'That raises another flock of questions. Shall we begin with a simple one? What is your name, child?'
'I am called Sidudu, Magus,' she said, and shivered violently.
'You are cold, Sidudu,' Taita said. 'No more questions until we have you home.' Taita turned to Meren and kept his expression serious as he asked, 'Is the lady causing you inconvenience or discomfort? Do you think you will be able to carry her as far as the village, or shall we put her down and make her walk?'
'I can abide with any suffering she may cause me,' Meren replied, equally seriously.
'Then I believe we have finished our business here. Let us go on.'
It was dark when they entered the village. The houses were mostly in darkness and nobody seemed to notice their passing. By the time they dismounted in the stableyard Sidudu had made a remarkable recovery.
Nevertheless Meren was taking no risks and carried her into the main living room. While Fenn and Imbali lit the lamps and reheated a pot of rich game stew on the hearth, Taita examined Sidudu's injuries. They were all superficial grazes, scrapes and embedded thorns. He dug the last out of her pretty calf and smeared ointment over the wound, sat back and studied her. He saw a maelstrom of fear and hatred. She was a confused, unhappy child, but beneath the turmoil of suffering her aura was clear and pure. She was essentially a sweet, innocent creature forced prematurely to face the world's evils and wickedness.
'Come, child,' he said. 'You must eat, drink and sleep before we talk any more.' She ate the stew and dhurra bread that Fenn brought to her, and when she had wiped the bowl with the last crust of bread and popped it into her mouth, Taita reminded her, 'You said that you were coming to find me.'
'Yes, Magus,' she whispered.
'Why?' he asked.
'May I talk to you alone, where nobody else can hear us?' she asked shyly, and glanced involuntarily at Meren.
'Of course. We shall go to my chamber.' Taita picked up one of the oil lamps. 'Follow me.' He led her to the room that he and Fenn shared, sat on his mat and indicated Fenn's to her. Sidudu folded her legs under her and arranged her torn skirts modestly. 'Now tell me,' he invited.
'Everybody in Jarri says you are a famous surgeon and skilled with all manner of herbs and potions.'
'I am not sure who “everybody” is, but I am indeed a surgeon.'
'I want you to give me something to flush the infant from my womb,'
she whispered.
Taita was taken aback. He had not expected anything like that. It took him some moments to decide how to reply. At last he asked gently, 'How old are you, Sidudu?'
'I am sixteen, Magus.'
'I thought you were younger,' he said, 'but no matter. Who is the father of the child you are carrying? Do you love him?'
Her reply was bitter and vehement: 'I don't love him. I hate him and wish he was dead,' she blurted out.
He stared at her while he composed his next question. 'If you hate him so, why did you lie with him?'
'I did not wish it, Magus. I had no choice. He is a cruel, cold man. He beats me, and mounts me so violently when he is in wine that he tears me and makes me bleed.'
'Why do you not leave him?' he asked.
'I have tried, but he sends the trogs to fetch me back. Then he beats me again. I hoped that he would beat me until I lost the brat he put inside me, but he is careful not to hit me in the belly.'
'Who is he? What is his name?'
'You promise to tell nobody?' She hesitated, then went on in a rush, 'Not even the good man who saved my life and carried me in from the forest? I don't want him to despise me.'
'Meren? Of course I will not tell him. But you have no need to worry.
No one would ever despise you. You are a good, brave girl.'
'The man's name is Onka - Captain Onka. You know him, I think.
He told me about you.' She seized Taita's hand. 'Please help me!' She shook it in her desperation. 'Please, Magus! I beg you! Please help me!
If I don't rid myself of the baby they will kill me. I don't want to die for Onka's bastard.'
I
Taita began to make sense of the situation. If Sidudu was Onka's woman, she was the one of whom Colonel That had spoken, the one who had doctored Onka's food to keep him out of the way so that That could escort Taita down from the Cloud Gardens. She was one of them and she must be protected. 'I must examine you first, but I will do my best. Would you object if I called Fenn, my ward, to be with us?'
'The pretty blonde girl who shot the trog off Meren's back? I like her.
Please call her.'
Fenn came at once. As soon as Taita had explained what was required of her, she sat down beside Sidudu and took her hand. 'The magus is the finest surgeon on earth,' she said. 'You need have no fear.'
'Lie back and lift your tunic,' Taita instructed her, and when she obeyed, he worked quickly but thoroughly. 'Are these bruises from the beatings Onka gave you?' he asked.
'Yes, Magus,' she replied.
