Mjipa thought the minister was bluffing, at least as far as Alicia was concerned. He was hardly likely to have Alicia killed before the king arrived to decide her fate. Still, Mjipa dared not take a chance, with drawn swords all around.
The swelling sounds of a Krishnan flute were heard. The Heshvavu appeared, saying: "Aha! Here is she who sought to cozen Our Awesomeness! Naughty, naughty! What's the penalty, Zharvets?"
"Five hundred lashes, sire. None survives."
"A pity to mar so well-favored an ensample of Terran femininity. Ah there, Master Mjipa! May your liver be light. Certes, we have the power to pardon; but it goes without saying, Mistress Dyckman, that we expect an equal measure of generosity from you. How say you?"
"God damn it!" growled Mjipa in English. "How can I get you out of here? Perhaps they'll leave you alone long enough for me to snatch you away—"
"Don't try anything, Percy," said Alicia. "We wouldn't have the chance of a snowball in Hishkak. And maybe it won't be so bad. I'll see you tomorrow, I hope."
"Come, good my Terrans," said Ainkhist, " 'tis a gross discourtesy to speak together in a tongue unknown to us."
"I beg Your Awesomeness's pardon," said Alicia in Khaldoni. "Master Mjipa and I had business to settle ere we parted. We didn't know your tongue well enough for the purpose. What do you wish of me?"
"Ah, that's better. You shall company with us to the private quarters, where our women shall prepare you for a night of pleasure."
"Do you promise to let me go tomorrow?"
"We had not thought on the matter—"
"I assure you, my lord, you will find the occasion pleasanter if you do promise. Among Terrans neither I nor my work is altogether without importance, as I shall be glad to explain."
"Oh, well, why not? Not that I hold every word you utter as a revelation from Phaighost, in view of your proven mendacity. But all too well I recall your talent for argumentation; so you shall be free to go tomorrow.
"Zharvets, we see no cause to hold Master Mjipa and his servant. We will overlook his feeble attempt to smuggle Mistress Dyckman through our demesne undetected. Since we would not wantonly offend Novorecife, enlarge them."
Looking pleased with himself, the Heshvavu signaled his flutist to strike up a tune and strolled out of the chamber. Alicia, surrounded by guards, followed. Mjipa begged a brief laissez-passer from the minister and left for the inn he had stayed at before.
"Be not in such a rage, my lord," said Minyev. Mjipa was back in his room at the inn, pacing the floor, growling curses, smiting his palm with his fist, and even grinding his teeth. Minyev continued: "These great lords do as they list, as a bishtar doth amongst the lesser forest creatures, and we common folk can but keep out of their path. Not that I'd call you common, sir."
"I'm dishonored!" snarled Mjipa. "I'm disgraced for life! To have a Terran woman trust herself to me, and then let her be snatched by a royal rapist, without striking a blow ... I should have grabbed a dagger from a guard and skewered this king with it."
"Not so loudly, pray," said the factotum, "lest others hear your treasonous talk. Had ye essayed any such temerarious folly, the guards had cut you down in the blink of an eye, and belike they'd have slain me and the lady besides."
"I ought to have brought my Krishnan disguise kit, even though I could foresee no use for it. Or I ought to have detoured through the jungle and crossed an unguarded section of the border at night. Or I ought—"
"My lord, cease blaming yourself! An we could all live our lives o 'er, in the light of experience, I'll wager we should all do it differently."
"You're a bit of a philosopher, Minyev."
"Aye, sir; I try to memorize the maxims of Nehavend and guide my course thereby. But however wisely we plan our actions, the vagaries of chance can still bring our efforts to nought. Suffer me to fetch you a bottle of kvad from the shop!"
Mjipa growled an unintelligible noise, which Minyev took for assent. Soon he was back with a bottle and two mugs. "Here, sir!"
Several goblets of kvad later, Mjipa found his rage subsiding into gloom. The liquor, about as potent as a Terran fortified wine, seemed not to affect him otherwise. He did, however, discover that he was hungry. Again, Minyev fetched their dinners. By the time he had finished eating, Mjipa felt almost human. Then came a knock.
It was Ovanel, the slave girl who had been sent to him on his previous visit to Yein. She said: "My lord, when I companied with you before, ye commanded me to tell my masters that ye had joyed in our night, albeit ye sent me away unplumbed. Recalling this, they've sent me back for another visit; the Heshvavu himself, they said, so ordered. What shall be my fate this time?"
Torn by conflicting urges, Mjipa heaved a sigh. His self-control and self-respect had been sorely tried of late. During his incarceration with Alicia Dyckman, his lusts had driven him frantic. Although he did not greatly like Alicia as a person, her femininity still aroused his male instincts; she found amusing his embarrassed efforts to hide his frequent erections.
He also recalled his amusement at some of the missionaries' disputes over the moral status of sexual intercourse with Krishnans. Since there was nothing about it in Leviticus or Deuteronomy, they argued whether to class it with adultery, onanism, or bestiality, or simply to ignore it. At last he said:
"Minyev, here's a kard of Majbur. Go out and find yourself entertainment for the night, and don't come back till breakfast time."
Minyev went. Smiling broadly, Ovanel tossed off her kilt.
V
PURSUIT
With dawn, Ovanel departed. Minyev appeared, so promptly that Mjipa suspected he had been waiting outside until his master's guest left the premises. To Mjipa's surprise, the Kalwmian greeted him: "Goot mo-nin, suh! You sleep goot?"
"Eh? Where did you learn English, Minyev?"
"I have listened to you and Mistress Dyckman. Now I know a few words. Some day I shall learn good English and Portuguese and be a man of rank, belike an interpreter or even an ambassador."
"Good-oh!"
After breakfast, Mjipa went to the palace, leaving Minyev to guard their possessions. He impatiently waited an hour for Zharvets. When the minister at last ordered Mjipa's admission, the consul said:
"My lord, I pray that you send word to Mistress Dyckman, that I stand ready to escort her forth."
The minister sent a page to the king's private apartments. Soon the page returned, saying: "My lords, Mistress Dyckman wishes to remain in the seraglio for several hours more. She will rejoin Master Mjipa this afternoon." Mjipa bristled, supposing that Alicia was finding the king's embraces too delectable to part with. After growling curses under his breath in English and Setswana, he said: "Could I have a word with His Awesomeness?"
Mjipa did not really wish to see the Heshvavu, but this seemed a likely way to smoke the bastard out. To Mjipa, for a Krishnan male to force sexual favors from a Terran woman was absolutely unforgivable, an insult that could only be wiped out with blood. He made a private resolve to kill King Ainkhist, if he ever had a chance to do so without involving the other Terrans on Krishna.
"Nay, not this morn," said Zharvets."Know that my lord hath gone with some of his gentlemen oh a yeki hunt and will not return ere nightfall."
Mjipa wondered, if Alicia were not bedded with the Heshvavu, what on Krishna she was up to. He would not put it past her to lecture the haremites on the evils of polygamy, or to foment a strike, on the model of Aristophanes' Lysistrata, against their royal master. He said: