The Quest - Smith Wilbur (читать лучшие читаемые книги TXT) 📗

At last Aquer spoke again: 'How did you lose your eye, Colonel Cambyses?'

'Such things happen to a soldier. There are many hazards in our lives.'

'We will deal with that in due course,' Aquer said.

Taita could make little of such an enigmatic statement. 'Please return to your place, Colonel.' The interview had been cursory, but Taita knew they had extracted all the information they required from Meren.

Next Taita called Hilto. The oligarchs took an even shorter time to consider him. Taita saw Hilto's aura burning honest and unremarkable, except for the fluttering ribbons of blue light at its edges, which betrayed his agitation. The oligarchs sent him back to his seat. They treated Imbali and Nakonto in much the same manner.

At last Taita called Fenn. 'My lords, this is an orphan of war on whom I took pity. I have made her my ward and named her Fenn. I know little about her. Never having had a child of my own, I have grown fond of her.'

Standing before the Supreme Council, Fenn looked like an abandoned waif. She hung her head and shifted her weight shyly from one foot to the other. It was as though she could not bring herself to look directly at her inquisitors. Anxiously, Taita watched her with the Inner Eye. Her aura remained subdued, and she was playing perfectly the role he had set for her. After another pause Aquer asked, 'Who was your father, girl?'

'Sir, I knew him not.' There was no flicker of falsehood in her aura.

'Your mother?'

'Neither do I remember her, sir.'

'Where were you born?'

'Sir, forgive me, but I do not know.'

Taita noted how well she was holding herself in check.

'Come here,' Aquer ordered. Timidly she hopped up on to the platform and went to him. He took her arm and drew her closer to his stool. 'How old are you, Fenn?'

'You will think me stupid, but I know not.' Aquer turned her, slipped his hand into the top of her tunic and felt her chest under the linen.

'There is already something.' He chuckled. 'There will soon be much more.' Fenn's aura glowed softly pink and Taita feared she was about to lose her self-control. Then he realized she was displaying only the shame that any young girl would experience on being handled in a manner she did not understand. He had more difficulty with keeping his own anger

in check. However, he sensed that this little scene was a test: Aqueii was attempting to goad a reaction from either Fenn or Taita. Taita remained stony-faced but he thought: In the time of reckoning you shall pay in full for that, Lord Aquer.

The oligarch continued to fondle Fenn. 'I am sure you will grow to be a young woman of rare beauty. If you are fortunate you may be chosen for great honour and distinction here in Jarri,' he said. He pinched one of her small round buttocks and laughed again. 'Run along now, little one. We shall consider it again in a year or two.'

He dismissed them, but asked Taita to remain. When the others had left the room, Aquer said politely, 'It is necessary that we of the council confer privily, Magus. Please pardon us while we withdraw. We shall not leave you long alone.'

When they returned the three oligarchs were more relaxed and friendly, and remained respectful.

'Tell me what you know of my grandfather,' Lord Aquer invited. 'He died before I was born.'

'He was a loyal and respected member of the court of Regent Queen Lostris during the period of the exodus and the Hyksos invasion of the Two Kingdoms. Her Majesty entrusted him with many important tasks.

He discovered the road that cuts across the great bight of the Nile. It is still used, and saves several hundred leagues of the journey between Assoun and Qebui. The queen bestowed honours upon him for this and his other accomplishments.'

'I still have the Gold of Honour I inherited from him.'

'The queen trusted him to the extent that she chose him to lead an army of two thousand men south from Qebui to discover and chart the Nile to its source. Only one man returned, demented with fever and the hardships he had encountered. Nothing was ever heard of the rest of the army, or the wives and other women who accompanied them. It was presumed that they had been swallowed up in the vastness of Africa.'

'The survivors of my grandfather's legion who won through and finally reached Jarri were our ancestors.'

'They were the pioneers who built this little nation?' Taita asked.

'They made an invaluable contribution,' Aquer agreed. 'However, there were others who had been here long before them. People have been in Jarri since the beginning time. We honour them as the Founders.'

He turned to the man who sat at his right hand. 'This is Lord Caithor.

He is able to trace his direct line back through twenty-five generations.'

'Then it is only right that you should honour him.' Taita bowed

towards the silver'bearded oligarch. 'But I know that others have joined you since the time of your grandfather.'

'You are referring to Colonel That Ankut and his legion. Of course, you are already acquainted with him.'

'Indeed, the good colonel rescued me and my party from the Basmara savages at Tamafupa,' Taita agreed.

'That Ankut's men and their women have made a welcome addition to our community. Our land is large and we are few. We need them here.

They are of our blood, so they have assimilated smoothly into our society.

Many of their young people have married ours.'

'Of course, they worship the same panoply of gods,' Taita said delicately, 'headed by the holy trinity of Osiris, Isis and Horus.'

He watched Aquer's aura flare angrily, then saw him bring his temper under control. When he spoke his response was mild: 'The subject of our religion is one we will cover in more depth later. At this stage, suffice it to say that new countries are protected by new gods, or even by a single god.'

'A single god?' Taita feigned surprise.

Aquer did not rise to the lure. Instead he reverted to the previous subject: 'Apart from Colonel That Ankut's legion, there have been many thousands of immigrants from far across the earth who, over the centuries, have made their way over great distances to Jarri. All, without exception, have been men and women of worth. We have been able to welcome sages and surgeons, alchemists and engineers, geologists and miners, botanists and farmers, architects and stone-masons, shipbuilders and others with special skills.'

'Your nation seems to have been built on firm foundations,' Taita said.

Aquer paused for a moment, then seemed to change tack. 'Your companion, Meren Cambyses. It seems to us that you have a great affection for him.'

'He has been with me since he was a stripling,' Taita replied. 'He is more than a son to me.'

'His damaged eye has been troubling him sorely, has it not?' Aquer went on.

'It has not healed as cleanly as I had wished,' Taita agreed.

'I am sure that, with your skills, you are aware that your protege is dying,' Aquer said. 'The eye is mortifying. In time it will kill him .. .

unless it is treated.'

Taita was taken aback. He had not divined this impending disaster from Meren's aura, but somehow he could not doubt what Aquer had

said. Perhaps he himself had known it all along but had shunned such an unpalatable truth. Yet, how could Aquer have known something that he did not? He saw from his aura that the man had no special skills or insights. He was neither sage, seer nor shaman. Of course, he left the chamber, but not to confer with the other oligarchs. He has been with another, Taita thought. He gathered himself and replied, 'No, my lord.

1 have some little skill as a surgeon but 1 did not suspect the injury was so grave.'

'We of the Supreme Council have agreed to accord to you and your protege a special privilege. This boon is not granted to many, not even to worthy and eminent members of our own nobility. We do this as a mark of our deep respect and goodwill towards you. It will also be a demonstration to you of the advanced state of our society, our science and learning. Perhaps it might persuade you to remain with us in Jarri.