Three Names of the Hidden God Read Free Page A

explain, in truth! I was ordered by—”
    But in that peculiar moment Lealla, fierce daughter of the Qalif, drew steel, the cool blade hanging at her side. With one smooth motion it left the sheath and in a moment its tip w as resting at the back of the scribe’s neck.
    “ Silence!” she said, and the man on the ground stilled. “Do not befoul the air with your lies—for it will be lies that will come forth from you. And as far as this one—”
    And then the Qalia stepped away and sheat hed her sword, and suddenly Ruogo found himself facing two cool, intense eyes—and it seemed there was nothing in the world but those eyes, no face, no crowd, no heat of sun, nothing.
    “ This one,” repeated Lealla, boring into him with inexplicable fury. “He is clever and has a smooth tongue but not enough judgment to keep him out of trouble. Well, what do you say now, birdcatcher?”
    Ruogo looked down at the mud at his feet. “ Whatever I say now,” he replied quietly, “will be misconstrued.”
    The bizarre tension w as dispelled by the Qalif himself, his laughter.
    “ Why pick on this poor youth, my dear child?” said the Qalif. “He did ask you a reasonable—as he insists—question. And now I too am curious. How came you to be aware of each of the different places at once, when walls separated you from them?”
    The maiden blanched, but did not lose a moment in answering. “ As soon as the edges of the walls were cleared of mud, I had mirrors installed, my lord father. Knowing ahead that miracles might befall us, I wanted to witness all and miss nothing.”
    “ Mirrors?”
    She pointed to the corners of the structure where indeed something white blazed in the sun, a spot of reflected fire. “ Angled mirrors that show what is on the other side and around the corner. My own conceit, father. How do you think I can spy so well on my lazy serving maids?”
    The Qalif ’s mouth parted in surprise. “But—how can you see anything from the distance? These mirrors are tiny.”
    Lealla touched her right hand to her throat and brought out a tiny golden device on a chain. “It is a magnifying lens of glass carved in such a manner that allows me to see from a distance. The same kind that your physicians use to look at tiny objects.”
    “ Amazing!” the Qalif exclaimed. “You are a wonder, my daughter. If only my son had half of your wits and vision—”
    Something terrible and bright settled in the Qalia ’s eyes at the mention of the son. She said nothing, only lowered her gaze.
    “ Enough interruptions, then,” said the Qalif. “I want to know how to open those doors safely without incurring the wrath of the Hidden God.”
    “ Forgive me for speaking one last time, my lord,” Ruogo said. “But from where we stand, there are only two mirrors, enough to show two other sides, not the very opposite third. In addition, even if equipped with a clever spying glass, it is impossible for one man or woman to see two things that are happening simultaneously in different places, much less three.”
    The Qalif frowned. “ An excellent observation, young man,” he said. “You are clever.”
    The Qalia was staring at Ruogo with a look that intended to kill. But her father was quite taken with him, and he said, “Come forward, tell me, what is your name, birdcatcher? For, I see you are among their group.”
    “ I am Ruogo,” he replied, with a deep bow.
    “ Tell me, Ruogo,” the Qalif said, “What do you think of this door closest to us?”
    Ruogo hesitated only a moment. “ I am not sure, my lord. But it seems this is a symbolic representation. The bird indicates either all birds in general, or it is a character symbol for something else. Something that your scribes might know better than any of us in the bird trade.”
    This earned him some angry looks from the other birdcatchers.
    In that moment, the Qalif’s daughter, who had been glancing around them peculiarly all this time, exclaimed, “Khoiram! My lord