MENAGERIE

Eleven – In which the state of Red Sonja's liver is discussed

"Specimen, am I?" Sonja roared at him. "Make this abomination let go of me!"

If he heard her, the man paid no attention. He bent over her, muttering to himself. "Red hair; hmm, unusual. Excellent eyes, though; clear and bright. Suggestive of a mind to match."

"Never mind the colour of my hair," Sonja screamed at him, "just think about the colour of your blood on the floor when I've finished with you."

Again, the man appeared not to have heard her, but kept up his muttering. Behind him, the cauldron bubbled and spat unheeded.

"Good limbs, too. Several possibilities there. I suppose your liver's in good order?"

This last question was addressed directly to Sonja, who was so taken aback that she was struck dumb for a second. The man was right about one thing; her mind was clear and sharp, and it was telling her that it was important to keep the man's attention, and to hope that Jharlen had met with better fortune than she had.

"My liver?" she said at last. "Well, it's served me well enough over the years, despite the amount of drink I've poured down my throat."

"Hmm – I'll examine it later."

Hopefully without removing it first, Sonja thought to herself. Then, because she could think of no other way to keep the conversation going said, "You must be Galud?"

"Yes, I'm Galud. How did you know?"

"Your fame is greater than you suppose."

"Is it?" There'd been a note of sarcasm in Sonja's voice, but Galud seemed not to have noticed. "But my work is hardly begun."

"Talking of which, what is this thing?" Sonja was uncomfortably aware that the creature in whose jaws she was being held was standing absolutely still, its eyes fixed on Galud as if awaiting instructions.

"That? Oh, that's number seventeen."

"Number seventeen?"

"Yes," Galud replied apologetically. "I suppose I ought to have given them all names, but I was never very good at that sort of thing. But anyway, I keep full records of them over here." He moved to a table piled untidily with scrolls and unrolled one of them. "Oh, and please stop struggling, by the way. Seventeen won't damage you unless I tell it to; you're far too valuable." He squinted at the scroll. "Yes – I think I could use parts of you for numbers twenty-three and twenty-four. Your liver, by the way, is needed by number eleven. He ails, poor thing."

Sonja didn't know what reply to make to this. Indeed, she was trying very hard not to think of the implications at all. Her eyes flashed round the room. More to change the subject than to be helpful, she said, "Your soup's boiling over, by the way."

"What? Oh, bother." Galud snatched the cauldron off the flame and stirred the contents with a vexed expression on his face. "Bother," he said again, "the serum's ruined. Oh well, I can make another batch later." He suddenly seemed unsure of himself. "Er, is it day or night?"

"Night." Stupid to think that wizards kept normal hours.

Galud crossed to a shuttered window, opened it, and peered out for a moment. "So it is." He closed the shutter again. "One loses track of time so easily. It hardly seems a moment since I had breakfast." Sonja wasn't listening; where in Hades had Jharlen got to?

"Yes, I'm sure I had breakfast this morning. Or perhaps it was yesterday. Still," he said, brightening up, "at least I feed my pets regularly. Or I'm pretty sure I do. Shall we go up to the menagerie?"

He turned and opened a door that led to another set of stairs. Seventeen, still holding Sonja in its jaws, crossed the room to follow. As it did so, it passed close by a table and Sonja was able to reach out and grab some sort of glass vessel. A piece of broken glass can be useful in a crisis.

Galud stopped, partway up the stairs. "Please put that down," he said, without turning round. His voice was quite calm. Sonja didn't respond.

"I said out that down," Galud repeated, rather more firmly. "No," he said in answer to Sonja's unasked question, "I don't have eyes in the back of my head; but seventeen has eyes in the front of his. So put that down, or I'll ask him to close his jaws. They're quite powerful."

"Won't that spoil my liver?"

"Regrettably, yes; but other parts of you will still be useable."

Sonja opened her hand and let the vessel fall. There was a tinkle of smashed glass. Galud sighed; "I said put, not drop. Never mind; come along."

He continued up the stairs until they reached another chamber, filled with iron cages. Sonja looked around, fighting the urge to vomit.