Champions Of The Gods

Chapter Twenty-Three

An hour later three heavily escorted sedan chairs delivered Tyan, Blade, and Katerina to the House of the Consecrated in the heart of the inner city. By that time, the rumor of the Champion's coming was running about the whole city. So were thousands of men and women, shouting, screaming, weeping in hysterical joy and relief and religious frenzy, waving torches and swords, letting off guns, broaching wine barrels, and generally making as much noise as the Raufi could have done in sacking the city.

Blade's head was throbbing and Katerina looked half-dead again. Tyan looked as tough and unruffled as ever. Blade had the impression that the First Consecrated would stay calm if the earth was threatening to open up and swallow him or the sky was about to fall down on his head.

Tyan did not relax until the three of them were locked in the innermost of his private chambers in the House of the Consecrated. The furnishings were austere, almost monkish. Tyan was apparently a man who took his vows of asceticism seriously.

«It gives little comfort to the body,» the man said, as he noticed Blade looking around. «But it is altogether proof against prying ears, and that gives much comfort to the spirit now. All the servants who enter here are deaf-mutes, and no others enter unless I know them to be absolutely trustworthy.»

«I do not suppose you include Jormin on the list of the trustworthy,» said Blade.

Again Tyan smiled thinly. His face did not seem designed for broad smiles, grins, or laughter. «By custom it is the right of the Second Consecrated to enter the private chambers of the First. It is also the right of the First to ignore custom when there is good reason for it. Does that answer your question?

«It does.»

«Good. Now-do you wish a drink?» Blade nodded. «Good. Anything that may be found in Kano can be prepared. I shall summon a servant.»

Tyan drank plain water, while Blade and Katerina took a light chilled white wine. As they drank, Blade had a chance to look more closely at the First Consecrated. The man was older than he'd suspected, closer to sixty than fifty. Now that he was no longer on public display, he also looked tired. Those deep eyes were red with fatigue, and there were nets of wrinkles in their corners and on the high forehead and scalp.

When all three had emptied their cups, Tyan smiled a third time. «I will not waste time wondering how you escaped from the very jaws of the Mouth of the Gods. You did it. That is sufficient for the moment. It is even more useful that your new woman disguised you so carefully that no one but myself appears to have recognized you. That was a remarkable feat in a very short time, incidentally. My compliments to you, my lady.» He raised his cup in salute to Katerina. She managed a faint smile.

«I shall be interested in hearing more of how you did these things, after the Raufi are no longer camped outside the walls. For the moment, though, you are the Champion of the Gods and we will all be much too busy.»

«I rather imagine so,» said Blade. «What precisely am I supposed to do?»

Tyan set his cup down and straightened up. «First, keep your mouth shut. I do not fear the people. By morning they will be so ready to believe in the Champion of the Gods that they will go on believing and never doubt, no matter what you say. But there are people like Jormin and his supporters among the Consecrated. There are also the Jade Masters. They could have reasons for doubting you, so do and say nothing to strengthen such doubts.»

«I shall be careful,» said Blade. He remembered what Arllona had told him, about the Jade Masters' possible willingness to betray Kano in return for their own safety. Should he mention that now? No, it wasn't the right time. Besides, the coming of the «Champion of the Gods» might keep the Jade Masters loyal, or at least quiet. He would keep his eyes and ears open, but for the moment he would keep his mouth shut about the Jade Masters.

«Second,» went on Tyan, «show yourself to the Consecrated and the people, so that everyone may know that you have truly come. That will start tomorrow morning, and I am afraid it will go on for a very long time. I do not ask you to enjoy being on display like a clown or a performing bear. I ask, however, that you endure it.»

Blade grinned. «I appreciate your concern, Tyan. It shall be as you say. I wish to live-and I wish Kano to live, also.»

Again the thin smile. «I am happy to hear that you can say that, whether you believe it or not. Say it again tomorrow morning, before the Consecrated, and before every other audience you may find in Kano. There are too many who believe that the gods have judged us and found us unworthy to survive. Such may not turn traitor, but they will hardly fight as well as they must if we are to be saved.»

«I shall.» There was something almost refreshing in Tyan's cool cynicism. It was certainly a contrast to the superstitious fears of the Ganthi that had so nearly killed both him and Katerina.

Tyan rose. «I can think of nothing else at the moment, but feel free to make suggestions. Now, however, it is time to begin preparing for the audience with the Consecrated. It will be at dawn, as custom orders.»

Blade was tempted to suggest what Tyan could do with custom. He badly wanted to go off somewhere and sleep, and Katerina looked about ready to fall flat on her face with sheer exhaustion.

Yet it would never do for the Champion of the Gods or his woman to show any common mortal weaknesses so soon. Blade suppressed a sigh and nodded. «Tell us what to do, and we shall do it.»

The grand presentation of the Champion of the Gods to the Consecrated of Kano took place on schedule. Blade and Katerina stood on a dais in the High Chamber of the House of the Consecrated. Four of the senior Consecrated held a purple canopy trimmed with gold over them. Katerina wore a long white robe and a small gold circlet in her hair. Blade wore a larger circlet set with jewels. Otherwise he was naked except for a jeweled loinguard and a sword. He was bathed and oiled and perfumed, he looked magnificent and inspiring, and he felt thoroughly ridiculous. But his own life and Katerina's, and perhaps the safety of Kano as well, depended on his playing his part, so he knew he would keep a straight face if it killed him!

Fortunately, Tyan kept his presentation short. He didn't have to whip up the Consecrated to a pitch of religious hysteria. They did the job themselves. They howled and shrieked and sobbed in ecstasy. Tyan had to station his three trumpeters around the dais with long staves, or the Consecrated might have scrambled up onto it and mobbed the Champion. It was clear that none of the Consecrated doubted Tyan's story, or Blade's truly being the Champion of the Gods. These people desperately wanted to believe in Blade, and in the kindness of gods who had sent him to Kano at the last moment.

Blade felt much easier in his mind about the whole affair after seeing his reception by the Consecrated. Physically, he still felt ready to drop, and Katerina stumbled and swayed as she walked along beside him. On top of everything else, they'd had to do the whole ceremony on empty stomachs. Fasting was also part of the custom.

Eventually they were left alone, in a room with a large canopied bed and a large table completely covered with silver dishes of food. For a little while Blade wasn't sure what he should do first. Hunger won out. He helped Katerina to a chair, sat down, and passed her the first dish that came to hand. Somehow she managed to find the strength to pick up knife and spoon and begin eating.

Food and wine made both of them feel clearheaded and alert enough to talk. There was no way Blade could avoid admitting to Katerina that he'd been in this Dimension before, so he didn't try. After a while he found himself telling her most of what had happened to him the first time he had been in Kano.

Once again, they were in a clear-cut survival situation. Katerina's knowing what had happened could endanger the security of the Project. On the other hand, her not knowing could endanger both of them, here and now. Speaking frankly was by far the more sensible solution.

Katerina didn't seem to have any trouble following his story. By now she was probably getting more or less used to the incredible happening to her or to Blade. She asked a few questions, but for the most part listened in silence. When Blade had finished, however, she nodded and spoke.

«The Second Consecrated-Jormin-was he the one on the right front of the canopy?»

Blade nodded. «I suppose Tyan made him stand there to teach him humility.»

Katerina laughed, but without amusement. «That is a man who will never learn humility. I do not think it was wise to put him so close to us.»

«Do you think he recognized me?»

«He was not looking at you, Blade. He was looking at me. I did not like the way he was looking.»

«How was that?»

«It is not a way you would recognize, Blade. You are a man. Jormin has the look of a man who has suddenly become obsessed with a woman. A sick look. I–I have seen it before. It will make him a terrible enemy to you, that the woman he wants is yours.»

The KGB was notoriously full of psychopaths. Blade was quite sure that Katerina was telling the truth when she said she'd seen that look before. Was she telling the truth about having seen it in Jormin? She might be. The man was mad enough for practically anything.

Katerina went on. «I think-I think that if I let him speak to me-he might say what is in his mind. If he plans anything against us, I can learn it. If he does not, then that is one less thing we have to think about.»

Yes, thought Blade. You could also tell him who I really am, and get me killed off. Again he balanced risks. Katerina might try to betray him. But would even Jormin believe her? If she was believed, she would probably involve herself in his downfall. The Kanoans, enraged at the betrayal of their hopes, would kill her as well as Blade.

She might also do exactly what she was promising. Why not, in fact? She must know enough about the Project by now to realize that sooner or later they would be returning to England. If they returned together, she could hope that he would save her from immediate execution. That in turn, respite, could give her a chance to escape or get her information out later. If he died here and she somehow survived to return to Home Dimension, she might be killed the minute she appeared in the chair at the complex. She certainly would have no chance to escape or to send out information. J would see to that.

Blade kept turning the question over and over in his mind, and slowly realized what was making it hard for him to decide.

He did not want to believe that Katerina would betray him. He was not quite in danger of falling in love with a KGB agent. He was losing some of his professional detachment where Katerina was concerned. For a long time now they had shared dangers, protected each other, and made love. It was becoming hard to remember that Katerina had been an enemy and could become one again.

She would not become an enemy here in Kano. That was his answer and his decision, for better or for worse.

Blade reached toward the wine jug, to refill his cup and Katerina's. He was interrupted by a soft thud and a gentle snore. He looked to see that Katerina's head had sagged forward onto the table. Her hair was trailing over the remains of a chicken. He sprang up, ready to shout for help, then she snored again. Blade laughed. Katerina was sound asleep, and nothing more.

That was hardly surprising. It was high time they both got some sleep. He bent down, lifted Katerina gently, and carried her off toward the bed.

The sign on the door to his chamber said that Jormin was Meditating. Inside the chamber the Second Consecrated sat on the ceremonial rug, in the correct posture, his eyes closed. Anyone seeing him would have called him a model of devoutness, assuming his inner vision to be fixed upon the gods and their wisdom.

Actually, his inner vision was fixed upon the blond woman who had come to Kano with the man Tyan called Champion of the Gods. He saw her as he wanted her, sprawled naked on the floor of his cell, bruises and welts dark on her pale flesh, doing his bidding, begging and whimpering for the chance to do his bidding.

He would cheerfully have gone into the Mouth of the Gods afterward if he could have made that vision a reality, even once.

Fortunately, there was no need to pay such a price. Others would pay it for him. Others-the people of Kano. If he could deliver the city to Dahrad Bin Saffar and the Raufi, surely-surely they would deliver the woman to him. The woman, and at least some of the power he had always dreamed of wielding.

It would stay a dream now, unless he struck hard and soon. How Tyan had managed this travesty, this «Champion of the Gods» spectacular, Jormin did not know or care. He did know that the First Consecrated had made his position utterly secure by it. Perhaps Tyan could even cast down the Second Consecrated. It was some three hundred years since that had happened, but a First Consecrated who could claim to have the gods in his pocket could do much. Jormin trembled, with fear as well as with desire for the blond woman.

He could not yield up Kano singlehanded, of course. He would need the help of the Jade Masters, and doubtless they would demand a share in the rule of Kano after the Raufi came. They wouldn't demand the woman, however. Anything else they could have, and perhaps in time he could find ways of easing them out of even that.

The Jade Masters would not give him that help unless he asked. Even in the asking there was some risk. Tyan's spies were everywhere, and what Tyan's spies did not see, Mirdon's might catch. Yet the alternative was to abandon all hope of the woman, and to sit quietly until Tyan chose to strike him down.

He would not do that, not when he could so easily avoid it.