The Parallel Man by Richard Purtill Page B

ser,” he said. “And I can’t give you exchange.”
    I pushed his hand away. “Keep it for your studies then, ser scholar,” I said, “and enough wine not to interfere with the studying.”
    He laughed at that, but his eyes were bright as he carefully stowed the disc in his clothing. “This will buy me things from off-planet that will save me much time in my studies,” he said awkwardly. “I thank you, ser, and I’m at your disposal for as long as you like. Come round to the Little Gate, going through the gift shop yonder spoils the castle for anyone with taste. Do you know any Carpathian history, ser, or should I start at the beginning?”
    “Treat me like a child at his first lessons,” I said.
    He chuckled again and fell into a lecturing tone as we walked along the paved area with the castle walls soaring above us. “Well, ser, Carpathia was colonized just before the Wars of Unity when, of course, the remoter colonies were soon cut off. A Szilar raider torched the techno complex, which they hadn’t had time to decentralize, and the planet slid right back to the feudal age in a few generations: The colonists had to go back to the most primitive subsistence farming and the starcrew who were stranded here when their ship was torched became a feudal aristocracy. The captain of the ship was a man named Casmir Jagellon who had a hobby of reading ancient history from Home. He formed his crew into an order of knighthood and got about the long task of building up civilization again . . .”
    “To restore the Golden Days . . .” I said softly. It was a phrase from my knightly oath.
    The young scholar shot me a startled glance. “But if you know the oath of the Knights of Thorn . . .” he began.
    I shook my head, “Never mind, go on as you began,” I said. “A child at his first lessons.”
    He shrugged and went on. “Well, ser, Casmir Jagellon became King Casmir the First and built the first castle here on Castle Crag. Some colonists revolted and went off to found their own societies. But most of those reverted to barbarism. Actually we know more about this early history than we do about the later history of Carpathia because for a while some sophisticated recording devices survived which could make record chips. When those broke down or wore out records were kept only with pen and ink on reed paper, and not all of these records survived. There was a Dark Age, a period from which more legends and myth than real history survive. For instance, if you look at the shield of King Casmir the Protector on the statue outside you’ll see a winged fire-breathing lizard, a firedrake. Most scholars now say they’re only legends, influenced by old stories from Home like the Bilbo-saga. Some scholars think they really existed, but they’re in the minority.”
    “Why does. . . King Casmir. . . have one on his shield?” I asked.
    He chuckled. “Oh, the usual thing, he killed a firedrake and rescued a princess.”
    “Was her name Delora?” I asked, trying to keep my voice calm.
    The young scholar shook his head. “Oh no, one of the Hedwigas, I think. Delora isn’t a Carpathian name, even, and I’m sure it doesn’t come into any of the legends.”
    A day or so ago I would have backed my own memory against a scholar’s knowledge of legends but with my new uncertainty his words gave me a sharp stab of uneasiness. “How about Mortifer?” I said.
    He laughed. “Oh yes, he comes into that legend as a cross between the wicked enchanter and the usurping regent. King Casmir eventually banished him, I think. But there are a lot of Mortifers in Carpathian history, some heroes, and some villains. Mortifer is one of the old Carpathian family names, probably descended from one of the original starcrew, though that name doesn’t appear on the log as we have it. Ah, here’s the Little Gate.”
    We entered a small but richly decorated gate; again its position but not its style matched my memories. As I expected, we stood