Hautnoix, and between his hands he strung a chain of gleaming bubbles from nowhere, and again, and yet a third time before the glamor faded. And: “See!” cried Dame Faussein, beating a drum made of a gourd capped either end with tattooed skin from a drowned sailor; this made the hall pitch-black for as long as it sounded, and all present had the eerie sensation of being adrift in an infinite void. And: “Watch!” bellowed rough old Messer d’Icque, spreading a scarlet cloth at the full stretch of both arms; on the cloth, a mouth opened and uttered five sonorous words that no one present understood.
Smiles greeted these achievements, and loud approbation gave place to a babble of inquiry as to means. “Five nights drunk under a gallows!” boasted Messer Hautnoix – “A day and a night and a day kissing the mouth of the man who bequeathed his skin!” bragged Dame Faussein – “Doing things to a goat that I can’t discuss with ladies present,” muttered Messer d’Icque behind his hand.
“But Ub-Shebbab came to me when I did no more than whisper his name,” said Meleagra, and at this disturbing news those closest to her chair drew aside as far as they could without appearing rude.
Vengis on his high throne joined neither in the praise nor in the questioning; his heavy-jowled face remained as set as stone. Had he not submitted himself to worse indignities? Had he not made pledges that in retrospect caused him to quail? And what had derived from his struggles? Nothing! Not even a pretty tricksiness like Messer Hautnoix’s bubbles!
He thumped on his chair-side again, and cut through the chatter with a furious roar.
“Enough! Enough! Are you children early out of school, that you disgrace our meeting with mere gossip? How far do these cantrips advance us to our goal? That’s the question!”
Visibly embarrassed, the company subsided into a phase of asking one another with their eyes whether any would be bold enough to claim progress in their central problem. At first they avoided looking at Meleagra; then, no other offer being forthcoming, they took that plunge and were rewarded with a sigh and a shake of the head.
“As I thought!” Vengis crowed in scorn. “You’re overwhelmed with superficial spectacle, and have forgotten the urgent purpose confronting us. Next time you go to conjure, first ask this: if I succeed, what comes by way of benefit? Can I eat the outcome? Can I put it on my back, or mend my roof with it? Best of all, will it mend my and others’ roofs without additional instruction? In fine, how will it serve not only me, but the nobility and commonalty of Ys?”
He glared at the now fidgety assembly. “It’s not going to be easy, I know that well. I’ve had no success to speak of, myself. But at least I haven’t been diverted down superfluous byways!”
At the back of the hall the one standing in shadow shook his head anew. Here truly was a company of fools, and chief of them was their chief Vengis: a man of consuming arrogance and vanity, blind to his faults and proud beyond description. This being so …
He touched one of the mirrors with his staff. It split with a whimper like a dying bird and heads whisked to seek the source of the sound. Vengis, astonished, half rose from his seat.
“What are you doing here?” he thundered. “Who let you in without my leave?”
The traveller in black advanced along the aisle dividing the company until he was face to face with Vengis, and there was that in his eyes which stifled further speech prior to the answering of that double question.
He said at last, “As for what I’m doing here – why, listening to and pondering on what you’ve said. As for leave being granted me to join you, I go where my presence is required, whether or not those whom I attend upon desire it.”
The ranked nobles held their breath. This was the utterance of one holding an authority they dared not challenge.
“What – what do you want of us?” whispered
Smiles greeted these achievements, and loud approbation gave place to a babble of inquiry as to means. “Five nights drunk under a gallows!” boasted Messer Hautnoix – “A day and a night and a day kissing the mouth of the man who bequeathed his skin!” bragged Dame Faussein – “Doing things to a goat that I can’t discuss with ladies present,” muttered Messer d’Icque behind his hand.
“But Ub-Shebbab came to me when I did no more than whisper his name,” said Meleagra, and at this disturbing news those closest to her chair drew aside as far as they could without appearing rude.
Vengis on his high throne joined neither in the praise nor in the questioning; his heavy-jowled face remained as set as stone. Had he not submitted himself to worse indignities? Had he not made pledges that in retrospect caused him to quail? And what had derived from his struggles? Nothing! Not even a pretty tricksiness like Messer Hautnoix’s bubbles!
He thumped on his chair-side again, and cut through the chatter with a furious roar.
“Enough! Enough! Are you children early out of school, that you disgrace our meeting with mere gossip? How far do these cantrips advance us to our goal? That’s the question!”
Visibly embarrassed, the company subsided into a phase of asking one another with their eyes whether any would be bold enough to claim progress in their central problem. At first they avoided looking at Meleagra; then, no other offer being forthcoming, they took that plunge and were rewarded with a sigh and a shake of the head.
“As I thought!” Vengis crowed in scorn. “You’re overwhelmed with superficial spectacle, and have forgotten the urgent purpose confronting us. Next time you go to conjure, first ask this: if I succeed, what comes by way of benefit? Can I eat the outcome? Can I put it on my back, or mend my roof with it? Best of all, will it mend my and others’ roofs without additional instruction? In fine, how will it serve not only me, but the nobility and commonalty of Ys?”
He glared at the now fidgety assembly. “It’s not going to be easy, I know that well. I’ve had no success to speak of, myself. But at least I haven’t been diverted down superfluous byways!”
At the back of the hall the one standing in shadow shook his head anew. Here truly was a company of fools, and chief of them was their chief Vengis: a man of consuming arrogance and vanity, blind to his faults and proud beyond description. This being so …
He touched one of the mirrors with his staff. It split with a whimper like a dying bird and heads whisked to seek the source of the sound. Vengis, astonished, half rose from his seat.
“What are you doing here?” he thundered. “Who let you in without my leave?”
The traveller in black advanced along the aisle dividing the company until he was face to face with Vengis, and there was that in his eyes which stifled further speech prior to the answering of that double question.
He said at last, “As for what I’m doing here – why, listening to and pondering on what you’ve said. As for leave being granted me to join you, I go where my presence is required, whether or not those whom I attend upon desire it.”
The ranked nobles held their breath. This was the utterance of one holding an authority they dared not challenge.
“What – what do you want of us?” whispered
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