Gene Wolfe - CALDE OF THE LONG SUN

him.

Oreb hopped onto the gunnel to look about and fluff his damp

feathers. "Bird wet!" They were gliding past impressive tanks of

white-painted metal, their way nearly spent.

"A _Sacred Window!_ It _is!_ There's a Window and an altar

_right there!_ Look!" The augur's voice shook with joy, and he released

the halyard. Auk's kick sent him sprawling.

"Got ter break out sweeps, ma'am, if there's more channel."

"Mind your helm. Lay alongside the Window." To the augur

Chenille added, "Have you got your knife?"

He shook his head miserably.

"Your sword then," she told Auk. "Can you sacrifice?"

"I've seen it done, Surging Scylla, and I got a knife in my boot.

That might work better." As daring as Remora, Auk added, "But a

bird? I didn't think you liked birds."

"That?" She spat into the water.

A fender of woven cordage thumped, then ground against stone.

Their side lay within a cubit of the natural quay on which the tanks

and the Window stood. "Tie us up." Chenille pointed to the augur.

"You, too! No, the stern, you idiot. He'll take the bow."

Auk made the halyard fast, then sprang out onto the stone quay.

It was wet, and so slimed that he nearly fell; in the watery light of

the cavern, he failed to make out the big iron ring at his feet until he

stepped on it.

The augur had found his ring sooner. He straightened up. "I--I

_am_ an _augur_, Savage Scylla. I've sacrificed to you and to all

the Nine _many times_. I'd be _delighted_, Savage Scylla. With his

knife..."

"Bad bird," Oreb croaked. "Gods hate." He flapped his injured

wing as if to judge how far it might carry him.

Chenille bounded onto the slippery stone and crooked a finger at

the old fisherman. "You. Come up here."

"I oughter--"

"You ought to do what you're told, or I'll have my thug kill you

straight off."

It was a relief to Auk to draw his needler again, a return to

familiar ground.

"_Scylla!_" the augur gasped. "A _human being?_ Really--"

She whirled to confront him. "What were you doing on my boat?

"Who sent you?"

"Bad cut," Oreb assured her.

The augur drew a deep breath. "I am H-his _Eminence's_

prothonotary." He smoothed his sopping robe as if suddenly conscious of his

bedraggled appearance. "H-his E-e-eminence desired me to _l-locate_

a particular y-y-young woman--"

Auk trained his needler on him.

"Y-you. Tall, red hair and so forth. I _didn't_ know it was you,

Savage Scylla." He swallowed and added desperately, "H-his interest

was ha-wholly friendly. H-his Eminence--"

"You are to be congratulated, Patera." Chenille's voice was

smooth and almost courteous; she had an alarming habit of remaining

immobile in attitudes no mere human being could have maintained for

more than a few seconds, and she did so now, her pivoting

head and glaring eyes seemingly the only living pans of her lush

body. "You have succeeded splendidly. Perhaps you identified the

previous occupant? You say this woman," she touched her chest,

"was described to you?"

The augur nodded rapidly. "_Yes_, Savage Scylla. Fiery hair

and--and s-skill with a _knife_ and..."

Chenille's eyes had rolled backward into her skull. until only the

whites could be seen. "Your Eminence. Silk addressed him like that.

You attended my graduation, Your Eminence."

The augur said hurriedly, "He wished me to _assure_ her of our

submission. Of the _Chapter's_. To offer our _advise_ and

_support_, and declare our _loyalty_. Information H-his Eminence

had received indicated that--that you'd _g-gone_ to the lake with

Patera Silk. His Eminence is Patera's _superior_. He--I--we

declare our _undying_ loyalty, Savage Scylla."

"To Kypris."

There was that in Chenille's tone which rendered the words

unanswerable. The augur could only stare at her.

"Bad man," Oreb announced virtuously. "Cut?"

"An augur? I hadn't considered it, but..."

The old fisherman hawked and spat. "If'n you're really Scaldin'

Scylla, ma'am, I'd like ter say somethin'." He wiped his grizzled

mustache on the back of his hand.

"I am Scylla. Be quick. We must sacrifice now if we're to sacrifice

at all. My slave will arrive soon."

"I been prayin' and sacrificin' ter you all my life. You an' your pa's

the only ones us fishermen pay mind to. I'm not sayin' you owe me

anythin'. I got my boat, an' I had a wife and raised the boys. Always

made a livin'. What I'm wantin' ter say is when I go you'll be losin'

one of your own. It's goin' ter be one less here for you an' ol' Pas.

Maybe you figure I took you 'cause the big feller's got his stitchin'

gun. Fact is, I'd of took you anywheres on the lake soon as I knowed

who you was."

"I must reintegrate myself in Mainframe," Chenille told him.

"There may be new developments. Are you through?"

"Pretty nigh. The big feller, he does anythin' you want him, just

like what I'd do in his britches. Only he b'longs ter Hierax, ma'am."

Auk started.

"Not ter you nor your pa neither. He maybe don't know it hisself,

but he do. His bird an' that needler he's got, an' the big hangersword,

an' his knife what he tells he's got in his boots, they all show

it. You got ter know it better'n me. As fer this augur you're gettin'

set ter offer me up, I fished him out O' the lake last night, and t'other

day I seen another fished up. They do say--"

"Describe him."

"Yes'm." The old fisherman considered. "You was down in the

cuddy then, I guess. When they'd got him out, I seen him look over

our way. Lookin' at the bird, seemed like. Pretty young. Tall as the

big feller. Yeller hair--"

"Silk!" Auk exclaimed.

"Pulled out of the water, you said?"

The fisherman nodded. "Scup's boat. I've knowed Scup thirty year."

"You may be right," Chenille told him. "You may be too valuable

to sacrifice, and one old man is nothing anyway."

She strode toward the Window before whirling to face them

again. "Pay attention to what I say, all three of you. In a moment,

I'll depart from this whore. My divine essence will pass from her

into the Sacred Window that I have caused to be put here, and be

reintegrated with my greater divine self in Mainframe. Do you

understand me? All of you?"

Auk nodded mutely The augur knelt, his head bowed.

"Kypris, my mortal enemy and the enemy of my mother, my

brothers, and my sisters--of our whole family, in fact--has been

mischief-making here in Viron. Already she seems to have won to

her side the meager fdol this idiot--What's your name, anyhow?"

"Incus, Savage Scylla. I-I'm Patera _Incus_."

"The fool this idiot calls His Eminence. I don't doubt that she

intends to win over my Prolocutor and my Ayuntamiento too, if she

can. The four of you, I include the whore after I'm through with her,

are to see to it that she fails. Use threats and force and the power of

my name. Kill anyone you need to, it won't be held against you. If

Kypris returns, do something to get my attention. Fifty or a hundred

children should catch my eye, and Viron's got plenty to spare."

She glared at each man in turn. "Questions? Let's hear them now,

if there are any. Objections?"

Oreb croaked in his throat, one bright black eye trained warily

upon her.

"Good. You're my prophets henceforth. Keep Viron loyal, and

you'll have my favor. Believe nothing Kypris may tell you. My slave

should be here shortly. He'll carry you there, and assist you. See the