killed. They lurk invisible in the jungles around Alpeasak. They must be found, they must be killed. All killed. When the uruketo returns to Alpeasak I ask you to send many fargi in it who can shoot well, with hesotsan and supplies of darts. I feel it imperative that this be done. The fate of Alpeasak depends on the ustuzou deaths.”
Then Vainte grew silent, oppressed by the truth and the darkness of her own words, while the fargi swayed before her with fear at the terrible message she must carry. But Vainte had the strength to push the darkness aside and she did so, then ordered the fargi to recite the message back to her until it was perfect.
The morning after the uruketo left Vainte went to her chamber and sent for Kerrick. Many days had passed since he had last been in her presence and he approached her with a certain amount of fear. There was no need. Vainte had many important things on her mind now, he could tell that at a single glance, and actually seemed pleased at his presence.
“Inlenu*,” she called out, and the great creature shambled forward obediently. “You are to stand in the entrance, fill it with your body and no matter who approaches you will send them away. Do you understand?”
“They go away.”
“Yes, but say it strongly like this. Go away, Vainte commands. Say it.”
“Go away, Vainte commands.”
“That is correct. Now do it.”
Inlenu* made a good guardian; there was a scurry of running feet at her ominous presence. Vainte turned to Kerrick and spoke as Eistaa issuing orders.
“You will now tell me everything about the ustuzou, your kind of ustuzou. Speak.”
“I do not understand the meaning of the Eistaa’s words.”
Vainte saw his fear and confusion and realized that the question was too general. She must be more specific. “What is the name of your ustuzou city?”
“Ustuzou do not have cities. This is the first city I have ever seen. Ustuzou live in…”He searched his memory in vain. It had been so long since he had heard or spoken Marbak that the words would not come. He fell back on description. “Soft structures made of skins, hung over poles. These come apart and the poles are pulled by… large animals with hair.”
“Why do they come apart? Why do they move?”
Kerrick shrugged, then wriggled with the effort to put together bits of faded memory. “That is just the way that it is done. You hunt one place, fish another. That is just the way it is done.”
Continued questioning elicited few more answers. The ustuzou seemed to live in groups, like the group they had slaughtered, and there were other groups, but no indication of how many. The unused memories of the boy were vague and uncertain. Vainte finally had enough of the questioning and stopped it with a single gesture. Now came the important part. She would use fear and reward, train this ustuzou to do what must be done. Her manner changed and she spoke now as Eistaa, she who controlled the life of the city and its inhabitants.
“I can kill you or have you killed at any instant — you know that.”
“I know that.” He trembled with supplication, confused by the sudden change of tone.
“I can also raise you up, see that you are honored and do not always remain an ustuzou, lowest of the low. You would like that, wouldn’t you? To sit by me, to command others to labor for you. I can do that for you — but you in turn must do something for me. Something that only you can do. You “must do for me the thing that only you can do.”
“I will do what you ask, Eistaa, but I do not understand what you are saying. I do not know what you are talking about.”
“It is what you do when you speak of one thing and think another. It is what you did to Stallan. You told her you were choking and you were not.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Kerrick said, radiating stupidity and lack of knowledge, innocence. Vainte moved with joy.
“Wonderful! You are doing it now. You are doing the thing where you talk about things that didn’t happen as though they did happen. Admit it — or I will kill you on the spot.”
He quailed at the abrupt change in Vainte’s mood, the motion of killing with her mouth open, her face close to his, those rows of deadly teeth just before him. “I did that thing, yes, I admit it. I did it to escape.”
“Very good.” She stepped back and the moment of danger was past. “This thing that you do, that no Yilane can do, we will call it lying. I knew that you lied, and I also know that you will undoubtedly lie to me in the future. I cannot prevent it — but Inlenu* will see to it that your lies will not permit you to escape. Now that we know that you lie, we will put that lying to good use. You will lie for me. You will do that for me.”
“I will do what the Eistaa orders,” Kerrick said, not understanding, but quick to agree.
“That is correct. You will do as I order. You will never speak of this order — for if you do you are dead. Now — here is the lie you must speak, and you must speak it in a very excited way. You must say — ‘There, in the trees, an ustuzou, I saw it!’ Those are the words. Now repeat them.”
“There in the trees I saw an ustuzou.”
“Good enough. Do not forget that. And speak it only when I order you to. I will make a motion like this.”
Kerrick agreed happily. It was easy enough to do, though he could not see the reason for it. The threats had been real enough though so he made a special effort not to forget the words and the sign, muttering them to himself as he walked away through the city.
Many days had passed since Kerrick had last seen Enge. He rarely even thought of her now for his new- found freedom occupied every moment of his waking day. At first he had been hesitant to venture out alone and even took pleasure in the dumb presence of Inlenu* as some measure of security. When he did leave his room he very quickly discovered how stratified Yilane social structure really was. He quickly came to understand that his position was somewhere near the top, since he was seen often in the Erstaa’s presence, sitting close to her. For the nameless fargi this was evidence enough of how high he ranked above them and, crude as it was, this respect was represented in the way they addressed him.
When he walked through the green corridors he saw how those fargi with the intelligence and ability to master their language were quickly slotted into city life. They became guards, food preparers, slaughterers, work gang supervisors, agriculturists, a wealth of occupations about which he knew little. With these Yilane he spoke in a neutral manner, taking them as equals, or slightly lower, and this was readily accepted.
Respectful speaking he saved for those who were the leaders. Their position was obvious, though what they did was not always as clear, since they were trailed by aides and assistants, these followed in turn by fargi eager to be called upon, anxious to find a fixed status in the order of the city.
With so much to see Kerrick had very little time to miss Enge’s daily visits. The city was an ant’s nest of industry and occasionally he wished that she were there to explain some of the more puzzling aspects of life in Alpeasak. He asked after her a few times, but the curt dismissal of his question taught him not to follow that subject any further. But the response made him curious. When Enge and Vainte had talked together it had been as equals. So why this bias against even mentioning her name? He considered, then rejected, questioning Vainte about her whereabouts. The Eistaa made it very clear that she was the one who began and terminated conversations.
He saw Enge again strictly by chance. He was near the ambesed, where Vainte had dismissed him from her presence, when there was a stirring of excitement among the fargi. They were asking questions of each other and all hurrying in the same direction. Curious, he followed after them just in time to see four Yilane go by, carrying a fifth one. He could not get close in the press and decided not to draw any attention by ordering them aside. He was about to leave when the same four Yilane returned, walking slowly now, mouths agape. Their skins were splotched with dirt, their legs caked with red mud. Then Kerrick saw that one of them was Enge. He called out and she turned to face him. She was attentive, but did not speak.
“Where have you been?” he asked. “I have not seen you.”
“My language skills are no longer needed, so my meetings with you are ended. I work now in the new fields.”
“You?” There was astonishment, even dismay, lack of understanding with the word.
“I.” The other three had stopped when she did and she signaled them to continue on, asking Kerrick to do the same. “I must return to work.”
She turned away and he hurried up beside her. There was a mystery here that he dearly wanted to solve,
