Michael Foster - She Who Has No Name

They all nodded, with Daneel grinning all the while and looking towards the young lady with obvious glee.

‘I shall bid you all goodbye,’ Captain Orrell announced. ‘Daneel knows the way well, so keep close to his side. Good luck with your task. The Empire is depending on you.’

And,with that,the captain turned andmarched awaywith his men, leaving them to climb upon their mounts and depart.

Four of the local men led the way on horseback and they called to each other in a local dialect that only Daneel seemed to know. The men whooped and laughed and whistled as theyrode, often turning to ogle the young god-woman openly.

She rode clutching the back of Lady Wind precariously, for it seemed she had no idea of how to ride. When they had first been called to mount up, she had spent several minutes attempting to clamber atop her alarmed animal, ending up draped over its back with all the men laughing hysterically and with Lady Wind in a furious temper. Finally, Daneel had put an end to the show and helped her mount up behind Lady Wind, whom she had clutched onto tightly with white knuckles. Daneel’s hands had fumbled all over her as he pushed her up and,while he had apologised dramatically, he had been laughing all the while, leaving the naive god-woman confused while her attendant roared in anger once again.

‘Listen, Samuel,’ Balten said as they jostled along. ‘I am sorry that you lost so many of your friends in the citadel.’

Samuel frowned at the tall man sidelong. ‘Are you really?’ he asked sarcastically.

‘Of course. I know myself well, and I realise that I am not a pleasant individual by most measures, but I have no interest in the suffering of others. Eric Goodfellow was a noble young man, true of heart and gentle in nature. If I could have saved him or your Grand Master Tudor, I would have. The battle with Om-rah left me weakened. I did notanticipatethat he would be present there. He rarely leaves his desert, and his queen will be furious with him when she hears of his failure. Perhaps she may even do our work for us and kill him. But that is too much to hope for. He is too valuable, even to her.’

‘What kind of man is he?’

‘Barely a man at all. But I will not talk of him now. I don’t want to get my hackles up on such a fine day. Suffice to know, we have no liking for each other, to put it mildly.’

‘Then tell me-why are you really coming with us? Weren’t you supposed to help us in Ghant? That task is finished.’

‘With your Grand Master gone I am needed now more than before. YourSeer is not in a state to do much and there is little point in protecting you in Ghant and then leaving you to die in the snow. I will see you through the mountains and to your destination. Then my task will be complete.’

‘How can you work for them, Balten? I just don’t understand it. Even after that little monster Doonan tried to kill me, you remain loyal to the Circle.’

‘I do what I must.’

‘Is that it? You follow orders, no matter whatthey may be?’

‘I have faith in what I do. We all need something to believe in, Samuel. Don’t you think so?’

‘But I think for myself. If I thought the Order was not worth it, I wouldn’t followitblindly.’

To that, Balten only smiled knowingly.

‘What is it?’ Samuel continued. ‘You don’t believe me?’

‘I think you’ve seen many examples of the Order straying from the virtuous path of right andof themorals that they insistently spout, Samuel. You just don’t want to admit it. At least I am true to myself.’

‘Damn you, Balten,’ Samuel said, but the neat magician only laughed, mocking him.

‘I look forward to the day when you throw down those archaic robes, Samuel. They are a symbol of a decrepit system,the last vestiges of a failed vision. I hope I am there to see it and I hope you remember to tell me that I was right.’

‘I wouldn’t hold my breath.’

Balten only laughed. ‘And you say I am cold-hearted!’

‘Come. Tell me one honest thing if you can. Why do you serve this master of yours,the one called Cang?’

‘I’ve already told you, Samuel. If we don’t take steps to save the land, who will?’

‘Then what of Canyon and the Koian god? I know they were brought here on some whim of the Circle. Why are they needed?’

‘I’m sorry, Samuel. While Canyon seems the sort that could easily be drawnbythe lures of the Circle, I have no idea what he is up to. Again, if it does not involve me, Cang will not tell me anything. There are others above me who know much more than Ido. That is the way it is and,most of the time, it is the best way.’

Samuel could only shake his head and wonder at thementalityof the man beside him.

A few hours later, they had traversed higher into the mountains and were following a shallow,pebbled stream along a gentle rise. Here the gentle hills ended and the cliffs and crags began in earnest. Their path ended at a mossy rock face, from which the stream gently spilled as a tumbling,white spray.

‘We walk from here,’ Daneel announced and dropped lightly from his groaning saddle.

‘What about the supplies?’ Sir Ferse asked, looking to the ponies.

‘We leave them. The guides will take them-as gifts.’

‘But they didn’t do anything!’ Sir Ferse protested.

‘They accompanied us and they will continue in another direction toward their homes,’ Daneel replied. ‘It’s safest not to tell even the good Captain Orrell the way we are going and secrecy is expensive in these dangerous days.’ He looked at Samuel with a wink. ‘That’s how I’ve survived for so long.’

‘This is a sham! What will we eat?’ Ambassador Canyon said, annoyed. ‘You’re giving away our supplies. This is madness!’

‘Don’t you worry, my good people. Take these,’ he said, and pulled some packs fromahiding place behind a pile of rounded boulders. ‘We can take our clothes, water and as much food as we can carry. Don’t worry. I will see you through.’

The party gave in, for they had little choice but to obey him, and they each begrudgingly took a coarse pack and filled it from the backs of the pack animals. Afterward, their four guides turned and left,with cries of delight at their new ponies, loaded with gifts.

Everyone stood by the waterfall with nothing but their clothes and what they could carry, which varied as per the individual. The god-woman was given nothing to carry, while Ambassador Canyon and Lady Wind had minimum loads on their backs. In contrast, the fighter Horse was loaded with such a mountain ofitems thathe looked set to topple over. The magicians had what Samuel deemed sensibly-sized loads, but Sir Ferse seemed to be in hopeless competition with Horse and was already struggling under the weight.

‘This way,’ Daneel directed, looking at them all with amusement before beginning up the steep embankment beside the cliff face. ‘Try not to fall.’

They continued like that, ever upwards and along steep inclines, sometimes scrambling on their hands and knees, sometimes pulling each other up and over rocks and jagged edges. Sir Ferse had abandoned almost half of his pack along the way, periodically stopping with exhaustion and summarily sacrificing one item after another, until his pack looked similar to those of the magicians. Horse, however, continued on as if he were made of stone, never complaining or uttering a word and he picked up each item thrown from Sir Ferse’s load and added it quietly to his own.

There were still many trees here, overhanging their mountain path, and they were ever beside a gully or a ravine of one description or another. Not far above them, the mountainfacewas sheer stone. Above even that, blue ice and snow hung over them, waiting ominously.

The air was bitterly cold and the wind was blowing down hard from the icy mountaintops when Daneel finally announced that they would rest, and they made for a tiny hut amongst the trees, just as the light was fading.