They had come to a stretch of turf close by the waterside and not far from the kitchens and supper tables. The soldiers put the litter down and Sencho was helped by the girls to rise and take a few steps as far as a low bank, bordered by flowerbeds, where a kind of divan had been prepared with cushions and brightly-colored rugs. Maia busied herself in making him comfortable, while Occula gave instructions to Durakkon's butler-who had been waiting for the High Counselor-about what he wished to drink.
Maia herself was exhilarated by the atmosphere and arrangement of the party, which was rather like an aristocratic version of a village festival. For those who wanted to eat formally there were tables under the trees, and here slaves waited upon any guest who came and sat down. Many, however, preferred simply to go to the cooks' tables, get their plates filled and then join groups of friends beside the water or in the arbors. She caught sight of the drover-baron walking about, gnawing a drumstick as he made himself agreeable to old friends: no one appeared to think him in the least odd.
Sencho displayed all his habitual gluttony, more than once requiring Maia to bring three or four different dishes together, in order that he might taste each before deciding what to enjoy next. His greed, however, was leisurely and interspersed with much talk and business. The two girls,
carrying out their duties as unobtrusively as possible, were frequently required to stand aside as people approached, ostensibly to greet him and pay their respects, but in reality to beg favors, offer some promise, bribe or bargain, or circumspectly try to influence him against an enemy or rival. Sencho, often seeming, disconcertingly, to know as much about their affairs as they did themselves, said for the most part much less than the suppliants, while they for their part became more and more loquacious and self-revealing in their efforts to move him. Now and then he was deliberately and insultingly inattentive; yet once, when a baron from Paltesh mentioned something relating to the affairs of an Urtan dowager who had begged a favor of him an hour earlier, he instantly connected the two and told Maia to go and find the woman and tell her to return. It was clear to both girls-the only witnesses of the earlier interview-that he meant to make use of the young baron to prove her a liar and put her out of countenance.
Going up through the gardens on this errand, she happened upon Elvair-ka-Virrion. He was leaning against a tree, sharing raisins from a silver bowl with a tall, dark-haired young woman and her brother (or at all events, thought Maia, the two of them looked very much alike). Seeing her, he at once called her over.
"Maia!" said Elvair-ka-Virrion, smiling and taking her arm for a moment as though they had been equals. "You grow more beautiful every day."
She felt embarrassed, knowing that if he persisted in conversing with her it must sooner or later transpire that she was a slave. Might as well get it over with, she thought. She murmured something, raised a palm to her forehead and stood waiting with bent head.
"This is what our slave-girls look like in Bekla nowadays," said Elvair-ka-Virrion to his companions. "You ought to come and live here, T'maa."
The young man laughed and said something complimentary.
"Are you attending on the High Counselor?" asked Elvair-ka-Virrion.
"Yes, my lord. I must go now, an' all-he's sent me to find someone, you see."
She was off before he could say more, but after a few yards found him at her elbow.
"Maia, is Milvushina here tonight?"
"No, my lord. He left her at home."
"That's the son and daughter of a Yeldashay baron with me. They've been asking about her. They knew she was alive: they say everyone in Chalcon knows what's happened to her."
Maia made no reply.
"If the three of us were to go to Sencho's house now, do you think your Terebinthia woman would let us see Milvushina?"
"For money, my lord, yes, I'm pretty sure she would. But you really must let me go now, please: I'll be in trouble else." And once more she left him.
However, her errand was still not to be free from interruptions. Searching along the water-side, she could not resist stopping for a moment to admire the swans. Three or four of them, attracted like moths to the light, had swum up to the edge of the lake and, their white plumage tinged now rosy, now blue or green as they oared back and forth between the lamps, were taking food thrown to them by the guests. One of these, turning suddenly, revealed himself as Bayub-Otal. Before she could hurry away he had caught up with her.
"I suppose you're with the High Counselor, Maia," he said, falling into step beside her on the path.
"Yes, my lord."
"And is that pleasant?"
"I've told you before, my lord; I'm a slave."
For a few moments he made no reply, only watching her as she darted glances among the people they passed.
"Whom are you looking for?"
"A lady as the High Counselor's sent me to find."
Suddenly he stopped dead, gripping her by the wrist so hard and unexpectedly that she was brought up standing with a jolt. She gave a quick cry of vexation, but then, restraining herself, stood looking up at him silently.
"You-you don't have to go on being a slave, you know," he said abruptly.
"What, my lord?"
"I said, you needn't go on being a slave. You can leave that brute before he does you any more harm. If you want, you can leave Bekla and become-well, become a real woman."
"I don't understand, my lord. What do you mean?"
"Not what I believe you suppose. I won't say more now,
but if ever you come to think better of yourself, Maia-if you want to leave Bekla-you've only to tell me-that's if I'm still here to be told."
"If you mean as you want to buy me, my lord, then I think you'd better speak to the High Counselor yourself. Then you-"
But he was gone, turning on his heel and striding away between the bushes and the colored lamps. She stared after him a moment, then shrugged her shoulders and was going on her way when suddenly she caught sight of the Urtan dowager talking to Durakkon himself.
The lady, plainly flustered by Maia's message, immediately excused herself to Durakkon (shows which one she's more afraid of, thought Maia) and hurried away over the lawn. Maia followed more slowly, wondering exactly what Bayub-Otal might have meant. She had better consult Occula, she thought, once they could be alone together.
At this moment she was surprised to see Occula herself approaching along a path through the trees. She was plainly in a hurry, peering here and there and looking, thought Maia, really upset-almost beside herself. Several people turned to stare as she passed them.
Maia ran up to her. "Occula, I couldn't help it! I only just found the old lady-she was talking to the High Baron. She's gone to see Sencho just this minute-"
Occula appeared scarcely to have heard her.
"Banzi! Thank Cran I found you! Look, keep away, d'you see? Doan' go back to him-not on any account! Leave him to me, d'you understand?"
"Oh, Occula, is he angry? Honestly, I couldn't have been any quicker-"
"No, no, he's not angry: I can' explain. But keep away! Doan' go back, that's all! Leave me to see to him."
"But whatever-I mean, how long for?"
"Well-until-oh, banzi, doan' ask!"
Occula paused. Her breath was coming fast and she was trembling. "Hell, I ought to have sent you back home to fetch somethin', oughtn' I? You'd have swallowed that. Look, banzi, just keep out of the way for-well, say, for half an hour."
"All right, dear; if you say so. But are you sure you can manage him by yourself?"
"Yes! Yes! Give me a kiss, banzi; my dear, dearest banzi! Good-bye!"
Maia kissed her and Occula, with what sounded like a quick sob, instantly suppressed, hastened away across the grass.
Maia, once more alone, tried to imagine what could possibly have put her into such a state. It was bewildering. At least, however, she had said that Sencho wasn't angry; that was reassuring.