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room to stand beside her.  And how would you get there?
 Steal a skimmer, one of those boats out on the river, a horse& I don t
know.
Burash pressed the milky square so that the door slid up and the fresh cool
air flowed in.  All this is froth, worth as much as those dew drops
sublimating into the sun. He turned her around and made her look into the
garden.  Well?
Her shoulders moved impatiently under his arm. Mutely she stared past the
greenery at the massive granite blocks of the wall that made the garden a
prison in spite of its beauty. After a while she sighed.  So. Back to the
tedious sly maneuvering.
 Belit Damiktana. The nervous shrilling of the guard sounded through the
tapestry.
 Pah. Aleytys stepped backward, bumping against Burash s solid chest. As he
moved his arm and turned away she strode past him and climbed into the chair
at the foot of the bed.  All right, naram. On your head. Send that
shiver-shanks in.
Burash held the tapestry aside while the guard sidled reluctantly inside. She
halted before the chair with a double nayid arm-span between her and Aleytys,
a blue-green robe folded stiffly over her arm.  Belit Damiktana, she said
hoarsely, then stopped to clear her throat as unobtrusively as she could.  The
kipu thanks you. She requests you consider this robe.
Moving awkwardly she unfolded the garment and held it out so that it fell in
graceful folds from the points she grasped between thumb and forefinger, the
other fingers lying curled stiffly against her palm.
The robe s basic color was the queen s blue-green, several shades darker.
Tongues of fire were embroidered around the hem in a brilliant red that went
leaping up the left side nearly to the shoulder.
Aleytys stifled her leap of pleasure at the sight of the lovely garment and
waved a languid hand at the guard.  Give it to the migru.
Keeping as far from Aleytys as she could, the guard handed the robe to Burash
and edged back.
 Inform the kipu that the robe is acceptable. Aleytys tapped her forefingers
lightly on the wood of the chair arm.  She is to come for me in thirty
minutes. She stared haughtily at the guard.  Well, do I have to escort you to
her myself?
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ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
 Pardon, Damiktana. The guard gulped. Hastily she backed out, her antennas
semaphoring her agitation while her mind radiated her barely controlled
mélange of hatred and fear.
Aleytys hopped out of the chair and ran to Burash, cooing over the exquisite
robe. With his help she pulled it over her head and fastened the ties. She
looked down at herself and smiled with delight.  It s almost worth it. She
laughed and danced around the room, the full skirt ballooning out from her
body.
In the bathroom, she brushed her hair smooth and posed in front of the
mirror, turning this way and that, immensely pleased with herself, forgetting
for the moment the purpose of the thing that charmed her. Burash pushed the
tapestry aside and laughed when he saw her.
 Flying high, he said.  Up and down again. Leyta, Leyta.
She flashed a grin at him, but the elation drained swiftly out of her.
Sighing, she let the wings of the robe fall, smoothed her hair back from her
face and walked back into the bedroom with Burash trailing behind her.
She settled herself in the chair to wait for the arrival of the kipu.  One
more month, she said, then glanced at Burash.  Something strikes me as
curious. That guard. She was blasting out fear and fidgetiness and antipathy,
as if she were terrified of me and hating me at the same time. Why?
 The old one. Burash leaned against the back of the chair and ran his
fingers over her hair.  And I think she s one of Gapp s, Leyta& .
 Hm? She rubbed her head dreamily against his hand, a sudden warmth in her
belly, her nipples hardening.
 You asked me once why I came to you that first morning.
 You said& 
 I know. His hand slid down and curved around her neck.  I know. After I saw
you, talked to you, after& I couldn t&  Though he stopped talking, the tips of
his fingers kept rubbing up and down on her neck; he was troubled with a
complex of emotions Aleytys found disturbing and confusing, chilling her. She
leaned back and stared into his abstracted face.
His hand stopped moving.  I came intending to kill you, Leyta. Take your neck
in my hands and squeeze until the life went out of you. Rid this world of that
curse. She poisoned life here too many, many years. I couldn t do it. His
voice broke and she felt anger and pain dominate him.  If you d been
different? I don t know. If I could kill the thing in you without& I can t.
He pulled away from her and ran from the room.
Aleytys slid out of the chair and started after him.  Burash minaram, wait& 
The door to the lift slid back and the kipu stepped out. Immediately Aleytys
straightened, stiffened the mask on her face, cursing the inopportune arrival
of the nayid. As the kipu moved aside to let the honor guard file out, Aleytys
straightened her back and stepped daintily to her place a half step in front
of the kipu. Simmering with impotent anger she fought for control as she
silently tripped along beside the lanky insufferably complacent kipu, the
guard clicking snap-snap-clank with military regularity behind them.
 Good girl, Leyta.
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