Maia

"You might have tried, perhaps." He gazed at her somberly.

"What d'you mean?"

He took her hand. "Maia, there's something more, and this is the bad bit, I'm afraid. Fornis is in Dari."

"Fornis? Well, I know she is. What about it?"

"She's got the whole of Paltesh under her control, and it's rumored that Han-Glat, who's in command of the fortress, has become her lover. That's what she intended all along, I dare say: Han-Glat's about the one man who could stand up to Kembri, you see."

"Her lover?"

"Well, whether he is or not, no one's in any doubt that he's ready to do anything she wants him to. She's got Paltesh, she's got the fortress and she's got the prisoners. No one knows for certain what she's pla

Maia shook her head uncomprehendingly.

"Well, you probably know more about Fornis than I do, Maia: I only know she's a woman who's ready to stick at nothing; and very bold and cu

"Oh, damn the empire!" said Maia. "The prisoners! The prisoners, Sednil-"

"Why, the prisoners are one of her strongest bargaining counters, don't you see? She's got Bayub-Otal and something like sixty or seventy Katrians and Terekenalters, including two or three of Karnat's best officers. She means to sell herself and them-and Paltesh-to- her own best advantage, that's certain."

Maia, white-faced, fists clenched, stood up, staring out over the parapet of the roof across the lower city. "I don't care! I don't care for basting Fornis, or Han-Glat or the whole damned lot of them. Now I know Zenka's alive I'm going to get him out if it's the last thing I do!"

There was a long pause. "Maia," said Sednil at last, standing up and coming over to her side, "would you think about marrying me? I've loved you, you know, ever since- ever since that morning in the temple. Do think about it seriously. A man of your own sort-someone you understand and who understands you. We could get down into Chalcon together before anyone missed you, and you'd be safe there. I know we might have a bit of a struggle to begin with, but I'd look after you and keep you safe-"

Turning, she laid a finger on his lips.

"I'm sorry, Sednil! I really am, because I like you and respect you. But it's not-well, it's just not what the gods say in my heart, that's all. Anyway, I told you before- Ne

"What's that, then?" he asked, in the dulled, heedless tone of someone upset and preoccupied.

"The other two thousand meld. Had you forgotten?"

Eud-Ecachlon's air certainly did not much resemble the conventional notion of a man in love. As Maia came up to him in the garden he smiled and took her hands; yet there was nothing particularly happy or eager in his ma

Well, that'd certainly make it easier; but all the same it a

He drank down his first goblet almost at once, like a man who needed it. She smiled, making a little pantomime of looking in and finding it empty. As she picked up the wine-jug to re-fill it, he asked her "Have you got any djebbah, Maia?"

"Djebbah? Yes, of course, if you want it. I'll call Ogma."

He drained his first tot of djebbah, too; and then sat down, looking rather more relaxed.

"I'm afraid you must have had a bit of a bad old morning, Euda. Everything all right?"

"Anything but, Maia; though I wouldn't say it to anyone except you."

"You mean the Council didn't go well?"

"How could it? The news is about as bad as it could well be."

"Why, what's wrong with the news, then?" asked Maia rather carelessly, as though the news were some sort of dish which Eud-Ecachlon had found not altogether to his liking.

He paused, seeming embarrassed, leaning forward as he tossed a handful of serrardoes one by one to a duck which had wandered up from the lakeside.

"Elvair-ka-Virrion," he said at length. "He's a friend of yours, isn't he?"

"Well, he's always been very nice to me. Yes, I'd say he was a friend."

"What would you say if I told you he was a coward?"

"Well, if you really want to know, Euda, I du

"Well, it certainly looks that way, I'm afraid. And you may find that you've got to be bothered before long, whether you like it or not."

She could have hit him. "Well, my lord, seeing as you don't seem to have anything better to talk about, p'raps you'd better tell me."

But even this, to all appearances, went over his head. "Well, the news from Yelda is very bad. In fact, they're not going to give it out in the lower city at all. It seems that Elvair-ka-Virrion, after entirely failing to come to any

sort of grips with Erketlis in Chalcon, decided to fall back on Ikat Yeldashay for supplies and a general re-fit. He thought-and I think Kembri thought, too, though he hasn't said so-that once he was clear out of Chalcon, Erketlis would leave it at that and go home. But he didn't."

"Oh, didn't he?" asked Maia politely, since it seemed to be expected of her.

"No. He must be a very remarkable leader, that man," said Eud-Ecachlon. "He kept almost all his army together-apparently only a few went home-and made a forced march-something like fifty miles-through absolutely desperate country in less than two days. They got across the Thettit-Ikat road south of Elvair-ka-Virrion, so that he had to attack them."

"But I thought that was what Elvair wanted all along?" asked Maia.

"Well, so did he, but by that time his men were in pretty poor heart. Anyhow, the long and short of it is that he was beaten." He hesitated, and then went on, "But according to the officer who brought the news, he needn't have been. This man-Gel-Ethlin, his name is-made his report at the meeting this morning. He was so angry and upset that he couldn't contain himself-couldn't stick to what he'd been told to say. He couldn't even hold himself in on account of Kembri being there."