There was only one way to handle her; that was to outtalk, outshout, outact her. It was hard going, especially when he felt so tired, and when she would not cooperate with him but would fight for precedence. The trouble was, she didn’t feel any respect for the man she could shut up, so it was absolutely necessary to dominate her.
This he accomplished by giving her a big squeeze, causing the baby to cry because she was pushed in too tightly between the two of them. Then while Amra was trying to soothe the baby he began telling her what had happened at the palace.
She was silent, except for a sharply pointed question interjected now and then, and she insisted upon hearing the details of everything that had taken place – everything. He told her things that he would not have mentioned before children – two years ago. But the extremely frank and uninhibited society of the slaves had freed him of any such restraints.
They went inside Amra’s house, through her offices, where six of her clerks and secretaries worked, through the living rooms proper, and on into the kitchen.
She rang a bell and told Inzax, a pretty little blonde, to go into the cellar and bring up a quart of Chalousma. One of the clerks popped his head in the kitchen door and told her that a Mr. Sheshyarvrenti, purser of an Andoonanarga vessel, wanted to see her about the disposition of some rare birds that she had ordered seven months before. He would deal with no one but her.
“Let him cool his heels for a while,” she said. The clerk gulped and his head disappeared.
Green took Paxi, his daughter, and played with her while Amra poured their wine.
“This can go on only so long,” she said. “I love you, and I’m not getting the attention I’m accustomed to. You should find some pretense to break off with the Duchess. I’m a vigorous woman who needs a lot of love. I want you here.”
Green had nothing to lose by agreeing with her, since he planned to be leaving in a very short time. “You’re right,” he said. “I’ll tell her as soon as I think up a good excuse.” He fingered his neck at the place where a headsman’s ax would come down. “It had better be a good one, though.”
Amra seemed to glow all over with happiness. She held her glass up and said, “Here’s to the Duchess. May demons carry her off.”
“You’d better be careful, saying that before the children. You know that if they innocently repeated that to someone and it got back to the Duchess you’d be burned in the next witchhunt.”
“Not my children!” she scoffed. “They’re too clever. They take after their mother. They know when to keep their mouths shut.”
Green gulped his wine and stood up. “I must go.”
“You’ll come home tonight? Surely the Duchess will let you out one night a week?”
“Not one single night. And I can’t come here this evening because I’m to meet Miran the Merchant at the House of Equality. Business, you know.”
“Oh, I know! You’ll dillydally about the whole matter, and put off acting for one reason or another, and the first thing you know, years will go by, and – – ”
“If this keeps up I’ll be dead in six months,” he said. “I’m tired! I have to get some sleep.”
She changed instantly from anger to sympathy. “Poor dear, why don’t you forget that appointment and sleep here until time to go back to the castle? I’ll send a messenger to Miran telling him you’re sick.”
“No, this is something I just can’t pass by.”
“What is it?”
“It’s of such a nature that telling you, or anybody, would spoil it.”
“And just what could that be?” she demanded, angry again. “It concerns some woman, I’ll bet!”
“My problem is keeping away from you women, not getting into more trouble. No, it’s just that Miran has sworn me by all his gods to keep silent and of course I couldn’t think of breaking a vow.”
“I know your opinion of our gods,” she said. “Well, go along with you! But I warn you, I’m an impatient woman; I’ll give you a week to work on the Duchess, then I’m launching an attack myself.”