Litany of the Long Sun (38 page)

"Mornings, afternoons, or evenings?" Xiphias inquired. "Would evenings be all right? Good! Can we say Hieraxday, then?"

Silk nodded again. "Hieraxday after shadelow, Master Xiphias."

Auk brought the old man his prosthetic leg and helped him keep his balance while he closed its socket about his stump.

"You see," Xiphias asked, tapping it with his foil, "that I've earned the right to do what I did? That I was cheated once myself? That I paid the price when I was as young and strong as you are today?"

OUTSIDE, IN THE hot, silent street, Auk said, "We'll find you a litter before long, Patera. I'll pay 'em, but then I'll have to get going."

Silk smiled. "If I can fight with that marvelous old madman on this ankle, I can certainly walk home on it. You may leave me now, Auk, and Pas's peace go with you. I won't try to thank you for everything you've done for me tonight. I couldn't, even if I talked until morning. But I'll repay you whenever I get the chance."

Auk grinned and clapped him on the back. "No hurry, Patera."

"Down this little street-it's String Street, I know it-and I'll be on Sun Street. A few steps east, and I'll be at the manteion. You have business of your own to attend to, I'm certain. And so good night."

He took care to stride along normally until Auk was out of sight, then permitted himself to limp, leaning on Blood's stick. His bout with Master Xiphias had left him drenched with sweat; fortunately the night wind had no edge to it.

Autumn was nearly over. Was it only yesterday that it had rained? Silk assured himself that it was. Winter was almost upon them, though there was only that shower to prove it The crops were in-meager crops, most peasants said, hardly worth the work of harvest; the parched dead of summer seemed to last longer each year, and this year the heat had been terrible. As it still was, for that matter.

Here was Sun Street; wide though it was, he had almost missed the turning. The funeral tomorrow-Orpine's final rites, and very likely her first as well. He recalled what Auk had said about her and wished that he had known her, as perhaps Hyacinth had. Had Maytera been able to cash Orchid's draft? He would have to find out-perhaps she had left him a note. He wouldn't have to tell her to sweep the manteion. Could rue soil be had cheaply in the market? No, could rue be had at any price? Almost certainly, yes.

And…

And there was the manse, with the manteion beyond it; but he had barred the Sun Street door.

He hobbled diagonally across Sun Street to the garden gate, unlocked and opened it, and locked it again carefully behind him. As he went along the narrow path to the manse, where no one slept or ate or lived except himself, voices floated into the garden through the open window. One was harsh, rising almost to a shout, then sinking to a mutter. The other, speaking of Pas and Echidna, of Hierax and Molpe and all the gods, was in some odd fashion familiar.

He paused for a moment to listen, then sat down on the old worn step. It was-surely it was-his own.

"… who makes the crops to shoot forth from dirt," said this second voice. "You sprats have all seen it, and you'd think it wonderfully wonderful if you hadn't."

It was his talk at manteion from Molpsday, or rather a parody of it. But perhaps he had really sounded like that, had sounded that foolish. No doubt he sounded that foolish still.

"Thus when we see the trees dancing in the breeze we are to think of her, but not only of her, of her mother, too, for we would not have her without her mother, or the trees, or even the dance."

He had said that, surely. Those had been his precise words-that babble. The Outsider had not only spoken to him, but had somehow split him in two: the Patera Silk who lived here and was speaking now in the musty sellaria, and he himself. Silk the failed thief-Silk the foe and tool of Blood, Silk who was Auk's friend, who had in his waistband an azoth lent him by a whore and her trumpery needier in his pocket.

Silk who longed to see her again.

The harsh voice: "Silk good!"

Perhaps. But was it that Silk or this one, himself? Was it this one, with Hyacinth's azoth in its hand, drawn unconsciously? This Silk who feared and hated Musk, and ached to kill him?

Of whom was he afraid? That other Silk would not have harmed a mouse, had postponed getting the ratsnake he needed again and again, visualizing the suffering of-rats. And yet it would be a fearful thing to meet that Silk whom he had been, and was a fearful thing to meet him now, in voice and memory. Had he truly become someone else?

He tore open the heavy, paper-wrapped packet Auk had put into his hand, dropping several needles. More filled the open breech of the needier like water; he released the loading knob and the breech closed. The needier would fire now if he needed it Or perhaps would not.

Patera Silk, and Silk nightside. He found that he, the latter, was contemptuous of the former, though envious, too.

His own voice echoed from the manse. "In the names of all the immortal gods, who give us all we have."

Strange gifts, at times. He had saved this manteion, or had at least postponed its destruction; now, hearing the voice of its augur, he knew that it had never really been worth saving-though he had been sent to save it Grim-faced, he rose, thrust the azoth back into his waistband and dropped the needier into his pocket again with what remained of the packet of needles, and dusted the back of his robe.

Everything had changed because he himself was changed. How had it happened? When he climbed Blood's wall? When he had entered the manteion to get the hatchet? Long ago, when he had helped force the window, with the other boys? Or had Mucor laid some spell on him, there in her filthy, lightless room? Mucor was one who might lay spells, if any did; Mucor was a devil, in so far as devils were. Was it she who had drunk poor Teasel's blood?

"Mucor," Silk whispered. "Are you here? Are you still following me?" For a moment he seemed to hear an answering whisper, as the night wind stirred the dry leaves of the fig tree.

Gabbling now, his voice from the window: "Here hear what the Writings here have to Say-ilk. Here hear the high hopes of Horrible Hierax."

"Here axe," repeated the harsh voice, as though mocking his finding the hatchet, and Silk recognized it.

No, it had not been Mucor, or his deciding to take the hatchet or any such thing. All gods were good, but might not the unfathomable Outsider be good in a dark way? As Auk was, or as Auk might be? Suddenly Silk remembered the whorl outside the whorl, the Outsider's immeasurable whorl beneath his feet. So dark.

Yet lit by scattered motes.

With one hand on the needier in his pocket, he opened the door of the manse and stepped inside.

THE END OF BOOK ONE

Gene Wolfe

For Dan Knight, who will understand more than most

N. B. In Viron, biochemical males are named for animals or animal products: Auk, Blood, Crane, Musk, and Silk bear names of this type. Biochemical females are named for plants (most frequently flowers) or plant products: Chenille, Mint, Orchid, Rose. Chemical persons, both male and female, are named for metals or minerals: Hammerstone, Marble, Sand, Schist.

Aquila
, a young eagle being trained by Musk.

Arolla
, a woman who has left Orchid's.

Auk
, a housebreaker, a friend of Silk's, devoted to Mint, a large and powerful man with a heavy jaw and prominent ears. Called "Hackum" by Chenille.

Bass
, the bully who maintains order at Orchid's.

Bellflower
, one of the women at Orchid's. Maytera Betel, once one of the sibyls at the manteion on Sun Street, now deceased.

Bittersweet
, a member of Incus's circle of black mechanics.

Blood,
a crime lord, the de facto owner of Silk's manteion and Orchid's yellow house. Tall, heavy, balding, and red-faced; about fifty-five.

Chenille,
one of the women at Orchid's. She is probably nineteen, is tall and athletic, and has dyed her hair the fiery shade of her name-flower. Called "Jugs" by Auk.

Chervil,
a young middle-class woman from Viron, wife of Coypu.

Coypu
, a young middle-class man from Viron, husband of Chervil.

Chiquito
, a parrot once owned by Mamelta's parents.

Doctor Crane,
Blood's private physician, a small, fussy man with an iron-gray beard.

Dreoilin
, Iolar's favorite daughter.

Echidna
, a major goddess, consort of Pas, mother of the gods, and chief goddess of fertility. Particularly associated with snakes, mice, and other crawling creatures.

Feather,
a small boy at Silk's palaestra.

Fulmar,
a member of Incus's circle of black mechanics.

Councillor Galago,
a member of the Ayuntamiento and its expert on diplomacy and foreign affairs.

Gib,
the big man who maintains order in the Cock. A friend of Auk's.

Patera Gulo,
a young augur.

Corporal Hammerstone,
a soldier in Viron's army.

Hare,
Musk's assistant.

Hierax,
a major god, the god of death and patron of the fourth day of the week. Particularly associated with canon birds, jackals, and (like Tartaros) with black animals of every kind.

Hoppy,
a derogatory name for a Guardsman.

Horn,
the leader of the older boys at Silk's palaestra.

Hyacinth,
a beautiful courtesan- controlled by Blood.

Patera Incus
, Remora's prothonotary, a small, sly man with buck teeth. His hobby is black mechanics.

Iolar,
a Flier.

Kalan
, a thief killed by Auk.

Kit
, a small boy who attends Silk's palaestra.

Kypris
, a minor goddess, the goddess of love. Particularly associated with rabbits and doves.

Councillor Lemur,
the Secretary of the Ayuntamiento and thus the de facto ruler of Viron.

Councillor Loris,
a member of the Ayuntamiento, its presiding officer in Lemur's absence.

Mamelta,
a sleeper wakened by Mucor and freed by Silk.

Maytera Marble,
now a sibyl of Silk's manteion, junior to Rose but senior to Mint; she is over three hundred years old, and nearly worn out.

Marrow,
a greengrocer.

Maytera Mint,
the junior sibyl at Silk's manteion.

Molpe,
a major goddess, the goddess of music, dancing, and art, of the winds and of all light things, patroness of the second day of the week. She is particularly associated with songbirds and butterflies.

Mucor,
Blood's adopted daughter; she is about fifteen, capable of asomatous travel, and something akin to a devil.

Musk,
Blood's steward and lover.

Nettle,
Horn's sweetheart.

Olive
, a sleeper.

Colonel Oosik
, the commander of the Third Brigade of the Civil Guard of Viron.

Orchid,
madame of the yellow house on Lamp Street. Orpine's mother.

Oreb,
Silk's pet night chough, a large black bird with scarlet legs and a crimson beak.

Orpine,
Orchid's daughter, stabbed by Chenille.

The Outsider,
the minor god who enlightened Silk.

Pas
, the father of the gods and ruler of the Whorl, which he built. The god of sun and rain, of mechanisms and much else, pictured with two heads. He is particularly associated with cattle and birds of prey.

Phaea,
a major goddess, the goddess of food and healing and patroness of the sixth day of the week. She is particularly associated with swine.

Patera Pike
, an augur, Silk's predecessor at the manteion on Sun Street, now deceased.

Poppy,
one of the women at Orchid's, small, dark, and pretty.

Councillor Potto,
a member of the Ayuntamiento and its expert on law enforcement and espionage, round-faced and deceptively cheerful-looking.

Patera Quetzal,
the Prolocutor of Viron and as such the head of the Chapter. Addressed as "Your Cognizance."

Patera Remora,
coadjutor to Quetzal. Tall and thin, with a long, sallow face and lank black hair. Addressed as "Your Eminence."

Maytera Rose,
the senior sibyl at Silk's manteion, largely a collection of prosthetic parts. Over ninety.

Sargeant Sand,
a soldier in the army of Viron.

Private Schist
, a soldier in the army of Viron.

Scleroderma,
the butcher's wife. She sells meat scraps as food for pets and is sometimes called "the cats' meat woman." Short and very fat.

Scylla,
a major goddess, the goddess of lakes and rivers, and the patroness of the first day of the week and of Silk's native city of Viron; particularly associated with horses, camels, and fish; pictured with eight, ten, or twelve arms.

Patera Silk,
augur of the old manteion on Sun Street; he is twenty-three, tall and slender, with disorderly yellow hair.

Commissioner Simuliid,
a key bureaucrat in the government of Viron, tall and very fat, with a thick black mustache.

Sphigx,
a major goddess, the goddess of war and courage, and the patroness of the seventh day of the week; particularly associated with lions and other felines.

Councillor Tarsier,
a member of the Ayuntamiento and its expert on architecture and engineering.

Tartaros,
a major god, the god of night, crime, and commerce, and the patron of the third day of the week; particularly associated with owls, bats, and moles, and (like Hierax) with black animals of every kind.