'So _let us_ review our position and take _council_, one with another.
Then I will lead us in prayer, a fervent and _devout_ prayer, let it be,
to all the Nine, _imploring_ their guidance.'
'Then we'll decide?' Urus demanded.
'Then _I_ will decide, my son.' By an effort, Incus sat up straighter.
'But _first_, allow me to dispel certain fallacies that have already crept
into our deliberations.' He addressed himself to Chenille. '_You_, my
daughter, seek to accuse me of despotism. It is _impolite_, but
courtesy itself must at times give way to the _sacred duty_ of
_correction_. May I remind you that _you_, for the space of nearly _two
days, tyrannized_ us all aboard that miserable boat? Tyrannized _me_
largely by means of our unfortunate friend, for whom we have
already searched, as I would think, for nearly half a day?'
'I'm not saying we ought to stop, Patera. That was him.' She
pointed to Urus. 'I want to find him.'
'Be _quiet_, my daughter. I am not yet finished with _you_. I shall
come to _him_ soon enough. _Why_, I inquire, did you so tyrannize us? I
say--'
'I was possessed! Scylla was in me. You know that.'
'No, no, my daughter. It won't _do_. It is what you have _maintained_,
deflecting all criticism of your conduct with the same _shabby_
defense. It shall serve you no longer. You were _domineering,
oppressive_, and _brutal_. Is that characteristic of _Our Surging Scylla?_ I
affirm that it is _not_. As we have trudged on, I have reviewed all that
is recorded of _her_, both in the _Chrasmologic Writings_ and in our
traditions likewise. _Imperious?_ One can but agree. _Impetuous_ at
times, perhaps. But _never_ brutal, oppressive, or _domineering_.' Incus
sighed again, removed his shoes, and caressed his blistered feet.
'_Those_ evil traits, I say, my daughter, _cannot_ have been _Scylla's_.
They were present _in you_ when she arrived, and so deeply rooted
that she found it, I dare say, quite impossible to _expunge_ them.
_Some_ there are, or so I have heard it said, who actually _prefer_
domineering women, _unhappy_ men twisted by nature beyond the
natural. Our poor friend Auk, with all his manifest excellencies of
_strength_ and _manly_ courage, is one of those unfortunates, so it
would seem. I am _not_, my daughter, and I thank Sweet Scylla for it!
Understand that for _my_ part, and for our tall friend's here, as I dare
to say, we have not sought Auk for your sake, but for _his own_.'
'Talk talk,' Oreb muttered.
'As for _you_,' Incus shifted his attention to Urus, '_you_ appear to
believe that it is only because of my loyal friend _Hammerstone_ that
you obey me. It that not so?'
Urus stared sullenly at the tunnel wall to the left of Incus's face.
'You are _silent_,' Incus continued. 'Talk and more talk, complains
our small _feathered_ companion, and again, talk, talk and _talk_. Not
impossibly you concur. No, my son, you _deceive_ yourself, as you
have deceived yourself throughout what I feel _certain_ must have
been a most unhappy life.' Incus drew Auk's needler and leveled it
at the silent Urus. 'I have but little _need_ of my tall friend
Hammerstone, where _you_ are concerned, and should this endless _talk_ that
you complain of end, you may find yourself less pleased _than ever_
with that which succeeds it. I invite a _comment_.'
Urus shook his head. Hammerstone clenched his big fists, clearly
itching to batter him insensible.
'Nothing? In that case, my son, I am going to take the opportunity
to tell you something of _myself_ because I have been pondering that,
with many other things, while we walked, and it will bear upon what
I mean to do, as you will see.
'I was born to poor yet _upright_ parents, their _fifth_ and _final_ child.
At the time they were _wed_, they had made _solemn pledge_ to Echidna
that they would furnish the immortal gods with an augur or a sibyl,
the ripest _fruit_ of their union and the most _perfect_ of all _thank
offerings_ for it. Of my older brothers and sisters, I shall say nothing.
_Nothing_, that is to say, except that there was nothing to be hoped for
from _them_. No more _holy piety_ was to be discovered in the four of
them than in four of those _horrid beasts_ with which you, my son,
proposed to attack us. I was born some _seven years_ after my
youngest sibling, Femur. Conceive of my parents' _delight_, I invite
you, when the passing _days, weeks, months_, and _years_ showed ever
more plainly my _predilection_ for a life of _holy contemplation_, of
_worship_ and _ritual_, far from the _bothersome exigencies_ that trouble
the hours of most men. The schola, if I may say it, welcomed me
with _arms outspread_. Its _warmth_ was no less than that with which I,
in my turn, rushed to _it_. I was together _pious_ and _brilliant_, a
combination not often found._ Thus endowed_, I gained the friendship
of _older men_ of tastes like to _my own_, who were to extend
themselves _without stint_ in my behalf following my _designation_.
'I was informed, and you may conceive of my _rapture_, my _delight_,
that no less a figure than the _coadjutor_ had agreed to make me his
prothonotary. With all my heart I entered into my _duties_, drafting
and summarizing letters and depositions, stamping, filing, and
retrieving files, managing his _calendar of appointments_, and a
hundred like tasks.'
Incus fell silent until Chenille said, 'By Thelxiepeia I could sleep
for a week!' She leaned back against the tunnel wall and closed her eyes.
'Where Auk?' Oreb demanded, but no one paid him the least attention.
'We are all _exhausted_, my daughter. I not _less_ than you, and
perhaps with more _reason_, because my legs are not so _long_, nor am
I, by a decade and _more_, so young, nor so well fed.'
'I'm not even a little bit well fed, Patera.' Chenille did not open
her eyes. 'I guess none of us are. I haven't had anything but water
since forever.'
'When we were on that _wretched_ little fishing boat, you _appropriated_
to yourself what food you _wished_, and _all_ that you wished, my
daughter. You left to _Auk_ and Dace, and even to _me_, an anointed
augur, only such _scraps_ as you disdained. But you have _forgotten_
that, or say you have. I wish that I might forget it, too.'
'Fish heads?'
Chenille shrugged, her eyes still closed. 'All right, Patera, I'm
