities to pray for you to be zapped, Ranth, and I think you''re happier with your own library anyway.¡±
¡°Very true, Thuna. Thank you.¡±
¡°I''m also aware that ripping kids from established friendships isn''t always the best thing, but I also want a good mixture of ages. We obviously could commute, but I''d prefer not to plan for that.¡±
¡°How big a staff are you thinking of, then, Thuna?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°We have a welcome from the village, and I want to take that seriously. So I''m thinking at the moment that up to a quarter of the teaching staff should think about moving up here, once construction is finished. And also that we listen seriously to students and researchers about why they might or might not want to come up too. We might end up moving a whole year group up.¡±
¡°That would probably make sense.¡± Ranth agreed.
¡°Can I disagree?¡± Dirak said, ¡°I know it''s got to be a bit of a habit, professor Ranth, and I know I''m not part of this council, But if we move a year group up here then we''re really doing exactly what the village doesn''t want: we''re inundating them with a bunch of students who have got used to city life with such entertainments as book-shops and theatres.
"They''re going to be bored in the evenings, unless we set extra lectures then, or double homework. And bored journeymen will mean them practising flying back to the city or seeing if they can distil fermented hynfruit, or something.¡±
¡°So what are you suggesting?¡±
¡°Closer to our initial plans. I suggest that we move research staff up here, particularly ones who are married, though if there are any single females of any age wanting a hoard of potential suitors then they''d be very welcome as the local males are concerned.
"Lenepoli was the only unattached female my age for several villages in any direction. So, as I was saying, move the research staff up here, for whom city living is just a distraction and let them have as much lab space as they want. Plus a few teachers and then invite new apprentices, bright kids from villages who are used to helping around the place in the evenings, used to being set work and getting on with it because the teacher has a mixed age class and just can''t be reading the notes to everyone. With Lenepoli being a school teacher, I''m probably going to be teaching her stuff in the evenings, and that would be a good pattern for interested adults: we could ask them to come along for say three evenings per week just like police and politicians were taught the basics in the city.
"The apprentices could even provide child-care, just like big brothers and sisters would expect to do at home. Eventually really introductory teaching could be a role for journeymen, of course.¡±
¡°And you''d like the research staff to teach these apprentices?¡± Magz asked.
¡°I was thinking that we''d have teaching staff for teaching apprentices, and the basic journeyman level stuff, then let the research staff enthuse people with their favourite bits of more advanced stuff. And if there are bits that are getting missed out, we either send people down to the city for a nasty shock or invite teachers up here.¡±
¡°And you''re suggesting that we won''t have cleaning staff, and catering staff and the like?¡± Brm asked.
¡°I expect that there would be people in the village willing to cook for a bit of income,¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°But wash up after a load of young people capable of doing it themselves? Money''s not that valuable. I was positively shocked that we weren''t asked to clean up after meals when I was a teaching student.¡±
¡°It sounds workable, and I love the idea of more lab space.¡± Athrel said.
¡°I thought you might,¡± Thuna said, ¡°and I''m sure Dirak wasn''t planning to buy your vote with that line at all.¡±
¡°I was just thinking that we should try to give as many people as we can what they want.¡±
¡°Including husbands for those of us who never expected to end up single?¡± Magz asked.
¡°Magz I know several males about your age, who have lost their wives to growlers.¡± Lenepoli said ¡°Two in particular are intelligent and godly farmers who are struggling to raise children I teach, alone. The age difference was too much for me, but... they were lonely enough to ask. There are a number of unintelligent or ungodly ones around too, and others who never married, of course.¡±
Magz looked very thoughtful at hearing that.
¡°I have another question I''d like to raise.¡± Keldi said. ¡°You know that some of our apprentices, particularly the younger ones, say, twelve, thirteen, stay with families. Do you think that would work here, and be a good idea?¡±
¡°I would think it might work. Depending who with who, of course. I don''t imagine I''d be tempted to ask our noble families to house anyone for money.¡±
¡°Certainly not!¡± Keldi agreed firmly. ¡°but there are other families who''d cope well, but might need some help.¡±
¡°Yes, it''d be tricky to arrange,¡± Dirak agreed ¡°And to match people. But.... actually, no it wouldn''t!¡±
¡°Why not?¡± Thuna asked.
¡°Because one of the things I''m learning about this village is that almost everyone knows people in villages I''ve never visited who they know know people in villages I''ve never even heard of. Friends of aunts and uncles, that sort of thing.¡±
¡°Of course!¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°We would hardly need to organise it at all. We''d say, perhaps you have a contact they could stay with, or one of your contacts has someone they''d recommend? Just for a year or so, until they''re older?¡±
¡°And even for orphans, we could ask church members,¡± Dirak suggested. ¡°Or take one or two on ourselves?¡±
¡°That depends on timing, Dirak. I don''t know when we''re thinking of opening this school yet. But I expect my parents could cope.¡±
¡°I think we''re running away with our thinking a bit, though.¡± Athrel said. ¡°Don''t we need to submit building plans and things to the local government and... why are you laughing, Dirak?¡±
¡°Because I made that same mistake this morning.¡±
¡°And?¡±
¡°I was told, ''Everyone''s got to live somewhere, stands to reason. Make sure you don''t block the road, I hear the high fields are a bad place, and the river flooded eight years ago, so don''t get too close to that.¡±
¡°What about... you know, not building on someone''s best field?¡±
¡°You''d think so, wouldn''t you.¡± Dirak said.
¡°Every year, around the middle of winter, there''s a big debate about who gets to plant where.¡± Lenepoli said. ¡°The doctor always says, ''you''ll get the summer crazies if you plant up there'', but the sun''s better, or the soil or something. And then I try to talk about crop rotation and get funny looks, and dad talks about leaving land fallow and gets nods of agreement, and so on.
And Rangar always keeps his thlunks in the same place because that''s where his grandad had them and no good''ll come from moving them at all. And then he and Girt settle down to an arm-wrestle over who''s going to repair the fence this year, and anyone who''d have been tempted to disagree looks at Rangar''s muscles and Girt''s too, and they decide to sensibly keep quiet. Except the doctor who''s used to getting ignored, the poor woman.
By the end of the week the winter entertainment is over, some land is fallow, some people who''ve had the summer crazies three years running have decided to plant up there again, and strangely enough everyone is so happy about it being over that you don''t hear any complaints. Though you do sometimes hear, ''right, I supported you this year, next year, I want to plant tubers on that land just behind our houses''. What I''d recommend, actually, is we ask to borrow last year''s field map, and ask what people think.
Don''t tell them how many rooms how many steps by how many steps you want the college to be, make a bit of paper, or even better carve a bit of wood to scale, and wave it around on the field map. That''ll make sense to them.¡±
¡°And they''ll realise that when you say a school of wizardry, especially one with as much lab-space as Athrel wants,¡± Dirak said, ¡°we''re not talking about a building like the school room here, we''re talking about a collection of barns, a building that''ll dwarf the church.¡±
¡°And we''re also talking about power, and water, and proper drains.¡± Keldi said firmly.
¡°For the whole village?¡± Lenepoli asked. ¡°The Doctor''s already asked me if Dirak had any way of getting her an electric light in the surgery. She''d be very happy if there were proper drains. If you could offer her piped water too... I don''t know what she''d do; maybe even come to Church to give thanks to God.¡±
¡°That''s a lot of pipework, not to mention digging,¡± Dirak said.
¡°Does our lecturer in applied forcefields have any comment?¡± Thuna asked.
¡°Yes,¡± Athrel said, looking out of the window at the winding street outside.
¡°It''s a lot of pipework and digging, even with forcefields and lasers to help, but I wonder if our researchers in electromechanics can come up with some kind of horizontal drilling machine that''ll go round corners and can extrude crystal behind it. I presume we need crystal, do we?¡±
¡°With angar-gum joints to cope with soil movements?¡±
¡°Someone would need to do a hydrological and geological survey.¡±
¡°I can help there¡± Athrel said.¡±
¡°Before we get too carried away...¡± Magz said, ¡°Can I ask something?¡±
¡°Please do,¡± Thuna said.
¡°Do we absolutely insist on digging up the village before we get here? And we we absolutely insist on living in our own little palace? Do we melt in the rain or something? Why not just start out with enough lab-space for whoever is actually going to be here? And let people build their own homes? Yes, we can put in pipes and pumps and things for water and drainage eventually, but using an outhouse won''t kill anyone, assuming it''s far enough from the well, of course. I don''t think we need to turn the village upside down all in the next season.¡±
¡°Poor doctor,¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°No, we''ll make the doctor''s surgery first priority.¡± Keldi said. ¡°I want to make sure that when my hatchlings get themselves in a brawl, they''ll have a good clean surgery. In fact... I wonder if it makes more sense to build a new surgery for the doctor than to get power and water to where she is now.¡±
¡°We need to know where clean, sulphur-free water is¡± Dirak said. ¡°I''ve been warned that someone''s well hit a sulphur spring, not fresh.¡±
¡°That was Girt being particularly brainless, just at the end of last winter. He was digging between the blue-stone and the sulphur spring, for the thlunks. He managed to get out on time, but was sick for a while.¡±
¡°Ah, Right. So it shouldn''t affect us,¡± Dirak said, relieved. ¡°I hope that stupid stubbornness it''s not hereditary, Keldi, or your plan is dependant on me having a really stupid son.¡±
¡°Getting back to the topic,¡± Thuna said, ¡°I think it''s going to be good to guess some numbers, for initial size.¡±
¡°Twenty to thirty adults easily,¡± Dirak said ¡°interested in evening classes, just from Hnut.¡±
¡°Dirak was suggesting that at least for local kids, we don''t ask them to join up for life, but get the parents to think of the first year as a ''learn some stuff that''s being taught, get an advanced schooling certificate, reevaluate'' type course''¡±
¡°And then even if they end up going to seminary or some government function, they''re much better equipped to understand where the world is going, and so on, and they''re not just seen as dumb, ignorant villagers, sorry, Lenepoli, that''s town and city perspective.¡±
¡°Oh, I know. When I went to the teacher training college they looked at where I was from and I could tell they didn''t expect me to do more than the two year basic certificate. ''Do you really think you''ll need it? It''ll be much harder in the three year programme.'' I said ''good, I''d hate to think anyone could specialise in the fourth year otherwise''. But I''m getting a bit confused. You really take on kids from twelve?¡±
¡°Yes. If they''re bright enough. They''d have to already be a year above their year group anyway, and would study the normal school subjects at an accelerated rate, mostly by self-study, getting to the end of school maths in the first year. Along side that they''d take the first half of the non-mathematical first year subjects.
"In year two, they have to self-study the year one maths, finish the rest of their school subjects, and take the second half of the first year material.
"Their third year, they''d be sitting beside people who''ve been at the college one year, but joined at a more normal school leaving age.¡±
¡°And their brains are so amazed at the change of pace they read every book in the library to fill the time, eh Dirak?¡± Brm said.
¡°I wasn''t twelve, Brm, you''re confusing me with Sithini.¡±
¡°No, I''m not. Sithini''s plumage is much longer than yours.¡±
¡°It''s strange to think of Sithini with much plumage, but let''s stop interrupting the meeting. You should probably meet Sithini, Lenepoli, she''ll be able to list a lot more of my flaws.¡±
¡°Thank you, Dirak, and no Lenepoli the meeting doesn''t always get this distracted.¡±
¡°We''ll blame it all on your disruptive influence, Dirak.¡± Ranth said, joining in the fun.
Dirak bowed.
¡°Since we''ve mentioned her, Sithini would be a great person to set the challenge of pipework to.¡±
¡°Uh oh. I''m in trouble.¡± Dirak said to no one in particular.
¡°You are.¡± Thuna said, ¡°Go on, scat, give your adopted little-sister a call and tell she''s got until we get back home to think up a hundred reasons why she wouldn''t like to come up here, and ten or so why she''d be perfect for the job. No more than that though, because I want to get some sleep tonight.¡±
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 9: Sithini
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 9: Sithini
Extract from initial contact report
The people on this planet go through a series of metamorphoses in their lifetime.
From hatching to about one year, the hatchlings are immobile, and for almost all of this year their skeletons consist of simply a braincase and some ribs. They hatch about 15 days after being laid, with a hatching spike (quickly re-absorbed), a brain, eyes, heart, stomach and a mouth and semi-functioning lungs.
They are covered in a thick layer of down or fluff, which as well as providing insulation also acts as an oxygen absorption mechanism. At this stage of life they are called fluffballs. Being immobile, they are totally dependant on parental care.
Parents of both genders can lactate, thanks to a metamorphosis triggered during the courtship ritual. The trigger to lactate is the combination of a full stomach, the emotional response to the mews of the fluffball and the fluff tickling the upper arms. Milk glands are located within the upper armpit. An unfed fluffball can survive several weeks or even months by entering a hunger-induced semi-coma, during which they will give a low plaintive mew with every breath ¡ª i.e. about once per hour, initially. Breathing slows as the fluffball starves and eventually stops.
By the age of one year, (plus any time in coma), the fluffball has developed short legs, which normally become functional overnight on the fluffball''s first hatchday, after which it is properly called a hatchling and looses the ability to enter the coma. At this stage the hatchling is able to understand some speech and able to make its desires known by increasingly complex vocalisations.
By two years old, almost all fluff has been shed, except for some down on the head; the neck and torso has developed, main-arms are functional and sub-arms have begun to grow. Gender dimorphism, while previously only discernible by examination of the genitalia, becomes obvious from age three, with boys shedding their head fluff and developing a small crest, while the fluff on the girls heads remains.
The onset of adolescence is marked by the growth of the male''s crest and the female''s feathers growing. Both feathers and crest are muscled and can express emotions.
¡°Blues¡± ¡ª those whose fluff was blue at hatching ¡ª also have undeveloped glands that can excrete the enzymes and hormones that trigger the Zerk. If this is triggered, they undergo an additional metamorphosis in which the male crest changes structure and the colours of anger and sexual stimulation are changed. Further, rather than the hormones being released directly into the bloodstream as during the first experience of the Zerk, the hormones are stored in newly-grown sacks, allowing the Zerker far more control of their abilities. The parental metamorphosis triggers the reabsorption of undeveloped Zerker glands, thus the Zerker metamorphosis is only possible before parenthood. At the age of eighty or so, a further metamorphosis occurs, with the reabsorption of reproductive organs and milk glands, calcification of male crests and an increased lung capacity allowing more extended and louder speech.
Additional note While not raised by our informants, it seems that people who have never entered the parent metamorphosis have a longer lifespan. However, cognitive degeneration seems to proceed irrespective of this.
Earthday 44th of Autumn
¡°Oh great and wonderful Sithinila, I have been commanded to pass unto you a message.¡± Dirak said.
¡°I heard rumours you were alive, Dirak, but it can''t be true. You would have sent me a message if you''d lived past that job interview with the police.¡±
¡°I did!¡±
¡°''I survived'' does not constitute a message,¡± Sithini said.
¡°You weren''t talking to me then, if you remember.¡±
¡°I remember why as well.¡±
¡°Ah, but do you remember why I swapped your toothpaste for soap?¡±
¡°That''s not why I wasn''t talking to you.¡±
¡°Of course not, that was years earlier. I''m just going back a few tens of cycles of creative practical expressions of care.¡±
¡°I''ve got a complete list somewhere.¡±
¡°Oh good. You can share it with Lenepoli.¡±
¡°Who''s Lenepoli?¡±
¡°My girlfriend. Daughter of the pastor in this village, Zerkess, and as a true demonstration of God''s sense of humour, she recognised me from my little encounter with seven thugs, and I''d almost forgotten she was there. Oh, and neither of us think we ought to get betrothed yet, but Saneth says if we''re not married by the double-moon on her hatchday we need tobe on opposite sides of the planet.¡±
¡°What are you doing in a village? Oh, did I hear something about you being made a sheriff?¡±
¡°You did.¡±
¡°So where are you?¡±
¡°Hnut¡±
¡°Bless you, where did you say?¡±
¡°The village once known as Hoo on Utt, Now known as Hnut.¡±
¡°That was meant to be a joke.¡±
¡°I know. I restrain myself from laughing. No I can''t.'' he laughed, ¡°Oh, It''s good to chat to you again, Remind me, why did we stop talking?¡±
¡°Urm, probably because I told you to leave, never come back, not get in contact with me unless you were dead, or I''d make you that way by exploding a black hole in your head.¡±
¡°That can''t have been it, surely? I wasn''t using radios, but surely we could have met up or something. Oh well, anyway, when did you last surface from deep studies of the underside of round the back of the nooks and crannies of God''s creation?¡±
¡°Urm, what day is it?¡±
¡°Earthday, Forty-fourth of autumn, you should have been at church two days ago.¡± Dirak said, knowing days of the week might not be sufficient. ¡°Really? Wow. I was at church, I remember. Saneth came and reminded me. Lepnew died.¡±
¡°I know. Lenepoli is on the council, and Thuna is now chair.¡±
¡°Lenepoli your girlfriend is on the council?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Wny?¡±
¡°Probably something to do with Lepnew remembering a definition of intervention that meant I didn''t intervene, and by what Brm said, Thuna telling the council that if they wanted to split wizardry between people who got involved and people who knowingly walked past trouble as if it didn''t concern them then she was going to teach at the school here in Hnut.¡±
¡°What school?¡±
¡°Well, it started out as an extra room in the house Lenepoli and I are going to build once we get betrothed, but Athrel wants more lab space and Keldi wants it to have power, piped water and a proper sewage system.¡±
¡°I like Keldi''s way of thinking.¡±
¡°Do you know her full name?¡±
¡°I ought to.¡±
¡°Just she''s been throwing it around quite effectively up here, among the deep-red mother and great-grandmother of a yellow thought-hearer.¡±
¡°Keldi''s found a thought-hearer up there?¡±
¡°Yes. She''s called Yalinth and she''s turning six tomorrow. Keldi proved her ability by thinking her full name to her. And she thinks that God''ll make it snow a bit tomorrow, because it''s her hatchday and she asked for some. I pray that God''ll make it at least ankle deep before the council leaves, because Ranth thought her faith was laughable. She wanted to ask God to zap him before Thuna told her about God not wanting anyone to die. At which point Yalinth asked him why he didn''t turn to God and not die, and added that his mother didn''t die, she went to be with God, which is different. That''s how we decided she might be a thought-hearer.¡±
¡°You still can''t keep history straight, can you? Do you realise how much brain-power it takes to process that mish-mash?¡±
¡°A very very small fraction of yours, Sithini. I know that.¡±
¡°You had a message you were supposed to give me.¡±
¡°Yes, I know. I''m just trying to make sure that at least a quarter of your brain is in on this conversation, and that I supply you with enough information for your task. You remember I mentioned Keldi wanting running water?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°The chair of the high council of wizardry tasked me to ask you to come up with a hundred reasons that you didn''t want to come up here and work out how to plumb the whole village into water supply and sewage without digging up every street in the village, and ten reasons you were the perfect person for the job.¡±
¡°What''s wrong with the current sewer system?¡±
¡°It''s a remote village. People use an outhouse, or if you''re very sick, elderly or maybe just shy, a chamber pot.¡±
¡°Yuck.¡±
¡°Nothing wrong with a bit of natural composting, Sithini.¡±
¡°You reminded me of your dad''s chamber-pot joke.¡±
¡°Oh. No more than a hundred reasons against and ten for, Thuna says. Oh, the deadline is when they get back tonight.¡±
¡°Dirak, I''m stuck,¡± Sithini said.
¡°Pardon?¡±
¡°I can''t work it out. I''m totally and utterly stuck. I need a break. Is there somewhere I can crash out, in your jail or something, if I came there tonight?¡±
¡°I''m sure I can find you somewhere better than the jail, Sithini. Of course you can come up.¡±
¡°So, where''s Hnut?¡±
¡°Do you know where Uttford is, where Lepnew was from, or Uttown?¡±
¡°Nope.¡±
¡°Do you know where Qnut is?¡±
¡°Urm, nope.¡±
¡°You know where I drew a heart around Brm and Saneth''s names?¡±
¡°I heard about it, but no.¡±
¡°And you didn''t pay attention in geography?¡±
¡°I read all the key points of the syllabus in about six weeks, Dirak, and haven''t given it much thought since I was fourteen.¡±
¡°North from the city, there''s a mountain range, yes?¡±
¡°Seen them, never been that far that way.¡±
¡°OK, North of there, you''re into the Utt valley. Assuming you''re going straight, then technically you start by passing along a bit of the middle Utt valley, then you go over a ridge and you''re in the lower Utt valley, and if you''re not flying, you cross the river at at Uttford. The next ridge you''re crossing takes you into the lowest bit of the upper Utt valley, and passing Uttown. Another ridge climb, to the north-east, saves you a day of following the river, and you''re in the real Upper Utt valley, where Hnut is. Much further north and there is Qnut, more mountains, more mountains, and then the ice-fields.
"The Utt is massive when it gets to the sea; Uttford is the lowest point on the river where you can ford it. As you can probably guess from my description, the river meanders all over the place. So, if you fly past the first mountains, about five-sixths of the way to the second set, and tune into one hundred point seven five five megahertz, there''s a homing beacon on top of my home, sending a double pulse every two seconds. Does that help?¡±
¡°It would. But I don''t have a receiver tunable to that frequency in my staff any more, I thought I''d never use it, and I wanted the bits for something else.¡±
¡°OK, little sister, it''s looking like its clouding over, and it''s still daylight too, so a light display isn''t going to work, Do you want me to ask Saneth to bring you, or do you want me to come and find you once I''ve arranged a bed? I don''t have a bubble-drive in my staff, so I''ll be slow.¡±
¡°I could just wait until the morning, couldn''t I?¡±
¡°You could, yes, But it doesn''t sound like you want to.¡±
¡°I don''t. I''m pushing myself too hard. I know it, but I won''t sleep tonight either if this thing is accessible.¡±
¡°Tonight either? What are you doing to yourself, Sithini?¡±
¡°I''m stuck, and I can''t think my way out of this. I don''t get stuck. I need to solve it before I can sleep.¡±
¡°Please go and find a tap and stick your head under it.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Wash the cobwebs out of your brain. The best solution when you''re stuck is exactly to go to sleep on it.¡±
¡°Are you sure?¡± Sithini asked.
¡°Absolutely. And I expect you haven''t eaten either, have you?¡±
¡°I refuse to give you more ammunition to use against me.¡±
¡°Right. You have until Saneth gets to you to pack for at least three nights of holiday.¡±
¡°You can''t order me around.¡±
¡°I''ve been given the title wizard-at-large, and I''ll set Thuna on you if you don''t, little sister.¡±
¡°So what about the class I''m supposed to teach tomorrow?¡±
¡°What level?¡±
¡°You don''t think they''d let me near apprentices, do you?¡±
¡°No. Can they fly?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°You can teach them in my little library.¡±
¡°You''re serious, aren''t you?¡±
¡°Very.¡±
¡°And if I bring the thing, then you''ll burn it won''t you?¡±
¡°Not if it''s got antimatter in it.¡±
¡°It might do. Hey, maybe that''s it! Dirak, you''re a genius.¡±
¡°No, Sithini, that''s you. Now, write yourself a note, ''Is there antimatter?'' and then forget about the thing for a few days, come up here and rest that precious genius-brain of yours, or at least give it some fresh air and a different question. I am calling Saneth right now.¡±
Hnut, Ruath and Ethepoli''s home, Late Earthday afternoon
¡°Ethepoli! Just the person I need to see,¡± Dirak said, joyfully.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
¡°Why does your tone of voice say that I ought to be worried?¡±
¡°Urm, I need a favour?¡±
¡°What is it?¡±
¡°You''ve met Brm and Saneth, two of my three closest friends from when I was at college, about half an hour ago I was asked, well, instructed actually, by the council to get in contact with number three, that she ought to drag her genius mind away from her current studies and come up here to look at a certain challenge. She''s called Sithini, and she joined the college when she was twelve, and I sort of adopted her as my little sister. When I got kicked out of the college I was told not to use any wizardry in the city, nor approach the college, which meant I totally lost contact with all three of them. Anyway, when I called her, Sithini admitted that she needed a break and she got no sleep last night because of the problem she was working on, and probably wouldn''t tonight either unless she left it. So Saneth has agreed to force some food into her and bring her up... But could you put her up for a two or three nights? I definitely don''t want anyone to think Lenepoli has a rival, and I''m sure it wouldn''t be right in anyone''s eyes for me to have a twenty year-old girl as a guest for the night.¡±
¡°Of course. Apart from being smart enough to join the college five years early and a desire to kill herself from overwork, does she have any other peculiarities?¡±
¡°Urm, probably shy when you first meet her, but that might have changed. Often accused of thinking of two things at once, but it''s probably more, She might jump ahead and respond to what you say in an unexpected way. For example I said something that reminded her of a joke my dad told her, she replied yuck to the joke. She''s used to explaining herself, though. Oh, she thinks it''s disorganised thinking to tell something out of order. Like in what I''d just told you, I brought up the council early on so you knew why I was telling you about her, she wouldn''t naturally do that.¡±
¡°That sounds a bit like Merl.¡± Merl was the church organist, and a bit younger that Lenepoli.
¡°Yes. Exactly, imagine a female version of Merl with a brain running two or three times faster than the average Zerker, and a taste for practical jokes, at least she did when younger.¡±
¡°As in pail of water above a door?¡±
¡°She preferred moss mixed with gum, so you ended up looking like some kind of rock formation by a waterfall, But she''ll work hard to make sure it only reaches the right target, and help clear up any mess to the room afterwards.¡±
¡°Dirak the wind-up merchant considers creative but considerate practical joker as a unofficial adopted little sister. It sounds appropriate.¡±
¡°It was more that she came from Reqiq too. She''d just started at the college, when the landslide happened. We did a lot of crying together and praying together, and somehow she became my little sister who needed protecting and I could be proud of, not an annoying little genius proving everyone was dumb. Then one day she put itching powered in my handkerchief, I swapped her toothpaste for soap, and so on.¡±
¡°So you looked like a rock beside a waterfall?¡±
¡°On numerous occasions. But I wasn''t the only one. She got very creative with her triggers.¡±
¡°Hmm. So did Merl, then he turned his talents to better purposes. You do know he made the church organ, don''t you?¡±
¡°No! I didn''t know that! Well, it''s rather my big brotherly duty to introduce them, isn''t it? They might want to compare notes.¡±
Ethepoli smiled, ¡°I know you well enough now to realise you came up with the pun first, and then made a sentence to fit it.¡±
¡°Actually, I was thinking that there''s a chance that 3 years ago she was thinking of me becoming husband, rather than big brother. Intellectually I know she''s going to have developed feathers, but my mental image of her is still green and fluffy with a bucket of moss somewhere for me, but hers of me is closer to how I look now. If I could find someone other than me for her to focus her feathers on, then I''m sure Lenepoli''s going to be more convinced that Sithini doesn''t think of her as a rival.¡±
¡°And you''d be happier too?¡±
¡°I care for Sithini as my little sister, but I''m in love with Lenepoli. You probably think it''s odd that I can say I care for someone I''ve not been in contact with for three years, and I''m cross with myself for not working around the council''s restrictions on me somehow or thinking to get in contact with her some other way. When the council expelled me, it was very like that part of me had died, like everyone in Reqiq. I was in a different part of the city, the church at the college was off-limits to me. I expected to be assigned to a village eventually so I didn''t really try to develop new friendships, and buried myself in my books and learning the law and stuff like that. I had colleagues that I got on with OK, but no one like my college friends.¡±
¡°And it was like they were dead. But now that area of your life is coming back to life for you.¡±
¡°Yes. The council have even given me the title wizard-at-large, and welcomed me back to the family. But that doesn''t change how I feel about Lenepoli. It just makes things more complicated.¡±
¡°The village is going to get more complicated too.¡±
¡°Yes. There will need to be a lot of village meetings, I expect. Some council members are saying that piped water is better and outhouses are unhygienic, and the doctor''s already asked if she could have electric light in the surgery, and others say we mustn''t keep such things to ourselves, and the whole village should benefit, and so the challenge Sithini is being asked is how the whole village could have piped water and sewers without digging up all the streets. Would everyone welcome those changes?¡±
¡°Not the labourers who dig and clean wells. But there are safer labouring jobs. Yes, it''s all grown enormously, in just a few days.¡±
¡°I hope there will be options, discussions. But as I told Lenepoli, wizards are busy. They like to chat about stuff that isn''t work, but they also like to reach work decisions quickly, so there''s no ambiguity.¡±
¡°Like a couple of young people I know.¡±
¡°Sort of. But Lenepoli and I are a bit scared of rushing into things. I don''t think you''ll find that fear in the council, unless someone suggests this school project is intervening in village or inter-village politics. In which case I expect they''ll run away so fast you''ll hardly see them for dust, and before they lift a finger to help they''ll need to be utterly convinced that what''s happening is fully acceptable to everyone.¡±
¡°That sounds tricky.¡±
¡°But Lenepoli came up with a good model, I think. The way that the field-map is planned.¡±
¡°Rangar and Girt flexing their muscles, you mean?¡±
¡°She mentioned that. I''m thinking about talking it to death and everyone mostly happy in the end.¡±
¡°There''s a lot of give and take there.¡±
¡°Yes. And if the wizards get what some of them want, it''s a building about as big as you''d get if you surround a rectangle of grass with two churches and two double-length schools put together, plus ten new barns that they''ll call laboratories, and maybe twenty or twenty-five new houses. That''s how much field they''re going to take if they convince themselves they''ll be able to find for twenty students joining every year. Some would leave after a first year with an Advanced Schooling Certificate, Some after the second year with a journeyman qualification in wizardry, and some would study another three years to become full wizards.¡±
¡°Five years of study? When did you start your training?¡±
¡°I joined the college at fourteen. If you join at that age then you finish the rest of your schooling and get the ASC in two years. And I had to re-sit a philosophy exam because I wasn''t supposed to refer to scripture as the basis any of my arguments and I just kept on doing it.¡±
¡°And Brm and Saneth joined that early too?¡±
¡°No, Brm joined at the right time, Saneth was a year ahead of her age group. I hung out with them, but I''d already got my ASC when they joined.¡±
There was a faint thunder-clap outside. ¡°That''s probably Saneth and Sithini,¡± Dirak said, ¡°I''ll go and welcome them.¡±
¡°I''ll come too, if I may.¡±
¡°Of course.¡± Dirk said, lighting the end of his staff, and waving it in welcome. ¡°Oh praise God! Yalinth is getting her snow for her hatchday.¡±
¡°She''s a strange one, that Yalinth.¡±
¡°Have you spoken to Ruath about our meeting her?¡±
¡°He said she was more unusual than we thought, but he didn''t want to meddle in wizards'' affairs if it was a secret.¡±
¡°I don''t think it''s a secret. By the grace of God''s supernatural gifting to certain of the humans, they could get in contact with wizards here and other alien races by thought. Not directly, but only through someone who could themselves hear the thoughts of those around them. We''ve been out of contact for a hundred years.¡±
¡°Yalinth can hear people''s thoughts.¡±
¡°Yes. It''s a precious gift with a bad reputation among the nobility as a cause of trouble.¡±
¡°And the poor thing''s born into a noble family!¡±
¡°According to Keldi, that''s the way of it. Only when a Zerker male and a noble female hatch an egg in winter.¡± There was another crack, as Saneth went back home to her boys. Dirak guessed that meant they''d seen his staff.
¡°A winter-born. I heard the phrase being screamed at poor Yagel and Kalb. So wizards count her as a gift from God, and her great grandmother as a curse?¡±
¡°Not quite. Just a source of trouble. I''m sure she will be, she''s a very determined little girl, but I expect most of trouble she causes will be because of the evil in people''s hearts. Sithinila! Is that really you? When did you get so grown up? Ethepoli, this is Sithini, ignore my name for her, it''s just to wind her up.¡±
¡°That''s what he thinks anyway,¡± Sithini said, ¡°And I let him believe it annoys me.¡±
¡°Sithinilalalala, Ow!¡± Dirak said rubbed his bruised arm, ¡°Ethepoli is Lenepoli''s mother, pastor''s wife, and generally very kind person who''s going to be providing you with a roof over your head, food in the morning and ample opportunity to share all my numerous faults with my beloved Lenepoli.¡±
¡°She doesn''t really think he''s perfect does she?¡± Sithini asked.
¡°She was a bit scared of how strongly she felt the moon yesterday.¡±
¡°I saw what happened to Brm and Saneth, I expect I will be terrified if that ever happens to rational little me.¡±
¡°Brm told the council that he and Saneth both stopped eating dried hynfruit on the same day, and the effect on attitudes was dramatic.¡±
¡°That explains it,¡± Ethepoli said, ¡°There ought to be warnings given in schools, ''this fruit can seriously affect your emotions.''¡±
¡°So, it''s not just a harmless snack-food?¡±
¡°No,¡± Ethepoli said. ¡°Let me see your eyes... any problem focussing?¡±
¡°Sometimes. I put it down to lack of sleep.¡±
¡°And you snack hynfruit to help you stay up?¡±
¡°Yes, it seems to help.¡±
¡°Maybe, but it''s not good for your eyes. I hope you''ve not done permanent damage. Stop eating them, and you''ll find you''ve got much better colour vision in a day or two. Particularly shades of your favourite colour.¡±
¡°My favourite colour?¡±
¡°On a crest.¡±
¡°Urm pass.¡±
¡°Dirak said you were his little sister, how old are you?¡±
¡°Twenty.¡±
¡°And you''re in very fine plumage for a twenty year old, I must say. I thought you said she was green, Dirak?¡±
¡°Have you dyed your feathers, sis?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°No, they just ended up this way all on their own.¡±
¡°Keldi probably understands how green fluff can turn into red feathers. It seems to be an area she''s interested in.¡±
¡°I don''t think I''ve talked to her in years,¡± Sithini said.
¡°Well, she''s in council at the moment, so we could go and gate-crash.¡±
¡°Gate-crash a council meeting?¡±
¡°The main topic is the school I''m supposed to be director of or something. I think I''m allowed to gate-crash it, and you need to understand what they''re asking you to do, since you''re here now, not back in the city. Plus I want to see Ranth''s face when we tell him that Yalinth has got her snow. Come along!¡±
¡°Was he always like this?¡± Ethepoli asked. ¡°You''re asking if I''d say Dirak was habitually disruptive, twisting things to get his own way, while exuding extreme confidence that no one will really be too annoyed at him? Oh no, I''d never say that except in strictest confidence.¡±
¡°Like the middle of the street at the top of your voice?¡± Dirak said.
¡°Exactly. Except I can shout louder if you like.¡±
¡°I''ve missed you, Sithinilalalala ow. You''re getting slow. You used to punch me after the second la.¡±
¡°I''m being patient and polite in front of your future mother in law, as befits a wizardess in high standing.¡±
''Oh, OK.¡±
¡°Sithini wanted to come straight up,¡± Dirak said, as he opened the door.
¡°And Dirak wanted to use my arrival as an excuse to gate-crash,¡± Sithini said.
¡°Excellent!¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°Dirak please tell everyone why starting the school isn''t getting involved in politics.¡±
¡°Failing to get behind the school is getting involved in politics, and risking splitting the wizarding community in two. Overbearing ''we want to do this, or we''re not coming'' is getting involved is politics. Presenting a range of options ranging from, say, the school starting with one building suitable to teach thirty people and a dormitory with teachers flying in to give lectures and never actually being part of the community, going up to a small self-contained village off on it''s own half-way to Tnut, with something more sensible and what we actually want in the middle is not getting involved in politics, it''s presenting options and ideas and letting the community make the decision. I''d like to point out of course, that the separate village isn''t what the community wants either. I hope you''re happy with the idea of a community decision.¡±
¡°Very happy with the idea of a community decision.¡± Ranth said, ¡°But what about the inter-village political aspect?¡±
¡°Well, firstly, tough, I live here, this is where I''ve been legally posted and I''m certainly not planning on robbing Hnut of its excellent teacher. So if you go elsewhere, I''m still going to teach what I know as I''ve vowed, and so you''ll end up with three schools. Secondly, since it was founded, Hnut has been the leading village of the area, that''s why I''m based here, that''s part of the reason that Lenepoli can teach up to ISC here, and she wasn''t pressured to go to another village next door. I don''t know if that''s because Hnut started out with more noble families or because it''s got the ford or just because it''s closer to Uttown and isn''t a mining village, but if you''re going to turn a village into a centre of learning then round here the right village, politically, is Hnut. If you wanted to turn a town into a centre of learning then it would defeat the purpose; a town like Uttown is not that much better than a small version of the city, in terms of reputation as a good safe place to send your kids, and again, which town? Thirdly, there is already an invitation, there is even a bylaw that says the stranger may walk safely here.
"Refusing that invitation is playing politics, and as for trying to use the fact that Hnut has invited you here to get an invitation somewhere else, well, if that''s not politics I don''t know what is. But... so as not to play politics, I suggest that if somewhere else offers an invitation, this council keeps enough teaching staff that you could answer that request without much wringing of hands. That was part of my thought of when I suggested that we base the research staff here and make much more of a thing of the ASC. Pretty much any of us can teach ASC level, maybe excluding Sithinilala ow, who gets annoyed too easily, and we''d spreading learning and understanding, without overtaxing the teaching staff, and helping raise the scientific understanding in the communities and not depleting the neighbourhood of their brightestminds.¡±
¡°Very well said, Dirak, but I do wish, just once you''d use the real long form of my name, Sithinilakiina. I know I told it to you once.¡±
¡°I thought you''d just made that up, sorry.¡±
¡°I apologise for our little squabble, councillors.¡±
¡°Sithinilakiina, you and I must talk,¡± Keldi said, ¡°I don''t think I ever heard your full name, and I''m sorry to say I thought your colour was from a jar.¡±
¡°I can''t explain it myself,¡± Sithini said, with a shrug.
¡°Your name explains all, dear. I''ll tell you about it once you''re back in the city, I''ve got quite a lot of books to show you that you''ve probably never looked at.¡±
Skew Street, Motherday, Forty-fifth of autumn.
¡°Hello,¡± Keldi said, entering the shop just as it was getting to closing time. ¡°I was visiting an old student of mine, named Dirak, up in Hnut, yesterday, and he suggested you probably would have something to interest my book-worm of a daughter.¡±
¡°Ex-apprentice Dirak sent you did he?¡±
¡°Yes, we have changed policy, slightly. Chairman Lepnew has died, but before he did he remembered that our understanding of non-intervention was wrong.¡±
¡°Ah? Lepnew was a good man. So there will be changes?¡±
¡°No wizard will be punished for doing right as long as they don''t use wizardry to hurt people or things. Dirak has been granted the title of wizard that he deserves, though he remains the sheriff there. He sends his best wishes, his little library is winning him some friends among the older generation of deep reds up there, and he''s planning to marry the pastor''s daughter in time for spring.¡±
¡°Dirak''s marrying a red?¡±
¡°Oh no, Zerker Dirak has managed to find himself a true blue who knows the Zerk herself.¡±
¡°Ah! The old colours aren''t as mixed up there, then? The lines keep pure?¡±
¡°Quite pure. Quite pure indeed. There are not so many unmixed lines in the city, these days, and even Lanthithanapoli is embarrassed by her classmates reaction to her own colour, so she wears dyes.¡±
¡°Lanthithanapoli?¡±
¡°My daughter. Normally she goes by Lanthi.¡±
The old man''s crest shivered, ¡°And do I have the extreme honour ...?¡±
¡°I am Keldithanapoli, daughter of the late Janithanapoli, yes. And do I have the honour of meeting the hereditary archivist-royal?¡±
¡°That honour is mine, yes. I am named Grawn.¡±
¡°My mother did not tell me, I apologise for my ignorance, and for the lack of decades of thanks that you and your forbears are owed for your faithful service.¡±
¡°We have done our best, my queen.¡±
¡°I don''t wear that title, master archivist, as wizardess I''m apolitical, as heir to the empty throne, I''m merely a thorn in the flesh of parliament from time to time. Finally duelling is illegal, though it took the death of my son to accomplish it.¡±
¡°I saw your letter, and grieve with you. Of my own sons, one died similarly.¡±
¡°Dirak said you have a fine red-plumed daughter in law, and a grandson?¡±
¡°Yes. A noble daughter-in-law, and a grandson and a granddaughter. He is thirteen, she twelve.¡±
¡°Lanthi is sixteen, so I doubt they will be persuadable that a match is possible. But, perhaps next generation?¡±
¡°You honour me enormously.¡±
¡°Bah! Do you know how hard it is to find anyone of noble blood to preserve the blood-line? Sorry, of course you do.¡±
¡°For myself, it was a chance meeting on the street. For my son, she was a client... I don''t know if she was more drawn to the books or my son. But yes, to find a noble male is not an easy task.¡±
¡°I have made a discovery, noble archivist, and your archives may help us both. The village of Hoo on Utt, now known as Hnut of course, was I''m told, founded as a rebellion against the purges of the princes. There are other villages nearby: Tnut and Gorp, founded similarly. In those rebel villages, at least, the bloodlines have mostly kept themselves pure, marrying from another village if there was no suitable bride or groom, rather than staying within the village and crossing old divisions. There may be other rebel villages.¡±
¡°There are, yes. Hnut was one of those which made a by-law against cooperation with purges, wasn''t it?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°The archives do have a list of such villages. Under the princes they paid for their rebellion with extra taxes and lesser doctors and teachers. But that time is long past, praise be to the saviour.¡±
¡°May his name forever be praised by our children,¡± Keldi said.
¡°It is time for me to return home, or the children will worry. Will you accompany me to see the pitiable state of the archives, such as they are?¡±
¡°Before I see the archives, master archivist, I hope you and your family will join me and my family for dinner. I took the liberty of arranging for a table in the side-room of the college, and hopefully your daughter-in-law got a message that the family would likely be invited for a meal. You may think of it as recruiting, if you wish. I am a firm believer that lovers of learning should be encouraged to consider learning as a career, and I doubt that you have raised any who do not at heart love knowledge.¡±
¡°You prepared this all, before we met?¡±
¡°I do have some resources, such as a number of students who you know as clients, though perhaps not as dedicated to the cause as Dirak.¡±
¡°I have heard rumours great changes. Of the end of angar wood staffs, and of a second school.¡±
¡°That was quick.¡± Keldi said. ¡°Please, feel free to close up while we talk.Yes, It is true, There will be few new staffs of angar, and those will be recycled bean-poles from Hnut. Apprentices will have a staff of common wood, journeymen will make inserts or perhaps their entire staff from a material we have long known how to make, called crystal. And there will be a new school in Hnut.¡±
¡°What do the politicians think of this?¡±
¡°They do not interfere in the activities of wizards too much.¡±
¡°But they will be asked to foot the bill?¡±
¡°They expect an increased number of wizards. Each year. They ask can you help to teach this or that, or find out what is happening there. I do not think they will object very much. And if they decide that they will not pay, then I will have to remind them of the alternative.¡±
¡°The alternative?¡±
¡°That wizards earn their income by starting to provide services. Long-distance transport, for instance, or putting up buildings as fast as we plan to put up the new school in Hnut. There would be a lot of upset people if we had to do this. Not just us, but the older guilds too. Speaking of travel, would you prefer to walk, or shall we travel by one of the ways of wizardry, where you hold my staff to stop you from wobbling, and stand on solid air?¡±
¡°Solid air?¡±
¡°We call it a force-field. You can think of it as solid air. It is not slippery. It is how I went to Hnut yesterday. I came home a faster way, but that''s only for long distance travel. The way I suggest is we float into the air here, fly above the city and settle down outside your home.¡±
¡°Is it safe?¡±
¡°Much safer than fighting a duel, or climbing a rickety ladder. It is very safe unless I make a mistake or a someone else flying in the say way does not look where they are going.¡±
¡°Then, as my knees do not like walking, I accept with thanks.¡±
¡°It will be something for your grand children to boast of, quietly, that their grandfather flew with the heir to Queen Poli''s vacant throne.¡±
¡°You prefer to not be known?¡±
¡°Of course. The fact that the heir exists is important. It is... somewhat awkward for the wizards that one of their number is heir to the empty throne. Of course, I am apolitical in both roles. It is just that in one role I am... more political than the other.¡±
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 10: Lakiina
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 10: Lakiina
Oops: Historical/political update, from initial contact report
We''ve arrived in a very difficult part of history. Also, we''re not really talking to the right people, in terms of political forces. Three generations ago, the monarch, Polithanapoli, or Queen Poli, semi-abdicated and instigated rule by parliament in an effort to curb some of the excesses and trends that she observed.
She''d seen that the nobles were so busy killing one another in feud and counter-feud that they''d lost all sense of proportion, and that some drastic revisions were needed. So she wrote a book to convince people where things were going wrong and instigated fairly sweeping reforms on the back of the wave of revulsion her book stirred up.
She then charged parliament with continuing her reforms with the aim of eventually outlawing all forms of duelling as a way of settling disputes. Then, retaining only the right to make constitutional amendments and call for new elections, stepped down.
Things worked well for a generation, but last generation the ruling part of government tried to ban duelling. They didn''t really have the majority in parliament, but as putting an end to duelling had been Polithanapoli''s purpose in setting up parliament in the first place a lot of those who thought it was too early to change the law abstained rather than voted against it. There were 30% for, 20% against, and 50% abstentions, but rather than thinking about what that meant, the government pushed ahead with the changes. There was widespread rebellion against the law, and the local law officers ¡ª sheriffs ¡ª were frequently attacked if they tried to enforce it. Out of this chaos, a new force arose: the princes.
The princes, high nobles who''d lost various powers under Polithanapoli''s reforms, started flexing their muscles and wielding their clubs. They imposed something akin to martial law, declared that Polithanapoli had been overly influenced by a certain friend of hers, and that the government had passed an illegal law, invalidating itself. A ''companion volume'' to Polithanapoli''s book was published, which basically argued that the horror story she had predicted wasn''t so bad, and a few deaths were better than the chaos of lawlessness, and that anyway, to uphold any form of justice there needed to be a monopoly of power in a few hands. Having concentrated power in that way it was illogical to limit their powers, and it was entirely the responsibility of the rulers to choose if they used their powers to bring about justice or control of the populace, but the wise ruler would ensure that both happened. This brought about the rule of princes we have today, basically a form of warlordism. Parliament still exists, but the princes only acknowledge its authority if they want to.
"Not knowing much of this, and by asking ''who can help us talk to the person commanding all these soldiers?'' we gained permission from a couple of warlords to be here, but entirely bypassed parliament, who we should have taken our request to, if we''d known to look for the formal government. We''ve thus weakened that institution in the eyes of the populace even further, and really sown confusion amongst the godly. A brave young female, granddaughter to Keldithanapoli''s friend, took it on herself to explain this to us.
To do this, she came at night, bringing with her another thought-hearer, named Saleth, to act as her interpreter (also with yellow feathers, except she had dyed hers orange - is this yellow feathers thing a pattern?). She explained that the interpreter we''d been using had a bad reputation.
Mags checked for thought-stealers, and sure enough, our old interpreter was one, whereas the two people who''d come visiting were true believers.
There aren''t many true believers who are thought-hearers, we are told, because ''the marriage is illegal'' and ''often they are killed soon after birth.'' Our new friend was born in a remote village and escaped, partly because she was small for her age; something about famine when she was young.
There is so much we don''t understand. But Anisilakiina ¡ª whose feathers were red ¡ª said it would be very dangerous for either of them to meet either Rina, our thought-stealing interpreter, or anyone else from the courts of the princes. We''ve arranged to have another meeting with her, in an isolated village, and maybe some others. Mags also explained about the gift meaning that she can contact Saleth from anywhere.
Keldi''s study, College of wizardry. Brotherday, 1st of Winter
¡°Ah, Sithinilakiina, come in. Did you have a good break in Hnut?¡±
¡°I did, thank you. Not just seeing Dirak safely in love, though that was really nice to see. I think he thought that we might get married one day, but the idea never appealed to me, so I''m glad he''s got it firmly out of his skull if it was ever there.¡±
¡°And?¡±
¡°And the kids'' Longnight play yesterday was sweet, and the village meeting afterwards about the school eventually chose version three with some tweaks, and went on until almost dawn but people said it didn''t matter because of Yalinth''s snow, which is what everyone was calling it. She asked me to tell Ranth that God gave her lots and lots of snow, far more than she asked for because God is generous, and she made a snowman who she called SnowRanth and then because SnowRanth wouldn''t turn round she zapped him with snowballs. So she hopes that real Ranth does turn round to God, because SnowRanth didn''t look so good after he''d been zapped, even though she tried to put him back together.¡±
¡°So getting zapped isn''t necessarily fatal?¡±
¡°Apparently not.¡±
¡°I wonder where she picked that word up from. It doesn''t seem like a word anyone would use to a six year old.¡±
¡°No. I watched her ''zapping'' SnowRanth, actually. She didn''t throw the snowball properly, not like she did at me. It reminded me more like she was miming shooting with a over-long pea-shooter, and she said ''Zap, you''re not dangerous any more, shark''¡±
¡°Dangerous shark?¡± Keldi said.
¡°Yes. They''re a sort of big fish aren''t they? Where on the planet did she learn about them?¡±
¡°Contact. Someone has been in contact with her. That''s the only thought I''ve got.¡±
¡°You think an alien would get in contact with her and tell her about zapping sharks?¡±
¡°''Only the dangerous ones.'' It''s one of the laws of the sea-humans. Bedtime stories for the young warrior female.¡±
¡°Warrior female?¡±
¡°The sea-human females are warriors. They were fast, not as fast as a Zerker, but fast, and strong. Very strong, their home-planet''s gravity is three times ours. They could probably leap a single-story house if they tried. We don''t tell all of this to students, we like to emphasize that they were friendly, love peace, and on a mission from God, and so on, but they weren''t confused by what was going on in a duel, just sad that we had the same problem they''d left behind. And of course they wouldn''t know what progress we''d made in the last century. So what better than a war-like story for a war-like daughter of a noble family?¡±
¡°Inherent bellicosity. I''ve heard of it.¡±
¡°But not lived it.¡±
¡°As Mummy said, ''we don''t do that.''¡±
¡°No. Well done to your mummy, daughter of an unwarlike noble family.¡±
¡°I thought...¡±
¡°Oh, Sithinilakiina, I''ve really failed with you. I''m sorry. I''m Keldithanapoli, and I don''t know if that means anything at all to you.¡±
¡°Mummy said, ''Keldithanapoli is a teacher at the school, no one understands us better than her.'' And then she said that if someone was nasty to me, if they called me a coward or anything like that, I should go to you, and tell you my name, and you would help me. But Dirak was around, acting like my big brother, and no one picked a fight with me at all. I thought I was part Zerker, then this happened, and I thought, oh yes, mummy was noble, I''m part noble too. But she''d died long before that.¡±
¡°Sithinilakiina, you are not part noble, You are full noble, but of a different nobility, and I need to write a letter to parliament about you.¡±
¡°You do? Why?¡±
¡°I assume you''re planning to marry someone, sometime?¡±
¡°Urm, yes.¡±
¡°I''m going to say, ''Dear parliament, know this, treasure this, remember this. The great tragedy at Reqiq was not total. I have met Sithinilakiina, royal daughter of royal Ranthilakiina of the house of Zalakiina, whose forebears were deposed by my ancestress''s house. As with all her ancestresses, Sithinilakiina was green when young and I have seen her transition to most noble red feathers as befits her peace-loving clan. Should my family line die out or be unable to find a noble husband, hers is unsullied and undamaged by the stupidity and greed of my forebears. As decreed in the laws of parliament, the right to the throne should pass to her line, unless she or one of her daughters is foolish enough to marry into nobility and so lose the green that turns to red.'' Don''t ever marry a red, dear, you might lose your daughter or grand-daughter the right to the throne. You''re too smart to marry for muscles anyway, marry for wisdom and Godliness. That''s always been your ancestress''s success. Even orange is risky, but you can marry the son of a yellow, that''s fine, or any other colour, but the green son of a green would be best.¡±
¡°I don''t understand, aren''t greens the least noble colour?¡±
¡°Let me tell you a story. There used to be two peoples, separated by the mountains, and two languages. In the language of the north, epoli meant princess, and thanapoli meant queen, and of the people of the north there were oranges and there were blues, the oranges were stronger and the blues faster and smarter, and sometimes there were yellows, if a blue male married an orange. Most of the rest of the language has gone, though people still call their daughters princess. In the language of the south, the word for queen was Lakiina, which over time became queen, And in the south, there were greens, almost exclusively greens, except that the queen turned to red. And the peoples met and the greedy oranges of the north desired the good land of the south and they knew that the greens of the south honoured red over all colours, and the oranges bred, generation by generation, becoming redder and redder, and the oranges were no longer important, they were cast out of the breeding experiment. And as well as breeding for colour they bred for strength and for aggression. And that is what the nobles were. And eventually the new-reds of the North came and caused confusion among the greens by there being so many reds, and they conquered the south, and threw your ancestress out. But they continued to breed for strength and aggression; and stupidity came with it, mostly. And then Polithanapoli realised the stupidity of the duels, and sought to reform, and she convinced people, with the help of her good friend Zalakiina, and they agreed, that if Zalakiina''s daughters ever lost the green that turns to red, they had lost who they were, and the laws already said that no queen should marry a non-noble, so that stayed. And thus parliament was formed, and the two queens knew that there was no way that Zalakiina''s daughter could rule this bunch of reds, but also that also she would do a better job if allowed, if she would only be respected.
Then when parliament was formed and the queen''s throne was empty, the princes came and caused their chaos, and the aliens came and the chaos of the princes ended and the rule of parliament restored, and always since it has been that the heir of Polithanapoli seeks the advice of the heir of Zalakiina. The heir to the empty throne has a few rights, to remind parliament what their job is, to call for elections, to dismiss someone who has acted with no honour, or if necessary, to re-write the laws that govern parliament. If I and my daughter die, those rights become yours and your daughters'' ¡ª any of your daughters who are born green and turn red, that is. In the old days the queen only had one daughter, but there is no such law for you. And I need you to get to know my daughter, because she needs awise head to listen to, just as I had your mother when I was young. I''m so sorry for your loss, I was studying wizardry, and learned that your mother had gone to live in Reqiq and married, but I never met your father.¡±
¡°You really knew my mummy?¡±
¡°Not as well as you know Saneth, but far better than you know Lenepoli.¡±
¡°And... really, I should pick myself a wise and clever and godly man whose grandmothers were both green?¡±
¡°That would be the ideal. Got any in mind?¡±
¡°I''m not sure I know many. We seem lacking in the greens and over-abundant in yellows and purples in the city, at least the last few years. I expect that''s good news for the dye industry.¡±
¡°Almost certainly. It certainly makes it hard if you want to choose someone for their genetics. By the way, you''ll learn a lot about having big clutches if you want them from Lenepoli, but there''s something she ought to know before she''s too liberal in telling people: it is not at all common for the couple to do everything right but end up without a single fertilised egg if they''re from different sides of the mountain.¡±
¡°I''d... wondered why we weren''t up to our necks in hatchlings in the city.¡±
¡°Well, the other reason is that if people are impatient or just enjoying married life, there''s no need to dance at all. It''s easier to dance in a village. Or in a mansion like this one where there''s that little patio that students learn to fly in. Have you noticed that no windows overlook it and there''s a lock on both sides of the door?¡±
¡°Ah! No, I hadn''t. I''m a bit young to learn this aren''t I?¡±
¡°Not by the look of your feathers, not by much at all. Don''t feel you need to go by Dirak and Lenepoli''s example. Blues mature the latest of all colours, and greens the earliest.¡±
¡°It would be so much easier if there was something I could look for in a guy.¡±
¡°Did you like the way I told my story? With the beginning at the beginning and hardly any jumping forward and backwards?¡±
¡°Yes Absolutely. I didn''t need to keep reorganising bits of it in my mind.¡±
¡°Your mother always preferred things like that. It felt really odd for me to do it that way, but I thought you might like it. To keep Dirak happy I''d have started by saying I''ve got a story about how the reds became
red and ended up as nobles over the greens who before then had their own
nobility, a long time before Queen Poli.¡±
¡°Yuck!¡±
¡°You''ll hear people saying that someone is really slow at getting to the point, or doesn''t tell you why you should be listening, and so on. Listen for that, and translate it. What you should understand is that the person hates jumping around in a story as much as you do.¡±
¡°I used to get marked down in essay writing all the time for that.¡±
¡°You probably would be by me too. Sorry. Expectations. The tyranny of the oranges and blues.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
¡°I''ve got an idea... There are a couple of green apprentices, and I''ve seen them always starting at the bottom of the marks list on essays. Can I set them the challenge of not doing fancy flash-backs? I''d love to see what it does to marks.¡±
¡°In history, in essay writing, or say in building a radio?¡±
¡°Well, oohh, what about getting them to write detailed instructions to a rather advanced twelve year old green how to make a radio to listen to the news?¡±
¡°Perfect! It''s something they all know, or should. Go ahead and write down how you''d have liked to be asked that sort of question, and we''ll make it an extra credit thing.¡±
Year 2 Apprentices'' teaching room, First teaching session, Sisterday, 2nd of Winter
¡°OK everyone, pay attention, you may take notes, This is Sithinilakiina, or Sithini for short, and when she was a cute and fuzzy green twelve year old she joined the accelerated learning program, and like some of you she struggled to write essays that her teachers liked. Now you might see her designing stuff and building stuff. Be aware that the things she designs and builds are very useful and probably very dangerous and when she explains what they do to she needs to simplify a lot or three quarters of the other wizards don''t understand.
"Don''t touch her stuff! She also likes playing practical jokes on her friends, which have been know to shock, startle, and in one notable case break half the windows in the lab. Over to you, Sithini,¡±
¡°I want you to imagine that in about half an hour you will have a slightly scared, green fuzzy twelve year old apprentice coming to the labs for the very first time to build her very first radio. I want you to write down for her the steps she should take in the order she must do them, so that she can feel like a successful apprentice wizard. Participation is optional. If you do well you will get extra marks for essay writing. If you confuse her or do not make her feel she is a success, or you make her feel that you are treating her as a baby, you will not get as many points.
If your instructions could not possibly make a working radio, or will hurt her, you will need to show me you can actually remember how to build a radio or retake the course. If you want to practice that or anything else in the labs, tell me.¡±
¡°And if you can write a page by Earthday evening telling the history and/or constitutional importance of Sithini''s plumage, you earn extra points in history and/or politics. If you can write that page in strict chronological order, and logical progression you get even more. The clock is ticking, questions can be asked as they occur to you, aloud.¡±
Two minutes later, someone asked ¡°Does the young student know the terminology?¡±
¡°Twelve year old Sithini has never been in a laboratory before, or seen the equipment, or touched a wire, but she has read the relevant theoretical chapters of your textbook on tuned circuits.¡±
Several people groaned and crossed out what they''d just written. A few minutes later, Sithini looked around the room. Some of them were frantically writing notes, scribbling things down, and their the pages were a mess of arrows and insertions. Some others had made neat bullet points. One boy, who''d vanished a minute after the question had been answered, had quietly returned to the back of the room with the necessary components. Sithini noticed that he was describing them meticulously, and smiled. That was good thinking in her book.
Some of them had finished twenty minutes into the test, and Sithini nodded to Keldi and stepped out of the room. Keldi stood.
¡°Everyone stop writing, please, you''ve still got ten minutes, but your student has arrived early because of nerves. So, we''ll have a little break, during which I want you, one by one, to either explain to her that you''re still finishing the instruction sheet or if you''re ready, give her the sheet and any verbal instructions you''d like to give her. I''ll time how long you each take, and that comes off your available time, but no more than thirty seconds per person, OK? Those not talking to Sithini and who need their extra ten minutes can have a really quick drink or whatever once they''ve finished.
The final ten minutes re-starts in ten minutes. People with more writing to do, queue up to make your excuses first. If you''re finished, then
please be patient until the others have talked to Sithini, you don''t need to come back.¡±
Outside the class, Sithini sat down, and tried to remember being little and nervous. It was made a lot easier when a big muscular boy stuck his head out of the doorway and said ¡°Sorry, you''re early, not ready for you yet.¡± He ducked back through the door, said ¡°finished,¡± and then bolted down the corridor in the direction of the toilets.
Sithini made a note. Semi-polite, but intimidating. The next one was a stark contrast. He came out, crouched down and said
¡°Hello, are you Sithini? I''m really sorry, but you need to wait a bit.
It''s my fault, I''m still trying to make sure the instructions for you
aren''t confusing. Is that OK?¡±
¡°That''s OK.¡± Sithini said.
¡°I think I heard someone say you had a beautiful full name, could you tell
it to me?¡±
¡°Sithinilakiina.¡± Sithini said, in a little voice.
¡°That''s a lovely, does your mummy''s name end in lakiina too?¡±
¡°Mummy and daddy died in the landslide,¡± Sithini said, very sadly.
¡°Oh, that''s horrible! I''m sorry.¡± Then breaking character he asked
¡°Really, ma''am? I''m really sorry.¡±
¡°I''d only been here a couple of weeks.¡±
¡°And they still made you take classes?¡± he sounded shocked.
¡°What else was I to do? Classes helped fill my day, there was plenty of time for crying afterwards. Questions to help you get an advantage in a history essay wouldn''t have helped.¡±
¡°Urm, no. Sorry.¡± he stumbled back through the door, wondering if he''d blown this part of the test. The next few did OK, but the seventh was a girl beginning to grow red feathers, whose face looked stricken. ¡°I can''t do this,¡± she practically wept.
¡°What, act?¡±
¡°No, these sort of instructions, just from my head. I didn''t even understand what the test was going to be until you said she''d never seen the components before. I know I''m going to fail. I can write essays, I''m due to get perfect grades, but this... I just can''t do it, I can''t get everything straight. I need to describe the components to someone who''s not seen them? How do I do that?¡±
¡°You don''t need to take part, It might be worthwhile withdrawing, if your perfect scores are really important to you. But on the other hand, to press on in something you''re not good at is quite a brave act, and something you can be proud of. We can''t all be good at everything.¡±
¡°I can''t go back in there. I''ll fail.¡±
¡°Will you be able to face yourself if you give up, though?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Let''s look at it from another way. Do you like your class-mates?¡±
¡°Of course, they''re friends.¡±
¡°How much? Enough to fail for their sakes? To be part of the crowd of amazed onlookers as they shine? Can you do that for them?¡±
¡°To fail to help others?¡± she asked, confused.
¡°Just put yourself in their place. Every week they have to force their brains to try and arrange stuff into those parts of an essay and say everything in a different way three times rather than just laying stuff out in the proper order, and yuck, it makes me cold just thinking about the hours I tortured my brain doing that. Now they get a rare chance to shine, and half the class want to drop out because it might ruin their grades. How does that make them feel? Like the system really is stacked against them?¡±
¡°You''re telling me it''s better to encourage them than get perfect grades?¡±
¡°What do you think? I think that if you end up bottom of the class on this, then they won''t ask you to write them instructions, but might for essays or reports, and you can point smiling ruefully at your grades in this and beg them to help you with instructions.¡±
¡°Isn''t that cheating?¡±
¡°In an exam, yes. In life? In wizardry? It''s just plain good sense! Show the staff how good you are at the things you are good at, and how bad you are at the things you''re bad at, don''t think you need to be the best at everything. Perhaps you can gain pride that way, but isn''t that a sin? And friendships? Now they are valuable, and they are more easily lost and harder to win back.¡±
¡°But... there must be some advantage to doing better.¡±
¡°Well, you get asked to do more things, you find our more fun stuff, you get set harder challenges, and if you''re the only one in a difficult job you don''t get asked to teach so much, though some people seem to like that. But there is no pay-scale, there is no additional money for those who get the top grade.
Apprentices receive a lesser amount, but once you are a journeyman, all in wizardry receive the same, except for extra people get if they have children to support.¡±
¡°My mother expects me to be the best at everything.¡±
¡°Be the best at winning friendships then, too. Keldithanapoli will almost certainly enjoy facing her down at your side if she says that''s less important than marks.¡±
¡°Keldi....Keldithanapoli?¡±
¡°Long name isn''t it? Almost as many syllables as mine.¡±
¡°The Keldithanapoli?¡±
¡°Do you think anyone would willingly name a daughter that mouthful?¡±
¡°What mouthful?¡± Keldi asked.
¡°Sorry, Keldi, I''ve probably just let the fluffy out of the bag or something, and possibly insulted your family honour, but our student here was having a crisis of values: be brave, participate and get a poor mark and gain friends, or not take part and hurt friends by saying she won''t compete if she can''t beat them. I said you''d probably enjoy a nice set-to with her mother if she dared suggest that friendships were worth less than grades. Her brain seems to have got stuck in a rut on your name though.¡±
¡°See? There''s a reason we don''t let people like you near the students. I don''t know, some people! Trying to give pep talks in the middle of a test? So considerate of one crisis they make everyone wait? Well done, Sithini. What marks would you give her out of ten? Hnah?¡±
¡°Nine. She didn''t tell me not to be a coward.¡± Hnah said.
¡°Did I need to?¡± Sithini asked.
¡°No!¡± Keldi said, ¡°Not unless you want to risk a duel.¡±
¡°That''s illegal, Keldi, your ancestress said so.¡±
¡°Polithanapoli also spoke about innate bellicosity too.¡± Hnah said.
¡°Good job I was reminding myself don''t use the ''c'' word, ten times a second, then, is it?¡±
¡°Very good.¡± Hnah agreed.
¡°So why do I only get nine?¡±
¡°Wasting lesson time,¡± Hnah said.
¡°Giving the student sufficient time to reach her own decision,¡± Sithini replied. ¡°Making friends among the slightly younger population of the college.¡±
¡°Making friends?¡± Hnah asked.
¡°Weren''t we? And just for future reference, what do you think of moss?¡±
Keldi burst out laughing. ¡°Don''t you dare, Sithini!¡±
¡°Purely out of interest: or what?¡±
¡°I''ll get Dirak to paint your plumage black.¡±
¡°He did that once, well, my head fluff, anyway. I promised him a black hole in his head if he spoke to me again.¡±
¡°When was that?¡±
¡°Just before he rescued Shashana. It''s good to be on chatting terms again. Oh, he forgot to tell you, and I forgot to take notes to remind me: Dirak says Shashana''s naturally yellow, and has a little brother and a male cousin on her mother''s side you might want to talk to on different subjects.¡±
¡°I just need to take the whole family up for a week, don''t I?¡±
¡°Maybe.¡±
¡°Shouldn''t we be getting on?¡± Hnah asked.
¡°You''ve not told me to wait yet.¡±
¡°Oh, hello, Sithini, I''m afraid I''ve been told to write a set of instructions on how to do a radio, but really, I''m so totally useless at writing things down like that. I get things all in a muddle and have to re-write it over and over again. Would you mind ever so much if rather than writing it down I sat beside you and told you what you ought to do next?¡±
¡°Thank you, that sounds nice. What''s your name?¡± Sithini said in a little voice.
¡°I''m Hnahyalinth, but everyone calls me Hnah.¡±
¡°I know a little girl called Yalinth, is she a relative?¡±
¡°Where does she live?¡±
¡°A village in the Utt valley called Hnut.¡±
¡°Her great-grandmother''s called Yanepoli, and as you''d expect all her daughters'' names start Ya,¡± Keldi supplied.
Hnah nodded, ¡°That''s my grandmother''s name. We''re an estranged branch, I guess you''d say. Mum likes city life, married a politician.¡±
¡°Family arguments are hard, but can be mended if there''s some flexibility, some grasping of opportunities,¡± Keldi said. ¡°To think on: there will be a second school starting there soon.¡±
¡°I''ve never been there.¡±
¡°You are a believer, you are an apprentice. We will be asking believing apprentices and journeymen to consider helping practically, doing such exciting things as measuring and moving things and helping deliveries to end up in the right place, and maybe even digging, but radios and tweakingforcefields too. I am prepared to ask lady Yanepoli of Hnut if she would consider hosting an apprentice girl of good noble blood with whom she has no blood-feud. She will ask about your faith, which I will report on, and she will agree, if nothing else because it''s me who''s asking, and then she''ll ask your name, and I''ll tell her it is Hnahyalinth, grand-daughter of Yanepoli of Hnut, which is why I asked personally, but I do not know nor want to enquire why her grand-daughter needed me to find a host family for her.¡±
¡°And she''ll be very cross with you.¡±
¡°I don''t think so. But I will ensure she is sitting when I speak your name. Oh, by the way, your cousin Yalinth is firm in her faith and turned six yesterday, and going to have yellow plumage. The corridor really isn''t
the place to talk more, and your classmates are waiting, but I just thought I''d better drop that little bit of family news.¡±
¡°Yellow? And winterborn?¡±
¡°Come to my study later.¡± Keldi said.
¡°I will. Thank you, thank you both.¡±
Stepping into the classroom Keldi said, ¡°Sorry about that little delay, Sithini firmly feels that a something put off for later is a something that might get forgotten. With very good reason, given the speed her brain works at, and how many things she thinks about at once so she''s not bored. So, who was next in line?¡±
Final period, Sisterday.
There was baited breath among the students as Keldi handed the results out.
Hnah got hers first, and gave a whoop of joy. ¡°YES! Listen to this, guys!
''Never get this student to write instructions for real. Someone will kill themselves, I''m just not sure if it will be her or whoever tries to follow them. Minus ten out of ten for causing death by poor instructions, five bonus marks for courage, willingness to take part and five bonus marks for verbal instructions which just about got there in the end.''¡±
¡°Why are you so happy?¡± someone asked, ¡°You''ve just got the first zero of your life. ¡°.
¡°I''m not negative and I don''t need to retake the radio course!¡± Hnah said.
¡°Why death by instructions?¡± another colleague asked.
¡°Sithini tried to follow my instructions. I''d told her which draws to take the bits from but got the room turned around in my head. Instead of the earphone case she
ended up with a bottle that said concentrated acid and for wire she ended up with a hundred-metre length of magnesium wire.¡±
¡°Coil wire and insert into earphone case.¡± Sithini said from behind them, ¡°Place metal diaphragm on top ¡ª for that we actually ended up with a piece of metal that sealed quite well ¡ª screw down lid. ''Is it supposed to make that noise, miss?''
''What, you actually did it? Duck!'' Kaboom. It was really impressive, for
diluted acid and only this much wire.¡± Sithini gestured with her fingers.
¡°I''m not totally suicidal, honest, I''d switched the acids before calling Hnah in. Plus I had a forcefield set up to protect us from debris. But you should have heard the abject terror at the thought I''d really followed her instructions. It was wonderful. We didn''t break any windows either, which is always a bonus.¡±
¡°Would anyone else like to comment on their marks?¡± Keldi asked.
¡°I''d like to say thank you for this test.¡± said one green girl, ¡°I can''t believe I got a ten, I''ve never had more than five in an essay.¡±
¡°Well done,¡± Sithini said, ¡°I never got better than a four.¡±
¡°But... that''s a failing mark isn''t it?¡±
¡°It is in school, yes.¡± Keldi said. ¡°But no one''s going to ask you to leave just because you can''t write essays.¡±
¡°Or write step-by-step instructions, fortunately.¡± Hnah said.
¡°Or pass philosophy exams.¡± Sithini added.
¡°Just for protecting people on the street?¡± someone asked.
¡°Not any more. You''ll hear more about that incident in your next philosophy class, which will be given by our new chair of the council, wizardess Thuna. Journeyman Ranth has asked that he be excused philosophy teaching to concentrate on liaising with an architect from the guild of stonemasons the regarding construction for the new school. Speaking of which, anyone who is a believer and would like the opportunity to escape the winter smoke of the city for some fresh snowy air and village life should know there''s going to be an opportunity to volunteer coming up soonish. Non believers are not excluded, but if you''re not going to find church, the midweek study and church choir practice as highlights of your social calendar, then it''d make more sense not to be resident there.¡±
¡°Are the girls pretty?¡± someone asked.
¡°Which ones?¡± Keldi asked, ¡°The ones still at school, your fellow apprentices, or the ones who are someone''s girlfriend, betrothed or wife?¡±
¡°And I''ll warn any girls that yes there are plenty of unattached, handsome and one might even say desperately lonely males up there,¡±Sithini said, ¡°but quite a few of them have suffered some mental impairment due, we think, from breathing in copper compounds from smoke during the harvesting of certain high fields.¡±
¡°How desperate?¡± a girl with half-grown blue plumage asked.
¡°I was there for Earthday night, all day Motherday, had fun singing in the church choir, all day Longnight and stayed for the village meeting which ended at dawn. Had a few hours sleep and was just getting ready to leave when someone asked me if so and so had spoken to me yet, and if he hadn''t or the answer had been no then could he register his interest please, assuming I was coming back, I was coming back wasn''t I? Then his friend turned up, looking annoyed and asked if I''d consider his interest in getting to know me better, and then a third one ran up and asked what I''d thought of his designs and I said they were very interesting and I almost had a brawl on my hands until I said right now I was far more interested in a snowball fight before I went back to the boring city and started pelting them with snowballs. That turned out to be a mistake because one of them had got a bit angry during the row and obviously had Zerker genetics, and I got him right on the back of his neck. You do not want to try a snowball fight against an angry Zerker. I got covered head to toe in snow and only avoided getting buried by skidding across a two step-deep drift of snow that he got stuck in up to his armpits. By which time we we all laughing and I said yes I was coming back, but I didn''t know any of them well enough to make that kind of big decision, and I also said that my mother had raised me to love peace, violence made me sick and if any of them raised a fist against anyone over me then I''d count that as deliberately insulting my dead mother''s memory, and spread the word around please.¡±
¡°And you meant it?¡± Hnah asked.
¡°Of course she did,¡± Keldi said. ¡°And in case you''re wondering, Ranthilakiina''s green fluff turned into red plumage just like Sithini''s did.¡±
¡°Green turned red¡± whispered one of the girls with green feathers starting to form. ¡°I''d heard...¡±
¡°Sometimes what we hear, what we believe, is not true. I never met Ranthilakiina''s husband, nor heard her daughter''s name. I believed the whole family had died at Reqiq, and I only heard Sithini''s full name a few days ago. I knew her, but not at all well, and had wondered why our cleverest member and a green at that would want to dye her feathers red.
"It''s not known as a colour that attracts peace-loving suitors. But back to the topic of boys looking for girls, the normal ratio of boys to girls applies, dyes used to be kept for purges and are not popular now, and despite Sithini''s experience, I''m told most of them stay in colour. There are a few greens, about half the population are blue, a lot of oranges, some deep reds.¡±
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 11: Cargo
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 11: Cargo
Extract from initial contact notes
Mags had a talk long-distance to Anisilakiina via Saleth yesterday.... our little meeting is now going to be the whole church, and so that Saleth doesn''t get exposed as a thought-hearer (could be fatal), Mags is going to try to read a script in their language while in mental contact with Saleth who''ll prompt her to try again if she totally messes up her pronunciation... there are a few opportunities to do that, apparently. like grace and a rude word.
Mags'' sudden interest in history and politics has thrown Rina off balance, but Mags cannot see any sign that she''s going to get in trouble.
Although she was hesitant, still she helped Mags prepare the talk, even though she didn''t really understand the concepts. Mags told her that she plans to practice it and tell it to parliament. Rina was deeply shocked at the implication that Mags might have ever heard her think about parliament, but confirmed that it exists.
Post meeting addition. The meeting went really well, fortunately they use nods and shakes of the head just like Mer, so that when Mags did make the mistake she''d been warned against, she could nod enthusiastically when someone corrected her. Apart from some youngsters sniggering about the [rude-word] of God and earning themselves slaps from their parents, they were very happy to hear what we had to say about Jesus. Mags explained that she was in contact with a believing thought-hearer now, but that to protect that person she would still use the unbelieving Rina to talk to unbelievers. She also gave people a printed copy of what she''d said.
Apparently parliament only meet one day a month these days, and that''s next week. Mags plans to gate-crash, and apologise.
Hnut, Restday morning. 3rd of Winter
¡°Is there a problem?¡± Dirak asked, stepping out of his house at the sound of angry voices. One of them was Rangar''s.
A trader''s cart was in the road, at the ford, the tired-looking beast was drinking heavily.
¡°Yes, Sheriff Dirak. Firstly, this trader, Trum, insists on trading today. Secondly I agreed a fixed price contract with him last time he was here but he says it was at-tariff, and he''s gone such a stupidly long way so he''s charged me so much that I barely get a tenth of what I ought to.¡±
¡°Ah. So, Rangar, what we have is a complaint of unfair trading, is that correct?¡±
¡°Exactly.¡±
¡°Do you have a copy of your contract?¡±
¡°At home, yes, not here.¡±
¡°I''m an honest trader, officer,¡± Trum said, ¡°I''m not trying to cheat no-one, but the bridge is out, see, so I had to go round the long way, and it''s not my fault. And like the contract says, fair and square, unforeseeable circumstances, you can''t blame me for that.¡±
¡°Yes, unforeseeable circumstances. You''ve evidence of course of when you learned that the bridge was out, and of your full cargo manifest for the entire trip.¡±
¡°The entire trip?¡±
¡°All the cargo you had when you collected Rangar''s goods, complete with destinations and so on, contracts picked up on your way to the documented place where you heard the bridge was out, all those sorts of things. I''ll be very happy to check it all through on Earthday, along with Rangar''s contract, and we''ll see where the honest mistake has happened, shall we?¡±
¡°Earthday? I can''t hang around here until Earthday! I''ve got a load to get to Qnut!¡±
¡°Ah. I''m sorry to hear that. Have a very pleasant stay.¡±
¡°What do you mean, ''have a pleasant stay?''¡±
¡°It is Restday. The local by-laws say that trade shall not happen on Restday, nor shall a tariff officer carry out any tariff work on Restday. Not here, nor any of the surrounding villages. Skyday, being a customary day of rest, is not a day for hearing legal disputes. Therefore, I cannot settle the dispute until Earthday. You may of course leave, but a dispute has been raised and will be heard on Earthday. If you are not present to present evidence, then I will have to look only at the evidence I have. And of course if you leave without a tariff officer''s stamp in your tariff book, you are by definition carrying goods at light-cart tariff or fixed contract.¡±
¡°When were those there by-laws written? I''ve never heard of them.¡±
¡°I believe that particular law was written a hundred and fifty years ago, but I may be wrong, Rangar, you don''t remember do you?¡±
¡°All my life, that''s all I know.¡±
¡°Look, officer, couldn''t we come to some kind of arrangement? I''ve got to get that load to Qnut and then beyond!¡±
¡°If you wish to leave me all the relevant paperwork, along with the full disputed amount, then I will give you a receipt for them, and reach my conclusions on Earthday, pay this gentleman what he''s actually due and return the documents and remaining monies to you when you return. But I cannot stamp your tariff book until tomorrow at the earliest.¡±
¡°If I leave without a tariff stamp, it''ll cost me a fair bit, you know?¡±
¡°I''m sure it will. Your spiky there looks a bit tired, she''s not pregnant is she?¡±
¡°It''s just been a long haul, Sheriff Dirak, we were in the city on Earthday, I''ve got to get the load to Qnut by tomorrow.¡±
Dirak did some quick mental calculations. ¡°So, you''ve been doing, what, twelve hour days?¡±
¡°Didn''t really count, Sheriff.¡±
¡°More, less?¡±
¡°Don''t know, Sheriff.¡±
¡°Because when I came up by thlunk it took me a lot longer than five twelve hour days, in good weather barring the odd shower, and there are laws about how long you can work a spiky, especially a female who might be pregnant.¡±
¡°Look, officer Dirak, please? Just give me a stamp, and I''ll give Rangar what he asks, and a bit more for yourself, fair''s fair, eh? I don''t want to disturb your Restday.¡±
¡°I hope you didn''t just offer me a bribe, Trum. That would be even more of a mistake than someone taking on an illegal contract, abusing a spiky or attempting to defraud anyone.¡±
¡°I''m not trying to defraud no-one!¡±
¡°Yes, well, I heard you say that earlier too. So who are you trying to defraud, Trum, Eh? Everyone? Your spiky''s just settled down for a rest while still in harness, Trum, and is eating marsh grass, which they''re well known to hate. You arrive here in the morning, with an exhausted and starving spiky, saying you were in the city five days ago? It doesn''t take a genius to work out you''ve barely stopped day or night to get here. So, Trum, today, you are going to be letting your spiky have the day of rest the law says it needs to have after three days like you''ve done five of, and you''re staying here. Tomorrow morning I''m going to accept the specified fine from you for having an overworked spiky, and of course it''ll be double if the vet says she''s pregnant, and I''ll have a careful look at your paperwork and your cargo and especially check your Qnut cargo, because I''m suspicious about what''s so urgent, and if there''s no discrepancies I''ll give you a stamp. And if you want to disagree with any of that then I''ll have to place you under arrest on suspicion of carrying contraband, which since court doesn''t happen until Earthday means you get two nights in the cell. Now unhitch your spiky and lead her to the fair pasture. I''m sure you know where that is.¡±
¡°No way, no way!¡± Trum said, ¡°You''re not checking my cargo, no way, it''ll take hours, I''ll never get it there on time.¡±
¡°What''s the big rush, Trum?¡± Dirak asked, seeing something akin to fear in his eyes.
¡°I can''t deliver it late, no way, they said, OK ''till Skyday, no later.¡±
¡°What''s it going to do, Trum? Explode?¡±
¡°I''m not a bad man, Officer Dirak, I''ve got a wife and kid! They need me to get this there, keep them warm, no questions, Skyday latest.¡±
Dirak went cold, could it be stolen eggs? He''d heard rumours. Growler pups, freshly hatched were sometimes tortured for sport. A thlunk egg from a famous racer might command a high price in some circles. Or there were other eggs that could be stolen.
¡°Trum, you are under arrest on suspicion of carrying contraband or stolen goods.¡±
Trum ran. So did Dirak, in the other direction. First he slapped off the brakes, and through much tugging persuaded the spiky to get moving. Then he guided the spiky to outside the police station, and let her loose.
¡°Your man''s getting away, officer.¡± Rangar said, in a confused tone.
¡°I know. But really, where''s he going to go? He''s leaving footprints in the snow, and it''s at least five minutes before he gets to the top of any hill, that way. Give me a hand looking for this contraband, will you? I''m wondering if it''s growler eggs or something like that.¡±
¡°Growler eggs?¡±
¡°He had a deadline, he had to keep it warm. Sounds like a hatching time to me.¡± Dirak said, starting to unfasten the tarpaulin.
¡°There''s other things that hatch,¡± Rangar said, working on the other side.
¡°I know. Growler or thlunk are the nicer options. Been a very long time since an egg-napping as far as I know. And why''d he stop if he was an egg-napper?¡±
¡°He wasn''t going to, ''till I saw him.¡±
¡°Doesn''t make much sense to argue about tariffs and things, though.¡±
¡°No, not if he was an egg-napper. But he wasn''t.¡± Rangar said, in a strange voice.
Dirak jumped down to see what Rangar had seen. Under the tarpaulin there was a wooden cage, and from the cage a small face looked out, with scared looking eyes, and another; Two hatchlings, about a year old, with yellow down. ¡°Two winterborns.¡± Rangar said, pulling the cage apart with apparent ease and deadly rage.
¡°There''s an old old evil here, Dirak. Yanepoli was tempted, even, I heard her walking on the hillside, arguing with herself. Don''t let the winterborn see it''s first hatchday, throw them away, where no one''ll see. Someone''s gone and done it. Probably drugged the father, of course, or he''d Zerk, maybe the mother too. Probably part of Longnight, that''s one of the fine old traditions of us nobles. Horrible, horrible, up you come, little-uns.¡± Tenderly, he scooped them up, and wrapped them under his coat. ¡°Who''ll look after them, do you think?¡±
¡°Yagel, do you reckon?¡±
¡°Not good for little Yalinth to hear of this. Best out of the village entirely, I think, long-term.¡±
¡°Keldithanapoli?¡±
¡°Aye, The queen''ll need to know, certainly. She''ll need to read the charge. Short term... I don''t really want to bother the pastor with this, or, what do you think?¡±
¡°I don''t know many with a bigger heart than Ethepoli.¡±
¡°That''s the thing. This much evil can sour someone, who''d ever bring themselves to do such a thing?¡±
¡°Rangar, can you look after them, give them some care, just for an hour or two? I''ve got an accomplice to infanticide to run into the ground. I was going to fly, but seeing this... I don''t trust myself to take my staff, I might be tempted to cut his legs off.¡±
¡°You pin him down, I''ll twist, it hurts more. No, not you little ones, Uncle Rangar''s just talking silly. What do you think to some broth, eh? I expect you''re really hungry. Dirak,
I don''t expect you''ve got a zerknife, to hamstring him?¡±
¡°I saw a spare spoke. I''ll take that.¡±
¡°Godspeed, Dirak, lock that vile creature up, and find out names, addresses, everything. Justice.¡±
¡°But first, I''ll call Keldi.¡± He pushed a series of spots on his staff, to no avail. ¡°Bah, she''s busy. OK. Try Thuna....¡± there was a different tone.
¡°Hello?¡±
¡°Thuna, Dirak. I need to intervene, I''m not trusting myself to take my staff. If Keldi''s around, please tell her to get to Rangar now. If not.. I don''t know, you?¡±
¡°What''s happening?¡±
¡°Someone read Justice or Control, page five and thought it was good advice. Two yellow hatchlings in a cage.¡±
¡°Dear Saviour! They''re OK? You''re taking them to the doctor?¡±
¡°Rangar''s taking them home to warm them up. I''m going to chase down and arrest the trader who was going to deliver them somewhere. I don''t know if the doctor will be able to face this.¡±
¡°Doctor''s tough, Dirak.¡± Rangar said.
¡°OK, I''ll bring the Doctor to Rangar''s¡± Thuna said.
¡°Thank you Thuna.¡±
¡°Go make your arrest, Dirak. But fly part way and then plant your staff or send it home. A long Zerk-run is going to kill you. You were almost blacking out after Shashana.¡±
¡°I... hadn''t thought of that. Thank you, Thuna.¡±
Dirak aimed his staff and flew. Not the sedate flight he''d used with Lenepoli, but the other one, where he had a cone in front of him which enabled him to breathe as he accelerated and accelerated.
Then he adjusted his grip and turned the staff. His arms were almost wrenched out of their sockets but it felt good to move, to use his rage. He''d been holding back the Zerk, he knew he wouldn''t be able to be understood if he didn''t. ¡°Trum!¡± he roared, as he landed a few steps behind him. ¡°You are under arrest for wilful participation in a conspiracy to commit infanticide! Stop or you may be permanently disabled.¡±
Trum did just what Dirak''s rage wanted; he ran on. Dirak, let the enzymes flow, and felt his crest flatten. It had probably turned green in the same heart-beat.
Trum''s franticly pounding legs slowed, and Dirak caught up with him easily. He calculated. It was too easy. He could have broken Trum''s leg in three places between it leaving the ground and touching down again. Or to twist that hateful neck, it was too easy. Time was still slowing. To break, to destroy, that was easy. To stop, with minimum harm. That was harder. No it wasn''t. Dirak stepped forward, momentarily fascinated at how slowly gravity worked on his own feet, and understanding, finally, why the cobbler had insisted on leaving unsewn sections in front of each of his toes. He needed his claws to move at this speed. When he''d chased down Shashana''s attackers he''d been bare-footed, he remembered. His claws gripped the half-frozen earth, and that felt right and good. Trum''s foot was still on it''s way down, of course, as the millisecondsticked by, plenty of time. He fought the inertia of the spoke in his hand, it was heavier than the chair-leg had been, but there was still plenty of time. Trum''s foot hit the ground, And the stick was in the perfect place. Trum''s knee inched its way forward, and made contact with one end of the spoke, Dirak adjusted its aim, and stepped back, his job done. Trum''s knee drove the wheel spoke forwards, into the back of his other knee. Dirak''s aim had been perfect, of course, he''d had so much time to set it up. Trum''s front knee folded under the impact from behind. His back knee continued in its ark, but off course because of the spoke. Trum''s body started to topple forward. Time for step two, Dirak''s claws again gripped the mud and dancing around the slow Trum, he pulled the back of Trum''s coat up over his head, and off one arm, two. Trum''s eyes were starting to widen in surprise, as Dirak looped the coat off the other arms and his claws pulling at the mud, crouched and tied one arm of the coat around Trum''s two feet that were now conveniently close to each other, just as Dirak had calculated all those split seconds ago.
Breathing was slow work, and he was sure his heart rate wasn''t going to keep up with his oxygen needs. Thuna had been wise, yet again. Another arm of the coat had encircled Trum''s neck and been tied long before his head and chest hit the mud.
Trum couldn''t run any more, so Dirak retrieved the spoke. It might be useful again. It took Trum a long time to stop, from Dirak''s point of view, so Dirak pushed away the enzymes. Maybe he''d need them later. Trum stopped, and Dirak pulled his arms behind him and tied them too with coat arm number three and four. Then he started to drag Trum back down the hill to his staff. There didn''t seem much worth saying, so Dirak didn''t bother. Trum was stunned, blinking, not understanding what had happened, miserable and in pain at being dragged sideways, hog-tied. Dirak stuck his staff through the coat, and made it lift a little. Not much, just enough. He didn''t want to be brutal to this accomplice in infanticide, that was the law''s job. He realised he''d been wrong. There was lots to say.
¡°You will provide names, addresses, passwords, absolute and total information.¡±
Trum was silent.
¡°Infanticide is the most heinous of crimes, Trum do you understand that?¡±
Trum grunted.
¡°You will provide names, addresses, everything so that this evil can be purged. Or your family will suffer. The innocent held guilty unless you cooperate. That is the law. The law is outraged against you, Trum. When the judge sentences you for burning, if you have not cooperated, then the judge will declare that the law is insulted, and outraged, and that the law will declare it has a blood-feud against your family and your father''s family and your mother''s family. Do you understand, Trum? A blood feud where there are no turns, not respite, where there is only one sentence for being your relative, your cousin, your hatchling, your wife, your cousins to the fourth degree. That is the punishment for not cooperating with the law, in such an outrage as this. And each one of these deaths will be laid at your door, there will be bloodshed such as has never been since even the purges against Zerkers. So poisonous will your blood be considered, and they will cry to you to cooperate with the law to save them as they are burned before your eyes. DO YOU UNDERSTAND? Are you such a monster that you will stay silent and protect the guilty with the blood of the innocent?¡±
¡°No!¡±
¡°You will cooperate?¡±
¡°Yes, I''ll cooperate,¡± Trum said.
¡°Good.¡±
¡°I''ve got records. Everything written down, all the papers in order. It said theatrical props. Must be delivered to Qnut. I didn''t know. Honest to God, I didn''t know. Not ''till last night, they woke up I guess. I heard them. I took off the lid. I didn''t know what to do, I just kept going, trying to think, all night long. Inside the box, there was a note. Very naughty to look, they''ve got my wife, my kid, insurance in case something goes wrong, they wrote. Deliver the package, none of your business, don''t talk to the law. Then there was Rangar, and it was all there, already documented, what was I supposed to do? I couldn''t re-write the bill! I just had to give it to him.¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
¡°Do you know who sent the package?¡±
¡°Yes, yes, a regular customer. A transport agent.¡±
¡°But who gave it to him?¡±
¡°It was his writing, in the letter. I''d recognise it anywhere.¡±
¡°You''ve got the letter?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°Yes. I didn''t know what to do, I put it back in the lid.¡±
¡°Good.¡± Dirak said, and kept trudging down the hill with his captive on a stick. One end of the stick was on Dirak''s shoulder, the other end was in mid air; held up by the wizardry known as antigravity.
Rangar''s home, Hnut, Restday
¡°Prisoner is in behind bars, claims he didn''t know what he was delivering, until they made a noise last night.¡±
¡°How many bones broken?¡± Thuna asked.
¡°None. It wasn''t necessary, I just tripped him up and tied him up.¡±
¡°Well done.¡±
¡°We may be able to get DNA from a letter. He claims it''s the hand-writing of an old established client, a trade-agent, threatening his family.¡±
¡°There will be a lot of blood spilt,¡± Thuna said.
¡°Yes. I told him. That''s why he started cooperating. He''s now writing his confession.¡±
¡°No one''s watching him?¡±
¡°Lenepoli wondered why I was late for Church, so now she''s missing Church too. How are they, Doctor?¡±
¡°The good thing about hatchlings while they''re still fluff-balls like that, is when the get hungry they stop growing, stop moving, conserve energy, sleep. And they''re so fluffy, they don''t lose much heat unless there''s a gale. So physically they''re fine. Emotionally? Who can tell?¡±
The door was flung open. ¡°Sheriff you''re here! I''ve been looking everywhere! I heard anger, and screaming.¡± Yalinth said. ¡°Horrible anger.¡±
¡°I''m sorry, Yalinth it might have been my anger.¡± Dirak said.
¡°It wasn''t your voice. Doctor? Were you angry? You''re never angry!¡± her eyes opened wide. ¡°Where are they? Can I go to them? They''re so lonely!¡±
¡°We wanted to hide this from you Yalinth. Nasty people.¡±
¡°Dangerous sharks.¡± Yalinth said. ¡°Bob told me a story, I remembered. In spring. It was bed time, and he said I''m Bob Sathie Bill, and I said, that''s a funny name, why have you got three names? Can I hug them? They want mummy or daddy or hugs by big angry or anyone.¡±
¡°Yes, you can hug them.¡± Rangar said, ¡°They''re in my room.¡±
¡°You''re the one they call big angry, Rangar¡± Yalinth said finding that funny. ¡°They recognise your voice and they like you.¡±
¡°Do they hear thoughts yet, Yalinth?¡±
Over her shoulder she said, ¡°Maybe. They don''t think in words, but they''re thinking together. Oh, they don''t like that! There there, Silly Yalinth didn''t think. Come on, both together. There! Better? They like me too. They don''t like being apart. It hurts, like no mummy, no daddy.¡±
A plaintiff mew escaped the hatchlings, ¡°Yes, you heard me, didn''t you, you clever pair, they understand words.¡± Yalinth said, adding ¡°Yes, Dirak and Thuna, you can go. See what you can find out.¡±
¡°Doctor do you know about taking a good DNA sample?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°Not the exact technique, no.¡±
¡°OK, I''ll call in someone. Magz, do you think Thuna?¡±
¡°Sithini for the machine, Magz for the sample.¡±
¡°Sheriff?¡± Rangar said, ¡°Can I have a word?¡±
¡°Of course.¡±
¡°Outside. By the thlunks would be good.¡±
¡°Urm, OK.¡± Dirak agreed.
¡°You''re wrong about copper. It''s not the problem, it''s the solution. Not the best maybe. But it works. And not farming the top fields? That''s no solution, either. Those thrice be demned fluffies. No growlers up there to thin the numbers, see. Never were, and they dig, and can''t leave be.¡±
¡°I don''t understand.¡±
¡°You will, you''re tough sheriff, I''ve seen that, Yanepoli says you''ve got that book full of evil in your library, Justice or Control, and you rip holes in it''s arguments. You''re tough.
That''s good. You''ll cope. I''m pretty tough, too, Girt''s not, poor lad, He''s a poet at heart, and who''s ever heard of a tough poet? He''s not tough at all, not where it counts when you''re dealing with old evil. Lots of other guys aren''t tough, either. The copper helps. Helps you forget, not think so much. And you''re from Reqiq, I heard. Heard you went back and took Lenepoli. You know, then. Some things, they happened, they are and you don''t disturb.
"You don''t go digging round, you leave''em in peace. Poor innocent little fluff-balls. We did''t know, see, when we came here. It''d been forgotten. But now we know, we can''t just move the village. Who''d rebury the poor innocents? Ladies don''t know, ''cept Yanepoli. Pastor doesn''t know, either. Maybe that''s a mistake, but it''s a tradition. Yanepoli got the point really quick. Repented of what she''d ever thought of.
"Don''t disturb them, certainly don''t repeat it! But the thrice-be damned fluffies dig them up, So every summer, come harvest, we re-bury them, and throw copper on the fire to help us forget. Some people breathe too much, and that''s not good. And the ladies don''t know, it''s a real shame, when they breathe that smoke, but we can''t let them stay there, can we? Yalinth is going to find out though, soon enough, but especially with these two more innocents. Maybe she''ll find out from me. And there might be more people taking copper, seeing them, those innocent little reminders.¡±
¡°Hoo on Utt.¡± Dirak said, ¡°It''s in the name, isn''t it? There was a hool, a mass grave.¡±
¡°A pit of evil, where innocents were thrown, for centuries. Parents too, sometimes. The fluffies dig up cracked skulls. But mostly poor little fluff-ball bodies. They tried, once, about a century ago, not planting, leaving it fallow. And kids came and played, played with the strange round balls.¡±
¡°Dear Saviour, have mercy! And so people started deliberately poisoning themselves?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Rangar, like you said, it''s an old evil. But keeping the pastor away isn''t right, surely? You need God''s power to beat evil, you need prayer.¡±
¡°That''s been said before, yes. We try, but... you don''t hold a prayer meeting during harvest time. We can hide moving the poor little ones, but..¡±
¡°Rangar, this is an old hidden evil. But, you know what the law would say if you found a fresh dead body and hid it, even if you didn''t do it, you''d share the guilt. Isn''t this almost the same thing? By hiding the evil, look at how much evil is spread? People breathe too much copper smoke, people poison themselves, Ethepoli got poisoned, the doctor said another female lost her eggs.
"Surely, it can''t be hidden. The ground is crying out against it, don''t you see? There needs to be prayers said, by the whole village. Not just grim faced males doing what''s needed and trying to pretend it didn''t happen, it wasn''t there, bury it in themselves, and keeping it from their wives, hiding it from their children. Surely it''d be better to publicly call it an old graveyard, and mourn the poor little innocents? Put up grave markers?¡±
¡°I was going to get you to swear to secrecy. You won''t do it will you?¡±
¡°What, swear? No. But I won''t talk to anyone right now, we''ve got immediate justice to serve. Let me pray for you instead, will you?¡±
¡°Pray for me?¡±
¡°Pray the fate of those innocents doesn''t weigh on your soul any more, that God''ll wash any of their blood-guilt from you and your family by the blood of his son, the saviour, that your thoughts will be protected against the forces of evil, so that you have no need to resort to poisons.¡±
¡°You can certainly pray that, thank you.¡±
¡°Dirak, Thuna said DNA-samples. Too vague. Tell me more,¡± Sithini said.
¡°Some bits of paper which almost certainly have traces of one adult and two kidnapped hatchlings, plus unknown other who may be a relative for all we know.
"We want to track down unknown other, prove its him or her and then the courts will condemn most of the family for execution.¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Pardon?¡±
¡°Stop killing innocents, Dirak, or you''re worse than kidnappers.¡±
¡°These kidnapees are one year old yellows, Sithinilakiina. Being sent to some hole where they''d be left to starve to death.¡±
¡°I read the book. Don''t adopt it''s methods, big brother, or I won''t talk to you again.¡±
Sithini said, ending the call. Dirak called back. ¡°Sithini, I just managed to catch the guy who was transporting them. The criminals are holding his family hostage. It does not give any information about where, surprise, surprise, but he''s been on a trading trip, not seen them in weeks. He has no knowledge about who is actually holding them but he was told to deliver the hatchlings and he would get something telling him where to go to get his family back at his next stop. Probably the person who I arrest when I get there is being similarly threatened. This is a major crime network. Please help stop this evil.¡±
¡°Not by killing innocents. How many of his bones did you break?¡± she asked with a sick tone.
¡°None. I tripped him up and tied his legs together and his arms behind his back.¡±
¡°Really?¡±
¡°My little sister pointed out I was giving in to needless rage last time I was that angry, so I hesitated and thought at least a second how to disable him and take him home with no breakages.¡±
¡°And then in thanks he told you all?¡±
¡°No, I told him what the law says happens to people who are willing participants to double infanticide. He was prepared to die himself without telling anything in the hope that his family would be released unharmed. He did not believe we would ever find them alive. He still does not, but he knows that helping is the only way they will live.¡±
¡°The law makes itself more terrible than any other threat.¡±
¡°You may seek to change the law if you like, Sithinilakiina.¡±
¡°Wizards don''t intervene in politics.¡±
¡°You''re not just a wizard, peace-loving queen. Keldi''s nature screams for blood at those who would do this, but I saw a noble male push aside his thirst for vengeance to treasure two little thought-hearers. Plead for a change in the law if you wish little sister. Argue for mercy for the innocent in court if you wish, make it a condition of your helping if you wish, but help me find the guilty.¡±
¡°Make it a condition of my helping?¡±
¡°A police request to a wizard for help is just that, to an individual wizard. That''s what the law says.¡±
¡°And I can make conditions that affect the decision of the court?¡±
¡°If the officer of the law making the request believes they are reasonable, do not benefit the wizard in question or pervert justice. Right now, I really want your help little sister, and as long as you''re not going to demand that I don''t tell people what the law is, and you don''t demand that the guilty go unpunished, then I''m very likely to agree.¡±
¡°No innocents get condemned to death.¡±
¡°That''s it? No restriction on torture, crippling and so on, come on, Sithini, be reasonable!¡±
¡°No innocents are in any way harmed. I will not agree to use wizardry in any way that causes harm to an innocent, even indirectly.¡±
¡°Might not the punishment of an evil person indirectly harm their children?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°I''m glad I''m not a lawyer,¡± she shot back. ¡°As above, but with some kind of codicil about not letting the guilty go unpunished.¡±
¡°So, You agree to use your knowledge and tools of wizardry to pursue the guilty, but in exchange require the law to not countenance any result of your limited intervention that ends in the direct or indirect harm to an innocent except where indirect harm is a result of the just punishment of a guilty person.¡±
¡°Exactly.¡±
¡°Thank you. And you also assist the law in defending the innocent?¡±
¡°Sneaky big brother. Of course I will.¡±
¡°Sithinilakiina, in line with the commitment you have just made, please help me to identify the person that wrote the letter I spoke of, and if you have the means, track him or her down, and also if you can, identify the parents of the innocent hatchlings and track them down, so that that family can be reunited, and then set such devices as are needed to ensure that if the instigator is still on the loose, and happens to be a family member in the same house, this vile deed is never repeated.¡±
¡°Never''s a long time, but I''ll give it a go. Personal forcefield for hatchlings? With some kind of ''where''s a parent, I''m not moving'' space-time anchor... that might even work. Hmmm. Where''s this letter? I can''t see it.¡±
¡°Where are you?¡±
¡°Looking round your office of course, Thuna let me in. Can''t you move and talk at the same time yet Dirak?¡±
¡°No thunderclap, no nothing. I''m going to ask how you did that one of these days.¡±
¡°I might even tell you when you''ve proven you can calculate bubble parameters properly.¡± Since she had a point, and getting the maths wrong meant you not only died but also killed a lot of people around you, he decided he''d let that pass.
Hnut, Restday morning
It took a few hours for them to work out the plan and to camouflage Thunia''s staff as a common walking stick. At least half an hour of the planning had centred around Dirak being convinced to let Lenepoli take the part she''d assigned herself. It had been settled by Sithini saying, ¡°Look Dirak, it''s going to be someone who looks totally unthreatening, i.e. Lenepoli or me. old lady with a staff, fine; me with a staff? Suspicious, so it''s one of the two people you claim to care about the most in the world, and without my staff, all I''m going to do in a fight is scream in genuine terror, or throw up in reaction to the violence. You can''t get much less threatening than that, so it''s got to be me, hasn''t it?¡±
¡°You''ll make Lenepoli a pocket forcefield?¡± Dirak asked, giving in.
¡°And one for Trum and family, yes.¡±
Uttown, official residence of county judge, Restday lunchtime.
¡°Dirak, Sheriff of Hnut, I need to see his honour about a matter needing immediate attention.¡±
¡°Who''s grandma got robbed, then? Have a seat, he''s busy.¡± the bored gate-keeper said, not bothering to move.
¡°I think you didn''t hear me. I said immediate attention."
¡°You also said you were the sheriff of Hnut, therefore, since it will take you eight hours to get there at least, it can wait a bit while his honour finishes his meeting.
¡°Perhaps I should also say that I''m wizard-at-large Zerker Dirak, that I left Hnut five minutes ago, and I''m going to have to arrest you for obstructing an officer of law in a matter of urgency and then start kicking down doors myself if you don''t immediately show me to his honour, preferably at a sprint.¡±
¡°This way, officer.¡±
¡°Just in case it matters,¡± Dirak said, following the man, ¡°I need to register some deputations complete with reasonable limitations on the courts, get various other warrants, and get to Qnut in about fifteen minutes, where I will need to wake up Sheriff Gnor from his Rest-day nap, and get him to arrange a posse and arrest an unknown number of kidnappers and infanticide-plotters.¡± They reached the office of the county Judge.
The door opened. ¡°Did you say Infanticide?¡± the judge asked.
¡°Yes, sir, Wizard-at-large Dirak, Sheriff of Hnut. Two yellow fluff-balls, just under a year, were being taken to Qnut, in a cage, inside a box. They had been drugged, so they stayed quiet, the trader didn''t know anything until they woke and made a noise while he was stopped and he got curious.
"The delivery order said they must arrive in Qnut by this evening. They are being cared for by some reliable villagers. The cage also had a message stating that the trader''s wife and child had been taken somewhere near Qnut, and would be killed if he didn''t make the delivery. It was pure divine coincidence that he owed a villager money, and got seen as he tried to get past. His paperwork was suspicious and I suspected contraband. In the circumstances of his duress, I''m not counting him as a willing participant and I''ve deputised him to take the crate to Qnut, in order to try to find his family and arrest the guilty. I''ve also recruited the Chair of the council of wizardry and an apprentice who are accompanying him and another two wizardesses who are analysing DNA samples as I speak. They made reasonable requirements that their participation and identification of suspects would in no way lead to harm of innocents. We do not need to tell arrestees that their families will not be burned before their eyes if they don''t cooperate though.¡±
¡°Have you promised this trader anything?¡±
¡°He has cooperated fully, but I only stated that the court would take into account that he''s done so. He has also confessed, unprompted, to various trading crimes that might have been identifiable from checking his documentation and others relating to other trips entirely. He recognised the writing on the threatening letter as the agent who loaded the package, and who has arranged other contraband deliveries, but that has been drugs and spirits, nothing as large as the crate that held the two fluff-balls.¡±
¡°So he says.¡±
¡°We will obviously need to check the hool for other corpses, if we find it.¡±
¡°Do not use such an old and evil word, sheriff,¡± the Judge said. ¡°We are speaking of an old evil act, your honour. The winterborns were not physically harmed, except for the drugging, but they were going to be left to starve to death where only centuries would find them, by those who regard them as a threat.¡±
¡°Lawyers will argue that you have no proof of their intentions. But certainly kidnapping. But winterborns? You speak of myths, sheriff.¡±
¡°We tried to keep their presence a secret, to not force such horror on the children, particularly one girl, who has just had her sixth hatchday, and is yellow.
Now she looks after the fluffballs too, for she heard the rage of the doctor against those who would do such things; although the doctor spoke only quietly, the little winterborn in Hnut heard her mental shout of anger against those who''d do such a thing, and also the mental screams of the fluffballs as they were separated from one another for investigation. Thought-hearing is well known among wizards to be no myth, and already this girl innocently disturbs the plans of others.
"But it does not matter that this girl hears thoughts. What matters is that the noble relatives of the mother believe a winterborn yellow is a constant source of trouble.
"There will be frantic parents, somewhere, and perhaps aunts, uncles and grandparents will show concern too if they hear. But most suspicion within the family will fall on the grandparents and great-grandparents, and the law as it stands now makes family-members unlikely to go to the police. Who will raise a complaint against this evil, when the law condemns innocent parents to the same fate as the one who has done this evil and does not speak? Perhaps the father would complain. But I expect he is being kept drugged, for fear of the Zerk.¡±
¡°I find it hard to credit your words, Sheriff Dirak, that you say families will hide such an evil.¡±
¡°Each year, about one tenth of children are hatched in the winter months. Each year about a hundred yellows are born. So we might expect ten winter-born yellows per year. In the last twenty years, the crime statistics show that two Zerkers married to deep reds have, in zerker rage, killed their wife''s elder relatives, and then given no explanation as they were condemned.
"There have been no other deaths attributed to zerker attack. In the last twenty years, three Zerker and deep-Red couples have been found murdered in their homes. Relatives speak of unknown assailants, and whispered threats through closed shutters, but no scene of crime investigation has found evidence that showed an outsider was ever present in the home. There have been no similar double murders among the general population. In the last hundred years, the combined wizards and journeymen looking have found one winterborn yellow who died apparently by accident by being somewhere he shouldn''t have been at age five, and one who has survived until her seventh birthday. Do these statistics suggest anything to you, your honour? Knowing them, and presented with the evidence of two little fluff-balls hidden away in a cage, sent on a week''s journey and half-starved already, I am convinced that it''s not just couples avoiding hatching any yellows in winter, but that some people still think that Control or Justice was well argued, and the modern laws are wishy-washy and lack honour.¡±
¡°You should have been a politician, Sheriff, then you could argue for changing the law to those who can do it. You have very reasonable grounds to suspect it was conspiracy to commit infanticide. You will need an out-of-jurisdiction warrant, and investigation orders.¡±
¡°Yes, your honour. And a posse order.¡±
¡°Of course. And you have the conditions of the wizardesses in writing?¡±
¡°Yes sir, here,¡± Dirak said, handing over the bundle of papers.
¡°I''ll countersign. Sithinilakiina? I thought...¡±
¡°She was not in Reqiq with her parents, your honour, she''d just started apprentice training, and she didn''t tell her teachers her full name. Her fellow apprentices didn''t recognise it, and given the context weren''t at all sure she was serious. I''m learning that those who are constitutionally apolitical seem drawn to wizardry.¡±
¡°What do you mean by that?¡±
¡°That some of my statistics came from the heir to the empty throne, who also hides her full name in normal circumstances. And here is the deputation order for the trader to assist in locating the next step in the chain.¡±
¡°It will be a long one.¡±
¡°I expect so, your honour.¡±
¡°To condemn a guilty person to burning is never a pleasant task, sheriff. There are always unreasonable doubts and what-ifs. And like wizards, I cannot intervene in politics. I wonder if you might request your friends with influence over politicians to add some balancing codicil, protecting the entire family of those who reveal atrocity? Or perhaps we should always ask these wizardesses to help?¡±
¡°A change of law is better, your honour.¡±
On the road to Qnut.
¡°Is this going to work?¡± Trum asked, the thirty seventh time.
¡°Urgent delivery of theatrical props, delivery by tonight, no problem.¡± Thuna''s said reassuringly. ¡°The stickler of a sheriff in Hnut refused to issue you a stamp, so just to show him, you left three quarters of your load on his doorstep, so you''re actually light-cart.¡±
¡°Still don''t know why I''d want to be light-cart.¡±
¡°Didn''t want any trouble at any other sheriffs sticking their noses in,¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°and it paid off because you got some passengers, a care-free young blue come to see the famous Qnut. and her mother''s friend with her bean pole, just in case any guys get the wrong idea.¡±
¡°Don''t see why you can''t be my idiot of a daughter who spends all her money on dyes and fancy clothes.¡± Thuna grumbled.
¡°Because any dealer in dyes would spot my colour''s real. It''d be extra risk.¡±
¡°I''m too nervous.¡± Trum said.
¡°Of course you''re nervous.¡± Thuna said, ¡°Some thugs have your family, and those theatrical props looked really like someone''d stuffed a couple of yellow fluffballs when you had a look on the first night, and saw the letter. You don''t want some passer-by getting the idea they were real. Plus you''ve got a couple of joy-riders outside on the cart who say they''ve paid you enough you''ve got to be their tour-guide.¡±
¡°Yeah yeah, I know. Then I say, ''What is it, some kind of substitution kidnapping so you can get further into the woods before they notice? No don''t tell me nothing. Just give me my wife and kid and I''m going to catch fish or cut wood somewhere and never leave home again.''¡±
¡°And when you get to hug your wife and kid, push the button, just in case.¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°Wizards don''t intervene. Well known for it,¡± Trum muttered.
¡°Course they don''t,¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°But I''m not a wizard, I''m a school teacher. But if you mean it about the fishing there''s a new fishing village down by the lake that was Reqiq. The fish are hungry, and there''s plenty of wood around so houses are cheap to build, too.¡±
¡°Oh yeah. Cheap compared to where?¡±
¡°Drana, according to the mother I spoke to.¡±
¡°Drana?¡±
¡°That''s what she said. Cheaper houses, better food and nicer neighbours, safe space for the kids to run an play, not to mention plenty of private spots in the woods.¡±
¡°Cheaper than Drana? Nowhere''s cheaper than Drana!¡±
¡°It''s a new place, like I said.¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°No name yet, as far as I know.¡±
¡°Could be a shrewd move, get in early while there''s still plenty of land,¡± Thuna said, ¡°New lake, new village, new opportunities. But it''s on a cart route.¡±
¡°Where''s the catch?¡±
¡°It''s a new lake, caused by the Reqiq landslide, it might get deeper.¡± Thuna said. ¡°The dam looks solid enough though. Lots of rock in it, and no seepage, just a place where there are some holes in the original valley wall at one side which make a pretty waterfall. My professional guess is it''s not likely to wash away this century.¡±
¡°Hmph. Might have a look then. Once I''m out of jail.¡±
¡°Hmm, and you do deserve a bit of jail time, don''t you?¡± Thuna said. ¡°Bribery, corruption, false accounting...¡±
¡°Everyone does them things.¡±
¡°Oh well, that makes it perfectly all right, then, doesn''t it?¡± Thuna said ¡°I''m sure the judge''ll agree with you.¡±
¡°D''you mean that?¡± Trum asked hopefully.
¡°Well known for being out of touch, these wizards,¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°No I don''t mean that. It was supposed to be obvious that I didn''t mean that. And even if the judge is so corrupt he doesn''t know right from wrong then God does. So how about asking him for more mercy then you were going to show those innocents, eh?¡±
¡°They''ve got my wife, my kid.¡±
¡°Two unknowns to save two knowns? Most people would agree with you. But God knows everyone. God knows your innermost secrets and he has chosen to protect
the little lost unknowns by you getting into an argument about your overcharging.
And when you''re out of jail, you think of what a lucky escape you''ve had, then when go to have a look at that lake where Reqiq was, and you think of what a lovely life you could have there, you remember that
over a thousand people died to let that lake be there, and they were pretty good people, they weren''t people who cheat and lie and steal and think they can get away with it. And if your wife and kid aren''t already dead in some hole somewhere, you thank God for that blessing you got, but two young people I know didn''t, because their folks lived in Reqiq. And you learn what mercy is, OK? And when you learn what God''s mercy means, you think about the other thing that God did for you, the thing that makes all that pale into nothing. You think that God sent his son to die so that you could have a chance of not ending up in far worse trouble than jail, worse even than being burned as an infanticide. You think of those things, Trum. And tremble that you''re getting so many chances. God is either getting you ready to serve him wholeheartedly in some pretty tough times, or you are going to be entirely without excuse when you make an appearance in his courtroom.¡±
¡°Right. That''s supposed to make me feel better is it?¡±
¡°No Trum, it''s supposed to make you think, and I reckon compared to that lot, getting these guys to take you to your wife and kid is going to be so simple. I mean, a bit of a swindle, for you? That''s your every day bread and butter, isn''t it, Trum? We''re almost in Qnut, where should we visit first?¡±
¡°I hear the old torture chambers are good for a laugh,¡± he said sullenly. ¡°And the theatre may or may not be open. To the sky.¡±
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 12: Win some, lose some
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 12: Win some, lose some
Extract from initial contact report
Today Mags gate-crashed parliament. Which is to say she walked up to the door handed her Mer knife to the shocked guards, and gave her short speech. This time she didn''t use the rude word. She apologised for not following form, and if anything we''d done might have had political implications, and explained the gospel in short sentences. She also said that she also had a queen who had given up her powers to a parliament, and that she was not here to get involved in politics except to say what our scripture said: rulers are put in place to protect the innocent and punish sin, and God is ruler over all rulers; he brings them to power, he removes them from power, and he judges their acts and the motivations of their hearts. And woe to the one who causes children to sin, accepts a bribe or puts to death the innocent.
For some reason that last bit started a rather heated debate. I wonder if it touched some kind of raw nerve.
Qnut Sheriff''s office, Restday early afternoon.
¡°Dirak?¡± Gnor, the local sheriff greeted him.
¡°Sorry to ruin your day, too, Gnor. But I''ve just flown here from talking to his honour in Uttown. You need to read these.¡± He handed him the papers.
¡°Out of jurisdiction warrant,¡± Gnor murmured, ¡°Unlimited search warrant. And an unrestrained posse order?¡±
¡°I''m guessing that six club-men ought to do. Unblemished characters at least as far as not getting involved in suspicious trade. I don''t mind brawling. Not squeamish, preferably fathers with a good sense of moral outrage. If a couple of them were Zerkers it certainly wouldn''t go amiss either.¡±
¡°What''s going on?¡±
¡°Do you know what a hool is, Gnor? ¡°,
¡°A hool? That''s like, old for hole, isn''t it?¡± Gnor asked, but looked a bit worried.
¡°Used to just mean hole, yes. And do you know why someone might send a pair of almost-year-old fluffballs up here from the city?¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°Winterborn yellow ones? Drugged? In a box labelled theatrical props? What do you know, Gnor?¡± Dirak asked, feeling the enzymes starting to get ready.
¡°Nothing, Dirak. Nothing honestly. Infanticide? I don''t know a thing. But I heard someone, a fine upstanding guy ¡ª I''d have had him on the posse if you''d not mentioned that word. He used it, to someone he was angry with. ''you''re such a troublemaker someone should have left you in the hool''. But... he''s a good family guy, a noble. I''m sure he''d never...¡±
¡°At the very least, its a rumour among nobles. And no one said anything to you?¡±
¡°No. Even that''s a big crime, isn''t it?¡±
¡°Get together a posse, Gnor, nice and quiet, but quick. We''re going to be following a cart that''s about half way here by now. The original trader, the original box, and some yellow pom-poms my girlfriend had at school and are the right size to look a bit like fluffballs if you only get a glimpse. We follow the delivery guy, wait until we get the signal, and then we find out how many there are in the lair. My girlfriend and the head of the council of wizardry are on the cart too, posing as tourists. They''ll give the signal.¡±
¡°Aren''t you, supposed to, like, keep your girlfriend out of danger?¡±
¡°The ladies outvoted me, had to be someone totally not scary to a band of child-murderers. And she does know the Zerk.¡±
¡°It''s your future, Dirak. Wow, she''s brave. What a mother for your kids she''s going to make!¡±
¡°I''m proud of her already. I''ll be using wizardry so I''ll know where they are. Round up a few guys, OK? Zerker dad''s be great, I reckon.¡±
¡°That''s going to take me half an hour, Dirak.¡±
¡°That ought to be OK. I spotted them about half-way from Hnut when I came past. The trader''s called Trum, he''s going to be meeting a guy called Wam, if you recognise those names, here in the village. Tell them low key, we don''t want to alert Wam, or any of his friends.¡±
¡°I know Trum and Wam. I''d put them high on the list of suspected smugglers, but I''ve never managed to catch them red-handed. Rumour says they work for someone. Not found out who though. You''ve got it easy in Hnut, Dirak. Up here there''s a lot of miners and they''re pretty much all smuggling something in or out. I''ve got some good citizens, though. I''ll send them here, shall I?¡±
¡°Yeah, that''d be good. I''ll do the explanations when we''re all gathered.¡±
¡°Right. thanks for coming. I''m Dirak, and I''ve got three titles these days: sheriff, wizard-at-large, and Zerker. We don''t know how many we''re up against, but it won''t be lots. You know a seedy guy called Wam?¡± There were some nods.
¡°Wam is in on something. Maybe he''s just a messenger boy, we don''t know. We do know trader Trum''s has been told that his wife and girl have been taken hostage to make sure he makes a delivery. And we do know what the delivery is. The plan is to find out where the delivery is to, who''s in charge. The plan is to arrest that person, and any associates, including Wam; and also to make sure that trader Trum, his wife and girl if they''re there, and a couple of harmless-looking volunteers who''re playing tourists all walk away without a scratch. If that''s too much ambiguity for anyone, or you''re not happy going up against Wam, his boss and unknown others, or you don''t think you can separate good guys from bad guys in a fight, now would be a good time to drop out.¡± He left a pause and asked ¡°no one? Great. Good to have you on board. I see you don''t have a club.¡± Dirak said to one man. ¡°You know the Zerk?¡±
¡°Once,¡± he replied. ¡°Time went slowly, but I was really angry.¡±
¡°Right. The second time you''re in the Zerk, it''s a bit more controlled. Third and fourth time, I was able to hold it off, and push it away when I needed to. My girlfriend, who''s one of the volunteers, by the way, has experienced it three times now, but didn''t expect it, nor recognise it. So... Let me tell you about why you''re here under an unrestrained posse order, which means as long as you''re with me or Sheriff Gnor, then if someone dies, well, that''s a pitty because it means we can''t question them, but as long as they''re bad guys, then you don''t even get a charge of excessive force. Trum isn''t classed as a bad guy, by the way, even though he''s a swindler and a contrabander. Compared to the guys we''re after, he''s practically guiltless. Who''s a parent here?¡± about three quarters of the hands went up, including the Zerker. ¡°So, the delivery. The delivery is now a box containing a couple of yellow pom-poms, but it used to contain a couple of yellow fluffballs, about a year old. We don''t know where the parents are, but we know that''s what Trum was carrying. And we can guess why too.
"Because some people think that yellow kids hatched in winter are trouble. Old stories, old laws that queen Poli denounced and rescinded. But some people believe them, think it''s honourable to let hatchlings starve to death. Mainly it''s older relatives who didn''t approve of their deep-red daughter or niece or granddaughter or grand-niece marrying a Zerker. Great aunts and more uncles, great grandparents who think that the best thing to do with a helpless yellow hatchings, not able to even walk is to dump it in a deep dark hole and leave it to starve.
"Anyone angry at that? I know I am. So don''t smash anyone''s head if you can avoid it, nor their mouths, because we want them to talk. We want them to hear what the punishment is for keeping quiet about a plot to commit infanticide. But if you happen to break a back or splinter a leg, when you''re politely asking them to stay still and await formal arrest, then the law understands. Don''t punish, that''s the law''s job. Don''t use more force than you need to. But try not to let any of them get away. Understood? We want to find out who arranged it, who''s the boss, who''s paying, who commissioned it, who knew it was happening. And then we''ll be going after them too. And the same rules apply, minimum force, but any necessary force. We have a search warrant from the county judge in Uttown, it says ''search relevant homes and premisses and arrest all suspected of involvement.'' Again, minimum of force. So we knock politely on the door, and if they won''t open, we smash down the door. And we arrest everyone inside on suspicion. It might be we need to arrest someone''s grandma but hopefully she won''t put up a fight, and will come quietly. That is our job today. The law thanks you for being part of purging this old evil from among us. Any questions?¡±
¡°You said there were two volunteers?¡±
¡°Yes. Zerkess Lenepoli, my girlfriend, and Wizardess Thuna, chair of the high council of wizardry. Their main role is to protect the family of Trum if they''re there. Don''t expect fireballs, do expect there to be invisible walls stopping anyone from getting at the innocent, and even the less guilty, that''s to say, Trum.¡±
¡°But... wizards don''t interfere.¡±
¡°But they do help when asked, within some limits. We use dangerous forces, forces that could easily kill hundreds, so we put limits on how we use our skills, and try hard to injure no one. If you are injured, Thuna will try to protect you, but do not expect her to pin someone against a wall; the forcefield that pins is a tiny mistake from the forcefield that crushes to pulp. I will be using my staff to fly, and maybe to trip people, not to cut people in two.¡±
¡°I didn''t think you could use a staff to cut people in two.¡±
¡°Gnor, do you have something I could cut, to show why wizards don''t take their staffs into fights.¡±
¡°What like?¡±
¡°Bit of old iron, perhaps? Or a tough old log that your axe just bounces off or gets stuck in?¡±
¡°Yeah, great beast of a log. Wait a moment.¡± Gnor went out the back, and Dirak fiddled with his staff.
¡°Everyone stand behind me,¡± Dirak said, ¡°I''m pretty sure I''ve got it right, but it''s been a long time since I wanted to show off as a teenager.¡±
¡°How much swing do you need?¡± Gnor asked, bringing in a large piece of wood, and setting it down on the floor. Dirak was impressed, it must have weighed twice as much as Gnor.
¡°Swing? None at all. And do you want it cut up for kindling, or planks, or what?¡±
¡°You''re going to cut it into planks?¡±
¡°I''ll cut you a dozen strips of veneer if you like, but we ought to be going soon.¡±
¡°Veneer? This I''ve got to see.¡±
¡°You won''t see anything Gnor. Behind me with the others.¡±
Dirak turned on the measurement forcefield, and set the cut width until he was at half the wood, and set the depth. Then he pressed the cut button. There was a slight quiver in the staff as a forcefield an atom thick expanded from the tip at a third of the speed of light; the log split down the middle. He adjusted the cut width to half a millimetre, and one by one, cut Gnor his sheets of veneer. ¡°There you are, one dozen sheets of veneer, assuming I can count, which has been questioned from time to time. It really takes all the fun out of cutting wood, doesn''t it? Or duelling, for that matter.¡± Dirak put the forcefield back to protective dome and then looked a piece of his handiwork.
¡°Pretty though, isn''t it? That''s gluetree or gumtree or angar. You really don''t want to burn that stuff, it''ll make a terrible stink.¡±
¡°What do I do with it then?¡±
¡°I reckon it''d turn into a pretty table. What do you want for it?¡±
¡°How about we say you cut some more sheets when we''re back, and we''ll give each of the guys enough to veneer their tables at home, as a thankyou and a reminder, and I''ll have those dozen sheets to do my desk here and table at home?¡±
¡°Fine by me. The gum''s going to get sticky if someone goes and puts a hot frying pan on it, but it ought to stand boiling water.¡±
¡°You could get rich waving that stick around like that for a couple of days,¡± one of the men said.
¡°Someone told me that when I was sixteen. Back then I said ''and get challenged to a duel by a lot of veneer makers.'' I don''t really think that answer''s still true, since duelling is illegal. But they might decide to try to beat me up some dark night, or sue me to death for loss of trade, or something.¡±
¡°You''re right there, we would. Angar veneer for a whole table? We''d make maybe one of those sheets, but in tiny slivers, in a couple of days, for inlay work, you know. and to do that you have two apprentices sharpening tools for each worker. If you don''t mind I''d like to hang one of my sheets on the wall with a plaque, saying ¡°Why we should be glad wizards don''t intervene: five second''s work.¡±
¡°I''ll do one specially for that. But it did take me two years as an apprentice and half a year as a journeyman training, plus and a lot of evenings to make that tool. Most wizards don''t bother with the guides you need for veneer, by the way.¡±
¡°But anyone by the end of their first year journeyman training could do it?¡±
¡°Oh yes,¡± Dirak assured him, ¡°Now excuse me, I need to go somewhere and watch for approaching wagons.¡±
¡°What about the old palace and harem?¡± Lenepoli asked. ¡°You''ve not mentioned them yet. are they really as beautifully tiled as people say? Would they be a good place to take my class?¡±
¡°You have got to be joking,¡± Trum exploded, just as they got to the gate. ¡°You want to take a school trip to the harem?¡±
¡°Not suitabl, for the kiddies, you think?¡± Lenepoli said, faking sadness.
¡°Not suitable for you, girl.¡± he replied. ¡°Hello Trum, where''s your load?¡± a voice said, as they entered the village gateway.
¡°Hello Wam. Most of it''s in Hnut keeping the company of the sheriff there. He wouldn''t stamp my manifest, said I''d have to go light-cart, so I said, OK, I''ll go light cart. Paid off, too, these two lovely ladies wanted a lift so they can see the sights. Young miss here thinks she ought to bring a school party to see the tiles in the harem.¡±
¡°Then either she''s sick, or she''s not seen them.¡±
¡°Course I''ve not seen them,¡± Lenepoli said. ¡°If I''d seen them, I''d not have paid master Trum here to give me a guided tour.¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
¡°What?¡± Wam asked, ¡°You giving guided tours now, Trum?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Lenepoli corrected him. ¡°As specified on my receipt, one trip to see the sights of Qnut, plain as day. How do I know what the sights of Qnut are if you''re not going to show me? I could waste all day going in the wrong directions.¡±
¡°t''snot that big.¡± Wam said.
¡°Tough. I know what the rates are for passengers. I said I wanted to see the sights, you named a price, saying you were charging extra because you knew all the places, I agreed to pay. Deal done, receipt given. Start my tour.¡±
¡°Any ideas, Wam? I meant I was going to tell her about them.¡±
¡°Miss, before ''e gives you your guided tour, can I have my little chat with ''im?¡± Wam said. ¡°Private business transaction, you know.¡±
¡°You''re no ''elp!¡± Trum said.
¡°Fine, go for your chat. I''ll stay on the cart.¡± Lenepoli said.
Trum groaned. ¡°OK, Wam, where shall we talk?¡±
¡°In ''ere.¡± Wam said, taking Trum down a little alley. ¡°You got a delivery for me?¡±
¡°Yeah, didn''t know you was into the theatre, Wam. You''ve got something for me, in exchange?¡±
¡°Not here.¡±
¡°Where?¡±
¡°You give me my merchandise, and when I''ve checked it, then I''ll see what I can find you.¡±
¡°You''ll give me what the letter said Wam, and I''ll make sure it''s OK, and then I''ll give you your merchandize, Wam without asking the sheriff to have a look at what''s in the box.¡±
¡°You looked.¡±
¡°First night. What do you want a couple of fake fluffballs for, I don''t know, but somehow I don''t think it''s a private performance. Give you a bit more time while you do a substitution kidnapping or summint? Don''t tell me. Just tell: Where''s my wife Wam? And my daughter? Give''m back and I''ll go take up fishing for a living or something, you''ll never hear of me again. I ain''t involved no more. They execute you for being involved in kidnapping, I''m delivering your theatre props and I''m out.¡±
¡°And why do you think I''m going to let you get away, when you know who I am?¡±
¡°Easy, mate, ''cause those two lovely ladies out there know I''m talking to someone called Wam, and that old one? She was doing some sketches on the way. Really realistic. I reckon if you go spoiling their guided tour, your picture and mine are going to be in front of the sheriff right quick.¡±
¡°What did you tell them?¡±
¡°I said I had to make an urgent delivery up here. I told loads of people, what with being held up by that stupid sheriff in Hnut I told you about. I got there around dawn, got stopped by some muscle man who wanted his money and didn''t like the tariff, then the sheriff turned up telling me I had to go back and settle it day after tomorrow, and I said, right, I''ll settle it day after tomorrow, and I''m leaving my cargo here, because my spiky might be pregnant, you never know, and it''s been a hard run, too. I don''t want some other sheriff telling me she''s hauling too much and needs a day''s break.¡±
¡°They''re from Hnut?¡±
¡°Yeah. Young''un''s a teacher there.¡±
¡°You blazing idiot!¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°The Hnut sheriff''s got a teacher for a girlfriend. It''s got to be her, hasn''t it!¡±
¡°So?¡±
¡°So how are you planning to get to Tumpf if you''re giving them a guided tour?¡±
¡°Tumpf?¡±
¡°You''re supposed to meet me here and take me and the cargo to Tumpf, you idiot. I don''t know nothing about your wife and girl, I guess they''re there.¡±
¡°Tumpf. Right. It''s not that far, is it? Half an hour?¡±
¡°''bout that.¡±
¡°So, we tell the ladies we''ll start in Tumpf, ''cause that''s where you need the package delivered.¡±
¡°Start in Tumpf?¡±
¡°Their tour of all the sights. What''s to see in Tumpf?¡±
¡°Nothing.¡±
¡°There''s got to be something. Some old ruins or something? Teacher''s really into ruins.¡±
¡°Oh yeah, there''s the old ruined mine, I s''pose that''s worth a look if you''re brain dead.¡±
¡°All the sights. No old ruined mine here, let''s go to Tumpf.¡±
¡°Then you''ll get your wife and kid and calmly take everyone on a guided tour?¡±
¡°No.¡± Trum said. ¡°Then I''ll say, ''hey, I didn''t know you were here! What are you doing up here? ''Scuse me ladies, I really need to have a good long talk to my wife about what''s wrong at home.'' Or some such rot and hand em back three quarters of the fee if I need to to get rid of them.¡±
¡°Why not do that now?¡±
¡°Not enough motive to offer them so much. It''d be suspicious. And it''ll take that much to get rid of them.
I''ll give it a go, say there''s only a ruined mine there, but motive''s important, see. If you''re conning someone, you''ve got to have a believable motive to change plans.¡±
¡°And you''re conning them, are you?¡±
¡°That teacher might be pretty and think she''s clever, but she doesn''t know the passenger rate very well, Wam, I''m charging them four times standard. Dayligh robbery it is, shouldn''t be allowed!¡± he laughed coarsely. Then sobered up. ¡°My.wife''s OK, isn''t she, Wam? And my girl?¡±
¡°I don''t know nothing.¡±
¡°Yeah, right. You''ll stand up for me, won''t you, Wam? I don''t double-cross people, but this was bigger than just moving some brandy, else your boss would have never taken my wife and girl. It''s too big for a small time guy like me. I''m not up to it. I''ll do my delivery, then that''s it, I''ll empty my cart, sell it and my spiky and take up fishing. Lie low till I die. Your boss won''t mind that, will he?¡±
¡°I really don''t know a fing, Trum. Don''t think I seen you this scared though. Thought you was always cool.¡±
¡°My dad got burned, Wam; someone snitched and he burned. I don''t mind risking prison, that''s fair game, but I don''t want someone to snitch on me and get burnedalive, I''ve got a wife and a girl to look after. And your boss took ''em. That''s got me scared, all right. What''s he want to take them for? I can keep quiet, you know that.¡±
¡°I know that, Trum. You''re reliable, you are. I told the boss, Trum''s reliable. You pay him, and he gets the job done, none''s the wiser. So why did you dump your cargo?¡±
¡°I went the long way down to the city. Full cart, extra five days travel. I honestly forgot the guy whose leather I had was like, strongest guy in half the county. He didn''t like the extra tariff, see, started to get rowdy? Then the sheriff comes up, ''Is there a problem? You can''t trade on Restday, there''s a by-law. I can''t stamp your papers, there''s a by-law. Enjoy your stay.'' With your theatrical props, on my cart, looking really like a couple of fluffballs. Really unnerving that was. I poked them, though, not real, and was I thankful. But I still didn''t want the sheriff to look at that bit of cargo. So I said, fine, if I''m going light-cart, I''ll go light cart. Then I don''t get.anyone bothering about any stamps, see? Avoid any more run-ins with sheriffs, keep a low profile. I really like low profile, these days. I want to see my little girl grow up happy, not whistling on some street corner in Drana like my mum had to.¡±
¡°All right, Trum, don''t panic. Let''s go to Tumpf.¡±
Qnut Sheriff''s office, Restday early afternoon.
¡°OK guys,¡± Dirak told the posse, ¡°They''ve just left, heading along the valley road. We''re going to need to follow, but far enough away that they don''t see us.¡±
¡°Sounds tricky.¡±
¡°I should have asked. Is anyone afraid of heights?¡±
¡°You''re not going to fly us all, are you?¡± the veneer maker asked.
¡°You''re welcome to go by thlunk if you prefer, but they might have watchers out, so you''re going to have to not be looking at where they go.¡±
¡°He''s going to fly us.¡± Gnor said. ¡°That was my plan.¡±
¡°And you''ve no idea where they''re going?¡±
¡°Somewhere in Tumpf.¡±
The old mine, Tumpf
¡°Trum,¡± the figure in shadow said. ¡°Why are those females here?¡±
¡°It''s a bit complicated. They paid me over odds, for a lift, and reckon I agreed to give them a guided tour, because they said they wanted to see the sights and I said I knew what they ought to see.¡±
¡°They tricked you, you mean?¡±
¡°Yeah, well, they wanted the guided tour, I wanted four times the going rate.¡±
¡°Mutual profit. I see. And they won''t get off your cart?¡±
¡°They know enough... while they''re on, they''re passengers.¡±
¡°But you''ve got the package.¡±
¡°Yes, sir. Got curious and read the note, my first day out. Two scarily good fake fluffballs. Must be expensive, props that lifelike, had to poke em with a stick to be sure. I was gentle, of course, didn''t want to deliver damaged goods. Just couldn''t get over how lifelike they was. You''ve got my wife, my daughter.¡±
¡°Amazingly enough, yes.¡± the figure said. ¡°We wouldn''t want to break a deal, now, would we? That''s bad for business. I''m sure they''re looking forwards to seeing you. But they''re not here.¡±
¡°That''s what Wam said, sir. Going to be hard to explain it to my passengers.¡±
¡°Oh they''re not far. First I need to see the props.¡±
¡°That''ll be hard, sir, the passengers, once the delivery''s made they''ll wonder,
suspect something. It''s not exactly a warehouse, now, is it? Silly thing is, this place is the only place we could think we''d show them here.¡±
¡°Oh, you must invite them in, let them have a look at the place.¡±
¡°If you think it''s wise, sir. Urm, the young one, she''s a teacher in Hnut. Wam thinks she might be the sheriff''s girlfriend. I dunno if he''s right, but it''s what she said, she''s looking for some place to bring a school history trip.¡±
¡°And the old woman?¡±
¡°Friend of her mum. Company for the journey.¡±
¡°Trum, you''ve brought me trouble.¡±
¡°I''ve brought you the package sir, and like I told Wam, I don''t know what you want with them props, but, well, taking my wife, my girl, that made me think its not safe them being home without me, is it? Someone I don''t know might take them.
"So I''m going to get out of carting. Take up fishing some place where if the sheriff wants to look at my stuff all I''ll have to show him is fish. I want to see my little girl grow up, sir.¡±
¡°You''re going straight?¡±
¡°Mostly. Staying home, anyway. Those props, they was right scary, they were. Made me think of what happened to my dad. I got scared and then I got thinking; going straight is going to be boring, but it''s better than my little girl ending up on some street corner in Drana, sir.¡±
¡°Parental concern from Trum the trader. Amazing! Amazing! Who got to you Trum?¡±
¡°Don''t understand, sir.¡±
¡°What got you so scared?¡±
¡°It was those props there, and then that Rangar of Hnut stopping me before I could. go on, and then the sheriff taking an interest, telling me I had to wait until Earthday to present papers, and he''d have to check my cargo before he gave me a stamp tomorrow.
So I told him, fine, I''ll go light-cart, here''s my cargo. I didn''t want to get.stopped again, see? But he expects me to settle that dispute with Rangar on Earthday. He''s going to find out I picked up goods for the long way in Uttown. So I had to go, see? What''d the sheriff think if he saw those props, so realistic? I saw my dad get burned for his part in a kidnapping. I don''t want to get burned.¡±
¡°So the police are on to you.¡±
¡°I might go to jail, I don''t know, cooking the books, it''s not the worst crime in the world, but they sure don''t like it in those villages. But you go home after jail, you don''t go home after being burned. So I won''t say nothing ''bout any of this. No way. Where''s my little girl?¡±
¡°So. the police are on to you, you''ve got scared and gone soft, and now you''re useless to me. What a shame.¡±
¡°Yes sir, I''m sorry sir. But I ain''t no blabbermouth. And I''m not going to risk gettin burned, so I''m going straight and staying away from the law once I''ve settled up in Hnut, And I don''t know nothing about what you''re planning with those fake fluffballs. I don''t even want the delivery fee, sir, just let me have my wife and girl and none of this happened, all right? Can''t say fairer than that sir, can you?¡±
¡°All right, Trum, here''s what you''ll do: You''ll take that box to where your wife and girl are, which is down bit of a ladder, I''m sure you don''t expect me to carry it. And then when you''ve had your happy reunion, you''ll open it so I can see the merchandise. And Wam''ll be there with his club to make sure no one gets any silly ideas, And if the merchandise is all OK, then you and your wife and kid go up the ladder and Wam and me, we never see you again. And we go down and collect it. But if there is something wrong...¡±
¡°Then I stay down the hole with my wife and girl?¡± Trum asked.
¡°Exactly. And before you go, you tell your passengers they''re welcome to stay in the cart, but it''s interesting in here, and your friends have brought your wife and daughter up here as a nice surprise for you. But your daughter''s drawing something, and if you can''t persuade your girl to leave her art project then it might take hours until she''s finished, so maybe they''d like Wam to drive them back to Qnut. And of course you''ll refund their money, come what may. Because you ain''t going nowhere without your family, are you, Trum?¡±
¡°Absolutely not, sir. I was telling Wam, you need a real good excuse to change plans on people. Maybe they''ll even want to walk back to Qnut, save them the wait. You really want me to invite them in?¡±
¡°If they leave your cart they''ve finished their ride, haven''t they? And then they can walk home, and that way Wam doesn''t need to get so friendly with the back view of.your spiky.¡±
¡°Oh that''s clever sir! Very clever!¡± Trum said. Not liking one bit the implication that it was a foregone conclusion that he was staying there.
¡°Anyone see any faces at windows?¡± Dirak whispered. Since they were three hundred metres paway, on the other side of the valley, it wasn''t needed, but the occasion demanded
it, he thought. They were mostly out of sight, having found spot in the shadow of an overhang, ¡°None. Doesn''t mean there aren''t any.¡± Gnor said.
¡°But it might mean everyone''s inside, which''d be really handy.¡±
¡°Dirak, you don''t reckon the hool is down the old mine, do you?¡±
¡°It might well be. You don''t get much more of a deep dark hole than a mine.¡±
¡°Who owns these workings, do you know?¡±
¡°The mayor. Been in his family for generations, pretty much everything round here that''s old and falling apart belongs to him. Not many buyers for a disused mine or a disused palace, even the theatre''s been closed since the roof caved in a couple of years ago. He keeps trying to talk up the palace mosaics and things, but really, it''s the end of the line and he knows it.¡±
¡°Is he married?¡±
¡°Yes, nice lass, much younger than him. I think actually it was more that she was new to the village, down on her luck and let herself be impressed by his ancestry. No sign of any eggs, nor likely to be.¡±
¡°Because?¡±
¡°Rumour says they had an almighty row and she won''t talk to him. All I know is she spends a lot of time in the church, praying, and a lot of time in the school, helping out, and a lot of time trying to help poor people. Rumour says she''s planning to stand.against him for the post of mayor, when it comes up in a month''s time. She''ll probably win, just because she''s really happy to be out of the house, and he''s a miserable old guy. That''s him.¡±
¡°That man with Trum?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Let''s all listen in, then.¡±
The conversation they heard was about the ladies being invited in to see the old workings, and the old offices, and how yes, it''d make a very educational visit for the school children, and how Trum''s friends had arranged the surprise for him of his wife and daughter being here, but of course it made more sense to not leave business unfinished before the joyful reunion.
¡°Who''d ever be convinced about that line?¡± one of the posse members said.
¡°Someone who knew it was a hostage situation,¡± Dirak said, ¡°and who didn''t want to make a fuss.¡±
¡°What?¡± Thuna''s voice exploded from Dirak''s staff. ¡°How does it possibly make sense? You''ve spoiled the surprise by telling him that, and now you''re not letting the man see his family? What sort of friends are you? Totally brain-dead? Give the guy ten minutes to kiss his wife and hug his daughter, then talk business. I don''t.know, some people! Go on, shoo, get back in there for some happy reunions! Talking about school visits and keeping a family apart? That''s cruel! You!¡± She waved the staff at the younger man, ¡°You let the boss talk school visits and take me and Trum to. see his wife. I want a word with her. What was she thinking of? Trum might have found a cargo that let him make a side trip home, and what a surprise that''d be, eh? Come, on,nmove boy, take me to see see the silly thing.¡±
Thuna got off the cart, continuing her unending and uninterruptable stream of words about how thoughtless it had been and how Trum''s wife ought to have thought it through and what did they mean, business needed to come first and so on. Prodding the confused Wam with her staff every time he looked back towards his boss for guidance, she got him to lead them towards the building, and then berated him even more when he moved to pick up his club at the doorway. ¡°What do you need that thing for? You''re planning on threatening Trum until he gives his wife a kiss? I don''t know, leave the guy some privacy! But show us the way, boy.¡±
¡°Is that part of the plan?¡± another of the posse members asked.
¡°Once she''s found the wife and girl, we go in. That''s the plan.¡± Dirak said.
¡°It was wonderful how she stopped Wam from picking up his club, there.¡± Gnor said.
¡°She often said she wanted to be an actress when she was young, and she''s used to dealing with a crowd of unruly apprentices,¡± Dirak said, ¡°I expect she''s thoroughly enjoying herself. Be ready, guys, things might happen quickly.¡±
¡°How quickly?¡±
¡°Are you joking?¡± Thuna said over the radio. ¡°Down there? Why is Trum''s wife down there? Hello is there really someone down there?¡±
A faint sound was then heard, followed by Trum''s voice, ¡°I''m here Estha. Trum.¡±
¡°Touching, innit?¡± Wam said, then there was the sound of a scuffle. ¡°Be careful, Trum, don''t struggle,¡± Wam''s voice said, ¡°It''s a long way down.¡±
¡°You think think I''m going to just stand by and let you throw him over the edge?¡± Thuna asked.
¡°No, lady, I''m just going to tell you to climb down the ladder, nice and calmly, and that way I won''t drop him. You see, trader Trum here tried to cheat my boss. That''s not a nice thing to do, not to a descendent of the princes. And he knows too much, too, just like you. So either you can climb down that ladder, nice and civilised like, or I''ll have to throw Trum down and you too.¡±
¡°I see. That''s your plan is it?¡±
¡°Good plan, isn''t it?¡±
¡°You forgot something. I''ve still got my walking stick.¡±
¡°And what are you going to do, hit me on the head and the catch Trum before he hits the bottom?¡±
¡°No, that entirely lacks finesse,¡± Thuna said. ¡°I prefer doing it this way.¡±
¡°OK, guys, that wasn''t the signal but it''ll do.¡± Dirak said, starting to fly them down.
¡°What happened?¡± one of them asked.
¡°When a sixty something year old female with a walking stick that''s taller than she is gets cross with a young male, what do you think happens?¡± Gnor asked.
¡°Something intensely painful?¡±
¡°Exactly my thought.¡± Dirak agreed. ¡°She won''t have used wizardry to incapacitate Wam, but she might well have used the stick. He might be missing a kneecap, you never know.¡±
¡°I wasn''t thinking about knees.¡±
¡°She will have been. Knows all about a guy''s weak spots. A guy will defend his genialita, but take out his knees, and you can be sure he''s not going to chase you down any ladder.¡±
Inside the mine
¡°He could have dropped me.¡± Trum said.
¡°But he didn''t, stop worrying. It''s a little known thing, but if you suddenly experience pain and you''re off balance, then you don''t drop things, you hang on to them. I took out his leg, and tugged his crest. He didn''t want to fall over, so he pulled you in. It''s all about reflexes, see?¡±
¡°So you knew what''d happen?¡±
¡°At least sixty percent sure. Come on, I don''t care how hard you kicked him, you''ve got your wife waiting for you. ¡°Down the ladder?¡±
¡°With my knees? You''re joking. Hold on to the staff. It''s faster too.¡±
¡°How much faster?¡±
¡°Half a second if you like.¡±
¡°Half a second faster?¡±
¡°No, travel time. But let''s go down slowly. Some people throw up their first few times.¡±
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 13: Rescue
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 13: Rescue
Extract from initial contact report
We have found out what caused such a stir from Maggie''s speech. Apparently the version in most copies of scripture here says something like ''put any to death without cause''. Rina heard Maggie''s thoughts and being ignorant of such things, didn''t think to put it into such theologically polished terms, and wrote ''the innocent''. There''s a difference, apparently. There are plenty of cases where the innocent are put to death, e.g. as family members are judged to bear a kind of collective responsibility. Maggie''s version has just declared pretty much every judge and lawmaker as under God''s curse. Anisilakiina''s reaction to this was a little unexpected: ''thank you.''
''But we''ve just said they''re all under God''s curse.''
''Are they not? Do they not need to repent? Thank you for being brave, for telling those born-red lovers of bloodshed that God is not impressed by those who shed the blood of the innocent because of their stubborn pride.''
''You were not born red?''
''That is an old story you do not know. Nor do you know its significance, or the significance of my name.''
Saleth said ''Maggie says ¡°I do, for this gift cuts across all languages, but I did not know it was truth. And Saleth does not know.¡± and she is right. I do not know these things.''
''Your birth colour marked you as trouble for reds. So does mine, particularly those who don''t like parliament.''
''I''m confused, You thank me for insulting parliament, but you like parliament.''
''I respect the institution. I have less respect for a lot of the members as individuals, and desire them to repent.''
In the disused mine, in Tumpf
¡°How many are there?¡± Thuna asked, looking by the light of the tiny candle at Trum''s wife cuddling a little yellow ball, her daughter, barely four, she guessed, stroking another.
¡°I heard this one, Jas heard the other, I could give them some milk before I ran out. There are others... I do not know if they still live or not. And there are older boxes. So many boxes. Do you... do you have a full stomach?¡±
¡°I''ve never married.¡± Thuna said, understanding the question: could she feed them?.
¡°Oh, the poor poor innocents.¡±
¡°But we''re leaving soon.¡± Thuna said, ¡°so it won''t be long now.¡±
¡°But where will we go? I heard them say to the landlord, you''d arranged it with them that they''d pay the back-rent but you''d found us somewhere else to stay.¡±
¡°There''s a lake, near where Reqiq was, a fishing village.¡± Trum said, ¡°Lady here thought we might live there. But I''m leaving trading, going straight.¡±
¡°You''ve said you''re going straight before.¡±
¡°They weren''t sure about me, I guess. That''s why they kidnapped you and Jas, Estha, I was supposed to bring up two more.¡±
¡°You went to the police instead?¡±
¡°Not willingly,¡± Trum admitted, ¡°I know it was wrong, but I just couldn''t think. I wanted to get you and Jas safe. I''ve been arrested, love. Probably means jail, I don''t know. I wrote down everything, names, times, dates.¡±
¡°You thank God you didn''t deliver any more to this hell, Trum, or I''d have clawed your eyes out.¡±
¡°I''d die to keep you and Jas safe, Estha.¡±
¡°But you wouldn''t go straight.¡±
¡°I tried. I didn''t go looking for Prag, he found me. I''m not good at refusing people, you know me. I can''t be a trader and stay clean. That''s why I think fishing or farming.¡±
¡°You, farm?¡±
¡°I know, I know. But I was stupid then, wasn''t I? You can honestly live off farming. Farmers are like, you know, famous for it. You don''t hear people saying ''stinking liar of a farmer'' do you?¡±
¡°Hold these two, Jas, will you?¡± Estha said ¡°I need to give your dad a hug for saying that.¡±
¡°I''m still probably going to jail, Estha.¡±
¡°But after that, I''m going to be married to an honest man.¡± Estha whispered, stroking his crest. Thuna turned away, and asked Jas ¡°My name''s Thuna. If I carry them, can you show me where the crates are?¡±
Jas nodded, but didn''t let go of her charges. ¡°I didn''t see the rope.¡±
¡°What rope, Jas?¡±
¡°The rope you came down on. They made us climb down the ladder.¡±
¡°Oh. There wasn''t a rope, Jas. I''m a wizardess, and I''m here to help.¡±
¡°Wizards don''t help.¡±
¡°They do now, Jas, they do now. Don''t look at my staff, it''s going to light up.¡±
¡°Like a candle?¡± Jas asked, predictably looking at the staff.
¡°Brighter than a candle.¡±
¡°Brighter?¡±
¡°As long as you''re not looking. You wouldn''t look at the suns would you?¡±
¡°Things go spotty.¡±
¡°Exactly. Don''t make things go spotty.¡±
¡°I like spotty, it''s funny.¡±
¡°Spotty means your eyes have been hurt.¡±
¡°Oh!¡± Jas said. And turned away with her eyes firmly shut.
Thuna triggered the light on her staff and gasped; she was looking down a passage in the mine where there were at least a hundred crates. No, more, she realised. They were stacked four high, two deep, and she couldn''t see the end of the rows. And there were more side corridors.
¡°Evil people.¡± Jas said.
¡°Yes. Very evil or very stupid people did this.¡± Thuna said, then added ¡°And some very scared people ¡°.
¡°Like daddy?¡±
¡°Yes, your daddy was so scared he didn''t know what to do. But God did, so your daddy got stopped. Go back to your mummy and daddy, Jas. I''m going to look in these boxes.¡±
¡°Mummy said..¡± Jas swallowed, ¡°Mummy said these boxes are too old.¡±
¡°The new boxes are further?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°OK. I''m going to look, and see if any of them might still be alive.¡±
¡°Thank you,¡± Jas said, and went back towards her parents.
Thuna wrapped her scarf around her nose and started the grim job of inspecting some of the crates: one skeleton; two skeletons; one; three; two; two, one. She stopped looking and walked to the end of the corridor. Assuming there were all two deep... she reached the end, it was a corner, into a huge cavern. Full with the remains of crumbled, broken crates, with broken balls of skeletons. Tears filled her eyes. The mine, the male who claimed to be the owner had said, had been very active during the time of the princes, but as the top seam of ore had run out, another, deeper level had been found, and then another. The upper level had been abandoned, he said. Abandoned, except for these little crates. Deliberately left, where noone would go, where noone would see, where noone would hear the faint mews and respond with compassion. It had been the law, even, and there had, after all, been a prince here in Qnut. A prince with a harem, and with Zerker guards. According to a history Thuna had read, a female in the harem who displeased the prince was given to his guards. Thuna walked with eyes blurred from tears, back along the corridor, to the next. It was the same, but perhaps the crates were not as old, and there were three adult skeletons there too. She continued to the next corridor. This one was only partly used, and she walked to the end. There was no cavern at the end of this one, for which she offered tearful thanks to God. ¡°But oh heavenly father, how has this gone on so long? Hundreds of years, Lord? Longer? Such evil!¡± As her voice echoed down the corridor, she heard a tiny plaintiff noise. She ran to the crates, and ripped one open. A decomposing body; another, another, but she was sure she''d heard a sound of life, so she kept going. Finally, as she reached what she''d thought were the oldest crates, she found two yellow fluffballs, and then another. Then there were opened crates, where Estha must have found the others. These fluffballs were smaller; they''d been starving down here for longer. Ever so gently, she stroked the one closest to the opened crate, and then the smallest two. The last two she saw, lost some of their fluff as as she touched them. They had almost certainly died. But she didn''t want to guess on her own. She touched some buttons on her staff.
¡°Athrel.¡±
¡°Thuna? Is that you? Your signal''s really bad.¡±
¡°I''m in a mine, so I''m pretty surprised it''s working at all. You''re into medical history; has anyone ever written anything about starvation in fluffballs?¡±
¡°They go into coma.¡±
¡°And then?¡±
¡°They breathe less and less, and then they die.¡±
¡°How do I tell?¡±
¡°Oh Thuna! There are more?¡±
¡°I don''t think it''s ever been disused. There are thousands of tiny skeletons, Athrel, thousands. Two very much alive, rescued earlier, by the wife, who could give them some milk, praise God. But there are three more. Two are starting to lose their fluff, the other one isn''t.¡±
¡°They need the fluff for oxygen, Thuna. I guess those two are dead.¡±
¡°And the other one? I''m no expert, but it barely looks twice the size of an egg, the others are a bit smaller, even.¡±
¡°That''s about one, one and a half seasons. If it was born late winter... put in during the middle of summer?¡±
¡°They can stay alive so long?¡±
¡°There are records, where there was a famine and food ran out even before winter, up in the mountains, and most of the fluffballs survived, even though lots of parents didn''t. They think the fluffballs starved for forty nine days.¡±
¡°I''ve decided. Probably dead isn''t certain enough. I''d rather disturb the dead than abandon the living.¡±
¡°The Lord bless your decision, Thuna. For what it''s worth, I agree.¡±
¡°Quite how to feed one in such a deep coma though...¡±
¡°Keldi would love to have something to do, I expect.¡±
¡°I''d like to set Keldi another challenge. I''m just not sure I''m allowed to.¡±
¡°Changing the law?¡±
¡°Yes, but we don''t do that, do we? Let''s ask her to inform ¡ª because we do that ¡ª parliament that this hool looks like it''s been in regular use for hundreds of years. Oh! The crates are numbered, I''ve just realised; old-style. It looks consecutive.¡±
¡°And?¡±
¡°This year''s boxes are numbers one thousand eight hundred and four to one thousand eight hundred and seven. The earliest had two in it. I looked in some they had three skeletons. And of course Trum was going to bring another two. Would you like me to set Keldi her task?¡±
¡°You''re going to tell her to say that the law has been mocked?¡±
¡°I''m going to ask her to tell the politicians that it appeared that laws based on the now-banned principle of total blood-feud appear to have deterred sorrowing parents and relatives and neighbours from ever raising a complaint.¡±
¡°Yes. It''s not just parents and aunts and uncles, is it? The law would punish all.¡±
¡°It''d be unthinkable to bring that much devastation, even if family pressure kept the parents from showing off their offspring.¡±
¡°I''ll tell Keldi, and go and bother the medics myself.¡±
¡°Thank you, Athrel.¡±
Thuna gently scooped up the larger fluffball, and put him or her in the same box as the two who were gravely ill or dead, and carried the three back towards the others.
¡°I think I heard one of these mew,¡± Thuna said to them. ¡°I''d rather disturb the
dead than fail to save the living.¡±
¡°My stomach is full enough,¡± Trum said. ¡°I was going to try to feed these two, but...¡±
¡°They''re so far gone,¡± Estha said.
¡°They don''t respond to touch,¡± Thuna said, I think we need a doctor for them. We''ll take them back to Hnut.¡±
¡°Now?¡± Estha asked.
¡°You like it here?¡±
¡°But... I heard fighting.¡±
¡°So they''re fighting. I''m not surprised. We''ll fly above or past or through if we really have to, but that wouldn''t be nice to anyone''s ears. Hold onto my staff.¡±
¡°What do you mean, not nice to their ears?¡± Trum asked.
¡°Too complicated to explain. But I''m going to get these little ones to a doctor quite quickly, so everyone hang on.¡±
She set up the forcefields around them, and flew them out of the mine. Although they''d only seen Wam and the mayor, now there were a dozen people tied up. some of them were obviously had broken legs. ¡°Dirak,¡± Thuna said, ¡°There are thousands of crates, and they''re numbered, I expect that means records. We''ve got five, two are alive, one probably is, and two are probably dead, but we don''t know for sure. Next stop, the doctor in Hnut.¡±
¡°Thanks, Thuna,¡± Dirak said, and watched her go. ¡°Well, you don''t see that every day.¡±
¡°What, wizardesses flying that quickly?¡±
¡°No, her going that slowly. If she didn''t have passengers she''d be out of sight by now. Right, Mr soon-to-be ex-mayor. Where are the records?¡±
¡°What are you going to do? Burn me with a hotter fire?¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
¡°No.¡± Dirak said, ¡°I''m going to pull apart every piece of property you own, every brick, every tile, every family grave, until I find what I''m looking for, if you don''t tell me everything I want to know. You will leave no heritage, your name will be erased from history, except as a curse, the palace of your forebears, the theatre, everything you''ve ever considered precious will be no more than mine tailings. And burning is not the punishment that awaits you. You should know that, Polithanapoli decreed it.¡±
¡°So you expect me to be condemned to my own mine? Oh I''m so scared.¡±
¡°Oh, I''m sure you''ve prepared for that eventuality, so I expect the wizards will be asked to dig you a new one, with mirror-finish walls and just enough of an air-hole that you don''t suffocate before you starve.¡±
¡°But I do get to see my wife burned,¡± the mayor said, ¡°and her stinking in-laws, that''ll be pleasant.¡±
¡°We''ll have to see about that, Gnor tells me you''re not exactly on speaking terms. Three of you guys throw these pieces of refuse on the cart, can you, if they won''t climb up on their own. The rest of you come with me and Gnor. Gnor and I need to see this hool for ourselves, and we need to smash up some furniture to see if there''s any paperwork inside it.¡± Dirak said, picking up an axe that one of the criminals had used.
¡°That furniture is over three hundred years old, you vandal!¡±
¡°Oh good. Should be fairly wormy, then,¡±
¡°There''s a hidden compartment in the wardrobe in my office. All the records are there.¡±
¡°Really? I think we''d better have a look there then, and then look to see what else we can find in the splinters.¡±
¡°That furniture is from the first royal palace! You can''t!¡±
¡°Interesting, isn''t it, Gnor? He wants to see his wife die, doesn''t care about the buildings he''s been trying to restore, but he wants to save his desk.¡±
¡°They''re priceless you fool, priceless,¡± the mayor screamed. But he couldn''t move, he''d been tied up too well.
Mine offices, Tumpf
¡°Lovely bits of furniture, these.¡± Gnor said.
¡°I know. Let''s hope he was right about all the records being in the cupboard. Check what''s in the desk, can you Gnor? There''s probably secret compartments there, too. Oh, and don''t use your fingers, there might easily be poison-needles and things like that, you know.¡±
¡°What, you think I''m an expert at that sort of stuff?¡± Gnor protested.
¡°OK, then tell you what, you and the lads check to see there''s no one hiding anywhere, and see if you find anything that''s made of wood and not this precious, see if you can bring it down. I think smashing some wood in the mayor''s hearing might get us some more information, don''t you?¡±
Hnut
¡°Doctor,¡± Thuna said, knocking on her door, ¡°I need expert help.¡±
¡°So you pick on me?¡± the doctor asked.
¡°I''m sorry. If you know someone who might know... We''ve found more. Two are very much alive, one is probably alive, two... I don''t know. The longer strands of their fluff are coming off.¡±
¡°Have you tried feeding them?¡±
¡°No, we didn''t know how they could, they don''t react to touch.¡±
¡°Good.¡±
¡°Good?¡± Thuna asked, surprised.
¡°If you try to wake them to get them to suck, they''ll almost certainly die. That''s why the tickle-fluff goes. It won''t help. And I can''t help, lady wizardess. I read an old text, when I was in training, on what to do, but I don''t have the equipment. I don''t know if anyone has the equipment, it''s such a rare problem these days, with better roads and things.¡±
¡°What''s needed?¡±
¡°They need a thin pipe, they used to use the sterilised gut of a fish, there was some special process to make it just hard enough to keep its shape, but soft enough that it wouldn''t harm. The poor mite can''t swallow, so you need to put the tube into their stomach, and then give them... I can''t remember, and it''s important how much. just enough at each feeding time.¡±
¡°I think we can help with the tube. We use fish-gut sometimes. Do you remember what the book was called?¡±
¡°It was old, ''on the care of the young'', or something like that.¡±
¡°I''ll ask Dirak if he has it.¡±
Mine office, Tumpf
¡°This one looks like building expenses,¡± Lenepoli said, looking at ledger number six.
¡°Meticulous folk, weren''t they?¡±
¡°Meticulous and scatter-brained. Every different category in a different book, and no summary? And where are the records for the hool?¡±
¡°Your wish might be granted.¡± Dirak said from in the cupboard, ¡°This one looks like the annual summaries, but it''s a bit cryptic, and there might be another hidden compartment.¡±
¡°Cryptic accounting?¡±
¡°Have a look, it''s done by year and book number, but what''s the rest of the code?¡±
¡°Oh, I''m stupid!¡±
¡°No you''re not,¡± Dirak said.
¡°I thought the book had a lot of spare pages. He''s got different sections in each one.¡±
Dirak''s staff buzzed. ¡°Hello?¡±
¡°Dirak,¡± Thuna''s voice echoed in the room, ¡°Does your library have a copy of ''on the care of the young''? or something similar, which might happen to include resuscitation instructions for starving fluffballs.¡±
¡°No, sorry.¡±
¡°Mine does.¡± Lenepoli said ¡°It was part of my basic medicine course. It''s why I had the yellow pompoms, We had to practice giving drips of milk to them, without getting any on their fluff.¡±
¡°The doctor doesn''t have a copy. You have the fish-gut to go with it?¡±
¡°Yes. The doctor doesn''t?¡±
¡°No, didn''t think anyone studied that any more.¡±
¡°Maybe not doctors. This teacher did though.¡±
¡°What are you doing there?¡±
¡°Trying to decipher old records.¡±
¡°Dirak, I''m coming to steal your girlfriend,¡± Thuna declared, ¡°there''s three little fluffballs needing her care.¡±
¡°Good idea.¡± Dirak said, moving aside the panel with a probe. Can you take the records too? I''ve just found another three boxes, no make that four. But wear gloves, they might be poisoned.¡±
The throne-room, parliament, Skyday morning, 4th of Winter
¡°Honourable parliamentarians, thank you for coming,¡± Keldi said, as she entered. She sat down on the dais, beside the throne, not on it; that would have been going too far.
¡°Your summons was most urgent,¡± someone said.
¡°Not to mention unheard of in living memory,¡± another voice said.
¡°Not quite. My mother summoned parliament, when I was young, over the matter of titles. Please, be seated.¡±
¡°Yes. Your mother suggested that titles be no more. So how do your loyal parliamentarians address you, Keldithanapoli daughter of Janithanapoli?¡±
¡°You may use my name, of course. I prefer Keldi. Any disloyal parliamentarians can use that too, by the way.¡±
¡°Keldi, may we know the reason for the summons?¡±
¡°Certainly. In some ways I am here with two roles. I called you together by my name, because that name has an effect in this building, I called you here today, knowing it would probably ruin some plans, and I''m sorry for that, but also being relatively sure that you would not have long-planned business meetings. But as you can probably guess by this staff, I''m also a wizardess. Apolitical twice, you might say. I was asked, yesterday, by the chair of the high council of wizardry to inform you of something. I thought that I''d also inform you of a couple of other things too, while you''re here. I''ll start with the two minor things. Firstly, the high council of wizardry has been asked to form a second school of wizardry, in the village of Hnut, and we plan to do just that. Our hope is that this will go a long way towards gaining more wizards from villages, and as we expect that a lot of those who take the first year will only take the first year, we hope that this second school will also spread the knowledge of science and scientific knowledge far better than we''ve been able to so far.
"We will not be surprised if there are other villages that suddenly come down with a case of envy, and get the idea of asking for a school of wizardry too. I expect we''ll ask if we can wait and see how this one works for a few years, but we don''t want to get involved in the politics of having to choose between multiple places. The sheriff of Hnut suggested that the right place to have it was a district-village, where there was already teaching to ISC level, and that it would be appropriate for such schools to be a significant distance from the city, to the South, East or West.¡±
¡°That''s a minor issue?¡±
¡°It is. So is the issue that the high council of wizardry has re-examined the policy of non-intervention and realised it has become a policy of non-involvement. We will no longer make it a policy that a wizard should walk past a crime in progress. We will not take prisoners or injure using our technology, but we will encourage our fellow wizards to protect the innocent if they are able.This decision was reached just over a week ago.
"Yesterday, that new resolve was put to the test, and so I am here to inform you that officer Dirak, sheriff of Hnut, arrested a trader yesterday morning on a charge of unwilling involvement in a plot to commit infanticide. The trader had two winter-born yellows in a crate on his wagon. His wife and child had been kidnapped and were held hostage in what was found to be a hool that''s been in continuous operation since the time of the princes.¡± She paused a while for the shocked murmurs to die down. ¡°Is the terminology understood? A dark place where a fluffball will be left to die out of sight. In that hool they found similar crates to the one that had been found on the cart, numbered sequentially.
The sequence went above one thousand eight hundred. Every crate that was checked had been left there with one, two or three fluff-balls inside. A few yellow fluffballs were recovered and are now receiving treatment for starvation. Records were found, as I say, linking crate number to a date, and who ordered it, and when it was returned. There was one workshop where they made crates, always the same size. Another one where they made sculptures and so on to be delivered in the crates. Most of them were not numbered, and sometimes crates came back. If unnumbered ones came, they came back laden with spirits or other contraband which the proprietor would sell to the mining community, but the numbered ones would return light, and with a so-called ''re-stocking'' fee that was more than the sculpture had been.
"All of the workers knew there was something suspect going on, most assumed it was some kind of illegal scam. A few knew more details. Three knew everything, one pleaded that the ring-leader, the mayor of Qnut, pressured him into being involved. But of course there are the families who sent them there, who ought to be living in terror that their crime might be found out. But probably don''t know, because you don''t talk about crimes that would send your entire family to the burn-pit, do you?¡±
¡°One thousand eight hundred?¡±
¡°One thousand eight hundred and seven names where parents had their offspring snatched away, in obedience to a law that was rescinded by Polithanapoli''s mother, and obedience to it made a crime by Polithanapoli, even though a marriage that would produce a winterborn remained illegal. In a few cases, it was only attempted infanticide, not actual infanticide.
"But as the law at least impacts the families of both bereft parents, then crudely that''d be three thousand six hundred families who according to the law, should expect total devastation.
"The wizards and wizardesses who helped in uncovering this plot, who rescued the hostages and the winterborns, made it their reasonable request that only the actually guilty should be punished. This restriction on the court was witnessed and acknowledged by the county judge in Uttown, and I seriously doubt he knows how many lives he saved with that one act yesterday morning. Speaking for myself, I say I rejoice for his wisdom, because I have seen the name of my husband''s grandmother''s brother on that list. His daughter married a Zerker, I know. Speaking once more as a wizard, I say that because the law as it stands now knows no limitation of time, no mercy for crimes done in the distant past, then that number is enormous; two hundred and fifty years is about ten generations. If there has been no in-breeding then the two families represented by each name in those records have by now become two thousand families. If the law were followed rigorously, we expect no reds oranges or blues would remain alive.
"The greens who love peace but are so often despised, so rarely considered good marriage partners, probably survive. Especially since by my studies, when such marriages do occur they rarely produce many children. So we expect the greens would survive such a bloodletting. But they''d be traumatised by it, I''m sure.
"This is what the chair of the high council of wizardry has asked me to inform the legislature of this planet; these truths and speculations. May God who hates the punishment of the innocent have more mercy on us than the people who wrote this law would have on those alive today. Speaking as myself once more, I expect it is the horror this law would unleash that has kept this secret so long, that kept mother and father from speaking out. I expect you have your own opinions.¡±
¡°I propose a vote of thanks for all that the heir to the empty throne has communicated to us today, I rejoice it was her and no other, and so we have no need to publish this horrendous communication.¡± There was a murmur of agreement to that. ¡°I further propose we purge our law-books of these godless laws that would punish the innocent along with the guilty, and so let the guilty go unpunished.¡±
¡°Do we not care that these laws have convinced many a criminal to speak all he or she knows?¡±
¡°And do the police not need to confirm it, because they speak more than they know?¡±
¡°Parliamentarians, I leave you to your debate. But I wish to point out to you that what I communicated to you as wizard must not be granted crown privilege. It was entrusted to me as wizardess, and it will be published openly, and indeed it bears upon court cases that must not be stopped, lest the guilty will go unpunished.
She paused a little, and then continued, ¡°To the honourable gentleman who feels that the law must continue to terrify and who clearly does not welcome the condition of my fellow wizards and wishes to be excused it, then let me reassure him. My own rage against those who kill innocent hatchlings is as firm as his, and I find myself most willing to give into the innate bellicosity that a thousand years of breeding as the most noble of all nobles has given me.
"So, should some great-great-aunt on his mother''s side turn out to be listed in the records of this evil, then, once he''s finished dealing lawful death to his aunts, uncles, nieces, cousins, children and grandchildren, if he finds himself suddenly too weary to raise the club to his own head, then
let me reassure him I''ll happily finish the job he can''t, and purge the world of the evil blood that he accidentally finds to run in his veins. May God have mercy on my soul, I''d even enjoy doing it, and I could even make it all legal by sitting on that chair, couldn''t I? Then we continue this debate in the traditional manner, could we not? Claw versus claw, sword against club? I''m sure that the peaceloving greens would find it much easier to rule sensibly once we bellicose reds have shredded one another to pieces. Now stop sharpening your claws and grow up! I''m leaving before I''m tempted further.¡±
An elderly female green stood and said, ¡°Thank you, Keldi, for reminding us so clearly why you''re apolitical, and for your wisdom in declining once more the temptation of power. But as you are here in person, I beg your indulgence. You wrote recently of Sithinilakiina, may I ask more about her?¡±
¡°How can I answer that? Well I''ll try in a way she''d prefer. Sithini started off in the school as a twelve year old green, lost her family in the Reqiq landslide, made some very firm friends who learned that if you''re her friend, you expect practical jokes. She has convinced us all that she''s a genius.
Recently she turned red and is now twenty, and has been making new friends among the apprentices, and so far this term her practical jokes have failed to break any windows. She becomes physically unwell in reaction to violence, her thinking is very quick, and very linear, she hates jumping around in stories. ¡°She flatly refused to help track down the parents of the first two fluffballs found until it was agreed that no innocent would be harmed directly from her helping, or indirectly except as a direct consequence of the punishment of the guilty. She decided that reuniting the fluff-balls with their parents was similar to leading home a straying thlunk, and so yesterday she designed and built a device that examines samples of DNA and determines how close the link is. I think it can get some samples from dust in the air, or something like that.
Today she''s testing it, and last I heard was rather annoyed with sheriff Dirak that the list he''s found will, to quote her, ''take a lot of the fun out of the challenge.''¡±
Keldi turned to leave, just as there were some shouts outside the throne-room, followed by a knocking on the door. To Keldi''s ears the knocking was high,Nalmost at the top of the door. Keldi adjusted her grip on her staff; she might be puzzled, but no thanapoli ever let mere puzzlement stop her in her steps as if she was scared. There were more shouts outside, more in a tone of frustration than anger, she realised. It was a sound she was quite used to from the college, when someone''s experiment was going wrong.
¡°Stand back, good parliamentarians, I think I recognise that voice.¡±
With a finger on the forcefield button just in case, Keldi opened the door. Something the size of a small fluffy zipped in, above head-height, making happy chirping noises. It was followed by a shout of dismay. ¡°No! Who opened that door? Oh, hello Keldi! My little search-bot has got a bit confused. I think it''s decided to follow you.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Not sure. But you did hand me the pheromone detector this morning.¡±
¡°Pheromone detector?¡±
¡°Yes, little known fact, everyone has a pheromone signature that is almost exactly like their father''s, with a tiny tweak from their mother. The wind was coming from this direction and when I turned on the detector it leapt into the air and shot straight out of the window. It shouldn''t have moved. I must left the flight function still on.¡±
¡°You should have put it on a lead.¡±
¡°The glue hadn''t set; it came off.¡±
¡°Hmm. Ladies and gentlemen of parliament, allow me to introduce the recently mentioned Sithinilakiina.¡±
¡°Urm, Hi!¡± Sithini said, realising for the first time that Keldi wasn''t alonenin the room. ¡°This is the throne room?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Keldi said.
¡°Oops.¡±
¡°I was just leaving,¡± Keldi said, ¡°You may too.¡±
¡°I''m just glad I hadn''t added the moss dispenser.¡± Sithini said.
¡°Moss?¡± Keldi asked.
¡°Dirak''s suggestion. Just in case.¡±
¡°Just in case what?¡±
¡°It found its target in a crowded place.¡±
¡°Like here.¡±
¡°Urm yes, do you think he might have been winding me up?¡±
¡°Sithini, if it was following me, and it had dropped moss on me, I''d probably still be jumping up and down on its pieces. But why is your little machine bouncing up and
down above the honourable member for Wendig?¡±
¡°Wendig?¡± Sithini asked, surprised.
¡°It seems to like me,¡± the elderly female who''d been talking earlier said.
¡°My father was from Wendig,¡± Sithini said, approaching her.
¡°I do have a cousin whose son lived in Reqiq, but I''m sure I never heard that he got married, so I don''t see how you can be a relative of mine.¡±
¡°My grandparents didn''t think a decent peace-loving green lad ought to go marrying a ''red plumed warmonger''. That hurt mummy a lot, and they never wanted us to visit.¡±
¡°So it should have hurt Ranthilakiina,¡± Keldi said, ¡°Given her attitude to conflict, Now one of you ought to name some names, and we''ll see if Sithini''s creation works properly.¡±
¡°Of course it does, Keldi.¡± the elderly lady replied, ¡°My nose may not be as sharp as her flying box, but she smells like family to me. You father was called Qwan, wasn''t he?¡±
¡°Yes,¡±
¡°My cousin was never a student of history, but it would be my pleasure to educate him. Would you be willing to meet your grandparents, peace-loving heiress to the southern throne?¡±
¡°Warn them I''ll cry.¡± Sithini said, tears of joy filling her eyes.
Hnut, Earthday, 5th of Winter
¡°You were winding me up about the moss, weren''t you, Dirak?¡± Sithini accused.
¡°You didn''t really put some in, did you?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°No, but it sort of works.¡±
¡°What sort of works?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°It disappeared out of the window and invaded the throne room where Keldi had just told them about Restday and then it found my grandfather''s cousin.¡±
¡°Wow!¡±
¡°Yes. It''s quite a dangerous thing, really.¡± Sithini said. ¡°I mean, I wanted it to find fathers or grandfathers, not distant cousins on the male side.¡±
¡°Oh, yes, I see your point.¡±
¡°But anyway, how are the little ones?¡±
¡°Doctor says it''s too early to tell, but apart from being entirely ravenous and sleeping lots, they don''t seem that badly affected. Yalinth is being very protective of them; she says she wants to meet the parents, when we find them.¡±
¡°The records don''t name the parents, do they?¡± Sithini said.
¡°No, not at all. A name, and a village. Most are from near the city. You''ve heard of the new law?¡±
¡°No.¡± Sithini replied.
¡°Passed late last night. ''Repeal of the royal talon law. General modification of all laws prescribing a punishment akin to blood-feud. The honour of the law is not served by punishing the innocent for the crimes of relatives, but by the punishment fitting the crime and falling on the guilty.¡±
¡°Praise God!¡±
¡°And Keldi. She''s pretty good at being an apolitical decision influencer. Speaking of which, when do we go and reunite parents and offspring? I thought it was going to happen today.¡±
¡°So did we. But... well, maybe this evening?¡±
¡°OK. I''ll stop bothering you, then. There are some others I need to bother, I think.¡±
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 14: Tick
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 14: Tick
Watchmaker''s shop, the capital, late Earthday afternoon.
Quif, journeyman watchmaker and master-watchmaker''s son looked up from his work; finished at last. Another time-piece destined to be worn like an ornament, when it was a miracle of time-keeping. He sighed. He hated the way that he had to paint intricate designs on his watches, as if they were jewellery, but they wouldn''t sell otherwise. What was wrong with letting the motion of the gears fascinate? A movement caught his eye, next to the unpainted watches. ¡°There are no such things as fairies, so what are you?¡±
The tiny figure he''d glimpsed the day before vanished, just like it had yesterday.
¡°What did you say, Quif?¡± His father asked.
¡°Sorry, father. I saw something. It looked like a girl, but barely bigger than a number four pinion. I saw it yesterday too,¡±
¡°You need to get out son, lad. Meet some real girls, not just fantasize about them.¡±
¡°I know some real girls. They think watchmaking is boring.¡±
¡°Other girls then; the city still seems to have quite a lot of them. What ever happened to your apprentice wizardess friend? She seemed to appreciate mechanisms.¡±
¡°I think we upset her. I don''t know.¡±
¡°You mean when I told her that I thought the way wizards don''t get involved was selfish?¡±
¡°That too. And the way I accused her of cheating when she solved a geometry problem with pure maths.¡±
¡°You could say sorry to her.¡±
¡°Sure, Dad. I humbly apologise to a genius for being a pig-headed ignoramus three, three and a half years ago? I think she knew that.¡±
¡°That long?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Quif said.
¡°Well, maybe she''s leaned how to make herself tiny or something.¡±
¡°What, invoke high level wizardry to come and look at watch mechanisms again?¡±
Quif asked, incredulous, ¡°Anyway, it can''t have been her.¡±
¡°Why not?¡±
¡°Sithini''s a green. The girl I thought I saw was very definitely a red.¡±
¡°You''re dreaming of reds? Don''t let your mum hear that. Maybe it''s the paint giving you funny ideas. Go out and clear your lungs.¡±
¡°OK dad.¡± Quif said, pulling on his coat, ¡°I''ll go out and clear my lungs in the smoke, and look out for nice godly girls in the dark streets of Drana.¡±
¡°This isn''t Drana, Quif, and you know it.¡±
¡°Sorry Dad, We''re a whole street away, I know, and it makes a difference.¡±
¡°Exactly. Make sure you''re home for supper, or your mother will worry.¡±
¡°You will too, Dad.¡±
¡°Of course I will, take care.¡±
¡°I promise.¡±
Quif stepped through the door quickly, and tried to decide which way he ough to go. On the spur of the moment, he turned towards Drana-proper. He wasn''t interested in the vices, not at all, but he found sometimes that walking through the poorest part of the city lifted his spirits. If nothing else, hearing the children playing and honest workers toiling in the poverty. He saw the microscopic girl a step in front of his face. She was shaking her head, and the main-hand that wasn''t holding a staff was pointing the other way. Hebshook his head and kept walking, what an imagination he had. The imaginary microscopic girl grew a look of surprise as he almost walked into her and shot backwards.
He noticed the trail she left the mist. She stamped her foot, shook her head again, and pointed behind him, then she zipped over his head. He was, he admitted, curious. What was this diminutive maybe imaginary wizardess so certain that he ought to do?
He looked round, but didn''t see her. Well, she''d wanted him to go that way, and it didn''t really matter to him, so he went away from Drana instead. There were always other sights to see, and the official notices at the end of the road to read, if nothing else.
Watchmaker''s shop, ten minutes later.
¡°Dad!¡± Quif called, ¡°I''m going to be late; the wizards have started evening classes again, and this year they''re saying ''course material has been adjusted for those who prefer chronological order, and may not be well suited to people who prefer information out of sequence.'' So it sounds ideal.¡±
¡°Really? How much is it going to cost?¡±
¡°The notice says the course is free unless you need extra catch-up lessons. The first one is this evening.¡±
Watchmaker''s shop, that evening.
¡°Well, Quif? Was it an evening well spent?¡±
¡°Perfect, mother. You should have been there! They started at the beginning, really at the beginning, and didn''t jump about at all.¡±
¡°What, with Polithanapoli''s changes?¡± Quif''s father guessed.
¡°No, Dad, that was just before the end. The start was the three tribes, oranges and blues in the North, and greens in the south, contact, the breeding programme, the nobles, the invasion.¡±
¡°That''s all folk-tales, surely?¡±
¡°The lecturer actually read to us from histories written before Polithanapoli, from the royal archives, documents that were once classed as secrets.¡±
¡°And the greens were ruled by a peace-loving green-turned red?¡± his mother asked.
¡°Yes, mother, and at the end the lecturer told us that she was Keldithanapoli, heiress of the empty throne, that her mother had introduced her to the daughter of her friend, who was green and turned red, and it had been her pleasure to learn a lot from her and an even greater pleasure to introduce her daughter to her friend''s daughter, Sithinilakiina, who used to be green, and is now red.¡±
¡°Sithinilakiina? As in your young journeyman friend Sithini?¡± his father asked.
¡°Yes, father, except she''s probably been a full wizard these last two years.¡±
¡°And is there other news?¡± his mother probed gently.
¡°Yes, I forgot to tell you, there is a change of the law! The laws of insult against the law have been changed, amazingly. The law of royal talon is no more; parliament decries that it ever held innocent family members hostage, no innocent may be punished by the law for the crimes of another. Isn''t that amazing!¡±
¡°That''s very good news, Quif,¡± his mother agreed. ¡°But I was wondering if you''d talked to Sithini?¡±
¡°I''m not sure.¡±
¡°You''re not sure?¡±
¡°It might have been her that urm.. directed my attention to the notice about the lecture.¡±
¡°Your pinion-wheel-sized messenger?¡±
¡°It doesn''t make much sense though. How could she make herself that small? Not to mention why?¡±
¡°Some experiment gone wrong?¡±
¡°I don''t think so. Well, no, it can''t have been, because she was there, at the lecture.¡±
¡°But you didn''t talk to her afterwards?¡±
¡°No, no, she wasn''t there afterwards. She introduced the course, warned reds, oranges yellows and blues they might struggle seeing how it fits together, andnhanded over to Keldithanapoli and then left.¡±
¡°And what course is it?¡±
¡°Two year semi-directed study for an Advanced Schooling Certificate innwizardry, or, if we just turn up to the first year of lectures, something new that Sithini called a Certificate of Competence in the Changing World.¡±
¡°Does that imply we''re in-competent at the moment?¡±
¡°I think it means that we won''t be totally unfamiliar with everything that''s happening, Dad. She said that the first year we''re going to go quite quickly through history and technology, but there won''t be much detail or much practical work, and the second year there''ll be a lot more practical and some detailed study on some things.¡±
¡°And you''re after the ASC,¡± Quif''s mother said.
¡°And maybe some friends who don''t think making miniscule mechanisms is boring?¡± his father added.
¡°I think, father, that our mechanisms are not particularly small for the wizards, but I also think there will be interesting possibilities. They know materials very well, metals, alloys. Techniques we could make use of. Sithini once told me about some of them. I think I''m more open to the possibilities now. And if I get the ASC, I don''t know. It would be a big decision, but she said there is the possibility of further study.¡±
¡°Quif, your mother and I have been talking about this. If you were to studynfull time, then you would receive an income. It would not be the same as having you working with me in the workshop, but your mother could also help as she did when you were young, and financially, we do not think there would not be much difference. And for your future it could be important. The sad fact is that the price of a good watch is not increasing, but the cost of food is. I have asked the guild-masters, and they agree, too many people were allowed to enter the craft around the time you were born. Many were newcomers, not raised in the craft, but even without learning at their father''s elbow as you have done, they have now learned from their failures and are now all master-watchmakers. A good watch lasts, the population is not growing, and with less duels to destroy a watch the demand is lower than ever. In another twenty years, as they all retire, perhaps there will be a new era when a watchmaker can support a wife and three children as my father did. But if you study wizardry and can continue to journeyman, then your income would be more than you will ever earn making watches. I''m sorry, my son .... unless the woman you marry has an income of her own, your future in this guild will be a very hard one. Harder than ours.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
¡°You think... you think I should leave the guild?¡± Quif was shocked.
¡°If you are interested in wizardry, and not just a certain wizardess, then I think... I think it is a bit early, but I would suggest you think on making your masterpiece soon, son, so that you are full master, and have no need to make such a decision, and then you can then challenge your mind in new directions when the new year comes with spring. Otherwise, as you said, you could study two years and then decide. But to work on a masterpiece while studying another subject... I don''t know if it is a wise choice to start as a second year apprentice at twenty two.¡±
¡°I... I will have to think about it.¡±
¡°Perhaps your friend will help you to think through the issues, Quif,¡± his mother suggested.
¡°Maybe. If I can talk to her.¡±
A small hamlet south of the city, 7.30pm, Earthday
¡°Here? You really think so?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°I''ve made it more picky.¡± Sithini said. ¡°It ought to only find fathers and siblings now. I hope you know what you''re going to say.¡±
¡°So do I,¡± Dirak said, and knocked on the door. A yellow child peaked through the door.
¡°Hello,¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°Are your mummy and daddy here?¡±
¡°Who wants to know?¡± An elderly blue female asked.
¡°I''m Zerkess Lenepoli, this is my boyfriend, Wizard-at-large Zerker Dirak, sheriff of Hnut, and his adopted little sister, wizardess Sithinilakiina.¡±
¡°There''s been a change in the law,¡± Dirak said, ¡°and I believe affects this little one and all her relatives. For the better.¡±
¡°You''d better come in, then. My son tends not to sleep nights, these days, so he''s resting.¡±
¡°Your daughter-in-law is here too?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°Yes. Hnut''s a long way away, isn''t it?¡±
¡°Yes, In the Utt valley.¡±
¡°What are you doing down here then?¡±
¡°Can you call your son and daughter-in-law, please?¡±
¡°What''s this change in the law?¡±
¡°The innocent will not suffer for another''s crimes,¡± Dirak said. ¡°not for infanticide, certainly not for attempted.¡±
The grandmother sank into the chair, as the door burst open. ¡°Attempted?¡± the mother asked. She was deep red, of course.
¡°Would you like to make a formal statement concerning a kidnapping?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°How did you find us?¡±
¡°Wizardry, ma''am. But it''s experimental,¡± Dirak said, ¡°and the law doesn''t really believe in it. The law believes in statements, however.¡±
¡°Someone kidnapped my brother and sister!¡± the little girl said. ¡°It''s their hatchday tomorrow and someone stole them.¡±
¡°Thank you. When were they kidnapped?¡±
¡°Two weeks ago,¡± the child''s father said, his crest showing a tinge of green.
¡°And just to confirm, their age and colour.¡±
¡°They were winterborn yellows,¡± the mother declared, ¡°beautiful little winter-born yellow fluffballs, almost ready for their first steps.¡±
¡°Thank you. I can now tell you that two winterborn yellow fluffballs of approximately one year were found on a cart passing through Hnut on Restday. They are currently in the care of an extended family there, including the watchful gaze of Yalinth, a six year old winterborn. If you would like to accompany us, we can take you there.¡±
¡°They''re alive? Really?¡±
¡°Your two are alive, as are five more who had arrived at their intended destination. Some of the gang has been caught, probably not all. But they kept records.¡±
¡°The records will probably show my father''s name, Kraak.¡± the mother said, ¡°He was devastated when they were taken, and blamed my mother, saying that she had tricked him. He killed her, and would not say why. He is to be burned tomorrow.¡±
¡°I will insist on a stay of execution, in the name of the on-going investigation.¡± Dirak said. ¡°He''s being held in Fnar?¡± he asked, naming the town on the record.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Sithini?¡±
¡°Certainly, Dirak, I''d be very happy to take anyone to Hnut who wants to go.¡±
¡°I''ll go with you if I may, Dirak?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°I was rather thinking you''d promised to accompany me on such my travels.¡±
¡°That doesn''t mean that me tagging along is always a good idea, does it?¡±
Fnar village, 8pm, Earthday
¡°Good evening,¡± Dirak said to the startled male they''d just landed in front of. ¡°First, this is Fnar, isn''t it?¡±
¡°Yes ''tis.¡± the male replied.
¡°Excellent! Now, I need to talk to the sheriff.¡±
¡°Nah, that be ''ard, ''im not being ''ere.¡±
¡°Where is he?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°''Im be in t''city. Bad business, this burning. Sure thing ''e''s hiding something; protecting ''is family. Sheriff thinks mebby ''e can get a delay, find out what ''tis, now''at law''s changed.¡±
¡°I''m Sheriff Dirak from Hnut. I know exactly what he''s been protecting his family from. And I need to question the prisoner. When did the sheriff leave?¡±
¡°''Bout four hours ago. After ''e heard on the radio.¡±
¡°Thank you.¡± Lenepoli said. ¡°I don''t suppose you know who he went to see, do you?¡±
¡°Can''t say I do, sorry.¡±
¡°Let''s leave him a note, then.¡± Dirak decided. ¡°Can''t go burning important witnesses.¡±
¡°You''d better come t''jail ''en.¡± the man said.
Village jail, Fnar. 8am Motherday, 6th of Winter
¡°Mr Kraak,¡± Dirak said, ¡°I''m Sheriff Dirak of Hnut. I believe you can help me in my investigation regarding a certain crate that was being transported through Hnut on Restday. We believe we have caught almost everyone at that end of that illegal operation, but not at this end. As you know, the law has been changed and your family are no longer at risk from the truth. In addition to that, I have a reasonable demand agreed to by the county judge in Uttown protecting the innocent from direct or indirect harm that might result from assistance given by some wizards. That assistance led me to your daughter and son-in-law.
"I heard on the way here that your grandchildren were so overjoyed to hear their parent''s voices that they didn''t wait for hatchday to grow their legs.¡±
¡°They live?¡± Kraak asked.
¡°They live, they hop after your daughter and son in law wherever they go, and scream if there is no parent in sight.¡± Lenepoli said. ¡°Yalinth, the young winterborn who''s been looking after them was quite put out really, they barely notice her now. But she''s got the others to look after.¡±
¡°The others?¡±
¡°Your grandchildren were on their way to an ancient hool. There were five still living in that evil place. We don''t know if there are other hools, we need to find everyone at the sending end.¡± Dirak said.
¡°I murdered my wife,¡± Kraak said.
¡°I believe the term is informally executed.¡± Dirak corrected. ¡°The law does not approve of such actions, but circumstances can be taken into account.... I believe a mistrial can be called for on the grounds of additional evidence.¡±
¡°I''ll tell you what I know,¡± Kraak said. ¡°Five others?¡±
¡°In four crates.¡±
¡°But others didn''t live.¡±
¡°The records stretch back centuries. There are almost two thousand crates.¡±
Motherday, 6th of Winter, lunchtime.
Quif was designing. A masterpiece had to be planned meticulously; it would have to impress, both with accuracy and with beauty. Unfortunately his mind was wandering, and he kept looking over his shoulder in case his little visitor was going to show up. ¡°Dad, is there something entirely brainless I can do, like polishing some gears? This isn''t working; I can''t concentrate.¡±
¡°I see quite a lot of feather motifs,¡± his father said, looking at the paper his son had been labouring over.
¡°I know. It was an idea I had. What if I managed to make the cogs so beautiful they didn''t need painting. Maybe with some etching. You know what paint does to the mechanism if gets a knock and starts to flake, so do the masters. I need to impress them, not necessarily a customer.¡±
¡°Hmm. Back to basics, you mean?¡±
¡°Not quite. Sithini told me there was a book in the wizard''s libraries about alien clock technologies. Urm, here.¡± He showed his father. ¡°This is called a grasshopper escapement. It''s very accurate.¡±
¡°But free-wheels if the pendulum stops, making it entirely unsuitable for a watch. I''ve seen it before, in the guild archives.¡±
¡°I assumed the guild knew about it, but what about this?¡±
¡°What''s that?¡±
¡°My variation on it.¡±
¡°You''ve incorporated a normal escapement?¡±
¡°If the pendulum is working, then the normal escapement never engages. If the pendulum wheel stops, however, it does engage, and gives the requisite kick to restart.¡±
His father examined the design notes. ¡°You''re working to really fine tolerances to make that work, lad.¡±
¡°Isn''t that the point, father?¡±
¡°Yes son. Make something that shows what you can do.¡±
There was a sudden draft that made the papers move. Both of them looked to the door, but it was still shut. ¡°I''ve never seen such a lovely perfect mechanism.¡± Sithini said, ¡°You''ve got to make it, Quif.¡±
¡°How...?¡±
¡°Wizardry, of course.¡± Sithini said dismissively, looking at the other designs on the paper. ¡°Hmm, you''ve got feathers on the brain, old friend.¡±
¡°Ah, but whose feathers?¡± his mother asked, looking up with a smile.
¡°Microscopic feathers,¡± Quif said. ¡°It was you, wasn''t it?¡±
¡°To quote my adoptive brother, I neither confirm nor deny anything. Wasvwhat me?¡±
¡°Oh, never mind. I need to talk to you, Sithini.¡±
¡°Oh yes? What about?¡±
¡°Firstly to apologise, secondly because I''ve got an important decision to make.¡±
¡°Oh yes?¡± Sithini asked, glancing at his parents.
¡°Career advice. Option one, take up your interesting offer of two years part-time study and assuming I do well, join the apprentice programme after that.
"Problem: by the sound of it, combining that study programme with paying bills means I don''t have time to make this, which would be my masterpiece. A journeyman who doesn''t work in the trade is deemed to have abandoned the guild.
"Option two, spend the next thirty days making this, and qualify as a master-watchmaker, with life-long guild membership, then see if I can cope as a full time apprentice wizard with paid support, starting from spring.¡±
¡°There are too many watchmakers,¡± Quif''s father said, ¡°Good watches don''t sell at the premium they ought to. A master watchmaker used to be able to afford a servant or two. Now...¡±
¡°Now the servants can afford an apprentice-quality watch,¡± his wife completed his sentence, ¡°but the master watchmaker''s son shouldn''t expect to feed his family if he stays in the guild.¡±
¡°That bad?¡± Sithini asked, amazed.
¡°Prices have stayed the same for five years. The guild is afraid to increase them because there are non-guild watchmakers and a few of them are pretty good and getting better. They use cheap materials we''d never touch, but the fashion is for paint, so how does the average customer tell the difference?¡±
¡°There''ve even been some voices saying the guild should develop a second mark, that says it''s guild-made but non-critical parts are made of cheap metals,¡± Quif said.
¡°For selling to people who don''t understand electrolysis,¡± Sithini said.
¡°It can work, if you''ve got jewelled movements.¡±
¡°And everything that''s not jewelled gets made of steel, dad? Even the hands?¡±
¡°I know, I know. It gets damp, and you get corrosion, and the watch is ruined.¡±
¡°Like this one,¡± Sithini said. ¡°Which is one reason I''m here. Not my watch, but I''d like an expert opinion if it''s a guild-member who''s done more than talk, someone''s stolen a guild-stamp from somewhere, or it''s not a guild stamp but just a convincing fake.¡±
¡°Hmpf, even a convincing fake is bad news, very bad news,¡± Quif said, springing open the back and looking at the mechanism. ¡°What do you think, Dad?¡±
¡°No maker''s mark, unsurprisingly. Although the stamp looks genuine. As for the workmanship...¡±
¡°I''m honestly surprised it kept going long enough to go rusty,¡± Quif said.
¡°So someone''s stolen a genuine master''s stamp and is using it to stamp steel watches?¡± Sithini asked.
¡°It''s possible.¡± Quif said, having another look. ¡°No, look, Dad this is on a round punch. Someone''s made a fake stamp that''s almost indistinguishable. That''s a serious crime.¡±
¡°Not another criminal investigation!¡± Sithini said. ¡°Oh well, at least I can pass this one on. Do I remember something about you not being able to let it out of your sight until it''s handed to the police?¡± she asked Quif''s father.
¡°Quif''s a journeyman, he can go with you.¡±
¡°And I guess we need to get the owner?¡±
¡°Would that a problem?¡±
¡°She''s a teenager, she''s deep red, and she bought it with her own savings. Expect explosions of outrage and incipient violence.¡±
¡°I expect she remembers where though.¡±
¡°I do too.¡± Sithini pressed a some buttons on her watch. ¡°Keldi? Lanthi''s watch is a poor fake with a convincing but fake guild stamp. Would you like to be a calming influence on Lanthi, or can I borrow some ropes?¡±
¡°She''s not that wild, Sithini.¡±
¡°Her pride has been insulted, Keldi, someone has made a fool of her, and taken her money for something that barely works. The journeyman I''m bringing with me is going to say something like ''this wasn''t even made by a guild apprentice stealing his master''s stamp, the workmanship''s too crude for anything but the scrap-box, the metal is wrong, and the guild doesn''t use a round punch-stock. Then he''s going to show the signs to the policeman, and he''ll try very hard not to say ''any fool can see'' or ''it''s obvious'' but it might slip out.¡±
¡°So you think it needs to go to the police?¡±
¡°I think that we need to find a policeman, and then we take him to the exact shop where Lanthi bought it. And then maybe afterwards we bring Lanthi back here so she can see what real quality workmanship looks like, so no one ever fools her again.¡±
¡°How about the education first?¡± Keldi suggested.
¡°Urm, fine by me,¡± Sithini said.
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 15: Tock
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 15: Tock
Watchmaker''s shop, early-afternoon, Motherday, 6th of Winter
¡°They''re beautiful, so polished!¡± Lanthi said, looking at the mechanisms behind the unpainted glass faces. ¡°Why cover them up in paint?¡±
¡°Fashion. No one wants unpainted faces these days.¡±
¡°I do,¡± Lanthi said. ¡°Mostly, anyway. Do you, like, make to order? So, just the numbers painted on, nothing else?¡±
¡°Certainly,¡± Quif said, ¡°If you''ve got something specific in mind, you could sketch it, and I could work from that, or if you feel artistic....¡±
¡°You''d let me paint my own watch-face?¡± Lanthi asked excitedly.
¡°It''s a delicate process,¡± Quif''s mother warned, ¡°Too much paint and it can jam the mechanism. You might have to re-do it several times, and then of course the paint needs to dry properly. Most people prefer pre-made, it''s faster.¡±
¡°And other people don''t really know what they want until they''ve seen it,¡±
Lanthi said, ¡°But I always wanted a watch like grandma''s.¡±
¡°Which probably ought to prompt me to ask some questions I should have asked before,¡± Keldi said. ¡°Firstly, Lanthi, would you like grandma''s watch, rather than one like it, and secondly is replacing the mechanism economical? Someone told me that it wasn''t worth getting it repaired.¡±
¡°Whoever said that, were they actually a watchmaker, and what''s happened to it?¡± Quif asked.
¡°I can''t remember who said it, sorry,¡± Keldi said, ¡°but yes, they were a watchmaker, and what happened to it was that she had it when her thlunk stumbled and fell into the river, which led to an infection, which she eventually died of. I''m afraid there was still some water in it after the funeral.¡±
¡°But the case is still good?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°I''d be very happy to have a look at it,¡± Quif said, ¡°And I''m sure that fitting a mechanism into an old case wouldn''t be beyond us, would it, Dad?¡±
¡°Well, it depends on the case how much it''d cost, but no.¡±
Outside a watch dealer''s shop
¡°Is this the place, miss?¡± the policeman asked.
¡°Yes, officer.¡± Lanthi said.
¡°I thought it might be. I''m glad you''re here, journeyman. Let''s see what he says first of all though. Oh, no you don''t Knarf!¡± He shouted, as the shopkeeper tried to shut-up his shop. ¡°I''m on official business with a serious complaint being levelled against you.¡±
¡°You sold me a watch, saying it had proper journeyman workmanship and a genuine guild stamp on it, and would last a lifetime.¡± Lanthi said, fuming.
¡°Did I? Well, you''ll need to talk to the guild if there''s a problem, then. They''ll charge you an arm and a leg, but it''s Guild regulations, I can''t touch it.¡±
¡°How many of your watches have guild stamps, Knarf?¡± the policeman asked.
¡°''bout a quarter,¡± Knarf said.
¡°Right, well, let''s see them first, then we''ll see your records for the watch the young lady bought from you.¡±
¡°I can''t open the backs of guild watches, officer. I can sell, but I can''t repair, I''m not guild.¡±
¡°That''s all right, Knarf, this being a guild-backed complaint, I''ve got the young journeyman here with me to check stamps and open the backs and other such things.¡±
Knarf the watch-seller, looked at the burly policeman, the patient looking journeyman, the angry teen, and the two deep red females each holding a staff.
He decided he had no hope of escaping.
¡°I''m an honest businessman, I am,¡± he said, handing over the first box.
¡°You''re a seller of over-priced rubbish, normally, Knarf. This time you''ve gone too far.¡±
¡°Bought in good faith.¡±
¡°With all the proper documentation, I''m sure.¡± the policeman said.
¡°Appalling workmanship,¡± Quif said, ¡°and the stamp''s the same, it''s a forgery. So''s this. Oh, now this is a genuine stamp, and a genuine apprentice mark. Shoddy workmanship, it''s not going to keep time very well. Oh, look, and someone''s polished the apprentice mark off the back of the case, so that''s a sort of fraud too, officer. Shall I keep looking?¡±
¡°It''s a pleasure to see an expert at work.¡± the policeman said, ¡°please do keep going.¡±
¡°Hmm, OK, this is another apprentice piece, but while the apprentice mark is there on the inside there''s no guild stamp inside. And the outside has no stamp at all, but the box has a guild stamp on it. Hmm, and the box doesn''t actually go with the watch, the seating is all wrong. So this one is a rejected apprentice work that has been taken from a waste bin, probably means it wouldn''t run for a day at all, and put in a recycled box. This is a fake, and so''s this, this is an apprentice piece, hmm, yes, I know the guy that made this, lovely kind man, but he''s never quite managed to get his holes in the right place for his gears to mesh properly, so it probably won''t keep time well at all. But it has all the stamps correct, let''s put that one aside, because it''s not a fraud. Another fake, another fake, oh, same guy again, he''s persistent, at least. Just compare the finish on his gears to this fake, officer. See? This guy is trying his best, just he really ought to get someone else to drill his holes. Whereas the faker, he''s probably got some kind of pantograph-machine to make the holes for him with minimum creative thought. Oh no! I was wrong, this one''s holes came out wrong so the scoundrel has put the wrong gear in! Well I never! And its got a second hand too! I''ve never heard of the like! If you get the second hand doing a turn per minute, the minute hand is never going to be right. And a false guild stamp on it too. And the last one... oh, my hard-trying friend again. I''ve told him, he ought to admit defeat, spend some money and get a pantograph machine. I think it''s the only realistic way he''s going to make journeyman.¡±
¡°Why doesn''t he?¡± Sithini asked.
¡°Guild rules. If he can''t make his journeyman piece without a pantograph, then he''s barred from ever applying to be a master. It''s his eyes, I think.¡±
¡°And he''s not allowed to use unmounted gears as a drill-guide?¡± Sithini asked. ¡°That''s my normal trick, you know, push them together, do it by feel...¡±
Quif cringed. ¡°If my dad herd you suggest that... What about the proper clearance gap?¡±
¡°Thin tissue, or if that''s too thick then pick the right foil. Unless he wants to cut involute gears of course.¡±
Quif''s eyes went wide open. ¡°You''re a genius. He''s probably going to ask you to marry him.¡±
¡°Let''s not waste the officer''s time with my response to that, Quif. Officer, is there any hope that this purveyor of shoddy and fraudulent merchandise might give my friend her money back? Before the guild bankrupts him, I mean.¡±
¡°I''m an honest businessman! It''s not me, it''s my suppliers.¡±
¡°The contract was with you,¡± Sithini said. ¡°If you described something as guild workmanship and it''s plainly not...¡±
¡°Then you''re misusing the name and authority of the guild,¡± the officer said.
¡°Unless of course you''ve documents that prove you''ve been misled, in which case the guild destroys your illegal stock, you get to continue trading your tat, and the young lady needs to take you to court, in which case, she''s likely to claim the value of what you should have sold her. Journeyman quality, last a lifetime, and so on. Then you can add it to the claim against your supplier.¡±
¡°Technically, officer, ''last a lifetime'' is masterpiece quality from a
master watchmaker, or almost-master, guaranteed,¡± Quif said. ¡°That''s to say that as long as the watch hasn''t been abused then the master of the craft who made it will repair it free of charge for the lifetime of the client, or the guild will if he or she is dead. Since this ...shopkeeper has stated that watch was of such quality, but that the guild would not stand by such a quality assurance.... then I expect the guild will be pressing charges of wholesale defamation against Knarf, just as soon as I make my report to the guild-masters.¡±
¡°That''s a very good point, young master journeyman. A most excellent point. Looks like you''re going out of the watch business quite soon, Knarf. So, do you want to buy the young lady a master watchmaker''s best workmanship, or just give her back her money and a little bit extra, just to show what a fine and upstanding member of the trading community you are?¡±
¡°There is also the issue of my reputation.¡± Lanthi said. ¡°I foolishly recommended this shop to a number of my friends, and they received similar assurances from him.¡±
¡°How many?¡± the policeman asked.
¡°Six I know of.¡±
¡°Tell you what, Knarf. You pay the young lady back now, and put aside money for every single so-called guild watch you''ve sold, and we''ll assume they can come round to get their money back in the next day or two, shall we?¡±
¡°''Ere, what are you trying to do? Put me out of business?¡±
¡°Oh no, Knarf, you''ve done that to yourself. What would a ''last a lifetime'' watch cost, young journeyman?¡±
¡°A lot, officer. I don''t remember, maybe double a master''s normal work? It''s a couple of years since my father last sold one. It''s a lot of work; five or ten parts go in the spares rack to get one that''s flawless. Normally people are entirely happy with a master-craftsman''s work, and don''t demand every piece to be flawless.¡±
¡°And journeyman quality?¡±
¡°It depends, officer. Maybe they''re capable of producing flawless pinions but they''ve not managed a flawless face yet. If they''ve managed everything flawless two or three times, they''d be aiming towards their masterpiece, but that''s got to have something about it that impresses the guild-masters, not just be flawless. A journeyman can offer ''last a lifetime'' if they''re working on their masterpiece, and their master says it''s good enough. It just means it''s not special enough to be their masterpiece.¡±
¡°Right, Knarf, so, you offered something that''s real, what are you paying the young lady so she doesn''t take you to court for double a master''s normal rate?¡± the officer asked.
¡°Urm. Five percent on top of purchase price?¡±
¡°Pardon, Knarf? You''re talking reputational damage to this young lady who can probably trace her lineage back to the time of the princes.¡±
¡°Oh, long before them,¡± Keldi said, scathingly.
¡°Did I say five? I meant twenty-five.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
¡°Not fifty?¡± Sithini asked, in a curious tone.
¡°Yes, sorry, fifty.¡± And he quickly counted out the money and handed it to Lanthi.
¡°And I assume that goes for everyone else, well done, Knarf, we''ll make a reputable businessman out of you yet. Now... while these good people leave, you''ll show me documents, won''t you?¡±
¡°I can''t believe you did that, Sithini,¡± Lanthi said.
¡°What, got him to pay you that much?¡± Keldi asked, ¡°He told you you were getting something with a lifetime guarantee. You accepted the cash because you sensibly don''t think he''s going to have enough money in a week''s time to give you what you thought you were buying. He''s paying you because he thinks he might have something left in a week''s time, and doesn''t want to face the prospect of losing that too.¡±
¡°Not to mention because I was stupid to think I was getting such a good watch so cheaply. But it did cost more than his other watches.¡±
¡°And it was worse quality, too,¡± Quif said. ¡°Some of the other ones might even pass as journeyman quality if only they''d been made out of the right metal. But urm, I need to talk to the guild-masters,¡± Quif said, sounding a little nervous.
¡°Is that scary?¡± Sithini asked, ¡°Want me to hold your hand?¡±
¡°I was going to ask if you wouldn''t mind being a witness.¡±
¡°I am entirely free until about five, when I''m due to be eating in Hnut and then trying to hunt down some more grieving relatives, which is pretty traumatic and I don''t want to think about it. By all means distract me any way you can think of.¡±
¡°You haven''t answered my question on careers advice.¡±
¡°No. I''m going to pass it onto someone who''s more neutral than I am. Keldi, help please. This is my good friend Quif who I think ought to have been an apprentice a couple of years ago, but who was at our little lecture last night, and is trying to decide if he should try for his masterpiece in spring, which is a bit early, according to his dad, and then join us in the happy state of apprenticeship, or if he ought to do the evening classes, which if I was right about the home-study load, doesn''t really let him work on his masterpiece for another two years. If he stops working on watchmaking before being a master, then he''s out of the guild.¡±
¡°And you''re biased?¡± Keldi asked.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°What happens if your masterpiece isn''t good enough?¡± Keldi asked.
¡°I get to try again a year and a day later.¡±
¡°So, if you try it before spring, and fail, you wouldn''t be joining us this spring, but you probably could the next, but if you take the two-year course then you''d get your ASC at the same time, but without submitting your masterpiece?¡±
¡°Urm, yes. Except if I fail this year I''d need to try to impress them with something else next year.¡±
¡°But you''ve actually got a third option of not submitting it in forty days, but working on it longer, so that you''re more certain that it''ll impress.¡±
¡°Yes. That one seems quite a good one, actually.¡± Quif said, then asked, ¡°Sithini, how did you know what my dad said?¡±
¡°I heard him, of course. It was great fun staying just out of your eyesight while you were drawing all those feathers and kept looking round for me.¡±
¡°You were spying on me!¡± He accused.
¡°I was accepting your offer.¡±
¡°What offer?¡±
¡°''Come and stare at the clocks and stuff if you want to but don''t touch, and I don''t want to see more than this much of you, and no more practical jokes.'' It took me a while to work out how do to it, but I got there in the end. I do love looking at the clocks.¡±
¡°I did say that, didn''t I?¡±
¡°Yes. Just before Dirak was banished. I urm, went through a bit of a bad patch then, and buried myself in study.¡±
¡°I''m sorry. I don''t think I meant it literally though.¡±
¡°Is that a blanket retraction of the whole lot, or just partially?¡±
¡°No practical jokes that ruin my work.¡±
¡°That was a big accident, Quif, I''m sorry.¡±
¡°What did you mean about you being biased?¡±
¡°You''ll work it out eventually. Are we here?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Shall I come too?¡± Lanthi asked, ¡°I''m happy to testify.¡±
¡°Urm, the thing I was a bit nervous of...¡±
¡°Guild secrets?¡± Keldi guessed.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Then it''s time for Lanthithanapoli to get used to her full name and genealogy opening doors to her. And Sithinilakiina, equally. Present your royal complements to the guild, girls. You are here to uphold guild honour, not to pry into things that do not concern you. I''ve got a lecture to prepare for.¡±
¡°Bye mum.¡±
¡°Shall I do most of the talking, Quif?¡± Sithini asked.
¡°I think I ought to, but if you could introduce yourselves?¡±
¡°Certainly. Lanthi, Quif will introduce himself first, giving name and rank, then you, then me.¡±
¡°And my rank?¡±
¡°Only daughter of your mother, of course. I assume the guild was set up by Polithanapoli?¡±
¡°Parliament. But under the system Polithanapoli signed into law and Zalakiina came up with.¡±
¡°OK, so we both mention our ancient forebears, and I get to mention my father, too, which is nice.¡±
¡°Your father?¡± Quif asked.
¡°Master Quan of this guild. In guild eyes it might mean I outrank you, Lanthi, but we''ll assume not for the moment.¡±
¡°Did I ever know that?¡± Quif asked.
¡°I don''t know. I loved watching him work. Seeing his creations come to life. Let''s go in before I start crying.¡±
Quif nodded, and led them up to the gates.
¡°Journeyman Quif of this guild, reporting on two vile slurs on our guild''s honour, I have with me two witnesses, and the police are aware.¡±
¡°Let the witnesses name themselves.¡± the elderly watchman said.
¡°I am Lanthithanapoli, only daughter of Keldithanapoli heiress to the empty throne, descendent of Polithanapoli.¡±
¡°I am Wizardess Sithinilakiina, daughter of Master Quan of this guild and of Ranthilakiina of the peaceloving house of Zalakiina, As my mother was, and her mother before her I am the green-turned-red.¡±
¡°Quan was a good person, and a good watchmaker. To what do you bear witness, noble green-turned-red?¡±
¡°I bear witness that Knarf, seller of low quality watches, did not deny he sold to Lanthithanapoli a watch bearing what seemed to be the stamp of this guild, and nor did he deny that he''d claimed it was journeyman work, and it would ''last a lifetime'', and I witness that it was rusty, and that he said that he was not able to even look inside, because it was guild-stamped, and that the guild would charge high prices to repair this ''last a lifetime'' watch.¡±
¡°The stamp on the rusty poorly made watch was made with a round punch.¡±
Quif said. ¡°Knarf had about ten more such frauds, one with the wrong gearing between minute and second hand, he also had unsigned apprentice pieces with the apprentice mark ground off the case, some apprentice work which had not even had the guild stamp applied and yet were in guild-marked boxes, and some honestly stamped and signed watches of apprentice Kinnet. His watches were without doubt the best materials and workmanship in the shop.¡±
¡°Kinnet''s gears are wonderful. Shame about his drilling. Knarf has trampled our toes before, but this? This earns the guild''s rage. You were with a police officer?¡±
¡°Yes, honourable master gatekeeper, from that district.¡± Quif answered, ¡°I have a question, master gatekeeper, would Kinnet be judged badly if he ground involute gears?¡±
¡°Ah? Ah! Now that is an idea. Well done, young Quif. It would do Kinnet no harm at all to use them, no harm and a lot of good. An excellent idea for gaining some extra tolerance. Or was it you, Sithinilakiina? Your father liked them for their beauty, he said.¡±
¡°He taught me the beauty of a well functioning device also,¡± Sithini said, smiling.
¡°Ha! I taught him that, a good person. And Lanthithanapoli, who honours this guild with her presence, and who honours my age by not pointing out that I''ve not asked for your testimony. Thank you, do you have anything to add?¡±
¡°He did not deny he had sold me my watch as one that would ''last a lifetime'', and offered me half again what I paid to accept it back. The policeman expects the guild to demand the destruction of his false merchandise and that Knarf will not be selling watches after the guild has taken him to court. He claimed that his stock was bought in good faith and sold to me honestly, but also that he was not allowed to open the back of a guild-made watch. I offer these things, but do not understand how he is unable to open the watch, how he cannot tell the difference between metals or workmanship, or how he will no longer be able to sell cheap rubbish to deceive the young and gullible, but I will gladly do what I can to put him out of business or make his business entirely honest.¡±
Sithini said, ¡°Perhaps a prominent sign saying ''Guild watches are apprentice-made, probably flawed, and available cheaper direct from the guild? And that other watches are made of lesser materials and will likely rust or corrode from damp, unless oiled which will likely gum up the works and require professionally cleaning.''¡±
¡°If only...¡± Quif said.
¡°The guild has received professional insult,¡± the gatekeeper said. ¡°And if we put him out of business, another just as bad will spring up. I like your idea, Sithinilakiina.¡±
¡°Perhaps also put up a list of guild prices,¡± Lanthi said, ¡°and add that at least some guild members are willing to decorate to order.¡±
¡°Lanthithanapoli, are you suggesting that the guild advertise?¡± the gatekeeper asked in shocked tones.
¡°Have I made a rude suggestion, guild-master? I apologise.¡±
¡°I''ve suggested it a few times. Would you be willing to write down for me what led you to that disreputable shop, how you made your choice, and so on?¡±
¡°Willingly, guild-master. Would you like me to write it now?¡±
¡°That would be excellent! Quif, I am sure that Wizardess Sithinilakiina will not steal any guild secrets. Show her all the museum and help her find her father''s masterpiece. It is, after all, hers by right, to see here in honour or to take home to cherish. It would do you no harm to see what has impressed in the past, either, and what has not.¡±
¡°I ... I thought that part of the museum was off limits to journeymen, master gatekeeper.¡±
¡°Well you can hardly guide her if you can''t go in yourself, can you? There is a tradition that a journeyman has one chance to look. Go on, lad, and learn!¡±
¡°I obey, guild-master.¡±
¡°Master gatekeeper,¡± Sithini said, ¡°I must be in Hnut at five, and I would be very rushed to see the whole museum in that time, I''m sure. Would it be permissible for Quif to guide me to see the masterpieces another day when I can appreciate them properly?¡±
¡°Certainly, certainly. Though how you hope to be anywhere outside the city at five, I cannot comprehend.¡±
¡°By careful design and attention to detail and the secrets of my guild, I can pinch off for myself a little bubble of the universe, and that bubble can travel faster even than light, if I''m that silly. But if I''m forgetful and am carrying even an extra five kilos of weight, then the bubble will fail and my folly would destroy both me and the city. Watches are much less prone to kill, and so very beautiful.¡±
¡°May I ask how old you are to command such power?¡± the gatekeeper asked.
¡°I am twenty, guild-master, I was so very bored at school and became an apprentice wizard at twelve, attained my ASC at fourteen, and was a journeyman when I was fifteen, which is roughly when I met Quif and his parents. So when I saw Lanthi''s watch, I knew where to get some good advice.¡±
¡°Ah,¡± the old man said. Sounding a little disappointed, ¡°Well, don''t let me detain you.¡±
¡°Thank you, master gatekeeper,¡± Sithini said, adding when they''d shut the museum door behind them, ¡°why did he sound disappointed?¡±
¡°Master gatekeeper likes to gossip, Sithini. Old friend asking for advice isn''t nearly as interesting as he might have hoped.¡± He trailed off, seeing her engrossed in the museum.
¡°You won''t disturb my train of thought if you keep on talking, Quif. You know that, don''t you?¡±
¡°Your ability to concentrate on several things at once, you mean?¡±
¡°Well, store bits of information and flit my attention between them like a butterfly, anyway.¡±
¡°Most people can''t do that.¡±
¡°I''d noticed.¡±
¡°Some of us have a very single-track mind.¡± Quif admitted.
¡°I recommend that you decide what you would most like to talk about, when would you like to talk about it, and where would you like to talk about it. Then if this isn''t the place, we can go somewhere else. If this isn''t the time, sorry I don''t do time travel, we''ll just have to wait.¡±
¡°I don''t think this is the time or the place.¡±
¡°What I said about destroying the city; it''s true, but if I know how much you weigh complete with your clothes then I can adjust things and take you too. Just so you know. Weighing you takes maybe thirty seconds of hovering in air, adjustments are maybe another minute, with you double-checking my maths.¡±
¡°You''re offering to take me... anywhere?¡±
¡°Yes. But if it''s near-by then flying is faster than doing maths.¡±
¡°Why? Why have you been hovering around me, why are you biased, why are you offering to fly me to Ethe for us to have a chat?¡±
¡°Oooh, Ethe? That''d need a bit more planning, since there''s no air there, but OK.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°You make beautiful watches, haven''t I said that?¡±
¡°I don''t understand. Are you saying you''re interested in me, Sithini?¡±
¡°I''m quite sure that I''m never going to find someone who out-brains me, Quif. I''m quite sure I''m never going to be interested in someone who thinks with his muscles, and if I were, Keldi has told me that the fertility rate between greens and other colours is bad, and if I was brain-dead enough to marry the son of a red, there''s a reasonable chance that would be the end of green-turns-red, even if I did have a daughter. I''m not really sure what I feel about you, but if or when you decide you might be interested in me, then let''s have that talk.¡±
¡°Will you be able to talk tonight? Because I am interested in getting to get to know you better. It''s been a long time since we last really talked about anything.¡±
¡°I don''t know how long things are going to take tonight. Yesterday it was only an hour or so, but I''m pretty sure it''s going to get harder.¡±
¡°Can you tell me what you''re doing? What do you mean about hunting down grieving relatives?¡±
¡°Ongoing police investigation.¡±
¡°Oh.¡±
¡°There will be arrests, there will be deaths unless there have been already. But innocent fluffballs will be returned to their parents. That''s the plan, anyway.¡±
¡°Kidnapping?¡± Quif asked.
¡°Worse. Attempted infanticide, hopefully not by the parents, but....¡±
¡°You don''t know?¡±
¡°Exactly.¡±
¡°Why do it in the evenings?¡±
¡°Because of all the legal proceedings that are taking the time of the sheriff in charge of the case, and I''d rather that it was evenings than not at all.¡±
¡°And you''re flying him around?¡±
¡°No. It''s Dirak, he can fly himself, fortunately. Please pray. We''re going to tell people who''ve not said anything about their fluffball being taken away for fear it would result in death to the whole family that their fluffball lives, which is wonderful. But the guilty party ¡ª last night it was a grandmother ¡ª will almost certainly die in flames, and that''s terrible. And my machine doesn''t know names. It might not even be fully accurate. And last night we found out that the records might not be very accurate either. It was the grandfather''s name, but his wife had tricked him into it.¡±
¡°Why, why would someone try to kill a fluffball?¡±
¡°Fear of the different.¡± Sithini said, ¡°Most older nobles fear that yellows hatched in winter are an outrage, almost a curse, bringers of trouble everywhere they go. Old laws said the marriage was illegal, and they should die. Noble traditions say they''ll end up causing so many deaths that it''s better to let them starve in their sleep before they grow legs than to let them live.¡±
¡°That''s horrible!¡±
¡°Yes. Watches are much nicer to think about. That''s why I''ve been visiting the past few days. To fill my mind with the peaceful safe tick tick of watches. It helps me calm down enough to pray.¡±
¡°Can I pray for you now?¡±
¡°Please.¡±
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 16: Dirak No-milk
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 16: Dirak No-milk
Hnut, 5pm, Motherday, 6th of Winter
¡°Sithini, welcome! How are you?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°Today I started off the afternoon in the company of Keldi, Lanthi, and journeyman watchmaker Quif. Lanthi bought herself a watch from what turns out to have been a seller of fraudulent and rubbish watches.¡±
¡°So more legalities?¡±
¡°Yes. Very different ones. But it''s just ended up with Quif praying for me, which was very nice.¡±
¡°I heard a ''because'' in there,¡± Dirak said.
¡°Yes. Well, it ended up that he prayed for me in both senses of the phrase.¡±
¡°Eh?¡± Dirak asked, ¡°He prayed that God would help you, and he prayed on your behalf?¡±
¡°Oops, that''s a third sense. But yes he did that, too.¡±
¡°Then what other sense?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°Do you mean ''Please God let me have Sithini''?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°He wasn''t quite that blunt. But pretty much.¡±
¡°And you said Amen to that?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°I prayed that God would help us know what we feel and not hurt each other.¡±
¡°And how do you feel?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°He is kind, he loves interesting gadgets, he makes beautiful watches.¡±
¡°And you always did like watching watches. This is Quif who accused you of cheating by using trigonometry, yes?¡±
¡°Yes. He almost accused me of cheating for saying I didn''t position gears by sight but by pushing them together. But then he called be a genius for suggesting a friend of his might want to think of involute gears, so I''ll let him off.¡±
¡°What''s an involute gear?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°It''s got differently curved teeth.¡± Sithini said, ¡°They''re not as strong, and making it is a bit easier, as long as you can get the curve right, but getting the spacing not quite right isn''t nearly as disastrous, which is his friend''s problem.¡±
¡°So, you''ve got a suitor?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°Not formally, but we''re both thinking it''d be good to know each other better.¡±
¡°You''re going to upset some people in the village,¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°Please feel free to pass the word round that I was green when I hatched from parents who were green when they hatched, and I''m entirely green at heart, just like Quif, and my dad was a watchmaker too.¡±
¡°So you''re staying in-colour and in-guild. That will make sense to them, I''m sure.¡±
¡°I hope so. You can also tell them that I''ve known him a long time.¡±
¡°So, Sithinilakiina, who gets the privilege of giving you two parental blessing?¡±
¡°Good question. I''ve still not met my dad''s parents, you realise? But which hatchlings are we going to search for?¡±
¡°Tricky one that.¡± Dirak said. ¡°Trum''s wife has no idea which of the two she was caring for came from which crate, and I''m actually tempted to go for the the other twins.¡±
¡°Because?¡±
¡°Because they''re twins, and Yalinth says they''re constantly thinking something that''s pretty wordless but she understands as ''Where''s mummy, can you hear mummy? No, can you hear mummy?'' back and forth to each other, and when she thinks to them, they think ''that wasn''t mummy, where''s mummy?¡±
¡°OK, that must be heartbreaking.¡±
¡°I think so too,¡± Dirak said. ¡°Yalinth says it was at first, but it''s also getting annoying.¡±
¡°Do the others respond?¡± Sithini asked.
¡°Sometimes things like ''No mummy, Big angry coming. They''ve all decided Rangar is ''big angry''. Yalinth is ''big little''.¡±
¡°Go on,¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°Tell Sithini what they call you.¡±
¡°I''m ''No-milk'', apparently. And Lenepoli is ''little-granny''¡±
¡°Because of your feathers?¡± Sithini asked.
¡°It makes sense, I suppose,¡± Lenepoli agreed. ¡°But food is ready.¡±
¡°I''m learning something very important about Lenepoli.¡± Dirak said.
¡°What''s that?¡±
¡°She cooks such delicious food that I''m going to have to ask her to marry me or my taste-buds will rise up and strangle me.¡±
¡°Oh, its your taste buds is it?¡± Sithini said, ¡°I didn''t think your taste buds were up there. Have you had any time to think about house plans?¡±
¡°Not really.¡±
¡°Want me to share some of my idle thoughts over dinner?¡±
¡°I love my little sister. She''s got this wonderful over-powered brain, and as well as planning her own future she''s had time to think of ours too.¡±
¡°Well, I assume that I''m going to get asked to hatchling-sit from time to time, so I''ve got to make plans about where to put the moss buckets, don''t I?¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
A village upstream from Reqiq, Motherday, 6.20pm
¡°I''m Zerker Dirak, wizard-at-large and sheriff of Hnut.¡± Dirak said, ¡°My girlfriend Zerkess Lenepoli and friend Wizardess Sithinilakiina.¡±
¡°I am Zerker Chelf.¡± The male said.
¡°Have you heard of the change in the law?¡±
¡°I have. It is too late, though.¡±
¡°In what respect?¡±
¡°My father sits in parliament; I heard of the hool. He guesses tha the tale my mother-in-law told of the growlers eating my daughters is a lie. We all guess that. I also guess you are here to tell me father-in-law''s name is in the records. It is... possible but unlikely that he did anything, as he has not been able to speak since he clubbed himself in protest at our marriage.¡±
¡°And your wife?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°Come and meet her,¡± Chelf said, with tears in his eyes.
¡°She is ill?¡± Sithini asked.
¡°She decided two weeks ago that half a year of waiting was too late, that our prayers had not been answered. Now she will not eat.¡±
¡°You have not starved yourself though?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°I am not as brave as her.¡±
¡°Or perhaps you have more faith?¡± Lenepoli said, as she looked at the bed where the young red mother lay, asleep.¡±
Chelf shook his head. ¡°No. I too have stopped praying.¡±
¡°Perhaps it is time to start again. Has your wife continued to drink?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Pray for your wife Chelf, two weeks without food is a long time for an adult.¡±
¡°How can I pray to a God who does not answer prayers?¡±
¡°How can you say that God does not answer prayers,¡± Sithini said, ¡°when we came here led by a device that found you by the scent of two half-starved winterborns who desperately want their mother?¡±
¡°It is impossible!¡±
¡°With God, all things are possible, Chelf.¡± Dirak said.
¡°Tanepoli, do you hear?¡±
¡°Do not try to trick me, Chelf. I go to join my daughters.¡± she said quietly.
¡°Then you''d better eat something,¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°because they''re a hungry pair by all accounts.¡±
¡°I go to them in heaven.¡±
¡°Well, thank you for calling my home heaven,¡± Lenepoli said ¡°And I admit its nice, but really, I think God won''t be letting any unbelievers into heaven, so since we''ve got a few you''re over-stating things a bit. Have a bit to eat before you try travelling.¡±
¡°I don''t know who you are, but you can''t trick me to eating any food.¡±
¡°Tanepoli, wife of Chelf. My name is Sithinilakiina, daughter of Ranthilakiina, descendent of Zalakiina. I am green-turned-red, the peace-loving hope of the greens. Will you, who call yourself noble, turn aside from the risk of taking a bite to eat and the risk a journey to the village of Hnut, to see if two little winterborns barely out of their shells, so starved that their tickle-fluff has fallen out and must be fed by a tube, might possibly be yours? Two little winterborns who, according to the six-year old winterborn in Hnut think nothing but ''have you heard mummy? where''s mummy''. Will you take the risk that your daughters live?¡±
¡°You can''t trick me, whoever you are.¡±
¡°You will not face the risk, then? You are too broken? Too scared that your daughters'' minds might have suffered? You would prefer that they had been left in that evil hool with the four thousand for whom it was too late? You are too scared to think that God would answer your prayers?¡±
¡°You can''t trick me.¡±
¡°You are already deceived Tanepoli if you think God will accept a suicide who refuses hope. You have been tricked by the evil one, into believing God has not heard you, and into leaving your children to die. Or is it that you condemned them to that fate yourself? Did you conceive them only to regret it? Is that what you would have me believe? Are you so evil? Are you so heartless a mother?¡±
¡°Do not mock my pain!¡±
¡°Then eat something, and go to your children!¡± Sithini ordered ¡°You are too weak to stand, they are too week to travel. How will you see them if you do not eat? Or shall I take you to see them as you are now, with you unable even to crawl to them in response to their cries of longing when they see you? Will you expose yourself to such mockery in the eyes of Yalinth''s great grandmother, lady Yanepoli of Hnut in whose care they are? Or is it that you do not want to see them? Are you are such a coward that you cannot face the evidence of their suffering written on their tiny fluff? Is that it? Are you too full of pride and too much a coward to accept that you need to repent of your lack of faith?¡±
¡°Do you challenge me?¡± Tanepoli asked, struggling to rise.
¡°I''m green-turned-red, princess of the Tan, I am heir to the southern throne, heir of the line deposed by you usurpers. I will not challenge you to a duel, but I challenge you to live and be a mother, yes, and if you need calling a coward before you accept that challenge then I call you a coward. I am a wizardess, I designed and made a device that finds fathers based on the pheromones of their children, it found your husband. The crate the starving fluffballs were in was sent from this village and put in the hool half a year ago. I say they are very likely your children. Prove me wrong if you dare.¡±
¡°Sithini, that might not have been the safest thing to say.¡± Dirak murmured as as Tanepoli got out of her bed onto unsteady legs.
¡°I may be weak but I will pluck your mocking feathers if you are wrong.¡±
¡°As long as you promise to eat something first, so you do not collapse of the journey and I do not have your death on my conscience as I try to run away from you even while throwing up at the thought of being plucked as my ancestress was, and as long as you promise to thank God for hearing your prayers and for my bravery in challenging you if those fluffballs are yours.¡±
Tanepoli sat back down, and Chelf handed her a bowl of soup; he made some each day for her, hoping that she would eat something.
Tanepoli sipped it and rested against him.
¡°If they are ours or not.¡± Chelf said, ¡°I will name my next daughter after you, green-turned-red who does not back down.¡±
¡°You think I return fully to life, Chelf?¡±
¡°I think you will see helpless fluffballs, my love, and even if the wizardess cannot count and has confused my brother''s lost son with our lost daughters, you will remember the joy of motherhood, not just the pain of loss.¡±
¡°You know me, husband.¡± she said then turned to Sithini. ¡°I have eaten, persuasive wizardess. Let us go first to the grieving family of my brother-in-law, assuming your wizardry can carry so many. His son was taken much more recently than our daughters.¡±
Hnut, Yanepoli''s home. Motherday evening
¡°Well, what are we waiting for?¡± Tanepoli asked impatiently.
The door flew open, and Yalinth said ¡°They heard their mummy! Great-grandma, their mummy''s here! They''ll stop annoying me! Come this way, please, now they''re screaming ''I heard mummy! Where''s Mummy?''¡±
¡°Come in, whoever you are,¡± Yanepoli said from inside. ¡°Yalinth''s obviously decided that this is no time for decorum.¡±
¡°I am named Tanepoli, lady Yanepoli of Hnut. And I had given up all hope,¡± Tanepoli said, as she was dragged towards the little crib by the fire. Then she needed dragging no more and she flew to her fluffballs. Scooping them up she said ¡°This is Talinth, and this is Tagelah, who hatched first. They will both, I hope, find themselves yellow husbands, and just as godly Saleth did, bring another generation of thought-hearers, and I pray that the house of Tan will forever be led by godly yellows, as unafraid as Sithinilakiina who named me the coward that I was, not daring to hope, not daring to live. Thank you, father God for hearing my prayers.¡±
¡°I knew your grandmother, Tanepoli,¡± Yanepoli said, ¡°and I''m surprised that young Sithini still breaths if she called you coward.¡±
¡°I was scared of life and determined to die, and had not eaten in two weeks. It took that goad to move me from my bed, and get me to eat. It was well aimed; I do not doubt I''d still be there otherwise.¡±
¡°Tagelah thinks ''Mummy must eat! Hungry! Milk time!''¡±
Yalinth interpreted, and then turned to Chelf''s sister-in-law, and said, ¡°I don''t know. The others are with Big Angry. Sorry, that''s what they call Rangar.¡±
¡°Yalinth, as you have noticed, has not yet learned to hide what she can do.¡± Yanepoli said, morosely. ¡°It''s my fault, lady Yanepoli. I thought a question to her, hoping against hope that my son also has been found.¡±
¡°My sister-in-law, Zaheln,¡± Tanepoli said.
¡°Yalinth, guide Zaheln to Rangar and Nathlin, and remember your manners.¡±
¡°Yes, great-grandma,¡± Yalinth said.
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 17: Truth
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 17: Truth
Lenepoli''s parents'' home, 9pm that night.
¡°Ruath?¡± Dirak asked ¡°Can we have a private discussion while the ladies are gone?¡± Ethepoli and Lenepoli were both out, making arrangements for yet another reunited family ¡ª Zaheln, Chif her quiet husband, and little Zif ¡ª to stay for a few nights. Tanepoli and Chelf would be staying longer, it had been agreed; the doctor had proclaimed Tanepoli unfit to be even sitting sitting up in bed.
¡°Certainly, Dirak? Is there a problem? Other than this terrible business with the hool, I mean. I can hardly believe it. That going on for hundreds of years!¡±
¡°People are good at keeping secrets, sometimes. Even when you''ve lived somewhere a long time, even when you''ve grown up somewhere. Have you spoken to Rangar this week?¡±
¡°He told me that you''d prayed for him on Restday.¡±
¡°I did, yes. Did he say what about?¡±
¡°He said he couldn''t, but you would, and that was fine by him and the others.¡±
¡°I will. But I''m not entirely sure where to start, so I''ll sort of spiral in, if that''s OK. So, one of the big mysteries of Hnut is solved, the summer crazies is caused by copper, but it''s more complicated. Do you know where the village got its name?¡±
¡°Not really. I read something once, that the name was here before the village.¡±
¡°Almost certainly. Rangar said that when the village was started no one knew where the name came from, then they found out. In many ways, pastor, the summer crazies are a not a chemical problem but a spiritual problem, and also a pest problem. Rangar and the others want to protect people from it, but they can''t.¡±
¡°I''m not really following you, Dirak.¡±
¡°I''m dotting about much less than Rangar was, I assure you, pastor. Let me get closer to the point, at least. I think, that when I tell you the problem, you''ll agree that next rest-day, as long as it''s not snowing, but maybe even if it is, it would be very good to hold some kind of funeral service up on the high fields, for all the poor little innocentfluffballs . You can just about see the mountain above Tumpf from there, so it''s fitting. I''d then like to do two things.
"One is dedicate the high fields as a cemetery, and the second is try to persuade the growlers to go that way.¡±
¡°You''re not making much sense, Dirak. Why dedicate a field as a cemetery, and why send growlers if we''re going to bury people there?¡±
¡°The growlers are to keep down the fluffies. There are too many up there, and that''s a big part of the problem. No one should be digging up there pastor, not fluffies, not farmers trying to hide the truth from their wives and children, not grave-diggers. You don''t dig new graves on top of old ones.¡±
¡°The high fields are a graveyard?¡±
¡°There was a hool up there, pastor. It must have been abandoned long before the village was settled, maybe even before Polithanapoli''s mother rescinded the law requiring yellow winterborns to be sent to a hool. Maybe even because the fluffies were digging up fluffball skeletons. But they''re still doing it. The farmers have tried to keep it from their wives and children, try to re-bury them and hide that there was such an evil on their doorstep, but they can''t really cope with it themselves. So they dose themselves on copper. Rangar said the copper sulphate for his thlunks is just an excuse, it gives him a perfect reason to have straw covered in copper sulphate they can burn, to forget. That''s why I say it''s a spiritual cause, they''re not turning to God, they''re not asking him to take away the nightmares, and instead they''re trying to solve it themselves. And sometimes the wind changes direction, and the poison smoke affects people who have no idea what''s going on.¡±
¡°And so, trying to hide the sins of the past, they hurt more innocents.¡±
¡°Yes, pastor, I''m sorry for your own loss to that... well-meaning stupidity.¡±
¡°It happened a long time ago, Dirak.¡±
¡°But still continues.¡±
¡°So this was the Hool on the Utt. Perfectly positioned, the cross-roads, the ford, out of sight but convenient from both town and mining villages.¡±
¡°It was a place of evil, but it is not now, pastor, I am sure.¡±
¡°No, thanks be to God, but you are right, we must stop the farming of the upper fields. Dirak, do you think it is right that the men do not tell their wives and children?¡±
¡°I don''t know, pastor. It is a terrible secret that is destroying lives. But I wonder if some people will be happy to stay here knowing that it was there. I do not know if telling the truth will rip the village in half.¡±
¡°If we declare it a graveyard, with no burials, then people will think we are enacting some meaningless ritual.¡±
¡°Yalinth was not the first winterborn in this village, pastor, and all the crates are numbered. It would be possible to find the crates, to give the poor innocents a proper burial. The other idea I have had is to collapse the mine, and bury all that way. I do not know which is better.¡±
¡°So we could bury our own dead, repent as a village that this has ever happened, ask God to wash us clean from the blood-guilt of our ancestors.¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
¡°We could. The other thing is that there may well be records, for example in the royal archives, or even something within the records I have from the Tumpf mine. We could ''uncover'' that sad fact, without mentioning that the men knew of it. I don''t know if that is wise or not, but it would allow the men to say ''we thought it might have been so''. Oh, Rangar also says there have been adult skulls dug up by the fluffies too, probably parents. But I do not want the evil to continue to be hidden so well that it is never cleansed, and continues to fester.¡±
¡°Yes, and keeping the secret the men have guarded... for centuries?¡± Ruath asked, and Dirak nodded, ¡°that terrible secret must come out, mustn''t it? And that ground must not be farmed. Who thought of such a thing?¡±
¡°According to Rangar, it was farmed for a year, then the terrible truth discovered, then it was left fallow, but children went there, and found strange balls.¡±
¡°And played with them?¡±
¡°How would youngsters know better?¡±
¡°We must make the truth known. That is my calling, Dirak.¡±
¡°Mine also. I''m sorry for becoming scared. I said the truth must be known to Rangar, but then I became scared myself of telling others, of how they would react. We should cry out to God for his forgiveness, of trying to hide this evil.¡±
¡°Yes. We should.¡±
¡°I''ll call Keldi, if you don''t mind? She might even know about it already. Avid reader of historic documents that she is.¡±
It didn''t take long for Keldi to catch on.
¡°Hoo on Utt was once the site of a hool?¡±
They agreed. ¡°I''m not at all surprised. There were many hools, Dirak, Ruath, all across the north. It was not just winterborns. It was winterborns, and orphans, and fluffballs captured as part of a blood-feud, and fluffballs born of condemned criminals. All were condemned to a hool as being a ''kinder'' death, to die in their sleep, not crushed underfoot, which was the alternative way they treated fluffballs. Our ancestors were godless people, back then; the word of God came first to the greens of the south. Have you ever noticed how some dialects pronounce hole and hill the same? Often the hools were on hilltops. It is not surprising that a hilltop beside a ford would be considered as a good place. But given what I''ve been reading I''d frankly be surprised if there wasn''t a hool near the village.
"And I have been looking at old records. Hnut was not a new village when the rebels came here. There had been a market there for centuries, according to what I''ve found, not just a market, although officially that''s why it became the district village. And I''ve finally got an answer to a question I''ve had about why there have never been any royal names starting with Utt.¡±
¡°I don''t get the connection.¡± Ruath said.
¡°Royal names proclaim, generation on generation, the districts over which the family rules, in alphabetic order. Keldithanapoli, queen of Keld, over on the coast, Lanthi queen of Laneth.¡±
¡°The district downstream of Reqiq,¡± Dirak chipped in.
¡°And I hear you''ve got Tanepoli up there, princess of the Tan, the old rulers of Taniq, which is upstream of Reqiq, and incidentally, the place that Sithini ought to be naming her firstborn daughter after. It''s another thing we stole from them. Anyway, Hnut was once known as Hoo on Utt, which was previously known as Hoo on Yatt, which was previously known as Hoom of Yant, the home of the Yant. The Yant, I assume you can guess, being the ruling family of the Yatt valley, now known as the Utt valley. Yanepoli''s god-fearing ancestors invited her god-fearing friends here, but Hnut has been her family''s ancestral home for literally millennia, and they were a really powerful family, as you can probably guess from getting the whole Utt valley named after them. I said it was naming the districts? The real tradition is that the royal ought to be husband hunting in the district she''s named after too, to avoid in-breeding.¡±
¡°Wow! Have you told Sithini that yet?¡±
¡°No. It''s not a law, or anything. But I do notice that Ranthilakiina found herself a husband from Wendig, which is in Ranet.¡±
¡°And Sithini ought to be finding herself a husband from urmm, Sinth?¡±
¡°No, that''s a town. She ought to be looking for someone from the distinct
of Sittin. Which is to say...¡±
¡°The city?¡±
¡°Not all of it. It doesn''t include Drana, she might be pleased to know, that was a marshland no district claimed, hence the cheap rents once it got drained. It does include the college, and parliament, and some of the guild buildings, but also the villages with ''sit'' in their names nearby, Unsit, and Sitwel, and so on. Sorry, I''m going really off topic, aren''t I?¡±
¡°I''m happy to know I''ll never be tempted to call Sithini the queen of Drana, Keldi, but it is really helpful to know this village wasn''t named after the hool.¡±
¡°Urgh. You were thinking that? That''d be a horrible thought. No, your home is named after being the home of the Yant clan, and you might say I''m a clan member too, Yathanepoli being the first queen after the conquest.¡±
¡°Keldi, can you come up on Restday or Skyday and tell this to the village?¡± Ruath asked, ¡°Dirak is thinking that we should dedicate where the hool was an a cemetery, rather than pretending it wasn''t there.¡±
¡°And try to persuade some growlers to go that way.¡± Dirak said.
¡°Why would they want to?¡±
¡°It''d add a loop into their migration path, but there''s a lot of fluffies up there.¡±
¡°How would you do it?¡±
¡°Catch some fluffies, I guess, let them go at roughly the right time and place and see if any growlers notice them running home.¡±
¡°Talk to Thuna first, Dirak. You don''t want the growlers deciding it makes a good winter home. But yes, certainly I''ll come up. I''ll bring the family; Lanthis'' got a week''s study break after the weekend.¡±
¡°Are there any noble families in Laneth?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°No, there was one complicated inbred extended clan, the Lanthins, who duelled and blood-feuded themselves out of existence about two generations back. If any of them survived I''d forbid Lanthi from marrying one anyway. Far too bellicose. I don''t suppose Yanepoli has any younger grandsons who like books, does she?¡±
¡°Sithini was getting chased by a grandson who dreams of studying architecture,¡± Ruath said, ¡°and is getting entirely carried away at the thought that there might be some real city architects coming to work on building the school.¡±
¡°The designs Sithini brought back were from a grandson? Well!¡±
¡°They were good?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°The guild architect looked at them today, and wanted to know what Ranth was bothering him for, if we had an architect already. When he learned it was from someone untrained, and had another look, he said he''d obviously studied and had a lot of talent, the old style it was in wouldn''t be popular in the city, but he could see it being appreciated somewhere traditional, and of course it would stand up. He did suggest a few changes, but just things like wider doorways and corridors.¡±
¡°You''re saying his designs are going to be built?¡± Ruath asked, ¡°He''ll weep.¡±
¡°Weep? Why?¡±
¡°He was dithering about whether to ask Sithini to give them back. He wanted to impress her, but didn''t really want them to actually be shown to anyone. I don''t think he thinks they''re good enough.¡±
¡°Oops. Lanthi needs to apologise then. Sithini showed Lanthi, since Lanthi''s doing an architecture option for her ISC, Lanthi said she couldn''t see them properly and laid them out in the college dining room, Ranth came in and she showed them to him, Ranth was impressed and showed them to the guild architect.¡±
¡°And perhaps when she apologises she could ask him for improved ones?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°Good idea.¡±
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 18: Apologies
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 18: Apologies
Dirak''s library, Fatherday, 7th Winter, 4pm
¡°Hello Yalb,¡± Sithini said, looking up from the desk in Dirak''s library, where he saw she was fiddling with something that looked distinctly wizardy. ¡°Thanks for coming. I hope Lenepoli''s told you I''m really a green, just with confusing feathers. I''m not crossing colours, OK?¡±
¡°Yes, I understand entirely.¡±
¡°Good. I Just didn''t want you to think you were here for anything else. Right, this is my friend Lanthi, who''s taking an optional architecture course for her ISC.¡±
¡°If only...¡± Yalb said, wistfully.
¡°And knowing that, I asked her what she thought of these designs of yours and ... after that it gets complicated, and I''ll leave her to apologise.¡±
¡°The ultra short version; the guild architect says he''s not interested in coming any more, all because I goofed big time and didn''t listen to Sithini. Mum says you''re allowed to shout at me but please don''t hurt me, since I''m the only heir and not officially adult yet. Do you want the short version or the long version?¡±
¡°See?¡± Sithini said, ¡°You can tell she''s a pure-blooded-red, can''t you? I''d never say it like that; my brain hurts already. Be nice to each other, if anyone comes for Dirak, he ought to be back later. I''m off.¡±
¡°The only heir?¡± Yalb asked, as Sithini gripped her staff and disappeared.
¡°Sorry about the anti-teasing feather-dye, it was supposed to wash out in one wash. You have the extreme honour of lambasting Lanthithanapoli, daughter of Keldithanapoli heir to the empty throne for showing your plans to people without permission.¡±
¡°You showed my plans to a guild architect?¡± Yalb asked.
¡°I wanted to see them properly, so I snatched them out of Sithini''s hands and laid them out in the college dining hall. Big tables, you know? Then Ranth came in, you know Ranth right?¡±
¡°Yalinth zapped him in effigy with snowballs.¡±
¡°Better that than with the real weapon, not that we''ve got the lungs for it. I tried once; mum wasn''t impressed at all.¡±
¡°Pardon?¡±
¡°Shooting with the thing Yalinth was pretending to zap Ranth with. The aliens left one for the wizardry museum. I see what Sithini means, this isn''t exactly a carefully structured apology, is it. Sorry.¡±
¡°You tried using a museum piece?¡±
¡°I know, I know, I was irresponsible, etc.¡± Lanthi said.
¡°I see a pattern.¡±
She took a deep breath, ¡°Yalb, I''m a teenager, I''m noble-blooded, do you want to start a fight?¡±
¡°Not really.¡±
¡°Why not?¡±
¡°Because right now, I have you at a disadvantage, seeing as you owe me an apology, and I also have an advantage over all the rest of the guys that think you must either be some kind of strange cross-breed to have purple feathers, or a dumb orange. I like those advantages.¡±
¡°What are you saying?¡±
¡°Do you know how many girls there are in this village who don''t have at the very least an understanding with someone that they''re planning courtship when they''re older?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°None between fifteen and fifty. Except you of course, since you''re here.¡±
¡°There''s going to be a massive percentage increase when the apprentices come up.¡±
¡°Maybe. How many are pure-blood, though?¡±
Lanthi''s eyes opened wide; ¡°You''re pure-blooded?¡±
¡°People don''t cross colours around here much. Certainly not us Yants.¡±
¡°You''re a Yant? Mum made me read ''a history of the Yatt valley'' last night. I thought it was just, like, an introduction to the village, or something. She was plotting.¡±
¡°I am Yalb, youngest child of Yathin, daughter of Yanepoli of Hnut. Dad is Torg of the Tan, son of Talina.¡±
¡°You had me worried for a moment, but Talina''s not a cousin. My father is Kand of the Keleds,¡± Lanthi replied.
¡°That''s a long way away.¡±
¡°Mother tries to follow traditions if they don''t get in the way. She put wizardry to use and went to Keld to ask around. As for me, forget that tradition: the Lanthins are dead and not particularly mourned.¡±
¡°Have you heard of Rangar?¡±
¡°Strongest male in the county, I hear.¡±
¡°His father was a sane Lanthin, who renounced blood-feuds and fled here. My big sister Yagah has a real thing for muscles, and married his only son, Gert.¡±
¡°So, there is a Lanthin-relative, but he''s not available. And anyway, mum says she doesn''t want to take the risk and would have vetoed anything.¡±
¡°Really? I was going to say that Rangar does have a couple of nephews...¡±
¡°Banned; Mum would probably disinherit me or something if I took up with any descendent from that line. Too much bellicosity on her side of the family already.¡±
¡°Wow.¡±
¡°What does wow mean, in this context?¡± Lanthi asked.
¡°You''ve just pronounced my two arch-rivals for your affections totally unacceptable.¡±
¡°And you didn''t fancy a trial of strength against some Lanthins?¡±
¡°Do I look that dumb?¡±
¡°No, you seem pretty smart to me,¡±
¡°Yagah calls me a disgrace to my breeding.¡±
¡°Yagah sounds like she got dropped on the head too many times. Without too much offence meant.¡±
¡°Can I tell her you said that?¡±
¡°Female duels have been banned for centuries, Yalb, you know that.¡±
¡°Might be fun to watch you pluck each other, though; but assume I should take that as a no, then?¡±
¡°Probably safer. She''d probably look funny plucked. And then mum would pluck me too, probably. I know Grandma plucked her when she plucked someone.¡±
¡°Really?¡± He asked, shocked.
¡°Were you genuinely hoping to see me and your sister trying to pluck one another, or were you just teasing?¡±
¡°This is one of those questions where I could lie and feel guilty or tell the truth and feel useless. Brutal honesty, let''s get it in the open: I don''t find it an exciting thought, at all. I can act like I do, but it''s an act. By preference I''d be trying to get you to stop, but maybe actually I''d be hiding somewhere far away, waiting for Dirak to arrest us all. I try to avoid fights, not because they''re tempting but wrong, just because I don''t like fighting.¡±
¡°Noble innate bellicosity really did skip you, didn''t it?¡±
¡°Sorry.¡±
¡°Grandma said the only solution to innate bellicosity is to undo the breeding programme or abdicate, and that abdicating is the coward''s way out.¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
¡°Urm...¡±
¡°The reason my feathers are purple is it that there is only a certain amount of ''watch out, she''s going to pluck you'' that I can take before I start thinking about ripping their throats out and writing ''it''s not a joke, idiots'' in their blood. I''m no coward.¡±
¡°I wasn''t going to accuse you of it. I''m just wondering if by that you mean...¡±
¡°I mean, that if some other girl starts paying you too much attention, tell her she is on dangerous ground, and I don''t think a female in my line has backed away from a challenge in four centuries.¡±
¡°Are you saying...?¡±
¡°You''re not finishing many sentences at the moment,¡± Lanthi said.
¡°Sorry, expectations. I''ve just revealed my biggest flaw and you''re reacting like I''ve just said I own the most productive mines in Qnut.¡±
¡°Yalb, you own something better than a mine. You''ve got /desirable genetics/. If you think there is some way that we couldn''t possibly get on, then tell me. Otherwise please assume that pretty soon there''s going to be informal understanding between us, assume that I fully intend to speak to my mother about your lack of bellicosity, and then assume when my parents speak to your parents, then such things as personal preference are going to be lower on the agenda than things like constitutional necessity, dynastic future, and the like.¡±
¡°You make it seem very cold and calculating.¡±
¡°Don''t worry, there''s plenty of time for it to get warm and romantic. Do you think you could get used to the idea of falling in love with me?¡±
¡°I was planning to ask you that. I''m pretty sure I could, yes.¡±
¡°Likewise.¡± Lanthi said, ¡°So, shall we agree that we plan on doing that?¡±
¡°Just like that? Reach an understanding now?¡± he was shocked again.
¡°Well, it''s a bit soon, but just think, if we do then we''ve just saved you from ever getting in a fight over who''s going to court me. Does that appeal?¡±
¡°Very much. I think could forgive you quite a lot for that.¡±
¡°Even me asking you to be the official architect on the school?¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°That''s in part two of my apology. But first, I understand that unless we decide we hate each other, you''re going to court me when we''re old enough.¡±
¡°I understand that too, Lanthithanapoli.¡±
¡°And if any other boy wants to argue about it, I''ll happily shred his crest for the insult to me. Back to the apology. Ranth showed your plans to the guild architect, who said ''if you''ve already got an architect, stop wasting my time.'' Ranth said you weren''t an architect. Guild architect said, ''hmm, well, OK, he''s not a great architect, and the style''s a bit old fashioned for here in the city, but he''s read the right books and got a lot of talent, and everyone''s allowed to make some mistakes somewhere, like those corridors and doorways are too narrow, and there''s probably someone who''d take him on as a journeyman if he wants to join the guild, but not me, I''m too busy. And anyway, Hnut is too far and there''s no decent rock up there, and as for that newfangled stuff you''re so proud of, if it''s as strong as you say, you can build anything you like out of it. Now I''ve got some clients that really do need me, good bye.'' And started walking off. Ranth asked ''but will this stand up if we made it out of stone?'' and the architect said, ''as long as the foundations are good, of course it will, you faithless fool! Huh, wizards with their stupid apprentice questions, I don''t know.'' And walked off. Which by my reckoning makes you the official guild-appointed architect.¡±
¡°But... they were just sketches I did during the Longnight discussion!¡±
¡°If you''d like to refine your sketches, then I''m sure that the wizarding community will be thankful. Ranth has a few ideas he''d like to discuss with you, as do half the rest of the wizards, I expect. But but careful, Ranth is going to be in charge of making the crystal, and he''s a literalist. If you end up drawing the corridor half a step wide then that''s how wide he''ll make it, and he''ll assume you''ve got a very significant structural motive for it, and not just that I was distracting you.¡±
¡°But... it''s just a dream!¡±
¡°Congratulations! Three dreams fulfilled in one day.¡±
¡°Three?¡±
¡°You''ve come to an understanding with a very noble girl, and you''re going to be an architect.¡±
¡°That''s only two.¡±
¡°I''ve found someone who''s neither put off by my purple feathers nor inherently bellicose nor brain-dead. How old are you, by the way?¡±
¡°Eighteen.¡±
¡°Good. I''m seventeen. What have you been doing since you finished school? I''m just asking because my mum''ll hit the roof if she learns we reached an understanding and I don''t know.¡± she added with a grin at her own recklessness.
¡°I''ve been managing the accounts.¡±
¡°Urm, expand, please?¡±
¡°Grandma owns some mines in Qnut, miners are employed, foremen are paid, product is sold, bills are paid. Through the wonders of things called accounts we work out if we''re stinking rich, heading for utter poverty or somewhere in between.¡±
¡°And?¡± Lanthi prompted.
¡°We''d probably be stinking rich if Rangar was the foreman, because he''s honest and no one would dare to try to sneak anything past him. But normally you get honest foremen or intimidating foremen and not often both at the same time. So, we''re somewhere in between.¡±
¡°What about your inspection visits?¡± she suggested.
¡°Strangely enough, when there''s an owner''s inspection, which is normally associated with the miners thinking that they might be out of a job soon, the speed of mining goes way down, but the quality of the ore goes up. And the workers say ''look, we''ve just found this really good seam, it''s a bit narrow and hard to get too, though, if only we had a few more galleries to get at it better ...'' ¡±
¡°I don''t understand,¡± Lanthi said.
¡°They know exactly where the good ore is, because they mine that for their own pockets when they think they can get away with it. Normally, they''re paid per cart of ore they dig up, though, so they dig out the poor stuff. If the owner tells them to dig an extra gallery, they''re paid for digging stone, too, not just ore. And you''d look like a prize idiot if you sacked workers when they were saying that they''d found a new seam.¡±
¡°And there''s no such thing as an honest miner?¡±
¡°Maybe, somewhere. Not in Qnut though. Yalinth heard me talking to grandma about it the other day. She said she''d go and tell all the bad ones to turn around and not die.¡±
¡°I can imagine them quaking in their boots, especially when she asks them to get her a nice full cart of the good ore, from the vein that so-and-so found. But I imagine the typical miner is fairly well muscled.¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Lift me up.¡± She said.
¡°Pardon?¡±
¡°Life me up. How long can you hold me up for?¡±
¡°Is this another thing your mum will ask?¡± He asked, complying.
¡°Maybe. Am I heavy?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Have you held many girls up like this?¡±
¡°Yalinth once or twice. Not beautiful girls I''m planning to court though.¡±
¡°Oooh, a compliment. You''re not struggling at all, are you?¡±
¡°I am a Yant, Lanthithanapoli.¡±
¡°Call me Lanthi.¡±
¡°Do you prefer it?¡±
¡°I''m used to it.¡±
¡°Because it seems better to be formal, at this stage of our understanding.¡±
¡°Can you do me a favour?¡±
¡°Ask.¡±
¡°You try holding up your sister like this, and see how long you can do it compared to... what was his name? Gert?¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°An idea. You''re a Yant, Yalb. According to the book I was reading last night, you Yants are renowned for having good brains and deceptively strong muscles. Just so you know, my dad can''t do this this long, and he''s a Keled, and did his time on the boats.¡±
¡°Stamina isn''t the same as brute force, Lanthithanapoli. You''re not heavy.¡±
¡°It''s odd to look down on your crest like this.¡± She reached out and touched it with her finger tips.
¡°Hey!¡± he said, putting her down, and stepping back.
¡°Sorry,¡± she said unrepentantly. ¡°I was curious.¡±
¡°And should I stroke your feathers out of curiosity?¡± he asked, outraged.
¡°Not now your crest has gone that colour, no. I have tested your strength, Yalb, and I''ve tested your reactions, and I''m not at all disappointed. But I should have asked about your faith too, shouldn''t I?¡±
¡°Yes. And I yours, especially after that... invasion of private space.¡±
¡°Yalb, I am sorry. I was curious how you''d react; with desire, or outrage or both.¡±
¡°And?¡±
¡°I saw a hint of desire when you started to speak of me being beautiful, and I spoke of your crest, turning to shock and anger when I touched it. I will try not to touch it again until my feathers have grown to maturity and we decide we can make promises to one another.
As to my faith, I committed my soul to the saviour''s care when I was Yalinth''s age, and have been learning that it is not always pleasant or easy to do what is right. Mostly that has been not striking, or guessing that a situation might dissolve into name calling and leaving before it did. Those temptations I can name, more recently I''ve been adding the temptation to despair that my mother would totally fail to find me someone who was noble and peace-loving but not a cousin, today I''ve added the temptations that come with having an admirer I like.¡±
¡°Have you had any you didn''t like?¡±
¡°Not for long. For some reason boys get nervous when I tell them I''ll shred their crests if they don''t get lost.¡±
¡°I imagine that got rid of them pretty quickly.¡± he said. ¡°You''ve lots of cousins?¡±
¡°Great-grandma was one of eight girls, can you imagine? There were nine major noble families in the city back then. In grandma''s generation, they looked around for someone that wasn''t a first cousin, gave up and married non-nobles, excluding them from the nobility, plus there was that blood-letting in Laneth, and in other places. In the five years from one council of nobles to the next, the membership was reduced to a quarter, and half of the fights had started at the previous council. That''s why grandma told parliament the council has served its time, and if there was no need for the council, what need for the titles that only fed pride otherwise. She knew that would hurt, but... she felt it would have hurt more later.¡±
¡°And now Tanepoli has prayed in grandma''s hearing that the house of Tan would be ruled by winterborn yellows.¡±
¡°Yes, Sithini told mother. You know Yalinth, what do you think?¡±
¡°I can imagine her in grandma''s place. But....¡±
¡°It is her future unless she''s disinherited, isn''t it? She''s the eldest daughter of the eldest daughter, isn''t she?¡±
He nodded. ¡°It will be hard for her though. I think mum might not disinherit her if there really was a chance of a line of thought hearers keeping the rest of us in line. But as there are no thought-hearing boys...¡±
¡°That we know of. I thought there were no pure-blooded males free of bellicosity.¡±
¡°I almost got bellicose when you touched my crest.¡±
¡°No, you almost got angry. There''s a massive difference. Anger has a cause. Bellicose loves fighting and watching fights so much it''ll make a cause, if you let it. It''s constantly thinking how to turn a situation into some bloodshed, so you can demonstrate that you''re slyer or faster or stronger.¡±
¡°Or cleverer.¡± Yalb said.
¡°I think that''s a bit different, isn''t it?¡±
¡°I''m not sure. But it''s how it is with me, that''s the field I beat off all challenges.¡±
¡°You''d lose to Sithini.¡±
¡°What about to you?¡±
¡°We''ll have to see, won''t we? You''ve proven very willing to be wrapped round my finger, so far.¡±
¡°I was begging for it, even. It just happened shockingly fast.¡±
¡°So, you made Sithini some sketches, will you make me a school to study in?¡±
¡°You''re going to join the wizards?¡±
¡°That''s my plan.¡±
¡°Here?¡± he asked.
¡°Assuming you don''t decide to join the guild of architects as someone''s journeyman.¡±
¡°Maybe I''ll discover it was a silly dream, and I''d be much more useful making surprise visits to the mine with a wizard''s staff to light the way.¡±
¡°Hmm, that sounds possible, too. Especially if you''re holding up something like that log up in the other hand,¡± she said, seeing the angar log Dirak had brought back from Qnut
¡°Is that a challenge?¡±
¡°I ruined my earlier experiment, and I don''t think it''ll be tempted by your crest like I was.¡±
¡°Can you lift it?¡± he asked.
¡°Let''s see.¡±
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 19: Feather parlour
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 19: Feather parlour
Keldi''s family rooms, the college of Wizardry, Fatherday 7th Winter
Lanthi waited for a lull in conversation at the meal before broaching the topic. She was a little surprised to see that during the pause her mother was taking seconds.
¡°Mother... what were you hoping would be the result of Sithini taking me up to Hnut this afternoon?¡±
¡°I had several hopes in mind, dear. I hoped you''d see Dirak''s library, apologise to Yalb, ask him the various questions I sent you with, things like that. How did it go?¡±
¡°Dirak''s library is nice and comfortable. Yalb didn''t even shout at me, and Sithini ran away within about ten seconds of me starting to apologise.¡±
¡°She said you were still talking half an hour later, but said I''d have to ask you.¡±
¡°Yalb of the Yant is pure blooded and not inherently bellicose.¡±
¡°Oooh, I didn''t know that. Tell on!¡± Keldi said.
¡°He is quite strong; quite strong indeed.¡±
¡°How strong?¡± Keldi asked.
¡°Did Dirak tell you about the split log of gnarly angar he got in Qnut?¡±
¡°He did.¡±
¡°Dirak struggled to move it, sheriff Gnor could pick it up, but it was an effort. Yalb held it at arms length for more than half a minute before politely asking if he could put it down now. I''ve told him that until we decide we hate one other, he ought to consider himself mine.¡±
¡°Oh have you? You didn''t think you ought to ask me about it first?¡±
¡°I assumed that you''d set it all up. The other pure-blooded males my age in the village are part Lanthin, so settling it there and then seemed like it might save some unpleasant name-calling and shredded crests.¡±
¡°Part Lanthin?¡± Keldi asked.
¡°Rangar''s father was a Lanthin who renounced blood-feuds. They''re Rangar''s nephews.¡±
¡°And what did Yalb think about you claiming him?¡±
¡°Shocked at how fast it happened, a bit put off when I said you''d be talking to his parents about constitutional necessities and dynastic future, not feelings, and very happy that there shouldn''t be fights involved.¡±
¡°And just to make sure,¡± Keldi asked, ¡°you''re not saying that you''ve made courtship promises, are you?¡±
¡°No.¡± Lanthi said, surprised her mother would ask something that silly, ¡°Just mutually agreed that we plan on getting used to the idea of falling in love. In local parlance we have reached an informal understanding that we''re both interested.¡±
¡°Who''s his father?¡± Kand asked.
¡°Torg of the Tan, son of Talina,¡±
¡°Congratulations, Lanthi, on finding a grandson of the only Tan you''re not related to! What''s he do for a living?¡±
¡°Well, for the next few months, he''s going to be architect for the new college, then he''s thinking of joining, and recently he''s been working on the accounts for the family mines.¡±
¡°Mines plural?¡±
¡°Apparently. All in Yanepoli''s name. He says the miners are all dishonest, and that as a breed, foremen are either honest or intimidating. Which by the sound of it means that the miners either bribe the foreman or convince him to look away. He didn''t say that, though, just implied it. But the mines seem to make a profit, just not as much as they should because the miners are digging the best ores for their own pockets. He also said that because all the mine owners know that''s what happens, the wages for an honest miner aren''t that good. We sort of played around with ideas of how miners with a spotless record could be paid more. Which touched on Yalinth yet again. He thinks that his mother, Yathin, might not disinherit Yagel if there was a hope that Yalinth would find a winterborn yellow husband, and the ruling line could pass to ''pure-blood'' winterborn.¡±
¡°Interesting.¡±
¡°Especially since the next in line is Yagah, who has called Yalb a disgrace to his breeding. I learned that pretty early on, fortunately, otherwise you might have ended up plucking me, mum.¡±
¡°Hmm. Or her, beside you, depending how much notice you gave me. We must find Yalinth a winterborn husband, or convince Yathin that being a winterborn doesn''t need to come into the genetics. Yagah''s a throwback.¡±
¡°I said it sounded like she''d been dropped on her head too many times, which was how he ended up telling me he could act bellicose, but wasn''t. Do yellows really breed true, mother?¡±
¡°According to what I know of the genetics, yes they do. Just like what makes Yalb a Yant is all from his mother''s side. Quite why a red mother and a yellow father don''t end up with a yellow isn''t something I understand, but that ends up with an orange, in case you''re wondering. Nor do I understand the way that while the old records speak of orange and blue giving rise to yellow. I''ve heard of some orange and blue pairings ending up with lesser reds and light blues in the same family, which seems really strange.¡±
¡°Maybe there are just so many ways you can get oranges that there aren''t really any pure-blooded oranges any more?¡± Kand suggested.
¡°That''s probably it.¡± Keldi agreed, ¡°Colour genetics is horrendously complicated.¡±
¡°Didn''t you tell me that Sithini had said you needed to talk to Lenepoli''s friend''s brother?¡± Kand asked.
¡°Yes. I suppose he might be a lot younger than she is but... twenty-four to six?¡±
¡°Keldithanapoli, beloved, it''s eighteen years... ¡± Kand said, placing a hand on her slightly expanded belly, ¡°may I remind you...?¡±
¡°Not in front of Lanthi, no.¡± Keldi said, holding his hand there, and resting her head on his shoulder.
¡°You''re not!¡± Lanthi exclaimed. ¡°Really? You''re carrying?¡±
¡°Silly idea,¡± Keldi said. ¡°Even if it was mine.¡±
¡°I thought you said it wasn''t?¡± Kand asked.
¡°It wasn''t my idea to lead by example, no. I admit it was my idea to encourage nobles to have more than one child reach adulthood. And then Magz used the d word.¡±
¡°Duty,¡± Kand explained. ¡°Very enjoyable duty it turned out to be, too.¡±
¡°Hush, Kand, you''ll embarrass our daughter. And give me more vegetables, will you?¡±
¡°But... Mum, Ethe was full over a week ago.¡±
¡°I ought to be laying on Motherday, yes. It seems quite appropriate.¡±
¡°But... you said we''re going to be in Hnut next week.¡±
¡°Yes dear, we will.¡±
¡°But....¡±
¡°Do tell me what Dirak''s library was like, Lanthi. Nice and warm?¡±
¡°Very snug, mummy.¡± Lanthi said, still barely believing what she was learning. ¡°Snug and secure and no drafts.¡±
¡°Symbolism is important, Lanthi, at least to some people. Expand.¡±
¡°You plan to lay in winter, in Hnut. Where you''ll have just told people about the hool. People might be frightened, unsure. And you''re going to lay there. Surrounded by knowledge, bringing new life where people are maybe a bit too scared of death. You''re going to demonstrate that life goes on, that Hnut is a place with a future as well as a past.¡±
¡°And?¡±
¡°And urm, that the future of our family is there?¡±
¡°That we might start of as foreigners, strangers, but we have no fear of Hnut, not its people. And I think I''ll point out that our line was once of Yant. Which reminds me, daughter, if Yalb retains the deceptive strength of the clan, his sisters may also. A friendly arm wrestle may be worthwhile to establish who could pluck whom. You still ought to have the advantage as a thanapoli, but...¡±
¡°But Yalb surprised me, yes. It would be worth knowing. I did actually ask Yalb to try to arrange a little ''just out of curiosity'' test. But first I need to wash my feathers again.¡±This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Her father held up a packet. ¡°Large print: ''Washes out with just one wash!'' But beware the small print: ''Extended or repeated use may leave a residual stain.''¡±
¡°No!¡± Lanthi wailed, ¡°I''m stuck like this?¡±
¡°Even smaller print. ''In the result of an unwelcome stain, we recommend our advantageously priced stain removal agent.''¡±
¡°How advantageously priced?¡± Lanthi asked.
¡°Depends on your perspective.¡± Keldi said, ¡°Probably very advantageous from the point of view of the company. Having asked to check the small print on that however, I saw ''contains a dilute colour removing agent, may cause some fading of natural colouration in deep colours.'' It smelt of chlorine to me.¡±
¡°Their stain removal agent is bleach?¡±
¡°Yes. But fear not, I challenged some journeymen to analyse the dye.¡±
¡°And?¡±
¡°It ought to wash out. It has no penetrating power we could see at all. But it is a small molecule, and can get into pits. Which of course can close up. Therefore I suggest that you try a long wash. Lots of hot water to start with, just steam yourself for a bit, actually. When your
feathers start to wilt, that''s probably enough. Then wash. And make sure you get your feathers properly straightened afterwards.¡±
That involved sitting perfectly still while the attendant carefully attached clips and strings and pulleys, and of course while the feathers were dried ¡°I hate going to feather parlours, mum. It makes me feel so vain.¡±
¡°Exactly. So your normal feather washing is a bit on the brief side, isn''t it? You need a deep clean, Lanthi. You do want to look your best, don''t you?¡±
¡°Yes, mum. What do I say at school?¡±
¡°Assuming you get back to your own colour, tell them that you''ve decided to be who God and genetics and history made you to be, Lanthithanapoli daughter of Keldithanapoli, heir to the empty throne, also known as innate bellicosity incarnate and that yes plucking them would be very easy, but the hard bit would be stopping yourself from ripping their throats out. And no that''s not a joke, it''s a friendly warning about what comes with feathers that don''t show blood, and talons that self-sharpen.¡±
¡°Whatever happened to keeping a low profile?¡±
¡°Your friends know you a bit better now, I hope. You can also tell them that you''re going to be studying in a village where your almost-boyfriend lives, and dyes are really unpopular there, and you don''t want Lady Yanepoli of the Yant who used to have title over the whole Utt valley to think her pure-blooded grandson is interested in someone from a street-corner in Drana.¡±
¡°Isn''t that putting it a bit strongly?¡±
¡°That''s the only place you saw purple when she was last in the city, Lanthi.¡±
¡°Oh. Why didn''t you tell me?¡±
¡°Because things have changed. These days purple just means ''of course it''s not my colour, don''t judge me.'' But she doesn''t know that, deep inside.¡±
¡°And showing my red...¡±
¡°Means ''I haven''t killed you yet, have I?'' Please don''t tempt me.¡±
¡°Some of my teachers don''t know I''m red, mum.¡±
¡°Let them learn then. You are who you''ve always been, you hope you''ve shown that you don''t expect special treatment, and this is about showing respect to your almost-boyfriend''s relatives, nothing to do with school.¡±
¡°You don''t think they''ll be surprised about me suddenly having an almost-boyfriend?¡±
¡°Tell them you''re constitutionally bound to breed bellicosity out of the royal line, so you had to grab him quickly before someone else got him, and you can always fall in love later. That ought to confuse them.¡±
¡°It certainly confused me,¡± Kand said. ¡°There I was, minding my own business, when ''Hey, you! Are you Kand? Are you really as peace-loving as they say? And is it always this windy here? I''m freezing; who can I to fight to claim you as mine? I want to warm up.''¡±
¡°I''m sure I didn''t say ''Hey you!'' that first time.¡± Keldi said.
¡°Was it ''Oi, you with the gorgeous crest'' then? I get them confused.¡±
¡°That''s it. Romantic, wasn''t I?¡±
¡°Urm. Bellicose might be a better term.¡±
¡°And then you actually ran away?¡± Lanthi asked.
¡°Have you ever tried running away from your mother when she''s grouchy? I didn''t get very far. Her famous next words were, ''Hey you, why are you running away? It''s not like I''m going to rip your crest off; I''m planning to marry you and we might need it later.¡±
¡°Why were you so grouchy, mummy?¡±
¡°Because I''d been hearing reports about this kind gentle Keled called Kand, and I''d been looking for him for two weeks, kept getting false leads and even one imposter, it had been a double-moon the night before, it was blowing a gale and raining.¡±
¡°Drizzling,¡± Kand corrected.
¡°Wet stuff soaking me to the bone, anyway. And he was camping. Camping in late autumn. In sand dunes.¡±
¡°Getting away from all the aggravation of a girl my parents were set on marrying me off to who thought I was a waste of space but wanted.. urm.. what was it, the defunct title? No, that was another one, even my parents agreed she was nuts. Oh! I remember, she wanted to cancel a forgotten blood-feud.¡±
¡°That''s pretty peace loving, isn''t it?¡± Lanthi said.
¡°That''s what your grandparents thought. Then she let slip why. If she cancelled that one then she thought she''d get Keled support for another one which wasn''t forgotten.¡±
¡°I''ve been meaning to ask... How is it that we don''t have any blood-feuds, mum?¡±
¡°The law of talon, now repealed. In the event of a blood feud being declared against the royal family, they got one day to make a strike against the perpetrator only, and then the royals got a year to shred them. In the unlikely event that someone survived that year, and they wanted to press further, they could try to take out two, in one day, followed by two years of revenge. Then three and so on.¡±
¡°But by the end of the first moon the entire clan would have been shredded anyway, unless they were really good at hiding.¡± Kand said.
¡°And if they accidentally attacked the heir or heir apparent,¡± Keldi said, ¡°then they risked the court deciding they''d tried regicide.¡±
¡°OK. So no one was ever stupid enough to declare a blood-feud against us.¡±
¡°Don''t be silly; of course they did, only they then got shredded by their own relatives, which was acceptable under the law of talon.¡±
¡°And it even made a little bit of sense,¡± Kand said, ¡°because all the noble families were related to the royal line somehow.¡±
¡°Anyway, you''ve got time before my favourite feather salon closes,¡± Keldi said, ¡°Go and wash that stuff off.¡±
Yathin and Torg''s home. Fatherday, 7th of Winter.
¡°So what took so long at Dirak''s?¡± Torg asked his son. ¡°I thought you were just getting your sketches back.¡±
¡°I got my sketches back, and green who turned red Sithinilakiina then left me in the company of her friend Lanthi, who''s taking some architecture courses.¡±
¡°And you spent a happy three quarters of an hour talking architecture?¡±
¡°Not much, actually. But urm, I''m not going to be able to help as much with the accounts, mum. Lanthi snitched my plans from Sithini, laid them out in public view and showed them to Yalinth''s target Ranth, who was about to meet the guild architect.¡±
¡°And?¡±
¡°The guild architect pointed out some of my mistakes, from when it was getting a bit rowdy and I couldn''t concentrate, and told Ranth to stop bothering him, he''s busy, doesn''t want to work in any new-fangled wizard stuff, oh and to add insult to injury apparently we don''t have any decent stone around here.¡±
¡°How dare he! Can I shred him?¡± Yagah asked.
¡°No, Yagah,¡± her mother said, ¡°It''d take at least a week to get there, and a week to get back, and probably four weeks to find him in the city.¡±
¡°He''s still coming up though, isn''t he?¡± Yagah said.
¡°No, he''s named me as the project architect.¡±
¡°But despite this, you didn''t talk much about architecture?¡± Torg asked.
¡°No. More about plans and who was who in the village, and she had me show her how strong or not I was.¡±
¡°And?¡±
¡°Got bored when I was lifting her up and had me lift up Dirak''s Angar log instead, after giving it a try and deciding it was pretty heavy. she concluded that I was deceptively strong like a book she''s been reading said we Yants are supposed to be.¡±
¡°That''s supposed to be a secret. What''s she been reading?¡± Yathin asked.
¡°A history of the Yatt valley.¡±
¡°Never heard of it.¡± Yagah said, dismissively.
¡°Ignoramus.¡± Her mother retorted, ¡°Your grandmother has the only copy outside the royal archives. How did a Lanthin get hold of it? She is some kind of Lanthin-descendent, I assume with a name like that?¡±
¡°No mother, not directly in the last twenty five generations or so, anyway, assuming her forebears kept to tradition. She''s named after the district, not the family.¡±
¡°Well, well well!¡± Torg said, immediately understanding, ¡°And how did you get on with her?¡±
¡°Very well, father. Actually, she told me to tell any other girls I happened to meet that they ought to back off if they wanted to keep their feathers. She also said her parents would be coming to chat to you sometime.¡±
¡°What about?¡± Yagah asked.
¡°Yagah, are you sure I didn''t drop you on your head?¡± her mother asked her. ¡°Yalb''s been giving so many hints. I assume it''s just probable that you''ll decide to reach an understanding, at the moment, Yalb?¡±
¡°Actually, she pointed out that if we came to one there and then, it would mean I''d never have to get into a fight about who was going to court her. I found that quite convincing.¡±
¡°You''ve found yourself a pathetic peace-lover?¡± Yagah exclaimed, ¡°What''s the world coming to!¡±
¡°Lanthithanapoli daughter of Keldithanapoli heir to the empty throne and noble over all nobles is not pathetic, sister. I have no doubt that while she''d prefer to obey the law, she''s threatened to pluck any girl that gets the idea she can barge in, and shred the crest of any boy who thinks so little of our understanding that they think violence against me would change her mind. Since she says neither she nor any of her ancestresses have backed away from a challenge in four centuries, I''m entirely sure she''d do it. Her interest in me is because her grandmother decreed that it was a constitutional necessity to breed the bellicosity out of the royal line, or abdicate, and that abdicating was cowardice. Can I suggest you withdraw your unknowing accusation, in case she decides you''ve just impugned her honour, not to mention her mother''s?¡±
¡°Yagah,¡± her mother said, jumping in, ¡°please bear in mind that although the Law of Talon has officially been rescinded by parliament, if you dare impugn the honour of Keldithanapoli, your grandmother will probably still claw you to death because of the shame it would bring on us. And I''d be holding you down.¡±
¡°You didn''t need to say that mother. I withdraw my stupid outburst.¡±
¡°Good. Now to calm everyone down,¡± Yalb said ¡°I''m going to challenge you to an arm wrestle,¡±
¡°Winner takes on Girt.¡± Yagah shot back.
¡°I''m glad you acknowledge I''m likely to win against you even if Girt is likely to flatten me. But if I''m taking on Girt, you take on Lanthithanapoli, just because I''m curious.¡±
¡°Not if that''s going to cause offence,¡± Yagah said.
¡°She''s not full grown yet, she can always ascribe it to the age difference if you beat her.¡±
¡°How old is she?¡± Yathin asked.
¡°A year younger than me.¡±
¡°Hmm, no, she won''t be at her full strength yet.¡± Yathin agreed. ¡°I suggest you wrestle now, and we''ll tell the others what we''ve arranged for them at the weekend. I doubt you want Girt practising, Yalb.¡±
¡°I seriously doubt it''ll affect the outcome, mother. But I''ll try my best. Yagah, you might want to see how long you can lift Dirak''s log; Lanthi managed something like fifteen seconds, but I''m afraid I wasn''t looking at my watch when she put it down.¡±
¡°She''s pretty then?¡± Yagah asked.
¡°You''ll see.¡± Yalb replied.
Dirak''s home, Fatherday evening, 7th Winter
¡°Now what happens?¡± Lenepoli asked. ¡°Another process for a mistrial?¡±
¡°Yes.¡± Dirak agreed, ¡°Expedited process, hopefully, but it''s entirely out of our hands.¡±
¡°Poor last little fluffball.¡± Sithini said. ¡°Both parents and two grandparents in prison, two grandparents dead. Assuming the machine''s right, of course.¡±
¡°Yes, that''s always a question.¡± Dirak agreed, ¡°We can''t take DNA until we''re more sure, we can''t be more sure until the parent''s identified their fluffball, and we can''t take the child to see the parents without being sure, at least, not without a judge making a decision. But in the mean time... who''s going to look after the little one? Rangar and Nathlin weren''t that keen on taking them all to start with.¡±
¡°Let''s just report to them what we''ve found out.¡± Lenepoli said.
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 20: Lessons learned
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 20: Lessons learned
Lanthi''s school, Brotherday, 8th Winter
¡°Lanthi? Is that you?¡± Aneth, one of her friends asked as she sat down at her desk at school.
¡°It is,¡± Lanthi said.
¡°Wow. Urm... I remember you used to be red, but...¡±
¡°I had a really good wash and look what came out from under the dye.¡±
¡°Urm... when we teased you about being a red, we didn''t... You''re a real descendent of nobility, aren''t you? I thought there weren''t any real nobles left.¡±
¡°Not all of us killed one another, not everyone''s grandparents married themselves out of the nobility, either.¡±
¡°You''re not saying you''re pure-blooded, are you?¡±
¡°Maybe I should have washed out the dye earlier.¡±
¡°You really do look positively regal.¡±
¡°Mum''ll be happy to hear you say that,¡± Lanthi said.
¡°I''m confused, her name''s Keldi, isn''t it? Wasn''t there some rule about top nobles'' names all starting with the same letters or something?¡±
¡°Lanthi!¡± The teacher said, doing a double-take as he entered the room ¡°What have you done with your feathers?¡±
¡°Washed the dye off, sir.¡±
¡°You should know that the school has a policy prohibiting the use of natural coloured dyes.¡±
¡°I have removed the dye from my feathers, sir,¡± Lanthi said, ¡°This is my natural colour.¡±
¡°That''s an interesting claim. You wish us to believe that underneath the mild-mannered Lanthi, there''s been a deep red all these years? Come off it!¡±
¡°This is my true colour, my mother''s true colour, and her mother''s true colour and so on for a long long time. If you have problems getting used to the idea, I will not be very surprised, but please keep your doubts to yourself while you do, sir, they''re a bit insulting. If I can please beg the whole class, please try to ignore the colour that God, genetics and a lot of history have given me. It will be much harder to ignore teasing about plucking people now I''m almost an adult than it was six years ago. And plucking people is not the real problem. The real problem is the self-sharpening talons and hundreds of generations of breeding that makes me want to skip messing around with feathers and rip out throats. I have not washed off the dye for school, but because I''m due to be meeting an old noblewoman, Lady Yanepoli of the noble Yant family in a few days, I want to make a good impression and my mother told me that the last time lady Yanepoli was in the city the only girls with purple feathers were in Drana.¡±
¡°I believe you''ll find that the use of noble titles has been outlawed by act of parliament,¡± the teacher said, deciding to pick fault with that, too.
¡°I understand that is the common understanding of the law, sir. But there is no requirement in law that a someone without official role should not accord the title in an honorary manner as a mark of respect if they wish to.¡±
¡°But you do not feel capable of keeping quiet in response to a well-earned rebuke.¡±
Standing up she said ¡°Sir! I beg you to give me leave to be excused. I have no desire to cause a scene, but your attitude since you arrived has been to consistently to level subtle or unsubtle insults at me. I am of the most noble blood, and I do constantly struggle against the innate bellicosity it brings with it. If you find that your reaction to noble blood is to try to cause a fight, then I had better leave, because no thanapoli has backed away from a challenge to her honour in four centuries.¡±
¡°Sit down, admit you''ve been lying and we''ll give you an acting award later, you stupid fool. Who are you trying to impress?¡±
Lanthi stood still, in shock, and desperately prayed for a miracle of self-control as she felt her talons extend and her feathers fold themselves back, ready for her to fight, to slash, to rend, to destroy, to wade in this worthless teacher''s blood. He wasn''t worthless, part of her cried, just ignorant.
¡°Sir, you are behaving as an idiot.¡± Tang, one of the boys in the class said standing up. ¡°I urge you apologise to my distant cousin Lanthithanapoli daughter of Keldithanapoli, heir of the empty throne. Because she has been correct, honest and polite in everything she has said, and you in response have been taunting her and besmirching her honour. You may have claws, but she also has talons, and quite frankly I admire her self control that they''re not at your throat already. If you don''t apologise or act in any way as if she is the cause of what you''ve done, then I''ll testify that you deserve every wound you receive.¡±
¡°Come on Lanthi,¡± Aneth said, quickly putting away her books. ¡°Let''s make a formal complaint to the head that our idiot of a teacher is trying to provoke you to a killing rage.¡±
¡°Too late, he has,¡± Lanthi said, through gritted teeth, ¡°see?¡± she lifted her hands to show the class. It was not unusual for people to have some control over their fingernails, but this was different; her fingers now bore long, razor sharp talons. ¡°The talons of royalty. Thank you for your intervention, cousin. You and the grace of God have allowed me to keep a whisker of self control. Do you think, sir that I am acting still? Where can an actress learn this royal trick? Can you apologise, because I am now struggling against the royal rage known as bellicosity incarnate and I honestly expect I am incapable of maintaining self control much longer even though I pray. Please apologise; I cannot calm down otherwise, and if I take a step my talons will be in your throat, not at them. I will be almost as fast as a Zerker and not calm but frenzied, and will likely injure any who try to stop me getting to you. I do not want to maim or kill. Please apologise, quickly, the rage continues to grow, fed by the incredulity on your face.¡±
¡°I apologise. I did not believe... I''m sorry, Lanthithanapoli to have provoked this. I honour your normal temperament and self-control, and agree, I did goad you, because I couldn''t believe it. You''re normally so... calm.¡±
¡°Normally Sir, no one mocks her or calls her a liar.¡± Aneth said. ¡°Normally she is very careful about not sharing too much about herself that would cause disbelief. Normally, she is able to walk away.¡±
¡°I understand, accept the rebuke. Today''s revision class was, as you know, going to be on history. But I think I have a lot to learn. Would you be able to teach the class an overview of history, adding in what the history books have skipped over, Lanthithanapoli?¡±
¡°Sir, as my friend Sithinilakiina has truthfully said, asking a red to teach history to a class that includes greens is like asking a bird to teach a mason how to lay bricks. I''ll happily tell what I know, but I don''t think any greens here will appreciate hearing about the end of the noble titles before the rise of the nobility and the conquest of the south. May I ask Athrel to give the framework?¡±
¡°I don''t know anything about the rise of the nobility,¡± Athrel said.
¡°Anyone else?¡± Lanthi asked. The teacher indicated she should continue ¡°The first hole is at the beginning, sir. There are legends that the reds, blues and oranges have sought to suppress and to label fantasy and myth, but their truth is attested to in the royal archives, and even in the constitution. Can any tell of the green-turns-red, ancestresses of my friend Sithinilakiina daughter of Ranthilakiina, and when the South met the North?¡±
Athrel stood, ¡°There was once no contact between the North and the South. To the south there was peace, and the word of God, and the greens who lived here were kindly and wisely ruled by one who was born green but whose feathers grew red, and sometimes the boys fought over who would marry a girl, and sometimes, rarely, it became a blood-feud, and so this city came to be built as the scriptures say. Then brave greens tried to take the message of God across the mountains, and they struggled to learn the language of the barbarians. But they managed, they asked
''Where is your lakiina, your red?'' and they were laughed at, but they tried again, ''where is the one whose feathers have become red, the only one who can give you laws?'' And they were told ''there are no reds. There are blues and oranges and we kill the yellows'', and we will kill you if you say the Thanapoli is not fit to give us laws.'' And some of them came home with this disturbing news, that the barbarians had a queen but she was the same as those she ruled, but the bravest took their message about God to the Thanapoli. That is the earliest story I know. The next I know is of the conquest.¡±
Lanthi took a deep breath. ¡°Trying hard to keep things in order... These emissaries from the South were taken prisoner for spreading lies and sedition, and questioned. And they told about the blessings that God gave, how the crops grew better and the animals grew faster and they ascribed this to God''s blessing and it was heard as them saying that the land of the south was better. And the Thanapoli tortured them to find out how to get to these rich lands, and they would not say, only that the people of the South respected ''the red'' more than any other, and that no mere orange would ever be accepted as the rightful queen. And there was always some variation in colours, but who was Thanapoli had always been the the best fighter of the best fighters of the clans, the polis. And a new law was made, that distinguished between the colours. Each five years there would be a contest, for all those who were unmarried adults not too cowardly to take part. The male contest was called the melee, when the worst fighters were killed, and half survived. In the female contest, first there was fighting, when a quarter did not survive, then there was the weeding, where the reddest girls got to pick themselves husbands first, and the most orange were left to choose a mate from among the cowards. And there came to be traditions in the different families, some lines chose the males with the largest muscles, others chose husbands with other characteristics, like intelligence, and so it went on for generations and generations; the breeding program. And eventually, after perhaps a thousand years, during which trade had developed with the south, my predecessor who was called Yapoli of the powerful Yant clan said, ¡°my mother won this competition, and her mother before her and her mother before her, and look, each competition it is harder to tell red from orange. Is it not time for conquest? Let the reddest not just choose husbands, but districts, but I''ll forgo that pleasure if you agree I''m now Yathanapoli, and by my talons I''ll shred any who say otherwise. And that was almost the end of the contest, and that is why the queen has no district, but is queen of all districts.
"All those who had won husbands in any contest were nobles, and the families of the winners of districts became the major noble families. And Yathanapoli found the green-turned-red and plucked her and took her throne, and the other winners of districts who did not have clan names, gave themselves a clan name from their district, and others renamed their districts after their clan, which is why some districts are to this day known by two names. And there was one more contest, when Yathanapoli''s daughter came of age: the contest for the royal title. She won, killing all who did not bow before her, and the royal title thanapoli has been passed from mother to eldest daughter ever since. Following the pattern of the lakaiinas, she is given the name of a district in alphabetical order, unless the nobles of that district have in some ways greatly displeased the monarch, as has happened a few times.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
¡°And so as the nobles of Laneth did not displease your mother, you are named after that district,¡± the teacher said.
¡°I''m not aware of any nobles left in Laneth, sir. The Lanthins I have heard of either renounced blood-feuds and their titles or died in blood-feud. But although traditionally I''m supposed to seek a noble husband from the district I''m named for, mother has forbidden me from marrying into that line. Grandma declared that we must try to breed the bellicosity out of the royal line, so the Lanthins are too risky a prospect.¡±
¡°So you are seeking a peace-loving noble?¡± Aneth asked.
¡°I have found one; he is called Yalb, grandson of lady Yanepoli. Hence I want to make a good impression. But I think that discussion isn''t for class time.¡±
¡°Quite correct,¡± The teacher said. ¡°Any additional or alternative history or legend from you Aneth?¡±
¡°No, sir. Except... I do not know it is truth or myth, but I heard that when Yathanapoli came with her... followers, the queen went to meet her, and said, ''I hear that you wish for power, to rule? Very well, you may take power. But I will tell you about the God of these people you wish to rule.'' And she did, and Yathanapoli grew impatient, and plucked a feather from her each minute that she talked. And she saw that this queen did not fear, but nor would she fight, and she told her daughters, that when the green-turns red talks, you listen to her, for though she will not fight, she is is no coward.¡±
Lanthi added ¡°I do not know how Yathanapoli came to faith in God, but she did. Today''s recent news, next year''s history, next generation''s legend, perhaps: the heir to the southern throne tells me that she does fear violence, but I have heard clear evidence that her fears do not stop her doing what she is sure is right. Recently she met a pure-blooded noblewoman who had been starving herself to death for two weeks, and told her that she was giving in to fear of life and fear of hope, and that was cowardice. Sithini knew how dangerous it was, but by goading her back to life she saved her life, and earned herself another friend.¡±
¡°Another cousin,¡± Tang said, ¡°who is enjoying her recovery at what she describes as the court of lady Yanepoli.¡±
¡°In Hoom of Yant, which became Hoo on Utt, and is now Hnut,¡± Lanthi agreed,
¡°News travels fast.¡±
¡°By wizardry, and rumour combined, indeed. But have you met the famous Yalinth?¡± Tang asked.
¡°Not yet, I expect I need to get her approval too, though.¡±
¡°Who is this Yalinth?¡± the teacher asked.
¡°Yalinth is the niece of Yalb, she is a strong-minded girl who''s just turned six years old, and by some reckoning, is the future ruler of the house of Yant, assuming her grandmother does not disinherit her daughter for marrying the wrong colour.¡±
¡°What''s wrong.... oh, old laws?¡± the teacher asked.
¡°I see a some yellow feathers in this room, I''m guessing that some of them are from bottles, if not most.¡± Lanthi said. And left the question in her mind. Was it possible that her class had a grown winterborn in it?
¡°That''s a dangerous question, Lanthithanapoli.¡± one of the boys, a quiet one whose name Lanthi couldn''t remember said.
¡°I know. I don''t want anyone to get in trouble. But there is an ancient law in Hnut, from the time of the purges, that says the Zerker and foreigner can walk safely in the village, and any who betray them shall face the joint blood-feud of their neighbours. Yalinth is neither, but walks freely, and the village of Hnut has decided to invite the wizards to set up a second school there. I think construction starts next week or perhaps the week after. My parents and the other wizards are looking forwards to playing with their toys.¡±
The teacher looked puzzled, ¡°I don''t understand how you are connecting these thoughts in your mind.¡±
¡°Yalinth is the key, sir, to those who know, but I don''t have her permission to talk about what makes her quite so special. Yalinth''s ability to walk freely is almost guaranteed by the wizards'' presence. In other times and places it would not be. But a threat to anyone like her would cause quite a lot of intervention, I''m sure.¡±
The boy, called Denas she finally remembered, caught her eye for a moment. And Lanthi, not sure if she was doing it right at all, thought her answer:
[My mother, Wizardess Keldi has been looking for thought-hearers for over twenty years, Yalinth is the first she''s met. We live at the college of wizardry, and are due to fly up to Hnut after school tomorrow, but plans can be changed.]
End of school, Brotherday, 8th winter
Denas broke away from the group he was talking to as he saw Lanthi, in her resplendent feathers walk past.
¡°She''s taken, Denas,¡± one of the others said.
¡°I told you that. Not to mention that she''d have never considered any of us.¡±
¡°How did you know that?¡±
¡°Believe it or not, I''ve actually spoken to her in the past decade. Not often mind you.¡±
¡°You don''t speak to anyone often.¡±
¡°Lanthi?¡± Denas said, ¡°Can just, you know, anyone walk up to the college of wizardry? It looks so like a fortress...¡±
¡°No boiling oil, I assure you. Public lectures on various days, admission is free.¡±
¡°And did someone say you can just do an A.S.C. and then leave?¡±
¡°Yes, entirely possible. There are limits on numbers, though, just because of the size of the lecture hall. So they try to give preference to people who want to at least see if they can go further. Up in Hnut, though, they''re expecting most people will just want to do the ASC. Want to talk to the admissions tutor?¡±
¡°Just like that?¡±
¡°If he''s home. I call him ''dad''.¡±
¡°You spoke of intervention.¡±
¡°I did,¡± Lanthi agreed.
¡°Wizards don''t intervene.¡±
¡°They''ve changed policy recently, but basically it''s always been ''we mind our own business, and let other people mind theirs.'' Where the wizard''s business consisted of things like controlling the forces of nature without killing people, passing on knowledge, and keeping in contact with aliens if they can.¡±
¡°Why can''t they?¡±
¡°Option one, take a pretty-much deadly risk and go to where they are, option two, wait for them to wander past, which they do about once a lifetime, as far as I understand it, option three, just keep on praying for a thought-hearer to knock on the door saying ''Hi, I''m hearing voices from a couple of thousand light-years away and I''m not mad really....'' I imagine that''s a rather scary first step. And of course the college doesn''t really want to put up an advertisement saying ''anyone hearing strange voices from space is very welcome''. Option four, go looking for reds married to Zerkers.¡±
¡°Mum''s not a red.¡±
¡°That probably means she''s a pure-blooded orange, unless mum''s wrong of course.¡±
¡°Urm she might be, my mum, I mean.¡±
¡°Congratulations to her, she''s probably rarer than nobility these days.¡±
¡°And Dad has never gone zerk.¡±
¡°I''m told that it''s not always obvious, but since it''s genetics, it''s probably more accurate to say a ''blue male'' anyway. I don''t suppose you''ve got a six-to-eight year old brother do you? Just hoping for Yalinth''s sake. What''s it like?¡±
¡°Hard to explain. Like another set of ears, I guess.¡±
¡°So you don''t need to check if someone''s mouth is moving?¡±
¡°Not if I''m paying attention.¡±
¡°I''d love to know what you hear from Sithini. She thinks really quickly. Would you feel safer with your parents with you?¡±
¡°Strangely enough, I get the feeling that your talons are on my side.¡±
¡°Mum''s too,¡± Lanthi said.
¡°Can you show them at will?¡±
¡°Probably. I don''t think I''ve ever tried. Oh, yes I have.¡±
¡°Mostly I just get emotions, like that was embarrassment. Your rage was pretty loud this morning. Along with your prayer. You know you''re the first person outside family I''ve ever talked to about this. What made you think of thinking your question?¡±
¡°No idea, except talking about Yalinth. Feel free to credit God.¡±
¡°I''m not a believer.¡±
¡°You''d better fix that before you talk to Yalinth, or she''ll point out you''re being rude to your creator.¡±
¡°She seems like she''s going to turn into a right terror. The whole village knows, really?¡±
¡°She proclaimed to a non-believing wizard that it was going to snow the following day because she''d asked God for some snow and it was her hatchday and she liked snow. And people who didn''t like snow had had their turn, and anyway, she wasn''t being greedy she just wanted a little. During the following conversation she said something about his past, and mum went and talked to her, and her family. So some of the village know, I don''t know if it''s the whole village, or if it''s just that she''s just really open in front of people who do know. But the whole village knows all about her snow, because it started falling before the wizard''s meeting ended and was a step deep by the time it stopped. Everyone was calling it Yalinth''s snow, I''m told. Here we are.¡±
¡°For the record, I''ve never heard alien voices.¡±
¡°Yalinth has; Last spring the alien told her a bed-time story, apparently.¡±
¡°How does it work?¡±
¡°What? Aliens thinking to you? The unbelieving scientists on their world have decided it''s a total mystery. Everyone else who''s looked into it calls it a pure miracle. Mum? This is Denas, you''ve been looking for him for twenty years. In other news, I managed to not shred my teacher, Tang called him a total idiot for provoking me to a killing rage by total disbelief that this is my true colour, and calling me a actress, a liar and a stupid fool in front of the whole class, and then we had a nice chat about myths and legends.¡±
¡°Just how angry did you get dear?¡± her father said, putting a comforting, or maybe restraining arm around Keldi.
¡°I didn''t dare move because I was certain that wading in his blood would follow, and although that felt like a really good idea I knew it would dishonour God, so I was praying that he wouldn''t say anything else. My talons were out of their own accord and I think my feathers were entirely flat.¡±
¡°And her thoughts were a mixture of all she''s said and a rage at least ten times greater than yours is right now, your majesty, and flitting thoughts she was trying to snuff out of how nice chewing up his crest and spitting it on his corpse would be, and how the teacher''s last purpose in life could be to give the class an anatomy lesson as she dissected him to get at his liver. I didn''t hear what you wanted to do with his liver though.¡±
¡°Feed it to anyone who thought I was overreacting so they could taste how vilely he''d offended me.¡±
¡°Bellicosity incarnate, but you could resist, Praise God!¡± Keldi said.
¡°Only just. I''m quite sure if Tang hadn''t called him a prize idiot and complimented me on my restraint, I''d have had my talons in his throat.¡±
¡°Good lad, Tang.¡± her father said, ¡°He deserves a prize as peacemaker.¡±
¡°Athrel too,¡± Lanthi added. ¡°She said ''lets leave before he provokes you to a killing rage'', which gave me an opportunity to show off my talons without actually using them on anyone, and beg him to apologise. One he realised how close he was to death, he apologised quite well really. Said my normally placid nature had convinced him I couldn''t be noble. Athrel pointed out that normally I could walk away long before anyone insulted me that badly, and I had just asked to leave the room if he couldn''t stop insulting me.¡±
¡°He kept saying to himself, ''she sounds just like a noble, I didn''t think she was that good an actress.'' It was only when Tang called you by your full name that he realised you might not be fooling around. Why didn''t you use it?¡±
¡°Why didn''t you say ''Yalinth''s a thought-hearer too?'' Because before he called me a lying idiot I was getting cross but wasn''t really that far gone, and once I was that far gone, rational thought was mainly split between not dishonouring God and working out if I could shred him sufficiently to make my point but keep enough of his skin intact to make a decent coat or at least a bag.¡±
¡°Stick to growler-skin for that, Lanthi,¡± Keldi said with an indulgent smile ¡°tanning person-skin properly never was easy, and has really gone out of fashion since the conquest, and you''d have to spend ages convincing a master-tanner to do it for you.¡±
¡°You count that as rational thought?¡± Denas asked.
¡°Absolutely.¡± Keldi said. ¡°Problem solving is definitely rational. Maybe not entirely sane, but rational.¡±
¡°Anyway,¡± Lanthi said, ¡°Denas says his mother is an orange, he hasn''t answered about having a younger brother, and he''s not a believer.¡±
¡°But I''m convinced that Lanthi''s faith is what kept the teacher alive.¡±
¡°No question about that from me,¡± Lanthi confirmed, ¡°But I''d go further and give God the glory. For the most critical seconds I couldn''t have moved if I''d wanted to.¡±
¡°The shock of him calling you a liar?¡± Denas checked.
¡°No, his look of utter disbelief when Tang said I had talons. I mean, I''d mentioned them already, and they came out as soon as he''d called me a liar, all it would have taken was a glance and he''d have seen the mess they were making of my desk.¡±
¡°Ah. Yes, OK I heard that.¡±
¡°Do you have siblings?¡± Keldi asked.
¡°There are three of us, all boys, I''m the eldest.¡±
¡°And your youngest brother?¡± Lanthi asked.
¡°Is ten.¡±
¡°And a thought-hearer too?¡± she prompted.
¡°Yes. All three of us are thought hearers. Mother dyes her feathers, and dyed our fluff too, when we had it.¡±
¡°Even as fluffballs?¡± Keldi asked, shocked.
¡°No. I suppose I should say that my parents ran away to the city to marry.¡±
¡°So they knew, or expected trouble.¡± Keldi said.
¡°Yes. I heard Lanthi thinking of a hool?¡±
¡°An active hool was found just outside Qnut on Restday. There will be more arrests, no doubt, but most of the gang have been found.¡±
¡°Mother''s a journalist,¡± Denas admitted.
¡°It would do no harm, I think, for there to be a piece on what happened at your school.¡±
¡°Some people think that all the pure-blooded nobles went the way of the Lanthins,¡± Lanthi said.
¡°I know, Lenepoli told me she did. And she grew up with the Yants as neighbours. I blame the gaps in the school books, and it''s not a subject that gets discussed. I''ll just go and ask Dirak something, if I may.¡±
¡°Asking if mother can publish about the hool? There have been some rumours that the changes in the law happened because of a police investigation.¡±
¡°Rumours are not the same as an interview with the investigating officer, or speaking to some of the affected parents, are they?¡± Keldi pointed out.
¡°No, not at all.¡±
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 21: Family ties
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 21: Family ties
Hnut, Yanepoli''s home. Brotherday, 8th Winter
¡°Tanepoli,¡± Dirak said, ¡°I''ve just had question put to me that I''d like your input on.¡±
¡°That''s unusual.¡±
¡°Have you heard of a journalist who publishes under the name of Tandetha?¡±
¡°Oh, that one. Yes.¡±
¡°What do you know of her?¡±
¡°Not a member of my clan. Quite accurate pieces, very outspoken about some things, including some where she''s wrong.¡±
¡°Such as?¡±
¡°Why dyes are a good thing, why the constitution needs changing, why wizards are a waste of space.¡±
¡°What''s wrong with the constitution?¡± Dirak asked, intrigued.
¡°Based on the apparently false presumption that there is an heir to the empty throne,¡±
¡°Keldithanapoli will be happy to hear that.¡±
¡°I''ve never met her, but I imagine her temper is worse than mine.¡±
¡°Apparently ''Tandetha'' was called Resha when she married, is the orange daughter of oranges, and her husband was blue. She dyed her sons blue before they were old enough to leave the house.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°It seems she and her husband enjoy dancing when there are leaves on the ground, and they were hatched yellow, in winter. The eldest is in Lanthithanapoli''s class. Apparently Lanthi''s teacher didn''t believe her feathers were their natural colour, and after subtly insulting her a few times he said, ''Sit down, admit you''ve been lying and we''ll give you an acting award later, you stupid fool.'' Fortunately your cousin Tang was in the class and called the teacher an idiot who was lucky to still have a throat, and the teacher apologised before he lost any blood.¡±
¡°I''m being slow, how does this affect me?¡±
¡°Apparently Lanthi''s sudden disclosure of her secret got Denas ¡ª her classmate ¡ª to disclose his to her, and Keldi was going to talk to the parents about how the wizards are desperate to have thought-hearers around. Then it turned out she was a journalist and Keldi''s wondering if you''d like to be interviewed about Tagelah and Talinth.¡±
¡°Won''t that make your investigation harder?¡±
¡°Not significantly. We''ve got all the smugglers, as for the relatives... publishing makes it easier for the parents to decide to come forward to make a complaint. What I''ve seen so far says that the so-called records list the head of the family rather than the perpetrator.¡±
¡°Which makes them inadmissible as evidence?¡±
¡°Not inadmissible, but totally unreliable. There''s a difference, but basically it means that on the basis of this the police can go, investigate, collect statements, conduct a search, and so on. But someone''s name on the list doesn''t mean they''ll be arrested.¡±
¡°When you say head of the family, who do you mean?¡±
¡°I mean that it looks to me to show the person that an outsider might expect to be paying the bills.¡±
¡°Ah, right,¡± Tanepoli looked at him, and sighed deeply.
¡°You''d like to know whose name is on there for your two?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°No. It''s better if I don''t know, isn''t it?¡±
¡°Maybe,¡± Dirak agreed, ¡°But sometimes nagging worries eat at people.¡±
¡°It was mine, wasn''t it?¡± Tanepoli asked.
¡°You were having a lot of renovations on your home done at the time, I understand.¡±
¡°And sometimes I was so tired, I just signed whatever my mother asked me to.¡± Tanepoli agreed.
¡°The bill will have just said ''small statues'' or something like that, and be quite a small sum. The actual payment would go with the fluffballs when they were handed over to the intermediary, and would be sent by a separate trader, often in the form of contraband, rather than cash.¡±
¡°So the bill I signed was for what?¡±
¡°Basically the delivery of a mostly empty crate, with a number on it, sometimes there were actually small statues, plaster models of a few catalogue items, depending on whether the guilty person thought that would help to allay suspicion.¡±
¡°So my mother taking delivery of a box of miniature statues....¡± Tanepoli left her question hanging.
¡°Is not in itself firm evidence against her. She might, after all have been shown them in the catalogue by someone else, convinced it would help decide which ones should be ordered. She might even have been so convinced she was genuinely overjoyed to see the statues to help her make a decision. It was all a fiendishly clever way to get the special crate into roughly the right place.¡±
¡°And you''re going to tell the journalist this?¡±
¡°Not all the details. We don''t want to give anyone a method they can copy. But as well as her interviewing you, I thought that you might like to ask her a lot of questions. Like what it was like raising her three thought-hearing sons, without any relatives around.¡±
¡°None?¡±
¡°She ran away from home to marry. It''s not just nobles who wanted to avoid yellows, apparently.¡±
¡°I wonder if some of her male ancestors were noble.¡±
¡°You could ask her.¡±
¡°Doctor says I mustn''t tire myself out. She''ll just be here for a few hours?¡±
¡°Keldi is planning on inviting her for the weekend.¡±
¡°I''ll speak to her. If I like what she tells me, I''ll answer some questions.¡±
¡°Thank you. I''ll pass that on.¡±
Hnut, Dirak''s library. Sisterday, 9th Winter, morning
¡°Yalb, how long did you say you could lift this for?¡± Yagah asked, five seconds into her lift. ¡°I didn''t. Lanthi didn''t tell me actually. But she said it was longer than she managed.¡±
¡°And she managed how long?¡±
¡°About fifteen seconds. The important thing to remember is that you mustn''t drop it. And it hurts if it ends up on your toes.¡±
¡°You didn''t!¡± Yagah asked laughing, and putting it down exactly on the fifteen second mark.
¡°No, Lanthi was very apologetic though. But that''s why I didn''t get her exact time. You did fifteen seconds on the dot.¡±
¡°You made me laugh.¡±
¡°I made her laugh too. To be precise I tickled her.¡±
¡°You tickled her?¡±
¡°It seemed like a good idea at the time. In retrospect it might not have been.¡±
¡°Why not?¡±
¡°She started tickling me as soon as I had it in the air. Fair''s fair, if you get Girt to try you''ve got to tickle him the entire time he''s got it in the air too if you want to compare my time with his.¡±
¡°No tickling during the arm-wrestle.¡±
¡°I''m not that suicidal.¡±
¡°You like her, don''t you?¡±
¡°I hope you will too, Yagah. Just... try to think before you speak. And apologise quickly.¡±
¡°You think I''m going to insult her?¡± Yagah asked.
¡°I think you might insult me in her hearing, and find her talons at your throat an instant later. I assume she has talons, anyway, as a thanapoli.¡±
¡°Legacy of what''s his name, Yathanapoli''s father?¡±
¡°She''s a very distant cousin, yes.¡±
¡°She''s got Yant blood too.¡± Yagah realised. ¡°A Yant with talons.¡±
¡°And Onet blood too, from before they were exterminated as a threat.¡±
¡°Quick as an Onet, not Zerker fast, but almost. You''re falling in love with an unstoppable killing machine, Yalb!¡±
¡°A thanapoli, yes. Who has a strong faith, and a stronger God.
¡°Did I hear that she dyed her feathers?¡±
¡°She planned to wash it off before she comes up. I just pray no one teased her at school. She said they used to say ''be careful, she''s a red, she might pluck you, and she was really tempted to rip open their throats and write ''that''s not something to laugh about'' with their blood. But she didn''t. I really admire that self control.¡±
¡°I pray she managed to get it all off,¡± Yagah said. ¡°It''ll be hard to take her seriously if she''s not the right colour.¡±
¡°Just think talons, Yagah.¡± Yalb advised his big sister.
Watchmakers'' guild, Sisterday, 9th Winter.
¡°I need to thank your father for letting me borrow you during work hours,¡± Sithini said to Quif.
¡°No you don''t. I need to thank you for giving me your whole afternoon.¡±
¡°This one''s dad''s.¡± Sithini said. Looking at the display. ¡°Cycloidal gears, I see.¡± Quif said.
¡°I''ve not seen involute on any of them.¡± Sithini said, ¡°Involute is more tolerant of mistakes.¡±
¡°I''m confused,¡± Quif said, ¡°other than decoration they''re all the same: 6 jewelled standard self-winding watch. What''s impressive about them?¡±
¡°Watchmaking is a traditional craft, Quif, you''ve told me that. Listen. They''re all ticking in time.¡±
¡°An apprentice watch has to keep ticking for a day.¡± The gatekeeper said, coming in. ¡°The journeyman watch has to keep time reasonably well. The masterpiece has to keep time just as well as other masterpiece watches. We''re a guild, we stand together. You can experiment for commission pieces, if you really want to, young Quif, but you don''t impress your guild-masters by trying to change the standard by the back door, which is what you''d do if submitted something that would keep better time than every other masterpiece watch. The standard can be changed if you''ve got a good enough design, but you''ve got to have five masters who can make one. You submit something that''s that much better and you''re telling five masters to drop their paid work and they need to try to copy you. That''s really not going to impress.¡±
¡°I didn''t understand,¡± Quif said, ¡°Dad said I had to really do my very best, to shine...¡±
¡°''Course he did. Saying otherwise is my job. I trust you won''t spread it, Sithinilakiina.¡±
¡°Certainly not, Master gatekeeper, all guilds have their little secrets.¡±
¡°The wizards know about things that keep time so well no mechanics can compare, Quif. Some of ''em you can even wear on your hand,¡± the gate keeper said.
¡°But they don''t tick.¡± Sithini said, ¡°You can''t look at them and see them working. They don''t fascinate, they''re boring.¡±
¡°Your challenge is to present a watch that ticks as these tick, Quif. You may come and regulate it, of course, but when you say you are ready, it will sit in the stand there, and be tried. And I expect the wizardess here can tell you what the stand does.¡±
Sithini looked at the stand, and what she''d taken to be a weighing scale, saw there were microphones both on the stand and in the cabinets, and she understood, ¡°A little time-saving wizardry. It compares the tick of the trial watch to the others.¡±
¡°Indeed. Saves a lot of waiting, that does. A second a week is the limit, most do a lot better.¡±
¡°There are thermal effects, though,¡± Sithini said.
¡°Oh yes. Regulating is even worse than getting them all agreeing when to tick.¡±
¡°May I place my father''s on the stand, to see how long it takes to settle after I warm it up?¡±
¡°You''re a cruel young woman, to deliberately do that.¡±
¡°You use a needle to synchronise the tick? I saw Dad doing that.¡±
¡°That''s the way, yes.¡±
¡°In exchange for me warming Dad''s watch, I''ll offer you a rack of ten needles that pull out in time to start on time with the room''s tick. I assume they all take a slightly different time to start?¡±
¡°Yes. You could do that?¡±
¡°A dial for each one to adjust how fast a starter it is? But that''s a bit too crude. You''d spend as long setting the dial as doing it by ear. Will you trust me to have the machine put the needles in itself, do a test-start, see how slowly it starts and then restart it properly synchronised? I''d happily practice on rejected apprentice work before letting it near these precious pieces of course.¡±
¡°The case designs are all different, Sithini, there''s no one place to put the needle.¡± Quif said.
¡°Of course there''s one place to put the needle. It just varies,¡± Sithini retorted.
¡°Fine. Why not have them on a conveyor belt then?¡±
¡°Trust. I''d let the guildmaster position the needle-holder, it''d have a little light detector to see when the pendulum wheel is stopped, stick out its tongue, so to speak, and then pull it in at the right time.¡±
¡°Oh, I get it. Sorry.¡±
¡°Master gatekeeper, am I right to assume that the candidate must calibrate his watch without mechanical aid?¡±
¡°He''s allowed to sit his watch on the stand, but he wouldn''t be allowed whatever wizardry you''re thinking of now. And I''d have to ask the other masters about automatic tick adjusters. I like the idea, but it doesn''t take that long to get it right. No offence, wizardess.¡±
¡°Oh, none taken. It was just an idea. I come up with several things I could happily spend a week on per hour, so there''s really no loss.¡±
¡°But you hinted you might be able to adjust a watch? Automatically?¡± the gatekeeper asked.
¡°Yes, but really, manually wouldn''t be much slower. Put it on the stand to listen to the ticks, suitably held of course, adjust, listen, adjust. Ten or twelve cycles of that, halving you adjustment each time, and you don''t have a long-arm vernier protractor fine enough to tweak it any more.¡±
¡°What''s a long arm vernier protractor?¡± Quif asked.
¡°Take a clock, inscribe it to centiseconds, either using an apprentice on punishment detail or something mechanical like a worm drive connecting to a striking mechanism. Put the clock hand on the adjuster lever, with a vernier scale on the end, you do know what one of those is, do you?¡±
¡°I do. A striking mechanism to mark centiseconds! I like it! Yes, that makes perfect sense! Quif, your beautiful friend here is a genius, I do hope you''re going to at least try to talk romance with her before someone else snaps her up.¡±
¡°Fear not, master gatekeeper,¡± Sithini said, ¡°I''ve promised Quif he can have first try at winning my heart, once he''s finished his masterpiece. But before I leave, and sadly I do have to, is there anything I can tell Lanthithanapoli about the watchseller?¡±
¡°Yes. Once he gets out of jail for false accounting and various other crimes against the state, then if he ever sells another watch it will be with the notice you suggested, with a few modifications by the guild. If he doesn''t comply, then the guild have the ancient right to demand he become an apprentice watchmaker, with whatever the court leaves him with to be confiscated and then sold off item by items to cover the costs of feeding him until he becomes a journeyman or a qualified apprentice-assistant. So we''ll make an honest worker out of him one way or another.¡±
¡°If he runs away, I''ve got a little device that can probably find him from about five hundred steps away, given something of his. I''m not offering it for general use, but in his case, I''ll make an exception, I think.¡±
Keldi''s family rooms, the college of Wizardry, Sisterday, 9th Winter
¡°I''m very sorry I got home so late last night, that''s why I couldn''t come. But Denas told me about an urm, incident yesterday at school that I found a little hard to believe.¡±
¡°But you believe him enough to come, anyway. That''s progress, since I hear you don''t believe I''m alive. If I do this¡± Keldi asked, unsheathing her talons, ¡°does that in any way help you to believe your son?¡±
¡°That''s quite convincing, yes,¡± Resha, also known as Tandetha, said, swallowing. ¡°Urm, based on what I understood from what he told me, I did write this. I would urm, hate to make any mistake and publish a falsehood.¡±
¡°Are you always so careful not to give offence, Tandetha? Or do you prefer Resha?¡±
¡°Not always this careful, no, urm, sorry, how do I address you? Tandetha''s just a pen-name use these days.¡±
¡°Call me Keldi. If you want to use a title, then the only one I use is Wizardess. Well, sometimes I use ''heir to the empty throne,'' but that''s either to parliament or people who are being dense. Parliament aren''t always dense, just sometimes. While I read this, you might like to read this little... press release I guess you could call it. One of the advantages of being the heir is when I call parliament together they have a tendency to come. I can''t imagine why. That''s got most of what I told them, as Wizardess Keldi. As Keldithanapoli I made a few personal observations, but you''re not supposed to even ask about those.¡±
¡°Strictly apolitical observations of course.¡±
¡°Oh, entirely. I did help someone with their maths. He said that it was useful to the police to have the law as it stood, and I helped him to realise that it probably meant his family shouldn''t be breathing. Then I offered that if, once he''d finished killing off his family in a fit of judicial zeal, he ran out of energy when he came to himself, then I''d happily give him a hand in bashing his brains out. But helping someone do some maths and giving a hypothetical offer of help that I''m sure he wouldn''t accept is a long way from being political isn''t it?¡±
¡°Absolutely, it couldn''t possibly be taken as a threat.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
¡°No. I mean, if I made a threat then being a thanapoli it''s going to happen. We''re quite well known for neither backing down nor going back on our word.¡±
¡°You are, aren''t you. Journalists as a breed don''t really have such a good reputation.¡±
¡°I''m not sure it''s reputation, is it? It''s just that the idiotic breeding program that made my family has bred into me a love of bloodshed, a pre-programmed fight-to-the death reflex, almost-Zerker speed without the dispassion I so envy them for, and just to top it all off, the brains to see how stupid it is. Like yesterday, Lanthi very very almost slaughtered her teacher. I''m immensely proud of her that she didn''t. If it had been me, I expect he wouldn''t still be alive. We basically have every ability in the book except patience, and self-control. Do you wonder I don''t visit parliament very often?¡±
¡°I didn''t know you existed, parliamentarians say nothing.¡±
¡°Have you seen the law on what happens to them if they do? And to you, of course.¡±
¡°But you''re allowed to tell me?¡±
¡°I''m free to tell Resha, but it starts getting a bit political if I tell Tandetha, and very bad news for you if you write about it. And while I could do something about that law, it would be a mistake.¡±
¡°Can you tell me why?¡±
¡°Because my ancestress basically challenged parliament to get rid of public glorifications of bellicosity. The last thing you really want to do is have my words to parliament undoing that work. That law means I can state my hopes, my fears, my dreams and the things that make me wake up in the night wanting to kill someone ¡ª It''s not a thanapoli thing to do to wake up screaming, by the way. We do sometimes wake up from dreams in which our friends and family are screaming in terror about what you''re having fun doing, and then spend a lot of time praying that those things will never happen.¡±
¡°Urm, Keldi, how much of this is publishable?¡±
¡°I leave it to your discretion, Resha. Consider this a get-to-know you time if you like.¡±
¡°Urm, OK,¡± Resha said, not sure why she might need to get to know this eminently dangerous person.
¡°Have you skimmed that document?¡±
¡°Yes. It''s terrible!¡±
¡°The high council of wizardry want you to publish it, in its entirety. I''d like you to understand, and add, if you like, that for the last two hundred years, the wizarding community have been looking out for yellow winterborns. We have suspected that evils like that are happening, we''ve never known it. And I can show you old documents, decisions from the council a hundred and fifty years ago. Any parent of a winterborn who feels their children are in danger will be welcomed, will be protected. We''ve published it, we''ve whispered it, on occasions we''ve shouted it. It happened only once, and it wasn''t handled very well, I admit. The father brought his daughter and said, ''you want her, you look after her, then.'' then he left, as fast as an angry Zerker can. That was the last we saw him. It''s entirely possible that he ran himself to death, I don''t know. Zerkers can, fairly easily.¡±
¡°I didn''t know that.¡±
¡°How many breaths would you need to run five hundred metres without collapsing? How many would a Zerker get at full speed?¡±
¡°Ah, Right. Why are winterborns so important?¡±
¡°As you know, winterborns can hear thoughts. You might not know that the light from the closest stars in the sky takes years to get here, from most it''s hundreds of years, thousands, or millions. A very very few of the aliens have a gift from God that let''s them hear the thoughts of someone on a planet around a distant star, and send their thoughts instantly to any thought-hearer. God has chosen to give our planet a very reliable way of ensuring that our planet can stay in contact with the aliens, and we idiotic murderous reds and oranges have been killing them off as soon as they were born, because they ruin our petty plans for revenge and murder. It makes me so angry I was very tempted to say, right, parliament, let''s just traumatise the greens and have a traditional contest, only with no survivors. You know about the contests, do you?¡±
¡°Mother told me, yes. She says we never took part, which is why I told my boys, if you see a red girl, then don''t tell her you''re a thought-hearer, and it''s OK to be a bit scared. If she says she''s noble, then it''s OK to be petrified, they''re scary and we''re cowards.¡±
¡°Wear that title with pride, Resha. I mean it. Your ancestors were never so greedy, so proud, that they sacrificed their sons and daughters to that stupidity.¡±
¡°Not all of them were orange. Dad''s noble. He wasn''t happy about me talking to Tlag. Made me quite reject my faith, that did.¡±
¡°What''s your dad''s name?¡±
¡°Tathig of the great and noble Tan clan.¡± Resha said.
Keldi nodded, ¡°I can see the resemblance. It''s almost thirty years since I last had a shouting match with your dad. I''ll happily have another one, you never know, it might convince him he''s wrong, or at least wound him a bit. So, do you want to meet Tagelah and Talinth? Don''t expect much sense out of them, since they''re fluffballs. But your cousin is happy to talk to you, although she doesn''t think you''re a relative.¡±
¡°My cousin?¡±
¡°Tanepoli, who was starving herself to death because of the crimes of some relative. If it was her mother or her uncle or someone else I don''t know.¡±
¡°Tanepoli married a Zerker?¡± Resha asked, in shock.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°And... and dad sent her fluffballs to the hool?¡±
¡°We don''t know that, but the leader of your father''s clan has prayed fervently that the ruling line of the Tan will be henceforth thought-hearing yellows. Introduce your cousin to your sons, Taresha, and see if you can bring yourself to reclaim your name and your faith. You will also have the chance to interview the sheriff of Hnut who''s chief investigator in the hool case, and various wizards who helped.¡±
¡°Wizards don''t intervene.¡±
¡°No? What am I doing now? What have I promised your sons? These little boxes I give to you to give them.¡± She handed over small tubes, with a button on one end. ¡°They are not limited to a single use or even a dozen, but nor will they last more than about ten hours before they need recharging. Press the button on the end, with the other one pointing away from people, preferably straight up. It makes a protective ball of force and assuming they remember to press the button, it will protect them from falling tree, collapsing house, club, or Zirknife; them and anyone they can embrace.¡±
¡°And from royal talons too?¡± Resha asked, fingering one of the metal tubes.
¡°Yes. That''s an interesting idea. I wonder if the teacher would have thought to use it if he had one. Not thought to use it, I expect.¡±
¡°Since he didn''t believe she existed.¡±
¡°Hmm. I wonder who''d been publishing such things. Take that story to your editor, Taresha.¡±
¡°I hate that name.¡±
¡°No, you hate what you think that name represents. After lunch, my family will be going to Hnut. Kand, my husband, and I can easily take your family too. You are, after all, my distant cousin as well as Tanepoli''s. Your editor will be very cross with you if she hears you''ve passed up historic stories like these.¡±
¡°Stories plural?¡±
¡°The disgusting hool, your interview with me, your interview with head of the noble house of Tan on why she deliberately decided to seek out a blue she could love, the construction of the new school of wizardry in Hnut, how Janithanapoli, and Keldithanapoli married non-bellicose husbands, and what Lanthithanapoli thinks now that she seems to have found herself one. Why we retain power when the original, southern royal line are still around, and still far smarter than us. And of course you can ask Sithinilakiina for her perspective too. Oh, and maybe Wizard-at-large Dirak will tell you all about when he uses wizardry as Sheriff and when he doesn''t. You''re going to be a very busy reporter, sorry.¡±
¡°All in an evening?¡±
¡°No, the villagers are very hospitable, you''ll be staying with some peace-loving oranges up there. Oh, I almost forgot, on Skyday there''s going to be a little history lecture by myself, maybe with the venerable lady Yanepoli saying some things too, and we''re going to dedicate some fields as a cemetery for the thousands of fluffballs that died under them, centuries ago. And I really want to see what happens when your boys meet Yalinth.¡±
¡°Who''s Yalinth?¡±
¡°A very determined six year old winterborn, due to inherit whatever power is left as head of of the Yant clan.¡±
¡°Remind me, what''s the traditional holding of the Yants? I can''t remember.¡±
¡°I had to look it up too, which is embarrassing. It''s the whole upper part of the Utt valley.¡±
¡°That used to be a powerful family, then.¡±
¡°Very. Yanepoli seems to quite like the idea of her ancestral home becoming the second school of wizardry. But it was over-titled Dirak''s idea.¡±
¡°Over-titled?¡±
¡°Zerker, Sheriff, and Wizard-at-large? I always thought two was too many. He''s a good lad though. You are coming, aren''t you?¡±
¡°It sounds like I''d be a fool not to. Is Tanepoli very fierce?¡±
¡°I''ve not actually met her, but she''d been starving herself for two weeks, that''s a long time for an adult.¡±
¡°Why starve herself?¡±
¡°She named her daughters Talinth and Tagelah. Do you know what that signifies?¡±
¡°Not really. I know that the oldest adult with the name Tanepoli rules, otherwise, no.¡±
¡°-gelah, or -gel means eldest, -linth means mother. A -gelah can name a -linth, either one of her own daughters or a niece. A -linth''s first daughter is normally -epoli. No one other than them and the -epoli has the right to give those names, I don''t know if that''s still law, but it''s a strong custom. If one of them cuts herself off from the family, or dies, then the -epoli can name another in the next generation. But without an -epoli, a -gelah or a -linth, the line is dead, the Tan would be no more than a memory. By naming them that, Tanepoli said ''there is no future for the Tan except my daughters''. Then she lost her faith in the future entirely.¡±
¡°It was a challenge, wasn''t it?¡±
¡°It was. As was Yagel naming her daughter Yalinth, of course.¡±
¡°But how can the lines continue? Wasn''t she saying that the there''s no future in the noble families at all?¡±
¡°If your sons find themselves yellow wives, Taresha, you should expect yellow grand-children.¡±
¡°That''s a nice thought!¡±
¡°As long as people stop using dyes, of course.¡±
Hnut
¡°Wow,¡± Gangar, Rangar''s nephew exclaimed quietly. ¡°Who is she?¡±
¡°That''s Keldithanapoli,¡± Rangar said, ¡°So I''d guess that''s Lanthithanapoli.¡±
¡°If you''ll excuse me, uncle, I''ll just go and make myself acquainted.¡±
¡°Can if you like, but be careful, she might have an understanding with someone.¡±
¡°She''s looking pretty friendly to Yalb, so I guess not,¡± Gangar said over his shoulder, setting off at a run.
¡°Shouldn''t we have told him, Dad?¡± Girt asked.
¡°No, lad. Not our place. But we probably ought to go and make sure he doesn''t get stupid.¡±
¡°I think grandma''s going to be impressed,¡± Yalb said, ¡°I know I am.¡±
¡°Your crest is saying that quite clearly, yes.¡± Lanthi agreed. ¡°How did your arm-wrestle go?¡±
¡°I beat her more easily than I beat you, she put the log down on exactly fifteen seconds. And you''re going to witness me being flattened by Girt.¡±
¡°Has he tried the log?¡±
¡°Not as far as I know.¡±
¡°And did you tell anyone I was sitting on it?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°You were what, Lanthi?¡± Keldi asked.
¡°He claimed I didn''t weigh much, and the log was OK, so I made it more challenging.¡±
¡°Uh oh, here''s Gangar,¡± Yalb said.
¡°He does look a bit Lanthin, doesn''t he?¡± Keldi said.
Lanthi whispered, ¡°Yalb, don''t worry,¡± then called ¡°Hello Gangar! Yalb told me quite a lot about you the other day. I''m Lanthithanapoli, this is my mother, Keldithanapoli, and my father, Kand of the Keleds.¡±
¡°What''s he been saying about me?¡±
¡°That you''re part Lanthin, that you and your brother are pure-bloods too, and that you were another of the three that almost started a small war over Sithinilakiina, which would have been really stupid, since she''s a green, and not interested in muscular displays one bit.¡±
¡°Stupid dyes,¡± Gangar muttered.
¡°No, stupid boys not knowing their histories,¡± Keldi corrected.
¡°Sithini is the green-turned-red, heir of the southern throne. I mean, who else but royalty would name their daughter after Sittin? Speaking as a long term resident.... Yes, I live there, but it''s not that pretty. I''m glad Laneth is pretty, no qualms about naming Lanthi after that district.¡±
¡°In our defence, Keldi, we didn''t hear Sithini''s full name,¡± Yalb said, ¡°and conquest era history tends to be forgotten in school.¡±
¡°Sometimes I think history gets forgotten in school,¡± Lanthi said, ¡°My teacher didn''t even know the first thing about the contests.¡±
¡°This is the one you almost diced?¡± Keldi asked.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°A word of advice, boys.¡± Kand said, ¡°don''t call any thanapoli a liar. It ought to be on a list of creative ways of suicide, somewhere above dressing up as a growler then surprising a thlunk.¡±
¡°What made him do that, Lanthi?¡± Yalb asked, shocked.
¡°I washed my feathers, but he thought I''d dyed them.¡±
¡°Idiot of a teacher,¡± Yalb said. ¡°You don''t get colour like yours out of a bottle.¡±
¡°He realised his mistake when I showed the class my talons. Praise God for Tang interrupting and calling the teacher a complete idiot, or my talons and the floor would have matched my feathers. Anyway, Yalb, are you going to introduce us to your parents? I''d like to meet them and I''m sure mummy''s looking forward to talking about dynastic necessities.¡±
¡°Certainly, my lady! See you around, Gangar.¡±
¡°''My lady''? You''re pushing it a bit aren''t you Yalb?¡± Gangar exploded, ¡°You might be playing tour guide but don''t think you''re getting her all to yourself!¡±
¡°Gangar,¡± Yalb said, ¡°if Lanthi or her parents think I''m pushing it, I''m sure they''ll say.¡±
¡°Do you see these, Gangar?¡± Lanthi said. Gangar did see her talons, and he also saw her feathers were back, ready for battle. ¡°I guess you haven''t heard, but Yalb is entirely correct to call me his as we have an understanding, and these say that no one else is butting in at all. You can debate that with my talons if you really want to, but I expect your crest will need sewing back on if you try. Or your head. Now, remember, don''t call me a liar; don''t challenge me unless you want to grovel in the mud in apology or be carried off to the doctor, possibly in too many pieces to be put back together. I''m a thanapoli, we have four centuries of not backing down, and this is me being patient, and probably all the warning you get. Now, turn and leave.¡±
He did, with a look of total shock.
¡°Sorry about that, Yalb,¡± Lanthi said, ¡°I thought I''d better set him straight.¡±
¡°Have I ever told you you''re a bit scary?¡± Yalb asked.
¡°Only a bit? That''s all right then,¡±
¡°How much of that was exaggerated, Lanthi?¡± Keldi asked.
¡°I asked my talons what they thought of coming out to play, and they didn''t mind one bit. My feathers were back there on their own, though. I mean ''don''t think you''re getting her all to yourself?'' What am I, a slab of meat?¡±
¡°It looks like you''re entirely too lively for Gangar,¡± Rangar said, coming up with his son. ¡°Your daughter, I presume, Keldi?¡±
¡°Yes. Rangar, Girt, this is Lanthi and my husband Kand of the Keleds. Did Tanepoli say she was going to be interviewed?¡±
¡°Yes, she did.¡±
¡°We''ve just dropped the reporter off with Dirak, but there''s a twist. I think I ought to forewarn Tanepoli.¡±
¡°Girt, did Yagah ask you to tell Ganeth and Gangar?¡± Yalb asked.
¡°Ganeth said he was going to pass it on,¡± Girt said.
¡°I did warn Gangar you might have an understanding with someone,¡± Rangar said, ¡°he wasn''t interested in caution. I''d say you handled that youngster very well. Lanthi.¡±
¡°Thank you,¡± Lanthi smiled.
¡°I hear we''re going to arm wrestle for Yagah''s amusement, Yalb,¡± Girt said.
¡°Yes, and then we get to watch Lanthi and Yagah having a go.¡±
¡°Fair''s fair,¡± Girt said.
¡°Don''t assume it''s going to be a pushover, Girt,¡± Rangar said, ¡°I''ve heard rumours about these Yants.¡±
¡°Have you tried lifting that log that Dirak brought back from Qnut, Girt?¡± Lanthi asked.
¡°Yagah told me you wouldn''t tell Yalb how long.¡±
¡°He managed for more than half a minute, with me tickling him.¡±
¡°Lanthi was sitting on it too,¡± Keldi said, in disapproving terms.
¡°I wasn''t quite sitting. I was trying to get him to put it down before my time was up, and tickling didn''t work, so I added my weight too.¡± Lanthi said unrepentantly. ¡°Making sure to keep my toes out of the way.¡±
¡°Lanthi seems to have a habit of setting tests and then making sure they''re not very valid,¡± Yalb said. ¡°I guess I ought to warn Yagah.¡±
¡°Not at all,¡± Keldi said. ¡°That''s a friendly challenge. Lanthi''s strength tests were play. Quite a difference to the thanapoli mind.¡±
¡°Yes.¡± Lanthi said, ¡°Friendly challenges happen without name calling, without blood, and without tickling. Play might involve tickling, or otherwise trying to put the opponent off, and unfriendly challenges are a very bad idea.¡±
¡°Let''s make sure Yagah understands,¡± Girt said, ¡°sometimes she gets excited and calls people names.¡±
¡°Hello, Keldithanapoli!¡± Yalinth said, bouncing up. ¡°Hello Lanthi! Yalb''s been doing a lot of thinking about you. I like your red feathers, they''re pretty.¡±
¡°Thank you Yalinth. I''ve been doing a lot of thinking about Yalb too,¡± Lanthi said.
¡°Can I see your talons?¡±
¡°Yes, but don''t touch, they''re sharp.¡±
¡°Ohh, pretty! Keldi, Bob Sathi Bill says he''s happy you''re going to make another school. And he might have time to talk on Skyday.¡±
¡°When did he say that?¡± Keldi said.
¡°Just after I said you worried about lots of things.¡±
¡°Was that today?¡±
¡°Yes, it''s not fair. He told me to eat my vegetables too, just like mummy.¡±
¡°Guess what I think about eating vegetables.¡± Keldi suggested.
¡°I don''t need to guess.¡±
¡°Can you decide not to listen?¡± Lanthi asked.
¡°Yes.¡± Yalinth said.
¡°Well, if you know that someone isn''t going to hurt you, then why not guess when they say guess?¡±
¡°They''ve already thought of it.¡±
¡°Oh, that''s sad. Don''t listen,¡± Lanthi said.
¡°You''re going to try to surprise me.¡±
¡°I am. Do you like surprises?¡±
¡°If they''re funny,¡± Yalinth said.
¡°Does Yalb like surprises?¡±
¡°I''m in a constant state of surprise around you, Lanthi.¡±
¡°He does, yes.¡± Yalinth said.
¡°OK, well you stand there, and Yalb, you stand there, no, back a bit, and get ready.¡±
¡°Lanthi, when did you last try this?¡± Keldi asked.
¡°A while ago, mummy.¡±
¡°If your feathers get broken, it''s entirely your fault.¡±
¡°I know that.¡±
¡°Now, Yalinth, have you guessed yet?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Have you heard?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Can you make yourself blink?¡±
Yalinth very slowly closed her eyes. ¡°Like that?¡±
¡°No, like you suddenly see a fly going towards your eye. Much better! Now, I''m going to say ''OK'' and sometime after that, Yalb is going to say ''go'', and when he does he''d better be ready, and when he says ''go'', you blink. And if you can''t see me, then turn round and look at Yalb, OK?¡±
¡°You''re going to jump over me while I blink?¡±
¡°Do you think I can?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°So maybe I''m not going to, but maybe I''m going to prove you''re wrong. And maybe I''m going to surprise you. And maybe my mummy''s right and I''ll need to borrow some feather glue from someone.¡±
¡°Why is it so important that you surprise me?¡±
¡°Because surprises are fun sometimes, and I like surprising people. Especially people who don''t get many surprises.¡±
¡°Please bear in mind the ground is frozen solid, and we''re all waiting in the cold for you to make a fool out of yourself, Lanthi.¡± Kand said.
¡°It''s a trick isn''t it?¡± Yalinth said.
¡°Of course it''s a trick. But what sort of trick is it?¡±
¡°Complicated,¡± Yalinth said, ¡°and confusing.¡±
¡°The best ones are.¡± Lanthi said, checking where people were. She drew a deep breath, held her hands out wide, bent her knees and then straightening up said, ¡°OK, let''s go in then.¡±
¡°What?¡± Yalinth asked, outraged. ¡°You''re not going to do anything?¡±
¡°Did I surprise you?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Was it a good surprise?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°OK, let''s try again then shall we?¡± Lanthi said, repeating her procedure. ¡°Are you sure you don''t want to go in? Your great grandma is waiting, I expect.¡±
¡°You''re teasing me.¡±
¡°No, I''m helping you get ready for the surprise,¡± Lanthi said, took another deep breath, and said, ¡°Now look at me, and don''t forget to blink. OK, Yalb.¡±
Not knowing what to expect at all, Yalb said ¡°Go!"
Yalinth looked around at Yalb, confused. Lanthi had indeed vanished. She looked at Yalb, who was grinning, but not holding Lanthi.
¡°Boo.¡± Lanthi said, from resting on the ground just in front of her in press-up position. ¡°Good trick?¡±
¡°How did you get there? You weren''t there just now!¡±
¡°You were looking up at me, and I''d made you expect that I''d be jumping somewhere even if it wasn''t into Yalb''s arms, and I told you to look round. You looked up, you looked round, but you didn''t look down. Stand back!¡±
And then Lanthi was back on her feet.
¡°And barely a feather out of place,¡± her mother said. ¡°But you might want to wash your hands.¡±
¡°Good job the ground''s frozen,¡± Yanepoli said from the doorway. ¡°It''s a long time since I played that trick on anyone. Did you enjoy the trick, Yalinth?¡±
¡°Yes, great-grandma.¡±
¡°See, surprises come in all shapes and sizes.¡± Yanepoli said.
¡°They do,¡± Lanthi agreed, ¡°Still ready, Yalb?¡± And she jumped; flipping over Yalinth''s head, and into Yalb''s arms. ¡°I love that surprise ending. You''re a good catcher, Yalb, well done.¡±
¡°You did it!¡± Yalinth said, ¡°You jumped right over me!¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°But I''d started listening again!¡± Yalinth exclaimed.
¡°I already knew what I''d do, so I didn''t need to think about it,¡± Lanthi said.
¡°That''s a pretty impressive move,¡± Yanepoli said.
¡°Yathanapoli invented it as far as I know, or maybe Zalathanapoli,¡± Keldi said. ¡°It sort of goes with the talons. It''s a few years since I did it, and I''m certainly not going to try it now, since I''m carrying. But combined with the talons..., you can guess it''s bad news for an opponent''s crests or feathers.¡±
¡°You''ve surprised me, young Lanthithanapoli, and I think you''ve shocked young Yalb out of his senses, but he''s got a smile on his face and a spring in his step which is nice to see. Welcome to what''s left of my domain.¡±
¡°I humbly thank you for your welcome, lady Yanepoli. May your domain be secure wherever the Yant dwell.¡±
¡°Hmm, I don''t suppose you''d like to repeat that sentiment to my eldest daughter, would you?¡±
¡°I have a request to make of you, Yanepoli,¡± Keldi said, ¡°which I had planned to deliver formally, as I promised. But as I am within your domain I will touch on it, and accede to your wishes. Your eldest daughter, who uses the name Hnayagelah, sends her regrets for harsh words in the past, and asks if she would be welcome to visit.¡±
¡°Eldest Yant Rebel?¡± Yanepoli asked, deciphering the name easily, ¡°Well, of her generation anyway. Does she wish to change her name once more then?¡±
¡°I think that would confuse her friends and family. She''s married to the member of parliament for Bothet, Bob of the Bothin.¡±
¡°She married a noble!¡±
¡°She specifically asked me to let you know that; and no, she says, the irony wasn''t lost on her. Parliamentary vacations need to be spent in the constituency, so if she is to come it would need to be by wizardry. Since there''s going to be a lot of coming and going, I don''t see that as presenting a problem these days. I understand that she did try to ask if there was anyone coming up this way some years ago, but no one was, and she didn''t say why.¡±
¡°Yalb, run and get your mother for me. Tell her I''m stubborn to the point of stupidity and I really hope she''s been keeping those letters safe that I told her to burn. Hopefully, the younger Yant Rebel has been rebellious in her own way. Does she have children, Keldithanapoli?¡±
¡°I know one daughter, who was rather surprised to hear Sithini pronouncing my full name, and told hers in exchange. I''m afraid. I''ve not spoken to her about siblings. I''m not sure if she knows what her name means. My request was to have been that you house her once the building work starts; she''s an apprentice wizard.¡±
¡°You''re planning to have a granddaughter of mine /shovelling mud/?¡± Yanepoli asked.
¡°Oh, I doubt it. We wouldn''t want to embarrass the boys showing off their muscles, would we? No, she''ll be making sure that things end up in the right place, that sort of thing, but maybe she''ll decided to showing that she can lift more than a blue of either gender from time to time. You''ll house her?¡±
¡°Of course I''ll house her, Keldithanapoli! What''s her name?¡±
¡°She goes by Hna, but her mother named her Hnayalinth.¡±
¡°Well, I can hardly blame her.¡± Yanepoli said ¡°If I go taking her name from her and giving it to her equally rebellious niece... Stupid, stupid, innate bellicosity and noble pigheadedness at work once again. Someone ought to bash our collective heads together, eh, Keldithanapoli?¡±
¡°I believe those were my mother''s words, yes. Yalinth, tell your grandma what I''m thinking now, when she gets here.¡±
¡°About me and Tagelah?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Can''t you say it? It''s complicated.¡±
¡°Well if I say it then it makes your grandma''s life a bit more complicated than it is now. But if you tell her that''s what I''m thinking then it''s easier for her to disagree.¡±
¡°I don''t understand,¡± Yalinth said.
¡°That''s because you''re still little,¡± Lanthi said, picking her up, ¡°and you''ve got a lot more growing up to do. So do you want to whisper it to me, and then I can tell your granny?¡±
¡°Yalb likes you. ¡±
¡°I like Yalb, and I think I''m going to like you, too. You don''t mind if I like you, do you?¡±
¡°You''re funny!¡±
¡°Yalb thinks I''m scary too, but I try to be funny and nice much more that I''m scary.¡±
¡°Yes. It''s easy to be cross and hard to be nice, but God wants us to be nice. That''s why you want to marry Yalb?¡±
¡°Yes. So my children find it easier to be nice.¡±
The door opened, and Yathin came in with some slightly browned letters. ¡°You told me to stick them in the stove like I did for the first one, mother. As you see, I obeyed you to the letter.¡±
¡°Hmph. You put them in the oven didn''t you?¡±
¡°It''s part of the stove, isn''t it?¡±
¡°Good girl. Do you know why your sister hasn''t come home?¡±
¡°No, mother.¡±
¡°She married a politician, Bob of the Bothin. Very duty-conscious the Bothins. By law he has to spend his spare time somewhere in his constituency.¡±
¡°So Yagelah did find a noble husband, but couldn''t bring him?¡±
¡°I bet these letters tell me exactly that.¡±
¡°You''re not going to be good company once you start reading them, Mother.¡±
¡°Ha! You think I am now? I have some news to catch up on, and then I think I will pray about how to reply, and probably weep also. I believe the youngsters have decided on some friendly competitions. Do try to keep things civil, parents, the carpet is not what it once was, but I still treasure it.¡±
¡°Will someone introduce me to Tanepoli?¡± Keldi asked.
Tanepoli''s room
After Yanepoli had done the introductions and left to read the old letters, Keldi said, ¡°Tanepoli, Dirak said you''d told him the reporter was not a relative?¡±
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°She''s here in Hnut, but her name used to be Taresha.¡±
¡°My cousin. Uncle Tathig said she''d died.¡±
¡°She ran to the city to marry, and accepted no visitors in the house while her boys were under a year old, then and died them blue, just in case word got back to him. Apparently he told her that if she spoke to Tlag, her husband, again, she was out of the house, and if she dared to marry Tlag against his wishes then he''d make sure none of her kids grew up.¡±
¡°Tathig. He''s always been so quiet after Taresha supposedly ''died'', but he was always determined. I never suspected. But yes, he has business contacts. Can you bring Taresha up, Keldi? And her family if they wish to come. I would like to hear from Taresha what her father said, and if she has any witness other than her own flight and his lies. I have little power as head over my clan, but I will use it.¡±
¡°You may find you have more than you think, if any of his business deals have used the clan name.¡±
¡°Oh, I''m sure that they have, yes. Would you be able to put me in touch with a wizard in the city, preferably one who knows a lawyer not at all connected to my clan?¡±
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 22: Peaceful contest
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 22: Peaceful contest
Half an hour after Yanepoli left, Restday, 10th Winter
Yalb said, ¡°OK, so this is just a friendly contest of strength, no name-calling, tickling, talons or other things intended to put anyone off, agreed?¡±
¡°Agreed,¡± Yagah said.
¡°So what are you planning to do with that bucket of snow and water, Yalb?¡± Lanthi asked.
¡°Erm, Wash the carpet quickly, if there''s any unfortunate accident?¡± Yalb lied.
¡°You''re planning on tipping it on us if you think we''re getting too enthusiastic, aren''t you?¡± Yagah accused.
¡°Urm, how do I answer that one, Lanthi?¡±
¡°Honestly,¡±
¡°Your mother thought it might be a sensible precaution.¡± Yalb said.
¡°OK, fair enough.¡± Lanthi agreed.
¡°You''re serious?¡± Yagah asked.
¡°Yagah, to my mind, we''re doing this to convince ourselves and each other that fighting would be a bad idea, aren''t we? That''s to say, to sort out if I''ve got the talons but you''ve got the strength, or if both advantages are on my side? If both are on my side, then it''ll maybe help you control your tongue, and if you''ve got the strength, then we''ll both hopefully realise that getting into a plucking contest might well end up in my feathers and your blood on the floor. In that context, a bit of ice down the neck to snap us out of it seems pretty mild, don''t you? It''s not that I want to pick a fight, it''s just our sinful bellicosity might pick one for us.¡±
¡°Yagah?¡± Girt pleaded.
¡°Girt thinks it''s too dangerous, that you''ll get angry if you lose.¡± Yalb said.
¡°Let''s start with me against Girt then. Girt, if you let me win then I''m going to accuse you of cheating.¡±
¡°No, Lanthi, me against Girt first, let''s not risk me winning just because you''ve tired him out.¡±
¡°Warm-up first.¡± Girt countered. ¡°Couples, then winners, then cross-couples, then losers.¡±
¡°What if Lanthi beats Yalb?¡± Yagah asked.
¡°Then we accuse him of cheating,¡± Lanthi said, ¡°take him outside and wash him in his bucket of ice. He beat me earlier this week.¡±
¡°One arm two arms or all four?¡± Girt asked.
¡°At once?¡± Lanthi asked confused.
¡°No, after each other.¡± Yagah said.
¡°I think Yalb needs his sub-arms fully functional for working on the plans.¡±
¡°One arm,¡± Yalb agreed, ¡°Otherwise it could end up as long as the field debate.¡±
¡°One arm, wrist to wrist¡± Yagah said, ¡°just in case anyone gets nasty ideas about twisting, little brother.¡±
¡°It''s ages since I''ve tried that on you, Yagah,¡± Yalb protested.
Predictably, Yalb beat Lanthi, and Girt beat Yagah. Yagah, however tried to distract Girt by stroking his crest with her feathers, so it was almost a close thing.
¡°Yagah,¡± Yalb threatened, ¡°If you try that on me and I''ll borrow some scissors from mum and trim you.¡±
¡°I''ve no interest in your crest, Yalb. I''m just encouraging my husband to think about what happens when he beats you for me.¡±
¡°Yagah,¡± Girt said, in a pained voice, ¡°Yalb isn''t duelling me for you, and it doesn''t work like that anyway.¡±
¡°It''s OK, Girt, in the unlikely chance that I win we can tell everyone it''s all Yagah''s fault for making you...¡±
¡°Yalb!¡± Lanthi interrupted, ¡°No cheating, or I''ll find something for tickling your crest with. Now get on with it; I want to see how deceptive Yant strength does against Lanthin bulk.¡±
¡°At your command, most regal Lanthithanapoli.¡±
¡°We could just chuck him into the snow anyway, for general insolence,¡± Yagah suggested.
¡°Tempting, but no.¡± Lanthi said ¡°Positions! And go!¡±
It was the look of surprise on Yalb''s face that Lanthi treasured the most. He lost, but it was far from a foregone conclusion, and Girt had obviously been caught by surprise at the beginning, and had mainly won by technique. ¡°Yalb,¡± he panted, ¡°field-debate, or sooner; you arm-wrestle Gangar; you ought to win, and he needs to lose to someone other than me and dad, learn some respect.¡±
¡°Yagah?¡± Lanthi asked, ¡°I think we ought to let the males recover, don''t you?¡±
¡°Don''t hurt me please,¡± Yagah said, in a small voice.
¡°Are you saying you don''t want to arm-wrestle?¡± Lanthi asked, surprised.
¡°I think she took my warning the other day to think talons seriously, Lanthi, and she didn''t hear what you said about deliberately acting the monster with Gangar, and you scare her.¡±
¡°Gangar was annoying. Gangar either didn''t hear or didn''t listen, Gangar thought ''don''t think you''re getting her all to yourself'' is an appropriate thing to say in front of a girl, as though I''m some kind of piece of meat to be fought over by a pack of growlers. In front of my parents, too.¡±
¡°He said what?¡± Yagah exclaimed. ¡°He never said that!¡±
¡°I heard him,¡± Girt agreed.
¡°What did he tell you?¡± Yalb asked.
¡°Don''t!¡± Lanthi said, ¡°not in my hearing. No feeding the monster with reported insult, please. I might have bellicose thoughts and reactions as an inescapable fact, but it doesn''t mean I like finding my brain busily inventing ways of skinning people alive or whatever. I''m glad I''ve not got it as bad as mum, and as for grandma, wow... she''d plucked about ten other girls before she started growing her feathers. Breeding it out of us seems to be working.¡±
¡°How many girls have you plucked?¡± Girt asked.
¡°Plucked, none, sliced: when I was six one stupid girl challenged me to prove I had talons and then touched them, the idiot, so two bleeding fingers but I claim not my fault. Almost plucked, quite a few, almost shredded, one teacher yesterday, who thought my colour came out of a jar and called me a stupid liar. Which reminds me, I need to petition Tanepoli, Tang of the Tan needs a prize for averting bloodshed.¡±
Sisterday evening, 9th Winter
¡°Thank you, Sheriff Dirak,¡± Tanepoli said. ¡°I hope that Lenepoli forgives me for taking your time.¡±
¡°Of course I do, Tanepoli.¡± Lenepoli said ¡°It''s good to see you''re able to sit up.¡±
¡°Shh, don''t tell the doctor.¡±
¡°I didn''t know you could just freeze someone out quite like that.¡±
¡°It''s his own doing. He''s always called himself Tathig of the Tan, but to sign a contract like that means he''s conducting the business deal for the benefit of the clan, and under my authorisation. He certainly didn''t have my authorization, so since I became an adult it''s been a type of fraud. Hopefully the investigating officers will also find some evidence of a payment to Qnut, or there will be someone who remembers the crate.¡±
¡°And the request to have him arrested?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°That is one of the privileges I have. It used to be pretty hard for a noble to be arrested without the approval of the head of the clan. Now it''s merely a signal that the police can expect the clan lawyers to be asking when he''s going to get prosecuted rather than when he''s going to be let out. Taresha''s going to be talking to the clan lawyers once they get home.¡±
¡°Do all clans have clan lawyers?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°I expect so. Yanepoli''s are probably in Qnut,¡± Tanepoli said.
¡°Dirak, the ex-mayor claimed to be a descendent of the princes, didn''t he?¡± Lenepoli asked ¡°What''s his noble line?¡±
¡°Extinct, a long long time ago,¡± Tanepoli said. ¡°The usurpers who called themselves princes tried to set up clans by male descent, but that just means they all smelt the same, and it was allegedly pretty easy to notice them, since they didn''t wash. No other reliable characteristics at all. Where there was a prince, there was either a clan destroyed by blood-feud, or a murderer, hence the Yanepoli of the time had no qualms about inviting her friends up here, and she probably wouldn''t have let any so-called prince clean out her stables.¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
¡°But there are nobles who aren''t part of clans?¡±
¡°Minor nobles, yes. If my babies and I had died, that''s what my relatives would have become, next generation. It doesn''t make much difference now if you''re high or low nobility, of course, except for naming. I''m sorry, I need to rest.¡±
¡°I''m sorry, for wearing you out. Shall I take Tagelah and Talinth to Chelf?¡±
¡°Yes, please. Lenepoli''s going to take you to daddy now, Tagelah, Talinth.¡±
Four little eyes looked up at her, sadly.
¡°Mummy''s going to stay here and get some sleep. I expect Daddy has some milk for you.¡±
They couldn''t turn round, but they stopped looking at Tanepoli, and were obviously wondering where their father was, and the promised milk.
¡°Hungry aren''t they?¡± Tanepoli said.
¡°I learned that the only time a fluffball is not interested in more milk is when his or her tummy is so full they''re asleep. You''ve noticed their tickle-fluff has grown past their breathing fluff?¡±
¡°I have, not long now before we can retire your fish-gut. That''ll be so nice.¡±
¡°You''re welcome to try from my point of view. If they can tickle they can suck, according to the doctor.¡±
¡°Then Dirak had better get out, this dress isn''t meant for feeding.¡±
¡°Certainly,¡± Dirak said.
¡°How is she?¡± Keldi asked.
¡°Tired, but trying a first no-fish-gut feed,¡± Dirak said.
¡°That''ll be good,¡± Keldi said, just as the youngsters came in.
¡°So, who won the great arm-wrestle?¡± she asked.
¡°Girt beat Yalb, just. I beat Yagah, just. And we girls are no match for the boys, surprise surprise. And we''ve agreed that ice down Yalb''s back is cheating and laughing is much better than fighting.¡±
¡°Good plan. It''s much easier to avoid getting arrested with laughter¡± Dirak said. ¡°Who provided the ice?¡±
¡°Me, while he was arm-wrestling Yagah a second time.¡±
¡°And I''ve been told that I need to join in the arm-wrestling at the field debate,¡± Yalb added.
¡°I think I''ll give that a miss,¡± Dirak said.
¡°I''m curious if I could beat you,¡± Lanthi said.
¡°Let''s assume you can, since you could lift that log. But Yalb, before it gets to Restday, have you had time to look at those ideas like I asked you to?¡±
¡°Yes, Dirak. I don''t claim to understand all of what I assume are different scripts you''ve made notes in, but what I understood made reasonable sense to me. I''m not fully sure I understand why you want the tower though.¡±
¡°Really because I''ve always promised myself that if I ever built a house it''d have one. Both for an observatory on top, one day, maybe, and for better views and better light. My grandparents had one and I always loved the views.¡±
¡°OK. Another thing I''m a bit confused about is that you don''t have many windows.¡±
¡°Ah, well, crystal is perfectly see-through, as long as we make it properly.¡±
¡°But you have some things labelled ''window''.¡±
¡°Oh, yes, those open, for air, or for shouting out of.¡±
¡°OK. Tower, checked; windows, checked; what about doors.¡±
¡°Urm, what about them?¡±
¡°I didn''t see any, on outside walls, anyway.¡±
¡°That might be embarrassing,¡± Dirak agreed, laughing, ¡°We''d probably have noticed at some point.¡±
Restday lunchtime, 10th Winter, Yanepoli''s home
¡°I''ve got a question for you, my queen.¡± Yanepoli said, ¡°If I may dare to ask it.¡±
¡°I''m sure you may,¡± Keldi assured her.
¡°Don''t be so sure. In fact, I only ask it if you understand that it is intended as a thing to be pondered, and not meant as a challenge.¡±
¡°I listen, and I understand,¡± Keldi said.
¡°Hnayagelah wrote about one of your visits to Parliament, - no details of course - and said that her husband had told her no thanapoli has backed away from a challenge in well over four hundred years.¡±
¡°I''ve said it any number of times, myself.¡±
¡°But there must be times when accepting the challenge would be direct sin, so I hope you do not accept all challenges, and I assume you have also, at times, accepted the great challenge of forcing aside your pride and asking your husband to forgive you.¡±
¡°You are correct,¡± Keldi agreed, ¡°Not easy, but worthwhile.¡±
¡°My question is, I think... actually for Lanthithanapoli: will the thanapolis of the future recognise the challenge of sidestepping a challenge and so honouring God, even if this hurts pride? Or recognising the challenge of self control so that if you really must swipe, it will be with talons withdrawn? Is that the way that the thanapolis of the future will face challenges? The challenge to bring peace rather than violence? Will there ever be a thanapoli who can back out of a challenge for the sake of the reputation of God? Or will it always be that the sins of pride and unthinking anger are victorious over you?¡±
¡°If I may reinterpret your question, your ladyship?¡± Lanthi asked ¡°I think you ask if I, my daughter, or grand-daughter might be the first thanapoli to accept that she might be in a contest that should not be, one that will only lead to dishonour, shame and disaster and back out of it. To this I answer that Polithanapoli realised that very thing, regarding politics. Further, my mother frequently says ''this challenge is not one for me to take part in,'' whether that be politics or convincing her unruly daughter to get on with her homework. These are a little different, I know, to what you asked but they are a sign that we can at least choose not to fight every fight. I expect that the village rumour machine has spoken of how I offered to slice up Gangar. It was crude of me, but while I was annoyed at the presumption that I had no say in who I spend time with, he was never in any immediate danger from me. In that respect I was acting the part of a monster that I hope I will never be, because I felt that briefly showing my monster would prevent any further possibility of a conflict over me. Sithini avoided conflict by professing her hatred of violence, I believe my way was equally effective, possibly even more so, I don''t know; I''ve noticed that males do seem rather protective of their crests.¡±
¡°But if he had called you a liar,¡± Yalb asked, ¡°what would you have done?¡±
¡°Well, I''ll admit I''d thought of several possibilities...¡±
¡°Slice, dice or skewer?¡± Yalb suggested.
¡°Assuming he just out and said it in the middle of my speech, one option I''d planned was a little speech which would have ended with you getting a kiss. But since my parents were actually present, I was more thinking that I''d beg my outraged parents to put up a forcefield to stop the bloodshed, and give him a stern talking to about offending royal dignity.¡±
¡°Thank you, Lanthi.¡± Yanepoli said ¡°I begin to see why peace-loving Yalb is falling for you. If you would publicly kiss him to avoid a fight, it seems to me you actually value peace more than dignity, don''t you?¡±
¡°Jesus dying on a cross was not dignified, Yanepoli, but it bought us peace with God. I think that buying peace with a little bit of undignified behaviour which earns me a telling off from my parents is worth it. I am of course presuming that pastor Ruath wouldn''t condemn such a flagrant breach of good behaviour as being sin.¡±
¡°But you still don''t think you could back away from a direct challenge?¡±
¡°For me, it probably depends who from,¡± Lanthi said.
¡°Ah. I find myself relieved once more. Thank you.¡±
¡°May I ask something?¡± Yalb asked Keldi.
¡°Go ahead.¡±
¡°Your mother declared abdication to be cowardice...¡±
¡°Oh, that one,¡± Keldi said. ¡°Abdication is cowardice in relation to the challenge of finding a noble and peace-loving husband. Abdication is not cowardice in relation to carrying out the constitution''s goal of getting the lakiinas back in power without plunging the country back into chaos.¡±
¡°That''s the constitution''s goal?¡± Yalb asked, surprised.
¡°Yes. That''s why parliament will be quite happy to hear that Lanthi''s found you.¡±
¡°I don''t understand.¡±
¡°You, Yalb, are further evidence that the era of nobles unable to control their thirst for blood is coming to an end, praise God.¡±
¡°And once that happens,¡± Lanthi said ¡°then parliament won''t need a taloned bloodthirsty monster to keep them in line.¡±
¡°OK, urm, now I really don''t understand.¡± Yalb said.
¡°According to your aunt, Yalb,¡± Yanepoli said, ¡°The threat of the queen getting back on her throne strikes abject terror into parliament. I expect Keldi can inform us why.¡±
¡°The last time that happened was when the princes were collectively called to parliament. At parliament''s polite suggestion, the queen was also present, pretending to be a parliamentarian. As parliament expected, the princes demanded the abolition of parliament once and for all, and one of them sat in the throne. The queen, as you can probably imagine, was not very impressed with that, and after he was entirely shredded, along with anyone stupid enough to interfere, she suggested that the few greens in parliament might want to go, and then asked everyone who wanted to to swear absolute loyalty to their queen. A few brave souls asked if she would accept an oath of loyalty to God first, and the constitution second. She said make the oath and she would think about it. Whoever didn''t want to swear at all was allowed to choose immediate execution or royal blood-feud. That was the end of the rule of princes.¡±
¡°What happened to the ones who swore the oath to God and the constitution?¡± Yalb asked.
¡°Oh, none of the princes did that. A few swore to the queen, and had to demolish their palaces. Since the queen had not decided which oath she preferred when she decided to step away from the throne, she said that when she or a descendent next sat on the throne, the decision would be made about which oath was the most acceptable. Just in case, non-green parliamentarians ever since have been given the choice of swearing an oath to the queen or to God and the constitution.¡±
¡°And the greens weren''t asked to swear because they were assumed to be loyal?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°To the lakiinas, yes.¡±
¡°And is that why there are the three parties?¡±
¡°Not entirely. But there''s a tendency, yes. The ones who have sworn an oath to the queen, of course, dread being asked why they''ve not voted in line with her wishes, and the parliamentarians dread being told their oath isn''t acceptable. If they have any sense, of course, they realise the ones who''ve sworn to honour God and the constitution haven''t been perfect, and the ones who''ve sworn to the queen might start to wonder if the queen would prefer an oath to God. And the queen looks on and is very glad she can pass that decision down to her daughter.¡±
¡°I''d have thought the answer is obvious,¡± Lanthi said. ¡°as long as the throne is empty, the queen prefers the oath to God and the constitution, and once the throne is occupied she prefers an oath to God first and herself second, or maybe an oath to obey God and listen to the wise counsel of the green-turned-red.¡±
¡°No one''s suggested that as an option, Lanthi, or your second re-phrasing.¡±
¡°Well, no, but I think it makes good sense.¡±
¡°Have you asked Sithini?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°Of course not. Did you ask me if I wanted to inherit the throne? I''m heir to the throne. Until such time as I abdicate in favour of Sithinilakiina, of course.¡±
¡°Is that a definitive plan?¡± Dirak asked, surprised.
¡°No, just roughly speaking what the law says.¡± Lanthi replied.
¡°Just I was thinking... the last time I asked Sithini if I could have some advice her immediate reply was ''make sure the gum is fresh, because no one wants to be hit on the head with a solid lump of gum and moss.'' I''m not sure what the average parliamentarian would make of that.¡±
¡°Depends how well they know Sithini,¡± Kand said. ¡°To those of us who know her, it sounds like very sound advice and I''m sure she applies it in her own life quite regularly.¡±
¡°Very regularly,¡± Lanthi agreed, ¡°Like just after I''d come back from the feather salon after making my feathers wilt.¡±
¡°Urm... I guess I don''t know Sithini well enough to understand.¡± Yalb said
¡°Sithini likes practical jokes, Yalb. Normally they include buckets of moss. Sometimes they include gum, too. If you ever hear people wondering why there''s no moss growing on the college roof, then don''t think it has some strange use in wizardry, think Sithini. Sometimes I wonder why there''s any anywhere. Fortunately she didn''t have much gum on Fatherday.¡±
¡°No, fortunately I told her where you were, so she switched buckets,¡± Kand said, ¡°otherwise you''d have got an extra sticky batch.¡±
¡°So who got the extra sticky?¡±
¡°I''m not entirely sure.¡±
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 23: Relations
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 23: Relations
Wendig, Sithini''s grandparents'' home, Restday 10th Winter
¡°Qwalf, don''t you ever open your post?¡± the member of parliament for Wendig asked her cousin.
¡°What''s the point if you''re going to come and shout at me anyway? Who''s the young red?¡±
¡°Qwalf, cousin, and possible ignoramus, before I answer, has the phrase ''green-turned-red'' ever managed to get past your fingers and into your ears?¡±
¡°Is this any way for someone to treat their host?¡± he demanded of Sithini.
¡°It''s a good question,¡± his wife said, ¡°answer it.¡±
¡°Old history. I don''t know, myths, stories. Bedtime stories for the young. Rubbish.¡±
¡°Ignoramus Qwalf, but nevertheless father of master-watchmaker Qwan of Reqiq, who married Ranthilakiina, then heir of the Southern throne, the green-turned-red, please allow me to introduce to you Wizardess Sithinilakiina, who was born green and turned red, as befits the current heir of the Southern throne; your grand-daughter.¡±
¡°I bring to you a bucket of evidence, grandfather, that I''m my father''s daughter.¡±
¡°A bucket of evidence? What, watch-parts? Why would you bring a bucket of watch parts?¡±
¡°Do it girl!¡± her grandmother tittered, gleefully, ¡°Do it! It''ll only set and go to waste otherwise!¡±
¡°What are you talking about, wife?¡± the old man asked. And then he realised, but it was too late, and Sithini was being hugged by her grandmother and her grandfather was looking sheepish, and quite natural in a moss-covered rock sort of way. ¡°OK, fine, yes, I remember this feeling. Why didn''t Qwan tell us who your mother was?¡±
¡°Because I wasn''t home,¡± his wife said, ¡°and you kicked him out, Qwalf the rock, and since you kicked our only son out of the house and you don''t read half your mail unless it''s bills and you don''t let me read it either, that''s why. Stubborn, that''s what you are! Now, lass, will you give me a hand cleaning up?¡±
¡°Of course I will!¡± Sithini said.
After lunch, Gorp, Shashana''s home, Restday, 10th Winter
¡°Hi, Shashana,¡± Lenepoli greeted her. ¡°You know I said Dirak had a friend he''d want to introduce to your brother?¡±
¡°Yes, I remember.¡±
¡°Shashana, can I introduce Wizardess Keldi, who''s the lecturer in history and politics at the college?¡±
¡°I thought that wizards don''t get involved in politics?¡±
¡°They don''t, not if they can help it.¡± Keldi agreed, ¡°Which is why they need to be well informed about what politicians are currently thinking, so they don''t accidentally say ''of course'' when it turns out to be something political.¡±
¡°Urm, I guess that makes sense.¡±
¡°I''m not here politically, but I am more political than most, just because of who I am. My full name tends to get a reaction, at least among nobles.¡±
¡°Like Mum, you mean?¡±
¡°You wouldn''t be yellow otherwise, unless both your parents were yellows.¡±
¡°My mother is Enana, daughter of Engah.¡±
Keldi nodded, ¡°of what was clan Ened. I will present my deepest sympathies, the accident that killed her aunt must have been a big shock for her. I am Keldithanapoli, my husband is Kand of the Keleds, so they might have grown up almost neighbours.¡±
¡°And you want to talk to my brother?¡±
¡°If he is a winterborn yellow, I most certainly do.¡±
¡°My parents are ... a little nervous of letting him meet nobles.¡±
¡°I''m not surprised, given what was happening just in Tumpf.¡± Keldi said, ¡°Two weeks ago I had only heard of one winterborn yellow in my lifetime, and he had been killed in what everyone said was an accident. Now I''ve met little Yalinth of Hnut, some gorgeous fluffballs who no longer irritate Yalinth, and it turns out that some blue boys in my daughter''s school are actually winterborn yellows, and visiting Hnut this weekend, so I''m, not as desperate to meet your brother as I might have been, but on the other hand if your parents would like to visit some other parents, that''s easy to arrange. And if there is ever any trouble, then wizards will protect them.¡±
¡°You''d better come and see my parents then,¡± Shashana said.
¡°Thank you,¡± Keldi said.
¡°But I expect mother will say Eneth''s not at home.¡±
¡°How old is he?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°He''s eight.¡±
¡°Well... plenty of time for her to get used to the idea of a marital alliances with the Yants, then.¡±
¡°You''re matchmaking and Yalinth is a Yant? Of course she is, sorry. I don''t think the Yants would approve of a marital alliance with us.¡±
¡°Why not?¡±
¡°Powerful clans have long memories.¡± Shashana replied.
¡°Yanepoli is old, and has recently repented of one stubbornness,¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°perhaps she''ll repent of another. How''s your brother''s faith?¡±
¡°Forthright. Forthright and sometimes offensive, Keldithanapoli.¡±
¡°I can tolerate some offence from the young.¡±
¡°Sounds like he might get on well with Yalinth,¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°As long as they agree with each other,¡± Keldi added. ¡°It might be worth them not meeting of course, given teenage attitudes. Well, that''s something we could ask them. I''m sure they''ll hear my thoughts.¡±
Gorp, at Shashana''s parents'' home, Restday, 10th Winter
¡°Mother,¡± Shashana said formally, ¡°Allow me to introduce Wizardess Keldithanapoli, friend of my friends.¡±
¡°The past comes back to haunt me, then?¡±
¡°I grieve with you for my friend Endalinth and what the accident has done to your clan, Enana.¡±
¡°Well, my clan and I weren''t exactly on speaking terms, but thank you.¡±
¡°There''s a lot of stupidity in the nobility. As far as I am concerned, there are two reasons the nobility have for existing: to ensure there are yellows born and to ensure there are some non-bellicose noble males around for my descendants to marry. Selfish of me, but there it is.¡±
¡°You consider yellows a boon, then?¡±
¡°The reason I''m here today, Enana is to invite you to Hnut, where you''ll meet Taresha who has three winterborn sons aged ten to sixteen, Tanepoli whose Tagelah and Talinth were rescued from Tumpf, and Yagel mother of Yalinth who just turned six. Tanepoli has declared that Tan will be ruled by yellows, or will cease to be a clan, and would like some choices for her daughters. I expect you''d like to talk to Taresha about raising teenage boys who hear your thoughts, and I expect Yalinth would like some help convincing Taresha''s boys that it''s rude not to believe in God. The other reason I''m here is to say that winterborns are very much cherished by wizards; and to give you this for your son. In case of danger, it can make a ball of force like Dirak put around Shashana. Point the end without the button on straight up, and at head-height, hug those you wish to protect, and press the button. Try to ensure you''re not too close to furniture or those attacking though, as what protects can also damage. Dirak can tell you more and help you practice with it.¡±
¡°It is also one of the most terrifying ways to get down a hill that I can think of,¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°but for some reason the boys think its fun.¡±
¡°And who''s going to recharge them?¡± Keldi asked.
¡°Sithini,¡± Dirak said. ¡°She taught them that game. But she also showed them what happened if they turned it on when standing on rock rather than snow, and I think that made her point that they don''t turn them on if it''s crowded unless they''re really afraid for their lives. And she also said she could recharge them but not every wizard could. And even fewer would if they''d been playing games with them.¡±
¡°Hmm, I guess she did the right thing.¡±
¡°I''m fairly certain she did, Keldi.¡± Dirak said. ¡°It''s not like some of us can avoid thinking about such entertainments.¡±
¡°Enana,¡± Lenepoli asked, ¡°I know you have good reasons to fear, but I think you have good reasons to trust Me and Dirak.¡±
¡°Tell me first, about lady Yanepoli of the Yant. What would her reaction be to learning that Enana born of the Ened asks permission to enter her house? That you plan to introduce my son to Yalinth? Will she declare the blood-feud forgotten and not just inactive?¡±
¡°Or will she object to it being forgiven according to the word of Jesus?¡± Shashana asked.
¡°I did not know of a blood-feud,¡± Keldi said. ¡°How long has it been inactive?¡±
¡°A long time. My father knew the motive, but did not tell me.¡±
¡°I will call Kand, my husband. My daughter is the person to petition Yanepoli. Lanthithanapoli has reached an understanding with Yanepoli''s only grandson, Yalb. But it has long been the tradition that no blood-feud survive marriage to a royal.¡±
¡°Kand of the Keled?¡± Enana asked.
¡°You know him?¡±
¡°I did, by reputation, anyway. My parents were convinced that my younger sister should marry him, actually.¡±
¡°To heal a forgotten blood-feud?¡± Keldi guessed.
¡°Yes. She secretly wrote to me saying that she wasn''t in favour of the match, but she thought he was prepared to go through with it because of parental pressure, and what could she do. I, um, suggested she could put him right off her by saying that she wanted his family''s help in dealing with another one.¡±
¡°Ah... so it''s your fault he was hiding away from the world on a freezing cold beach when I eventually tracked him down?¡±
¡°She said she''d tried it and he''d vanished. Sorry.¡±
¡°It''s entirely possible that you saved your sister a royal plucking or worse, assuming she wasn''t so opposed to the idea that she''d have accepted me barging in and the wedding hadn''t taken place.¡±
¡°Female duels have been illegal for centuries, Keldi.¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°Lenepoli,¡± Dirak said, ¡°Do you honestly think that would have made much difference to how Keldi behaved if she was feeling bellicose?¡±
¡°What a thing to say, Dirak!¡± Keldi objected, ¡°Of course it would. A plucking contest isn''t covered by the anti-duelling law.¡±
¡°For one feather,¡± Dirak said.
¡°One feather, one contest, yes. There''s nothing about how many contests you''re allowed in a minute though.¡±
¡°I should re-read that law, it seems.¡± Dirak said mildly. ¡°You were already married by then?¡± he asked Enana.
¡°Yes, happily married and unhappily exiled from home.¡±
¡°By your parents, or by Endalinth?¡± Keldi asked.
¡°Perhaps I''m wrong to say exiled. My father said ''you''ve set your heart on a marriage that''s now legal but didn''t used to be. Old attitudes die hard, and it would be safer for your children if you dyed your feathers and went a long way inland; either to the city or to a remote village without many nobles.'' So that''s what we did.¡±
¡°And you''ve not seen them since?¡± Keldi asked.
¡°We''ve written, but they''ve never met my children. Father has died, mother is too old to travel now.¡±
¡°I will gladly take you to visit your mother and sister, Enana,¡± Keldi said, ¡°And I will tell any who listen what my opinion is of those who increase the population of yellows, and of those who would like to make that hard. But probably not this week, I''m supposed to not get too excited.¡±
¡°A medical problem?¡±
Keldi smiled, ¡°A colleague pointed out that it was all very well for me to complain that there weren''t enough pure-blooded nobility around, but I could do something to help that situation. So, if God has no other plans, I have asked him if I might have a peace-loving son to preserve Kand''s genetics, and a daughter I can convince to marry a godly blue. Even if he is a season younger than her, hint-hint, Dirak.¡±
¡°We have decided on the plans and on the place for our house, Keldi, but we''ve not started building it yet,¡± Lenepoli said. ¡°Give us time to do that before you start trying to arrange marriages for our unlaid eggs. And weren''t you going to send Lanthi to talk to Yanepoli? Maybe with Dad in tow, too?¡±
¡°Your father? Why didn''t I think of that.¡±
Hnut, Restday 10th Winter
¡°Yalb?¡± Kand asked, ¡°are you aware of your family having any blood-feuds?¡±
¡°None that are active. Grandma has a firm policy that they''re an evil best forgotten.¡±
¡°That''s encouraging. But you think she is likely to remember some? There''s a tradition that blood-feuds can''t pull in a thanapoli.¡±
¡°Very sensible tradition, given the law of the talon. I''m very happy to renounce them if that''d help.¡± Yalb offered.
¡°Not entirely.¡± Kand said, ¡°I guess you need to petition Yanepoli, Lanthi.¡±
¡°To renounce any outstanding feuds?¡±
¡°That''d be ideal, yes.¡±
¡°And do I detect a note of urgency?¡± Lanthi asked.
¡°Shashana''s mother has never known the cause, but she remembers being told there was a blood-feud between her old clan and yours, Yalb. Hence she''s a bit worried about coming.¡±
¡°What''s the clan-name?¡±
¡°Ened,¡± Kand replied. ¡°The clan is headless now, Endegel died from a fever and Endalinth drowned in a boating accident soon afterwards.¡±
¡°I expect I know what Grandma will say, but make your petition, Lanthi.¡±
Hnut, Restday 10th Winter
¡°A blood-feud with Ened?¡± Yanepoli asked, incredulously, ¡°Don''t be ridiculous! Who said that?¡±
¡°Maybe I misunderstood. Enana, daughter of Engah told Keldi her father said there was an old blood feud, but did not name the reason. Maybe it was from his side.¡±
¡°More possible, I suppose. But I''m firmly convinced that the only good reason to claim a blood-feud is to get rid of an unwelcome suitor. I admit I made up a few when I was young...¡±
¡°You made up blood-feuds, grandma?¡± Yalb was shocked.
¡°I knew they were made up. I knew I wasn''t going to tell anyone except the suitor, and it helped the clan''s reputation. ''You don''t even remember it? We do.'' Terribly bellicose I could be back then. Reassure her no true Yant has prosecuted a blood-feud since the aliens came and told us about God''s grace. She''s very welcome. Who''d hold on to a blood-feud against an Ened, anyway? It''d be a total waste of time.¡±
¡°Why do say that, grandma?¡± Yalb asked. ¡°I mean, I''m not debating that they''re an evil, but you make it sound like no one would bother.¡±
¡°It was clan policy, for hundreds of years: only have daughters.¡±
¡°I guess she''s broken with clan policy, she has a son.¡±
¡°Well, there are a few, like the one I was trying to get rid of. But the clan has died anyway, poor things. How old''s the lad?¡±
¡°Eight, Yanepoli. An eight year old believing winterborn.¡± Kand supplied.
¡°Well, make sure Keldi brings him along too. Those three lads have got Yalinth sulking, and she was in a dilemma about whether it''s right to pray for a little bit of divine retribution, last time I heard.¡±
Gorp, Restday 10th Winter
¡°Eneth, I want to introduce you to Lenepoli,¡± Shashana said, ¡°my friend from the city.¡±
¡°Mmm,¡± he replied, without looking up from his book, ¡°Lenepoli and Dirak and Keldithanapoli daughter of lots of thanapolis. I heard.¡±
¡°Well, if you know everything, come on then,¡± Dirak said.
¡°I''m reading.¡±
¡°I noticed that. Good book?¡±
¡°It was, before people started interrupting,¡± Eneth said, deliberately rudely.
¡°Ever had a discussion with someone called Bob Sathie Bill?¡±
¡°Which one? That''s three names. An alien?¡±
¡°I''ll take that as no then, shall I?¡± Keldi asked.
¡°Who''s Yalinth?¡± He asked, obviously having heard someone''s thought.
¡°Great grand-daughter of lady Yanepoli. Lady Yanepoli of the Yant invites you to go and help Yalinth convince some bigger boys that they''re wrong.¡±
¡°We''ve got a blood-feud with the Yant.¡±
¡°We guess Yanepoli didn''t like your great-grandfather.¡±
¡°She lied!¡± Eneth exclaimed.
¡°Made up several, apparently.¡±
¡°I don''t fight.¡± Eneth exclaimed.
¡°So? You can obviously argue.¡± Dirak said, ¡°Go convince Yalinth that she can''t expect any help from you and you can come back to your book. What is it? Oh, the Restday mystery. I remember reading that.¡±
¡°No!¡± Eneth screamed, blocking his ears. And stared accusingly at Keldi, outraged, ¡°You did that deliberately!¡±
¡°Now you won''t mind coming, will you?¡± Keldi said, smugly.
¡°She just ruined my book!¡±
¡°No, I just thought how I think it ought to end, to a boy who is being deliberately rude, but that is your last warning. I don''t make idle threats.¡± Holding out her hands, she said, ¡°I don''t recommend it, but you may listen in detail to the thoughts in my mind, if you wish, young winterborn, and understand what you stir up with your rudeness, what you make me struggle against. If you really knew the meaning of thanapoli, you ought to expect far worse than a ruined story.¡±
¡°Tathanapoli was good,¡± he protested, naming the heroine of his book.
¡°Yes, she was. She was a very good queen, who loved her people and who restored order after the rule of the princes. But she also wounded some people who were simply slow to be properly respectful, and not because she was especially angry at them, but because some unrelated news had made her cross and their lack of respect was the final straw. And then she hurt her husband because he stopped her from doing more than wounding them. She was furiously angry and only Zerkers get the privilege of being angry and thinking clearly at the same time. Because she was a good person she was very sorry when she''d done it, but because she was angry and a thanapoli, she did it.¡±
¡°Sorry, Keldithanapoli. I was rude.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
¡°Yes. When my daughter was your age she was only that rude when she was hiding from something embarrassing. What is it?¡±
¡°I won''t be able to help Yalinth,¡± he admitted, ¡°I want to believe, but don''t really.¡±
¡°Perhaps you''ll be able to help her more than you expect, Eneth.¡± Keldi said,
¡°And perhaps she''ll be able to help you.¡±
Quif''s home, The city, Restday, 10th Winter
¡°Sithini! How did it go?¡±
¡°I like my grandma, she has a very mossy sense of humour,¡± Sithini said.
¡°And your grandfather?¡±
¡°Basically said ''OK, fine, yes, you''re my granddaughter all right, and I suppose I might have made a mistake in saying your mother was a war-monger, but I''m still covered in moss. I''m going to get clean and then have my rest-day nap.''¡±
¡°And that was the last you saw of him?¡± Quif asked.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°So not-overjoyed at admitting he was wrong, that he didn''t bother to talk to you?¡±
¡°Or not-overjoyed in the moss. He doesn''t even read letters, not since he kicked dad out, so me going there was a total surprise. I had a good talk to Grandma, though. But... I don''t know, it''s nice to know I''ve got some family, but really, they could be complete strangers. I don''t know what I was expecting, but this wasn''t it. The watch museum feels more like a lost relative''s home. Does that make sense?¡±
Quif nodded. ¡°Will you go back?¡±
¡°Probably. No moss next time.¡± Sithini said.
¡°I want to show you something.¡± Quif said.
¡°Oh? Does it by any chance go tick and have six jewels?¡±
¡°It does. And feathers.¡±
¡°Quif, you can''t have finished it already!¡±
¡°No, I haven''t. This is... a trial run, just a prototype, really. Most of the parts are from my parts tray, to see if my idea works.¡±
¡°But your masterpiece has to be a standard watch, Quif, no improvising.¡±
¡°Just come and see and tell me if you like it, please?¡±
¡°Does your Dad approve?¡± Sithini challenged.
¡°He does, yes. He approves of you seeing it, of me spending time with you, and with my little modification to the standard. And it is a very little modification.¡± He handed her the watch. There were feathers engraved on it, she noticed, or were they etched? Silently she accepted the loupe that Quif offered. ¡°Considerate.¡± she said, after a little while. ¡°Most considerate, Quif. I''m sure that Master Gatekeeper will thank you for providing the watch
with it''s own pause. But why?¡±
¡°Why? I don''t understand.¡±
¡°Why is it that you''ve got loads of things to do but you spend time on things that are not necessary?¡±
¡°I don''t know. Because I''m me? I love tinkering. Why do you make a mess only to clear it up?¡±
¡°It''s an expression of who I am, too.¡±
¡°I''m not very good at collecting moss. I hope you appreciate the gum though.¡±
Sithini tried to turn to face him, in confusion. She couldn''t, and the light dawned.
¡°You''ve just stuck my shoes to the floor!¡± She laughed.
¡°It worked then?¡±
¡°I hope you didn''t build the pause just to get my feet stuck.¡±
¡°No. But it seemed like a good opportunity.¡±
¡°Hmm. So, now you''ve caught yourself a wizardess,¡± Sithini asked, ¡°what are you planning to do with me?¡±
¡°Well, I did have various ideas about letting you go eventually, but I''m not sure I want to. You''ve got a beautiful laugh, Sithini.¡±
¡°Do you know, no one''s ever stuck my shoes to the floor before.¡±
¡°No? Why not?¡±
¡°Afraid of what I''ll do in response, I guess. Or afraid they might need to buy me new shoes.¡±
¡°Ah. Urm... Maybe I ought to try to release the gum?¡±
¡°If you get it wrong, you might get stuck too,¡± Sithini warned, ¡°Or damage the floor-boards.¡±
¡°I''ve done something really silly, haven''t I?¡±
¡°No, Quif. You''ve set out on a bold, adventurous, and imaginative journey of discovery. I imagine that new shoes cost more than a new floorboard. Do you know any carpenters?¡± Quif groaned.
Hnut, Yalinth''s home, Restday, 10th Winter
¡°You deliberately got Keldithanapoli angry? Deliberately insulted her?¡± Denas asked, shocked that anyone would do that.
¡°Yes,¡± Eneth confirmed.
¡°You are so dumb,¡± Wirth, Denas''s youngest brother said, equally surprised, ¡°have you got a death-wish?¡±
¡°I didn''t want to come; I was reading,¡± Eneth replied. ¡°I thought they might go away if I was rude enough.¡±
¡°Sounds like a good reason to get diced. How come you''re still in one piece?¡± Denas asked, curiously.
¡°She was patient, instead of shredding me she told me I was being an idiot and offered to let me listen to the rage I''d triggered in her.¡± Eneth said, ¡°But you''re being equally dumb, I hear.¡±
¡°Who said that?¡±
¡°I said it,¡± Eneth replied scornfully. ¡°Other people thought it. You''re ignoring someone important, dangerous, and powerful, who you ought to be very careful not to offend, aren''t you?¡± He glanced at Yalinth, who had been dragged out of her room to greet the new visitors, and was sitting beside Yanepoli. She was grinning and thought her thanks to him. Turning to Yanepoli, he said ¡°I am not a believer, not like my sister, not like you, not like Keldithanapoli. But I have no wish to give offence, your ladyship, neither to yourself nor to the creator you serve.¡±
¡°But you don''t believe in Him?¡± Yalinth asked, confused.
¡°He exists,¡± Eneth said. ¡°But it''s too confusing.¡±
¡°What''s confusing?¡± Yalinth asked.
¡°Why does lady Yanepoli have a blood feud with us? Why is mum always scared I''ll be killed?¡±
¡°Young Eneth, there is no blood-feud, there never has been a blood-feud. When I was young your great-grandfather started chasing me and he thought ''go away, you fool'' meant ''keep trying'', so I lied. I lied because I was sure he wouldn''t win a duel against another male who was chasing me, and I liked your great-grandfather enough that I didn''t want him dead.¡±
¡°There''s no blood-feud?¡± Eneth asked, confused.
¡°No blood-feud. And if you ever need to run away from danger, remember that you can come here, and that you will be welcome. Or if you just want to come and visit, of course.¡±
¡°Why would I want to marry Yalinth?¡± Eneth asked, confused on hearing that thought from Yanepoli too.
¡°The idea might have grown on you in ten years or so.¡±
¡°Ten years? That''s forever!¡± Eneth exclaimed.
¡°Not when you''re my age, young one. Not when you''re my age.¡±
Hnut, Ruath and Ethepoli''s home, Skyday morning, 11th Winter
¡°Ahah! I thought my big brother might be here!¡± Sithini said, ¡°So, how well''s the rumour mill working?¡±
¡°Urm, in what respect?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°Have you heard about what Quif did yesterday?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Saneth probably has something to report about me, then,¡± Sithini said. ¡°You really ought to keep in touch with your spies, Dirak,¡± she said, teasing.
¡°I didn''t know I needed to check up with them daily. But is this about you or about Quif? Or about the both of you?¡±
¡°Quif glued my shoes to the floor, and then got his fingers stuck, just after telling me about the glue. I was laughing so much that I didn''t dare try anything myself.¡±
¡°Hence you called Saneth?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°Exactly.¡±
¡°You couldn''t step out of your shoes?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°That didn''t help the problem of Quif being stuck to my leg, no. He used the glue that they normally use on watch straps, it sticks skin to skin really quickly. He said, ''so if I had glue on my finger and just touched you like this, hey, what''s happened?''¡±
¡°I see, I think. So what else has Saneth got to report?¡±
¡°That since we were forced to spend the time together we decided to have a little talk.¡±
¡°And?¡± Lenepoli prompted.
¡°And we''ve agreed to avoid each other so he''s got time to finish his masterpiece, and then... well, then he''ll be up here and I will be too, and maybe if he asks nicely I''ll let him make some promises to me and make some in return.¡±
¡°And did Saneth recommend you''re as silly as we''re planning to be and aim to marry a moon before the double moon?¡±
Sithini pulled a face, ¡°There''ll be other double moons, I''ve no urge to leap into marriage and motherhood before I know Quif a lot better. I want him to at least get his ASC, anyway. But what''s the state of your house plans?¡±
¡°Yalb has taken my ideas and made some excellent changes, including such boring things as outside doors, and once we''ve paid our respects to Keldi, and picked them up, we''re going to go and check our measuring.¡±
¡°So Keldi''s retreated to your library?¡±
¡°She has, yes.¡± Dirak confirmed. ¡°Kand recommends treading carefully. He says the Keldi we know and love has got to ''the little bit irritable'' stage of carrying.¡±
¡°Ah, right. And you''re really planning to get married in nine days time?¡±
¡°Doesn''t seem very feasible does it?¡± Lenepoli asked. ¡°Frozen ground, not even foundations in place. How can we have a home to move into that soon?¡±
¡°Well, if it''s only the building work you''re worried about, there''s always Dirak''s flat with his single bed... Or you could just enjoy the comforts of library. Oh, except Keldi''s going to still be there, I suppose?¡±
¡°She and Kand will be there until hatching, yes.¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°How''s your extruder doing, Dirak?¡± Sithini asked.
¡°Crude, but it seems to work. We''re going to be getting some loads of mine-tailings delivered from Qnut tomorrow, much to everyone''s confusion. Cost of mine tailings: nothing at all, cost of delivery, more than we''d like.¡±
¡°So today is just checking the soil depth?¡±
¡°And digging it out.¡± Dirak corrected. ¡°Want to help?¡±
¡°Assuming you''re not going to do it all with muscle power.¡± Sithini agreed.
¡°Have no fear. I had a go with a pick this time the day before yesterday, much to everyone''s amusement. It didn''t quite bounce, but it didn''t exactly make much impression either.¡±
¡°And you''re going to build the walls entirely out of Qnut mine tailings?¡±
¡°If we don''t get any good stone from the foundations, we''ll have to. If we do then there are some bits I''m thinking of making out of real stone.¡±
¡°Oh yes?¡± Sithini prompted.
¡°Walls for certain rooms, for instance,¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°OK. And if there''s no stone?¡±
¡°Twin walls of crystal with the inner surfaces painted,¡± Dirak said.
¡°Not filled with dry soil?¡± Sithini asked.
¡°That''s a possibility, but we''d still want the paint. Soil isn''t that attractive.¡±
¡°Depends on your soil, with a bit of heat-treating some look pretty. But OK, shall we go and dig?¡± Sithini asked.
¡°We need to brave a potentially irritable Keldi first,¡± Dirak pointed out, ¡°unless we wait until after lunch and the memorial service.¡±
¡°You''d better be quick then, Zerker Dirak,¡± Sithini said, ¡°Or I predict moss in your future.¡±
¡°I predict that moss is in my future whatever I do, Sithini.¡±
Dirak''s office, Skyday.
¡°Hello Yalinth!¡± Dirak said, ¡°Can I help?¡±
¡°Bob Sathie Bill wants to say ''hello!''¡± Yalinth replied.
¡°That''s nice of him.¡±
¡°And he wants to know why Keldi''s grumpy,¡± she added.
¡°I heard that!¡± Keldi shouted, ¡°Get in here, Yalinth!¡±
¡°Hello Keldithanapoli. Are you grumpy?¡±
¡°Yes, I am, Yalinth.¡± Keldi said.
¡°Why? Oh. The cemetery?¡±
¡°Yes.¡± Keldi said. She felt fragile. She was fragile, or rather the eggs swelling her waistline were fragile. She could have gone up the hill yesterday, probably, but she really didn''t feel like it today. Traipsing up the hill to give a history lecture was precisely the last thing she wanted to do. But she had made a promise.
¡°Lanthi could do it.¡± Yalinth said.
¡°Pardon?¡± Keldi said, surprised.
¡°Bob Sathie Bill says Lanthithanapoli will be respected, Keldithanapoli, that you mustn''t risk your children, and he wants to know if you''ve spoken to the doctor.¡±
¡°Why should I? It''s not like I''ve not laid an egg before.¡±
¡°Urm. He says it''s normal for them, and in the circumstances it might be a good idea for you to do it too.¡±
¡°In what circumstances?¡± Keldi asked.
¡°He says he knows something you don''t know.¡± Yalinth said.
¡°Is he saying there''s a problem?¡± Kand asked, going to beside Keldi.
¡°He doesn''t think so.¡± Yalinth said.
¡°Yalinth?¡± Lenepoli said, thinking that Keldi looked like she was carrying more than two eggs, maybe even four. ¡°Can Bob Sathie Bill read my thoughts?¡±
¡°He says yes.¡± Yalinth said.
¡°OK, well, maybe it''s best if you don''t listen, but I''ll think of what I know about when it''s a good idea to have a doctor around at a laying, and when it''s not a good idea, and then maybe he can understand better.¡±
¡°OK,¡± Yalinth agreed, on, Bob''s behalf.
[Right], Lenepoli thought, [Normally it''s a bad idea to have a doctor around, mothers can get over-protective, violent even, if they''re disturbed at the wrong time. Especially older mothers. So suggesting a doctor means you think there''s a risk to Keldi or her eggs. Keldi looks like she''s certainly carrying more than one egg, maybe three or even four. One or two eggs is not normally a cause for a doctor to be involved. It''s instinctive among us that a mother holds her egg as it is laid, and cleans it herself. Her lower arms will catch the egg as it leaves her body, and her upper arms will be hugging any laid earlier. If Keldi''s eggs come too fast, she will not be ready, and that is a danger to the eggs; a female doctor or trusted helper might be needed to clean her eggs for her. That''s a big trust at a time she won''t feel like trusting. If they come at the normal speed, and a third egg is coming, she might trust the first one to Kand, her husband. But she''s not likely to trust him to clean one, that''s the way we females are. If she has four, she will be exhausted, maybe even too exhausted to clean the last egg properly, and her eggs might be small, or need special care. Again in those cases a doctor might be needed, both for Keldi and the eggs.] ¡°Did he get all that?¡±
¡°Bob Sathie Bill wants to know if it''s a rude question to ask Keldi if she knows how many eggs she''s carrying,¡± Yalinth giggled.
¡°A dumb question, but not rude. Of course I don''t; we leave that secret to God.¡±
¡°Then he says that God says you need a bigger nest, and just to be safe Bob says make sure that Kand and a trusted female are around, and warning the doctor to be available might be a wise precaution.¡±
¡°What did you tell him, Lenepoli?¡± Keldi asked.
¡°I told him that if your eggs come fast then you''re not likely to trust Kand to clean them, but if you''ve got two in your arms and another one comes then maybe you''d trust Kand to hold.¡±
¡°Hmm, maybe you''re right. You think I''m carrying triplets?¡± Keldi asked.
¡°I''ve not seen any mothers as mature as you, Keldi, and I learned that that can make a difference.¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°But... I''ve seen several mothers of triplets and none of them looked as big as you.¡±
¡°So you mean I''m way past my prime, or I''m carrying three or four, or both?¡±
¡°Bob says ''something like that, yes.'' And he says he doesn''t want to spoil surprises you want to keep surprises, but God lets him know the answer to yes-no questions if you want to know. Oh!¡±
¡°What''s oh! mean?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°I asked him if that means he can''t tell me who I''ll get married to and he said of course he can, but I''m too little to think about that and don''t I want the surprise of working it out myself.¡±
¡°Let''s do some safer yes-no questions.¡± Keldi said, ¡°Should I give my talk?¡±
¡°No,¡± Lenepoli said. ¡°of course you shouldn''t Keldi, not unless you fly, but even then, it''s miserably cold up on the ridge at this time of year, we''re sheltered down here, but there''s a vicious wind. I didn''t realise you were so near your time, I''m sure Dad didn''t either. Traditional values say you stay put. Let Kand do it or Lanthi, or people will say you''re not looking after your precious little passengers.¡±
¡°Yalinth, please ask Bob if God says Lanthi should do it,¡± Sithini asked.
¡°Not Lanthi,¡± Yalinth said, with a little smile.
¡°Me?¡± Kand asked.
¡°No, Kand,¡± Sithini said, crouching down to look at Yalinth, she said ¡°It''s me, isn''t it?¡±
Yalinth nodded and said, ¡°you think really quickly, Sithinilakiina.¡±
¡°Sometimes,¡± Sithini agreed. ¡°Sometimes that just means I forget things though. It almost has to be me, either speaking on Keldi''s behalf or my own. People have been promised a royal wizardess, after all.¡±
¡°Lanthi should go with you, Bob says.¡±
¡°Does he say why?¡±
¡°He doesn''t know,¡± Yalinth said. Then added, ¡°I''m not listening to you.¡±
¡°But did you hear?¡± Sithini asked.
¡°You want to ask Bob something you thought of earlier, but don''t want to scare me.¡±
¡°Thank you for not listening, Yalinth. Bob can listen to my thoughts?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°I''m thinking my question to him with all the background he might want to know, then. There. Was that too fast for him?¡±
¡°He says he missed the start. And maybe the middle too.¡±
Sithini smiled, but it wasn''t something to smile about: [Bob], she thought more slowly, [we have recently found an old evil, a hool. Thought-hearers were hated, feared, and so yellow fluffballs born in winter ¡ª newly hatched thought-hearers, used to be left in a hool to slowly starve. It is shocking; they have been illegal for centuries, but there was one, still in use. The old law was so bloodthirsty that no one dared to accuse a relative. Maybe Yalinth has told you about it, about the little fluffballs we rescued. I don''t know how much she knows, and don''t want her to know my fear: that where there was one, might there not be another? Could you check? Are there more fluffballs starving to death somewhere? Stolen from their parents by relatives who are afraid of thought-hearers? Keldi''s speech, which I will give, is because hundreds of years ago the fluffballs of defeated enemies and thought-hearing fluffballs were left to die in a hool just near the village, and the men who found their skeletons have been trying to hide it from their families. It would be good to say with confidence the evil is past, just as blood-feuds are past and punishment of innocents for the crime of a family member is past.]
¡°Bob says thank you, he is checking, and he''s funny. Why I shouldn''t hear him just because I''m not listening to you?¡±
¡°I don''t know, Yalinth, maybe he can''t do that?¡±
¡°That''s silly. He says you can say what you want to.¡±
¡°Praise God!¡± Sithini said.
¡°He''s good.¡± Yalinth replied. ¡°Bob says he needs to rest.¡±
¡°I expect so,¡± Keldi agreed. ¡°And I need to give Sithini my talk, Dirak needs his building plans and someone needs to find Lanthi and tell her she''s doing something to help Sithini.¡±
¡°Bob said Lanthi was talking to Yalb.¡± Yalinth said.
¡°Why am I not surprised,¡± Kand said, ¡°Yalinth, can you take me to the doctor? I think it might be good for her to hear from you what Bob said.¡±
¡°I''ll come too, Kand.¡± Lenepoli said. ¡°I''ll add my own observations.¡±
¡°Thank you, Lenepoli¡± Kand said, ¡°And Keldi beloved, rest a bit while you''re waiting for Lanthi; you''re drooping.¡±
¡°I want to puzzle over Dirak and Yalb''s plans for a bit, so please don''t object too strongly, Keldi,¡± Sithini said.
¡°You mean you just want to take my notes and leave me in splendid isolation with my snack-bowl and pillow? What more could I want, other than my husband to come back quickly? Notes are here, take them!¡±
¡°Would you like some more contents for your bowl, Keldi?¡± Dirak offered. ¡°It''s looking almost empty.¡±
¡°How did that happen?¡± Keldi asked, puzzled.
¡°You''ve been eating almost non-stop, Keldi,¡± Kand said, smiling and putting some fruit into her hands, ¡°Just like any mother of twins-or-more ought to. So yes please, Dirak.¡±
¡°Bully,¡± Keldi said, taking a bite from the delicious fruit. It had been a long time since her first pregnancy, but she remembered being told that in the last few days of carrying her body would be fighting to ensure there was as much nutrition in each egg as an adult would eat in a day, and it would double that if it could. If she was carrying triplets, she wasn''t going to be getting fat. ¡°Go fetch the doctor, Kand. She might want to tell me to eat more.¡±
¡°First impressions: you look hungry, Keldithanapoli,¡± the doctor said.
¡°I''ve been eating almost twice my normal intake,¡± Keldi replied.
¡°Since when?¡±
¡°The last week, I guess.¡±
¡°Hmm. No, don''t get up, lie back down, may I feel your belly?¡±
¡°Yes. Kand said he felt three last night.¡±
¡°Then I won''t prod, it''s a bit late now, if you''re due on Motherday. Where were they?¡±
Kand came over and indicated where he''d felt the bulges. ¡°Here, here and here.¡±
¡°And that didn''t strike you as odd?¡±
¡°Well, I was expecting the lower one to be lower, but Keldi had been lying down most of the evening.¡±
¡°And you thought that big as she was her eggs might have moved up?¡± the doctor suggested. ¡°What do you think, Keldithanapoli? Any space in there?¡±
¡°Not for my organs.¡±
¡°Nor your bladder either, I presume?¡± the doctor asked.
¡°No.¡±
¡°And this is your second clutch?¡±
¡°Third. My son got killed in a duel two years ago.¡±
¡°Eat more. Not just fruit, though that''s good. That top bulge might have been your stomach.¡±
¡°I told him that,¡± Keldi said.
¡°But one of your eggs is almost certainly in your pelvis already, so you almost certainly have three, and might have four. Six or seven days of almost double intake doesn''t make eight. Don''t be afraid of over-eating; you won''t. Do be concerned about laying too soon, so no standing up longer than you absolutely need to, and do try to keep your stomach full, night and day. I''d recommend you chew your way through a lot of meat as a second or third breakfast, as soon as you can. Fatty if you can stomach it, ideally from different animals. Then at least a double teenager''s portion of meat, plus normal starches and vegetables for lunch and dinner. Snacking on fruit, sweets, and vegetables, plus bacon if you can. After tonight, you''re probably late for digesting the meat usefully, so concentrate on dairy for the calcium, and nuts, vegetables and sugars.¡±
¡°And when food seems revolting I''ve got about six hours?¡± Keldi asked.
¡°Probably less. Your last egg or two is still going to be accepting a while after the first one has calcified. Sorry to be harsh, but the hard truth is you''ll probably break at least one egg if you start early. So eat, sleep, and use a chamber pot so you don''t need to be on your feet as much. Do everything you can to stay off your feet. Then if something happens you know it wasn''t you. Oh, and tell me, night or day, the moment you realise you''re off your food.¡±
¡°You''ll come?¡±
¡°Quads at your time of life? Of course I''ll come. Where do you think you are, some heartless town where no one cares?¡±
The high fields, Skyday.
¡°We have heard the history of our village, of our ancestors,¡± Pastor Ruath said, after Sithini''s talk and after Yanepoli had given her reply, and then also Rangar had said some words. ¡°You''ve heard what we know, what can be guessed, about the old bloodthirstiness that has left its mark here, and on almost all of us. The martyrs to the faith that almost certainly died here, where the strongest of the Northern clans held their court and where they were fought and died and killed their enemies, in spiritual blindness. You''ve heard how hundreds of lives were thrown away just down the river from here, at the contest grounds. Thousands of years of ignorant, stupid bloodshed that have left their poisonous marks on us, not least on Keldithanapoli and Lanthithanapoli. So much bloodshed, so much destruction.
¡°You have heard how it was only after the invasion of the South, which is itself lost in legend to most, that the queen, Yathanapoli met with God. You have heard how then-Yanepoli of the Yant turned to God, and how when the so-called princes seized power in more bloodshed, she welcomed her God-fearing friends here. So, that this village became a sanctuary, rather than a place to be feared. You''ve heard what half-truths had been guessed, and how a combination of horror and fear and secrecy has driven people to trust in lies and chemicals rather than in God. You have heard, I''m sure, that the hool of Tumpf has been found, and the criminals who ran it are now awaiting trial. Sithinilakiina has spoken of the reassurance she received from the Lord, and the astounding gift that God has given the alien Bob.
"There were hools. There was a hool here, there are no more hools; may God be praised for this mercy that he has brought an end to that evil. This site where so many have been buried, we will set aside as a memorial. What happened here was evil, an evil that fed on secrecy and was compounded by secrecy. Today, we shine the light of truth into the horrors of the past, we dissociate ourselves from them, and we ask that the blood of the saviour will cleanse us from all guilt. Let the blood of the dead no longer cry out for recognition and for vengeance; vengeance belongs to God and we recognise the sins of the past. May the blood of the Son of God cleanse this place. Let us never forget, and never return to those evil times. Amen. Madam mayor, you had an idea you wished to present?¡±
She stood and said, ¡°This village has long had a law rejecting the purges, rejecting the fear of Zerkers that was so common, and offering them sanctuary. Fear of Zerkers is not so common as it used to be, but many fear thought-hearers. My suggestion is that we be brave, as our ancestors were. They confronted that fear and welcomed Zerkers, and passed a by-law to that effect. Is there any who think we should not pass a similar by-law, to welcome thought-hearers? That is my suggestion. Do I hear voices opposed to it?¡±
¡°Not opposed, but a little confused.¡± Dirak said, ¡°There are no purges or policies against thought-hearers that we can reject, what would the by-law say?¡±
¡°My thought is that we amend the current Zerker by-law. We must in any case as there are no more joint blood-feuds. I would add thought-hearer and wizard to those who may walk freely, and expect the protection from their neighbours from any trouble, be it official or unofficial.¡±
¡°As long as that official trouble does not stem from an illegal use of their abilities, you have my complete agreement,¡± Dirak said.
¡°You can''t just have the word ''illegal'', Dirak.¡± Sithini said, ¡°That neuters the bylaw. It was illegal to be a Zerker, remember.¡±
¡°We''ll obviously need to refine the wording,¡± Ruath said. ¡°Any objections to the principle?¡±
¡°I don''t know I have any say in the matter,¡± Sithini said, ¡°since I don''t live here yet, but I would like to suggest adding God-fearing alien into the list of people the village refuses to be scared of. Just in case Yalinth''s friend Bob wishes to come to say hello.¡±
Site of Dirak and Lenepoli''s new home.
¡°Do we really need this much space?¡± Lenepoli asked, looking at the markers she and Dirak had put down on the ground.
¡°Of course not,¡± Dirak replied. ¡°We could all sleep in one hole in the ground and cook outside, and never have any guests.¡±
¡°But it''s massive!¡±
¡°We could draw in the inner walls. You might change your mind.¡±
¡°It''s really the same size as home?¡±
¡°Slightly smaller footprint, actually, if you include your parent''s veranda.¡±
¡°I guess I don''t normally look from one corner of home to the other, do I? What do we do now? Start digging?¡±
¡°First, we re-measure, because its much easier to move pegs than frozen ground. Then, there''s some things I want to check with the help of intervention here, but we''ll get to that later.¡±
¡°Let''s get measuring, then. You measure and I check the plan again?¡±
¡°Can we do it the other way round? I know what the numbers ought to say too well.¡±
¡°OK. Should we do corner to corner too?¡±
¡°Yes. Both ways.¡±
¡°If all the sides are right, is that necessary?¡±
¡°It shouldn''t be, but....¡±
¡°You want it perfect?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°I want it to work. The wizardry to build the walls could fail if we don''t get the foundations right.¡±
¡°OK. Ultra precision here we go.¡± Lenepoli said, in resigned tones.
¡°Tape-measures aren''t ultra precise, Lenepoli.¡± Sithini said, popping into sight from her travel-bubble. ¡°But Dirak is right, If you deviate too far from right-angles then you''re risking gaps that don''t fuse together at the corners, unless Dirak spends another year making an extruder with a computer and laser-measuring device that can calculate its way around odd shapes, Or unless he makes something that''ll follow a guide bars, which would mean no corners. Or we can persuade some aliens to come and build it for you, which is probably unlikely. So, I''m here to help.¡±
¡°Thank you, Sithini.¡± Dirak said. ¡°Does that mean the grand discussion on the new law is over?¡±
¡°It looked like it was winding up, Kand is going to call me if it''s not, and when it is, expect half the village to come and see what you''re up to.¡±
¡°Let''s get these pegs in the right place then,¡± Lenepoli said. ¡°It''s not supposed to be roughly seventeen and a third paces, is it?¡±
¡°I had a look as I was getting here,¡± Sithini said, ¡°You''ve got a lovely parallelogram. Why didn''t you start with twin laser beam? Or a 3-4-5 triangle out off sticks, at least?¡±
¡°We did,¡± Lenepoli said, holding up the triangle. ¡°I guess it wasn''t big enough.¡±
¡°Or we knocked it.¡± Dirak said, comparing it to the strings at one corner. ¡°Or, extremely embarrassingly, either geometry isn''t what it used to be or it''s not a 3-4-5 triangle,¡± he added, as he compared it on the other side of the string. Its ''right-angle'' was probably off by at least five degrees.
¡°But we checked it with the tape!¡± Lenepoli protested.
¡°Maybe part of the tape has been stretched or has shrunk? It is pretty old.¡±
¡°Good job I''ve got a twin-beam laser here, then isn''t it?¡± Sithini said, ¡°And a distance measurer.¡±
¡°Very good,¡± Lenepoli said feeling frustrated at the wasted time. ¡°Any more plans to waste time and embarrass me, Dirak?¡± It had been his tape, after all.
¡°I did have.¡± Dirak said, ¡°But Sithini''s here now, so maybe not. But before the promised crowds get here to laugh at us, can I ask: will you marry me when we''ve finished this house?¡±
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 24: Building
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 24: Building
Mid-afternoon, Skyday, 11th Winter
¡°I know you said there might be stone. I didn''t expect this, Yalb.¡± Dirak said, looking at the stone they''d cut down into. ¡°I''m no expert but it looks like perfect building stone.¡±
¡°Where did you think the stone came from for the church and the school and grandma''s home?¡± Yalb asked, with a smile.
¡°I assumed it had been imported. This is sandstone isn''t it?¡±
¡°Just like the church, yes. We know it''s here, in the valley, we know there''s a mix of stuff up on the ridge, volcanic stuff, and we know how hard it is to get a well into it. Some of it is fractured, so it''s not perfect stone, but it''s pretty good.¡±
¡°Where''s the water table?¡±
¡°Half way to the river is the general rule of thumb I''ve heard if for wet feet, deeper you want a usable well.¡±
¡°And if we decided to dig a cellar...¡±
¡°Rather your back than mine. That''s a lot of digging!¡±
¡°I''ll let wizardry do it. But you don''t expect water problems?¡±
¡°All I can say is try it and see. You really want a cellar? It wasn''t in the plans.¡±
¡°Well, not in the bits you could read, no. OK, well, we''ll get out some rock for the inner walls and see what we get.¡±
¡°We''re going to look really silly if we dig a cellar and it turns into a well,¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°Worst case scenario I''ll line it with crystal.¡± Dirak said confidently.
¡°You''ve got no imagination!¡± Sithini accused. ¡°The worst case scenario, you hit a vein of super-heated sulphur-rich steam and we have to evacuate half the village.¡±
¡°Why not go the whole hog and say I find radioactive lava?¡± Dirak shot back.
¡°Be reasonable! It''d melting the snow if there was lava that close to here.¡±
¡°You can tell why people don''t doubt they think of each other as siblings, can''t you?¡± Lenepoli commented to Yalb.
¡°I wouldn''t dare to comment. From what I understand I''m going to be learning from these honourable wizards quite soon.¡±
¡°Dirak, how about you stop arguing and decide if you''re going to dig foundations or a cellar?¡± Lenepoli suggested.
¡°Sithini thinks we all need safety gear we don''t have,¡± Dirak said.
¡°I didn''t mean that. I just meant don''t put yourself in a situation you you can''t run away, like digging a tunnel. What are you going to dig?¡±
¡°Oh. OK. Well, we don''t need foundations as deep as we want privacy panels, but shall we see if we can get a panel from this trench, Dirak?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°Why not avoid interfering with the foundations?¡± Sithini asked.
¡°Curiosity and impatience,¡± Lenepoli replied with a grin, ¡°But OK, Dirak, move mud please. Let''s see how good a quarry our house might be.¡±
¡°Plan B?¡± Dirak asked. Plan B was that if they found shallow rock, to remove the soil from on top of it, so there was no wet soil under the house. ¡°Exactly, or at least let''s start and see how long it takes to move it.¡±
¡°We''d better start where we want the cellar then,¡± Dirak said, picking up the rock mover.
Late-afternoon, Skyday, 11th Winter
¡°Hey, you''re getting confused, Dirak, houses go up it''s mines that go down!¡± Rangar joked, peering into the hole.
¡°Cellars and wells go down too, Rangar,¡± Dirak called back.
¡°You''re starting your home by digging a well?¡± Rangar asked, confused.
¡°I think he plans an entire underground tunnel system,¡± Yalb said. ¡°No, that''s Sithini,¡± Lenepoli said, keeping on working a hand-pump. ¡°The well is sort of her fault too. She wanted to know how much deeper the water table is than the cellar, so we decided to find out.¡±
¡°And the answer is?¡±
¡°The answer is, urmm.. see that trickle by Dirak''s head? That''s where he hit the first water, and as you see, I''m getting about a bucket every three or four minutes out of it now.¡±
¡°So you''re going to have a bucket to drop down under the kitchen floor?¡±
¡°Probably not; Dirak''s planning to make an automatic pump. But at the moment, we''ve just got this manual one.¡±
¡°And the plan is you''ll keep on digging until you can''t keep the water out easily?¡± Rangar asked.
¡°No, this is filling fast enough. But Dirak wanted a bit more margin for summer, so the plan is to dig out the cuts he''s making now.¡±
Rangar looked around and saw a stacked pile of smooth stone slabs, beside the mine-tailings he''d seen unloaded earlier. Where was stone from the cellar? ¡°You''re not telling me those slabs of dressed stone are your diggings are you?¡±
¡°Did you hear about Dirak''s adventures into the veneer business?¡± Yalb asked. ¡°Miners can be equally glad that wizards are too busy to branch out into mining too.¡±
¡°Well! If word of this gets around then your school could be quite busy. Who''s been doing the hauling, surely not you alone, Yalb?¡±
¡°Oh, Dirak and Lenepoli have chased away any offers to help so far. I''m just here spectating and adding occasional silly questions,¡± Yalb said, then as there was the sound of a splash, and Yalb called ¡°What are you doing now, Dirak?¡±
¡°Cutting some hand and foot-holes,¡± Dirak replied. ¡°I can fly out, but I don''t want someone getting stuck down here with no way out.¡±
¡°See?¡± Yalb asked. ¡°I''ve another a silly question, Dirak. Have you thought about adding some side holes or similar, so there''s more effective area to your well?¡±
¡°Yes. I did, but assuming we''re still in rock at the bottom then I''d like to keep it rock all around. I''d feel really silly if I cut through the rock to get more water and ended up letting mud come in.¡±
¡°Not entirely dumb, my betrothed,¡± Lenepoli said, smiling her approval. ¡°But refusing all offers to help wasn''t entirely thoughtful when that leaves me pumping all the time.¡±
¡°Would you like me to pump, Lenepoli?¡± Yalb asked.
¡°Yes please, Yalb. Then I can start moving some more rock.¡±
¡°More wizardry?¡± Rangar asked.
¡°Oh, very much so,¡± Lenepoli replied. ¡°Ready, for me to get the first slab out, Dirak?¡±
¡°Just about. We''re getting a bit more in-flow from below, by the way.¡±
¡°I should hope so too!¡± Lenepoli said. ¡°Otherwise, you don''t get more water in summer.¡±
¡°But anyway, I''m finished,¡± Dirak said, climbing out using the holes he''d made.
¡°OK, here comes chunk one... And it''s out. See how useful this wizardry is, Rangar?¡±
¡°Very,¡± Rangar agreed.
¡°Wow! Dirak, look!¡± Lenepoli called, as the water was rapidly welling up in the hole where the vertical slab she''d just removed had been.
¡°Hmm. Is Sithini still around?¡± Dirak asked, looking at the flow.
¡°She went to talk to Keldi.¡±
¡°Oh well, she might have wanted to see this. She warned us about artesian wells, didn''t she?¡±
¡°That''s what that is?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°Slightly, at least. Step one: we ought to move this stuff out of the cellar, in case it gets deep. But I doubt it will, just a precaution.¡± He didn''t move though, watching the water climb up the well.
¡°You don''t seem very worried,¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°I''m not,¡± Dirak said, ¡°not really.¡±
¡°Why not?¡±
¡°Because we don''t need a pump if we''ve really got pressurised water.¡±
¡°Flooding our cellar?¡±
¡°I actually doubt that''ll happen. Given that it was stopped by the weight of that slab, the water''s probably not under that much pressure. Except it might have been on a small plug, I suppose, but let''s not worry until we know we have a problem, beloved.¡±
¡°Right, because when we have a river where our cellar ought to be there''s going to be plenty of time to act,¡± Lenepoli said, exasperatedly.
¡°Exactly,¡± Dirak confirmed with irritating confidence, still looking at the rising water.
¡°Rangar, can you hold him down while I pummel him?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°Not the best idea.¡± Rangar said. ¡°What''s your plan, sheriff?¡±
¡°Maybe start on some walls while we see if we''ve really just found an artesian spring, or simply a nice fast-filling well. If it is an artesian spring, then I want the water static or almost static before I start dealing with it, in which case impenetrable walls around it are a really good step.¡± Finally taking his eyes off the rising water he said ¡°OK, the well''s three and a half steps deep, roughly. And although it was impressive in the slab hole it''s only really rising at about two centisteps a minute, or two buckets a minute. So, giving myself some margin for error, maybe forty five minutes per step. In that case, we ought to have something like two hours before it reaches the top of the well, assuming it will. Plenty of time to decide what to do, and no need to panic, but maybe we won''t have time to do a full set of walls.¡±
¡°You''ve got another idea?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°Several. If the flow''s constant, we might win ourselves some time if we removed the rest of the slabs I cut, but that might speed up the flow too. Or we could put that slab back and see if that slows it down again.¡±
¡°Let''s do that one.¡±
¡°If we do that, then it might not slow it down much, and if it is an artesian supply, then that little trickle we got before we moved would be really frustrating for taps.¡±
¡°So you think leave it be?¡±
¡°I don''t know. We can still use the rock mover, but only for another five minutes or so before the water''s too deep. If it is artesian and we move the other slabs then the flow might double or something, which would mean we have an hour or less to make a lid. That''d be pretty tight, I think. If we put the slab back and it doesn''t help, then the water will be too deep to lift the slab out again, I expect.¡±
¡°Get a bigger pump?¡± Yalb suggested.
¡°We can haul out more than two buckets a minute, easily.¡± Rangar pointed out.
¡°Let''s leave it be, and make a lid.¡± Lenepoli said. ¡°We''re going to want the lid eventually anyway, aren''t we?¡±
¡°Well, yes.¡± Dirak conceded, ¡°But a grate to stop people falling in isn''t the same as one to keep pressurised water in.¡±
¡°If I were you, I''d want a lid that stops kids posting things into the well,¡± Rangar pointed out.
¡°Oh good point. Right, so, shall we aim for an airtight lid, see if needs to be airtight and if it doesn''t then we make it not-airtight afterwards?¡±
¡°What does that do to pipes?¡±
¡°Not much. Pipes need to happen afterwards anyway.¡±
About an hour and a half later, Sithini came along. The water in the well was just below the cellar floor.
¡°Ah, did I miss something exciting?¡±
¡°Sort of.¡± Dirak replied. ¡°The greatest excitement happened a few minutes ago, when I tweaked the rock mover to get all the cut rocks out, and we decided that we ought to put the lid back quickly. My guess is we need some kind of pressure gauge and a drain pipe. But there''s certainly a fair amount of inflow right now.¡±
¡°How much?¡±
¡°Once we lifted the last rock, it started coming in at about quarter of a step a minute, would you say, Lenepoli?¡±
¡°Something like that. I wasn''t looking too long.¡±
¡°You''ve basically found an underground stream then?¡± Sithini said.
¡°It looks rather like it.¡±
¡°There is that spring down beside the ford,¡± Lenepoli pointed out.
¡°Hmm. So if your cellar floods then everyone will know to blames you for their wells running dry? Why didn''t you put the slabs back?¡±
¡°I did. Not much effect, so I guess there was some kind of small plug being held down by the weight.¡±
¡°And you''ve got no pressure relief at the moment?¡±
¡°At the moment, I''ve got this lid, and we can undo the clamps a bit if we want to let our the air.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
¡°Which you do, I presume?¡± Sithini asked, adding ¡°Just to reduce the chances that things goes flying if something breaks, I mean.¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°What fun. Try not to get too soaked without me being around to watch, I''ve got to go to the college to get some things for Keldi; shall I bring you up pressure gauges and pipes and things?¡±
¡°Yes, please. What does Keldi want?¡±
¡°Piped water for starters. And then she wants a home to move into as soon as her eggs are hatched. Hint, hint, Yalb.¡±
¡°If the council of wizardry are happy with the plans, then so am I.¡± Yalb said.
¡°You''d better keep tomorrow morning clear in your diary then, the Doctor''s already given Keldi strict instructions about how long she''s allowed to be talking to people rather than eating and sleeping. Keldi told Thuna, so the council will be looking at your plans sometime soon after dawn.¡±
College of wizardry, Early Skyday evening
¡°Hnah! Great, just the person!¡± Sithini said as she opened her door to the knock, ¡°Please can you warn the other apprentices that first-thing lectures from council members are cancelled, and building work is quite possibly starting tomorrow lunchtime, so make sure they''re packed. Actually, no, I''ll find someone else to do that, you get to go home and tell your mother that rather than burn her letters Yathin put them in the oven since that''s part of the stove, isn''t it? And that Yanepoli has finally read them, and sends this in reply.¡±
¡°Do you know what it is?¡± Hnah asked, looking at the package.
¡°Not at all, but I presume your mother will once she gets the chance to open it. Oh, you can also tell her that there''ll be a lot of coming and going to Hnut, and travel is not going to be a problem.¡±
¡°I was at home for the weekend, I''ve only just got here,¡± Hnah said.
¡°That explains why I didn''t find you earlier. So, how long would it take you to walk home?¡±
¡°I suppose I might be back here by midnight.¡±
¡°And it''s not the safest time to travel is it? How are you at giving travel directions if I fly you there?¡±
¡°Urm... can I just say about half way along the north side of the royal park?¡±
¡°Yes, you can,¡± Sithini agreed, ¡°Have you eaten?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Hnah said.
¡°OK, let''s find someone to warn the other apprentices, and then I''ll take you back home. Oh, and I''m supposed to tell people that Keldi will not be teaching for a while, despite what she might have said last week; Doctor''s orders.¡±
¡°Is there a problem?¡± Hnah asked.
¡°Just a precaution. The doctor''s sure she''s carrying more than two eggs.¡±
¡°Oh!¡±
Hnah''s family home, Skyday evening
¡°You surely didn''t forget something and turn round half way there, did you?¡± Hnayagelah asked her daughter.
¡°No mother,¡± Hna said, ¡°I got all the way to the college when I got a message to find wizardess Sithini here, who has a message from Hnut.¡±
¡°Yanepoli of Hnut says that Yathin followed her instructions to throw your first letter in the stove, and then to burn the others in the same way, but she''s read them now, finally, through tears of remorse. In return she sends this.¡±
¡°How...?¡± Hnayagelah asked, ¡°Oh! Yathin put them in the oven?¡±
¡°Yes. Your mother spent a lot time weeping over her stubbornness, and hopes that you will forgive her.¡±
¡°And she sent this box, not Yathin?¡± Hnayagelah hadn''t moved to open the package.
¡°She sent it,¡± Sithini confirmed, ¡°Yathin helped her wrap it.¡±
¡°What is it, mother?¡± Hnah asked.
¡°Sorry, I''m being rude, do come in. And what''s your name, wizardess? I''m afraid my brain froze on hearing about the message.¡±
¡°My full name is Sithinilakiina, but I go by Sithini.¡±
¡°You honour my home, most noble one. Bob, my husband, has mentioned you. Hna, you should open the packet.¡±
¡°It''s addressed to you, mother.¡±
¡°It''s the size of my old jewellery box.¡± Hnayagelah said, ¡°and my hands are trembling.¡±
Hnah gave in and unwrapped it. There was a note and a carved box. ¡°Your old jewellery box?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Hnayagelah read the note, and smiled. ¡°To my proud, stubborn and older rebellious daughter, from sinfully proud and stupidly stubborn Yanepoli of Hnut. Yathin has rebelliously been keeping your rooms ready and other treasures clean. Parliamentary rules say nothing about you and your husband visiting your family by wizardry for a night or a weekend. Please come.¡±
¡°There will be a lot of coming and going,¡± Sithini said.
¡°Thank you.¡±
¡°And since I''m here, I''ll add that little Yalinth said it would make your mother very happy if you came tonight, but there''s no way she''d say it.¡±
¡°What did grandmother say to that?¡± Hnah asked. ¡°''Of course I wouldn''t tell her that. If I said that then I''d be asking Sithini to bring her,'' Yalinth replied it was my idea anyway.¡±
¡°Tonight?¡±
¡°Yes. Keldithanapoli probably won''t be visiting but she''s in the village, and Lanthithanapoli isn''t often far from your nephew Yalb, as they''ve reached an understanding.¡±
¡°Meaning Yalb won''t be around?¡±
¡°Meaning he''ll probably be around and Lanthi, too. Keldi is due to clutch on Motherday, so won''t want visitors. Unless they''re delivering food. The doctor says she expects three or more.¡±
¡°Then we''d better come.¡± Hnayagelah said. ¡°We hosted a lunch today and there quite a few cancellations. I''m sure Bob won''t object to feeding a hungry mother. Run and get your father, please, Hnah.¡±
Hnut, Dirak''s Library. Late Skyday evening.
¡°Knock knock!¡± Sithini called. ¡°I come with an offering of very tasty meats and cheeses.¡±
¡°And you''ve eaten some of it?¡± Keldi asked, outraged. It had been at least an hour since she''d last had a proper meal.
¡°I think there are limits to even your appetite, Keldi.¡± Sithini said, coming in with a laden tray. ¡°Compliments of Bob, Hnayagelah and Hnayalinth. Thirty people invited to lunch, catering for forty, in case there were more kids with their parents than expected, Three couples sent late apologies due to suddenly getting another invitation, and less kids than expected.¡±
¡°Bit rude to swap invitations like that.¡± Keldi said, spearing two slices of meat.
¡°Bob says that being a low-grade politician says he''s used to it.¡± Sithini replied ¡°A minister''s invitation is better, apparently.¡±
¡°Hmm. Bob and Hnayagelah serve good meat. Thank them for me. Dirak probably thanks them too, I was about to raid his larder again.¡±
¡°Not getting up, I hope?¡± Sithini asked.
¡°Have no fear, I''d have sent Kand to do the actual thievery.¡±
¡°Don''t call it thievery, Keldi. It''s just meeting the needs of your fragile little ones. Is there anything else you need?¡±
¡°Just a button I can press to summon Kand.¡±
¡°I''m right here, Keldi.¡± Kand said, looking up from his book.
¡°But you''re not always here.¡± she said, plaintively. ¡°And I might need you.¡±
¡°What about a simple, stand-alone radio, Keldi?¡± Sithini suggested, ¡°For instance the one in the rugged box that Dirak''s got on the front desk for when he''s not in?¡±
¡°You''d better check with him first.¡±
¡°Naah. I''ll check with him second or third.¡±
Dirak and Lenepoli''s building site, Earthday 12th Winter, dawn
¡°You didn''t stay here all night did you?¡± Rangar asked Dirak.
¡°Morning Rangar. No, I''ve been here about half an hour, Lenepoli''s just come to bring me that cup of tea in her hands. What do you think of our walls?¡±
¡°Very straight. But I''m wondering why your cellar''s floor''s icy. That fancy lid on your well leaked?¡±
¡°Oh, this isn''t ice. It''s a layer of what the walls are made of, but at the moment it''s a bit too smooth, which is why I''m doing this.¡± ''This'', was shaking looked like ash over the surface.
¡°You sure you''re not putting ash on a sheet of ice?¡± Rangar asked.
¡°Oh, it''s ash. The aliens had a cleverer way of doing this, but this way is much easier. I''m going to burn the ash off and as burns away it''ll make the surface rougher.¡±
¡°Ash doesn''t burn, Dirak,¡± Lenepoli said, seeing Rangar''s look of confusion. ¡°Everyone knows that.¡±
¡°I''m using burn in the non-technical sense, beloved. I''m going to get it so hot it turns into whiffs of the same stuff you get in flames. Except it''s going to be hotter than the sun, so if you look, you might well damage your eyes.¡±
¡°What about your eyes?¡±
¡°Oh, I''m not going to look either,¡± Dirak said, fiddling with his staff''s controls.
¡°How do you know what you''re doing with that staff, Dirak?¡± Rangar asked. ¡°It looks like you''re always holding it in the same place, but different things happen.¡±
¡°Mostly I am. I''ve got one button that means go, one that means stop, and a few others that do some simple things like fly if I press them at the same time as go. For complicated things, I need to hold down stop and press them in the right sequence.¡± He peered at the end of the staff. ¡°And sometimes I get it wrong, like just now, oops. Let''s start that again.¡±
¡°I''ll leave you to it. Oh, the reason I came by, it looks like some kid''s walked off with your ''press this button if you need the sheriff'' thing again.¡±
¡°Oh, yes! Sithini said this morning that she''d lent it to Keldi.¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°OK. Well, If someone needs me they''ll just have to resort to good old-fashioned shouting then.¡± Dirak said, ¡°Kand said he''d radio me if anyone shouted, so that starts to make sense. Sithini''s gone back to round up the apprentices?¡±
¡°And to take Bob and Hnayagelah back. They apparently had a good chat to and cry with Yanepoli.¡±
¡°Was good to hear of that family reunion,¡± Rangar said. ¡°Keep up the strange stuff, Dirak, it gives us locals something to talk about.¡±
¡°My pleasure, Rangar!¡±
¡°And let me know if you want any help. It''s always good to have something useful for the farm-helps to do.¡±
Dirak''s Library, Early Earthday morning.
¡°Thuna? Please can we start?¡± Keldi asked her friend.
¡°Yes, certainly. Everyone put Dirak''s books back where you found them, please! This is meant to be a quick meeting to say yes or no to the plans, not a raid on Dirak''s books. Keldi can''t move, under doctor''s orders, and Kand is going to kick us out before we can tire her out. You''ve all seen the site as you got here, I assume?¡±
¡°The thing that worries me it the scale of all this. Are the village really happy about it?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Lenepoli said. ¡°It''ll be a change, we know, but we''ve long had a by-law that said strangers and Zerkers were free to walk here and live here without fear as long as they helped their neighbours, and now this has were has been modified. Now wizards, winterborns and aliens are also covered. We treasure Yalinth and those like her, we hate the attitudes that led to the hool in Qnut, we like the thought that wizards will intervene to protect them, and really like the idea that kids don''t need to go to the city to learn wizardry. I''ll add, however, that various local guilds such as veneer-makers and stone-finishers are likely to be asking this council to ensure that whatever wizards might be able to do for themselves, they don''t ruin the livelihoods of others. Of course, there are laws regarding that, but they want to ensure that if someone raised in, say, veneer making, thinks they can learn some wizardry and use that to get rich, they get told they can''t.¡±
¡°Indeed,¡± Thuna said. ¡°It''s an issue we''ve faced before, of course, but a timely reminder. Especially since there will be obvious examples of what we can do if we build this school. Any other questions?¡±
¡°I actually have one,¡± Lenepoli said. ¡°Dirak''s been asked about his title of sheriff and wizard-at-large. Will the school teach people who are thinking of similarly combining wizardry and law-enforcement as a career plan, or is he a one-off? I think it does relate to building the school, in that the village''s understanding is that we will be active members of the community.¡±
¡°Dirak is a unique person,¡± Keldi said, ¡°this library is evidence of that, but sure, let''s extend the training we already give to police, and let the police training school teach wizards the legalities of investigating crimes if they want to. I have no objections.¡±
¡°Nor do I.¡± Thuna agreed, ¡°But Dirak''s said that it might be better to have a combined ''wizardry and law enforcement'' course. We''d have to negotiate the details with the police school, but they seemed interested. There was a suggestion that applicants start with an ASC and then do basic police training, or the other way round. They''d need both, whatever. So, if there are people genuinely interested when it gets to near ASC time, we can start those discussions in earnest.¡±
¡°Excellent!¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°Any questions directly related to the school plan?¡± Thuna asked.
¡°I was going to ask if we really need the second lecture hall, since we''ve always made do with the one in the city,¡± Brm said, ¡°But yes, if we might end up with specialist courses then we will. And more lecturers.¡±
¡°The city school is going to end up the smaller one, isn''t it?¡± Steev mused.
¡°Yes, in terms of research area and teaching space, since the village has been generous with land.¡± Keldi said, ¡°Maybe not in terms of fully trained wizards. But can we approve these plans or not?¡±
¡°I''ve got one suggestion.¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°And that is that we start with some of the smaller buildings first. With Sithini''s help we did the cellar floor and walls of our new house last night and even Sithini was saying setting up the extruder to get the corners right was hard. If we''d started with something as huge as that lecture hall-complex with all those side doors and arches and other fiddly things, I''d have been saying let''s just make slabs and cut them into bricks, it''ll be faster. Practice on simple stuff.¡±
¡°You''re just saying that because Dirak wants his library back,¡± Keldi accused.
¡°Actually, no, Keldi,¡± Lenepoli replied, ¡°because we hope to have moved the books into our new house before your eggs have hatched.¡±
¡°There are some techniques that perhaps even our resident genius Sithini doesn''t know,¡± Ranth said, ¡°But they''re best practised in smaller places, I agree with our youngest member. Start small, make some housing to enable staff to have some privacy and get a decent night''s sleep, some research buildings next, since they''re just bigger versions of the houses, really, and not that complicated, and then the lecture hall last of all. I say this, because classes can happen in research buildings but research shouldn''t happen in the lecture hall.¡±
¡°Thank you, Ranth,¡± Thuna said. ¡°Does anyone have any issues with the design, or the layout?¡±
¡°Just the sequencing,¡± Brm said, ¡°If we''re going to make the lecture hall last, that means that all the supplies will need to go through these gaps, or be flown in. That doesn''t sound great.¡±
¡°These buildings marked with a three are extra possibilities, Brm, in case we decide we don''t have enough space.¡± Ranth said.
¡°Ah! Right, I''d forgotten that. The twos are for a second round of building too?¡±
¡°We hope to build everything that''s a one before the teaching starts, twos after ones are done, based on priority determined at the time, and then pause to see how student and staff numbers are doing.¡±
¡°And if we get invitations from other villages, then we probably never need to build the threes at all.¡± Thuna said.
¡°So we end up with the same density as the rest of the village, and the school, church and lecture hall making a clear triangle?¡± Brm said.
¡°Exactly what Yalb wanted, yes.¡± Lenepoli said. ¡°He realised that the school exit points towards the site and decided to make the lecture hall''s main exit point to the church. He tried to do the same for the research labs too, that''s why they''re angled as they are.¡±
¡°So every time we start work, we need to turn our backs on church?¡± Brm asked, facetiously.
¡°No, so when you''re leaving you''re reminded that there is choir practice or Bible study,¡± Thuna said, ¡°and when you''re in the upstairs office-kitchen, you''re reminded that there are important things happening outside. You''ll also notice that Yalb has windows looking towards the woods, in case there are growlers around.¡±
¡°Because we protect our neighbours,¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°The design is perfect.¡± Steev said. ¡°And so after lunch we start building our most beloved queen Keldithanapoli''s village palace from which she can rule us in peace and tranquillity?¡±
¡°Ignore him, Keldi,¡± Brm suggested, as she tried to sit up to reply ¡°firstly, he''s just trying to be funny, secondly, we all know his grammar is horrible, and thirdly, urm, and thirdly, we''ll set Sithini on him if you wish him punished.¡±
¡°Brm, you know what Sithini thinks about violence. As a resident of this village, Keldi,¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°I''d like to point out my Zerker speed is promised in defence of the innocent, and there are none more innocent here than your fragile ones. If you need him shredded a bit for that, just tell me.¡±
Keldi settled down and smiled. ¡°It''s nice to know you take your vow seriously, Lenepoli. I don''t want him shredded, just educated about protocol.¡±
¡°Oh, so shall we set Lanthi on him then?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°Sorry,¡± Steev said. ¡°I didn''t mean to cause any offence.¡±
¡°This used to be called Hoom of Yant, Steev. The Yant''s noble seat since before the conquest.¡± Lenepoli said. ¡°The only palace here is Yanepoli''s.¡±
¡°Kand and I will borrow a house from the new school, Steev, just like all the other married couples who choose to be based here. Don''t call it a palace, and don''t suggest I should rule. We thanapolis don''t know how to rule in peace and tranquillity. We have been bred to innate bellicosity, and to rule in blood, mayhem and noble pigheaded stubbornness. My ancestresses chose not to rule because ruling means wading in blood, often on a monthly basis.¡±
¡°I am corrected, Keldi. Sorry.¡±
¡°Good. Now can we vote and close the meeting, please, Thuna? My stomach is craving calcium and I don''t want to have to chew Steev''s leg bones to get it.¡±
¡°Oops!¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°Sorry Keldi, I put your cheese down on the wrong table, here it is. There''s some meat too, if you want it.¡±
Keldi didn''t reply immediately, just sank her teeth into the offered slab of meat and chewed, with a look of pleasure on her face. After the meat, the large slab of cheese slowly vanished too.
¡°If no one has any queries about the plan we have in front of us, I suggest we vote before Lenepoli needs to get Keldi some more food,¡± Thuna said.
¡°Just one query,¡± Brm said, ¡°and it''s about scheduling again, I think.¡±
¡°Go ahead, Brm.¡± Thuna said.
¡°We have thirty volunteer-apprentices, I see urm, it looks like ten buildings marked one, we also have lectures to give, which presumably means work stops while apprentice-lectures are happening, and the apprentices need to do their assignments. I might have missed the memo, but how does this all work?¡±
¡°Ah! Sorry, Brm,¡± Magz said, ¡°I guess you missed that announcement. Group projects for all apprentices ¡ª building work or lab-work; essays or step-by-step guides based on discoveries and cultural notes on the village and-or social notes on the teamwork; lectures for apprentices will all happen on Sisterdays, in the city.
¡°So apprentices go home for weekends?¡± Brm asked.
¡°It''s a possibility, not a requirement,¡± Lenepoli said. ¡°Dirak thought it''d be good to give them time to chat to family, and to friends who aren''t coming up, but host families are happy for them to stay, too.¡±
¡°More clarifications? No? OK, is anyone not happy with building this?¡±
¡°Me,¡± Keldi said, just as Thuna was about to declare the decision unanimous. ¡°Just in the sense that I''ve got used to this place being a quite backwater where nothing ever happens, no one''s ever arrested or found smuggling anything or...¡± she started laughing. ¡°Sorry. I was just teasing. It''s going to be wonderful.¡±
¡°But you raise a point, Keldi. Are the villagers happy, Lenepoli?¡±
¡°No, they want to be able to gawp at it being built while they''re in the fields, far too busy to be invited to help. My pupils, on the other hand, are really looking forwards to ''helping'' in the sense of watching or maybe throwing some snow, and using that as an excuse to not do their studies. Can we declare the decision made and the meeting over? I''m about due to hand out some surprise geometry tests.¡±
¡°All in favour of these plans?¡± Thuna asked. ¡°Motion is carried unanimously, and the meeting closed. Thank you for fitting us in, Lenepoli, and letting us invade, Keldi.¡±
¡°Urm, No chance for ''any other business''?¡± Magz asked.
¡°Not unless we reopen the meeting.¡± Thuna said.
¡°Bother. Oh well. Informally, I''ll tell you that Sithini''s smell-seeker has let me find the only other place that straight angar is growing, and that''s on the far island, in what look suspiciously like two cultivated rows. Something to ask our alien friends about, I think. Otherwise, the trees here need guarding and the seedlings ought to be spread.¡±
¡°Thanks, Magz.¡± Thuna said, ¡°Now, let''s let Keldi rest.¡±
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 25: Thunderclaps
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 25: Thunderclaps
Dirak and Lenepoli''s building-site, Hnut, Mid-morning, Earthday 12th Winter
¡°Dirak?¡± Yalb called, looking at the smooth wall in front of him. ¡°Have you forgotten the doors again?¡±
¡°No, Yalb, I just need to do them afterwards,¡± Dirak called back from where he was apparently standing in mid-air, using the rock mover to put mine-tailings into the extruder. ¡°It is much easier to cut holes in this stuff with my staff than to make this thing do complicated shapes.¡±
¡°Oh. Does that mean I shouldn''t have done arches and columns for the high council, then?¡±
¡°No, Yalb. It just means that a family house made with a deadline in mind gets built with practicality in mind and not beauty.¡±
¡°Except for things like the tower, of course.¡±
¡°If making the tower takes too long, I might not build it until spring.¡± Dirak replied. ¡°Tower rooms are not as important as being married before spring brings Lenepoli''s hatchday.¡±
¡°Oh, that''s the deadline? I thought it was the err, um, both moons.¡± Yalb said, deeply embarrassed at where his unthinking sentence had brought him.
¡°Same date, first of Spring.¡±
¡°Ah.¡±
¡°The nice thing about this stuff, of course, is it''s going up quickly. The not-so-nice thing is going to be the plumbing in the middle of winter.¡±
¡°I''m quite surprised your well didn''t freeze last night.¡±
¡°This stuff is quite insulating. That''s why we put the layer on the cellar floor, really, to keep the water from freezing, and what keep warmth we could in the stone, too. It''s going to freeze eventually, of course, unless I can get get the house floor in.¡±
¡°That is confusing me a little. Why are you building the walls in the air?¡±
¡°It''s because every three-side corner is a time-consuming pain. It''s going to be much easier to put a ceiling on the cellar from underneath than to do build these walls sitting on top of it.¡±
¡°I''ll believe you,¡± Yalb said. ¡°So you''re going to do all the walls on all the levels and then put the floors in?¡±
¡°No. I can do the cellar like that because it''s got no internal walls. I really don''t want to have to try to fill in the floor between two walls. You can think of it as a bit like making a box full of dove-tail jointed dividers, that get sunk into a clay base. It''s much easier to put the clay on once all the joints are made, but you really wouldn''t want to put the clay in between two layers.¡±
¡°That makes sense. The walls really sink into the floors?¡±
¡°So I understand. Not by much, but a bit. Well... It gets compression-welded anyway.¡±
¡°Right. You still don''t want any help?¡±
¡°I expect the others will need lots of explanations about what goes where.¡±
¡°Assuming the plans are all accepted. I''m nervous.¡± Yalb admitted.
¡°Oh! But I heard a lot of them going, I assume the meeting''s over.¡±
¡°No one''s said anything to me,¡± Yalb said.
¡°Take it as a good sign. They want to let Keldi move into a nice warm house of her own as soon as possible, so if there had been a problem you''d have heard all about it.¡±
¡°You''re sure?¡±
¡°I don''t think I dare stop feeding this while it''s in mid-air, but I''ll happily check when it''s done, if you like. Or you can interrupt Lenepoli if you want to risk that.¡±
¡°Interrupt a lesson? No way! I heard her telling off a parent who tried that last year.¡±
¡°I think it''s a geometry test, actually.¡±
¡°I''m not going back to school during a test, Sheriff. I might end up having to re-take it.¡±
¡°From the pupil''s point of view, is she a good teacher?¡±
¡°Strict. She doesn''t let you get away with sloppy thinking, or with poor excuses. And if you try a poor excuse, or forget your homework because you were doing something else, then you get extra homework ''because you obviously have too much free time''. But she does accept genuine excuses. I remember, one day, being in an absolute panic because I''d not been able to finish an assignment because Dad had wanted me with him on a trip to Qnut, so I was franticly trying to write it during the mid-morning break. And she said, ''Yalb, I don''t expect you''ve done justice to the homework, since your trip took so long. Let me have it by next week, and get some fresh air.'' She never said ''next week.''¡±
¡°Except when there''s a genuine reason?¡±
¡°Not even then, normally. But it was really good to have the extra time, it let me look at far more stuff than normal and write a much better paper.¡±
Suddenly, a miniature Sithini appeared in front of Dirak, just as he was about to release another scoopful of rock into the extruder''s hopper. ¡°Hey! Careful, sis! You almost got hit by falling rock.¡±
¡°It would have bounced.¡± Sithini said, back at normal size.
¡°I really hate to think what happens if your bubble fell into an extruder.¡±
¡°When I''m in air I do have a force-field around the bubble, Dirak.¡±
¡°I''d assumed so. So what happens if someone tries to swat you?¡±
¡°I presume they discover things about inertia and pressure. The risky bit really is when I come out of bubble.¡±
¡°I imagine so. You make a humongous forcefield from bubble space, then flip yourself into that volume, I presume?¡±
¡°Yes, but I didn''t actually come to talk to you about manifold sizes or balancing air pressure across a forcefield while you''re collapsing the bubble it''s generated from within. I came to ask if I can borrow Yalb.¡±
¡°Erm, sure.¡± Yalb said. ¡°What for?¡±
¡°There''s a couple of slight problems with the plans.¡±
¡°Oh no. What?¡± Yalb asked.
¡°Number one, there''s only one copy, and five people want to read them at once and some of them are justifiably worried that if they let the others hold them they''ll get left in the snow, etc. Number two, plans are flat and the ground isn''t, so there are questions about three dimensional geometry, projected versus actual versus scale distances and all the sort of thing you might expect when you''ve got a bunch of mathematicians used to looking at places from high in the sky but not used to reading an architect''s plan, and wanting to stick pegs in the ground to milistep accuracy so they don''t get things wrong.¡±
¡°It sounds like the council approved them, Yalb. You''re going to be a busy man.¡±
Lanthi''s school, the city, Earthday, 12th Winter
¡°Hi, Aneth,¡± Lanthi greeted her friend as she arrived in the school grounds. ¡°How was your weekend?¡±
¡°About as far from wonderful as you can get without it involving death. At the company dad worked for, the boss was has been arrested, nothing really to do with the company, but it turns out that a lot of the work was for his contacts. Now his name is poison, even his old contacts don''t want anything to do with the company, so there''s no work coming in at all. That was bad enough, but some lawyers came and said ''sorry, not your fault, but everything he signed in his normal way was fraudulent, and is null and void'', so all dad could do was add his name to people who had a claim against him. Everyone got paid their salaries and told they could take their desks home if they liked, dad did, it seemed silly not to. There''s no point turning up today, since the office space was rented under a fraudulent contract, too, and the owners are going to be looking to rent it out to someone else, and so dad''s lost his job.¡±
¡°And there was no one who could step in and take over?¡± Lanthi asked.
¡°Competitors, that was about it. That''s OK for the delivery guys, but dad worked on checking accounts, stuff like that. The competitors will have their own version of him. He''s been with the company since I was born, Lanthi. It''s really hit him hard. Plus the police said they might need to talk to dad, too.¡±
¡°They think he knew about the fraud?¡±
¡°No, but they''re looking for evidence linking the boss to something really bad.¡±
¡°Aneth,¡± Lanthi said, a horrible suspicion dawning, ¡°Does the name Tathig mean anything to you?¡±
¡°How did you know?¡±
¡°A name I''ve overheard in connection with some really bad things mum was helping solve a week ago. Connection not proven, I should add.¡±
¡°Last week? As in when Tandetha was interviewing her and the sheriff of Hnut about the hool? Tathig was involved in that?¡±
¡°Not proven yet,¡± Lanthi said.
¡°I need to talk to the police,¡± Aneth said, deathly pale.
¡°Pardon?¡±
¡°In work experience week, I was shadowing dad, remember? Dad was in away at some kind of meeting on my last day and Tathig popped in and asked me to make an urgent order and deliver the payment. I was so proud to be trusted to do it! I bet the police don''t need to talk to dad, they need to talk to me.¡±
¡°It might not be it, Aneth.¡±
¡°Who better to get to make an illegal payment than the stupid girl who doesn''t know policies or payment laws or anything?¡± Aneth said, on the verge of tears.
¡°OK, well,¡± Lanthi tried to reorder her words into green-friendly sequence. ¡°I''ve had a couple of meetings with a policeman in this district ¡ª about the watch disaster ¡ª who might be involved in the investigation, I don''t know. I''ll happily come along for moral support. Or you can go and talk to someone with your parents, of course. Oh, another option: years ago I sometimes got baby-sat by apprentice-wizard Dirak, I still know him pretty well. And he''s now sheriff Dirak up in Hnut, and is in charge of the investigation.
"Of course, we''d have to find some wizard to get in contact with him, but there are bound to be some around.¡±
¡°Your parents aren''t?¡± Once again, forcing her reply into chronological order, Lanthi said, ¡°Mum''s carrying, the Doctor says she might have three or even more eggs. God-willing she''s laying tomorrow.¡±
¡°You''re putting things in the right order for me, aren''t you? Thank you, it really helps.¡±
¡°I''ve been practising with some apprentices. Oops, teacher''s coming.¡±
¡°I''m not going to be able to concentrate.¡±
¡°I''ll pray for you.¡±
¡°Thanks. But I can''t think northern like this, Can you explain it to the teacher?¡±
¡°Of course!¡± Lanthi said. ¡°Sir, Aneth''s just realised she might be a key witness in a very serious crime, and it''s stressing her so much she can only think in very straight lines. She delivered a payment when she was on work experience for someone who''s publicly under arrest for fraud, and I know to be a suspect in another case.¡±
¡°Well, that''s a new excuse to skip class!¡±
¡°Withholding evidence is a crime, sir. I might not be a witness but an unwitting accomplice. It''s not that want to skip class, sir, but think I have to go to the police.¡±
¡°Your detailed work-experience diary will of course be valuable evidence, and of course that makes me a supporting witness, doesn''t it, if your suspicions are correct, since I marked it. You''re thinking of the payment when the owner didn''t want the receipt?¡±
¡°Yes, sir.¡±
¡°Do you still have it?¡±
¡°Father''s lost his job, so we spent the weekend packing up what we absolutely needed and throwing away what we didn''t expect to be able to sell. I''m sure it would have gone into the rubbish pile, sir, along with other memories.¡±
¡°And the rubbish pile went where?¡±
¡°Mother was going to arrange for a cart to take it to be burned.¡±
¡°Then the first thing to do is protect that important evidence, isn''t it? Lanthi, accompany Aneth to confirm things to her mother and if they don''t need you to help find the receipt, then see if the police will listen to you without Aneth. No, that''s really not a good idea, is it?¡±
¡°Probably not, sir. But I know the head of the investigation. I could get a message to him.¡±
Aneth''s home, Earthday morning
¡°Mother?¡± Aneth shouted, ¡°You haven''t arranged for the cart yet, have you?¡±
¡°Why aren''t you at school, Aneth?¡±
¡°That receipt I got on work experience might be vital evidence. Tathig is a suspect in the hool case, and I might have been his ignorant accomplice.¡±
¡°I was just going to finish the washing before arranging the cart.¡±
¡°Please don''t arrange anything yet,¡± Lanthi said. ¡°We might need a long time to find that receipt in the rubbish pile.¡±
¡°You father never was happy about why Tathig wouldn''t want it, Aneth. He put it in with our year''s receipts, just in case Tathig wanted it back. It shouldn''t be in the rubbish pile.¡±
¡°With respect,¡± Lanthi said, ¡°I''m not sure lots of what''s in the pile ought to be there. I can easily store things for Aneth at the college. But I''m very glad the receipt is safe.¡±
¡°You need to introduce me to your startlingly coloured friend, Aneth.¡±
¡°Lanthi, this is my mother, Onnetha. Mother, this is Lanthithanapoli daughter of Keldithanapoli, and friend of Sithinilakiina, the green-turned-red. I''ve seen Lanthi''s royal talons and witnessed her manage to not give into the royal rage when insulted, and herd her talk of the peace-loving qualities of Yalb of the Yant, which made her reach an understanding with him.¡±
¡°Welcome to what is currently my home, Lanthithanapoli.¡±
¡°Aneth has told me, Onnetha. Are your husband''s hopes of finding work really so poor?¡±
¡°Some work, no. But without employer''s references, with an ex-employer in jail for fraud? We have small hopes that he will ever find employment as chief book-keeper or at his old salary. Mud sticks. And this house is not cheap to repair or heat.¡±
¡°But you''re not renting it?¡± Lanthi asked.
¡°No. There is a small mortgage to still repay, but we have no need for it, and there are unused rooms. It''s too big and keeping it costs money that we no longer have.¡±
¡°You could rent one or two of the rooms, couldn''t you?¡± Lanthi suggested.
¡°The sort of people who want to rent close to Drana...¡± Onnetha grimaced. ¡°I''ve had neighbours who let some people stay and they didn''t wash much and broke things and then couldn''t afford to repair them properly. I''d rather move.¡±
¡°I was thinking you could rent to some journeyman wizardesses, for example,¡± Lanthi said. Seeing Onnetha''s expression change to one of confusion, she added ¡°Would you like me to ask around in the college? I cannot promise anything, because a lot of people are moving to up to Hnut, like my parents. But there are not many nice rooms to rent with respectable owners this close to the college. I''ve heard new journeymen speaking about it often enough.¡±
¡°Lanthi''s parents are wizards, mother; there are some family apartments in the college.¡±
¡°Oh. Well, urm, if there are some urm, quiet bookish types who are just looking for somewhere to sleep...¡±
¡°I''ll ask around,¡± Lanthi promised. ¡°Unless you''d like me to wait until you''ve talked to your husband?¡±
¡°Ask and see if there''s interest, please. The weekend''s packing was hard on us all. I don''t want to raise false hopes.¡±
¡°Mummy, can you find the receipt, so Lanthi can tell sheriff Dirak it''s here?¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
¡°Who''s sheriff Dirak?¡± Onnetha asked.
¡°He''s in charge of the hool investigation, mummy,¡± Aneth said. ¡°I know Tathig sent me to send a lot of money to someone in Qnut. Maybe it''s just a coincidence, but it''s not right to pretend we know nothing.¡±
¡°I''ll get it, dear. But why did he want you to keep it?¡±
¡°He didn''t. He looked at it really strangely when I asked him where I should file it, and he said ''What would I want to file it for? It was a clan thing, not a business expense, throw it away.'' I explained that it would help me prove I didn''t make it up for the diary I had to keep, and asked if I could keep it, he said fine, at least if I took it away then it wouldn''t get confused with company paperwork.¡±
Hnut, Lenepoli and Dirak''s building site
¡°Say that again, Lanthi? Right from the start.¡± Dirak said.
¡°Aneth was working for Tathig, as a work experience thing. He sent her with a big pile of money in her school bag to a certain trader. He said afterwards it was a ''clan thing'' but he''d got the money from the company safe, and there was an order with it on company paper, which confused her. I''ve seen the trader''s receipt; Tathig didn''t want it messed up in the company papers, so first he told her to bin it, then let her take it home as evidence that she wasn''t making it up. Order some complicated number from Tathig Trading, on behalf of ''Tumpf mining, minerals and manufacturing, Qnut'' final payment received.¡±
¡°Magz?¡± Dirak said, it being her who''d let Lanthi call Dirak, ¡°Can you please get to Aneth''s home and protect them and that paper while I organise things? It''ll take me a while to get there, since I still can''t do bubble-maths reliably. Oh, and if there''s anyone not busy with the building project, it''d be good to get Tanepoli there as a witness.¡±
¡°OK. Will do.¡±
¡°Dirak?¡± Lanthi asked ¡°Two questions. Is Aneth in trouble for delivering the money? She''s talking as though she part-expects to be arrested for being an accomplice.¡±
¡°Based on what you''ve told me, she''s entirely innocent, Lanthi. I don''t expect to do more than ask her in the future to report suspicious receipts rather than just keep hold of them. Next question?¡±
¡°I''ve not said anything, but... they are about to sell almost everything and move house because Tathig''s company has fallen apart, and Aneth''s father was chief book-keeper. With Tathig being arrested for fraud, and no chance of a reference, Aneth''s mother thinks her husband will never get a good job again. Is there any kind of reward for Aneth coming forward? She realised she needed to talk to someone in the police.¡±
¡°Reward? Probably not big enough to make much of a difference, sorry. But haven''t Yalb''s family been thinking of finding a book-keeper? Also, Tanepoli might be able to give him a some kind of reference, once her people have finished taking the company apart, so feel free to ask her. Now... Magz, any practical advice? I''ve currently quarter of the way through extruding the ceiling of my cellar stroke floor of the ground floor, with the walls already in place above it. It''s sitting on a forcefield from my staff, which in retrospect was a silly idea. Do I just tell it to pause and leave it, hanging from the crystal in mid-air, maybe all day? Or should I shut it down entirely and face the challenge of restarting later, or try to pile stones under it so it doesn''t fall?¡±
¡°Forget the stones, you''ll never get them accurate enough to be any help. It''s a standard design extruder? With the guidance fields in all directions?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°And the floor is crystal too?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°So why don''t you turn on a straight-down guidance field, in distance-lock mode, and then fine-tune the angle as needed using the laser distance measurer. You might get a bit of a ripple, depending on how fast you are at switching, but you ought to be able to get it self-supporting. Then pause it.¡±
¡°Magz, you''re a genius! Thank you,¡± Dirak said, turned off his transmitter and gave a shout ¡°Yes! Praise God!¡±
¡°Good news?¡± Lenepoli asked from behind him, making him almost jump out of his skin. ¡°Sorry, all the thunderclaps were getting too distracting for my teaching plans. Once the geometry test was over I told the kids they should pick a spot on the hillside and draw something from the day. So I''ll be up there.¡±
¡°I''m off to the city. Tathig didn''t make a fuss about Lanthi''s friend destroying an incriminating receipt when she asked if she could keep it rather than bin it.¡±
¡°How incriminating?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°Final payment to Tumpf mining minerals and manufacturing, which he told her was ''clan business'', and not to be entered in the company accounts, although the money came from the company safe. So, it''s almost certainly going to lead to a conviction for something.¡±
¡°But you hope it''s for the hool.¡±
¡°Yes, his personal bank show a hool-fee sized injection into the company funds, but the company records don''t show it. If this receipt is anywhere near the date of the kidnapping, then we''ve got him.¡±
Aneth''s home, Earthday lunchtime.
¡°Sorry this has taken so long, everyone.¡± Dirak said. ¡°I wanted to ensure that every piece of evidence about Tathig was properly supported and witnessed.¡±
Aneth''s father, Juthen, who''d returned before Dirak had arrived, asked ¡°Am I free to leave and continue my job-hunting, sheriff?¡±
¡°I would prefer you did not, Juthen.¡± Tanepoli said. ¡°Until we''ve spoken. I am informed that the records you have been keeping are excellent.¡±
¡°Thank you,¡± Juthen said.
¡°Therefore, at the very least, I will write you a testimonial indicating that although my uncle has misused the clan name and thus claimed things that are not true, in no way does that fraud indicate a lack of probity in yourself or the records you have been keeping.¡±
¡°Thank you, lady Tanepoli! Oh, thank you!¡± Juthen said, grasping his wife''s hand.
¡°Don''t thank me yet. I don''t actually want to write that sort of letter. Because it implies you''re rejecting an offer I''d like to make. I don''t think everyone here needs to listen to it, however. Perhaps your wife would like to hear it, though.¡±
¡°In that case, Lanthi, can you introduce me to your teacher, assuming he''s still at school? I''ll need to collect some evidence from him, too.¡± Dirak said,
¡°Certainly, sheriff. Maybe I''ll find out what lessons I''ve missed, too. Aneth, I assume you''ll stay here?¡±
¡°Can I come?¡± Aneth asked, picking up her coat, ¡°I need to find out about homework too.¡±
¡°Of course.¡± Dirak agreed.
There was a thud as a piece of wood fell from Aneth''s coat. ¡°Oh! I almost forgot!¡± Picking it up she handed it to Dirak. ¡°On my last day Tathig gave me this paper-weight, saying I might as well have it as a memento, it had been cluttering up his desk for three years.¡±
¡°Hmmm, carefully polished around the edges, anyway,¡± Dirak said, turning over the disk which was a bit like an overgrown bath-plug. ¡°An unusual paperweight.¡±
¡°Oh that? He told me he''d picked it up on the coast, the day before his wife died.¡± Juthen said.
¡°Strange shaped piece of wood with sentimental attachments!¡± Lanthi gasped. ¡°It must be a vital clue!¡±
¡°I took it as a sign that he wanted to get rid of it but didn''t want to just throw it away.¡± Aneth said, primly. ¡°But I thought I ought to mention it.¡±
¡°Thank you, Aneth. And thank you for your hospitality, Onnetha and Juthen¡± Dirak said, putting on his coat and heading for the door. ¡°For what it''s worth, Lanthi, the last I heard your mother was still eating lots and lots of cheese and such like. That was just after we spoke by radio.¡±
¡°That''s good. How''s the house building going?¡±
¡°The cellar and well are dug, the well''s capped, and the cellar lined. I''ve done all the ground floor inside and outside walls, and I''m part way through the cellar ceiling which will be easy. The ground floor ceiling will be very easy. After this it gets harder though. Unless I hear some more helpful hints like I got from Magz this morning.¡±
¡°So will you be finished by the weekend?¡±
¡°Not to move in, I''m pretty certain. Maybe the roof will be on, or most of it. But talking to Yalb made me decide that I''ll do the fiddly inside bits before starting on the tower. It''s not like a couple of steps of snow and ice is going to break the crystal.¡±
¡°Aren''t you making it too thick, then?¡±
¡°Not for heat insulation, no.¡±
¡°Good point.¡±
¡°I thought so, when Sithini pointed it out. I was very glad to throw all my engineering calculations in the bin.¡±
¡°All of them?¡±
¡°Well, not every single one. But when you''ve proven that the thickness of crystal to keep everyone nice and warm on the coldest winter days won''t move unless the wind is faster than the speed of sound, and that a twenty step by twenty step balcony won''t collapse under the weight of the church, that''s probably good enough.¡±
¡°You''re going to have a twenty step by twenty step balcony?¡± Aneth asked, confused.
¡°No, but that''s roughly the maximum dimension of anything. Basically I proved to my satisfaction that if anything breaks it''ll be the rock the house stands on, which is good strong rock. And then I got Sithini to check my calculations weren''t stupidly wrong.¡±
¡°And?¡± Lanthi asked.
¡°She gave me an B-plus, because although I got the right numbers, I didn''t state my units in a couple of places.¡±
¡°Harsh, but units are important,¡± Lanthi said. ¡°Are we walking?¡±
¡°We are right now. Any objection to flight?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°Other than a more crowded than normal airspace?¡± Lanthi asked, looking up.
¡°Is that thunder?¡± Aneth asked.
¡°No, just wizards,¡± Lanthi said, dismissively.
¡°Lenepoli is going to have words with some of the wizards. I know it saves some time and there''s lots of equipment to move, but some of them were arriving so low or carrying so much or something that they were disturbing lessons. She told the students to dress up warm and do some outside art about the start of building work, instead.¡±
¡°No doubt Rangar''s thlunks are disturbed too?¡±
¡°Last I saw, they were all lying down next to the fence, like they do when a big storm is coming. So, grab Intervention and we''ll fly.¡±
¡°Fly? Seriously?¡± Aneth asked.
¡°It''s much faster than walking,¡± Dirak said.
Hnut, Lunchtime
¡°Ranth?¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°Urgent discussion about flight restrictions please.¡±
¡°Flight restrictions?¡± Ranth asked, looking up from his clipboard.
¡°Some of the thunderclaps this morning were practically rattling windows, certainly they were disturbing school lessons. The parents I spoke to are all hoping that it''s going to stop soon, and I''d assume that goes for the whole village. It might be fine in the noisy city, but we''re not used this much noise except from a passing cart, and they only happen occasionally except at harvest time.¡±
¡°Oh, I understand,¡± Ranth said.
¡°So. I''ve told some mothers that all these thunder-claps would be stopping entirely during meal times and afternoon-nap time, which means no thunderclaps at all from half an hour''s time until four. I have also promised people that you''d be coming up with some rules that mean it''s no louder than when Thuna comes to visit on her own. Otherwise I''m sorry to say that my firm expectation is the village will be changing its mind about the school being built, and we''ll go back to it being an extra room on our home. I''m not exaggerating.¡±
¡°It''s the size of the loads, Lenepoli,¡± Ranth said.
¡°Sorry, Ranth.¡± Lenepoli interrupted. ¡°If you''re about to tell me the loads can only be delivered quietly without using bubbles, then you just need to revise your plans to not use bubbles. I''ve spoken to Thuna, and she agrees. Until this morning the village was looking forward to watching the school being built. If this noise continues, I expect angry crowds by evening, and I''m going to be among them. You don''t want to face a crowd of angry Zerkers and deep reds, Ranth. Stop the noise.¡± There was a particularly loud arrival, which Lenepoli felt made her point, ¡°Now.¡±
Ranth picked up his staff. ¡°All flights, all flights, this is Ranth. I''ve just been told the noise levels are entirely unacceptable, and putting the entire project at risk. For the moment assume there''s a total ban on bubble travel except for individuals, and on all entries or exits below a thousand steps. Furthermore, no bubble entries or exits in meal times or afternoon nap times. That''s to say, half an hour from now to half past four. Please pass the word on.¡±
¡°Sithini''s method of soundless bubble travel being an exception,¡± Lenepoli said.
¡°Sithini is always exceptional,¡± Ranth said. He pressed transmit, ¡°And just in case anyone thinks they know how Sithini does it quietly, please check exact parameters with her, get her to agree you''ve done it right and can do the maths every single time, and then follow her complete testing regime before you try it.¡±
¡°Athrel speaking. That took her years, Ranth.¡± Athrel pointed out.
¡°I know.¡± Ranth replied, ¡°I also remember her tweaking the sixth order polynomial with an empirical method, and saying she didn''t believe it near the end points.¡±
¡°I gave up on the polynomials, Ranth, it was too risky.¡± Sithini''s voice replied, ¡°But yes, out-of-atmosphere testing for temperature compensation is an absolute must, well before you get to air-pressure equalisation. Just fly straight, guys. It''s too noisy here in the city too, there''ve been complaints.¡±
¡°What are all the deliveries, anyway?¡± Lenepoli asked, ¡°I thought your schedule said it''d be ten today.¡±
¡°We had some, ah, loading issues, the morning''s first flying cart very-almost broke apart mid-air. It did on landing. We decided to break some of the deliveries into smaller packages.¡±
¡°Ah. OK, so it''s not just people thinking ''drat I forgot my scarf'' and similar?¡±
¡°Mostly not, no,¡± Ranth agreed. ¡°But, urm, the ban on after-lunch travel means I''ll need to eat here, as will a number of others.¡±
¡°It shouldn''t be a problem, Ranth. Thuna''s adjusted the catering plans.¡±
¡°Lenepoli!¡± Yalinth said, running up, panting. ¡°Doctor says please help, now. Yagah.¡±
¡°Yagah? What''s happened about her?¡±
¡°Egg,¡± Yalinth panted. ¡°too soon.¡±
¡°Oh no!¡± Lenepoli exclaimed. ¡°Ranth, can you fly me? First to my parent''s, then to Yagah''s¡±
¡°Certainly.¡±
Hnut, Earthday, evening
¡°Ethepoli, Ruath, have you seen Lenepoli recently?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°Not since she went to help the doctor, no.¡± Ethepoli replied. ¡°She didn''t get much of a message, but it sounded like Yagah was starting to clutch prematurely.¡±
¡°I didn''t even know Yagah was carrying.¡± Dirak said.
¡°I asked her if she was on Restday,¡± Ruath said, ¡°she said it was possible, but she didn''t really believe it.¡±
¡°So, unplanned, unexpected, early, and she hasn''t been eating properly?¡±
¡°I don''t know about that last one.¡± Ethepoli replied, ¡°She said she''d been eating more than normal, but whether it was enough I don''t know.¡±
¡°You''ve been praying. May I join you?¡±
¡°Of course, Dirak.¡± Ruath agreed.
So together they prayed for the precious little life that was at risk and the young couple if things went wrong. Lenepoli came in, just as they said Amen.
She looked exhausted. ¡°Yagah tried to fight the doctor.¡±
¡°Oh no!¡± Ethepoli said. ¡°Bad news?¡±
¡°Yes and no. The doctor''s OK. Shaken up, but physically OK. I had to tie Yagah up until she calmed down. It wasn''t a fertilised egg, the doctor''s sure. It was very small, and not calcified. The shell failed when Yagah was cleaning it.¡±
¡°And that''s when she attacked?¡±
¡°Yes. Dad, they want to talk to you.¡±
¡°Of course.¡±
¡°It can wait a bit, but expect a long talk about self-reliance and asking others for help and the like. If anything Girt is more traumatised than Yagah, now. The doctor had a long frank talk to them about eggs, dancing and hynberries.¡±
¡°They''d been dancing with berries?¡± Ethepoli asked.
¡°They weren''t planning for eggs now, they''d planned to wait for spring. But yes, they sometimes went dancing and then ate hynberries to calm their urges. They didn''t pay attention in school, it seems, or didn''t realise the consequences, anyway.¡±
¡°I take it you''ve not been to the building site since I left?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°No. How long have you been back?¡±
¡°Not long. But Sithini asked if they could practice ''some of Ranth''s clever techniques'' on our house. She promised to cut away anything that was a disaster, and follow the plans, so I said OK. I''m just wondering what state the house is in now.¡±
¡°Shall we go and see?¡± Lenepoli suggested, ¡°I''ve still got my coat on.¡±
¡°Eat something first, love,¡± Dirak said.
¡°I''ll eat on the way.¡± she said, grabbing some bread. ¡°It''ll be getting dark soon. How did your trip to the city go?¡±
¡°Very conclusive evidence. Tanepoli asked that he be tried immediately, and confronted with the evidence in court, he''s admitted everything. He first made the initial contact years ago, hoping to find where Taresha had run off to.¡±
¡°Nasty.¡± Without needing to discuss it, she held Intervention and they lifted off.
¡°Very. But it also gives me some extra leads to follow up on, because he''s named some more names. More time away from building, sorry.¡±
A minute later, looking at the crowd of wizards, apprentices and on-lookers around their new house, Lenepoli said. ¡°Dirak, they''re finishing it! ¡°.
¡°Many hands make light work, I guess. Do you mind?¡±
¡°Not if they''ve done it right.¡±
¡°Yalb and Sithini are there, so they probably have,¡± Dirak said, ¡°Hey, Sithini! I thought this was just practising techniques!¡±
¡°It''s OK, Dirak, we''ll put it all back the way it was when we''ve finished.¡±
¡°Don''t you dare!¡± Lenepoli replied. ¡°And you''ve done the stone layers in the
walls too! Lovely.¡±
¡°It took me a while to work out what you meant there, Dirak, But you''re right, baking them in makes a much better finish than cutting a slot for them and dropping them in.¡±
¡°You don''t mind?¡± Yalb asked. ¡°Just, with the tower room, it''s got more fiddly bits than the other houses, and they wanted to try to work out which approach to fiddly bits worked best.¡±
¡°We don''t mind at all,¡± Lenepoli said, and started a tour of inspection.
¡°What''s this thing that looks like a big fat mechanical fluffy the bathroom, Sithini?¡± Dirak called.
¡°Once you clarified where you''re putting your waste pipes, that is going to connect them to the village sewer system.¡±
¡°I didn''t know we had a village sewer system,¡± Lenepoli said pointedly.
¡°Fake-fluffy there can tunnel at one step a minute through rock and five steps a minute through soil, extruding crystal pipes as it goes. So no, there''s no sewer system yet. And I need to look up pipe diameters and things, because he needs a bigger brother for the main drains.¡±
¡°And the thing with rollers?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°That lets you tell fake-fluffy where to go. But you''ll notice that there''s a new hole over there,¡± She pointed to a round hole a little distance from the house ¡°That''s proof that Fake-Fluffy can make bigger holes, but slowly, and it''s also proof that he''s waterproof, because that''s now connected to your high pressure river and its where we''re going to take water to Keldi''s house. Fake fluffy also had a peek into your river, and you hit it dead-centre with your well. It''s only about a step across, and comparing flow rates it is almost certainly the one that comes out by the ford.¡±
¡°All in the afternoon?¡±
¡°I got some apprentices to measure the flow rates this morning.¡±
¡°And does Fake Fluffy have a tiny brother to cut pipes in walls?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°No, but Dirak knows how do do that, don''t you, Dirak?¡±
¡°I do, yes. What I''m less certain of is connecting them to something more like normal plumbing.¡±
¡°Oh, Dirak! Surely you can guess what I use!¡± Sithini said.
¡°It''s gum, isn''t it?¡± Dirak said.
¡°And moss,¡± Sithini grinned, ¡°Seriously. The moss gets killed by the gum of course, but provides some extra flexibility. That''s how it all started. Grandma''s father used to use it in mending well-linings, before accidentally discovering its other uses. Gum on its own is a bit too rigid, it risked breaking the bricks, but mix it about half and half with moss ¡ª preferably oven-dried ¡ª by volume, and you get a lovely watertight sticky mess for mashing into holes, and which can accommodate some normal flexing. You must have seen me using it?¡±
¡°I guess I thought you were teasing.¡±
¡°Nope. But anyway, we''ve proven that once the site''s clear we can mostly get a house up and weather-tight in a day, which is great news for when snow is more frequent. Do you like it, Lenepoli?¡±
¡°Like it? I love it! I really wasn''t looking forward to it drawing on week after week. When can I move in?¡±
¡°Urm, after the wedding?¡±
¡°No, that''s when Dirak can move in. There''s a new local custom I''ve just thought up that says the bride gets to move into the new house as soon as possible to make sure of the soft furnishings.¡±
¡°Well I''d wait until the heating is in place first, if I was you.¡± Sithini laughed.
¡°Urm, Sithini?¡± Dirak said, realising that being able to see people working on the roof above wasn''t great. ¡°I love the rock around the bathroom and bedrooms and the downstairs toilet, but, urm, when were you planning to put the sheets of rock into the floors?¡±
¡°Urm, was that written in the plans?¡±
¡°Did it need to be?¡±
¡°You could paint it. I assumed you were going to paint it, I guess. And you hadn''t done it in the cellar.¡±
¡°I hadn''t finished the first layer of the floor either.¡±
¡°Ah, true. Well, urm, can we solve it tomorrow?¡±
¡°Of course. I could solve it tomorrow, depending on how the investigation goes.¡±
¡°Am I allowed to know about new developments?¡±
¡°Tathig, disgraced and expelled from clan Tan, has admitted attempted infanticide to the court.¡±
¡°Tanepoli expelled him? I thought that had been decided to be unwise.¡±
¡°She sat through the evidence against him, and when he started talking about clan honour she raised and unfurled the clan battle-standard, which of course meant he shut up. The judge asked what was going on, and she said, urm, hold on. I''ve got it written down, ''In accordance with the ancient words and my undiminished rights as head and poli of the ancient and noble clan Tan, and I expel Tathig for his vile and dishonourable acts, his violations of the law of the land and of the clear policy of the clan ruler. He belongs less to clan Tan than the faeces of a thlunk in the clan''s stables. Any who deny my right to make this pronouncement earn the curse of God who raised me to this position, the vengeance of the royal talons by which the lands were distributed, the feud of the Tan and the retribution of the law which forbids a duel, which is the only way to question my authority on this matter. If dishonourable Tathig repents of his actions, and against all likelihood honours his vows to this court to speak the whole truth and nothing but the truth, I may eventually reconsider some of what I have decreed, and perhaps readmit him to the clan as the lowest sort of penitent. But as Tathig is not of clan Tan, I have no role in this court of law now.'' At which point, still flying the battle-standard, she left, along with some other clan members.¡±
¡°I guess that counts as impressive,¡± Sithini said. ¡°Were there any reporters?¡±
¡°Yes. Taresha wasn''t there, but there were a number from her newspaper. One followed Tanepoli, I guess hoping for an interview.¡±
¡°Does Keldi know?¡± Sithini asked.
¡°Kand said she was resting, but I told him. I don''t think she needs to think about shredding Tathig at the moment.¡±
¡°No. I can''t imagine she''d be staying calm at hearing about unfurled battle standards.¡±
¡°And you''re not feeling too sick at the thought of it all?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°Not too bad. I assume his telling everything was after she left?¡±
¡°Yes. Sorry.¡±
¡°That''s OK. I''ve found one use for your crazy mixed up way of speaking, Dirak. It means I wasn''t dreading as much blood in your account as I might have been otherwise. Why couldn''t she have just said, ''I don''t like criminals in my clan, especially not ones who try to kill my babies, he''s out''?¡±
¡°She had to be careful not to prejudge the case, Sithini. And the stuff about the vile and dishonourable acts could have just been her talking about the false use of the clan name, which he''d already been found guilty of. I guess I should have said he was just insisting that he be called ''Tathig of the Tan'' when she stood up, so it was good timing to make her point, I felt.¡±
¡°Hmm. It worked, but I still don''t like it. I would have expelled him by sticking a note under the door to his prison cell, I think. But I guess someone might use the ''c'' word about that method, which you probably don''t get from unfurling battle-standards.¡±
¡°Probably not,¡± Dirak agreed. ¡°Are you staying up here tonight, or heading back to the college?¡±
¡°I''ll head back, I need to check up on Lanthi.¡±
¡°Oh yes, she said. Feel free to tell her about the court room.¡±
¡°I think I''ll leave that for someone who''s not green.¡±
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 26: Fallout
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 26: Fallout
Editorial: Changing my mind about colours? ¡ª Tandetha
I''ve written before about how dyes help people to avoid being pigeon-holed, suffer from stereotype prejudices and so on.
I''ve written before that the noble lines are no more and the constitution needed updating. I''ve been proven horrendously wrong about those things. Am I wrong about dyes and colours being of no importance too?
Certainly, for some people, dyes just make the world more complicated. Especially when it comes to romance and marriage.
So, there are noble families, and if constitutionally the heir to the empty throne must marry a pure-blooded noble, then at least some nobles have to marry nobles. They''d do well, of course, to try to undo the breeding programme and breed non-belligerence into their lines, as the past few generations of thanapolis have been doing. There are also zerkers, able to leap to the defence of others. Stop thinking duels, they are illegal, instead think life. A zerker a can do a lot of good in the event of a growler attack, for instance, and the village of Hnut is very glad of its zerker sheriff. If everyone mixes up their genetics then we lose zerkers. We also lose yellows, as they only come from the union of a pure-blooded blue with a pure-blooded red or orange female. Is it important to have yellows? Yes, because some yellows have the unusual ability to hear the thoughts of those around them and to communicate with certain blessed ones of the aliens who taught us wizardry.
And what of pure-bread greens? Having done a quick survey of both the watchmaker''s guild and the guild of accountants and bookkeepers, I notice that their most exceptional members are from pure-bred green ancestry. Take wizards, for example. There are born-red wizards, born-green wizards and born-blue wizards. And some of the reds are very red indeed: pure blooded nobles from families who can trace their lines back to the pre-conquest breeding programme that gave the thanapolis talons, and some of the blue wizards and wizardesses know that for them, everyone else seems to get slow and clumsy when there''s an emergency. But they have no doubt who their brightest member is, and her born-green ancestresses have only married born-green guys as far back as anyone has cared to research.
I do not deny that there are some really exceptional examples of growler-headedness and stupidity among the pure-bred as well as the exceptionally gifted, but in the last few weeks I''ve been privately asking people at the top of their professions about their background. About half of these exceptional people are pure-bred, in each birth-colour. Considering that pure-bread people account for less than a tenth of the population in the city now, that''s an astounding percentage. And before anyone says, oh, it''s because of wealth, my second question asked about their parent''s income when the were young. The numbers are quite clear: If you want your children to be at the top of their profession, then moderate wealth (such that their education doesn''t suffer) is a good start, though the very-rich are in fact worse represented than you''d expect from their general population. But if you''re pure-bred red, orange, yellow, blue or green, then as long as you can send your children to school every day, marrying someone of your own birth-colour is far better than marrying for money.
I note something: while the general population in the city seems to head towards being totally colour-blind, teachers complain that their students aren''t as bright as the previous generation. The college of Wizardry observes no such issues, maybe because only the most curious and able apply, but it also seems to have a far greater numbers of pure-blooded members than the general population: seventy percent are pure-bred, or ''almost pure'' ¡ª one grandparent the wrong colour. Why is that? Is it that by rejecting past prejudices we have rejected some science too? Is it that by becoming colour-blind, or over-using dyes, we are slowly becoming grey ¡ª losing valuable traits that God gave us? And did you know, for example, that statistics show couples whose colours ''cross the mountains'' as they used to say, struggle to conceive far more frequently than those who ''stay on their own side''?
I am not an expert on these things, I''m just an orange reporter who''s learning them for the first time.
The northern nobles (including, no doubt, some of my relatives on my father''s side) wished in the past to suppress the accounts of their usurping power over the southern counties. Now, perhaps, we are grown up enough to acknowledge that period of history happened. Are we also grown up enough to value and cherish differences, rather than become universally grey?
Students of linguistics will know that ''Tandetha'' is Old Northern for ''Pain of the Tan''. Well, it''s not my real name, and the real source of past pain for the Tan will shortly be facing the consequences for his actions. While I''m talking about the controversial subject of colour genetics, I''ll point out that Tagelah and Talinth of that forward-thinking clan are very sweet yellow hatchlings. Will they be able to marry in colour, I wonder? The wizards hope so, and Tanepoli has decreed that the clan leadership will only be inherited by a yellow. You may safely assume that Tanepoli, in allowing me to write this, has her own firm views about dyes in connection to her daughters.
Hnut, Motherday, 13th Winter, almost lunchtime
¡°Kand,¡± Keldi called, ¡°Sorry for interrupting your cooking, but at some time when it''s convenient...¡±
¡°You''re hungry?¡± he guessed.
¡°No, I''d like you to take this plate away and tell the good doctor I''ve stopped eating.¡±
¡°Are you excited, beloved?¡± he asked.
¡°I can''t move, Kand. I don''t think excited is the word. But I''m looking forward to having eggs to hug. Go fetch the doctor please, Kand. I don''t think it''s going to be six hours, or even two. And then come and pray. I hate to think what''d happen if my last egg cracks.¡±
¡°I expect talons versus forcefields, my love. The doctor has a personal field now.¡±
¡°Forcefields near my eggs?¡± Keldi was aghast.
¡°Around any of our eggs you entrust me with, beloved. And the doctor''s field is Magz''s version. It''s not going to cut anything.¡±
¡°Yours will.¡±
¡°Beloved, if you are holding eggs and one breaks, who will protect the unbroken ones from your talons?¡±
¡°You cut them off if it happens, Kand.¡± They''d discussed it years before, when the egg that became Lanthi was laid. In the event of Keldi''s talons coming out, Kand should cut them off, no matter the risk to Keldi.
¡°Sithini made a suggestion: metal finger-caps and, of course, gum. Would you like to try it?¡±
¡°Not right now.¡± Keldi said, ¡°call the doctor, Kand, and get back in about thirty seconds, just in case. Then we''ll see if finger-caps might cause trouble or reduce risks.¡±
Quif''s family home, the city, Motherday, lunchtime.
¡°You sent me a note, Quif?¡± Sithini asked.
¡°Yes. For some reason I thought you might want to see you this.¡±
¡°Quif, you can''t have finished your masterpiece so soon!¡± Sithini said, ¡°And if there''s gum involved then I''m going to get cross. It''s busy-time in Hnut.¡±
¡°No gum. This is Kinnet''s first watch after his journeyman piece.¡±
¡°Oh! He passed? That was only last week, wasn''t it?¡±
¡°He passed. I passed on your suggestion of tissue paper and involute gears, and he asked me how I got my holes in the right place. I don''t know why his master never told him otherwise, but he''s been trying to drill his top and bottom plates separately. Not just without any screws joining them, but entirely separately and to judge the hole positions after mounting the gears on their axels. He thought anything else was as bad as using a pantograph.¡±
¡°Poor man!¡± Sithini exclaimed.
¡°Happy man, now. But I expect he will be asking the guild if he can to switch to a new master.¡±
¡°Have the police found who''s putting fake guild stamps on rusty watches?¡±
¡°Knarf was getting them from an intermediary, who it seems got a tip off and has vanished. But there have been some people ejected from the guild for unseemly conduct. Almost certainly one of them has a secret workshop somewhere.¡±
¡°Well, my person-finder still works, and I''m not opposed to providing limited assistance to the police with reasonable conditions. Just not this week. How''s Lanthi''s watch-face painting doing?¡±
¡°She''s got fairly steady hands, and is a quick learner, which is urm, fortunate, mum says. Have you met her friend Aneth?¡±
¡°I''ve heard about her. She''s in your mother''s painting class too?¡±
¡°Yes. Except that she came to the second session with her designs entirely ready, asked about techniques, had no problems following the instructions and didn''t rush ahead of herself like Lanthi tries. So Aneth''s finished hers and is now helping to keep Lanthi calm. I suggest that you consider talking to her as a potential recruit. Lanthi was suggesting wizardry when Aneth said that she much preferred this to her dad''s job. Aneth wasn''t sure, but I know you said that a lot of what you did in wizardry was like careful painting. I''m not saying that a watch-face painter isn''t a possible career choice, but...¡±
¡°I guess it doesn''t pay as well as a master watchmaker?¡±
¡°Not that well at all, no.¡±
¡°OK, I don''t mind recruiting. How''s her maths?¡±
¡°No idea. I''d assume she can remember what to do and how.¡±
¡°Always helpful, that. But so''s recognising the challenge. You didn''t need to count those sixty-one teeth on the bad watch, did you?¡±
¡°Not to spot they were wrong, no.¡±
¡°That''s a useful skill. Anyway, get back to work, Quif.¡±
¡°Sithini?¡± Quif asked, nervously.
¡°Yes?¡±
¡°What''s it like up in Hnut?¡± Quif asked. ¡°I mean, I''m city-born. I''ve never faced a growler, or cut down a tree for firewood, or anything like that.¡±
¡°Or used an out-house?¡± Sithini asked.
¡°It sounds disgusting.¡±
¡°It''s a bit draughty, and if it''s not built properly it can be smelly. But there''s going to be piped water and sewers eventually. What you need to remember is there''s space. Your road here, has what, fifty families living on it?¡±
¡°Fifty houses, but a lot of them are split, up and down, so probably eighty families.¡±
¡°In the village, it''d be five homes, tops. The village school has fifty pupils.¡±
¡°That''s bigger than I thought. There must be more than one teacher per year, I thought there''d only be one.¡±
¡°Not per year, Quif. Fifty in the whole school, two teachers. One pastor, one church, one shop, one sheriff shared between four villages, or maybe five, I can''t remember.¡±
¡°One bank?¡±
¡°No. There are banks in Uttown and Qnut, but not Hnut.¡±
¡°A bar?¡±
¡°What for?¡± Sithini asked, being deliberately provocative.
¡°Pardon?¡±
¡°It''s a God-fearing village, why would anyone encourage raucous behaviour? People might buy something special from the shop for a special occasion, but it''s a small village and a farming community. Some people make beer, and others would bring snacks to an after-church chat, but good neighbours don''t let their friends get drunk.¡±
¡°Wow. And growlers?¡±
¡°Growlers don''t come down to the village, not normally. There are plenty of little fluffies for eating up in the woods. And people warn each other, of course.¡±
¡°It''s going to take a lot of getting used to.¡±
¡°Is this you having second thoughts, Quif?¡± Sithini asked.
¡°No, not really. Just lying awake worrying sort of thoughts.¡±
¡°You could study here in the city. Really, the Hnut school is for people who''d be concerned about city life.¡±
¡°But you''re going to be up in Hnut.¡±
¡°Probably. The intention is mainly to move young researchers up there. But I can travel easily enough, if that''s what''s worrying you.¡±
¡°I''d like to try living there. Is that going to be acceptable?¡±
¡°You''ll have to ask Dirak, but almost certainly from his point of view.¡±
¡°Dirak?¡±
¡°It was universally agreed he''d be the school director, and now the school is about five times bigger than he planned no one''s asking him if it might be too much work, in case he says yes and offers them the position. The bigger question in my mind is if there''ll be space for you here if you can''t fit in there. So, when you''ve finished your masterpiece, you probably need to talk to Lanthi''s dad, Kand, about what he''d recommend. He''s admissions tutor here.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
¡°Everyone says places are limited, should I wait?¡±
¡°Yes, because you need to finish your masterpiece, and once you''ve offciially talked to Kand, then there''s going to be forms to fill in and reading to do and tests to take. The new school will probably have a lot less paperwork to start with.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°A lot of the paperwork is to do with being taken on as an apprentice. Here, people apply to become an apprentice, and then get an ASC after a year as part of that training. There people will be applying to study for a ASC, and when they get it they''ll decide to go to other roles or apply to become an apprentice. By which time, of course, lecturers will know the students and there''s no need for outside references. Speaking of which, I suggest you name me or Dirak, and your pastor as references. Perhaps Keldi, since she saw you dealing with what''s his name.¡±
¡°Your reason for naming three wizards?¡±
¡°Is that it''s much easier for Kand to talk to us, of course. It''s not very fair but an excellent candidate with referees that Kand just can''t get hold of before the decision date just isn''t going to get in. You will be applying later than most, so naming hard-to-contact referees would put you at a disadvantage.¡±
¡°When is the decision date?¡±
¡°Decision date is the tenth of spring, unless that''s Restday or Sisterday, in which case it''s moved a day or two earlier. A list of results is posted first thing the next morning, and new apprentices can move into the college any time from then until the start of term, which the following Earthday.¡±
¡°So if the tenth is Skyday, term starts on the eleventh?¡±
¡°No, It''d start a couple of days later, I expect. But it isn''t Skyday, it''s Fatherday.¡±
¡°I hadn''t worked that out, sorry.¡±
¡°That''s OK, Quif. How is your masterpiece going?¡±
¡°Father agrees my gears are good. And that escapement wheel number seven still isn''t good enough.¡±
¡°Ah. And your plates?¡± Sithini asked.
¡°Are drilled, but not yet polished to the real mirror-finish that I''d like to attain. And of course I need to do the jewels too.¡±
¡°More work to do, in other words.¡±
¡°Yes.¡± Quif agreed. ¡°It''s scary.¡±
¡°Too much to do, or the future''s too uncertain after? I''m looking forward to getting to know you better, Quif, but if you''re having second thoughts, tell me, OK?¡±
¡°I just don''t understand what you see in me,¡± he said. ¡°And I don''t want to accidentally break it.¡±
¡°''It'' being your watch, or my easily explainable desire to cultivate our friendship?¡±
¡°Is it easily explainable?¡±
¡°Yes. I don''t know many green guys, Quif. None of the others are as clever as you, none of the others make watches, none of the others have known me as long as you have, all but one of the others are scared by my brain. You seem able to get over that and treat me like a person.¡±
¡°But you know guys who aren''t green.¡± Quif protested.
¡°And some of them are even friends, yes. But if I marry someone who''s not green, Tathinilakiina, my first daughter, might not be green-turned-red, and that would really upset parliament, Keldi and Lanthi. What do you think of uncertainty?¡±
¡°Uncertainty is scary,¡± Quif said, not sure what lay behind that question.
¡°So if you know any non-relatives whose families have lived in Tatin for generations, it wouldn''t hurt to prompt them about the double moon in spring. Or at least to marry their intelligent caring believing girlfriends. I''m talking about greens, of course. You can also tell them that marrying other colours makes conception hard, too many dried hynberries are bad for your eyes and just a couple will temporarily ruin your colour vision and big clutches come from long dances.¡±
¡°You''re making some jumps, Sithinilakiina.¡±
¡°Step one, we get to know each other better. Step two we decide we know each other well and it''d never work, or decide that with God''s help we''re going to be able to make it work and we want it to. Steps three to eight assumed obvious, no? Betrothal, Engagement and house-building, marriage, dancing, eggs, school, step nine Tathinilakiina will need a nice clever green believing husband too, preferably from Tatin, who''s probably ought to be laid in the next year. Hence the advice about hynberries.¡±
¡°Why Tatin?¡± Quif asked, his brain sticking at that point.
¡°Thousands of years of tradition states Tathinilakiina should look for her nice kind clever believing husband in Tatin, just like I hope her nice kind clever believing father is going to be from Sittin. So, please finish your masterpiece, Quif. We''re both busy right now, but once your masterpiece is finished then I''m going to be claiming a lot of your time in the interests of getting rid of uncertainty.¡±
¡°Can we pray?¡± Quif asked.
¡°Of course.¡± Sithini agreed, turning before she bowed her head so her feathers didn''t accidentally caress his crest. Which, now the hynberries had worn off, she''d noticed was quite a nice colour indeed. She pulled her thoughts back to praying. Please, God? Can I have Quif? And bless Keldi with a safe delivery.
Tanepoli''s family home, Tatin, Motherday 13th Winter
¡°Hello, daughter. What''s this deputation for?¡± Talinth the elder asked. ¡°If you''ve all come to wish me a happy hatch-day, you''re early. It''s next week.¡±
¡°Mother, you gave me life, my name and rule of this clan, and I thank you for those things. You will recognise our clan''s lawyers, I''m sure. This good sheriff is Wizard-at-large, Zerker Dirak. I would like answers. Dirak has come because Tathig has named you as accomplice.¡±
¡°Has he now? And you''ll finally believe me when I say yet again I had nothing to do with the kidnapping, will you? Daughter, you know I didn''t agree with you marrying who you''ve married, and you''re just plain crazy to bring the trouble of winterborns into this world. But I''m not going to challenge my own daughter to a duel, nor do anything that merits you challenging me. You''re the poli, like I told you when you were sixteen, you''re the bastion of our honour.¡±
¡°You asked me to order some ''small statues'', samples of full size ones.¡±
¡°Did I? Oh yes, horrible gaudy things. Like some perverted prince had designed them. I told Tathig he could send them right back. Tasteful he said they were. Tasteful? Girls with nothing but feathers on? Disgusting''s more like it.¡±
¡°So what happened?¡± Tanepoli asked ¡°You sent it right back yourself?¡±
¡°I told Tathig to get rid of the whole lot, crate and all. You can ask at his office, I pushed my way into some idiotic meeting, and told him to get rid of them or I''d shred his crest for bringing the disgusting things into my house.¡±
¡°Thank you, mother. Next question, what convinced you to order them in the first place?¡±
¡°Tathig, of course.¡±
¡°Mother, you normally do the exact opposite of what Tathig asks.¡±
¡°Of course I do. I''m his big sister.¡±
¡°So?¡±
¡°So he said that he wanted to make amends for past mistakes and be helpful. That''s what he said. He said that he''d seen the catalogue years earlier, and spoken to the owner, who was a friend of a friend, and was sure there''d be something in the collection that I''d like. What''s this got to do with this officer being here?¡±
¡°Final question, mother. When did you know that Tathig had sent Tagelah and Talinth to the hool?¡±
¡°Know? I didn''t know. I didn''t know that he''d murdered Taresha, I just suspected. I didn''t know that he''d tried to kill my innocent little granddaughters, or I''d have burned him myself. I was waiting for him to tell me, and looking forward to seeing his face when he realised just how unhappy I was with him.¡± Turning to Dirak she said ¡°I suppose as a Wizard you know how to deal with this safely? I don''t think I need to mash it into Tathig''s crest any more.¡± She pulled out a glass perfume bottle from her pocket. It was in three parts, one contained an oily looking liquid, another other held a dull looking lump, the third a very fluid liquid.
¡°Oh, wait a bit, you''ll want the receipts, too, I''m sure. Tanepoli, they''re in my dresser, in the red envelope.¡±
¡°That''s where you keep your will, isn''t it?¡±
¡°Yes, dear. It seemed appropriate. Don''t play with it inside, young man, you''re putting my granddaughters'' lives at risk.¡±
¡°Strong acid and sodium?¡± Dirak asked, curiously.
¡°And ether, yes.¡± Talinth said. ¡°I was just waiting for his gloating face to confess to treason against the clan.¡±
¡°I expect Sheriff Dirak might have some questions, mother. I think mine are over.¡±
¡°You loaded the bottle yourself?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°I was careful,¡± Talinth said.
¡°These receipts say over a year ago.¡± Dirak said, looking at the papers Tanepoli had given him.
¡°He told me, when Tanepoli got engaged, that ''he knew what steps to take''. I said, yes, we pray they only dance in spring. Then the poor little mites were hatched, and I thought he might he might suggest I ''take steps'' too. I wanted to be ready. But I never knew. If I knew, he''d be dead. Probably me too, of course, but I wanted to be ready to purge that sort of evil from our clan.¡±
¡°Talinth of the Tan, you would have me believe that you considered yourself a protector of the innocent, and not a threat to them. Why then, did you not inform anyone of your suspicions about your brother?¡±
¡°Because there are no thought hearers any more, just like there are no pure-blooded nobles any more, according to some people. Winterborns are a myth, a thing from times past. There was no hool, either, that ancient evil has passed into the stories of past horrors. We''re civilized now. I would have been called an old fool, would I not? And then been rightly accused for attacking an officer of the law for the insult.¡±
¡°And if you''d gone to wizards?¡±
¡°What''s the point? They wouldn''t have done anything.¡±
¡°A certain Wizardess tells apprentices every year to tell her if they hear even a rumour of yellows born in winter. You may risk telling her that she wouldn''t have done anything if you like, but I don''t recommend it, as her name is Keldithanapoli.¡±
¡°I didn''t know Keldi''s interest in winterborns, obviously. And then of course the little ones vanished. And I told all the clan members, including him, that the clan was dead unless Tagelah and Talinth were returned, because I knew Tanepoli wouldn''t be backing down on her clear policy. No matter how crazy it is.¡±
¡°Thank you mother, for your confidence in my stubbornness, if not my wisdom.¡±
¡°You''re noble, daughter. We''re really good at stubborn.¡±
¡°Especially us Tans. Taresha lives, and is a little less non-confrontational than her mother, but just about as stubborn in it as any clan-member. All three of her boys are winterborns. The world has not ended, trouble does not follow her like a lost fluffy.¡±
¡°Ha! Wait until they get to school!¡±
¡°The oldest of them will be trying hard not to cheat during his ISC exams in a few weeks. He''s in the same class as Lanthithanapoli, which is how I met him, his mother and brothers.¡±
¡°Up in the new centre of the world?¡± Talinth asked.
¡°Up in the old centre of the world, mother. Two hour''s walk from the contest grounds that gave us our colour, and our Tan tenacity. In the matter of my policy, will you enter battle with me or against me, mother?¡±
¡°What do you think that bottle was, daughter? It was meant to be a defence of your daughters. I''m so sorry I wasn''t there, or I''d have shredded his crest and slammed it down his throat. I''m a Tan. We don''t commit treason.¡±
¡°Tathig did.¡±
¡°Tathig was a nasty bullying manipulator not worthy of the Tan name, who never fought anyone who wasn''t much weaker than him. He talked big, but he was a schemer terrified of being found out to be a fraud and a coward. That''s why he married Crin, Taresha''s poor mother; she wouldn''t stand up to him and no one else would take him. I told Crin he was a nasty piece of work and it''d be better if she ran away than marry him, but the poor girl was half convinced by his flattery and scared of what would happen if she ran and he caught up with her. Of course he didn''t want winterborns asking questions.¡±
¡°What happened to Crin?¡± Dirak asked.
Tanepoli answered, ¡°About three years ago, they got invited on holiday with some of Crin''s friends, including Endalinth of clan Ened. They were both on the same tour boat that sank. It was about the only time I''ve ever seen Tathig genuinely furious. The boat had left port without it''s... what was it he called them, mother? Some kind of plug?¡±
¡°Bilge-plugs. They''re a kind of drain plug, that I was told never to touch back when I was young. Without them the boat fills with water, anyway.¡±
¡°Was Tathig much of a boat person?¡±
¡°Tathig? No! Never went near the sea at all. I went boating when I was young, but it was one of the things he was afraid of.¡± Talinth said.
¡°So he wasn''t there?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°No. Well, he was on the same holiday, but the party split, some of them went to sea to see the caves below the cliffs, he stayed on dry ground.¡±
¡°But he knew about the bilge plug being missing?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°He claimed to have found one where the boat had been on the beach, after it had left.¡± Tanepoli said. ¡°The other captains agreed that no one sane would leave port without their bilge plugs, and the judge decided it was a fatal oversight by the captain, and a tragic accident.¡±
¡°Especially tragic for clan Ened.¡± Talinth said.
¡°Yes.¡± Dirak agreed ¡°Perhaps you can help me understand something which has been puzzling me. I''m a bookworm and I''ve read plenty of historic novels and one genuine case where a clan was destroyed but for just one female, and she named her next daughter -linth and so the clan was reborn. How is it that Ened is considered a dying clan?¡±
¡°It depends how the last of the name-bearers died.¡± Talinth said. ¡°If it was a formal duel or an accident, then the clan is dead. If it was murder or part of a blood-feud, then the next daughter to the clan is -linth.¡±
¡°Ah. And I assume the Ened clan-lawyers tried to prove the sinking was murder?¡±
¡°Clan Ened retained a single lawyer at the time, who was also a victim,¡± one of the lawyers said. ¡°My cousin, to be precise. I think the clan was too shocked to contest anything.¡±
¡°You stated that Tathig''s anger was out of character?¡± Dirak asked.
¡°He''d lost his wife,¡± Talinth said, ¡°and as far as I know he was genuinely fond of her. But the normal Tathig response would be turn it into profit.¡±
¡°Maybe he did,¡± Tanepoli said, ¡°and we just don''t know how. His business certainly empire certainly grew a bit.¡±
¡°Talinth,¡± Dirak said, ¡°I may have further questions for you, but for now I will not be arresting you.¡±
Sheriff''s office, Hnut, 13th Winter
¡°You''ve been gone a long time.¡± Lenepoli greeted Dirak.
¡°Not arresting Talinth the elder took a long time and led me all over the place. Clan Ened may not be a dead clan after all. Can you come with me to talk to Shashana''s mother?¡±
¡°What, now?¡±
¡°Urm, first update me. News on Keldi?¡±
¡°Exhausted, but happily cradling four full-sized eggs. You''re probably the last to know.¡±
¡°That''s what comes of being down in Enton.¡±
¡°What''s in Enton?¡±
¡°It''s where Endalinth drowned. And Tathig''s wife. Tathig was uncharacteristically angry. Raging about how it was all the captain''s fault. I''ve been talking to the sheriff down there. He agreed that Tathig''s rage had prompted him to close the case too quickly. He didn''t know that one of Tathig''s companies had been the insurer for the boat that sunk. The sheriff''s declaration it was the captain''s error let the company claim they didn''t need to pay to replace the boat, and his widow couldn''t afford the lawyers to challenge that, which meant poverty for her as well as bereavement. But it''s worse than that. The insurance was new, an agreement signed by one of Tathig''s employees only a few weeks before. The previous insurance was a lot more expensive, according to the late-captain''s wife, and would have paid out for quite a lot to passengers, too. Also, the sheriff remembered Tathig''s anger only started a day after the accident.
"The first day, apparently he had previously been talking about planning to bring the insurers to their knees for letting such a dangerous boat on the water. Then he allegedly went for a walk, found the bilge plug that ought to have been in the boat, and decided it was the captain''s fault, not the insurer''s.¡±
¡°You found out all that today?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Tathig had a paperweight on his desk, a piece of gum-soaked wood with a polished rim, to be precise, a bilge plug. Lanthi''s friend got given it. It had a strange feature: it had a ring on the inner side with a string tied to it,
sorry, that''s not strange, it''s fairly normal apparently, to make sure it doesn''t get lost. But in this case someone had cut a notch in the side so the string could pass to the outside of the boat. In other words, the string could be give a sharp tug, say as the boat left the quayside, and the plug would come out. Someone had fixed it for sabotage, and murder, in other words. And Tathig claimed to have ''picked it up on the coast the day before the accident.'' So, maybe he swapped it, or maybe it was the original, but...¡± he shrugged.
¡°Tathig murdered his own wife?¡±
¡°No proof it was him, yet, but he had motive ¡ª the insurance money from the previous insurers. It wouldn''t have been a massive amount for him, but he was also in the middle of an expensive court case against the other insurers at the time, with them claiming that he''d been competing unfairly. The case was dropped after the accident, and the other company backed out of the insurance business. I''ll need to talk to them and find out what prompted that move. I expect it was that if they''d have won, they''d find themselves back as the insurers of the site-seeing boat and maybe paying out for the passengers, and they decided that would be too expensive.¡±
¡°You mean, he murdered his wife to stop the court case?¡±
¡°If they''d still been the insurer, then they''d be paying for a new boat and for each of the twenty victims, they''d have paid each two year''s of your salary. Forty years'' of a teacher''s salary would have hurt them, I''m fairly sure.¡±
¡°Enough that they wouldn''t be able to afford the court case?¡±
¡°Possibly. Like I say, I''d need to investigate more to know more.¡±
¡°Why do you need to investigate more?¡± Lenepoli asked ¡°Can''t you hand your evidence to the sheriff down in Enton? It''s nothing to do with the hool, surely? You don''t need to do everything!¡±
¡°I don''t need to solve everything, no. But, the sheriff down in Enton can''t formally reopen the case without the evidence I''ve gathered so far and a request to reopen it. Tathig was really careful to get all the family members he found to accept it was the captain''s fault, ''for closure'' he claimed. But as a resident of Gorp, Enana is in my patch and I''m assuming that she never signed anything from Tathig. She can therefore request the investigation be reopened.¡±
¡°And if the case is reopened, what does that do?¡±
¡°Apparently, if Endalinth was murdered, the clan can be reborn. I guess I ought to talk to Kand first, and get some advice about whether I tell her that.¡±
¡°Good idea.¡± Lenepoli said. ¡°Tomorrow.¡±
¡°Can we at least find out if Enana signed anything?¡±
¡°No,¡± Lenepoli said, patiently, ¡°you can come and approve what Sithini''s done to the house, because I promised you would, and then you can eat, and then it''ll be time for choir practice, remember?¡±
¡°Oh, it''s that late already?¡±
¡°Yes¡±
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 27: Finishing off
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 27: Finishing off
Enana''s home, Gorp, Fatherday, 14th Winter
¡°Hello, should I be worried?¡± Enana asked, seeing Dirak and Lenepoli on her doorstep so early in the morning.
¡°Maybe. It depends if what Dirak says puts you in an ethical dilemma or not, and how you feel about ethical dilemmas.¡±
¡°Oh, well, you''d better come in then.¡±
¡°We''d rather not,¡± Dirak said, ¡°It might be really short, or it might be just quite short, but I''ve promised faithfully to Lenepoli that I''d get her back to Hnut in time for school. The really quick question is, to your recollection did you ever sign something to do with the sinking of the boat with Endalinth on?¡±
¡°And if I did?¡±
¡°Then that''s the end of the conversation.¡±
¡°Dad sent the form on to me a couple of years ago. But I never signed it, there didn''t seem much benefit, and it wanted me to give my full name and address and everything.¡±
¡°The benefit was all in not signing it,¡± Dirak said. ¡°There is a possibility that it was a deliberate act, and not an accident. If you request that the investigation be reopened, then the accident verdict may be overturned.¡±
¡°Leading to a nasty surprise for the insurers?¡± Enana asked.
¡°The owner of the insurance company is in jail for fraud already,¡± Dirak said, ¡°and his businesses have been wound up. No, this is more about clearing the name of the late-captain, allowing his wife to get some kind of closure, and changing the legal status of all the deaths to murder rather than accident.¡±
¡°There''s something significant beyond that, though?¡±
¡°I understand that if it is declared a murder, it could affect the name of the next daughter born to a descendent of Endepoli.¡±
¡°Me? You''re asking me if clan Ened should live? Surly someone else should do it?¡±
¡°The wife of the captain refused to sign, but as a relative of the person accused of the fatal mistake, she has no right to request the re-opening. Everyone else was convinced to sign away their rights to request a reopening of the investigation by a relative of one victim, who has recently turned out to be the owner of the insurance company.¡±
¡°The one in jail for fraud?¡±
¡°Among other crimes, yes. You may assume he was quite convincing in person. According to the investigating officer, you and Shashana are probably the only people who can, and I''m not sure exactly when the accident was relative to Shashana''s birthday, so she might not have been old enough. So, if you want to think about it, I''ll take Lenepoli away.¡±
¡°No, let the investigation happen.¡± Enana said. ¡°I''ll sign the request in the interests of justice.¡±
¡°Your name, and at least that you''re living in Hnut district, must become a matter of public record.¡±
¡°I''m not as scared as I was. Keldithanapoli was convincing.¡±
¡°If you''re sure, then sign here, please.¡± Dirak said, offering her the form, ¡°and Lenepoli and I will witness it.¡±
¡°Do you think I should wait and think about it?¡±
¡°In the interests of justice no. Not if you''re happy to be known to live here. You can always debate the question of naming hatchlings later on with your sister and Shashana.¡±
¡°It''s up to mum''s middle sister, Endwina, and her daughter, whatever she''s called, surely!¡± Enana said.
¡°Endwina and her whole family were with Endalinth on the boat, sorry if that''s news.¡±
Enana was taken aback, then shook her head, ¡°I did hear, I just... it just seemed to sad, and so irrelevant. But if a major clan like the Tan can choose yellow leadership...¡±
¡°Shashana''s husband hatched yellow?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°Yes. His mother is an orange, though.¡±
¡°Keldi will approve, then. The less bellicosity in the blood-line, the better, according to her,¡± Dirak said. ¡°And yellows do breed true, after all. And of course little Talinth and Tagelah will want husbands in a couple of decades.¡±
¡°Sheriff Dirak, you think my grandsons might marry into clan Tan...¡± she shook her head in wonder. ¡°I''d have called you a raving lunatic two weeks ago.¡±
¡°Keldi has suggested that if any of her eggs turn into daughters then she''s hoping we''ll have some sons for them to choose from,¡± Dirak replied, ¡°So the world is certainly changing.¡±
¡°She''s expecting triplets?¡± Enana asked, on hearing the ''any''.
¡°She laid yesterday,¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°four eggs.¡±
¡°Quads! Well! May God protect them all!¡±
¡°We hope and pray so,¡± Dirak said.
Dirak''s office, Fatherday, 14th Winter
¡°Hello, Keldi!¡± Dirak said, ¡°I assume Kand is in the nest?¡±
¡°He is. It''s quite pleasant to be able to move, I must say. He said something about Ened.¡±
¡°Nothing certain, but there is a possibility that the boat was deliberately sabotaged, and so Endalinth and the others on the boat were murdered. Yesterday I got asked to ask Enana if she''d like the investigation to be reopened, and it now has been.¡±
¡°In which case Ened would not be a dying clan. And you''re carefully not naming who did it.¡±
¡°Would you expect me to do otherwise?¡± Dirak asked back, ¡°There are suspicions, that''s about all, certainly not reason for your talons to be out, Keldi.¡±
¡°Sorry. Murder is almost as bad as the C word, and I''m on edge, I guess.¡±
¡°I''ll tell you that the prime suspect is safely in prison on other charges. In other news you might have missed, Sithini and the journeymen have not only finished the walls and floors of my house, but they''ve gone and built me a crystal telescope just under the roof of my tower, and arranged things so that the roof panels can open to reveal a dome. They claim it was just a prototype for the one they hope to put on the lecture hall. But anyway, your house is half-way done, at least the outside walls, and I now need to do such fun things as installing plumbing and heating, but the house is entirely weather-proof. Lenepoli is considering issues such as soft-furnishings, and Sithini is working on plans for a water and sewer network that won''t freeze or clog.¡±
¡°How long was I out of action? It wasn''t that long, surely?¡±
¡°It''s now Fatherday, we cut the ground on the house on Skyday. The villagers are scratching their heads at how quickly it''s gone, too, and are wondering how long it''ll take to build the whole school.¡±
¡°You''d better spend some time on thinking about how to process admissions too, with that sort of advertising.¡±
¡°First priority among the able goes to those who already have somewhere to stay along with a recommendation from their pastor and teacher. Second priority to those who are applying because a wizard or two think they''re capable and are effectively vouching for them character-wise, and so on. Lanthi, and Quif, for a couple of examples, except of course if you are staying, Lanthi has somewhere to live. Third priority would be people from villages, with a recommendation from their pastor but nowhere to stay, or from their teacher but not their pastor but who do have somewhere to stay.¡±
¡°And you''re planning to be very open about this, I suppose?¡± Keldi asked.
¡°Any reason I shouldn''t be, Keldi?¡±
¡°I don''t know. It''s just going to be some kind of points-based system?¡±
¡°That depends how many apply, I guess. But I don''t want to only accept a single category of candidates, that''d get boring and ruin the community aspect of things.¡±
¡°Another question, if I dare.¡± Keldi asked ¡°Are there limits on how much time you can put into being school director while you''re also sheriff?¡±
¡°Probably. I''m actually a bit more concerned about the demands of parenthood.¡±
¡°Shock, horror, who told you that kids take time?¡±
¡°You did, Keldi, when you told us you hadn''t marked our essays because you''d been too busy helping Lanthi get on with hers.¡±
¡°Hmm. And speaking as an interested mother, when will you be starting to accept applications?¡±
¡°I think I''m willing to accept them now, but I certainly won''t be deciding until there''s some teaching space.¡±
¡°So, I''ll send Lanthi and Yalb to interrupt you on Skyday, shall I?¡±
¡°Ranth might find your lack of confidence in his workers a little insulting, Keldi. I wouldn''t be surprised if Athrel had started moving into a new lab by then.¡±
Quif''s home, Brotherday, 15th Winter
Quif looked around and smiled as he caught a glimpse of microscopic red feathers. Sithini stepped out of her bubble. ¡°Hi, Quif! I''m not here to interrupt you really, but I was passing and thought I''d drop in to chat to Aneth.¡±
¡°Of course! Aneth, this is my very good friend, Wizardess Sithinilakiina.¡±
¡°Your majesty! You want to talk to me?¡± Aneth asked, shocked.
¡°Quif was saying you liked watch painting, and that Lanthi thought you ought to be thinking of a career in wizardry rather than that. Lanthi tells me she thinks you deliberately make mistakes in maths so you don''t get bullied. I''m all in favour of more people joining up who can express themselves in a clear and logical sequence.¡±
¡°I didn''t realise it was a requirement.¡±
¡°It isn''t, sadly. But take Dirak, for instance. He''s brighter than the average blue, but his mind''s all over the place, he runs ahead of himself, jumps steps, and half the time can''t get his maths right the first time. That''s bad enough when you''re building buildings or radios, but critical when you''re manipulating forces that can kill.¡±
¡°He said you''d convinced him he didn''t need to do a lot of calculations.¡±
¡°Good job too. He''d bitten off more maths than he can chew properly and knowing him, there''s a reasonable chance he would have spent half the day trying to make sure he had the right answer. Well, maybe not now he''s grown up, but he would have done a few years ago. Anyway, he can''t help being born blue, and he''s sensible enough to know his limits and that''s why he normally takes an hour or two to get to Hnut whereas I was still there five minutes ago.¡±
¡°He said he did the trip in half an hour, yesterday.¡±
¡°Yes. Do you know how? He went high enough that the mountains look flat, and fast enough that he was practically making the air glow.¡±
¡°I take it you don''t?¡±
¡°No. Dirak''s technique could get him to Ethe in a few hours. I bend space around me and make myself small, so I can avoid boring things like hitting air molecules and worrying about going too fast. So I could get there in a few seconds if I really thought it was that important. And it all boils down to getting the maths right first time. No mistakes. How''s your maths? Don''t compare yourself to Lanthi, compare yourself to right.¡±
¡°I''m slow. But Lanthi''s right about the wrong answers. Dad told me it upsets blues and reds in school if you never let them see you making a mistake.¡±
¡°Slow at working out what they''re asking, or slow at getting a solution.¡±
¡°Urm. Isn''t that the same thing?¡±
¡°Not for Northerners. Want a challenge, Aneth?¡±
¡°What sort of a challenge?¡±
¡°One that starts with some equations on a blank piece of paper and ends up with an number.¡±
¡°OK.¡±
¡°Have you done solving simultaneous equations?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°And inverting matrices?¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Oooh, goody. How much do you weigh?¡±
¡°Forty kilos, roughly.¡±
¡°And less roughly?¡±
¡°Thirty eight point nine, last week.¡±
¡°With clothes on?¡± Sithini looked at her thin arms.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°OK. Well, not OK, you''re underweight as I''m sure your mother''s told you. M is your weight. c is two point nine eight hundred million. Pi-zero is the normal value, pi-prime is the equation for what pi looks like depending how far you get into warped space. This is how much unwarped space you need so your feathers and toes don''t end up in serious trouble, this equation is how much mass it''s sensible to put in a bubble depending on its size, and this is the volume of the bubble, which as you see includes everything including pi-prime in the second order term. That''s the thing to work out. Too complicated?¡±
¡°Urm, what''s i?¡±
¡°Square it and you get minus one.¡±
¡°Ohh. I''ve heard of that but never used it. And I need to put them in a matrix?¡±
¡°There are different approaches. I prefer this arrangement.¡± Sithini wrote the formulae in matrix form. ¡°Enjoy solving it.¡±
Aneth didn''t pick up the pen, but looked at Sithini ¡°This is wizardry?¡±
¡°Part of it. Another part is putting things together, painting things like this.¡± She pulled out a circuit from her pocket. ¡°Another part, a big part, actually, is knowing when not to do stuff.¡±
¡°Like not intervening.¡±
¡°This circuit, if it was turned on, would be a clock, far more accurate than anything Quif could ever make. But Quif''s clocks are beautiful, and perfectly good for anything except wizardry-related things. So, we don''t intervene and destroy the guild, likewise we don''t tell people what to do, that''s the government''s job.¡±
¡°Do I need to show my workings?¡±
¡°My attitude is that paper''s there as an extra-slow memory. Otherwise, workings are like your insides, they only need looking at if they''ve gone wrong.¡±
¡°And what do I do with the ''i''s?¡±
¡°Remember that the world is more complicated than simplistic answers, and then ignore terms with them in once you''ve collected them all together.¡± Sithini said.
¡°Bother,¡± Aneth whispered, ¡°Too much to remember.¡± She wrote the inversion of the matrix down.
¡°You can leave the square-roots unsolved, if you like, Aneth.¡± Sithini said.
¡°But then I''ll not have collected together the ''i''s,¡± Aneth murmured, writing down another line.
¡°Are you watching this, Quif?¡± Sithini asked, as Aneth solved a complex square root for the first time in her life.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
¡°I am, yes.¡±
¡°And now I can ignore this whole lot here?¡± Aneth asked.
¡°Yes,¡± Sithini agreed.
¡°Then it''s four point two five two times pi-zero cubic metres.¡± Aneth said, writing down that number.
¡°It is,¡± Sithini agreed.
¡°Under four minutes,¡± Quif said.
¡°Do you want me to give this to Lanthi''s dad, or do you want to do it in person?¡± Sithini asked, writing a few notes on the paper, including the time it took.
¡°Lanthi''s father?¡±
¡°Admissions tutor.¡±
¡°I can''t read what you''ve written.¡±
¡°I would hope not. It''s in an alien language. Quif, please write something like ''I saw Aneth solve this while talking to Sithini about some other things too, without any other bits of paper.'' and then sign it.¡±
¡°At your command, Wizardess. You had me do the same thing once, didn''t you?¡±
¡°Yes. You spent ages arguing that you couldn''t get a negative number by squaring anything.¡±
¡°But I didn''t solve the square root, and it took me longer.¡±
¡°You were younger at the time, and you''re a male.¡± Sithini said. ¡°It''s a well known problem with males that their crests dig into their brains and keep them thinking about feathers rather than in parallel.¡±
¡°I love you Sithini, and I like your feathers, but I don''t think that''s actually true,¡±
¡°Then get on with witnessing Aneth''s entrance exam. Don''t you get bored in school, Aneth?¡±
¡°More frustrated that they teach it so slowly, and that there''s always so much waffle around the maths. And terrified I''ll offend someone by saying so.¡±
¡°Too late now, but there''s an early-admission stream for people like us. I''m not telling you what to do Aneth, because that would be intervening, but my opinion is that you ought to have applied to the college of wizardry years ago. And I''m going to pray that God leads you to join us.¡±
¡°One of my teachers said about the early admissions thing too. But.... I guess I don''t understand what wizardry is. I thought it was... well, magic.¡±
¡°An alien once said that any sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic to the uneducated. He was wrong, but that''s probably because of his misunderstanding of magic. Magic, real magic, is controlling things about the physical universe by some kind of trade with spiritual forces. Basically it glorifies the magician and demeans the spiritual actor to be some kind of slave. That''s only going to happen if the spiritual actor is playing a subtle game of deception. Don''t go there, it''s really stupid. Fortunately not many people try it. Some people think prayer is like magic, but prayer is asking God what he thinks about a situation and sharing with him what you thoughts are, being quite willing to be changed or his instrument of change. Science is learning enough about the universe so that you can understand it and predict what will happen if you do something, and maybe applying that to make things a bit more pleasant. Of course misunderstanding or misapplying science can cause problems. What we call wizardry is just science so scary that we''ve decided to lock it away so only the people we really trust get to learn it. Dirak knows how to make the circuit to make the bubbles like I use, but he also knows his maths isn''t up to using them regularly. So he doesn''t, which makes him a far better wizard than someone who takes risks.¡±
¡°Can you tell my mum that?¡±
¡°What, about Dirak?¡±
¡°She wasn''t happy about me flying across the city with Lanthi and Dirak the day before yesterday.¡±
¡°Let''s take this paper, and go past the college. Your mother hasn''t told you she''s changed her mind about a journeyman renting has she?¡±
¡°Urm, no.¡±
¡°Then I''m going to bring a journeyman along too. She''s visibly green.¡±
Aneth''s home, Brotherday, 15th Winter
¡°Mummy,¡± Aneth said, ¡°Let me introduce Karel, who''s hoping that you''re still thinking of renting out a room, and her friend and Lanthi''s, Sithini, who introduced me to her. Sithini, Karel, my mother, Onnetha.¡±
¡°Don''t let the colour of my feathers scare you, Onnetha,¡± Sithini added, ¡°I''m pure-blooded green.¡±
¡°Then why...?¡± Onnetha asked.
"My mother, Ranthilakiina, died when I was young, before she''d told me what to expect. They confused me no end by growing red all on their own. Lanthi''s mother filled me in on the history they don''t teach in school. Apparently she knew my mother before I was born, and her mother my grandmother, all the way back to Polithanapoli. But I''m actually here to talk about something else. Aneth tells me you think wizardry is a sort of magic?¡±
¡°And the green-turned-red is planning to convince me it''s not? I suppose I should be honoured. But I''m worried.¡±
¡°Maybe I should start by asking what you mean by magic.¡±
¡°Pride-feeding dangerous meddling in things beyond what is normal, sensible or necessary. Arcane knowledge you keep to yourselves while not lifting a finger to help those in trouble. Like my cousin who died in Reqiq. I don''t want Aneth involved in such soul-destroying occupation.¡±
¡°What was your cousin''s name?¡± Sithini asked.
¡°There were no survivors, thanks to the wizard''s lack of intervention.¡±
¡°But there were people who weren''t at home.¡± Sithini said.
¡°And others visiting, I''m sure. It doesn''t excuse the wizards.¡± Onnetha said.
¡°What was your cousin''s name?¡± Sithini asked again.
¡°What does it matter?¡± Onnetha asked callously.
¡°Maybe I knew your cousin. You certainly remind me of Rinetha when she was in a bad mood.¡±
¡°You knew Rinetha?¡± Onnetha asked, surprised.
¡°She was my teacher. And I don''t know what more you think the wizards could have done. They were as shocked as anyone when they heard the news, and searched the whole valley for survivors. There weren''t even any bodies.¡±
¡°There was that warning, that study...¡±
¡°Yes, the famous warning. ''A study on the landslide-risks of a valley in the Reqiq region'' I''ve read it, have you?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°I don''t expect most reporters have, either. It was written as a student''s first bit of research as a journeyman. It was based on an obvious mistake, and it wasn''t even talking about the valley that gave way, it was written about another one, which is still exactly where it was, even though there was five times more rain than he predicted would be dangerous. With hind-sight someone could have said, ''hmm, maybe he''s got a point even if he can''t spot stupid maths errors,'' and looked at other, similar valleys in the same formation. But the author agreed he''d got his maths wrong, breathed a sigh of relief and got on with other things. He deeply regretted not checking up to see if there were any other valleys that were at risk, but at the time, he was embarrassed by writing a paper that was shaped by a stupid mistake in his maths, and wanted to forget all about it. It wasn''t a policy not to intervene. At most it was a failure of imagination.¡±
¡°But they could have dug the landslide away,¡± Onnetha claimed.
Sithini looked at Onnetha in shocked amazement, and didn''t manage to find any words.
Karel decided she ought to, ¡°Because of what the weather did to the roads, it was at least two days after the disaster when the college heard. Have you been there? Did you see the aftermath immediately afterwards?¡±
¡°No, of course not.¡±
¡°Have you been there since?¡± Karel demanded.
¡°No.¡±
¡°Then please don''t make Sithini weep with your thoughtless, baseless accusations that something could have been done to save the buried.¡±
¡°The waterfall is gone.¡± Sithini said. ¡°That impossibly high waterfall is just a stream now, it''s not even steep. Fifty wizards digging for a year wouldn''t even reach the top of the church spire unless they didn''t care about cutting buildings and bodies alike. Wizardry isn''t magic. We can''t wave a wand and get people air when we don''t know where they are, we can''t cut rubble and mud without cutting people too. If there had been someone there, as it happened, they might have been able to save four people or five. If they''d tried to make a shield over more, then it would have broken and everyone in it would have been crushed. If the risk had been known a week before, then it might been possible to set up a heavily reinforced high power forcefield to divert the landslide so that it didn''t smash Reqiq, but went further down the valley. But there would have been voices saying that intervening like that would risk causing more problems and since the village would be flooded by the lake, long term it made more sense to help people leave, rather than try to change where the mud and rock fell, and who''d want to leave home every time it started raining?¡±
¡°And with more notice?¡± Aneth asked.
¡°A month before, it might have been possible to make holes in the rock so that the waterfall would flow ten times faster. Then the water would be able to drain quickly and the waterfall would no longer flow at a constant amount all year. But it was important to people in Reqiq, the miller, for instance, that the waterfall never stopped. That sort of intervention would not have been popular, not at all. People, normal people, would complain about wizards ruining their lives, their jobs. Change one thing and you risk breaking so much.¡±
¡°Then the warning was bound to be ignored,¡± Onnetha said, ¡°What you said about better research was just a red-herring.¡±
¡°No. With something like a year''s notice, perhaps, more detailed studies could have been done. It should have been possible to provide a safety overflow, that would put limits on how much water was stored, or at least a warning that the water pressure in the rock was too high. And to drive spikes into the rock to stop the forest slipping down the hill. That''s what the student suggested, and the student was right about that bit. He was wrong about his maths, and it would have been wonderful, with hindsight, to think about the possibility of the mechanism he predicted applying to other sites. But there aren''t enough wizards to do everything, let alone investigate every possible cause of disaster. We need more. Especially people who can solve last week''s journeyman maths test as well as Aneth did.¡±
¡°You gave her the bubble-maths test you gave us a last?¡± Karel asked, surprised.
¡°Similar. I didn''t expect her to know the formulae.¡± Sithini said. ¡°And your weights are different.¡±
¡°Just slightly.¡± Karel said, blushing at the comparison. Karel wasn''t thin.
¡°How did she do?¡±
¡°Under four minutes, including solving the complex square-root. In her head.¡±
Karel gave a whistle of appreciation. ¡°Do you often do complex square roots in your head?¡± she asked Aneth.
¡°The thing with the impossible number? No. I''ve heard about it, but never used it.¡±
Karel said, ¡°OK, I resign. Take my place, Athrel.¡±
¡°Don''t be silly, Karel,¡± Sithini chided. ¡°There''s going to be space for Athrel, and you can''t give your place up, you are needed too.¡±
¡°How do you know there''s going to be space for me?¡± Athrel asked.
Karel groaned, ¡°Because you''re a mathematical genius, Athrel. There''s always space for a mathematical genius.¡±
¡°Intervention is being reassessed, Onnetha,¡± Sithini said. ¡°It always is. Sometimes the pendulum swings too far, as it has done in the past years. Now it''s firmly back on centre, and I expect it''s going to swing too far in the other direction, leading to accusations that we''re interfering where we shouldn''t, because the numbers of students is going to more than double, come the new year, with most of the new numbers from God-fearing villages like Hnut, where not helping your neighbour is actually a crime, not just virtually one.¡±
¡°And that is supposed to allay my fears?¡±
¡°I don''t know. What are you actually afraid of? Physical danger to Athrel, spiritual danger? That she''ll over-use what we hope to teach her or under-use it? Your definition of magic seemed a bit of both. And quite a long way from what I would call magic.¡±
¡°So what would you call magic?¡± Onnetha asked, avoiding the question that had been put to her.
¡°The thinking that says ''God has do to it, because I said Amen'', and worse abuses of the spiritually-derived power that elevate self to the place of God and by which the forces of evil might trick an individual into doing their will, such as Elymas the sorcerer in Acts, Talan''kka, and so on.¡±
¡°Talan''kka is a myth.¡± Onnetha said, hoping once more to divert the conversation.
Sithini shrugged, ¡°Not according to the transcript of his trial that Keldithanapoli showed me when she was convincing me about my ancestry. It looked genuine enough to me. The main charge was poisoning that village, of course, but it also mentioned other things most easily taken at face value, at least in my understanding of God''s universe. How''s your prayer life?¡±
¡°Pardon?¡± Onnetha asked, confused at the change of track.
¡°How often do you pray, Onnetha? If you''re in good relationship with God, please ask Him about Aneth''s future. If not then maybe you ought to be. Aneth, I suggest you pray too.¡±
¡°I was praying, this morning, that someone would tell me where I''ll be able to make a real contribution.¡± Aneth admitted. ¡°So I think my prayer''s got its answer, thank you Sithini.¡±
¡°My pleasure,¡± Sithini grinned. ¡°Onnetha, can I leave Karel here? I ought to be getting back to Hnut.¡±
¡°Before you leave, can I ask you how old you are, Green-turned-red?¡±
¡°I''m twenty, like Karel, but I''ve been a full wizardess two years. I''d just started at the college when Reqiq was destroyed. Otherwise I''d be dead with my parents and everyone else I loved there.¡±
Hnut, Dirak and Lenepoli''s new home, early evening, Brotherday 15th Winter
¡°Aha! Found you!¡± Sithini cried, ¡°Kand, I need to give you this piece of evidence.¡±
¡°Oh yes? Do I need to read it?¡± They were outside the house, Sithini had found Kand standing a little way away from a growing number of locals who were chatting about this and that, casting occasional glances at the unusual house.
¡°Just be impressed. That''s the entire paper-working that Lanthi''s friend Aneth did to work out bubble parameters for her without a staff.¡±
¡°Why don''t you tell people to include the staff, Sithini?¡± Kand asked.
¡°Because they''re supposed to be smart enough to work that out from first principles by the time they''re doing it. She took less than four minutes.¡±
¡°OK, yes, I''m impressed. Your friend Quif took ten, didn''t he?¡±
¡°Four years ago he took twelve, after several worked examples, and he didn''t work out the complex square root. I just wrote Aneth the matrix and it was her first use of imaginary numbers.¡±
¡°Hmm. You haven''t tested him since?¡±
¡°It didn''t seem that necessary.¡±
¡°Not really, no. OK, she''s in, subject to references.¡±
¡°Slight issue is her mother is a bit anti. I left it that she''d pray about it, rather than quoting legalities or pulling rank. Better if God convinces her, I think.¡±
¡°I''m serious about you taking over, Sithini. You''re far better at recruiting greens than I am.¡±
¡°And you and Keldi have an unfair advantage with reds. Probably blues too, truth be told. Let''s just leave it as me lending an unofficial hand for the time being, please? What is the crowd gathering for?¡± Sithini asked, seeing Rangar was joining them.
¡°Rumour says Dirak and Lenepoli are almost finished enough to move in. I certainly saw Dirak working on the heating this morning, and notice the curtains going up?¡±
¡°And that''s significant?¡± Sithini asked.
¡°When they reach ''the it''s liveable'' stage, there''s a parade thing that accompanies them to the pastor''s house, and then the wedding date gets set.¡± Rangar offered.
¡°Even if they might not think it''s ready?¡±
¡°To village sentiments, a roof overhead, a front door to close and curtains up in the bedroom means it''s liveable, Sithini. It might not be warm, of course, but I reckon Dirak''s got a way to whistle up a fire fairly quickly.¡±
¡°You''ve got a point there. Do they know we''re slowly freezing out here?¡±
¡°Feel free to interrupt whatever they''re up to.¡± Rangar offered.
¡°I think I will. I want to talk to Dirak about something anyway.¡±
¡°Don''t spend too long setting the world to rights,¡± Kand advised, ¡°Or I''ll need to go and get warmer shoes. Not to mention tell Keldi you''re why nothing''s happened yet.¡±
Sithini grinned and knocked on the door.
¡°Hi, Sithini, come in!¡± Lenepoli greeted her. ¡°Why is everyone standing around out there?¡±
¡°Something to do with the house being weather-tight and Dirak putting curtains up.¡±
¡°Oh no!¡± Lenepoli exclaimed, realising the implication, ¡°That''s just for measuring.¡±
¡°Feel free to explain to everyone they should go home.¡±
¡°No.¡± Lenepoli said, ¡°I can''t do that. Dirak!¡± she called.
¡°Problem?¡± He asked.
¡°We have a warm house with curtains up, Dirak, and people are getting cold outside.¡±
¡°Should we invite them in, then?¡± Dirak asked, his eyes sparkling.
¡°How about we let them accompany us to my parent''s home?¡±
¡°Sounds good to me!¡± Dirak replied. ¡°But you said by radio you wanted to ask me something, sis?¡±
¡°I did. I do. Quif. Should he be applying here or in the city? He''s a bit scared of the plumbing issues, not knowing anyone with a spare bed, and so on.¡±
¡°Is he thinking of becoming an apprentice? If he plans to, then I think the city is the way to go. It''s recently been pointed out to me that a wizardry apprentice living in the city gets government support, but there''s no rule about outside the city at all. That''s to say, here the students will be getting student support while they work on their ASCs, that''s a fixed amount. But someone will need to ask the government to consider what happens to them once they''ve passed.¡±
¡°So the students up here might be only getting their first year funded?¡±
¡°There''s a risk of a gap between ASCs and getting journeyman status, yes, at least while the government are debating things. And it certainly means that we''re not accepting apprentices here this spring. We might be able to reasonably delay the ASC test a bit, claiming things like harvest, but that might not work. An alternative is you know there are quite a few things that get taught to apprentices that are really journeyman material, just to round the year out: we could make those journeyman subjects. So it might not be a whole unfunded year.¡±
¡°It''s a good thing we''re not involved in politics,¡± Sithini said, smiling. ¡°Otherwise I''d need to be very careful about who I talk to when I invite some politicians up to see your new school. Anyway, Kand is freezing, and Keldi might come looking if you don''t move.¡±
¡°I''d recommend you ask Keldi, anyway.¡± Dirak said.
¡°I plan to invite Keldi''s benefactor Bob and my second cousin, since I know them.¡±
¡°They''re in different parties?¡± Lenepoli asked.
¡°Yes,¡± Sithini said. ¡°I''ll let people know you''re coming really soon, shall I?¡±
¡°As long as you don''t plan to put moss above the doorway,¡± Dirak said.
¡°What a thing to suggest!¡± Sithini laughed.
Ruath and Ethepoli''s home, Brotherday, 15th Winter.
¡°What was that about you sulking, Sithini?¡± Ethepoli asked, later that evening.
¡°Dirak cheated,¡± Sithini said. ¡°I''d set up a nice friendly bucket of gum-free moss above their doorway, and they both came out at Zerk-speed, caught it, and then he emptied it on top of me. Complete with the bucket, which wasn''t nice.¡±
¡°No damage to your feathers, though?¡± Ethepoli asked.
¡°Nothing permanent,¡± Sithini said. ¡°Were you surprised about the date they''ve set?¡±
¡°Not really. With teaching demands what they are, Lenepoli has been saying she wanted a Sisterday wedding for a long time. It''s hard enough for them that Ethe is full tonight, but with Lene full in a week, it wouldn''t make sense for the wedding to not be tomorrow.¡±
¡°It''s faster than they expected, I think. I wonder how much Ethe helped them decide.¡±
¡°The moons do that, Sithini.¡±
¡°Oh, I know. I realised today that I''ve not let a single full moon go by in the last half a year without visiting Quif and his watches. And now I''ve got another excuse to visit him.¡±
¡°Do you two have an understanding?¡±
¡°Not formally. Which is a bit frustrating. But a lot of things scare him, I think relationships is one of them.¡±
¡°And you?¡±
¡°Me too, a bit. It''s going to be a challenge. He''s got two years of study to become even be a journeyman wizard, but he''s going to be a master watchmaker. There''s a disparity there. As a master craftsman it makes sense for him to move out of home and set up on his own. As an apprentice?¡± Sithini shook her head. ¡°Lots of confusion there.¡±
¡°And that feeds into feelings?¡± Ethepoli suggested.
¡°Almost certainly.¡±
Quif''s home, 15th Winter
¡°Hello, Sithini!¡± Quif''s mother greeted her, when she knocked on the door.
¡°Come in! Don''t you normally waft in through a window?¡±
¡°Normally it''s the key-hole, actually.¡± Sithini admitted. ¡°But it''s a bit dark to do that. Plus I''m not planning to interrupt, just to say that Dirak and Lenepoli have pretty much finished their house; as Lenepoli is a teacher they want to marry on a Sisterday; and village wisdom says you don''t delay a wedding past a full moon when you''ve got a liveable home ready. Hence, it''s tomorrow or not a Sisterday wedding. You are all invited.¡±
¡°Quif''s out at the moment, but I''ll certainly tell him the message. Urm, how would we get there?¡±
¡°I''ll happily take you. I''m going to suggest a travel time of about an hour and a half each way, because that way you get to see where you''re going. So that would mean leaving about three in the afternoon. And with Lenepoli being the school teacher and pastor''s daughter, the whole village will be contributing food, so I''m under strict instructions to say that you don''t need to worry about food for the evening.¡±
¡°I think I''m going to have to decline, Sithini. The girls will be coming to do more painting.¡±
¡°Lanthi won''t, that''s certain. She''ll be at the wedding too.¡±
¡°Oh. Of course.¡±
¡°And I can very easily ask her to pass on a message to her friends. I can tell Aneth too, I''ve got a letter for her, anyway.¡±
¡°A letter?¡±
¡°Congratulating her on her speed in completing the mathematical challenge I set her and encouraging her to apply to the guild of advanced sciences and alien languages.¡±
¡°I never did understand why those two go together.¡±
¡°Because some of the most dangerous subjects get taught in alien, just in case.¡±
¡°Doesn''t that make them more dangerous?¡± Quif''s mother asked.
¡°I''m sure you heard Dirak and me telling Quif about going to Ethe. The practical sessions for the subjects taught in alien happen on the far side, just in case someone gets something wrong.¡±
¡°Isn''t that a bit extreme?¡±
¡°Actually, it''s a bit close.¡± Sithini corrected. ¡°When the aliens were first experimenting they made sure they were entirely outside their solar system, and going away from it. When I was getting my keyhole-flight right I was on Ethe, too, by the way. Anyway, I''ll come by at about three, and anyone coming should dress for snow on the ground and air as cold as daggers of ice if the wind blows. It hasn''t been recently, but there''s a risk that it might.¡±
¡°Hence your fur hood?¡±
¡°Exactly. It''s not a fashion accessory up there, it''s a precaution. Do you have one?¡±
¡°Actually, I do,¡± she smiled secretively. ¡°and you''ve just convinced me I need to come.¡±
¡°Really?¡± Sithini asked, surprised.
¡°Fond memories benefit from being reignited sometimes.¡± It was clear to Sithini that she didn''t want to say more.
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 28: Certainty
The Sheriff of Hnut / Ch. 28: Certainty
Aneth''s house, early morning, 16th Winter
¡°Great, I caught you before you left for school!¡± Sithini greeted Aneth as she opened the door. ¡°One official letter of congratulations on that test I set you, and an invitation to apply to join the guild of advanced sciences and alien languages. And a note which says ''sorry no watch-face painting this afternoon'', I''ll be taking them up to Qnut this afternoon for Dirak''s wedding.¡±
¡°Oh, OK. I didn''t realise it was so soon.¡±
¡°Nor did he, this time yesterday. But they''ve finished the house enough to move into it, and being a teacher, Sister-day is the best day of the week for Lenepoli to marry.¡±
¡°And being a sheriff, it doesn''t matter much for Dirak?¡±
¡°Some things can''t wait, any day of the week, other things can. But you need to get to school.¡±
¡°I do. Thank you for the letter.¡± Then embarrassed, she added ¡°Your majesty.¡±
¡°I''ve been looking up my constitutional powers. I don''t have many, so you don''t need to call me that.¡±
¡°But you do have some.¡±
¡°I do have some authority over those that name me their queen, yes.¡±
¡°Have I just walked into a trap?¡± Aneth asked.
¡°No. But if someone wants to force you in a direction you don''t like, tell me.¡±
¡°Father said it was up to me to decide my future. I don''t want to upset anyone.¡±
¡°Spoken like a true green. I don''t either. But it is sometimes my role to help people reach decisions, and at other times I might have to say, sorry, the needs of the many weigh more heavily than individual concerns. Mother told me she had to once or twice. I hope I don''t have to.¡±
¡°Have you told Quif that? I think he wants you to decide about your future.¡±
¡°I''ll ask him about that, I guess.¡±
Hnut school of wizardry, 16th Winter
¡°I didn''t tell you, Quif,¡± Sithini said, as they got to the end of the tour and everyone else drifted off in different directions. ¡°Dirak suggests you don''t come here if you''re aiming for apprentice. Although you''re welcome to it you really want to. Apprentices up here don''t get government support at the moment, so without a family network it''ll get a bit tricky after your ASC.¡±
¡°Oh, so that means I stay at home?¡±
¡°Not necessarily. One option is renting, of course. Or there are other options.¡±
¡°Do I dare ask what they are?
¡°Not until you''ve passed your mastership, no. Unless you want some certainty.¡±
¡°What''s wrong with certainty?¡± he asked, confused.
¡°Nothing. I got told not long ago that you were very nervous about asking questions that might lead to it. But I like certainty.¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
¡°Who told you that?¡±
¡°Does it matter? The real question is, is it true?¡±
¡°I guess it is. I''m certainly very nervous about asking you to make promises you might regret when someone better come along.¡±
¡°Someone better would have to be a pure-bred green watchmaker from Sittin. Therefore, the list of candidates is rather small.¡±
¡°And if I decide I don''t want to go beyond an ASC?¡±
¡°Then I''ll not be nearly as worried that you might stop making watches. And if you do decide to come up here then I won''t be worried about you deciding that Aneth is quite pretty and her name isn''t as scary as mine.¡±
¡°Don''t be silly, Sithinilakiina, your name isn''t scary. Do you mean it when you say you worry about me falling for someone else?¡±
¡°Of course I do.¡±
¡°I didn''t know. We agreed not to talk about feelings until I''ve finished my masterpiece.¡±
¡°Silly decision. Can we change our minds?¡±
¡°I like you a lot, Sithini.¡±
¡°What an amazing coincidence, I like you a lot too.¡±
¡°Urm, you said you like certainty. Would you be happier it I said that I hope to spend a lot of time with you when I''ve finished my masterpiece?¡±
¡°If that''s all you want to promise, Quif, then I''ll accept it and treasure it and try to keep warm from its little flame of hope.¡±
¡°I want to promise a lot more, but I don''t think loyal subjects are allowed to make personal requests of their queen.¡±
¡°They''re not? I didn''t know that. Tell you what, how about I order you to not think of me as your queen for a long enough to loosen your tongue? And just when did you decide you were my loyal subject, anyway? I thought you were my friend who glued my feet to the floor in a wonderful joke.¡±
¡°I hope you''ll forgive me, majesty.¡±
¡°Quif, I''m me. Practical jokes are a sign of friendship. Don''t take that away from me. Please don''t try to put me into some cold lonely throne. That is not the sort of certainty I want at all.¡±
¡°I''m too confused about what I can and can''t do without getting in trouble,¡± he said, looking at his feet. The blustery wind was blowing her feathers to tickle his head, sometimes even his crest, which wasn''t helping him think either ¡°And then all this about you not having a free choice...¡±
¡°I have a free choice, and you''re not going to get in trouble unless you do something really stupid like.. Quif?¡± she interrupted herself.
¡°Yes, Sithini?¡±
¡°It''s cold, had you noticed?¡±
¡°Should we go inside and join the others?¡± He asked from his confused and miserable state. He couldn''t ask her to commit herself to him, much as he wanted to. It wasn''t right. ¡°Do you want to?¡± he asked.
¡°No. But I thought crests were supposed to get all floppy in the cold.¡±
Embarrassed, he took half a step away. ¡°Urm, it''s probably something to do with your feathers being blown onto my head. Sorry.¡±
¡°Whatever for? Not being able to control the wind? Come back closer please, it''s cold.¡±
¡°I''m sorry for not keeping the proper respectful distance.¡±
¡°Quif, who or what has convinced you that you need to keep your distance from me?¡±
¡°That book you gave me, ages ago. I''ve been re-reading it¡±
¡°What book?¡±
¡°''Etiquette and manners'', it''s called.¡±
¡°That was to help you respond to reds like Lanthi and the rest of them up here, Quiff. I don''t have talons.¡±
¡°Just tempting feathers that blot out all thoughts but one,¡± he said, trying to make a joke, but embarrassing himself enormously. ¡°Sorry,¡± he stuttered, ¡°I shouldn''t have said that.¡±
¡°Quif, just stop hinting about your thoughts, and share them with me, will you?¡±
¡°They''re not very sane.¡± Quiff said.
¡°Oh good. Mine aren''t either. You share yours and then I''ll share mine and we can have a good laugh about them when we''re older and wiser. So, what is your most insane thought?¡±
¡°Do you insist on me telling you, my queen?¡±
¡°You''re not allowed to suggest cutting my feathers off. Otherwise, yes.¡±
¡°Why would I suggest that? Your feathers are lovely.¡±
¡°Even when the wind makes them tickle you?¡±
¡°Will you marry me, Sithinilakiina?¡±
¡°Of course I will, Quif.¡± After a kiss that turned into a warming hug, with the wind causing more crest-tickling whichever way they stood, they separated, and Sithini asked, ¡°Why do you call that a silly thought?¡±
¡°Today?¡±
Sithini laughed. ¡°Yes, that''s insane all right. How about you finish that masterpiece first? And I''ll finish plumbing the village.¡±
¡°And then?¡±
¡°Then, we need to decide things like where to live.¡±
The End of this part of the story.
There are more stories around other stars.
So far there isn''t one one that talks about the device Sithini made that got her name known in other star systems.