The Peasant (19 page)

He smiled wistfully at her. “Yes, Lady. Infinite be with you.” Kissing her cheek, Healing Hand slipped from the palanquin.

The procession slowed, approaching the west gate. Having received no reply from Snarling Jaguar, Bubbling Water hoped Flying Arrow's minions hadn't stopped and detained Sparkling Stream. Oh, Lord Infinite, deliver us safely! she thought.

The platoon of guards pressed close to her palanquin—and Guarding Bear's, she knew. If she'd reached past the curtains, her hand would've met not empty air but a solid wall of warrior. Bubbling Water probed Guarding Bear's palanquin. Activated electrical shields stopped her probe. On signal all the Bear Warriors would turn on their shields to obscure her during the diversion.

The procession stopped. Arrow Warriors blocked the gate.

“Get out of the Lady Matriarch Water's way,” the Captain Freezing Fire shouted rudely, deliberately.

“All travelers must have proper authorization, Lord Captain.” A Lieutenant stepped forward from among the blue-and-white ranks barring the path. The Lieutenant's voice and psychic signature seemed familiar to Bubbling Water, but his signature didn't carry his name. Unable to see his face, she didn't recognize him at first.

“The Lady Matriarch Water, mother of the Lord Emperor Arrow himself, needs no authorization, Lord Lieutenant.”

A Bear Sergeant stepped forward and drew his sword. “Lord Captain, I beg permission to send this filthy Arrow dog onward to the Infinite!”

“Permission denied, Lord Sergeant!” Freezing Fire ordered, pushing the man back. “Return to your place or I'll stain the earth with your blood.” The Sergeant retreated grudgingly, grumbling audibly. Freezing fire turned back to face the Arrow Warriors. “Would you have a bloodbath on your hands, Lord Lieutenant, or will you allow the Lady Matriarch Water to pass?”

So far, everything's going as planned, she thought.

“I don't care if she's the matron of a brothel sent to service the barbarian Jaguar, Lord Captain. Without authorization, no one passes.”

Then Bubbling Water recognized him: He was Tumbling Pigeon, Trickling Stream's mate. Why is he speaking so foully? Bubbling Water wondered, knowing him a kind and courteous man. Since he referred to the brothel, she thought, the Emperor must have told him exactly what to say! If we escape, Flying Arrow will have his head! Withering within, Bubbling Water guessed the Emperor had placed Tumbling Pigeon in command to make sure she paid no matter what happened.

“Lord Lieutenant, if the Lady Matriarch Water can't go there, the Lord Emperor Jaguar will come here.” Freezing Fire pointed beyond the blockade of Arrow Warriors. All the Bear Warriors flipped on their shields.

Outside the city, a battalion of Jaguar Warriors marched toward the gate. Their bright banners aloft, their armor glinted in the sun. Like an orthopteran pestilence, the ranks charged the gate.

Cursing at Freezing Fire, Tumbling Pigeon turned to bark orders at his warriors. They dispersed to take up positions outside the gate.

Scrambling from her palanquin, Bubbling Water dropped to her knees immediately. Thank the Infinite Sparkling Stream got through! she thought, crawling toward the rear of the procession, following the medacor and three warriors dragging Guarding Bear. The guards discreetly let them pass.

Milling near the rear was a group of rag-clad beggars. From under their clothes they produced similar rags. Donning them, Bubbling Water, the medacor, and three warriors merged with the group of beggars. Two warriors draped the General's arms over their shoulders as if he were drunk. Noticing them on cue, a Bear Warrior threatened to scald them if they lingered.

Acting inebriated, the group of beggars moved down a side street, parallel to the city wall. From a staff stuck in mud hung a ragged banner of broken arrows, the ancient standard of resistance to Arrow Sovereignty. The beggars stopped to watch the antics of a fellow beggar too drunk to walk. While appearing to watch the sober warrior act like a drunk beggar, Bubbling Water listened for the second signal. The city wall was twenty feet away. The crack there appeared too small for even her slight form. Standing directly over the crack and watching events at the gate was an Arrow Archer.

She heard voices from the gate. The Southern Warriors must have reached it by now! she thought. No signal came. An argument ensued, followed by the distinctive ring of sword pulled from scabbard. Moments later the sound repeated a thousandfold. No, Lord Infinite, she thought, please don't let any blood spill—oh please!

To her relief, a voice demanded above the din, “Let us consult the Lady Matriarch Water!”

Weaving and stumbling, the beggars surged toward the wall. Two warriors supported the inert Guarding Bear as if he were merely unable to walk. The archer glanced down at them, smirked and returned his attention to the confrontation. One of the beggars entreated him. “Lord Archer, a pittance for this pitiable wretch?”

“I'm busy, wretch!” The archer waved off the beggar without looking down.

Reaching the wall, Bubbling Water stood to one side and looked whence they'd come. She saw no one following or looking toward them. The warriors slipped Guarding Bear through the crack, its edges crumbling. The medacor squirmed through next. Then Bubbling Water slipped through the crack, seeing that the repairs were mud.

Poking his head through behind her, a warrior handed her the Broken Arrow banner. “Piss on the Emperor, eh?”

Smiling, she stuffed the banner in her sleeve. Only then did she see the warrior was her son Rolling Bear. Suddenly, she was furious. “What the Infinite are
you
doing here!”

“My duty, Mother,” he replied amiably.

“Lady Matriarch Water, forgive me for interrupting,” an oddly inflected voice said behind her. She turned. Stalking Jaguar nodded to mother and son. “We'd better go immediately, Lady Matriarch. You're welcome as well, Lord Bear, as my personal guest.” Like his father, Stalking Jaguar spoke the Eastern tongue almost without flaw.

“Thank you, no, Lord Scrawling Jaguar,” Rolling Bear replied, smiling. “I'll take your hide for my winter jaguar coat another time,
before
it gets so patchy from battle scars it'd be no use except as parchment.”

“Eh? You overstuffed grizzly, I'll have your hide for a rug!”

“You two fools'll get us killed yet!” Bubbling Water said, steamed.

Both men chuckled. “Infinite be with you, Lord Jaguar.” Nodding, Rolling Bear pulled his head back into the crack.

Stalking Jaguar smiled. “Please put this on, Lady Matriarch. Walk slowly toward the camp without looking back.”

Switching on the electrical shield at her waist, Bubbling Water donned the hooded, brown-and-gold uniform embroidered with a three-headed jaguar. The Heir beside her, she began to stroll toward the hill six miles away. “Where's my mate, Lord Heir?”

The young man looked toward the camp. “I teleported him there, Lady Matriarch. Since he was unconscious, it wasn't hazardous.”

The teleportation of human beings was far more difficult than objects. Any disruption of the psychic field distorted the object as it re-materialized. A conscious person's talent could produce grotesque mutations. With an unconscious human being, teleportation was still risky, but not dangerously so. With the Southern Heir Sword's focus and amplification, Stalking Jaguar's talent eliminated all risk to Guarding Bear.

Relaxing, Bubbling Water drew a deep breath. “Thank you for your help, Lord Heir. Without the diversion, we couldn't have escaped.”

“You're most welcome, Lady Matriarch. If I may ask, won't the Lord Emperor Arrow declare you an outlaw and hunt you down?”

Smiling, she wondered how to explain it. “The politics of the Eastern Empire must be difficult for a foreigner to understand. The Lord Emperor Arrow won't declare his surrogate mother an outlaw. What he
will
do, Lord Heir, is act as though the Lieutenant at the gate misconstrued his orders, and execute him for impeding the Lady Matriarch Water. The Lieutenant's mate is my niece. The Lord Emperor put him in command so I'd pay whether he captured us or not. As for my mate, Flying Arrow won't declare
him
outlaw either, since no one ever proved Guarding Bear was in the palanquin. Imperial Law, without both victim and criminal, doesn't recognize a crime.

“The Lord Emperor only issued a summons for top-level administrators and sealed the city gates on some pretext, Lord Heir. Flying Arrow will simply misconstrue his own orders. All
I've
told the Lord Emperor is that the Lord Bear is sick. The excuse is legitimate enough and vague enough that Guarding Bear can elaborate on it in a thousand ways. You must remember, Lord Heir, that we sometimes hold face in higher esteem than substance. If the Lord Emperor Arrow can't produce the substance—in this case, the General—he'll change his face.”

Stalking Jaguar laughed and shook his head in exasperation.

Glancing back from among a small group of Jaguar Warriors, Bubbling Water saw little above the heads of the Jaguar Battalion. Three Arrow Archers atop the city wall were talking and pointing at the crack in the wall beneath them. She prayed that the Bear Warriors escaped. The Arrow Warriors would try to capture some of them for interrogation.

“Allow me to say what a beautiful maiden you sent this morning, Lady Matriarch.” Stalking Jaguar smiled at her. “During the negotiations, when my father bargained for a Sparkling Stream, he didn't mean it literally.”

Bubbling Water smiled. “It pleased me, Lord Heir, to respond literally. Since I happened to have a virgin by that name among my nieces, I hoped to bring a little laughter into your lives.”

“We both laughed, Lady Matriarch, and the Lady Stream will enjoy the man she chose.”

“ 'Chose'? The Lord Emperor didn't take her for himself?”

“No, Lady Matriarch,” Stalking Jaguar replied. “He doesn't 'take' anything, and maidens like her don't attract him. He prefers the simple peasant woman—plain, plump, about your age and good of heart. He believes the most beautiful women are those who've discovered a way to appeal to men
within
themselves.”

Bubbling Water grinned. “While outwardly beautiful women can be more vicious than vixens and still find a thrusting sword to sheathe.”

Stalking Jaguar laughed. “There are political considerations as well, Lady Matriarch. If my father were to 'take' the most desirable women for himself, some would feel slighted and discontent with his rule. Usually, he asks women such as your daughter to choose from among his favored commanders. Thus he distributes them fairly and keeps the favor of the matriarchies.”

Appreciating the nuances, she nodded, liking the deft way the Emperor handled them. “Whom did my niece choose, Lord Heir?”

“Why,
me
, Lady Matriarch,” Stalking Jaguar said dreamily.

Glancing at his face, she saw his thoughts were elsewhere. Smiling to herself, she felt serene within, hoping her niece found happiness with this man. Thank you, Lord Infinite, Bubbling Water thought, for giving my niece the wisdom to choose this man and for blessing me with a spy so high in the castle of the Lord Emperor Jaguar.

T
he psychic flow at twenty thousand cycles per second is the highest bandwidth of psychic energy that humans perceive. Traveling farther on less energy than the other frequencies, the flow contains pure information and serves as the government's medium for important announcements. Nearly ubiquitous, the psychic flow extends into all four Empires. Therefore, it is strictly for public information, and sometimes, misinformation.—
The Great Universal Mind
, by the Sorcerer Flowing Mind.

* * *

Confused, Trickling Stream and Silent Whisper wandered the streets in the poorest quarter of Emparia City. They were searching for the home and clinic of Gentle Hand, Healing Hand's mother. “From the look of the area, we're close, Lord.” She glanced back at him.

“I was here a few nights ago, Lady, but nothing looks familiar. How could we get lost? We followed the directions the Lady Matriarch gave us.” Silent Whisper strode a pace behind and to one side of her, his scabbard in one hand, the hilt of his sword in the other. Between scabbard and hilt gleamed an inch of steel blade. “Oh, uh, and congratulations on your mate's promotion.”

He looks deadly, she thought, reassured. “Thank you, Lord; that's very kind of you. It was such a surprise, getting the word this morning like that.” A messenger had arrived early with Tumbling Pigeon's promotion and orders that he take command of the west gate. “Captain, isn't it odd that he'd had no indication he'd be getting promoted?”

“Uh, well, no, Lady, it's not the usual practice, but it happens.”

Why isn't he looking at me? she wondered. Trickling Stream shook off her discomfiture and dismissed the matter. “Nothing around here looks sanitary enough for a clinic, eh Lord?”

“Or
smells
sanitary, Lady—what a stench!”

Glancing at him, Trickling Stream smiled, disgusted with the squalor. On the same breath of air she smelled cooking food, fermenting garbage, and rotting excrement. Most of the buildings were wood and crowded so close together she couldn't tell where one ended and another began. Some of the people were so poor they didn't have clothing adequate to cover their bodies; a coarse, itchy wool was the most common material. Many sat indolently in doorways, on rooftops. They all watched the pair, whose fine silk robes established their foreign status.

Unable to find the place, Trickling Stream consulted the psychic flow, wincing at the local despair. Instantly, the flow helped her find the house they sought. “This is it.” She couldn't believe she looked at a health clinic.

“How could anyone even
live
here?” Silent Whisper asked.

Old weathered plank, warped and splintered, served as a door. The stone walls were riven with cracks patched with plaster and mud. Ragged curtains covered the insides of window, behind dirty and cracked glass panes. The roof was leaky woven thatch. Trickling Stream wondered how it looked on the inside, wanting not to know.

Bubbling Water had asked her to find this place, however, and to give Gentle Hand the Matriarchy's help. Trickling Stream sighed. “Not the most pleasant place I'll ever go as the Lady's secretary. I'll go in alone, Lord Captain. If you're with me, especially with that sword, Gentle Hand will think we're here to coerce her.”

“Will you be safe in there, Lady Stream?”

“I should be, Lord Captain. Check on me if I don't come out in twenty minutes.” She strode toward the door. Should I walk in uninvited? she wondered, and decided to knock.

No one answered.

She knocked again, louder, the door vibrating in the frame.

Still, no one answered.

Trickling Stream was afraid that if she knocked any louder the door would fall apart.

“Just go right in,” said a voice from across the street.

She turned to look. A blond-haired man with large hands watched her, smiling. He looked as out of place here as she and the Captain did, but not because of his clothing. He looks too healthy and happy to live here! Trickling Stream thought. In addition, his face was familiar. Where have I seen him before? she wondered, consulting the flow for his name. To her surprise, his psychic signature didn't carry it. Odd, she thought, most signatures encoding at least the name. All she knew from this man's signature was that he was probably—a medacor? Even that information was faint.

Shaking off her bewilderment, she turned and opened the door.

* * *

Shrugging of his bewilderment, perceiving what she did, Silent Whisper turned to watch her enter, then found the only shade nearby, under a tree that looked as if it wouldn't survive the year. Settling himself on his haunches, he checked the psychic flow for the progress of the Matriarch's palanquins.

Over the local despair, like a veneer of marble over moldy travertine, lay a layer of joy—Bubbling Water's prophecy of the Consort's pregnancy. Like a universal mind, the flow had spread the news of the twins' conception across the continent within minutes, uniting the Eastern Empire in its collective cheer. The long-awaited Heir soothed the people's fears of a bloody interregnum. Hope frolicked in their hearts, and they loosened their purse strings to celebrate. Messengers were arriving at the castle every minute with congratulations and blessings. Some bore gifts to honor Flowering Pine for her gift to the Empire.

Prudently, Flying Arrow hadn't dampened the joy with his pursuit of Guarding Bear. The Emperor's peculiar announcements alarmed few people. Even so, everyone watching the west gate knew the situation more dangerous than it looked.

Silent Whisper saw that Arrow Warriors had stopped the palanquins. Poor Trickling Stream! he thought briefly. The words of the Captain Freezing Fire came to him over the flow. Not trusting anyone else to insure Bubbling Water's safety, Silent Whisper strangled the haft of his sword. I should have told you to go to the Infinite, Lady Matriarch! the Captain thought.

All the Bear Warriors turned on their shields. The focus of the flow shifted to the Jaguar Battalion charging the city gate. The flow didn't mention beggars; hence, no one watched the group as they moved away from the Bear Platoon. A few minutes later, the Bear Warriors suddenly scattered in all directions, leaving the palanquins behind, their duty done. The Lady Matriarch and the Lord General escaped! Silent Whisper thought, jumping to his feet with a silent cheer. On the flow he felt the Arrow Warriors' bewilderment at the Bear Warriors' scattering. When they saw that the palanquins were empty, the Arrow Warriors knew the Lady Matriarch had duped them. Silent Whisper raised his shields to contain his joy.

Across the street, the blond-haired man smiled and stood.

Ignoring him, Silent Whisper settled back to his haunches beneath the spindly tree, thanking the Infinite for the Lord Bear's escape. Choosing a cracked cornice on a roof across the street, he began to meditate, trying to decide between the two Generals, one south of the border, the other north.

I'll need to report to Scowling Tiger soon, Silent Whisper thought. What do I tell him? he wondered, his indecision tearing him in two directions. My first week at my post was so stormy that it tried my endurance, but I weathered the storm. The Matriarch's compassion and the General's courage tore me loose from my moorings, casting me adrift on rough seas between two ports of loyalty. Which of the two is my safe harbor?

Infinite bless you, Lord General, for your incredible bravery in attacking the barbarian Emperor. The way you guard the Empire, daring to do the unthinkable, must be why you're Guarding Bear. I praise your belief that they're citizens first and secondarily traitors or spies or assassins. That's why you came to the aid of the Lady Snow even though she betrayed your brother by mating the bandit general. How can you forgive her the unforgivable? Even so, I admire your risking your life to defend her. Bless you, Lord General.

Lady Matriarch, Infinite bless your boundless caring. I almost told you this morning. When you pulled me into the refectory and stood so close I could've kissed you and told me I'm too valuable to lead the palanquins, I almost told you I'm Scowling Tiger's spy and probably his assassin, please forgive me, Lady, I didn't know then what I know now, oh, how could I know, I was only ten years old when he made me a spy, and when I arranged to join your personal staff, I didn't know you and the Lord General would become more dear to me than all I hold sacred, oh, Infinite help me, Lady, I'm sorry, I won't spy anymore, please don't kill me, I'll fall on my knife if that's your command, but I beg you, merciful Lady, to let me serve you and the Lord General for the rest of my life, please oh please!

“The Lord General Claw greets you, Lord Captain.”

Startled, Silent Whisper looked into the ice-blue eyes of the blond haired man. “Eh?” he said, not sure he'd heard correctly.

“I'll tell the Lord Claw you've decided your loyalties lie elsewhere. We suspected this might happen,” the man said genially, chuckling.

Frightened and furious, Silent Whisper began to draw his sword.

“Put it back, Lord,” the man said, holding up a large hand.

The sword sheathed itself. Silent Whisper struggled to stop it and couldn't. Knowing his shields almost impervious, he wondered how the other man had eavesdropped on his thoughts. I didn't even feel a probe, he thought.

“Of course, you didn't. I'm a Wizard, and far better than that incompetent traitor in the castle. Only electrical shields can stop my probes—and the mindshields of a very few people.”

“You're a bandit?”

“I am. Call me Lord Bandit if you like. You don't need to report now. I'll tell the Lord General you've switched sides.”

Ashamed of his wavering loyalty, Silent Whisper bit his lip.

“No need for all that anguish, Lord Captain. You're not the first and won't be the last. What surprises me is that you turned so quickly. Your first week in the General's service
has
been exciting, eh?”

“I'm not the first?” He felt a little better.

“No, of course not. The Lord Claw squirrels spies into the Lord Bear's personal service oh two, three times a year, I'd say. Soon, they move to another post, or they turn, or they die. They don't spy very long.”

“Why's that, Lord Bandit?”

“The Lord General's talent—I've watched it do the unbelievable.”

“Doesn't he just make statues with it?”

The bandit smiled. “That's one of its tools. As a Wizard, the talent fascinates me. Conversion, he calls it, eh? It's so rare that Wizards don't have a name for it. Protection, I call it, since that's its primary function. His brother Brazen Bear also had it, but its focus was different. He was so charismatic everyone liked him. His talent didn't protect him nearly as well.”

Silent Whisper frowned. “You talk as if you
like
the Lord and Lady.”

“They were my friends before I chose to express my loyalty to the Empire differently. I wish I could
still
call them my friends, Lord Whisper. They're generous people. The Lady Stream's coming here is proof of that.”

“You know why she's here?” Silent Whisper chuckled at himself. “Of course, you know. You won't stop her?”

“Stop her? Dear Lord Infinite, no, Lord Captain. Why should I? She's making the Empire a little better. Instead, I'll help.”

“I don't understand, Lord Bandit.”

“My reasons aren't your concern.”

“As if mine are
yours
, eh?”

“That's true; they aren't, not anymore. You've chosen wisely. If you'd tried to resist their benevolence, you'd have soon revealed you're a spy. Then you'd have died, your life wasted.”

“I don't understand. Aren't you going to kill me?”

The bandit chuckled. “Of course not. You're a good man, Lord Captain. I'm sorry we lost you. They've gained you, and you're still serving the Empire. I feel satisfied with that. The Lord General Claw, however, might be furious and order you to die. That's as the bandit general wills. I won't tell him you're too good a man to kill. My place isn't to tell others how to live, eh? All I can do is live an exemplary life and pray others learn from my example. May the Infinite grant you a long life in which to serve. Bless you, Lord Captain, and walk with the Infinite in your heart.”

In awe, Silent Whisper bowed deeply to the bandit and watched him walk toward the door. Making himself comfortable in the sparse shade, the Captain sorted through what the bandit had told him. Odd how a man I don't even know can free me from a prison that others made for me, he thought, thanking the Infinite for releasing him from Scowling Tiger's service.

Biting his lip, Silent Whisper sighed.

* * *

At her push, the door creaked open; Trickling Stream hoped it didn't fall off its hinges into her hand. As she stepped through the door, the house shields stopped the pervasive noise of the flow. Entering what looked like a waiting room, she wondered why not one person there had answered the door.

Twenty people crowded a room that would comfortably hold six, some of them standing, most sitting on the dirt floor. The few chairs looked so feeble a person's weight would crush them—but none were empty. Two or three people looked toward her as she entered. The rest looked indifferent, as though poverty had ground their humanity into dust.

She saw a curtain-covered doorway on the opposite side of the room. The curtain slid aside and an old man doddered out. Behind him, a blond-haired, green-eyed woman looked past him and said, “Next!”

Trickling Stream strode across the dirt, nimbly avoiding bare and calloused feet. Near the doorway, an old woman in rags struggled to stand. Helping her to her feet, Trickling Stream escorted her into the next room.

Gentle Hand looked at the old woman's ragged clothing, then at Trickling Stream's silk robes—and frowned. “What do
you
want?”

Silent Whisper would take her head for her insolence, she thought, glad she'd left him outside. “I wish to speak with you, Lady Hand.”

“Sorry, I'm busy. Come back after the Lord Emperor does something about the poverty. I won't have a free moment until then.” Gentle Hand turned and helped the old woman onto the examination table. “Looks like you have an ovarian tumor. I'll have to remove your ovaries and perhaps your uterus.”