Without warning the tent pole faded from her grasp. She heard Benayu’s urgent mutter close in her ear. The shreds of her shielding vanished and she was naked to the triple whirlpool of magic swirling though the little tent. There was someone there with her, being whirled in the same tempest, inert, helpless—Benayu. Desperately, twisting to and fro, she flung her arm round him, clutched him against her, and with her other arm clung to the rock of her own selfhood, Maja, Maja, Maja…and then she was left gasping in a different kind of shelter, improvised and patchy, like a drafty shed that is still better than nothing in the blast of winter.
Shuddering with relief she looked around her. She was still in the tent, but with the entrance now in front of her. Her back was against the tent pole with some kind of sash holding her firmly in place there. She seemed to have no sense of balance and would have fallen without it. That must be Turbax to her left, but Brod was gone from her other side. Where was Benayu? She tried to turn her head. Pain lanced up her spine.
“Wait,” said Quiriul’s voice behind her. “You are not yet ready to move.”
Maja forced the unfamiliar mouth to cooperate.
“Benayu? What?” she croaked.
“I almost lost you. He came to help. It overstretched him. He is here, but unconscious. Wait. We must finish our work, or we will lose you again. Breathe deeply in, and out again.”
Maja realized now that she hadn’t been breathing at all. For a moment nothing happened. Then, with a rush, the air came. With a willed effort she forced it back out.
“Good,” said Quiriul. “And again. And again.”
Maja obeyed. Her breath steadied and continued of its own accord. With a painful convulsion her heart began to beat. Saliva flowed, but she needed her conscious mind to decide to swallow it. Sometimes on her own, sometimes on Quiriul’s instructions, she worked her way round all the normally unnoticed functions of her body. As each piece fitted itself into place others joined themselves to the growing wholeness. Her sense of balance returned unnoticed.
“Well done,” said Quiriul. “Now we will coordinate your movements….”
But turning her head Maja had seen from the corner of her eyes a green and gold hummock sprawled against the side of the tent.
“May I speak?”
“Try.”
Maja steadied herself, summoned the authority she had learned as the real Lady Kzuva.
“Bennay. Benayu,” she said. “He’s more important than any of us. We can’t just let him lie there. He came to the edge to find me and brought me back. We’ve got to do something.”
“I daren’t interfere magically,” said Quiriul. “He is far out of my reach. There is nothing any of us can do directly, apart from rest and quiet and peace of mind. He was desperately anxious for you. He knew we would be working at the limit of our powers. That was why he insisted on being present. So now the best we can do for him is to finish our work. Even as he is he may be aware that you are out of danger.”
“All right.”
“Nod then…Exercise your neck…Now your right arm, starting at the shoulder, and down to the individual fingers…”
They worked systematically on. Impatiently Maja took her first pace.
“That will have to do,” she said, practicing her Lady Kzuva manner. “Thank you for your help. I know you are tired, but would you be kind enough to wait with my boy, Madam Quiriul, until I can send somebody to see him well looked after. And you, sir, you must be Master Turbax.”
He was the one who’d had the tiger’s head. She could tell from the yellowish glow in his eyes.
“At your service, my lady,” he said smoothly, and managed a smile. But it was a smile that said, Why should I bother? You’re only a child pretending to be a great lady. And who cares about Benayu? He’s washed up, done for. Better carry through with the charade. Important to ingratiate myself with the President-designate.
Too late, Master Turbax, Maja thought. I’m going to warn her. You aren’t as clever as you think you are.
“And you are responsible for my shielding,” she said. “I am most grateful. Now if you would be so kind as to see me to the conference tent.”
Several of the functionaries of the Provost’s Court were waiting beside the entrance. Maja spotted the one who had come up from Larg with the old groom on the morning after the defeat of Azarod, to bring their breakfast and tell them to get ready for the visit from the Proctors themselves. She caught his eye and beckoned him over.
“My lady?” he said.
“My boy has been taken seriously ill. He is in that small tent with the yellow pennant. Please arrange to have him carried somewhere where he can rest and not be disturbed. The woman now with him will tell you what else is needed.”
“I will see to it myself,” said the functionary, as obsequious now as he had been haughty when Maja had first met him.
She thanked Turbax again for his help at the entrance to the tent and went on in alone. Striclan was speaking. He paused for the translation. By the time Maja was settled into her chair he was speaking again, about arranging for any citizens of the Empire aboard the fleet to be allowed to return home if they wished. Maja and Ribek muttered to each other during pauses for translation.
“How are you feeling?” he said.
“Tired, but I’ll manage. Provided I don’t have to talk much. What’s happening? Where’s General Olbog?”
“Under arrest. He wanted to load the airboat with armed men and make a surprise attack on Larg. The Syndics overruled him. Pashgahr supported them…. Olbog must have guessed this would happen, and had given secret orders for his people to take over the command deck…. The magicians were keeping an eye on things—Chanad had asked them to—and they told Syndic…. I still can’t pronounce her name—begins with B—that one there…”
“Syndic Blrundahlrgh,” said Maja. The name seemed to be on her tongue. Syndic Blrundahlrgh was the dumpy woman who’d come down the ramp beside General Olbog. She was important because she represented the Homemakers’ Interest.
“I can remember last night, not this morning,” she said as soon as the translator began again. “Striclan coached us how to say it, didn’t he?”
“She’s on our side against the Olbog lot. When she heard about the mutiny she left the command deck and faced the mutineers down. Talk to her if you can. It shouldn’t be that difficult. You’ll have time to think what to say next while the last bit’s being translated. Tell her you’re not yourself. It’ll be truer than she thinks.”
“All right. What’s going on now?”
“We’ve almost finished. Pashgahr’s desperate to get back to the fleet before Olbog’s lot try anything. All we can do is agree to a one-month cease-fire. Nobody’s got any real authority for more…. We release their fleet. They withdraw to Tarshu. Hostilities round Tarshu cease. Any troops still on shore reembark in six days and withdraw to an offshore island called Anyan…. There’s just this last haggle and then we’ll have a break for refreshments while the clerks draw up a document in both languages for us to sign and seal.”
It seemed to take for ever. Maja barely listened, and spent the time rehearsing things to say to Syndic Blrundahlrgh. At last the President Proctor declared the proceedings closed and everybody rose, but Maja settled back into her chair and waited for the crowd at the entrance to clear. Quiriul appeared at her shoulder.
“Is Benayu all right?” said Maja.
“He is conscious, and whole, he says, but very feeble. He is being well looked after. He asked me to give you this. Lady Kzuva couldn’t take anything home that hadn’t come with her. You are wearing its simulacrum.”
It was a brooch. Very simple, just a silver bar patterned with ivy leaves with a single tree at one end. It had been prettier with the horses.