Helliconia Summer - Brian W. Aldiss [385]
The fourth cage was built of stone, rough-hewn from the quarry, as a tribute to the greater firmness of will of its occupants, which were human – mainly men and women of Mordriat or Thribriatan tribes. The women slunk back into the shadows. Most of the men pressed forward and began eloquently to implore the king to release them, or at worst to allow no more experiments on them.
‘There’s nothing for it now,’ said the king to himself, moving about as restlessly as those imprisoned.
‘Sir, the indignities we have suffered …’
Ash from Rustyjonnik still lay in odd corners, where weeds thrust from it, but the eruptions had ceased as suddenly as they began. The king kicked at the ash, raising a small dust storm with his boots.
Although he was most interested in the Madis and studied them from all angles, sometimes squatting to do so, he was too restless to remain in one place. Madi males struggled forward with one of their females, naked, and offered her to him as a condition of their release.
JandolAnganol broke away in disgust, his face working.
Bursting from behind the stone cage into the sunlight, he came face to face with RobaydayAnganol. Both became rigid like two cats, until Roba began to gesticulate, arms and fingers spread. Behind him came the white-haired old guard, shuffling his feet and complaining.
‘Imprisoning them for the good of their sanity, mighty king,’ said Roba.
But JandolAnganol moved swiftly forward, flung an arm about his son’s neck, and kissed him on the lips, as though he had decided on this approach a while ago.
‘Where have you been, my son? Why so wild?’
‘Can a boy not grieve among leaves, but must come to court to do so?’ His words were indistinct as he backed away from his father, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. As he bumped into the third cage, his other hand went behind him to support himself.
Immediately, one Madi reached out and grasped his forearm. The naked female who had been offered to the king bit him savagely in the ball of his thumb. Roba screamed with pain. The king was at once at the cage with his sword drawn. The Madis fell back and Roba was released.
‘They’re as hungry for royal blood as Simoda Tal,’ said Roba, hopping about with his hands clutched between his legs. ‘You saw how she bit me in the balls! What a stepmotherly act was there!’
The king laughed as he sheathed his sword.
‘You see what happens when you put your hand in other people’s affairs.’
‘They’re very vicious, sir, and certain they’ve been wronged,’ said the old guard from a safe distance.
‘Your nature inclines towards captivity as frogs incline towards pools,’ Roba told his father, still skipping. ‘But free these wretched beings! They were Rushven’s folly, not yours – you had greater follies afoot.’
‘My son, I have a phagor runt I care for, and perhaps he cares for me. He follows me for affection. Why do you follow me for abuse? Cease it, and live a sane life with me. I will not harm you. If I have wounded you, then I regret it, as you have long given me cause to regret it. Accept what I say.’
‘Boys are particularly difficult to bring up, sir,’ commented the guard.
Father and son stood apart, regarding each other. JandolAnganol had hooded his eagle gaze, and appeared calm. On Roba’s smooth face was a smouldering rage.
‘You need another runt following you? Haven’t you captives enough in this infamous quarry? Why did you come up here to gloat over them?’
‘Not to gloat. To learn. I should have learned from Rushven. I need to know – what Madis do … I understand, boy, that you fear my love. You fear responsibility. You always have. Being a king is all responsibility …’
‘Being a butterfly is a butterfly’s responsibility.’
Irritated by this remark, the king again took to pacing before the cages. ‘Here was all SartoriIrvrash’s responsibility. Maybe he