The following day the blizzard eased and they headed north-east across the mountains to Fadd, a city on the coast some eighty leagues north of Tiksi. It had been besieged by the enemy for most of the autumn, so Flydd hoped their visit would be doubly welcome. Tiaan resumed her mapping and, when they reached Fadd, pleaded women’s troubles so Flydd would not require her to go with him. After Fadd they had a long flight along the seaward edge of the rugged coastal mountains to Maksmord, where her excuse still served, though judging by Flydd’s expression it would last no longer.
They continued north-west up the coast and the cities blurred into one another. Their visits were brief, normally just overnight. Malien would circle the city several times in daylight before setting down in the main square, or outside the governor’s palace, making certain that they were seen by the maximum number of people. They would meet with the governor, the army command and other notables, and the provincial scrutator.
The first questions were always about the legitimacy of the new council and the lack of eastern representation on it. The story of Flydd’s earlier condemnation was well known, as was the humiliation of the Council at Fiz Gorgo and the destruction of Nennifer. Yet here Flydd was, accompanied by an Aachim out of the Great Tales and carrying a charter signed by the legendary Yggur himself, and travelling in the astounding flying machine that the whole world was talking about. Once they saw that marvel, few could sustain their doubts. Flydd’s council was the new power in Santhenar and not even those scrutators who had been loyal to Ghorr put up further resistance.
Flydd made a point of meeting the common soldiers and townsfolk, to reinforce his message that the new council was different from the old one, and hoped that word of mouth would do the rest. At last, after receiving assurances of fellowship and support from the governor (if nothing else), the thapter would lift off early the following morning and crisscross the city several times, flying low, before heading to the next destination.
Finally they reached Roros in Crandor, the largest city in the world since Thurkad had been abandoned, only two days behind their original schedule. They planned to spend two days here. There would be many meetings, which Flydd required Tiaan to attend, though she did not have to say anything.
On the second afternoon, bored out of her wits with political manoeuvrings which meant nothing to her, Tiaan was feeling for an apple in her bag when her hand touched Golias’s globe. She hadn’t thought about it before – there had been too much on her mind. Tiaan made a mental note to study it in her room tonight, since all her maps were up to date.
Her thoughts turned back to her mother. There had been no news about Tiksi in Fadd, or anywhere else. Anything might have happened to Marnie in the past year. As the governor finished her interminable address, Tiaan slipped in beside Flydd, plucking up the courage to ask him. He shook the hands of a pair of noblewomen in silk robes and went with them towards the doorway. Tiaan went after him and was just reaching out a hand when he turned away to speak to the governor. Tiaan’s hand fell to her side.
‘Is something the matter?’ said Malien.
Tiaan even felt estranged from her now. She stared at the floor.
‘Tiaan, what is it?’
‘It’s my mother,’ Tiaan said mournfully. ‘I was hoping to see her in Tiksi. I’m so worried. Tiksi has been under siege for months …’
‘You should have mentioned it at the beginning,’ said Malien. ‘I would have talked Xervish into going there instead of Fadd. Come on. I’m sure he knows what the situation is in Tiksi.’
Tiaan could not imagine calling the scrutator by his first name. ‘He’s far too busy. I don’t want to bother him.’
‘He can spare you a moment.’ Malien went across. ‘Xervish … Excuse me,’ she said to the governor, ‘but I must speak to the scrutator for a moment.’
Even from where she was standing, Tiaan saw the flash of annoyance on the governor’s face, though it was swiftly hidden. ‘Of course,’ she said, bowing to Malien and to Flydd, and turning away.
They came across. Tiaan was mortified. ‘I’m s-sorry,’ she said, expecting the scrutator to be furious. ‘It wasn’t important –’
Flydd smiled, which didn’t make him any the less fearsome. ‘Governor Zaeff is the most tedious old bore I’ve encountered in a decade, and I’m delighted to be rescued from her. What can I do for you, Tiaan?’
‘It’s nothing really,’ she said. ‘It’s just that, I’m worried about my mother … Of course you wouldn’t know her, but she lives in Tiksi …’
‘Marnie Liise-Mar,’ he said. ‘The star of the breeding factory. Of course I know her.’
‘You know my mother?’
‘When I was scrutator for Einunar, which I still feel myself to be, morally, I tried to know about everyone important in my realm.’
‘Oh.’ She could not imagine why her mother would be considered important. There were many breeding factories. ‘Is Tiksi …?’
‘I had news in Fadd, and all was well then, so they’re safe until spring. Tiksi was besieged three times over the last year, and much damage done, but they’ve repulsed several attacks since. Ah …’ He gave her a keen glance from under his continuous eyebrow, now grown back to brown bristles that stuck straight out. ‘In the first attack the breeding factory was burned to the ground.’
Tiaan gave a little cry. ‘Oh, poor Marnie.’
‘I was there soon afterwards in an air-floater. It wasn’t long after you left Tirthrax in the thapter, the first time. As I recall, the women of the breeding factory had been evacuated, and all were accounted for.’
‘Marnie spent her whole adult life there,’ said Tiaan. ‘It was her life. What will she do?’
‘I’m sure it’s been rebuilt. It’s vital work, breeding, and I dare say she’s back at it.’
‘She may be past it by now.’
Again Flydd smiled, and even touched her on the shoulder. He didn’t seem quite as fearsome after all. ‘Then she’ll be having an honoured retirement. Marnie is, after all, one of the richest people in Tiksi. Excuse me, I’d better get back to the governor.’
‘There you are,’ said Malien. ‘I’m sure she’s perfectly all right.’
‘I suppose so,’ said Tiaan. ‘Marnie always did know how to look after herself.’
She wondered, momentarily, if she dared ask the scrutator about the bloodline register, a human stud book she’d seen in the breeding factory the night of her escape. Tiaan decided not to. Scrutators didn’t appreciate people prying into their secrets.
THIRTY-NINE
In another tedious meeting that afternoon, Tiaan found herself involuntarily stroking Golias’s globe. Taking it out of her bag, she surreptitiously inspected it under the table.
The inner spheres revolved with the slightest movement, as if bathed in oil. She squinted at them, trying to see how many there were. One, two, three, four, five … six, seven. She shook the globe and something moved in the depths. Eight – in Gilhaelith’s mathemancy, a perfect number.
She shied away from the thought of Gilhaelith. They’d been more than friends at the end of her time in Nyriandiol, but he’d not been able to take the next step. He couldn’t overcome his troubled past, and in the end greed for the amplimet had outweighed his regard for her. She still felt the betrayal, and Ghorr’s attack on Fiz Gorgo suggested that Gilhaelith made a habit of betrayal. Damn him. She dismissed him from her mind.
Each layer of the globe was different. The outer one was clear glass with, here and there, a few faint swirls of smoky grey, like wispy clouds in a clear sky. The next layer was also clear except for faint lines running around it that shone like silver metal.
The globe was very heavy, heavier than it should be if it were just made of glass. The third layer was faintly swirled with blue, embedded in which was a red band. Copper, she presumed.