Dragons of War (17 page)

"That was then and this is now, and the good folk of the valley see a chance to reduce their taxes. The folk of Kenor came here to escape the cost of taxation in the East."

"I understand, sir."

"Yes, you're a sharp one, I knew you would. And if you should survive, as I rather expect you will, then in the spring we will send you to Marneri for trial."

Relkin said nothing.

"And now you can have the pleasure of informing your friends of these orders. Tell Dragon Leader Turrent he is to report to me. Dismissed."

The next day was a feast day in honor of the founding of the Kenor colonies. The fort was thrown open, and stalls and tents set up in the open spaces.

Relkin was late joining the festivities since he had a mountain of chores to finish for Turrent, but at length he completed them and made his way down to the bonfire and the colored tents.

He found a group of dragonboys, Swane and Tomas in their midst, swaggering away from the apple shy.

"Hey, Relkin, guess what," called Tomas.

"Ol' Swane scored three hits, won a ticket to the fortuneteller for all of us, come along."

"Oh, that's all right, I thought I'd just get some fried fish."

"We'll all get fried fish later, first we get our fortunes told, for free. Come on Quoshite, it's on old Swane." Swane took his arm, and Relkin allowed himself to be pulled along.

The fortune-teller was a most impressive old man whose name Mumplepeezer the Great appeared on a signboard in gold and scarlet lettering outside his red-and-white-striped tent. Mumplepeezer had a long white beard, a purple conical hat covered in magical signs picked out in gold and silver, and a black velvet robe. He sat hunched over a small red table on which sat a great glass globe that glowed faintly within.

"Come in, boys, welcome to Mumplepeezer's realm. Sit thee down and pay attention. Who wants their fortune told first?"

Swane pushed forward. "I won the apple shy, so I gets to go first."

The fortune-teller opened a long narrow box and produced a set of ivory sticks.

"Now, be still in that seat young man and compose yourself. Let us have no giggling, no fidgeting, for these things can throw off the all-seeing eye of Mumplepeezer and corrupt the view of the future."

He passed one hand over the glass and mumbled a phrase or two. The glass dimmed, then brightened.

He threw the sticks into the box and examined them carefully.

"It seems that your romantic nature will soon be rewarded. You will meet a young woman who will be the answer to your dreams. Make sure to treat her politely and generously, however, for she will be of noble blood."

Swane chortled, "Hear that, lads, I'm gonna find me a girl from the nobility and retire to her father's castle."

The face of the fortune-teller was uneasy, however. He stirred the sticks with a long finger.

"Curious, very curious." He shrugged. "It must be a randomizing element, sometimes these things creep in. Now, let's not be boisterous, boys, who is next?"

Tomas Black Eye took the seat. Once more the hand waved over the crystal ball, and the ivory rune sticks were thrown into the box.

The fortune-teller's eyebrows shot up, and his mouth tightened into a line.

"Well, now," he said, giving Tomas a searching look. "It is possible that you will live to a ripe old age, marry a handsome woman, and have seven children by her."

"All right," said Tomas happily, not believing but not wanting to disbelieve either.

"But there is a matter of destiny. I have thrown it again, the Indicator. Not as strongly as the first case but still it is there. The seven stick is in the House of War and also the House of Destiny. You will face a great trial, and you may not survive to enjoy the rest of your fortune."

"Ho ho! A great trial, sounds like you've got the wrong dragonboy, sir." Swane pushed Relkin forward. "Do Relkin next, he's the one who faces a trial."

The others all laughed.

Mumplepeezer eyed him carefully as he sat there. The aged hand passed over the ball of glass, the other hand tossed the sticks.

There was a sharp intake of breath. Hurriedly the sticks were taken up and thrown again.

"Mother preserve us!" said Mumplepeezer. He stared at Relkin with something like awe in his old, washed-out grey eyes.

"War, a great battle is foretold. Your destiny lies on that battlefield."

"Of course," Relkin replied, feeling uncomfortable with the old man's stare. "Nothing surprising about that, we're dragonboys."

But the fortune-teller was not finished. "No, you don't understand. For each of you I have thrown the Seven on Seven, the Indicator, which signifies great events in the offing. Then there was the Hanged Man and the Cat O'er the Moon for the first and the second, which signified that the wheels of destiny are in motion. Now I have thrown the Sky dragon and the True Sword. There is no doubt boys, no doubt at all. Never in my life have I thrown the Seven on Sevens three times in a row. Never have I seen such terrible predictors as the True Sword, the Cat and the Hanged Man in a row. Do you see now? This is the Hand of the Mother. You have been chosen for a great service."

He gathered up the sticks and threw them again. The boys were uncertain now, half ready to giggle, half ready to take it all too seriously.

Mumplepeezer gasped and put his hands up to his face.

"The Hand, by the breath 'tis Her Hand. Look, the Seven on Seven again, the Indicator. Never have I seen this before. Four times in a row, and with the Cat O'er the Moon above the True Sword and the Door to Her Wisdom Open. Great events are in motion around you."

Swane grew impatient. "Away with these tricks. You just seek to open our purses. I won the apple shy, and we have free tickets."

"No, young sir, not at all, I will not even take your free tickets. This is sacred work. In fact, I must shut my tent and go at once to the temple and pray. Never have I seen such a conjunction of signs. Never!"

And so they left the tent of Mumplepeezer, with concern stirring in their hearts. Relkin, in particular, was troubled.

The evening never recovered. The fried fish they ordered at the fry were greasy and barely hot enough. The beer they ordered was flat and unappealing. Swane's bragging and silly jokes fell as flat as the beer, and Relkin left them quite early, turned himself in, and lay in his cot. Sleep claimed him then, and he slipped away into dreams marked by Mumplepeezer's withered old face and the ivory rune sticks clattering in their box.

A cold sea breeze blew against the ramparts of the city of Andiquant. Above, against the night, grey clouds hurried eastward. On the high turret of the Tower of Swallows, the Great Witches met again.

This time Lessis and Ribela were joined by a third, Irene, the Queen of Oceans. Irene only a century younger than Ribela herself, had the ageless look of all her sisters. She seemed perhaps forty years of age, with corn-blond hair turning silver here and there, and the slim beauty of youth giving way to the creases of gathering maturity. Her pale blue eyes were the only things that betrayed her power. To be looked on with those eyes was to be read to one's bones.

Irene was a hidden witch, her presence unknown to any save the emperor and the other Great Witches. Her work was akin to that of Lessis, and her networks of informants threaded the port cities of the world. As befitting a hidden witch, her costume was ordinary—a suit of brown tweeds, a full skirt, heavy clogs, and a bonnet to keep off the rain.

"Sisters," she said after they had exchanged a silent greeting. "It has been a long time since I met with either of you, although I would say it has been considerably longer since I saw you, Ribela."

Ribela did not answer. Irene waited a few seconds, then spoke again. "Well, I understand it, you've had your reasons. You dislike the human form."

Irene and Lessis smiled together. Ribela made no response at first, although the dark eyes perhaps sparkled momentarily and a gleam or two came from the fringe of silver mouse skulls along the hem of her gown. Then at last she spoke, in a deceptively mild voice.

"Sisters, we all contribute to our great effort in our individual ways." The silver skulls of mice twinkled.

They nodded. Ribela's fight was carried on in dimensions beyond normal human understanding. Neither Lessis nor Irene could match the powers of the Queen of Mice in those areas.

"So. What news do we have?"

Lessis turned to Irene slightly. "Sister Ocean has disturbing news from Czardha."

Ribela's black eyes riveted on the Queen of Oceans.

"I got the word last night. Trader put in from the Bakan. One of our sources in Czardha had word that mammoths had been captured and bred in captivity by Padmasa. Quite recently, with the entire operation kept extremely secret. Our source found out only because two men who had hunted the mammoths for Padmasa had fled the hand of the Masters and sought new lives in westernmost Czardha."

"How many mammoths?"

"At least one hundred. Several herds were destroyed to capture at least one hundred cows, plus a dozen bulls."

"They are trying to create a new class of troll."

"Perhaps. Although with this kind of thing, their ingenuity is endless. Irene suggested they might create sea monsters, creatures that would attack shipping."

Lessis and Ribela exchanged tiny smiles. Irene's pale blue eyes grew hard for a moment. The Queen of Oceans had a tendency to exaggerate the importance of her realm.

"That would be a menace to all our trade," murmured Ribela politely.

"Which faces menace enough as you know," said Irene. "The pirates of the Great Straits are growing worse each year. We must do something."

"We shall, Sister, we shall," said Lessis.

"But? I detect a tremor here. What has happened?"

"Nay, Sister Oceans, it has not happened yet. But a terrible blow is due to fall on us soon. In the Hazog, they brew something new and utterly monstrous to throw against us."

"Why have we not heard of this before?"

"Bah," sniffed Ribela, "there has been a catastrophe. Tell Irene the truth."

Lessis smiled with an effort. In truth, this was painful for her. These had been her people, her networks.

"Our network at Axoxo was penetrated. We lost everything. Later they tracked down poor Semelia in Padmasa. We are virtually blind and deaf when it comes to Padmasa now."

Irene was stunned by this news. "We have no agent in the Tetralobe?"

"Everything is gone there. The Masters move in complete intelligence security, if they but knew it."

"So a great blow is coming. Raised from the abducted women of Ourdh?" Despite her blind spots, Irene had a quick mind.

"Naturally."

"What does the emperor say?"

"He will 'prepare our response.' He is constrained by political needs. The cost of the mission to Ourdh was enormous. There is growing resistance to the cost of maintaining our legions at the current fighting strength."

Irene did not hesitate, a trait that had always endeared her to Lessis. "What can I do to help matters?"

"If only all the Sisters responded as does our Queen of Oceans," murmured Ribela, who knew of Lessis's fondness for Irene.

"The Queen of Mice has always set a firm example for us all," replied Irene calmly.

Once again the mouse skulls seemed to twinkle.

"Still, the goodwill of all our sea folk will be vital during the coming storm." Lessis's voice deepened with concern.

Irene's pale blue orbs gazed long into the grey eyes of the Grey Sister.

"Yes, Sister Ocean," said Lessis. "Unless I am greatly mistaken, this storm will test the limits of our strength."

Ribela's facial mask cracked ever so slightly to allow a smile. "And when was the Queen of Birds ever mistaken?"

Lessis turned to Ribela.

"I'm afraid that someone has had to make decisions," said Lessis. "Usually I've been the only one of us to be here."

"Sausann?"

"Is preoccupied. She enters the mystic."

"May the Mother protect her," said Irene, kissing her nails in prayer.

"May the Mother protect us all. I fear that Lessis is absolutely correct. There is a new barrier erected on the higher planes to protect Padmasa. We cannot get in. I suspect that they are screening this great blow that they prepare."

"What is to be done, then?" said Irene.

"We must have more and better intelligence. What you have brought us is invaluable. We know that our enemy prepares some dread stroke for the battlefield. We suspect he readies an enormous host. We have the emperor's agreement. We can prepare. But we need more if we are to anticipate the enemy's blow."

"I will go to the Argonath at once," said Lessis. "Perhaps I must try to enter Axoxo myself."

"Ever and again you risk yourself. Did you not learn anything from Tummuz Orgmeen?"

Lessis smiled. "I learned that faintness of heart brings no rewards."

"This will be a great risk, Sister."

"We have no choice, Sister. You said so yourself. We must have better intelligence. There is really only one way to get it, and there is no time to train someone else."

Ribela sighed. It was true enough. Time was pressing urgent.

"I will leave for the Argonath shortly. Sister Irene will rouse the hearts of our sea folk, and the Queen of Mice will renew her watch upon the astral planes."

"Others can keep that watch. I deem it more important that I spend time at council and with the emperor."

"I thank you, Sister. With your strength behind him, the emperor will hew to the correct path, I am sure."

"The trick will be to make him accept our analysis of the situation. He is a scion of a good line, but he is a man. He finds it hard to take advice that conflicts with his own beliefs."

"Which is why I must go to the Argonath once more."

"And there to Axoxo? Like a moth to the dark flame."

Lessis smiled. "Sister Ribela is in a mood for humor this night."

Irene smiled, too. "I agree, Sister, never have I seen her in such spirits."

Ribela's annoyance flickered again. They teased her, they always did.