“I will do what you ask, Eistaa, but I do not understand what you are saying. I do not know what you are talking about.”
“It is what you do when you speak of one thing and think another. It is what you did to Stallan. You told her you were choking and you were not.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Kerrick said, radiating stupidity and lack of knowledge, innocence. Vaintè moved with joy.
“Wonderful! You are doing it now. You are doing the thing where you talk about things that didn’t happen as though they did happen. Admit it—or I will kill you on the spot.”
He quailed at the abrupt change in Vaintè’s mood, the motion of killing with her mouth open, her face close to his, those rows of deadly teeth just before him. “I did that thing, yes, I admit it. I did it to escape.”
“Very good.” She stepped back and the moment of danger was past. “This thing that you do, that no Yilanè can do, we will call it lying. I knew that you lied, and I also know that you will undoubtedly lie to me in the future. I cannot prevent it—but Inlènu* will see to it that your lies will not permit you to escape. Now that we know that you lie, we will put that lying to good use. You will lie for me. You will do that for me.”
“I will do what the Eistaa orders,” Kerrick said, not understanding, but quick to agree.
“That is correct. You will do as I order. You will never speak of this order—for if you do you are dead. Now—here is the lie you must speak, and you must speak it in a very excited way. You must say—”There, in the trees, an ustuzou, I saw it!’ Those are the words. Now repeat them.”
“There in the trees I saw an ustuzou.”
“Good enough. Do not forget that. And speak it only when I order you to. I will make a motion like this.”
Kerrick agreed happily. It was easy enough to do, though he could not see the reason for it. The threats had been real enough though so he made a special effort not to forget the words and the sign, muttering them to himself as he walked away through the city.
Many days had passed since Kerrick had last seen Enge. He rarely even thought of her now for his new-found freedom occupied every moment of his waking day. At first he had been hesitant to venture out alone and even took pleasure in the dumb presence of Inlènu* as some measure of security. When he did leave his room he very quickly discovered how stratified Yilanè social structure really was. He quickly came to understand that his position was somewhere near the top, since he was seen often in the Erstaa’s presence, sitting close to her. For the nameless fargi this was evidence enough of how high he ranked above them and, crude as it was, this respect was represented in the way they addressed him.
When he walked through the green corridors he saw how those fargi with the intelligence and ability to master their language were quickly slotted into city life. They became guards, food preparers, slaughterers, work gang supervisors, agriculturists, a wealth of occupations about which he knew little. With these Yilanè he spoke in a neutral manner, taking them as equals, or slightly lower, and this was readily accepted.
Respectful speaking he saved for those who were the leaders. Their position was obvious, though what they did was not always as clear, since they were trailed by aides and assistants, these followed in turn by fargi eager to be called upon, anxious to find a fixed status in the order of the city.
With so much to see Kerrick had very little time to miss Enge’s daily visits. The city was an ant’s nest of industry and occasionally he wished that she were there to explain some of the more puzzling aspects of life in Alpèasak. He asked after her a few times, but the curt dismissal of his question taught him not to follow that subject any further. But the response made him curious. When Enge and Vaintè had talked together it had been as equals. So why this bias against even mentioning her name? He considered, then rejected, questioning Vaintè about her whereabouts. The Eistaa made it very clear that she was the one who began and terminated conversations.