Roger Taylor - Whistler

As they were all milling about the entrance hall, Cassraw formed a natural focal point for the activity. Watching him from some way away, Vredech found himself noting that while everyone took Cassraw’s hand and wished him well, one or two spoke to him at length, heads inclined forward, as though they were lowering their voices, despite the din all about them. Like plotters, the thought occurred to him. A twinge of guilt came in its wake. Where could such a ridiculous idea have come from?

He shrugged it off. He was tired after a bad night, that was all. Cassraw was well and with them again; that was all that mattered, surely?

Another unwelcome thought came to him. Could it be that he was jealous of his old friend, his star now apparently ascendant again? Although they had entered the church together, Cassraw had risen further and faster than Vredech had. But then, he had not wanted what Cassraw had wanted. He had wanted only what he had subsequently managed to achieve. There had been no competition between them. Still, one never knew. He smiled to himself. All the time we find new measures of ourselves, he thought. And, like the rest, he gravitated towards Cassraw, shook his hand and wished him well.

Yet even as he did so, the voices returned.

Not right.

Not right.

Privv’s trap clattered down the winding road that led from the Witness House.

‘All right. Truce,’ he said, after a long silence. ‘I’m sorry I did what I did, but you were completely out of control. I’d have been spitting and clawing on the floor if I hadn’t stopped you somehow.’ He could not avoid some self-pity. ‘And it took it out of me, I can tell you. I’m still feeling shaky.’

He could not match Leck’s sense of injury, however. ‘Oh, you don’t have to tell me. I know how it is with you humans only too well,’ she said, her tone massively injured. ‘Anything goes wrong – kick the cat. Besides, what’s wrong with spitting and clawing? They’re infinitely preferable to some of the things you get up to. Especially with…’

Images began to form in Privv’s mind. ‘Yes, very well,’ he said hastily. ‘I’ve said I’m sorry. Let’s leave it. Tell me what it was all about, anyway, and what were you doing crawling all over Cassraw?’

‘My job,’ Leck replied tartly.

The answer caught Privv off-balance. His elation at succeeding in entering the Witness House, together with speaking to Cassraw under such circumstances, not to mention Leck’s bizarre outburst which these successes had momentarily eclipsed, had so preoccupied him that he had almost forgotten why he had gone up there in the first place. Leck’s terse reminder deflated him somewhat.

‘Ah yes,’ he said weakly, adding, ‘and well you did too, finding Cassraw and all. Pity there’s no worthwhile story though.’

‘I wouldn’t say that,’ Leck retorted.

‘What? “Chapter Member goes for a walk and falls over”,’ Privv sneered. ‘It’d have to be a quiet day indeed for that to rouse anyone’s interest. I think I’ll liven up that business with the market officials. It’s beginning to look really promising. I wouldn’t be surprised if there isn’t a Heinder lurking in the background there somewhere.’ He began to speculate. ‘We haven’t had a decent PlasHein scandal in…’

‘Days,’ Leck said scornfully. ‘And you made that one up as well. Let someone else do the next one or you’ll find yourself on the Keepers’ special list.’

Privv shrugged dismissively. ‘Sheeters’ privilege,’ he parroted. ‘Can’t touch me for reasonable speculation. Besides, no one denied it.’

Leck did not argue. ‘Suit yourself,’ she replied, with considerable indifference. ‘But don’t blame me if you get the dawn knock.’ She yawned and scratched.

Privv gave her a sulky look, and they drove on in silence for a little while. As they passed through the ornate gates that marked the end of the church’s official territory, they nearly collided with a carriage travelling along the public road. It was, as usual, Privv’s fault, though the details of his error were by no means fully clarified in the exchange of abuse that followed. Nevertheless, it brushed away the uneasy atmosphere between the two.

‘What was all that business about up there?’ Privv asked as he finally regained control of the pony. ‘It wasn’t some dog, I could tell that.’

Immediately, a wave of confused emotions swept through him. He glanced down at the cat to see if there was any outward manifestation of this, but she was lying motionless, apparently asleep. Her voice, though, was wide awake and sharp. ‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘It was something to do with Cassraw. There’s something odd about him. Very odd. Something I’ve never felt in any human before.’

‘What do you mean?’ Privv asked.

‘I just said I didn’t know, didn’t I?’ came the irritable response. ‘Why don’t you listen?’

‘How would you like to walk home, cat?’

‘It’d probably be safer than riding with you. Do you want to hear about Cassraw or not?’

‘Sorry, go on,’ Privv replied gracelessly.

Suddenly, Leck was earnest. ‘This is important, Privv,’ she said. ‘There’s something really strange about Cassraw.’ Then, rather embarrassed, ‘I even tried to reach him.’

Privv looked down in surprise. ‘And?’ he asked after a moment.

‘Nothing, of course,’ Leck replied, after a short pause. ‘But…’ She hesitated. ‘It was almost as if he were keeping me out. It was very peculiar.’

Privv felt let down. ‘The man’s a cleric, for pity’s sake,’ he said. ‘They’re all a bit peculiar. We should know. They’ve given us some rare stories at times – better than any we could make up.’ He laughed.

Leck’s response was caustic. ‘Those were just ordinary humans,’ she said, ‘doing what you all do. Nothing strange about them at all, just more guilt and hypocrisy. Cassraw’s different.’ She hesitated again, then sat up suddenly. ‘He’s not human,’ she blurted out, almost as if against her will. Her unexpected movement coupled with the force behind her words made Privv jump, but before he could say anything his mind was filled with wild, animal images.

‘Stop it. You’ll have us over,’ he said, nudging the cat with his foot.

Leck hissed at him viciously. ‘And you stop that,’ she snarled, raising a paw, its claws extended. ‘I’m trying to think. That… man… frightened me witless when I first saw him.’

‘Why?’ Privv asked.

‘I’ve told you, I don’t know,’ Leck snapped back. Again, strange images surged into Privv’s mind. This time he did not react.

‘Why were you all over him then?’ he asked quietly when Leck seemed to be more settled.

‘Because he’s… powerful,’ Leck replied after a long silence. Her voice was thoughtful. ‘We must watch Cassraw, Privv. Be his allies. Things are going to happen all about him. Spectacular things. Dangerous things.’

Vredech threw his cloak on to a chair and slumped into another one. He put his hands to his head. He had hoped that the leisurely ride down from the Witness House and through the town would have settled and relaxed him, but it had not. If anything, he felt more tense and disturbed now than before Cassraw’s seemingly miraculous recovery. He took a deep breath and laid his hand on a copy of the Santyth that was resting on a small table by the chair. It was an old, battered copy and its position on the table was both permanent and one of honour, as it had originally belonged to his father. By an irony which Vredech always appreciated, his father had been that rarity in Madren society, an unbeliever. ‘Some good tales in there, lad. And a deal of wisdom – no denying. And some fine writing. But the Great Creator of all things? Ishryth?’ He would shake his head. ‘No. Men’s work, this. Only men would create a creator in their own image. I doubt they meant any harm by it, but it’s men’s work all the same. Men railing against the dark. As ignorant as the rest of us.’