Is this some insult? What do we do if Ulla Safar is openly selling his face against us? Can I strengthen ties with Redigal and Ritsem sufficiently to blunt his hatred? I need to know whatever Risalas learned of the moods in Ulla waters. I certainly don't want Velindre within a day's sail of my new daughters.

The Velvet Fowl wallowed, ungainly, as her helmsman turned her stern to the anchorage. Deep within the ship, the pipe that governed the oarsmen could be heard. As the Ulla rowers eased the high-sided vessel close to the piles driven solidly into the coral, Chazen men threw ropes up to the crew on deck. The Velvet Fowl came to rest against the floating walkway with barely a" crunch of the bulbous lenders of woven sailer straw. Ridu immediately led a double column of Chazen swordsmen to line the landing stage with glittering steel as the fat-bellied vessel was securely tied to the dock.

'My lord.' Itrac looked expectantly at him.

Kheda was trying to see past the vast bulk but the Reteul had vanished as the comings and goings across the lagoon resumed. He forced a smile. 'My lady.'

Arm in arm, they walked down the raked path and onto the immaculately swept planks of the dock. A knot of richly dressed women were descending the stair-like ladders fixed on either side of the great galley's stern. Their nervous expressions were at odds with their finery as they turned to curtsey to a grotesquely fat man making his ponderous way down to the landing stage. A sizeable contingent of armoured men waited up on deck, blank-faced as they surveyed the Chazen warriors.

'Ulla Safar.' Kheda bowed, not acknowledging the unusual number of visiting swordsmen with so much as a glance.

'Chazen Kheda, thank you for inviting us to your domain.' Ulla Safar's courtesy was perfunctory. Sweating profusely, he mopped his brow and long black beard with a white silken kerchief before tucking it into the heavy silver belt girdling his golden tunic. The fabric was richly embroidered with the dusky velvet fowl for which his galley was named. His sleeveless overmantle was finest transparent gossamer embroidered with the fire creeper such birds wove into their bowers deep in the forests cloaking the massive central island of the Ulla domain.

'You and yours are most welcome, my lord,' Kheda assured him with pleasure.

Safar looked suspiciously at him. His pale yellow-brown eyes were veined with red and half-hidden in the folds of fat disfiguring a once-handsome face. 'My wives are delighted to congratulate you on your safe delivery from the trials of childbed, my lady.' He spared the gaggle of women fawning around him a cursory gesture as he turned to Itrac. His smile turned to an open leer as he took in her decolletage. 'You're looking well, my dear.'

Look all you like, you fat lecher, but lay a finger on my wife and jf Jevin will cut off your hand.

'Indeed.' Mirrel Ulla advanced hastily, hands outstretched, silver and onyx bracelets bright against her ebony skin. Her brittle smile didn't reach eyes as blank and secretive as the dark gems studding the silver collar she wore. 'We are so glad to see you so obviously recovered.'

Kheda bowed and made sure his eyes didn't stray to Mirre'ss generous bosom, seductively displayed by a dress of fine silvery gauze.

That gown's more suited to a boudoir than a boat. What game are you playing now? Shall I let slip that I wouldn 't let my least-valued slave soil himself satisfying your lusts?

'I have my household to thank for that,' Itrac replied with nicely calculated ruefulness. She turned to indicate a long roof. 'You will have the turtleshell pavilion—'

Chay Ulla stepped forward. 'We trust your new daughters are consolation for all the bereavements you've borne so bravely these past few years.'

Kheda cut her off smoothly. 'The new year reminds us above all else that life must go on, my lady.'

Spiteful as always, Chay, but clumsier than you 're wont to be and you 're looking daggers at Mirrel, not Itrac.

Itrac's composure was unshaken. 'Those gone from us are never wholly lost, not while we honour their memories.'

'Indeed.' Dark-brown eyes clouded, Chay's smile took on the same fixity as Mirrel's. She twisted an unconscious linger among the ropes of striped golden agates hanging to her waist. The Ulla domain's second lady was taller (ban her sister-wife, her skin a warm brown against the gold silk of tunic and trousers that flattered her long bones uid solid build.

What's going on? Chay's lost weight since we last had the dubious pleasure of Ulla company, and her slave's best efforts with the cosmetic brushes haven't hidden whatever strain is carving those new lines around her eyes.

Kheda let his gaze slide to the nameless huddle of lesser wives and concubines behind Ulla Safar and caught glimpses of open apprehension. The women's body slaves were uniformly blank-faced, though Ulla Safar's massively muscled attendant glowered beneath the rim of his ruby-encrusted helm.

'It is certainly a time to look to the future.' Ulla Safar smiled sweetly at Itrac before turning a look of honeyed malice on his own women.

If Safar's malevolence is focused on his own household, does that mean the rest of us will escape it? Will Jevin catch

hints dropped by the Ulla wives' body slaves? But he's bound to Itrac and besides, he won't be looking for things I need to know as warlord.

'You must be tired after your voyage and the heat of the day is upon us,' Kheda said artlessly. 'My steward will show your retinue to your accommodations, if you would care to take some refreshment with my lady and myself.' He waved a hand to summon Beyau from the Chazen servants waiting beyond Ridu's honour guard.

'My thanks.' Ulla Safar thrust his broad hands into his belt, spurning Chay and Mirrel who had both reached out fruitlessly to claim his arm.

A signal horn sounded out beyond the reef and Beyau looked askance at Kheda. 'That's the Redigal ships, my lord.'

'Then we must wait to greet our friend Coron.' Suddenly jovial, Ulla Safar turned around with an alacrity belying his bulk. 'I can suffer the sun for a little longer.' He turned an unexpected sneer on his wives. 'You all make yourselves scarce, and make yourselves presentable before you shame me any further.'

'Show our guests to their accommodations.' Kheda nodded at Beyau. The steward was frozen with astonishment at the Ulla warlord's overt discourtesy to his women.

'At once, my lord.' Beyau bowed low and departed with ill-concealed relief. The Ulla wives hurried after him like whipped children.

Ridu caught Kheda's eye with a discreetly questioning look. The warlord answered with a minute jerk of his head and a contingent of the honour guard on the quay peeled off to follow the Ulla retinue. The rest waited for the Ulla warriors to disembark and an equal number detached themselves to escort the visitors to their temporary barracks.

'I wonder which of Redigal Coron's wives will be accompanying him.' Kheda offered his arm to Itrac before smiling at Ulla Safar and leading the way towards the next anchorage along the reef where Chazen men were waiting, ready for the rapidly approaching Redigal galley. The two warlords strolled along the planks with every appearance of amity, Itrac gliding between them. Ridu and the remaining Chazen swordsmen followed behind. Kheda noted Ulla Safar mopping his brow again.

I know it's hot but you're sweating more than I'd expect and if Chay has lost weight, you've gained it, my lord slug. Your body slave was watching your wives' slaves with more mistrust than Ridu was. How many discarded concubines has that faithful brute beaten to death for you?

The remaining Chazen honour guard drew up with a rattle of armour to receive the new arrivals, the thud of their feet making the landing stage tremble. Everyone stood in silence as the galley drew closer.