"I crave pardon, but are you not Sir Fergus Reese, once consort of the Princess Vázni of Dur?"
Reith rose. "Who are you, and why are you asking that question?"
The Duru swayed, staring at Reith. "Ah, I see that you are indeed he. Then, sir, I name you foul traitor, caitiff knave, vile rogue, and recreant treacher. I will now prove my words with steel upon your odious body. Prepare to defend yourself!"
"What in Hishkak?" said Reith. "I don't know what you're talking about. And what am I supposed to defend myself with?"
The Krishnan wobbled drunkenly back to his table, picked up his scabbard, and drew the sword. Shouting: "Now shall you see how a knight of Dur avenges an insult to his sovran lady!" he charged across the dance floor, whirling his blade and causing the dancers to scatter with cries of alarm.
Reith, who had just sat down, leaped up again and snatched up his chair. All the dancers fled from the floor but one. That was Alicia Dyckman who, darting forward, thrust a shapely leg into the Duru's path to trip him. The Duru fell sprawling, his sword skittering across the qong-wood floor. Coming around the table, Reith brought his chair down with a crash on the fallen Krishnan's head.
"What's this? What's this?" cried Khaminé the taverner, bustling forward. "No brawling on my premises! Gorbovast assured me—"
"He's a perfect stranger to me," said Reith, explaining what had happened. "He may have mistaken me for someone. Ask any witness."
"Would ye file a complaint? I like not to call the watch."
"I'll tell you, Master Khaminé, I wish to get to the bottom of this affair. Let me and my friend take this person to our room for a while. Sit in with us if you like. If it's a mere misunderstanding, no official action will be needed. If not ..."
Reith shrugged.
"Aye, that makes sense," said the taverner. "I'll give you a hand with him. The rest of you, on with the dance!"
"Thanks for your help, Alicia," said Reith.
In the large bedroom, the unconscious Duru was tied to a chair. Cold, wet towels applied to his face and neck finally brought him round. He rolled bloodshot eyes and asked: "Where am I? Gods, my head aches!"
As Khaminé sat down in the other chair, Alicia and Marot took posts on the bed. Reith explained where the Krishnan was and how he got there.
"Now," said Reith, "who are you?"
"Sir Vaklaf bak-Khazir, a knight of Dur."
"What are you doing in Majbur?"
"Studying at the university."
"Why did you attack me?"
"Well—ah—I knew you from pictures in the palace at Baianch. They had a photographer up from Hershid for your wedding to Vázni. Knowing how foully you had deserted the sweet lady, I saw it my duty to administer condign chastisement. 'Twas bad enough that the Regent wed his cousin to an off-worlder; but to let that slimy alien dishonor Krishnan womanhood by deserting her was too unmannerly to be brooked."
"Your sins are catching up with you, Fergus," said Alicia with a barely-suppressed smile.
Sternly, Reith said to the youth: "I take it you hadn't heard the full story of my connection with Vázni?"
"I am aware of the official account."
"Which is about as truthful as any man of experience would expect. Do you wish to hear my telling of the tale?"
"What is your story then, alien?"
Ignoring the Duru's truculence, Reith told how he had brought his first party of tourists to Dur; how the Regent Tashian en trapped him into intimacy with Vázni; how he was forced into marriage, literally at sword's point; and how he escaped. He explained:
"Tashian's motives were clear. He likes being Regent and running things; and he's full of ideas about what's good for Dur. He thought that if Vázni married a Krishnan, there would be offspring, one of which would grow up to become emperor. That would spell the end of Tashian's power. I know, because Tashian asked me if there was any chance of offspring between a Krishnan and a Terran."
Sir Vaklaf sneered. "Why should I believe the tale of a slippery alien over that of the noble Tashian?"
"Believe what you like; but if you dig into the matter, you'll find that I speak the truth. And I must remind you, Sir Vaklaf, that you have put yourself in a most precarious position."
"Mean you to murder me?"
"Perhaps; but there are alternatives. I can have you imprisoned, or expelled from the university, or stripped of your knightly rank. Having been a knight of Dur myself, I know the duelling regulations, and you flagrantly violated all of them."
Vaklaf stared at the toes of his boots. In a less defiant tone he said: "I must have drunk too much kvad."
"Doubtless. I'll let you go without further ado, if you'll agree to answer a few questions and give your knightly word to take no further actions against me."
"I promise, Sir Fergus."
"All right, then. First, Are you in any way connected with the cult of Bákh of Chilihagh?"
"Nay. Do they in sooth worship Bákh there?"
"They do. Did anyone suggest, urge, or offer you money to attack me?"
"You are offensive, sir! A knight of Dur, bribed to assault another? Perish the thought! After all, I am who I am!"
"In my experience, men of your rank come good, bad, and indifferent, like the rest of your species. Next: Where is Vázni now?"
"That's part of the great scandal that you caused! A few months after you fled from Dur, the lady eloped with a young male with whom she had formed an attachment. They settled in Hershid, where Dour Eqrar holds them in protective custody for bargaining with Regent Tashian. That little fussbudget Eqrar performed some ceremony to legitimatize their union. Any day we may hear that their first egg hath hatched."
Reith smiled. "I hope my little Vázni is happy at last. Better a proper mate of her own species than an unwilling alien."
"You may have some reason on your side. But an insult is an insult, and can only be erased in blood!"
Reith sighed. "On my world, a poet once wrote: 'Against stupidity the very gods do strive in vain.' He must have had youths like you in mind. Now swear your oath ..."
When Vaklaf had sworn on his knightly honor to pester Reith no more, Reith said: "Untie him, pray. Master Khaminé. Run along to your studies, Vaklaf."
The student went out. Alicia said: "Fergus, would you like to make me very happy?"
"That depends," said Reith warily. "What do you want?"
"Let's go back to the dining room. Since you've become such a splendid dancer, I want all the dances with you I can get."
Reith sighed once more. "Yes, my dear."
The great shopping spree took place the next morning. Marot bought new undergarments and a pair of Krishnan eyeglasses. Since they were poorly ground by Terran standards and not made to his prescription, he found that continual usage made his head ache. "At least," he said, "I am no longer an illiterate." He also purchased another flutelike instrument to replace the one lost in the piracy.
Alicia had formed a passion for a dress as much as possible like the filmy, bare-breasted gown that the rancher's wife had given her. After hours of trudging from shop to shop, Reith's and Marot's feet were sore from Majbur's cobblestoned streets and their knees ached from standing in shops. Reith grumbled:
"I must be getting old despite my LPs. I find a quarter-hour of shopping more fatiguing than a fifty-kilometer hike."
"Oh, you poor little man!" said Alicia. "You, the hero of a hundred fights and flights, worn out from looking at a few dresses? Come on! I'm just getting into my stride. There's a likely-looking shop!"
"Aristide," said Reith wearily, "they've found cures for lots of things, like cancer, alcoholism, and homosexuality; but nobody has found a remedy for the female addiction to shopping."