The Honorable Barbarian (12 page)

"Good-day to you," said the priest, and rattled off a string of unintelligible syllables. Seeing Kerin's blank look, he changed to Salimorese, saying: "Are you my cabin mate?"

"Aye. You are, I understand, a missionary?"

"Aye, young sir. And whence come you? Your aspect is of one of those Western barbarians of whom I have heard."

"From Kortoli, in the Twelve Cities of Novaria. And you? . . ."

Kerin and the Reverend Tsemben cautiously felt each other out. Kerin said: "Are you happy to return to your homeland?"

The priest sighed. "Alas, nay! It means that this wretched worm has failed."

"How, failed?"

"This inferior one came to enlighten these barbarians in the true religion, but I made no converts. They stubbornly adhere to their heathenish little gods, Bautong and Luar and the false deities of Mulvan. Mere demons, betimes useful if captured and coerced into worthy labor, but otherwise useless or hostile.

"So, when my superiors learned that the worship of the Queen of Heaven was getting nowhere, they ordered me home. Had I been a man of honor, I should have cut mine own throat; but I lacked the courage even for that. Forsooth, this person is the lowest of the low."

Kerin saw a tear, highlighted by the lantern beams, trickle down the wrinkled yellow cheek. He felt silly consoling a man at least twice his age, but he said: "Come, Reverend Sir! If you have done the best you could, nobody can expect more. Would it comfort you to do me a service on the way to Koteiki? I can pay a modest fee."

"What would that be, young man?"

"I need lessons in the Kuromonian language, starting forthwith. I have never gotten beyond a few simple sentences, such as 'Good-morning,' and 'How much does this cost?' and 'Where is the latrine?' " They agreed on a figure, and Kerin departed to pay his fare.

Returning to the
Benduan
, Kerin sought out the proprietor of the grogshop where he had been taking his meals. He explained: "Master Natar, I need a good wizard or soothsayer. Can you recommend one?"

"As to that, since the Balimpawang Pwana returned, none in Kwatna rivals him."

Kerin winced. "Pwana back?"

"Aye; he came in a fortnight past and resumed the rule of his old Temple of Bautong as if he had never been exiled."

"I thought he was at outs with the Sophis."

"With the late Sophi, aye; but the new one, Vurkai—may whose virility never flag—was also at outs with his brother. Hence he welcomed Doctor Pwana's return."

Kerin frowned. "I know of Doctor Pwana; but I fear his charges are out of reach. Canst recommend one of less—ah—exalted repute?"

"Let me think," said Natar, stamping on a foot-long centipede that rippled across his dirt floor. "I know of Pawang Klung, who seems a good enough sort. You reach his house thus. . . ." The shopkeeper squatted and scratched a street map with his finger in the earthen floor.

"Thankee!" said Kerin. "How is business?"

"Good, did not the Sophi's publicans skim off any profit for taxes. It is his mad scheme to pave the whole city, as if yon cobblestones along the waterfront were not good enough."

Kerin went in search of Pawang Klung. The magician occupied a stone-and-timber house of moderately prosperous aspect, behind a fenced courtyard in which several Kwatnites lounged. At the door, a burly guard blocked Kerin's way.

"May I see Pawang Klung?" Kerin asked.

"In your turn, after these folk," said the guard, indicating the loungers.

Kerin found a place in the courtyard and sat on the grass with his back to a tree. He was hungry and tired after a morning of juggling the tones of the Kuromonian tongue. Then he heard Belinka's tinkly voice:

"Master Kerin, I like this place not! I feel other supernatural presences within. I trust no magician or soothsayer save my mistress, the good Madame Erwina."

"We must take that chance," grumbled Kerin.

A man issued from the house, followed by a large, stout Salimorese carrying a yard-long dowel with a silver star on the end. The stout one pointed his stick at a woman among the loungers, saying:

"You next, madam!"

The woman scrambled to her feet, then dropped to her knees and bowed until her straight black hair swept the ground. She rose and followed the stout one into the house. Kerin asked a fellow lounger:

"Is that Pawang Klung?"

The man looked surprised. "Certes," he sneered. "You must come from a distant land indeed, to be so ignorant. But you should call him the Balimpawang."

"Thankee," said Kerin, returning to his doze.

The next he knew, the door guard was shaking him awake, saying: "Wouldst see the Balimpawang or not?"

Kerin blinked the sleep out of his eyes, discovering that he was the last of Klung's clients. All the others had departed. "I—ah—where—of course I am fain to see him," he mumbled. Then he sighted the wizard nearby and gave him his best Novarian bow.

"You!" barked the guard. "Why show you not due reverence to my great master?"

"Let him be," rumbled the fat wizard. "He is from a land where customs differ from ours. We will consider the obeisance as given." The stout man turned to Kerin; his dark slanting eyes flickered right and left, up and down. "Aha! I see you have a familiar spirit in tow."

"Forsooth," said Kerin, "you could say she has me in tow. Her witch-mistress commanded her to ward my welfare."

"Well, I cannot allow her into my house. She must wait without."

"Indeed!" squeaked Belinka, dancing about in full visibility. "And what is so obnoxious about me, O great and mighty wizard?"

Klung chuckled. "Nought with you, my winsome sprite. But I dare not admit a strange familiar, lest strife erupt betwixt the stranger and my established stable of spirits. They wax ferociously jealous of outsiders' influence."

"Master Kerin!" cried Belinka. "Wilt put up with such shabby treatment of one who hath faithfully served your behalf for lo these many months? I demand—"

Kerin, his anger rising, barked: "Belinka you may go—" He was about to add "jump in the Eastern Ocean" but thought better of it. Jorian had cautioned him against unnecessarily forcing issues. He changed his words:

"Pray, go spy on Janji and find out what her Navigators' Guild be up to. That's the most useful thing you can do just now. Then join me back on the
Benduan
, will you?"

Belinka uttered a sound that could have been called a grunt, if so tiny and ethereal a being could be said to grunt. Kerin watched her zip out of the courtyard and turned back to Klung, who said: "Come along, young man."

VI

Kwatna City

Following Klung down a hall, Kerin glimpsed through an open door a spacious chamber cluttered with apparatus, softly glowing with highlights of steel and brass and copper. Klung led him to a smaller room and waved him to cushions on the floor before a kind of stunted, crimson-lacquered desk, rising little more than a foot above the floor. The wizard plumped himself down on other cushions behind this furnishing.

"Well, younker," he said in passable if old-fashioned Novarian, "What wouldst?"

"Sir," began Kerin circumspectly, "first, I would fain not commit more discourtesies than I can help in a strange land. So pray explain the difference betwixt a pawang and a balimpawang."

The wizard made a steeple of his fingers. "A pawang is simply our word for 'magician' or 'wizard.' But we also have guilds, and a balimpawang is the chosen arch of such a supernaturalists' guild."

"And you are the leader of the Magicians' Guild of Kwatna?''

"Aye, and of all of Salimor. Practically speaking, that means Ambok; the pawangs on the other islands are for the most part mere primitive witch doctors, ignorant of the higher branches of the magical sciences."

"Then enlighten me, pray. Know you the wizard Pwana?"

Klung gave a low growl. "Aye, I ken the scoundrel. What of him?"

"I know him, too. When I met him, a month or so ago, he named himself a balimpawang."

"Oh!" said Klung, his slant eyes rounding. "So ye must be he who brought the rascal back to Ambok! Better had ye left him on his isle till the crabs had picked his bones. Now he is up to his old quillets, reviving his Cosmic Diamond cult; the gullible flock to's temple."

"I meant no trouble," said Kerin. "But he helped me and another captive to turn the tables on Malgo's pirates."

"I heard something of that; another time ye must read me the tale entire." Klung paused. "This villain's rescue hardly prejudices me in your favor; still, I essay to weigh the issues fairly."

"But about the title, sir?"

"Oh. After Pwana was driven forth by exposure of his villainies, the Guild held an interim election and chose me by an overwhelming show of hands to succeed him. Then all went well until this losel reappeared, claiming he had never resigned his office, which still had two years to run; and that he, therefore, was rightful balimpawang. There will be a special election to settle the matter when the members can agree upon a date. By then I shall have my great invention in working order, so I fear not the outcome.

"But I must not while away the day in superfluous chatter. It is one of my besetting faults. Who be ye, and what your especial desire?"

Kerin gave a brief account of himself, adding: "Now I wish to learn the fate of the Princess Nogiri. I last saw her entering Lord Vunambai's grounds; but anon, when I sent Belinka to find out what had befallen her, the sprite declared she was nowhere to be found. From the curious way her uncle used me, I fear that he, too, may be up to no good."

"What is your interest in this damsel? Be ye lovers?"

"Nay," said Kerin. "First, she is already betrothed; and second, as a result of her evil treatment by the pirates, she was averse to such intimacies. But she has been a true and helpful friend."

"And ye would fain discover whither she have gone? Canst pay?"

"Up to a point. How much?"

Klung mused: "For this task, I fear my familiars be not up to the mark. I shall have to send my spirit through the astral plane to search. It will take an hour at least and cost you a hundred royals Salimorese, or the equivalent in foreign coin."

They chaffered over rates of exchange until a bargain was struck. Kerin was losing his former embarrassment over haggling; he fished several gold pieces from a pocket in his money belt.

"Ye may look about whilst my spirit be away," said Klung. "But touch ye nought, lest ye be turned to a crocodile or blasted to atoms. Here goeth!"

The magician sat back, closed his eyes, and muttered a cantrip over and over. After a while he fell silent; then his body shuddered and stiffened.

During the wait, Kerin got up, stretched cramped limbs, and prowled the building. At the door to the magician's sanctum he found the guard, who said:

"Ye can look but not go in!"

Kerin peered past the man's shoulder into the darkening chamber. Of the pieces of apparatus within, the dominant object was a kind of man-sized cage in the center, containing a congeries of hoops and wheels.

"What's that?" Kerin asked, pointing.

The guard shrugged. "The Balimpawang calls it his transporter. With it he once transported my pet mongoose to a place outside the city; frightened the poor creature half to death." The guard paused. "Be it true, Master Kerin, that ye come from the mysterious West?"

"I suppose so," said Kerin, "though it seems not so mysterious to me. But then, any land seems mysterious until one becomes used to it."

"Hm! I never thought of it that way. I have read of the West in books." The guard stuck out his chest proudly. "I can read, which few amongst persons of my class can do!"

"Congratulations! One cannot have too many skills to get through life."

Back in the chamber of audience, Kerin still found Klung in his trance. After another tedious wait, the magician shook himself and opened his eyes. For a time he breathed in deep gasps, as if he had been running. At last he spoke:

"I found your princess, Master Kerin; albeit it took a mort of searching."

"Where is she?"

"She is a prisoner in the Temple of Bautong."

"But how—" began Kerin. His voice commenced to rise with excitement until he controlled it.

"Her uncle hath sold her to Pwana, who means to use her in some rite involving human sacrifice."

"Why in the name of all the gods should he do that?"

Klung spread his plump hands. "It took a deal of nosing about and eavesdropping, in Vunambai's palace and again at the temple, to piece the tale together. When Vunambai heard her story, he became convinced that she was no more a virgin, which with brides of her class is a weighty matter. Even if she were, her betrothed would never believe it, what of her having been a captive of pirates and having dwelt unescorted with you on the voyage hither. When he asked her, she foolishly told of the gang rape. That young woman is too honest for her own good, meseems."

"Did he ask the young man's intentions?"

"I know not. In view of their class, I am sure the youth would have renounced the bargain, citing damaged goods. It is not as if she were a wench of low degree, amongst which class the questions of lineage and pedigree are of lesser moment."

"It seems to me that Nogiri has done nought amiss, save perhaps to go on that picnic. Be that the Salimorese idea of justice?"

"Nay; but lords do as they list. When a young lord reach his majority, his sire gives him a fancy kris, bedight with jewels, the wearing of which by one of lower class would earn the wearer a hundred stripes. Then the youngling sallies forth and often tries his edge, with impunity, on the first wight of lower class he encounter.

"Furthermore, of all that crew, Vunambai is the most punctilious in matters of rank and procedure. Had he admitted you and ye failed to offer the full obeisance, belike he would have commanded off with your head."

"Perhaps it's well I saw him not," mused Kerin. "Methinks I must essay to rescue this princess. Where in the temple is she immured? In an underground crypt?"

"Nay; in a locked room at the top of the tower. But what ye propose is impossible, young man. The tower is lofty, the temple well-guarded. Ye have done your duty in fetching her to Kwatna."

"I still feel responsible for her, and she's a friend."

"But ye will accomplish nought, save belike to be thrown to the crocodiles the Sophi keeps in the moat around his palace!"

"Still, I should be ashamed of myself if I didn't try at least. I was brought up not to abandon a comrade."

Klung shrugged. "Well, I know not how to rede you. I regret the young woman's death; but it is not my affair, and I should mislike to see a likely youth like you come to untimely cease in a foredoomed adventure."

Kerin persisted: "What's this deadly spell that Pwana concocts?"

Klung smiled slyly. "All I know is what rumor doth waft about or is garnered by my familiars. The burden of these bruits is that our noble Sophi—may his virility never flag—finds that selfsame virility not up to the tasks he demand thereof.''

"Keeps he a harem?""Aye; and that is the trouble. Since his recent accession—ye will note I use not the word 'usurpation,' the breathing of which hath cost more than one subject his life—he hath become the foremost ruler in the archipelago, largely by espousing the female kin of all the lesser rulers. Hence he now rejoices—if that be the word I seek—in a harem of one thousand, two hundred and forty-six wives, at least at last count. Now, a thousand wives may gratify the vanity of a potentate, but where wilt find a potentate who can gratify a thousand wives?" Klung suppressed a snort of laughter. "They say some women have sent out smuggled messages to their royal kin, complaining that Vurkai never performs his husbandly duties with them. Enough of this, and he will find the throne a-rock beneath his royal arse. So Pwana hath undertaken to stiffen the royal—ah—sinews by this goetic operation."

The wizard looked sharply at Kerin. "Another matter, howsomever, doth concern me. Said ye not ye were on your way to Kuromon?"

"Aye, sir."

"How would ye like to make the journey in the wink of an eye instead of a hazardous fortnightly voyage?"

"What's this, some magical transport?"

"Aye." Klung lurched to his feet. "Come hither, lad."

The wizard led the way to the oratory and pointed to the cage. "Behold my magical triumph! It shall redound to mine eternal fame in magical science; it is the unsurpassed advance of the century.''

"How does it work?" asked Kerin.

"I place the subject therein, close the door, and perform certain incantations, fumigations, and passes, and presto! The wight is translated to his destination with the speed of light, whatever that be. As ye doubtless ken, philosophers dispute about whither the passage of light be instantaneous or whether it occupy an interval, however brief, of time."

"But how—"

"I employ that which none of my predecessors hath succeeded in doing, namely: to harness the entities of the Fourth Plane. These beings are not exactly spirits, albeit sentient non-material organisms. They are not very intelligent; nor can they manifest themselves on the Prime Plane as doth your little familiar. But I have found how to make them seize the creature within the cage and move it instanter to the destination I have chosen, via the Fourth Plane, which permits them to remove it from the cage despite the bars."

"Does it work?"

"Doth it work! My boy, I have sent a mouse hence out into the courtyard, and then a mongoose half a league away, to the beach to northward of the city.''

"How know you the beast arrived safely?"

"I had stationed Wejo—" Klung nodded towards the guard, "—there on the beach. When the mongoose appeared, it galloped up to its master to be petted and fetched home. Now, could I but send you to Kuromon, my triumph at the forthcoming vote for balimpawang were assured. Thus shall I receive the honor that be rightfully mine!"

Kerin looked doubtful. "Dost mean it would send me and all my gear—clothes, weapons, money, and so forth?"

Klung frowned. "A few trifling adjustments are needed ere it will send inanimate objects. Attempts to transport things like a bowl or a knife have not yet succeeded. Certes this is but a temporary check; I shall soon have made the requisite improvements. By the way, art wearing a counterspell against others' magic?"

"Yea, sir. Is it still effective after all these months?"

"I could not be sure without tests; but my spiritual senses tell me it be. Of course, I should have to cancel it for my transporter to become effective."

Kerin thoughtfully replied: "I think not that I care to chance arriving in Kuromon naked, penniless, and without even Doctor Uller's protective spell. That might not bother Wejo's mongoose, but it's not my idea of an auspicious arrival in a strange land. My ship does sail a few days hence. Since I have already paid a deposit, methinks it wiser to adhere to my previous plan."

"Humph! Are ye sure ye be not simply affrighted by the prospect?"

Kerin grinned. "Not at all sure, sir."

Klung sighed. "Ye were a fine subject; but all the lusty youths to whom I have made the offer find reasons why they cannot. At your age, I should have seized the chance. The younger generation are a spineless lot!"

Outside the balimpawang's house, dusk was falling. Kerin called: "Belinka!"

"Here!" said the little blue light, dancing against the darkling sky.

"Didst learn much?"

"Somewhat, but not so much as I should have had I remained for tonight's meeting of the Navigator's Guild. I had to return hither to meet you."

"You know where this guild meets, then?"

"Aye; I followed the witch. They foregather in an abandoned temple, half fallen down from earthquakes."

"Well, go back and report to me when the meeting be over. You'll find me aboard the ship."

The moon, now a narrow crescent, had not yet set when Belinka returned. She found Kerin in the captain's cabin, poring over a booklet of Kuromonian phrases by the light of a candle. He put the book away, saying:

"I'm glad of an excuse not to wear out mine eyes on these damned scribbles by this feckless light. It gives me a headache. Now tell me all."

"The navigators were enjoying a supper when I arrived, sitting in a circle on cushions and served by Twelfth Plane demons."

"How many navigators were there?"

"Seventeen when I arrived, and one more came in later. Then they called the meeting to order. After the tedious preliminaries—minutes of the last meeting, report of the treasury, and so on—Janji, who is treasurer, brought up your visit to Kuromon. The thought of that navigating device did stir them deeply. They spake of giving you a mortal thrust in the tripes; others favored hiring a pawang to blast you by magic. Janji said a maleficent spell might not penetrate your counterspell. Another objected that to attack you were unethical; another, that it might get the guild in trouble, and so on. One progressive wight proposed that they embrace the new device and learn to use it instead of their spells, but they howled him down.