The Honorable Barbarian by L. Sprague de Camp Read Free Book Online

taverns? There seemed to be none in Halgir.''
    "Yea, there are. But a foreigner who eats in one may catch a flux; so beware of food not cooked. Or you can come back to ship."
    "Doesn't the cook get shore leave?"
    "Aye; Chinda is already going. But I stay here on watch. Someone must be guarding the ship, and it is my turn."
    "If I come back for dinner, 'twill be early enough for you to cook for two—"
    "Master Kerin!" said a male voice. Resplendent in his best white turban and a crimson jacket with buttons of semiprecious stones, Rao appeared. "Go you ashore? May I come, too?"
    The young Mulvani moved unsteadily. He had lost some weight, and isolation from sunlight had lightened his skin; but he seemed to be cheerful and ripe for adventure.
    "Certes," said Kerin. "Art ready?"
    "Aye, verily. Let's forth!"
    Kerin said: "I really must practice my Mulvanian more. Promise to correct me whenever I err!"
    The town possessed more interesting features than Kerin had thought. There was, for instance, a little museum containing relics of its past, such as the turban of its founding father and the ax he had cut down trees with. Since the captions on the labels were in Mulvani, Kerin was glad that Rao could interpret them. Rao eagerly explained the Mulvanian system of writing; by the end of the visit Kerin could sometimes decipher a word in a caption.
    At the city hall, Kerin noticed a clock in the tower. Wondering if this were one of the clocks installed by his father, he asked the guard at the door:
    "May we go up the tower to look at your clock? I am in the business."
    "You may not go up without me," said the guard, "and I . . . Wait! 'Tis almost time to refill the tank. I will escort you two gentlemen up to the clock, if you will haul the buckets."
    The guard picked up two buckets and filled them at the nearby well. Rao looked puzzled. "Does he expect me to carry a bucket? That's no proper kind of work for one of my caste."
    "Oh, futter your caste!" said Kerin. "I was brought up to do whatever job had to be done and not fuss about it. Do you want me to tote both buckets?"
    "Well—ah—all right, if you'll not tell my compatriots. They would scorn me if they knew.''
    While Kerin caught his breath after the climb to the top of the tower, the guard emptied both buckets into the tank of a large water clock. Evidently the travels of Evor the Clockmaker had not carried him to Akkander, or he would have sold them a mechanical clock.
    The sun had been near the meridian when they set forth and was low in the west by the time they had done with the sights of Akkander. When they passed a drink shop with a space behind the bar for four tables, at which a couple of locals sat on cushions on the floor eating, Kerin and Rao exchanged glances. Without discussion, they made their way in and were presently seated enjoying the local liquor, another variety of tari.
    Kerin expected a long delay for their dinners; smaller eateries seldom carried a reserve of perishables. Therefore someone had to go out and buy the items ordered before they could be cooked.
    Kerin was into his second mug, and Rao was expounding the mighty magical feats of his master, when a young woman glided up, saying: "You gentlemen look lonesome. May I join you?"
    She spoke the local dialect of Mulvani, which Kerin could follow with some difficulty. Small and dark, she was clad in Mulvanian fashion in a length of filmy, peachcolored material wound round and round to make an ankle-length skirt. She also wore multiple strings of beads around her neck, earrings, bracelets, and a jeweled nose ornament.
    Kerin had become so used to Janji's bare breasts that the sight no longer roused his lust. He said: "Certes, mistress. Pull up a cushion; the table is big enough. Who are you?"
    "Call me Yakshi. Tell me of yourselves, you big, beautiful strangers!"
    Rao continued the tale of his guru's magical prowess. The girl hung on his every word. After a while she raised her eyes and said: "Oh, there