lowest outside deck. While various workers yelled at me in protest, I pushed through gangs of men hauling on ropes, others who carried barrels down towards the rollers and yet others who bore large pieces of timber sheeting of the kind used for repairs. These I ignored, got to the side and found that ropes had been arranged here so that the hull might be inspected. I swung down one rope, dropped onto a swaying plank, jumped from the plank to a tall ladder and slid down this to the ground. Then I was running over the soft turf of the island towards the boats of the so-called Ghost Women.
I was halfway to their camp, passing the monolith which now raised itself above me, when the pursuers (of whom I’d not been aware) caught up with me. Suddenly I found myself struggling in a huge net while beyond the mesh I saw von Bek, Bellanda, some of the young men and a group of Binkeepers.
“Prince Flamadin!” I heard Bellanda call. “Armiad seeks any excuse to destroy you. Cross into another camp before the Massing and the penalty can be death!”
“I don’t care. I must see Ermizhad. I have seen her—or someone who will know where she is. Let me go. I beg you to let me go!”
Von Bek stepped forward. “Daker! My friend! These men are commissioned to kill you if necessary. As it happens they have no stomach for Armiad’s orders, but they are bound to obey him if you do not pull yourself together.”
“Do you understand what I have seen, von Bek?”
“I think so. But if you wait for the Massing to begin, you can approach this woman in a civilised fashion. It is not long to wait, after all.”
I nodded. I was in danger of losing my mind completely. Also I might bring those who had befriended me into danger. I forced myself to recall the ordinary human decencies.
When next I rose up I was in full charge of my senses. I apologised to everyone. I turned and began to make my way back to our hull. From the ground the grouping of hulls was even more impressive. It was almost as if every great transatlantic liner, including the
Titanic
, congregated here, each one neatly beached with its bow pointing inland, each one bearing on its back a complete and complex medieval town. This sight took my attention away from Ermizhad just a little. I knew that I was experiencing something akin to a continuing hallucination, an extension of my dreams that past night. Yet there was no question but that the woman resembled Ermizhad, down to the shape of her mouth and the subtle colour of her eyes. So the women were Eldren. Yet they were not from the same time, probably not even the same realm, as the one from which I had been wrenched against my will. I resolved to contact those women as soon as I could. They might have some clue, at least, to Ermizhad’s whereabouts. And I might also discover why they called for Sharadim.
Von Bek and I had been wise to take all our possessions with us when we left our quarters. When we reached Armiad’s portcullis and called to the guard to open it for us there was a silence. This was followed by some kind of mumbled reply to our third request for the gate to be opened.
“Speak up, man!” cried von Bek. “What’s the trouble?”
Finally a guard on the other side yelled that the gate was stuck and that it would be a number of hours before it could be repaired.
Von Bek and I looked hard at one another and smiled. Our suspicions were confirmed. Armiad could not dismiss us from his hull but he could do everything in his power to make life uncomfortable for us.
For my part I was as glad to be out of his company and we made our way back to the part of the ship where our student friends generally congregated. Some of them were there, playing their interminable game with counters, although Bellanda, we learned, had gone to take instruction from a teacher recently dismissed from their school.
With Jurgin’s willing assistance, we continued to watch the preparations being made for the Massing. Various
I was halfway to their camp, passing the monolith which now raised itself above me, when the pursuers (of whom I’d not been aware) caught up with me. Suddenly I found myself struggling in a huge net while beyond the mesh I saw von Bek, Bellanda, some of the young men and a group of Binkeepers.
“Prince Flamadin!” I heard Bellanda call. “Armiad seeks any excuse to destroy you. Cross into another camp before the Massing and the penalty can be death!”
“I don’t care. I must see Ermizhad. I have seen her—or someone who will know where she is. Let me go. I beg you to let me go!”
Von Bek stepped forward. “Daker! My friend! These men are commissioned to kill you if necessary. As it happens they have no stomach for Armiad’s orders, but they are bound to obey him if you do not pull yourself together.”
“Do you understand what I have seen, von Bek?”
“I think so. But if you wait for the Massing to begin, you can approach this woman in a civilised fashion. It is not long to wait, after all.”
I nodded. I was in danger of losing my mind completely. Also I might bring those who had befriended me into danger. I forced myself to recall the ordinary human decencies.
When next I rose up I was in full charge of my senses. I apologised to everyone. I turned and began to make my way back to our hull. From the ground the grouping of hulls was even more impressive. It was almost as if every great transatlantic liner, including the
Titanic
, congregated here, each one neatly beached with its bow pointing inland, each one bearing on its back a complete and complex medieval town. This sight took my attention away from Ermizhad just a little. I knew that I was experiencing something akin to a continuing hallucination, an extension of my dreams that past night. Yet there was no question but that the woman resembled Ermizhad, down to the shape of her mouth and the subtle colour of her eyes. So the women were Eldren. Yet they were not from the same time, probably not even the same realm, as the one from which I had been wrenched against my will. I resolved to contact those women as soon as I could. They might have some clue, at least, to Ermizhad’s whereabouts. And I might also discover why they called for Sharadim.
Von Bek and I had been wise to take all our possessions with us when we left our quarters. When we reached Armiad’s portcullis and called to the guard to open it for us there was a silence. This was followed by some kind of mumbled reply to our third request for the gate to be opened.
“Speak up, man!” cried von Bek. “What’s the trouble?”
Finally a guard on the other side yelled that the gate was stuck and that it would be a number of hours before it could be repaired.
Von Bek and I looked hard at one another and smiled. Our suspicions were confirmed. Armiad could not dismiss us from his hull but he could do everything in his power to make life uncomfortable for us.
For my part I was as glad to be out of his company and we made our way back to the part of the ship where our student friends generally congregated. Some of them were there, playing their interminable game with counters, although Bellanda, we learned, had gone to take instruction from a teacher recently dismissed from their school.
With Jurgin’s willing assistance, we continued to watch the preparations being made for the Massing. Various
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