Kavin's World (3 page)

“You have been young, and the young have a taste for wandering,” she said, as if to herself. “Well, if you’d been at home, you would doubtless be dead, with Hogir and all the rest. Boy, you are the Chosen. There are no others of your clan left, in any case, unless the castle Granorek still holds.”

I looked up, and was amazed. There were tears in her eyes. For a high priestess, mistress of all,
link
to the Goddess, to weep… no, I must be mistaken, I thought.

“The Maiden Samala is with us on that ship yonder,” she said. “Since she has chosen you, although the proper rituals have not been carried out, you are Prince of Dorada from this day. However, the marriage itself…”

She turned, and looked down the long quay to where the Luck lay. For a time she studied that sweet ship, and then glanced back out into the harbor where the tubby vessel lay in which she’d come.

“You have a fine small ship, Prince Kavin,” she said, looking at me. “Although I hear a foreign goddess lives aboard her.”

For a ridiculous moment I thought she was talking about the slave girl, Isa, and turned as red as a sunset. Then I realized she was referring to the statue of Tana.

“My Luck, lady…” I said. “I’ve been told by wise men that she’s another name for the Great Goddess. After all, are not all goddesses herself under many names? And the name of Luck… it would fit well enough.”

She nodded. “True, I suppose. I would not dispute it, not now at any rate. Well. I am not pleased with the ship on which we fled; I shall return on yours, after the rites.”

Explanations were not particularly necessary; in a few words she had summed up everything. I was to go through the rite with the Maiden Samala, and damned soon from the look of things. Then, as Prince, it was necessary for me to go to Dorada at once, since the Prince’s function is to fight in war—
And
, in this instance, probably to die in war. In short, my immediate future had just been laid out for me.

The doubts that rose in my mind were not entirely due to cowardice, I hope. I had been well trained in the arts of war, and those arts include more than the skill of the sword or the names of parts of armor.

The one thing that seemed immediately apparent was that I had very little to fight with. If the best soldiers of Dorada now lay dead under Astorin walls, or penned up like sheep in Granorek, I had no men to speak of. Those who fled were women and children, and while our women fight well enough, I could not see making an army of them. There might be a few men of their hands aboard the ships, but not many.

“Lady, may I rise?” I asked, and she nodded. I stood up, her ice-gray eyes on me.

“How many fighting men are left within Astorin?” I asked.

“A few hundred bowmen from the countryside,” she answered.
“Some old men, and possibly fifty of the warrior caste, sons of various clans who were too young or too old to ride with Hogir, but who do bear arms.”

“Gods!”
I muttered, and stared out at the ships.

“If you sail back, death waits,” she said quite calmly. It was, after all, her function to tell me this.

“It seems so,” I said. “But why should you go with me?”

“Hogir died there.”

That seemed sufficient explanation, the way she put it. On the other hand, it made it even more difficult for me to act as a wise warchief rather than as a heroic fool.

What I had been about to do was to suggest borrowing soldiers and ships from the High King of Meryon and building an army, while sending all the supplies we could gather at once back to
besieged
Astorin. This would be the course of wisdom, the planning of war as laid down in all the best books.

However, I did not think I could tell the high priestess any of this, so I shrugged.

“It would seem I’m not going to hold the throne for long,” I said, managing a grin.

“The throne is in Astorin,” she said, pointedly. “If you die in battle, you die. All men die. There will be an end to this line in the Temple, since there are no others of your house, and the Maiden Samala will be the Widow, as I am. The serving of the Goddess in Dorada, and the Temple, which was there even before your house came, will end. You are an Initiate. You should know that temples and priestesses are not that important. The Goddess will remain, as she always has.”

“True enough,” I said, with the trace of an edge in my voice. “Still, I’m very young, Lady, and I am fond of life. With your permission, I’ll try to live as long as practically possible… while doing my duty by my house and my people, of course.”

“Of course,” she said, not smiling.
“Now.
The rite of the Maiden may not be carried out in the old way, since we are where we are. Fortunately, the stars are in the proper signs, and we need not wait. The rite may be performed tonight. Thus, when we are ready to sail back, there need be no delay at all.”

“I see,” I said, but I didn’t. The rite of the Maiden must be performed in certain ways, usually in the Temple itself, and is full of complexities. It did not seem quite right to do it in this way. Besides, I was not especially anxious to get married, and the thought of delicious Isa crossed my mind.

“Men are very like wild dogs, at times,” the high priestess said, in a conversational tone. She had been staring at me.

“What, Lady?”

“I mean that you are not in a needful state of purification,” she said, thin-lipped. “You have lain with a woman within three days.”

“Oh.” I grew pink again. “How did you… well, I’m afraid so.”

“The rite may be performed anyway.” she said. “But of course it may not be consummated until later, when you fulfill the needed time. I should have guessed; men of the sea always rush on shore like hogs in heat, even after so short a trip.”

“I hardly expected…” I began, and gave up. “Well, Lady, while the rite is important, there are other matters. We’ve a dozen ships here now. If the people here will give hospitality to the refugees you brought, we can use these ships well. We may find fighting men here, who’ll sail with us, for promises or friendship—we of Dorada have done favors enough for some. We need some force, or we’re only casting ourselves into a pit.”

“There is no time,” the high priestess said. “The city will fall, very soon.”

“Have you read that in an oracle?” I demanded. She nodded.

“Then why return?” I asked indignantly. “It is certain? 
Certain that the city falls, that we are all slain?
Lady, I serve the Goddess, but I’m not a fool.”

“You serve Luck,” she said. “Have you no faith in her?”

I looked at her, trying to understand. But it was of no use. I was without choices.

During the next hours I did not rest, nor did I let any of the men from the ships rest. My first move was to discover how much gold we had, and I was pleased at the total. The trading had been good; some of the money was still unpaid, but it could be collected. There was enough to buy weapons, but not to buy men; but then a messenger came, from the Count of the Meryon Shore, offering a few score men at arms of his own levies. Word began to spread through the port, and idle soldiers, armed vagabonds, and the like began to flock down to the waterside. I set some of my better men to look them over, and offer them fair payment for service. I myself went into the town, to a man of whom I had heard
,
Grand Master of the Ironsmith’s Guild and a famous merchant, named Perrin.

He had what I required, or could have it brought; and his price was no higher than usually charged to a buyer in haste. A fat and jolly man was this Perrin, but he had the courtesy to keep a look of decent seriousness about him while I did my marketwork with him. We walked through his principal warehouse, and he talked.

“A
  great
  misfortune,  Lord   Prince.   Truly… and    worse, since the High King himself is much with priests these days… Christians, I hear. He may not be disposed to aid… those of other faiths.”

“I have not met many of the Christian belief,” I said. “But I haven’t heard that their god defends them in his own person, or that they’re made of some special kind of flesh that doesn’t bleed. These riders may be here some day.”

“It’s possible,” Perrin agreed. “I desire they should be held back, of course… that’s why I set such low prices for all this. The casks of gunpowder are in the house on the dock…” He chuckled. “We have had accidents, so we try to keep such things away from the center of the city. When I was a boy, there was no such stuff… well, well. Now, there’s a deal of body armor, helmets and the like… styled our own way, of course.
Arrows, of course, and pikes.
I’ll have men bringing this down within the hour.”

“Cannon,” I said. “You spoke of several. I’ve only four small pieces aboard the
Luck,
and none on the merchant ships.”

“Ah.” Perrin looked a little troubled. “I’ll do this, though I’ve no permission to sell them… well, the Court favors your cause, I hear. He may have my head later, but here we are. These will suit your ship: nine light cannon, mounted for decks. Now, here… a score of these will fit your merchants. And these, to mount on a ship rail, culverins.”

“Good, good.” I was in haste, a bad state to bargain in. “Can you see about ship’s stores, and as much more food and wine as we can load tonight?”

By the time I got back, my weariness was such that I didn’t dare to sit down, for fear I’d sleep at once. But my work was done, every maddening detail of it. We could sail with the early tide, if nothing went wrong.

I went aboard and entered my cabin; and there Isa waited.

I looked at her, and my weariness lifted a little. But there’d be no time for sport now. I gave her a smile, and she came to me; seeing my exhausted state, she drew off my boots, brought wine, and did all she could to aid me. I accepted it all, thinking about the minor puzzle of how I was to explain certain matters to her with no words to help me.

Then the high priestess arrived, and I pulled myself to my feet and went forth onto the deck to greet her. With her was a small, veiled girl whom I knew to be Samala, whose eyes were fixed solemnly on my face.

“When the rites are over, the Bride and
myself
will use your great cabin for the journey,” the High Priestess said. “By your permission, Prince—” (as if she meant the formality) “
your
serving girl…” (
did
the woman know everything, then?) “…
may
have the second room. I fear that you yourself, Lord Prince, must find space forward, since the law makes it necessary for you to remain apart from women for this time.”

It did not seem as if my voyage home was to be a pleasure cruise, I thought. I was weary enough now not to care.

Such is our law, whereby we are forever getting these fasts from women laid upon us for one silly reason or another. I believe other sects also fast, giving up various necessary things…
well,
a little abstinence never killed any man, though it might make death seem less unpleasant.

Near midnight, a great tent of sailcloth was put up on the main deck of the
Luck,
and some of my men went down to the dock to keep off strangers. It was there, under such a strange and fragile temple roof, that the last bridal of the Hostans was celebrated. I can say nothing about this; the rites are very secret. But in this instance, there was a greater change in the ritual than its place. The Bride, now of the Second Name, called Wife, went alone to the great cabin—alone in the important sense of the word, though the priestess followed, and so did Isa.

For myself, I had a hammock slung between the newly set forward guns, and I fell into it as if I had been struck down.

I did not awake till late in the morning, to the swaying of my hammock as the sea took the keel. My seamen, well-trained lads, had not bothered to waken me, and the
Luck
was now well out into the sea. A fair wind set to our starboard quarter, and we went east at a fine rate. Under the prow, the white figure leaned forward into the spray, blind-eyed, her lance thrust forward. We were heading home.

During the next few days, we left the merchant ships far behind us. I spent most of my time speaking with the crowd of new men who filled the deck and the hold, learning what I could about them, hastily making some sort of war band out of this mixed material. First, and best, were the Count’s men-at-arms, hardened professionals all, who needed nothing in the way of instruction or advice. These were short dark men, made of dried leather, who came from all parts of the kingdoms originally, but who now looked all alike somehow.

Each of them carried a squared shield, a heavy sword, and the throwing spears of their trade. Their armor was studded leather, except for the brimmed helmet, of sound bronze. These men needed only one look from me; I turned to the others.

We had tried to pick the best crew for the
Luck,
which would arrive home before the others; but I confess to
a certain
disquiet when I began to look the men over. If these were the best, what might not be on the other ships?

Some were not too bad. There were several old soldiers of fortune, from various lands, and a mixture of others who looked at best like pirates and at worst like beggars. I spoke with them, one after another, learning their names, searching out what each one might be used for. Five of them had worked with guns, and these I sent to our master gunner; we had need of them, with our new armament.

A few of them looked like bad gambles, and I made a mental note to see that these would be well in front in our first scrimmage. On our fourth day, one of these, a hairy vagabond called Dixis, gave proof of my intuition. He caught sight of the priestess Samala as she walked on the deck gallery, and made what he may have thought was an enticing advance. His mode of wooing was a rush and a grab, which the girl evaded with only the loss of her veil.

Unfortunately for Dixis, I was resting, my feet up, behind a capstan in full view of the whole scene. I had spent three days in evil meditation and in idleness, with neither wine nor women to take away my edge; and here was matter ready to hand to vent myself.