Maia

Yet still she went on. The only possible thing to do, she thought, was to act on the assumption that the Ortelgans were there, that they were alone and that Ta-Kominion was with them.

She was picking her way through a thick grove of scrub willow when she once more heard voices. This time there

was no doubt about it: they were low but distinct. As she stopped, holding her breath, she realized with a shock that they were very close-no more than twenty or thirty yards away among the trees.

She stood listening intently.

"… should've stayed where we were, if you ask me."

"All depends, though, don't it? Who's to tell?"

Silence returned. She wondered whether the men had moved away; yet she had heard nothing. After what seemed a long time she heard a cough. Then the first voice, still speaking low, said, "The basting rains, though; how's he think we're going to get back once they start?"

"Well, I reckon soon as he's sure which way it's gone he'll go over, that's his notion."

"What, to Erketlis, you mean?"

"Ah. Quickest way home, see?"

This was enough for Maia. The men were speaking so quietly that she could not be sure of their dialect, but what she had been able to hear had convinced her that they must be Ortelgans speaking of Ta-Kominion. Well, she thought, reckon this is what I come for. If I'm going to die I'd best just get on with it. She called in a low voice, "Can I talk to you?"

There was a sound of startled movement, and then one of the men replied, "Who's there? Who are you?"

"I'm a woman, and I'm alone. Can I come and talk to you?"

"What you want, then?"

"I'm a personal friend of Lord Ta-Kominion. I've got an urgent message for him."

She could hear the men muttering. Then the same voice said, "Who's it from, then? And who are you?"

'TH tell that to Lord Ta-Kominion."

At this moment a new, authoritative voice said, "What the hell's all this basting row? Weren't you told to keep quiet, eh?"

"It's some woman, tryzatt, off in those trees," said the second man.

"What the hell d'you mean, a woman?"

"Says she knows the commander; wants to see him. Knew his name an' all. Got a message, she says."

"I'm alone, tryzatt," called Maia. "Can I come and talk to you?"

The tryzatt was evidently a man of fairly quick mind. "Where did you meet the commander?"

"In Bekla, at the barrarz in the upper city, with Lord Bel-ka-Trazet and Lord Ged-la-Dan."

"What's his woman's name, then?"

"Berialtis: brought up on Quiso."

There was a pause.

"Come out steady," said the tryzatt at length, "hands on your head."

Maia did so. The three men confronting her were typical Ortelgans, stocky and dark, the tryzatt, who had a raw, barely-healed scar across his forehead, considerably older than the two soldiers.

"A place like this-how do you come to be here?" he asked, looking her up and down.

"I've no time to explain," answered Maia, with as much authority as she could muster. "My message is urgent, see, and it could very well save your lives. You got to take me to Lord Ta-Kominion at once." As he hesitated, she added more vehemently, "For Cran's sake, what harm do you think I can do? Why else would I be here alone, in the middle of the night-"

"Well, that's what I'd like to know," replied the tryzatt. But as he spoke he gripped her arm, turned and led her away with him.

They went fast through the trees and bushes. Soon Maia became aware that the tryzatt was picking their way among men lying on the bare ground. From what little she could see they were tattered and dirty, with a general look of ill-being. All were fully clothed, with their arms lying ready to hand. Most seemed asleep, but here and there a few, lifting their heads or propping themselves on their elbows, stared as she and the tryzatt went past. None spoke, however, and Maia guessed that their orders about silence were strict. Perhaps, indeed, orders were unnecessary: no doubt Chalcon had been a hard school.

They came to a rough shelter made of branches laid either side of a pole on two forked sticks; hardly more than a kennel, its ridge perhaps three feet from the ground. A sentry was standing beside it. The tryzatt addressed him in a whisper.

"This woman says she's got a message for the commander. Seems genuine enough."

"You're asking me to wake him?"

"That's for you to say."

"Well, be fair," replied the man. "You're the tryzatt, not me."

"You're his orderly, not me."

The man was beginning, "I'd best go and ask Captain Dy-Karn-" when from inside the shelter Ta-Kominion's voice said, "What is it, Klethu?"

"This is Maia Serrelinda here, my lord," said Maia quickly. "I need to speak to you urgently: for your sake, not for mine."

"Maia?" he replied in a tone of astonishment. Then, with a quick note of alarm in his voice, "Who's with you? What's happened?"

"There's nothing wrong, my lord, but-"

"Where have you come from? Who's sent you?"

"I've got some very important news for you."

"Wait, then."