The Emperor of Nihon-Ja ra-10 Page 5

  'You leave us here,' the Emperor said. 'It's about a day's ride to Iwanai this way. I doubt that you'll run into any more of Arisaka's men on the trail. Take care when you reach the port, however. Stay out of sight as much as you can until you're aboard your ship.'

  'One of my men will guide you,' Shukin said.

  But Horace shook his head. 'Not one of your Senshi,' he said. 'A servant will be fine. You need all the fighting men you have with you.'

  Shukin nodded, acknowledging the wisdom. 'Good point. Very well, one of the servants can guide you.'

  Horace sat silently as George made his farewells. The Emperor, he noticed, looked quizzically at him while this was happening, perhaps sensing what Horace had in mind. Eventually, George slapped the reins on his horse's neck and turned his head towards the steep, narrow track.

  'Come on, Horace. It's time to go.'

  Horace cleared his throat uncomfortably.

  'That's the thing, George,' he said. 'I'm staying.'

  Toscana 'Evanlyn? Here? What on earth can she possibly want?' Will asked of no one in particular. He could never think of the princess by her real name. He had met her as Evanlyn and shared so many dangers and adventures with her under that name that she would always be Evanlyn in his mind.

  Alyss's immediate reaction was one of suspicion. She's here to barge in between Will and me, she thought peevishly. She knew that Will and the princess had been very close in the past – and remained so – and this made her suspect the worst of Evanlyn. She thought of her by that name as well because it made it easier to dislike her. If she thought of Evanlyn by her real name, Cassandra, she had to acknowledge that she was the Princess Royal of Araluen and afford her the respect due to that rank. As Evanlyn, she was just another girl, trying to get her hooks into Alyss's boyfriend.

  After that first knee-jerk reaction, Alyss recognised that she was being unreasonable. Even Evanlyn wouldn't go to so much trouble simply to interpose herself between Will and herself, she realised. There must be some other, more important, reason behind her sudden arrival. Was Evanlyn here to cancel Araluen's agreement to the treaty conditions, and nullify the hard work that Alyss had put into the negotiations over the past five days? Perhaps Araluan policy had changed towards the treaty between Arrida and Toscana? It would be extremely awkward if that were the case – after all, the treaty had been signed and ratified and she had witnessed it on behalf of the Araluan crown.

  'Perhaps we should invite her in and ask her,' Halt said mildly, in response to Will's question. He had seen the furrows of concentration on Alyss's face and he had a shrewd idea as to the thoughts that were going through her head. But it wouldn't do to leave the Princess Royal cooling her heels in the anteroom while Alyss got over her pique.

  'Of course,' the tall blonde girl said, gathering her thoughts, annoyed with herself for acting in such an unprofessional manner. 'Please show her in, Edmund.'

  The attendant, who had been hovering anxiously, aware that he was keeping the princess waiting, nodded gratefully and withdrew, leaving the door open. A few seconds later, he reappeared, standing aside as their visitor entered.

  'The Lady Evanlyn, to see you,' he announced.

  Halt frowned. The princess only used that name when she travelled unofficially or incognito. Halt knew it reminded her of a time when her life and behaviour weren't constrained by royal protocol and court procedures. He rose now and stepped forward, his hands out to her. As an old friend and adviser, he didn't feel the need to bow to her. After all, if she chose to be incognito, she wouldn't expect any royal treatment.

  She smiled when she saw him and took his hands in hers. 'Hello, Halt,' she said. 'It's good to see you.'

  'You too, my lady,' Halt told her.

  Evanlyn glanced around the room. Her smile faded slightly as Alyss rose to greet her.

  'Welcome, your highness,' Alyss said.

  Evanlyn waved the title aside impatiently. 'Not on this trip, please, Lady Alyss. I'm not travelling in my official capacity. Evanlyn is good enough.' Her gaze moved on and her smile regained its original warmth as she saw Will.

  'Hullo, Will,' she said and he stepped forward to hug her. He knew Alyss wouldn't like it, but he had a genuine affection for Evanlyn and he wasn't going to pretend otherwise. He and Evanlyn had gone through too much together for him not to greet her that way. At the same time, he was wise enough to make the hug a brief one.

  'Welcome to Toscana,' he said.

  But Evanlyn's gaze had swept on. The room wasn't brightly lit and it was only now that she made out the identity of the fourth person present.

  'Seley el'then!' she said, the pleasure evident in her voice. 'How wonderful to see you!' Selethen, noticing her correct pronunciation of his name, made the ritual Arridi greeting, touching his hand to his mouth, brow and mouth again, and bowing slightly.

  'Lady Evanlyn. I am delighted to see you again.' He paused, then added, with a mock frown, 'Unless you have discovered that I owe you money?'

  She shook her head, laughing at his sally. Then, realising that the others were standing by, waiting to hear why she had arrived so unexpectedly, she gestured to the chairs and couches around the central table.

  'Please. Sit down, everyone. I need to talk to you.'

  Selethen hesitated as the others resumed their seats.

  'Perhaps I should leave you?' he suggested, sensing that this might well be a private matter for the Araluans. But Evanlyn considered his suggestion for a second or two, then shook her head.

  'No need for you to go, Selethen. This is nothing secret.' She noticed the coffee pot on the table and added, 'I'd happily kill for a cup of coffee, however. It's been a long trip.'

  'Of course! My apologies!' Alyss leapt to her feet again, irritated that her sense of hospitality had been found wanting. No doubt about it, Evanlyn's sudden appearance had flustered her. She quickly poured Evanlyn a cup and handed it across the table. The princess smiled gratefully, their mutual antipathy forgotten for the moment.

  'Thanks, Alyss,' she said. Her omission of the formal 'Lady Alyss' was sign enough that her gratitude was genuine. Alyss nodded acknowledgement and resumed her seat. Evanlyn took a deep draught of the coffee, then looked appreciatively at the cup.

  'I take it you supplied this coffee, Selethen?'

  He smiled and she drank again, draining most of the remaining beverage. She set the cup down, paused for a second or two to gather her thoughts and plunged in.

  'Long story short,' she said. 'Horace has gone missing.'

  There were exclamations of surprise around the room. Will was the first to voice the thoughts of all of them.

  'Missing?' he said. 'Missing where?'

  'Nihon-Ja,' Evanlyn told them. 'My father sent him on a military mission some time ago. He was to present himself at the Emperor's court – he had letters of introduction from my father – and then spend some time studying Nihon-Jan military techniques and weapons.'

  'What's happened? How did he go missing?' Will asked.

  'To be accurate, I don't know what's happened. Look, let me explain,' she said, hastily cutting off Will's next question. 'Horace was travelling with George -'

  'George Carter? George from the Ward? Our George, you mean?' Will interrupted. As he said 'Our George' he made a circling gesture that included himself and Alyss.

  Halt raised an eyebrow at him as he saw the impatience on Evanlyn's face. 'Perhaps one of those interjections would have been sufficient,' he said, 'since they all relate to the same person.'

  Evanlyn nodded gratefully at him. 'That's right,' she said. 'Your George. He was there to advise Horace on protocol and to act as an interpreter.'

  Halt cocked his head to one side. 'But the common tongue is spoken in Nihon-Ja, surely?'

  Evanlyn shrugged. 'Not as widely as in other countries. The Nihon-Jan have kept themselves a little…isolated…over the centuries. And my father thought it might be a diplomatic touch,' she nodded in Alyss's direction, 'if the Emperor was addres
sed in his own language.'

  Alyss nodded. 'We try to do that wherever possible.'

  'I still don't see what Horace would hope to learn from the Nihon-Jan about weapons and methods,' Will said. 'After all, he's a Swordmaster himself.'

  'The Nihon-Jan warriors – they call them Senshi – use a different technique,' Halt interjected. 'And their swordsmiths have perfected a method of making extremely hard blades. Our Ranger weapon makers learned some of their techniques many years ago.'

  'Is that why your saxe knives are so incredibly hard?' Alyss asked. It was a well-known fact that saxe knives could put a notch into the blades of normal swords.

  'It's a technique where several iron rods are heated and beaten, then folded and twisted together to form a composite whole. Over the years, we've made it a practice to adopt good ideas from anywhere we can find them,' Halt told her.

  'Our swordsmiths in Dimascar developed a similar technique for creating extra-hard blades,' Selethen put in.

  'You're talking about Dimascarene blades, I assume?' Halt said. 'I've heard of them but never seen one.'

  'They're very expensive. Not many people can afford them,' Selethen told him.

  Halt nodded thoughtfully, filing the information away for future reference. Then he turned back to Evanlyn. 'I'm sorry, Evanlyn, we're digressing here. Please go on.'

  'All right. Just to cover any further interruptions…' She looked meaningfully at Will, which he considered to be a little unfair. After all, it had been Halt and Selethen who had prattled on about super-hard sword blades, not him. But his indignation went unnoticed as she continued.

  'I take it you're all familiar with the Silasian Council's fast message system?'

  They all nodded. The Silasian Council was a cartel of traders based in the eastern part of the Constant Sea. They facilitated trade by instituting a central credit system so that funds could be transferred between countries, without the risk of actually sending money overland or by sea. In addition, they had realised some years prior that fast communications could be as beneficial to trade as efficient money transfers. They had set up a network of carrier pigeon services and express riders to take messages almost from one end of the known world to the other. Distances that might take weeks for a ship or a rider to cover could be traversed in a matter of days. Of course, the service was extremely expensive, but in emergencies, many users felt it was worth the cost.

  'We received a message via that service from George several weeks ago,' Evanlyn said. 'It was only brief and he sent it from a port on the Ooghly River in Indus – which is pretty much the eastern limit of the message service. Apparently, there was a rebellion against the Emperor of Nihon-Ja, and Horace got caught up in it. The Emperor's forces are badly outnumbered and he's a fugitive. When last seen, he was heading north into the mountains, to hide out in some legendary fortress. Horace has gone with him.'

  Will sat back and whistled slowly. It would be just like Horace, he thought, to get involved in such an idealistic venture.

  'And what are you planning to do?' he asked, although he thought he knew the answer already. Evanlyn turned a steady gaze on him.

  'I'm going to find Horace,' she said.

  Nihon-Ja Horace's announcement met with a hail of protests from the others. Most vocal of all was George.

  'Horace, you can't stay here! Don't you understand? We have no right to interfere in internal Nihon-Jan politics!'

  Horace frowned at his countryman. 'This is a little more serious than just politics, George,' he told him. 'This is a rebellion against the lawful ruler. You can't pass that off as a matter of politics. It's treason for a start.'

  George made an apologetic gesture towards the two Nihon-Jan leaders standing close by. He realised that his words could be deemed as undiplomatic.

  'My apology, your excellency,' he said hastily. 'I meant no offence.'

  Shigeru nodded. 'None taken, George-san. I understand your point of view. Whether this is a case of politics or treason, it's an internal Nihon-Jan matter.'

  'That's right,' George said and he turned back to Horace. 'It's not as if Araluen has any sort of formal treaty with the Emperor. You and I were simply here as diplomats. We're granted freedom of movement throughout the country but we have to maintain our neutrality. If we get involved, if we take sides, we'll invalidate those credentials,' he cried. 'Don't you understand? We simply can't afford to do that!'

  'As a matter of fact, I do understand,' Horace said. 'But it's a little late to start worrying about what will happen if we take sides. I'm afraid I've already done it.'

  George frowned at him, not understanding. 'I don't -'

  Horace cut him short. 'While you were having your little nap beside the track back there,' he said, 'I killed two of Arisaka's soldiers. I think he might see that as taking sides, don't you?'

  George threw his hands out in a gesture of bewilderment. 'You what? What could have led you to do such an incredibly stupid thing, Horace? Surely you knew better than that! Why? Just tell me why?'

  The Emperor coughed politely before Horace could answer and stepped forward to lay a calming hand on George's forearm.

  'Perhaps it was because they were trying to kill me at the time,' he said.

  George, once again, looked suitably chastened. As an expert on protocol, he wasn't performing so well, he thought. Horace, seeing George momentarily stumped for words, followed up his advantage.

  'I just didn't think, George,' he said, with a hint of a smile flickering at the corner of his mouth. 'I should have checked through our credentials to see what I should do if someone tried to kill the Emperor. But, gosh, I just dashed in and stopped them the best I could.'

  Shukin began to smile as well. But the Emperor's next words quickly dispelled the expression from his face.

  'In fact, Arisaka might well view the act of saving my life as a bigger affront than the killing of his two men,' Shigeru said.

  'His excellency is right,' Shukin agreed, all seriousness now. 'That will establish Or'ss-san as his sworn enemy. Arisaka doesn't like to have his plans thwarted.'

  George looked from one face to another, desperately trying to see a way out of this predicament.

  'But he doesn't have to know about it, surely? We're miles from anywhere, in a remote forest on a mountain! Who's going to tell him?'

  'Maybe,' Horace said, 'the ambushers who escaped will mention it. I know I would, in their place.'

  George, seeing the ground crumbling under his feet, shook his head in disgusted resignation.

  'Oh, great!' he said wearily. 'You let witnesses get away! If you were going to join in, Horace, why didn't you make a complete job of it?'

  Horace frowned at him. 'Are you saying that our diplomatic status would be in better shape if I'd killed twice as many of Arisaka's men?' he asked. The logic of George's position seemed to escape him.

  'No. No. No,' George said, finally accepting the inevitable. 'Well, I suppose you've made our bed. Now we just have to lie on it.'

  A silence fell over the small group. Shukin and the Emperor exchanged awkward glances. Horace looked at them and nodded almost imperceptibly. He sensed what they were thinking.

  'I wonder would you excuse us for a moment, your excellency?' he said.

  Shigeru inclined his head and Horace gestured for George to ride a few metres away from the group gathered round the Emperor. George followed him, looking mystified.

  'What is it now?' he asked as soon as they were out of earshot. 'What else did you do when I was unconscious – because I was unconscious, you know. I had a whacking great arrow stuck in my arm!' He added the last with a little heat. Horace's joking reference to his 'little nap' had struck a raw nerve.

  Horace made a placating gesture. 'I know. I know. I'm sorry I said what I did. After all, you did save my life.'

  George looked a little mollified. There weren't too many people who could claim to have achieved anything like that, he thought. Horace normally didn't need anyone else to save h
is life. He was pretty skilled at doing it for himself. Now he thought about it, George found himself wondering if even his former wardmate, Will Treaty, famous as he might have become, had ever actually saved Horace's life in such a definite manner.

  'Well, yes. All right. But what did you want to talk about?'

  'George,' Horace began, then hesitated. 'There's no tactful way to put this, so I'll just come out and say it. You're not staying.'

  'Well, of course I am!' George exploded. 'If you're staying, I'm staying with you. I'm your friend. Friends don't run off and desert other friends just because there's a bit of danger! All right, I carried on about my arm hurting. But I'm not afraid, Horace. I'm not some kind of coward who'll go slinking off and leave you to face the danger on your own!'

  Horace was nodding as the scribe delivered this impassioned response. George wasn't a coward, he knew. Far from it. But facts were facts and they had to be faced.

  'George,' he said calmly, 'you're seriously injured with that arm. But even if you were in perfect health, you wouldn't be up to the journey we're about to undertake.'

  'Don't worry about me!' George said, with considerable spirit, regardless of the fact that his voice would carry clearly to the Nihon-Jan warriors a few metres away. 'I'll keep up all right. I won't hold you back!' But he saw Horace shaking his head again and, deep down, George knew that the tall young warrior was right.

  'You wouldn't want to hold us up,' Horace said. 'And I know you'd try your best. But you're not cut out for this sort of life, George. For starters, you're not a good enough rider.'

  'I…' George stopped. He knew it was true.

  'You're riding the slowest horse in the group,' Horace pointed out. 'If the rest of us have to come down to his pace, you will be slowing us down. It won't be your fault, George. But if Shigeru is going to escape Arisaka, we're going to have to ride fast and live rough. And if we're waiting for your slow horse all the time, we're putting the Emperor's life at risk. Surely you don't want that?'