Helliconia Summer - Brian W. Aldiss [164]
‘Dathka!’ the lord snapped. ‘Are you going to grant us a single word tonight, since your friend Laintal Ay has not put in an appearance?’
Dathka set down his beaker and looked directly at Aoz Roon.
‘All this debate, this talk of principle … it’s rubbish. We all know you and Shay Tal long wage great personal war. So you decide what to do, not us. Kick her out now you have your chance. Why bring us into it?’
‘Because it concerns you all, that’s why!’ Aoz Roon pounded his fist on the floor. ‘By the boulder, why does that woman always have such a grudge against me, against everyone? I don’t understand. What rotten maggot chews at her harneys? She keeps on the academy, doesn’t she? She sees herself in a long line of female troublemakers – Loilanun, Loil Bry, who became Little Yuli’s woman … But where would she go? What would happen to her?’
His sentences seemed wild and disconnected.
No one answered. Dathka had spoken for all of them; all were secretly aghast when he said what he did. Aoz Roon himself had nothing more to say. The meeting broke up.
As Dathka was slipping away, Raynil Layan grasped Dathka’s arm and said softly, ‘A cunning speech you made. With Shay Tal out of the way, the one you fancy will head the academy, won’t she? Then she’ll need your support …’
‘I leave the cunning to you, Raynil Layan,’ Dathka said, pulling away. ‘Just keep out of my path.’
He had no trouble in finding Laintal Ay. Despite the lateness of the hour, Dathka knew where to go. In Shay Tal’s ruined tower, Shay Tal was packing, and many friends had come to bid her farewell. Amin Lim was there with her child, and Vry, and Laintal Ay with Oyre, and several other women beside.
‘What was the verdict?’ Laintal Ay asked Dathka immediately, coming to his side.
‘Open.’
‘He won’t stop her leaving if she’s bent on it?’
‘Depends how much he drinks during the night, he and Eline Tal and that crew – and that wretched hanger-on, Raynil Layan.’
‘She’s getting old, Dathka; should we allow her to go?’
He shrugged, using one of his favourite gestures, and looked at Vry and Oyre, who were standing close and listening. ‘Let’s leave with Shay Tal before Aoz Roon has us killed – I’m game if these two ladies will come too. We’ll head for Sibornal, the group of us.’
Oyre said, ‘My father would never kill you and Laintal Ay. That’s wild talk, whatever happened in the past.’
Another shrug from Dathka. ‘Are you prepared to vouch for his behaviour when Shay Tal’s gone? Can we trust him?’
‘That’s all over long ago,’ Oyre said. ‘Father’s settled happily with Dol now, and they don’t quarrel as much as they used, now a baby’s coming.’
Laintal Ay said, ‘Oyre, the world’s wide. Let’s leave with Shay Tal, as Dathka suggests, and make a new start. Vry, we’ll take you with us – you’ll be in danger here without Shay Tal’s support.’
Vry had not spoken. In her usual unobtrusive way, she merely formed part of the group; but she said now, firmly, ‘I can’t leave here. Dathka, I am complimented by your kind suggestion, but I must stay, whatever Shay Tal does. My work is yielding results at last, as I hope soon to announce.’
‘You still can’t bear my presence, can you?’ he said, looking grim.
‘Oh, I almost forgot something,’ she said sweetly.
She turned, evading Dathka’s brooding gaze, and pushed through the women to Shay Tal’s side.
‘You must measure all distances, Shay Tal. Don’t forget. Have a slave count the number of hoxney strides every day, with the direction taken. Write down details every night. Find out how far away the country of Sibornal is. Be as precise as you can.’
Shay Tal was majestic in the midst of the weeping and chattering that filled her chamber. Her hawk face preserved a closed look whenever addressed, as if already her spirit was remote from them. She said little, and that little was uttered in unemotional tones.
Dathka, after staring blankly at the walls, with their elaborate patterning of lichen, looked at Laintal Ay with his head on one side and gestured to the door. When Laintal Ay shook