“And what does she mean to show them?”
“You,” she said; Aiela instinctively flung the chiabres-link asunder, dismayed by that touch of willful cruelty in Isande: she enjoyeddistressing Daniel. The impulse he sent in her direction carried anger, and Isande flinched, and felt shame. “We searched to find you,” she said then to Daniel. “Oh, not you particularly, but it came to Chimele’s attention that humans from beyond the Esliph were turning up—we have followed so many, many leads in recent months, through the iduve, kallia, even the amaut, investigating every anomaly. We traced one such shipment toward Kartos—economicaclass="underline" Chimele knew she would at least find Kartos’ records of value in her search. You were available; and you have pleased her enormously—hence her extraordinary patience with you. Only hope you haven’t misled her.”
“I haven’t led her at all,” Daniel protested. “Amaut were all I ever saw, the ugly little beasts, and I never heard of iduve in my life.” And hidden in his mind were images of what might become of him if he were given to the iduve of Chaganokhfor cross-examination, or if thereafter he had no value to the iduve at all.
“You are kameth,” said Isande. “You will not be discarded. But I will tell you something: as far as iduve ever bluff, Chimele is preparing to; and if she is wrong, she will have ruined herself. Three kamethi would hardly be adequate serach—funeral gift—for a dynasty as old and honorable as hers. We three would die; so would her nasithi-katasakke, serachto the fall of a dynasty. The iduve could destroy worlds of m’metaneiand not feel as much as they would the passing of Chimele. So be guided by us, by Aiela and by me. If you do in that meeting what you did today—”
Now it was Daniel who screened, shutting off the images from Isande’s mind. She ceased.
Do not be hard with him,Aiela asked of her. There is no need of that, Isande.
She did not respond for a moment; in her mind was hate, the thought of what she would do and how she would deal with the human if Aiela were not the intermediary, and yet in some part she was ashamed of her anger. Asuthi must not hate; with her own clear sense she knew it, and submitted to the fact that he was appended to them. If you fail to restrain him,she sent Aiela, you will lose him. You have fallen into a trap; I had prepared myself to remain distinct from him, but you are caught, you are merging; and because I regard you, I am caught too. Restrain him. Restrain him. If he angers the iduve, three kamethi are the least expensive loss that will result.
6
The Orithain of Chaganokhwas a lonely man in the paredreof Ashanome.He wore the close-fitting garment common to iduve, but of startling white and complicated by overgarments and robes and a massive silver belt from which hung a ghiaka.His name was Minakh, and he was a conspicuous gleam of white and silver among so much indigo and black, with the fair colors of kallia and human an unintentional counterpoint across the room. Chimele faced him, seated, similarly robed and bearing a ghiakawith a raptor’s head, but her colors were dusky violet.
Tension was electric in the air. Daniel shivered at being thrust so prominently into the midst of them, and Aiela mentally held to him. Contact among the asuthi seemed uncertain, washed out by the miasma of terror and hostilities in the hall, which was filled with thousands of iduve. Bodies went rigid at the presence of Minakh, whiteless eyes dilated to black, breathing quickened. A dozen of the most powerful of nasul Ashanomewere ranged about Chimele, behind, on either side of her: Khasif, Ashakh—great fearsome men, and two women, Tahjekh and Nophres, who were guardians of the dhisand terrible to offend.
Minakh’s eyes shifted from this side to that of the gathering. While he was still distant from Chimele he went to his knees and raised both hands. Likewise Chimele lifted her hands to salute him, but she remained seated.
“I am Orithain of the nasul Chaganokh,” said Minakh. “Increase to the dhisof Ashanome.We salute you.”
“We are Ashanome.May your eye be sharp and your reach long. For what grace have you come?”
“We have come to ask the leave of the orith-nasul Ashanometo go our way. The field is yours. May your affairs prosper.”
“Honor to the vra-nasul Chaganokhfor its courtesy. We have heard that the zone of Kej is uncommonly pleasant of late. May your affairs prosper there.”
Minakh inclined his body gracefully to the carpet at this order, although it must have rankled; and he sat back on his heels, hands at his thighs, elbows outward.
“We rejoice at Ashanome’s notice,” he said flatly, and again came the concentration of hostilities, scantly concealed.
“Happy are the circumstances when nasulimay pass without vaikka,” said Chimele. “Honor to the wisdom of the Orithanhe which has made this possible.”
“Long life to those who respect its decrees.”
“Long life indeed, and may we remember this meeting with good pleasure. The vra-nasul Chaganokhhas voyaged far and accrued honors; at its presence the Esliph shudders, and the un-traveled space of the human folk has now been measured.”
“The praise of Ashanome,hunter of worlds, is praise indeed.” Minakh’s face was utterly impassive, but his eyes flashed aside to Daniel, dark and terrible.
“Indeed Chaganokhis deserving of honor. So great is our admiration for its acquisition of wisdom that we lay at Chaganokh’s feet the matter nearest our heart. We search for a man who was once of Ashanome.Perhaps this inconsequential person has crossed the affairs of Chaganokh.We should not be surprised to learn that he has attempted to shake us from his trail in the uncharted human zones. Chaganokh’s recently acquired knowledge of this region seems to us an excellent source of precise knowledge. We are of course in great haste. Our time is slipping from us, and Chaganokhin its wisdom will surely accommodate our impatience in this regard.”
There was a long and deadly silence. Minakh’s eyes rested on Daniel with such hate that it was almost tangible, and every iduve in the room bristled. The silence persisted, broken ominously by a hiss from one of the dhis-guardians.
Minakh sweated. His belly heaved with his breathing. At last he prostrated himself and sat back again on his heels, looking dispirited.
“We delight to offer our assistance. This person attached himself to us at a distance. We ceased to notice him shortly after we entered the human zones, near a world known to those creatures as Priamos. Our own affairs occupied us thereafter.”
“May your dhisever be safe, o Chaganokh.Again let us trouble your gracious assistance. Are the humans wise to think that the amaut are the cause of their unhappy state?”
“When were the m’metaneiever wise, o Ashanome,hunter of worlds? The amaut are carrion-eaters who seek scraps where we have passed. When has it ever been otherwise?”