Helliconia Summer - Brian W. Aldiss [278]
Among the foreign group, most conspicuous were the Sibornalese. The ambassador to Borlien, Io Pasharatid, was from Uskut. He and his wife sat tall and grey and distant from each other. Some said that they had quarrelled, some that Sibornalese were simply like that. The fact remained that the two, who had lived at the court for more than nine tenners – they were due to complete their first year in another three weeks – rarely smiled or exchanged a glance.
‘You I fear, Pasharatid, you ghost,’ said the queen.
Pannoval had sent a prince. The choice had been carefully made. Pannoval was the most powerful nation among the seventeen countries of Campannlat, its ambitions restrained only by the war it had constantly to wage against Sibornal on its northern front. Its religion dominated the continent. At present, Pannoval courted Borlien, which already paid levies in grain and church taxes; but the courtship was that between an elderly dowager and an upstart lad, and what the lad was sent was a minor prince.
Minor he might be, but Prince Taynth Indredd was a portly personage, making up in bulk what he lacked in significance. He was distantly related to the Oldorandan royal family. Nobody greatly liked Taynth Indredd, but a diplomat in Pannoval had sent with him as chief advisor an ageing priest, Guaddl Ulbobeg, known to be a friend of JandolAnganol since the days when the king had served his priestly term in the monasteries of Pannoval.
‘You men with clever tongues,’ sighed the queen, anxious behind her lattice.
JandolAnganol was speaking now in a modest tone. He remained seated. His voice ran fast, like his gaze. He was in effect giving a report on the state of his kingdom to his visitors.
‘All of Borlien is now peaceful within its borders. There are some brigands, but they are not important. Our armies are committed in the Western Wars. They drain our lifeblood. On our eastern borders, too, we are threatened by dangerous invaders, Unndreid the Hammer and the cruel Darvlish the Skull.’
He looked about him challengingly. It was his shame that he had received a wound from such an unimportant adversary as Darvlish.
‘As Freyr draws nearer, we suffer from drought. Famine is everywhere. You must not expect Borlien to fight elsewhere. We are a country large in extent, poor in produce.’
‘Come, cousin, you are too modest,’ said Taynth Indredd. ‘Everyone knows from childhood that your southern loess plain forms the richest land on the continent.’
‘Richness lies not in land but in land properly farmed,’ replied JandolAnganol. ‘Such is the pressure on our borders that we must press peasants into the armies, and let women and children work the farms.’
‘Then you certainly need our help, cousin,’ said Taynth Indredd, looking about for the applause he felt his point merited.
Io Pasharatid said, ‘If a farmer has a lame hoxney, will a wild kaidaw assist him?’
This remark was ignored. There were those who said that Sibornal should not have been present at this meeting.
In the manner of one making everything clear, Taynth Indredd said, ‘Cousin, you press us for assistance at a time when every nation is in trouble. The riches our grandfathers enjoyed are gone, while our fields burn and our fruits shrivel. And I must speak frankly and say that there is an unresolved quarrel between us. That we greatly hope to resolve, and must resolve if there is to be unanimity between us.’
A silence fell.
Perhaps Taynth Indredd feared to continue.
JandolAnganol jumped to his feet, a look of anger on his dark features.
The little runt, Yuli, scrambled up alertly, as if to do whatever his master might bid.
‘I went to Sayren Stund in Oldorando to ask for help only against common enemies. Here you gather like vultures! You confront me in my own court. What is this quarrel you dream up between us? Tell me.’
Taynth Indredd and his advisor, Guaddl Ulbobeg, conferred. It was the latter, the friend of the king’s, who answered him. He rose, bowed, and pointed to Yuli.
‘It’s no dream, Your Majesty. Our concern is real, and so is that creature