Sofarita squeezed shut her eyes, moved back from the window and almost sagged to the bed. The vision had been startling, and her hands were trembling. Baj returned carrying a heavy tray. He lowered it to a small table, which he then lifted and set down before her. Upon the tray was a plate of roast meat, covered with thick gravy, some heavy dark bread, a large pat of butter and a chunk of fresh cheese. ‘Eat,’ he said. ‘You look very pale.’ From the pocket of his apron he produced three candle stubs, which he lit from the lantern and placed in small pottery dishes around the room.
Sofarita cut a piece of meat and tasted it. It was roast beef, and delicious beyond words. Slowly and steadily she finished the meal, mopping the last of the gravy with the bread. She looked up. He was squatting down some five feet away, his elbow resting on his knees, his chin in his hand. ‘I do take great pleasure from watching people enjoy my cooking,’ he said.
‘It was a fine meal. But I am too full to eat the cheese. May I keep it for later?’
‘Of course. What kind of employment are you looking for? Or do you intend to work for my aunt?’
‘I don’t know. What does your aunt do?’
‘Do? You don’t know?’ He looked closely at her, then smiled. ‘Of course you don’t. How stupid of me. Well, what can you do?’
‘Anything I set my mind to,’ she told him. ‘I have planted crops, nursed them and gathered them. I can sew, spin, embroider. I can shear sheep, and know the medicines to ward off the blow-fly. I know the herbs that can help heal wounds and others to cure headaches and ease the pain of rheumatism. And I am strong now. I can work hard. Harder than any city woman.’
‘You are also trim and beautiful,’ he said. ‘My aunt will point out that there is great money to be made by using those gifts.’
‘How?’
‘My aunt… entertains the wealthy and the powerful. She has a large house and many young women – and young men – are in her employ.’
Another vision struck her. A large bedroom, with a circular bed covered with sheets of satin. Two women and a man cavorted upon it. What was happening to her? Sofarita struggled to appear calm. ‘Your aunt operates a whorehouse?’
Indeed she does, but her employees prefer to be called entertainers. They can earn more in one night than I make in a week. And much more than you will earn in a full season as a serving maid or a household servant.’
‘How much do they earn?’
‘My aunt tells me it depends on the requirements for the role, and the wealth and generosity of the recipient. In other words, if you find a rich man who likes you then you could earn a hundred silvers a night. More likely though, it will be twenty or thirty.’
‘So much?’
‘Are you tempted?’
‘Should I not be? Is there something you are not telling me?’
‘Nothing,’ he said. ‘It is just that entertaining is not considered an honourable profession in Egaru. In some of the cities of the Mud People – so I’m told – whores are considered almost holy. Among the Patiakes they are highly regarded. But in Vagar settlements they are generally looked down upon.’
‘Could I work here? For you?’
‘You could, but on the wages I pay you would not be able to afford this room for long.’
‘I will think on it,’ she said.
Crowds gathered on Egaru’s docks to watch the Serpent as she sailed majestically into harbour. Some of the older Avatars were misty-eyed, the younger filled with a sense of wonder. Gone were the clumsy sails, the pitch and the roll of a crippled ship. Instead she sailed serenely into port. Most of the crowd were Vagars who had never seen a fully powered Serpent. They were even more astounded by the vessel. Talaban brought her close to the dock, where sailors threw out ropes to the waiting dockers. Once the ropes were fastened Talaban eased down the power. The ship settled in the water.