The Quest of Kadji by Lin Carter Page A

frank, quizzical gaze, and her small, determined chin lifted proudly.
    “Oh, you need not look at me in that wise, young man! What have I to fear from the Impostor and his servant? I can use sword, lance and bow as well as any man—and Bazan, here, is a powerful ally! I could have slain both of them, I know it!”
    He wisely held his tongue. There are times when it is not good to provoke a woman, and this was one of those times.
    BY MIDDAY they had seen no trace of tracks on the snowy plains, and thus decided to veer south so as to join the Grand Chemedis Road. This broad highway spanned the plains from the remote satrapies of the Easterlings, to the Rashemba kingdoms of the west. If Shamad was bound east, they should encounter each other on the highway sooner or later; if he had doubled back, hoping to join forces with the High Prince Bayazin, then they had lost him for good.
    By nightfall they reached the stone-paved way that led east and ever east across the world. They slept that night under a sky of black velvet, blazing with the fretted fire of a million stars.
    For several days thereafter they continued following the stone highway east, until Khôr, its plots and dynasties, its sieges and thrones, dwindled far behind them. On the fifth day of their departure from the little postern gate in the wall of the Dragon City they came upon an encampment of Perushka.
    vi. A Knife in the Dark
    THE GYPSY caravan was drawn up in a semicircle beside the old highway, and a huge bonfire blazed in its center, as much to warm the wandering Perushka against the chill of winter nights as to keep away the plains-wolves who went famished in this bleak season and were often goaded by their near-starvation to attack men, even large parties.
    Kadji was doubtful as to the wisdom of stopping to interrogate the chief of the Perushka caravan, for among his people they were despised as rogues, thieves, liars and vagabonds. But Thyra made mock of his hesitancy; she knew them well, and had learned their barbarous tongue as a child. Besides, she argued, even if the caravan had caught no glimpse of the two fugitives in their flight, they would doubtless permit Kadji to purchase food from them for red gold, and Thyra’s store of provisions was almost exhausted since she had not planned on being forced to feed two extra mouths, to say nothing of the horses.
    At length the boy let himself be shamed into following her plan, and they rode forward into, the Perushka camp. The wagons were dilapidated and shabby, and the canvas that covered them was threadbare and patched in a thousand places. The Perushka themselves were a villainous-looking lot, with swarthy faces, filthy clothing and vicious eyes. Their women were bold and painted hussies, but the heavy application of cosmetics could not disguise knife-scars and the signs of disease. Even the dogs that came pouring out in a yelping chorus from under the wagons to herald the arrival of strangers were a mangy and mongrel lot, although they lost courage at the sight of mighty Bazan. As for the great grey wolf, he paced like a gliding, flame-eyed shadow at the heels of his mistress and ignored the hound-pack with the innate dignity of his kind.
    The chief of the caravan was a lean, sallow, one-eyed rogue with a gap-toothed leer instead of a smile and a ragged fringe of whiskers that made him resemble one of the Hairy Men of the Hills of legend. Gold bangles flashed in his ears; bracelets. jangled about his dirty wrists; a gaudy kerchief bound his scabby and unwashed scalp; and the thick reek of cheap perfume which clung to him did not even disguise the stench of his unwashed body or wine-stained clothes.
    Akthoob, like most Easterlings, was a merchant at heart, which is to say that among his people the ancient craft of haggling over a price had long since risen to the level of one of the fine arts. Thus Kadji left it to the small wizard to conduct negotiations for the purchase of supplies. And as Thyra was