Later the Izmir departed and Blade was left alone in his palace, as he had known he must be eventually. Ogier remained, and his dozen men, and Blade saw to their posting. He and Ogier supped together. They washed in scented water and sat at a great table and were served by soft-footed servants. Ogier, a rough man better suited to barracks than palaces, was still proud and somewhat vain, and tried hard to conceal his awe of Blade.

Blade sought to put the Captain at his ease. They talked for a time about the Hitts, the savages who lived over the narrow water, and the Captain was not very hopeful.

«The Izmir talks much of subduing them,» he said, «but I have been fighting Hitts all my life and I do not think it can be done. They never surrender and they are better soldiers than the Zirnians. The narrow water protects them and their country is a nightmare of rocks, ravines, crags and mountains. Wheeled vehicles are useless and it is difficult to deploy troops. They do not give battle in the ordinary manner, but resort to one ambush after another. My advice to you, Blade, though it may be treason, is to coddle the old man with promises until he dies-which should not be long-and stay away from the Hitts.»

Ogier gnawed a bone thoughtfully. «You could pretend to make invasion preparations, of course. The Army is in sore state and badly needs work and discipline. Do all this, and let it be seen and known, and you can only profit by it. You might even worry the Hitts a little. But do not venture beyond the narrow water. It would only mean defeat and give Casta a chance to gloat and point you out as a failure and an imposter.»

Blade gave him a cold glance. He liked Ogier, but had not deemed him so loquacious and opinionated. Best, he thought, to give the man an understanding of affairs here and now.

«I am not an impostor,» Blade said. «I have done what I have done. You saw it. I grew from a babe to a man in thirty days.»

«Yes. I saw it.» Ogier passed a meaty hand over his face and did not look at Blade. «I saw it. I must believe it. I acknowledge you witch or wizard, Blade, and I respect that and will serve you as faithfully as ever I served the Izmir. But all the same I do not think your miracles will work against the Hitts. But that is up to you-you are Blade, the heir and prince to the Izmir. I am but a Captain who obeys.»

Blade pointed a meat knife at him and smiled. «Remember that, Captain, and we shall do well. I command here. Never forget it.»

Ogier raised a goblet of wine. «I shall not. I serve you, Blade.»

The moment of tension passed. Blade shifted the conversation to a topic he knew was dear to any soldier's heart.

«There is something I want you to do for me tonight, Ogier, and in return I will do something for you and your men. It concerns women. Are you interested?»

Ogier wiped his mouth with a hand and grinned. «Women? Of course I am interested. Tell me more of this, Blade.»

«I have a harem,» said Blade, «in which I am not much interested at the moment.»

Ogier stared. «That alone makes you more than mere man. I wish I had a harem. I would be interested.»

«There is a woman named Valli in the Izmir's harem,» Blade explained. «I want you to find her and bring her to this palace tonight. You may tell the old man if you wish-or I will. I do not think he will mind when matters are explained to him.»

Ogier put down his wine goblet with a thump. «I do not advise telling the Izmir. He is an old man and has little use for his women, true, but he is very jealous of them all the same. I am not sure of the wisdom of this. What is this Valli to you. Blade?»

«That is my concern,» said Blade curtly, «a personal matter and nothing to do with the Izmir or politics or priests, I promise you. Will you do it, Ogier? In return you and your men shall have the run of my harem. Take your choice of as many as you can handle. I will issue orders to that effect.»

Ogier studied him, stubbled chin in hand. Finally he nodded. «I will do it. No great trouble in that, for I know all the guards and they will obey me. But I think it had better be kept from the Izmir. You are now as his son, Blade, but a father can be angry. And he would not understand why, with a harem of your own, you seek a woman from his harem. I myself do not understand it.»

Blade pushed his plate away and stood up. «You do not have to understand it, Ogier. You must only do it.»

Ogier half scowled. «It is a command, then?»

«No. It is a request. When I give commands you will be in no doubt of it.»

Ogier suddenly laughed and slammed the table with his hand. «I will do it-and hold you to your word. I will loose my men in your dovecote and you will have a happy harem, Blade. We have not had women lately, my men and I, and I think each of us good for six, at the least.»

Blade smiled. «Only when they are off-duty, Ogier. Be sure they understand that. Any man caught in the harem when he should be on guard will be severely punished.»

Ogier pushed away from the table. «You need not tell me that, Blade. I am a soldier. Where shall I bring this woman?»

«To my chamber, well after dark-and be quiet and careful about it. The fewer who know the better.»

Ogier eased his swordbelt around his little paunch, distended by the hearty meal. «It shall be done. And then I will stand the first watch myself-in the harem.»

Blade watched the Captain exit laughing and went to his own private quarters, a suite of austere and high-ceilinged rooms with something of the Romanesque about them. But comfortable enough. His bedchamber was hung with drapes and opened into a latrine closet. There was a great round bed in the center of the room and mirrors here and there on the wall and a large table and a chair for working. Blade sank into the chair, put his feet on the table and examined his image in one of the mirrors.

He looked as he usually did in Dimension X, a bit larger than life, this illusion helped by the full black beard. The planes of his face were flatter, his jaw more prognathic, his eyes harder and colder, his stare more intent. He had noted it all before. He was Blade and yet he was not Blade; he was the same human animal with better and improved survival equipment.

It would be some time yet before Valli arrived, if she came at all. Blade went to the bed and stretched out without undressing. He must relax now and begin thinking ahead. He had come through the first ordeal. But it would not be the last and he much doubted that it would be the worst. Danger lay ahead and he must contrive to meet it as it came. It was always so in DX-you lived from hour to hour, day to day, week to week.

The thought made him uneasy and he left the bed to make a check. He returned satisfied. There was a guard on the door and a man beneath each of his chamber windows. From over the court, beyond a fountain of colored water, he heard the shrill laughter of women. Ogier had wasted no time in letting his men know of their good fortune. Blade grinned and went back to his bed.

The crystal was not working at the moment. He felt no impulse, no communication from the artificial intelligence of the computer. That did not necessarily mean that His Lordship was not reading Blade's impulses, though, and with this in mind he began to concentrate.

Alive and well. Blade smiled at the banality, then got back to his task. Future most uncertain. Much too early to know if there is treasure in Zir, or anything of use to England that can be teleported.

As of this moment know very little of Zir. Begin this task tomorrow. Am at present in position of power, but chancy. Have enemies, as usual, but not yet sure of the extent of this danger. Will pursue my usual course of coping with events as they arise and trust that luck holds.

His head ached and Blade left off. He was covered with sweat. Such concentration was hard work. He got up and summoned a servant and had a bath prepared. When he came out of the bath, with only a cloth about his genitals, Valli was there.