The young Silver cried out. "Let's have a vote, now. A vote to elect our council master. Take the roll!"
Feden could not protest, even though a Haf Gi Ri had raised the issue, even though the Haf Gi Ri could not vote. He and his allies had already lost, and he knew it. Quickly, the roll was read, and votes tallied around the hall from every one of the Greater Houses, the Lesser Houses, and the guilds. Sixteen votes for Feden. All the rest, to Joss's surprise, were for the same man, a merchant named Master Calon.
Yet why should he be surprised? Mai and Anji were not surprised. Nor was Master Calon. Like the ambush last night, this had obviously been carefully planned.
Beads of sweat left runnels through the powder that gave a smooth color to Master Feden's aging skin. His fingers twitched in spastic patterns. "This can't be. This is out of order. I won't allow it. You have no right."
Master Calon stepped smoothly into the open ground, from which he surveyed the assembly with a look of satisfaction. He nodded at Anji, and Feden saw that nod.
"We've been betrayed!" Feden cried. "Can't you see it? We've been betrayed by these two wolves, acting in concert."
"Yes, we have," said Master Calon. "We've been betrayed by you, Feden. By you, and the Greater Houses, making deals with an enemy out of the north. Wolves, all of you, eating our young. Let this be the end of it." He acknowledged Mai. "Verea, our business with you remains unfinished."
"But-! But-!" All ignored Feden, even his old allies.
Mai's expression was so bland that, as his aunties might say, one would not know she had already licked the cream.
"Olossi's council seeks our aid to defeat the army that will soon lay in a siege outside your walls. Very well. I'll state our price." She paused.
Abruptly, Master Calon's smug expression wavered. He blinked. He looked worried.
She went on. "It is the custom of the Qin to control the taxes and tolls of any territory which lies under their governance. Therefore, we will require a specified grant of land, a designated territory, over which the captain and his family hold the right to exact taxes and tolls as long as heirs of his body unto all generations are alive. This grant of land will contain pasturage sufficient to maintain two hundred households as well as farmlands tenanted by local families. These fields will be taxed at the rate of one part in nine, to be farmed in common. That portion goes to the governor, that is, the captain and his family. According to the custom of the Qin, pasturage sufficient for a household can be measured by the amount of land one man can ride around in one day. Wives will be found for all of the men who desire to settle down in a household and with pasturage of their own. In addition, a single payment will be made in this manner: From each of the houses that make up the Greater Houses, fifty cheyt, for a total of seven hundred and fifty cheyt. From the Lesser Houses and guilds, in common, two hundred and fifty cheyt."
In the quiet, Joss heard distinctly the intake of breath from those gathered, even Master Calon. Especially Master Calon. Joss was himself dizzied by the amounts so casually falling from her pretty tongue.
Captain Anji had his head tipped slightly and appeared to be looking not at Mai but at Toughid's boots. His mouth was pulled so tight that at first Joss thought he was angry, and then he realized the captain was trying not to smile. The two Silvers, younger and older, were smiling, as at an apt pupil or a masterful parry.
She raised both hands, palms up, to signify that no coin had yet changed hands. "According to the law of the Hundred, each of the members party to the agreement will swear to abide by the agreement as long as the captain or any of his heirs, or the heirs of any of his soldiers, still live in this country. No deliberate harm will be inflicted on any of the parties by any of the others, nor will any of the parties renege on the agreement once the danger is past. For our part, we will abide by the agreement, aid Olossi, and settle peaceably afterward in lands set aside under Qin control. Is the council agreed, Master Calon?"
Master Calon shut his eyes as if gathering strength to reply.
"I don't agree!" sputtered Feden. "It's too much! You all know it's too much. Land! Coin! Gods and hells! How are you standing for this? A payment, a single payment, a simple bargain of labor in exchange for work done should be-"
Mai cut him off. "Agree to our terms, or find someone else to help you."
The bell boomed to life, and tolled once, twice, three times. The sound washed like a wave over them and kept moving. At length, its voice died away.
Master Calon opened his eyes. He stepped in front of Feden and put a hand on the other man's chest. "You and your allies brought this down on us all," he said coldly. "You and the other Greater Houses betrayed this town, for what you thought would be your own benefit. Did you not?"
Feden trembled. He looked at the floor. He did not answer. In the crowd, folk shifted away from certain people, isolating them.
Calon swept his gaze over the assembly. Indeed, he seemed overcome by emotion, ready to break down and weep. "What choice have we? What choice?" He turned back to Mai, held out his hands, palms up, signifying that no coin had yet changed hands. "Let Sapanasu give Her blessing to those who fulfill the bargains they make, and Her curse to any who turn their backs on what they have sworn in Her name. Let it be marked and sealed."
"Let it be marked and sealed." She might have just sold a cupful of almonds in exchange for two vey.
Anji raised his quirt. Many held their breath. A few stepped back, as if to get out of range.
"Let all the people of Olossi do their part," he said curtly. "Let the council act wisely. And swiftly." He took a step back to survey the map being drawn by Jonit under the light of a pair of oil lamps. "As for myself, I had thought to stay here and order the city's defense, but that task will have to fall to Captain Waras, Master Calon, and the council. It's a shame," he added, with a frown, "that the priestess, Zubaidit, has departed, for I am supposing she would accomplish what I am not entirely sure this council can. Well." With a cutting motion, he sliced that notion away. "No use trying to eat food that doesn't exist. I have a different plan now, a better one. Eagles are blind at night, but we are not. I'll need a hundred competent guardsmen who can be ready to ride immediately with my troop."
The captain looked at the two Silvers, as if to mark a promise they had made to him, then at his wife. She had the most astonishing face, open and fathomless, so lovely to look upon yet hiding her true feelings. He offered to her no fulsome farewells, no touching good-byes, as in the old tales. He had no time for such sentiments. After a moment, she looked down at her hands.
"We ride." With a gesture, Anji called his men, and the Qin soldiers left the hall. Joss followed them.
50
They crossed the River Olo on a bridge made of floating barges strung on chains across the current. Later, when Shai looked over his shoulder, the hill that marked Olossi was barely visible as a dark irregularity on the southern horizon. All else lay so flat beyond the raised roadway that the landscape seemed artificial, as if the earth had been planed smooth. Members of the Olossi militia strode alongside, holding lanterns to light their way. These were young men, eager to prove themselves. In the shifting bands of light he saw them grinning, in contrast to the grim Qin soldiers, who had been up for two days and had already fought a battle. But as the company strode along, it was the militiamen who rubbed their aching thighs, who paused to gulp down an extra breath of air or take a slug of bracing spirits.