Tanith Lee - Claidi Journals 01 Read Online Free PDF Page A

paperweight she threw had bruised me. “It has spikes on it,” said LJL, triumphant. Ah, the whip had spikes.
    She turned in her clumsy bulking way and knocked a case, which shuddered. As I was shuddering.
    The other girls looked glum. But some ladies had come tinkle-rustling in, loudly exclaiming that the enemy-invader had been imprisoned in the Black Marble Pavilion.
    Daisy gasped. Then I did, because one of the ladies turned to me and snapped, “You, girl—Claidi-is-it?”
    “Yes, madam.”
    “Her Oldness, Jizania Tiger, wants you.”
    Somehow I swallowed nothing the wrong way and choked. Pattoo thumped me on the back, luckily just clear of the bruise.
    Dengwi guided me to the doorway. “Listen,” she said, “I don’t know what the Old Lady wants, but everyone says she’s all right. Appeal to her mercy. You mustn’t be whipped . You do know, don’t you, Claidi? My sister was, and”—Dengwi’s face was like smooth black steel—“she nearly died.” I didn’t know what to say. (Had I ever heard that Dengwi had a sister?) There wasn’t time anyway. A slave of the Old Lady’s was standing there, looking haughty and patient—a slave of an Old Lady had more status than anyone’s maid.
    My head was already whirling inside. So much was happening in my life, where, as you know, for sixteen-ish years nothing had happened at all.

THE LION IN THE CAGE
    I’m staring up at the moon, which, ironically, is visible tonight. Again ironically, I keep hearing a piece of LJL’s terrible poetry: O moon, of liquid floating lemon-green …
    In a way I feel sorry for her now. That’s no doubt pretty stupid of me. But she’s so hopeless. I mean, there really isn’t a shred of hope for her. She’ll always be like that, mean and spiteful and unjust and downright appalling. She isn’t happy. If she were happy, she’d be different. Look at Lady Iris and Prince Eagle, and there are others. They’re kind to their servants.
    There’s some lecture we were given, about the time I was polishing the floor where Nemian lay down so wonderfully and went to sleep. The lecturer told us hard work and suffering would refine our characters, make us better .
    What a load of nonsense.
    Anyway, here, at this very high window, staring at the moon, with something whirling in me and all of me trembling and yet somehow serene —I cant be angry at Jade Leaf.
    But I feel weird about the other maids, especially Daisy and Pattoo. Because I wont be able to say good-bye.

    ==========
To get back to my story:
    Jizania Tigers haughty slave took me along the glassy corridors (windows, burnished wood) and up marble stairs. We reached Her Apartment, and I found it was built up on a flat roof. There was a roof garden with trees in pots and a pool with a fountain and colored fish.
    The Old Lady was sitting in a room open to this garden.
    She’d taken off her jeweled headdress, and I admired her well-shaped bald head. She truly is magnificent looking. (But of course I have extra reasons to be impressed with her.)
    “Sit down,” she said to me. “Are you hungry? Thirsty?”
    Startled, I mumbled I wasn’t. Although my mouth was dry.
    She seemed to know this—I suppose not too difficult. She had the slave pour me a glass of fruit juice, orange, I think, which we only ever had watered-down in the Maids’ Hall.
    “You have no notion,” she said, “why you’re here.”
    “No, lady.”
    “It’s been a busy day so far,” she said. She gave a short bark of laughter, like one of the Garden foxes.
    Then she said, “Jade Leaf is an unpleasant girl to serve, I should think. I intend to look into that. And no, I understand you can’t agree. But your life, Claidi, won’t have been much fun. Is that true?“ Amazing she knew my name. Amazing she’d singled me out.
    I said, awkwardly, “Well, not really.” I thought of Dengwi’s words and blurted, not having meant to so soon, “I slapped Lady Jade Leaf’s face today. And she says I’m to be