Maia (Beklan Empire 1)

"And then, suddenly, she cried aloud in all earnest, writhin' and moanin' where she lay under the altar, for she no longer knew where she was or what she was doin'.

"Now it so happened that at this moment the two good old souls were busy fastenin' some long strands of green ivy to hang right across the temple aisle from one column to another. One of them was up a ladder tyin' the ivy-trail as high as she could, while the other was steadyin' the foot of the ladder and makin' useless suggestions. And suddenly, in the middle of their labors, they heard Lespa cry out, and turned round to see her writhin' like a snake under a farmer's hoe.

" 'Oh, good gracious! Oh, dear Shakkarn!' they shrieked. 'Oh, the poor girl's been taken with a fit! What shall we do?'

" 'Help me down, dear, quick!' cried the one up the ladder. 'Doan' stop holdin' it till I'm down or it'll slip! I'll be as quick as I can, but I daren' risk a fall!'

"But Lespa's thrashin' and crowin' had thrown them into such a state that in fact it was a good half-minute before they'd got themselves into marchin' order and come up to the altar, where she was still lyin' on the floor. And by this time she was feelin' a little calmer, and so contented with herself and the world that she felt equal to anythin'.

" 'What is it, dear?' asked the first old lady. 'Have you been taken ill? Where do you feel the pain?'

" 'I'm so sorry, saiyett,' gasped Lespa, hurriedly pulling the altar-cloth together round her shoulders. 'It's the cramp! I've been taken with the cramp!'

" 'Oh, you poor thing! Give me your hands, dear, and I'll pull you up.'

"But they couldn' pull her up, and this was hardly surprisin', for Baltis was holdin' on to her legs and tryin' to put her clothes straight at the same time.

" 'I'll run and get the smith, or else that nice young Baltis who works for him,' said the second old girl.

'You stay here with her, dear, and I'll be back directly.' And off she ran.

"When she'd gone, Lespa said to the other one, 'Dear saiyett, would you be so very kind as to bring me a drink of water? I'm sure that would make me feel much better.'

" 'Yes, yes, of course dear,' says she, and hurried away to the stream outside. And when she came back with the water, there was sweet Lespa sittin' quietly on the steps in front of the altar, a little dishevelled but otherwise none the worse.

" 'Oh, it seems to have passed off, saiyett, thank goodness,' says she. 'I wonder, would you be so good as just to give me your arm into the fresh air for a few minutes? I'm sure I'll be quite all right then.'

"And while they were takin' a turn, young Baltis slipped out and got back to the forge unmissed, for the smith hadn' yet returned from his trip to the farm.

"As for Lespa, she was right as rain in no time, wouldn' you just know, and mended the altar cloth in half an hour. And that evenin', when she'd shorn her hair for the sacrifice, she went singin' about the kitchen and made a huge game pie to take to the feast the next day.

"Everyone swore it was a pie in a thousand, but then Lespa was so pretty that they'd have said as much if it had been made of pebbles topped off with a sheet of lead. And when the feast was finished and before the dancin' began, she told her parents to stay where they were and slipped back home again, like the good girl she was, to see to her old granny, who was too rheumaticky to do more than sit at the door and listen to the music.

" 'Well, dearest child,' quavered the old granny, 'did you make your sacrifice to Shakkarn?'

" 'Yes, that I did,' says she. "The finest sacrifice that ever a girl made to Shakkarn.'

" 'And did they like your pie?'

" 'Indeed they did, granny. And now I'm such a fine pastry-cook, believe me, I'll never be without a good rollin'-pin as long as I live.' "

"Now then, you girls," said Vartou, appearing in the doorway. "Off to bed with you, and if anyone disturbs me in the night without some very good reason, she'll just wish she hadn't, that's all. You, Chia, make sure the fire's out, too."

"Come on, banzi," said Occula, putting her arm round Maia as the woman shut and locked the heavy door behind her, "these beds are narrower than a bloody drain, but you can go back to your own later."

Maia hesitated. "Here? With all of them--"

"Nothin' wrong with sharin' a bed," said the black girl. "And from all I can see, we're not the only ones. 'Sides, you doan' know where you might be tomorrow night, do you?"

17: LALLOC

After returning to her own bed Maia slept soundly and, waking an hour or two after dawn, found the fire already lit and three or four of the girls cooking breakfast. Occula, however, was still asleep and, when Maia brought her breakfast to her bed and woke her, showed no particular inclination to be up and stirring.

"I doan' think there's any particular hurry for us, banzi," she said, lying back and letting Maia feed her with new bread dipped in honey. "They'll send for us all right, but it woan' be for a while."

"How d'you know?" asked Maia.

"Oh, I just know. Try goin' in the bath-house and tell me what happens."

Maia, puzzled, followed her advice, and was immediately stopped in the cloister by Vartou, who sent her back with orders to wash up the breakfast plates and sweep the floor. About an hour later she called Maia and Occula and told them to bathe.

The stone trough in the bath-house had already been refilled with clean, scented water and Maia, trying it with her foot, found that it was delightfully warm--just right. After two of the best meals she had ever had in her life, separated by a long sleep in a comfortable bed, her normal appetite for pleasure was beginning, despite her troubles, to return. Without more ado she unrolled the bandage from her ankle, stripped and gave herself up to the water. After soaking for some time, she and Occula proceeded to amuse themselves by making use of every brush, vessel and unguent they could find in the room, soaping, scrubbing and rinsing each other until at length Vartou, flouncing in, ordered them to dry and get dressed.

"Do you girls mean to keep U-Lalloc waiting half the morning?" she snapped, pulling the wooden plug out of the trough. "A fine way to start off on the right foot, I'm sure!"

"But have we been keepin' him waitin', saiyett?" asked Occula, smiling at her rather slyly. "I rather thought we'd been obligin' him."

"Your tongue's too long by half, miss," answered Vartou. "Just you get on and do as I say, now, else you'll soon wish you had."

Maia had entirely forgotten about their impending inspection by Lalloc. Now, as she sat on her bed combing her hair, her hands began to tremble with apprehension and she could hardly restrain her tears.

Occula came across the room, knelt on the floor in front of her and, reaching up, took her chin between her hands.

"Take it easy, banzi. They're not goin' to hurt us and there's plenty worse things--toothache, for instance. I'd rather this than toothache, wouldn' you?"

"But--but he'll want to see us naked--"

" 'Course not," replied Occula. "He's done that already, you goat!"

"When has he?"

"Why, in the damn' bath-house, of course! Didn' you notice that muslin panel in the wall, by the corner? Of course, you've never been in a pleasure-house, have you? They nearly always have them in one or two of the rooms. Some people like to watch other people, you know. Made me feel quite at home to see a muslin panel again."

"But did you see him there?"

"No, 'course not; you can't; that's what the muslin's for. But I didn' need to. I just showed off for all I was worth. Come to think of it, it's rather lucky I didn' tell you, isn' it? Poor pet, you'd have been all elbows and knees, wouldn' you? What d'you think all that scented water and stuff were for? You doan' suppose they get all that ready for Urtan cows who squint, do you? That was for us--special. Cheer up, you woan' have to strip again--not jus' yet, anyway. And whatever happens, I'll be there."

When they came into Vartou's room, Maia immediately got another surprise. Insofar as she had thought about Lalloc, she had imagined someone middle-aged and stout, bearded and wearing a r

obe. The man sitting at Vartou's table, however, was no more than twenty-eight or thirty, heavily-built certainly, but clean-shaven, fair-haired, and (to the eyes of a peasant girl if not to those of a lady) smartly turned out, in the gaudy style of the Deelguy---a sort of blend of gipsy and flash magsman. He was wearing gold earrings, a crimson-and-blue scarf, a yellow jerkin with a large brooch of Telthearna aquamarines, and leather breeches dyed dark-red. Various papers were lying before him, including the letter brought by Occula, and as the girls entered he concluded his perusal of one of these be-fore looking up and motioning them to sit down on the bench in front of the table. Zuno, standing behind him, nodded coldly to Occula and then whispered to Vartou behind his hand.

"Ah!" said Lalloc, smiling at Occula and speaking with a strong Deelguy accent. "You're the black girl from Modom Domris? She toll me all about you, said you're a good girl, fully trained."

"I hope so, sir," answered Occula.

"Well, you been soveral years with Domris, you'll be good enoff in bed, she say so." He tapped the letter. "What about wait at table--she don't say about thot?"

"I've had plenty of trainin' and experience, sir."

"You rockon you're fit to go to household of a rich man in the opper city?"