Helliconia Summer - Brian W. Aldiss [554]
The gas leak was plugged. The cousins, protesting for form’s sake, went back to their appointed stall. Slaves were despatched to see that the biogas tank was not malfunctioning.
Odo took his brother’s arm. ‘The church is nearby, as you will observe when we take you on a tour of the city. I have arranged this evening for a small service of thanksgiving to be held there. Praise will be offered to God the Azoiaxic for your preservation.’
‘You are most kind. But I warn you, brother, I am free of religious belief.’
‘This little service is necessary,’ said Odo, raising a dismissive finger. ‘There you will be able to meet all our relatives formally. There is something downcast in your spirit, brother, owing to your multiple bereavements. You must take a good woman, or at least a slave, to make you happy. What is the status of that foreign woman in your party, Toress Lahl?’
‘She’s a slave, belonging to Luterin Shokerandit. A doctor, very spirited. He is a fine young man, and from Kharnabhar. About Captain Fashnalgid, I am less certain. He’s a deserter, not that I blame him for that. I started out the voyage, before the Fat Death overcame us, with a woman who meant much to my comfort. Alas, she died in the epidemic.’
‘Was she from Kuj-Juvec, brother?’
‘No, but she became like a dove to the tree of my self. She was faithful and good. Her name, for I must speak it, was Besi Besamitikahl. She was more to me even than my—’
Odim broke off sharply, for up ran Kenigg, with a newfound friend. As Odim smiled and took his son’s hand, his brother said, ‘Let me help you find another dove for that good tree of your self. You have only one brother, but the air is full of doves waiting for a suitable branch on which to alight.’
Luterin Shokerandit and Harbin Fashnalgid had been given a small room under the roof, thanks to Odo’s generosity. It was lit by one little garret window overlooking the courtyard, from which they could watch the comings and goings of the family and their slaves. In an alcove stood a stove on which their slave could cook their meals.
Both the men had beds of wood, raised above the floor and covered in rugs. Toress Lahl was supposed to lie on the floor beside Shokerandit’s bed.
Shokerandit took her in with him while Fashnalgid still slept. He lay all night with his arms round her. Only as he was rising did Fashnalgid stir.
‘Luterin, why so energetic?’ he asked, yawning cavernously. ‘Didn’t you drink enough of the Odim family’s wine last night? Rest, man, and for the Azoiaxic’s sake, let’s recover from that terrible voyage.’
Shokerandit came and looked down at him, smiling. ‘I had enough wine. Now I want to be off to Kharnabhar as soon as possible. My status is uncertain. I must see how my father is.’
‘Damn fathers. May their gossies eat shoe leather.’
‘I have another anxiety too – one you had better heed. Although the Oligarch is well occupied with the war against Bribahr, he has a ship here in port. More may arrive. They may be watching for us both. The sooner I start for Kharnabhar, the better. Why not come with me? There’d be safety and work with my father.’
‘It’s always cold in Kharnabhar. Isn’t that what they say? How far north is it from here?’
‘The Kharnabhar road covers over twenty-two degrees of latitude.’
Fashnalgid laughed. ‘You go. I’ll stay here. I’ll find a ship sailing for Campannlat or Hespagorat. Anything rather than your frozen refuge, thanks for all that.’
‘Please yourself. We don’t exactly please each other, do we? Men have to get along well, to survive the drive to Kharnabhar.’
Fashnalgid brought an arm up from his furs and held out a hand to Shokerandit. ‘Well, well, you’re a man for the system, and I’m against it, but never mind that.’
‘You like to think I’m a man for the system, but since my metamorphosis I’ve broken from it.’
‘Yes? Yet you long to get back to Father in Kharnabhar.’ Fashnalgid laughed. ‘True conformists don’t know