together on the bench beside the
worktable, with Minn curled up at Mirielle’s feet. When Hugh told
her the brew was ready Mirielle sipped the hot tcha.
“An unusual taste,” she said, taking a second
sip. “Not like any herb I know, but clean and fresh. Master Hugh, I
believe this tcha must be a stimulant.”
“So it is. But it is never harmful.” He
regarded her in silence for a time. Mirielle found she did not mind
his gaze. There was nothing lascivious in it. Hugh wanted only to
know her as Cerra had once known her. She drank the tcha and felt
herself relaxing, her previous concerns about Hugh’s purpose at
Wroxley fading. Minn purred contentedly, the room was warm, and
when Hugh began to speak Mirielle could see in her own mind the
scenes he described.
“My homeland lies far to the east,” Hugh
began. “You in the western world call it Cathay. It is a beautiful
land and large enough to contain within its borders every aspect of
nature. There are mountains and wide rivers, lush green gardens and
barren deserts, steaming jungles and places where snow piles high
in winter and lasts well into the following spring. And we have
built great cities. In all my travels I have never seen a palace to
equal the one in which the emperor of my land lives. We employ the
use of many wonderful machines and inventions unimagined by those
who live outside the Middle Kingdom.
“I was born into a family of scholars. My
education was extensive in many subjects but my greatest interest
has always lain in the Ancient Wisdom, which concerns the methods
by which objects can be transmuted from baseness into
perfection.”
“Then you are an alchemist as well as a
mage,” Mirielle exclaimed, fascinated by these revelations.
“The study of the one art leads inevitably to
the other and both together are but a small portion of the Ancient
Wisdom,” Hugh said. “From the contents of this room I think you
already know it is so.”
“How did you come to England from a land so
far away?” Mirielle asked.
“Let us prepare another cup of tcha and I
will tell you.” Hugh paused, waiting until Mirielle emptied their
cups of the damp leaves, rinsed them, and refilled them with hot
water. Again he sprinkled the dried tcha leaves onto the water.
When the brew was ready to drink, Hugh resumed his story.
“Most men of the Middle Kingdom believe that
all knowledge is contained there, in that blessed land,” Hugh said.
“Thus, there is no need to look outside our borders, for nothing of
any importance exists in the world beyond. In my youth, before I
learned the value of silence, I was often in trouble, for I could
not accept the limitations of that belief and I did not hesitate to
say so. If there is no purpose to the lands outside the Middle
Kingdom, I asked, and nothing worthwhile there, then why were those
lands created at all? Since they were created, I reasoned, then the
man seeking knowledge will want to explore foreign lands and to
learn what he can from the people who live in them.
“And so,” Hugh went on, “I persistently
begged my father for permission to travel, that I might seek new
truths and new knowledge. It took many years of persuasion before
he agreed to let me go. We parted with sadness, for he was aged by
then and we knew we would never see each other again. Still, he
understood my compelling need to learn all I could and in his heart
I think he envied me the experiences I would have.”
“I, too, have sometimes yearned to travel to
distant lands,” Mirielle told him. “In which direction did you go,
Master Hugh?”
“Southwestward on a trader’s ship,” Hugh
said. “Though the scholars of the Middle Kingdom do not concern
themselves with other lands, our merchants do. I voyaged first to a
place called Hind, where I dwelt for a dozen years. Then I traveled
farther west to Baghdad and lived there for another dozen
years.”
“Baghdad is a place I have heard of,”
Mirielle interrupted this account.
worktable, with Minn curled up at Mirielle’s feet. When Hugh told
her the brew was ready Mirielle sipped the hot tcha.
“An unusual taste,” she said, taking a second
sip. “Not like any herb I know, but clean and fresh. Master Hugh, I
believe this tcha must be a stimulant.”
“So it is. But it is never harmful.” He
regarded her in silence for a time. Mirielle found she did not mind
his gaze. There was nothing lascivious in it. Hugh wanted only to
know her as Cerra had once known her. She drank the tcha and felt
herself relaxing, her previous concerns about Hugh’s purpose at
Wroxley fading. Minn purred contentedly, the room was warm, and
when Hugh began to speak Mirielle could see in her own mind the
scenes he described.
“My homeland lies far to the east,” Hugh
began. “You in the western world call it Cathay. It is a beautiful
land and large enough to contain within its borders every aspect of
nature. There are mountains and wide rivers, lush green gardens and
barren deserts, steaming jungles and places where snow piles high
in winter and lasts well into the following spring. And we have
built great cities. In all my travels I have never seen a palace to
equal the one in which the emperor of my land lives. We employ the
use of many wonderful machines and inventions unimagined by those
who live outside the Middle Kingdom.
“I was born into a family of scholars. My
education was extensive in many subjects but my greatest interest
has always lain in the Ancient Wisdom, which concerns the methods
by which objects can be transmuted from baseness into
perfection.”
“Then you are an alchemist as well as a
mage,” Mirielle exclaimed, fascinated by these revelations.
“The study of the one art leads inevitably to
the other and both together are but a small portion of the Ancient
Wisdom,” Hugh said. “From the contents of this room I think you
already know it is so.”
“How did you come to England from a land so
far away?” Mirielle asked.
“Let us prepare another cup of tcha and I
will tell you.” Hugh paused, waiting until Mirielle emptied their
cups of the damp leaves, rinsed them, and refilled them with hot
water. Again he sprinkled the dried tcha leaves onto the water.
When the brew was ready to drink, Hugh resumed his story.
“Most men of the Middle Kingdom believe that
all knowledge is contained there, in that blessed land,” Hugh said.
“Thus, there is no need to look outside our borders, for nothing of
any importance exists in the world beyond. In my youth, before I
learned the value of silence, I was often in trouble, for I could
not accept the limitations of that belief and I did not hesitate to
say so. If there is no purpose to the lands outside the Middle
Kingdom, I asked, and nothing worthwhile there, then why were those
lands created at all? Since they were created, I reasoned, then the
man seeking knowledge will want to explore foreign lands and to
learn what he can from the people who live in them.
“And so,” Hugh went on, “I persistently
begged my father for permission to travel, that I might seek new
truths and new knowledge. It took many years of persuasion before
he agreed to let me go. We parted with sadness, for he was aged by
then and we knew we would never see each other again. Still, he
understood my compelling need to learn all I could and in his heart
I think he envied me the experiences I would have.”
“I, too, have sometimes yearned to travel to
distant lands,” Mirielle told him. “In which direction did you go,
Master Hugh?”
“Southwestward on a trader’s ship,” Hugh
said. “Though the scholars of the Middle Kingdom do not concern
themselves with other lands, our merchants do. I voyaged first to a
place called Hind, where I dwelt for a dozen years. Then I traveled
farther west to Baghdad and lived there for another dozen
years.”
“Baghdad is a place I have heard of,”
Mirielle interrupted this account.
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