Sheri S. Tepper - Shapeshifter 01 - King's Blood Four.pdf

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King's Blood Four – Shapeshifter 01
Sheri S. Tepper
1
King's Blood Four
"Totem to King's Blood Four. " The moment I said it, I
knew it was wrong. I said, "No!"
Gamesmaster Gervaise tapped the stone floor with
his iron-tipped staff, impatiently searching our faces for
a lifted eye or for a raised hand. "No?" he echoed me.
Of the three Gamesmasters of Mertyn's House, I liked
Gervaise the best.
"When I said 'no, ' I meant the answer wasn't quite
right. " Behind me Karl Pig-face gave a sneaky gasp as
he always does when he is about to put me down, but
Gamesmaster Gervaise didn't give him a chance.
"That's correct, " he agreed. "Correct that it isn't
quite right and might be very wrong. The move is one
we haven't come across before, however, so take your
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time. Before you decide upon the move, always remem-
ber who you are. " He turned away from us, staff tap-
tapping across the tower room to the high window which
gaped across the dark bulk of Havad's House down to
River Reave where it wound like a tarnished ribbon
among all the other School Houses—each as full of stu-
dents as a dog is of fleas, as Brother Chance, the cook,
would say. All the sloped land between the Houses was
crowded full of dwellings and shops, all humping their
way up the hills to the shuttered Festival Halls, then
scattering out among the School Farms which extended
to the vacant land of the Edge. I searched over the
Gamesmaster's shoulder for that far, thin line of blue
which marked the boundaries of the True Game. Karl
cleared his throat again, and I knew his mockery was
only deferred, unless I could find ah answer quickly. I
wouldn't find it by staring out at Schooltown.
I turned back to the game model which hung in the air
before us, swimming in icy haze. Somewhere within the
model, among the game pieces which glowed in their
own light or disappeared in their own shadow—some
where in the model was the Demesne, the focal area,
the place of power where a move could be of
significance. On our side, the students' side, Demon
loomed on a third level square casting a long, wing-
shaped shadow. Two fanged Tragamors boxed
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the area to either side. Before them stood
Gamesmaster Gervaise's only visible piece, the King,
casting ruddy light before him. It was King's Blood
Four, an Imperative—which meant I had to move
something. None of the battle pieces were right;
it had to be something similar to Totem. Almost
anything could be hiding behind the King, and
Gamesmasters don't give hints. Something similar, of
like value, something... then I had it.
"Talisman, " I blurted. "Talisman to King's Blood
Four. "
"Good. " Gervaise actually smiled. "Now, tell me
why!"
"Because our side can't see what pieces may be hiding
behind the King. Because Talisman is an absorptive
piece, that is, it will soak up the King's play. Totem is re-
flective. Totem would splash it around, we'd maybe lose
some pieces... "
"Exactly. Now, students, visualize if you please. We
have King, most durable of the adamants, whose
'blood, ' that is, essence, is red light. Demon, most pow-
erful of the ephemera, whose essence is shadow.
Tragamors making barriers at the sides of the Demesne.
The player is a student, without power, so he plays Tal-
isman, an absorptive piece of the lesser ephemera. Tal-
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isman is lost in play, 'sacrificed' as we say. The player
gains nothing by this, but neither does he lose much, for
with this play the Demesne is changed, and the game
moves elsewhere in the purlieu. "
"But, Master, " Karl's voice oozed from the corner
"A strong player could have played Totem. A powerful
player. "
I flushed. Of course. Everyone in the room knew
that, but students were not strong, not powerful, even
though Karl liked to pretend he was. It was just one
more of his little pricks and nibbles, like living with a
hedgehog. Gamesmaster tilted his head, signifying he
had heard, but he didn't reply. Instead, he peered at the
chronometer on the wall, then out the window to check
where the mountain shadow fell upon the harbor, finally
back to our heavily bundled little group. "So. Enough
for today. Go to the fires and your supper. Some of you
are half frozen. "
We were all half frozen. The models could only be
controlled if they were kept ice cold, so we spent half
our lives shivering in frigid aeries. I was as cold as any of
them, but I wanted to let Karl get out of the way, so 1
went to the high window and leaned out to peer away
south. There was a line of warty little islands there
separating the placid harbor with its wheeling gulls from:
the wide, stormy lake and the interesting lands of the
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True Game beyond. I mumbled something. Gervaise
demanded I repeat it.
"It's boring here in Schooltown, " I repeated,
shamefaced.
He didn't answer at once but looked through me in
that very discomforting way the Masters sometimes
have. Finally he asked me if I had not had Gamesmaster
Charnot for Cartography. I said I had.
"Then you know something of the lands of the True
Game. You know of the Dragon's Fire purlieu to the
North? Yes. Well, there are a King and Queen there
who decided to rear their children Outside. They
wanted to be near their babies, not send them off to a
distant Schooltown to be bored by old Gamesmasters.
They thought to let the children learn the rules of play
by observation. Of the eight sons born to that Queen,
seven have been lost in play. The eighth child sleeps this
night in Havad's House nursery, sent to Schooltown at
last.
"It is true that it is somewhat boring in Schooltown,
and for no one more so than the Masters! But, it is also
safe here, Peter. There is time to grow, and learn. If you
desire no more than to be a carter or laborer or some
other pawn, you may go Outside now and be one. How-
ever, after fifteen years in Mertyn's House, you know
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