Waking Olympus (The Singers of the Dark Book 1) (14 page)

The soldiers in front of him were talking to the merchants. He could see the fear in the merchants' faces, the excessive smiles, and the threatening stance of the Captain. In short order the square was cleared and the merchants streamed back out of the square past the road block.

The Captain rode up to Tei. They spoke quietly for some seconds but Tei was getting agitated, and loud. The Captain was implacable yet more restrained than he expected.

“This is where you will be staying until we make our decision about you.”

“What about food for my people and animals? We will need water? How long will we have to stay here?” She said.

The Captain ignored her and just rode off on his horse and continued on past the road block.

They all dismounted, Tei sighed, took a deep breath and called everyone over for a talk. They stood around in a circle with Tei at the center.

She said, “Screw it! He says we have to wait until they decide what ‘tax’ to impose on us, or whether we are spies."

There were murmurs and Arel expressed what others thought, “Maybe we should just fight our way out.”

Tarvis rolled his eyes. “Arel, that is crazy even for you. We are grossly outnumbered, in
their
city, effectively in a prison environment and would be escaping to flat, open country.”

Mikel interjected, “So what can we do?”

Tei smiled, “Parley.”

“I don’t know if you have noticed Tei but I don’t think we have a lot to bargain with.” There was a look in her eyes and a slight smile.

“What exactly do you have in mind?”

The queen of Sanfran, Queen Elena Andreiv, had summoned Tei to a meeting. Tei didn’t know whether the Queen would accept her request for an audience but it was important to act with confidence, so she insisted that she needed her scribe, Mikel, and one of her trusted aides to attend as well. For her aide she chose Tarvis, maybe being older and wiser-looking would make the group seem older and wiser as well. Then pretend that being imprisoned was not a first impression.

The three of them were escorted to the Palace.
 

The Palace stood at the end of a large empty square flanked by the gray ruins of buildings now at most one or two stories tall, just jagged walls and rubble. It must have been the true heart of the city. The Palace was a great building six stories high with towers at each corner. The three of them, unarmed, with their armed guard of ten soldiers walked toward the great entrance, which was two stories tall and made them feel as if they were entering the home of giants. Mikel looked to the left and the right, the two towers were like minarets, fifty meters away in opposite directions and four stories higher than the rest of the building. The one on the left was in almost pristine condition whereas the right hand tower was a blackened shell. The whole structure of the palace looked tarnished with signs of battle and age, the various gaps in view made the building look slightly pock-marked, even more so close up with dozens if not hundreds of small random holes in the face of the building, as if it was afflicted by some kind of stone weevil. But here and there flashed some of the original color of the building; pale yellow and light blues. Altogether the building looked like the decayed remains of some gigantic many eyed creature, once magnificent but now only a dry, weathered husk. Incredibly in some places there were glass windows, they appeared to be original, he was at a loss to understand how they could survive from human and natural forces.

The door they approached was clearly not the original. The doorway itself was four meters high by about three meters wide, made of granite, a stone he had first seen in Bethor; this was black with dark flecks, probably from hornblende with sparkling flecks of biotite, very beautiful. He wished he could stop and examine it, even a quick glance showed that this stone was polished to perfection. Once there had been statues on either side of the doorway but they had been smashed and now only pink crystalline stubs remained embedded in the black granite floor. The door was made of thick beams of reddish-brown wood braced together with iron clasps and great nails. The wood looked as if it was originally roughly cut but had been later sanded down. It didn’t sit square on the hinges. The crudity of it against the rest of the building was jarring. Mikel thought that before he left the Center it would not have been that odd, it was only after seeing some of the buildings in Bethor that his standards had been raised. He wondered if that was why the newer buildings at the Center were so much better because like him they had seen Ancient examples. He didn't think that idea would fly, the Main Hall itself was an Ancient structure, so familiar that everyone had forgotten its history, and now he had seen numerous buildings made of the same material,
concrete
they called it.

They were led down a short dark passage, he had a moment of déjà vu, then remembered that similar walk into the heart of the Center's Main Hall to see the Master Wizard. So long ago.
No, merely a month.

Tei emphasized, several times, to Mikel that Sanfran was not like Lindin. It had always been more independent, perhaps because it was so remote from Bethor and so close to the Caravanserai. They didn't even have slaves and that was a problem for them; since the end of the machines, when humans wanted something done it was easier just to enslave people and have others do it for them. So Sanfran's stand on this was highly regarded. He wanted to like them already, unless he had to fight them.

Two soldiers escorted them into a beautiful, garden courtyard where there were fountains (original by the looks) and plants and flowers he had never seen before. He was delighted at the treasure of this new knowledge before him. A woman in fine bright yellow and red clothes seated on a great yellow chair was positioned at the center of the garden, flanked by guards and surrounded by flowers. Everywhere, the scent of herbs, the perfumes changing in mix as they walked towards the throne. It was so pleasant that it almost warped reality, he wondered how he could document it, how he could duplicate it, surely Lind needed something like this.

The woman they were approaching was Queen Elena and she was talking to a high ranking soldier of some kind. Tei moved forward to greet the Queen. Mikel was a bit further away and fascinated by some of the plants, as usual he faded into the background as he tried to make some drawings and descriptions of them. Maybe even press a few leaves into his journal.

The Queen now turned towards Tei. “I welcome a caravan and Ambassador of the Traders.”
 

Tei gave a nod and smile to indicate she accepted the welcome. Clearly the reference to ‘Ambassador’ meant that more was going on here than merely a border policing action.

Tei now spoke with that same sense of authority he remembered from the hexayurt. “Thank you, Your Highness. The Trader Alliance has always held the Cities in high regard, none more so than Sanfran.”

The Queen was dressed in yellow and red flowing cloth that he could almost see through. He had never seen a woman dressed like that. She was quite attractive, early thirties he would guess. But his curiosity about the garden was too great. Mikel heard nothing of the conversation between the woman and Tei because he had continued to obsessively make notes about the plants, the statues, whatever he could get down in the time he would be allowed in this place.

“Mikel!” Tei’s voice. Sharp like a warning.

He looked up and saw a large suspicious guard next to him eyeing him and the notebook. This guard wasn't like the friendly ones at the Center, this man was tough, with armor and carrying weapons that had seen use. He wouldn't think twice about putting a blade through Mikel's chest.

“Give it to me.” His calloused hand outstretched. “Come on!
Now
!”

He handed over the notebook then walked over to Tei. He wondered if he had just put them all into deep trouble. Or deeper trouble.

The guard approached the queen handing over his notebook. Tei looked around, knowing whose notebook it was and glared at Mikel. He felt sick and stupid.

The Queen looked through the rough notebook for quite some time, turning the pages with her yellow gloves, occasionally dwelling on some page, then she carefully closed it and instructed the guard to give it back to Mikel.

“A very interesting diary you have scribe. My guards thought you were a spy. However, I am sure a true spy would be more interested in the disposition of my defenses than drawing flowers or recording how much a camel eats. Nevertheless a very interesting little book, written in the style of
Lindisfarne
, or Lind as you prefer to call it these days, though I think it much less poetic. I hope we can discuss your book later.”

The queen continued the conversation that he had not been listening to, but which he had now become a part.

"We have had troubles with some of our neighboring cities. It is just a precaution that you were brought here. But since you are here then maybe we can show you our city and strengthen our ties."

Tei looked relaxed, she was now playing her ambassador role. “Thank you, Your Highness. This detour to your city was unexpected but I hope we can use this opportunity to our mutual benefit.”

He presumed that these pleasantries translated to: we need something from each other, lets make a deal. He could see what Sanfran would want. The city was in decay, it needed new materials, ideas and technology, just the things that the Traders specialized in. It might also want cultural ties, the artwork in the garden suggested a city wanting new visions yet constrained by isolation. But what could the Traders get out of this apart from the personal freedom of this caravan.

“The Trader Alliance is grateful for this opportunity for closer relations." Tei said. "There are many things that the Alliance could assist with, but if this is to be mutually beneficial what is it that you could offer the Alliance.”

Tei had been careful to refer to the Alliance, perhaps the Queen would see that this was something that was larger than just this one caravan.

“We offer…“ Mikel was sure he saw the Queen take a breath.

“… a partnership in the economy of the City of Sanfran and protected access to our trade routes.” There was a moment of hesitation from Tei, so uncharacteristic that Mikel knew it was far more than what she had hoped for.
 

“Of course your Majesty. The Trader Alliance would be pleased, after suitable negotiations, to enter into such an arrangement.”

The Queen leaned forward, “… and what will the Trader Alliance provide?”

“As an ally in the Trader Alliance we would assist with new technology, materials, intel, and armed support if required. All subject to successful negotiation of course.”

The Queen smiled and relaxed back onto her throne. “Acceptable. May it be so.”

“I have other matters to attend to now. Tonight there will be a banquet. You are invited with your
scribe
and companion Traders. Perhaps we can use the feast to celebrate our new friendship.”

Mikel saw the two guards on each side of them bow, then Tei bowed. He did the same. Then they did an about turn and left.

The other Traders in the Caravan had listened intently to Tei’s retelling of the meeting with the Queen.

Santh spoke first. He was a seasoned man from Tan Vu, an oasis town south of Tanten, he had graying temples, a worn face, aged more by life than time.

“Typically, the rulers of the cities were barbarians who despised learning. It seems this queen belongs to a different generation. Perhaps even barbarians can change their ways by their own choice.”

Generally, the Traders were very pleased, but surprised. The agreement had taken minutes not weeks or even years as would be expected from past experience. Why now? Traders had been making overtures to some cities that they thought were more reasonable without luck. But now came a forceful, or desperate, invitation from a city. They would learn more at the banquet. All the Traders’ were invited, though a few would stay behind to guard the supplies and tend to the camels and horses. They drew straws to see who would stay behind. Mikel wasn’t sure if it was the winners or the losers who went to the banquet.

First, however would be a trip to the royal bathhouse to wash off the dirt of the road and stop smelling like a bunch of bandits.

The bath house was a large, solid building, with a rounded roof. Pretty nondescript and uninspiring from the outside, but inside it was a marvel. The walls had enormous panoramic murals on them with the afternoon light streaming through many high narrow windows making the murals more vivid. Apart from the murals the inside of the building was a single room filled with a large deep pool of water. Steam could be seen rising in places. It was heated. Now he noticed something else.

Mikel was astonished and embarrassed to discover that the royal baths were communal. No swimming costumes either. Most of the Traders, including Tei, were already in the water. The pool was heated by servants pouring hot water in at one end, and two others pushing down on a man sized paddlewheel to circulate the water. At the far end he could see an outlet for the water to aid the circulation. Fortunately, the water wasn’t crystal clear. Perhaps there were some impurities in the lake water, or maybe they added special salts for the bathers. Mikel had heard of such practices but thought they were just tall tales. He disrobed and jumped in as fast as he could, creating a splash that drew attention to himself, embarrassing him even more. He expected it to be warm after seeing them pour hot water in at the other end. It wasn’t, it was freezing. He was too used to swimming in the warm seas around Lind.
 

“Mikel! Next time use the steps for Zeus’ sake!” Santh said, irritated.

Another voice, Tei’s. His vision was a bit blurry as the water still dripped from his eyes, but he saw her perfect breasts bouncing happily in the water just at nipple level. What a pleasant coincidence. Now he knew that she was pale skinned and she knew he was brown all over.

“Mikel. Please look me in the eyes.”

He blushed before he could control his response. Brown skin does not protect you from blushing it just makes it harder to see it. He looked Tei in the face. Wet hair dangling down her back, face clean, dewed and relaxed. Eyes bright.