told them.
'That is indeed so. The open area will be extensive, and will take much longer to heal than any reconstruction we have attempted previously.
By what means can we ensure the passage of urine and faeces from the site without contaminating the wound?' asked Gibba.
'The anus will not be involved, and will continue to function in its accustomed manner. However, I intend to place a copper tube in the urethra. Initially this will convey the urine, but as soon as the seeding begins to stabilize and cover the open wound, it will be removed to allow normal regrowth of the organ.'
Although Taita was the subject, he managed to maintain an objective interest in the discussion and even made contributions that the others welcomed. When every facet of the procedure had been covered in exhaustive detail, Assem referred to him one last time: 'I have herbs that can be used to suppress pain, but perhaps they will not be necessary.
While Dr Rei was examining you, I was amazed by your technique of pain control. Will you be able to use it during the operation, or should I employ my potions?'
'I am sure that they are most effective, but I would prefer to control the pain myself,' Taita told him.
'I shall observe your technique with the utmost attention.'
It was the middle of the afternoon before Hannah brought the conference to a conclusion, and Taita was allowed to return to his quarters. Before he left her, Hannah said, 'Dr Assem has arranged for a herbal potion to be left beside your bed in a green glass phial. Drink it in a full bowl of warm water. It will purge your bladder and bowels in preparation for the operation. Please do not drink or eat anything more tonight or tomorrow morning. In the morning I would like to begin as soon as the light is good enough. We must give ourselves ample time.
We cannot be sure what unexpected difficulties we may encounter.
It is essential that we finish during daylight hours. Oil lamps will give insufficient light for our needs.'
'I will be ready,' Taita assured her.
When Taita arrived at Hannah's room the next morning,' her team of surgeons was assembled and ready to begin. Two nursing attendants, whom he recognized from his previous visit with Meren, helped him to undress. When he was naked they lifted him up on to the stone table and made him lie on his back. The stone was hard and cool under him, but the air was pleasantly warm, heated by the hot-water ducts beneath the floor. All four doctors were bare to the waist, and wore only white linen loincloths. Hannah's and Rei's breasts and upper bodies were firm and rounded as those of young women, and their skin was smooth and unwrinkled. He supposed that they had availed themselves of their arcane skills to keep themselves in that condition, and smiled faintly at the eternal vanity of the female. Then he considered himself: Lying here waiting for the knife, am I any less vain than they? He stopped smiling, and took one last look round the room. He saw that on another table close at hand a large selection of silver, copper and bronze surgical instruments had been laid out. Among them he was surprised to see at least fifty gleaming scalpels lying in neat lines on the white marble.
Hannah saw his interest. 'I like to work with sharp knives,' she explained, 'for your comfort as well as my own.' She indicated two technicians sitting at another worktable in the far corner of the room.
'Those men are skilled cutlers. They will resharpen each scalpel as soon as its edge becomes dull. You will be grateful to them before the day is done.' She turned to her assistants. 'If all is in readiness we can proceed.'
The two male nurses swabbed Taita's lower body with a pungent smelling liquid. At the same time the surgeons washed their hands and forearms in a bowl of the same fluid. Dr Rei came to Taita's side. The markings she had made the previous day had faded until they were barely visible. Now she renewed them, then stood back to make way for Hannah.
'I am about to make the first incision. Lord Taita, will you please compose yourself to resist the pain?' she said.
Taita grasped the Periapt of Lostris, which lay upon his naked chest.
He filled his mind with a soft mist, and let the circle of their faces above him recede until they were vague outlines.
Hannah's voice reverberated strangely in his ears, seeming to come from a distance: 'Are you prepared?' she asked.
'I am. You may begin.' He felt a tugging sensation as she made the
first incision, and as she went deeper he felt the first pain, but it was not unbearable. He let himself drop a level until he was just aware of her touch and the bite of her scalpel. He could hear their voices. Time passed. Once or twice the pain flared brightly as Hannah worked in a sensitive area, but Taita dropped a little deeper. When the pain receded he let himself rise to just below the surface, and listened to their discussions, which enabled him to follow their progress.
'Very well,' said Hannah, with obvious satisfaction. 'We have removed all the scar tissue, and we are ready to insert the catheter. Can you hear me, Lord Taita?'
'Yes,' Taita whispered, his voice echoing in his ears.
'Everything is going even better than I had hoped. I am placing the tube now.'
Taita felt it being worked into him, a mildly uncomfortable sensation that he did not need to suppress.
Already fresh urine is flowing from your bladder,' said Hannah. 'All is in readiness. You may relax, while we wait for the seedings to be brought from the laboratory.'
There followed a long silence. Taita let himself drift deeper until he was only just conscious of his surroundings. The silence continued, but he felt no sense of alarm or urgency. Then, gradually, he became aware of an alien presence in the room. He heard a voice that he knew was Hannah's, but it was very different now: soft, trembling with fear or some other strong emotion. 'This is the essence,' she said.
Taita brought himself to the level of bearable pain. He opened his eyes to slits so that he was looking through the screen of his own eyelashes. He saw Hannah's hands above him. They were cupped round an alabaster pot similar to that which had held the seeding for Meren's eye but much larger. Hannah lowered it from his line of vision and Taita heard the light scraping sound of a spoon against the alabaster as Hannah scooped out some of the
