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had seen a ghost. "What is it?"
"The Prahbrindrah Drah is here. By himself. He wants to see you." He tried to
whisper but men heard. Word spread.
"Quiet! All of you. Here? Where?"
"I told Abda to bring him around the long way."
"That was thoughtful, Narayan. Keep working, Ram."
Narayan fled before Abda brought the prince. I started in on the appropriate
public courtesies. He said, "Forget that. Can you clear this out some? I'd
like a little privacy." "Fire drill. Something. You men, outside. Abda, see to
it."
The crowd started moving reluctantly. The prince eyed Ram. I said, "Ram stays.
I can't get dressed without him."
"Surprised to see me?"
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"Yes."
"Good. It's time somebody surprised you."
I just looked at him.
He demanded, "What's all this bull about you quitting?"
"Quitting what?"
"Resigning. Going away. Leaving us to the Shadowmasters."
That had been the implication but not the substance of the messages I'd had
delivered. "I don't know what you mean. I'm going to make a speech to some
priests. Just to straighten them out. Where did you get the idea I was
deserting?"
"That's the talk. They're all excited. They think they've beaten you. That
they just stood up to you, stopped letting you walk over them, and you're
going to say good-bye."
Exactly what I wanted them to think. What they wanted to think. "Then they're
going to be disappointed."
He smiled. "I've had nothing but trouble from them all my life. I've got to
see this."
"I wouldn't recommend it."
"Why not?"
I could not tell him. "Trust me. If you're there you'll regret it."
"I doubt it. They couldn't give me much more trouble than they have already. I
want to see them when you disappoint them."
"You do, you'll never forget. Don't go."
"I insist."
"I warned you." Him being there would not do him any good but it would be good
for me. I told myself I'd done my best. My conscience was clear.
Ram finished dressing me. I told him, "I need Narayan. Abda! Would you look
after the prince? If you'll excuse me?"
I got Narayan into a corner where we could whisper. I told him what had
happened. He grinned that damned grin of his till I was ready to rip it off
his face. But he jumped to another subject. "The Festival is almost upon us,
Mistress. We have to make travel plans soon."
"I know. The jamadars want to look me over. But I have too much on my mind
now. Let's get through tonight first."
"Of course, Mistress. Of course. I didn't mean to press."
"The hell you didn't. Is everything set?"
"Yes, Mistress. Since early this afternoon."
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"Will they do it? When it comes to the moment of decision, will they?"
"You never know what a man will do till he's faced with a decision, Mistress.
But the men are all former slaves. Very few of them Taglian."
"Excellent. Go. We'll be leaving in a few minutes."
The square was called Aiku Rukhadi, Khadi Junction. It had been a crossroads
long ago, before the city swamped the countryside. It was Shadar then but
Vehdna now. It was not a big square, being a hundred twenty feet in its
greatest dimension. It had a public fountain in its center, water for the
neighborhood. It was crowded with priests.
The cult leaders had come and had brought all the friends they wanted to
witness the humiliation of the female upstart. They had dressed for the
occasion. The Shadar wore white, simple shirts and pantaloons. The Vehdna wore
kaftans and glamorous turbans. The most numerous contingent, the Gunni crowd,
was subdivided by sect. Some wore scarlet robes, some saffron, some indigo,
some aquamarine. Jahamaraj Jah's successors wore black. I guessed the crowd at
between eight hundred and a thousand. The square was packed.
"Every priest who's anybody is here," the prince told me. We entered the
square behind a half dozen incompetent drummers. They were my only bodyguards.
Even Ram was absent. The drummers cleared a space against a wall.
I told the prince, "That's the way I wanted it." I hoped I looked sufficiently
impressive in costume. Atop my great black stallion I loomed over the
Prahbrindrah, whose chestnut was no dwarf. The priests noticed him and started
whispering. Eight hundred men whispering make as much noise as a swarm of
locusts.
I positioned us with the wall behind and the drummers in front.
Would it work?
It had, wonderfully, for my husband, so long ago.
"Soul lords of Taglios." Silence fell. I had that spell right. My voice
carried well. "Thank you for coming. Taglios faces a severe test. The
Shadowmasters are a threat that cannot be exaggerated. The tales out of the
Shadowlands are ghosts of the truth. This city and nation has one hope: turn a
single face toward the enemy. In faction lies defeat." They listened. I was
pleased.
"In faction, defeat. Some of you feel I'm not the champion for Taglios' cause.
More of you have been seduced by lust for power. By factionalism. Rather than
let that worsen and distract Taglios from its grand mission I've decided to
eliminate the cause of factionalism. Taglios will present one face after
tonight."
I donned my helmet while they were waiting for me to announce my abdication. I
set the witchfires free.
They began to suspect then. Someone shouted, "Kina!"
I drew my sword.
The arrows began to fall.
While I was talking Narayan's picked men had placed barricades in the narrow
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streets entering the square. When I drew my sword, soldiers inside the
surrounding houses let fly. Priests screamed. They tried to flee. They found
the barricades too high. They tried to turn on me. My talent was enough to
hold them off, beyond my terrified drummers. The arrows continued to fall.
They surged this way and that. They fell. They begged for mercy.
The arrowfall continued till I lowered my sword.
I dismounted. The Prahbrindrah Drah looked down, face bloodless. He tried to
say something, could not speak. "I warned you."
Narayan and his friends joined me. I asked, "Did you send for the wagons?" It
would take dozens to haul the bodies to an unhallowed mass grave.
He nodded, no more able to speak than the prince. I told him, "This is
nothing, Narayan. I've done lots worse. I'll do worse again. Check them out.
See if anybody important is missing." I walked across the killing ground to
tell the bowmen they could release the people who lived in the houses.
The Prahbrindrah never moved. He just sat there and stared, painfully aware
that his presence made it seem he approved.
Ram found me there. "Mistress," he gasped. He had run all the way from the
barracks.
"What are you doing here?"
"There is a messenger from Ghoja. From Blade. He rode night and day. Come
immediately." He was not affected by the mass of bodies. He might have been
watching the neighborhood women at the well instead of Narayan's cronies
finishing the wounded.
I went. I spoke with the messenger. For a minute I was furious with Blade.
Then I saw the silver lining.
Blade's actions gave me an excuse to move the troops out before they got wind
of what had happened here tonight.
Chapter Thirty-Six
The Prahbrindrah Drah sat there an hour, staring at his bedchamber wall. He
would not respond to his sister's questions. She was shaken. What had
happened?
He looked at her at last.
"Did she go through with it? Did you hope she wouldn't? I told you not to go."
"She didn't resign. No. She didn't." He laughed squeakily. "Not by a long
shot." His tone was spooky.
"What happened?"
"She resolved our problems with the priests. Not permanently, but it'll be a
long time before..." His voice trailed off. "I'm as guilty as she is."
"What happened, dammit! Tell me!"
"She killed them. Every last one of them. She lured them there by making them
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think they were going to humiliate her. She had archers cut them down. A
thousand priests. And I was there. I watched her walk among them afterward, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]