'Her spirit, sure, but what about her? What do you call this tunnel
stuff? They make houses out of it, sometimes.
'The ignorant say _shiprock_, the learned _navislapis_.'
'A big shiprock box. That's what we're in, and we're just as
buried as Orpine. What I was going to say is Kypris never told Auk,
Patera. Not like Scylla. She told him right away, but he thought
Kypris was me, and he liked her a lot. He gave me this ring, see?
Then she talked to people in Limna and went in the manteion and
went away. Went clear out of me and left me all alone in front of the
Window. I was scared to death. I had some money and I kept buying
red ribbon--'
'Brandy, my daughter?'
'Yeah. Throwing it down, trying to pretend it was rust because it's
about the same color. It took a lot before I got over being scared,
and then I still was, a little, way back in my head and deep down in
my tripes. Then I saw Auk, this was still in Limna, so I hooked him
because I was out of gelt, and I was just some drunk, some old
drunk trull. So naturally he lumped me. He never did lump me as
hard as Bass did once, and I'm sorry I lumped you. Aren't the gods
supposed to care about us, Patera?'
'They _do_, my daughter.'
'Well, Scylla didn't. She could've kept me out of the sun and kept
my clothes so I wouldn't get so burned. We got hot when I was
running for her and they got in our way, so she just tore them off
and threw them down. My best winter gown.'
Incus cleared his throat. 'I have been meaning to speak to you
about _that_, my daughter. Your _nudity_. Perhaps I ought to have
done so when I shrove you. I foresaw, however, that you might
misunderstand. I, _myself_, am sunburned, and nudity _is_ wrong,
you know.'
'It gets bucks hot. Mine does, I mean, or Violet. I saw a buck
practically jump the wall once when Violet took off her gown, and
she wasn't really naked, either. She had on one of those real good
bandeaus that hike up your tits when they look like they're just
shoving them back.'
'_Nudity_, my daughter,' Incus continued gamely, 'is wrong not
only because it engenders concupiscent thoughts in weak men, but because it
is _often_ the occasion of _violent_ attacks. Concupiscent thoughts
are wrong in themselves, as I suggested, though they are not _seriously_
evil. Violent _attacks_, on the other hand, _are_ seriously evil.
In the matter of concupiscent thoughts, the fault lies with you when by
_intentional_ nudity you give rise to them. In that of _violent
attacks_, the fault lies with the _attacker_. He is obliged to _restrain_
himself, no matter _how severe_ a provocation is offered him. But I
ask you to consider, my daughter, whether you wish _any_ human spirit to
be rejected by the immortal gods.'
'Getting beat over the head the way they do,' Chenille said
positively, 'that's the part I'd really hate.'
Incus nodded, gratified. 'There is _that_, as well. You must consider
that the _men_ most inclined to these attacks are _by no means_ the most
noble of my sex. To the _contrary!_ You might actually be _killed_.
Women frequently _are_.'
'I guess you're right, Patera.'
'Oh, I _am_, my daughter. You may _rely_ upon it. In our present
company, your nudity does _little_ harm, I would say. _I_, at least, am
_proof_ against it. So is the soldier whose life I, by the grace and aid of
_Fairest Phaea_, contrived to save. The captain of our boat--'
'Dace.'
'Yes, _Dace_. Dace is _also_ proof against it, or _nearly_ so, I would
imagine, by virtue of his advanced age. _Auk_, of whom I had
entertained the gravest fears for your sake has _now_, by the
intercession of _Divine Echidna_, who ever strives to safeguard the
chastity of your sex as well as _my own_, been so severely injured that
he is _most unlikely_ to attack you or--'
'Auk? He wouldn't have to.'
Incus cleared his throat again. 'I forbear to dispute the matter, my
daughter. Your reason or mine, though I _greatly_ prefer _my own_. But
consider this, _also_. We are to enter the _Juzgado_, using the tessera
the talus supplied. Once there--'
'Is that what we're supposed to do when we get back? I guess it is,
but I haven't been thinking about it, just about getting Auk to a
doctor and all that. I know a good one. And sitting down and getting
somebody nice to wash my feet, and some powder and rouge and
some decent perfume, and drinks and something to eat. Aren't you
hungry, Patera? I'm starving.'
'I am not _wholly_ unaccustomed to fasting, my daughter. To
_revert_ to our topic, we are to enter the Juzgado, or so that _talus_
informed us as the claws of Hierax closed upon him. His
instructions were _Scylla's_, he said, and I credit him. He told us
the Ayuntamiento must be _destroyed_, as Scylla _herself_ did upon
that _unforgettable_ occasion when she announced that she has
chosen _me_ her Prolocutor. The _talus_ indicated that we were to
announce her decision to the commissioners, and provided a
_tessera_ by which we are to _penetrate_ the subcellar for that
purpose. I must confess _I_ had not known that such a subcellar
existed, but presumably it does. _Consider_ then, my daughter, that
you will soon--'
'Thetis, that was it, wasn't it? I wondered what he meant when he
said that. Does it work like a key? I've heard there are doors like
that.'
'_Ancient_ doors,' Incus informed her. 'Doors constructed by _Great
Pas_ at the time he built the whorl. The _Prolocutor's Palace_ has such
a door. Its tessera is known to me, though I may not reveal it.'
'Thetis sounds like a god's name. Is it? I don't really know very
much about any of the gods except the Nine. And the Outsider.
Patera Silk told me a little about him.'
'It is _indeed_.' Incus glowed with satisfaction. 'In the _Writings_, my
daughter, the mechanism by which we augurs are chosen is
described in _beautiful_ though _picturesque_ terms. It is there said...'
