Dave Duncan - The Seventh Sword - 1 - The Reluctant Sword

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The Reluctant Swordsman
The Reluctant Swordsman
Book 1 of The Seventh Sword
By Dave Duncan
ISBN: 0-345-35291-2
BOOK ONE:
HOW THE SWORDSMAN WAS SUMMONED
I
"Keep my heart true to Your laws," Honakura warbled, laying a shaky left hand on the smooth brilliance of the tiled floor.
"Let me serve Your will with all my strength," he wailed, cracking on the high note as usual, and placing his equally frail right hand beside the left.
"And show my eyes Your purposes." This was the tricky part-the ritual called for him to touch his forehead to the mosaic, but he had not achieved
that maneuver these last fifteen years. He curled forward as far as he could. If the Goddess chose to stiffen his ancient joints, then She would have
to settle for the best he could manage... and of course She would.
He strained there for a moment, hearing the quiet chanting of other priests and priestesses nearby as they also made their way through the morning
dedication. Then, with a quiet and unscheduled "Ooof!" of relief he pushed himself back to sit on his heels, place his palms together, and look up
adoringly at Her. Now he was permitted a silent and private prayer, a personal appeal. He had no doubt what it would be, this day as many before
it. Most High Goddess, do something about the swordsmen of Your guard!
She did not reply. He did not expect Her to. This was not the Goddess Herself, but merely an image to assist humble mortals in visualizing Her
greatness. Who should know that better than a priest of the seventh rank? But She would hear his prayer and one day She would answer.
"Amen!" he quavered.
Now he could start to plan his day, but he remained for a moment sitting on his heels, hands still together, reflecting, gazing up lovingly at the
majesty of the Most High and the vast stone trelliswork above Her, the roof of Her temple, the holiest of all the holy places in the World.
He had many meetings planned-with the Keeper of the Coffers, with the Master of Discipline for Acolytes, with many others, almost all holders of
offices that Honakura himself had held at one time or another. Now he was merely Third Deputy Chairman of the Council of Venerables. That
innocent-sounding title concealed much more than it revealed. Power, he had long since discovered, is best exercised in secret.
Around him the morning dedications were ending. Already the first of the day's many pilgrims were being led in to make their offerings and
supplications. Money was clinking into the bowls; prayers being mumbled under the quiet prompting of priests. He would begin, Honakura
decided, by guiding a few pilgrims himself. It was a worthy service to the Most Holy; it was a task he enjoyed; it was a good example for the
juniors. He lowered his hands and glanced around in the hope that there might be someone handy to help him rise-not the easiest of movements for
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him now.
At once a brown robe was at his side and strong hands assisted him. With a quiet mutter of thanks, Honakura reached his feet. He was about to turn
away when the man spoke.
"I am Jannarlu, priest of the third rank..." He was making the salute to a superior, words and hand gestures and bowings. For a moment Honakura
reacted with shock and disapproval. Surely this young man did not think that so trifling a service could justify him in forcing himself on a lord of
the Seventh? This place, before the dais and the idol, was the holy of holies, and while there was no law against conversation or formal saluting
here, custom forbade it. Then he recalled this Jannarlu. He was old Hangafau's grandson, said to have promise. He must know better, and therefore
must have good reason for the impropriety.
So Honakura waited until the salute was completed and then made the ritual response: "I am Honakura, priest of the seventh rank..." One of
Jannarlu's facemarks was still slightly inflamed, so he was a very new Third. He was tall-much taller than the diminutive Honakura-with a bony,
ungainly presence and a hook nose. He seemed absurdly young, but then they all did these days.
Close by, an ancient crone dropped a gold in the bowl and began entreating the Goddess to cure the agony in her bowels. Beyond her a young
couple were praying that She not send them any more children, for a few years at least.
As soon as Honakura had finished, the words spurted from Jannarlu: "My lord, there is a swordsman... a Seventh!"
She had answered!
"You left him out there?" Honakura demanded furiously, keeping his voice down with difficulty, struggling not to show emotion to anyone who
might be watching.
The Third flinched, but nodded. "He is a Nameless One, my lord."
Honakura hissed in astonishment. Incredible! With forehead covered and wearing only black, like a beggar, anyone could become a Nameless One.
By law, such persons could bear no goods and must be on the service of the Goddess. Many regarded it as a special penance, so the practice was
not uncommon among pilgrims coming to the temple. But for a lord of the Seventh to reduce his standing in such a way was highly unusual. For a
swordsman of any rank it was almost unthinkable. For a swordsman of the seventh rank... incredible!
It did explain how he had arrived alive. Could he be kept alive?
"I told him to cover again, my lord," Jannarlu said diffidently. "He... he seemed quite pleased to do so."
There was a hint of levity there, and Honakura shot him a warning glance while he pondered. Jannarlu's ugly brown face seemed slightly flushed.
"You did not hurry, I hope?"
The Third shook his head. "No, my lord. I followed..." He gestured toward the sick old crone, who was now being helped up by her attendant
priestess.
"Well done, priest!" said Honakura, mollified. "Let us go and see this wonder of yours. We shall walk slowly, conversing of holy matters... and not
in quite the right direction, if you please."
The young man blushed with pleasure at the praise and fell into step beside him.
The great temple of the Goddess at Hann was not only the richest and oldest building in the World, it was certainly the largest. As Honakura turned
from the dais, he was faced with a seemingly endless expanse of gleaming, multicolored floor, stretching off to the seven great arches that formed
the facade. Many people were walking there, coming or going-pilgrims and their guides of the priesthood-but so vast was the space that mere
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human beings seemed hardly larger than mouse droppings. Beyond the arches, out in the brilliant sunlight, lay a view of the canyon and the River
and the Judgment, whose rumbling roar had filled the temple for all its many millennia. Along the sides of the wide nave stood the shrines of lesser
gods and goddesses, and above them the fretted windows blazed in hues of ruby, emerald, amethyst, and gold.
Honakura's prayer had been answered. No... the prayers of many. He was certainly not the only one of Her servants here to make that prayer each
day, yet it was to him that the news had been brought. He must move with caution and courage and determination, but he felt warm satisfaction that
he had been chosen.
It took a long time for him to reach the arches, with the young Third fidgeting at his side. They made an odd pair, Honakura knew, in their priestly
gowns, Jannarlu in the brown of a Third and he in the blue of a Seventh. The younger man was tall, but Honakura had never been tall and now he
was shrunken and stooped, toothless and hairless. The juniors referred to him behind his back as the Wise Monkey, and the term amused him. Old
age had few amusements. In the unkind silent hours of night he would feel his bones rubbing against the sheets and quietly wish that She would
soon rescue him from it and let him start anew. Yet perhaps She was reserving him in this life for one last service, and if so, then this was surely it.
A swordsman of the seventh rank! They were rare, as the priests had discovered -rare, and very precious when needed.
As he walked, he decided that young Jannarlu had shown great discretion in coming to him, and not to some blabbermouth middlerank. He should
be rewarded. And kept quiet.
"Who is your mentor now?" he asked. "Yes, I know him. A worthy and holy man. But the Honorable Londossinu is in need of another protege to
assist him in some new duties. They are sensitive matters, and he needs a man of reticence and discretion."
He glanced sideways at the youngster beside him and saw a flush of pleasure and excitement. "I should be greatly honored, my lord."
So he should be, a Third being offered a Sixth as mentor, but he seemed to be hearing the message. "Then I shall speak to your mentor and the holy
one, and see if a transfer can be arranged. It will have to wait until after this matter of the swordsman, of course... until after that has been
successfully concluded."
"Of course, my lord." Young Jannarlu was staring straight ahead, but could not quite suppress a smile.
"And where are you in your inurement?"
"I am due to start the fifth silence in another week," said the lad, adding helpfully, "I am eager to begin."
"You will begin as soon as I have met this marvel of yours," Honakura stated, with a silent chuckle. "I shall send word to your mentor." An astute
young man! The fifth silence lasted two weeks-the matter would certainly be settled by then.
At last they had reached the arches. Beyond them the great steps fell away like a hillside to the temple court. The top was already cluttered with
rows of pilgrims patiently kneeling in the shadow. Later in the day, when the tropic sun discovered them, they would find the waiting harder.
Out of habit the priest glanced over the faces of the closest. As his eyes met theirs they bowed their heads respectfully to him, but from long
experience he had already read the rank and craft marks of their brows and made a preliminary diagnosis-a potter of the Third, probably a health
problem; a spinster of the Second, perhaps a sterility case; a goldsmith of the Fifth, good for a fair offering.
Few of the heads were bound. Honakura could make an easy guess as to the swordsman. The man had chosen to approach one of the side arches,
which was fortunate because the token guard stood only at the center arch, but it was a curious choice for one of his rank. Something must be
seriously awry for him.
"The big one, I assume? Very well. And there, I believe, is the Honorable Londossinu himself. Let us speak to him right away." That was
convenient, for Honakura disliked overloading his memory these days, and it was surely the handiwork of the Holiest. The whole affair was then
disposed of in a dozen words-plus a few meaningful glances, nuances, hints, and insinuations. The transfer of mentors would be arranged, and
Londossinu would get the committee appointments he had been seeking for two other proteges, plus promotion for another. And young Jannarlu
would be kept quiet. Honakura waited until he saw the young man head back into the temple to begin the ritual of silence, quite unaware of most of
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the dealings that had just been completed around him. There was no hurry; the Nameless could bring no offerings and hence were low priority for
the attendants.
Yes, the handiwork of the Goddess! His prayers had been answered by a highrank swordsman, the man had come-incredibly!-incognito and hence
safely, and he had even avoided the two bored swordsmen posturing by the center arch, who might just possibly have guessed from his long hair
that he was a swordsman. Praise to the Goddess!
Honakura began to amble in the right direction, nodding his head to the bows he received. By law, a Nameless One could only be questioned by
priests or searched by swordsmen, but it was not unknown for junior swordsmen to torment such for sport. The little priest wondered what the
reaction would be if some were to try that and discover that they were dealing with a swordsman of the Seventh. It would be an entertaining
incident to watch. Fortunately, in the present case, the man's rank had not yet been revealed.
At last he reached his objective.
The man was very large indeed-even kneeling, he carried his eyes not much beneath Honakura's. Swordsmen were rarely large, for speed was more
important to them than strength. If this man also had agility he would be formidable, but then he was, reputedly, a Seventh, and there could be none
more formidable. Apart from the black rag around his head, he wore only a dirty scrap of black loincloth. He was filthy and sweat-streaked, yet his
size and youth made him impressive still. His hair was also black, hanging to his shoulders, and his eyes were utterly black, the pupils lost in the
iris. Forceful eyes... bearing anger they would strike dread. Looking into them now, Honakura saw other things: pain and fear and despondency.
Those came often to the Goddess in the eyes of supplicants-the sick, the dying, the bereaved, the lost-but rarely had he seen them so intense, and
their presence in the eyes of this huge and healthy youngster was a staggering shock to him. Awry indeed!
"Let us go over to a more private place," he said quickly. "My lord?"
The young man rose effortlessly, rising over the little priest as dawn climbs the sky. He was very big and when he moved he rippled. Even for a
swordsman he was young to be a Seventh, probably younger than Priest Jannarlu of the Third.
They walked to the end of the facade, and Honakura motioned to the plinth of a badly corroded statue. The swordsman sat without argument. His
apathy was astonishing.
"Let us dispense with formalities for the moment," Honakura said quietly, remaining on his feet, "for we are not unobserved. I am Honakura, priest
of the seventh rank."
"I am Shonsu, swordsman, and also of the Seventh." His voice was in keeping with the rest of him, massive. Distant thunder. He raised a hand to
remove the rag, and Honakura shook his head.
"You seek help from the Goddess?"
"I am haunted by a demon, holiness."
That explained the eyes. "Demons can be exorcised, but they rarely ravage those of high rank," Honakura said. "Pray tell me of it."
The fearsome young man shuddered. "It is the color off sour milk. It has yellow hair on its belly and its limbs and its face, but none on top of its
head, as though its head were put on upside down."
Honakura shuddered, also, and made the sign of the Goddess.
The swordsman continued, "It has no foreskin."
"Do you know its name?"
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"Oh yes," Shonsu sighed. "It babbles at me from dusk until dawn, and lately even by day. Little it says makes sense, but its name is Walliesmith."
"Walliesmith?" Honakura echoed doubtfully.
"Walliesmith," the swordsman repeated in a voice that could not be doubted.
That was not the name of any of the seven hundred and seventy-seven demons-but a demon would naturally not tell the truth unless properly
invoked. And, while the sutras catalogued demons of the most hideous and grotesque aspect, Honakura had never heard of one so perverse as to
grow hair on its face.
"The Goddess will know it, and it can be expelled," he said. "What offering will you make to Her in return?"
Sadly the young man dropped his gaze. "My lord, I have nothing left to offer, except my strength and my skill."
A swordsman, and he did not mention honor?
"Perhaps a year or two of service in our temple guard?" Honakura suggested, watching closely. "The reeve is the valorous Lord Hardduju of the
Seventh."
The swordsman's was a hard face, and now he gave the priest a hard look. "How many Sevenths do you need in a temple guard?" he asked warily.
"And by what oath would I be sworn?"
Honakura. edged a little closer to his meaning. "I am not familiar with all your swordsman oaths, my lord. Now that you mention it, I never
remember more than one Seventh in the guard at a time, and I have worked here more than sixty years."
They studied each other in silence for a moment. The swordsman frowned. While his kind had few scruples at eradicating each other, they did not
often appreciate advice on the subject from civilians. Honakura decided to reveal a little more.
"It is rare for highrank swordsmen to visit the temple," he said. "None at all for at least two years. Curiously, though, I have heard of several who
arrived at Hann and stated that to be their intention-at least one Seventh and a couple of Sixths."
The swordsman's huge fists clenched. "Implying?"
"I imply nothing!" Honakura said hastily. "Pure hearsay. They were reported to be planning to take the ferry, and then that long trail through the
trees. Probably they changed their minds. One did make as near as a pilgrims' hostelry, but was unfortunate enough to partake there of some tainted
meat. You are all the more welcome for your rarity, my lord."
Muscles did not necessarily imply stupidity-the young man understood. A dark flush of fury crept over his cheekbones.
He glanced around, looking at the grandiose facade of the temple and at the great court below, flanked by the shingle beach and the still pool,
beyond that to the River frothing and foaming as it emerged from the canyon, and along the canyon to the mist-shrouded splendor of the Judgment.
Then he turned his head to survey the wooded park of the temple grounds with the big houses of the senior officials. One of those would certainly
go with the office of reeve. "To be a swordsman in Her temple guard would be a great honor," he said.
"It seems to be even better rewarded these days than it used to be," Honakura remarked helpfully.
The hard face became menacing. "A man could borrow a sword, I expect?"
"That could be arranged."
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The young man nodded. "My service is always to the Goddess."
Now that, Honakura thought happily, was how a deal should be made. Murder had not even been mentioned.
"But first the exorcism?" the swordsman said.
"Certainly, my lord." Honakura could not remember an exorcism in the last five years, but he was familiar with the ritual. "Fortunately, it does not
require that your craft or even rank be mentioned. And your present garb will be adequate."
The swordsman sighed with relief. "And it will succeed?"
One did not become or prevail as Third Deputy Chairman of the Council of Venerables without learning to cover one's hindquarters. "It will
succeed, my lord, unless..."
"Unless?" echoed the swordsman, his broad face darkening with suspicion...
Or was it guilt? Carefully Honakura said, "Unless the demon has been sent by the Most High Herself. Only you know whether you have committed
some grievous transgression against Her."
An expression of great agony and sorrow fell over the swordsman's face. He dropped his eyes and was silent for a while. Then he looked up
defiantly and growled, "It was sent by the sorcerers."
Sorcerers! The little priest staggered back a step. "Sorcerers!" he blurted. "My lord, in all my years in this temple, I have never heard a pilgrim
mention sorcerers. I had hardly thought that such truly existed any more."
Now the swordsman's eyes became as terrible as the priest had guessed they might. "Oh, they exist!" he rumbled. "I have come very far, holy one,
very far. But sorcerers exist, believe me."
Honakura pulled himself together. "Sorcerers cannot prevail against the Holiest," he said confidently. "Certainly not in Her own temple. If they are
the origin of your distress, then the exorcism will succeed. Shall we see to it?"
Honakura beckoned over an orange-gowned Fourth and gave orders. Then he led the swordsman through the nearest arch and along the length of
the nave to the statue of the Goddess.
The big man sauntered at Honakura's side, taking one stride to his three, but his head twisted and turned as he gaped around at the splendor, as all
visitors must on their first glimpse of this most holy sanctuary -seeing the great blue statue itself, the silver dais before it loaded with heaps of
glittering offerings, the multicolored flaming of the stained-glass windows along both sides, the miraculous fan vaulting of the ceiling hanging like
distant sky above. The temple was busy, with many priests, priestesses, pilgrims, and other worshipers moving over the shining mosaics of the
pavement, yet their tiny figures were dwindled to dust specks by its immensity, and the vast space seemed filled with a still peace.
Inevitably, as he drew near, the swordsman became conscious only of the majesty of the statue, the Goddess Herself, the shape of a robed woman
sitting cross-legged with Her hands on Her knees and Her long hair spilling down. Huge and ominous and majestic, She loomed more and more
enormous as he approached. At last he reached the edge of the dais and threw himself on the ground in reverence.
An exorcism called for many priests and priestesses, for chanting, dancing, gesturing, ritual, and solemn ceremony. Honakura stood to one side and
allowed Perandoro of the Sixth to officiate, for it was a rare opportunity. He himself had led an exorcism only once. The swordsman crouched on
his knees within the circle, head down and arms outstretched as he had been instructed-put a tablecloth on that back, and it would hold a dinner for
three. Other priests and priestesses watched covertly as they went about their business. Pilgrims were shunted tactfully to the sides. It was very
impressive.
Honakura paid little attention to the preliminaries. He was busy planning his next move against the unspeakable Hardduju. A sword was easy-he
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could get one from Athinalani in the armory. A blue kilt for a Seventh was no problem, either, and a hairclip was a trivial detail. But swordsmen
sported distinctive boots, and to send for a pair of those, especially in the size required, would certainly provoke suspicion. Furthermore, he was
fairly sure that the rituals of dueling required that his new champion obtain a second, and that could make things complicated. It might be that he
would have to spirit this dangerous young man out of sight for a day or two while the preparations were put in hand, but so far his presence was a
secret. Honakura felt great satisfaction that the Goddess had not only answered the priests' prayers in this fashion, but had also entrusted him with
the subcontracting. He felt sure that Her confidence was not misplaced. He would see that there were no mistakes.
Then the chant rose to its climax, and a chorus of, "Avaunt!" The swordsman's head came up, first looking wildly around, and then up at the
Goddess.
Honakura frowned. The dolt had been told to keep his head down.
"Avaunt!" proclaimed the chanters once more, their rhythm just a fraction off perfection. The swordsman jerked upright on his knees, head back
and eyes so wide that the whites were showing all around. The drummers went ragged on their beat, and a trumpeter flubbed a note.
"Avaunt!" cried the chorus a third time. Perandoro raised a silver goblet full of holy water from the River and cast the contents over the
swordsman's head.
He spasmed incredibly, leaping straight from his knees into the air and coming down on his feet. The dirty loincloth fluttered to the floor, and he
stood there naked, with his arms raised, his head back, water dribbling down his face and chest. He shrieked the loudest noise that Honakura had
ever heard uttered by a human throat. For perhaps the first time in the age-old history of the temple, one voice drowned out the chorus, the lutes
and flutes, and the distant roar of the Judgment. It was discordant, bestial, horrifying, and full of soul-destroying despair. It reverberated back from
the roof. It went on for an incredible, inhuman, unbelievable minute, while the singers and musicians became hopelessly tangled, the dancers
stumbled and collided, and every eye went wide. Then the ceremony ended in a chaotic, clattering roll of drums, and the swordsman swayed over
backward.
He fell like a marble pillar. In the sudden silence his head hit the tiles with an audible crack.
He lay still, huge and newborn-naked. The rag had fallen off his forehead, revealing for all to see the craftmarks on his forehead, the seven swords.
II
The temple was a building whose origins lay hidden back in the Neolithic. Many times it had been enlarged, and most of the fabric had been
replaced from time to time as it had weathered or decayed-not once, but often.
Yet the temple was also people. They aged and were replaced much faster. Each fresh-faced acolyte would look in wonder at an ancient sage of the
Seventh and marvel that the old man had probably known so-and-so in his youth, little thinking that the old man himself as a neophyte had studied
that same so-and-so and mused that he was old enough to have known such-and-such. Thus, like stones in an arch, the men and women of the
temple reached from the darkness of the past into the unviewable glare of the future. They nurtured the ancient traditions and holy ways and they
worshiped the Goddess in solemnity and veneration...
But none of them had ever known a day like that one. Elderly priestesses of the Sixth were seen running; questions and answers were shouted
across the very face of the Goddess, violating all tradition; slaves and bearers and healers milled around in the most holy places; and pilgrims
wandered unattended before the dais itself. Four of the largest male juniors were led into back rooms by venerable seniors of unquestioned moral
probity, then ordered to take off their clothing and lie down. Three respected Sevenths had heart attacks before lunch.
The spider at the center of the web of confusion was Honakura. It was he who poked the stick in the ant hill and stirred. He summoned all his
authority, his unspoken power, his unparalleled knowledge of the workings of the temple, and his undoubted wits-and he used them to muddle,
confuse, confound, and disorder. He used them with expertise and finesse. He issued a torrent of commands-peremptory, obscure, convoluted,
misleading, and contradictory.
By the time the valiant Lord Hardduju, reeve of the temple guard, had confirmed that truly there was another swordsman of the Seventh within the
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precincts, the man had totally vanished, and no amount of cajolery, bribery, interrogation, or menace could establish where he had gone.
Which was, of course, the whole idea.
Even a day like that one must end. As the sun god began to grow tired of his glory and dip toward his exit, the venerable Lord Honakura sought rest
and peace in a small room high in one of the minor wings of the temple. He had not visited those parts for years. They were even more labyrinthine
than the rest of the complex, but ideal for his purpose. Trouble, he knew, was seeking him out-it might as well be given as long a search as
possible.
The room was a small, bare chamber, higher than it was wide, with walls of sandstone blocks and a scarred floor of planks bearing one small,
threadbare rug. There were two doors, for which even giants need not have stooped, and a single window of diamond panes, whorled and dusty,
blurring the light to green and blue blotches. The window frame had warped so that it would not open, making the room stuffy, smelling of dust.
The only furniture was a pair of oaken settles. Honakura was perched on one of those, dangling his feet, trying to catch his breath, wondering if
there was any small detail he might have overlooked.
Knuckles tapped, a familiar face peered in and blinked at him. He sighed and rose as his nephew Dinartura entered, closed the door, and advanced
to make the salute to a superior.
"I am Dinartura," right hand to heart, "healer of the third rank," left hand to forehead, "and it is my deepest and most humble wish." palms together
at the waist.
"that the Goddess Herself," ripple motion with right hand, "will see fit to grant you long life and happiness," eyes up, hands at the sides, "and to
induce you to accept my modest and willing service," eyes down, "in any way in which I may advance any of your noble purposes," hands over
face, bow.
Honakura responded with the equally flowery acknowledgment, then waved him to the other settle.
"How is your dear mother?" he asked.
Dinartura was a stooped young man with thinning light-brown hair and the start of a potbelly. He had lately abandoned the kilt of youth for the
sleeveless gown of middle age, a cotton robe in the brown color of his rank, and he tended now to hold things very close to his nose when he
wanted to see them. He was the youngest of Honakura's sister's children and, in Honakura's opinion, an inexcusably prosaic dullard, boringly
reliable.
After the formalities had been given a respectable hearing, Honakura said, "And how is the patient?" He smiled, but he waited anxiously for the
reply.
"Still out cold when I left." Dinartura was presuming on his nephewship to be informal. "He has a bump on his head this big, but there are no
morbid signs. Eyes and ears are fine. I expect he will awaken in time, and be as good as new in a day or two."
Honakura sighed with relief, so the healer added hastily, "If She wills, of course. Head injuries are not predictable. If I did not know you, my lord
uncle, I would be more cautious."
"We must be patient, then. You think two days?"
"Three might be safer," the healer said. "If you have any strenuous exercise in mind for him," he added, being uncharacteristically perceptive.
"When you need to tie him down would be about right, I think." After a pause he said, "And may I inquire what all this is about? There are many
rumors, not one of which seems credible."
Honakura chuckled, slavering slightly. "Find the least credible and you will be closest to the truth. Under the nightingale, then?"
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The Reluctant Swordsman
"Of course, my lord."
Honakura smiled to himself at the memory. "Your patient is one of five young men injured in the temple today."
"Five!" Dinartura peered closer to see if his uncle was serious.
For a moment Honakura wondered how much power he had expended during the day. He had very few IOUs left to call now; he had amassed
debts. "Very sad, you will agree? All lying prone, covered by sheets, and not speaking or moving. All have been rushed to safe places -in litters, in
sedan chairs, in carriages. In some case the litters were borne by priests, too! At least twenty-two healers have been running around, and a few
dozen other people. A couple of the victims were taken right out of the temple grounds, into the town, but others went from room to room, in one
door and out the other... There are eight or nine sickrooms like this"--he gestured toward the other great oaken door "presently being guarded."
That door led out into another corridor, but he saw no reason to mention the fact.
"Guarded by priests," the younger man said. "Then you do not trust the swordsmen? Of course I saw my patient. Do swordsmen really act as you
obviously fear?"
The priest nodded sadly. "In this case, nephew, perhaps."
The temple had a guard to maintain order, to protect the pilgrims, and to punish crime... but who watched the watchers?
"I have heard stories," Dinartura muttered, "of pilgrims molested on the trail, especially. Are you saying that the swordsmen do this?"
"Ah, well!" Honakura replied cautiously. "Not directly. The gang or gangs on the trail are not swordsmen -but they are not tracked down as they
should be, so there is bribery."
"But surely most are men of honor?" protested his nephew. "Are there none you can trust?"
The old man sighed. "Run down to the courtyard, then," he suggested. "Pick out a swordsman-a Third, say, or a Fourth-and ask him if he is a man
of honor. If he says---"
The healer paled and made the sign of the Goddess. "I had rather not, my lord!"
His uncle chuckled. "You are sure?"
"Quite sure, thank you, my lord!"
Pity! Honakura found the thought entertaining. "You are right, in a way, nephew. Most, I am sure, are honorable, but every one is sworn to a
mentor, who in turn is sworn to his own mentor or, ultimately, to the reeve himself. He alone has given an oath to the temple. Now, if he does not
order a patrol on the trail, who is to suggest it to him? The rest obey orders-and say nothing. Indeed, they must guard their tongues even more
carefully than the rest of us. Their danger is greater."
Then he noticed the look he was being given and knew exactly what thought accompanied it: The old boy is wonderful for his age... He found that
very irritating and patronizing. He was still better at almost anything than this ninny would ever be.
"So what are you doing about it, my lord uncle?"
Typically stupid question, Honakura thought. "Praying, of course! Today She answered our prayers by sending a Seventh. She summoned a demon
to drive him here."
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The Reluctant Swordsman
"Are your exorcisms always so violent?" Dinartura. asked and flinched at the frown he received.
"Exorcisms are rare, but the sutras warn that there may be extreme reaction." Honakura fell silent, and there was a pause.
The settle creaked as Dinartura leaned back and regarded his uncle with some curiosity. "This Seventh?" he asked. "Why insult him with those
quarters, with a single slave instead of a flock of attendants?"
Honakura recovered his good spirits and chuckled.
"It was the most unlikely place I could think to put him-a lowly pilgrim cottage. It opens directly onto a busy road, and he has no clothes, so he isn't
going anywhere if he wakes up. But tell me," he added with interest. "The slave? Kikarani promised a pretty one. How did she look?"
His nephew frowned, thinking. "Just a slave girl," he said. "I told her to wash him. She was tall... and large. Yes, quite pretty, I suppose." He
thought some more and added, "A certain animal sensuality, if a man wanted that."
That was typical! At least Honakura still noticed pretty girls. He knew very well what duties Priestess Kikarani assigned to her slaves. She fought
fang and claw to keep her position as hospitaler, so he could guess what sort of girls she had. "Nephew! Did you not notice?"
The younger man's face turned pink. "I think that she will suffice, uncle, if the swordsman wakes up and wants something to do... and finds that he
has no clothes."
The old priest cackled. He would have said more, but at that moment the door flew open, and loud voices could be heard shouting in the anteroom.
Then the reeve marched in. Honakura scrambled to his feet and scurried over to the other exit. He turned his back on the door and the blandest
expression he could manage on the newcomer.
Hardduju of the Seventh was a large man, although not the size of Shonsu. He was around forty, starting to run to fat. His beefiness bulged over the
top of a kilt of blue brocade shot through with gold thread; it bulged also between the tooled leather straps of his harness. He had no neck. The
sword hilt behind his right ear glittered and flashed with many small rubies set in gold filigree. The hairclip holding his thinning ponytail shone in
matching gold and ruby fires, as did the gold and ruby band on one fleshy arm. His boots were of kidskin beaded with garnets. His heavy face was
inflamed and furious.
"Hah!" he said on seeing Honakura. For a moment the two stood in silent confrontation-neither the priests' craft nor the swordsmen's could ever
admit that the other had higher status. But Hardduju was obviously the younger, and the visitor. Moreover, he was impatient, so he yielded
precedence, whipping out his sword. The healer flinched, but it was merely the start of the swordsmen's version of the greeting to an equal. "I am
Hardduju, swordsman of the seventh rank..."
When it was finished, Honakura gave his most impeccable response in his thin, slurred voice, waving his twisted old hands in the gestures.
Behind the reeve appeared a muscular young swordsman of the Fourth in an orange kilt, and a weedy slave in the usual black loincloth. The slave
carried a large bundle wrapped in a cloak. He was ignored, but after a hesitation, Hardduju proceeded to present Adept Gorramini.
Honakura in turn offered Healer Dinartura.
Then the swordsman stepped very close, folded his thick arms, and glared down at the little priest. "You have a swordsman of the Seventh?" he
barked, without waiting for further niceties.
"You refer to the formidable Lord Shonsu, I presume?" Honakura said, as though there might be some doubt. "I did have the honor of being of
assistance to the dread lord this morning, yes." He studied Hardduju's harness with interest, it being at eye level for him.
"An exorcism, I understand?" The swordsman was having trouble keeping his voice within polite limits, the priest noted-and made a vow to irritate
him much more before he was done. He raised an invisible eyebrow at the harness and mumbled some nonsense about professional ethics.
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TheReluctantSwordsmanTheReluctantSwordsmanBook1ofTheSeventhSwordByDaveDuncanISBN:0-345-35291-2BOOKONE:HOWTHESWORDSMANWASSUMMONEDI"KeepmyhearttruetoYourlaws,"Honakurawarbled,layingashakylefthandonthesmoothbrillianceofthetiledfloor."LetmeserveYourwillwithallmystrength,"hewailed,crackingonthehighnote...

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