They absorbed this in silence for a moment. Then Niall asked: “What sort of people were your parents?”
She looked surprised. “I don’t know.”
They all stared at her in astonishment. “You don’t know?”
“Of course not.”
Niall said: “But I know who my parents are.”
Odina nodded. “But you are savages. You leave reproduction and breeding to chance. Why do you suppose all the commanders look so strong and healthy? Because their parents were carefully chosen. Why are all our men so tall and handsome? Because we do not leave their breeding to chance.”
“But are all your babies born strong and healthy?” Siris asked.
“Of course not. But if they are weak and unhealthy, they are not allowed to live.”
Siris asked mildly: “Isn’t that rather cruel?”
“No. It would be cruel if we let them live, for their children might also be unhealthy. By not allowing them to live, we make sure that our whole race remains strong and healthy.”
Veig asked: “But what about the slaves?”
“The slaves are an inferior class. We keep them because we need someone to do the unpleasant jobs. And of course, the spiders. . .” she quickly corrected herself, “the masters need them for their banquets.”
Niall asked, with misgivings: “As servants?”
“No. No.” She seemed mildly impatient. “As the main dish. They love human flesh. Of course, we also breed cows and horses and sheep. But they say human flesh tastes best of all.”
This left them feeling slightly shaken. After a long pause, Veig asked: “Doesn’t that. . . worry you?”
She shook her head vigorously. “Of course not. They never eat their servants — unless, of course, they go out after dark. Or break the law in some other way. Like trying to get into the women’s section.” She said this with a note of warning, glancing at them from under lowered eyelids.
For the past ten minutes, the cart had been travelling along the same broad avenue in the direction of the river; now, as the charioteers struggled to prevent the cart from running away on a downhill slope, it lay directly ahead of them, a wide expanse of water glittering in the sunlight. The immense bridge that had once arched across it was now broken in the middle; the rusty iron girders were twisted and bent. The charioteers were ordered to halt. Odina pointed to a low white building on the other side of the water.
“There is the nursery.”
Siris asked anxiously: “But how can we get across?”
For answer, Odina pointed to a boat that lay on the foreshore at the bottom of a flight of steps. She tapped two of the charioteers on the shoulder. “You can take us across. You two wait here.”
A few minutes later, they were in the middle of the river; the boat, which was like a smaller version of a Viking craft, shot forward smoothly with every stroke of the oars.
Niall asked: “How did the bridge become broken?”
“The servants of the beetles blew it up. It is to prevent the mothers from trying to see their children.”
Siris asked: “But aren’t the mothers ever allowed to see their children?”
“Of course, twice a year. Then, if they wish, they can spend a whole day together. But of course, many of them prefer not to bother. I have not seen my own children since birth.”
“You have children?”
She corrected her. “I have borne children, I do not have them.”
Siris asked: “But didn’t you want to see them?”
She shrugged. “I missed them a little for the first week, then the feeling went away. I knew they were well cared for.”
“And who is your. . . who is their father?” Siris asked.
“One was called Brucis, one was called Mardak, and one was called Kryphon.”
She asked timidly: “And. . . do you still see them?”
Odina sighed; she obviously found Siris’s questions naïve. “I have passed them occasionally in the street. But it would be impolite to show that we knew each other. You see, they are only servants. Their business is to father children. They would be embarrassed if I spoke to them.”
“But don’t you feel anything for them?”
“Why should I? Would you expect me to feel something for these men” — she gestured at the charioteers — “because they are rowing us across the river?”
Niall glanced cautiously at the two men, wondering whether they might be upset by her remark; but they were staring straight ahead and showed no sign of having heard.
The boat bumped to a halt against a flight of steps; one of the men leapt out and secured it to a ring, then helped Odina to step ashore.
At the top of the steps they encountered a tall, powerfully-built woman dressed entirely in blue; like most of the commanders, she resembled Odina so much that she might have been her sister. She was carrying an axe that was taller than she was; a spike protruded from the back of the blade. She saluted Odina, then glanced down at Siris’s stomach.
“How many months?”
“She is not pregnant,” Odina said. “She is here to visit her children, who arrived a few days ago.”
The woman said: “I hope you can control her.” She stood to attention as they went past.
“What did she mean?” Siris asked in a whisper.
Odina shrugged. “Some of the mothers refuse to leave their children. Only last week, she had to kill one of them.”
“Kill her!”
“Yes, she had to chop off her head.”
Veig said: “Couldn’t she just have knocked her unconscious?”
Odina shook her head decisively. “No. She was suffering from emotional disease. She might have infected others.”
“Emotional disease?”
“That is what we call it when people refuse to control themselves. And of course, such a woman might produce tainted children. That is why they must be killed.”
They were crossing a pleasant lawn, with a large flowerbed. Ahead was a long, white building, its windows shielded by brightly coloured awnings. Many women in various states of pregnancy wandered about the lawns, or sat in the shade of trees. A few women in blue uniforms could also be seen; each of these carried a small hand axe suspended from her belt.
Odina pointed to a wooden bench on the edge of the lawn. “You two will have to wait there. No men are allowed in the children’s quarters. But make sure you stay there until we come back. The guards have orders to kill any man who wanders around here without permission.”
Niall and Veig sat on the sun-warmed bench — it was, in fact, uncomfortably hot — and watched Siris and Odina disappear round the corner of the building. Niall could hear a strange hissing sound, and the trickle of running water; by leaning backwards and peering around an intervening tree, he could see a fountain that hurled a spray of water high into the air. It fascinated him, and he would have liked to go and investigate; but one of the women in blue was standing on the edge of the lawn and eyeing them with an open disapproval that made him nervous. He could imagine her severing his head with one fierce swing of the axe.
“What do you think about all this?” Veig indicated the women and the nursery buildings.
“It’s very beautiful.” To the eye of a desert dweller, it might have been the Garden of Eden.
“It’s beautiful, but it makes me shiver. It’s like that woman who brought us here. . .”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s so pretty, and she seems so nice, yet she says such horrible things. I felt quite sick when she told us about that woman having her head chopped off — just for wanting to stay with her baby.”
“Sshh!” Niall said. He suspected they could be overheard by the woman in blue and that Odina might return to find two headless bodies.
“I don’t see why I should be quiet.” Nevertheless Veig lowered his voice.
Niall said: “I’ll tell you what puzzles me. If they go to so much trouble to make sure the babies are all strong and healthy, why are they all so stupid?”
Veig was struck by this. “Yes, you’re right. They are stupid, aren’t they?” He thought about it. “Perhaps it’s because their jobs are all so boring.”
Niall shook his head. “No, it’s more than that. I’ve got a feeling. . .”
Before he could put it into words they were interrupted by an excited shout; a moment later, Runa had flung her arms round them and was trying to hug and kiss them both at the same time. Behind her came Siris, carrying Mara. And behind Siris, walking with Odina, was a slim girl dressed in a blue tunic. To his delight, Niall recognised Dona. He freed himself from Runa and jumped to his feet; Dona ran towards him, holding out her hands. Her eyes were shining with excitement. Niall hugged her round the waist and swung her round, lifting her feet off the ground. This was too much for the blue-clad guard, who stepped forward angrily and said: