Sybelline was thoughtful. «And Blade suspects nothing of this?»

Norn shrugged. «I do not think so. He does not think as we do.»

«I know that also,» said Sybelline. «That is why I need him. I think he has more brain power than the Morphi, even perhaps as much as the Selenes, and I know he is a warrior. He would probably not notice such a trifle as Sart being plagued by Alixe. I doubt that it is important.»

Norn looked doubtful. Association with Sybelline had made her more intelligent than most Gnomen girls. Now she said, «It might cause trouble before you are ready for it, mistress.»

But Sybelline's thoughts were elsewhere. She dismissed the girl and thought no more of the slave and Alixe. When she was alone, she began to dress carefully in Morphi clothing. She must go up into the city-alone and unseen, to face her own masters.

CHAPTER 9

There was no way in which Blade could have foreseen the disaster. True that he was not at his peak either physically or mentally, due to the strain of excessive copulation, but even at the height of his powers he could not have guessed that Alixe, beneath her childish exterior, was sexually precocious beyond anything he could understand. The situation developed slowly, with Blade unaware of the emerging pattern.

During his brief periods of rest, he sought to get in touch with Lord Leighton and Home Dimension by means of the crystal implanted in his brain. He did not always succeed in making contact. When he did, the message came back:

Will abort mission if you demand. But unless in immediate peril insist you continue try to discover source of power. Suggest possible magnetic field-beams or rays of some sort. Final decision your discretion. L.

That was pretty much that. He bided his time. He knew that the child Alixe spied on him and reported to Jantor, as Norn spied and reported to Sybelline. He sensed the crunch approaching and knew that he must take sides. Jantor had made his offer and had minced no words. Sybelline still did not contact him but through Norn, and the last word had been to wait. When Sybelline was ready, she would let him know.

Alixe tried to invade his bed and Blade constantly repulsed her. Her tantrums should have warned him, but he did not see. When he refused Alixe, she at times screamed and rolled on the floor and clawed and even threatened him.

«I will tell Jantor that you misuse me,» she screamed. «I will have you sent to the five-mile pits.»

«Do as you wish,» he answered. «You are but a babe and I will have nothing to do with you. In any case I am exhausted. You know the task I have, and when I am finished for the day I wish nothing but rest. Continue to torment me, Alixe, and I will send you back to your father.»

Alixe squatted at the foot of his bed and made faces at him. He could not believe that this was the same quiet child who had brought him the chair in Jantor's chambers.

«You are a liar,» she told him. «You do not speak to Norn so, and she is but a little older than I am. As for being a babe, do you not know, are you such a fool, that you do not understand-I have bedded my father for the past two years!»

Nothing he encountered in Dimension X ever shocked Blade, nor did this information, but it was his first inkling that among the Gnomen there was no such thing as incest. Logically, when he had time to examine it, it made sense. Jantor, after all, had fathered all the Gnomen children now alive.

He let it pass without thought. «I care nothing for that,» he told her coldly. «Stay or go, as you wish. But if you stay you will obey me. Now I have had enough of you. Go and amuse yourself while I sleep.»

Blade awoke to find Alixe astride him, trying to arouse him. He cuffed her away, not gently, and she began to berate him.

Blade had had it. He seized her and laid her over his knee and began smacking her hard little buttocks with his open hand. He meant to hurt and he did. Alixe screamed at the top of her voice, interspersing the screams with foul oaths. He had never heard such filth pour from a child's mouth. He laid on all the harder.

Sart came rushing in. He pleaded with Blade.

«You risk our lives, master. She is Jantor's child and favorite. When you strike her, you strike Jantor. Please, master, I beg you. No more. It is sure to get back to Jantor and-«

One of the Gnomen women was waiting just outside the door. She had been waiting a long time, first in a long line, and she had grown impatient. When she heard the screams she could not control her curiosity and stepped through the hangings to see her herself.

When Blade saw her, he lost his temper. He released the screaming Alixe and pointed at the woman. «OUT!»

The woman scuttled for safety. Seconds later she told the other Gnomen females what she had seen and it passed down the line.

Alixe sought the safety of a corner and sulked, rubbing her bottom. Blade glowered at her. Sart trembled and sweated. He would have fallen to his knees except that Blade hated that, and at the moment he feared Blade even more than Jantor.

Fury and frustration burned in Blade. He dressed rapidly and spoke curtly to Sart. Pointing to Alixe, now quiet and watching with a cat-cunning smile, Blade said, «I am going out for a time. Take that little devil in charge while I am gone. If she causes trouble, you have my permission to beat her.»

Sart stared at him. «Going out, master? You cannot. It is forbidden.»

Blade used some Home Dimension words that Sart could not comprehend. «Forbidden or not,» Blade insisted, «I go. I will try to see Jantor.» He pointed to Alixe. «You are a curse and I can endure you no longer.»

She made a face at him.

When Blade stepped outside his apartment, there was a ripple of sound from the waiting line of women. He regarded them distastefully. How he loathed women-all women.

There was but a single entrance to his apartment. The tunnel outside it had a dead end and at the other end was a subchief with a guard of twenty Gnomen armed with the spear bars. Blade strode toward them. The tunnel was narrow, not more than five feet across, and as Blade approached the subchief moved to block it. He leveled his bar at Blade, point first. Behind him his men moved into position, all with their cruel bars at the ready.

The subchief was taken by surprise. He had his orders concerning Blade, he knew how precious this big stranger was because he carried viable seed, and he knew that if anything happened to Blade that he, the subchief, must answer to Jantor. Until now Blade had caused no trouble. The subchief had scarcely seen him. His main task was to keep the women in order and see that there was no cheating in the line.

The subchief thrust his spear bar to within an inch of Blade's chest. «You cannot pass. It is forbidden.»

Blade halted and scowled. He put his hands on his hips and stared at the man. «Take me to see Jantor. At once!»

The Gnoman shook his head. «That also is forbidden. You cannot go to Jantor when it pleases you. Jantor is king. Jantor will send for you when it pleases him.»

Blade gazed past the man at the guard. Twenty of them. «You have plenty of men to guard me,» he said. «You can spare one. Send him to Jantor. Tell him I must see him. Either I go to him or he comes to me.»

The Gnoman, like all Gnomen except Jantor, had a low level of intelligence. He scratched the hair on his chest, made the sign of the fylfot on his bald head, and regarded Blade with dull eyes.

Blade put everything to the test. He pushed the man's spear bar aside with disdain and took a step forward. «You dare not kill me without orders from Jantor. You know that. Or perhaps you do not fear the five-mile pits?»

A moment of silence. For an instant Blade thought he had gone too far, that the man would impale him on the bar. Then the Gnoman lowered his weapon.