Maia

Pokada returned. "Yes, I have these two men in my charge, saiyett."

  "And you'll release them to me for that sum?"

  He made no reply, so that at length she repeated it.

  He shook his head. "It's not possible, saiyett, for that money; no, nor for any money, I'm afraid. I'm answerable for them to the Sacred Queen, you see."

  "The whole city's upside-down," she said. "You could always say they escaped."

  "No one escapes from here: I'd be the one upside-down, saiyett, believe me."

  "I'll pay you generously. Perhaps I could just manage a little more than ten thousand meld."

  He sat down. "Well, shall we talk about it, saiyett? I don't mind talking about it, you know. Yes, let's discuss it for a little while."

  But there was a kind of temporizing in his manner, a lack of conviction, which puzzled and disturbed her.

  "You mean, talk about how much?"

  "Well, yes; and about what you'll do with them--where they go and so on."

  "But I can't see that that's anything to do with you, U-Pokada. Why should you want to know that?"

  "Well, you see, saiyett--you see-- Have you ever been to Ikat Yeldashay?"

  "No, never. But what's that got to do with it? U-Pokada, please--"

  "Well, I was there once, you know. Yes, I was there once. Oh, some years ago, now. A nice city. Yes. But now it's in the hands of Santil-ke-Erketlis, they say. That's not good, is it? But of course General Kembri will beat him. No doubt of that--"

  "U-Pokada, what's all this got to do with the prisoners?"

  "Well, you see, saiyett, if you were going to Ikat Yeldashay, now--"

  "U-Pokada, I don't want to appear rude, and I know as I can't afford to offend you, but I'm in great haste. If we're going to come to an agreement, for Cran's sake can we do it quickly, because--"

  The door was flung open and two soldiers came into the room, their swords drawn in their hands. Maia, jumping up from where she was sitting, started back against the wall. Pokada also rose, but he showed no surprise, merely standing with folded arms as one of the two soldiers looked from him to herself.

  "Is this the girl?" asked the soldier, and Pokada replied, "Yes."

  Staring at them in the lamplight, Maia wondered what it was that seemed unfamiliar. The older was a tryzatt, the younger a common soldier. Both had an outlandish appearance, and their uniform, too, was unusual. Then, with an even worse access of fear, she saw that both were wearing the Fortress cognizance of Paltesh. These men were Palteshis.

  The tryzatt seized her arm. "Are you Maia Serrelinda?"

  She struggled, and he gripped her tighter. "Yes, yes, she is!" said Pokada, rubbing his hands. "You came quick. You came quick. That's good! That's very good!"

  "Who are you?" she whispered.

  "Guard commander at the Gate of Lilies: I'm arresting you on the Sacred Queen's instructions."

  "What for?"

  "She'll tell you that when she sees you."

  Itt dread worse than ever she had known she stood, her legs almost giving way under her, while they tied her hands behind her back. Then the tryzatt, nodding curtly to Po-kada, followed the soldier as he pushed her out into the yard.

  "Will you--will you let me go for ten thousand meld?" she asked, as they approached the gate.

  "Not for twenty, neither," answered the tryzatt in his grating, Palteshi accent. "You're going to Queen Fornis, that's where you're going."

  Suddenly both soldiers stopped, peering ahead of them towards the gate of the gaol. There was a flurry of tossing torches, their resinous, smoky smell drifting across the yard. Together with this came a sound of voices, stamping boots and the clink of arms and accoutrements. Evidently a considerable body of men had just entered the gate.

  The two Palteshis stood irresolute. However, they did not have to wait long. Four torches detached themselves from the mass and came quickly towards them. Within a minute they were surrounded by a group of ten or twelve soldiers, led by a heavily-built man wearing the insignia of a captain.

  "You belong to General Han-Glat?" asked the captain brusquely.

  "We serve him and the Sacred Queen, sir. Tryzatt Nethik, acting on orders from--"

  "Save your breath and you might even save your life, if you're lucky. Hand over your arms."

  The tryzatt hesitated. "May I respectfully ask, sir--"

  "Who I am? Captain Mendel-el-Ekna of Lapan, that's who I am. In case you didn't know, Bekla's now under command of Lord RandronOth."

  "Sir, with all due respect--"

  "Respect my venda." He drew his sword. "Hand over your arms, or you won't even have the chance to wish you had."

  The two Palteshis, having no alternative, obeyed.

  "Right," said the captain. "Now, I've taken over this gaol; have you got that? Are there any more of you Pa-tleshis here?"

  "No, sir."

  "If that turns out to be a lie you'll be killed. Where's the prison governor?"

  The tryzatt pointed across the yard.

  "Who's this girl? What were you going to do with her?"

  "The Sacred Queen gave orders that she was to be arrested wherever she might be found, sir. I was appointed guard commander at the Gate of Lilies this evening, and I received a message from the governor of the gaol, that she was here. 'Cordingly I came and arrested her."

  "Why are you wanted by Queen Fornis, then?" asked the captain, turning to Maia. "Untie her hands," he added to one of his own men.

  "I'm Maia Serrelinda," she answered. "Queen Fornis--"

  "Maia Serrelinda, the friend of Lord Randronoth?"

  She hesitated no more than a moment. "Yes."

  Disconcertingly, the captain dropped on one knee and proffered the hilt Of his sword. Smiling, she laid one hand on it and he stood up.

  "And what can we have the honor of doing for you, saiyett?"

  "I came here to ask the governor for the release of two prisoners--my friends; victims of the queen--but he kept me talking in his room so that he could betray me to these Palteshis."

  "Did he?" replied Mendel-el-Ekna. "Fearon," he said to his own tryzatt, "go back and take over at the gate. The rest of you, come with me."

  When they thrust their way into his room Pokada--for he was still there--sprang up and cowered against the wall, grasping quickly enough that these were no friends. Men-del-el-Ekna was about to run him through when Maia caught his arm.

  "Don't, captain! Spare him, for my sake!"

  "But you say this is the man who betrayed you to the Palteshis?"

  "Yes, but I can't bear to see anyone else killed. I've seen--oh, I've seen that many today, I'm half mad with it! Please spare him!"

  "You dirty bastard!" said the captain, hitting Pokada across the face. "Think yourself lucky! Now go and fetch the saiyett the men she asked you for, and basting quickly, too! You three go with him, and if he tries any nonsense, kill him!"

  They waited, eight or nine of them crammed into the little room. The smell of unwashed, sweating men was overpowering. Her wrists smarted where the cord had chafed them. I can't stand much more, she thought. Reckon I'll faint in a minute.

  "Stuffy in here," remarked Mendel-el-Ekna suddenly. He pulled open the wooden shutters, wrenched them off the hinges and threw them out into the yard. "That's bet-ter." One of his men caught Maia's eye and winked.

  "Will you be needing an escort?" went on the captain. "You and your friends--where are you going?"

  "I just want to get them out of Bekla," she answered. "Anywhere'll do for now."

  He frowned, puzzled. "Were you going to return to Lord Randronoth alone, then, across the city?"

  "There was a man with me before I was arrested by the Palteshis--a man and another girl--only in all the confusion we got separated, see?"

  "So you came in here by yourself? That must have taken some courage."

  "She's the Serrelinda, sir, ain't she?" said one of the men.

  "We'll escort you as far as the Blue Gate," said the captain. "I've got to g
o back there, anyway."

  Before she could reply the door opened and two of the three soldiers returned. With them were Bayub-Otal and-- and--O Cran!--her heart missed a beat and she actually staggered, clutching at the captain's arm for support. Yes, it was indeed Zen-Kurel.

  If the sight of Zirek had caught her unprepared, the sight of Zen-Kurel utterly overwhelmed her. She stood crushed and shattered by the recognition, tears streaming from her eyes.

  Not infrequently it happens that a person--or even a place--deeply loved and lost, becomes in memory more an idea in the heart than a precise visual recollection. It is as though what has been clung to and valued were not the outward semblance, the visible form--that is only the shell of a nut--but rather what it signifies. Thus, the mem-ory of home is less the actual look of the place than the recollection of security and of being cherished. To a girl, the memory of her lover may well transcend his bodily and facial appearance--left far below, as it were--to signify rather the delight of love-making and of being understood and esteemed more deeply than she had ever believed possible. Actually to set eyes on him once more in the flesh often has an unexpected impact, for in absence the mind had retained only vaguely the details of features; yet now these, which during separation were confined in some shadowy kennel of the memory, come bounding forth, pell mell, like released dogs jumping on a homecoming master and stopping him in his tracks.

  Yet Maia's case, though of this nature, was in addition grievous and horrifying beyond expression. What she felt was like the infliction of a wound. Her first, spontaneous association was of a ballad that old Drigga used to sing-- a ballad which, when she had been a little girl, had more than once frightened her to tears. It was the chilling tale of Terembro, the dead lad who returned to visit his former love by night.

  The very words came back to her; she could hear them, sung in old Drigga's quavering voice.

  "O my dear heart, my dearest lover,

  Where's that color you'd some time ago?"

  "O the grave has worn me and the clay has torn me;

  I'm but the ghost of your Terembro."

  Bayub-Otal, tall and raw-boned as he had always been, looked more or less as she remembered, though plainly suffering from cruel privation. But Zen-Kurel; her beautiful Zenka, the handsome, light-hearted, devil-may-care young officer who had made her laugh for joy at nothing, had teased her out of absurdity and then teased her back into it, in whose secure arms she had lain in tears of happiness! Ah! gods! nothing in her life had ever remotely approached what she underwent in the moment that she recognized this groping, helpless wreck of her former lover. It was not possible, she thought, to suffer like this. It was beyond the frame of the world and the order of things appointed: the gods must surely intervene to stop it. Yet they did not.

  Zen-Kurel was hollow-faced and very pale, skeletal in appearance, breathing in gasps and shivering continually. His eyes were half-closed, his cracked lips dry and his mouth fallen open. The soldiers had each drawn one of his arms round their necks and were gripping his wrists; otherwise he would have fallen. His knees were bent and his head hung forward on his chest. He did not look up as he was brought into the room, and seemed unaware of his surroundings.

  The sight shocked everyone present. One soldier uttered an exclamation of horror, cut quickly short.

  After a few moments Mendel-el-Ekna said to Maia, "You say you mean to take them out of the city--both these men?"

  With a great effort she controlled herself. "Yes; I must."

  "Well, it's for you to say, saiyett: I'm at your orders. But that man--he's a Katrian, isn't he?--do you think he can do it? He's very bad indeed: anyone can see that."

  "If only we can get them both away--just a few miles, captain--I'll be able to look after them. I'd be more than glad of your help."

  "Very well; you shall have it." He turned to one of his men. "That damned swine of a governor--go and make him give you a stretcher. We'll get them as far as the Blue Gate for a start."

  The stretcher, made of poles and sacking, was stained with what looked like dried blood. Maia recoiled from the thought of its probable use in the routine of the prison.

  Zen-Kurel had shown ho sign of recognizing her, but for the matter of that she doubted whether he had any idea at all of where he was or of anyone around him. Bayub-Otal, however, took her hand, looking at her gravely.

  "We owe this release to you, Maia?"

  "Yes, Anda-Nokomis."

  "Strange! You say you're going to take us out of Bekla?"

  "Ah, that's if we can; only it's risky, see?"

  "I believe you. Who are these men?"

  "Lapanese."

  "Lapanese? Where's Kembri, then?"

  "Gone south to fight Erketlis. The Lapanese are in re-volt--they mean to take the city before Fornis can."

  "Then I suppose we may--But Zen-Kurel's in a very bad way, Maia: I only hope he can survive."

  "We must get him out of here," she answered. "Away from Fornis, that's the first thing. Look, they're ready to go."

  Mendel-el-Ekna himself accompanied them, with eight men. It was not until they came out from the Shilth into the western end of the Sheldad that Maia grasped the full extent of the chaos. Far and near, the entire city was full of flame and clamor. Frighteningly close, in the half-dark-ness, a running fight was going on between two bands of soldiers; yet she was quite unable to tell which side was which. All around them rose shouting and the clash of arms. Dead bodies sprawled in the road and wounded men were crying out and cursing. The captain remained entirely unmoved.

  "Nothing to worry about, saiyett: our people have got things well in hand. Whatever you do, just keep going."

  As they stumbled on, it became clear that the whole length of the Sheldad was taken up with the fighting.

  Soon they were forced to a halt. Gangs of rogues and beggars, more dangerous than wild animals, were dodging among the soldiers, robbing whom they could and looting booths and shops. In doorways Maia could see grim-faced men with cudgels in their hands, plainly ready to defend their premises against all comers. From upper windows screaming women were pelting raiders trying to break in below. In several places fires had started, and above the all-per-vading din rose sounds of crackling flames, falling beams and the intermittent crash of collapsing roofs. A lurid glow blotted out the stars.

  "Do you know your way through this damned place?" shouted the captain in her ear.

  "Best go down to the Slave Market, I reckon," she answered, "and then try to get up the Kharjiz and past the temple."

  Once out of the Sheldad they met with less trouble. What isolated fighting they came upon they were able to avoid, while almost all the looters and footpads who saw them sidled off, daunted by the sight of their breastplates and weapons. They had one brief skirmish, however, with an armed gang too drunk to realize they had met their match. Mendel-el-Ekna went for them with grim relish, dropping two in the gutter before the rest took to their heels. Twenty hectic minutes later they reached the Blue Gate.

  Here a noisy, milling crowd were being held in check by a line of Lapanese soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder, spears extended and swords stuck ready to hand into the timbers at their backs. The captain's men, with some difficulty, forced a way through for Zen-KurePs stretcher. The tryzatt in command of the spearmen, sweating and helmetless, saluted Mendel-el-Ekna with a look of relief.

  "Any chance you can give us a hand, sir? Count Seekron's orders, to let no one through the gate, but they're all in a panic to get out of the city and I don't know how much longer we can hold them."

  "Where
  "Gone to the upper city, sir, to find Lord Randronoth. No one knows where he can have got to."

  A stone from somewhere in the crowd splintered the woodwork of the gate, narrowly missing Maia where she stood beside the stretcher. "Give the men bows, tryzatt," said the captain. "Order these bastards to disperse and threaten to shoot if they don't. Be quick, too!"
>
  Suddenly, from near the front of the crowd, a voice shouted, "Maia! Maia!" Turning, she saw Zirek and Meris trying to push their way towards her. She gripped Mendel-el-Ekna's arm, pointing.

  "Captain, that's the man and the girl I told you about; the ones who were with me. Please get them over here if you can!"

  "Bring them into the guard-room!" shouted the captain to two of his men. "And you'd better get in there, too, before you get hurt," he added to Maia. "Go on; I'll see to your friends!"

  Thus, after the lapse of a year--and hardly in better case--Maia entered once more the guard-room where she and Occula had been befriended by the soldiers on that sweltering afternoon when they had trudged into Bekla behind Zuno's jekzha.

  Two minutes later she was joined by Zirek and Meris. Meris had a swollen lip and a cut on one arm.

  "Right; now we've got to get you out," said Mendel-el-Ekna. "Can you walk?" he asked Bayub-Otal.

  The Ban of Suba shrugged. "When I can't, I'll stop."

  "Then the quicker you're all gone the better. Serrelinda, I can spare you two men to carry the stretcher. But get him to some sort of shelter as soon as you can, do you see? Otherwise he'll die. And then send my men straight back; I need them."

  She kissed his hands and thanked him with tears in her eyes, but he made light of it.

  "Oh, I'd do more than that for you, Serrelinda. Don't worry, I'll tell Lord Randronoth we got you and your friends away all right. See you when you get back."

  The tryzatt opened the postern and in the flickering darkness they slipped through behind the line of spearmen. Immediately the door shut to behind them. In front, on either side, stretched the high, backward-tilting walls of the outer precinct, leading down to the caravan roads be-low.

  "Which way?" asked Bayub-Otal as they reached it. He spoke gaspingly, through clenched teeth.

  "That's for you to say, my lord," she replied.

  "I'd say south, my lord," said Zirek. "But it might be best to get off the road soon. I reckon the less we're seen thebetter."

  "Then south it is," said Bayub-Otal.

  Ten minutes later Maia looked back. The eastern walls of the city showed as a black line, beyond which the glow of flames shone luridly on the base of a canopy of smoke. The hubbub, diminished by distance, had become an ugly, throbbing din, like that of some swarm of gigantic insects roused to anger.

  "A devils' playground," she whispered, gazing.