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I chanced to be standing in the frontrow, facing the oncoming hormads. I should
like to be as handsome as Vor Daj or hisfriend. I can go wherever I please on
the island of Morbusexcept into the private quarters of the jeds.
I hadto
consort with hormads and eat raw animal tissue.
There wasanother room in one
comer of which was a pile of sleeping silks andfurs.
After that there was a
lull during which the Third Jed succeeded inmaking himself heard
again.
Tor-dur-bars newbody was indeed a mountain of strength. You seem very
different fromthe other hormads I have seen. They know the word, replied Ras
Thavas, but I am sure they cannotsense its finer connotations. The liquid that
I pump into the veins and arteries of a body willpreserve it indefinitely.
I
hadto consort with hormads and eat raw animal tissue.
They know the word,
replied Ras Thavas, but I am sure they cannotsense its finer connotations.
Why
should a thing like that wish to live, I asked, after we hadpassed along. There
lives noman can make Gantun Gur keep silent. Two of the jeds want her, and
theothers wont let either have her.
I am Gantun Gur, the assassin of Amhor,
bellowed the captive in agreat voice.
I saw to it that he didnt, said Ras
Thavas. The jed said he could dowhat he pleased with the body.
What difference
could it make that I was a littlemore hideous?
Shouldnt he have regained
consciousness before I did? They also do what they seethe majority of their
fellows doing. I found Ras Thavas in his small private study.
Only the most
trustworthywarriors are chosen.
It was Tor-dur-bar with his newly grown
body.
Do not touch me, hormad, she said, or I shall call the guard.
You are
Tor-dur-bar, the strongest man in Morbus?
I will do anything I can for him
andfor you.
Itseemed absolutely incredible that any creature could be so
strong. Your face is really your greatest asset, he said, after looking at
mefor a long time. I crossed quickly toward Janai and kneeled before her.
Do
not call the guard until you have heard my message, I begged.
Dont waste time,
said the Third Jed, for I am going to take himanyway. As a hormad I can besent
to the Council of the Seven Jeds and perhaps chosen to serve them. The headwas
very angry about it, and became quite abusive, reviling Ras Thavas.
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