I did not make it
to the Palace. Shukrat beat me there and came right back with
instructions to head for the South Gate. The Prahbrindrah Drah was
about to arrive and Suvrin wanted somebody there to greet the man
we had been touting as the city’s legitimate ruler.
Per instructions I rounded up a few men from the City
Battalions, along with a handful of their officers, and off I went,
grumbling all the way. I expected the Prince’s home-coming
would be a huge disappointment for him and his sister.
Taglios did not care.
I told several people to spread the word, to try to get
something going.
That did very little good. The route inward from the gate was
never more than sparsely populated with spectators and the rare
feeble cheer we did hear came from really old people.
I hate to waste pomp and pageantry. Not that we did put much on.
Aridatha got to bring out his marching band, a little late. Never
would have been better. They were terrible. And not just because
what passes for music here is so alien. I have spent half my life
in this end of the world. I asked Singh, “Those guys practice
much?”
“They’ve been too busy being soldiers.”
Aridatha had an attitude I appreciated. Each one of his men was
expected to be a soldier first, and whatever else secondarily.
Singh said, “I do have to tell you, this Prince
doesn’t look very impressive. I hope he’s a better
ruler than he is a showman.”
I was no longer sure bringing the Prince back would be good for
Taglios, myself. There had been big changes in the city and bigger
changes in the man. They might have nothing in common anymore.
I shrugged. “He’s old. If he hasn’t got what
Taglios needs Taglios won’t have to put up with him for
long.”
In the old days the Prince and I had gotten along well. Until he
had turned on us. As an officer in my command he had shown a hunger
for learning and a lust for doing the best thing. So I told him
straightaway, when we met inside the South Gate, that his first
order of business, now that he was back in business, had to be the
establishment of a generally acceptable line of succession.
Otherwise chaos would follow his demise.
“Rajadharma, old buddy. Let’s get the job
done.”
My remarks earned me a tired growl and not much more. The Prince
seemed used up and worn out. His sister showed more spark but had a
lot more years on her because she had not shared the stasis of the
Captivity with her brother. Chances were, nowadays, that she would
go first, despite being the younger.
She could not be titular ruler, anyway. When she did exercise
the power, during all those years, there had been a pretense of a
regency, in place until the legitimate ruler could resume control.
Because the Prahbrindrah Drah was still alive somewhere. Neither
custom nor law allowed a woman to rule in her own right.
Arkana came to meet me with the news. “They’ve
definitely found the Khadidas and the Daughter of Night,
Pop.” She was a willing participant in that charade now and,
more and more, helping herself to a job as my personal assistant.
Now, if I could just teach her written
Taglian . . . I suspect the frequency with
which I crossed the path of Aridatha Singh had something to do with
all that. Singh, I noted, had not failed to recognize what a tasty
morsel my little girl was, either, though Voroshk protective
apparel seldom flattered.
Tobo remained patient enough to wait until I reached the Palace.
Barely. And only out of impatient courtesy, because that was my
real daughter and my former friend in there.
My real daughter. A grown woman, whom I had never seen. Arkana,
known less than a year, was more daughter to me in life. And
Narayan Singh was more a father to Booboo.
Aridatha was there and interested. I wondered why. Then I
recalled that he had seen Booboo a few times before and those women
have a way of getting under your skin without ever trying.
It did not occur to me that he might be thinking more about the
Khadidas.
At first the Prince was put out by everyone’s sudden loss
of interest in him . . . then he got a good
look at what had happened to the Palace.
He moaned aloud, a textbook cry of anguish. He managed some
respectable gnashing of teeth.
Suvrin stepped in. The little pudgeball could be weasel-slick
handling people when he wanted. Which might be the ideal leadership
skill for the times. I turned to Arkana, gave her special
instructions. She flew off to my rooms in the building we had taken
for our headquarters. Once upon a time it had been a Greys
barracks.
Most of the Greys have vanished. We all pretended not to notice
that there are a disproportionate number of Shadar in the City
Battalions, say compared to when we were duking it out with them in
the streets.
Aridatha was sharing his own good fortune. Though there was less
popular inclination toward vengeance than I had expected. And that
little focused entirely on individuals.
The Radisha Drah also let out a disconsolate wail on discovering
the state of the Palace. She and her brother remained still and
silent for minutes. Then she slew the silence with another cry of
pain. I told Suvrin, “I hope they don’t decide that
this is all our fault and they just have to get even.” I did
not think they would be that stupid, after having survived what
they had suffered for having turned on us before, but with royalty
you never know. They think differently than real people. The real
world never quite seems to reach them.
Smoke still trickled out of the ruins, here and there. While we
watched a small avalanche of weakened masonry cascaded down.
The Prince observed, “The stonework must have suffered
more than we thought during the earthquake.”
“Hunh?” That had happened so long ago that I had
forgotten it. “You’re probably right. Plus the
Protector never wasted a copper on maintenance while she was in
charge.” I approached Tobo, who continued to prance about
impatiently. “Where are my treasures?”
As I asked, Arkana swooped down, black cloth popping and
crackling in the wind. She carried One-Eye’s spear and his
ugly old hat. The hat still smelled of the ugly old man who had
worn it.
“Right there where the red flag is.”
Poles with colored streamers indicated points where the Unknown
Shadows had detected something human under the rubble. There were
just two red ribbons. The rest were black. There would be no rush
to dig there. The red streamer not indicated by Tobo was the focus
of frenzied activity.
I asked, “What’s over there?”
“Ten to twelve people trapped in one of the treasury
strong rooms. We’re sending water and soup down through
bamboo pipes. They’ll be all right.”
“Uhm.” I could imagine the nightmares they would
suffer for the rest of their lives. “Just hang onto that
stuff,” I told Arkana. I studied the stone around the base of
the red-streamer pole. “Tobo, are they conscious down
there?”
“I don’t think so.”
“I’d hate to think they’re just waiting to do
something obnoxious when we dig them out.”
He said, “We can just leave them there. Without water
they’ll die.”
“It’s a solution.” But not one that interested
me. Only Booboo would really suffer. “Suvrin, may I?”
When he nodded I beckoned some men who were standing around
awaiting instructions. If the girl was aware I was sure we would
get a dose of “love me” real quick. Which meant only
people in Voroshk clothing should do the final digging.
The Khadidas and Daughter of Night had crawled into a corner of
their hiding place when the collapse came. The walls had held up
just enough. But they had not had time to collect food and
water.
Sadly, my baby did have a lamp and supplies and did make a
valiant attempt to keep right on enscribing the Books of the Dead,
perhaps in hope of lending Kina enough strength to save her. She
could not have had much hope otherwise.
I thought a lot about what Booboo had been through in her near
quarter century. About what had been done to her and what she
believed she was. The loving part of me thought it might be a
priceless mercy if she was saved the cruelty of reawakening.
It never got beyond being a notion. No argument I could present
would ever convince Lady that that was appropriate. She wanted a
little Lady so badly.
I discovered the Radisha beside me. It was amazing how much she
had aged. She even carried a cane. “It’s true, you
know,” she said in a weary voice.
“What’s that?” Though I knew what she was
going to say.
“The coming of the Black Company did mean the end of
Taglios. Just not the way we imagined.”
“All we ever wanted was to pass on through.”
She nodded, keeping her bitterness contained.
“You think we were hard on Taglios? Consider how happy the
Shadowmasters must be.”
“But you haven’t finished with Taglios,” the
Prahbrindrah Drah observed, joining us. “I’ve just
heard what happened to Lady. How is she?”
“Stable.” He was another of those men who had been
infatuated with my wife at one time. “And you’re right.
In a way. As long as people try to push us around people get hurt.
But that shouldn’t last much longer. We’re close to
where we have to go.” I stepped forward, spoke to the men
digging, first in the language of the Children of the Dead, then in
Taglian. “We’re getting close. Hold up till those of us
who are protected can help. Tobo! Girls. They’re almost
through over here.”
Not far off more interior brickwork surrendered to the seduction
of gravity.
I did not make it
to the Palace. Shukrat beat me there and came right back with
instructions to head for the South Gate. The Prahbrindrah Drah was
about to arrive and Suvrin wanted somebody there to greet the man
we had been touting as the city’s legitimate ruler.
Per instructions I rounded up a few men from the City
Battalions, along with a handful of their officers, and off I went,
grumbling all the way. I expected the Prince’s home-coming
would be a huge disappointment for him and his sister.
Taglios did not care.
I told several people to spread the word, to try to get
something going.
That did very little good. The route inward from the gate was
never more than sparsely populated with spectators and the rare
feeble cheer we did hear came from really old people.
I hate to waste pomp and pageantry. Not that we did put much on.
Aridatha got to bring out his marching band, a little late. Never
would have been better. They were terrible. And not just because
what passes for music here is so alien. I have spent half my life
in this end of the world. I asked Singh, “Those guys practice
much?”
“They’ve been too busy being soldiers.”
Aridatha had an attitude I appreciated. Each one of his men was
expected to be a soldier first, and whatever else secondarily.
Singh said, “I do have to tell you, this Prince
doesn’t look very impressive. I hope he’s a better
ruler than he is a showman.”
I was no longer sure bringing the Prince back would be good for
Taglios, myself. There had been big changes in the city and bigger
changes in the man. They might have nothing in common anymore.
I shrugged. “He’s old. If he hasn’t got what
Taglios needs Taglios won’t have to put up with him for
long.”
In the old days the Prince and I had gotten along well. Until he
had turned on us. As an officer in my command he had shown a hunger
for learning and a lust for doing the best thing. So I told him
straightaway, when we met inside the South Gate, that his first
order of business, now that he was back in business, had to be the
establishment of a generally acceptable line of succession.
Otherwise chaos would follow his demise.
“Rajadharma, old buddy. Let’s get the job
done.”
My remarks earned me a tired growl and not much more. The Prince
seemed used up and worn out. His sister showed more spark but had a
lot more years on her because she had not shared the stasis of the
Captivity with her brother. Chances were, nowadays, that she would
go first, despite being the younger.
She could not be titular ruler, anyway. When she did exercise
the power, during all those years, there had been a pretense of a
regency, in place until the legitimate ruler could resume control.
Because the Prahbrindrah Drah was still alive somewhere. Neither
custom nor law allowed a woman to rule in her own right.
Arkana came to meet me with the news. “They’ve
definitely found the Khadidas and the Daughter of Night,
Pop.” She was a willing participant in that charade now and,
more and more, helping herself to a job as my personal assistant.
Now, if I could just teach her written
Taglian . . . I suspect the frequency with
which I crossed the path of Aridatha Singh had something to do with
all that. Singh, I noted, had not failed to recognize what a tasty
morsel my little girl was, either, though Voroshk protective
apparel seldom flattered.
Tobo remained patient enough to wait until I reached the Palace.
Barely. And only out of impatient courtesy, because that was my
real daughter and my former friend in there.
My real daughter. A grown woman, whom I had never seen. Arkana,
known less than a year, was more daughter to me in life. And
Narayan Singh was more a father to Booboo.
Aridatha was there and interested. I wondered why. Then I
recalled that he had seen Booboo a few times before and those women
have a way of getting under your skin without ever trying.
It did not occur to me that he might be thinking more about the
Khadidas.
At first the Prince was put out by everyone’s sudden loss
of interest in him . . . then he got a good
look at what had happened to the Palace.
He moaned aloud, a textbook cry of anguish. He managed some
respectable gnashing of teeth.
Suvrin stepped in. The little pudgeball could be weasel-slick
handling people when he wanted. Which might be the ideal leadership
skill for the times. I turned to Arkana, gave her special
instructions. She flew off to my rooms in the building we had taken
for our headquarters. Once upon a time it had been a Greys
barracks.
Most of the Greys have vanished. We all pretended not to notice
that there are a disproportionate number of Shadar in the City
Battalions, say compared to when we were duking it out with them in
the streets.
Aridatha was sharing his own good fortune. Though there was less
popular inclination toward vengeance than I had expected. And that
little focused entirely on individuals.
The Radisha Drah also let out a disconsolate wail on discovering
the state of the Palace. She and her brother remained still and
silent for minutes. Then she slew the silence with another cry of
pain. I told Suvrin, “I hope they don’t decide that
this is all our fault and they just have to get even.” I did
not think they would be that stupid, after having survived what
they had suffered for having turned on us before, but with royalty
you never know. They think differently than real people. The real
world never quite seems to reach them.
Smoke still trickled out of the ruins, here and there. While we
watched a small avalanche of weakened masonry cascaded down.
The Prince observed, “The stonework must have suffered
more than we thought during the earthquake.”
“Hunh?” That had happened so long ago that I had
forgotten it. “You’re probably right. Plus the
Protector never wasted a copper on maintenance while she was in
charge.” I approached Tobo, who continued to prance about
impatiently. “Where are my treasures?”
As I asked, Arkana swooped down, black cloth popping and
crackling in the wind. She carried One-Eye’s spear and his
ugly old hat. The hat still smelled of the ugly old man who had
worn it.
“Right there where the red flag is.”
Poles with colored streamers indicated points where the Unknown
Shadows had detected something human under the rubble. There were
just two red ribbons. The rest were black. There would be no rush
to dig there. The red streamer not indicated by Tobo was the focus
of frenzied activity.
I asked, “What’s over there?”
“Ten to twelve people trapped in one of the treasury
strong rooms. We’re sending water and soup down through
bamboo pipes. They’ll be all right.”
“Uhm.” I could imagine the nightmares they would
suffer for the rest of their lives. “Just hang onto that
stuff,” I told Arkana. I studied the stone around the base of
the red-streamer pole. “Tobo, are they conscious down
there?”
“I don’t think so.”
“I’d hate to think they’re just waiting to do
something obnoxious when we dig them out.”
He said, “We can just leave them there. Without water
they’ll die.”
“It’s a solution.” But not one that interested
me. Only Booboo would really suffer. “Suvrin, may I?”
When he nodded I beckoned some men who were standing around
awaiting instructions. If the girl was aware I was sure we would
get a dose of “love me” real quick. Which meant only
people in Voroshk clothing should do the final digging.
The Khadidas and Daughter of Night had crawled into a corner of
their hiding place when the collapse came. The walls had held up
just enough. But they had not had time to collect food and
water.
Sadly, my baby did have a lamp and supplies and did make a
valiant attempt to keep right on enscribing the Books of the Dead,
perhaps in hope of lending Kina enough strength to save her. She
could not have had much hope otherwise.
I thought a lot about what Booboo had been through in her near
quarter century. About what had been done to her and what she
believed she was. The loving part of me thought it might be a
priceless mercy if she was saved the cruelty of reawakening.
It never got beyond being a notion. No argument I could present
would ever convince Lady that that was appropriate. She wanted a
little Lady so badly.
I discovered the Radisha beside me. It was amazing how much she
had aged. She even carried a cane. “It’s true, you
know,” she said in a weary voice.
“What’s that?” Though I knew what she was
going to say.
“The coming of the Black Company did mean the end of
Taglios. Just not the way we imagined.”
“All we ever wanted was to pass on through.”
She nodded, keeping her bitterness contained.
“You think we were hard on Taglios? Consider how happy the
Shadowmasters must be.”
“But you haven’t finished with Taglios,” the
Prahbrindrah Drah observed, joining us. “I’ve just
heard what happened to Lady. How is she?”
“Stable.” He was another of those men who had been
infatuated with my wife at one time. “And you’re right.
In a way. As long as people try to push us around people get hurt.
But that shouldn’t last much longer. We’re close to
where we have to go.” I stepped forward, spoke to the men
digging, first in the language of the Children of the Dead, then in
Taglian. “We’re getting close. Hold up till those of us
who are protected can help. Tobo! Girls. They’re almost
through over here.”
Not far off more interior brickwork surrendered to the seduction
of gravity.