palace that I stared open-mouthed in amazement, but at the man who lolled, thick-tongued and sprawling at her feet. Thran of Gorl, a two-handled wine cup in his unsteady hands, leered at me. Dragging upon her couch for support, he rose waveringly to his feet.
“Other friends of yours, Da? But then I cannot complain if others seek your company, can I? Your sweetness is not mine alone, alas. But may I stay a while or must I go?”
She shook her head and the eyes she tinned upon us were chill with unfriendliness. “Stay, my Lord. As for you, my Lord strangers, I bid you welcome to my domain. But whisper your desires into Lania’s ears and what you wish shall be set before you.” She motioned toward the Aholian. So negligently did she dismiss us.
Thran laughed jeeringly and swayed toward me. “This sweet is not for your plucking, soldier. Go search other gardens for your spoil.”
Something clicked faintly against the throat buckle of my cloak and fell down into the folds of my sash. Playing the abashed boor, I edged myself and my companions out of the chamber, leaving Da and her lordling to the solitude they so desired
My fingers touched Anatan’s shoulder and I put my lips close to his ear.
“You amuse this Lania for the moment.”
He glanced at me quickly and then slipped forward to keep pace with the glide of the Aholian handmaid. I fumbled in my sash and drew forth an oval silver bead the size of my thumb. A moment’s inspection under the directrays of one of the corridor lights revealed the faint line of cleavage about its middle. I was familiar enough with such devices for the safekeeping of secret messages. A single twirl of my fingers separated it into halves and then I was unrolling a bit of writing silk. It read:
In the Room of the Grippons. One hour from now. Trust no one here.
In silence I passed the note to Zacat. He scanned the single line and then grinned wolfishly. “We seem to have bayed upon a hot scent after all, Garan. The Room of the Grippons it is. Now it lies with us to play the roisters. Your boy Anatan will aid us there.”
It gave me a twinge of uneasiness when I looked up to see Anatan’s dark head so close to the golden one of the Aholian. For it was plain to the most stupid beholder that they had reached some understanding and were embarking upon a flirtation. The boy must be warned not to play the fool now.
I quickened my steps and came up to them. By displaying the manners of a pothouse bully I shouldered Anatan away and hailed his companion brusquely. “How now, mistress. We have paid our duty to your lady, now lead us to your haven of joys. Set your wonders before us.”
Anatan was about to protest my unseemly behavior when, using a fold of my cloak as a blind, I thrust Thran’s message into his hand. A tug at my back informed me that he had read and understood.
“What would you, my Lords?” asked Lania, sweetly submissive. “Wines? We have the best Heady white vintages of Ru, rich purple streams from Hol, golden from Koom —and others in abundance. Dancers to amuse you? In one of our halls the golden maids from the forbidden temples of Qur tread the mystic mazes of the olden gods, the like to be seen nowhere else in all Yu-Lac. Or do you wish companions for the evening? A girl from the deserts of Teriatia, as hard to withstand as one of her country’s fierce winds, a Lapidian of the silver hair and passionate lips, a woman of Arct with all the pleasing city vices at her command? All nations, all natures have we here.”
“The temple dancers,” selected Zacat quickly and I applauded his choice for, of the three Lania had given us, that seemed the least likely to involve us in future difficulties.
Without a word she turned into a cross corridor which soon became a ramp leading downward. Then for the firsttime I saw a shade of uneasiness cloud Zacat’s face. Anatan was definitely sober and walked a little behind, as if he had his doubts of our enterprise. At the
“Other friends of yours, Da? But then I cannot complain if others seek your company, can I? Your sweetness is not mine alone, alas. But may I stay a while or must I go?”
She shook her head and the eyes she tinned upon us were chill with unfriendliness. “Stay, my Lord. As for you, my Lord strangers, I bid you welcome to my domain. But whisper your desires into Lania’s ears and what you wish shall be set before you.” She motioned toward the Aholian. So negligently did she dismiss us.
Thran laughed jeeringly and swayed toward me. “This sweet is not for your plucking, soldier. Go search other gardens for your spoil.”
Something clicked faintly against the throat buckle of my cloak and fell down into the folds of my sash. Playing the abashed boor, I edged myself and my companions out of the chamber, leaving Da and her lordling to the solitude they so desired
My fingers touched Anatan’s shoulder and I put my lips close to his ear.
“You amuse this Lania for the moment.”
He glanced at me quickly and then slipped forward to keep pace with the glide of the Aholian handmaid. I fumbled in my sash and drew forth an oval silver bead the size of my thumb. A moment’s inspection under the directrays of one of the corridor lights revealed the faint line of cleavage about its middle. I was familiar enough with such devices for the safekeeping of secret messages. A single twirl of my fingers separated it into halves and then I was unrolling a bit of writing silk. It read:
In the Room of the Grippons. One hour from now. Trust no one here.
In silence I passed the note to Zacat. He scanned the single line and then grinned wolfishly. “We seem to have bayed upon a hot scent after all, Garan. The Room of the Grippons it is. Now it lies with us to play the roisters. Your boy Anatan will aid us there.”
It gave me a twinge of uneasiness when I looked up to see Anatan’s dark head so close to the golden one of the Aholian. For it was plain to the most stupid beholder that they had reached some understanding and were embarking upon a flirtation. The boy must be warned not to play the fool now.
I quickened my steps and came up to them. By displaying the manners of a pothouse bully I shouldered Anatan away and hailed his companion brusquely. “How now, mistress. We have paid our duty to your lady, now lead us to your haven of joys. Set your wonders before us.”
Anatan was about to protest my unseemly behavior when, using a fold of my cloak as a blind, I thrust Thran’s message into his hand. A tug at my back informed me that he had read and understood.
“What would you, my Lords?” asked Lania, sweetly submissive. “Wines? We have the best Heady white vintages of Ru, rich purple streams from Hol, golden from Koom —and others in abundance. Dancers to amuse you? In one of our halls the golden maids from the forbidden temples of Qur tread the mystic mazes of the olden gods, the like to be seen nowhere else in all Yu-Lac. Or do you wish companions for the evening? A girl from the deserts of Teriatia, as hard to withstand as one of her country’s fierce winds, a Lapidian of the silver hair and passionate lips, a woman of Arct with all the pleasing city vices at her command? All nations, all natures have we here.”
“The temple dancers,” selected Zacat quickly and I applauded his choice for, of the three Lania had given us, that seemed the least likely to involve us in future difficulties.
Without a word she turned into a cross corridor which soon became a ramp leading downward. Then for the firsttime I saw a shade of uneasiness cloud Zacat’s face. Anatan was definitely sober and walked a little behind, as if he had his doubts of our enterprise. At the
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