Peter turned to look at me. I lifted my eyes from the map and stared back at him silently. He said, "A mask?"
I nodded. "Many centuries ago, the priests wore masks when they made sacrifices to the gods, so as to show in which god's name they were killing the victim. The masks, though no longer worn, are still used as an aid to worship. The man called the Jackal is said to wear such a god-mask."
"God-masks, slave-masks – Koretia seems to be a land full of masks. . . . But I'm less interested in the Jackal's appearance than in what sort of man he is."
"If I ever speak with him, I'll be able to tell you. But I can at least tell you what the god is like." I paused, my eyes searching the neck-flap of his tunic. "You're not wearing your emblem brooch."
"No, I'm dressed for the court today."
"I realize that. What I meant was, I could have used your royal emblem to explain about the Jackal."
"Use this, then." Peter strode forward and pulled from his finger the Chara's seal-ring, used to seal official documents and letters, such as the one Peter had left me. Except for certain high-ranked court officials, anyone who touched the ring could be placed under the high doom.
I took the Chara's ring from his hand and turned it to show the emblem of the Charas: a balance holding in one scale a blade and in the other scale a bird wounded in the heart.
"This is one of many things which have convinced me that Emor and Koretia were once connected in some way," I said. "Here is the Chara's emblem: the Balance of Judgment holding the Sword of Vengeance and the Heart of Mercy. And those are the three attributes of the Jackal as well: the God of Judgment, the God of Vengeance, and the God of Mercy. The Jackal God hides in the shadows during his night-prowls, judging the Koretian people. To his enemies he brings vengeance, and to his loyal servants he brings the mercy of peace. There are even stories of the god allowing himself to be wounded and to suffer for those who serve him. That is why he is so loved by the Koretian people."
Peter took back the ring, slid it onto his finger, and asked quietly, "Was he loved by you when you were a child? Did you wish to become a thief for the Jackal?"
I looked down again at the map before answering. "The blood vow I once told you of was made to the Jackal."
The guards, who had been shuffling in their places outside the Map Room, fell silent at this moment, and the loudest sound I could hear was the crackle of the fire behind me. Peter said, "Then I will have to hope that, when I visit Koretia, the Jackal doesn't place me under his high doom for helping you to break your vow."
I touched the map very lightly before I looked up to where Peter stood, watching me. "You are going to Koretia?" I said in a dispassionate voice.
"I think that's the only action I can take to prevent war from breaking out again." He waited, and then said, "What is on your mind?"
"I was thinking that summer isn't the best time to visit Koretia."
Peter smiled. "You're supposed to say, 'The Chara never leaves his palace.' That's what the council lords will say when I tell them of my decision."
"You haven't told them yet?"
"I didn't decide to go before this conversation. I expect that the council and I will have a lengthy quarrel on the topic, but the law allows me to go, and my duty as Chara tells me to go. Besides, I'd like to see Koretia. I was only there for that one brief visit."
"Because your father wouldn't risk putting you in danger's way again. How will the Chara avoid becoming the Jackal's next victim?"
"The Chara hopes," said Peter with a smile, "that his subject Andrew will not be leading him into any more ambushes. But in any case, I won't be travelling as the Chara. It appears that the Jackal doesn't murder Emorian lords at random, so I should be safe if I don't call attention to myself, but instead journey to the governor's palace in the company of one or two other lords." He paused, searching my face. "I may take a few lesser free-men along as well."
I did not move my gaze from his, but my expression remained masked. "Are you asking me to come with you, Peter?"
His voice, when he replied, was gentle. "I wish that it were Peter who was asking. I would like to say that the only reason I am asking you is because I, Peter, would like my friend to be able to visit his childhood home. But the fact is that the Chara is requesting his servant to accompany him so that, with your special background, you can find me information that I may wish to use against the Koretian rebels and their Jackal. I need you to be a spy in your own land."
I still did not move, but now that the words were said, I felt my heart ease somewhat. "Thank you for putting that so clearly, Chara," I said softly, "but I have only one land, which is Emor, and only one master, which is you. When I gave my oath of loyalty to the Chara, I did not say that I would serve you only on condition that you not give me any hard tasks to do. If you need my help, then I will gladly come with you to Koretia."
He bowed his head to me, as though he were the servant and I the master. "Thank you. I would miss you if I had to make this long trip to Koretia alone. Besides" – he gave a crooked smile – "I'm depending on you to tell me which Koretian foods are inedible to Emorians."
I was saved from having to reply by the call of the trumpets outside, sounding three long notes. "May the high doom fall upon me," said the Chara. "I am due in the court now. Could you hand me my cloak?"
I brought it over to him; he was placing the Pendant of Judgment around his neck. I shook my head as he tried to take the cloak from me, and instead went round his back to place it on him myself.
"You must stop acting as though you were still my free-servant," he scolded me mildly. "You have your own duties as a palace guest."
"Old customs are hard to abandon," I said.
o—o—o
The Chara's palace was nearly as big as the city I had grown up in, and I doubt that even Peter, who had spent all his life there, had visited every part of it. In theory, the great building was divided into three areas – the court, the army, and the council – but in practice, all of the important rooms were clustered in the vicinity of the Court of Judgment.
I passed the doorway to the court after leaving the Map Room and caught a glimpse of the Chara sitting on his throne. I did not linger. A year had passed since I had last visited the court, and I had no desire ever to see the Chara in judgment again.
Instead, I continued on to the north end of the palace, where two great copper doors stood open. They led to the vast chamber belonging to the council lords, who were given the task by law of running the daily affairs of Emor and its imperial dominions. The chamber was surrounded on three sides by the other rooms of the council quarters, and at the entrance to the chamber were side doors leading to the corridors adjoining these rooms. Through them, I could glimpse a bustle of activity.
The Council Chamber's doors – as high and wide as those of the Map Room – were open, though they showed only a small portion of the chamber, since the council quarters, like the Map Room, jutted out toward the east, beyond the facade of the rest of the east wing of the palace. The entrance to the chamber was empty except for the council guards and the council porter. The latter was on a ladder at the entrance, attempting to raise the royal emblem of the Chara, which was placed above the chamber doorway on days when the council met in closed session. I paused to lend him my aid until we had together succeeded in placing the seal directly in the path of sunlight from the high corridor windows. The painted colors shone brightly from the grey stone background: the silver sword, the golden balance, and the red heart's blood on the black bird.
"You're stronger than I would have thought," said the porter. Then, taking my silence for the reply that it was, he added hastily, "I mean . . . having lived all your life in the palace. . . . It's not as though you were trained for heavy work."
"I had a few years of normal life before I came here," I replied. "Do you need help with passing word to the council officials?"
Still standing above me on the ladder, the porter shook his head mutely, and I continued on my journey without looking back at him. Turning right once I passed through the entrance, I walked through the empty Council Chamber, as ancient as the Court of Judgment, and made my way into a chamber at the back.
The council library was a small room, but was one of the few in the palace that was filled with many windows. The sunlight fell unimpeded onto the short row of double-sided desks, each mounted in the middle with a small bookcase. I went from desk to desk until I found the volume I was looking for. Grasping its leather binding, which had grown warm under the sun's rays, I pulled the book gently from the shelf, brushing off the desk, as I did so, bits of paper that flaked off the book and fluttered down. As I seated myself, I pushed to one side the iron chain that bound the book to the desk, and then opened the collection of the Chara Nicholas's proclamations during the final years of the Border Wars.
It took me some time to find the document I was seeking.
I, Nicholas, the Great Chara of Emor and Its Dominions . . . do on this day declare that Alan son of Gershom, formerly Head Councilman of the Town of Busedge, shall become a non-voting member of the Great Council of Emor, and shall also be made Lord of the Koretian Land, acting as its governor until his death. I do declare also that Lord Alan shall be servant only to the Great Council, which in turn is servant only to the Law, except as it shall turn any of its members over to the Chara for judgment. And so that it shall be understood by Lord Alan and the people of this land, I make clear in this declaration that his duties are as
follows: to obey the commands of the Chara, to care for the Koretian people with discipline and mercy . . .
A shadow fell over the book, and a voice behind me said, "Reading about your homeland?"
I shut the book, rose, and gave a short bow. "High Lord."
"Good day to you, Andrew," Lord Dean replied, as easily as though he were addressing one of his council lords. "I didn't mean to interrupt you at your studies."
"It is of no importance," I said. "The Chara asked me to gather information on the dominions' governors."
"And especially on the Koretian governor? That is hardly surprising. No one in the palace talks of anything but Koretia these days. Tell me, have you never thought of returning to your native land?"
I scrutinized him, trying to assess from his expression whether he had spoken to the Chara. "It has not occurred to me for many years."
"Not now, of course, not with Koretia on the verge of war. But once we have brought peace again to that land, you might do well to consider such an action. I understand that the Chara is in desperate need of an aide to stay in the governor's palace and ensure that Lord Alan is not – well, handing down his own judgment of what the Chara's commands mean. I doubt that the Chara has raised the topic with you himself, but I'm sure that you've occurred to him as someone who could provide a loyal Emorian presence in a troubled land. You would be doing the Chara a great service if you were to propose to him such an arrangement."
"I am the Chara's servant. He has only to ask."
"But you are his subject, not his free-servant; you could propose the matter yourself. Andrew, my legs are not as young as they used to be. Shall we make ourselves more comfortable?"
I followed Lord Dean over to the chairs by the north window, and then waited until he had seated himself before I followed suit. We were opposite the library tapestry, which hung on the wall in aged and faded splendor. It was so old that not even Peter knew its origin, and it was obviously symbolic in some way, but no one had ever been able to identify the symbols: a flower rising out of a flame, a man struggling to tame a wild stallion, a silver moon that was curved into a crescent blade, two golden suns staring down at the land like eyes . . .
Lord Dean leaned back in his chair. "Ah, that is better. I envy you your youth, Andrew, not only because your body is still fresh and full of vigor but also because you have so much time ahead of you. You've already accomplished much in your life. Tell me, how long have you been with the Chara?"
I said, with precision, "I was assigned to the Chara's household almost twelve years ago. I became his free-servant ten years ago . . ." I hesitated.
"And for the past year you have held no other title than friend of the Chara," concluded Lord Dean. "An honorable position, and one that I like to think I share with you. It is as the Chara's friend that I wish to speak to you, Andrew. It is on a matter that I cannot approach the Chara about officially except insofar as I have already done so. I know that you are probably the only person in this palace who cares as much about the Chara's best interests as I do. So I would like your help, free-man to free-man, in opening the Chara's eyes to a danger that faces Emor."
"If I can help the Chara," I said, carefully rephrasing Lord Dean's request, "I certainly will try to do so. What is the nature of this danger?"
Lord Dean smiled, his long fingers idly twirling the short locks of his white hair. "Do you remember the visit of the Arpeshian princess many years ago? She is, of course, a princess only in name, but the Arpeshians hold her in great respect, and it is through the influence of her late mother that the Chara Nicholas was able to subdue a threatened rebellion in Arpesh fourteen years ago. The princess would have been about five years old at that time."
"I was not yet part of the Chara's household at that time, Lord Dean."
"No, that is right, and I suppose that you did not venture much from your quarters. Well, when the princess visited, the Chara Peter was a boy of twelve, still a few years from manhood, yet he spent a surprisingly large amount of his time entertaining his palace guest. I believe, too, that he saw Lady Delia again several years later, when he visited Arpesh on the eve of his enthronement. And so the council suggested to the Chara some weeks ago that he invite the princess to stay at the palace."
"Is there trouble in Arpesh? I had not heard." My mind was less on what the High Lord was saying than on unravelling the puzzle of the tapestry. What was the meaning of the young woman leading a goat into a building? Or of the quill pen that appeared to be writing in blood? Or, most mysterious of all, the upper right-hand corner of the tapestry, which was carefully woven black, with no symbols whatever?