Perilous Seas (6 page)

Nevertheless,
Fourth Lionslayer escorted the ladies back to the encampment grounds. It was a
distance of a few hundred paces only, and the worst dangers it offered were
barking curs, but the way wound along between the tiny settlement’s squat
stone cottages, and therefore was not a journey women should make without a man
to guard them. There was also the matter of passwords when the duty lionslayer
challenged-passwords were men’s business. This attitude riled Inos to
frenzy, but Kade rather enjoyed being treated as a fragile halfwit, having
cultivated the role for years at Kinvale.

The
air was cool already, because of the altitude; the desert sky was a fiery
tessellation of stars so low that they seemed to peer over people’s
shoulders. A few clouds sailed in dark majesty on that sparkling sea.

Fourth
delivered his charges to their tent and went off with his arm tight around his
beloved Jarthia, who had already told him about her night’s winnings,
understating them by four-fifths. Inos made no move to enter the tent. She
leaned back against a palm tree and folded her arms and said, “Ha!”
in a gloating manner.

Kade
no longer felt sleepy at all. She felt very apprehensive. And rather foolish.

“Can
I have an explanation now, dear?” she asked, annoyed that she could not
keep her annoyance out of her voice. There was enough wind to muffle quiet
conversation, and the rest of the encampment seemed to be asleep.

“I’ll
try,” Inosolan said grimly. “But it’s not easy to talk
about-is it?”

No,
it wasn’t. But Kadolan had thought it often enough. Sheik Elkarath had
gained Azak’s trust, and Azak normally trusted nobody. Sheik Elkarath had
persuaded Inosolan to embark on the mad flight from Arakkaran into the
desert-and although she was often impulsive, that had been an absurd venture
even for her. And finally, Sheik Elkarath had apparently succeeded in eluding
any pursuit by Rasha. Who but a sorcerer could outwit another?

So
Elkarath must have occult power. Either he had stolen Inosolan away from the
sultana to play the same sort of political game she had been playing, or he was
her minion, her votary, and Rasha had used him to hide the merchandise in the
desert until her bargaining with the wardens could be completed.

Of
course the sheik might be a votary of someone else-one of the wardens,
probably, and most likely Olybino, warlock of the east. But in that case, why
had Inosolan been allowed to continue her journey unmolested? If she had political
value, it was as queen of Krasnegar, not as a pretend wife to a pretend
lionslayer in the middle of a desert. Weeks had gone by while the caravan
traversed the desert.

All
of which was ominously difficult to put into words. “I think I know what
you mean, dear.”

Inos
chuckled. “He must have seen where we were, but thali would seem innocent
enough, and it’s not something you can just walk out on as soon as you
start feeling sleepy. Then he dozed off himself-he’s had a hard day, and
he’s old.”

“I
worked out that much! What I mean is what do you hope to gain? “

“Surely
it is obvious? Every night for months you and I have dropped off to sleep like
chimney pots falling off a roof.”

“Camel
riding is very tiring.”

“Some
days we had not been riding.” Inosolan paused, and for a few moments
there was only the rustle of the palm fronds in the wind, tents flopping
sleepily, and distant dog yowls from the houses. “Remember when Azak
burned you?”

“Of
course. It still isn’t quite healed.” Azak’s hand had touched
Kadolan’s in the night and charred her skin, but she had not wakened. She
had not known of it until morning. She made sure now that his blanket was never
placed so close.

“Well?”
Inosolan demanded. “That was not normal sleep!” For a moment she
glanced up at the dancing palms, her face a pale blur in the starlight. She
drew several deep breaths, as if enjoying an unexpected liberty. Crickets
chirped, and camels bellowed in the paddock. Their bells jangled in a sound as
familiar to Kadolan now as the boom of surf below the castle windows in
Krasnegar.

“Yes,
it’s getting easier to talk,” Inosolan said. “Remember the
door at the top of Inisso’s tower-how hard it was to approach? Aversion,
Doctor Sagorn called it. What are you thinking now?”

Kadolan
glanced around at the darkness. “That I should like to sit down in a
comfortable armchair. “ She was evading the question, of course, but
certainly not telling a lie. She was too old for camels. She could hardly
recall what a not-sore back felt like.

“Hogswill!”
Sounding as if she were forcing the words, Inos said, “Well, I’ll
tell you what I’m thinking. Which is that we have been duped. Elkarath is
in league with Rasha, and always has been. Gods, talking about it still makes
my head hurt! It was just too easy, Aunt! She can spirit people from Krasnegar
to Arakkaran, across the whole width of Pandemia, and we merely hop on camels
and ride off into the desert? She meant us to escape. She set it up!”

Kadolan
sighed. “It’s possible, I suppose. “

“It’s
obvious!”

“What
about the wraith you saw, the ghost?”

“Ah.
Rap is dead. We know that. But I still think that was a sending. From Rasha-or
someone.”

She
meant that Elkarath might have been responsible himself, of course. He had
never met the young faun, but perhaps a sorcerer could conjure up pictures of
the dead from other people’s memories. Who knew what a sorcerer could do?

“It
told you to run away!”

“And
we did the exact opposite-we stayed! We all agreed a wraith of evil could give
only evil counsel. Of course that was what we thought! It was what we were
meant to think, a double bluff. Obvious, really. So why have we never said so?”

Kadolan
sighed again, and shivered. She had wondered such things many, many times, and
never been able to bring herself to put them into words. She had been unable
even to worry about them. She had prayed quite often to the God of Humility,
though.

“Magic!”
Inos snapped out the forbidden word triumphantly. “By day. He makes us
afraid or ashamed to talk about it by day. And at night he puts a sleep spell
on us; you and me. Talking gets easier at night, though-have you noticed? Maybe
he gets tired, or he puts on the spell in the morning and it fades. Now it
seems to be wearing off!”

“Well,
now you’ve given us a chance to talk about it,” Kadolan said. “I
suggest you don’t mention it to Azak.”

“Why
not?” said Azak.

“Oook!”
Kade jumped like a rabbit, clasping her hands to her mouth. Despite his size,
the sultan could move like floating gossamer, and she wondered how long he had
been standing there behind her-dark and big and menacing, with eyes that
glinted in the starlight.

“Why
not tell Azak?” he growled.

She
sought to calm her fluttering heart. Even by daylight, Azak flustered her. “Maybe
... maybe we have been sleeping very soundly, but that hasn’t happened to
you.”

“True.
No other reasons?”

“Er
. . . no.” Just that Azak hated Rasha so much that he might not react
rationally to the news that she had outsmarted him.

“Mmph?”
Azak transferred his attention to Inosolan, who was still leaning against the
tree. “I congratulate you! You outwitted him. I did not think it was
possible. “

“He’s
only a man.”

“You
knew?” Kadolan exclaimed.

“Certainly.
As Inos says, it is obvious-in the night. It is obvious by day also, but so
absurd that I cannot bring myself to discuss it. I have known for months.”

Inos
and Kade said, “Oh! “together.

He
was right-it had been months. Kadolan had lost count of weeks, but two or even
three months ... In the distance, camel bells clanked faintly. The night was
rapidly becoming colder. She wished she had her camel-hair shawl with her, but
she wasn’t going to go and get it and miss whatever madcap talk was
coming next.

The
big man was looking at her. “It was an accident, I assure you.”

“What
was?”

“When
I burned your hand. I had tried to awaken both of you without success, several
times, and given up trying. I had even considered loading you both on camels
like baggage and fleeing away across the desert, but I dared not risk it. I
worried that you might never awaken. The burn was an accident.”

Maybe!
But even if he had not been testing to see if he could waken her, he might have
been testing to see if Rasha’s curse still prevented him from touching a
woman.

Azak
stepped closer to Inosolan, who did not move.

“You
have outwitted him. What do you propose, my dove?” Kade’s heart had
quieted down somewhat; now ‘it lurched nervously. Behind her, the tent
flapped in the wind and the ropes hummed.

“We
tried to leave once,” Inos said bitterly. “And failed. Let’s
leave now! “

Kadolan’s
knees bent with very little direction from her, and she sat down on the rug
rather heavily, not thinking of scorpions until she had done so. Oh, for a
comfortable armchair!

“Here?”
Azak exclaimed, from somewhere high above, near the stars.

“Yes,
here! Don’t you see?” Inosolan spoke quickly, as if trying to
convince herself as much as him, or perhaps not giving herself time to change
her mind. “That’s why he ... why we aren’t so sleepy tonight!
He didn’t bother! He decided we wouldn’t dare try to run away from
him here in the Gauntlet!” It would certainly be an insane act, her aunt
decided.

Azak’s
voice came deeper and slower. “There is another possibility. Sorcerers
can detect power being used. The sheik showed us his ring-he might have
invented that story, I suppose--but he did tell us that it had revealed
sorcerers at work in Ullacarn. Mages, I think he said. It is more logical that
there would be full sorcerers there, an Imperial outpost. May it not be that
... that a sorcerer ... would prefer not to use his abilities so close to
Ullacarn? You are right, you know. This is easier to talk about. “

Kadolan
resisted a temptation to quote an impish proverb about fine words salting no
cutlets. As long as they only talked! But Azak was infatuated. Inos’s
slightest wish was a royal edict to him.

“Then
that’s another reason!” Inos agreed excitedly. “That means we
have a much better chance of getting away! And what can he do when he wakes up
and finds us gone? If he comes after us himself, he leaves everyone else at the
mercy of the brigands! “

Most
of the traders and drivers were the sheik’s relatives. “He might
send the lionslayers,” Azak growled. “A trail that fresh would be
no trouble to a lionslayer.”

Inosolan
said, “Oh!” in a disappointed voice. “Then it is hopeless?”
A challenge from her would spur him to any madness, and she was woman enough to
know that. Vixen!

He
chuckled. “No.”

“Ah!
You can deal with them?”

“Gold
and promises. If they head off along the Ullacarn road, and we go north-”

“North?”
Even Inosolan sounded shocked. He could not be serious!

But
he was. “Northwest. Did you not notice the ruins we passed this
afternoon? A large city, very old. Cities near mountains usually mean passes.
Once there must have been a pass. The roadway may be gone, but the pass itself
must still exist. “

“And
the bandits?”

“If
they are anywhere, they will be waiting on the Ullacarn road.”

“I
suppose. North? Dare we?”

“I
dare. Do you?”

Challenge
worked both ways, evidently. Even before her niece’s agreement, Kadolan
knew it was coming. She heaved herself to her feet, ignoring her complaining
old joints as she mustered her arguments. All her instincts were against this
folly.

“Inos!”
she said. “Your Majesty! Even if we are right, and his Greatness is a ...
has been deceiving us ... at least we have his protection at the moment. This
is notorious bandit country, Sire; you told us so yourself, and--”

“They
will certainly not be looking for victims heading in that direction.”
Azak’s voice was a deep certainty in the darkness. Then he added
thoughtfully, “I wonder how many of the legends are spread around for
just that purpose-to keep the caravans from seeking ways around the
Slaughterhouse?”

Kade
tried another tack. “But travelers in Thume vanish and are never seen
again!”

“Not
necessarily. I have heard minstrels talk of it. Third Lionslayer’s father
crossed Thume, so he says.”

“But
what good will it do? Surely the fastest way to Hub-”

“The
fastest way to Hub is a ship from Ullacarn,” Inos agreed, sounding
excited. Her logic was often shaky; it became notably precarious when she was
excited. “But if we are still in Rasha’s clutches, then she will
make sure we never get near a ship in Ullacarn. She will certainly never let us
appeal to the Four, Aunt. She has been meddling in politics-abducting me from
my kingdom, interfering in Azak’s rule in Arakkaran. The wardens will
squash her, and she knows it! We can travel to Hub through Thume, can’t
we?”

“If
we are not molested,” Azak agreed. “A month’s ride, perhaps,
to Qoble. We can be there before winter closes the passes. “

Another
month on a camel! Or was he thinking of horses? Kadolan wanted an armchair, a
stationary, down-filled armchair. And there was no guarantee that the wardens
would be of any assistance, anyway. This was all just a dream of idealistic
youth. These two youngsters could not believe that the world could be a place
of injustice, which it certainly was, much of the time. The Four might well
spurn their pleas without a thought, or decree some solution even worse than
the present situation, murky though that seemed.

“A
month?” Kadolan protested, knowing that all her protests were vain, but
determined to try. “By then Nordland and the Impire will have come to some
agreement about Krasnegar, and-with all due respect, Sire-the emerald sash of
Arakkaran may well be gracing some other ruler. The wardens will dismiss your
petitions as historical curiosities!”