The Waterless Sea (13 page)

The sword' s edge of the shadow
On the red sand
Sharp as your sleeve when you turn from me.

A ripple of applause greeted the poet as he bowed modestly, then resumed his seat. The next contender rose to his feet. Heart sinking, Calwyn saw that it was none other than Amagis, forbidding in his stark black clothes. She shrank in her seat, trying not to catch his eye.

As sharp as your sleeve
Is the raven' s beak
Descending on the
nadu
from the fierce wind.

Amagis' s voice was low but commanding, and the poem was met with an appreciative rustle of laughter and much more enthusiastic applause. The Third Princess, who had seated Calwyn beside her, leaned across and whispered.

‘Amagis is very clever at this. That' s the only reason I invited him.
Nadu
is Jamin' s nickname, he' s such a timid little thing. And Amagis is known as the Raven. That' s why everyone laughed.'

‘I see, thank you,' Calwyn whispered back. Amagis stared coldly around the assembly as though daring anyone to better him. Calwyn was almost sure he hadn' t seen her.

Keela nudged her elbow. ‘Come on, my dear.Your turn. It' s not polite for newcomers to wait too long.'

Calwyn stared at her in horror. ‘I – I can' t –'

The Princess' s blue eyes crinkled with amusement. She laid a slim, green-gloved hand on Calwyn' s glove: a gesture of great intimacy. ‘I' ll help you. Stand up!'

Reluctantly Calwyn rose from her stool. She felt the piercing gaze of forty pairs of eyes as everyone in the crowd turned to face her. There was Amagis, his black eyes burning in his deathly pale face. Calwyn swallowed, and stared over the array of complicated hairdos to the back of the gallery. All around the walls, with their frieze of swooping birds, were the servants who had carried the stools. They stood silent and immobile, hands folded, as if they too were merely furniture. Halasaa stood among them; his face leapt out at her, and his bright eyes smiled.

Courage, sister!

He was joking, but in truth, Calwyn' s heart beat as fast as it had ever done when she was faced with true danger. Keela smiled up at her.

‘From the fierce wind falls the raven,' she whispered.

‘From the fierce wind falls the raven,' repeated Calwyn. Her voice was steady and clear; years of practising chantment had given her that at least.

‘Bitten by the slithering serpent Beneath the flame of the sun.'

Calwyn repeated the whispered words. There was an immediate gasp of horrified laughter, and a few cheers among the applause. It seemed that Calwyn had said something very daring, or very rude. She shot a quick glance at Amagis. His face was livid with anger. Calwyn sat down, too furious to bow. The Third Princess touched her hand; she was laughing.

‘
Bitten by the snake
means he' s been disappointed in love. And
the flame of the sun
means he' s been burned by trying too hard at a sport he' s not fit for. Very good, my dear! You' ve managed two wonderful insults in the space of one poem!'

‘I would rather not have offended him,' whispered Calwyn fiercely. Keela bit her lip in mock contrition.

‘Forgive me! But everyone will know it was my fault. No one will think that – pardon me for speaking frankly – a girl so new to the Court, fresh from the wilderness, would be capable of two superb insults, and in such an elegant verse, too! Amagis won' t blame you.'

Calwyn was too agitated to pay attention to the next poem, which, naturally, contrived to insult her. But she did catch something about
a dishevelled tent, blown in the sandstorm
.

After the poems were over, the servants fetched delicate glasses filled with cool, frothing drinks, and the courtiers mingled, strolling about the gallery, arm in arm. This intimacy, ‘touching gloves' , was the highest mark of friendship at the Court. At the first opportunity, the Third Princess drew Calwyn' s arm through hers. Calwyn was still upset, and would rather have been left alone to explore the immense gallery, but Keela was insistent.

‘Come, my dear, don' t be cross! This is what life at Court is all about! The cut and thrust of wit, and so on. You' re lucky I' ve taken such a liking to you. There are ladies in this room – and gentlemen! – who would willingly scratch out your eyes from sheer jealousy! And you' ll find me a very valuable friend. We
will
be friends, Calwyn, you know, even though you do dress so badly.' She plucked at Calwyn' s sleeve. ‘Did those Cledsec girls help you pick out your clothes? Now, let me see, what
are
their names?'

The ice-blue gaze was uncomfortably piercing. Calwyn stammered, trying to remember the names of Heben' s sisters. Luckily for her, the Princess was soon whisked away by some other ladies, who cast derisive glances at Calwyn, evidently sharing Keela' s judgement of her dress sense, and Calwyn was left alone to wander the perimeter of the gallery. It took her a long time to walk all the way around it, with Halasaa at her heels, and when they were done, the gathering had almost dispersed, and a stony-faced servant was waiting to usher them out. Neither Calwyn nor Halasaa had sensed any hint of chantment. As they departed, Keela blew Calwyn a kiss, and tweaked at her robes. ‘I' ll teach you to drape them properly,' she whispered. ‘Come to my reception rooms tomorrow.'

‘Well, really!' said Calwyn crossly, watching her sweep away around a bend in the corridor, trailed by a little group of her admirers and their servants.

You dislike her.
Halasaa was at her elbow.

‘Yes, I do. Tricking me into insulting Amagis! How can someone be so polite and so rude at the same time? But I suppose she' ll be useful.'

She is no more rude than others in this place.

‘That' s no compliment,' said Calwyn ruefully. ‘For all their fine manners, I don' t think I' ve met a more unpleasant collection of people in my life.'

Halasaa smiled peacefully, and his words were typically diplomatic.
They are unlike any people I have known.

‘A pampered, perfumed pack of idlers!' After her uncomfortable experience at the tournament, Calwyn felt the need to vent her feelings. ‘Did you hear them, taking images from the desert for their poems? I' m sure none of them has ever set foot in the desert!'

It would be possible to live in this Palace for a lifetime and never see the
sands outside.
A shadow crossed Halasaa' s face.
This place is more
dead than the desert itself. It is like the coral gardens Mica spoke of, built from
the bodies of dead creatures.
Coming from the thick forests of the Wildlands, teeming with life, it was the most damning thing he could have said.

It was long after midnight when Keela heard the discreet tap at her doorway. She frowned at her reflection in the polished silver mirror, slowly removed her earrings, and handed them to her maid. ‘Leave me, Riss,' she said. ‘I' ll manage the rest myself.' The maid bowed, and silently withdrew. The Third Princess, like most of the ladies of the Court, often received visitors in the middle of the night.

Keela called, ‘You may enter.'

The heavy curtain at her doorway lifted, and a dark, shadowy shape appeared in the mirror. Keela did not turn around. Languidly she reached up and extracted a long tortoiseshell pin from the elaborate arrangement of her hair. ‘Really, my dear, must you skulk about like that? Can' t you whistle, or sing? Oh! How foolish of me!' She lifted her naked fingertips to her lips and looked coyly over her shoulder. ‘Of
course
you can sing!'

Amagis stood at her shoulder, his pale face impassive. ‘You will have your jokes, my lady.'

‘Oh, yes...I am sorry about tonight – I couldn' t help myself. You forgive me, don' t you?'

‘I would forgive you anything, my lady.' Amagis' s voice was taut with suppressed emotion.

‘I know you would.' Keela blew his reflection a kiss. ‘And I did well, did I not, pretending friendship with that
unwashed
child
? But must I go on pretending, my dear? She is so tiresome.' ‘Yes. I must find out why they are here.'

‘Oh, very well. If you insist.' Keela withdrew another pin. A flaxen lock of hair, smooth as silk, fell to her waist. ‘But who is she, Amagis?Why must I be charming to a little
nadu
from the wilderness?'

‘A little
nadu
she is not. Watch her carefully, my lady. She is a chanter, and her servants are both chanters too, of some sort.'

‘She is a chanter? Really? How extraordinary. Well, I knew
at once
she was not one of the Cledsec, in spite of the medallion she wears.' Keela touched a fingertip to the golden pendant on her own brow. ‘I could see
that
from one glance at her face. Would you like me to speak to the Emperor? We could have them thrown out like
that
.' Keela snapped her fingers.

‘No. Not yet. I would like to find out why she is here. It' s possible she is in the pay of the rebels. There has been violence inTeril. The rebel leaders may be plotting some action against the Palace, using foreign sorcery. Or even against the Emperor himself. It would be a perfect way for an assassin to infiltrate the Court; no one but another sorcerer would ever suspect her of being dangerous.'

‘My dear, you' re not serious! That little
nadu
, dangerous?'

‘Even a little
nadu
may give a sharp bite to the Emperor. Or even,' added Amagis slowly, as if he formed the thought as he spoke it, ‘To one greater than the Emperor.'

‘You think she plans to harm
me
?' Keela swung around on her stool.

‘You, or – I was thinking of our master,' Amagis admitted. ‘Oh. Him.' Keela turned back to the mirror. ‘
He
is far away. Surely you ought to be more concerned about
me
?'

‘Of course, of course.' Boldly, Amagis picked up the lock of blonde hair in his gloved hand and caressed it. ‘Never fear, my lady. No one would dare to harm you. Nothing will disrupt our master' s plans.'

‘Our plans,' drawled Keela. For a heartbeat, her cold blue eyes met his dark gaze in the mirror. Then suddenly she was the charming, flirtatious Princess once again. ‘Amagis! You' re frowning. You know perfectly well that you' re forbidden to frown in my presence.'

‘Forgive me, my lady. The arrival of these chanters has disturbed me.'

Keela said shrewdly, ‘You don' t like having other sorcerers about, do you?You' d rather it was just
you
. And those children, of course. . .'

‘My lady, I beg you, do not speak of
them
!' Amagis glanced swiftly at the curtained doorway. ‘I have told you many times,
they
are a sacred secret! If anyone, my brother sorcerers, or the Emperor, were to discover that I have shared that knowledge – particularly with a woman, even one as – as extraordinary as yourself, the consequences would be unspeakable!'

‘If that' s the way you feel, you shouldn' t have told me about them in the first place,' said Keela petulantly, plucking out more pins. ‘Anyway, what does it matter? Our master will be here soon enough, and then he' ll be the Emperor and Lord of the Sorcerers, too, and I' ll be Empress, and there' ll be no one to care what I know or don' t know!'

Amagis' s long, cadaverous face looked even more sombre than usual. ‘So long as our master arrives to carry out his revolution before the rebel leaders can carry out theirs,' he said. ‘These are uncomfortable times, my lady. Discontent ripples all through the Empire; I have seen it on my travels. Strange things are written in the stars. If the rebels succeed, then our world will be turned inside out. I say again, my lady: watch the girl.'

‘Yes, yes. Why don' t you watch her yourself ?'

‘Ah, my lady,' murmured Amagis, raising the smooth lock of hair to his lips. ‘I would rather spend my time watching you.'

Keela smiled, and another hairpin fell to the floor.

The Imperial Court had been settled in the Palace of Cobwebs for so many generations that everyone had lost count of how long it had been. Yet in some ways the courtiers lived as their desert-dwelling ancestors had done long ago, when they roamed with flocks of
hegesi
, and camped under woven tents, with no possession too heavy to be loaded onto a
hegesu' s
back.

The seasonal shifting of the entire Court from one part of the Palace to another marked a memory of those days, and each piece of furniture was light enough to be transported from place to place by a single person. There were screens carved from ivory, so thin that the light shone through them, and feather-light woven mats and curtains and cushions. Even the most elaborate painted cabinets that housed the ceremonial robes of the courtiers were built from the lightest, most precious wood, and rested on castors, so they could be rolled along the twisting corridors with ease.

On this day, Calwyn had been invited to watch the Midsummer Procession from outside the rooms that Keela would be vacating. The Third Princess was famously in the thick of everything, even in her choice of apartments, and from the gallery outside they would have an unparalleled view of the whole Imperial parade.

‘I' m sorry I can' t be with you myself, darling,' said Keela regretfully. ‘But I have a role to play, you know. How delicious it would be to watch everyone go by! But then, of course, I wouldn' t be able to see the most gorgeous creature of all –
me
! Now, sweetest, this diamond necklace, do you think? Or the sapphires?'

Now Calwyn and Halasaa and Mica were crowded along the edge of the gallery with the other eager observers. Mica leaned so far over the delicate railing that Calwyn feared she might topple down onto the Fifth Prince' s head.

‘Look, look! He' s got
gold
in his
hair
! What a goose! Do you think Heben' s wishin he could see all this? Look at that one! Her gloves go right up to the top of her
head
!' With an excited squeal, she turned to tug at Calwyn' s arm, but in the crush, she found herself clutching at the sleeve of a stranger.