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“Not because he brings it,” Warren protested. “Richard is a war wizard; he fights for what’s right, to help people. If he hadn’t done as he did, the Prelate and Nathan would have only been the beginning of all the death and destruction.”
She squeezed his arm; her tone softened. “Of course you’re right; we all owe Richard a great debt. But needing him and finding him are two different things. My wrinkles attest to that.” Sister Verna let her hand drop. “I don’t think we can count on anyone but each other. We’ll think of something.”
Warren fixed her with a dark expression. “We had better; the prophecies hold ominous portent about the next prelate’s reign.”
Back in the city of Tanimura, they were once again surrounded by the incessant sound of drums coming from various directions; a booming, low-pitched, steady cadence that seemed to vibrate deep in her chest. It was unnerving and, she supposed, meant to be.
The drummers and their guards had arrived three days before the prelate’s death, and in short order had set up their huge kettledrums at various stations around the city. Once they had started the slow, steady beat, it had not stopped, day or night. Men took shifts at the drums so that they never ceased, even for a moment.
The pervasive sound had slowly set the people’s nerves on edge, making everyone irritable and short-tempered, as if doom itself were lurking in the shadows, just out of sight, waiting to pounce. Instead of the usual shouting, talking, laughing, and music, a backdrop of eerie quiet added to the brooding mood.
At the outskirts of the city, the indigent people who had erected lean-to shelters cowered in them, instead of engaging in conversation, hawking small items, washing clothes in buckets, or cooking on small fires as they usually did. Shopkeepers stood in doorways or at simple plank tables set up to display their goods, their arms folded and scowls on their faces. Men pulling carts bent somberly to their tasks. People needing goods made their purchases quickly, making no more than a perfunctory examination of the wares. Children kept a hand clutched to their mother’s skirts as their eyes darted about. Men whom she had seen playing at dice or other games in the past huddled against walls.
In the distance, at the Palace of the Prophets, a single bell tolled every few minutes, as it had all the night before and would until the sun set, announcing to all that the Prelate was dead. The drums, however, had nothing to do with the Prelate’s death; manned by soldiers, they announced the impending arrival of the emperor.
Sister Verna met the troubled eyes of people she passed. She touched the heads of the scores who approached, seeking solace, and offered the Creator’s blessing. “I only remember kings,” she said to Warren, “not this Imperial Order. Who is this emperor?”
“His name is Jagang. Ten, maybe fifteen years ago, the Imperial Order started swallowing up the kingdoms, joining them together under its rule.” With one finger, he rubbed his temple in thought, “I spent most of by time in the vaults studying, you understand, so I’m no sure of all the details, but from what I gather, they swiftly came to dominate the Old World, joining it all under their rule. The emperor hasn’t ever caused any trouble, though. At least not way up here in Tanimura. He stays out of palace business, and expects us to stay out of his.”
“Why is he coming here?”
Warren shrugged. “I don’t know. Perhaps just to visit this part of his empire.”
After conferring the Creator’s blessing on a gaunt woman, Sister Verna stepped around a trail of fresh horse dung as she resumed walking. “Well, I wish he would hurry up and get here so that infernal drumming would cease. They’ve been at it four days now; his arrival must be imminent.”
Warren glanced around before speaking. “The palace guards are Imperial Order troops. As a courtesy, the emperor provides them, since he allows no men at arms but his own. Anyway, I talked to one of the guards, and he told me that the drums are only meant to announce that the emperor is coming, not that he will be here soon. He said that when the emperor visited Breaston, the drums sounded for nearly six months beforehand.”
“Six months! You mean we must endure this racket for months!”
Warren hitched up his robes and stepped over a puddle. “Not necessarily. He could arrive in months, or tomorrow. He doesn’t deign to announce when he will arrive, only that he will.”
Sister Verna scowled. “Well, if he doesn’t arrive soon, the Sisters will see to it that those infernal drums stop.”
“That would be fine by me. But this emperor sounds like someone not to be treated casually. I’ve heard that he has an army more vast than any ever assembled.” He gave her a meaningful look. “And that includes the great war that separated the Old World from the New.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Why would he need such an army, if he has already seized all of the old kingdoms? Sounds to me like it’s just idle talk of soldiers. Soldiers always like to boast.”
Warren shrugged. “The guards told me they’ve seen it with their own eyes. They said that when the Order masses, they cover the ground in every direction as far as the eye can see. What do you think the palace will make of it when he comes here?”
“Bah. The palace has no interest in politics.”
Warren grinned. “You never were one to be intimidated.”
“Our business is with the Creator’s wishes, not an emperor’s, that’s all. The palace will remain long after he is gone.”
After walking in silence for a time, Warren cleared his throat. “You know, way back, when we hadn’t been here long, and you were still a novice… well, I was enamored of you.”
Sister Verna stared over incredulously. “Now you’re mocking me.”
“No, it’s true.” His face reddened. “I thought your curly brown hair was the most beautiful I’d ever seen. You were smarter than the others, and commanded your Han with sureness. I thought there was no one your equal. I wanted to ask you to study with me.”
“Why didn’t you?”
He shrugged. “You were always so sure of yourself, so confident. I never was.” He brushed his hair back self-consciously. “Besides, you were interested in Jedidiah. I was nothing to compare to him. I always thought you would just laugh.”
She realized she was smoothing back her hair, and let her arm fall. “Well, perhaps I would have.”
She thought better of the slight. “People can be foolish when they are young.” A woman with a young child approached and fell to her knees before them. Verna paused to bestow the Creator’s blessing on them. As the woman thanked her and then hurried away, Sister Verna turned to Warren. “You could go away for twenty years or so, to study those books you are so interested in, and catch up in age with me. We’d look the same age again. Then you could ask to hold my hand… like I wanted you to, back then.”
They both looked up at the sound of someone calling out to them. Through the throng of shuffling people, she saw one of the Palace Guard waving his arm to get their attention.
“Isn’t that Kevin Andellmere?” She asked.
Warren nodded. “I wonder what he’s so stirred up about?”
A breathless Swordsman Andellmere vaulted over a small boy and stumbled to a halt before them. “Sister Verna! Good! I’ve found you at last. They want you. At the palace. Right now.”
“Who wants me? What about?”
He gulped air and tried to talk at the same time. “The Sisters want you. Sister Leoma grabbed me by my ear and told me to go find you and bring you back. She said that if I was slow about it, I’d rue the day my mother bore me. There must be trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?”
He threw his hands up. “When I asked, she gave me that look Sisters give that can melt a man’s bones, and told me it was Sister business and none of mine.”
Sister Verna let out a tired sigh. “I guess we best return with you, then, or they’ll skin you and use your hide for a flag.”
The young soldier blanched, as if he believed her.
6
On the arched sto
ne bridge that led over the River Kern to Halsband Island and the Palace of the Prophets, Sisters Philippa, Dulcinia, and Maren stood in a row, shoulder to shoulder, like three hawks watching their dinner approach. They clutched their hands impatiently at their waists. The sun at their backs cast their faces in shadow, but Sister Verna could still make out the scowls. Warren walked onto the bridge with her as Swordsman Andellmere, his duty accomplished, hurried off in another direction.
Gray-haired Sister Dulcinia, her jaw set, leaned closer as Sister Verna came to a stop before her. “Where have you been! You’ve kept everyone waiting.”
The drums in the city kept up their beat in the background, like the slow drip of rain. Sister Verna put them from her mind.
