a side table smiled and nodded to her, while a big fellow with untidy hair, a slight limp and a clean sacking apron, who was filling a jug from a barrel in the far corner of the room, put it down, came over and asked her politely what he could have the pleasure of getting for her.

Maia's opinion of Nybril began to improve. This was almost up to Beklan standards-lower city, anyway. Why couldn't they have put up here, she wondered, instead of that moldy old "White Roses?" She ordered a bowl of serrardoes and a good, big jug of Yeldashay. She'd just have a quick cupful herself and then go out and call the others in to join her.

"A big one, saiyett?" said the potman. "Expectin' comp'ny, eh?"

"Why, yes," she smiled. "How did you guess?"

"Oh, I've got second sight," he answered, chuckling in a rather familiar way which slightly annoyed her. "Won't keep you a moment, saiyett. Just let me know if you want any-er-help, won't you?"

The serrardoes were crisp and fresh and the Yeldashay was at any rate passable. She drank half a cupful and leaned back in her chair, feeling distinctly better. At this moment, looking up, her eye met that of another girl, perhaps two or three years older than herself, who was sitting by herself under the window on the far side of the room. She was a pretty girl, with a good complexion and fair hair, neatly if rather flashily dressed, and she was looking at Maia with a not unfriendly but rather puzzled expression.

Maia, not unnaturally, could tell a shearna when she saw one. That explained everything, of course. The Butt Inn, though obviously not a brothel, must be a place of resort for shearnas, who no doubt paid a commission to the house. Naturally, she had heard of such places, but had never actually been in one before. Plainly the first thing to do was to reassure the girl that she was not going to try to move in on her territory.

She refilled her cup, stood up and strolled across to the window. She was just about to speak when the girl spoke first.

"She didn't tell me anything about you."

"Who?" asked Maia.

"Well, Almynis, of course. Still, never mind; why don't you come and sit here, with me? Shirgo!" she called to

the potman, pointing across to Maia's wine-jug and ser-rardoes. "Can you bring-" she turned back to Maia- "What's your name?"

"Maia."

"Oh, yes, everyone calls themselves Maia now, don't they, since the Valderra? What's your real name?"

Maia laughed. "It really is Maia."

The potman brought over her wine-jug and serrardoes and she topped up the girl's cup. She was beginning to have quite a reassuring feeling of old times. Perhaps Nen-naunir and Otavis would be dropping by in a minute.

"I suppose Almynis forgot. Or did you only meet her this morning or something?"

"Look," said Maia, "I'll be straight with you. I'm not working here at all, not for Almynis or anyone else. I only got to Nybril last night and I just happened to drop in here for a drink, that's all."

"In herel By yourself?"

"Well, like I said, I'm strange to Nybril: I've had a rather trying morning and I just fancied a drink."

The girl nodded towards her jug. "What, that lot?"

"Well, you see, I'm with a couple of fellows, and they're still doing a bit of business outside. They'll be here in a minute or two. What's your name?"

"Mesca, I'm called." They both smiled. "Mesca" was not a recognized girl's name. It meant "Twilight," a typical shearna's sobriquet.

"Have you been long with this Almynis?" asked Maia.

"Well, nobody has, actually. We're still building up the business, you see-or she is, anyway. She only came here herself about eight or nine months ago; I'm not sure where from, tell you the truth. I was one of her first girls. I've been married, actually, but poor Lindulel-my husband- he was drowned a couple of years back, and by the time I met Almynis last spring I'd had enough of trying to make ends meet on half of nothings"

Maia nodded sympathetically. "Better 'n mucking out the cows, in't it?"

"Oh, you have done a bit, then?"

"Well, yes; back where I come from; only like I said, I'm not doing anything just now. Tell me how Almynis works-or how you work for her."

Mesca looked at her genially but shrewdly. "Well, great thing about Almynis is, she came here with quite a bit of

money. She told me she'd heard about this house being up for sale on the edge of town-you know, usual thing, old man died and the next of kin in Ikat reckoned they'd rather have the money than the house. Anyway, Almynis bought it and I tell you, she's, really turned it into something. She must have spent a packet on it. There's about half a dozen of us working for her now. She drives a damned hard bargain, but by Cran! she doesn't half know the job. Must have had a lot of experience somewhere. She gets more out of the fellows than ever the likes of you and me could working on our own, and a fair old bit gets passed on, you see, so I reckon it's worth it. 'Sides, she's got a lot of style. Makes you feel better, working in a nice place. Oh, I do just about hate anything squalid, don't you?"

Maia agreed. "But is there really that much-you know- business in a place like Nybril?"

"More than you'd think," answered Mesca. "You see, all summer there's the rafts coming down the Flere, and Almynis's house is right on the water. Those raft fellows are all out on their own, money to spend, and Almynis makes damned sure they've nowhere better to spend it. What she offers is a good supper, a girl all night and breakfast in the morning-that's for those that can afford it. And they pay all right, believe you me. But there's quite a bit of local business too-you'd be surprised. You see, like I said, Almynis knows how to get a bit of style and glamor into it. There's a really nice garden going down to the water, and one or two smart little boats an' that-"

"Boats? Did you say boats?"

Mesca laughed. "There's some fellows like doing it out of doors, and some seem to like doing it in a boat, for some reason. Well, that old High Counselor in Bekla, he was doing it in a boat when they killed him, wasn't he? You must know about that, surely?"

Maia admitted to having heard something about it. "But then," she went on, "if you work at this place of Almynis's, what are you doing here now?"

"Ah! I'm what Almynis calls a flesh-and-blood proclamation; cheese in the mousetrap, dear. Obviously she can't make proclamations through the town crier, so she makes them through displaying us where we can be seen. Only like I was telling you, we're building up the business. It's off-season now for the rafts, you see, so we're up for a bit more local custom, if we can get it interested."

She was about to go on when they looked up to find themselves confronted by the men who had smiled at Maia when she came in. Or to be more accurate, they were confronted by Shirgo, the potman, who asked Mesca whether he might have the pleasure of introducing her and her friend to two very pleasant gentlemen. (Maia noticed him pocketing their ten meld.)

At this moment Maia would have found an excuse to leave, if it had not been for what Mesca had said about Almynis's establishment, which had interested her considerably. She smiled at the men, poured them each a drink from her jug and settled back in her chair as they began the sort of conversation usually pursued in situations of this nature.

After the four of them had been talking and drinking together for no more than a few minutes, one of the men, obviously eager to get in ahead of his companion, asked Maia point-blank how much she wanted for her favors. It was like "The Bow and Quiver" at Khasik over again, only this time there was no Zuno-and no Occula.

There was no timid little Tonildan peasant-girl, either. The Serrelinda, of course, was fully up to handling a contingency of this sort, and was about to do so when Mesca, obviously with the kindly intention of sparing a younger girl embarrassment, weighed in on her behalf. She repeated the joke about being a flesh-and-blood proclamation, and then explained to the men that while there were no facilities on the premises, she was the living proof that if they cared to go a little way upstream to Almynis's house on the riverside they could, at a most reasonable price, have more pleasure than they had ever imagined possible. Thereupon, the first man immediately asked Maia whether she personally would be there.