Maia

Simply to be sitting down, moving effortlessly along, instead of trudging in the heat and dust, was enough to fill Maia with a delightful sense of luxury. The pleasure- which she had very seldom known before-of being carried on wheels, and the swift succession of sights and sounds pressing from all directions upon her fatigued senses, were bemusing, and imparted to her surroundings a rather dreamlike quality. She had never seen so many, and such different kinds of people, all intent upon their various affairs. She watched two men-evidently, from their uniform clothes, some kind of public servants-laying the dust in the street by sprinkling water from a metal tank on wheels; a hawker selling eggs and bread; an old woman haggling with a stall-keeper over a scale-full of brillions; two lads who were having difficulty in carrying a rolled-up carpet through the crowds; a man whose shop was itself a huge cage, full of brilliant-plumaged birds; a hard-faced, painted girl, little older than herself, standing watchfully on a corner with a studied air of being at a loose end; and a leather-aproned harness-maker at his bench, surrounded by his wares as he plied his heavy needle. The air was full of all ma

end. All about her-so that she had to raise her voice even to talk to Occula beside her-rang the multifoliate clamor of the city; the crying of wares, the shouting of children at play, the gabbling of bargainers and quarrellers, the tappings and hammerings peculiar to tinkers, carpenters, smiths, cobblers, masons, wheelwrights. Once, as the jek-zha went by, she caught for a few moments the voice of someone singing a Tonildan ballad she recognized. At a crossing, a scarlet-liveried slave strode across their front, staff in hand, crying "Make way! Make way!", followed by a curtained litter adorned, behind and before, with the cognizance of a crowned leopard. Across the roof-tops sounded from the upper city the wavering, gong-like notes of copper bells.

Most of all, Maia was amazed by the size and grandeur of the buildings. Bekla, growing up upon a natural site for a city, with a virtually impregnable hilltop citadel, watered by a lake and standing at the convergence of five roads traversing a wide plain, had been built almost entirely from the stone quarries of Mount Crandor. Time out of mind it had been renowned for its builders, masons and stone-carvers. Almost every house, from the Palace of the Barons to the lodgings for the itinerant herdsmen, was of stone. The market-colo

All this Maia, like everyone else, had heard from infancy. But there is a world of difference between hearing tell and seeing for oneself. Staring up at rows of decorated corbels supporting overhanging upper stories, at i

into flowers and foliage, snarling beasts, armed men, naked girls?

Why, 'tis past all believing! she thought. If ever I see Tharrin again, reckon I'll be the one as does the talking. Occula might be right after all-if only things turn out lucky, I could find myself better off than ever I was back home. She sighed. All the same, I'd like to see the old lake again, and have a swim under the falls, that I would.

Their progress was slow, for as the afternoon cooled the streets grew ever more busy. Several times their jekzha was forced to a halt and Zuno, ahead, was obliged to stop and wait until they could catch him up. Their journey, though only a little over three-quarters of a mile, lasted a full half-hour.

Amid all the excitement and activity, Occula had entirely recovered her spirits, and was highly tickled by the prospect of arriving at their destination on wheels rather than on foot. Furthermore, it was flattering to have beside her the ingenuous Maia, full of wonder and curiosity and hanging upon her every word. For a time she was content simply to rest her feet on the rail in front of them and reply to Maia's questions. Soon, however, her natural energy and unsleeping sense of self-interest began to take over.

"Come on, banzi," she said, putting an arm round Maia's shoulders and impelling her forward on to the edge of the seat. "Bugger the bells, and the carvin' too! They woan' do anythin' for you! You've got to show off a bit, my lass! This is no time to be starin' round at other people and forgettin' all about yourself. They're the ones who've got to be doin' the starin'. Our job's to put on some style!"

"Whatever for?" asked Maia. "We're going to this Lal-loc man, aren't we?"

"Yes, but you never know who may happen to see you and take a fancy: that's the way a good shearna works- never misses casual opportunities. Lean forward, pull your dress down a bit. Get those deldas out-no, right down to the strawberries, come on-"

"Here, steady on!" Maia turned scarlet as the blac' girl pulled down her bodice.

"That Ortelgan stiff was right-blushin' does suit you," replied Occula. "I doan' know about the men, banzi, but I could eat you up."

"Hey, girls, any room for a little one?" called a young

fellow in a carter's smock and leggings, cracking his whip to attract their attention.

"I like big ones," answered Occula, holding her hands up about a foot apart.

"And I like willing ones," said the carter. "I like that black skin of yours, too. Where d'you come from, lass?"

"The finest country in the world," replied Occula.

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Well, where I come from, you see, the girls give so much pleasure that the men have all died of it, so I've had to look elsewhere."

"Fancy that, now!" said the carter. "And who's your pretty friend?"

"One you can' afford," answered Occula.

"By Lespa, and I reckon that's true enough for now!" called the young fellow after them, as the jekzha began to move on. "Might see you again one day, though. Where you going?"

"Time you've made your fortune," replied Occula, "we'll be so famous you woan' have any trouble findin' us!"

At the western end of Masons Street the jekzha turned left into the foot of Storks Hill, but the girls had scarcely time to glimpse, behind them, the breath-taking Tamarrik Gate before they turned again, this time to the right, down the broad thoroughfare of the Kharjiz and so oh into the Slave Market.

Since this was not a market day the big square was not crowded. A gang of municipal slaves was at work clearing and sweeping, while two masons were repairing one of the raised sale platforms on the north side. Here, too, all was built of stone and beautified with flowers-beds of golden lilies and scarlet aski