Niall said: “But do you understand how it works?”
“No. I said I understand the danger. But since I am designed for purely rational thinking, I am unable to understand the principles of magic.”
The words caused a prickling sensation in Niall’s scalp. “But are you sure it is magic?”
“The ability to make living forces manifest in dead matter must be defined as magic.”
“But is there nothing we can do about it?”
“At the moment I lack information to make a competent assessment. You must try to learn more.”
Niall asked in perplexity: “But how?”
The old man shook his head. Niall waited for him to speak — then, as the silence lengthened, realized that he was not going to speak. His sense of rising frustration was cut short by a recognition that came as a shock: that the old man was not going to speak because he had nothing to say. Suddenly, for the first time, Niall realized fully that the old man was a machine, and that it would be as pointless to feel impatient with him as to feel angry with a clock whose hands have ceased to move.
He turned without speaking, and walked in the direction of the headquarters of the Spider Lord. For the first time, he realized that he was alone.
Two brown wolf spiders stood on either side of the black doors; they recognized him and lowered themselves to the ground. Then, seeing that he wished to enter, one of them sent a telepathic message to the guard inside, and the doors swung open. The death spider who stood in the hall was squat and powerful, bearing a distinct resemblance to the late Captain Skorbo — most of the Spider Lord’s personal guard came from the same distant province. His crooked legs made it easy to prostrate himself, but also made the gesture seem somehow disrespectful.
“Is the Lord Dravig here?”
“No, sire. He has gone home. Do you wish me to send for him?”
“No, thank you.” Niall was speaking slowly, realizing that this spider was unskilled in communicating with humans. “I wish to speak to Asmak.”
The spider gazed back blankly; the name evidently meant nothing to him. Niall said: “He is the commander of the aerial survey.” He accompanied the words with a mental image of a spider balloon.
“Please wait.”
The guard turned and ascended the marble staircase. He could have summoned any spider in the building by a telepathic message; but this would have been regarded as impolite, like a human being shouting for a servant.
Niall was alone in the hall, with its curiously stale air, and smell of ancient dust. He had never understood why the spiders made no attempt to keep their headquarters clean. Now, suddenly, he realized that it must be some atavistic memory of days when all spiders lived in dusty corners. It meant that dust and cobwebs denoted comfort.
The guard had reappeared on the stairs. He was followed by another death spider, whose glossy black coat and small stature revealed that he had still not reached adulthood. This spider lowered himself to the ground with a grace that was totally unlike the crablike awkwardness of the guard.
Niall asked: “Are you Asmak?”
“No, sire, I am his son. I am known as Grel.”
He said “known as” because, in the human sense of the word, few spiders had proper names; being telepathic, they had no need for names when addressing one another. Most spider names were adopted for the convenience of human intercourse.
“Please stand up.” Grel had remained in the position of homage, and Niall could sense his nervousness. “The Lord Dravig advised me to speak to your father.”
“He is not here, sire.” The young spider straightened up; in the upright position, he was about the same height as Niall. The folded fangs seemed undeveloped, and the smooth black hair that covered the body looked as soft as the fur of a kitten. It seemed to Niall that the black eyes shone with intelligence, although he was aware that this might be merely the effect of the amount of light they reflected — compared with the eyes of an adult spider, they seemed to be covered with a thin layer of oil.
“Where is he?”
“At his workplace. Would you like me to take you to him?”
Niall started to refuse, then changed his mind. To begin with, he wanted a chance to talk to the young spider.
“Is it far away?”
“No, very close.”
“Yes. Thank you. I would like to see him.”
The guard opened the double doors for them. But Niall could sense his deep disapproval. So could the young spider, and he followed Niall outside with a visible air of guilt. But as soon as the doors had closed, and they were outside on the pavement, this evaporated; he was obviously proud to be seen in public with the ruler of the spider city. He asked eagerly: “Shall I summon your charioteers?”
“No, thank you. If it is close, I would prefer to walk.”
The spider led the way to the side street that ran out of the southwest side of the square. The pavement was thronged with people, and Niall drew his cloak around him to avoid recognition. But at the end of two blocks, he felt so warm that he allowed it to fall open again.
“Grel.”
“Yes, sire?” The young spider stopped, and turned respectfully.
“Not so fast. My human legs are shorter than yours.”
Grel looked abashed. “I’m sorry, sire.” He walked on with exaggerated slowness. But since his stride was about ten feet long, Niall still had to walk at a brisk pace to keep up.
They were walking in the direction of the old part of the city; this, until recently, had been the women’s quarter, and had been forbidden to males. A high wall, whose enormous stone blocks required no cement, divided it from the eastern half of the city. Now its iron gates stood open and unguarded. Niall’s history lessons had taught him that this wall dated from ancient times, although it had been rebuilt as a historic showpiece in the twenty-first century.
Now, instead of passing through the nearest gate, they turned south along the broad avenue, and walked parallel to the wall which divided it down the center. It was obvious that this had once been the main thoroughfare of the city. The avenue was a steep incline, peaking in a hilltop surmounted by a tower. Niall had often wondered what lay on the far side.
“How old are you?”
“Five and a half, sire.”
“And are you a member of the Death Lord’s personal guard?”
“No, sire. I am the junior assistant to the lady Sidonia.” Sidonia was the commander of the Spider Lord’s guard.
“You speak English very well.” (What Niall meant was: “You communicate in human language very well,” but he knew that he would be understood.)
The young spider glowed with satisfaction. “Thank you, sire. The lady Sidonia taught me herself.” Then, to Niall’s astonishment, he loped across the avenue, and proceeded to climb the wall with the agility of an acrobat. Spiders, like flies, are able to climb vertical surfaces, but the sheer weight of the giant spiders meant that few of them attempted to practice this accomplishment. Grel’s lightness and speed carried him to the top of the wall with the ease of a bird in flight. His objective, Niall realized, was a large bird that had perched on the far side of one of the gate towers that subdivided the wall. As if aware of its danger, the bird stretched its legs and raised its head, as if about to launch into flight. It was too late. The young spider took advantage of the sloping roof of the gate tower to conceal himself as he slid, like some boneless mollusk, over the parapet; then, as the bird saw the movement and prepared to fly, launched himself like a projectile, striking the bird as it rose into the air. Niall expected to see them both crash down on to the pavement below; in fact, they landed on the parapet, then fell backwards. There was a brief and pathetic squawk. A moment later, the spider reappeared on the edge of the roof and lowered himself to the ground on a length of silk, which he jerked free and reabsorbed into his body as he was crossing the street. His jaws closed on the bird with a crunch that made Niall wince.
As if suddenly recalling Niall’s presence, the young spider became apologetic. “I beg your pardon, sire. Do you care for bird?”
“Not uncooked.” Niall found it impossible to smile. Now, suddenly, he understood why the guard had shown disapproval. Although he possessed the strength and speed of an adult, Grel was as impulsive as a child. And Niall knew enough about spiders to recognize that they attached enormous importance to self-control.