Swaying, face flushed, the commissioner clutched a decanter. He spilled more _kabat_ into his goblet. "Now--one for Corvett! A toast to Jarl Corvett--" * * * * * He broke off as Ylana tugged at his tunic. Lines of angry tension slashed the smooth loveliness of her face. Her lips moved, wrapping round curt syllables. Her father laughed drunkenly. He turned towards the doorway where guards and raider stood, and his hand swept up in a clumsy broadside gesture. "Drag him out!" he shouted. "Flush the _chitza_ out of his hole!" The two Mercurians who flanked Jarl closed in. One clutched his arm. Jarl's fury seethed higher. In spite of his shackles, he jerked free of the Mercurian's taloned hand. He felt cold arrogance ring in his voice: "No one drags Jarl Corvett! I'll walk alone!" For the fraction of a second the guards stood hesitant, lobed eyes clouded beneath their nictitating lids. Jarl swung his arms back sharply. The chains of his shackles whispered, link on link, like a flexing metal knout. The Mercurians' eyes fell. Contemptuous, ignoring them, Jarl turned away. Head high, back unbending, he strode towards the table of the high commissioner. The Earthman smirked at him, still swaying. Recklessness sang a death-song in Jarl Corvett's veins. "Hail, coward!" he cried fiercely, and swept the crowd with a scathing glance. "Is this the best your Federation fleet can offer--scum so low that they draw their sport from taunting prisoners? _Huroks_ so green with fear that you must bring me here in bonds?" An angry babble rose from the tables, and the commissioner's _kabat_-heavy lids drooped lower. But his lips twisted in the mirthless semblance of a smile. "Do you rate yourself so high that you think I'd waste time on you, _starbo_?" He laughed, deep in his throat. "No, brigand! You're here against my will!" "Against your will--?" "Yes. You're here to face another--one whom even I cannot deny, after what you've done." Wordless, narrow-eyed, Jarl studied him for a moment. "Then who--?" "Who would it be?" This time the commissioner's laugh was sour and savage. "Can you not guess, _yanat_?" And then: "My daughter, Ylana." "Your daughter--!" Jarl pivoted to Ylana. "Yes!" The girl came to her feet as he turned, grey eyes blazing. Her words burst forth in a scalding flood. "Did you think I spoke empty words when I swore last night that you'd live to curse the day you tried to seize me? Did you take my promise for a hollow threat--?" She broke off; swept round the table, a furious vision in gold and scarlet. Her hand flicked up in a tight, peremptory gesture. "Atak! Seize him--!" The commissioner's rock-faced _Malya_ aide closed in on Jarl, moving round behind him. Ylana raised a shaking fist. "On your knees, _stabat_!" * * * * * A numb incredulousness crept through Jarl Corvett. But he stood the straighter. "I kneel for no man--nor for woman!"