Brother To Shadows

'Not as those of Asborgan see it. But that is not discounting any danger, and such lies ahead. You are out set from your Brothern; in a manner of speaking I am also. But that I shall discuss only under oath. What is your word —?'

Jofre's right hand closed about his dagger and he drew that one long weapon left him. Holding it now between both of his palms, he went to one knee before the Zacathan.

The scaled fingers came to meet his instantly and the dagger was drawn from the sheath of flesh in which he held it.

'By the Great Oath'—so this off-worlderDID know enough of the Brothern to follow the form—'I call you out of the Shadows and into my service until my purpose is achieved or life is ended.' Zurzal reversed the dagger awkwardly with his single hand and managed to press his forefinger down on its point. Dark blood welled in a thick bead and he smeared it on the dagger and held it out for Jofre to once more clasp double- handed so that that smear of blood was imprinted on his own flesh.

'I am bound—' he said shortly, making no move to wipe that mark from his hands as he returned his weapon to his girdle.

'So done. The hour grows late. Have you eaten, sworn man? Drink up, for I have much to talk of now and time itself is snapping at my heels.'

'I have not eaten.' Jofre's hold left a faint bloodstain on the drinking vessel. 'But if time is limited, that is of no importance.'

The Zacathan's long jaws opened in what must have been a smile. 'I assure you I am not so blind to the needs of any employee. As it happens, I myself have not eaten.' He crossed back to the opening in the wall from which he had taken the drinks. A button brought up light in a square and Jofre saw marks in a series cross that.

Then the Zacathan busied himself with the lower line of buttons before that light square was gone. 'They do vespar well here,' he said, 'it is considered, of course, in this setting a novelty. And there are some other things I think you will find to your taste. We are not too unlike in our eating habits, we two peoples.'

As quickly as he had gone to one wall so now he turned to another and set fingers in a ridge to open another door.

'This is the fresher,' he said, 'and here,' he had found another doorhold and opened that also, light streaming up even as the portal went back, 'are sleeping quarters. Settle in while we wait to be served.'

Jofre merely glanced into the sleeping room. There were two bed places which looked to be as luxuriously soft as a district lord might aspire to. But the fresher drew him most.

Austere and barren to city eyes as the Lair might be, it was always meticulous clean and cleanliness was part of issha training. This tiled chamber did not resemble the bathing place he had always known but it promised a relief.

The Zacathan had opened another door within that place of ease to display a cubicle and now he indicated various small levers jutting from its inner wall.

'Hot steam or water as you wish, cold, soap power spray, and air-drying hose. Make yourself free—'

Then he was gone. Jofre rummaged in his bundle and brought out much creased but clean underdrawers, and shirt. But before he tried the amenities of that strange room he made a careful inspection. There was no entrance save that through which he had come and there was certainly no place where there could be a place of concealment. Not that he had any fears of this being a trap—he was oathed and, therefore, as tied to Zurzal now as if he were one of the Zacathan's scaled kin.

It took him a little time to master what the fresher had to offer and inwardly he marveled. No Lair Master could hope for such luxury as this and he savored the feeling of cleanliness afterwards; almost he wished he did not have to rewear his travel-stained outer clothing. But he made very sure that the stone he had found at Qaw-en-itter was again well secured in the wrapping of his sash girdle.

Zurzal was waiting in the outer room beside a larger table to which were drawn up two of the tall seats, these not so encushioned as the others. On the table itself were set out covered bowls and platters and two plates. By the side of each of those there was an array of knives and spoons and some odd-looking cutlery which ended in a set of points and which Jofre could not identify.

'It was good, lord,' he glanced over his shoulder at the now closed door of the fresher, 'my thanks for your offering—'

The Zacathan had already seated himself and whipped the cover from the largest of the bowls so that steam and a smell, which made Jofre suddenly very aware how long it had been since he had last eaten, filled the air.

'I am no lord.' Zurzal was now busy ladling some of the contents of the bowl onto the plate before Jofre as the younger man slipped rather awkwardly onto that elevated seat. 'I am Zurzal, I do have a title—which means nothing on most worlds other than my own. I am called a Histechnic which only means that I have completed a series of studies to the satisfaction of my elders and betters. I am Zurzal. And you?'

'The Master named me Jofre.'

'Jofre—' repeated the Zacathan, 'sky given. Because of your finding, I suppose.'

Jofre was again a little shaken at Zurzal's quick grasp of his name meaning, for that was a word of the high country and not the lowlands where a visitor might have traveled enough to learn something of the native tongues.

'Yes—' He eyed his plate now, drawing his knife to cut at the generous portion of smoking vespar which had been served him.

'Your Master made no attempt to report your finding to the port authorities?'

Jofre shook his head. 'The Lairs have their own ways. He could have sent me to one of the valley lords but he did not. He was a man who kept his thoughts much to himself.'

'I have heard that the Brothers are indeed secret in their ways; it is part of the faces they turn to the world. At any rate he gave you a trade, this Master of yours.'

'He judged me issha,' Jofre said and remembered his inner pride, which he had taken precautions to hide on