After braving the blazing sun of the
Arrakis desert, which the Emperor traversed fifteen years ago, Doran
collapsed by a thin, scummy brook, and delved deep enough to taste
the sandy bottom. Without external cause, he might have remained
unreflecting, eyes, as well as mouth, gulping sweet fluid mixed with
the sour accompaniment of rotting organic debris. But his lungs
rebelled, forcing the boy to rise, and then slump again, now parallel
to the ditch.
A rough hand lifted him, and when Doran
refused to secure his footing, it was accompanied by a voice.
“It's prohibited to reside along the
city's sewage outlet.”
Accustomed to the glare of the sun and
its million flashing companions, Doran reflexively shielded his eye
with his right hand. Yet this action produced no impact his sight,
and upon reflection, he said, “Where am I, though it be day, with
not a cloud gracing the sky, my vision perceives a dimness of
twilight?”
The man, for Doran could see that much,
stood in a state of disapproval and perplexity. He prepared to shake
Doran again, but hesitated, and stepped back.
“Are you sick, contagious, delirious
from the foul scooped into your mouth?”
Doran, still desiring to submerge his
body in neighborly liquid, instead lifted himself into a sitting
position. Supported by a warm surface, he explored it with trembling
fingers, and felt the bricks and mortar of a wall. With leveraging
from hands, feet, and back, he stood, steadying himself. Then he
send his hands creeping ever upwards, on a quest to locate the rim.
But they were above his head before he desisted and turned to view
the structure. It rose another six feet, and from over its edge he
heard the sound of people in the market. He smiled in relief, and
turning back, reached out a hand to the man. As one they walked
through sprawling town, where the man brought Doran into a modest
house.
After a filling meal, foreign in
nature, surrounded by a warm and friendly household, the man led the
youth outdoor to two chairs. The horizon eclipsed half the sun, and
the faint twinkling of an early star could be seen overhead.
“Now you are in a state to speak,
indulge my curiosity, who are you, and where you do you come from?”
“You mean to ask,” replied Doran,
“Why am I here? And I can tell you, for the noteworthy elements of
my tale are not long, and I shall in the same telling, answer your
less crucial queries.”
“We haven't seen anyone cross the
Arrakis in more than a dozen years.”
“That was when you saw the emperor
return?”
“Yes, it was him, and not a soul has
crossed one way or another since.”
“Needn't he collect taxes?” asked
Doran. “And what about ruling? How can he enforce his will upon a
people who never hear from his servants?”
“Sounds to me like your people
believe he rules you. What need have he of physically enforcing his
dominion, if your minds do it for him. And from what I understand,
he and his palace have no need of the meager wealth you could offer
him. No, I think he explores for another reason, not encompassed by
land or gold.”
“How could you possibly know the
emperor's intentions?” Doran interrupted.
The man observed Doran for a time, and
the youth understood his hesitancy.
“You can trust me,” said Doran.
“I served with him...”
“What..!”
“Let me finish. After our ragged
coup which brought him into power, our desperate victory at the
battle near the ford of Beruna, and our exhausting struggle before
this very city, I abandoned the bravest man the world has ever known.
And, when he rode back over a decade later, I couldn't bring myself
to look at my Emperor.”
Duran could no longer contain himself,
“I seek the emperor so I might ride with him!”
The man laughed, “At his advancing
age, the roughness of the campaign may preclude him. But his bravery
would not. Well do I remember and revere the memory of the battle we
fought here. Though fools will tell you that we were always fated to
win, those of us who rode behind his banner knew it was his fearless,
indomitable will which carried the day. Let me set the scene for
you: two thousand mounted men, outmaneuvered into a precarious
position in the desert, hampered by beasts not suitable for sand, and
harried by men handy with the bow and the treacherous terrain. They
alone outnumbered us two to one, supported by a foundation of
swordsmen, five thousand strong, and the city's petty barbarian
ruler, with his fifty mounted bodyguards.”
“And you won?” Doran asked with
eyes lit by star and moon.
“They say our master is cunning, and
he is. But his bravery (along his sword arm, for what use is courage
without skill to wield it) subsumes the courage of his entire
company, and through his will it flows out again, doubled in
quantity. When the enemy thought us weary and beaten, he led us on
the attack. Though he thrust himself into every danger, no edge
could pierce his skin. And the enemy, unexpectedly panicked by our
fierceness (and reputation, for you must remember this was our tenth
year upon campaign), threw reinforcements upon us. But he stood like
a rock, rescuing each of his faithful men in turn.”
The man paused to drink from a glass of
water, and it looked like he would fall silent.
“Go on please,” said Doran.
“There isn't more to tell.
Haphazardly, desperately did they charge us, disorderly, and each man
the Emperor saved was reinvigorated, as fresh as if he had been
reborn. The surviving enemy surrendered to him an hour later, the
those who remained.”
“There must have been only a few.”
“No, boy. Our emperor does not seek
blood. There were many, and they live here, citizens of his mercy.”
Now Doran let the silence stretch,
until the sky was a tapestry of silver string against black cloth.
“You must know where he resides.”
He could see the man nod in the
starlight.
“He may no longer seek battle, but I
wish to learn of his wisdom.”
“You needn't seek farther, for I can
tell you. He fears no wound. But I feared even the thought of one,
and that day I recognized, to my shame, a blemish of cowardice I
could not clean. Though he rescued me, I could not stand. I did not
earn his mercy, and so I remained here.”
“Where must I go?”
“If you wish to find the Emperor, the
way is not difficult, and men make regular trips between here and his
palace. Go ever eastward until you find the river Sirion, and then
search for the ford of Beruna. When I crossed, long ago, it was a
dirt path passing through a small town, but stories say it has grown
large, and I would be surprised if a splendid road didn't lead
directly across it.”
“Then I will seek it. I thank you
for your hospitality, and wish you well.”
And Doran set off into the night for
his next destination.
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