"Yes, sire."
"And now to a subject more congenial. See you yon chart upon the wall?" The king indicated a large framed sheet of writing material, bearing a spiderweb of lines and tiny bits of writing.
"Yes, sire. What are it?"
"That," said King Vuzhov, "is a chart of our ancestors. It traces the royal line back forty-two generations. For all that time, the heirs to the throne of Kalwm have been alternately named Vuzhov and Roshetsin. Come, let us show you."
Mjipa rose with the others and stood for an hour, while Vuzhov, tracing lines on the chart with his finger, regaled his visitor with tales of the royalties named in the little boxes on the chart. "... now this one, Roshetsin the Ninth, was notable for's lunes, which for sheer moonstrickenness surpassed those of King Gedik in the legend. Becoming convinced that he was a racing shomal for the royal stables, he ordained that he be entered in the annual racing festival.
"But alas, he fell dead of heart failure during the first lap, vainly striving on all fours with the other entrants to keep up. His successor, Vuzhov the Tenth, was a sounder character. His son—what betides, Chanapar?"
"Sire, the envoy from the Republic of Suruskand awaits without."
"Ah, curse it, just when we were coming to the fascinating part! Well, Master Mm—Master Terran, this hath been a most instructive audience. You have our leave."
Mjipa and the minister bowed themselves out. Mjipa spent the rest of his day with Minyev, his new factotum, buying mounts and supplies. The sales tax on these purchases he found to be 20 per cent, which seemed to him more than "trifling," as Chanapar had described it. He filed the datum away in his mind, resolving to report to Novorecife that the government of Kalwm was unstable and, because of exorbitant taxation for a futile purpose, in danger of overthrow.
Mjipa had taken his time over hiring Minyev, prowling the city to seek out the previous employers whom Minyev had given as references. Minyev had been one of three Kalwmians whom Irants the innkeeper had recommended. Checking references was arduous, since Mjipa was always getting lost in the tangle of streets. Street maps appeared not to exist. With his limited command of the language, Mjipa had difficulty in persuading passers-by to set him right. Some took fright at his appearance and fled before he finished saying: "Pardon me, sir or madam, but could you direct me ..."
He chose Minyev because Minyev's name brought the most praise and the fewest complaints from the persons named as references whom he could locate. Of one candidate, Mjipa failed to find a single reference. He concluded that the Kalwmian had made the names up out of his head. Another point in Minyev's favor was that, having been to sea in his youth, Minyev spoke fluent Gozashtandou. Therefore he' could help Mjipa out when the latter got stuck with Khaldoni.
With Minyev's help, Mjipa had completed his purchase of ten ayas when the Kalwmian asked: "Wilt depart these lieus forthwith, sir?"
"Just as soon as I can get-the documents from the Phathvum. This is no sightseeing jaunt, and the sooner we arrive the better."
" 'Twould pleasure us both were ye to linger for the trial. A memorable sight that will be."
"What trial?"
"Why, the trial of the notorious heretic, Isayin."
"What is he accused of?" Mjipa asked.
"Teaching his class at the Academy the forbidden doctrine, to wit: that the world be round. Though he be as eloquent as the poet Saqqiz, conviction's certain; for 'tis even said that, like the agitator Khostavorn, he ridiculed our liege lord's great enterprise, his Heaven-storming tower, as a waste of the kingdom's wealth and labor. But this learned doctor is a redoubtable debater, who'll provide the Heshvavu's prosecutors with lively sport. And the execution will be a sight wherof to tell one's children's children. They say the Heshvavu's executioners have devised a quietus as ingenious and lingering as that which overtook Dezful the pirate king."
Mjipa almost burst into a tirade against barbaric ignorance; but he remembered where and who he was and clamped his full lips shut. "I am just as happy not to see this trial," he snapped. "Now come along; we have yet to hire a cook."
II
FRUSTRATION
The road from Kalwm City to Mejvorosh in Zhamanak cut across the territory of another Khaldoni nation, Mutabwk. Here, nine days after leaving Kalwm City, Percy Mjipa and his retinue arrived at the border in a drizzling rain. They had had a long, hard ride on Mjipa's ten ay as. This mount wore its saddle over the middle pair of legs, so that the rider got the full jolt up his spine when the animal trotted. To cover a long distance fast, they had to trot most of the time.
They had escaped adventures save once when, having left the more cultivated parts and plunged into the tropical jungle, they were caught in the path of a herd of wild bishtars. Local hunters had stampeded the animals by fire. These creatures resembled a Terran tapir expanded to elephant size, with a short, bifurcated trunk and six columnar legs. Mjipa's Krishnans seemed on the verge of panicking and running witlessly into the path of the animals. Cursing and threatening, Mjipa gathered them into a clump behind the biggest nearby tree, a buttress-rooted monster eight or nine meters thick, and held them and the ayas while the herd thundered past on either side.
The border was marked by two parallel fences, a few meters apart and extending off into a forest of brilliantly-colored tree trunks on either side. Each fence had a gate where it crossed the road, and each gate was guarded by a squad of soldiers, whose naked torsos bore painted symbols. These, Mjipa supposed, indicated rank and unit. The pattern on the Kalwmians' hides was yellow; that on those of Mutabwk, blue.
Mjipa's party consisted of himself and six Kalwmians, mounted on seven of the ayas. Besides Minyev the factotum, Mjipa had hired two guards, two helpers, and a cook. The remaining beasts carried tents and other baggage.
When Mjipa's party approached, the soldiers of both nations were squatting in a circle in the neutral zone between the fences, playing the local variety of craps. At the sound of sixty hooves, someone yelled a command. The yellow-painted Krishnans scrambled up, took spears and shields from where they leaned against the fence, and formed up at their gate.
Mjipa picked out the Krishnan in command and handed over the passport signed by Minister Chanapar. The officer glanced it over and handed it back, saying: "Pass, sir."
Meanwhile the Mutabwcians had formed up on their side. Their officer blew a whistle, and more soldiers boiled out of a nearby hut.
Again Mjipa proffered his passport; but these Krishnans seemed more suspicious than the easy-going Kalwmians. The officer read the passport through twice, then snapped: "Wait here!"
For long minutes, Mjipa fidgeted on his aya, while the officer conferred in low tones with another. At last the first turned back saying: "By order of the Heshvavu, ye shall accompany us to the capital."
"Why?" said Mjipa. "My business is in Zhamanak."
"That matters not; commands are commands. Wait whilst we prepare your escort."
"Idiots! Masilo!" growled Mjipa in his native Terran tongues.
"What say ye?" barked the officer. "Nothing, General. How far is this capital?"
"Yein lies distant about a hundred regakit."
"What is that in hoda?"
"I know not; 'tis a day's journey at speed." The officer went off to supervise the preparation of the escort, leaving Mjipa and his party surrounded by blue-painted soldiers with spears leveled and crossbows cocked.
Mjipa dismissed any idea of trying to fight his way through. The Mutabwcians had a larger force at the border than at first appeared. These border guards seemed nervous and apprehensive, as did many Krishnans at their first sight of the towering black Terran. Perhaps they, too, thought Mjipa a demon. The consul was careful to make no sudden moves, lest a frightened soldier shoot or spear him in panic.