Twice during the following two days, Pug and Laurie glimpsed the Shinzawai’s important visitor. He was much like the Shinzawai lord in appearance, but thinner, and he wore the black robe of a Tsurani Great One. Pug asked a few questions of the house staff and gained a little information. Pug and Laurie had seen nothing that compared with the awe in which the Great Ones were held by the Tsurani. They seemed a power apart, and with what little understanding of Tsurani social reality Pug had, he couldn’t exactly comprehend how they fit into the scheme of things. At first he had thought they were under some social stigma, for all he was ever told was that the Great Ones were “outside the law.” He then was made to understand, by an exasperated Tsurani slave who couldn’t believe Pug’s ignorance of important matters, that the Great Ones had little or no social constraints in exchange for some nameless service to the Empire.
Pug had made a discovery during this time that lightened the alien feeling of his captivity somewhat. Behind the needra pens he had found a kennel full of yapping, tail-wagging dogs. They were the only Midkemian-like animals he had seen on Kelewan, and he felt an unexplained joy at their presence. He had rushed back to their room to fetch Laurie and had brought him to the kennel. Now they sat in one of the runs, amid a group of playful canines.
Laurie laughed at their boisterous play. They were unlike the Duke’s hunting hounds, being longer of leg, and more gaunt. Their ears were pointed, and perked at every sound.
“I’ve seen their like before, in Gulbi. It’s a town in the Great Northern Trade Route of Kesh. They are called greyhounds and are used to run down the fast cats and antelope of the grasslands near the Valley of the Sun.”
The kennel master, a thin, droopy-eyelidded slave named Rachmad, came over and watched them suspiciously “What are you doing here?”
Laurie regarded the dour man and playfully pulled the muzzle of a rambunctious puppy. “We haven’t seen dogs since we left our homeland, Rachmad. Our master is busy with the Great One, so we thought we would visit your fine kennel.”
At mention of his “fine kennel” the gloomy countenance brightened considerably. “I try to keep the dogs healthy We must keep them locked up, for they try to harry the cho-ja, who like them not at all.” For a moment Pug thought perhaps they had been taken from Midkemia as the horse had been. When he asked where they had come from, Rachmad looked at him as if he were crazy. “You speak like you have been too long in the sun. There have always been dogs.” With that final pronouncement on the matter, he judged the conversation closed and left.
Later that night, Pug awoke to find Laurie entering their room “Where have you been?”
“Shh! You want to wake the whole household? Go back to sleep.”
“Where did you go?” Pug asked in hushed tones.
Laurie could be seen grinning in the dim light “I paid a visit to a certain cook’s assistant, for . . . a chat.”
“Oh. Almorella?”
“Yes,” came the cheerful reply “She’s quite a girl.” The young slave who served in the kitchen had been making big eyes at Laurie ever since the caravan had arrived four days ago.
After a moment of silence, Laurie said, “You should cultivate a few friends yourself. Gives a whole new look to things.”
“I’ll bet,” Pug said, disapproval mixed with more than a little envy. Almorella was a bright and cheerful girl, near Pug’s age, with merry dark eyes.
“That little Katala, now. She has her eye on you, I’m thinking.”
Cheeks burning, Pug threw a cushion at his friend. “Oh, shut up and go to sleep.”
Laurie stifled a laugh. He retired to his pallet and left Pug alone in thought.
There was the faint promise of rain on the wind, and Pug welcomed the coolness he felt in its touch. Laurie was sitting astride Kasumi’s horse, and the young officer stood by and watched. Laurie had directed Tsurani craftsmen as they fashioned a saddle and bridle for the mount and was now demonstrating their use.
“This horse is combat trained,” Laurie shouted. “He can be neck reined”—he demonstrated by laying the reins on one side of the horse’s neck, then the other—”or he can be turned by using your legs.” He raised his hands and showed the older son of the house how this was done.