Chapter 5: This Sunless Silence

“I’m pretty certain Bardrakeu is not part of this underground movement,” I said, taking a sip of my wine.

 Fodineo smiled. “Good. That’s for the best, Syndeeka. It would hardly help my standing among the people if it came to light that the son of a rival politician were part of some conspiracy against me.” He reached for a dolma off of his plate and bit into it. “You should really try these.”

 “They are tasty,” said Mala across from me.

 We were sitting with the Deity Imperator and Demitos at a table placed under the domed skylight in their apartments at the palace. 

 Standing at the ready in a golden tunic and slacks, his back against a marble column and a bottle of wine in his hands, was Fodineo’s cousin, Darvino. I wondered at the young man’s shock of carrot colored hair, but I also knew the Equoci had been interbreeding with people from the northern kingdoms for centuries now. 

 I replaced my goblet on the table and took a dolma off of my own plate. “It was the butler who helped me to escape, though, and after I’d already destroyed half the wines in the cellar no less.”

 Fodineo stabbed a chunk of tuna off of his plate and placed it in his mouth. “Really?” He chewed the fish slowly. “Did he tell you anything?”

 I bit into the dolma and winced at its sour taste, but decided not to spit the morsel out of my mouth before the Deity Imperator. “Yes. Yes, he did.”

 I quickly took a swig of wine from my goblet, only to realize the acidic drink exacerbated the tartness of the vinegar-soaked wine leaf I was chewing on.

 “Are you all right?” asked Mala.

 “May I have water?”

 “Water?” asked Darvino from his post. “Do you not like my culinary magic?”

 “Oh, it’s wonderful. Just a bit tart in my mouth.”

 Darvino stepped away from the column and disappeared through a side door.

 “What did he tell you?” asked the Emperor, placing his fork on the table and eyeing me coldly. 

 “Um, he said it was a mistake for me to come to Bardrakeu’s family’s villa, but that there was a greater cause they served. He did mention the Sepulchral Giant.”

 “But you’re certain Bardrakeu was not involved?”

 “No, he fought me. Burnt my leg with a torch. Fortunately, I was wearing leather so the damage wasn’t as bad as it could have been. It still hurts, though. Mala’s been making ointments and ministering to me throughout the week.”

 “What is the butler’s name?”

 “Nebiat. He’s an older gentleman. I believe he’s from my part of the world.”

 Darvino stepped out from the side door, a wooden cup and a clay picture in his hands. 

 “Here, Syndeeka.” He poured water into the cup and handed it to me. “Do try the tuna, though. You’ve only picked at your food. I assure you, I’m an excellent cook.”

 “Thank you, Darvino,” I said, placing the cup to my lips.

 “Darvino,” said Fodineo, “I need you to find a Nebiat at Jomidro’s country home. I think you can get some useful information from him.”

 “I’ll do it,” I replied. “I’ve already met him-- that is to say, when I was not masked.”

 “Darvino is very talented at talking to people, Syndeeka. It’s a skill members of my family are taught from a very early age.”

 “Uh…Your Excellency, I was hoping to try to appeal to Nebiat’s good graces so that I might convince him to let me join his ranks. Then maybe I could finally meet this giant you wish me to find.”

 The Emperor put his chin in his hand and rolled his eyes up in thought. “Now you said that Aldro, that boy student you’d been tutoring, had you fired, correct?”

 I took a sip of my water. “Sadly, yes. It has made things harder for me.”

 “What about the instructor friend of yours, Tulonan?”

 “As I said, he’s been helpful to me.”

 “I take it he’s a busy man. Do you know if he has an assistant?”

 “Uh, no. No, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t.”

 The Deity Imperator smiled, his dark eyes knowing. “In his position as head of the Astronomy Department he has far too many responsibilities not to have a personal assistant.” He took a swig of his wine. “You have a new job then.”

 I nervously stabbed a piece of tuna with my fork. “Just like that?”

 “The administrators will insist on it. He won’t refuse, especially when he finds out you’re his new subordinate.”

 I held the forkful of tuna before my mouth, not daring to consume it just this moment. “Oh, well…thank you, Your Excellency. But what about my proposal to speak to Nebiat?”

 Fodineo’s features took on an unusual sweetness. 

 “Don’t worry about that matter just yet. Thanks to Darvino’s mother, I’m stuck with my young cousin for the next six months. I want him to prove himself more useful to me than just as an occasional chef. If he has no luck with Nebiat then you’ll be more than welcome to talk to the butler.”

 Something didn’t sit right with me, but I thought it wise not to voice an objection.

 “Very well.”

 I put the tuna chunk in my mouth, and it was the most exquisite dish I’d ever tasted.

 “Demitos, you said our warrior-astronomer here needs a skiff?”

 “Yes, my love,” replied Demitos.

 Fodineo grinned. “Good enough. Syndeeka, you and Mala will leave the palace tonight with your very own personal watercraft.”

 “They’re made of acacia wood so they’re very sturdy,” added Demitos.

 Darvino put his hand on my shoulder and leaned in to speak to me, smiling. “I look forward to working with you, Syndeeka.”

 Something about the young man’s bright green eyes unnerved me. 

 Under the scintillating curtain of stars I rowed myself forward. The water bobbing beneath me reflected the cold crystals above my head and reawakened thoughts of flying a glider through the night sky. (Therein lay bad memories, so I tried my hardest to focus on the present.) Beyond the retaining walls of the aqueduct darkened domes cut shadows against the heavens.

 I’d been trying out my new skiff for hours now, fully aware that the next day (almost upon me) was a school day. The Emperor assured me Tulonan would be expecting me. And yet here I was wasting precious sleep hours trying to see if I could paddle the distance from the city to the philosophy academy. I wasn’t sure what my duties to the Head Astronomy Instructor would be, but was pretty certain they would entail a level of alertness I’d most assuredly be lacking the first day of my new job.

 This night I’d been pleasantly surprised to see many a fellow skiff pilot plying these waters-- apparently, there was more room for personal craft after the water shuttles were retired for the evening. Mostly, they had been men and boys, but many of them seemed more than happy to advise me on how to properly steer and propel my own little craft, and such tips allowed me to improve my rowing technique considerably over the past few hours.

 The solitude of this sunless silence granted my mind some sense of peace-- when my thoughts weren’t wandering to dark places.

 Oh, for a life free of spilled blood, heartache, and hollow spaces.

 No point in self-pity right now, I thought. Just row. I alternated the strokes of my paddle first on the left and then the right in an effort to keep from going in circles.

 I’d worked my way through the different tributaries veining the city thoroughfares (occasionally getting lost) and eventually managed to find the main watercourse that came into the city from the mountains. Obviously, I was rowing against the current, but the slant of the aqueduct was very slight so that water pouring into the urban regions wouldn’t come in as a deluge. Even so, I found myself paddling harder to push my meager boat out of the city limits and across the canyon gulfing the space between the two hills. 

 My fellow skiff pilots were gone now, but I just assumed that was due to the lower traffic in the direction of the philosophy academy. 

  I recalled the time during one of our water shuttle rides home when I’d wondered aloud to Mala how people could stomach sluice water, only to have Mala laughingly reply: 

  “They’re not stupid enough to drink this filthy water, Syndeeka. There are pipes below the sluice. The surface water mostly goes to farms and to hanging gardens.”

 Soon the sky beyond the aqueduct walls was tinged gold and the scattered clouds began trading their grayness for a coppery hue.

 What time is it? I wondered.

 Presently, a gentle, steady splashing rhythm answered my question.

 I pulled my head back over my shoulder.

 Coming out of the dissolving shadows and into the growing light of the morning sun was a long, slender galley, its oars rising slowly from the water, and then falling back in unison. The ship was still small and distant on the concrete horizon, but it was quickly gaining on me. 

 I considered the foolhardy philosophy students who risked their lives on a weekly basis by dropping into the liquid current just a few feet in front of the water shuttle. Most had enough sense to paddle their craft to the sides before the small galley could overtake and drown them. But then there were the handfuls of truly reckless boys who tried to keep abreast of the ship. I hardly wished to be as idiotic, but then I also had a good lead on the craft. Certainly, I had time to veer out of the way if I couldn’t keep up.

 My mind resolved, I paddled harder.

 I could hear the plash of large oars echo off the aqueduct walls.

 With a swift, sweeping motion, I dunked my paddle into the water and swept it back. My skiff lurched forward a little with my intensified rowing, but the sloshing rhythm of the eight oars behind me became louder, closer.   

 I cast another glance behind me and was shocked to see the bulk of a wooden prow towering over me. It could only be mere feet behind me now, and it was closing fast. 

 I thrust my paddle hard on the right and my skiff swerved awkwardly left. A wave rose my craft up as I looked back to see the prow almost on me. The forward momentum of the rising crest helped my skiff curve to the side. Heavy liquid drops rained down on my head, shoulders, and body as I slid beneath the phalanx of ascending oars. 

 Good, I thought, I have time.

 I crouched down in my now water-logged skiff and tried to row to the embankment. But now I noticed my boat was sinking. No time to bail water, and I could no longer steer a submerging craft. I inhaled a lungful of air, closed my eyes, and put my head between my crossed legs. My hearing muffled as cold water seeped into my ears.

 Then something solid banged the back of my skull.