He was still bemused when they formed up on the plazas of the acropolis, fivethousand men in black, perfectly motionless on their mounts. Opposite them, across an aisle a hundred feet wide, were the Herodian infantry in their whiteand red, only their officers mounted, twelve thousand strong.
With this driblet in the tide Herod held Qushmarrah. Yoseh thought it a vainand foolish thing to parade the weakness of the occupying forces.
The new governor was a long time coming. When he did, Yoseh was not impressed, despite the Moretian guards before and behind, the chariots, the gaudytrappings and people. No one else was impressed, either. The governor was amorbidly fat man on a litter. He did not look like he would be able to get upwithout help. There were snickers and titters till Fa'tad turned his scowlupon the formation.
The Herodians had the same problem.
The Qushmarrahan youths who were perched on the monuments and rooftops behindthe formations had no superiors to silence them. They were loud with theirmockery and abuse.
Yoseh was almost embarrassed for the fat man. Sullo? Sullo, yes.
General Cado and his staff emerged from Government House, clad in spartancontrast to the new governor's opulence. More show for the veydeen? Of course.
Yoseh was in a good position to observe, thirty yards from Fa'tad and only inthe second rank. Sullo's Moretians spread out. The governor reached the footof the Government House steps a moment before General Gado did so. Yes, ittook the help of two men to set Sullo upright The veydeen hooligans howled.
General Cado stepped down and threw his arms around Sullo. Sullo reciprocated.
They embraced like brothers who had been separated for years.
If Yoseh understood the way Herodians operated, that meant a hatred betweenthem deeper than the pits of Khorglot. There were ghost knives in their back- thumping hands.
Yoseh's eyes bugged. "Nogah."
Nogah ignored him.
"Nogah!"
"Quiet in ranks," Nogah hissed. Medjhah scowled at him.
"All right. But you'll regret it."
Nogah looked over his shoulder, eyes baleful. Yoseh ignored him, kept his gazefixed on the man he had picked out of General Cado's bodyguard.
Zouki was so bored he forgot to be scared. Till the big man came. Then all thekids got quiet and shaky. Some started to whimper. One of the girls skitteredinto the foliage to hide with the rock apes.
The big man came in and scooped up a boy who went into hysterics immediately.
The giant went out and locked the door to the cage. Zouki stared at the bone- white nuts of his fists while the boy's screams faded and knew he'd never seethat kid again.
Raheb said nothing as Aaron came to the house. She just nodded and began theslow, painful chore of getting herself upright. Aaron did not offer to help.
Any effort to help would be spurned.
The woman believed she was a curse and a burden upon her daughter's house andshe was not going to accept any help of any kind that was not absolutelyforced upon her. Aaron accepted that.
His feelings toward Raheb were mixed. Always there were eddies andcrosscurrents and dangerous undertows when the mother of the wife lived in thehousehold of the wife. Still, he could have done worse for a mother-in-law. Heknew men who got more grief with their wives' mothers living all the wayacross town.
Arif spied him first. "Daddy's home!" He charged, a flurry of clumsy limbs.
Aaron caught him and lifted him up and squeezed him. Stafa roared in at kneelevel and wrapped both arms and legs around his shin and grinned up at him.
Laella's question was in her eyes. She was always troubled when he arrivedhome off schedule. "They dismissed us early. Because of the new governorcoming in. Only have to work a half day tomorrow. They expect the wholeHerodian colony to have to assemble for speeches by General Cado and the newgovernor. His name is Sullo, I think."
"Why do they waste the time?" Raheb wanted to know.
"What?"
"Somebody's just going to kill him. They always do."
Startled, Aaron realized she was right. Eight civil governors in six years.
They killed them off within a few months every time. Qushmarrah spent moretime awaiting the arrival of new civil governors than she did being ruled by them.
He shrugged. That was a trouble for the Herodians. He squeezed Arif. The boysquealed. Aaron took a few steps. Stafa clung to his leg and giggled andproclaimed, "We've got you now, long-legged demon!"
"Decorum!" Aaron laughed. "What we need around this house is a little decorumand discipline."
Arif laughed and hugged his neck. Stafa repeated, "We got you now, long-leggeddemon." But Aaron's remark did not go over well elsewhere. Raheb grumbledsarcastic agreement. Mish's eyes sparked with rebellion. She muttered toherself. Laella looked put upon.
"Problem?"
Mish surprised him by answering. "Mother thinks I was flirting with a Dartarsoldier." She spoke each word almost as a separate sentence and loaded everyone with the infinite, weary exasperation of the very young.
"That's enough of that, Mish," Laella said. "Mother! We've been through italready."
"Dartar?" Aaron asked.
"You should've seen, Dad," Arif said. "There were hundreds of them. Thousands.
With camels and everything."
Stafa said, "Forty-three," which was his favorite number of the week and meanta lot instead of any specific number.
"Dartars? What is this?"
"They came this morning," Laella said. "A hundred. Maybe a few more. They putmen outside all the entrances to the maze and then they went in. They tookprisoners."
Raheb said, "And about time that cesspit was cleaned, too. Maybe those Dartarmaggots are good for something, after all."
Which led Mish to a caustic remark. Her mother responded. Laella snapped,
"That's enough of that! You're both old enough to know better." She pinchedher temples between thumb and forefinger. "I'm yelling at my mother and sisterlike they were kids squabbling."
"You need to get out. Let's go for a walk. Up to the Parrot's Beak."
"I haven't done the marketing yet. It was too rowdy out there while theDartars were here."
"Never mind. We'll manage. What happened to the Dartars?"
"After they were here a few hours messengers came and they all went awayagain."
"Probably because of the new governor. Come on. Let's go walk."
She saw it was important to him, so she collected her shawl.
"I want to go, Dad."
"Me, too." Stafa still clung to his leg, grinning, stubborn as a barnacle. Hedeposited Arif on the floor.
"You boys stay with Nana."
"Aw, that's not fair. You don't never let me ..."
"Yeah, you long-legged creep. I hate you."
Aaron rolled his eyes toward heaven. "Let's sell them both to the Turoks." TheTuroks were nomads who ranged south of the Takes, reputedly so ferocious eventhe Dartars feared them. Turoks seldom visited Qushmarrah. The only TuroksAaron had seen he'd been unable to distinguish from Dartars.
Selling the children to the Turoks was a family joke. Laella completed theritual. "The Turoks wouldn't take them. They're too mean. You boys behave forNana. Mish, you can make mountain bread. There're beans soaking in the crock.
There's cheese. There're odds and ends. Put something together."
Mish put on her martyr's disguise, filled the house with her agonizedadolescent sighs.
Raheb shook her head in disgust and took herself back outside to abort asquabble provoked by proximity.
"Are you going?" Laella asked, Aaron suspected more sharply than she intended.
"I still have this grinning goiter on my shin."
Stafa giggled.
Laella peeled him off amidst a one-child chorus of hate-you-moms and depositedhim amongst blocks Aaron had made from scraps from the shipyard. Arif observedsourly. Aaron hugged him. Laella twisted her shawl around her head and acrossher face and followed Aaron into the street. She said, "Give me time to relax.