bone. He held his breath and slowly reached out his cupped hand. The tooth was so absorbed in its task that he was able to grab it, but then it squeezed out between his fingers and jumped like a grasshopper into the undergrowth.
So took this inscribed bone out of his pocket on his way home that evening. The writing was so small and covered every surface so closely that it was difficult to make out where it began or ended. It told some confused tale of exiles’ journeys, a hidden message, a girl-child – and here a strange phrase caught So’s eye: ‘Love unites the keys to the lock that divides.’ He paused to ponder this, turning the bone in his hands and looking up to where a young and slender moon hung beside the dark outline of Springrice watching him from the top of their ruined tower. He saw her as a woman waiting for him, but when he ran up the stairs he found her a child again, who laughed and jumped to and fro across the great fissures in the stonework, who would not be caught, who vanished into the shadows and then leapt out on him like a cat, knocking the bone out of his hand. Then she came softly to him as he sat bewildered and troubled by regrets, over the chasm full of the sound of rushing water into which had vanished his letter from the other end of the world; she held his hand, and calmed him, and promised to marry him when she was older.
*
Although the flowing-in of tribute at last dwindled to a trickle of oddities brought by lame beggars and old madwomen, the greathorde did not depart. The Governor could not hide his disquiet from So, as night after night the plain was drunk with singing, and day by day the celebrations and games brought squadrons of horsemen galloping in circuits ever nearer the open valley mouth. The womenfolk of the nomads were absorbed again into the dusty horizons , leaving warriors. So and the Governor saw the inchoate sea of peoples crystallizing under their eyes into an army.
‘Is there some doubt troubling the minds of these humble folk as to the legitimacy of our Empire?’ said the Governor, as he and So watched one day what appeared to be the preparation of an onslaught. ‘There was some talk at the time of the accession of the present Emperor … Has some rumour crossed the deserts to disturb the confidence of these simple shepherds in our love, a love as fatherly as Time itself? Look there, a chariot bearing a throne is coming to the centre of their front; it seems the blades of grass own a leader! King Thistle mounts! An attack is imminent. I am going down to stand in the mouth of the valley before them as an embodiment of our ancient authority; that is the only wall that can prevail against the coming wind. Do not offer to accompany me, your appearance would not add to the impression I hope to produce. If I should fail, take your horse and cross the mountain to meet the approaching Court. Warn the Emperor, let him gather his armies; report the climax of my career of service. One personal request; take the girl; such a feather will wing your flight. Travel as brother and sister, for safety and seemliness. No, do not weep. Even if I fail, the Emperor will blow this chaff out of our granary. I give you my seal of office, and my blessing.’
So, with Springrice behind him, watched from the saddle as the old man walked out of the village and took up his position at the focus of the arc of hostility, straightened his bowed shoulders and gazed across the plains as if they were empty. The army was silent. The horsemen were stringing their bows at leisure, choosing arrowswith deliberation; a thousand men were calmly taking aim at the motionless figure before them. No signal was given, but the arrows flocked in one moment, and like a plume of smoke caught by a sudden wind, the Governor ceased to be.
So and the weeping girl were already riding up the ashes of the forest slopes when the army began to move into the village behind them. That night he cradled her in his arms on
So took this inscribed bone out of his pocket on his way home that evening. The writing was so small and covered every surface so closely that it was difficult to make out where it began or ended. It told some confused tale of exiles’ journeys, a hidden message, a girl-child – and here a strange phrase caught So’s eye: ‘Love unites the keys to the lock that divides.’ He paused to ponder this, turning the bone in his hands and looking up to where a young and slender moon hung beside the dark outline of Springrice watching him from the top of their ruined tower. He saw her as a woman waiting for him, but when he ran up the stairs he found her a child again, who laughed and jumped to and fro across the great fissures in the stonework, who would not be caught, who vanished into the shadows and then leapt out on him like a cat, knocking the bone out of his hand. Then she came softly to him as he sat bewildered and troubled by regrets, over the chasm full of the sound of rushing water into which had vanished his letter from the other end of the world; she held his hand, and calmed him, and promised to marry him when she was older.
*
Although the flowing-in of tribute at last dwindled to a trickle of oddities brought by lame beggars and old madwomen, the greathorde did not depart. The Governor could not hide his disquiet from So, as night after night the plain was drunk with singing, and day by day the celebrations and games brought squadrons of horsemen galloping in circuits ever nearer the open valley mouth. The womenfolk of the nomads were absorbed again into the dusty horizons , leaving warriors. So and the Governor saw the inchoate sea of peoples crystallizing under their eyes into an army.
‘Is there some doubt troubling the minds of these humble folk as to the legitimacy of our Empire?’ said the Governor, as he and So watched one day what appeared to be the preparation of an onslaught. ‘There was some talk at the time of the accession of the present Emperor … Has some rumour crossed the deserts to disturb the confidence of these simple shepherds in our love, a love as fatherly as Time itself? Look there, a chariot bearing a throne is coming to the centre of their front; it seems the blades of grass own a leader! King Thistle mounts! An attack is imminent. I am going down to stand in the mouth of the valley before them as an embodiment of our ancient authority; that is the only wall that can prevail against the coming wind. Do not offer to accompany me, your appearance would not add to the impression I hope to produce. If I should fail, take your horse and cross the mountain to meet the approaching Court. Warn the Emperor, let him gather his armies; report the climax of my career of service. One personal request; take the girl; such a feather will wing your flight. Travel as brother and sister, for safety and seemliness. No, do not weep. Even if I fail, the Emperor will blow this chaff out of our granary. I give you my seal of office, and my blessing.’
So, with Springrice behind him, watched from the saddle as the old man walked out of the village and took up his position at the focus of the arc of hostility, straightened his bowed shoulders and gazed across the plains as if they were empty. The army was silent. The horsemen were stringing their bows at leisure, choosing arrowswith deliberation; a thousand men were calmly taking aim at the motionless figure before them. No signal was given, but the arrows flocked in one moment, and like a plume of smoke caught by a sudden wind, the Governor ceased to be.
So and the weeping girl were already riding up the ashes of the forest slopes when the army began to move into the village behind them. That night he cradled her in his arms on
Similar Books
