Helliconia Summer - Brian W. Aldiss [253]
At the end of the corridor was a balcony which overlooked the rear of the palace. He followed CaraBansity onto it and stared out into the night.
The air was warm and heavy, and seemed to hug the sea noise to itself. The horizon lay under the weight of the enormous sky.
Near at hand were small moving tongues of flame, winking in and out of existence. Esomberr stared at them uncomprehendingly, still half drunk.
‘Men approaching through trees,’ CaraBansity said, at his elbow. ‘Perhaps only two of them by my count. In my alarm I must have overestimated their numbers.’
‘What do they want?’
‘A searching question, sire. I will go down and discover its answer, if you will be all right here, sire. Stay and I shall return with intelligence.’ He gave the escort a crafty sidelong glance.
Esomberr, leaning on the balcony rail, staggered as he looked down, and leant back against the wall for safety. He heard CaraBansity’s shout and a reply from the newcomers. He closed his eyes, listening to their voices. There were many other voices, some angry, calling to him in accusing manner, though he could not grasp what they were saying. The world swayed.
He roused to hear CaraBansity calling him from below.
‘What’s that you say?’
‘It’s bad news, sire, not to be shouted aloud. Please come down.’
‘What is it?’ But CaraBansity gave no answer, speaking in a low voice to the newcomers. Esomberr got himself moving, went into the corridor, and nearly fell down the stairs.
‘You’re drunker than I thought, you fool,’ he said aloud.
Making his way out through an open door, he almost barged into CaraBansity and a haggard man, covered in dust, who carried a flambeau. Behind him, another man, equally dust-covered, looked about into the dark as if in fear of pursuit.
‘Who are these men?’
The haggard man, eyeing Esomberr with distrust, said, ‘We’re from Oldorando, Your Highness, from the court of His Majesty King Sayren Stund, and a hard journey we’ve had of it, with the unrest in the countryside. I have a message for King JandolAnganol and none other.’
‘The king’s asleep. What do you want with him?’
‘It’s bad news, sir, which I was entrusted to give to him direct.’
Esomberr, growing angry, announced who he was. The messenger eyed him stonily. ‘If you’re who you say you are, sir, then you’ll have the authority to lead me to the king.’
‘I could escort him, sire,’ suggested CaraBansity.
They all went into the palace, dowsing their flambeaux on the ground before entering. CaraBansity led the way into the main chamber, where sleeping figures lay in confusion on the floor. He went over to where the king slept, and shook his arm without ceremony.
JandolAnganol roused and jumped immediately to his feet, hand on sword.
The haggard man bowed. ‘I am sorry to awaken you, sire, and I regret coming late. Your soldiers killed two of my escort, and I barely escaped with my life.’ He produced documents to prove his identity. He had begun to shake violently, knowing the fate of messengers who bring bad tidings.
The king barely glanced at the documents.
‘Tell me your news, man.’
‘It’s the Madis, Your Majesty.’
‘What of them?’
The messenger shuffled his feet and put a hand to his face to stop his jaw rattling. ‘The Princess Simoda Tal is dead, sire. The Madis killed her.’
There was a silence. Then Alam Esomberr began to laugh.
IV
An Innovation in the Cosgatt
Alam Esomberr’s bitter laughter eventually reached the ears of those who lived on Earth. Despite the enormous gulf between Helliconia and Earth, that response to the labouring of fate met with immediate comprehension.
Between Earth and Helliconia a kind of relay was interposed, the Earth Observation Station called Avernus. The Avernus had its orbit about Helliconia as Helliconia had its orbit about Batalix, and as Batalix had its orbit about Freyr. Avernus was the lens through which terrestrial observers experienced events on Helliconia.
The human beings who worked on the Avernus dedicated their lives to a study of all aspects of Helliconia. That dedication