David Gemmell - Echoes of the Great Song

The vagrancy charge could cost her two crystal years, the lack of a permit another five. But the ancient law could invoke the death sentence.

Ro read the evidence sheet carefully and slowly. The woman was a newcomer to the city, and had — apparently — healed a baby sick with fever. A crowd had gathered, calling out for healing of boils, headaches and various other minor disorders. She had laid her hands on them all. Before long the crowd was so large it was blocking the thoroughfare and two Avatar soldiers had pushed their way through and arrested the woman.

'Your name?' asked Questor Ro.

For a moment the woman looked distracted, gazing up towards the fluted ceiling. She was exquisitely beautiful. Ro pushed such thoughts from his mind, and asked the question once more. Her deep blue eyes focused on him. 'I am Sofarita, lord,' she said, her voice husky.

'Your place of birth?'

'The village of Pacepta, lord.'

'Occupation?'

'I have none, lord, for I am recently arrived and not yet in possession of a permit.'

'Is this why you sought to earn coin with magicking tricks?'

She seemed to be struggling with her concentration, as if she had been taking opiates. Perhaps she has, thought Ro. Or perhaps she is merely mentally afflicted. Yet when she spoke her voice was firm again. 'I took no coin, sir. The silver pieces the officers removed were mine. I came to the city three days ago with twenty-six coins, but I have had to take lodgings, for which they charge me a half-silver a day. Added to this I have bought items of clothing. But the remaining money is mine.'

'So you did this magicking for no reward?'

'Yes, lord.'

'But you do maintain it was magicking?'

'I suppose that it was. I have never experienced such powers before coming to the city. Something has happened to me, but I don't know what it could be. But now I can make lanterns light without flame, and heal disease. And I can see things… terrible things.' Her voice tailed away, and the faraway look returned to her eyes.

'What is it that you see?' asked Ro.

'Golden ships, men with weapons of fire coming across the sea. Children buried alive on mountaintops, women, with their hands bound being carried to an altar and… and… murdered.' She began to tremble. 'I went for a walk this morning, to clear my mind. I hoped the noise and the bustle would help me to put aside the images. There was a woman with a sick child. I knew it was about to die, so I went to her and removed its fever.

I don't know how. I just laid my hand upon it, and the heat moved up my arm and into my own head. Then it dispersed. The mother began to cry out that it was a miracle, and others gathered. I committed no crime, lord.'

'On the contrary, Sofarita,' said Questor Ro, 'you committed a great crime. Magicking is punishable by death.

However, the law is an ancient one, and I need to review it before passing sentence. Take her away,' he commanded the guards. 'But keep her close. I will want to question her privately.'

By the end of the day Ro had sentenced six men and one woman to be fully crystal-drawn, and three others to lose five years. Back in his chambers he removed the magisterial robes and ate a light meal. There was no need to study the ancient law concerning magicking. The woman should have been crystal-drawn. But she had mentioned golden ships and men coming across the sea, and this more than intrigued Ro.

He ordered her brought to his chambers. The room was small, furnished with a narrow table and two chairs, and when the guards brought her in Ro became even more aware of her beauty. Her hair was dark and lustrous, her lips full and inviting. And, in the close proximity of the small room, he could smell the cheap lemon-scented soap she had used in bathing that morning. He felt suddenly hot and uncomfortable. Bidding her to take a seat he moved away, putting the desk between them.

'Tell me about yourself,' he said. She glanced up at him.

'You want to know about the golden ships,' she told him. They frighten you.' She hesitated. 'I frighten you.'

'I do not fear you, woman,' he said, sharply.

'Yes, you do. For I remind you of… a day in a great park. Children are playing. You are holding the hand of a beautiful woman, yet you are thinking of… numbers… calculations. She was your wife.'

'Tell me of the golden ships,' he said, his mouth dry.

'Why is this happening to me? I want it to stop.'

'I will help you. But tell me of the ships.'

'They are coming across the sea now. Evil men are coming. One with a face like glass. It is not real glass. He has decorated his eyebrows and his chin to make it appear like crystal. He is an awful man. His thoughts are all of blood and death.'

'Where are the people from?'

'I don't want to do this,' said Sofarita. 'I don't want to see them any more.'

'I need to know,' said Ro. 'It is important. Do they come for war?'

'I cannot see the future, lord. Only what is, and what has been. They are a terrible race. They kill and they maim. They take children and bury them alive to feed…' The faraway look returned.

'Look at me! What do they feed?'

'There is a building, four-sided, narrowing to a point. It glitters in the sunlight.'

'A pyramid, yes. They feed a pyramid?'

'Yes, they kill people at its peak. The blood runs into channels, and then down into the building. And the pyramid feeds… No! Not the pyramid itself, but something inside. Something buried. Something… alive!'

Ro licked his lips. His mouth felt suddenly dry. 'Can you see inside this pyramid?'

'No. But something lives there.'

'And it is fed by blood?'

Sofarita blinked. 'And crystals. People sacrificed in other cities have their blood poured over crystals. These are then carried to the pyramid. There are openings and the crystals are poured into them. They clatter and fall.'

She fell silent.

Ro waited a moment. 'How many ships are coming?' he asked. She did not respond. He asked her again, his voice a little louder. She jerked.

'Would you like to see them?' she asked him, suddenly. 'The ships?'

'What do you mean?'

She rose from her chair and moved around the desk. Then she extended her hand to him. 'I will show you the ships,' she said. Now the scent of her was close. He could smell the fragrance of her hair. Reaching out he took her hand.

And was lost in an explosion of colour that sent him spiralling out of control. Panic engulfed him, but he heard her voice soft and warm inside his mind, calming him. 'Open your eyes, and see the sky.'

Ro did so, and found himself floating among the clouds above a shimmering sea. He could feel no heat or cold, nor see his own body, but her closeness brought with it a warmth that bathed his soul.

'Down there!' she whispered. 'Can you see them?'

Thirty golden ships were sailing across the open sea. They had no sails, yet they cruised swiftly through the waves. Ro found himself diving towards them. All fear was gone now, as he floated above the lead ship. It was vast, twice the size of Serpent Seven, multi-decked and yet still sleek in the water. Up close he could see that the hull was cunningly crafted from timbers that had been covered with beaten gold. The ship was close to 300 feet long, and 40 feet high. Judging by the opaque blue glass windows there were four decks above the waterline.