JULIEN
II
Chapter 53
The Reception Hall
“Xarax, you look absolutely magnificent!” said Julien. “Do you feel strong enough to come for a walk in the garden?”
The haptir left the cushion he'd been sleeping on – lengthy naps still took up much of his day – crawled carefully along Julien's arm and settled on his shoulders.
Has Dillik abandoned you? asked Julien.
He's in a history lesson and Master Zertchen won't allow me to stay on his lap. Actually I think that's rather offensive. Perhaps you could have a word...
I'll do nothing of the kind! If he could call on your encyclopaedic memory Dillik wouldn't bother trying to learn anything at all!
Surely you don't think I'd do something like that!
I don't just think it, I know it! You've never been able to say no to him. And since he started looking after you on a full time basis I bet things have got even worse.
I'm hurt – hurt, I tell you – at your lack of trust in me. I think you must be jealous!
Perhaps you're right.
This gentle banter lasted until they reached a descent well, where they stepped into a nacelle that carried them down to the ground floor. Julien was really happy to feel the familiar weight of the haptir on his shoulders once more. It was a warm morning, but the shady paths offered a dewy and pleasantly-perfumed coolness, much appreciated after the stifling heat of the summer. The garden was composed of a great number of sections which blended smoothly into one another without any obvious dividing lines, and it offered miniature landscapes, exotic areas, little hidden nooks and small ponds populated by strange but beautiful species. In general it was possible to wander through the garden without fear, although Julien had been warned about one or two particular creatures which, if you got too close to them, were liable to sting you. The false butterflies, for example, looked amazing with their iridescent light-traps, but if you tried to catch one you were likely to discover that it was capable of inflicting a very painful sting not unlike that of a jellyfish. However, these were the only dangers because, although Julien was unaware of it, he was being shadowed through the garden by a security team who were determined to avoid another incident like the one that had taken place in Denntar Park.
I asked Subadar to help me to settle in back at the Palace, Julien told Xarax. Do you think you'll be able to come and help too sometimes? I'm sure there are things about the Palace that only you know.
Unusually Xarax remained silent for some time before replying.
Obviously I'll come with you, he said eventually. I'm not prepared to let you go to the Palace without me. But I'm not sure if it's a good idea for you to go there. I'm not sure that you're ready just yet.
What do you mean?
If you go to the Palace you'll meet your past.
You mean Yulmir's past.
That's precisely why I don't think you're ready yet: you still refuse to admit that, like it or not, you are Yulmir.
But I'm not Yulmir! I mean...
I know what you mean. You feel that you're Julien, and you can't see how you could be anyone else. And of course you don't want to be anyone else. So far you've been holding on to that very well, but in the Palace...
What?
I'd be very, very careful, that's all.
If there's something you know I want you to tell me.
Julien, you're not the only one who is missing part of his memory. I can feel that there is something that is eluding me, too.
Is that because of you getting shot?
No, it's nothing to do with that. It's something else, and it's directly connected to the Palace. And I'm not happy about it.
Why didn't you tell me this before?
Because I've only just become aware of it.
What, just this minute?
Yes.
So... you'd prefer not to go there?
I don't really know what I want. Sometimes you have to do things you'd rather not do. And obviously it's true that you'll have to go back to the Palace sooner or later. But I'd be a lot happier if we could avoid spending the night there, at least until I've discovered why I have this bad feeling about it.
Of course. Anyway, we'll have to come back here to sleep, because Dillik has trouble sleeping without you.
What are you talking about?Dillik's a big boy and he can manage perfectly well. I'm the one who has trouble sleeping without him!
oo0oo
With Wenn Hyaï taking care of the transport and with Master Subadar and Tannder at his side and a very vigilant Xarax on his shoulders, Julien returned to the Palace. He had gently but firmly refused the offer made by Niil and Ambar to accompany him, and he'd come close to losing with patience with Dillik, such was the boy's persistent demand to be allowed to accompany them. This was the third time he'd been inside the Emperor's mysterious domain, although of course he hadn't had a lot of opportunity to explore it until now.
Like Sleeping Beauty's castle, the building – or, rather, the large complex of buildings generally referred to as 'The Palace' – was completely deserted. Only a small detachment of Imperial Guards was posted there, and they regularly rotated to other duties. When they were there they trained and lived in an annex which was usually the only interface with the outside world. It could be accessed by a klirk whose use was restricted to half a dozen Guides, and entry to the rest of the Palace beyond was possible only with a formal invitation from the Emperor or in case of emergency, such as when the presence of intruders had been detected by the Palace's own security equipment, as had happened when Julien and his friends had been attacked in the Ocean Rotunda.
When the Emperor was in residence the Palace was run by a staff under the control of a majordomo who was responsible for the domestic, administrative and security services. It had been decided that Tannder would take on those duties for the time being and that he would reactivate the machinery of the Imperial Household, but without resurrecting those elements of the Administration that were now being carried out by the planetary administrations of the Mirrors, as had been the case since Yulmir's disappearance.
Julien discovered that, contrary to the impression of monumental luxury generated by places like the Ocean Rotunda, most of the Imperial apartments were of an altogether more modest and practical size and were decorated in a way that could almost have been called austere. A practitioner of Zen could have felt quite at home. Julien wasn't sure quite what he had expected, but it certainly came as a surprise to discover that the Emperor's bedroom here was neither larger nor more impressive than the kang he had been using in Bakhtar Tower. The one major advantage of the Palace bedroom was that it was joined by a small terrace, which in turn was just a few steps away from a pleasure garden which gradually became a park whose far limit was lost in the early morning mist.
The room held no personal items, and there was nothing in it to indicate that it had ever been lived in at all.
“At the time of his disappearance,” Subadar explained, “the Emperor wasn't actually living here in the Palace, and in fact he hadn't lived here for quite a long time. He came here when the affairs of the R'hinz demanded his presence, but he spent most of his time living in one or other of his other official residencies.”
“Like the lake house at Rüpel Gyamtso?”
“Exactly.”
“Do you think I ought to do the same thing?”
“To be honest, I'm not sure. It would certainly be easier if you were to continue to enjoy Lord Aldegard's hospitality and the amenities of Bakhtar Tower, but... I think it's about time that the Palace was brought back to life. It won't be long before you find yourself having to deal with a lot of things, and most of them will need to be dealt with here in the Palace. And it would be no bad thing, given recent events, to demonstrate clearly that the R'hinz is still being administered as it should be. We can do that little by little, bringing in extra staff as we need them.”
“All right. Still, don't you think that a ginormous monstrosity like this place is a bit insane? Surely we could manage with something a bit less over-the-top?”
“I'm sure we could. But you have to remember that the Palace was built about seven thousand cycles ago and has been constantly added to and transformed since. Bear in mind that there have been periods in our history when the Empire was exactly that: an Empire that ruled several worlds and needed a centralised government. And, of course, human civilisations do rather go in for exaggeration: the Palace is also a work of art, a place where architects have often been given free rein to try to bring their dreams to life. You'll discover some of those wonders once you've been here for a while. And remember that there was a time when a large part of the Palace was open to the public.”
“But not any more?”
“Not for around three hundred cycles now. The Noble Families complained about the cost of maintaining it and running it as a tourist attraction.”
By now they had left the private apartments and moved on into a ceremonial gallery lit by a glass roof about fifty metres above a walkway made of semi-precious minerals whose deceptively simple patterns seemed almost to change shape and form as you walked along through the room. It was a huge room, but it was cleverly made to seem less immense by the large number of sculptures that stood here and there on the walkway, their many different styles and materials somehow contributing to a wonderfully harmonious and peaceful whole.
“What is this place?” asked Julien. “Is it a museum?”
“No, this is the reception hall. All guests and visitors to the Palace have to arrive here. Quite a lot of the stones on the walkway are actually klirks. Apart from the private klirks of yourself and your Mirrors, there is no other way to get to the Palace.”
“That must have been a huge source of income for the Guides!”
“Indeed. Of course there were regular petitions asking for a normal way in to be built.”
“And?”
“The Emperor always said he would have no objection. The problem is that nobody who has tried has ever managed to work out where the Palace is.”
“But... it's on Nüngen – in Aleth, in the middle of Palace Square... isn't it?”
“Really?”
“I know it is! That's how I got here, unintentionally, that first time – I started out trying to cross the Square.”
“I hate to shatter your illusions, but you have to remember that Palace Square is actually a magnificent collection of klirks. As to exactly where those klirks took you, nobody can guess.”
Julien stared at Subadar, who was smiling gently as he saw that Julien was starting to understand.
“You mean... nobody knows where the Palace is?”
“You've got it.”
“But... what about the Guides?”
“The Guides just use the klirks.”
“But couldn't they try to work out where it really is?”
“You could always try asking them.”
Julien felt Wenn Hyaï pressing against him in order to communicate. He placed his hand on the Guide's neck.
Even the Guides don't know where the Palace really is, the Guide told him. A lot of us have tried to find it, of course, but we think its location is hidden by a Neh-Kyong. And Master Subadar knows that too, of course.
“But someone must have known where it is, in the past at least!” said Julien.
“Indeed they did,” said Subadar. “Yulmir did – which is to say, you did.”
“But of course I can't remember.”
I remember, whispered Xarax inside his head. But I think it would be best if I kept that information to myself for the time being.
You're right: if it's such a big secret, it's probably better that I don't get to know about it until I really need to.
Are you finally starting to develop a bit of wisdom? How strange. I've heard it said that with humans wisdom only appears when they get hairy, and as you haven't got a beard yet...
“So you don't remember,” said Tannder. “That's probably just as well at the moment. It's the sort of information that could be useful to your enemies.”
“These sculptures are nice,” said Julien, changing the subject.
“They certainly are,” agreed Subadar. “Each one of them is considered to be the greatest work of the greatest artist of his generation. To have a piece on display here is the dream of every true artist. But it's probably over a hundred cycles since the collection was added to.”
“Who do they belong to?”
“To you, of course. Each of them was presented to the Emperor.”
“Don't you think it's a pity to keep all these wonders stored away here where nobody can ever see them?”
“Well, visitors to the Palace...”
“I think it would be better to put them somewhere where everyone can see them – like in a public park, or along the sides of the Broad Walk in Aleth, for example. I think we should leave a few here – perhaps the most fragile ones – and divide the others up, sending them out to be displayed to the public on any world that was interested.”
“It shall be done as you wish, My Lord, but...”
“You don't think we should, do you?”
“I would not dare for one moment to contradict...”
“Subadar, you're no hypocrite, so stop that! Tell me what you think.”
“People wouldn't understand. They'd think that you'd rejected these works, and that you don't think them worthy of your Palace any longer. And the countries where their artists were born would see it as a sign of contempt...”
“Oh, all right, then, we'll keep them here. But I'd still like to make it possible for those who are interested to come and see them. In the city where I used to live there was a palace, not as magnificent as this one but still not too shabby, and people could visit it to admire a huge collection of art of various sorts. I spent some fantastic afternoons there, and I think it's what got me interested in travelling. Isn't there anything like that in the R'hinz?”
“Yes, of course. Most Noble Families have a gallery that is open to the public.”
“Then the Emperor will have to have a gallery too. All right, where should we go next?”
“If you don't mind I'd like to stop for the day. If you agree I'll give orders to get your private apartments ready for use and arrange for the main parts of the Palace to be staffed once more.”
“So we're going home now?”
“Yes. I think there's a klirk... just over there.”
They gathered around Wenn Hyaï and were transported to the Orientation Table in an instant.
oo0oo
But it wasn't Wenn Hyaï who had taken them there – indeed, Wenn Hyaï would have taken them directly back to the klirk from which they had left Bakhtar Tower. No, this time Julien had pronounced the 'tchokseh' which had hitherto refused to work and which he had now got into the habit of only trying occasionally when there was a Guide with him – he didn't want to find himself making another involuntary journey back to Earth. But this time some instinct had nudged him into trying it again, and for some reason his Guide's Gift had done what it was supposed to do, rather than wafting him off to some remote corner of the universe. Of course, neither Subadar nor Tannder was able to perceive anything in the timeless world of the Table, and for them this moment simply would not exist. Wenn Hyaï and Xarax, on the other hand, were perfectly aware of their location and how they had got there.
Julien! said Wenn Hyaï. Your Gift is back! Congratulations!
I don't think I had a lot to do with it, but I'm happy about it, all the same. At least now you won't have to stick with me from dawn till dusk.
Is my presence such a burden to you? asked Wenn Hyaï, pretending to be hurt.
Julien smiled.
There's no point in trying to get me going, he said. You know perfectly well what I meant. But if you need your ego flattered, let me add that it's always a pleasure to have you with me, Master Guide.
For my part, put in Xarax, I always feel a lot safer when you're with us, and I hope you'll continue to stick around. I don't want to be left to the tender mercies of this clumsy clot.
Don't worry, Master Xarax, said Wenn Hyaï. Now that our friend has recovered his Gift we'll get on with his training as a Guide, although even with a good student like him these things still take time and patience. But for now, let's just get ourselves back to the annex-klirk of Bakhtar Tower.
oo0oo