Quetzal's shoulders rose and fell. 'I think we can count on it,
Maytera. Before Kypris manifested here on Scylsday, the Windows
of our city had been empty for decades. I can't take credit for that, it
wasn't my doing. But I've done everything in my power to prevent
theophanies. It hasn't been much, but I've done what I could. I
proscribed human sacrifice, and got it made law, for one thing. I
admit I'm proud of that.'
He turned to Silk. 'Patera Calde, you wanted to know if I
protested when the Ayuntamiento failed to hold an election to
choose a new calde. You were right to ask, more right than you
knew. If a new calde had been elected when the last died, we
wouldn't have had that visit from Echidna today.'
'If Your Cognizance--'
'No, I want to tell you. There are many things you have to know
as calde, and this is one. But the situation wasn't as simple as you
may think. What do you know about the Charter?'
'Next to nothing, Your Cognizance. We studied when I was a boy--that
is to say, our teacher read it to us and answered our questions.
I was ten, I think.'
Maytera Marble said, 'We're not supposed to teach it now. It was
dropped from all the lesson plans years ago.'
'At my order,' Quetzal told them, 'when even mentioning it
became dangerous. We have copies at the Palace, however, and I've
read it many times. It doesn't say, Patera Calde, that an election
must be held on the death of the calde, as you seem to believe. What
it really says is that the calde is to hold office for life, that he may
appoint his successor, and that a successor is to be elected if he dies
without havmg done it. You see the difficulty?'
Uneasily, Silk glanced up and down the street, seeing no one near
enough to overhear. 'I'm afraid not, Your Cognizance. That sounds
quite straightforward to me.'
'It does _not_ say that the calde must announce his choice,
you'll notice. If he wants to keep it secret, he can do it. The reasons are
so obvious I hesitate to explain them.'
Silk nodded. 'I can see that it would put them both in an
uncomfonable position.'
'In a very dangerous one, Patera Calde. Partisans of the successor
might assassinate the calde, while those who'd hoped to become
calde would be tempted to murder the successor. When the last
calde's will was read, it was found to designate a successor. I
remember the exact wording. It said, 'Though he is not the son of
my body, my son will succeed me.' What do you make of that?'
Silk stroked his cheek. 'It didn't name this son?'
'No. I've given you the entire clause. The calde had never
married, as I should have told you sooner. As far as anybody knew,
he had no sons.'
Maytera Marble ventured, 'I never knew about this, Your
Cognizance. Didn't the son tell them?'
'Not that I know of. It's possible he did and was killed secretly by
Lemur or one of the other councillors, but I doubt it.' Quetzal
selected a long cedar split and poked the sinking fire. 'If they'd done
that, I'd have heard about it by this time. Probably much sooner. No
public announcement was made, you understand. If there'd been
one, pretenders would have put themselves forward and made
endless trouble. The Ayuntamiento searched in secret. To be frank,
I doubt that the boy would have lived if they'd found him.'
Silk nodded reluctantly.
'If it had been a natural son, they could've used medical tests. As
it was, the only hope was turn up a record. The monitors of every
glass that could be located were queried. Old documents were read
and reread, and the calde's relatives and associates interrogated, all
without result. An election should have been held, and I urged one
repeatedly because I was afraid we'd have a theophany from Scylla
unless something was done. But an election would have been illegal,
as I had to admit. The calde had designated his successor. They
simply couldn't find him.'
'Then I'll have no right to office if it's forced on me.'
'Hardly. In the first place, that was a generation ago. It's likely
the adopted son's dead if he ever existed. In the second, the Charter
was written by the gods. It's a document expressing their will
regarding our governance nothing more. It's clear they're displeased
with the present state of things, and you're the only
alternative, as Maytera told you.'
Quetzal handed the sacrificial knife to Maytera Marble. 'I think
we can go now, Maytera. You must stay. Watch the fire until it goes
out. When it does, carry the ashes into your manteion and dispose
of them as usual. You may notice bones or teeth among them. Don't
touch them, or treat them differently from the rest of the ashes in
any way.'
Maytera Marble bowed.
'Purify the altar as usual. If you can get people to help you, take it
back into the manteion. Your Sacred Window, too.'
She bowed again. 'Patera has already instructed me to do so,
Your Cognizance.'
'Fine. You're a good sensible woman, Maytera, as I said. I was
glad to see that you had resumed your coif when you went back to
your cenoby. You've my permission to enter the manse. There's an
old woman there. I think you'll find she's well enough to go home.
There's a boy on one of the beds upstairs. You can leave him there
or carry him into your cenoby to nurse, if that will be more
convenient. See to it that he doesn't exert himself, and that he
drinks a lot of water. Get him to eat, if you can. You might cook
some of this meat for him.'
Quetzal turned to Silk. 'I want to look in on him again, Patera,
while Maytera's busy with the fire. I'm also going to borrow a spare
robe I saw up there, your acolyte's, I suppose. It looked too short
for you, but it should fit me, and when we meet the rebels--perhaps
we should call them servants of the Queen of the Whorl, some such.
When we meet them, it may help if they know who I am as well as
