Essro went close to her; there were still a few snowflakes not quite melted on the ends of her hair. ‘If Tarrik is going,’ said Essro, slowly and distinctly, ‘let him go at once.’ Erif felt suddenly sick and quivered down on to the floor, half lying; she did not answer. The other woman knelt beside her. ‘What is it?’ she said. ‘Surely you knew?’ Erif nodded, one hand over her throat. Essro pursed her lips, took the knife from her girdle, and touched Erif with the hilt, here and there.
The Spring Queen sat up, with the flashing smile of one child to another. Thank you, ‘she said.’ Your magic: it never hurts you, Essro?’
‘No. But perhaps it will. I am not so clever as you, Erif. Are you better?’
‘Yes,’ said Erif, then all at once: ‘That was—you know—Tarrik’s child.’
‘Oh!’ said Essro, clasping her hands, ‘oh, they don’t know that!’
‘Who don’t?’ said Erif sharply. ‘Essro—where did you get that message?’
‘From Yellow Bull. Oh, I must go home!’
‘But why? Essro, stay! Was it—is it—is Yellow Bull warning Tarrik because of the road? Because Tarrik gave him a sacrifice? Is father going to do something?’
‘Yes,’ said Essro, with shifting, panicky eyes, ‘tell him! And—oh, Erif—shall I tell them about the baby?’
‘No!’ said Erif, and put her hand for a moment on the hilt of Essro’s dagger, ‘if I need help I will go to you and your magic.’
‘Help?’ said Essro, trembling, trying to go away, and yet always gentle.
‘Yes,’ said Erif, ‘help. A secret road.’
Tarrik sat about, sleepy and strong, while his men dressed him; every now and then he stretched himself largely and yawned, with the colour-stitched white linen of the shirt loose round his neck and wrists. Then they had to stop and stand aside till he was ready, one holding his boots, another with fur coats over his arm for the Chief to choose from if he liked, spotless soft fox and deer pelts, with clean linings of scarlet or black. Tarrik took one at random, knowing they all suited him. He was rather angry with Erif for not being there when he woke; he wanted to talk to her about his plans—if she was in a mood for talk. Even with Sphaeros to advise him—and, now he remembered it, how little positive advice Sphaeros ever gave!—he had been unable to make up his mind about which course was the wisest. He was somehow afraid that if he went it would be merely a flight from uncertainty: Harn Der, and Plowing Eve, and his wife. Suddenly, without noticing how un-Stoic he was being, he made up his mind that he would ask Erif, and if she really wanted him to stay he would stay—because then something would be certain!
He went to the window, as he did every morning, and held out his hands eastwards to the risen sun, which, even behind clouds, as now, must know his brotherhood. Then he sent one of the men to find his Queen and ask her if she would come to him. She came at once, in a long, plainish dress of grey wool checks, and the fur of her coat bordered with heavy silver tissue. He thought it made her look old till he saw how wonderfully glossy her plaits were, hanging over it, and how clear her pale skin showed above the tight, round neck of the dress. ‘Erif,’ he said, ‘I thought of going to Greece with Sphaeros.’ She nodded, facing the fact but not his eyes. ‘I want to see the King of Sparta,’ he went on, ‘and learn if there are not other ways of ruling besides mine.’ He took her hands and pulled her gently down till she was sitting on his knee; she put her arms round his neck and hid her face in the hollow of his shoulder.
‘You mean to go—soon?’ she asked, sorting out her words so as to get no trace of feeling into them.
He tried to look at her face, but she clung tight, with hard wrists and fingers and her forehead butting into him. ‘Quite soon,’ he said, ‘if I do go. Erif—shall I?’
She felt his live, powerful heart-beats under her cheek as she lay against him; for a moment she could not bear to separate herself from them. Tarrik was almost sure he would not have to go, and was glad. He put his arms right round her, for his, for certainty. His lips bent to her round, soft head, the baby hairs at the back of her neck that would not stay in any plait. She did not move; only she said: ‘Yes, you should go.’
The voice was very soft, and yet so clear that he was quite sure he had heard right. He tried once more. ‘Erif, do you want me to go?’
It was she who was startled now; she had not thought there was all this on his side of it; he almost got the no out of her. But at last she said: ‘Yes, Tarrik.’ Then she went quite still again, afraid of the time when his arms must loosen and let her go.
This being so, Tarrik said he would go the next day. He stirred himself and every one else to prodigious energy. They swirled round Erif in a sea of life and action. She was just left in the middle of it, half dead and small and useless. Tarrik summoned the Council. He seemed mad enough now to justify them all. ‘My aunt is to have the power of the Chief,’ he said, and Eurydice came in and stood beside him, stiff and tall and smiling thinly; she gave almost every man in the Council the feeling that she was his aunt too. Harn Der was not badly pleased; this would not be too difficult to deal with. He could not think that there was anyone nowadays who would not rather have him as Chief than Eurydice. But who was to be Corn King? Till he knew that, Harn Der was not prepared to say anything. Tarrik was speaking of what had to be done while he was away, urging the Council to look on his aunt as himself, advise her well and obey her orders, remembering that he himself would be back by midsummer. At last he ended: ‘As to the Corn King. I lend my godhead to Yellow Bull, son of Harn Der. Let him come to me and take what I give him an hour before dawn tomorrow. And I give him full leave to take a tenth of men and money from Marob for the secret road. And I warn him to do this soon.’
For a moment this was too much to believe. Harn Der and Yellow Bull and their friends could not help staring at one another before the shouting started; it seemed impossible to be so favoured. Tarrik put his hand on to his shirt over Erif’s star, and looked at them all with a very clear vision. Then he smiled and sat down. It suddenly occurred to Harn Der that perhaps this was all Erif’s doing, and for the first time for weeks he was pleased with his daughter.
Tarrik did not even go to bed that night. Erif Der lay alone, waiting for him; after about three hours she fell asleep. But he was not in the house at all: he was in his other house, at the far end of Marob, where he was no more Chief, but Corn King and god. It had been cold going there, and very dark, with a few snowflakes falling out of nothing. Inside it was still cold, but airless, choking under the low stone roof. He took his own clothes off, as he had to, chewing bitter berries all the time, and put on the long, red robes, straight from neck to ankles; the stuff was damp and harsh against his skin. He shivered and put on the head-dress and mask, dark polished squares of jet and carbuncle and onyx, the blood-red coral, the upright corn ears, the Single Eye on his forehead. He went into the inner place; the guardian, an old, old woman, crouched in a corner. He stood over her and passed his hand three or four times in front of her face; she slept.
Tarrik took another mouthful of berries, and lighted the lamp over the stone. He did not much like what he was going to do; but it was only till midsummer, and besides he was a pupil of Sphaeros. He tried to think of it all in Greek, but there were no words for half of it. At any rate, this would be Yellow Bull’s pay at Plowing Eve. He took down the Plowshare, blew on it, and wrote in the mist his breath had made. He did the same thing with the Cup and the Sieve, and he undid certain very important knots in the Basket. Last of all he took off his head-dress, and ran a tiny nail into it, so that it would just scratch the ear of the next wearer. He took great care not to touch the point of the nail himself. When that was done, he took off the red robes and got into his own clothes again; it had all taken a long time, and they were cold like a deserted nest.
The next two hours he spent with his head-men at the real, the Chief’s house; they were making him up bales and chests of precious things to take with him. He would come to Hell
as as a Power! There were twenty he had bidden make ready to come with him, young men, strong and faithful, all free and of the noble blood of Marob. He gave them everything they wanted, armour and money and fine clothes. They were all sad at leaving their horses. But it was not to be for long. When he came back, he would know how to be a real, Stoic king.
Yellow Bull came as he had been told, an hour before dawn. He and Tarrik went together the way the Chief had already been. They talked about the secret road and how much could be done on it, even in winter. ‘I will make a good road, Chief, I swear I will!’ said Yellow Bull. ‘Yes,’ said Tarrik gently, ‘I am sure of you.’ They were close to the other place now; in a few houses people were stirring; they could see a sudden line of light behind the shutters, the first thin fighting against the night. Yellow Bull suddenly found his eyes full of tears. ‘Nobody else believed in my road,’ he said, ‘and now—’ But Tarrik laid a hand on his arm, and there they were at the door.
Half the town was down at the harbour next morning, with much lamentation. Many of them had brought presents for the Chief to take with him. He had very wisely decided that it would be better to go in the trader rather than in his own state ship, which was much faster and very beautiful, but would not stand continuous bad weather. He walked quickly, with one arm across Sphaeros’ shoulders; they both wore long fur coats and thick boots. The Chief had left his crown for Eurydice, and he was bare-headed, but had a fur hood to put on later if he wanted it. He and his men were all in a bunch together, full of movement and life and warmth under their heavy coats. The Spring Queen and her women came separately from the great door, chill and downcast, to say good-bye. And the Council, with Berris Der and a few others, waited on the breakwater for the Chief to pass. There was not wind enough to sail by, but the rowers were ready; the sky was low and grey over the ship, and the sea grey and scarcely rocking against the harbour walls.
Berris had only heard that morning. The evening of the feast he had not taken it very seriously—he was thinking of his sister. And the day after he had ridden away into the country to draw trees. He had found elms and limes and ashes standing on the bare plain, and he had been so fascinated by the tangles of their black arms that he had stayed there till sunset; and after that he went straight back to the forge, not to his father’s house. He still could not quite realise that Tarrik was going. All these last months he had seen very little of the Chief, but somehow the assurance that he was there had been enough. It seemed to Berris that when he had made something supreme he would show it to Tarrik and everything would be right again. In the meantime he was not sure what he was after; he had done scarcely any solid work, only sketches and a little jewellery and ironwork just to keep his hand in. Since he had found out the truth about Epigethes and the wire keys, he had gone back entirely to his own mind for form and pattern, but now, while Sphaeros had been in Marob, the Hellenic ideas had come softly back and ranged themselves before him, vague and straight and beautiful. For certainly this Sphaeros hated the house of Leonidas in Sparta, and it seemed clear to Berris that it must have been full of just the kind of things that Epigethes liked: that he had liked himself ever so long—nearly a whole year—ago. But what did Sphaeros like? He never could make out, and found it quite impossible to believe what the Stoic assured him was the truth: that these things did not appear to him sufficiently real or important to give him any very great pleasure one way or the other. Now Tarrik and Sphaeros were both going! He stood on the edge of the breakwater, watching the slaves go past with all the things the Chief was taking with him; every time a man went by it seemed as if a bit of himself were going too.
The Chief was talking to his Council now. It occurred to Berris that probably he had the loudest voice of anyone in Marob. Or was it only that he did not care how much he let himself go? The men were all on board now; the ship was only waiting for Tarrik. He was saying good-bye; they gave him the salute, knife and hand. And last, Erif.
She did not know what to say; she wanted to show him some sign. Because love is so much an affair of giving yourself away, by word, or look, or touch. But here, in the middle of this crowd—she had not even told him about the child. If she had: well, if she had he might have stayed. And she wanted him to go: out of danger. ‘Till summer,’ he said, ‘till the fine days and the warm sun, Erif!’ And questioned her with his eyes. But she could not answer. Only she put her hand up on to his breast, hurriedly, clumsily, in under his coat and there was the hard flat lump her star made below his shirt. ‘Look for me here!’ she said. ‘It will tell you—if I live or die. Tarrik, I will be faithful to you!’ He looked down at her hand, then straight at her face; he held her at arm’s length, searching, searching. She dropped her eyes. ‘Give me something!’ she said low, then, as he hesitated, not knowing what would work, she pulled the onyx-handled hunting knife out of its sheath. ‘If this clouds,’ she said, ‘you are in danger.’ She dared not say more, for fear of saying too much. They kissed each other under the eyes of the crowd, a bad, short kiss. Tarrik turned to the sea and the ship.
He saw Berris Der standing on the edge. ‘Good-bye, Berris!’ he said, holding out both hands, smiling. But to Berris it seemed quite impossible to say good-bye all in a minute; he had far too much to talk about. ‘Good luck, Berris,’ said the Chief again, ‘good luck and good-bye!’ But, ‘Oh,’ said Berris, ‘I’m coming too!’ And he jumped on to the ship and Tarrik jumped after him, shouting: ‘Cast off, cast off!’ And so they went to sea.
Erif Der fainted into the arms of two of her women. A very proper display of feeling, every one thought. When she came to, she refused to go back to the Chief’s house and her quiet room. She went instead to the Spring-field, that place of her own that she had just as the Corn King had his. It was barred now, and lightless, till winter was past, but she went in and stayed there while it was day, and came out a little happier; she had done what she could to give Tarrik a good wind and fair weather for his journey.
Harn Der was partly horrified and partly relieved at what Berris had done. It was a foolish and dangerous thing, but, on the other hand, in some ways it made their plans easier if they had not got someone with them who might suddenly change sides—Berris had been as uncertain as all that lately. As it was, he had always wanted to go to Greece, and now he was going. Artists are difficult people to have in a family. And about Erif. ‘I wonder why she fainted like that?’ said Yellow Bull thoughtfully.
‘She may be going to have a child,’ said Harn Der.
‘Essro ought to have told me.’
‘Women like their own secrets, my son. But—if she is—well, I think it must be dealt with. If Tarrik is to go, no use not doing it thoroughly.’
‘Will she mind?’ asked Yellow Bull, doubtful.
‘She married him with her eyes open. She has no business to mind. Better for her to get clear of it all. And even if she does mind, it will have to be done; she must know that as well as we do.’
‘Better not speak of it to her.’
‘If she had done what I meant and worked her magic better it would never have happened. But women are like that, even the cleverest.’
‘Yes. Father, it is a queer thing being Corn King suddenly like this. He took me to the House—. Is it strange for you too, your son being God?’
Harn Der rubbed his fingers through his beard; he had not got that sort of mind. ‘No,’ he said, ‘not very strange. I shall not feel it strange when I am Chief, either. I give Yersha about four months.’
‘Yes,’ said Yellow Bull, ‘and there will be a Council meeting tomorrow, father? I can start at once on the secret road!’
That evening Eurydice was looking at herself in the mirror; she wore the crown of Marob, and she thought she looked like a man. She felt like a man, at any rate, full of power. This was her time. And then she thought of Charmantides, and how pleasant it would be if he were to come back from Hellas this summer with a wife, some charming, modest, well-born girl, so that there should be more Greek
blood in the line of the chiefs of Marob. A girl who would be a little frightened of the north, the cold and the snow and the savagery, and who would come to her aunt for protection and kindness and love. … If a messenger were sent out to assure him that Erif Der was dead. If she was really dead. It would be for every one’s good. Erif Der and her magic dead and done with.
On the ship, out of sight of land, Tarrik had supper early among his friends, with Sphaeros on one side and Berris on the other. He loved them both—and all this company of men, free and singing and his own to command! He was happy and very tired. Not long after it was full dark, he stood up and bade good night to them all, and to Berris. ‘I’m glad you came,’ he said, ‘it was you I wanted all the time. God, I am sleepy—I was doing things all last night. Take anything you want from my stores, Berris—anything. If I’m still asleep, come and wake me at sunrise. We shall be that nearer Hellas. Good night, Sphaeros, and good dreams, sleeping or waking!’
Erif Der was alone in the Chief’s house. She had all the lamps alight in her room, and the shutters open too; it was still enough for that. She sat on the edge of her bed, undressed, with a fur rug pulled round her, clutched under her chin. There was no one in the room, nothing to hurt her. But still she sat there, quite quiet, watching and listening, very white.
PART II
Philylla and the Grown-ups
I had a little nut tree,
Nothing would it bear
But a silver nutmeg
And a golden pear.
The Corn King and the Spring Queen Page 12
