Epiphany of the Long Sun (43 page)

"Fight now?" Oreb inquired.

Smiling, Maytera Marble turned to Silk. "That's the bird I saw hopping into your kitchen when Doctor Crane was treating you, isn't? Later on my glass, and on your shoulder like that in the garden. I knew I'd seen him before.

"No, little bird, no fighting. Not now, or not yet. But Generalissimo Oosik told me quite frankly that if there's no way to stop Maytera Mint's insurgents from attacking short of firing on them, he'll stand back and let them do it. You see, I confided to the children that your master was in here. They seem to have told a great many other people before we left the city, so the whole thing's my fault. I feel very badly indeed about that, and I'm trying to make amends."

Blood added, "But she won't say who told her. Or have you changed your mind about that, Mama?"

"Certainly not. I gave my word."

Loris, who had been leaning against the mantel, left it to stand in front of Maytera Marble. "This little conference has already run too long. Allow me to tell you what we want, Maytera. Then you can go back out there and repeat it to the Trivigauntis and Mint's five thousand rioters, if there are actually that many, which I am ungentlemanly enough to doubt. Our position is not negotiable. You accept our terms or we'll kill these prisoners, Silk included, and crush the rebellion."

Incus stood again. "You have
no
authority-"

Potto's fist striking Incus's cheek sounded almost as loud as the breaking of the bookend.

"So, we've come to that." Maytera Marble smoothed the black skirt covering her metal thighs. "It will be needlers and knives next, no doubt."

Silk said, "I warn you, Councillor Potto, not to do that again."

"Or you'll break my neck?" Potto's smile was that of a fat boy contemplating a stolen pie. "Beat little butcher, big butcher bark? We've had some games of strength already. If you've forgotten them, I can teach you the rules again."

Incus spat blood. "The just
gods
avenge the wrongs of
augurs.
A doom…"

Potto lifted his hand, and Incus fell silent.

"No hit," Oreb suggested.

"The gods may or may not," Silk murmured. "I don't know, and if I were forced to choose, I'd probably say that they did nothing of the sort."

Loris applauded with a sardonic smile; a half-second too late, Potto joined him.

Abruptly Silk's voice dominated the room. "The law does, however. Maytera told you how many troops Generalissimo Oosik has, saying-very fairly and reasonably, I thought-that she didn't want you to feel you'd been tricked when all this is over. You should have listened more carefully."

"Tell 'em!" Xiphias put in.

"I'm attempting to." Silk nodded, mostly (it appeared) to himself. "Because it will be over soon. There will be a trial, and you, Councillor Potto, and you, Councillor Loris, will hear Maytera, Chenille, Master Xiphias, and Patera Incus testify to what they saw and heard-and felt, as well-to a judge who will no longer be afraid of you."

Potto giggled and glanced at Loris. "Is this what they picked to replace us?"

Surprising everyone, Blood said, "Yeah, I didn't get it at first, but I'm starting to."

Maytera Marble told Potto, "All human things wear out and must be replaced eventually, Councillor."

"Not me!"

"I'd think you'd welcome it. How long have you toiled, worrying and planning, for our ungrateful city? Fifty years? Sixty?"

"Longer!" Potto dropped into a gilt settee.

Silk inquired, "Councillor, do you-not the authentic Potto down in your underwater boat, but you yourself to whom I speak-recall the Short Sun Whorl? Councillor Loris implied that marble could be quarried there. I don't know anything about antiques, but I've heard that it is a stone that's never found in its natural state in our whorl."

"I'm not that old."

Loris snapped, "I was about to outline our demands. I'd like to get on with it."

Maytera Marble left her chair to stand beside Silk. "Do, Councillor, please."

"As I said, they're not negotiable. The following five conditions embody them, and we're prepared to accept nothing less." Loris fished a square of paper from an inner pocket and unfolded it with a snap.

"First, Silk must declare publicly, without reservation, that he is not and has never been Caldé, that Viron has none, and that the Ayuntamiento alone is its sole governing body."

To bring peace I'll be happy to, Silk told him; and only when he had completed the final word realized that he had not spoken aloud.

"Second, there must be no new election of councillors. Vacant seats are to remain vacant, and the present members of the Ayuntamiento are to remain in office.

"Third, the Rani of Trivigaunte must withdraw her troops from Vironese territory and furnish us with hostages-whom we will name-against further interference in our affairs.

"Fourth, the Civil Guard must surrender its treasonous officers to us, the Ayuntamiento, for trial and punishment.

"Fifth and last, the rioters must surrender their arms, which will be collected by the Army."

Through bruised lips, Incus muttered, "I suggest you
pray
long and hard over this, my son, and
sacrifice.
The
wisdom
of the gods has not enlightened your
councils.
"

"We don't need it," Potto told him.

"When
Splenetic Scylla
learns-"

Maytera Marble interrupted. "What have you to offer the Rani, the rioters, as you call them, and the Guard in return?"

"Peace and a general amnesty. The captives you see here, including Silk, will be released unharmed."

"I see." Maytera Marble laid a hand on Silk's shoulder. "I'm very disappointed. It was I who persuaded General Saba and Generalissimo Oosik that you were reasonable men. They listened because of the courage of my sib General Mint. And because of her victories, of which we're all very proud, if I don't offend the good gods who gave them to her by saying so. Now I find that by interceding for you I've squandered all the credit she's earned us."

Loris began, "If you think us unreasonable now-"

"I do. You say Patera Silk isn't really Caldé. What good is his declaration then? What do you want him to tell the people? That the augur of the Sun Street manteion says that your Ayuntamiento is to continue to govern the city? You'll only make yourselves ridiculous."

Potto snapped, "Why didn't you laugh?"

"Caldé?" Loris smiled. "Those are our demands. The Prolocutor hasn't freed you from your vows, you said, the implication being that you want him to. Are you willing to resign this caldeship you've never really had as well?"

"Yes, I'd like nothing better." Silk had been leaning on Xiphias's silver-banded cane; he straightened up as he spoke. "I did not choose to become involved in politics, Councillor. Politics chose me."

"Good Silk," Oreb explained.

Loris returned his attention to Maytera Marble. "You heard that. You'll want to tell Oosik what you heard."

"Unfortunately," Silk continued, "the remainder of your terms are not feasible. Take the second. The people demand that government return to our Charter, the foundation of the law; and the law requires elections to fill the empty seat in the Ayuntamiento."

"We ought to kill you," Potto told him."I will."

"In which case you would no longer hold the Caldé. The people-the rioters, as you call them-will choose a new one, no doubt a much better and more effective one than I am, since they could hardly do worse."

He waited for someone else to speak, but no one did; at length he added, "I'm not an advocate, Councillors-I wish I were. If I were, I could easily imagine myself defending you on nearly every charge that could be brought against you thus far. You suspended the Charter, but I believe there was some uncertainty regarding the wishes of the old Caldé, and it was long ago in any case. You tried to put down the riots, but in that you were doing your duty. You questioned Mamelta and me when we were detained for violating a military area, which could easily be justified."

"He
hit
me!" Incus exclaimed. "An
augur!
"

Silk nodded. "That is an individual matter, concerning Councillor Potto alone, and I was considering the Ayuntamiento as a whole-or rather, what remains of that whole. But what you say, Patera, is quite right; and it's an indication of the road along which this Ayuntamiento is traveling. I'd like to persuade Councillor Loris, its presiding officer, to turn back before it's too late."

Loris fixed him with a malevolent stare. "Then you won't to our demands? I can call in the soldiers at once and get this over with."

Silk shook his head. "I can't accede. Nor can I speak for the Rani of Trivigaunte, obviously; but I can and do speak for Viron; and for Viron all of your demands, except the one for my resignation, are out of the question."

"Nevertheless," Maytera Marble put in, "General Mint and Generalissimo Oosik may accede to them, in part at least, to save Patera Silk. May I speak to him in private?"

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"It isn't ridiculous, I must. Don't you see that General Mint and Generalissimo Oosik and all the rest of them are only acting on the authority of Patera Silk? When I report that I've seen him and tell them you've recognized him as Caldé, they will certainly want to know whether he's willing to agree to your terms. They'll have to know what he wants them to do, but they won't pay the least attention to it unless I can say that he told me in private. Let me talk to him, and I'll go back and talk to Generalissimo Oosik and General Saba. Then, if we're lucky, we'll have real peace in place of this truce."

"We have not recognized him as Caldé," Loris told her coldly. "I invite you to retract that."

"But you have! You've called him Caldé several times in my presence, and I could see you congratulating yourselves on having the Caldé. You even called him the key to the crisis. You're threatening to shoot him because he won't agree to your precious five demands. If he's the Caldé, that's only cruel. If he isn't, it's idiotic."

She raised her hands and time-smoothed face to Loris in supplication. "He's terribly weak. I've been watching him while the rest of us were talking, and if it weren't for his stick I think he would have fallen. Can't you let him sit down? And tell everyone else to leave? A quarter of an hour should be enough."

Blood rose, swaying a little. "Over here, Patera. Take my seat. This's a good chair, better than the one you had in here that other time."

"Thank you," Silk said. "Thank you very much. I owe you a great deal, Blood." Chenille, next to him, took his arm; he wanted to assure her he did not need her help, but stumbled on the carpet before he could speak, eliciting an unhappy squawk from Oreb.

"Get the rest of them out," Loris told Potto.

Xiphias paused in the doorway, showing Silk both his hands, then twisting one slightly and separating them.

Chenille kissed his forehead, the brush of her lips the silken touch of a butterfly's wing-and was gone, violently pulled away by Potto, who left with her and shut the door.

Maytera Marble reoccupied the chair beside the one that had been Blood's. "Well," she said.

Silk nodded. "Well indeed. You did very well, Maytera. Much better than I. But before we talk about-all of the things we'll have to talk about, I'd like to ask a question. One foolish question, or perhaps two. Will you indulge me?"

"Certainly, Patera. What is it?"

Silk's forefinger traced small circles on his cheek. "I know nothing about women's clothes. You must know a great deal more-at least, I hope you do. You got Councillor Loris to bring Chenille her gown?"

"She was naked under that augur's robe," Maytera Marble explained, "and I refused to talk about anything else until they got her dressed. Bloody called in one of the maids, and she and Chenille went with a soldier to find her some clothes. They weren't gone long."

Silk nodded, his face thoughtful.

"It's too small for her, but the maid said it was the largest in the house, and it's only a little bit too small."

"I see. I was wondering whether it belonged to a woman I met here."

"You and Bloody were talking about her, Patera." Maytera Marble sounded ill at ease. "He asked you where she was, and you said you'd gotten separated."

Silk nodded again.

"I don't want to pry into your personal affairs."

"I appreciate that. Believe me, Maytera, I appreciate it very much." He hesitated, staring through the open window at the wind-rippled green lawn before he spoke again. "I thought it might be one of Hyacinth's, as I said. In fact, I rather hoped it was; but it couldn't be. It almost fits Chenille, as you say, and Hyacinth's much smaller." The circles, which had ceased to spin, reappeared. "What do you call that fabric?"

"It's chen… Why, I see what you're getting at, and you're right, Patera! That gown's chenille, exactly like her name!"

"Not silk?"

Maytera Marble snapped her fingers. "I know! She must have told the maid her name, and it suggested the gown."

"She kissed me as she left," he remarked. "I certainly didn't invite it, but she did. You must have seen it."

"Yes, Patera. I did."

"I suppose she wanted to signal that she was with us-that she supported us. Master Xiphias made a gesture of the same sort, probably something to do with swordplay. Anyway, her kiss made me think of silk, of the fabric I mean, for some reason. It seemed strange, but I thought perhaps her skirt had brushed my hand. You say it's actually called chenille?"

"Chenille
is
silk, Patera. Or anyway the best chenille is, and the other is something else that's supposed to look like silk. Chenille is a kind of yarn, made of silk, that's furry-looking like a caterpillar. If they weave cloth of it, that's called chenille too. It's a foreign word that means caterpillar, and silk threads are spun by silkworms, which are a kind of caterpillar. But I'm sure you know that."

"I must speak to her!" he said. "Not now, but when we're alone, and as soon as I can."