Elric of Melnibone - Michael Moorcock [39]
‘You think they could be massing for war, my lord.’ He raised his eyebrows at Elric before hiding his face in his wine-mug. Wiping his lips, he shook his red head. ‘Then they must war against sparrows. Oin and Yu are barely nations at all. Their only halfway decent city is Dhoz-Kam—and that is shared between them, half being on one side of the River Ar and half being on the other. As for the rest of Oin and Yu—it is inhabited by peasants who are for the most part so ill-educated and superstition-ridden that they are poverty-striken. Not a potential soldier among ’em.’
‘You’ve heard nothing of a Melnibonéan renegade who has conquered Oin and Yu and set about training these peasants to make war?’ Dyvim Tvar leaned on the bar next to Elric. He sipped fastidiously from a thick cup of wine. ‘Prince Yyrkoon is the renegade’s name.’
‘Is that whom you seek?’ The innkeeper became more interested. ‘A dispute between the Dragon Princes, eh?’
‘That’s our business,’ said Elric haughtily.
‘Of course, my lords.’
‘You know nothing of a great mirror which steals men’s memories?’ Dyvim Tvar asked.
‘A magical mirror!’ The innkeeper threw back his head and laughed heartily. ‘I doubt if there’s one decent mirror in the whole of Oin or Yu! No, my lords, I think you are misled if you fear danger from those lands!’
‘Doubtless you are right,’ said Elric, staring down into his own untasted wine. ‘But it would be wise if we were to check for ourselves—and it would be in Lormyr’s interests, too, if we were to find what we seek and warn you accordingly.’
‘Fear not for Lormyr. We can deal easily with any silly attempt to make war from that quarter. But if you’d see for yourselves, you must follow the coast for three days until you come to a great bay. The River Ar runs into that bay and on the shores of the river lies Dhoz-Kam—a seedy sort of city, particularly for a capital serving two nations. The inhabitants are corrupt, dirty and disease-ridden, but fortunately they are also lazy and thus afford little trouble, especially if you keep a sword by you. When you have spent an hour in Dhoz-Kam, you will realise the impossibility of such folk becoming a menace to anyone else, unless they should get close enough to you to infect you with one of their several plagues!’ Again the innkeeper laughed hugely at his own wit. As he ceased shaking, he added: ‘Or unless you fear their navy. It consists of a dozen or so filthy fishing boats, most of which are so unseaworthy they dare only fish the shallows of the estuary.’
Elric pushed his wine-cup aside. ‘We thank you, landlord.’ He placed a Melnibonéan silver piece upon the counter.
‘This will be hard to change,’ said the innkeeper craftily.
‘There is no need to change it on our account,’ Elric told him.
‘I thank you, masters. Would you stay the night at my establishment. I can offer you the finest beds in Ramasaz.’
‘I think not,’ Elric told him. ‘We shall sleep aboard out ship tonight, that we might be ready to sail at dawn.’
The landlord watched the Melnibonéans depart. Instinctively he bit at the silver piece and then, suspecting he tasted something odd about it, removed it from his mouth. He stared at the coin, turning it this way and that. Could Melnibonéan silver be poisonous to an ordinary mortal? he wondered. It was best not to take risks. He tucked the coin into his purse and collected up the two wine-cups they had left behind. Though he hated waste, he decided it would be wiser to throw the cups out lest they should have become tainted in some way.
The Ship Which Sails Over Land and Sea reached the bay at noon on the following day and now it lay close inshore, hidden from the distant city by a short isthmus on which grew thick, near-tropical foliage. Elric and Dyvim Tvar waded through the clear, shallow water to the beach and entered the forest. They had decided to be cautious and not make their presence known until they had determined the truth of the