Alcohol, Seqiro thought. It is a drug that deadens the minds and sensitivities, so that human folk may do what they otherwise would not do.
Someone had given Colene such a drug? Why?
Then the image abruptly clarified. The man had lost his clothing, and he was naked, with his member erect as if about to indulge in sex. There was no memory of his change in appearance; apparently it had happened during the girl's somewhat sleepy study of the room. She was no longer sleepy; now she realized that the man wanted something from her.
She tried to go to the door, but the man caught her and spun her around and threw her down on the bed. She tried to struggle, but was ineffective. He shoved up her dress, tore down her alien panties, and climbed on top of her. It was forced sex: his desire, not hers.
This is what she terms "rape," Seqiro explained.
The memory faded. Nona stood bemused and horrified. She had lived a sheltered life, she realized; it had never occurred to her that such a thing was possible. She knew that men were constantly interested in indulging in sex, but thought that they always persuaded their partners to cooperate. But obviously a man could hold a woman down and do it. One of these rabble could do the same to her, unless she used her magic.
"But I am the only one at risk for that," she said after a moment.
"I don't think so," Darius said darkly.
"But a man—his—he has to—if he simply refuses—"
"He can refuse to act, but he can not refuse to react." Darius said. "If he is held down, and a woman then touches him to arouse him, and then—" He did not finish speaking, but the image in his mind made the process clear. Nona realized that there were ways in which a man could be raped too. What bothered her even more was the dark hint in his mind that worse than that was possible. She did not want to know any more.
"Then we must use our powers to escape, immediately," she said. "We can return to the surface and hide—"
"No," Stave said. "The despots now know what we intend to do. They will be watching, and will try to capture us immediately, or destroy us. Even if we hide from them for a while, we will not be able to find the place for the anima. We must emerge exactly when Colene returns, and hope she has what we need."
He was right. But still she could not accept it. "Even if we agree to do what they want, the rabble will keep us for years! Until we have each done a thousand breedings!"
"There must be another way," Darius said. "Seqiro, does Keli's mind show any alternative?"
Yes. Their society allows a person to decline to breed, by dueling.
"Dueling! Do you mean individual combat?"
Yes. But Kelt has no direct experience with that; she knows only that such a convention exists.
"But suppose we get killed? How would that encourage breeding?" Darius seemed as perplexed as Nona herself, which made her feel only slightly better.
"Maybe that is how we avoid breeding," Stave said wryly. "By getting killed."
No, there does not seem to be death.
"Then we had better find out about it," Darius decided. Nona could only agree.
She turned to Keli. "We prefer to duel. How do we do that?"
Keli looked so disappointed that Nona felt sympathy for her despite regarding her as an enemy. "I do not know, but I wish it not to be."
"Maybe Stave can duel you," Nona suggested. "So that you retain your chance." It was clear that Keli, whatever her real appearance, was both female and human in nature.
Keli brightened. "Yes! I have the right. I have been challenged."
"Then find out exactly how it is done, and tell us. We will be here."
Keli walked away. Nona watched her go, surprised. Could it be this easy?
They entered the chamber and made themselves comfortable, waiting. The massed rabble did not try to come in. But the two emulations did: Null-Darius and Null-Nona. They spoke but Seqiro could not interpret their thoughts. He had not had enough time with them to get that far into their minds.
However, Nona had a notion. "Every one of these folks wants to breed with us," she said. "They have an elaborate system of changing off so that as many as possible have a chance. Keli—the one Keli that Stave fixed in place—wants to breed with him. Because we said we wanted to duel, and she is the first to hear it, she considers herself challenged. So she will not change off, and Seqiro can continue to know her mind. These two others must want the same. If we challenge them, then they can not be switched out until they have finished the duel, I think."
Yes, I am beginning to get into them, the horse thought. I do have a head start on them. That is what they want.
"Are we better off with folk Seqiro can read?" Darius asked.
"Yes!" Nona agreed. "Because then we'll know what they are trying to do, and will be better able to prevent it. The blank ones will find it easier to fool us."
"Then let's make them happy," Darius said. He addressed Null-Nona. "I challenge you to my duel," he said formally.
Seqiro managed to get just enough of that translated so that the woman understood. She smiled and flung herself forward, kissing him.
"Hey, not yet!" he exclaimed. Nona picked up his embarrassment at embracing a creature who looked exactly like Nona herself, naked. She appreciated the sentiment.
Three more figures entered the room: Potia, Lang, and the equine Bel. "You made Potia jealous," Nona said, almost finding it funny.
"Sorry," he said. "But Potia kept changing too fast. It has to be Null-Nona."
His reasoning seemed sound. "My turn," Nona said. She walked to Null-Darius. "I challenge you," she said. "And don't kiss me!"
He understood enough to smile, and not advance on her. But Lang scowled. He knew he had lost.
"Now pick yours," Darius suggested to Seqiro.
This Bel will do, the horse thought. I will not mind breeding with her.
They sat down again at the table where Stave and Keli had eaten. Their chosen opposites, now clothed, joined them. Nona was struck again by the uncanny accuracy of the emulations; Null-Darius looked and moved exactly like Darius, and Null-Nona seemed to be her own mirror image. Without Seqiro, they certainly could have been fooled, as long as no words were spoken. The imitations did not act at all threatening; they seemed like good companions. This could almost have been fun, were it not unfortunately serious.
Before long, Keli did return. She was the same individual; Seqiro verified that. "I have talked with those who remember," she said. "The duels will start immediately. First mine." She advanced possessively on Stave.
"But we must understand the rules!" Darius protested.
"It will be clear," she replied. She did not seem surprised that he now seemed to be speaking her language, because of Seqiro's translation. Probably the horse was also sending a reassuring feeling, so that she did not think to wonder. "Come with me."
They followed her out of the chamber and down the passage. She led them to a truly grand cavern whose ceiling was so high that it was lost in gloom, and whose sides were smooth. Nona wondered what aspect of what Colene called the Mandelbrot set this represented. Certainly it was unlike the surface, though there was enough light from hidden sources.
There was a platform in the center. In fact there were several platforms, rising in a group. "This is like the daises of my own reality!" Darius exclaimed. "Everything happens on a dais."
That was what Nona was afraid of. But they had no choice now.
Each of them was led to a separate dais. They could see each other, but not reach each other, except by getting off one dais and onto another. Obviously each dais defined the arena for its particular duel.
The rabble were pouring in as word of the duels spread. "They do seem to like a spectacle," Darius muttered. "Colene would have loved getting up before this mob and stepping out of her clothes."
"She likes to go naked?" Nona asked.
"No. She likes to make an impression, and to take suicidal risks."
"And you chose this one to love?"
<
br /> "No. Love chose this one for me, and I am helpless."
"I would like to know what such love feels like."
"You do not feel it with Stave?"
She paused, reconsidering. "I think not. Friendship, respect—he is a good man."
"But no fire," he said.
"No fire," she agreed.
Then they had to separate, to go to their individual daises. Hers was the closest to their path. It was stepped around the edge, so was easy to reach.
Null-Darius mounted from another side, and stood waiting for her. Meanwhile the others mounted theirs, until the four were filled. They were in a rough square, with space inside and the massed rabble outside.
Nona looked around, expecting some sort of announcement, but there was none. "This was supposed to be explained," she said, nettled.
"I will explain it," Null-Darius said. As usual, his meaning was brought to her by Seqiro, so that she did not have to depend on her interpretation of his words.
"But you are my opponent! How can I trust what you tell me?" But she realized that she could, because once the horse penetrated a mind well enough to translate, he also knew the truth in that mind, and would provide her with it no matter what the person tried to say. Nona wished she could always have Seqiro with her, but knew also that this was not destined. He was committed to Colene. As was Darius. Colene was doubly fortunate.
"There is only one way to do a duel, and I have just learned it," the rabble man said as if that decided it. "We have a day and a night from this point to decide. We may eat, sleep, or do anything we choose, but we may not leave this dais until the breeding occurs, and it is witnessed."
"Witnessed?" But the horse was clarifying the meaning already. This assembled multitude would watch it happen.
She had no intention of letting it happen, but she was morbidly curious. "Suppose it happens early. Then what?"
"Then we are free to leave the dais."
"But not to leave this realm," she said.
"I can not, and you may not," he agreed.
"Suppose one of us has to—to—" She did not wish to speak it, so had Seqiro send the implication of a natural function being performed.
"There is a bucket," he said, gesturing to the side. She looked, and saw it. "When one asks, there will be a brief cessation for this purpose."
And in public, she realized. She was not easy about this, but realized that protest was pointless. The ways of the rabble governed here.
"And what is permissible?" she asked. "How much can one be hurt?"
"No hurt," he said. "The one who hurts the other loses the duel."
Now, this was interesting. "But how does one win?"
He shrugged. "We must breed or fail to breed. That is the only conclusion."
"But if you try to breed with me, how can I try to stop you, without hurting you?"
"You can tie me with the ribbon," he said, gesturing to another side. There were coils of light ribbon that was surely stronger than it looked. "And I will tie you with ribbon if I need to."
So that was the way of it! If she managed to tie him, he would not be able to do anything with her. If he tied her, she would not be able to prevent him. The ribbon would immobilize a person without damage.
"When does it start?" she asked.
"It started when we came to the dais."
"But you have not tried anything!" she said.
"There is time," he said. "Perhaps before the end you will decide to do it without strife. I would like that."
"I doubt I will change my mind," she said. "I do not want to breed."
"Perhaps you will reconsider after watching the other duels," he suggested.
"Watching the others?" she asked blankly.
"It would be pointless to have the breedings all together," he said. "People would not know which one to watch."
She still did not trust this. "Then let's watch all the others," she said. "You stay on your side, I'll stay on my side, and no one touches those ribbons."
"I agree." He sat on the edge of the dais, his feet on one of the steps down.
Nona found this awkward to believe, but Seqiro reassured her. We are waiting too, he thought. I will of course lose, by your definition, but it will happen in its turn.
"Lose?" she asked.
The mare will come into heat, and I will have to breed her. With my species, breeding is too important to be left to individual whim. But I will continue to support you in your foolish resistance, since your human attitude differs from mine.
"Thank you, Seqiro," she murmured. There were indeed differences between human beings and horses.
Darius and Null-Nona were also waiting. The only active dais was the one to her left, where Stave and Keli were.
As if Nona's attention was the signal, the two started moving toward each other. Keli was naked and Stave was clothed; it seemed that this was a matter of individual choice. They met in the center and touched hands.
Then Keli grasped his right hand. Stave resisted, but she was not trying to apply force. She held his hand up and walked into it, causing him to caress her torso. "Can I not persuade you?" she asked. "I almost did before."
"To do what you want would alienate me from my group," Stave replied. "I must support my friends."
"I know you like me," she said. "Can't you see that what I want is right? It would cost you so little, and give me so much."
Nona, watching and listening, began to feel guilty. Not for the watching, because that was part of the duel, but because she understood the position Stave was in. He was a man, and he surely did want to breed with the woman, who was of exactly the contours that men preferred. But he did not want to do it in public, and he did not want to do it if it meant that he would then have no chance with Nona herself. It was not a nice position he was in. She almost wanted to call across to him, telling him to do it. But she feared that the first default to the way of the rabble would begin the unraveling of their group, and then none of them would escape.
"Let me kiss you," Keli said.
He let her kiss him. Nona saw the expertise of that kiss, and saw his hands slide down her bare back; he was indeed tempted. But he had resolved not to do it, and did not weaken. She felt the warring currents within him, relayed by Seqiro: the burgeoning desire and the denial. She was discovering, through this mental contact, how strong the passions of men were. No wonder they tended to be irrational on this subject.
Keli drew back and shook her head with regret. "Perhaps you won't resist too much when I try to tie you," she said. Then she walked to the edge and picked up a coil of tape.
But when her back was turned, Stave began his defense. His body seemed to shimmer. Nona knew what he was doing: he was Grafting an illusion of himself, while he crafted an illusion of nothing beside himself. He stepped into the second illusion, leaving the first.
Keli returned with the tape. She took a length between her two hands and flung it over the man she saw—and the tape passed through him without resistance.
"Oh, no!" she exclaimed in perfectly understandable annoyance. "You have magic!" There was a murmur of awe from the watching throng.
"I have magic," the illusion agreed. "I am a man of the surface." It was only technically correct; illusion was not considered true magic, but rather a cheap variant.
Then Keli regrouped. "But that's why I must breed with you. My child must have magic, to achieve the surface and be human again." She now seemed pleased rather than displeased, having verified her rationale. And more determined than ever.
But Stave was now cloaked by the illusion of nothingness and was in effect invisible. Nona had to admire the quality of the illusion; some were better than others at it, and he was one of the best. Perhaps there was a bit of despot blood in his ancestry. Keli had no such magic, and couldn't see him.
"But I will catch you, my rare prize," Keli said. "I will have your seed." She stretched her ribbon out between her two hands and walked forward, seeking the unseen presence
. The ribbon looked slight, but Nona was sure that it was strong enough to bind a person securely.
The illusion followed her. "Here I am," it said.
"No, you aren't," she retorted, not looking.
"But I am," it said. "You will never find me by casting at shadows."
Keli ignored him and continued to walk with her ribbon. She moved back and forth, sometimes jumping, so as to surprise an invisible man who might think he was beyond her reach.
When this didn't work, she expanded her effort. Her arms extended, becoming inhumanly long, still stretching out the ribbon between them. She was a shape-changer, and no longer bothering to maintain her seductive appearance, since that wasn't working. As her arms lengthened, her breasts diminished; she was evidently drawing on their mass. Had she had magic, she might have increased her bulk, but as it was she was limited. Still, it was impressive enough, for no one on the surface had such power of self-changing.
When Keti still did not snare the invisible man, she extended herself again. She became shorter and wider, her legs far apart, and her arms reached out almost to the edges of the dais, still holding the ribbon. She no longer looked human at all. It was amazing.
Just how far could the rabble change? Nona had assumed that they could assume the likeness of any human being of their own sex, but this was far beyond that. Was Keli human at all? How was it possible to know?
The rabble are cross-human, Seqiro thought. I am learning their nature as the duel proceeds and I get farther into their minds. They have evolved not in size but in malleability, and are now as different from ordinary human beings as the despots are from the theows.
"But despots and theows are both human," Nona said.
Yes. But in magic they are far apart.
"Because of the animus. But when that changes—"
It will not affect the rabble. But the rabble is close enough to human to breed with humans.
Nona remained amazed. Of course she had seen the remarkable changes in size which were possible without loss of the human condition; Angus was certainly human, yet could not breed with the folk of Oria. So now she was adjusting her concept of human; the rabble differed less than the sizes of surface folk.