Alicia darted into the next shop and, by haranguing the proprietor in fluent Majburo dialect, got him to bring out a score of gowns of the type she sought. Eventually she found one enough like the Chilihagho dress to suit. When she tried it on and looked in the steel mirror, she gave a cry of delight, kissed both Reith and Marot, and spun round and round in a little dance of joy.
As they passed a jeweler's window, Alicia paused to stare at the baubles spread out there. Marot said: "Fergus, I see a bench for customers within. If the little Alicia goes in and asks for an appraisal of her necklace, you and I can enjoy a respite from standing."
So pleased was Alicia with this proposal that for once she forgot to take umbrage at Marot's form of addressing her. Reith said: "Okay. I still think it's junk—glass and brass—but I don't mind getting a professional opinion."
Inside, they found a small, wizened Krishnan behind a polished showcase. His face was wreathed in a Krishnan smile, and he bowed obsequiously. "Welcome, my Terran lords! How can your servant serve you?"
Alicia unwound the scarf that hid her necklace, unclasped the necklace, and stretched it across the jeweler's pad of soft black cloth, saying: "Good my sir, have you a pair of earrings that would go well with this?"
The jeweler stared at the necklace through his jeweler's loupe. The only sound was the drip of water in a clepsydra. At last he said:
"I pray you, my lady, do but wait an instant."
He called, and from the rear of the shop an even older Krishnan, bent and wrinkled, tottered out to examine the necklace in his turn. He uttered an unprofessional gasp. The two muttered to each other, and finally the first jeweler said:
"I'll do my best, my lady; albeit I doubt that my Finest gems could match those of your royal neckpiece. It is very old and of excellent workmanship. Did it descend to you from some noble family?"
"I have been so told," said Alicia warily. Reith and Marot exchanged startled glances.
The jeweler took out a huge key, unlocked a strongbox that lay behind a panel in the wall, and brought out a small, velvet-lined case. When he opened it, a dazzling array of fine stones sparkled in the sunlight that slanted through the window. He said:
"Though nought in my modest establishment can match your princely mass of jewels, belike these might complement your necklace not badly." From the case he picked a pair of splendid ruby earrings. "A bargain at five hundred karda," he said.
Reith exclaimed in English: "Good lord, Alicia! We can't afford anything like that. Our funds are limited, and—"
"My friend," Marot interrupted, "for the lady who has saved our wretched lives, and more than once, nothing is too costly. I shall pay half, and you can use your tessara for credit."
Reith shrugged. "Oh, all right. But let me bargain; I'm sure I can get them for less."
"Also," said Marot, "it appears that Alicia's necklace is a great deal more than the 'junk' you called it. Let us ask for the appraisal."
Reith haggled the jeweler down to four hundred and fifty karda and produced the jadeoid rectangle in payment. When the necessary papers had been written up, Reith said: "Now, master jeweler, be so good as to tell us the value of the necklace."
The jeweler called the older Krishnan back, and the two peered at the necklace, muttered, and scribbled notes. At last the first jeweler said: "I will give five thousand karda for it, instanter."
With a wry grin, Reith said in English: "That means I could bargain him up to ten thousand, and he could sell the thing for at least twenty. As an amateur gemologist, I guess I'm just a competent tour guide."
"I thank you," said Alicia to the jeweler in her great-lady manner. "But, of course, we do not intend to sell. Tonight we shall dine with King Eqrar's Commissioner, and the earrings and necklace will nicely embellish my gown."
When they were outside again, she seized both Reith and Marot in turn and kissed them vigorously, causing a few Majburuma to pause and stare. 'Thank you, darlings, for my lovely earrings! We'll show old Gorbovast and his people we can put on the dog as well as any of them!"
On the way back to Khaminé, Reith detoured to show Marot the war galleys in die harbor, the great brazen statue of the god Dashmok, and a couple of the temples. Most of the afternoon they slept away; then, clad in their best, they set out in a hired carriage for Gorbovast's mansion in the suburbs.
Gorbovast's Lucullan dinner had been eaten; the swarm of shrieking Gorbovast grandchildren had been put to bed; and the host of Gorbovast kin had plied the Terrans with questions about their adventures. A brief silence permitted Reith to pose some queries of his own. He asked:
"Commissioner, you know everything that goes on around the Triple Seas. What's the latest from Chilihagh? We've been told that the Dasht failed to make good his revolt against the Bákhites and is besieged in his palace."
"Aye," said Gorbovast. "That's the situation as I last heard it, with one small addendum: his General Gurshman, being a worshiper of Qondyor and not of Bákh, hath joined the struggle on the side of the Dasht. He is said to be gathering the frontier forces in an essay to break the siege of the palace."
"Anyway," said Reith, "it's evident that we still have to watch out for fanatical Balchites trying to haul us back to Jeshang for boiling. Do you know of anyone else, Commissioner, who wants to make life hard for us?"
"Now that you allude thereto," said Gorbovast, "I did, indeed, this very day, receive an inkling of such. It had slipped my mind—a thing that, alas, takes place increasingly as the years advance."
"What happened?"
"An informant averred that one approached him offering money, would he but employ his singular skill upon an alien creature."
"Your Excellency," said Reith, "I'm not so tactless as to ask the name of your informant. But tell me, at least, what his peculiar skill consists of?"
"He is a murderer. Further details I sought in vain from him to elicit: the identities of him who made the offer and him— or her—on whom he was to demonstrate his skill. The 'alien creature' could be your esteemed self; or any of an hundred other off-worlders now resident in Majbur. In any case, my informant said he did decline the offer. But, dear Fergus, I do beseech you and your companions, the utmost prudent care to take."
"That we will," said Reith grimly. "One more question, please: Have you heard news from Qirib?"
"Aye; I had a letter thence but yestermorn. The President hath hanged that last surviving leader of the opposition. Rumor saith he means to change the constitution, his lifelong tenure of his office to assure."
Alicia, regally fair in her new gown, put a hand against her mouth in a gesture of dismay. She started to ask a question but seemed unable to force the words out: "Have you heard—has he—did he issue ..."
"She wishes to know," said Reith, "whether slavery has been abolished in Qirib."
"Strange that you should ask! My informant saith that Vizman did indeed draw up such an ordinance, having thereto been persuaded by some Terran passerby. On second thought, how-somever, he judged the time unripe and therefore hath deferred this plan to a future indefinite."
Alicia gasped. Reith was tempted to flash her a triumphant smile, which said: "I told you so!" But love, and pity for the pain she must be feeling, stopped him. Instead, he reached over and gave her hand a light squeeze. With what Reith knew was intense self-control, she turned to their host, saying:
"Sir Commissioner, we shall remember your feast as long as we live. But the hour grows late, and tomorrow we must be up with the bijars to catch our boat up the river. Will Your Excellency pray excuse us?"
Thanking their host profusely, Reith and Marot escorted Alicia out.