Still later, Itk t’Sa woke again at the whisper of the tent-flap being drawn aside. It might have been the force and power of her Pe Choi mind that made the copper-armoured soldier see only a Livyani slave and a small, pretty, high-breasted Chakan girl sprawled in sleep there together. In any case the man pursed his lips in admiration-and envy-and went off to report to his superiors that no youth of the desired description was to be found in Chnesuru’s caravan.
Itk t’Sa began collecting her few possessions. Some she bound up in her leather travelling pack, others she placed in Tlayesha’s scuffed medical bag. It was as though there were an hourglass within her brain, and something told her that the last few grains of sand were running out.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Sweat dripped from the fat Salarvyani like wax from a burning candle. Qutmu hiTsizena pushed his baton of office forward upon his knee so that the torchlight played full upon the golden medallion of the Imperium.-And, more usefully here, upon the gleaming copper worm of Lord Sarku that wound around the staff beneath it. Even a foreign slaver would know-and fear-a Kasi, a Captain, of a Cohort of Four Hundred in a Tsolyani Legion. This should be especially true when that Legion was the one called the Battalions of the Seal of the Worm.
“I am a Chri- fly,” Qutmu remarked to no one in particular. “I buzz here, I buzz there. I light upon meat, and upon bread, and upon the cookpots, and upon the fruits, and upon the blossom of the Mash-tree. At length I come to the heart of that sweetest and stickiest of all flowers.”
“Lord-”
“The girl is indeed she whom I seek. Eyil hiVriyen, priestess of the Temple of Hrihayal. It seems I have alighted full in the midst of the honey. It is not tasty to mix sugar with fat-drippings, slaver, but it now behooves me to light upon you.”
The officer’s gaze flickered up to the four skull-helmeted troopers behind the Salarvyani. One of these tapped the slavei upon his balding pate with the flat of his sword. The blow was not hard, but the effect was enlightening: Chnesuru fell as though struck with a mattock to lie grovelling upon his rich Khirgari carpet.
“A victim of Zu’ur, poor girl! Ohe, you carry strange and illegal cargoes! I do not think your license to deal in slaves in our Empire covers such merchandise.”
“Master, I did not know… I was given the girl for sale…” “Al l shall be clarified in time. If you are blameless, you shall not suff er. We Tsolyani are just, pleasant to guests, and noble in our actions.”
“Lord, you and your men-I have money.” Chnesuru cast an anguished eye toward the bronze-bound black chest that stood beside the pile of sleeping mats upon which the officer sat. “I have a copper amulet of your Worm Lord, high master-magical and holy-a gift for you..
“My writ is broad,” Qutmu broke in pleasantly, “and aside from this specific maiden and her male companion, it empowers me to correct such irregularities as may be discovered within our land. Shall we speak of unpaid taxes, customs dues still owed upon slaves-possibly small packets of items that go unnoticed and forgotten in your eagerness to cross our borders?’ ’
The Salarvyani actually wriggled.
Qutmu stood up and reached out a broad, scarred hand to lift the lid of the box. “Documents, bills of sale, ladings, accounts- all boring and correct, no doubt. Much money. Perhaps enough to buy a palace? A high officer’s post in the Legion? A farm in the Kraa Hills where I can raise Dlel — fruit and become as wealthy as Subadim the Sorcerer when he sold the shell of the Egg of the World to the demon Tkel?”
Chnesuru peered up through clenched fingers, a glint of hope in his eyes. “Yes, yes, Lord. Take what you will…”
“The Imperium must not be cheated, of course. And there are other matters, other pots of sugar for this poor Chri — fly to dine upon. My Lord Vridekka?”
The weazened oldster who had followed the officer into Chnesuru’s tent gathered his robes and cleared his throat. “He has what we seek, good Kasi. His mind tells me that the young priest is also within our grasp: in the sick-cart, or in the tent of the harlot this Shqa — beetle uses as a physician. He knows nothing more, though we must speak privately later of a certain tanner- from Yan Kor.”
Qutmu raised a thick eyebrow and turned to one of the soldiers. “Chonumel, send men! I had thought that this damned caffle had been searched from end to end!”
“Those who were inattentive might find it beneficial to do duty in the labyrinth below the Lair of the Undying in the City of Sarku,” Vridekka muttered.
They waited.
A soldier thrust the tent-flap aside, saluted, and sketched the writhing worm of Lord Sarku in the air. “Sire, the girl’s quarters are empty. There are no such persons in the encampment.” Qutmu stared. His heavy features worked, but words did not come. Then he was on his feet, leather creaking. A booted foot caught Chnesuru’s shoulder and spun the slaver over to lie gaping up at the lurching torches.
“The Salarvyani knows nothing of this,” Vridekka said. “Leave him, Kasi. We may still take the priest. Did anyone see him?” “The slaves say that the youth, a girl, and a white Pe Choi were seen descending the ramp toward the city, Sire. The gates have opened for the day, and they must have entered by now. We have sent troops after them.”
Qutmu was already out of the tent, men, torchbearers, overseers, slaves, and onlookers scattering before him. “Take the priestess Eyil hiVriyen to our barracks within the city and hold her upon this writ.” He threw the document back at one of the subalterns. “She will be returned to her temple as soon as the Imperium is done with her.-Oh, and confiscate this wretched caravan in the name of the Emperor! We can get a decree from the Imperial courts later-the judges here in Purdimal are friends of ours. Sell the slaves, dismiss the overseers, convert the goods into money, and send whatever is fitting to the Governor of the city. Keep a tithe of the wealth for our temple, of course-and none will look too closely if you retain a few Kaitars for us, eh?”
“The Salarvyani, Sire?”
Qutmu looked back for a final glance. “Why, summon the priests of Lady Hrihayal. They will reward him well for what he has done to their little priestess-perhaps peel all that hairy hide off of him and serve him up to their Demon Prince Rii’ulanesh! He will make a pretty centrepiece at one of their feastings!”
He did not stop to hear Chnesuru’s last despairing cries.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Hot in the summertime, windy in the spring and the autumn, blustery and sometimes chill in the winter, that was Khirgar.
Upon its steep hill, the old town hoarded its memories to itself. The lowest concentric ring of walls was of red sandstone and black basalt, and their gates bore the sigil of Emperor Metlunel II “the Builder,” who had ruled Tsolyanu eleven hundred years ago. Within these ramparts, the second ring skirted the lower slopes of the hill; this was made of Engsvanyali grey granite brought from the mountains to the east where Thenu Thendraya lowered upon the horizon. The third and highest battlements, those surrounding the edifices of the dim age of the Bednalljans, the First Imperium, were of marble and black diorite, stones that were not found in these parts and came from no one knew whence-perhaps from beyond the Plain of the Risen Sea, where the cities of southern Yan Kor stood today? Bands of sand-scoured glyphs marched around these innermost and highest towers, proclaiming the majesty of Queen Nayari of the Silken Thighs, she who had founded the First Imperium by efficiently mixing just two ingredients, the histories said: sex and poison. Other, slenderer spires were crowded within this innermost enclosure, and their inscriptions spoke of the Priestkings of Engsvan hla Ganga, the Golden Age of the Priest Pavar. The truncated pyramids and monumental walls of the present Second Imperium jostled for room amongst these older, more graceful structures. A hundred years, a millennium, were as days in the life of Khirgar, the Heartbeat of the North.
Taluvaz Arrio climbed up to High God Hill for the third time in this six-day. Once more, he thought, and the
