Джеффри Ллойд - Liberator Of Jedd

An odd look came over Gath's face. His blue eyes twinkled and his brushy mustache seemed to twitch. He asked, «You have not seen Mitgu, then? Have not met her? She who is known to the Jedds, among the common folk, as the Golden Princess?»

Blade admitted that he had not yet made the acquaintance of the little girl in question. This was not very strange, he added, since events were rushing at such a torrential pace.

Gath bowed and did not wholly succeed in repressing his smile. «You are strange here, Sire, and know little of Jedds. The Golden Princess, our Mitgu, is not such a child as you seem to think. But you must see for yourself. I will arrange it at once. Is there anything else you wish of me now?»

Blade glanced to where Nizra still paced in the shadows. «Only that you summon six good men, whom you trust, and post them about me before I leave this place. And that you pass this on to the other captains — there will be a council of war tonight in the house of Nizra at two hours past sundown. I want all the captains there, including yourself. You will be responsible for the safety of all.»

Gath saluted with his sword. «All shall be done.»

«Then my hand to you again,» said Blade. They shook hands once more and Gath left. Blade and Nizra were alone in the chamber with the corpse of the old woman.

Nizra spoke first. «I feared all this, Blade, but went against the warnings of my mind. I thought to use you and instead I have been used. It will be a lesson to me, if I live to profit by it.»

Blade was silent, watching the Wise One continue his pacing.

«What of it, Blade? Am I under arrest, then? Am I to be killed or kept prisoner?»

«None of those,» Blade said curtly. «So long as you make me no trouble and do not plot against me. I need you, Nizra, as much as I ever did. I need your wisdom and your vast knowledge of this city and the Jedds. Give me freely, without stint or self-interest, of that wisdom and knowledge, and we will get going. Until my work is done and I must go from here. After that I cannot help you and you and the captains must have it out. Until that time, if you do not play me false, I will be your friend. But understand one thing — I am leader. I alone give orders.»

Nizra came into the light of the tapers near the bed. He glanced across the withered corpse at Blade and a faint smile touched his tiny mouth.

«To all this I agree, Blade. Because I believe you when you say that you will go soon. So, as I am no fool— despite having been made to look like one this past hour — I will wait and bide my time. When the time comes I will handle the captains. So much for all that.

«And now — this trek you speak of to the north. To the Shining Gate and the land of the Kropes. It is ill-advised, Blade. Worse, it is an impossible madness. The Kropes have held the Jedds in thrall since time forgotten. To so much as approach the Shining Gate is sure death for all of us.»

«I know nothing of this,» said Blade. He nodded to the dead woman. «But it was her wish, and she was not as senile as you thought, Nizra. But I will listen and then decide. Tell me of the Kropes, Nizra, and of this Shining Gate.»

Nizra made a little bow and for once could not hide the bitterness and hate that boiled in that huge skull. «As you command, avatar.»

Blade smiled calmly. «Yes, Nizra. To all purposes I am the avatar. It was you who named me so, remember?»

«To my sorrow.»

«The Kropes, Nizra! The Shining Gate.»

Nizra told him. Blade listened with dismay clotting like lead in his chest. But he shook it off. It was simply another impossible task and he had, since the forays into Dimension X began, gotten quite accustomed to doing the impossible.

Richard Blade and Gath strode through the narrow streets of Jeddia. Two of Gath's stalwart soldiers were in the van, two behind and a man on each side of them. They made their way around a death cart halted before a large inn. Blade was on his way to his first audience with the Child Princess Mitgu, she whom the folk of Jedd called the Golden Princess.

Blade glanced at the corpseburners carrying out three victims of the plague, a child and two women. He looked at Gath. «You will give orders that no more death carts are needed. All corpses are to be left in the houses, where they will burn with the rest of the city. Find some other employment for the corpseburners — use them as you will.»

«Yes, Sire.»

A burst of crazy laughter came from a house as they passed. Gath doffed his helmet and wiped his face with a cloth. «At first I doubted, Sire, but now I see that you are right. The sooner this accursed city is burned the better.»

They approached a tall wedge-shaped building, of the usual stone and wood, but much finer than even Nizra's house. Here Mitgu lived and here she had summoned Blade to visit her. It had been an order, not a request, and Blade smiled when he heard it. He must not forget that, with the old Empress dead, Mitgu was the new Jeddock. He had begun to look forward to the meeting — never before had he had dealings with an imperious little girl of ten. It would, at least, be a different sort of confrontation.

Gath, on Blade's orders, had posted a strong guard around the home of the little Princess. A junior officer saluted with his sword as they passed and both Blade and Gath returned the salute. They paused at the door and Gath sent the sentry away for a moment.

Blade studied his chief aide. «You are mindful of my orders about Nizra?»

Gath said, «I am, Sire. He is not to be harmed, unless on your explicit orders, and he is never to go unwatched. My spies are busy, Sire, and they are good men. Nizra may do what he will and go where he chooses, but he will always be watched. My men report to me on the hour.»

Blade nodded in approval. «Good. But remember that he is not called the Wise One for nothing — and I daresay his spies are as good as yours. Probably he has more of them. When did you see him last?»

Gath grinned. «I left him in his house, Sire, after I had disbanded his guard of honor and taken their weapons. To tell truth he did not look too unhappy, and there was a great coming and going of men. Spies, no doubt. Would you have me stop this traffic? It would be easy enough to do.»

After a moment of hesitation, Blade said, «No. I want to give him rein, see what he will do. So long as I know what he is doing I can see no great harm. So carry on as before, Gath. Do not impede him in any manner unless he threatens me or the Child Princess. This is understood?»

«It is, Sire.»

«And now,» said Blade, «I must go and meet your little Princess.» He twitched his swordbelt around and straightened his helmet. He had changed his robe for a soldier's tunic over which he wore a highly burnished breastplate. Short trousers of fine cloth and high-laced sandals completed his dress.

Gath was staring. Blade laughed and said, «I am a little nervous, to tell you true. How does one handle a ten-year-old? But I will cope. How do I look, Gath?»

Gath saluted with his sword. «Just as I would have you look, Sire. Like my leader.» He saluted again and stepped back. «I wish 30U fortune with the Child Princess, Sire, but only remember this — words sometimes lie, and among us Jedds a ten-year-old is not exactly a child. Not yet a woman, perhaps, but not a child.»

Blade thought of Ooma and wondered. He had put her age at fourteen or less, and still marveled at her experience and skill in lovemaking. Was Ooma even fourteen? His doubts came back.

But a child, a girl, of ten? Surely she could present no problems. All he had to do was humor her and win her confidence, show her that he was honest and meant her only good. Yet he was faintly uneasy as he went into the house and mounted a stair to an upper chamber where he was awaited.