{"id":2579,"date":"2022-01-27T13:14:45","date_gmt":"2022-01-27T13:14:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/?p=2579"},"modified":"2022-01-27T13:14:49","modified_gmt":"2022-01-27T13:14:49","slug":"kitemistress-by-keith-roberts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/?p=2579","title":{"rendered":"Kitemistress by Keith Roberts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kitemistress <\/em><\/strong>by Keith Roberts (Interzone<\/em> #11, Spring 1985) is a direct sequel to Kitecadet<\/em>,1<\/sup> the second of the \u2018Kiteworld\u2019 stories, and takes place shortly after Raoul\u2019s crash in the Badlands. Raoul has decided to leave the Kitecorps, and we see Captain Goldensoul quiz him about his decision to leave. They quickly get to the nub of the matter:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Cadet,\u2019 he said, \u2018you saved both yourself and your String. You showed coolness, and considerable courage.\u2019 He paused. \u2018You are here, we are all here, to protect the Realm. You did your duty. I see no shame in that.\u2019
But he\u2019d been neither cool nor courageous. He\u2019d been terrified. He\u2019d seized the first weapon that came to hand, killed a defenceless creature with it. He said, \u2018Have you ever cut a baby\u2019s head off with a hatchet?\u2019 His back stiffened instantly. He said, Sorry, sir. Beg pardon.\u2019
The Captain waved a hand, mildly. He stared a moment longer, then sat back at the desk. He said, \u2018You didn\u2019t kill a baby. You killed nothing human. You destroyed an alien. An enemy of the Realm.\u2019
Raoul moistened his lips with his tongue. \u2018It was human,\u2019 he said. \u2018And it wasn\u2019t our enemy.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Goldensoul decides to give him a conditional discharge (twelve months upaid leave) and Raoul leaves. He packs his things and goes to the bar, where Canwen, the legendary kiteman, summons him to his table. He quizzes Raoul about his decision, points out a few uncomfortable truths about the young, and then gives him a letter of introduction to the Bishop of Barida, who will get Raoul a job as a house kiteman.
Raoul travels to Easthorpe and is quickly placed by the Bishop in the Kerosin household. However, its wealthy master (\u201cthe richest bloke in the realm\u201d on account of his fuel business) soon passes him on to the Lady Kerosina, who runs the household:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lady Kerosina was lounging in a chair of silvery Holand fibre. Behind her, long glass doors gave a view of landscaped grounds. A glass was at her side, and a bowl of some confection. He stared. Her hair was dark, shot with bronze highlights. It tumbled to her shoulders and below. Her cheekbones were high and perfectly modelled, her eyes huge and of no definable colour, her nose delicately tip-tilted. She wore a simple white dress; the neckline plunged deeply at the front. She wore ankle-high sandals, again of some silvery material. He saw they were uppers only; the soles of her feet were bare.
She inclined her head, graciously. \u2018Good afternoon, Mr Josen,\u2019 she said. \u2018Sit down, and tell me about yourself.\u2019
He took a chair, hesitantly. She crossed her knees. Her skirt was split to the top of her thigh. Her legs were long, and exquisite. He blinked. He\u2019d seen some daring fashions in Middlemarch odd times, but nothing to compare with that. He rested his eyes carefully on the middle distance. He was aware she smiled. He began to talk, haltingly at first, about his training, early career; but she interrupted him. \u2018Who,\u2019 she said in her well-modulated, slightly husky voice, \u2018was your Captain, in the Salient?\u2019
\u2018Goldensoul, Mistress,\u2019 he said. \u2018He gave me an excellent testimonial.\u2019
\u2018Dear old Goldensoul,\u2019 she said. \u2018Always the do-gooder.\u2019 She selected a sweet, bit into it deliberately. Displayed even, pearly teeth. \u2018And what brought you to Barida?\u2019
He swallowed. He said, \u2018I was sent by the Master Canwen.\u2019
\u2018Ah,\u2019 she said, \u2018I begin to understand. I was wondering how you breached our good Bishop\u2019s defences. Tell me, is the Master still as mad as ever?\u2019
He frowned. He said. \u2018He\u2019s one of the most respected Fliers in the Realm.\u2019
She looked amused. She said, \u2018No doubt.\u2019
He risked another glance at her. She wore no jewellery of any kind; but round her neck was a slender leather collar. The sort of thing you might put on a dog. It seemed oddly out of sorts with the rest of her ensemble; he wondered what its purpose could be.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Raoul later talks to the retiring kiteman, who confirms other comments that Raoul has heard about Kerosina\u2019s predatory sexual behaviour, and it isn\u2019t long before he has to report again to her in his new uniform. This time she makes him kneel down in front of her and gathers his hair into two ponytails. She instructs him to wear it like that. However, when she invites Raoul to stay and have a glass of wine, he says he has urgent work to do.
In between the pair\u2019s further encounters we learn more about the household and its personnel, one of whom is the unsavoury head horseman Martland\u2014who Raoul ominously sees at one point in the house with a young boy and a nine-year-old girl (we learn at the end of the story that Martland is Kerosina\u2019s procurer).
After further attempts at seduction by Kerosina (who gets progressively more irritated at Raoul\u2019s reluctance) and more trouble from Maitland, matters come to a head when Raoul gets a letter from Stev, an old friend who had been posted to F16\u2014then immediately afterwards gets another letter saying that Stev has been killed in a crash. While Raoul is emotionally vulnerable Kerosina takes him down to her mud dungeon and seduces him (this scene includes the first hint of urolangia that I think I\u2019ve seen in an SF story).
Afterwards, Raoul packs his bags and flees with Canwen\u2019s words ringing in his ears (\u201cWallow in mud, and then the stars come close. Because you have earned the right to see their glory. . . .\u201d). Then a jealous Martland pursues Raoul on horseback and, when he catches him, beats him so badly that Raoul is badly injured. He lies on the ground going in and out of consciousness for days. During this period a thick bubbling voice talks to him and leaves food\u2014rabbit haunches\u2014on a decorated plate.2<\/sup> Raoul comes to a terrible realisation about the mutants from the Badlands:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He thought, \u2018So they\u2019re even here. In the Middle Lands.\u2019 So much for the Kites then. Once he thought he saw one of the creatures humping away. On all fours; smaller than a dog, and blue. He pushed himself up on his hands. \u2018Come back,\u2019 he called. \u2018Come back, I want to talk to you. . . .\u2019 But the bushes stayed still.
He wiped his cheeks. He\u2019d met its sister once, and killed her. This was how they were repaying him. With Life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Raoul eventually manages to get to his feet and continue his journey to Middlemarch, but he experiences further abuse from tinkers, who rob him of some of his clothes, and the Variant police, who beat him. He finally gets sanctuary at the doors of Middle Church just as he is about to be beaten again. Rye (the barmaid from Kitecadet<\/em>) comes to him at the end of the story.
The bare bones of the plot probably make this sound like a fairly slight story, but the beauty of this piece is in its writing and characterisation, its subtlety and slow burn. And perhaps, most of all, its sorrowfulness. It\u2019s a very good piece, if one that uses its main character rather badly.
**** (Very Good). 11,000 words.

1. I think that Kitecadet<\/em> and Kitemistress<\/em> (this story) would have been better published as one piece: Kitecadet<\/em> has a rather abrupt, puzzling ending, and Kitemistress<\/em> depends, at least for part of its effect, on a good knowledge of Kitecadet<\/em>.

2. This part of the story, where the mutant brings Raoul food, reminded me of the scene in the \u2018Pavane\u2019 story, The Signaller<\/em>, where the fairies\/Old Ones appear after Rafe has been attacked by the catamount.
The more obvious reminders of The Signaller<\/em> are the parallels between the Signaller\u2019s Guild and the Kitecorps, and of a young man\u2019s progression in those organisations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kitemistress by Keith Roberts (Interzone #11, Spring 1985) is a direct sequel to Kitecadet,1 the second of the \u2018Kiteworld\u2019 stories, and takes place shortly after Raoul\u2019s crash in the Badlands. Raoul has decided to leave the Kitecorps, and we see Captain Goldensoul quiz him about his decision to leave. They quickly get to the nub […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[143],"tags":[101,456,144,615,7,576],"class_list":["post-2579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-keith-roberts","tag-101","tag-interzone","tag-keith-roberts","tag-kiteworld","tag-novelette","tag-nuclear-post-apocalypse"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2579"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2596,"href":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2579\/revisions\/2596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfshortstories.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}