Gene Wolfe - The Urth of the New Sun

I shook my head.

“A table, then. You’ll want to be far from the door, the bar, and the kitchen. I understand. Over there, sieur — the table with the cloth. Would that suit you?”

I told him it would.

“We’ve all manner of freshwater fish, sieur. Freshly caught, too. Our chowder’s quite famous. Sole and salmon, smoked or salted. Game, beef, veal, lamb, fowl…?”

I said, “I’ve heard food’s hard to come by in this part of the world.”

He looked troubled. “Crop failures. Yes, sieur. This is the third in a row. Bread’s very dear — not for you, sieur, but for the poor. Many a poor child will go to bed hungry tonight, so let’s give thanks that we don’t have to.”

Burgundofara asked, “You’ve no fresh salmon?”

“Only in the spring, I’m afraid. That’s when they run, my lady. Otherwise they’re sea caught, and they won’t stand the trip so far up the river.

“Salt salmon, then.”

“You’ll like it, my lady — put down in our own kitchen not three months ago. You needn’t trouble about bread, fruit, and so on now. We’ll bring everything, and you may choose when you see it. We’ve bananas from the north, though the rebellion makes them dear. Red wine or white?”

“Red, I think. Do you recommend it?”

“I recommend all our wines, my lady. I won’t have a cask in my cellar I can’t recommend.”

“Red, then.”

“Very good, my lady. And for you, sieur?”

A moment before, I would have said I was not hungry. Now I found I salivated at the mere mention of food; it was impossible to decide what I wanted most.

“Pheasant, sieur? We’ve a fine one in the spring house.”

“All right. No wine, though. Mate. Do you have it?”

“Of course, sieur.”

“Then I’ll drink that. It’s been a long time since I’ve tasted it.”

“It should be ready at once, sieur. Will there be anything more for you?”

“Only an early breakfast tomorrow; we’ll be going to the quay to arrange passage to Nessus. I’ll expect my change then.”

“I’ll have it for you, sieur, and a good, hot breakfast in the morning, too. Sausages, sieur. Ham, and…”

I nodded and waved him away.

When be was gone, Burgundofara asked, “Why didn’t you want to eat in our room? It would have been much nicer.”

“Because I have hopes of learning something. And because I don’t want to be by myself, to have to think.”

“I’d be there.”

“Yes, but it’s better when there are more people.”

“What—”

I motioned her to silence. A middle-aged man who had been eating alone had stood and tossed a last bone on his trencher. Now he was carrying his glass to our table. “Name’s Hadelin,” he said. “Skipper of Alcyone .”

I nodded. “Sit down, Captain Hadelin. What can we do for you?”

“Heard you talking to Kyrin. Said you wanted passage down the river. Some others are cheaper and some can give you better quarters. I mean bigger and more ornaments; there’s none cleaner. But there’s nothing faster than my Alcyone ‘cept the patrols, and we sail tomorrow morning.”

I asked how long it would take him to reach Nessus, and Burgundofara added, “And to the sea?”

“We should make Nessus day after, though it depends on wind and weather. Wind’s generally light and favorable this time of year, but if we get an early storm, we’ll have to tie up.”

I nodded. “Certainly.”

“Otherwise it should be day after tomorrow, about vespers or a bit before. I’ll land you anywhere you want, this side of the khan. We’ll tie up there two days to load and unload, then go on down. Nessus to the delta generally takes a fortnight or a bit less.”

“We’ll have to see your ship before we take passage.”

“You won’t find anything I’m ashamed of, sieur. Reason I came over to talk is we’ll be leaving early, and if it’s speed you want, we’ve got it. In the run of things we’d have sailed before you got to the water. But if you and her will meet me here soon as you can see the sun, we’ll eat a bite and go down together.”

“You’re staying in this inn tonight, Captain?”

“Yes, sieur. I stay on shore when I can. Most of us do. We’ll tie up somewhere tomorrow night too, if that be the will of the Pancreator.”

A waiter came with our dinners, and the innkeeper caught Hadelin’s eye from across the room. “’Scuse me, sieur,” he said. “Kyrin wants something, and you and her’ll want to eat. I’ll see you right here in the morning.”

“We’ll be here,” I promised.

“This is wonderful salmon,” Burgundofara told me as she ate. “We carry salt fish on the boats for the times when we don’t catch anything, but this is better. I didn’t know how much I’d missed it.”

I said I was glad she was enjoying it.

“And now I’ll be on a ship again. Think he’s a good captain? I bet he’s a demon to his crew.”

By a gesture, I warned her to be quiet. Hadelin was coming back.

When he had pulled out his chair again, she said, “Would you like some of my wine, Captain? They brought a whole bottle.”

“Half a glass, for sociability’s sake.” He glanced over his shoulder, then turned back to us, a corner of his mouth up by the width of three hairs. “Kyrin’s just warned me against you. Said you gave him a chrisos like none he’d seen.”

“He may return it, if he wishes. Do you want to see one of our coins?”

“I’m a sailor; we see coins from extern lands. Then too, there’s some from tombs, sometimes. Plenty of tombs up in the mountains, I suppose?”

“I have no idea.” I passed a chrisos across the table.

He examined it, bit it, and gave it back to me. “Gold all right. Looks a trifle like you, ‘cept he seems to have got himself cut up. Don’t suppose you noticed.”

“No,” I said. “I never thought of it.”

Hadelin nodded and pushed back his chair. “A man doesn’t shave himself sidewise. See you in the morning, sieur, madame.”

Upstairs, when I had hung my cloak and shirt on pegs and was washing my face and hands in the warm water the inn servants had brought, Burgundofara said, “He broke it, didn’t he?”

I knew what she meant and nodded.

“You should have contended with him.”

“I’m no magus,” I told her, “but I was in a duel of magic once. I was nearly killed.”

“You made that girl’s arm look right.”

“That wasn’t magic. I—”

A conch blared outside, followed by the confused clamor of many voices. I went to the window and looked out. Ours was an upper room, and our elevation gave me a good view over the heads of the crowd to its center, where the mountebank stood beside a bier supported on the shoulders of eight men. I could not help thinking for a moment that by speaking of him Burgundofara had summoned him.

Seeing me at the window, he blew his conch a second time, pointed to draw attention to me, and when everyone was staring called, “Raise up this man, fellow! If you cannot, I will. The mighty Ceryx shall make the dead walk Urth once more!” The body he indicated lay sprawled in the grotesque attitude of a statue overthrown, still in the grip of rigor.

I called, “You think me your competitor, mighty Ceryx, but I’ve no such ambition. We’re merely passing through Os on our way to the sea. We’re leaving tomorrow.” I closed the shutters and bolted them.

“It was him,” Burgundofara said. She had stripped and was crouched beside the basin.

“Yes,” I said.

I expected her to reproach me again, but she only said, “We’ll be rid of him as soon as we cast off. Would you like me tonight?”

“Later, perhaps. I want to think.” I dried myself and got into our bed.