The merchants rose and sat cross-legged on cushions, raising the cups the slave handed them in a two-handed gesture of respect before sipping appreciatively. Both were middle-aged men with gray in their curled, oiled beards. Enri and Pyhar Lowisson, Casull reminded himself. Brothers. Their father had been a fish farmer, but the sons had made a fortune in trade . . . and in raiding, during the chaos of the wars with the Confeds. They’d served ably in Casull’s own campaigns against islands that had fallen away from the Kingdom while his predecessor was occupied on the mainland, too.
“Know, O King, that we have long traded with Solinga,” Enri said; he was the elder of the two.
Casull nodded. “Dried fish, textiles and spices for wine, grain and jerked meat,” he said. “With sidelines in zinc ore, bar iron and general handicrafts.”
The merchants blinked and bowed their heads in respect. “Go on,” the King said.
“We have dealt, over the years, with one Zeke Gellert of Solinga,” Enri went on. “He died last year, but we exchanged tesserae with him some time ago.”
Casull nodded again, silent. He’d found that was more effective than talking, often enough. Tesserae were tokens—usually ivory—exchanged between guest-friends in the Emerald countries. The token was broken in half; when the other half was presented, the guest-friend was obliged to offer help and shelter to the man who brought it, and the obligation was hereditary. Or so Emeralds generally thought; Islanders were more . . . flexible. Still, it would harm the Lowissons’ reputation in the Emerald lands if they turned away their guest-friend’s heirs.
Enri moistened his lips and sipped delicately at the wine. “Well, O King, Adrian and Esmond Gellert have come to Chalice, claiming hospitality of us . . . and wishing an introduction to the King’s self.”
He hesitated, and the King spoke. “The Adrian and Esmond Gellert who took part in Audsley’s rebellion in the Confed territories, yes,” he said. “They are outlaws in the Confederacy—not the first time exiles from the mainland have sought the Isles.”
Although no other exiles have been preceded by such rumors, he thought. Weapons like the lightning of the gods, thunder and fire that left men torn to shreds . . . There may be something to it, he thought. Still, less than rumor paints, or Audsley would have made himself master in Vanbert.
The conversation wound on, intricate and indirect; the three might all be self-made men, but they’d aquired polish as well as wealth and power on their journey up the slippery pole of rank. The Isles weren’t like the mainland, where a man’s life was fixed at his birth. Here a sailor or a peasant might end his days with a palace and a harem, if he had the luck and the nous; but equally, the pit of failure yawned before his steps all his days, and his rivals’ knives were always sharp and ready.
Casull smiled and nodded. Yes, you wish to share in any favor that may befall the Gellerts, he thought. Yes, equally, you wish to avoid the blame for any failure, if they are nothing but boasters. Yes, these desires conflict—for if you wait too long, you will surely lose. A beautiful dilemma.
At the end, he clapped his hands. “We will grant these Emeralds the favor of an audience,” he said. “Talk is cheap, and stolen goods are never sold at a loss.”
His gaze sought the city that tumbled down the slopes from the palace to its circular harbor. And I need any help I can get, he thought. The Isles were far from united, and when they were the Confeds would still outweigh him by thirty to one. Skill and distance had kept the Islands independent, but . . . what was that old saying? Ah, yes.
Quantity has a quality all its own. He would seize any advantage that came his way with both hands, preparing for the inevitable struggle.
FIVE
Impressive, Adrian thought, pausing in his restless pacing and looking up the slope of the volcano.
The mansion of their father’s guest-friend was down by the docks—the Lowissons liked to keep in touch with the sources of their wealth. Like most buildings in Chalice it was made of stone blocks, like volcanic tufa plastered over and whitewashed or painted, with a flat roof where the inhabitants could sleep during the hot summers . . . or pace while they awaited the word of the King. Other buildings stretched up the steep slope, along roads cobblestoned or paved or deep in mud, narrow and twisting except for the Processional Way that led from the docks to the great blocky temple of Lemare, the Sea Goddess. The buildings lay like the dice of gods themselves, tumbled over the slopes in blocks of brilliant white, emerald green, purple and blue and crimson; they turned blank walls to the streets, centering around a myriad of courtyards large and small. A wall might hide anything; the mansion of a merchant prince, a teeming tenement house, the workshops of artisans. Over some one could see the tips of trees swaying, and within could be beautiful gardens and fountains of carved jade splashing cool water . . . or flapping laundry and shrilling children.