Maia

she count Kembri, for plainly almost any girl would do for him. She now believed only too well that when he had told her that he had not sent for her primarily because he wanted to bed with her, he had been speaking no more than the truth. Throw almost anything you like in the water, she thought, and a pike'll take it if he's on the feed. No, it was Tharrin whom Elvair-ka-Virrion had put in the shade, and not merely by wealth, or even by youthful virility. Tharrin's playfulness, she now realized, though it had amused and pleased her at the time-oh, he wasn't a bad sort-was all of a piece with his weakness. He wasn't-he never had been-a man who picked life up and shook it. He was footloose, fugitive, a stray cat round a back door. He had no real dignity-no, not even in a girl's arms. He was a born scrumper of apples, a pinch-and-run exponent-"What, me, sir?"-one who had always preferred to nibble and move on rather than stay to make a job of anything. And this had shown-ohy yes, very much-in his love-making-light-hearted, trivial, what's a bit of fun between friends? As she lay here now, with Elvair-ka-Virrion's arm under her head, she was not even thinking of Tharrin's responsibility for what had happened to her, but simply of how much more satisfaction she had just received than ever she had from him. From all she had heard, Tharrin's whole life had been precarious. He was precarious by nature, and unconsciously she had felt precarious as his lover. Events had proved her right. By contrast, Elvair-ka-Virrion had taken her with a kind of smooth, natural mastery in which there seemed no hint of weakness: and (unlike his father) he had shown consideration for her as well as himself. She felt respect for him. Although she knew that he must have had many girls, she believed what he had said to her-that since he had first seen her he had felt more desire for her than for any other girl in the city. She had had no choice in the business, of course, but that did not matter, for the truth was that she had gone along with it altogether. In fact, she had never enjoyed anything so much. To be with a handsome, warmhearted, well-mannered man not many years older than herself, who behaved unselfishly, yet took what he wanted with an ardor which she knew to be the effect of her own beauty-this, for Maia, was a new and wholly delightful experience. As a Beklan slave-girl, with a long road still ahead of

her to freedom and fortune, she should no doubt have been thinking less of pleasure than of how she could best turn this highly-placed young man's favors to advantage. But Maia still lacked professional detachment; and it was, of course, this very deficiency which made her so attractive to Elvair-ka-Virrion. She was still brim-full of unfeigned spontaneity, and he, perceiving this, had been seized with a very natural desire to make the most of it.

Lying beside him now, Maia had no least thought of how much money he was going to give her, or even of what advancement she could hope for. In point of fact she was simply hoping that next time they might be able to spend rather longer together. Nice as it was, it had been over too quickly. But then what else could you expect, just before a party of which Elvair-ka-Virrion was the host? He had simply taken his opportunity. She would have been disappointed if he had not; but at any moment he was likely to be missed. Outside, not far away, she could hear his merry-making guests; voices raised in song, and then a burst of laughter which broke off in shouts and cheering.

"Ought you to go back, my lord?"

He had been so charmingly self-forgotten that she felt obliged to ask. It did not, of course, occur to her that from his point of view, good manners might all be part of the game: a subtle way of gratifying himself still further, to • treat a little Tonildan slave-girl like a princess; just as it excited Sencho to degrade a celebrated shearna.

"Why, you don't want to leave me, do you?"

"Oh, no, my lord. I was only afraid they may be missing you."

"Never mind: we have to talk, you and I."

"About Nennaunir?" This was impertinence, but if Maia had been a mere professional she would never have troubled to taunt him at all.

He felt enough respect for her, it seemed, to give her a serious reply.

"I've never made love with Nennaunir. If you don't believe me, you can ask her yourself."

Still she teased him. "Wonder why not?"

"I just don't fancy her: I told you, I've not fancied anyone else since that day when I first saw you in the Khal-koornil."

"But Nennaunir was with you yesterday when you came to the High Counselor's?"