Maia

The game having concluded, predictably, in an access of contentment for the High Counselor, Maia (who before the end had become somewhat disarranged) was putting herself to rights, while Terebinthia wiped Occula down with a towel wrung out in warm water, when the ringing of a small bell was heard outside the door. This indicated that a servant wished to speak to Terebinthia; it being a strict rule that no one but the saiyett herself was ever to enter the hall when Sencho was with his girls. She went

out and returned to inform the High Counselor that an aristocratic visitor had called-none other than the young lord Elvair-ka-Virrion-accompanied by a lady, and begged to be graciously permitted to speak with him for a few minutes.

In the normal way Sencho would not have dreamed of allowing such an intrusion upon his dinner, but his satisfaction in the morning's work and the exalted social position of his visitor, as well as the pleasure which Maia had just so skillfully afforded, disposed him to stretch a point; the more especially as he rather hoped that some opportunity might present itself to affront or disgust the unknown lady.

Elvair-ka-Virrion's companion, when he entered the hall behind Terebinthia, proved to be Nennaunir, the shearna whom Occula had met some days before at the conclusion of her visit to the Lord General.

Elvair-ka-Virrion, who was as usual magnificently and flamboyantly dressed and was carrying over one arm a heavy cloak of leopard-skins, greeted the High Counselor with as much ease and self-possession as though he had not been lying half-drunk among naked girls. Having accepted wine for himself and his companion, and respectfully complimented the High Counselor on its excellent quality, he went on to say that he had come in person to ask him a favor. He was giving a party the following night, and wished to spare no pains to ensure that plenty of attractive girls should be present.

"You have here, my lord," he said, spreading his hands and smiling, "well-what one would expect of an establishment such as yours-the most striking girls in the city. Occula here is unique: I'm sure she sweeps downstream like a Telthearna flood. As for this Tonildan girl, one has only to look at her to suppose that Lespa has returned from among the stars. In short, my lord, if you'll lend them to me tomorrow I'm in no doubt they'll do you the greatest credit."

While he was speaking Maia, who had begun by taking in every detail of his fine figure and beautiful clothes, gradually became more fully aware of the young woman standing a little apart as she sipped her wine. Nennaunir, she thought, must be about twenty-one. She had dark-brown hair which curled naturally over her shoulders, very fine skin and exquisitely beautiful, delicate hands, on one of

which she was wearing a gold ring set with some tawny, translucent stone carved in the form of a crouching leopard. Her close-fitting robe, very slightly transparent above the waist to reveal-or not quite to reveal-her firm breasts, was of a dull-toned, rather dark red, plain except for an inch-deep gold border which matched her sandals. Its surface was without luster and slightly rough; Maia guessed that it must be made of raw silk. She looked, in fact, not only wealthy but as respectable as any daughter of a baron or wife of an officer.

Apart from her dress and appearance, however, there was about Nennaunir a certain quality which engaged Maia's interest so strongly that after a time she ceased to pay attention to Elvair-ka-Virrion, watching instead the young shearna and trying to enter into her thoughts and feelings as she stood leaning against a column, looking demurely down and idly examining the decoration of the silver goblet in her hand. A man, Maia realized after a little, would see in Nennaunir whatever she intended him to see. To a woman she was inscrutable, for no sooner did one fancy that one had perceived her frame of mind, than one's thoughts stopped short, checked-baffled, even-by an intimation of what seemed the exact opposite. Her eye wandered knowledgeably and appreciatively over the fountain nymph among her jade reeds, the mosaic floor and other luxurious appointments of the hall. Yet at the same time she evinced- or rather, did not quite evince-a faint air of distaste for the High Counselor. The next moment-and it seemed as though she herself had not changed but rather that Maia's viewpoint had, as it were, altered slightly, as might that of someone looking at the varying colors reflected from the bevelled edge of a glass-she appeared amused, with a hint of excitement, as though it would not take much to make her undress and join the girls on the couch. From this she was restrained only-so she appeared to suggest- by devotion to Elvair-ka-Virrion. At least, this devotion was implied in her eyes, which were frequently turned towards him with a look of admiration. But then again her glance would catch Terebinthia's with the complicit air of one professional to another. Towards Maia and Occula her manner was slightly distant, not unfriendly but a little aloof, as befitting one who had risen above their level. "You may come to be like me, in time," her brief smile

seemed to say. "I'm inclined to doubt it, but I wish you well all the same."

Maia felt daunted by her assurance and poise: her mingling of authority with deference, warmth with detachment, honesty with artifice, candor with reticence. Sufficiently sharp to perceive all this and to realize, too, that this skillful balance, no doubt imperceptible to men entirely taken up with her physical grace and beauty, constituted the essence of an accomplished shearna, Maia could not help wondering whether she herself would ever be able to attain such ability. A shearna, she now saw clearly enough, needed to be an actress; yet it would be of no avail merely to copy Nennaunir. Actress or no, her style was individual-it was all one with her looks, her movement (lighter and quicker than Maia's), the tone of her voice and her cast of countenance. This girl had succeeded in becoming what she-Maia-and Occula were hoping to become. And in the very act of leaning by the fountain, toying with her wine and not in the least appearing to be doing five things at once, she was giving an all-too-clear demonstration of how she had achieved her success. "It's like she keeps putting on different masks," thought Maia. "Only they're see-through masks an' all. It's always herself you think you see underneath." '

Sencho replied to Elvair-ka-Virrion that his girls, like everyone else's, were available on terms, and inquired what kind of lygol the young man thought appropriate for their attendance at his party. At this Elvair-ka-Virrion showed slight surprise. Surely in all the circumstances- _ Sencho, with an air implying that it was hardly for one such as himself to be put to the trouble of expounding to youths commonplace matters which someone else should already have taught them, waved a shapeless arm towards Terebinthia. The saiyett, smiling deferentially, begged Elvair-ka-Virrion to permit her to explain something of which he himself Would undoubtedly become more keenly aware when, later, he came to possess slave-girls of his own. A girl represented a very considerable capital outlay; especially girls like these, hand-picked and in their prime. Inevitably, little by little, time and use took the bloom off them. They were a wasting asset, with a normal peak life of about seven or eight years. The young lord would not, would he now, expected to borrow hounds for a hunting expedition, or a boat for some journey downriver, without agreeing

upon a fair sum for wear and tear? There was always good reason behind every generally-accepted social custom.

Elvair-ka-Virrion, no less courteously, was responding to this with some talk of the value of experience and the exhilarating and polishing effect upon girls of mixing in the highest company and becoming friendly with such outstanding practitioners as the lady Nennaunir, when the High Counselor broke in once more. Having regard to his friendship with Elvair-ka-Virrion's father, he was ready to oblige him. Obviously-and here Sencho's half-buried eyes flickered sharply up at the young man-this party was not an affair of state policy, or his father would have advanced him public funds for it. But-and here he checked Elvair-ka-Virrion, who was about to protest-no matter. The girls might go, and he would expect them to receive whatever generous lygol Elvair-ka-Virrion thought appropriate: less, no doubt, than the four hundred meld apiece which would normally be required for lending such girls for an entire night; but let that pass. In return, Nennaunir should remain with him for the next hour.