01 Taxilas Children

TAXILA'S CHILDREN
Steve was hungry and that feeling was running a race with his desire for the answer to his
question. He thought about Hara, she might wake at any time and find herself alone in a
strange house.
"You may leave the woman to sleep, she will not waken before morning."
There was no arguing with a mind reader, so Steve followed his custodian back into the
great communal room. This time, it appeared over populated with a horde of people. He had
once read that in the ancient history of Old Earth, the high lords used to hold a kind of petty
court. The entire household would eat and drink together at the end of the working day. In all
likelihood, this was the Lynxe counterpart. Steve reminded himself that they were aliens and
that there would have to come a point where they diverged abruptly from the habits of the
human race. So far, the similarity had been uncanny.
As with the Old Earth lords, the importance of a person was measured by the place he
occupied at the table. Even in this they were no different. Steve was placed next to Lyot and
displacing Danyk, who shifted down one position and so on down the line. Steve wondered
momentarily, what happened to the poor sod at the far end. He often wondered about such
things. He was usually the candidate who fell off the end of the bench.
There was a further stir at the curtained lower entrance to the hall. Lyot's wife had entered,
followed by her retinue of ladies. He made the assumption that she was described as a wife -
no one had told him otherwise. She was a female version of her husband - without the
moustache. Steve was formally introduced. He bowed courteously, she stared at him and his
gesture with open curiosity and nodded without smiling. The Lady Hepha had the look of
being a formidable adversary.
A much younger version of Danyk arrived. Steve was subjected to close scrutiny from
steady, grey-green eyes. In Earth years he would have been no more than fifteen or sixteen.
This was the son Jabez had described, 'between childhood and manhood'. He was introduced
as Krin.
A moment later, and the tall, ash-blond, tiger-eyed beauty he had already met on the forest
path, swept into the chamber. It was a startling entrance. She was beautiful certainly, but there
was an iciness about her beauty that he found repelling. She inclined her head briefly at the
introduction.
Steve wondered if they had stage managed their appearance to suit the occasion, or if they
were regularly so unpunctual at meals. They waited a few minutes longer, Lyot flicked his
knife impatiently, Steve felt like joining him, the silence was strained. He sucked in his breath
as the remaining daughter appeared and knew he was hopelessly lost. This was the girl of his
dreams. He stared in unabashed admiration. Perhaps she read his mind, for she returned his
stare gravely when he was presented to her. She flickered a cool little smile, which was
decidedly unforgiving. He wondered if she knew that he had brought a woman into the house
with him. For some reason, it mattered a great deal what she thought of the situation.
An army of Scarn carried in a mountain of food and set it along the table. Jabez and Caela
would never have believed that their lords looked after themselves so well. Steve's mouth
tightened when he thought of Jabez, almost to the point that his hunger vanished in a surge of
rage. Fortunately, he was endowed with a healthy appetite, which returned without much
effort. There was a great variety of dishes, most of which were of animal origin. He reminded
himself that the great cats of Old Earth had been carnivores.
There was only one thing to be done and that was to do as his neighbour did and try not to
make a total idiot of himself. As soon as those at the higher end of the table were seated, the
remainder of the household straddled the benches and launched themselves into the meal.
There was no pretence at table manners and if you didn't get in first, you were likely to miss
out altogether.
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