Quest for the King (31 page)

"And rightly so," the prophet said. "Who could better care for them
than the captain responsible for security within and without the palace gates? But you will have a difficult enough task."

"Will the children remain together?" Lady Roelane asked.

"No, your ladyship. The boys will accompany Alleophaz and Gerachti on a hunting and fishing expedition."

"Hm! I do not know how I will manage. It is years since I hunted,
and I never did like fishing!" Gerachti protested.

"That is why Captain Integredad will accompany you. He is skilled
in both. And remember, you are not hunting for sport-but to feed
your supposed families. If you should be questioned, you will say you come from Piggul, a village none like to claim any acquaintance with.
Its inhabitants are reputed never to wash. And, or so the story has it,
they all smell like overripe cheese."

Alleophaz exploded into merry laughter. When he recovered, he
said, "I begin to enjoy this adventure more and more! Does the smell
come with the role, or are we supposed to grow smelly ourselves?"

"You have strange tastes, Lord Alleophaz!" Gerachti muttered grimly. But a moment later he began to smile. "I can see the affair is not
without its humorous side, though," he added.

The prophet continued. "Lord Nasa and Lady Roelane will accompany the two girls and will be taken for peasant farmers. Talk little
to people in the villages, so that their curiosity will not be aroused.
Belak will pose as your man-servant."

"That sounds straightforward enough," Lord Nasa said, "though I
am sorry to miss the hunting party!"

Lisa and Mary exchanged glances across the table. Mary looked
uncertain, knowing Lisa did not approve of her. To Mary's relief, Lisa
returned her mute appeal with a smile and a thumbs-up sign.

"What route do we take? And where will we find hunting equipment?" Captain Integredad asked.

"Everything has been prepared," the prophet answered. "First, the
Koach will conduct Lord Nasa's party as far as the dirt road for Karsch.
Then they will return and will stay with the hunting party for the rest
of your journey. It will take both groups a day and a half to arrive
where the young king is."

"What about the hunting?" Captain Integredad asked. "Will we be
poaching-hunting in the king's forests?"

"No. The forests through which you pass will be the Emperor's
provision for the common people. They are called folk forests."

Captain Integredad nodded. "Good-yet I have heard that certain
lords contest their use, claiming them as their own."

The prophet smiled. "Should you encounter any such, have no fear.
When you address them courteously with the words `We come to the
gift of the forest the Emperor gave to the common people,' something unusual will happen. Even though you utter the words courteously, a
fear will enter their hearts, and they will move away. Remember the
words, for they are words of power."

Wesley began to mutter the words to himself over and over. "We
come to the gift of the forest the Emperor gave to the common people.
We come to the gift..."

After breakfast, the party that was to go through Karsch left with the
Koach. Mounted on donkeys, they waved good-bye to the rest and
descended the hill in single file.

The prophet's great-great-granddaughter retired to the cave, while
the remaining men and boys sat around the table. Alleophaz glanced
around. "I imagine we have little or nothing to do now until the
Koach return." Then, looking at the prophet, he made a statement
which was also a question. "I suppose you have nothing to add to what
you have already told us."

The prophet looked at them one by one before he replied. Finally
he said, "What shall I tell you? The Unchanging Changer has not
revealed to me the nature of the dangers that lie ahead of you. But
it is certain that once you pass beyond the influence of this place,
matters could change dramatically. As for the mysterious lack of rain,
I am myself in the dark about it. Yet I feel it must have something to
do with the coming events."

Nobody spoke, but every eye was on the prophet. Kurt had a question in his mind, but felt it might be a little impertinent. The silence
continued until he could hold his question back no longer. "For
instance, what could happen?"

The prophet smiled. "The stakes are high. You must realize that the
real opposition does not come from human beings, but from diabolical spiritual beings of great power who know what hangs in the
balance. This is why the lack of rainfall puzzles me."

"Hm!" Gerachti murmured. "We saw more than a bit of that in the
palace. The priests were up to something, and we could feel the power
of it. As for the king, he was there in body, but some other being had
taken his personality over. It was gruesome." He shuddered.

Captain Integredad grunted. "There is collusion in the temple with
unearthly powers. I am sure you are aware of it, prophet. My daughter-" The muscles around his jaw began to tighten.

"I know about your daughter," the prophet interrupted. "It was a
vile and heinous evil. How could you do anything else except grieve
terribly, shuddering and cringing at its loathsomeness? But we must
have a care." He drew in a breath slowly. "Whatever happens, and
however odious and mean the evils we face, we must not fight hate
with hate. Hate-personified hate and pride-is the Enemy. Hate will
destroy us if we let it penetrate our beings."

Their time in the strange little world in the woods had seemed
almost a dream. They had been drawn into an environment free from
danger, filled with a majestic all-pervasive peace, soothed with the wild
and beautiful music pouring from the throat of the prophet's kin, and
lulled into long and healing sleep-all but blotting out thoughts of the
palace and the world of Bamah and the temple. But now that sense
of peace and security drained away with their discussion.

Captain Integredad lowered his head, staring at the table. He made
no reply, though his lips made a thin line.

Alleophaz frowned. "That is easy to say, sir prophet, but hard to
practice. How can a man help hating? If my daughter had been murdered by ritual sacrifice-"

The captain looked round at them all. "I know that they-the
priests and sorcerers themselves-are deceived. They are blind fools,
victims deceived by greater powers. I told Lady Mary as much. But
when I think of what they did-how can I do other than hate?" His
eyes burned fiercely. "They tossed her bones on the `sacred' pile that
rises in a ghastly hillock below the temple. I do not even know which
bones belong to my daughter. And so great is their power that I have
to sneak there in the night to mourn over her resting place! How can
I do anything but burn with loathing toward the men who could do
such a thing to her? How could I not blaze inwardly, lusting to kill
them all and put an end to the vile traffic?"

For a moment or two the prophet said nothing. Wesley felt his heart pounding as he stared at the table, feeling both indignation and acute
embarrassment.

When the prophet spoke, his tone was gentle. "I, too, have been
overwhelmed with the waves of hatred, waves that threatened to
drown my soul. Remember that I have lost both children and grandchildren. Had it not been for the Emperor's love to me, I do not know
where I would be now."

"With all respect, sir, however is it possible not to hate?" the captain
asked. "Are you saying that no trace of it remains in you? Or that
waves of hate have ceased to threaten you with drowning? How did
you accomplish such a feat?"

The prophet shook his head. "I cannot say the waves never return.
Occasionally they still arise. You ask me how I accomplished such a
feat? I have accomplished nothing. I could never have conquered
anything so powerful, so uncontrollable. But something happened to
me, something cosmic in power and effect. Waves of love came, not
my love but the love that the Emperor bears for me. They came
sweeping over my horizon like an army. I was caught up in them.
They did not batter me, but cradled me. I rested in them, letting myself
sink into them and below their surface, warmed by their warmth,
cooled by their coolness. I drank them in, grateful they could fill me,
could penetrate to every part of my being. Waves of hate are no match
for waves of the Emperor's love."

"I know what you are talking about," Gerachti breathed softly.

But the captain stared, completely unable to comprehend.

Shiyrah approached the group to stand beside the old man. "Sing
to us, my dear," he said. "Sing of the love you know about. Do the rest
of you not understand the love of the Emperor for us all?"

Softly, without moving, the girl began to sing deep notes. At first
they were scarcely aware of her words, which seemed to differ for
each one of them. At least they heard them differently. Before long
it seemed to them that other voices were joining with her in harmonies that wooed and drew them. Rather than startling them, it seemed
to them the most normal thing in the world that many voices should surround her, taking up the song. Yet the sense of wonder again
brought tremors to their limbs and tears to their eyes. They themselves seemed to be musical instruments, resonating with the notes in
their flesh and bones, becoming part of the music themselves.

Whereas previously the girl had raised her arms, now it was Kurt
and Alleophaz who did so, drawn by a mysterious power, not knowing
why they rose except that it was what they wanted to do. As the singing
continued the melody rose higher, the harmonies sometimes rising
with it, and at other times deepening. Sometimes the volume swelled
almost unbearably, then it would fall almost into silence.

Captain Integredad rested his head on his folded arms on the table.
From time to time he groaned, yet curiously his groaning blended
with the music, like a deep note resonating with the rest. Time had
ceased, or at least ceased to matter. Little by little his groaning gave
place to sighing, and after a while he lifted his face, unashamed and
perhaps unaware of the tears that flowed in an unending stream
down his cheeks. His eyes were closed at first, but by and by they
opened, and a look of wonder and astonishment caused his lips to
part as he gazed above their heads, mouthing silent words. Kurt
thought he was saying something like "waves of love!" Slowly he
began to shake his head from side to side, and finally laid it once
again across his arms. His shoulders shook, his sobs renewed themselves, and he shivered convulsively.

Some hours later the Koach returned, and the second party said
their thanks and bade farewell to their host and hostess.

As the woods received them, Captain Integredad was still weeping.
His shoulders still shook from time to time, driven by his soundless
sobbing, yet most of the time his face bore a smile. At first nobody
spoke, and even the Koach remained silent. Later they began to talk
for the sake of talking, pretending to be unaware of the captain's
strange behavior. In single file they plodded on while the captain
wept. The others maintained their bright chatter, knowing that officers never wept, and so keeping up the pretence of not noticing.

Though he still led the party, Captain Integredad continued his
episodes of weeping throughout the day. He made no communications other than pointing the way, and ate his meals alone, but did
some hunting later in the day. He felled a very young buck, which he
hung from a tree with a rope after Gerachti had helped him to skin
it. They ate their evening meal in a clearing, and darkness fell before
they finished.

That night they spread their blankets beneath the trees and let
sleep take them quickly. Wesley, settled next to Captain Integredad,
woke in the night. He saw the captain sitting, his blanket wrapped
round him, silhouetted against the stars as though he were carved in
stone and staring up at the star-spangled sky. After a while Wesley
turned over and was soon soundly asleep.