He answered simply "Yes," never taking his eyes off her as he backed the kilyett out of the rushes and turned the bow into open water. Then, with the other two boats following, he began paddling slowly downstream towards the buildings in the distance, beyond the camp.
As they drew closer, a sharp bend and a grove on either bank cut off their view ahead, but when at length they came floating out from among the trees Maia saw, about two hundred yards away, a wooden landing-stage which extended along the riparian side of a courtyard strewn with rushes. Round the other three sides stood the same kind of long, shed-like buildings that she had seen earlier; yet these were still more ornate, their walls decorated with stylized, brightly-colored likenesses of beasts and birds, their roofs painted blue, with yellow stars. Everything was constructed of unpolished wood; yet such was the trimness and quality of the workmanship that the place certainly did not lack dignity and even a certain grandeur. Whatever else they might or might not be, thought Maia, the Subans were clearly carpenters.
A number of boats were moored against the landing-stage, but apart from two or three sharp-featured, foreign-looking soldiers with spears and helmets, and a little group of Subans gathered about an upturned boat which they seemed to be repairing, there was no one in the courtyard. Suddenly a boy, happening to look up in the direction of the approaching kilyett, called out and pointed, whereupon they all turned, staring. Someone spoke to the boy,
whereupon he ran across the courtyard and disappeared through an open doorway.
"Maia," said Nasada, "I think you ought to go and stand well forward on the bow. And Luma, you come back here, near me, will you?" He picked up a paddle and moved aft to sit beside Tescon. "Right up on the front, Maia: we'll keep it steady-we won't let you overbalance."
As she hesitated, she saw Bayub-Otal come out into the courtyard, followed by several soldiers. He was dressed in light armor, over which he was wearing a short, blue cloak, with a sword on his right hip. As he raised his hand to her in greeting the soldiers broke into cheers. A few moments later a pair of double doors on the far side of the courtyard opened and through them, stooping under the lintel, appeared an immensely tall, broad-shouldered man, accompanied by a group of officers and a few women. All were dressed in uniforms and robes as fine as any to be seen in the upper city, though there were certain differences of style which Maia, though she vaguely noticed them, felt too much agitated to take in in detail. The big man spoke to one of his followers, shading his eyes to look at the boat. Then he, too, with an unhurried, easy gesture, raised his hand, though whether to Nasada or herself she could not tell, and thereupon strode across the courtyard to the edge of the landing-stage. Out of the doors behind, more men and women came pouring, so that soon the courtyard behind King Karnat-for it could be none other than he- was full of people, all plainly excited and eager to join in welcoming the newcomers.
As the warmth of spring draws a butterfly from its crevice-that is to say, without will or decision on its part-so Maia was affected by the spontaneous excitement of those gathering along the shore. To act on the inspiration of the moment-whether it was a matter of putting on the slave-traders' decoy gown, of gratifying the High Counselor at the Rains banquet or of responding to the inner certainty that Lespa was with her as she began the sen-guela-this was her nature. Even when, as now, she felt full of uncertainty and was far from clear what was required of her, still her instinct was to respond rather than to hang back.
She went forward to the raised, square bow-one corner was daubed with soft earth from the bank into which Tescon had driven it, but there was no time to bother with
that now-and took up what she hoped was a gracious, courtly stance, her bare feet several inches above the gently rippling water, the flying cranes round the hem of her new, linen shift twirling slightly in the breeze of the boat's movement, the stems of the water-lilies cool and smooth round her wrists, her brow and neck.
In after years the tale of her arrival at Melvda was often told, both in Suba and in Terekenalt; how King Karnat, at the Star Court, upon hearing news of her approach, came down with his captains to the waterside to greet the miraculous girl who had crossed the Valderra by night with Lenkrit and Anda-Nokomis. True, not many people were actually in the courtyard at the time-perhaps fifty-though later, many more claimed that they had been. The tale grew in the telling, and some, as they grew older, would weave into it all manner of fancies born of later musings.
"What was she like?" younger men would ask some graybeard, when enough sour Suban wine had loosened tongues. "Tell us what you saw that day."
"Why, she was-well, d'ye see, she wasn't just like any lass that you'd catch sight of in the market, nor yet at a festival, and think "That's a pretty one: I wouldn't mind her.' Oh, no! She looked-well, I'll tell you now, she looked as though she'd come from some other world to put this one to rights for good and all. She looked like someone who could never grow old or die."
"But was she really as beautiful as they say?"
"She was more beautiful than I care to remember now, for when you're old it hurts, and that's the truth. But what I most recollect-there was a kind of a brightness about her, like. It was as though light was actually shining from her-or at least, that's just how it struck my fancy at the time, you know. It was mid-day, to be sure, but all the same she seemed brighter than anything round about her."
"But what was she wearing, granddad-how did she look?"
"Well, that's just it. She'd got no jewels nor nothing of that, but you felt you'd as soon go putting jewels on a rose or a goldfish. Her arms and legs were bare-I remember that-and her hair over her shoulders was all gold-shining in the sun, it was. She was wearing a kind of a short, white dress all embroidered with birds, and those golden lilies- real lilies, they were-round her neck and her head. They'd left drops of water on her arms and I remember as the
boat tipped a bit, one of them twinkled a moment, you know, in my eyes."
"But wasn't there any show to it, then-no music or flags-nothing of that?"
"Well, I suppose it seems strange-yes, it would-if you weren't there-but no, there was nothing of that at all. It was really more the kind of startling of it, you see; unexpected, like waking up to snow. It was like you'd be out in the woods and then suddenly, before you've had time to think, there's some bird or creature you've never seen in your life-never knew there was such a thing. That's the part that's hardest to describe. In one way she was just like that-a flesh-and-blood creature, what you'd call arresting, like it might be a leopard or a humming-bird. But in another way there was something about her you couldn't pin down-as though we'd all been blest; and as though she could never be harmed or hurt. But the exact look of it all-in my mind's eye, you know-that's gone: that's like a tune that's vanished away out of my head. I wish it hadn't. All I know now is, it was the best one I've ever heard. I'd like to hear it just once again-ay, that I would."
"What did the king do?"
"Well, he was stood there waiting, d'ye see, as the boat came up to the landing-stage, and he was just about staring at her, too. Of course, everyone was staring at her, but then King Karnat was that tall-he was a big, fine man to look at, you know-he was head and shoulders above the rest, so they couldn't help but see how he never took his eyes off her. And then Anda-Nokomis stepped up beside him and U-Lenkrit and one or two of the other captains, they came crowding round so it was a wonder, really, as no one got pushed into the water. And then the king came forward and offered her his own hand out of the boat, and she smiled at him and bent her head and put her hand to her forehead. But then the king, if you'll believe me, he put his hand to his forehead! Well, so she blushed at that, right down to her shoulders, and he spoke to her-something or other-I don't know-in Beklan. Only King Karnat, he couldn't speak a great lot of Beklan, you see-no more than just a few words as he'd picked up. So then Anda-Nokomis spoke to her and said the king had said he was honored to meet her-I was quite near, y'know, I heard that much-and then they all got to laughing, because Anda-Nokomis could only speak a few words of