The Yngling and the Circle of Power



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EIGHTEEN

The first storm of autumn had darkened the palace at Miyun. Rain
snarled against walls, and rattled like flung gravel against
windows and shutters. Gusty winds swatted and whuffed. The wind
chimes had been taken in to prevent their blowing away, and
servants had lit censers to placate the house gods they persisted
in believing in. The emperor, who preferred a free flow of fresh
air through the palace, weather permitting, tolerated the censers
and the beliefs they reflected. Their fragrance was preferable to
unperfumed domestic odors.

Tenzin Geshe hardly noticed. His gomba, his monastery,
smelled always of pine and faintly fragrant lamp oil. After holding
his bow for an appropriate time, he straightened. “Your
Magnificence,” he said, “the Circle and I have just
visited the mind of the raven elemental we created. Ravens have
found the barbarian you are interested in. The elemental has gone
to him, and the three men with him, and shown them to us clearly.
The man is a giant, as I’d sensed before, with eyes that are
dead and do not see. He sees without them, using wizard
powers.”

“Indeed! And where are these men now?”

“In the steppe on the other side of the Altai, traveling
northward toward the taiga.”

“Northward? With winter coming? Why?”

“The raven did not have that knowledge, Your
Magnificence.”

“Hmh! How was that? You told me it would be able to read
the barbarian’s mind.”

“I had not counted on the barbarian’s powers being
as strong as they are, Your Magnificence. He seems to protect
himself and those with him from being read. But we know where they
are now, and as long as the raven retains contact, we’ll
continue to know.”

“Ah! Well . . . I am extremely
interested in this giant barbarian; he has caught my curiosity
strongly. Be sure your bird does retain contact with
him.”

The emperor pursed his lips, and his voice became more
commanding, losing its mildly interrogative tone. “Now that
you’ve succeeded in creating a raven elemental, I have
another job for you. I want you to create a yeti elemental to serve
as my personal bodyguard. It must be more intelligent and
perceptive than any other yeti, and altogether superior in energy
and strength.”

Again Tenzin bowed. “’Your Magnificence, my
experience in creating elementals of animals is limited to a
bird.”

The emperor brushed the comment aside. “This yeti
elemental must be dominant over all other yetis and completely
devoted to me.” He raised one eyebrow meaningfully. “I
would not have it equivocate as some of my human servants
do.”

Tenzin Geshe bowed low and held it. “Of course, Your
Magnificence.”

“Then do it. Wait here while I call the captain of my yeti
guard. I will instruct him to review the entire guard with you, and
also the young yetis in training. You may pick whichever one you
wish as the receptacle. Keeping its purpose in mind of
course.”

He struck a small gong, and almost at once a runner entered. The
emperor instructed him, and the runner backed out.

Tenzin carefully avoided thought; screening in the
emperor’s presence would be a dangerous affront. But later,
in the gomba, he allowed himself to think that things were
seldom as simple as His Magnificence seemed to imagine.
Manipulating the mental energies of large, intelligent, and
sometimes truculent predators was not the same as manipulating
those of peaceful birds. Birds which, if more intelligent than
other birds, fell well short of yetis.

Still, if he could, he would. It was never a good idea to
disappoint the emperor.



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