Iduna

foot of the throne.

On it sat a girl.

Dumarest studied her as he walked toward the dais narrowing his eyes against the brilliance of the jewels which adorned her, the glitter of the ornate crown. It rested on a mane of hair which seemed like liquid jet, each strand a filament of bright and shining loveliness. The face was a pale oval, the lips full and pouting, the eyes wide and graced by arched brows. The chin lacked strength as the body lacked maturity and the mouth resolution. As he watched she lifted a thumb and placed it within her mouth to suck as she watched his approach.

'That is close enough!' Shamarre was curt. 'Halt and make obeisance to Her Majesty.'

Without looking at her Dumarest snapped, 'The Lord of Earth does not take orders from underlings.' Then, to the figure on the throne added harshly, 'My lady-you cheated!'

The thumb lowered from the mouth.

'I did not!'

'The beast which attacked me close to the river-'

'Was a natural hazard. It was fair according to the rules. I did not cheat-so there!'

'A natural hazard,' said Dumarest dryly. 'As was the bird and the guide you sent me. A clever trick, my lady. I must congratulate you.'

'I like to win,' she said and giggled. 'You looked so funny wearing those shoes and so startled when Virdius attacked. But you played well. Much better than the others. They didn't seem to know how to play at all. I'm glad you came here to join me. Would you like some tea and a cake?'

The cake was spiced and sweet and covered in thick, rich cream and he ate it in a small room seated at a table bright with the glitter of cups and plates and pots of solid gold. Others were at the table with himself and Iduna; a bear which stared with solemn, rounded eyes as it ate with delicate movements of a paw, a doll with a painted face which squeaked and scolded as it sipped, a dog with drooping ears which sat and watched and snapped thrown fragments from the air.

Iduna acted as the hostess.

'This tea is a special blend from Katanga,' she said with adult pride. 'I have galleys carrying it for me through the perils of the Juntinian Sea. And these cakes I baked myself using ingredients gathered from a dozen worlds. Teddy! Don't you be so greedy! Snap-here!' She smiled as the dog caught and swallowed a portion of cake. 'When you've finished, Earl, shall we play another game?'

'Which?'

'Hide and seek?' She frowned. 'No, not that one, not yet. How about armies? You take one side and I'll take the other and we have a war and the winner gets the other to pay a forfeit. Would you like to play that?'

'Later, perhaps.'

'How much later?' She pouted her displeasure. 'How long must I wait? We could play schools. I'll be the teacher and ask you questions and if you don't give me the correct answers I'll punish you.' Then, as he made no comment, she added crossly, 'Well, you think of a game.'

'Questions,' he said.

'What?'

'I ask you a question and you ask me one and we keep on until one of us can't or won't answer.'

'And the loser pays a forfeit?'

'Yes.' Then, as she frowned, he said, 'Of course we could just talk. How long have you been queen?'

'A long time. I've always been the queen.'

'Since you were a very small girl?'

'No-but since I came here. Are you really the Lord of Earth?'

'Why do you doubt it?'

'Earth. It's a funny name. Is there such a place? I mean really? Or is it something you just made up? I make up things all the time. Would you like some more cake?'

He took another piece and ate and watched the young yet oddly mature face of the girl he had come to find.

Girl?

At eleven many were women, ready and able to bear children, immature only in their minds. And Iduna had lived in the Tau for years. But she was the product of a rigid culture which set times and limits on those living within it. In such a society a child could remain that until puberty, then to become an infant, an adolescent and, only finally and usually after tests and rites, to be accepted as an adult.

He had known such worlds where men of thirty were still regarded as boys denied marriage and the chance of fatherhood. Others where girls were kept in seclusion until equally old then to lose their virgin status in an erotic ceremony. And yet others where boys became men as soon as they had killed and womanhood was determined by the swelling of a belly.

'Earl?'

'I was thinking.' He smiled and took another bite of cake and felt the sickly sweetness fill his mouth. 'Have you explored? Tried to find other lands?'

'What's the point?' She busied herself pouring tea. 'Everywhere is the same. I took a raft once and went on and on and on and ended nowhere.'

And had gone nowhere but he didn't mention that. She, as the oldest resident of the Tau, could teach him what he needed to know.

'Did you ever try to go back? To the palace, I mean. To your mother.'

'No!'

'Your father, then?' The denial had been too sharp, too savage. A hate relationship? Such things were common between a neglected daughter and an ambitious mother. 'You liked your father, didn't you? He played with you and showed you his things. Tell me some of the games you played. Did you ever hide in his study and spring out at him when he didn't expect it? Did he have friends call and talk and did you sit and listen?' He handed her the plate of cakes. 'These are good.'

'I know. I made them.'

'You must teach me.'

'Why? Don't you know how to cook? That's silly. All men can cook.' Her disgust was genuine. 'How are you ever going to hold a wife unless you can prepare her meals?'

'On Earth women do the cooking.'

'Then Earth must be a funny place.' She made no attempt to hide her lack of interest. 'Can't you think of a new game we could play? Perhaps-' Her eyes veiled, became secretive. 'Are you married?'

'No.'

'Do you have a woman? I know many men have women they aren't married to. I've heard the servants talking. Are you a woman's lover?'

'No.'

'Then are you one of-' Again she broke off, frowning before continuing, 'You'd rather be with a man?'

'No. It's just that I'm here and you are the only female around and we aren't married and we certainly aren't lovers so how could I have either?'

'But there are other women here, Earl. You've seen some of them. Shamarre, Lydia, Wendy-lots of women. They come when you want them.' Then, with a giggle, she added, 'Men too. All kinds of men.'

Toys for an erotic eleven-year-old child-but Iduna was no longer that age. Dumarest remembered the body he had seen. One belonging to a nubile young woman and she had spent years in the Tau where time need not match the pace of that outside. A day here could be an hour on Esslin. Time for imagination to develop and ancient needs to make themselves known. Time and the power to experiment free of the hampering restrictions of watching adults.

The face he saw now no longer belonged to a child.

'Men,' she said again. 'Such funny creatures, Earl. They come and they play as you want them to and then they go away. But you, you're different. You're not going away, are you? You're going to stay and play with me.'

'I'll keep you company.'

'Company? Is that the way you say it? Is that what you do when you play games?'