The Ultimate Stonemage: A Modest Autobiography by Duncan McKenzie Page A

warm weather. No, I fear we must wait until the spring before construction can begin.”
    On hearing this, I could see the archbishop was pleased, though he feigned concern, while my dear bishopa was distressed.
    “I shall accede to your expertise in these matters,” she said. “Tell me though, Archbishop Yreth, are there any other skills you possess with which you might usefully and visibly employ yourself in the months before the thaw?”
    “Your Worship, I have many skills,” I said, and here we exchanged smiles, and a minute pursing and licking of the lips, though in a subtle way, so it might not be detected by those others present. “As well as being a stonemage without equal, I am an accomplished painter and a passable cook. In addition, I have experience as a commander of myrmidons.”
    “Ah!” she said. “In that capacity I can well use you. I hereby make youCommander of the Northern Guard, and with the post you shall receive a further sixty arrans per month.”
    Ha! So, the Archbishop of Ulph, who had tried to deprive me of my posts, merely succeeded in winning for me another post, a still greater salary, and a great increase in my powers, for now I had myrmidons in my command.
    Let me tell you something of theNorthern Guard. The body numbered eight hundred and thirty myrmidons and ninety-three slaves. These latter, while they were called merely “slaves” were equal to all the tasks of a head slave, and would have gone by this description in the east. In ancient times, the Northern Guard patrolled the lands far to the north of Quebec, providing the first line of defence against theEager Tribes who once ranged the area.
    Of course, at the time of which I speak, the Eager Tribes were long dead and buried, and the main function of the Northern Guard was now to seek out spies and heretics and enemies of the church. I undertook this mission with great zeal, reading many books on the methods whereby spies and heretics and enemies of the church might be discovered. If you read on, you will learn my method, which I devised by taking those elements of the other methods I had studied which seemed to me the most prudent, and combining them with my own insights into the nature of the human animal.
    When my studies were complete, I gathered together sixty myrmidons and went marching into Quebec, following theCathedral Road, past the foul-smelling fields used by the leather workers, and through the market, which is in the centre of the town, close to the abbey. I ordered the myrmidons to march slowly, making a great stamping sound, so all might be aware of our approach.
    When we were into the market, I bade the myrmidons stop, then narrowed my eyes and fixed my gaze upon various people, observing their reaction to my observation. There was one man, a fishmonger, who looked nervously about and refused to meet my gaze, whereupon I pointed at him, and upon this signal several myrmidons ran at the fellow. He took to his heels, his attempted escape merely assuring me my suspicions of his guilt were correct. Of course, my myrmidons were very much swifter than he, and they soon overtook him and brought him back to me as a prisoner.
    We marched on for a short way, along a narrow street, where many people sat outside their houses, wrapped in warm furs, and playing dice in the snow. Here we stopped, and once again I narrowed my eyes and examined every face. Two people, a young woman and a boy with spotted skin, seemed to me the most suspicious, so once more I sent the myrmidons after them, and they took flight. The woman ran here and there, screaming, and was quickly caught. The boy, though, was much faster, and might have escaped if, by God’s grace, he had not slipped on the ice and broken one of his legs. So, in short order, the guilty pair were my prisoners.
    Travelling on, we arrived at the harbour. I fixed many people with my gaze here, but none showed guilt. Yet two of these people were monks, and suddenly my powers of