She Who Has No Name (The Legacy Trilogy) (53 page)

‘You seem to know a lot about the Queen’s affairs,’ the Emperor noted.

‘Cang keeps his eye on everyone and everything, especially here, so near to his home.  He has often sent me to scout these parts and that is when I first encountered Om-rah, her servant.  I suspect Cang may even have had a hand in spinning the rumours of Ajaspah, sowing the seeds of discontent amongst her people to fuel her war.  And that blasted comet does not help.  It does nothing but further the idea.’

‘Perhaps she is right.  It does seem quite a coincidence,’ Canyon said, but Balten only scowled back in response, for he was anything but superstitious.

Wondrously, they soon spied green fields
:
crops of corn, wheat and vegetables, growing on both sides the river.  Workers in wide-brimmed
,
woven
,
reed hats—Paatin men with their chests bare and women in rolled-high skirts—were tending them.  Others were standing
in
flat-bottomed boats and scooping into the river with long-handled nets.  They passed pastures of grazing animals: goats, cows, pigs
,
clusters of ducks, chickens and all manner of fowls.  Peacocks wandered and called freely, flying up and gathering on the many small pavilions dotting the landscape
,
which seemed to mark rest areas to escape from the sun. 

The river stretched on, with irrigation strips leading off from its sides until the greenery
was
spread in every direction for as far as the eye could see and there was no sign of the desert or its blasted sands.  There were even orchards and vineyards, row after row, and clumps of tall
,
wide-leafed trees, sporting strange
,
enormous fruits. 

They followed the river for hours, until Balten led them to a jetty on the riverside.  He chatted with the boatmen there and they were soon
sailing
upstream on a flat-bottomed vessel, leaving their dusty camels behind.

Ahead, a range of great stone hills came into view and
,
clumped at its base and
built
all over its sides was a city, large enough to rival any of the great metropolises of the Empire, bar Cintar itself. 

‘Hol,’ Balten remarked.  ‘City of the Desert Queen.’

The river ran straight on into the city, seemingly devoured by the buildings that crowded out on either side of it.  Space was obviously a precious commodity, for the houses were tightly packed and built
upon
each other in a way that seemed
at once
haphazard
and
yet appealing to the eye.  The white-walled houses at the edge of the city gave way to
larger
domed buildings, each coloured blue or green, each one more majestic and more opulent than the last.  Sails of coloured cloth and lines of flags hung between every possible building and they undulated slowly in the hot desert breeze.  Peacocks sat perched on the rooftops even here, calling out and fanning their feathers, while flocks of tiny birds darted about in erratic clouds.  Aqueducts, fountains and cascading water features criss-crossed the streets and there was no lack of greenery, with potted plants and trees sprouting from every
possible
balcony and rooftop and vacant space.  If the intent had been to create an oasis city, it had truly been successful.

The sight was breathtaking.  Every mote of space seemed built upon and crafted in a way so as to be aesthetically pleasing.  The waterways themselves seemed a part of the architecture, with bridges and crossings spanning them like bangles on the wrists of a many-armed dancer.  Finally, crowning the head of the mount around which the city was huddled, was a vast palace, equally as splendid as the city itself, with enormous statues erected around it
,
chiselled into the stone of the mountain.  Columns and towers rose all around the white-walled buildings, wrapped in vines and bristling with vegetation.  It was a stark contrast to the naked
,
red stone of the mount
on which they stood
.

‘So this is where they come from,’ Eric noted.

‘Only a small number,’ Balten revealed.  ‘Most come from the deep desert, but the city acts to unify them into one people of many colours.  They come and offer themselves to be trained in war.  The city is proof that their queen can perform miracles.  While it remains, her position as their god is without question.’

‘Another god?’ Eric groaned.

‘Not in your sense of the word.  They know she is flesh and blood, but they respect her power.  They still worship a pantheon of old gods, based on the stars and beasts of nature.’

The barge reached the side of the river and they disembarked, continuing into the city on foot. 
T
hey passed the workers and villagers without incident, tightly wrapped in their desert clothes.  Each passer-by nodded to them and clacked at them in their guttural tongue, and Balten replied in the same.  The people were varied in the colour of their skin, from lightly tanned to coal-black, and there were not only men, but women and children, all moving about according to their wants; from hurrying labourers to idling merchants and scampering children about their feet.

One of the robed men called out and started towards them.  He had a cloth wrapped around his face, but his arms and legs, down to his sandals, were bare.  His skin was moderate in tone compared to many of the others around him.  He called back to a group of others that he had left standing, and they darted off quickly.

Balten called to the man as he neared, but the fellow would not cease his excited chattering, and he continued motioning for them to come nearer.  They did so and he finally pulled his veil aside to reveal his face, and he gave a great broad smile.

‘Thank goodness.  I thought they would never leave,’ he said.

Samuel knew the man well.  ‘Lomar!’ he said with hushed excitement.  ‘I can’t believe we have found you.’

‘Well, more accurately, you have merely arrived, and I have found you.  Now come.  I sent those agents of the Queen away to fetch us some water and I don’t want to be here when they return and find you are not sons of the leader of the Purple Beetle Tribe.’

He began away and they followed him away through the streets.

‘Don’t speak,’ he whispered to them,’ and keep your faces covered until we get indoors.’

He led them for what seemed like an hour, crossing the frantic squares and streets.  Merchants from the far east had never been treated well in Cintar and here, surrounded by so many of the desert people and in constant fear of having their skin colour or habits give them away, the irony was tangible.

Finally, they
slipped
indoors into a rather large and surprisingly cool dwelling.  The walls were clean, covered with mottled orange clay, while the windows were slatted and drawn shut to keep out the heat of the day.  Lomar gave them water in large
,
glazed mugs and they drew down their veils and pulled off their headscarves before collapsing
o
nto a mound of firm cushions that had been piled on the floor.  There was no sign of any chairs in the room at all and it seemed not to be the Paatin custom to use such things.

‘Samuel, I am astounded to see you here,’ Lomar said, smiling with gladness.  ‘And Eric, too.  What a wonderful moment.  I have been waiting here all this time, desperately wondering how I was going to cope all by myself.  Who are these others?  Where is Master Goodfellow?’

‘He
i
s dead,’ Samuel explained, at which point Lomar immediately made one of his ritualistic gestures against evil.  ‘Grand Master Tudor also.  They accompanied us from Cintar, but we have had some terrible setbacks.  Many of our starting party did not make it here.  Do you know Balten?’  Lomar only shook his head.  ‘He is a member of the Circle.’

Lomar eyed the man suspiciously.  ‘I have heard rumour of them
,
Samuel, but I do not think this is such good company to keep.’

Balten only sipped at his cup and ignored the remark.

‘I am not so keen on his company either, but he has proved to be of assistance.  We can talk of it later but
,
as you will learn, we are not really in the position to pick and choose our allies at this point.  Master Celios also accompanied us from Cintar, but he stayed behind nearby.  Whether by choice or not, he seems to be helping the Circle to keep watch on us.’  To this, Lomar nodded thoughtfully.  ‘This is Sir Ferse.  He came as an aide for Master Celios, but now is going to help us retrieve the Empress.’  At this, Lomar raised a quizzical eyebrow.  ‘Finally, we have some representatives from the nation of Koia
:
Ambassador Canyon and his god.’  They each nodded their heads on introduction.’

‘I am short of words.  What an intriguing assortment to find before me.  I am sorry to meet you all
under
such circumstances, but
,
as much as it is worth, I
bid you
welcome.’

The Emperor in Sir Ferse nodded solemnly, but there was no response from Canyon and the woman, who did not understand his Turian tongue.

‘What news of the Empress?  Have you found her?’ the Emperor asked.

‘I believe I know where she is,’ Lomar explained, ‘but she is unreachable.  There is a network of tunnels beneath the mountain that holds all the Queen’s captives. 
T
he entrances are guarded by soldiers at all times, and Paatin wizards keep constant watch around the palace with a mesh of spells.  Worst of all, the stone of the mountain itself is magic resistant.  The nearest I have been is within sight of the entrance and I could already feel the magic-quelling power of the stone at work.  I cannot think of any way to get in.’

‘You’ve been here all this time and that is all you have come up with?  Getting into the dungeons is actually very simple,’ Balten said with a smug smile.

‘How is that?’ Lomar asked him.

‘Surrender, of course.  The Queen is only keeping her hostages in hope of luring the Saviour of Cintar to their rescue.  Here he is,’ he added, gesturing to the magicians.  ‘She asked for him to be sent and he has been delivered.  What better way into the palace?’

‘That is madness,’ Lomar responded nervously.  ‘The Queen is renowned for torturing and testing her captors.  The local people say it is better to die than be dragged into her cells.  She pits her prisoners against each other for her general amusement.  I think it better to avoid the dungeons at all cost.’ 

‘It’s true, getting out may be more of a challenge, but this is why we have come, after all.  I will take Samuel to hand himself over and ensure that the guards know who he is.  The others can wait here, in hiding, and come to our rescue when required.  It may take some time, but once Samuel can retrieve the relic, I’m sure we can think of some way to escape the city and make
our way
back to the Valley of the Ancients.’

‘We also need to save the Empress and her son, and then slay the witch,’ Eric said.  ‘We will need to tread carefully until we can free them.  We cannot risk them getting harmed.’

‘True,’ Balten
agreed
.  ‘At present, the Queen possesses the greater advantage, but I think we will have little
opportunity
to do much from outside the palace.  As Lomar has said, sneaking in or out would be nearly impossible, and he is the only one who can move comfortably outside.  We would be in constant danger of being
discovered
because of our looks and
our
inability to speak their tongue.  In truth, I think we have little choice but to begin our task from the inside.’

‘
I agree
,’ Lomar said.  ‘It will be dangerous.  But here, everything is dangerous.’