her way back through the press toward the Queen's chamber. Today, unlike every other day, her curiosity was quiescent. She did not long to beg the silk makers' secret from the cho-ja Queen, nor did she make her usual request to visit the nurseries, where newly hatched cho-ja young blundered on awkward legs to complete their first steps.
Her escort guided her to the junction of two major passages, and was about to turn downward to the deepest level where the Queen's chamber lay when a warrior in a plumed helm raised a forelimb and intercepted them.
Confronted by the razor-sharp edge of chitin that the cho-ja could wield like a second sword, Mara stopped at once; though the edge was turned away at an angle that indicated friendliness, she did not know why she was being stopped.
Cho-ja did not think like individuals, but reacted according to the mind of their hive, and the consciousness that directed that collective purpose was the Queen's. Cho-ja reactions were frighteningly fast, and their moods could change as suddenly.
'Lady of the Acoma,' intoned the warrior cho-ja. He squatted down into the same bow he would give to a Queen, and as his plumed helm bobbed, Mara recognized Lax'l, Force Commander of the hive.
Reassured that intentions were not hostile, she relaxed and returned the nod due a commander of Lax'l's rank.
'What does your Queen require of me?'
Lax'l stood erect and assumed a statuelike stillness that seemed unreal amid the bustle of workers that continually passed around him and the Lady with her escort. 'My Queen requires nothing of you, but wishes you best health. She sent me to report that a messenger has arrived from your estate house asking with some urgency for your presence. He waits on the surface.'
Mara sighed in frustration. Her morning should have been free of commitments; she had scheduled no meetings until afternoon, when she was due to review figures from the needra sales with Jican. Something must have come up, though it was summer's end, and the game usually underwent a lull as most Lords involved themselves with finances prior to the annual harvest. 'I must return to find out what has happened,' the Lady of the Acoma said regretfully to Lax'l. 'Please convey my apology to your Queen.'
The cho-ja Force Commander inclined his head. 'My Queen returns her regards, and says further that she hopes the news that awaits you holds no word of misfortune.' He flicked a forelimb to the escort worker, and Mara found herself turned around and bustled toward the upper tunnels almost before she had a chance to think.
As she stepped outside, the sudden reentry into sunlight dazzled her. Mara squinted against the glare while her eyes adjusted. She made out the presence of two officers' plumes among the slaves who awaited with her litter. One was Xaltchi, a junior officer recently promoted by Keyoke for his valour in defence of a caravan. The other, with a longer, more sumptuous plume, could only be Lujan. Surprised that he should be bearing the message, and not a lesser servant or her runner slave, Mara frowned. Whatever news awaited her would not be a matter for ears that could not be trusted.
She dismissed her cho-ja escort with absentminded politeness, and hurried toward her Strike Leader, who had seen her emerge from the hive and who strode briskly to meet her.
'My Lady.' Lujan completed a hasty if proper bow, then took her arm and guided her through the traffic of cho-ja workers streaming to and from the hive. The instant they reached open ground, but well before they came within earshot of the slaves within the litter, Lujan said, 'Lady, you have a visitor. Jiro of the Anasati is currently in Sulan-Qu, awaiting your word. His father, Tecuma, has sent him to discuss a matter too sensitive to entrust to a common messenger.'
Mara's frown deepened. 'Go back and send a runner to town,' she instructed her Strike Leader. 'I will see Jiro at once.'
Lujan saw her to her litter, helped her inside, and bowed.
Then he was off at a run down the lane that led back to the estate house. The bearers shouldered the Lady's litter and Xaltchi mustered the small company of soldiers who marched as her escort. More slowly, the cortege followed in Lujan's footsteps.
'Pick up the pace,' Mara commanded through the curtains. She fought to keep the concern from her voice.
Before her marriage to Buntokapi of the Anasati, that ancient house had