The River of Shadows Part 19

"Stop!" Thasha shouted. "d.a.m.n it, he's not some animal, running me down. He hasn't even tried tried." She bent and hauled Marila to her feet. "But if he does, I'll make my own choices. Tell that that to Pazel and Neeps. They put you up to this, didn't they?" to Pazel and Neeps. They put you up to this, didn't they?"

Marila shook her head. "They don't even know I'm here."

Thasha laughed in her face. Now that she'd started the words came easier. "Don't you ever ever lecture me again. I was locked up in the Lorg School. They call it the Academy of Obedient Daughters, but it was just about turning us into wives-rich wives, powerful wives. The kind n.o.body ever loves, except for fifteen minutes at a time. Those she-devils they call Sisters, they made us dance like wh.o.r.es. They told us to fake pleasure when we didn't feel it, 'the first night, and every night.' My own father sent me to that place, Marila, to make a suitable present out of me, a plaything for a forty-year-old Black Rag. And then I fell for a boy who's in love with a fish." lecture me again. I was locked up in the Lorg School. They call it the Academy of Obedient Daughters, but it was just about turning us into wives-rich wives, powerful wives. The kind n.o.body ever loves, except for fifteen minutes at a time. Those she-devils they call Sisters, they made us dance like wh.o.r.es. They told us to fake pleasure when we didn't feel it, 'the first night, and every night.' My own father sent me to that place, Marila, to make a suitable present out of me, a plaything for a forty-year-old Black Rag. And then I fell for a boy who's in love with a fish."

"Pazel's in love with you you. And Klyst isn't a fish, she's a sea-murth."

"A fish," Thasha repeated. "And don't tell me about fighting for our lives. The Red Wolf didn't mark you, did it? You're not even one of us." She jabbed a finger into Marila's chest. "You think you can tell me who I should want, and why? You don't know a G.o.ds-d.a.m.ned thing. You're a peasant."

Marila stared at her in shock. Thasha wouldn't have been surprised if she had spat in her face. But instead Marila just walked slowly from the cabin. In the doorway she stopped, and looked at Thasha with a frozen blankness.

"I used to feel sorry that you didn't have a mother," she said, "but you had one, all right. Her name was Syrarys."

The winds were spiteful and weak. There was barely room to maneuver between the rip tide and the cliffs, and the hunger-weakened men had no rest at all between tacks. The loss of the landing party appalled and frightened them. And to top it all, a great dark vulture came and landed on the Goose-Girl, and defiled her-the worst luck imaginable. Just how their luck could sink lower, however, they did not dare to discuss.

Thasha took a turn at the chain-pumps, battling the hidden leak. It felt good to throw herself into mindless work. But down the row of crankshafts she saw Neeps and Marila, pulling together, drenched in sweat. Their eyes pa.s.sed over her like the eyes of strangers. Thasha made herself look away.

When she emerged midafternoon the land had grown even more rugged and steep, and the mountains that had looked so distant loomed nearer, towering grandly over the cliffs. Thasha could see the rocky point Bolutu had described: one corner of this vast Efaroc Peninsula. Beyond that headland lay the cove called the Jaws of Masalym.

But now their pursuers had closed half the distance. She looked up and saw the new flag the tailor had patched together: the leopard and the rising sun. It clearly made no difference to the s.h.i.+ps in pursuit.

The work grew frantic. They tightened backstays and spread more sail. Rose called for topgallants on the spindly foremast, and even stood a team ready to jettison their precious water. The ixchel ran up and down the strained rigging, looking for any sign of failure.

The hunters were within ten miles of their prey when the Chathrand Chathrand cleared the point. Rose saw Alyash and Fiffengurt exchange looks of relief. Once the s.h.i.+p turned the wind would be with her, helping instead of hindering. And there in the west, like a deep bite out of the towering cliffs, was the cove. cleared the point. Rose saw Alyash and Fiffengurt exchange looks of relief. Once the s.h.i.+p turned the wind would be with her, helping instead of hindering. And there in the west, like a deep bite out of the towering cliffs, was the cove.

"You can hear the falls already," said Bolutu. Thasha heard them, a far-off thundering. From the mouth of the cove a white mist rose gleaming in the sun.

"They won't catch us now, will they, Mr. Fiffengurt?" asked Ibjen.

"No, lad, they won't," said Fiffengurt, "especially if the rip tide's where we think it is. They've been sailing on the far side, but they'll have to cross it if they want to get any closer. That should set 'em back another hour at least. We'll make your city, all right."

"Unless Masalym too has come to hate this Olik and his flag," said Taliktrum. "If that's the case, we are dead men." He pointed: all along the cliffs ran dark windows, out of which the black iron fingers of cannon jabbed down at the gulf. Other guns sprouted from towers on the clifftops, and still more from steep-walled forts built on rocks to either side of the cove.

"Friend or foe, Olik spoke the truth about Masalym's defenses," said Hercol.

"The guns?" said Ibjen. "They are not the city's main defense. In fact you could say they're unnecessary."

The truth of his statement was soon evident to all. For as they swept west along the sh.o.r.e the Jaws of Masalym opened to their sight. The great cove was a river mouth, well over a mile wide. The cliffs, twice as high as those where the apple trees blossomed, towered over several miles of sand flats littered with driftwood and fallen rock-and then closed in a staggering array of waterfalls. There was a huge central cataract, where enough water to fill a hundred Chathrand Chathrands poured each second, churning up the white they had seen from afar. On either side of this mighty curtain towered other falls, great in themselves though small beside the giant. Spray billowing from the deeper creva.s.ses suggested still more falls, but into these places they could not yet see.

Atop the cliffs, great stone walls marched to the very edge of the cataract. Behind them, through the windblown spray, Thasha glimpsed towers and domes. Cliff, wall and water: the folk of Masalym lived behind mighty defenses indeed.

"No enemy has ever taken our city," said Ibjen. "She is impregnable as the Mountain of the Sky Kings, and her people justly proud."

"She can't be much of a sea power, though, can she?" said Fiffengurt. "I don't see a single boat, nor pier to tie it to."

"There's no port at all!" cried Alyash. "How in the devil's belly are we supposed to fix the old s.h.i.+p here?"

"You will see," said a voice behind them. Thasha turned: Prince Olik was emerging from the No. 4 hatch, a.s.sisted by Rose and Fulbreech. He blinked at the light, looking rather frail. He leaned heavily on Fulbreech's arm.

"Display me to them, sirs," he said. "They would be fools to attack a vessel under my flag, but we can never rule out the presence of a fool. And the sight of humans, after all, is bound to shock."

Then he noticed that Ibjen was on his knees. The boy's head was bowed, and his arms were crossed over his chest. "Oh, come, lad, that is very formal," said the prince.

"I failed you, Sire," said Ibjen. "What they said is true. I tried to jump s.h.i.+p and return to my village, not once but twice."

"Mmm," said the prince. "This is a grave matter, of course. For what has a man who has not the honor of his word?"

"Nothing, Sire."

"In my youth I saw men fight tigers in the circus pits, to atone for broken promises to their lord. How does that strike you?"

Some of the nearest sailors laughed. Ibjen looked even more ashamed. "I cannot fight, Sire," he said. "My mother bade me take the Vow of the Saints-Before-Saints"-he glanced uncomfortably at Thasha-"to carry no weapon, ever, nor to learn the arts of war."

"And why did she make such a demand of you?" Olik asked. Ibjen looked down at the deck.

"The press gangs? Did she hope that your vow would make the army pa.s.s you by?"

Ibjen, shamefaced, gave an unhappy nod.

"It would not have succeeded," said Olik. Then he touched Ibjen gently on the forehead. "A vow given to a mother is more sacred even than one given to a prince," he said. "But then again, it was your father who gave you into my service. How could you have faced him, if you had succeeded in abandoning me?"

Miserable, Ibjen lowered his head even farther.

"Well, well," mused the prince, "stay near me, lad. We will find another way for you to make amends."

At that very moment there came an explosion. Everyone winced: it was one of the mainland guns. But no cannonball followed. Instead, looking up, Thasha saw a ball of fire sailing from the clifftops. It burst above the cove in a shower of bright red sparks.

"I've been noticed already, it appears," said the prince.

"There's the proof you wanted, Captain!" said Bolutu excitedly. "Fireworks have always greeted the Imperial family when they return from the sea."

"Yes," said Olik, "and a measure of our popularity can be taken by the length and splendor of the display." He smiled, indicated the now-empty sky. "I am recognized, as you see, but hardly with boundless joy."

Rose led Olik to the forecastle, a long walk for the weary prince. Moving beside them, Thasha seethed. It's all over. For better or worse It's all over. For better or worse. They were at the mercy of this dlomu, this stowaway, this less-than-popular prince. Olik struck her as a good man-but she had been wrong before-disastrously wrong. What if he betrayed them? What if the Karyskans had been hunting him precisely because he was a criminal?

No time to wonder: the s.h.i.+p sailed right in between the soaring cliffs. The shadow of the western rocks fell over them; the roar of the falls grew loud.

"We'll lose the wind if we sail much farther," said Rose. "What then?"

"They will send boats with a towline," said Olik. "We should bear a little to starboard-that way." He pointed at the cove's deepest corner, a recess still largely hidden from sight. Rose shouted the course change into a speaking-tube. The helm responded, and with sagging sails they glided on.

A few minutes later they neared the recess. It was an uncanny sight. The cliff walls drew close together here: so close in fact that they formed a cylinder, open only in front, and rising straight from the surface where the Chathrand Chathrand floated to the top of the falls, eight or nine hundred feet above. The walls of the cylinder had been shaped with great precision, with teeth of carved stone to either side of the opening. Thasha did not care for those teeth: they made her think of a wolf trap. Another waterfall, straight as a white braid, thundered down at the back of this stone shaft and flowed out through the narrow opening. Thasha glimpsed huge iron wheels half hidden in the spray. floated to the top of the falls, eight or nine hundred feet above. The walls of the cylinder had been shaped with great precision, with teeth of carved stone to either side of the opening. Thasha did not care for those teeth: they made her think of a wolf trap. Another waterfall, straight as a white braid, thundered down at the back of this stone shaft and flowed out through the narrow opening. Thasha glimpsed huge iron wheels half hidden in the spray.

"There is the cable now," said Olik.

A pair of boats emerged from the recess, each rowed by ten dlomu, and each dragging a rope that vanished behind it into the water. They came right for the Chathrand Chathrand, which was now almost motionless. But at the sight of the humans on the deck the rowers all but dropped their oars.

"Carry on, there!" the prince shouted at them. "Don't be afraid! Be glad, rather-they're woken humans, all right."

"A miracle, my lord," one of the rowers managed to croak.

"Very likely. But savor it after you've done your job. Come on, boys, we're hungry."

The boats drew near; the lines were coiled and tossed to the Chathrand Chathrand's deck. Following Olik's instructions, sailors began hauling in the lines as quickly as they could. They were light at first, but soon grew much heavier, the cordage twice as thick. Three sailors hauled at each, and then the ropes' thickness doubled again. Now a dozen men worked in unison, running from starboard to portside, las.h.i.+ng the lines to the far gunwale, returning for more. In this way at last they raised the ends of two chains nearly as thick as anchor-lines.

"Secure those to your bow, gentlemen, and your work is done," said the prince.

Rose so ordered. The men awkwardly horsed the great chains to the catheads and made them fast. Then the prince waved to the boatmen, and one raised some manner of bugle to his lips and blew a rising note.

A grinding noise, low and enormous, began somewhere within the stone shaft, and Thasha saw the wheels at the back of the falls turning slowly, like the gears of a mill. At once the chains began to tighten.

"By the Night G.o.ds," said Rose, "that is fine engineering."

"But you've only seen the simplest part, Captain." Ibjen laughed delightedly from the deck. "Is it not so, my prince?"

Olik just smiled again. The cables drew taut, and the Chathrand Chathrand moved swiftly, smoothly through the narrow opening. moved swiftly, smoothly through the narrow opening.

Inside the shaft it was cooler; the spray misted the deck and soaked into their clothing, and the falls' thunder made it necessary to shout. The area enclosed was about three s.h.i.+p's lengths in diameter. Other dlomu were at work here, rowing in and out of tunnel mouths, blowing whistles, signaling one another with flags. Thasha looked up and saw that the tunnel openings were scattered up the length of the cylinder, like windows in a tower, and that flagmen stood in many of them, relaying signals from below. They had an air of practiced efficiency, except when they stopped to gape at the Chathrand Chathrand.

"It may be dark before we reach the city," said Olik, looking up in turn.

"I dare say," said Rose. "Forgive me, Sire, but you hardly seem fit for such a climb."

The prince turned to look at him. "Climb," he said, and broke suddenly into laughter.

There came a sound like the earlier grinding, but far louder and closer. A shout arose from the stern, and Thasha turned to see that a vast piece of the shaft wall was moving, teeth and all: sliding to close the gap by which they had entered. The moving portion appeared to begin at the river bottom and reached some hundred feet over their heads.

"Don't be afraid, Thas.h.i.+ziq," said Ibjen. "No harm will befall us. All boats reach the s.h.i.+pyard in this way."

He pointed up the shaft. Thasha gaped at him. "The s.h.i.+pyard...is up there up there?"

The teeth meshed; the moving wall grew still. Instead of a recess in a cove the s.h.i.+p was now in a basin, sealed to nearly a hundred feet. A basin into which a mighty waterfall was still thundering.

"Have your men drop the lines," said Olik. "Quickly, sir; the shaft will fill in minutes."

The chains fell from the catheads. Already the lowest tunnel mouths had vanished under the rising flood. Above, a second hundred-foot-high section of wall was rumbling into place above the first.

"All done with waterpower," said Ibjen. "Water, tunnels, locks. In Masalym we have a saying: No enemy can stand against the Mai No enemy can stand against the Mai. That is our river, born in the mountains far away."

"The Mai defends you only from the sea," said Olik. "But it is true enough in that sense: even the armada, with its infernal power, sailed by without a second thought."

"But why would the armada threaten Masalym?" Thasha asked quickly. "Aren't you all part of Bali Adro?"

The prince looked at her-a sad, lonely look, she thought. "I am a citizen of no other country, and the Resplendent One, the Emperor Nahundra, is my cousin. But I would be part of no country, no Empire, no faction of any kind that would belch such a killing terror from its ports. As for Masalym's loyalties-well, that is what I am here to determine."

"Determine?" cried Rose. He advanced furiously on the prince. "What in Pitfire do you mean, determine? You brought us here without knowing whether they're still part of your mucking Empire or not? They might have cut us to ribbons with those guns!"

Ibjen backed away, horrified by the captain's tone. Olik, however, remained serene. "They fly the Bali Adro flag," he said, "just as many of you, I gather, carry papers of Arquali citizens.h.i.+p. Do those papers tell me your real affections? Whether you will do good or evil, when your last choice is before you? Of course not. We must seek deeper truths than flags, Captain."

"How do you know about Arqual, d.a.m.n your eyes?"

The prince gave him a thoughtful smile. "Eyes are one place to look for truth-maybe the best, when all's said and done. I would say it is our skins that d.a.m.n us, not our eyes. Indeed we could do worse than to follow the example of snakes, dragons, eguar, and shed them when they outlive their usefulness."

Suddenly he seized the captain's forearm. No longer frail, or feigning frailty. Rose was clearly startled by his strength. Only Thasha, and Rose himself, knew that Olik's hand was covering the scar of the Red Wolf.

"It is no easy task, shedding the skin," he said. "Let us all remember that in days to come."

And with that Prince Olik Ipandracon Tastandru Bali Adro ran across the forecastle, leaped with cat-like grace onto the rail, caught his balance-and dived, seventy feet straight down into the foam.

The Chathrand Chathrand beat to quarters. Rose sent full gun crews to their stations. For the second time in a week, sailors and Turachs readied themselves for an a.s.sault. beat to quarters. Rose sent full gun crews to their stations. For the second time in a week, sailors and Turachs readied themselves for an a.s.sault.

Yet this time the frenzy had an air of make-believe. The s.h.i.+p was clearly trapped. The column of water had already lifted them a hundred feet and was still rising, fast. One above another the huge stone sluice-gates proclaimed their helplessness. There would be no fighting their way to freedom.

The small craft fled into the tunnels. Standing on the quarterdeck, mouth agape, Mr. Fiffengurt spotted Prince Olik across the basin, treading water, until the shaft filled enough to allow him to reach one of the staircases carved in its side. Then Olik clambered up the stairs and into another open tunnel, where more dlomu met him with bows. At the Chathrand Chathrand's stern, Mr. Alyash jumped at the sound of another splash, found a pair of sandals at his feet. Ibjen too had abandoned s.h.i.+p.

Huge bubbles burst as the tunnels filled. The Chathrand Chathrand turned in a gentle, helpless circle. Somehow the moiling water never moved her anywhere near the fury of the falls themselves. turned in a gentle, helpless circle. Somehow the moiling water never moved her anywhere near the fury of the falls themselves.

They rose as smoothly as any cargo pallet from the hold of a s.h.i.+p. But this time the s.h.i.+p itself was the cargo, and the pallet was water, a column of water, growing fast to nine hundred feet. Imagine the destruction Imagine the destruction, Thasha thought with a shudder, if the gates were all opened at once... if the gates were all opened at once...

It took the better part of an hour to reach the top of the cliffs: an hour during which the men stood like statues, looking upward, saying very little. The sky above them was darkening. A few torches appeared along the rim of the shaft.

The final gate boomed into place. All at once cries of amazement were heard from the crow's nest, then from the topgallant men, and the archers on the fighting top. And then the water ceased to rise. The topdeck remained some thirty feet below the basin's upper rim.

"What's happening?" said Fiffengurt. "The falls are still pouring in. Why are we holding still?"

"Since it is still flowing in," said Hercol, "we may a.s.sume that it is also flowing out."

"In equal volume," said Rose. "Our hosts have opened some other gate. They're keeping us where we are."

"Which is where, Captain?" asked Neeps. "Blast it, I want to see. see."

"Undrabust! Stand down!" boomed Hercol. But the swordsman was no officer, and the officers said not a word. Neeps and Marila leaped onto the foremast shrouds. Thasha was right behind them, climbing with a will. And suddenly she realized that scores of sailors were doing the same. On the other masts they were climbing too, as many men and boys as the lines could support. The wind brought smells of woodsmoke and algae and dry stone streets. The climbers all reached viewing-height at roughly the same time. And held their collective breath.

A vast city surrounded them. It was surely thrice the size of Etherhorde, greatest city of the North. Over rolling hills it spread, a city of stone houses, thatched roofs, dark and still in the gathering night. Narrow, sharp-roofed towers and oblong domes cast shadows over the lower structures. They had risen inside the city's ma.s.sive, many-turreted wall.

But all that was at a distance. Thasha saw now that the flooded shaft did not truly end where she had supposed: it broadened into a wide basin, like a winegla.s.s atop its stem. There was as yet no water in this upper basin, though it was clearly designed to be filled.

Projecting into the basin was a long bridge, supported by stone arches and ending in a round, railed platform overlooking the shaft where the Chathrand Chathrand floated. Even now, dark figures were running out along this walkway, some bearing torches, their silver eyes glinting in the firelight. They were shouting to one another in high excitement. A great number of dogs loped at their feet. floated. Even now, dark figures were running out along this walkway, some bearing torches, their silver eyes glinting in the firelight. They were shouting to one another in high excitement. A great number of dogs loped at their feet.

"There is is a s.h.i.+pyard!" cried someone. And there it was: indeed the whole eastern rim of the basin was a dark jumble of s.h.i.+ps-s.h.i.+ps in dry dock, raised on stilts; s.h.i.+ps floating in a sealed-off lock, from which their spars poked out like the limbs of winter trees. s.h.i.+ps wrecked and abandoned in a dry, deserted square. a s.h.i.+pyard!" cried someone. And there it was: indeed the whole eastern rim of the basin was a dark jumble of s.h.i.+ps-s.h.i.+ps in dry dock, raised on stilts; s.h.i.+ps floating in a sealed-off lock, from which their spars poked out like the limbs of winter trees. s.h.i.+ps wrecked and abandoned in a dry, deserted square.

Thasha looked at the mighty river. Above the falls it rippled down a series of low cascades, like a giant staircase, each step flanked by statues in white stone-animals, horses, dlomu, men-that towered over the modest homes. Away to the south the cliffs rose again. There was another mighty waterfall, and above it more roofs and towers looking down on the city.

"Night has come," said Bolutu, who was clinging close beside Neeps. "Why is the city dark? There should be lamps in the windows-countless lamps, not these scattered few. I don't understand."

The dlomu reached the platform at the walkway's end. They leaned out over the rails, looking down at the s.h.i.+p, mighty and helpless below. They were pointing, shouting, grasping at one another in shock. There was just enough light for them to know the crew was human.

"Thas.h.i.+ziq!"