sea to Stokos, and Watashi was ready to commit himself to a joint operation to recover the west of Argan.
To celebrate the new alliance, Celadric planned to remove the heads of his two dangerous brothers, and place Watashi in command of all forces in Argan. The armies of the Collosnon Empire, drawn from many foreign parts and united only by their common knowledge of the command language Ordhar, would have no difficulty in accepting a stranger as commander.
Celadric and Watashi had travelled north from Stokos on the same ship, bound for Estar. However, a storm had scattered their convoy, leaving them without an escort; the pirates of the Greater Teeth had fallen upon their single ship and had taken them prisoner.
Draven, lord of the Greater Teeth, had sent word to Meddon and York in Estar. If they wanted to see Celadric alive, they would have to hand over a ransom – gold, silver, warm wool and a woman. The woman was the Princess Quenerain, previously a mistress to the General Chonjara.
Before a reply could come from Estar, Celadric had suborned some of Draven's men with promises of power and money. With that help, the prisoners had broken out of their holding cells; they had fought their way to the pirate harbour; under the command of Watashi, the survivors had escaped to sea.
'But Celadric…’
'He died?’
T don't know. I hope not. We were separated when it was sword to sword. After that, I didn't see him any more.’
'What about the Silent One?’
'Everglen Tamara? She got herself killed. An arrow. Through the back and out through the front. You won't be seeing her any more, I'm afraid.’
'I never knew her, at least not on a personal basis,' said Yen Olass.
The words she used for 'personal basis' were the Galish words 'ken shen lokday', literally 'bargain-making level'. Watashi continued with his story.
With pirate vessels in hot pursuit, the escapers had run north, thinking to lose the enemy in amongst the shoals and shallows of the Lesser Teeth. They had succeeded in doing precisely that. They had also succeeded in wrecking their ship on a sandbar. Once ashore, they were swiftly rounded up by men under the command of Morgan Hearst.
Now Hearst was risking his life – and theirs – in an attempt to finesse control of the west of Argan. Their party, ostensibly led by Watashi, was going to land at Iglis and claim the ransom for Celadric, stating that the Lord Emperor was now held prisoner on the Lesser Teeth.
Once in possession of the ransom, Hearst intended to barter with Draven for Celadric's life. And once in possession of the emperor, he intended to negotiate an agreement with that worthy which would give him, Morgan Hearst, title to at least the west of Argan – preferably all of it – and command of all the imperial forces on Argan.
The plan was, to put it mildly, hair-raising. So many things could go wrong. What if Meddon and York decided that they would prefer their brother Celadric dead? What if Draven attempted to take the ransom by main force rather than exchange? What if Celadric subsequently reneged on any arrangements made under duress, and made it his business to eliminate Morgan Hearst and his entourage? What if Watashi… well, there was a simple way to find out about Watashi.
'Don't you feel cheated?' said Yen Olass. 'Hearst is trying to take what was going to be yours – command of the west.’
Watashi grinned, denied nothing.
'I've sworn an oath to support him until he gets Celadric in his power,' said Watashi. 'After that, there'll be plenty of time later for a trial of strength.’
When their interview was at an end, Yen Olass sent Watashi away with orders to fetch Eldegen Terzanagel. The text-master entered the stateroom looking old – Yen Olass had a hazy notion that he was now a bit over sixty- five – and weatherbeaten. And rather ill. Yen Olass realized he was feeling seasick. She had been too busy to pay much attention to the motion of the ship, but she realized they were lubbering through the waves in a way which might well disconcert those with weak stomachs. 'Sit,' said Yen Olass curtly.
She felt a little thrill of power as Terzanagel sat. She remembered those years long ago, when she had been brought to Gendormargensis in chains and he had purchased her at auction. And had then tried to rape her. She had resisted, biting him – she wondered if he still had the scars. While he tried to think what to do with her, she had been kept locked up in a pitch-black cellar with only rats for company. In those hours of terror and darkness, she had sworn that she would kill him, slowly, if he ever came into her power.
Now she had the opportunity. Terzanagel was expendable; she was sure Morgan Hearst would not object if she wanted to have the old man skinned alive. She could do the job herself, with a small, sharp knife. She could castrate him first…
'It's been a long time,' said Terzangagel, speaking in Eparget.
Hearing that familiar voice once more, hearing that familiar language, Yen Olass suffered unexpected pangs of homesickness. Terzanagel was her one and only link to so much which had once been dear to her. It all came back to her with a rush: her room in tooth 44 in Moon Stallion Strait, her humble little corner table in the Canoozerie, her balcony seat in the Hall of Heavenly Music, her horse Snut, her cat Lefrey, her dreamquilt and her seven-stringed klon.
'It has been a long time,' said Yen Olass.
Tears started at her eyes as, with a shock, she realized how often and how totally she had been displaced, suffering the loss of an entire way of life. She had been a child in her homeland of Monogail, a slave in Gendormargensis, a translator with an imperial army of invasion, a refugee in Penvash, a pioneer by Lake Armansis, an amber hunter in the Lesser Teeth – and now she was launched on her most dangerous venture yet, impersonating the Silent One of the Sisterhood.
Her veil hid her tears.
She wondered if Terzanagel was a potential traitor. No. He had broken imperial law by leaving the continent of Tameran, without permission; for that breach of law, his fellow text-masters would arrange his death no matter what pardons he obtained from any other quarter. Terzanagel had placed himself outside the protection of imperial law; he was committed to their own cause.
T never thought to see you again,' said Terzanagel.
'Or me you,' said Yen Olass, 'Tell me, what happened to Nuana Nanalako. Tell me all about it. Leave nothing out.’
So Eldegen Terzanagel told the story of how he and Nuana had left Tameran, departing from Port Domax on a voyage south which was supposed to take them, eventually, to the Stepping Stone Islands, where he had planned to complete his researches into the life and works of that greatest of all poets of antiquity, Saba Yavendar.
He spun her a lurid tale of piracy, shipwreck, mountain treks, dragons, nomad tribes, imprisonment, escape, capture, torture and slavery. Having lived through so many incredible events herself, Yen Olass could hardly doubt him. Terzanagel had last seen Nuana in Havanar a Asral, a seaport on the island of Asral in the Ocean of Cambria, east of the Inner Waters. She had been sold to a ship owner; he had been sold to a visiting wizard, who, delighted at his command of the High Speech of wizards, had employed him as a scribe.
When the Swarms breached the defences of the Great Dyke, Drangsturm, and started their invasion of the lands to the north, the wizards had retreated from the castles they had occupied near Drangsturm. In the company of his master, Eldegen Terzanagel had fled to the Harvest Plains; on the journey, his master had died of cholera.
After many vicissitides, Terzanagel had finished up on Stokos in the court of Lord Watashi, working as a scribe and translator.
'And now,' said Terzanagel, winding up his long and weary talc, 'they want me on this adventure as a pair of eyes and ears. And you… if I may be so bold as to ask?’
'The same,' said Yen Olass. 'This interview is now terminated.’
It was fear which made her conclude their meeting so abruptly. She disliked talking about what she had to do. As the Silent One, she could review the readings of every oracle she could have brought before her. Now that Trest and Estar were established provinces of the empire, they had their usual complement of oracles. Few of these would have seen the Silent One in years, and none would have been personally acquainted with her – but any one of
