supported us. Master Xiphias made a gesture of the same sort,
probably something to do with swordplay. Anyway, her kiss made
me think of silk, of the fabric I mean, for some reason. It seemed
strange, but I thought perhaps her skirt had brushed my hand. You
say it's actually called chenille?'
'Chenille _is_ silk, Patera. Or anyway the best chenille is, and the
other is something else that's supposed to look like silk. Chenille
is a kind of yarn, made of silk, that's furry-looking like a
caterpillar. If they weave cloth of it, that's called chenille too. It's
a foreign word that means caterpillar, and silk threads are spun
by silkworms, which are a kind of caterpillar. But I'm sure you
know that.'
'I must speak to her!' he said. 'Not now, but when we're alone,
and as soon as I can.'
'Good girl!'
'Yes, Oreb. Indeed she is.' Silk returned his attention to Maytera
Marble. 'A moment ago when you spoke to Loris, you didn't want
us to leave this room. Would you mind telling me why?'
'Was I as transparent at that?'
'No, you weren't transparent at all; but I know you, and if you'd
really been so worried about me, you would have asked him to let us
talk in a bedroom where I could lie down, and to send for a doctor.
I don't suppose Blood's got one, now that Doctor Crane's dead; but
Loris might have been able to supply one, or to send someone for
one of the Guard's doctors under a flag of truce, like that white flag
next to your chair.'
Maytera Marble looked grave. 'I should have asked him to do
that. I can still ask, Patera. I'll go out and find him. It won't take a
moment.'
'No, I'm fine. By Phaea's favor--' It was too late to call back the
conventional phrase. 'I'll recover. Why did you want to stay here?'
'Because of this window.' Maytera Marble waved a hand at it.
'Bloody had opened it while we were in here by ourselves, and I
worried the whole time that someone would get cold and shut it.
You must know Mucor, Patera. She said you sent her to me.'
Silk nodded. 'She's Blood's adopted daughter.'
'Adopted? I didn't know that. She said she was Bloody's daughter.
That was Hieraxday night, terribly late... Do you know
Asphodella, Patera?'
Silk smiled. 'Oh, yes. A lively little thing.'
'That's her. I'd done the wash, you see, and I wanted to pour the
dirty water on my garden. Plants actually like dirty water with
soapsuds in it better than clean. It sounds wrong, I know, but they
do.'
'If you say so, I'm sure it must be true.'
'So I was pouring out the water, so much for each row, when
Asphodella pulled my skirt. I said what are you doing out so late,
child? And she told me she'd gone with the others to fight, but Horn
had sent her back--'
'Cat come!' Oreb warned. Silk looked for it, seeing none.
'Horn had sent her home, and quite right, too, if you ask me,
Patera. So now she wanted to know if there'd be palaestra on
Thelxday.'
'Then,' Silk said slowly, 'her face changed. Is that it, Maytera?'
'Yes. Exactly. Her face became, well, horrible. She saw I was
frightened, as I certainly was, and said don't be afraid, Grandmother.
My name's Mucor, I'm Blood's daughter.' Maytera Marble
paused, not certain that he understood. 'Have I told you Bloody's
my son, Patera? Yes, I know I did, right after we sacrificed in the
street.'
'He was Maytera Rose's,' Suk said carefully. 'You, I know, are
also Maytera Rose--at least, at times.'
'All the time, Patera.' Maytera Marble laughed. 'I've integrated
our software. As far as we sibyls are concerned, I'm your best friend
and worst enemy, all in one.'
He stirred uncomfortably in Blood's comfortable chair. 'I was
never Maytera Rose's enemy, I hope.'
'You thought I was yours, though, Patera. Perhaps I was, a little.'
He leaned toward her, his hands folded over the crook of
Xiphias's cane. 'Are you now, Maytera? Please be completely frank
with me.'
'No. Your friend and well-wisher, Patera.'
Oreb applauded, flapping his wings. 'Good girl!'
She added, 'Even if I were entirely Maytera Rose, I'd do all I
could to get you out of this.'
Silk let himself fall back. It was astonishing how soft these chairs
of Blood's were. He remembered (vividly now) how badly he had
wanted to rest in his chair, to sleep in it, when he had talked with
Blood in this very room. Yet this one was better, just as Blood had
promised: yielding where it should, firm where firmness was desirable.
He stroked one wide arm, its maroon leather as smooth as
butter beneath his touch.
'They let me lie down after I was captured,' he confided to
Maytera Marble. 'Sand did. I'd had to walk all the way to this
house, and it was a very long way. It had seemed long when Auk
and I rode donkeys; and walking with Sand's gun at my back, it
seemed a great deal longer; but once we arrived, once we'd climbed
up through the hatch into the cellar, he let me lie down on the floor.
He isn't a bad man, really--just a disciplined soldier obeying bad
men. There's good in Loris, too, and even in Potto. I know you
must sense it, just as I do, Maytera; otherwise you'd never have
spoken to Potto as you did. That's why--one reason, anyway--I
don't feel that this situation from which you're trying to rescue me is
as bad as it appears, though I'll always be grateful.'
'Cat! Cat!' Oreb flew from Silk's shoulder to the head of an
alabaster bust of Thelxiepeia.
Maytera Marble smiled. 'There's no cat in here, you pretty bird.'
'You were telling me about this room,' Slik reminded her, 'and
meeting Mucor. I wish you'd continue with that. It may be
