Maia (Beklan Empire 1)

When Maia returned, she drank off the whole goblet at a draft.

"That's better." She sat up. "I'm fine."

"Bayub-Otal wants to pay you your two hundred meld," said Maia.

"Two hundred meld my venda! I didn' do it for two hundred meld!"

"What for, then, dearest?"

"Why, because that little tairth made me angry, that's why, sittin' there, pawin' your deldas as if he'd bought you. Well, he woan' be tryin' it again for a bit, I dare say."

"And that's really why you did it?" said Maia. "All that--just for me?"

"Well, it's like this, banzi," replied Occula. "You and I, we want to go up, doan' we, not down? I doan' mind you bein' basted by someone who's goin' to do you a bit of good and get you further. We were brought here for the Urtans, right? But when we actually come down to it, it's obvious that only two of them count for anythin'. And of those two, one's not interested. Ever seen a dead ox? Am I right?"

Maia could not help smiling at Occula's down-to-earth assessment. "Just about."

"Whatever Bayub-Otal wants, it's not either of us. So then as soon as I've gone Nennaunir turns up--oh, yes, I saw--and it's obvious that Elvair-ka-Virrion's sent her for that Eud-Ecachlon-- and paid her, you can bet on that. So where does that leave you an' me? To go to bed with the rubbish? Not this girl, banzi, slave or no slave! Start as you mean to go on. I wasn' goin' to do it and I wasn' goin' to see you left to do it."

"But Elvair-ka-Virrion--he come over afterwards--he seemed real mad--"

Occula slewed round where she sat and put her hands on Maia's shoulders. "That Urtan fellow made me mad; that's what started me off! I knew if it worked it'd be somethin' they wouldn' forget in a hurry. Never mind about Elvair-ka-Virrion. He's not a danger to us. You jus' wait a few days, till everyone's heard about it--"

"But Occula, I was real scared---so was everyone else. I mean, can you do that any time you want?"

The black girl shook her head. "Something has to happen to make you want to do it--sort of get you up to it; because a thing like that, when you start you never know how it's goin' to turn out. I doan' know now, come to that. I mean, did they all see the knife?"

"Far as I can make out just about everyone saw it. I saw it, anyway. It was horrible!"

"Yes, well, you can' do that, you see, unless somethin' happens to make you able to. It's got to come from the goddess; come boilin' out of you and all over them. The act--anyone can learn that. I learnt it from a Deelguy girl in Thettit. But whether you succeed in makin' them actually see what isn' there--that's another matter. Is the boy all right, by the way?"

"They've sent him home."

"Good! I was takin' chance, banzi, really. Well, I mean, the drummer, for a start: I only had a few minutes with him, just long enough to tell him more or less what I wanted. He had to follow me best he could. Actually he turned out very good--better than anyone in Thettit. Well, this is Bekla, after all, an' the upper city at that. He ought to have fifty meld. Doan' let me forget; we might need him again some time. Oh, and banzi, can you go and make sure of my feather tunic? I forgot all about it, and Terebinthia'll play hell if it's lost. Besides, I've got nothin' else to put on."

Maia jumped up. "I'll go and get it now." She picked up the goblet. "D'you want another drink, while I'm there?"

Just at that moment, however, Sessendris returned.

"How are you feeling now, Occula?"

"Tired, saiyett."

"How's the headache?"

"Jus' about gone."

"Do you feel well enough to give a little pleasure, or shall I make your excuses?"

"Who to, saiyett?"

Sessendris laughed. "Well, the short answer to that, Occula, is "Almost anyone you like." And I'd imagine you could expect very generous lygols. Something like fifteen young men have approached me and asked whether you're feeling better. One of them, you may not be entirely surprised to hear, is Lord Eud-Ecachlon, who seems most anxious to see you again."

"I suppose he's angry, saiyett, isn' he?"

"I think not. I haven't been a shearna and then a saiyett for quite some time without being able to tell when a man's strongly attracted. It's annoyed Nennaunir very much. She's gone home in a rage."

"Sorry to hear that, saiyett," replied Occula, keeping an admirably straight face. "And after all Lord Elvair-ka-Virrion's trouble, too! Well, I'd better not disappoint Lord Eud-Ecachlon, then, had I?"

"Am I to go back to the Urtans, too, saiyett?" asked Maia.

"I don't think you need," answered Sessendris. "The three younger men were asking for you, but they were all so impatient that by now they've suited themselves elsewhere. That just leaves Lord Bayub-Otal. I was going to ask him whether he'd like to see you again, but before I could, Lord Eud-Ecachlon took me aside and told me that he never goes with girls at parties. Apparently he's--" she paused and shrugged--"fastidious in some way or other."

Maia could see that Sessendris felt she had failed and was glad to see her taken down a peg. Her polite smile meant, "You thought you were irresistible, didn't you?"

She felt mortified. Not that she had herself been attracted to Bayub-Otal, but she had been instructed to attract him and assured that she had the power to do so. What would Kembri and Elvair-ka-Virrion think of her now?

"At that rate, banzi," said Occula, "if he's too stupid to want a girl like you, you'd better come along and lend me a hand with Eud-Ecachlon, and we'll split his lygol between us. By the way, saiyett," she went on, before Sessendris could express a view on this proposal, "d'you happen to have seen my feather tunic? I suppose someone picked it up?"

"I brought it round for you," answered Sessendris. "It's hanging up outside."

"Thank you very much, saiyett. I came down here in a blanket," she explained to Maia, "but I'd rather not go back in one."

Eud-Ecachlon, whom they found walking impatiently in the colonnade, spoke pleasantly to Maia but, in spite of the broadest hints that Occula could let fall, showed no inclination for her company in addition to the black girl's. After a short conversation he excused himself and led Occula away. Evidently he had already made his arrangements with Sessendris, for he clearly knew where they were going.

Maia, left alone, felt depressed. In spite of what Sessendris had said, she was not sure whether one or other of the younger Urtans might not still be looking for her, and she had no heart for such an encounter.

However, she was still supposed to be working and she had no wish to turn her failure into a disaster by letting Sessendris or even, perhaps, Elvair-ka-Virrion himself come upon her wandering about at a loose end.

She went back into the hall. There were not more than fifteen or twenty people there altogether, most of Elvair-ka-Virrion's guests having, as it seemed, dispersed about the big house for the same purpose as Eud-Ecachlon. A little group of four or five young men, all wearing Leopard cognizances, were talking with some girls under a cluster of lamps at one end of the dais. From their unhurried, easy gestures and general air of relaxation, Maia could perceive that they had already satisfied their desire and were now probably having a friendly drink before going home. That would be the right sort of company for her, she thought, to keep out of harm's way until Occula returned.

While she stood hesitating one of the young men, glancing round and catching sight of her at the foot of the steps, came over and began talking to her. Answering rather abstractedly, she allowed him to bring her some wine and then lead her across to join his companions.

"You're a friend of that black girl, aren't you?" asked a second young man, whom she remembered having seen with Elvair-ka-Virrion earlier in the evening. "Weren't you both with the Urtans during supper?"

She nodded, and at once all the young men showed interest.

"Are you together, then? Whose household are you in?"

"I saw you at the Rains banquet, but I don't remember seeing her. She's really amazing!"

"How long has she been in Bekla? What's her name?"

/> "Perhaps you can tell us, then: was there really a knife?"

They continued for some time, the girls almost as inquisitive as the men. Maia did her best to create an impression of Occula as a smoldering, passionate girl from a far country, possessed of virtually supernatural powers. She must have been fairly successful, for two or three of the young men, apparently too much intrigued to feel restrained even by the presence of their partners, asked whether Occula was allowed to accept invitations and what kind of lygol she usually received. It was clear that they were afraid of the High Counselor and daunted to learn that whatever her price, Occula's favors could be obtained only through a request to him or to Terebinthia. Maia felt that none of them was interested in herself.

Determined to improve Occula's chances all she could, she was just suggesting that one possible approach might be through Jarvil, the porter, when she felt a touch on her arm. Looking round, she was surprised to see Bayub-Otal. Without speaking to any of the others he murmured, "Can you spare me a few more moments, please?"

Before she had even time to excuse herself to the young men, he had turned away. Following him across the hall, she overtook him at the foot of the steps and for the second time they went out together through the colonnade.

For a while he said nothing, walking slowly along the corridor as though abstracted, his eyes upon the ground. Just as she was plucking up courage to ask what was on his mind, he asked, "Have you enjoyed this evening?"

Disappointed as she was--and particularly with him-- the inquiry vexed her. "A slave-girl doesn't answer a question like that, my lord. If you have, then I have."

"So you never allow yourself to express any sincere feelings? My mother did, in your position." He smiled slightly. "That's why I'm here."