“Where’s your mother?” he asked.
“Oh, she knew you’d be tied up for a long time, so she went ahead and got a room in an inn. They’re very hard to get during the Festival, almost impossible. But you know Mother,” said Grizquetr, winking. “She gets what she goes after, every time.”
“Yes, I’m afraid so. Well, where’s this inn?”
“It’s clear across town, but it’s within sight of the wall that’s built around the demons’ skyship.”
“Wonderful! Rooms must be twice as difficult to get there as on the edge of town. How did Amra do it?”
“She gave the innkeeper three times his asking price, which was high enough. And he found a pretext to quarrel with a man who had long ago reserved a room, threw him out and gave it to us!”
“Ah? And where did she get this money?”
“She sold a ruby to a jeweler who kept shop close to the ‘break. He’s sort of shady, I guess, and he didn’t give Mother what the ruby was worth.”
“Now, where would she get a ruby or any kind of jewel?”
Grizquetr grinned crookedly but delightedly. “Oh, I imagine that a certain fat one-eyed merchant-captain who shall remain nameless must have had one or two rubies within that bag he keeps inside his shirt.”
“Yes, I can imagine. The question that alarms me is how did she get it off Miran? He’d sooner lose a quart of blood than one of his precious jewels. And he’d notice its loss quicker than he would the blood.”
Grizquetr looked thoughtful. “I really don’t know. Mother didn’t say,”
He brightened with a smile and said, “But I’d like to know how she did it! Maybe she’ll teach me some day.”
“She seems to have a lot to teach both of us,” said Green.
He sighed. “Well, I’m eternally indebted to her. No getting out of it. Let’s call a rickshaw and see what kind of a place she has selected.”
Once both had settled in the high-backed chair of their vehicle, and the two men who pulled it had begun their slow trotting through the crowded streets, Green said, “Have you any idea where Miran is?”
“Some. He was detained by the port-officers, too, because he had to explain what had happened to his ‘roller. Then he called a rickshaw and left in a big hurry. He had an officer with him. Not a naval officer. A soldier from the palace, one of the King’s Own.”
Green felt a sinking sensation. “Already? Tell me, does he know where we are staying?”
“Oh, no! When I saw him coming out of the customshouse, I hid behind a bale of cotton. Mother had told me to stay out of his sight. She explained how treacherous he is, and how he hates you because he thinks you brought all his bad luck upon him.”
“That’s only the half of it,” Green replied. He was silent for a while, thinking, his gaze roving idly over the crowds. There were many foreigners in town, sailors from every nation that had a border on the Xurdimur, pilgrims who belonged to the far-flung cult of the Fish Goddess and had come here for the Festival. The majority, however, were Estoryans, a fairly tall people, brown or red-haired, green or blue-eyed, with big noses, thick lips and a slight epicanthic fold. They spoke a guttural polysyllabic semi-analytic language. They wore broad-rimmed hats shaped like open umbrellas, tight-necked shirts with long stringties and pants that were skintight from crotch to knee, then ballooned out into many ruffles. Little bells tinkled on their ankles, and the women carried canes. All had a fish, a star, or a rocket-shaped tower tattooed on their cheeks.
Along the narrow winding street were many little shops, flowering with a variety of articles. Green was intrigued by the magical charms being hawked everywhere. Many of these were little towers, replicas of the large ones that encircled the country. On Earth they could have passed for toy spaceships. He bought one. It was made of white-painted wood and was about seven inches long. The big flaring fins and landing struts were well reproduced, but there weren’t any of the fine details that he could have found in such a toy on Earth. There were no holes in the stern or nose for the drive-exhaust or any indications of doors or detector apparatus.