'You must go back, Silk. He sends us to tell you.'
'You must, my lad.' A man's voice, the voice of which Lemur's
had been a species of mockery. Looking up he saw the carved brown
face from his mother's closet.
'We're your parents.' He was tall and blue-eyed. 'Your fathers
and your mothers.'
The other woman did not speak, but her eyes spoke truth.
'You were my mother,' he said. 'I understand.'
He looked down at his own beautiful mother. 'You will always be
my mother. Always!'
'We'll be waiting, Silk my son. All of us. Remember.'
* * *
Something was fanning his face.
He opened his eyes. Quetzal was seated beside him, one long,
bloodless hand swinging as regularly and effortlessly as a pendulum.
'Good afternoon, Patera Calde. I would guess, at least, that it may
be afternoon by now.'
He lay on dirt, staring up at a shiprock ceiling. Pain stabbed his
neck; his head, both arms, his chest, both legs, and his lower torso
ached, each in its separate, painful way.
'Lie quietly. I wish I had water to offer you. How are you
feeling?'
'I'm back in my dirty cage.' Too late, he remembered to add _Your
Cognizance_. 'I didn't know it was a cage, before.'
Quetzal pressed down on his shoulder. 'Don't sit up yet, Patera
Calde. I'm going to ask a question, but you are not to put it to the
test. It is to be a matter for discussion only. Do you agree?'
'Yes, Your Cognizance.' He nodded, although nodding took
immense effort.
'This is my question. We are only to speak of it. If I were to help
you up, could you walk?'
'I believe so, Your Cognizance.'
'Your voice is very weak. I've examined you and found no broken
bones. There are four of us besides yourself, but--'
'We fell, didn't we? We were in a Civil Guard floater, spinning
over the city. Did I dream that?'
Quetzal shook his head.
'You and I and Hyacinth. And Colonel Oosik and Oreb. And...'
'Yes, Patera Calde?'
'A trooper--two troopers--and an old fencing master that
someone had introduced me to. I can't remember his name, but I
must have dreamed that he was there as well. It's too fantastic.'
'He is some distance down the tunnel now, Patera Calde. We
have been troubled by the convicts you freed.'
'Hyacinth?' Silk struggled to sit up.
Quetzal held him down, his hands on both shoulders. 'Lie quietly
or I'll tell you nothing.'
'Hyacinth? For--for the sake of all the gods! I've got to know!'
'I dislike them, Patera Calde. So do you. Why should either of us
tell anyone anything for their sake? I don't know. I wish I did. She
may be dead. I can't say.'
'Tell me what happened, please.'
Slowly, Quetzal's hairless head swung from side to side. 'It would
be better, Patera Calde, for you to tell me. You've been very near
death. I need to know what you've forgotten.'
'There's water in these tunnels. I was in them before, Your
Cognizance. In places there was a great deal.'
'This is not one of those places. If you have recovered enough to
grasp how ill you are and keep a promise, I'll find some. Do you
remember blessing the crowds with me? Tell me about that.'
'We were trying to bring peace--peace to Viron. Blood had
bought it--Musk, but Musk was only a tool of Blood's.'
'Had bought the city, Patera Calde?'
Silk's mouth opened and closed again.
'What is it, Patera Calde?'
'Yes, Your Cognizance, he has. He, and others like him. I hadn't
thought of that until you asked. I'd been confusing the things.'
'What things, Patera Calde?'
'Peace and saving my manteion. The Outsider asked me to save
it, and then the insurrection broke out, and I thought I would have
saved it if only I could bring peace, because the people made me
calde, and I would save it by an order.' For a second or two, Silk lay
silent, his eyes half closed. 'Blood--men like Blood--have stolen
the city, every part of it except the Chapter, and the Chapter has
resisted only because you are at its head, Your Cognizance. When
you're gone...'
'When I die, Patera Calde?'
'If you were to die, Your Cognizance, they'd have it all. Musk
actually signed the papers. Musk was the owner of record--the man
whose body we burned on the altar, Your Cognizance. I remember
thinking how horrible it would be if Musk were the real owner and
clenching my teeth--puffing myself up with courage I've never
really had and telling myself over and over that I couldn't allow it to
happen.'
'You're the only man in Viron who doubts your courage, Patera
Calde.'
Silk scarcely heard him. 'I was wrong. Badly mistaken. Musk
wasn't the danger, was never the danger, really. There are scores of
Musks in the Orilla, and Musk loved birds. Did I tell you that, Your
Cognizance?'
'No, Patera Calde. Tell me now, if you wish.'
'He did. Mucor told me he liked birds, and he'd brought her a
book about the cats she carried for Blood. When he saw Oreb, he
said I'd gotten him because I wanted to be friends, which wasn't
true, and threw his knife at him. He missed, and I believe he
intended to miss. Blood, with his money and his greed for more, has
done Viron more harm than all the Musks. Everything I've done has
been trying to pry bits of the city from Blood. I was trying to save
my manteion, I said; but you can't save just one manteion--I can't
