/ need Telouet, not you, you blunt-witted barbarian.
‘If I can win them over, especially the older retainers, that’ll colour the attitude of the whole household,’ Kheda continued. ‘It wouldn’t hurt to know exactly how they saved themselves from the invaders, either, where they fled to and how many were lost. And you’ll sleep on a slave’s pallet at my door,’ he added. No arguments, Dev, otherwise the whole household will be wondering about you.’
‘We barbarians always say that you Aldabreshi treat your slaves like dogs,’ Dev muttered with contempt. ‘Are you going to put a collar and leash on me?’
‘Don’t tempt me,’ Kheda said tartly. ‘There are warlords who would, and have you eat from a plate on the floor till you learned some proper humility.’
The warlord halted as he found himself on the threshold of Chazen’s great audience chamber. Its simplicity came as a stark contrast to the rest of the residence’s luxuries. Here the floor was plain white tile, the walls unadorned plaster. The centre of the roof had been raised with a clerestory whose windows were a marvel of the glazier’s art. Glass in jewel colours wove intricate designs that captured the sunlight to spill it to the floor below in dazzling patterns.
Patterns that change with every cloud crossing the sky, different with the suns rising and setting every day. Did Chazen Saril see omens in those colours? I know nothing of such lore.
There were no carpets, no cushions: those coming before their lord would stand and be grateful for the privilege. A beam carved and sheathed in bronze like the prow of a trireme projected from the far wall, drapes of white silk making a canopy. A backless, cross-framed chair of gilded wood stood there. ‘So you get to sit in judgement but you don’t get to slouch.’ Dev grinned.
Kheda made a sudden decision. ‘There’ll be time enough to sit in judgement over this domain when I’ve secured it. I need guidance from the omens and I need news from the outlying isles if I’m not going to lose it to this ravaging dragon. I’ll be getting dispatches from the Mist Dove, but you need to make friends with the mariners down in the anchorage, especially those from the dispatch galleys who’ll be taking the courier doves here and there. You’ll be surprised what they pick up.’
‘I’m supposed to do this while keeping my head down and not reminding anyone that I’m some god-cursed barbarian from the magic-plagued north?’ Dev asked quizzically. ‘And hoping they won’t ask awkward questions about just how you and I managed to kill off the invaders’ wizards with just Risala along to give us an uplifting poem or two?’
‘You keep telling me how clever you are.’ Turning his back on the canopied chair, Kheda left the audience chamber and walked through three successive reception rooms with luxurious furnishings and vigorous wall paintings in bold colours until he reached the physic garden.
Dev grinned. ‘I’ve already found out something useful. Beyau showed me the back way out of this warren, on account of me being your trusted slave, even if I am a strange barbarian. A tunnel runs right along the foundations of the back wall and there are several ways in from your apartments and from one of the lesser reception rooms. It goes all the way out past the eastern headland and into some caves. There’s caves all under that high ground, apparently. That’s where the household stashed all the loot before taking to the boats and running away from the wild men.’ Dev’s grin turned into a chuckle. ‘Beyau’s looking forward to showing Janne that the residence is quite restored to its former glory, thank you very much. He took exception to a few things Rekha had to say, apparently.’
‘Keep well clear of Birut, Janne’s body slave,’ Kheda warned sharply. ‘He’ll suspect you on principle and he’s shrewd enough to notice things Jevin doesn’t. And tenacious, if he gets a scent of something awry. Walk carefully round him; I don’t want Janne contriving anything she might use against us.’
‘I don’t imagine she’ll surpass her last exploit,’ Dev said, more thoughtful than mocking. ‘So where is this, observatory? And the courier-dove loft?’
‘The courier doves are housed in the forebuilding.’ Kheda gestured towards its towers rising high in defence of the residence where swordsmen and archers maintained their unceasing watch.
‘All the warriors in the domain will be cursed small use if that dragon turns up,’ Dev said with faint malice. Since there was nothing to say to that, Kheda led the way across the physic garden to a flight of stairs leading up to the fourth, glass-crowned tower of the forebuilding. ‘The observatory’s up here.’ Opening the door, he was startled to find a grey-haired servant looking back at him, equally surprised. ‘My lord.’ The man bowed, clutching a sizeable tome bound in brown leather to his dun tunic. ‘Who might you be?’ Kheda asked, once his heart had slowed a little.
‘Tasu, my lord.’ The man stayed bent low. ‘The keeper of the books here.’
‘Then show us what you’ve kept safe for Chazen,’ Kheda invited briskly.
The two of them followed the old man up more stairs to a room taking up the whole width of the tower below the glass-walled observatory. It was shelved from floor to ceiling with books packed tight on all sides. A broad table of black wood polished by years of use stood in the middle of the room, reading slopes scattered haphazardly across it, stools pushed tidily beneath.
Kheda surveyed the shelves with pleasure. ‘I’m delighted to see so much of the Chazen library intact. I was afraid the invaders would have burned the books to warm their naked arses.’
‘They did, my lord, those that they found.’ Tasu hid a smile with a wrinkled hand, ostensibly smoothing his grizzled beard. ‘Which were copies or books of little value. When the beacons told us we were invaded, we had sufficient time to get the important books to the caves along with the bulk of the residence’s treasures. We left some furnishings, mostly worn or discarded. We hoped they’d think they had taken a domain of little substance. We left enough food to see them on their way, not sufficient to encourage them to stay.’ His smile faded. ‘Then we sealed the caves with the bravest of the swordsmen inside, in case they should need to fight in last defence of Chazen’s learning and wealth. We lost ourselves in the depths of the forest, those of us who were able to flee. The warriors and the slaves drew lots to see who should stay to hold the forebuilding to give us time to escape, so that whoever was attacking wouldn’t just come hunting the rest of us.’ He looked at Kheda, dark-brown eyes beseeching. ‘We didn’t know we were facing magic, not then. They died, my lord, at wizards’ hands.’
No one knew, not then,’ Kheda told him firmly. ‘And if you stayed, you risked a foul death or a worse captivity.’
‘We thought we were safe when Redigal ships arrived with word that Daish Kheda was not dead as we’d heard but alive, and bringing the means to foil the wild magics. We were most relieved to hear you were claiming the domain since it was Chazen Saril who had died.’ His voice faltered. Now a dragon has come. I’ll tell you honestly, my lord, and you can have me flogged if you wish, but there are some asking if all our efforts have been worth the pains.’
‘I’d never flog an honest man for asking a fair question,’ Kheda assured him.
‘How do we foil a dragon?’ Tasu looked helplessly around at the bookshelves rather than risk Kheda’s gaze.
‘It seems the barbarians of the far north know how,’
Kheda said carefully. ‘I’ve sent Chazen’s fastest trireme to see if any northerly Aldabreshin domain holds some clue as to how we might kill the foul beast or at very least drive it out. While we wait, since it seems happy to devour the remaining invaders, I’m inclined to let it. If it moves against
Chazen people, we’ll do all we can to contain it while we wait for the means to defeat it more permanently.’ He looked up at the plaster ceiling, which was studded with facsimiles of the shells of curious sea creatures for no readily apparent reason. While we wait, I’ll study the earthly and the heavenly compasses and all the lore you can offer me, so we’ll be able to pick the best of all possible times to attack it. I don’t know if all that effort will be worth my pains or yours, but if I’m warlord of this domain,