Blood of Ambrose Page 40
It was a note written in the secret speech.
Morlock—
Your horse keeps running away. Screw it and you—I'm walking from here.
Good fortune.
Baran, Vocate
“Poor old Baran was never much of a horseman,” Jordel remarked. “Although his first job—”
“Spare us your memories of manure this once, Jordel,” Aloê interrupted. “I suppose we had better report back to the Graith—now that our patient is back on his feet again. Any messages for your former peers, Morlock Exile?”
“My love to Noreê, of course,” Morlock said mildly.
Aloê shot him a golden glare; she turned and walked off without another word to any of them.
“What was that all about?” Lathmar wondered.
“Oh, Noreê never liked Morlock here much,” Jordel explained. “Thought he should have been kicked out of the Wardlands before his parents were born—was always looking at him askance.”
“No, I mean—” Lathmar began, and then suddenly reflected that Aloê's behavior reflected a disagreement with Morlock that was probably none of his business. “Never mind.”
“I never do, but I'd better try to catch her up. I said my good-byes to you all when I thought we were going to die, so I won't cheapen them by repetition.” He waved casually and walked off after Aloê. Lathmar never saw him again.
“Guards,” Lathmar said without looking at them, “stand away.” When they had, he broached his problem to the Ambrosii and asked their thoughts.
Ambrosia heard him through, though nothing he said seemed to surprise her. When he had finished, she said, “Well, if I were you, Lathmar, I'd find Morlock and me guilty of some dreadful but not very specific crime and give us ten days' law to leave the city.”
“That's not funny,” Lathmar said impatiently.
“I assure you, I find it far from funny. But I know a little something about this business of governing an empire—not one of the Two Arts, perhaps, but a useful trade all the same—and that's what I think the situation requires. It won't be the first time I was kicked out of Ontil, you know.”
“What…what do you suggest?”
“How about lèse majesté—an offense against the monarch's dignity? It's convenient, hard to define, and quite serious—as you reminded me at supper one night.”
Lathmar nodded slowly. “Well. May I ask when you traitorous dogs will be fleeing from my justice?”
“We're packed,” Morlock said simply.
“Get the hell out then!” Lathmar shouted. “Who the hell needs you! I don't and no one else here does!” He was weeping uncontrollably. He knew it was wrong; he knew he was being stupid. Morlock took him by the shoulders, looked into his eyes, and turned away without a word. Lathmar clenched his eyes shut, and when he opened them he saw that Morlock had taken his horse and gone.
“Isn't anyone going with him?” he blurted.
“In a word, no,” Wyrth said. “I've had enough of his endless yakking. Besides, I'm a master of Making, now. I've got to take my own path. Back to Thrymhaiam, I think—it's been a long time since I've seen home.”
Lathmar wordlessly held out his hand. Wyrth took it, held it, and released it.
“See you,” Wyrth said briefly, and left him alone with Grandmother.
“Hope had a dream about our mother,” Ambrosia said, in the flat voice she always used when talking about her sister. Lathmar could not even imagine the accommodation they had made with each other (if, in fact, they had). “She says it's better if we aren't together—Morlock and, and us, I mean.”
Ambrosia kissed him on the forehead and said, “Lathmar, you've done well, but you must do more—much more. Are you ready?”
“No.”
But it was a lie and she knew it. She kissed him again and walked away, and he was alone at last in his kingdom, his empire. Even though it looked rather like a stable.
He dried his eyes and blew his nose. “Well, it's back to the books for me, I guess,” he grumbled. “But, who knows? Maybe someday they'll call me Lathmar the Builder…or even Lathmar the Great?”
They were calling him those names already, but he didn't find out until long after he had earned them.
aent is a flat or shield-shaped land mass bordered by ocean to the west and south and empty space to the east; north of Laent is a region of uninhabitable cold; south of Laent is a large and largely unexplored continent, Qajqapca. Beyond that is believed to be an impassable zone of fire.
Along the western edge of Laent lies the Wardlands, a highly developed but secretive culture. It has no government, as such, but its borders are protected by a small band of Seers and warriors called the Graith of Guardians.
Dividing Laent into two unequal halves, north and south, are a pair of mountain ranges: the Whitethorn Range (running from the Western Ocean eastward) and the Blackthorn Range (running from the Eastern Edge westward). There is a pass between the two mountain ranges, the Kirach Kund. North of the Kirach Kund there are only two human cities of any note, Narkunden and Aflraun. The rest of the north is a heavily wooded and mountainous region inhabited by humans and others of a more or less fabulous nature.
The Whitethorn Range, by custom, forms the northern border of the Wardlands; the Graith of Guardians do not permit others to dwell there. The Blackthorn Range is divided between the untamed dragons and the dragon-taming Khroi, a nonhuman race of unknown origin.
South of the Whitethorn Range is the empire of Ontil, sometimes known as the Second Empire. Around 2800, in the reckoning of the Wardlands (see appendix C: “Calendar and Astronomy”), Vraidish barbarians began to pass through the Kirach Kund, not merely to raid or kill but to conquer and settle. After several generations, one of the Vraidish war-leaders, called Lathmar the Old, established a united kingdom out of the divided Vraidish duchies. He was materially aided in his rise to power by magical assistance and counsel from Ambrosia Viviana, Merlin's daughter. Ambrosia later married Lathmar's son, Uthar I (called the Great), who called his kingdom the New Empire of Ontil and settled its capital at New Ontil (not far from the ruins of Old Ontil). The title of King (later, “King of the Two Cities,” i.e., the Old Ontil and the new capital) was retained for the imperial heir. At the time of Blood of Ambrose, the Vraidish Empire of Ontil extended from the Whitethorn Range south, to all the lands surrounding the landlocked Sea of Vendh, as far as the southern coast of Laent (including the formerly independent kingdom of Kaen). On the west it was bounded by the Narrow Sea and the Grartan Mountains. The region between the Grartan Mountains and the Whitethorns was called the Gap of Lone by inhabitants of the unguarded lands. Inhabitants of (and exiles from) the Wardlands called it “the Maze,” because of the magical protections placed on it.
Immediately south of the Blackthorns is a wooded region of extremely poor repute, Tychar. Farther south is the Anhikh Kômos of Cities, Ontil's great rival. The largest Anhikh city, where the kômarkh lives, is Vakhnhal, along the southern coast of Laent. Anhi may or may not extend its domain to the Eastern Edge of the world—accounts differ.
here is no universally accepted religious belief, except in Anhi, where the government enforces the worship of Torlan and Zahkaar (Fate and Chaos).
In Ontil an eclectic set of gods are worshipped or not worshipped, especially (under the influence of Coranian exiles from the Wardlands) the Strange Gods, including Death, Justice, Peace, Misery, Love, and Memory.
In the Wardlands at least three gods, or three aspects of one god, are worshipped: the Creator, the Sustainer, and the Avenger (“Creator, Keeper, and King”).
The dwarves of the Wardlands evidently assent to these beliefs. (At any rate, they have been known to swear by these deities.) But they have another, perhaps an older, belief in immortal ancestor spirits who watch the world and judge it from beyond the western edge of the world. The spirits of the virtuous dead collect in the west through the day and night, and pass through at the moment of dawn, when the sun enters the world and the ga
te in the west is opened. Spirits of the evil dead, or spirits that have been bound in some way, may not pass through the gate in the west. Hence, dwarves each day (at sunrise, or when they awake) praise the rising of the sun and the passage of the good ghosts to Those-Who-Watch in the west.
1. ASTRONOMICAL REMARKS
he sky of Laent has three moons: Chariot, Horseman, and Trumpeter (in descending order of size).
The year has 375 days. The months are marked by the rising or setting of the second moon, Horseman. So that (in the year Blood of Ambrose begins) Horseman sets on the first day of Bayring, the penultimate month. It rises again on the first of Borderer, the last month. It sets very early in the morning on the first day of Cymbals, the first month of the new year. All three moons set simultaneously on this occasion. (The number of months are uneven—fifteen—so that Horseman rises or sets on the first morning of the year in alternating years.)
The period of Chariot (the largest moon, whose rising and setting marks the seasons) is 187.5 days. (So a season is 93.75 days.)
The period of Horseman is 50 days.
The period of Trumpeter is 15 days. A half-cycle of Trumpeter is a “call.” Calls are either “bright” or “dark” depending on whether Trumpeter is aloft or not. (Usage: “He doesn't expect to be back until next bright call.”)
The seasons are not irregular, as on Earth. But the moons' motion is not uniform through the sky: motion is faster near the horizons, slowest at the zenith. Astronomical objects are brighter in the west, dimmer in the east.
The three moons and the sun rise in the west and set in the east. The stars have a different motion entirely, rotating NWSE around a celestial pole. The pole points at a different constellation among a group of seven (the polar constellations) each year. (Hence, a different group of nonpolar constellations is visible near the horizons each year.) This seven-year cycle (the Ring) is the basis for dating, with individual years within it named for their particular polar constellations.
The polar constellations are: the Reaper, the Ship, the Hunter, the Door, the Kneeling Man, the River, the Wolf.
There is an intrapolar constellation, the Hands, within the space inscribed by the motion of the pole.
This calendar was first developed in the Wardlands, and then spread to the unguarded lands by exiles. In the Wardlands, years are dated from the founding of New Moorhope, the center of learning. The action of Blood of Ambrose begins in the 464th Ring, Moorhope year 3242, the Year of the Hunter. But in the Ontilian Empire, the years are dated from the death of Uthar the Great. By that reckoning, the action of Blood of Ambrose begins in the 48th Ring, A.U. 330, the Year of the Hunter.
2. THE YEARS OF BLOOD OF AMBROSE
The novel begins on 25 Remembering, A.U. 330. It ends on 18 Cymbals, A.U. 333.
48th Ring, A.U. 330: Year of the Hunter
1.Cymbals.
New Year. Winter begins.
1st: Chariot and Trumpeter set. Horseman rises.
8th and 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
2. Jaric.
1st: Horseman sets. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
3. Brenting.
1st: Horseman rises. 3rd and 18th: Trumpeter rises.
4. Drums.
1st: Horseman sets. 8th and 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
Midnight of 94th day of the year (19 Drums):
Chariot rises. Spring begins.
5. Rain.
1st: Horseman rises. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
6. Marrying.
1st: Horseman sets. 3rd and 18th: Trumpeter rises.
7. Ambrose.
1st: Horseman rises. 8th and 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
8. Harps.
1st: Horseman sets. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
Evening of the 188th day of year (19 Harps):
Chariot sets. Midyear—Summer begins.
9. Tohrt.
1st: Horseman rises. 3rd and 18th: Trumpeter rises.
10. Remembering.
1st: Horseman sets. 8th and 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
11. Victory.
1st: Horseman rises. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
12. Harvesting.
1st: Horseman sets. 3rd and 18th: Trumpeter rises.
6th: Chariot rises, noon of 281st day of year. Fall begins.
13. Mother and Maiden.
1st: Horseman rises. 8th and 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
14. Bayring.
1st: Horseman sets. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
15. Borderer.
1st: Horseman rises. 3rd and 18th: Trumpeter rises.
48th Ring, A.U. 331: Year of the Door
1. Cymbals.
New Year. Winter begins.
1st: Chariot, Horseman, and Trumpeter all set.
8th and 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
2. Jaric.
1st: Horseman rises. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
3. Brenting.
1st: Horseman sets. 3rd and 18th: Trumpeter rises.
4. Drums.
1st: Horseman rises. 8th and 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
Midnight of 94th day of the year (19 Drums):
Chariot rises. Spring begins.
5. Rain.
1st: Horseman sets. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
6. Marrying.
1st: Horseman rises. 3rd and 18th: Trumpeter rises.
7. Ambrose.
1st: Horseman sets. 8th and 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
8. Harps.
1st: Horseman rises. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
Evening of the 188th day of year (19 Harps):
Chariot sets. Midyear—Summer begins.
9. Tohrt.
1st: Horseman sets. 3rd and 18th: Trumpeter rises.
10. Remembering.
1st: Horseman rises. 8th and 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
11. Victory.
1st: Horseman sets. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
12. Harvesting.
1st: Horseman rises. 3rd and 18th: Trumpeter rises.
6th: Chariot rises, noon of 281st day of year. Fall begins.
13. Mother and Maiden.
1st: Horseman sets. 8th and 23rd: Trumpeter rises.
14. Bayring.
1st: Horseman rises. 13th: Trumpeter rises.
15. Borderer.
1st: Horseman sets. 3rd and 18th: Trumpeter rises.
48th Ring, A.U. 332: Year of the Kneeling Man
(Repeats pattern of A.U. 330)
48th Ring, A.U. 333: Year of the River
(Repeats pattern of A.U. 331)
ames Enge's fiction has appeared in Black Gate, Flashing Swords, and everydayfiction.com. He is an instructor of classical languages at a midwestern university.