Khadi's Story 4: Kred'Nos |
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We arrived at the City of Kred'Nos, the Red Jewel on the Lake. There are so many ancient songs about this city! There was a spiral staircase leading up from the Road and out onto a balcony of a tower. This tower would once have been tall, but there were rocks piled up around it and we clambered down. I still could not fly. About us we saw at first nothing but hills, with the glorious and spectacular lake beyond them. We could not see the other shore of the lake, for it was too distant. I had thought that a lake would be the size of Father's Study, not that it would be larger even than all of Kehahn! After gawping at the view like Wolfbirds at a flame I realised that there were no other people nearby. Indeed, there were no buildings. I climbed the tower again, and saw that the city has moved. Perhaps after 1,000 years I should not be surprised, and yet it is but one thirtieth of the Time of Waiting. As I descended and rejoined the boy, I felt a strong Presence, as if I was at the Audience of a mighty King. This became so acute that I knelt, and motioned the boy to do likewise, not daring to speak out loud. In front of me the air seemed almost to blur, and I looked down lest I be seen to stare at a King. I heard a rustling sound not unlike that of a dry corpse in a wind-cage, and was aware that someone was standing in front of me. I felt insignificant, as if all that I had ever done and all that I shall ever do were but a moment's distraction, and I wondered if this were no King but a Mighty God. I felt a mind brush against mine, and all my shields and privacy were for that time laid waste, as if I were a newborn child. I prostrated myself completely then, lying with my chest in the mud and my arms flat by my sides. In front of my eyes, not two body-lengths away, was a hanging skin of some sort, light blue in colour; it moved as if with the breeze, and then stood before me; I caught a glimpse of a foot, and if I never see another I shall have seen all. To look up would have been to die. Perhaps this is how a slave feels at auction, if they feel anything at all. A voice. No, a Voice, but it was for my ears alone. If it had commanded me I could not have disobeyed, but it did not. If it spoke, this is what it said: You are nearly ready; you look but you do not see. Even Kings and Princes need friends, and when you have found a friend you will return. The figure turned and walked away, and I did not follow. Sometimes at the tensest times of our lives the smallest details become everything, as if the situation is too much for us to grasp, so we remember something less. As the figure walked away I noticed that the soles of those shining feet were clean; then for a moment the whole figure was entirely naked and shining brightly, and then was gone. I lowered my head to the ground and wept openly, for I felt such a sense of loss. After a while the boy came and lay next to me, placed his arm about me and comforted me, as some animals will when their master is unwell. I smiled, and arose. I was shaking. It was a day since I had eaten, but the Power was strong within me, and to ensure that I would be strong for the next day I used the boy fiercely before feeding him. There seemed nothing more to do here but to set off for the city. We walked for three hours, passing thorns similar to those I had seen before as well as many, many more of the ruined pillars that the boy calls trees. I have come to realise that many of his animal-noises are associated with external objects, and where I know no name for a thing, perhaps I shall use his noise until I learn the proper words. The people of Kred'Nos have forgotten how to make Roads. They simply walk wheresoever they wish, and if a lot of people walk in the same place, the ground becomes worn, and they call that a road. But they do not imbue it with any special properties, so that travel for them is a matter of great drudgery. These roads of theirs are also very dusty! We walked along such a thing for perhaps half an hour before we overtook other walkers; they were Outsiders with klodes and I did not speak with them. By this time we could see that the city was enclosed in yellow-brown stone walls, not at all like the deep red of True Stone that our records describe. Milling about around the gate were a great many people, some with klodes and some without, some astride miniature brown bearing beasts and most standing. Some had platforms laden with food or with klodes, presumably brought as tribute to the City. A group of soldiers surrounded a dozen or so collared slaves; they at least had the kindness to keep the slaves without coverings. And so we arrived at the gate and found it to be a dusty, noisome place, with a strong smell of old urine. I adopted a Stance of Authority, held the boy's wrists together behind his back, and marched confidently towards the gate. A soldier made as if to stop me, and demanded my purpose; I announced that I sought the Council of Mages and he laughed and asked if I brought gold. An odd request, but my body was still glowing, and I simply handed the man a Golden Dildo, of the sort we use for recreation at times in the Squirmings. The soldier opened the gate, a large heavy Red Stone door that I later discovered to have been booty from a war, and as I entered I asked where I might find the Council. Again a laugh, but he said that I should try the Palace. Within the City were many corridors, all open to the sky as if these people do not know how to construct a ceiling. And yet there were also many buildings, sometimes joined with others and sometimes alone, so that the whole was a mess and a dishonour to the Art Lord who planned it. There was no difficulty in finding the Palace; the corridors all led thither. It is the largest and grandest building in the City, and there is a clear space all about it, perhaps for easier defence. The building has a flat roof as fat as I can tell, though, so that it would be easily taken by a team of dragons. I entered the Palace by what appeared to be the Royal Entrance, and Announced myself. A bored and tired minor official wrote down my name with a blood-stick onto a thin, thin wafer of what must have been bone, and said that I was to return on the morrow. Perhaps the King and Council were in session, so I bowed and left, propelling the boy before me. In the mean time we would explore the city. I shall speak of our wanderings in a separate Sending.
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