Although Maia stuffed herself heartily (which clearly pleased the queen), she was careful not to drink more than a little of the excellent wine. "Never do 'f I was to get
tipsy," she thought. "That'd be a right old mess, that would, on top of a bit of luck like this."
As the courses, carried up from below, succeeded one another and sheer appetite began to slacken, she became, as she had at Sarget's party, more aware of the elegance and style of her surroundings. Although nothing could have been called ostentatious, no one suddenly set down in it by magic (which was just about what had happened to her, she reflected) would have had the least difficulty in at once perceiving this to be the dining-hall of a wealthy aristocrat. It resembled, she thought, one of Sencho's rooms to about the same extent as her pleasure with Elvair-ka-Virrion had resembled the kind of thing Sencho used to require of her. The truth, she now realized, was that whatever the future might hold in store, she was glad to think she had done with Sencho.
"Barla, little sweetheart," said Fornis at length, "do you think you could go down all by yourself to the kitchens and bring up the syllabubs? Tell them to give you another bowl of serrardoes, too, and some lipsica. Have you ever tasted lipsica?" she added to Maia, as the little boy, naked as he was, took up a silver tray and went out of the room. "It's made of fermented peaches. Ikat's the only place where they know how to make it."
"No, I haven't," said Maia. "That's something I don't think even the High Counselor went in for-not while I was with him, any road."
"What sort of things did he go in for?" As she spoke, Fornis got up, walked round the table and seated herself beside Maia.
"Well, there was one drink he particularly liked as was made of a mixture of pears and white grapes," answered Maia. She giggled. "Sometimes I had to give it to him in a spoon; that's when he'd got too full up to move, you know-"
"I didn't mean his drinks," said Fornis. Maia, leaning back on the cushions and looking up at her, now saw again the sorceress who had gazed up through the moonlit leaves of the zoan tree. "You did other things for him as well, didn't you?"
Maia's answering smile was complicit. "Oh, ah! All sorts of funny things."
"Tell me. Come on, tell me!"
Maia, disconcerted now, looked down, picking at the gold tassel of one of the cushions.
"The candles make it rather hot in here, don't they?" said Fornis. "Let's go outside and get some fresh air."
The moon had risen, throwing, through the trellised arcading, criss-cross patterns of light over the tiled floor of the gallery. Scents of tiare and lenkista filled the cool, shadowy air. Without the least hesitation or uncertainty Maia took the Sacred Queen of Airtha in her arms and kissed her again and again. Together with gratitude for her release, she felt full of a passionate delight both in her surroundings and her good fortune. To her surprise, she realized that she genuinely desired the queen, who was responding to her with a kind of obeisant but passionate self-surrender, leaning backwards with closed eyes.
"Bite me, Maia! Harder! Harder!"
Beyond the roof-tops an owl called somewhere in the trees, and the sound, agonizingly, brought back Occula to Maia's mind. At all costs she must find a way to intercede for Occula. Yet if she were to confide in the queen, might not the queen become jealous? How soon could she safely introduce the subject? She considered, even in the act of complying with the lithe, panting woman in her arms; and answered herself, sensibly enough, "After she's had what she wants."
"What sort of things did you do for Sencho, then?" whispered Fornis, releasing her. "Did you ever have to punish him?"
"Punish him, Folda?" Maia was puzzled. "How d'you mean?"
At this moment there broke out from below a sudden clamor; a crash and clatter of something falling was followed by the terrified screaming of a child, the growling and snarling of some fierce animal, stumbling feet and cries of alarm. Zuno came darting out of the supper-room, leaving the door open behind him, ran to the stair-head and vanished down the stairs.
Without the least appearance of haste or discomposure Fornis nevertheless moved very swiftly. She seemed not to run, yet Maia found herself running to keep up with her. When the noise broke out they had been some little way along the gallery, the supper-room lying between them and the stair-head. Pausing an instant at the open door to call to Ashaktis and the two boys, "Stay where you are!",
Fornis shut it and then, with a kind of rapid gliding, descended the stairs two at a time.
The staircase consisted of two short flights running one way and the other, with a small landing halfway down. As Fornis and Maia reached this and turned, they saw below them, at the foot of the stairs, a group of four or five house-slaves pointing and gabbling as they stared at something out of sight. Becoming aware of the queen, they fell silent.
"Get out of the way!'' said Fornis. Passing through them, she turned into the corridor, followed by Maia.
The little boy Barla was lying on his back on the floor. Beside him was his silver tray and the wreckage of the syllabubs and other delicacies which he had been carrying. He had stopped screaming, but was beating feebly with his hands at an enormous hound, which had him by the throat. Two youths were shouting at the hound and trying, quite ineffectively, to make it let go. One was holding a chain from which dangled a broken leather collar. The other kept repeating hysterically "It'll kill the boy! It'll kill him, for Cran's sake!"
Fornis, having paused a moment to take in the situation, went unhesitatingly up to the hound and seized it by the back of the neck. After a few moments, however, since it had no collar and she could not get a purchase, she let go and took up a stance astride it, facing its head. Then she bent forward, gripped its front legs and pulled it bodily upwards, her bare hands on either side of its jaws. Since the hound, however, did not release the child's throat, the upper part of his body was also lifted, his head hanging backwards and his long hair brushing the floor. Fornis, still holding the beast's legs and speaking to it in a low, firm voice, struck the side of its head two or three times with her elbow, whereupon it loosed its hold and the little boy fell back, to be instantly dragged clear by one of the youths.
"Chain!" said Fornis, holding out one hand and snapping her fingers without looking round. The other youth put the chain into her hand. Having secured one end round the dog's neck, she mutely held out the other to be taken from her. Then she straightened up and looked about her.
"Is the child much hurt?"
"No, Cran be praised, esta-saiyett," replied the first youth, who was holding the little boy in his arms. "Nothing serious, as far as I can see. But it-"
"Then put him to bed. And as for you," she said, turning to the other youth, "what the hell do you suppose you were doing? You're in charge of the dog, aren't you?"
"Esta-saiyett, I was patroling the house as usual with the dog on its chain. When it saw the little boy it turned savage. Those children very seldom leave the top floor, you see, so it doesn't know them. I did my best to hold it, but it broke its collar and got the child down."
"And why did it break its collar? Isn't that part of your business, to see that the collar's sound?" The youth made no reply and she slapped him hard across the face. "Why should I have to drag your damned dog off my page with my own hands? You'll get a good whipping for this. Well," she said, turning sharply round upon the watching house-slaves, "why are you all standing there like a pack of fools? Clear this mess up, and then get back where you belong! And where have you been?" she added, as Zuno appeared at the far end of the corridor, followed by a man wearing a leather coat and knee-boots.
"Esta-saiyett, I went to fetch the kennel-man."
"And a damned lot of use that would have been by this time!" said Fornis. With this she took Maia's arm and led her back up the staircase.
"You can come with me tomorrow and watch him whipped, if you like. This man I've got now does it really splendidly."
Maia, who was feeling a good deal shaken, made no reply. The queen tu
rned towards her with shining eyes.
"Would you like to whip mei You would, wouldn't you?"
Without waiting for an answer she called through the door of the supper-room, "Shakti! Send the boys! We're going to bed!"
"You need them, do you, to see to the lamps and that?" asked Maia. "Only I can easy do that, and we can be alone."
"Oh, no, Maia," replied Fornis, putting her arm round her as they walked together down the moonlit gallery. "I don't need them for the lamps! They're going to stay with us all night."
The mynahs were moving and rustling outside the windows, uttering their liquid whistles in response to the first light. On cushions strewn upon the floor the little boys lay
sleeping as only children sleep-with the appearance of having been absorbed into a higher state of existence, a better world where they abide perfect as summer leaves or pebbles in a clear brook. And a right old job it'd be to wake them and all, thought Maia enviously, recalling how often she had had to shake and pummel Kelsi and Nala out of bed in the mornings.
Fornis, sprawled beside her, stirred and muttered a few words in her sleep. "They'll never taste it, Shakti." She was no sort of sleeper, thought Maia; a kind of intruder or fugitive in that country which the little boys entered as of right. She had been in and out of sleep all night, dragging Maia behind her like a beast on a rope.
Ah, and some right old tricks they'd been up to an' all, thought Maia glumly; and none of them had really worked. To her it had been as though Fornis were seeking to satisfy hunger with hay, flowers, reeds-anything but food. Short though her amatory career had been, Maia could tell when mutual accord was present and when it was not. Some people, like Sencho, were incapable of it anyway and one therefore left it out of account when dealing with them. But Fornis, lacking it, was like a bird with an injured wing; flying lop-sided for a spell; alighting perforce, yet almost at once impelled to try to fly once more. All this Maia knew well enough because she had felt it no less in herself. They just hadn't hit it off. Her racking anxiety for Occula might have had something to do with it, but apart from that she knew that what Fornis wanted she, Maia, didn't like-to say the least-and was unable to give. It was a more than disappointing outlook for a girl in her situation.
Fornis rolled over, clutching at Maia in her sleep, but then started, as though frightened at finding another's body in her arms. She struggled a second and opened her eyes, staring into Maia's for some moments before recognizing her. Maia kissed her and stroked her shoulders.
"Is it morning?" asked Fomis.
"Just about."
"O Cran and Airtha! Did you sleep?"
Maia, shaking her head, could not suppress her chagrin. "You always that restless?"
Fornis smiled. "Some people I've slept with have said I chased them up and down the bed. I hate sleep, anyway: it's a waste of time."
She got up, naked as she was ("and she's all they say,
no danger," thought Maia), walked across to the window, stepping over the sleeping children, and opened one of the shutters. The first light glinted on her hair and the creamy skin of her shoulders.
"You're right, it's dawn." She shivered a moment. "Chilly, too."
Once again Maia set herself, as convincingly as she could, to simulate eagerness and renewed appetite. "Come back to bed, Folda." She opened her arms. "Come here and kiss me."
The queen blew out the lamp, lay down beside Maia and gazed into her face, cupping it between her hands.
"I took a fancy to you that night by the Barb because you're so pretty and beautifully made. I dare say there's not a prettier girl in the empire."
Maia, sensing more to come, made no reply.
"But now I'll tell you something, my child," said Fornis, "seeing that I've been at it for years. If two people like us fancy each other for their looks but aren't actually in love, it only works if they like the same things. You're as pretty as a lily in a pool, but you don't come with me, do you, to where I want to go?"
Still Maia said nothing.
"Tickle, tickle," went on Fornis, "anyone can do that. The little boys can do it: but that's not what I wanted from you. The truth is, my nasty tastes Simply aren't yours, are they, however hard you try? In fact, they disgust you- No!" (holding up a hand) "you needn't try to tell me they don't."
She flicked one of Maia's nipples with her finger-nail, hard enough to hurt.
"I thought Sencho would have turned you into a real, depraved little beast. From what you said to me, I believe you yourself even thought he had. So let me tell you, dear, that whatever you may have thought, he hasn't. I am depraved and I know. You're not even cruel, are you? Cran only knows how or why, but you've remained naturally decent." (She uttered the word contemptuously.) "One day it'll catch up with you, I expect-if you live that long. You'll end up dull as a cow in a field."
Maia spoke at last. "I done my best, Folda."
"Oh, I know: but I'm talking about natural inclination- and you haven't got it."
"Well, not for-' Maia hesitated. "No."
There was a pause. "As a rule," said Fornis at length, "when anyone's been with me like this, and I find they don't suit me, I get rid of them for good."
Maia turned cold: she felt her bowels loosen. "You've- you've done that?"
"Oh, yes!" replied Fornis lightly. "It would never do, you see, to have people around who could repeat scandal about the Sacred Queen. So one way or another they have to disappear. That's part of the fun, actually. Now and then it might be Zeray, but sometimes even Zeray isn't far enough."
Maia clutched at her, sobbing. "Oh, esta-saiyett, please! I didn't mean-"
"Quiet!" said Fornis quickly. "You'll wake the boys. But I've decided not to put you out of the way, Maia, because of this plan that Kembri's got for you: and if you and he think I don't know what it's all about, you must be even bigger fools than I took you for. I agree with him that if only you can bring it off, it could be very valuable. In my opinion Bayub-Otal's a most dangerous man; and since he's taken this fancy to you-which is perfectly understandable-you're probably the only person who can bring it off. I hope you do."
"Oh, Folda-thank you-thank you! I'm. sorry-I'm ever so sorry I couldn't-"
"You think it's blasphemy, don't you?" flashed the queen suddenly, gripping her upper arms and digging her nails in so hard that Maia cried out.
"I never said so!"
"No, but you were thinking it. 'What am I doing, polluting the Sacred Queen?' That's what you were thinking."
Since the truth was that Maia had begun thinking exactly this from the moment when she realized that she and the queen were not sensually at one, she could find no reply. As she hesitated, the child Tikki stirred in his sleep, and this distracted Fornis, who turned her head to look at him.
It was at this instant that Maia was seized with a sudden, desperate inspiration. There was no time to consider it, the idea that had leapt into her mind. She knew only that it offered a chance to save Occula from torture.
"Folda, please don't be angry. You see, I can still do you a very good turn-better 'n what you can imagine. Now that I've been with you and realized what you like,
I know someone who'd suit you right down to the ground- someone as might 'a been made for you."
Fomis laughed. "Maia, you're simple, aren't you? I know you mean well, but even I can't reach out and help myself to other people's property just as I've a mind to. Some other girl you know in someone's house, is it? I can't go taking any slave-girl in the city. Apart from anything else, I have to be very discreet about my pleasures. That's why I have the little boys."
"I know all that, Folda: but as it happens, this girl's your own property. She's down in the temple of Cran at this minute. It's my friend, Occula. She never killed Sencho, I can promise you that. She didn't know anything about it. Did, she'd 'a told me."
"You mean the black girl who was with Sencho that night?"
"Yes, esta-saiyett. Occula-she's exactly what you want, believe me."
/> "How very interesting!" said Fornis. "What makes you so sure?"
"Because we was months together at Sencho's and I know what she likes: her tastes an' that."
"I see." Fornis paused. "Well-and yet you say she didn't kill him?"
"I know it, esta-saiyett."
"What a pity!" said Fornis unexpectedly. "Sencho'd lived too long. He wasn't useful to us anymore. Perhaps I killed him, did I?" She laughed again. "No, I didn't, as it happens; but I rather wish I had. Well, we'd better start thinking what we're going to do, hadn't we? I'll write to the chief priest under my personal seal, saying that I've decided after all that you're available to be used as Kembri wishes, but he's to send me Occula instead. Then Shakti can take you down to the temple this morning and bring Occula back with her." She paused. "But mind this, Maia, and make very sure you don't forget it! One word about last night to anyone at all, and that gorgeous body of yours will be hanging upside-down by the road for the flies to blow. Have you got that? Now let's go and bathe, and if that Deelguy girl hasn't got the water hot I'll have her whipped as well as the dog-boy."
42: A NIGHT JOURNEY
It was after midnight. Maia, who had been awake-how long? she wondered; well over an hour-was looking out from the temple of Cran over the still, moonlit city. The room where they had told her to sleep until it was time to set out was high up, under the cornice, and from its window she could see, across the roofs of the lower city and the great square of the Caravan Market, the dark shape of the Peacock Gate and the walls extending on either side of it.
To the right and beyond, a mile away on the Leopard Hill, rose the Barons' Palace, its slender towers soaring, in the moonlight, above the deep-shadowed outline of its north front. Remote and far-off it looked now; nothing to do with her anymore, the girl who had danced the senguela to the acclamation of Sarget's guests.
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