and established cooperation with the Ulk Coven. It was in front of that section of the map that the council now convened, with Zoariyi and Dorinkulu on stools and the others remaining on their feet to demonstrate their manhood.
“Now, Master Endrasti, the last dispatch we had from you and Lord Nnanji, you had just reached a city named Fua. Here.” Wallie knelt, laying down the candelabra and accepting a soapstone crayon from Katanji.
“Right bank, my lord. We were sailing upstream, roughly northwest.” Going upstream, the right bank would be to the left, but he was too astute to remind his present audience of that elementary truth. “If I may… I think Fua lies farther south than you are placing it. The Dream God was well to the north and clearly showing seven bands, and Lord Nnanji thought he seemed wider than he did from Casr, even.”
“You said that in your report. I am worried that you will push the River so far south that I will have to dig up the floor of this hall to fit it in. Fua accepted the Tryst?”
“Quite happily, my lord. They had a band playing to greet us as we docked. But the reeve warned us that we would soon be entering the area influenced by the Kra Coven, and sorcerers had been warning the secular rulers there not to accept the Tryst. That was when Lord Nnanji sent Honorable Quarlaino to Casr with dispatches.”
Quarlaino had arrived safely.
“Tell their lordships what happened at Arbo.”
“Yes. my lords, after Fua, the next place with swordsmen was Arbo, on the right bank. Quite small, it had a garrison of five. They all swore allegiance, claiming they’d been waiting for years for the Tryst to arrive. And Lord Nnanji didn’t blame them for what happened. Some of them were seriously injured trying to rescue our men. They were a varied…”
Testy old Zoariyi barked an impatient cough. Endrasti glanced nervously at his audience and went swiftly to the point.
“The house of joy burned down in the middle of the night. It was the only one in town. We lost eight men in the blaze. One man escaped, an apprentice who had drunk little. The wine was drugged, we’re sure. The house girls had either all been warned not to drink it, or been carried out before the fire was lit.”
“Lord Nnanji did not retaliate?” Wallie prompted, having been told the answer earlier.
“Not at Arbo, my lord. There was no way of knowing who had set the blaze, and several homes were destroyed, which he thought was a sign to them that the Goddess disapproved. But he did send Adept Rudere and three Thirds back downstream to instruct garrisons to send him reinforcements. The Adept was to continue on to Casr.”
“He never arrived. Next town?”
“Ma,” Endrasti said. “Quite small, rather quaint. Only two swordsmen there, older men, but very spry still, both brothers.”
“We should be surprised if only one of them were,” Zoariyi muttered.
Endrasti hastily recounted the near-disaster at Zek and the massacre at Cross Zek, his listeners growling oaths at the news of swordsmen mowed down by gunfire.
Wallie continued writing with his soapstone, extending the map: Fo, Cross Zek, Zek, Nolar, Plo. “That about right?” he asked, rising. He had written in Kra with a query, somewhere in the mountains, farther south.
“Yes, my lord, except that I was told the River flows pretty much due west at Plo and then turns south toward Fex.”
That detail could be settled later. “And what happened after Cross Zek?”
“We carried the bodies to the River and sent them back to Her,” Endrasti said. “The liege decided that, as we were clearly in a war and had lost two score men in less than two weeks, we needed reinforcements before approaching Nolar and Plo. Back at Fo, on Shipwrights’ Day was when he sent Lord Mibullim and an entourage to Casr with orders to bring you up to date, Lord Shonsu, and ask you to organize a stronger force.”
“That seems curious,” Zoariyi said. “There are thousands more
“Now, Master Endrasti, the last dispatch we had from you and Lord Nnanji, you had just reached a city named Fua. Here.” Wallie knelt, laying down the candelabra and accepting a soapstone crayon from Katanji.
“Right bank, my lord. We were sailing upstream, roughly northwest.” Going upstream, the right bank would be to the left, but he was too astute to remind his present audience of that elementary truth. “If I may… I think Fua lies farther south than you are placing it. The Dream God was well to the north and clearly showing seven bands, and Lord Nnanji thought he seemed wider than he did from Casr, even.”
“You said that in your report. I am worried that you will push the River so far south that I will have to dig up the floor of this hall to fit it in. Fua accepted the Tryst?”
“Quite happily, my lord. They had a band playing to greet us as we docked. But the reeve warned us that we would soon be entering the area influenced by the Kra Coven, and sorcerers had been warning the secular rulers there not to accept the Tryst. That was when Lord Nnanji sent Honorable Quarlaino to Casr with dispatches.”
Quarlaino had arrived safely.
“Tell their lordships what happened at Arbo.”
“Yes. my lords, after Fua, the next place with swordsmen was Arbo, on the right bank. Quite small, it had a garrison of five. They all swore allegiance, claiming they’d been waiting for years for the Tryst to arrive. And Lord Nnanji didn’t blame them for what happened. Some of them were seriously injured trying to rescue our men. They were a varied…”
Testy old Zoariyi barked an impatient cough. Endrasti glanced nervously at his audience and went swiftly to the point.
“The house of joy burned down in the middle of the night. It was the only one in town. We lost eight men in the blaze. One man escaped, an apprentice who had drunk little. The wine was drugged, we’re sure. The house girls had either all been warned not to drink it, or been carried out before the fire was lit.”
“Lord Nnanji did not retaliate?” Wallie prompted, having been told the answer earlier.
“Not at Arbo, my lord. There was no way of knowing who had set the blaze, and several homes were destroyed, which he thought was a sign to them that the Goddess disapproved. But he did send Adept Rudere and three Thirds back downstream to instruct garrisons to send him reinforcements. The Adept was to continue on to Casr.”
“He never arrived. Next town?”
“Ma,” Endrasti said. “Quite small, rather quaint. Only two swordsmen there, older men, but very spry still, both brothers.”
“We should be surprised if only one of them were,” Zoariyi muttered.
Endrasti hastily recounted the near-disaster at Zek and the massacre at Cross Zek, his listeners growling oaths at the news of swordsmen mowed down by gunfire.
Wallie continued writing with his soapstone, extending the map: Fo, Cross Zek, Zek, Nolar, Plo. “That about right?” he asked, rising. He had written in Kra with a query, somewhere in the mountains, farther south.
“Yes, my lord, except that I was told the River flows pretty much due west at Plo and then turns south toward Fex.”
That detail could be settled later. “And what happened after Cross Zek?”
“We carried the bodies to the River and sent them back to Her,” Endrasti said. “The liege decided that, as we were clearly in a war and had lost two score men in less than two weeks, we needed reinforcements before approaching Nolar and Plo. Back at Fo, on Shipwrights’ Day was when he sent Lord Mibullim and an entourage to Casr with orders to bring you up to date, Lord Shonsu, and ask you to organize a stronger force.”
“That seems curious,” Zoariyi said. “There are thousands more
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