He poured the wine, but Durakkon, after raising the goblet absently to his lips, had still not emptied it by the time the Lord General and the High Counselor took their leave.
25: TEREBINTHIA BRINGS NEWS
"Oh, we used to just about dread Melekril, and that's a fact," said Maia, stretching a bare arm out of bed for another handful of grapes. "I can remember waking up and, you know, hearing the rain and that and thinking 'Isn't it
"We used to take it fairly easy at old Domris's," said Occula. "Same as they do here. You couldn', I suppose?"
"Well, you can't, can you?-not when there's beasts to
be seen to, and then sometimes we'd have to take the boat out; and then there'd be firewood to get in-oh, I can remember being almost up to the knees in mud, just going down the lane to borrow a bucket."
"So you reckon this is a better life?"
"Well, isn't it?" Maia giggled.
"Come on, then, pretty cow, let's get up. Stove'U be goin' nicely by now. I'm hungry, aren' you?"
"Oh, the dancing, Occula! That dance you said you'd teach me-the-"
"So I will: soon as we've had somethin' to eat." She raised her voice. "Ogma! Can we have some breakfast, dear, please? Dare say I can play a hinnari well enough for all you'll need to begin with."
An hour later Occula, having laid the hinnari aside on a bench, was standing opposite Maia on the open floor near the pool, her hands moving this way and that in smooth, fluid gestures.
"First thing you've got to realize, banzi, is that this isn' village dancin'. Your hands aren' just somethin' at the ends of your arms. You've got to
"Oh, I'll never be able to do it, Occula!"
"Yes, you will. If I could, you can. You're made for it, actually; but it takes skill and practice. Wouldn' be any point otherwise, would there?"
"What did you say the two parts are called?"
"The
you. Anyway, let's leave the finger-movements for now: you can practice them half an hour a day. Look, I'm just goin' to keep a rhythm goin' for you-I can't play this thing much better than that, anyway. You're Lespa bathin' in the pool, right? And you've got to
Towards the end of the morning they were still at it when Maia, as deeply absorbed and self-forgotten as even Occula could wish, took a few whisking steps backward among the imagined trees and found the silent Terebinthia at her elbow. She.started, stumbled and broke off. Occula stopped playing.
"Well, I dare say you may become quite good in time, Maia," said Terebinthia, taking her arm to help her regain her balance. "But take care to develop your own style: don't copy some other girl's. Dyphna's shimmer than you, and that makes a difference. Work
"Do you know the senguela, then, saiyett?" asked Occula.
"Very well: I've seen many girls work out their own ideas of it. But now I have to interrupt you on one or two matters. First of all, the pedlar's here again. He's been taking orders for various things the High Counselor wants from Thettit, and he's setting off again this afternoon."
"What, in the rain, saiyett?" asked Occula.
"So it seems," said Terebinthia. "It's a matter of profit, I dare say. No doubt pedlars ready to travel in the rain make more money, or he may simply have been ordered by the High Counselor to go at once. He says if you have any messages for anyone in Thettit-Tonilda, he can take them."