“I’m not accustomed to making such promises,” she said. “But your humbleness is refreshing, after the self-conceit of my usual advisers. I will take care, that I do promise you. Now, how can I thank you?”
“No thanks are necessary, Lady,” he said, inexpressibly relieved, almost euphoric. “My dream interpretations, like my healings, are free.”
“Not to me, Gabriel. Give me your hand.”
A few seconds he hesitated, then held it out. She removed a ring from her middle finger, and put it on him. The ring was small, and she tried it on him twice before it slid onto his little finger. He examined the ring and noticed that it was a snake forming the first letter of her name.
“Only ten people in the Empire have a ring like that, Gabriel,” she said. “It’s my pledge-ring. You may use it once in your life, when you need my help. When you send me that ring with a request, whatever you ask I will do. That’s my solemn pledge, and I swear it in the name of God. The pledge-promise is greater than all laws and transcends all other commands. But you may ask only one thing, and the pledge-ring will not be returned to you. Use it wisely.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” he said hoarsely. The Empress was silent, and he realized there was nothing more to be said. He stood and bowed low in front of her. “Is there anything else I may do for you, Your Majesty, before I go?” he asked.
“I haven’t dismissed you yet.”
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty,” he stammered, his face scarlet.
“Your impropriety is forgiven. You may leave.”
“Thank you, Lady.” He bowed low again, not daring to meet her eyes, and began to back away. Panicking, he did not know if it was proper to turn his back on her as he walked out; so he walked backward several paces, then bowed again, and turned and went away. Outside the guarded doors of her suite Ferron was waiting for him, his face anxious.
“Is everything all right?” Ferron whispered, and Gabriel nodded. A slave met them and showed them out through the lamp-lit rooms and inner gardens to the courtyard. On their way out they passed a very tall, middle-aged man in long emerald robes richly embroidered in cerise with stars and mystical symbols. He was extremely handsome, with a cultured face and elegant bearing. He was so impressive that Gabriel stopped, and he and the man regarded each other for a few moments. Then the man bowed low.
“You must be Gabriel, Salverion’s disciple,” the man said in silky tones. He smiled, and his black eyes glittered. His skin was olive colored and flawless, his black beard carefully oiled into tiny ringlets. “Greetings. I am Jaganath, Spiritualist and High Oracle to Her Majesty.”
Gabriel too bowed. “Greetings, Lord Jaganath. It’s an honor to meet you. I’ve heard of the great skills you have in prophecy and divination.”
“Though not great enough for Her Majesty at the moment, it seems,” said the Oracle softly, his smile fixed and too charming. “You’ll put me out of business, Gabriel.”
“I don’t think so, lord. My skills this evening were guesswork and good luck.”
“We shall see,” said Jaganath, and glided past.
“Well?” Ferron shouted, when they were on their horses and cantering through the city streets. “What happened? And what was Jaganath talking about, saying you’d put him out of business?”
“She wanted me to interpret a dream,” Gabriel said, laughing with the relief that rushed over him. “Oh, God! I feel as if I’ve been let out of prison!”
“What do you mean, you interpreted a dream for her? You’re not a dream healer yet.”
“I’ll explain it all later. While we’re in the city, can we visit my home? I’d love to see everyone again.”
“You don’t need my permission, Gabriel. I’m only your keeper.”
But Salverion’s face rose in Gabriel’s mind, and he remembered the Master’s anxiety. He sighed and urged Rebellion on toward the highway to the Citadel. The horse was in a rare mood for a gallop, so Gabriel and Ferron raced, leaving clouds of moonlit dust behind them on the road.
At the Citadel, though it was well past midnight, Gabriel knocked on Salverion’s door. Immediately it was opened, and Salverion stood there fully dressed, and looking extremely anxious.
“She only wanted me to interpret a dream, Master,” said Gabriel, smiling, holding out his right hand. “She gave me a pledge-ring, see?”
Salverion was stunned. “You interpreted a dream for her?”
“I told her what I thought it meant. She and I talked about dreams before. I happened to mention that I know what mine mean. She thought I could help her find the meaning of hers. Which I did, I think.”
“Is she going to act on what you’ve told her?”
“I gather so, from what she said. But I did ask her to discuss my interpretation with you or Sheel Chandra first. I warned her that I might be wrong, that interpretation is only a knack I have, to understand my own dreams.”
“It’s not a knack, it’s a gift. But you were wise to ask her to consult one of us. Your interpretation, if the Empress acts on it, could affect our Empire.”
“I know, Master. That’s why I warned her.”
“The High Oracle, Jaganath, won’t like this. He’ll look on you as a threat, when he finds out.”
“He already knows. I met him as we were leaving. He was polite enough, like a python before it strikes.”
“You understand him, then. He’s a dangerous enemy to make, Gabriel. He’s her chief adviser, which makes him one of the most influential men in the Empire. His powers are formidable, and he uses them to manipulate people and events, and to further his own ambitions. Beware of him.”
“I’m a healer-priest, just beginning,” said Gabriel lightly. “I’m hardly likely to be a threat to the Empress’s High Oracle.”
Salverion smiled, but his eyes, as he watched his disciple go, were deeply troubled.
“I hope you don’t spend all your spare time studying, Gabriel,” said Salverion one evening as they were riding back to the Citadel. They rode slowly, for it had been raining heavily that day, and the road was slippery with mud and yellow leaves. “I worry that you work too hard.”
“I don’t,” Gabriel assured him. “Ferron sees to that. He drags me off to all the plays and poetry readings, and all the musical events, as well as the art and science exhibitions. I’ve never been so inspired in all my life.”
“I heard a musical event last night,” said Salverion, straight-faced. “It went on until dawn, was very noisy, and most of the singing was off-key and not at all inspiring.”
A slow blush spread upward over Gabriel’s face. “We celebrated Ferron’s birthday, Master,” he said. “Some friends came for dinner. I’m sorry we disturbed you.”
“You didn’t. I’ve learned to sleep with my fingers in my ears. I forgot it was Ferron’s birthday. I usually give him something. Talking of gifts . . . that’s a rather splendid sapphire you have fixed to your cloak. From the Empress, for another dream wisely interpreted?”
“For another dream interpreted, anyway, Master. Whether I was right or not is yet to be seen.” He hesitated, frowning. “I hope she checks my interpretations with her advisers before she acts on them. I always ask her to test what I say and to have it confirmed by you or Sheel Chandra. It worries me that she never does. I wish she wouldn’t depend on me in this way.”
“You don’t have a choice, since she demands your help in these matters. Obviously she trusts your opinion. And I must say I’d rather trust your interpretation of royal dreams than Jaganath’s. He’d tell any tale to further his own ambitions. Have you seen him again?”
“Not to talk to. But the last time I saw the Empress, Jaganath was in the room. He was sitting in a far corner, just watching and listening. He never spoke and left before I did.”
They came to a rise in the road and stopped. Before them lay the Shinali lands, wreathed in mist. It was just on dusk, and in the orange skies a few stars were already out. Across the quiet evening came the bleating of sheep. Far o
ut on the plain, from a shadowy place by the river, rose a thin column of pale smoke.
“Do you know much about the Shinali people?” asked Salverion.
“No, Master.”
“I couldn’t help noticing, that first morning when you had your ritual wash in the holy pool, that you were wearing a Shinali amulet.”
Gabriel made no comment, but all his being grew tense. Salverion, watching him, saw that he struggled with painful emotions. “Do you want to tell me about it, my son?” he asked, gently.
Gabriel shook his head. Salverion waited, and after a time Gabriel said, his voice broken and low, “It was the great wrong of my life.”
He said no more, but his eyes, fixed on the Shinali lands, were full of anguish.
“I too have done great wrongs,” said Salverion. “I’ve done things I regretted and left undone things I should have done. Both have caused unbearable guilt. But I’ve discovered, over the years, that sometimes we are given another chance, a way to right the wrong. Sometimes it’s this atonement that shapes our destiny, redeems us, makes us the people we were born to become.”
Still Gabriel was silent, and Salverion followed his gaze to the Shinali plain. “You’re not the first healer-priest to have a bond with the Shinali,” he went on, still with gentleness. “Amael, our Master of Herbal Medicines, visited them once to exchange knowledge with their healer. They’re a gentle and spiritual people, the Shinali. They’re sheep farmers and hunters, though they were formidable warriors when they were called to be. They fought hard to keep that plain, and it remains the only part of their vast homeland that we didn’t take. The treaty guaranteed them the plain forever, but already the Navoran authorities want part of it. It’s flat, fertile, and—according to the authorities—mostly unused. I hear talk in some of the houses I visit, and it worries me. There will be conflict again. Destiny hasn’t yet finished with the Shinali; there’s a chapter in their history yet unwritten. And in ours.”
“What do you mean, Master?”
“There’s a prophecy known only to those at the Citadel. Many years ago it was seen in a vision by three of the Citadel Masters, all separately, but at the same hour. The Shinali will rise again, be reborn as a great nation. They’ll reclaim their lands, wipe out much of Navora as we know it. But the best of our civilization will remain, and for us too there will be a rebirth, a new beginning. We’ll join with the Shinali, become a unified people, living side by side in harmony, with a simpler, purer life. That age will be called the Time of the Eagle.”
“What do you mean, a ‘purer life’?” asked Gabriel. “Surely we have a perfect life now, with the Empire as it is! How can it all be torn apart?”
“I wish it were all perfect, my son. But there’s a great deal of corruption, and the Empire has committed huge wrongs against the Shinali, and other peoples, in its rise to power. The cleansing will be for our good. The prophecy is of hope and harmony, of things as they were always meant to be. I believe that the Citadel is one great part of our Empire that will remain, but it will be open to all people of all nations, men and women together. Maybe Shinali will study there too, enriching our wisdom and arts.
“And there’s another part to the prophecy that I find intriguing. The catalyst to the changes, for us and for the Shinali, will be a Navoran. One man who will bring about the rise of the Shinali nation, and the undoing and eventual rebirth of ours.”
“He’ll be a traitor, this man?”
“No—though he may be accused of that. He’ll be a deliverer, Gabriel, the beginning of a great and necessary reformation.”
Salverion turned his horse back to the road, and they went on. Gabriel’s mood lifted, and he talked about Amael, and his work with herbs. He spoke, too, of Sheel Chandra, and how he longed to work with him in the art of healing with the powers of the mind.
“That will happen sooner than you think,” said Salverion, smiling. “I’ve already spoken with him about you. You begin work together tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? But I thought I couldn’t work with him until my third or fourth year!”
“I said you would not begin work with him until you were ready. Anyone who can interpret dreams for the Empress is ready to study with Sheel Chandra. I don’t think you realize this, Gabriel, but you have the Vision. My understanding of this is limited; Sheel Chandra is the one you need to learn from now.”
Gabriel looked astounded. “I didn’t think it was the Vision, Master,” he murmured. “I thought it was just ordinary intuition.”
“So it is, but developed to an extraordinary degree.”
“I’ll miss working with you, Master.”
“And I shall miss you. But it’s only for a few months, then we’ll work together again. I’ll need you in the Infirmary later in the winter, when it’s full of people with winter ailments. But we haven’t been so busy lately, and now is a good time for you to do something different.”
“What will you do, Master?”
“I’ll operate in peace for a change, without your interminable questions, and I’ll do a few things I don’t normally have time for. Tomorrow I’ll visit the prison.”
“I didn’t realize you went there.”
“I’ve never mentioned it, because the visits are not compulsory for you.”
“Why do you go, Master? Why not some of the physicians from the city?”
“Many do, though the work is voluntary because prisoners have no rights, not even to medical care. I go because seeing the prisoners keeps true my perspective on human life.”
“You go to the prison alone?”
“A prison guard is always with me.”
“I mean, don’t you want any help? I’ll go with you.”
“Thank you. But I’ve already made arrangements for Sheel Chandra to see you tomorrow. Besides, this visit won’t be busy; the prison is half empty now. We have a new High Judge in the Navoran Court. A man called Cosimo. He’s reexamining the evidence from some of the old trials, and many prisoners have been released.”
“They were wrongly imprisoned?”
“Yes. That’s just one part of that corruption I mentioned. Over the past few years, justice hasn’t always served the people; it’s served the powerful few in high places. Whether a person was judged guilty or innocent often depended not so much on evidence as on whether he wore silk or rags.”
“And everyone just accepted it?” cried Gabriel, appalled.
“Not everyone. There are a few who had the courage to stand up and challenge the system. They died of obscure poisons, or met with fatal accidents, or ended up in prison on trumped-up charges. One way or another they’ve been silenced.”
“This new judge must be taking a few risks.”
“Oh, he is. But he’s not the sort to be easily intimidated.”
“You know him?”
“I’ve met him several times. He’s become a friend, actually. He has a medical condition he’s asked me about. It’s because of this condition that the majority of people thought he would never be chosen as judge, though he’s a man of integrity and has a remarkable knowledge of the Navoran laws. The Empress had three men to choose from. The other two had admirable qualities, and everyone expected her to appoint one of them. But, against all advice, she chose this man, and he’s proving to be the finest High Judge we’ve seen in a long time. We have justice in the Navora court again. What are you smiling at, Gabriel?”
“I’m pleased that Her Majesty made the right choice,” said Gabriel.
“So am I, though she defied Jaganath over it.”
“Does that matter?” asked Gabriel. “He’s only her adviser.”
“He’s a great deal more than that. He has tremendous power, can control dreams and create illusions. I suspect he even uses demons to manipulate people. He has a strong hold over the Empress and, through her, influences much that happens in the Empire. I tell you this in strictest confidence. But it may help you to understand Petra, and why she bends so often to his will. In her own
soul she’s a wise woman, with a strong sense of justice and a deep love for the old values Navora was built on. Free of Jaganath, she would rule very differently and restore those values—which she is beginning to do, with the appointment of the new judge. I don’t know who or what gave her the strength to stand against Jaganath, but I’m glad it’s happened at last.”
“This condition the new judge has, Master . . . can you tell me what it is?”
“Yes. He’s blind.”
“Can you cure his blindness?” asked Gabriel.
“I can, but whether I will or not depends on him,” said Salverion. “I have the feeling that he would rather remain the way he is.”
“Why would he want that?”
Salverion smiled and asked, “Isn’t justice meant to be blind?”
8
TEMPTATION
Dearest Gabriel, Myron wrote, Greetings from my new home! Well, it’s not truly my new home, but I’m living here for a while, so I can continue my sword practice at the Navora gymnasium. I’m living with Eva’s family. I can tell what you’re thinking, brother, and you can wipe the grin off your face. There’s no creeping about between the rooms after dark, believe me. Her father’s very religious and had wanted Eva to be a priestess at the temple. He’s given up the priestess idea, thank God, but he’s clinging to the notions of innocence and celibacy. I have a challenging time even stealing a kiss from her. However, I live in hope. And I scheme a lot.
No doubt Mother’s already told you about her new home in the hills. You’d love it; the house is built of wood and smells like a forest. Mother’s planted winter vegetables and plans to farm sheep for their wool. She’s very happy and spends quite a lot of time with the surveyor who marked out the land. It was bought from the Shinali and is on the edge of their plain. The Navoran authorities bought enough land for ten farms, though they wanted more. The farms will all grow produce for the Navoran markets. There’s a flour mill planned, and a proper road being made between the farms and the city.