"Just one more question," Stark said. "What's going to happen when the
people find out that this Rama stuff is just a myth?"
"They won't," said Kynon. "The crowns will be destroyed in battle, and
it will be very tragic, but very final. No one knows how to make more
of them. Oh, I can handle the people! They'll be happy enough, with
good land and water."
He looked around then and said plaintively, "And now can we sit down
and drink like civilized men?"
They sat. The wine went round, and the vultures of Valkis drank to each
other's luck and loot, and Stark learned that the woman's name was
Berild.
Kynon was happy. He had made his point with the people, and he was
celebrating. But Stark noticed that though his tongue grew thick, it
did not loosen.
Luhar grew steadily more morose and silent, glancing covertly across
the table at Stark. Delgaun toyed with his goblet, and his yellow gaze
which gave nothing away moved restlessly between Berild and Stark.
Berild drank not at all. She sat a little apart, with her face in
shadow, and her red mouth smiled. Her thoughts, too, were her own
secret. But Stark knew that she was still watching him, and he knew
that Delgaun was aware of it.
Presently Kynon said, "Delgaun and I have some talking to do, so I'll
bid you gentlemen farewell for the present. You, Stark, and Luhar--I'm
going back into the desert at midnight, and you're going with me, so
you'd better get some sleep."
Stark nodded. He rose and went out, with the others.
An attendant showed him to his quarters, in the north wing. Stark had
not rested for twenty-four hours, and he was glad of the chance to
sleep.
He lay down. The wine spun in his head, and Berild's smile mocked him.
Then his thoughts turned to Ashton, and his promise. Presently he
slept, and dreamed.
* * * * *
He was a boy on Mercury again, running down a path that led from a cave
mouth to the floor of a valley. Above him the mountains rose into the
sky and were lost beyond the shallow atmosphere. The rocks danced in
the terrible heat, but the soles of his feet were like iron, and trod
them lightly. He was quite naked.
The blaze of the sun between the valley walls was like the shining
heart of Hell. It did not seem to the boy N'Chaka that it could ever be
cold again, yet he knew that when darkness came there would be ice on
the shallows of the river. The gods were constantly at war.
He passed a place, ruined by earthquake. It was a mine, and N'Chaka
remembered dimly that he had once lived there, with several
white-skinned creatures shaped like himself. He went on without a
second glance.
He was searching for Tika. When he was old enough, he would mate with
her. He wanted to hunt with her now, for she was fleet and as keen as
he at scenting out the great lizards.
He heard her voice calling his name. There was terror in it, and
N'Chaka began to run. He saw her, crouched between two huge boulders,
her light fur stained with blood.
A vast black-winged shadow swooped down upon him. It glared at him with
its yellow eyes, and its long beak tore at him. He thrust his spear at
it, but talons hooked into his shoulder, and the golden eyes were close
to him, bright and full of death.
He knew those eyes. Tika screamed, but the sound faded, everything
faded but those eyes. He sprang up, grappling with the thing....
A man's voice yelling, a man's hands thrusting him away. The dream
receded. Stark came back to reality, dropping the scared attendant who
had come to waken him.
The man cringed away from him. "Delgaun sent me. He wants you--in the
council room." Then he turned and fled.
* * * * *
Stark shook himself. The dream had been terribly real. He went down to
the council room. It was dusk now, and the torches were lighted.
Delgaun was waiting, and Berild sat beside him at the table. They were
alone there. Delgaun looked up, with his golden eyes.
"I have a job for you, Stark," he said. "You remember the captain of
Kynon's men, in the square today?"
"I do."
"His name is Freka, and he's a good man, but he's addicted to a certain
vice. He'll be up to his ears in it by now, and somebody has to get him
back by the time Kynon leaves. Will you see to it?"
Stark glanced at Berild. It seemed to him that she was amused, whether
at him or at Delgaun he could not tell. He asked,
"Where will I find him?"
"There's only one place where he can get his particular poison--Kala's,
out on the edge of Valkis. It's in the old city, beyond the lower
quays." Delgaun smiled. "You may have to be ready with your fists,
Stark. Freka may not want to come."
Stark hesitated. Then, "I'll do my best," he said, and went out into
the dusky streets of Valkis.
He crossed a square, heading away from the palace. A twisting lane
swallowed him up. And quite suddenly, someone took his arm and said
rapidly,
"Smile at me, and then turn aside into the alley."
The hand on his arm was small and brown, the voice very pretty with its
accompaniment of little chiming bells. He smiled, as she had bade him,
and turned aside into the alley, which was barely more than a crack
between two rows of houses.
Swiftly, he put his hands against the wall, so that the girl was
prisoned between them. A green-eyed girl, with golden bells braided in
her black hair, and impudent breasts bare above a jewelled girdle. A
handsome girl, with a proud look to her.
The serving girl who had stood beside the litter in the square, and had
watched Kynon with such bleak hatred.
"Well," said Stark. "And what do you want with me, little one?"
She answered, "My name is Fianna. And I do not intend to kill you,
neither will I run away."