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Authors: John Brunner
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coagulant on my cheek to stop blood dripping on my clothes, but I decided against covering the gash with plastiskin. Let Shavarri see the mark and wonder about it.
Then I put the slip of paper with the directions for the potion in my pocket, and went upstairs to the seraglio.
Someone had been talking!
Normally the Vorrish members of the staff ignored me, except for the few like Swallo who could tolerate Earthmen without either hating their guts like Dwerri or being ridiculously impressed with them like Pwill. (That hadn’t struck me before. Having been personally involved, as a very young officer, in garrison duties on Earth before the Great Grip relaxed, he had seen us at our most abject. It wasn’t logical for him to have gained such a high regard for us later!)
Today the Vorra weren’t just ignoring me. They were apparently avoiding me deliberately. Those I did encounteron my way upstairs could hardly drag their eyes away from me as they went by.
Astonishing what a change a few minor incidents could make!
Shavarri might not have moved at all since I saw her in the morning; she was still reclining as she had been, in a robe dusted with gold to match the color of her eyes. Her mouth was drawn down a little at the corners in a determined expression. On a low stool-like table within arm’s reach of her was the can I had brought from Kramer’s. She had levered the lid off. The contents were a kind of thick, dry,’ granular paste, grayish in color.
The same maid who had been waiting at the door of my room on my return from the city was fanning Shavarri with a big black spray of feathers. She gave me a nervous glance and went on with the fanning more vigorously than before.
Coolly Shavarri looked me over. I met her glance as levelly as I could.
“You took your time,” she said at last.
I bowed. “Directly I returned Pwill Himself sent for me,” I said. “As your under-ladyship will realize, this delayed me.”
“And you have the effrontery to ask a platinum as fee for explaining the workings of this—this porridge to me!”
The maid gulped audibly. Shavarri turned to her and waved irritably.
“Leave us in peace!” she commanded, and the girl was only too glad to go.
“The cost of the can you have was five platina,” I said urbanely when the door had closed again.
“I knew that!” she answered impatiently. “Cosra told me—I gave you what was necessary.”
Cosra. The name rang a bell. One of the wives of Shugurra Himself, head of the House of Shugurra across the valley from here, and the most powerful individual on Qallavarra; the rival Pwill would most dearly like to do down. That was really interesting!
I hid my elation. Bowing again, I said, “May it please your under-ladyship, there is a difference between a small everyday service and one like this. On my way to the Acre, a squad of trainee soldiers decided to use me as a moving target, firing magnesium bullets at me. One burned a hole in my cloak.”
“I see.” She studied me thoughtfully. “And you value your life, which you thus risked, at one platinum. It agrees very closely with my own estimate of an Earthman’s life. There you are!”
She picked up a shiny coin from the same table where the open can of potion stood, and tossed it towards me. I caught it one-handed in mid-air and pocketed it.
Her light eyes followed the movement, and I guessed why she was puzzled, but said nothing. After a moment, she sat up on her couch of furs and gestured me to sit down on a chair near her.
“I had not expected you to be able to walk here,” she said. “Yet you move freely, for all that Dwerri has marked you with his whip.”
“Ah—Dwerri?” I agreed, and put my finger to my cheek. “Oh yes!”
“Did he not lash you, then?” The question was snapped at me.
“Dwerri, for all his pose of authority, is a servant with a servant’s spirit—lack of spirit, I mean. ‘He—changed his mind, shall we say? The capabilities of Earthmen
Then I put the slip of paper with the directions for the potion in my pocket, and went upstairs to the seraglio.
Someone had been talking!
Normally the Vorrish members of the staff ignored me, except for the few like Swallo who could tolerate Earthmen without either hating their guts like Dwerri or being ridiculously impressed with them like Pwill. (That hadn’t struck me before. Having been personally involved, as a very young officer, in garrison duties on Earth before the Great Grip relaxed, he had seen us at our most abject. It wasn’t logical for him to have gained such a high regard for us later!)
Today the Vorra weren’t just ignoring me. They were apparently avoiding me deliberately. Those I did encounteron my way upstairs could hardly drag their eyes away from me as they went by.
Astonishing what a change a few minor incidents could make!
Shavarri might not have moved at all since I saw her in the morning; she was still reclining as she had been, in a robe dusted with gold to match the color of her eyes. Her mouth was drawn down a little at the corners in a determined expression. On a low stool-like table within arm’s reach of her was the can I had brought from Kramer’s. She had levered the lid off. The contents were a kind of thick, dry,’ granular paste, grayish in color.
The same maid who had been waiting at the door of my room on my return from the city was fanning Shavarri with a big black spray of feathers. She gave me a nervous glance and went on with the fanning more vigorously than before.
Coolly Shavarri looked me over. I met her glance as levelly as I could.
“You took your time,” she said at last.
I bowed. “Directly I returned Pwill Himself sent for me,” I said. “As your under-ladyship will realize, this delayed me.”
“And you have the effrontery to ask a platinum as fee for explaining the workings of this—this porridge to me!”
The maid gulped audibly. Shavarri turned to her and waved irritably.
“Leave us in peace!” she commanded, and the girl was only too glad to go.
“The cost of the can you have was five platina,” I said urbanely when the door had closed again.
“I knew that!” she answered impatiently. “Cosra told me—I gave you what was necessary.”
Cosra. The name rang a bell. One of the wives of Shugurra Himself, head of the House of Shugurra across the valley from here, and the most powerful individual on Qallavarra; the rival Pwill would most dearly like to do down. That was really interesting!
I hid my elation. Bowing again, I said, “May it please your under-ladyship, there is a difference between a small everyday service and one like this. On my way to the Acre, a squad of trainee soldiers decided to use me as a moving target, firing magnesium bullets at me. One burned a hole in my cloak.”
“I see.” She studied me thoughtfully. “And you value your life, which you thus risked, at one platinum. It agrees very closely with my own estimate of an Earthman’s life. There you are!”
She picked up a shiny coin from the same table where the open can of potion stood, and tossed it towards me. I caught it one-handed in mid-air and pocketed it.
Her light eyes followed the movement, and I guessed why she was puzzled, but said nothing. After a moment, she sat up on her couch of furs and gestured me to sit down on a chair near her.
“I had not expected you to be able to walk here,” she said. “Yet you move freely, for all that Dwerri has marked you with his whip.”
“Ah—Dwerri?” I agreed, and put my finger to my cheek. “Oh yes!”
“Did he not lash you, then?” The question was snapped at me.
“Dwerri, for all his pose of authority, is a servant with a servant’s spirit—lack of spirit, I mean. ‘He—changed his mind, shall we say? The capabilities of Earthmen
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