'First they ply the patient well with wine and poppy juice, to dull his senses as much as they can,' Rihwin answered. 'They also have his friends hold him, mind you-I've done that duty a time or two. Then they cut loose a flap of flesh from behind the ruined ear, open up what remains of the earlobe so it's raw and bloody, and sew the two together. After they grow into one-for they will, once they exchange blood-the surgeon cuts off the base of the flap and behold! One has a new ear, perhaps not so fine as the original article but far better than the miserable nub I have left.'
Gerin eyed him speculatively. 'Do you know, my fellow Fox, in my years up here on the frontier, I've done my share of rough healer's work: drawing arrows, stitching wounds, setting bones, what have you. The men I've treated haven't done any worse than anyone else's patients. If you like, I might try to rebuild your ear for you.'
Rihwin went into a sudden and hasty retreat, holding his hands out before him as if to fend off Gerin. 'I thank you, but no. Not only do you lack some of the essentials (for where will you find wine and poppy juice here in the northlands?), but, meaning no disrespect, you have neither witnessed nor essayed the procedure in question.'
'But you described the procedure so clearly,' Gerin said, half to alarm Rihwin, half in real disappointment. 'I feel as if I could give you something better than the stub you have now. If I were to sketch in ink the shape of a proper earlobe here on the side of your neck-'
Rihwin retreated further. 'No thank you,' he repeated. 'Now, I grant that I cannot wear a bandage forever, but if I were to let my hair grow long, in half a year it would conceal the mutilation, thus obviating the need for surgery.'
'I suppose you could do that,' Gerin admitted. 'Why didn't you think of it a while ago, instead of whining about how your looks were ruined forever?'
'I didn't have such incentive to devise an alternative until this moment,' Rihwin answered with a sheepish grin. 'Compared to the prospect of being carved upon by an inept and inexperienced butcheragain, meaning no disrespect-going through life with but one earlobe suddenly seems much less unattractive.' Rihwin was self- absorbed, but not stupid. He fixed Gerin with a suspicious stare. 'And you, sirrah, manipulated me into coming up with that alternative.'
'I did?' Gerin was the picture of innocence. 'All I wanted was to try my hand at surgery.'
'I know,' Rihwin said darkly. 'I am certain the procedure would have been quite interesting-for you. And for me-how much I should have enjoyed it-is another matter altogether.'
'If you hadn't wanted something done about it, you shouldn't have described how to do something about it in such loving detail,' Gerin said.
'Believe me, my fellow Fox, I shall not be guilty of repeating the error,' Rihwin said. 'I suppose you should have been as eager to follow through had I suggested you repair the ear by thaumaturgic means.'
'Now, there's an idea!' Gerin exclaimed. 'You know, that really ought to be within my power, such as it is. It wouldn't involve much, just a straightforward application of the law of similarity. And you still have your right ear intact to serve as an exemplar. What could be more similar to a man's left ear than his own right? Let's go over to that little shack of mine and-'
Rihwin fled.
Selatre read, 'In this year, the fifth of his reign, the Emperor Forenz, the second of that name'-she paused to sound out a word she didn't run across as often as the usual opening formula of a chronicle's annual entry; she read that with confidence-'increased the tribute on the Sithonian cities. And the men of Kortys gathered together and thought how best they might revel-'
Gerin blinked and leaned over to check the scroll in front of her. 'That's 'rebel,' ' he murmured.
She looked at the passage again. 'Oh. So it is.' She let out a small, embarrassed laugh. 'It does change the meaning, doesn't it?'
'Just a bit.' Gerin started to reach and to touch her hand in added praise, but thought better of it. Selatre made little fuss over accidental contact these days, but she remained unhappy about anything that wasn't an accident. He went on, 'Even with the slip, you're doing marvelously well. You've picked up your letters as fast as anyone I've ever taught.'
'Letters are simple,' she said. 'Seeing how they fit together and make words is harder.' She looked around the room that served Castle Fox as a library. 'And so many words there are to read! I'd never imagined.'
Now Gerin laughed, bitterly. 'When I look at them, I see how few there are. It's a good collection for the northlands-for all I know, it may be the only collection in the northlands-but it's a chip of wood drifting on the sea of ignorance. I studied down at the City of Elabon; I know whereof I speak.'
'As may be,' Selatre said. 'When Biton abandoned me, I thought I would be empty of knowledge, of the feeling of knowledge passing through me, forevermore. This is a different sort from what the god gave directly, but it's worthy in its own way. For that I thank you.'
She hesitated for a moment, then set her hand on top of his, very lightly, before she jerked it back. Gerin stared at her. Then a snarl of rage, a noise like ripping canvas, jerked his gaze to the doorway. Fand had chosen that moment to walk by. The fury on her face was frightening. Gerin waited for her to scream at him, but she stalked away instead. That worried him more than her usual firestorm would have.
'I'm sorry,' Selatre said. 'Your leman does not favor me, and I've gone and made matters worse.'
'Not that much worse,' he answered. 'Things have been going, mm, imperfectly well for a while already.'
She sighed and said, 'I must confess, I don't altogether understand. If things between you and her have not gone well, as you tell me, why do you still seek her bedchamber?'
He felt his face heat. From anyone else, that question would have got nothing more than a sharp, None of your affair. With Selatre, though, he tried to be as honest as he could. Maybe that sprang from lingering awe and respect for the oracular role she'd once had, maybe just because, by her nature and not Biton's, she called forth such honesty. After a little thought, he said, 'Because what goes on in the bedchamber, as you say, is one of the few good things we have left between us. Has been one of the good things, I should say.'
Selatre caught the distinction. 'Has been but is no more, do you mean?'
'I suppose I do.' The Fox gnawed on the inside of his lower lip. ' You've seen children balance a board or a branch on a rock and make a game out of going up and down, up and down?'
'Of course,' she answered. 'I've played that game myself. Haven't you?'
He nodded, then went on, 'Van and I have played it with Fand, these past couple of years. But staying in balance, the two of us with one woman, isn't easy, any more than keeping the board in balance on a stone is. And I seem to be the one who's falling off.' He laughed, ruefully but without much anger. 'I shouldn't be surprised that's happening, not when Fand has a temper like boiling oil. I ought to be surprised we've kept the balance as long as this.'
'You would have kept it longer, if not for me,' Selatre said. 'She thinks you're out to have me take her place.'
'I know she does,' Gerin said. 'That isn't what I intended when I brought you here to Castle Fox.'
She studied him. For a moment, he thought the fathomless wisdom of Biton still looked out through her eyes. Then he realized the wisdom he saw was her own, which made it no less intimidating. 'Do you intend that now?' she asked. Even if he'd intended to evade, she didn't make it easy; though she hardly had her letters, she used words with a precision the rhetoricians down in the City of Elabon might have envied.
'By Biton or Dyaus-whichever you'd rather, Selatre-I swear I do not want you to take Fand's place in my life,' he answered steadily. ' If you think I am in the habit of swearing false oaths, you can best judge my likely fate in the world to come.'
'Only a fool mocks the gods, and whatever else you may be, lord Gerin, you are no fool,' Selatre said. 'For that, and for the truth you've shown me thus far, I will believe you.'
'And for that I thank you,' the Fox said.
'Shall we return to the chronicle?' Selatre asked. 'There, with the words before us on the parchment, we have less room for misunderstanding.'
