Parengarenga: continental mass east of Argan, south of Tameran and west of Yestron. Dalar ken Halvar stands on the central upland plateau, viewed from which the geography is thus:To the north, a harsh and sparsely populated desert stretching away to the Coast of Sand; to the south, the arid wastes of the Death Lizard Desolations, then the Blue Mountains, with the lush tropics of the Elephant Coast beyond; to the west, the Golden Desert, realm of gold-diggers and opal miners, terminating at the Crocodile Coast; and, to the east, the Cattle Plains, which reach across the horizons to the Coast of Grass.
The Empire of Parengarenga has an army of a bare 30,000 men, a number ludicrously small until one considers that a continent which consists largely of a series of wastelands needs precious little protection against invaders, and that the Silver Emperor typically resolves domestic problems by political manipulation rather than brute force.
So he seated silk on furs, and,
Sweat despoiling ambergris and incense,
Stacked his folds for comfort.
Then watching fed, and fed on watching,
Fed on blood, and fingered
The naked soul beneath his thumb -
A blister-boil about to burst
And break beneath the sun.
On leaving Shona, Hatch did not go to his own home, but headed instead to the elegant house known as Pan Lay, the house which was the home of the Lady Iro Murasaki. If his murder was on the agenda, then he would surely be safer at Pan Lay; and, besides, he was in a mood to see the lady.
The Lady Iro Murasaki greeted Asodo Hatch in her customary manner, and they settled themselves upon a padded luxury of cushions. Tea was brought, and they drank.
The Lady Murasaki was adorned with Janjuladoola silks which had been spun and embroidered in the far-off city of Obooloo in the distant continent of Yestron. Those silks were patterned with fish and birds. Yet wealth far greater adorned her hand, for on her finger she wore a sample of that rare and fabulously expensive gemstone known as ever-ice. The stone was held by a setting of silver. It was cold always, and by night and day alike it was surrounded by a nimbus of light, sometimes cold white and sometimes rainbow.
'How is your daughter?' said the Lady Murasaki.
'Onica is well,' said Hatch, dreading the question which would probably follow.
It did.
'How is your wife?'
'Talanta… Talanta is the same as ever.'
So said Hatch. His lover corrected him. Not Talanta. No. Not that. Rather: the Lady Talanta.
'The Lady Talanta, then,' said Hatch.
But she was no Lady, for Frangoni females did not bedeck themselves with gaudy titles. And Talanta was truly of the Frangoni. She was the Frangoni his parents had chosen for him, the woman he had brought to bed and who had given him children. And now she was – but he did not like to think about now. The now of his wife. Still less did he care to think of the future. Rather, he preferred for the moment – it might be wrong, doubtless was wrong, but this was the reality – to put his wife out of his mind.
His moment was all for the Lady Murasaki.
The Lady Murasaki, however, was not concerned with the moment but with Hatch's family.
'When did you last see the moneylender Polk?' said she.
'I saw him today,' said Hatch.
'Did you then discuss your sister's debts?'
'We were, ah, interrupted,' said Hatch.
'I trust you have a scheme to redeem your sister's debts,' said the Lady Murasaki. 'The news I hear of her is most distressing. It seems that she is in danger of being sold into slavery. Surely it is your duty to prevent that from happening.'
'I have no money,' said Hatch flatly.
'But,' said Murasaki, good humor in her words, 'you are a captain of the Imperial Guard and a favorite of the very emperor himself. How can you be without money?'
'How many times does it have to be told to be true?' said Hatch, starting to get irritated. 'I have no money.'
'Then,' said Iro Murasaki, 'you will get it.'
'Very well then,' said Hatch, suddenly angry. 'Then I will go. Go seek my silvermine.'
'You are tired,' said the Lady Iro Murasaki, making allowances for him.
But Asodo Hatch did not respond, nor did he linger for the time it would have taken to kiss her. Instead, he quit the fine and mighty house of Pan Lay in something uncommonly like a fit of bad temper.
When Hatch was gone, the Lady Iro Murasaki reviewed their conversation, and the potential demand on her own treasury which was implicit in Hatch's situation. Had she truly heard something of a beggar's whine in his voice? She hoped she had imagined it.
She knew of a certainty that she could be of no assistance to him, for the money she had invested with the Bralsh yielded her but three per centum per annum. She had budgeted out her own expenses to the last minimum, and durst not risk her capital, since that was a certain way to ruin.
As an individual, no doubt Asodo Hatch would have been a good risk; but as a Frangoni, Hatch was bound into a very expensive web of family obligations.
Yet… yet despite all this… she cared for him. Love? She was too wise to be a fool to fall for love. But still…
Asodo Hatch left Pan Lay, the fine house which the Lady Iro Murasaki maintained on the heights of Cap Gargle, and descended by means of the Escadar Steps to the administrative quarter of Bon Tray. His intent was to route himself past the Grand Arena to Cap Uba and his own home on the Eastern Knoll.
As Hatch went down the Escadar Steps, he met Scorpio Fax coming up those steps.
'Hatch!' said Fax. 'I've been trying to get hold of you!'
'For what?' said Hatch.
'I have a confession to make,' said Fax, with the reckless bravado of a man who has abandoned himself to his death.
'A confession of what?' said Hatch.
'A confession of conspiracy,' said Fax.
'Conspiracy!' said Hatch, startled.
Ever since Scorpio Fax had suffered a nervous breakdown, Hatch had written him off entirely as far as the world of action was concerned, and so was all the more disconcerted by this knifestrike revelation.
'Yes,' said Fax. 'The Unreal have been months in conspiracy, inspired by the doctrines of Nu-chala-nuth, and I – Hatch, I was half-convinced at first, but now – '
'Nu-chala-nuth!' said Hatch, using the word as if it were an obscenity. 'Don't say you're tied up in all this!'
But of course Scorpio Fax had just declared as much, and he declared a lot more as he kept Hatch company to the bottom of the steps.
'I have the date of the revolution,' said Fax, as they came to the bottom of the steps.
'And?'
'It is scheduled for Dog Day. When the Festival of the Dogs begins, then will revolution likewise.'
'What will be the signal for the start of the revolution?'
'When the Dog Day drums start to beat,' said Fax, 'then the killing will start.'
Then Hatch questioned him further, though not perhaps with the depth and diligence that he should have, for a great weariness was upon him. Since he was so heavily burdened with his own problems, and since the empire and its emperor were of no help to him in solving those problems, wherefore should he help either empire or emperor?
