Ishtarians And A Courtyard

Fire Time (here), XI.

"'On the double!' [Larreka] flogged his tired body into a smart trot." (p. 130)

I still have to pause to reflect that it is Larreka's own body that trots, not some other animal that carries him.

He and his companions trot into a kind of courtyard that is familiar to us from several other Andersonian planets, a paved rectangle walled in by:

barns

stables

kennels

mews

storehouses

granaries

workshops

bakery

brewery

cookhouse

laundry

surgery

school

ateliers

observatory

library

sheds

The enormous hall is at the middle of the court. Inside, the main room is carpeted and wainscoted with fires in four hearths, bracketed lanterns, pictures, trophies, ancestral shields, battle banners hanging from rafters, a shrine of She and He although most of the household are Triadists, mattresses and a few chairs for human visitors. Warm air smells of woodsmoke and bodies and the storm is audible although muffled by closed windows.

We feel that we have been here before - apart from the mattresses instead of chairs for residents.