“She’s bringing him,” he said shortly. “But it’s ill-advised, whatever you have in mind. I’ll have no part in it.”
“Keep quiet.” It was the first time anyone had ever given Dathka that order. He slouched back in deepest shadow when figures started climbing through the trapdoor—three figures, the first of them being Oyre. After her came Nahkri, mug of drink in hand, then Laintal Ay, who had decided to stay close to Oyre. He looked angry, and his expression did not soften when he looked at Aoz Roon. The latter scowled back.
“You stay downstairs, Laintal Ay. You need not be involved in this,” said Aoz Roon harshly.
“Oyre’s here,” replied Laintal Ay, as if that was sufficient, not budging.
“He’s looking after me, Father,” said Oyre. Aoz Roon brushed her aside and confronted Nahkri, saying, “Now, you and I have always had a quarrel, Nahkri. Prepare to fight it out with me directly, man to man.”
“Cet off my roof,” ordered Nahkri. “I will not have you here. Below’s where you belong.”
“Prepare to fight.”
“You were ever insolent, Aoz Roon, and you dare to speak up again after your failure in the hunt. You’ve drunk too much pig’s counsel.” Nahkri’s voice was thick from wine and rathel.
“I dare and I dare and I do,” cried Aoz Roon, and he flung himself at Nahkri.
Nahkri threw the mug in his face. Both Oyre and Laintal Ay took Aoz Roon by the arms, but he shook himself free, and hit Nahkri across the face.
Nahkri fell, rolled over, and brought a dagger from his belt. The only light to be had was a glow coming up from a fat wick burning on the floor below. It glinted on the blade. The green folds in the sky lent nothing more than a tincture to human affairs. Aoz Roon kicked at the knife, missed, and fell heavily on Nahkri, winding him. Groaning, Nahkri began to vomit, making Aoz Roon roll away from him. Both men picked themselves up, panting.
“Give it up, both of you!” cried Oyre, clinging to her father again.
“What’s the quarrel?” Laintal Ay asked. “You provoked him over nothing, Aoz Roon. The right’s on his side, fool though he is.”
“You keep quiet if you want my daughter,” roared Aoz Roon, and charged. Nahkri, still gasping for breath, had no defence. He had lost the dagger. Under a rain of blows, he was carried to the edge of the parapet. Oyre screamed. He tottered there for a moment, then his knees buckled. Then he was gone.
They all heard him strike the ground at the foot of the tower. They stood frozen, guiltily regarding one another. Drunken singing came up to them from inside the building.
“When I were all befuddock
A-going to Embruddock,
I saw a pig a-doing a jig,
And fell down on me buddock …”
Aoz Roon hung over the edge of the parapet. “That’s done for you, I imagine, Lord Nahkri,” he said in a sober voice. He clutched his ribs and panted. He turned to survey them, marking each with his wild eye.
Laintal Ay and Oyre clung silently together. Oyre sobbed.
Dathka came forward and said to them in a hollow voice, “You’ll keep silent about this, Laintal Ay, and you, Oyre, if you care for your lives—you’ve seen how easily life’s lost. I shall give out that I witnessed Nahkri and Klils arguing. They fought, and went over the edge together. We could not stop them. Remember my words, see the scene. Keep silent. Aoz Roon will be Lord of Embruddock and Oldorando.”
“I will, and I’ll rule better than those fools did,” said Aoz Roon, staggering.
“You see you do,” said Dathka quietly, “for we three here know the truth about this double murder. Remember we had no part in it: this was your doing, all of it. Treat us accordingly.”
The years in Oldorando under the lordship of Aoz Roon were to pass much as they had under previous leaders; life has a quality rulers cannot touch. Only the weather became more freakish. But that like many other things, was beyond the control of any lord.
The temperature gradients in the stratosphere altered, the troposphere warmed, ground temperatures began to climb. Lashing rains fell for weeks at a time. Snow disappeared from lowlands in tropical zones. Glaciers withdrew to higher ground. The earth turned green. Tall plants sprang up. Birds and animals never seen before came bounding over or past the stockades of the ancient hamlet. All patterns of life were reforming themselves. Nothing was as it had been.