JULIEN

II

Chapter 3

High Technology

The part of the Palace they were in was somehow even more disconcerting than the area outside with its klirk-flagstones. In fact the atmosphere here reminded Julien a bit of the Interworld and its bizarre geometry. Xarax was sitting on his shoulder, guiding them through a labyrinth of changing colours and fluctuating gravity. Beside him Ambar and Dillik were doing their best to look brave, but they were hanging onto his hands like grim death. Just behind them was Tannder, who looked quite relaxed as he walked along with a watchful Aïn beside him. Karik, who had been delighted to be included in the expedition, wasn't with them: he had been sent to help Niil to organise their passage to Dvârinn and prepare for the rest of their journey.

“Have you ever been here before, Tannder?” asked Julien.

“Never, My Lord. I think nobody except the Emperor and perhaps one or two of the Masters of Major Arts ever came here.”

Even their voices sounded distorted.

“Xarax tells me that it's impossible to get here by klirk, and apparently not even a Master Guide can jump in here.”

“Ohw get out eithzew,” added Aïn, whose voice in this place was almost incomprehensible.

They went on for quite a long time, following translucent corridors along which ran ripples of constantly-changing light. Nobody except Xarax would ever have been able to find his way through such chaos, and even a blind man would have been unable to cope with the bizarre geometry and the variations in gravity. Dillik, despite being used to travelling by boat on rough seas, vomited up his breakfast in a yellowy geyser which, to add still more horror to the situation, fell in slow motion to the floor, indicating that normal gravity had gone walkabout once more. But he still didn't complain when Julien wiped his mouth for him using a fold of his own abba.

Finally they reached their destination, which was a circular hall, not quite as big as the Ocean Rotunda but still big enough to look very impressive. Here the universe seemed to have recovered its normal stability, and daylight – or something very like daylight – seemed to be filtering into the room through a translucent ceiling.

In the centre of the hall was a hemisphere about thirty metres across which appeared to be made of black glass or some highly polished metal and which – at least as far as they could see – didn't appear to have any doors or other means of entry. Julien pulled his hands free from the grip of his two friends.

“You'll all have to wait here,” he said. “Nobody can enter the bubble except the Emperor and his haptir.”

“Be very careful, My Lord,” said Tannder. “It could be a trap.”

“Possibly, but I'm not going to touch anything.”

“I still think you're taking an unnecessary risk.”

“Tannder, we're not going to solve our problems without taking a few risks. I really need to see what's in there.”

At that moment Xarax spread his wings and flew straight at the polished wall, penetrating it with no apparent difficulty.

“Apparently Xarax hasn't forgotten his duty, My Lord,” observed Tannder.

The slight smile that accompanied this remark suggested that Julien should have thought up this solution himself – after all, what is the point in having such an efficient scout if you don't use him?

“Of course,” said Julien. “But I don't like to see him putting himself at risk instead of me, even if it is the right thing to do.”

Xarax soon returned and perched on Julien's shoulder once more.

I don't think there is any danger, he said, but things don't look too good in there.

Why? What's up?

They are all dead.

All of them? Aren't there any left alive at all?

No. Do you still want to see for yourself?

Er... what do they look like? Are they skeletons? Or... I don't know... do they smell bad? Are there maggots?

No, nothing like that. If you didn't know they were dead you wouldn't notice.

Then I think I'd better have a look.

He told the others what Xarax had told him.

“It looks as if all the spare bodies are dead,” he said. “I told you the Palace was about as secure as a paper padlock.... anyway, I'm going to look for myself, but I'm not intending to stay there very long.”

Like Xarax, Julien was able to walk through the apparently solid wall with no trouble. He found himself inside an iridescent bubble. Around the edge of the room were a score of grey metal pedestals, each of which supported a sort of transparent sphere that appeared to be liquid, quivering now and then like a drip of water hanging from a tap. Inside each sphere was an adolescent of around sixteen or seventeen, floating weightlessly, eyes wide open and with a mane of dark hair spread like a halo around a face that looked coldly perfect.

If their eyes were closed you would think they were asleep, he commented.

They're dead, replied Xarax. Trust me. I checked all the generators. They normally produce an anentropic field.

A what?

Those bubbles that look like water to you are actually anentropic fields. It means that nothing inside them can change. That is why they are perfectly preserved.

Well, they obviously work really well, because they're all dead!

They are dead because somebody killed them.

Do you know how?

Somebody must have modified the fields. It wouldn't take very long.

But who could have done that?

I have no idea. Theoretically it could only have been you or me.

Me? But I've never been here in my li... You mean Yulmir?

Well, it wasn't me.

But why would he have done that?

I can't think of any reason.

Could the machines have malfunctioned?

These generators are no more likely to malfunction than the stars themselves. And the probability of twenty-three generators all malfunctioning at the same time can't even be calculated. And there's more.”

Julien followed Xarax to the centre of the room. There, on a field generator which was clearly not working, sat a big blue egg marbled with gold.

This was my successor, said Xarax.

The next Haptir to the Emperor?

Yes.

And he's dead too?

Yes.

I'm sorry.

Xarax offered him the mental equivalent of a smile.

I didn't really know him, he said. He hadn't been born yet.

That's true. I'm an idiot.

You certainly are, but it's part of your charm. Come on, we'd better get back to the others before they start worrying.

oo0oo

Chapter 4

Confidences

The First Trankenn of the Ksantiris was in a state of fevered activity: His Imperial Highness the Emperor had been kind enough to honour it with a visit, and that despite the disgrace which had fallen upon the House as a result of Nandak's treachery. Fortunately Lord Niil was nothing like his wretched brothers, and the word was that the Emperor held him in high esteem. He must, otherwise why had he performed the ancient Rite of Trust with him? And he had even gone so far as to insist that Lord Niil take up his rightful place as First Lord of the Ksantiris. And so the whole ship had been scrubbed from top to bottom, and everything that could be done at such short notice had been done to make it look at its best. The most eminent members of the Noble Families who lived in the Ksantiri domains had shamelessly bribed the few Guides available in order to be able to attend the reception which had been hastily organised by Lord Niil's overworked administration, and the trankenn was consequently swarming with grandees dressed in their finest ceremonial hatiks.

Away from the throng, the members of what was starting to become a team were in Niil's private kang discussing Julien's macabre discovery.

“So if anything happens to you, you won't be able to move into a new body?” asked Niil.

“Strangely enough I don't find that too much of a shock,” said Julien. “Where I come from you only get to die once. And to be honest I don't think I'd want to find myself inside one of those spare bodies.”

“Why? Are they ugly?”

“No, but... it's just... they don't look like me.”

“Of course they don't look like you! They look like the person you used to be!”

“It's a bit more complicated than that, but it doesn't really matter. What does matter is that someone managed to kill them, and the haptir's egg, too. Someone is really keen to make sure there aren't any more Emperors in the R'hinz.”

“Well, either that, or someone has decided to take the Emperor's place,” commented Tannder. “Whoever is behind it must have access to some very significant resources. We knew that already, of course, but after this last discovery...”

“There is one thing that bothers me,” said Julien. “When Yulmir disappeared the first time Aldegard told me that they knew he wasn't dead because he hadn't reappeared in one of his spare bodies. Since nobody can get into that room except for the Emperor and his haptir, I suppose Xarax must have been the one to go and check.”

“I suppose so,” said Tannder.

Yes, I went to look straight away, said Xarax in Julien's head.

And the bodies were still alive then?

Yes. I stayed long enough to make sure.

“He says he checked that the bodies were in working order then, which means they must have been killed since,” reported Julien. “I wonder if we could go back and look for some sort of a recording system that could tell us exactly when it happened...”

There's no need to go back. I've kept an image of the biometric indicators.

Julien saw a quick succession of numbers and incomprehensible diagrams recorded by the haptir's eidetic memory.

The date of their death does not appear, Xarax told him. The record has been tampered with.

You said that the biometric indicators did not lie.

I was mistaken.

Then they could still be alive.

No. I am certain of that. It is simply that the person who did it was careful to leave no clue.

Julien relayed this to his companions.

“That's it,” he concluded. “That's all we know for now. And now you'd better go and smarten yourselves up, because the party will be starting shortly.”

“Can't I stay here with Xarax?” asked Dillik.

“I'm afraid not,” said Julien. “Xarax is coming to the party too, although nobody will be able to see him – not even you, Dillik.”

“Um... My Lord?”

“Yes, Tannder?”

“Erm... I don't want to bother you, but... well... your hair...”

“What's wrong with my hair?”

“It's quite long, My Lord.”

“Nonsense – you're imagining things! And in any case I'm determined to set a fashion here. Lord Niil, I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't use your poutri quite so often.”

“As you wish, My Lord.”

“And that goes for you too, Noble Brother Ambar.”

“Your Lordship knows that I will do anything to please him.”

“As for you, Dillik, I'll leave it to the judgement of the Honourable Xarax. And of course I'll let the Honourable Master Tannder decide for himself and his pupil – I don't want anyone saying I'm a tyrant! And as for Master Aïn, I think his blue fur suits him perfectly. It would be a pity to change the colour.”

oo0oo

In his sumptuous bronze-green hatik Julien looked worthy of the admiration of the crowd. His face, decorated with the white curlicues of the Imperial Marks and framed by locks of a deep reddish-brown, expressed the noble self-assurance which comes from the certainly of one's own power and status. His green eyes scanned in turn each of the people who crowded into the hall in the hope of being introduced, expressing a courteous benevolence and completely masking the uneasiness he felt. By his side Niil was producing a continuous stream of small talk adapted to the circumstances, while Ambar tried to avoid the attentions of ladies – far too many of them – who cooed to each other that he was 'simply adorable, my dear!', often adding in an audible whisper, 'you'd never guess he found him on a quay in Aleth, would you?'

Dillik was happily surprised to bump into his mother, Mistress Nardik, who had been invited and transported here on Julien's orders. He had also urged her to choose from the five sets of top-of-the-range clothes his messenger had taken with him: it was unthinkable that the mother of Xarax's friend should suffer the humiliation of appearing at the party looking like a provincial who had been invited by accident. Of course it helped that she was very much aware of her new status as spouse to the Emperor's Mirror's First Captain, and this allowed her to sail through the dangerous waters of High Society as if she had been doing it since birth.

Dillik's little sister Nirchenn had come very close to throwing a most unladylike tantrum when she discovered that her presence at the party would not be required, but her mood changed when she discovered that a box sent to her from the Emperor contained – amazingly – a perfect copy of the five sets of clothes sent to her mother in a size that would perfectly fit the doll Julien had given her previously. Organising all this at very short notice had probably cost a fortune, but Julien reasoned that the treasury had had virtually no expenditure during the thirteen years of his enforced absence from the R'hinz, and so it could certainly afford a little extravagance now and again.

The feast, a fairly small-scale affair of a hundred and twenty-eight guests, was a great success, thanks in no small measure to the exceptional quality of the liquid supplies drawn from the Imperial Cellar. Julien himself drank only a little innocuous raal and clear water, but some of the eminent sailors present showed no such restraint, and by the time dessert was served they had started to sing a fine assortment of sea songs, not all of which were suitable for mixed company.

Lady Axelia, mother of Niil and, latterly, Ambar, sat with a small group of her friends at the Emperor's table, charming him with a stream of light and frothy conversation that carefully steered well clear of anything too serious or too personal. But she still managed to say a few words of sincere admiration about her newly-acquired and already very dear son's singing ability, and by so doing she won a permanent place in Julien's heart.

“I should also mention,” she went on, “how unhappy his former mathematics teacher, Master Sandeark, was when Ambar went back to Nüngen. He said that Ambar was exceptionally promising, and he begged me to ask if he himself could be transferred to Nüngen so that he might continue to help Ambar to develop his great talent. He swears that doing nothing about it would be like digging a huge rough gemstone out of the ground and then refusing to cut it. And he was close to tears when he said it.”

Julien had no great enthusiasm for mathematics himself, but he was aware that this discipline, no matter how dull it seemed to him, was considered a Major Art to some people, and if Ambar had a talent for it...

“Noble Lady,” he said, “you know that I'm willing to do practically anything that will benefit Ambar. Please tell Master Sandeark that he can certainly come to Nüngen to continue as Ambar's teacher, but that he's going to have to wait a bit before that can be arranged. For reasons you can probably guess I have to keep Ambar with me for his own protection at the moment. Like Niil he'll have to stay with me, and I'm likely to be on the road for some time yet. But as soon as things are back to normal we'll be happy to send for Master Sandeark.”

“I'll let him know,” she said. “I'm sure it'll make him happy.”

oo0oo

Then came the main event of the evening. Julien had flatly refused to lead out the first dance of the ball: even though he had unwillingly taken a few lessons from Tannder, he knew perfectly well that never in a million years would he be able to dance with the ease and grace of Niil, who was happily performing a set of intricate steps right now. And that is why the First Lord of the Ksantiris had been given the great honour of leading his mother out in a set of choreographed near-gymnastics, while the cream of Ksantiri society watched in awe.

As soon as he could reasonably do so Julien slipped away, heading back to his kang while behind him the throng continued to party and intrigue the evening away. He found Karik waiting for him in the kang.

“Did Tannder tell you to stay here?” he asked.

“No, but I am on duty,” said Karik. “I'm here to make sure that nobody slipped into the kang while you were away.”

“Well, if you want to go and have some fun now, you have my permission. I know you've got some party clothes, too, so put on your best hatik and go and enjoy the party. I'll be safe here – I'm sure Xarax is somewhere close by.”

“Thanks, but – quite apart from the fact that Tannder would tan my hide if I left my post without his permission – I'm not really in the mood for parties. He had a whole heap of food brought to me here, so I'm not hungry, and I wouldn't have the remotest idea of how to talk to the high-ups out there. I'd much rather just stay here with you - if that's all right with you, of course.”

“That suits me perfectly... um... what exactly did you have in mind when you said you'd prefer to stay here with me?”

Karik offered him a big grin. “Well, since there's nobody here except us, you seem to be completely at my mercy. I could abuse your body any way I wanted...”

“Right!!”

“Except...”

“I see. Another broken promise!”

“No, it's just that Mistress Nardik came to see me a couple of minutes before you got here. She told me she's going to bring Dillik back here just as soon as he stops puking up the ratchouk he drank when she wasn't looking. She came by first just to check that it would be all right to do that.”

“Poor bugger,” commented Julien. “Puking his guts up twice in one day, I mean. He's really unlucky.”

“How can you feel sorry for him? All right, this morning in the Palace it wasn't his fault, but this time he was simply asking for it. I mean, how could he be stupid enough to drink the dregs out of every glass he could get hold of? And he grew up in an inn, too, so he knows what happens if you do that sort of thing!”

“Perhaps you're right, but...”

At that moment the door chime sounded and Mistress Nardik, her face singularly lacking in sympathy, dragged a greenish and damp Dillik into the room before she noticed that Julien was there.

“I'm sorry, My Lord,” she said. “I thought...”

“Don't apologise, Mistress Nardik,” said Julien. “Just go back and enjoy the party. Karik and I will take care of this idiot.”

“The stupid little sod has been drinking dregs! Can you imagine?” she said. “And him born in an inn, too!”

“That's exactly what Karik just said,” Julien told her. “Don't worry, you have my personal guarantee that he won't do it again.”

“Tell him that if he dares to touch alcohol again before he has hair on his.. on his chin, I'll give him the spanking of his life, and his haptir friend won't be able to stop me, either! I've seen far too many drunkards to want one in my own family!”

By this point Karik had quietly taken Dillik off to the bathroom: despite what he had said he was far too soft-hearted to leave the boy exposed to his mother's anger. And shortly after that Mistress Nardik realised what she must look like.

“I'm sorry, My Lord,” she said, rather more quietly. “I do beg your pardon...”

“It's all right,” Julien assured her. “I understand why you're angry. I'm not making light of it, either. But I think you'll find that Dillik will learn from this, and I suspect it will be quite a long time before he can even look at a glass of ratchouk without it making him ill.”

“And may the Powers of the R'hinz make it so!” she said.

“Go back to the party and forget about it,” he said. “I'll make sure Dillik comes and says goodbye to you before we leave tomorrow.”

oo0oo

Julien went through to the bathroom and found that Karik had finished undressing Dillik and was about to help him into the shower.

“Need a hand?” asked Julien.

“No, thanks. I can manage.”

“Sure?”

“You're just looking for an excuse to take me away from my duty, aren't you?”

“Would I do a thing like that? Let's just deal with Dillik, and then...”

The door-chime interrupted what would probably have been a highly entertaining plan. It was Tannder.

“Is everything in order, My Lord?” he asked.

“Yes. Dillik had a bit of an accident, but it's under control. How's the party going?”

“It's a great success. And Lord Niil is performing magnificently: he's already danced with half the heiresses here, as well as with some of their mothers. And nobody is really missing you – after all, you're not a potential husband!”

“Good. What about you, Tannder – why aren't you out there dancing? I know you can, because you taught me... even if I'm not very good. Aren't you a potential husband?”

“Theoretically, yes, although I'm nothing like as good a catch as Lord Niil would be.”

“Don't underestimate yourself. I'm sure there are plenty of girls and women out there who would be more than happy to marry the Emperor's right-hand man. I think you're well worth going after, even if you are a bit dangerous.”

Julien thought he detected the hint of a blush on the warrior's cheeks.

“Thank you, My Lord, but I have no intention of getting married.”

“Oh... sorry if I'm sticking my nose in!”

“You aren't, not at all. Anyway, we're going to be living in each other's pockets for quite a long time, so I suppose in the end you'll know everything there is to know about me.”

“Well, you already know a lot about me, so fair's fair. And I've lost count of how many times I've asked you to call me 'Julien' when we're in private. I know you don't really like doing it, but it would make me feel a bit more relaxed.”

“Then I promise to make an effort to do so.”

“Are you going to stay and keep us company for a bit, or do you want to get back to the party?”

“I can stay for a bit if you like. In any case you're going to have to go back yourself in a while to do some more mingling. Your guests would feel insulted if you let them go home without giving them an opportunity to take their leave of you.”

“I suppose that means I'm going to have to put my formal clothes back on.”

“Yes, but there's no rush.”

“Tannder, have you got a family? You never talk about it, and I haven't asked Karik – in any case I don't think he'll tell me if I did ask, and I didn't want to put him in the position of having to refuse to answer me.”

“I don't have a family. I lost my parents and the rest of my family when I was still a baby. It happened as a result of one of those nasty little fights that pop up between clans now and again. It doesn't matter how hard we try to suppress these customs, they still keep coming back. I suppose little feuds are better than large-scale violence... I escaped the slaughter because my mother was sick and the Health Master had recommended that I be sent to a wet-nurse for a few days until she was better. As often happens in that situation I was then adopted by a small community of Silent Warriors and, when I was old enough, Master Habderim of Aleth decided that I had the ability to be trained.

“And, to answer the question that you still haven't asked, yes, Silent Warriors do sometimes marry – or at least they take a partner. Chastity doesn't usually work out so well. And sometimes it happens – more often than some people seem to think – that people are not attracted to members of the opposite sex. That would apply to me.”

“Like Tenntchouk and Gradik, then?”

“Yes, I suppose so.”

“They told me that sometimes it's seen as... a bit...”

“Some people are certainly capable of being narrow-minded. But usually, provided you use a bit of discretion, people overlook it. In any case most people would think twice before insulting a Silent Warrior.”

“Personally I think everyone should be free to love whoever they want,” said Julien.

“I know – though I understand that it's not like that in the world you come from.”

“Well... we don't talk about it much. Actually we don't talk about anything to do with sex much. Before I came here I had no idea that people like Tenntchouk and Gradik even existed. We sort of knew that there were men who like men, but my friends and I just had some vague idea that people like that went into dives in Pigalle or hung around on street corners. We didn't think of them as proper men at all, and I certainly wouldn't have wanted to be like them.”

“And have you changed your mind since?”

Julien blushed.

“Well, to be honest nobody would think of Tenntchouk and Gradik as fairies, and obviously the same goes for you. But, still... I mean, me and Ambar...”

“You realise that what your body enjoys at your age is no real indicator of what you'll like when you get older?”

“I know – they make that point several times in the Delights. But somehow I have the feeling that with Ambar it's something different. It's not like him and me are just about... you know. And I don't actually care if I'm not like other people.”

Tannder chuckled. “You? Different from other people? Surely not!”

“That's not what I meant.”

“I know. What you mean is that you like boys, you're happy that way and you don't want it to change. And also, if I understand you correctly, that you love one boy in particular and that he loves you back. I'm happy for you, honestly – although it isn't exactly news to me, of course. Anyway, anything that makes you happy is fine by me.”

“Thank you, Tannder.”

Karik had tactfully waited for a break in the conversation before re-entering the room.

“Dillik's in bed,” he told them. “I gave him an anti-seasickness sweet – they work against alcohol too, provided that you're careful not to take too much, because if you do that you'll actually make things a lot worse. Anyway, he's asleep.”

“Good.”

Tannder got up.

“Now that Karik is available for duty again I'm going to take a walk round and make sure nobody's making trouble. I'll come back to collect you shortly.”

oo0oo

Once Tannder had gone Julien asked Karik to come and sit near him. He was pretty sure that Karik had heard his conversation with Tannder, and so he didn't beat about the bush.

“What about you?” he asked. “Do you think you'll get married one day?”

“Certainly not!”

“You sound very sure.”

“I am sure. Girls really aren't my bowl of raal.”

“Ah – you too, huh? So what is your bowl of raal?”

“Well, to be honest, it's Tannder.”

“Tannder?!”

“Well, yes. Unfortunately when I tried to... anyway, he shoved me out of bed. He told me – very gently, mind you, but still – that I can't be both his friend and his pupil. I had to choose. I know it sounds stupid, but...”

“You chose to be his pupil.”

“Yes. But as far as I can see there's nobody else in his life, so I think I still have a chance.”

“Maybe you're not his bowl of raal.”

“I think if that was the case he'd have told me so clearly, instead of giving me the choice.”

“You might have to wait quite a long time.”

“I'm not going anywhere.”

“Maybe he'll meet someone else.”

“It's possible.”

“And he is a fair bit older than you...”

“I don't give a damn. Age doesn't enter into it.”

“I think I still have a lot to learn about R'hinz customs.”

“Well, as we seem to have a little time on your hands, I could teach you a few of our customs if you like.”

“Like the reason your laï is sticking out?”

“That'll do to start with...”

oo0oo