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."She is the daughter of the traitor,Aibu!"Bila Huruma lifted his hand."Take him away," he said.Kisu was dragged,struggling, from the court.Mwoga shortly thereafter, bowing and stepping backwards, took his leave.Msaliti then appeared by my side, and thrust me gently, through the crowd,forward."Be ready," he said.Bila Huruma and those about him, including Shaba, regarded me.Shaba gave nosign that he recognized me.If he revealed that I was not what I seemed, itmight seem reasonable to inquire into the sources of his knowledge.It wouldthen be a short step to making clear his involvement with the ring.Such atrinket, doubtless, would be of great interest to the Ubar, Bila Huruma.Itwas not in the best interest of Shaba, or myself, or Msaliti, for the powerPage 138ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlof.the ring to come to the attention of the sovereign of this vast equatorialubarate.When I was near Bila Huruma I was to draw the dagger, slay Shaba and then, byprearranged plan, be immediately apprehended by askari guardsmen, to be placedunder arrest.Msaliti was supposed to obtain the ring from the body of Shaba.I was latersupposed to receive a hundred tarns of gold and my freedom.I smiled tomyself."Are you armed?" asked Msaliti, both in the inland speech, some of which I hadlearned-from Ayari, and in Gorean."Why, yes," I said pleasantly, revealing the sleeve sheath, and handing himthe dagger.For an instant, just an instant, I saw in the eyes of Msaliti a flash ofincredible fury.Then he nodded, and accepted the dagger, which he handed toan askari.I showed the sleeve sheath to Bila Huruma, who was interested in it.Suchsheaths are common in the Tahari but, in the equatorial interior, where menare commonly bare-armed, I gathered they were an interesting novelty.Bila Huruma said something to an aide.It had to do with seeing that a robewas made for him which contained such a device."Greetings, Great Ubar," said I, "and noble gentlemen, all." I smiled atShaba."I bring you greetings from the merchant council of Teletus, thatcouncil sovereign in that free island.Aware of the wealth and mighty projectsof the ubarate we desire to arrange the apparatus for commercial interactionwith your state.Should the great canal be completed we are well aware thatthis ubarate will become a crucial link between the equatorial east and west.We now wish, as doubtless will other merchant holdings, such as our sisters,Schendi and Bazi, to accord you our best wishes and to sue for your favor,that our shipping and merchants may be permitted to prove themselves ofservice in your future ventures."Msaliti did his best, not happily, to translate this for Bila Huruma.I wished to make such declarations for various reasons.First I thought itpossible that some of the blacks in the room, besides Shaba And Msaliti,perhaps close counselors of Bila Huruma, might know Gorean.It was importantto me to seem to be truly an envoy from Teletus.Secondly, I thought it mightbe amusing to try my hand at diplomatic bombast.I seldom received such anopportunity, and I have always been impressed by that sort of thing.Igathered, from the looks of those about, that the sort of things I said werethe usual sorts of things, mostly vacuous, which are said upon such occasions.This pleased me.Thirdly, I think I might have enjoyed discomfiting Msaliti,hoisting him, so to speak, by his own petard.Msaliti then signaled to a man who brought forward the gifts for Bila Huruma,in the small coffer.He acknowledged them, and then they were put to the side.I was informed,through Msaliti, the Ubar speaking, that the greetings of Teletus wereaccepted, that his ubarate expressed similar greetings to those of the island,that his ubarate appreciated our interest in its future and that his wazir oftrade would speak to me within the next ten days.I then, as I had seen othersdo, smiled and bowed, and, walking backward, withdrew from his presence.The next envoy was from Bazi.He presented to Bila Huruma four chests of gold,and ten black slave girls, nude, in golden chains.This did not much please me.I thought that Msaliti might have done better onbehalf of Teletus.The envoy from Bazi, I noted, would receive an audiencewith the wazir of trade within five days.Shortly after the business with the envoy of Bazi the court of Bila Huruma wasadjourned.I think that one of the slave girls had struck his fancy.I hopedthat she was well trained.He was a Ubar.He would not be easy to please.Msaliti and I were then alone in the great, conical-roofed Court.I sheathed the sleeve dagger which, after the adjournment of the court, thePage 139ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlaskari had returned to me.He was beside himself with rage."Why did you not kill Shaba!" he demanded."That was the plan.""It was not my plan," I said."It was your plan.I have a different plan.""I will have you immediately returned to the canal," he said, in rage."That will be difficult to do," I said."You have already established, and Iam grateful, that I am an ambassador or envoy from Teletus."He cried out with rage."Surely," I said, "you did not think I would be fool enough to do what youwanted.As soon as Shaba was slain you would have had the askaris, at a word,in the heat of the thing, slay me.You would then have me out of the way, whoknows about the ring, and free access to the ring itself.""You thought I would betray you?" he asked."Certainly," I said."You would have, wouldn't you?""Yes," he said."I thought so," I said."You see," I said, "you do have the makings of anhonest, truthful fellow in you."I slipped the sleeve dagger loose."It will do you no good to kill me," he said."I am just testing the sheath," I said.I replaced the blade."It appears we must work together," he said.I again slipped loose the blade."Yes," I said.He watched the steel."What is your plan?" he asked."We must act quickly," I said."We do not know how much time we have.BilaHuruma's wazir of trade will doubtless soon detect that I know little of themerchants or affairs of Teletus.We must act quickly.""What do you wish to do?" he asked."It is simple," I said."Shaba has the ring.Show me his chambers and I willfetch it this very night [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]