Key to Chroma

  "He is an interesting man. Red chose to accompany him in mortal guise so that she could possess him anonymously."

  "Yes, she and Ine had at him, last trip out,” Symbol agreed, remembering Gale's report. “While you were with Dour. He's your real boyfriend?"

  "In a manner. We had relations a century or so ago, but lost interest. More recently you acquainted me with new wiles, and Gale acquainted him with the delights of a lovely woman. We wished to explore these passing aspects of sex, in our mortal forms, so did so. But we will neither marry nor breed with each other, as clarified. We will seek mortals for that."

  "You really can breed? I thought if you're immortal—"

  "We can breed with mortals, and surely could with immortals too if we cared to. But we know each other too well for this to be satisfying."

  They found the cave entrance, landed, and entered. Again light flared from the Glamor's hands, reflecting off the silver walls. And again there was no ikon in the altar.

  They checked a third, and a fourth silver volcano, without positive result. The fifth one was in incipient eruption, so they left that one and checked another instead. But as the day waned—they seemed to be bearing east, causing it to wane faster—they still had found nothing.

  "I realize you can go on forever, but I am tiring,” Symbol said. “May we stop for the night?"

  "Acquiescence. I am slightly fatigued myself."

  "You? But I thought your power was limitless."

  "Negation. We can tire too, if overworked. I have never conjured so often, so far before. Rest becomes attractive."

  They conjured to a cave in a nonChroma mountain, where Lucent set a magical ward to keep intruders out, then fashioned a comfortable den with piles of pillows, and loaves of bread, wheels of cheese, and wineskins. They took knives to the bread and cheese and made sandwiches.

  "No offense,” Symbol said. “Why not just conjure sandwiches?"

  "Complicated. We have deals with a bakery, cheesery, winery, and others, to do them certain favors if they provide us with their fresh staples, but sandwiches do not keep the way sealed things do, so are less convenient."

  "I supposed you merely generated them from nothing."

  Lucent laughed. “What magic ever did that? They must be conjured from somewhere. We lack the expertise to make bread, cheese, or wine from their natural origins, and would not bother if we could; it is far more convenient to deal for them whole."

  "Comprehension. I did know that, but somehow attributed unreasonable powers to Glamors. What deals did you make?"

  "Depends on the situation. For the cheesery we located superior goats, fine and tasty milkers. For the winery, Red assumed the form of a beautifully buxom nonChroma girl and provided remarkable entertainment for the men. She has a talent for that."

  "So I gather,” Symbol said, remembering Gale's description of what she had read in Ine's mind one of the nights Stevia had had at Havoc. She took a bite of her sandwich, and a drink from her wineskin, and found both excellent; the makings were indeed fresh. “Curiosity: the story you told me of your deception by your Translucent Chroma husband, on whom we wreaked vengeance—untrue?"

  "True in essence. He did do it to his wife, and she did join the Amazons, but never returned for vengeance. I assumed her identity for that. It is important to us that our mortal identities not be penetrated, lest our nature be revealed. We go to some trouble to make them secure."

  "Affirmation! I never suspect you were a Glamor. And if I had suspected, I would have taken you for the Translucent Glamor, matching your apparent Chroma."

  "We try not to match,” Lucent agreed. “But we could if it happened to be convenient."

  "And those emotional sieges as we approached the Translucent cone—did they really affect you?"

  "Affirmation. I could have blocked them, but that would not have been in character for mortality."

  "So you submitted to rape at one point, and sex with another woman at another, to maintain your identity?"

  "Affirmation. These things are of little moment to us."

  Symbol hesitated, then decided to go for it. “Desire: to know how you became a Glamor. I presume you were mortal first."

  "Exchange: your personal history for mine."

  "Enthusiasm! I can show mine in illusion, if you wish."

  "Agreement."

  Symbol brought out her Air Chroma gem and selected the story. In a moment the illusion spread out, filling the cave, making its walls disappear. The two of them also disappeared, together with what they were eating.

  The scene was of an Air Chroma residence, pretty in the manner most such houses were, because all of what was visible was crafted by illusion. Around it played four children, all pretty. “Everyone is pretty in the Air Chroma,” Symbol explained. “Because everyone is invisible, and can be seen only by his or her crafted illusion. I regret I don't have sound; this recording was made in an incidental manner by our parents."

  "Which child are you?"

  "The smallest. I was a fourth, you see. A changeling, though I did not then know the significance of that. Fourths are supposed to be treated equally, but that is not necessarily the case among children."

  "Remembrance."

  Of course: Glamors were changelings, so she had been through it. Symbol had never expected to be on close terms with a Glamor, or to have any common experience. She was in danger of coming to like this woman.

  The three older children were playing with an illusion ball. Little Symbol wanted to play too, but it became an increasingly cruel game of keep-away, until a parent intervened. But the point had been made.

  The next scene showed her older, alone, watching an educational illusion show. “I got less interested in children's games, and more interested in studies,” Symbol said. “I turned out to be unusually smart, which did not help my social status."

  Another scene showed a group of older children coming to discover the girl playing with diagrams, trying to fathom mathematical relationships. “They asked me what I was doing, and I said I was contemplating symbols. That's how I came to be named. It was derisive at first, for they did not care at all about the ubiquity and usefulness of symbols, but it remained, and I was satisfied with it."

  Then she was a novice woman, as pretty as they all were, attending a dance. A boy whispered in her ear, and she left the dance with him. “He was popular and I was eager,” she said. “And it turned out that I was good at sex, in part because my physical body closely matched my illusion body. When sight gave way to naked touch, that became known. I may have made social or tactical errors, or been clumsy, that first time, but he didn't notice, because I had firming breasts and well formed slender hips and thighs. I was lightly but perfectly proportioned, and in a year I developed in all the right physical places. I became popular with the boys, unpopular with the girls. So I worked at it, learning how to truly please a boy—or a man. But I was also cynical, because those same boys had been indifferent to me as a child, and I never had a forgiving nature."

  "Remembrance."

  "As a young adult I became a guide for otherChroma travelers, because I craved adventure and this was as close as I could get to it before my maturity. I conveyed them no fault, learning the special ways of foreign men, and never had a complaint. But I knew that when I turned eighteen I would have to marry and start generating children. That prospect appalled me, for it meant the end of excitement. But what could I do? I was just a village girl, popular in the wrong way. The men I dazzled, including some of the fathers of my erstwhile playmates, had little respect for me, and hardly cared about my intellect. Nor did I respect them. Had I made known my real opinions, I would have been less popular yet."

  There were scattered scenes of her traveling with different men—always men—through varied illusion scenes. “I was getting perilously close to my birthday. Then something happened."

  The scene shifted, and now there was sound. It showed the guide station, with a sloppily garbed middle-aged
nonChroma man approaching. “I need to rendezvous with the king's party, and seem to have lost my way,” he explained.

  Other guides sized him up and shrugged. That left Symbol. “There was something about him,” she said over the illusion. “I had learned to read men, and knew that he was not what he seemed. But I wasn't sure what that meant. So I gambled, and took him on."

  Symbol, now recognizable as a younger version of her present self, approached the man. “The king's party is two days hence. I will guide you, no fault."

  "Appreciation, pretty maiden. What is your price?"

  "Do you have news of far places?"

  "I hail from Triumph City. I can tell you of that."

  "Do you know anything of the palace level?"

  "I have worked there on occasion, and am privy to much of the royal gossip."

  "Done."

  They set off on foot, following the trails she knew. As they walked, he told her of the great pyramidal city of Triumph, that floated on a lake, and of the king's palace that occupied its apex. He shared stories of the rivalries among bath girls, and occasional miscues, such as when a lusty maiden sneaked into the king's bed in darkness, only to discover the king's wife there alone. The Lady could have had the girl abolished, but decided to facilitate the joke by lending the girl her own robe and departing just before the king arrived. “By the time he caught on to the exchange, it was too late—or so he said. Few believed that he really could not have distinguished the lush eagerness of the girl from the practiced accommodation of the queen. Next day the queen gave him the word: it was time he had a formal mistress, so that he would not have to grasp at anything that offered. It was humor; he had been largely faithful to her, having been foolish enough to fall in love with her despite its having been a political marriage.” Lucent listened, clearly fascinated with every detail.

  At length the man paused. “This information is really rather routine. Are you sure I am not boring you?"

  "Enthrallment."

  "I realize this is anonymous no fault. But if you care to answer, what is it you want in life?"

  "Travel, adventure, and the appreciation of a good man,” she answered promptly.

  "Not a husband and family?"

  "Eventually. I would like to live a full life first."

  "Again, you have no need to answer. But I am curious what else interests you."

  She hesitated. “It is not my position to tell you of my thoughts, but to satisfy yours, for the duration of this journey. You have done your part, telling me of Triumph City and the gossip of the palace. I do not wish to bore you."

  "I am a man of curious tastes. Speak to me."

  So she spoke, telling him of things she had learned, and of things that interested her, and of her futile dreams. He listened with surprising patience.

  They came to the campsite. Symbol got immediately to work to prepare things for his comfort. But he insisted on helping her. “How can I fulfill my share, if you do my work?” she inquired, smiling.

  "Apology for intruding.” But he continued to help, though it was evident that he lacked experience in this sort of thing, as many men did.

  They shared a supper, cleaned up, then retired to the cabin and the single bed. This was of course the real appeal of no fault travel: unfettered sex, to be enjoyed without consequence. Men liked it, of course, but so did many women; it gave them experience without commitment. She did her best, as she always did, making sure that he had no regrets about traveling with her. He turned out to be a fit man, and there was more than one bout of sex despite his age. Then he slept, and she slept with him, happy that she had more than satisfied him, but wishing that there could be something more for her in life than this.

  In the morning they resumed travel. “I like you very well, anonymous maiden,” he said. “Would you care to come to Triumph City with me?"

  "Enthusiasm,” she said before thinking.

  "But you hardly know me. Let me clarify. I work at the royal palace, though I travel often. Sometimes my life is in danger. And I am married."

  "Travelers normally are. That is why no fault relationships exist. Perhaps I can find a man to marry in Triumph City."

  "But I understood you to say you did not wish to marry."

  "Affirmation, at least for my youth. Later, when my bloom is off, I would like to have children and the responsibilities of family. But what choice do I have? Better to marry young in a fabulous setting than to remain in my dull home Chroma zone."

  "I believe you could escape marriage for a time by becoming the mistress of a palace official."

  That was somewhat less than her dream, but perhaps the most realistic way to enter a new venue without starving. “That would be preferable to what awaits me here."

  "Then I will take you as my mistress. I promise you a life of travel, adventure, and appreciation."

  "Accepted,” she said, again before she thought.

  The illusion show ended. “I did not know we were being recorded,” Symbol said. “For reasons of his own, the man did not have more of this sequence recorded."

  "And he turned out to be the king,” Lucent said.

  "King Deal,” she agreed. “Traveling anonymously while another man emulated him as king—a standard device I did not then know. He had been looking for a mistress, but was choosy; he wanted intellect as well as beauty. Love as well as loyalty. He took me to Triumph City and introduced me to his wife the Lady Aspect, who was remarkably gracious. I liked her from that moment, and learned much from her. She became my dearest friend, a wonderful woman. She bore his children; I diverted him at other times. We coordinated on the common project: the welfare of the king. And he delivered: when he traveled, his wife remained in the city, and I went with him, and had all the adventure he did. He paid me much attention when we were alone together, and was a fine sexual and intellectual partner. I soon came to love him, in my fashion, and I believe he loved me too, though I was always secondary to his wife. I was well satisfied with that, and never sought to displace the Lady Aspect, as she knew. There was something about him, apart from the fact he was king. Now I know it was that he was another changeling. He had been attracted to me for similar reason, and when he discovered that I had a mind as well as a body, he took me. Of course he could have had me simply by revealing his identity, or by commanding my service, but he wanted a genuine relationship. So it continued, until his assassination twelve years later."

  "That concerned us,” Lucent said. “We approved King Deal, and did not like such interference. Thereafter we shifted our policy and began to get involved in mortal politics."

  "As this present mission demonstrates,” Symbol agreed. “Perhaps it is better this way. But I can never forgive myself for betraying King Deal and leading to his death."

  "You did not kill him."

  "I did what I thought I was supposed to, keeping an accurate record of his activities. I did not know that this record was being read by his enemy, who killed him. It was my fault.” She felt tears, though she was not normally a crying woman. “I ended his life, and widowed the Lady Aspect, and brought desolation on myself. I should have been executed."

  "Disagreement. You were duped, as were we all. You will not betray the king again."

  "I have already betrayed King Havoc, by falling in love with him. He took me as mistress out of pity—I who never had pity for anyone else. My very existence is an affront to Gale, his true love."

  "Yet you have helped Gale in much the way the Lady Aspect helped you."

  "Only by diverting the sexual attention of her man."

  There was a dangerous flash of blue. “Obscenity!"

  Symbol was startled. “If I have offended you, Glamor, apology. I forgot my place."

  "You offend me in this manner: by refusing to recognize your positive impact on King Deal, the Lady Aspect, King Havoc, and the Lady Gale. You supported and counseled the first throughout, making him a stronger and better king. You helped the second similarly; she never had to be
concerned about her husband's welfare when he was with you. You civilized the third, enabling him to relate efficiently to the formidable role he was thrust into. And you are perhaps the best friend the fourth has in Triumph City. You are a sexual creature, but also a dedicated person, and a significant force for the harmonious establishment of the new order. We all depend on you for the continuation of those roles."

  Symbol stared at her. “I thought the Glamors neither knew nor cared about the social relationships of mortals."

  "We care now. And we need you as you are."

  "I will try to serve the post,” Symbol said humbly.

  "Appreciation. Now it is my turn to display my private personal history."

  An illusion scene appeared, similar to the one Symbol had shown. But the Glamor needed no Air gem to facilitate it; the power was inherent in her. It showed a scene in monochromatic blue: blue trees, blue grass, a blue stream, and a blue girl child sitting alone on the bank, contemplating the ground. The view closed in, enlarging the girl, showing her face—which was badly scarred. “I suffered an accident in infancy that bashed my face and damaged my body, making me ugly and awkward. I was a changeling, as is now known, but then thought of myself only as a fourth. I had a good mind, but no one cared about that."

  The illusion scene shifted orientation, focusing on the ground the blue girl was staring at. There was a small nest of blue ants there, the five-legged creatures busily attending their business. “I was always intrigued by insects,” Lucent said. “They called me Bug. I was largely outcast, being unpretty and clumsy. Blue is known as the Animal Chroma, but most folk think in terms of conventional animals, not insects. I consoled myself by studying my subject, hoping when I was grown to be an entomologist. There are perhaps more varieties of insects on the planet than any other creature, and a greater number of them, and their adaptations and specializations are unrivaled. They accomplish vital things we do not even notice because most are small.” Lucent's face appeared, superimposed on the illusion scene. “Am I boring you?"

  "I would not presume to—"

  "Answer."