Tegans have raised being boring to an art form, your Majesty, Oscagne agreed. Anyway, theres an old Tegan myth to the effect that the oyster-beds are haunted by a mermaid. Supposedly she eats oysters, shells and all, and that really upsets the Tegans. She also seduces Tegan divers, who tend to drown during the exchange of pleasantries.
Isnt a mermaid supposed to be half-girl and half-fish? Ulath asked.
So the legend goes, Oscagne replied.
And isnt she supposed to be a fish from the waist down?
Ive been told so, yes.
Then how... ? Ulath also looked quickly at Ehlana and then abruptly broke off.
How what, Sir Ulath? Ehlana asked him innocently.
Itsahnot really important, your Majesty, he replied with an embarrassed cough.
I wouldnt even raise this absurd myth, your Majesties, Oscagne said to Sarabian and Ehlana, except in the light of recent developments. The parallels between the vampires in Arjuna, the Shining Ones in southern Atan, and the werewolves, ghouls and Ogres in other parts of the Empire are really rather striking, wouldnt you say? Id imagine that if someone were to go to Tega and ask around, he might hear stories about some pre-historic pearl-diver whos been resurrected and also find that some rabble-rousers telling the Tegans that this hero and his half-fish, half-human mistress are going to lead the oysters in a mass assault on Matherion.
How droll, Sarabian murmured.
Sorry, your Majesty, Oscagne apologized. What Im getting at here is that weve probably got some relatively inexperienced conspirator on Tega. Hes just getting started, so hes bound to make mistakesbut experienced or not, he knows a great deal about the whole conspiracy. Since our friends here wont let us question Kolata too closely, we have to look elsewhere for information.
Were not being delicate about the Minister of the Interior, your Excellency, Kalten told him.
Its just that weve seen what happens to prisoners who are on the verge of talking too much. Kolatas still useful to us, but only as long as he stays in one piece. He wont be much good if little chunks and globs of him get scattered all over the building.
Oscagne shuddered. Ill take your word for it, Sir Kalten. At any rate, your Majesty, if some of our Elene friends here could go to Tega and put their hands on this fellow and talk with him before our enemy can dismantle him, they could probably persuade him to tell us everything he knows. Sir Sparhawk has some ambitions along those lines, I understand. He wants to find out if he can wring somebody out hard enough to make his hair bleed.
You have a very graphic imagination, Sparhawk, Sarabian noted. What do you think, Ehlana? Can you spare your husband for a while? If he and some of his knights went to Tega and held the entire island under water for a couple of hours, God only knows what kind of information might come bubbling to the surface.
Thats a very good idea, Sarabian. Sparhawk, why dont you take some of our friends, run on down to the Isle of Tega, and see what you can find out?
Id really rather not be separated from you, dear, he replied with feigned reluctance.
Thats very sweet, Sparhawk, but we do have responsibilities, you know.
Are you ordering me to go, Ehlana?
You dont have to put it that way, Sparhawk. Its only a suggestion, after all.
As my Queen commands, he sighed, putting on a melancholy expression.
2
Empress Gahenas was a Tegan lady of middle years with a severe expression and tightly pursed lips. She wore a plain gray gown, buttoned to the chin, and long-sleeved gloves of scratchy wool. Her hair was drawn so tightly back into a bun that it made her eyes bulge, and her ears protruded from the sides of her head like open barn doors. Empress Gahenas disapproved of everything, that much was clear from the outset. She had come to Sparhawks study to provide background information on the Isle of Tega, but she did not come alone. the Empress Gahenas never went anywhere without her four chaperones, a cluster of ancient Tegan hags who perched on a varnished bench like a row of gargoyles.
It was a warm day in early autumn, but the sunlight streaming in through the window of Sparhawks study seemed to grow wan and sickly when Empress Gahenas entered with the stern guardians of her virtue.
She spent an hour lecturing Sparhawk on the gross national product of her homeland in a tone that strongly suggested that she was going to give a test at the conclusion of the lecture. Sparhawk fought to keep from yawning. He was not really interested in production figures or labor costs. What he really wanted from the jug-eared Empress were little details of ordinary life on the Isle to flesh out the series of letters he was writing to his wifeletters which were to be doled out to Ehlana to help sustain the fiction that he and his friends were tracking down ring-leaders and other conspirators who were concealed among the general population.
Ah... he interrupted Gahenass droning monologue, this is absolutely fascinating, your Highness, but could we go back for a moment to the islands form of government? That really has me baffled.