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Teleuard, and crossed the scriptoriulance as he passed; two visiting historians did not look up froainst his knees on the bottom step of the Globe Room

"Do you need the basin?" Dawit inquired warily

"I’ain, despairing of the long season that stretched ahead of him

II

SUNBIRD IN A CAGE

THE WORST OF THE dailythe door to the children’s rooh it if it were open, ca Sobirds trilled and fluted; the Scions, Abreha’s royal foster children, ould inherit ether to Queen Muna’s lyre; or the increasingly uns across the room

Abreha did not arerous than whips The najashi rotated the watchuard; they took their orders seriously and were not to be won over by charm or familiarity, or by superstitious fear of Telee as witchcraft in an Aksu nursemaid to a disobedient boy was beneath their station, whatever he was and whatever his cri hi Telemakos boldly defied his escort on his way back up the stairs, and turned out of the corridor and through the door into the children’s roouards

Telemakos paid no attention They had to follow hies ofand silver Twelve of Abreha’s fourteen royal foster children looked up froest Scions, Habib and Lu’lu, were ; they were presumably in the nursery with Queen Muna

"Come away now," the watchman told Telemakos "Don’t shame yourself before your fellows"

Telemakos uard cracked his whip around Teles were bare beneath his sandal straps He stopped, not because he was afraid of the whip, but because it was e

"Turn and face me," the soldier ordered He spoke as cal of rice Telemakos hesitated, then confronted his escort squarely

He saw, as he turned, that the three eldest of the Scions no longer showed any interest in this scene Tall Jibril,Shadi had all bent low over their bowls of honey yogurt

"Will you stand fast to be disciplined?" the soldier with the whip asked Telemakos "Or must Butrus hold you still?"

"I’ll stand," Telemakos said

The soldier struck him in the face with the tail of his lash, sharply and accurately It left a narrow, burning blaze across his cheek

"You are required to do as you are bid," the soldier told him, with the same sure, controlled lack of excitement "If anyone asks how you came by that mark on your face, you are to tell them you hipped for disobedience Now leave this hall and continue up the stairs to the scriptoriuive you your daily instruction"

Tele else, stalked back out to the corridor and continued up the stairs

"What is that?" Harith the librarian in the scriptoriuh to the Great Globe Rooer toward Tele and listening, and Telemakos knew he could not lie

"It’s a lash mark"

"What were you lashed for?"

Tele to realize how this particular punishment was supposed to work

"Disobedience," he h clenched teeth

Harith escorted hi at the door to the Globe Rooreat red burn across his face," the librarian told him conversationally