"You wouldn't," said Terebinthia, who had come into the room as silently as usual. "But you needn't have put yourself forward so readily this afternoon. I could have got you out of it if you'd given me the time-and the money, of course. It's merely a matter of exercising influence."
"Influence with the High Counselor, perhaps," said Nennaunir, slipping on her sandals and stooping to fasten them, "but not with Elvair-ka-Virrion. That was really why I had to agree. His father owns my house, you see, and I live in it for nothing-as long as I'm one of his friends. Even so, I wouldn't have agreed if I'd known-"
"But could you really have got her out of it, saiyett?" asked Maia. She snapped off her thread and spread out Nennaunir's robe on her knee. "How?"
"Why, he accepts my advice, of course," replied Terebinthia. "I can generally change the High Counselor's mind if I want to. Without me he'd be dead in a month, and he knows it as well as I do. Why do you suppose Meris
was sold? If anyone thought I was going to keep a girl like that-couldn't keep her temper, always using her sexuality to make trouble, lucky not to have been hanged upside-down in Belishba-" She looked with approval at the mended rent. "He wouldn't find another saiyett like me."
"Well, you live by looking after the High Counselor," said Nennaunir. "You're welcome, I'm sure. Personally, I can't leave too soon."
"There is a jekzha waiting for you in the courtyard," replied Terebinthia coldly.
29: THE URTANS
Maia lay easy and relaxed beside Elvair-ka-Virrion. She was feeling, at this moment, as fully content as at any previous time in her life; and not only in respect of physical satisfaction, or even of pride in the power of her beauty- of which she had just received the amplest proof. Even more than with these, she was filled with a sense of success and of having attained to a new level in her fortunes. It was as though until today, with Occula to guide her, she had been climbing arduously towards a ridge rising above her. Now she was standing on the ridge. Whatever lay in the future, she was no longer-would never again be- that plodding girl. Dangers there might be, but no more clambering. Serene in her beauty, energy and health, she felt equal to any future uncertainty; capable, even, of turning it to account. Stretching lazily, she rubbed her cheek against Elvair-ka-Virrion's shoulder.
Upon her arrival with Occula-and before she had even seen any of the other guests-she had at once been taken upstairs to Elvair-ka-Virrion's room, where he joined her after a few minutes. Taking her in his arms, he kissed her passionately and at once set about giving expression to the feelings he had declared so ardently at the Rains banquet. He had certainly proved himself no liar, she thought.
And something else he had shown her, too-the difference between a nobleman and a tavern-stroller. Sencho, of course, did not enter into this. All that she had ever done with Sencho had been the work of a slave-girl, and her only satisfaction had come from doing a thorough job and climbing into her master's good graces. Neither did
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?"
"I'd taken her with me to see Eud-Ecachlon, the heir of Urtah, and ask him to come tonight with his friends. But that was only to help him make up his mind. He fancies her very much, you see; only he's never been able to persuade her. She's a self-willed girl, Nennaunir-she picks and chooses. She's so much sought after that she can afford to, and of course that adds to her attraction in a lot of people's eyes. I asked her to promise Eud-Ecachlon that she'd be nice to him if he came to this party. That decided him all right: otherwise he might not have come. The Ur-tans only pretend to like us, you see; and can you wonder? My father sold Suba to Karnat-he and Fornis."