The Destiny of the Sword (52 page)

Another gap,toothed grin. “I did not lie to you! You knew that the words of gods or their oracles must be considered very carefully. The objective was not sorcerers, or Nnanji, or Shonsu... always the objective was an empire. That was why I could not tell you! But you predicted what chaos the sorcerers’ knowledge might produce as it escaped. Only an empire can control that.

“Shonsu’s surprise attack very nearly succeeded—it would have done, had he thought to use horses to speed his approach. He would have made himself king of Vul, then king of everywhere else, using firearms. You would not have been brought into play at all, and Nnanji would have lived and died in obscurity—and died young, for his is one of the great souls, and would have been needed elsewhere.

“Your treaty keeps the firearms under control, which is much better. It will shorten the Dark Age. Nnanji could not have made that treaty.”

“And I could not make an emperor,” Wallie said sadly.

The boy gave him a steady look. “No. You could not hurl your legions at Quo and Ki San as he just did. But it was offered to

you! You turned down a world for the love of a slave girl, Mr. Smith—and all the halls of heaven rang with joy!”

Wallie blinked, It still hurt a little. Had that been the only reason for Jja—to distract him? “There will be much bloodshed!”

“Not as much as you mink,” the god said. “The swordsmen are very civilized about that, much more so than your other world was. And it is the Dark Age now.”

There was another long silence while Wallie pondered and chewed apple. A troop of swordsmen clattered by on horses on the far side of the plaza. His melancholy seemed to amuse the little god more than annoy him.

“You nave done well. You have all done well—Brota, To,miyano. You will all be rewarded.”

“Of course. You must say farewell to him tomorrow, but his reward will be glorious.”

Wallie nodded and could not speak.

“Come!” the boy said. “For my time is short and I have something to show you. We can talk on the way.”

Wallie rose and walked alongside. He still could not feel convinced. “Master,” he said. “Explain the prince to me. Did he have to die just to send me a signal with mat hairclip?”

The skinny little boy had a terrifying frown. “If you are going to judge the gods, Walliesmith, you must know what the gods know. However, since you have done so well this day... know that there are some souls brighter—older, more effective. Higher on the ladder! Like Nnanji’s. Had Shonsu made his empire, then about fifteen years from now there would have been a crisis—a node, a cusp—at Kra, which is the sorcerer city south of Plo. A strong ally, a swordsman king,.. now can you understand what Arganari was to be?”

“I think so.”

“There will be no such need under Nnanji, for the sorcerers are on his side. But he is founder of a dynasty, so there will be a different crisis, later.”

“The succession?” Wallie asked, beginning to see.

“Right! Do you remember the night Arganari died?”

“Nnanji’s wedding night?”

The boy nodded and smiled, which was much more comforting than the frown. “Thana conceived a son that night. She does not waste time. Nnanji surely did not! Now do you understand what Arganari is to be? Don’t try to be a god, Mr. Smith. You could not even be an emperor!”

They left the dockside plaza and headed up one of the wider streets. The few pedestrians parted readily for the big swordsman. The boy they did not notice.

“Nnanji will make a much better emperor than Shonsu would have done,” the god remarked. He looked up with a sly smile. “And Thana a better empress than Doa!”

Wallie snorted. “I certainly do not understand what Doa is!”

“Hardly surprising! Genius on her scale comes rarely to any world!” He chuckled at the vagaries of mortals and led the way around a corner. “Forget Doa! She has lost interest in you and she can smell history in the making. She is on that ship!”

“Going to Vul?”

“She will try. You will never meet her again. You have exorcised Shonsu, Mr. Smith!” The boy’s tone said that the subject was closed.

Doa had served her purpose, also, Wallie decided, by rousing Shonsu in him—but a quick frown from the little god warned him not to put the thought into words.

Now he could see that then* destination was the lodge, and he had many questions to ask before they got there.

“So Nnanji is right when he says that the swordsmen will submit to him?”

“Most of them.”

“But what of the cities, the civilians? As soon as he controls the garrisons he will have to adjudicate their disputes—internal politics and taxes and trade. The tryst’s finances are going to be a madhouse of corruption. The whole economy of the World will tremble. I just can’t see Nnanji coping with those problems! He can’t and he won’t!”

“Of course not!” The demigod’s scorn made Wallie break out in goosebumps, “But he has Thana, and he has Katanji, Bcondor,ina’s black,haired brother! With a crippled arm he will not alarm the civilians, but to the swordsmen he is one of them, and brother to the liege. Of course he is a scoundrel! He will be the richest

man in the Work) before he is twenty. But he is loyal to Nnanji, which is all that matters.”

Katanji for Prime Minister?

“Chancellor,” the boy said.

The gods had made their plans well. Lost in thought, Wallie almost walked into a horse, standing between the shafts of a parked wagon. He gave it his apple core and went on.

“So Nnanji seizes power, Thana turns it into an empire, and Katanji keeps it profitable? It will be a force for good?**

“They will make mistakes, of course,” the god said. “But Nnanji is a fast learner. They need wise counsel to minimi^ their follies.”

Wallie’s heart jumped. Did that mean...

“Certainly!” The boy vanished around a group of gossiping women and rejoined Wallie beyond them, “You don’t really want to spend the rest of your life wrestling drunks in Tau, do you? You have been Merlin to Nnanji’s Arthur. Now you can be Aristotle, Alcuin, or Imhotep—loyal friend, advisor, and sometimes conscience; resident wizard. The power behind the scabbard!”

“Will he listen?”

“Most of the time. I do not say it will be easy. But he knows that you know things he never can, just as he can do things you can’t.”

“Nnanji and me? Like the sword—sharpness and flexibility?”

“Like the griffon—a lion and an eagle!”

And suddenly Wallie felt better. No, he was not yet ready to retire to Tau. How could be be happy there, knowing mat Nnanji was trampling unchecked through the life of the People? He followed his divine master through the alley and into the wide plaza, growing dim now in twilight... and stopped in surprise at the huge and rowdy party in progress. The tryst was vacationing. Oxen were being roasted over bonfires. Swordsmen and their ladies were everywhere, laughing and singing and whirling in dance. Minstrels and heralds were being drowned out in the hubbub and the music.

Then he realized mat they must be celebrating more than Boariyi’s victory. Nnanji’s accession was already known. The young hero of Ov was more acceptable man the ambiguous, unorthodox Shonsu. Sutras and swordsmanship had returned. Per,

versions tike archery could be forgotten. Nnanji had known.

Feeling wounded by their ingratitude, Wallie looked down and saw the demigod studying him with amusement, his face indistinct in the shadow, but his eyes gleaming bright.

“Wealth for Katanji, power for Thana, glory for Nnanji,” he said softly. “But you chose love, did you not?”

Wallie nodded.

“You shall have it, then... unless you wish to change your mind? If you want to try being emperor, the Goddess can still arrange for Nnanji to die in Vul.”

“No!” Wallie said hastily. “I... I’ll settle for love!”

The boy chuckled. “I thought so! Power does not appeal to you, Shonsu, just as the People do not interest Nnanji or the other two. You would rather right a wrong, would you not?”

That was true, Wallie admitted thoughtfully. And an empire could do so much: impose uniform laws, stamp out injustice and torture and perhaps even slavery, install good drainage.... It would need hundreds of junior sorcerers to be scribes and accountants; city elders ought to be elected, not self,appointed; taxes should be fairly assessed and honestly collected.... Ideas and plans began to romp through his mind until at last he saw the little god grinning at him. They bom laughed.

“Your reward!” the boy said. The World seems old to you, Shonsu, but in truth it is very young. To all the ages that are to be, this day will seem tike the dawn of history, the Coming of Nnanji. The Swordsmen in the Morning.*”

He gestured for Wallie to move again. They wound their way across the plaza, between the dancers and the bonfires. No one noticed the passing of the deputy liege lord; mat was a trick that the demigod had demonstrated once before, and Wallie was grateful for this temporary invisibility.

“But you will need a house for your lady,” the boy said. “Real estate in Casr is an excellent investment just now. Talk to Katanji.”

Wallie choked. “I have to get rid of mat damned rug before Nnanji gets back! You think he will stand for my getting a house? A furnished house, I suppose?”

“But you will give Katanji Griffon, which is yours. Fair exchange, so Nnanji will not mind.”

The god laughed shrilly. “A modest mansion! Nnanji will not know any better—he does not care about money. You will be amazed at the palace mat Thana builds—with the money she gets from Sapphire, of course! You must learn to manage him, just as bis brother and Thana have learned. He is an autocrat, remember. You are a courtier now.”

“Am I no better than those two, then?”

“Don’t judge! You taught Nnanji mat every man must be arbiter of his own honor. You will be as true to nun as you can. You can’t be a god, Waltiesmith, you can’t be an emperor, and you can’t live by Nnanji’s standards! But you can be a good friend and helper.”

“And what does Katanji get out of this mansion,for,ship deal? Katanji and his friends?”

“Offer to make him treasurer of the tryst and see what he says! If you don’t, Nnanji will anyway. And warn him about the gold coming in from Ki San and Dri—he is sharp enough to see what it will do to prices and he will make another fortune on that alone. Tomorrow will be time enough. Swordsman Katanji has just heard the news, and at the moment he is still delirious over the prospects of a permanent tryst. This is a primitive World still, Shonsu. Don’t expect payroll deductions and medical insurance and pension plans.... Ah! Here we are.”

He stopped and pointed at the lodge entrance ahead. A woman in blue was coming down the steps with a small, naked boy at her side.

Wallie looked twice and men again at his companion.

“That’s you, isn’t it?” he said.

“Of course! Could I ever get all my work done if I were only in one place at a time? And the lady with me, the seamstress of the Seventh?”

Wallie’s eyes misted over, and he could not see.

“Some swordsman you are!” The boy chuckled. “Shonsu, the gods are grateful! Your rewards will be wonderful: long life and happiness, power, and accomplishments.” He snickered. “And loving, of course! You will rule when Nnanji is absent. You will plot the atlas of the World and watch the circles close. You will

force justice on Katanji, reason on Thana, and mercy on Nnanji. You will travel the World as his ambassador and ride at his side when he returns to Harm to thank the Goddess and visit his parents.

“The others will have the honor and tame, but you get the love of the People. And when at last you die, with your grandchildren’s children beside you and a multitude in vigil at the gates, then a World will weep. Until then, Jja’s love is yours and her beauty unfading. She minded little being a slave, but you minded, so she and Vixini have been freed. No one but you and she will even notice the change—it is a retroactive miracle, and the last. I have just explained to her.”

Wallie rubbed his watering eyes angrily. The little boy had run off to meet the other little boy, and then they were running side by side, except there was only one of him, and then he had vanished altogether in the darkness between the dancers and the bonfires...

And Lady Jja was standing at the bottom of the steps, smiting and waiting for her swordsman.

was born in Scotland in
 
and educated at Dundee High School and the University of St. Andrews. He moved to Canada in
 
and has lived in Calgary ever since. He is married and has three grown,up children.

Unlike most writers, he did not experiment beforehand with a wide variety of careers. Apart from a brief entrepreneurial digression into founding—and then quickly selling—a computerized data,sorting business, he spent thirty years as a petroleum geologist. His recreational interests, however, have included at one time or another astronomy, acting, statistics, history, painting, hiking, model ship building, photography, parakeet breeding, carpentry, tropical plants, classical music, computer programining, chess, genealogy, and stock market speculation.