Maia полностью

She held up her basket so that the sweet, fresh scents filled the dark interior of the jekzha. Behind her array of blooms she herself looked pinched and tired. Maia slipped a five-meld piece into her hand.

"I'll take this rose. Keep the money, dear. Good-night, now."

The girl was beginning, "Oh, bless you, saiyett-" when the jekzha-man slapped her arm. She rounded on him, cursing, dropped off the step and was gone into the dusky commotion of the Sheldad.

Maia smelt the rose, tapping it pensively against her upper lip.

"Sednil, what would you say if I was to tell you-if I told you that I'm-in love-with a Katrian-an officer in Karnat's army?"

He did not laugh, or say "What?" or even come out with any sort of oath or exclamation. She could see that he believed her at once and took her seriously. For a little while he was silent; and she was silent too, waiting for him to answer her. And answer he did.

"If you said that to me, the first thing I'd ask is 'Where is he now?' "

"I don't know. And that's what it's all about, Sednil."

Slowly, and more than once with a catch in her voice, she told him how King Karnat had received her like a princess at Melvda-Rain; of the supper that evening, and of how Zen-Kurel had come to her house. As she went on to speak of their love and his promises, she began to

weep in good earnest; yet he made no attempt to calm or pacify her, only waiting and listening as she faltered out the end of her tale-Zen-Kurel's disclosure to her of the king's plan, the night-march of the army to the river and her own desperate resolve.

When she had finished he remained silent while she dried her eyes and composed herself. At length he said, "But I don't understand. If you loved this fellow-and you say you still love him-why ever did you risk your life to make sure Karnat's plan failed?"

She was astonished. "Why, Sednil, to save them all; to stop the bloodshed, of course! Dear Lespa, if only you'd seen what I've seen! Listen, and I'll tell you-if I can."

She told him of the night-crossing of the Valderra ford, of the slaughter of the patrol and how she had knelt over the dying Sphelthon. Then, for good measure, she added what the farm-girl Gehta had said to her about her terror of invasion; and lastly she spoke of the Tonildan detachment downstream of Rallur, which the Terekenalt army would have destroyed to a man.

"So if it hadn't 'a been for me, there'd have been another three hundred Tonildan fellows like that poor boy Sphelthon, and Cran only knows how many more besides. You must see that, Sednil, surely?"

"Oh, I can see it all right," said he, "and I admire you as much as anyone in the city. But what d'you suppose he thinks-your Katrian officer chap?"

"What he thinks?"

"Well, people in Terekenalt know what you did, same as people in Bekla. But on top of that, there's one thing your Zen-Kurel will know which no one else knows-that's if he's still alive and if he's had the sense to keep quiet. He knows how you learned about the plan, doesn't he?"

For the first time-for it must be remembered that in addition to her youth and immaturity she had hitherto been entirely land-locked, as it were, in her own memories and dreams of Zen-Kurel, and had never discussed her love with anyone-there began to dawn upon the ingenuous Maia some idea oi what Zen-Kurel must have felt upon hearing how the garrison at Rallur had been warned in time. Like a child to whom an adult points out something serious and unwelcome which till now has lain beyond the restricted field of personal experience, she sensed, vaguely yet dismally, that this was a matter she was not going to

be able to disregard or ignore; and began by trying to do just that.

"I don't reckon he'd be angry-not if I could talk to him, like-explain-tell him the rights of it-how I felt an' that."

"Don't you?"

"I would 'a done just that-told him how I felt-if only there'd been time: I would have! Fact I was starting to, only soon as he heard that trumpet blowing for the muster he was up and off-oh! that was so dreadful, Sednil! When I realized he was going to the fighting-" Her tears began to fall again.

"And you think he'd have listened to you, do you?"

"He loves me. We could have gone away together: we could have gone to his father's in Katria-"

"And him one of the king's personal aides? I thought you had more sense, Maia."

"Are you jealous of him? Is that it?" She knew this was nothing to the purpose, but anything was better than accepting the truth.

"Well, I might be, but that's not the point. What I'm asking is, do you really suppose this fellow feels the same about you-that is, if he's still alive-knowing what he can't help knowing now? 'Cos if I was him I'd want to cut you up into fifty bits, that's what."