Unconscious of having made any decision, she found herself halfway down the stairs as the last of the songs dwindled to silence. She had been busy thinking. Now she had thought. It was time to talk to the chieftains of the people.
* * *
“We attack the malghaste to the south,” said the Shah to his minister. His voice was high and petulant. His mouth was pursed. He looked, thought the minister, like a fretful baby. “The malghaste have for too long existed on our border, affording refuge to those who escape from us.”
Saelan knew that the escape of the Havenite woman annoyed the Shah past endurance. No woman could be allowed to escape. The Shah needed more women, not fewer of them!
“It is very early, and Your Effulgence has not had breakfast. Perhaps the decision . . .”
The Shah waved him silent, crying in a high, treble voice, “We will raze the nest of the rebels.”
“Effulgent One, we do not know that the woman went to the place the malghaste callmahrei. Indeed, it is unlikely in the extreme. Her water bottle and a broken sandal were found far to the southeast, on the trail to Zimmi oasis . . .”
“It doesn’t matter. If she had come to thismahrei, they would have taken her in.”
“Effulgent One, is this … is this a proper time to wage war? You are holding Prince Delganor and the Marshal . . .”
“They are my guests,” interrupted the Shah, with a curled lip and raised nostril. “As they must be, since their ship departed. I think, however, that I will make them my allies. The Marshal is a military genius, so he tells me. Perhaps I will put him in charge of the army. He can quell the malghaste in theirmahrei. He can find his woman child and take her out in the desert, dedicating her to my use. Then I will consider elevating him.”
Ybon Saelan swallowed deeply. “The ship departed, Effulgent One, because the Captain panicked, thinking the demonstration was directed at him or his men.” As certainly it had been. Ybon had counseled the Shah against attacking the ship. Had the ship been destroyed, the Prince would have had no way to return home, the shipments of grain and fiber and other necessary material would not have arrived in Mahahm, the people of Mahahm-qum might well have arisen against the Shah. Driving the ship away was just as bad, since there was no way to reach it. The foolish people left in the house had destroyed the communications devices. All of which the Shah should have understood. Would have understood, in prior years.
He murmured, “We will hope that the Captain of the ship returns soon, Your Greatness.”
“We will cut the Captain into pieces,” said the Shah. “Before the eyes of the Prince. If the Marshal does not help us, we will cut the Marshal to pieces, as well.”
Cursing silently, Ybon bowed. “Great One, the Marshal is of the nobility. And the Captain may be needed to return the Prince to his own land. From which our foodstuffs come. From which our bodies are clothed. From which our needs are met.”
“Then we will take members of the crew. They cannot trifle with us in this way, Saelan! I am weary of it. The razing of thismahrei place will distract me while we wait for the ship to return.”
The minister sighed and said the only thing he could. “Your Effulgence’s word is our law. We will go south.”
Inside himself, Ybon felt a tiny click, as though a switch had been thrown. As though a machine he had forgotten was there was now energized. As though a certain line of thought that had been unthinkable had been opened for leisurely contemplation.
In the marae, the people were ready to confer. The seven representatives of the many chieftains did not use their names while on such business, Melanie explained to Genevieve. Their names were local, tribal, familial. When they spoke for all the people, they used only their numbers, the order in which they had been appointed to this duty. First for the people, Tuatahi, had served longest. Seventh, Tuawhitu, had served least long. When a member died or resigned, the numbers below moved up a notch and a new seventh was appointed. Whoever was First at any given time was also chairman, and this one was tall and bulky, with long, strong brown arms and legs and a muscular torso half hidden by the length of fabric wrapped around his waist. Both men and women wore this garment, plus a loosely woven top to shield their shoulders, backs, and arms from the ardor of the sun.