he could peer inside.
Her back was to him. She wore a dark blue sari, and
she was seated on a small bench at the opposite end of
the room.
14 ROGER ZELAZNY
He clambered onto the sill and cleared his throat.
She turned quickly. She wore a veil, so that her
features were indistinguishable. She regarded him
through it, then rose and crossed the chamber.
He was dismayed. Her figure, once lithe, was wide
about the waist; her walk, once the swaying of boughs,
was a waddle; her complexion was too dark; even
through the vefl the lines of her nose and jaw were too
pronounced.
He bowed his head.
" 'And so you have drawn near to us, who at your
coming have come home,*" he sang, " 'as birds to their
nest upon the tree.'"
She stood, still as her statue in the main hall below.
"'Guard us from the she-wolf and the wolf, and
guard us from the thief, oh Night, and so be good for
us to pass.'"
She reached out slowly and laid her hand upon his
bead.
"You have my blessing, little one," she said, after a
time. "Unfortunately, that is all I can give. I cannot
offer protection or render beauty, who lack these lux-
uries myself. What is your name?"
"Tak," he told her.
She touched her brow.
"I once knew a Tak," she said, "in a bygone day, a
