the size of a cannonball. Flanking this on one side was an armorite with pincers and a head like a sky-blue minaret, and on the other a dull olive-coloured sarcophagus with eight legs, topped with a baby head of red studs. The walls were crowded with onlookers, or perhaps mere regulatory devices.
‘ They tell me you are king of this place, ’ Fain addressed the rose. ‘ Now I see their claim is rather farfetched. ’
‘ Your dismal antics in the street have bored one and all, ’ tolled the rose, ‘ with your flourishes, time-wasting, and jewellery made from apricot stones. ’
‘ Don ’ t be confused by his accusations, ’ whispered Hex, ‘ it ’ s his way of showing he ’ s curious about you. He thinks he ’ s asked a question and so expects a reply. ’
Unaware of what question had been intended, Fain decided upon simple truth. ‘ I am Fain the Sorcerer, and I quite frankly hate it here. Empty metal creatures, your city is a marvel! I suppose its emulation of a lobster halved lengthwise is symbolic? A community of dolls, ministers and tin soldiers the shape of fat moths — what ’ s the point? ’
His audience looked at each other and began chugging strangely, jigging up and down.
‘ Indeed you are all so begging for a punch in the nozzle I cannot find it in my heart to disappoint you. ’
The dicehearts were laughing, with a light squeak of hinges.
‘ I find you empty, and suspect that you are, technically, dead. This rack-and-pinion morality of yours, like yourselves, is large but as weightless as an owl. And it ejects blue smoke! ’
There was amiable uproar in the court. What the old jester hadn ’ t realised was that the dicehearts found truth amusing, their laughter a means to evade it. They were more closely modelled upon humanity than he had suspected.
Fain turned to a nearby observer, a round frame in which pink lace flubbered with every breeze. An eye occasionally opened in the membrane, then clenched away again.
‘ You sir — that rather fanciful assemblage which exists where your head should be — need any help getting rid of it? Observe as I juggle this cloud of dust! ’
Fain gestured for quiet in the ensuing chatter and, approaching the autarch, announced: ‘ My main intention was to perform a very particular illusion for you, the upper echelons of the city. Observe these dozen large metal rings. ’ Fain clashed them together. ‘ I will perform a disappearance, with the aid of an assistant — you sir! ’ He led the pincered, minaret-headed courtier into the performance area, much to the apparent delight of all.
Fain slipped the rings together, linking them, then unlinked them and juggled with them, catching four on each arm and four around his neck.
‘ Now sir, use those pincers of yours to snip through the rings on my right arm. ’
The diceheart sliced through them, the twanged tangle hitting the floor.
‘ And through the rings on my left. ’
The diceheart cut through these.
Fain removed his scarf. ‘ And — careful now — those around my neck! ’
The assistant snipped through the five rings about Fain ’ s neck.
‘ And now I will disappear and steal the royal barge! ’
Freed from the binding ring, Fain vanished and walked out of the hilarity-filled court. The airboats were docked beside the milk-glass palace. He re-appeared as he walked up the gangplank to one of the ballooned barges. A tall, white-haired man in a black robe was stood at the front tiller, and Fain was about to order him to cast off when the guy ropes writhed loose, the gangplank fell away and the ship pulled into the sky with frightening speed. The old jester turned from the tiller to look at Fain, then seemed to suck in a hard breath, his white beard retreating into his chin. He removed his smashed spectacles and the eyes told Fain that this was Drake the Adept.
61
CHAPTER 18
In which Fain studies with Drake the Adept
Drake ’ s modest fortress was in the
‘ They tell me you are king of this place, ’ Fain addressed the rose. ‘ Now I see their claim is rather farfetched. ’
‘ Your dismal antics in the street have bored one and all, ’ tolled the rose, ‘ with your flourishes, time-wasting, and jewellery made from apricot stones. ’
‘ Don ’ t be confused by his accusations, ’ whispered Hex, ‘ it ’ s his way of showing he ’ s curious about you. He thinks he ’ s asked a question and so expects a reply. ’
Unaware of what question had been intended, Fain decided upon simple truth. ‘ I am Fain the Sorcerer, and I quite frankly hate it here. Empty metal creatures, your city is a marvel! I suppose its emulation of a lobster halved lengthwise is symbolic? A community of dolls, ministers and tin soldiers the shape of fat moths — what ’ s the point? ’
His audience looked at each other and began chugging strangely, jigging up and down.
‘ Indeed you are all so begging for a punch in the nozzle I cannot find it in my heart to disappoint you. ’
The dicehearts were laughing, with a light squeak of hinges.
‘ I find you empty, and suspect that you are, technically, dead. This rack-and-pinion morality of yours, like yourselves, is large but as weightless as an owl. And it ejects blue smoke! ’
There was amiable uproar in the court. What the old jester hadn ’ t realised was that the dicehearts found truth amusing, their laughter a means to evade it. They were more closely modelled upon humanity than he had suspected.
Fain turned to a nearby observer, a round frame in which pink lace flubbered with every breeze. An eye occasionally opened in the membrane, then clenched away again.
‘ You sir — that rather fanciful assemblage which exists where your head should be — need any help getting rid of it? Observe as I juggle this cloud of dust! ’
Fain gestured for quiet in the ensuing chatter and, approaching the autarch, announced: ‘ My main intention was to perform a very particular illusion for you, the upper echelons of the city. Observe these dozen large metal rings. ’ Fain clashed them together. ‘ I will perform a disappearance, with the aid of an assistant — you sir! ’ He led the pincered, minaret-headed courtier into the performance area, much to the apparent delight of all.
Fain slipped the rings together, linking them, then unlinked them and juggled with them, catching four on each arm and four around his neck.
‘ Now sir, use those pincers of yours to snip through the rings on my right arm. ’
The diceheart sliced through them, the twanged tangle hitting the floor.
‘ And through the rings on my left. ’
The diceheart cut through these.
Fain removed his scarf. ‘ And — careful now — those around my neck! ’
The assistant snipped through the five rings about Fain ’ s neck.
‘ And now I will disappear and steal the royal barge! ’
Freed from the binding ring, Fain vanished and walked out of the hilarity-filled court. The airboats were docked beside the milk-glass palace. He re-appeared as he walked up the gangplank to one of the ballooned barges. A tall, white-haired man in a black robe was stood at the front tiller, and Fain was about to order him to cast off when the guy ropes writhed loose, the gangplank fell away and the ship pulled into the sky with frightening speed. The old jester turned from the tiller to look at Fain, then seemed to suck in a hard breath, his white beard retreating into his chin. He removed his smashed spectacles and the eyes told Fain that this was Drake the Adept.
61
CHAPTER 18
In which Fain studies with Drake the Adept
Drake ’ s modest fortress was in the
Similar Books
