Complete Fiction by Clifford C. Reed

Author:Clifford C. Reed [Reed, Clifford C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jerry eBooks
Published: 2022-10-28T21:00:00+00:00

Birkla shrieked. Jonwel had her arm, and was twisting it mercilessly. Her body was dragged towards him, over the table. She saw his heavy face, with its dark jowls, glaring down at her.

“You have a bad habit,” Jonwel told her. “You calculate you may spill your poison where you will.” He released her, shoving her away. “You will remember from this time that I do not like your poison.”

He looked coldly then at Hengsi, dismissing the woman. “What is this word of liars?” he demanded.

“Hengbur,” Hengsi faltered. His face quivered. Clearly this exhibition of violence had upset him. “And others. They speak against the Council’s judgments.”

“How?”

“They speak that we waste what is offered. That when a new thought is voiced, the Council judges it good only if it does not go beyond what is already practiced. That we permit only what will prop up, not on which to build.” His eyes were hot. “They speak the Council is afraid of all that is new.”

Jonwel shrugged.

“Is that all you answer?” Hengsi’s lips turned down further. “Is that your mind? That you are on the Council, and against it in the same breath.”

Jonwel sneered. “The Council judgments are those of Hengsi and Birkla. All Shiptoun gets this is true. That the voice of Jonwel is empty on the Council.”

There were blotches on Hengsi’s face. His voice, when it came, was thick. “If that is true, it is because Jonwel’s judgment is not true.” His thin fists were white. “It is your part to stand on the line of the Council.”

“How?” Jonwel demanded.

“To command your levy to obey the word I give against the liars.”

Jonwel was still, not trusting himself to speak. And Hengsi, staring at the face of the Captain of Levies, drew away, his own anger ebbing in fear of what he saw.

Abruptly the portly man laughed, pushing back in his chair, standing up. “I do not give that order,” he told the Chief Maintainer. “That is not the work for them. That is for your messengers who make their war in the dark.” He rolled towards the door, flung it open, and departed.

“For that—!” Hengsi whispered. “For that—!”

He whirled, seizing Birkla’s shoulder. “Send the messengers after him,” he commanded. “Send them. Now!”

Stoically she endured the pain where he gripped her hurt arm. “Is Jonwel a first thing?” she questioned.

Slowly the madness passed from Hengsi’s eyes. “The liars are first,” he conceded.

She nodded. “Then I will send them first to Hengbur,” she said. She nodded. “But you may hear my word in this. When Jonwel comes next to the Council House I will give him to you.”

Within three days Birkla’s messengers struck at Pasture’s End. Struck, and departed. And, after they left, others left also. To carry word of the Council’s judgment. Returning home, not only shocked, but anxious also. Knowing they had cause to be anxious.

Godal the Smith looked at his two sons ominously. “That is not a good word to bring me,” he commented.

The younger men shifted their feet nervously, and Godal’s lips tightened.

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