Maia was about to answer when suddenly the black girl burst out, "Cran and Airtha, you doan' know the half of it! My life's hangin' on a thread--the thread of her whims and her filthy, beastly wants! You realize, doan' you, that that's all that saved you and me after old Piggy was done in? Shall I tell you somethin' else? What you saw--she does that because she prefers it. She doesn' want men; she wants that! All that stuff about never havin' a lover because she knew she was the Sacred Queen and the bride of Cran-- that's all my venda! And another thing; do you know she's more than once had girls put to death when she'd lost interest in them?"
"Ah, she told me that herself," said Maia.
"Ashaktis told me, to try and frighten me: and I woan' say she didn', either, but I wasn' goin' to show it. You may have noticed that the little boys aren' here any more."
"I thought she must have taken them with her," said Maia.
"Oh, no," said Occula. "Just get some more when she comes back."
"You mean they've been sold off?"
"No; not sold off," said Occula. "Children talk, you know. But those ones woan'." She paused. "I sometimes think I'll go mad! She's the most cruel, wicked woman in the world. But I'll get her, doan' you worry. When the time comes, Kantza-Merada will tell me what to do. But I'm sorry, banzi, I'm afraid it woan' be at Paltesh."
For a time neither girl said more. The big summer stars moved slowly on the sky--Clypsil, Pildinakis and the constellation of the Otter, which Maia remembered old Drigga teaching her how to recognize when she was still a little girl. From the two clock towers the lamps shone out for the hour. A tryzatt carrying a torch came along the wall, changed the sentries and returned the way he had come.
"If you must go, why doan' you take Nennaunir and young Sednil?" asked Occula suddenly. "I know you couldn' pay Nennaunir a fraction of what she's makin' here in Bekla, but you did her such a good turn by gettin' Sednil freed that she probably wouldn' mind--that's to say, long as it didn' take more than a few weeks. They're both Palteshis, aren' they? That could be a big help."
"It might have been a good idea," answered Maia.
"But--?"
"There's only one thing wrong with it--"
"Oh, Cran! Doan' tell me!" said Occula instantly. "You mean somethin' about seven inches long, pointin' the wrong direction?"
"Well, yes."
"Bloody, bastin' men!" said Occula angrily. "Always spoilin' everythin' with their stupid--"
"Oh, Occula, that's nothing!" interrupted Maia. "I haven't told you yet about Eud-Ecachlon. And this really is frightening me. You remember I told you how Kembri came to my house while Nan and Otavis were there, and how he sent them away; and then he said that if I didn't want to be misunderstood I ought to find myself a rich, noble husband--"
"Yes, of course I remember. Go on." Occula spoke in a tone of tension and alarm. "What about it?"
"Well, soon after that Eud-Ecachlon came to see me, and asked me to marry him. He said his father was near to die and he'd soon be High Baron of Urtah."
"What did you say?"
"I asked him to give me time to think it over, and that night I got so frightened I decided the next day I'd tell him yes: but then Sednil came back that very morning and told me Zenka was a prisoner at Dari."
"So what happened then?"
"Eud-Ecachlon came back and I refused him."
"Banzi, do you realize-- Who's that?" Occula turned quickly towards the stairhead on the opposite side of the flat roof.
"It's I," replied Zuno's smooth, controlled voice. "Occula, I've just learned some news which I think you ought to hear at once: Maia too."
He groped his way across the rooftop, his eyes not yet adapted to the darkness.
"Lalloc learned this an hour ago by a messenger from one of his overseers near Dari. I happened to be down at Lalloc's when the man came in. Apparently Fornis has gone through a ceremony of marriage with Han-Glat. They've raised a force--the man couldn't say how large, but the nucleus, of course, is Palteshi. However, it seems they've been joined by a sizeable group of escaped slaves from Belishba, and the whole lot have already set out for Bekla. Sendekar tried to put some sort of opposition in their way, but he's hopelessly over-extended, of course, and they brushed it aside quite easily. This man said Fornis had given out that since Elvair-ka-Virrion had shown himself incapable of defending Bekla against Erketlis, she meant to do it herself."
"Let her come!" said Occula. "I'm ready! But banzi, listen to me. In all seriousness, and as the best friend you've got, I honestly think that the only place for you now is Quiso. You can claim the sacred sanctuary for six months, you know--if only you can get there."
Maia seemed hardly to have heard her. While Zuno was speaking she had listened to him intently. Now she asked, "The prisoners--the prisoners in the fortress--what's happened to them? Did Lalloc's man say?"
"Yes, he did," replied Zuno. "Fornis and Han-Glat have got all the officers and some of the tryzatts with them as hostages, to make sure that they're not attacked by Karnat in the rear. What's more, it seems that when Durakkon's younger son, who was second-in-command at the fortress, tried to stop them, they took him as a hostage, too. It's well-known, of course, how fond Durakkon's always been of the boy."
"So Zenka's in the hands of Forn
is!" said Maia. "Quiso be damned! I'm staying here till she comes."
Walking away to the further end of the roof, she stood gazing at the comet, arms raised and palms outward. They could hear her sobbing as she prayed.
"Whether Bel-ka-Trazet's right or wrong about Ortelga and the Deelguy," said Kembri, "--and he may very well be right--one thing's certain: we can't compel him to take command of an army."
"I wonder he didn't accept it, though," said Eud-Ecach-lon (well aware that it was not going to be offered to himself). "Defeat Erketlis? He'd be celebrated throughout the empire and I suppose he'd come by a fortune as well, wouldn't he?"
"Certainly; if he beat him," answered Kembri, "but he doesn't want to run the risk, that's the size of it. I wonder what he knows that we don't. He said he was loyal to Bekla and so he is, I've never doubted--to Bekla. But the truth is, it doesn't make much difference to him or to Ortelga who actually rules here. He's High Baron of that lump of mud in the Telthearna, and he means to hold on to what he can feel sure of. Which is more than we may be able to do, my lord, I dare say," he said, turning to Durakkon, "as things are going at the moment."
Durakkon had been staring out the window. The face he now turned towards the Lord General resembled that of some weary, aging vagabond overtaken by storm and nightfall. It was not apparent whether he had heard what Kembri had said. He nodded, looking at him vacantly for a few moments; then said "Yes, yes, of course," and for a moment buried his face in his hands.