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flesh. For a fact, we see very few if any of your ilk.
My friend Uther Madduc passed this way recently,
said Gerd Jemasze. He tells me that you provided him
fiaps and gave him counsel.
Not I, not I. Poliamides then held tenure. I am Moff-
amides.
In that case we will pay our respects to Poliamides.
Moffamides eyes became round and brilliant; he
pursed his mouth and gave his head a shake of disapprob-
ation. Poliamides has proved inconstant; he has aban-
doned the priesthood and gone out across the sarai*.
Perhaps he was unduly responsive to your friend Uther
Madduc.
In the name of Ahariszeio then, provide us fiaps; and
make them strong.
The priest went to look into a black leather case lined
*
Sarai: Untranslatable: a limitless expanse, horizon to horizon, of
land or water, lacking all impediment or obstacle to travel and
projecting an irresistible urgency to be on the way, to travel toward
a known or unknown destination.
105
JACK VANCE
with pink felt, where rested a dozen rock-crystal spheres.
He touched them, rearranged them, and jerked back with
a small exclamation of surprise. The portents are unfa-
vorable! You must return to the Alouan.
Gerd Jemasze said brusquely: You have misused the
spheres; the portents are favorable.
Moffamides turned him a sharp sidelong look, the
agate beads in his black hair clicking and softly clatter-
ing. How can you say so? Are you priests?
Jemasze gave his head a curt shake. Uther Madduc
is dead, as you know.
Moffamides eyes bulged in apparently genuine sur-
prise. How should I know?
Through telepathy, which is one of your priestly skills,
so I am told.
In certain circumstances only, and never as to events
on the Alouan, where I know no more than you of the
Palga.
Uther Madduc s ghost has laid a charge on us. He and
Poliamides became companions and each for assurance
allowed the other a taste of his soul.
Elvo Glissam listened in awe. And he had considered
Gerd Jemasze dull and stolid!
Moffamides sat with owl eyes now half-closed and
thoughtful. I have heard nothing of this.
You have so been told, and if we must return to the
Alouan without Uther Madduc s soul, I will ask you to
return with us and console his ghost.
Utterly impossible, declared the priest. I dare not
leave the Palga.
In that case we must have a few words with Poliam-
ides.
106
THE GRAY PRINCE
Moffamides nodded slowly, thoughtfully, his eyes
unfocused.
First, said Gerd Jemasze, you must provide us fiaps.
Moffamides once more became alert. Fiaps of what
nature?
Contrive us a fiap so that we may fly our sky-car
across the Palga.
Moffamides drew down the corners of his mouth and
held up his forefinger. Belches of gas and whines of
energy on the excellent winds of Ahariszeio? Unthink-
able! Nor will I work you a fiap of fair venture because
I am aware of bodes and umbras, and all may not go
well. At best I can contrive a general talisman commend-
ing you to the mercy of Ahariszeio.
Very good; we will accept this fiap with gratitude.
Additionally, the sky-car must be protected against every
manner of damage, nuisance and misfortune, including
pilferage, destruction, curiosity, tampering, vandalism,
defilement, removal or concealment. I want fiaps for
myself and my companions, guarding us against
molestation, harm, magic, beguilement, exploitation,
capture or immobility, and the various stages and condi-
tions of death. We will also need a suitable set of fiaps
for our vehicle, assuring us of good winds, smooth turf,
stability and fair destiny.
You require a great deal.
For a priest as close to Ahariszeio as yourself, our
requirements are small. We could ask more.
It is quite enough. You must pay a fee.
We will discuss the fee on our return, after the fiaps
have been proved.
Moffamides opened his mouth to speak, then closed
it again. How far do you fare?
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JACK VANCE
As far as necessary. Where is Poliamides?
Not close at hand.
You must then direct us to him.
Moffamides nodded thoughtfully. Yes. I will give you
direction and I will provide fiaps. They must be strong;
and their power must not fade. Tomorrow they will be
charged with force.
Gerd Jemasze gave a curt nod. Give us now a tempor-
ary fiap to secure the sky-car, and others to guard
ourselves and our belongings overnight.
Take your sky-car behind the wagon shops. I will
bring the fiaps.
Gerd Jemasze returned to the sky-car, floated it over
the wagon shops to the indicated area: a storage lot for
dozens of vehicles, of various styles and sizes, old and
new, from a three-masted cargo schooner on eight ten-
foot wheels, to a three-wheeled skimmer with a single
unstayed mast. Attached to each was a confection of
twisted glass bulbs and rods of various colors from which
depended ribbons long enough to drop past the side of
the wagon.
Moffamides awaited them with a basket. These are
fiaps of general potency. He brought the objects forth.
This red and green fiap is standard and will guard your
sky-car indefinitely. These blue and whites will secure
your belongings so long as you remain at the inn. The
black, green and white fiap will guard this Uldra against
vengeance, malice and ghost-clutch. The two black, blue
and yellow fiaps will suffice for you Outkers.
Jemasze attached the red and green fiap to the sky-
car, distributed the others among Elvo, Kurgech and
himself. Quite correct, said Moffamides, and without
further ceremony departed the yard.
108
THE GRAY PRINCE
Jemasze regarded the fiaps dubiously. Hopefully
they re operative and not just junk.
They are good fiaps, said Kurgech. They carry
magic.
I don t notice anything, said Elvo in a subdued voice.
I suppose my sensibilities are atrophied.
Jemasze went to inspect a tall-masted sloop on four
six-foot wheels with a wicker deck and a small cabin.
All my life I ve wanted to sail one of these wagons& This
is probably too light and too small. That ketch yonder
would be more suitable.
The three repaired to the inn and entered a foyer,
separated by a chest-high bar of scrubbed pale wood
from the kitchen, where a stocky brown man, naked to
the waist and glistening with sweat, tended a row of iron
pots which bubbled and seethed on a great iron range.
The three waited; the cook darted them a severe glance
and seizing a cutlass began to dice a parsnip.
Into the chamber came a young woman, tall and
slender, with a face impassive as that of a somnambulist.
Elvo, always on the alert for odd human variants, was
instantly fascinated. With any degree of animation this
young woman might have manifested a most unusual
beauty, comprising the languor of a nenuphar and the
elegance of some swift white winter beast. But her face
was still and the beauty was absent. Or almost absent,
thought Elvo; perhaps it was there, stranger than ever,
by implication. Her ivory skin was paler than that of the
ordinary Wind-runner and showed a most subtle luster
or bloom of an indefinable color: blue? blue-green?
green-violet? Her hair, dark brown, hung to her shoulders
and was contained at the forehead by a black fillet with
a purple, black and scarlet fiap at the back.
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JACK VANCE
In a soft voice the woman asked their needs and Gerd
Jemasze rather brusquely spoke for three beds, supper
and breakfast, and Elvo wondered at his indelicacy. The
woman stepped back, as graceful and easy as a retreating
wave and signaled to them; the three men followed her
into a cavernous common room, dim and moving with
mysterious shadows. Slabs of dark gray stone paved the
floor; posts of smoke-stained timber supported the ceiling
rafters, from which depended hundreds of barely visible
fiaps. A long clerestory of a hundred purple and brown
panes admitted a warm umbrous light which enhanced
the quality of posts, beams and panels, enriched the dark
red cloth which covered the tables, and as if by purpose-
ful chiaroscuro dramatized the features of the other per-
sons in the room. These were five men who sat gambling
at a table, pounding with heavy fists and cursing for
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