In the Earth Abides the Flame (23 page)

'Indeed,' the bald man replied, and now his voice carried a hint of menace. 'But if any information exists relevant to the survival of Escaigne, be assured we will obtain it.'

'And if such infonnation compromises us, we will hide it!' Farr boomed across the chamber.

'Peace, Farr,' Kurr shot at him, but there was a gentleness in his voice designed to settle the mountain man while placating their host.

'There is something in what my comrade says,' the Haufuth said. 'We'll be careful in what we say. Remember, we are over a thousand miles from home, hidden in a hostile city, fugitives far from help. It's frustrating, I know, to have reached a decision and yet not be able to do anything about it. Let's set ourselves on being patient.'

* * *

The Collocation was held later that morning in a large hall, formed with infinite skill and patience from the hollowed interiors of two adjacent tenements. When the Company arrived, having spent a harrowing hour dodging guards as they were escorted across the sombre, shower-washed city, at least a hundred people stood against the unadorned walls of the hall.

At least a hundred pairs of eyes appraised the northerners as they were led down the middle of the open space. There was something very strange, even unsettling, about this hall, as though everything within crowded close.

At the far end of the open space a group of perhaps a dozen people sat on tall stools, all together on a low stage, and the Company was invited to join them.

'What is the purpose of this?' Farr whispered to Perdu. 'The people gathered here will learn nothing from a meeting they cannot hear.'

'Be assured our people will not miss a word,' said a voice from the stage. 'There is a reason we hold our meetings here.'

'Perfect acoustics!' Phemanderac breathed. All my life ...' He turned as if to gaze behind him.

'I wish I had brought my harp. 1 wish someone had not thought it might be a weapon and made me leave it at the door.'

'Please, come up here and take a chair,' said a voice from the stage. Impossible! Leith thought.

We are perhaps thirty paces from the speaker, yet we can hear his every word!

But it was true. The walls of this carefully crafted space were peerless reflectors and amplifiers of sound; and every sound uttered, no matter how soft, was somehow enlarged, filled and focused so all might hear it. Every whisper, every cough, every shuffle of the feet.

This, Leith realised, was the source of his discomfit, as the effect of the acoustics was to bring everything closer, as though a crowd of a hundred people leaned over his shoulder.

As soon as the members of the Company were seated on the stage, a tall, raven-haired man with sallow skin and pinched features stood and welcomed them. 'I would remind everyone of the rules for the Collocation,' he said solemnly. 'There are to be no—'

'What's a collocation?' Stella whispered to Indrett.

'A Collocation is the formal gathering of Escaigne,' was the abrupt answer. 'We gather to decide matters judged too important for the Elders alone to decide.'

'And these Elders are—'

'Those seated on the stage,' the sallow man concluded for her. 'Since you have finished speaking, I will proclaim the rules for the benefit of those unfamiliar with the Collocation.

There are to be no Escaignian names mentioned. Only one voice is to be heard at a time, and other than this, there is to be no sound. No voice is to be raised in anger. Remember, if we are overheard, Escaigne is no more. The Presiding Elder is authorised to direct the Collocation.

The gathering will be concluded by the taking of a vote. Are these rules acceptable?'

A woman stepped out from beside the wall.

'On behalf of the people, these rules are acceptable,' she said formally, in a manner that told Leith he was witnessing a ritual.

'Very well. Let the Collocation begin.'

Leith soon realised the meeting was being conducted to the advantage of the Escaignians -

more specifically, the Elders - and against the Company. One after another people were called forward to ask questions. Polite questions they were, but carefully phrased, and delivered with a care that suggested others had taken a hand in their shaping. Answers were dissected by the Elders, mostly by the sallow man, obviously the Presiding Elder, and further questions then asked. It was outwardly amicable, with no direct malice that Leith could put his finger on; but something sinister lay behind this formal gathering, this slow questioning, something beyond the mere accumulation of information, Leith was sure of it.

'I was one of those freed when The Pinion was raided,' said a young woman with long, lank hair and wide, almost bulbous eyes that at present were filled with a genuine thankfulness.

'Would my rescuers identify themselves, so I might thank them?'

Feeling a little awkward, Leith stood; as did Mahnum and Achtal. Brief applause rippled through the hall, cut off by a gesture from the Presiding Elder. Obviously others who escaped the dungeons had also made their way to Escaigne. Leith sensed the attention of the Elders on him.

'Who devised the plan?' asked the sallow man.

'It wasn't a planned raid,' Mahnum answered. 'My son and I were prisoners of the Council, along with one of our comrades who was already undergoing questioning. If you know The Pinion, you know what that means. We were keen to avoid it ourselves, and the other prisoners seemed to be of like mind.'

'And the warrior with the staff of steel? Which is he?'

'Need you ask?' Farr said, obviously tired of the Collocation.

The Presiding Elder turned to the woman with the wide eyes. 'Which is he?'

She pointed to Achtal. 'He is the one.' There was something approaching awe in her childlike voice. 'Thank you,' she said. The Bhrudwan, understanding her intent if not her words, bowed stiffly.

'Is it true you are a Bhrudwan warrior, and you defected to Faltha?' a straw-haired man, little more than a youngster, wanted to know.

Achtal frowned, struggling with his reply. 'Bhrudwan warrior, yes. Defect? I have no defect.'

'Are you now a servant of Faltha?' Kurr paraphrased.

The Bhrudwan shook his head. 'Servant of Hal, servant of Leith. None other.'

Leith turned in surprise at this statement, and found the others had done the same. Hal was smiling broadly. Servant of Leith? When had this happened? This was undoubtedly more of Hal's doing. Not for the first time, Leith felt he had cause to doubt his crippled, seemingly innocent brother, who seemed to pull invisible strings attached to everything and everyone.

Where had the Bhrudwan learned words of the common tongue? The questioning continued even as he considered this.

'Can you tell us how the Bhrudwan has become your servant?' the Presiding Elder asked, directing the question to Kurr.

'To do that would be to tell you what a group of Firanese are doing in Instruere,' the farmer answered, choosing his words with care. He too was aware of some undercurrent, some danger. Something about this sallow-faced man bothered him...

'Then proceed,' said the Elder, 'and let us judge your case.'

'Is there a case to be judged?' Leith responded sharply. Here was the nub of it. Were they on trial? Before anything else was said, they needed to discover why the Elders of the Escaigne desired a formal public meeting rather than a private discussion.

'You have been granted sanctuary in Escaigne, and a surety of safety. Without this you would certainly have perished in the city. By granting you sanctuary, knowing that the Arkhos of Nemohaim - the ruler of the city in all but name - is pursuing you, we have placed the security of our State in great danger. This meeting is called to judge whether you are worthy of such risk. I must warn you that if your Company is shown to be untrustworthy or any risk to us, we will have no hesitation in delivering you to the Arkhos, or putting you to death ourselves.'

Leith nodded his head. So that's what this is all about.

'This is outrageous!' Kurr cried. 'Had we known we were in such peril, we would have taken our chances with the Council!'

Leith moved in front of the old farmer, signalling his silence. Kurr sat down, nonplussed.

'Then we will satisfy your concerns, and ensure that your judgment is favourable,' Leith said, trying to project solidity, sincerity, integrity. It was happening again; something boiled within him, seeking a way out. This is a public show, with a public vote. If we rail against the morality of this trial, it will go badly for us. He hoped the others would realise what he was doing.

'On Midwinter's Night last our village was raided by four Bhrudwan warriors, and Mahnum and Indrett, my parents, were taken captive.' Leith was careful to let his emotions show, though in truth he couldn't have held them back. 'Five of us set off in pursuit, and on the long and arduous path we were joined by others who had suffered at the hands of these raiders. We tackled and conquered the Westway in winter, a feat never attempted in living memory. We met and befriended the wild race of the Fenni, crossed the Jawbone Mountains, traversed the Southern Run, aided by the Fodhram, woodsmen of the north, and survived Mossbank Cadence, the first ever to do so. Then we ambushed the Bhrudwans at Mount Steffi, killing all but Achtal, whom we took captive, and rescued my father and mother. I was taken captive by the Widuz, a fierce warrior race, and while waiting in their dungeon for execution I met Phemanderac. Together we escaped. My father, who had pursued my captors, set the Widuz captives free. Eventually we all made our way to Instruere, chased by a Widuz war party.'

As Leith recited their deeds, so briefly summarised, he realised the list was bound to sound impressive. While his listeners might not know the people or places to which he referred, the sheer weight of achievements must be establishing their credibility. Keep talking, he encouraged himself. They need to hear confidence in my voice. He thought of Wira and how the young mountain man was able to defuse the tension at the Fenni campfire with bold but conciliatory talk. Ah, Wira, we need you now!

There followed numerous questions about their adventures upon the Westway, to which various members of the Company responded, and Leith could see a new regard settle on the faces of those in the hall. Eventually the sallow Presiding Elder cut short this questioning.

Under his prompting the doings of the Company in Instruere became die focus of the meeting, and here Leith and the others were hard pressed to keep the keen minds of the Elders at bay.

'You say you rejoined your fellows within the walls of the city,' said one of the Elders, a bushy-browed, black-bearded man, directing his gaze at Leith. 'Yet you have not explained why you should have come here at all, nor why your Company did not simply return to Firanes when the Bhrudwans were defeated and your kinsmen were rescued.' The man looked on Leith with an uncomfortably penetrating gaze.

Kurr shot Leith a warning glance, but he did not need the farmer to tell him of the danger masked by the polite questioning.

Ignoring the Elders, he rose from his chair, stepped forward and addressed the Collocation in clear tones.

'I will not hide from you the fact that we have a mission, and guard a great secret,' he said, and the gathering leaned forward as one. 'But on behalf of my companions I plead with you to let our mission remain secret. We revealed it to the Council of Faltha, and were betrayed. We cannot take the risk of revealing it again, for even the Elders cannot be certain there is not a spy in your midst, one who might betray us to the Council.'

Leith could feel the anger rise from the stage behind him.

'I am afraid of what might happen to my friends and to myself should this gathering find against us. But I am more afraid of what will happen to Escaigne, and to Instruere, and to all Faltha, should our mission be betrayed to the Council.

'This much I can reveal, for the Council already know it. My parents were not taken by the Bhrudwans by mere chance. Mahnum, my father, is a Trader, and was sent by the Firanese king to Bhrudwo to discover the truth about certain rumours. On the island of Andratan he learned that the armies of the Destroyer are being raised up once again, for a final deadly strike at Faltha, and at Instruere her heart; and that this heart is already blackened by treachery. He escaped to warn his king, but was recaptured before he could do so.

'After rescuing my parents, we continued to Instruere in the hope of warning the Council, and of persuading them of their peril. We believed the testimony of the Bhrudwan would sway the Council where our words perhaps would not. However, treachery was even more widespread than we knew, and the numbers were against us. There will be no defence of Faltha. Escaigne, Instruere, and all Faltha, lie open to be taken by the Destroyer whenever he wishes. Our chief opponent in the Council was the Arkhos of Nemohaim.' A low murmur susurrated through the hall, silenced by a rap from the sallow man's staff. 'His men stopped us in the street and took three of us by force. No doubt the Arkhos wishes to learn why a Bhrudwan, trained for war and steeped in evil, would turn against his life-sworn master. My father and I attempted to secure his freedom; but as those who were there will doubtless recount, the Bhrudwan proved he could look after himself. Through his abilities we escaped The Pinion, but the Arkhos is all too aware of our actions and no doubt most keenly seeks an interview with us.

'We have not given up on alerting Falthans to their danger, and have formulated a plan which we believe may give us a chance of success. However, I must be honest with you. In order to execute this plan a number of us must leave as soon as we are able, yet we are not able even in the most general terms to tell you about our plan.'

'Leave?' the Presiding Elder said. 'Leave? You will be fortunate indeed if you are allowed to remain alive, here to dwell until your death, in order to preserve our secret, which is of much greater import than yours!'

'And take to our deaths the secret which might save all Faltha?' Leith responded. 'You are not well enough hidden to escape the attention of the Bhrudwans. For when they have finished gnawing Instruian bones, they will come for you! I would not like to be an Elder charged with keeping the Bhrudwan warriors from crossing your threshold.'