The Quest

Meren was holding the girl tenderly to his chest. Her face was buried in his neck and she was sobbing wildly. He patted her back, murmuring reassurance. 'It's all over, my beauty. No need to weep, sweetling. You are safe now. I will take care of you.' His attempts to express concern and sympathy were spoiled somewhat by his self-satisfied grin.

Fe

Tears notwithstanding, Taita decided, she is a beauty. Then he asked her, in a kindly tone. 'What were you doing alone in the forest when you were set upon by those beasts?'I 'I escaped and the trogs came after me.' The girl hiccuped.

'Trogs?' Meren asked.

Her dark eyes went back to his face. 'That is what they are called.

They are horrible things. We are all terrified of them.'

'Your reply has flushed out a flock of questions. But let us find an answer to the first one. Where were you going?' Taita intervened. The girl tore her eyes from Meren and looked at Taita. 'I was coming to find you, Magus. I need your help. You are the only one who can save me.'

'That raises another flock of questions. Shall we begin with a simple one? What is your name, child?'

'I am called Sidudu, Magus,' she said, and shivered violently.

'You are cold, Sidudu,' Taita said. 'No more questions until we have you home.' Taita turned to Meren and kept his expression serious as he asked, 'Is the lady causing you inconvenience or discomfort? Do you think you will be able to carry her as far as the village, or shall we put her down and make her walk?'

'I can abide with any suffering she may cause me,' Meren replied, equally seriously.

'Then I believe we have finished our business here. Let us go on.'

It was dark when they entered the village. The houses were mostly in darkness and nobody seemed to notice their passing. By the time they dismounted in the stableyard Sidudu had made a remarkable recovery.

Nevertheless Meren was taking no risks and carried her into the main living room. While Fe

'Come, child,' he said. 'You must eat, drink and sleep before we talk any more.' She ate the stew and dhurra bread that Fe

'Yes, Magus,' she whispered.

'Why?' he asked.

'May I talk to you alone, where nobody else can hear us?' she asked shyly, and glanced involuntarily at Meren.

'Of course. We shall go to my chamber.' Taita picked up one of the oil lamps. 'Follow me.' He led her to the room that he and Fe

'Everybody in Jarri says you are a famous surgeon and skilled with all ma

'I am not sure who “everybody” is, but I am indeed a surgeon.'

'I want you to give me something to flush the infant from my womb,'

she whispered.

Taita was taken aback. He had not expected anything like that. It took him some moments to decide how to reply. At last he asked gently, 'How old are you, Sidudu?'

'I am sixteen, Magus.'

'I thought you were younger,' he said, 'but no matter. Who is the father of the child you are carrying? Do you love him?'

Her reply was bitter and vehement: 'I don't love him. I hate him and wish he was dead,' she blurted out.

He stared at her while he composed his next question. 'If you hate him so, why did you lie with him?'

'I did not wish it, Magus. I had no choice. He is a cruel, cold man. He beats me, and mounts me so violently when he is in wine that he tears me and makes me bleed.'

'Why do you not leave him?' he asked.

'I have tried, but he sends the trogs to fetch me back. Then he beats me again. I hoped that he would beat me until I lost the brat he put inside me, but he is careful not to hit me in the belly.'

'Who is he? What is his name?'

'You promise to tell nobody?' She hesitated, then went on in a rush, 'Not even the good man who saved my life and carried me in from the forest? I don't want him to despise me.'

'Meren? Of course I will not tell him. But you have no need to worry.

No one would ever despise you. You are a good, brave girl.'

'The man's name is Onka - Captain Onka. You know him, I think.

He told me about you.' She seized Taita's hand. 'Please help me!' She shook it in her desperation. 'Please, Magus! I beg you! Please help me!

If I don't rid myself of the baby they will kill me. I don't want to die for Onka's bastard.'

I

Taita began to make sense of the situation. If Sidudu was Onka's woman, she was the one of whom Colonel That had spoken, the one who had doctored Onka's food to keep him out of the way so that That could escort Taita down from the Cloud Gardens. She was one of them and she must be protected. 'I must examine you first, but I will do my best. Would you object if I called Fe

'The pretty blonde girl who shot the trog off Meren's back? I like her.

Please call her.'

Fe

'Lie back and lift your tunic,' Taita instructed her, and when she obeyed, he worked quickly but thoroughly. 'Are these bruises from the beatings Onka gave you?' he asked.

'Yes, Magus,' she replied.

'I will kill him for you,' Fe

'When the time comes I will kill him myself,' Sidudu squeezed her hand, 'but thank you, Fe

'We are friends already,' Fe

Taita finished his examination. 'Already he could discern the faint aura of the unborn child, shot through with the black evil of its father.

Sidudu sat up and smoothed down her clothing. 'There is a baby, isn't there, Magus?' Her smile faded and she looked woebegone again.

'In the circumstances, I am sad to have to say, yes.'

'I have missed my last two moons.'

'The only good thing in this business is that you have not gone too far. So early in your term, it will not be difficult for us to dislodge the foetus.' He stood up and crossed the room to where his medical bag stood. 'I shall give you a potion. It is very strong and will make you vomit and purge your bowels, but it will bring down the other thing at the same time.' He measured a dose of green powder from a stoppered phial into an earthenware bowl, then added boiling water. 'Drink it as soon as it cools, and you must try to keep it down,' he told her.

They sat with her as she forced herself to swallow it, a mouthful at a time, gagging at the bitter taste. When she had finished she sat for a while, panting and heaving spasmodically. At last she grew quieter. 'I shall be all right now,' she whispered hoarsely.