Published in hardcover, March 1996, by Tor Books
Published in paperback,
January 1997, by Tor Books
Copyright © 1996 by Sasha Miller
Lady Javere qa Hyasti, known to her intimates as Javerri, hurried up the long stairs toward the Audience Hall. Her father had sent for her at last. The circumspectly worded message and the fact that he had been moved to the formal Hall from his apartments in the Residence told her clearly enough that Lord Qai qa Hyasti felt life slipping from his grasp and wanted to settle his earthly affairs before going Beyond and joining those spirits inhabiting the Ancestor Stone.
She had been busy at her studies in her room down on the second level of Yonarin Castle where the women's quarters were located, willing herself not to think about anything but the history book in front of her, when the messenger rapped on her door. Now s he ran up the three red-lacquered stairs leading to the veranda of the Audience Hall and paused at the doors only long enough to take off her sandals and leave them with the dozens of others that lined the walls. The twin Guardians painted on the doors gl ared down at her, reminding her to smooth her hair and garments before bursting into the death chamber of Lord Qai qa Hyasti, ruler of the Third of the Five Provinces. With their green skin, red hair, and glaring eyes, they brooked no disrespect from thos e who would have audience with the ruling lord. She bowed respectfully and opened one of the doors, slipping inside as unobtrusively as possible, her feet noiseless in the white footlets everyone wore indoors.
"Lady Javere," one of the physicians said. He bowed so low that, tiny as she was, she could see the top of his tonsured skull. The man must have been stationed there expressly to await her arrival.
"Physician," Javerri said, inclining her head to the precise degree that good manners dictated. "Lord Hyasti is well?" It was the polite way of asking if he were still alive.
"He is well, Lady," the man said. "Though today he wishes to speak with you most urgently."
This was no news to her; his asking for her presence was surely a sign that she stood as high in his favor as anyone could ever hope to be, more significant perhaps than his action last year of marrying the concubine who had borne her. She refused to let herself speculate on anything beyond this. Not yet, not while things could yet change and she might find herself what she had always been--a daughter, treated much as a son and given the kind of education a son would have, but a mere daughter nonetheless.
"Please take me to Lord Hyasti," she said, and the physician turned away with another bow, motioning her to follow him.
The entire chamber reeked of incense, of assorted herbal infusions, of medicines pounded and blended in fatty bone marrow and applied externally, of the blood that had been let from Lord Hyasti's veins in a last attempt to revitalize him. Most of all it s melled of death. Death lay curling along the low rafters of the ceiling, hiding in the incense, lurking behind the eyes of many of the people in the room. Javerri's spine chilled; she knew she was in the presence of implacable enemies this day, enemies no t entirely of her own making. She mustered all her training to keep her face expressionless. She felt as if she were traversing a field strewn with wizards' work, where pebbles could explode under her feet with the slightest misstep. The men and women wai ting silently in the death chamber moved aside to let her through. Some watched out of curiosity; others stared with resentment. All observed with intense interest as she knelt beside the low bed and decorously arranged her skirts.
She scarcely recognized her father. He lay propped on a mountain of silk-covered pillows, his face haggard, his skin almost gray. She swayed slightly, willing herself not to faint.
"Shall I bring tea?" The man beside her had a concerned look on his face and she realized that her composure was not as perfect as she wished it to be.
Not trusting herself to speak, she nodded. He left her side, returning almost immediately with the scalding-hot tea. She sipped deliberately from the green-glazed cup, burning her tongue, willing herself not to show any discomfort, welcoming the pain. It acted to steady her. "Thank you," she said, making a note to remember this physician.
The man on the bed stirred at the sound of her voice.
"Javerri," he said. His voice was no louder than a whisper.
"It is a beautiful day, Father," she said. She gave him her best smile. "Much too beautiful to waste lying in your bed. I miss our rides together, when we would fly our hawks and make bets as to which bird would make its kill first."
Lord Qai qa Hyasti smiled a little in return. "You won those bets too often," he said.
"I cheated shamelessly. My eyes are better than yours, and sometimes I told you it was my hawk that struck when it was yours all along." A sudden rush of tears blurred her vision and she turned her face aside. "I beg forgiveness, Father."
The man on the bed made a wheezing sound, meant for laughter. "For the cheating, never. Thy tears, yes. Glad I married thy mother. Never could believe Crimson Lady missed so many strikes. One more question answered before I die."
His open use of the internal, personal form of address with her was not unusual; his referring to his death, however. . . . Javerri jerked her head upright and stared at her father.
"Don't look at me. Got no time for pretty manners. Never had, really. Even less now." Lord Qai coughed. Several physicians jostled one another to offer him medicines. He waved them away impatiently. "No more, no more. You fuddle my head. I want my last mo ments on this earth to be clear. Where's that secretary?"
An elderly man, white of beard and stooped of shoulder, made his way through the crowded room to Lord Qai's bedside. "I am here, my Lord."
"You, Wande-hari? I want a scribe, not a magician."
"It is my honor to serve you, my lord," the ancient mage said. "In fact, I insist on it."
"Well then, write this as I tell it to you. On this day, at such-and-such an hour--fill in the particulars later--died Qai qa Hyasti, Lord of the Third Province of Monserria. In the knowledge of having no living son of his body, at his death he declared L ady Javere qa Hyasti to be known henceforth as his son and sole heir, that this son and heir may to continue to defend the Third Province and the land of Monserria against its many enemies even as Qai qa Hyasti has done his entire life long. With his last breath he prayed the Sublime Lord of the First Province to recognize the necessity for this unusual move, and in remembrance of Qai qa Hyasti's service to the realm, to confirm his son in his inheritance. Nao-Pei stands next in line, after Javere." Lord Qai took a deep shuddering breath. The speech, obviously long in preparation and formal in tone, had nearly exhausted him. He looked at Javerri. "Are you pleased, my son? Ancestor knows it won't be easy for you. Sorry I won't be here to help you. Can't be helped, ei? Now go, all of you. I'm tired. Still have my dying to do."
"I thank you humbly, Father, for overlooking my great unworthiness. I will strive not to dishonor your trust." Behind her, Javerri heard the hiss of indrawn breaths as the news traveled through the room. She concentrated on keeping her face still, no emot ion visible. It was unseemly to rejoice, yet her heart had leapt upward when she realized that everything she had worked so hard for was coming to pass. Also mixed with the joy, she discovered, was fear--fear of the unknown, fear of the responsibility tha t was now becoming all too real, approaching far too swiftly. Toward the rear of the stuffy chamber she heard a woman's familiar voice expressing protest, and a man's voice cautioning her to be still.
That would be Nao-Pei qa Hyasti and Baron Sakano qa Chava, her constant companion. Javerri's eyes narrowed. I must find out who in the castle is going to rally to my half sister and who is going to be loyal to me, she thought. I need every vassal I can mu ster, for I must live long enough to receive my inheritance.
Aloud, she repeated her thanks and apologized for taking so much of Lord Qai's precious time.
"For my son, I grudge nothing," Qai said. "Want to sleep a little before I sleep forever. Wise for thee to swear thy heir's oath to me now, not wait until I waken."
"I do swear, Father," Javerri said fervently. She took his thin, wasted hands in her own and held them to her forehead. "I will protect and maintain Third Province to the last of my life's blood, always remembering the examples thou hast set, and consulti ng with the Ancestor Spirit."
"I could ask no more." Then the dying man's wrinkled eyelids closed and his breathing grew thick.
Javerri placed her father's hands gently on the coverlet and rose, nearly upsetting the forgotten cup of tea. She bowed low, despite the fact that her father could not see her. Unexpectedly, fresh tears dimmed her eyes and she waited until she could displ ay a calm and unemotional face to the onlookers before turning to leave.
As she made her way back through the room, she saw Nao-Pei waiting for her--stationed, actually, where Javerri could scarcely avoid their meeting. Her face looked like a thundercloud as she inclined her head politely in Javerri's direction. The Baron Saka no stood at a discreet distance from her; he was the richest land owner in the province after Third Lord and it was said that he crept into Nao-Pei's bed every night after his wife went to sleep. It was also said that Nao-Pei accepted his malformed Jade S talk into every orifice of her body except the one designed for it, so that she could preserve her entirely technical virginity. That was mere servants' talk, of course, and not to be given much weight. Still, it was interesting.
Javerri paused in front of them, allowing herself the small luxury of enjoying the way they struggled and failed to control their features, and held out her hand.
"Lady," Nao-Pei said reluctantly. She put her fingertips to Javerri's. "Or should I address you now as Lord of the Third Province?"
"I am but his son and of no importance. The Lord of the Third Province is still well," Javerri said. "He sleeps."
Lady Moon and Ancestor, but how poorly thou hast learned thy lessons, she thought. She smiled sweetly at Nao-Pei. Though thy schooling was presumably better even than mine, how slight is thy control over thyself. I burn and quake, but nobody knows to look at me. I see it in thy eyes how thou dost hate standing second to me.
Not for the first time Javerri was grateful for Wande-hari's private training that allowed her to sense another's inner feelings at need. Unreliable and erratic though the ability was in her, still it amounted to the ability to read minds, if sometimes di mly; Javerri knew she would need all this and more during the days ahead. She could sense that Nao-Pei felt her lapse of control instantly; perhaps she even felt Javerri's reproof, mild though her voice had been. If so, this would bear watching. Perhaps N ao-Pei was not such a negligible enemy after all. The other woman bit her lip, furious at her breach of manners.
Baron Sakano came forward, bowing and touching his forehead to Javerri's fingers. "Surely the Lord Qai will be well forever," he said politely.
"Surely." Bowing in turn, Javerri left the death chamber, pausing a moment on the veranda to take a few breaths of clean, cool air before slipping on her sandals again and going down the stairs to the pavilion so she could light a stick of incense at the shrine in the center. Out on the path, a gardener was smoothing the pebbles that she had disturbed in the haste of her passage earlier. He retreated so she would be the only living person in the garden. Everyone knew she must pay her respects to the Ances tor at this juncture, and be seen doing so.
She composed herself with an effort. It was always wise to come before the Ancestor with an untroubled mind.
Wande-hari gathered his hastily scribbled notes, preparing to take them to his quarters. There he could transcribe the precious document neatly, making the three copies needed to take to First City plus the most important copy, the one to go to the archiv es in Fifth Province, home of scholars, scribes, mages, and students of the law. That copy, if he were quick enough, would be signed by Lord Qai's own hand. The rest could be sealed with the official signet, Qai's personal chop. He paused, looking at the dying man. He could scarcely recognize Lord Qai qa Hyasti in this shrunken wreck that now lay on heaps of pillows, struggling for every breath. His hands, still lying where Javerri had placed them, looked so thin Wande-hari fancied he could see the patter n of the coverlet through them. The only mercy Lord Qai's illness had shown was that it had come upon him swiftly and looked to carry him off with equal dispatch.
Qai was of the most aristocratic of families in all Monserria, and could trace his heritage directly to Lord Yon, the almost legendary warrior who had taken Third Province for his own back when the world was newly formed. Like Lord Yon, Qai had been a vig orous man. He ruled his province with such a firm hand and sharp tongue that his troops had given him the nickname of "Old Vinegar-Piss." Officially, he ignored it even after he had learned of it. The face he showed the rest of the world was even more bel licose and unyielding than before and only a few intimates knew of Lord Qai's delight that the men he commanded liked him this well to show him such affection. Other lords bore nicknames much less flattering. Qai probably never knew that elsewhere he was also referred to as "Old Vinegar-Piss" as well, but not with any great fondness; Third Province was too rich and its ruler subject to too many jealousies from too many people who would replace him if only they had the strength to do it. Qai had survived m ore than one attempt. Ironic that this wasting illness accomplished what mere mortal enemies could not.
Unexpectedly, Lord Qai opened his eyes. "Stay a moment longer, old friend," he said. The breath rattled in his throat and his voice could scarcely be heard. "Isn't this the day you've worked toward so long? Your favorite has won. Your candidate. Celebrate with me."
Wande-hari bowed. "It was your choice, Lord," he said.
"Was it? Or was it entirely your doing?"
"I have trained both of your daughters to the best of my ability. Javere has more of you in her, Sire. Therefore, my efforts had better effect."
"Some think the old prophecy outdated, no meaning for us these days."
"I know some no longer believe Third Province will fall if its ruler is not wed to it first and foremost, and does not come to it not knowing the touch of love. But the secret which Lord Yon passed on to his son on his death bed is what has kept Third Pro vince strong. Every descendant of his has honored it in his turn, even you. And now, because you leave a daughter as heir--"
"Enough, old friend." Qai's eyelids drooped with fatigue. His words came slowly. "I know. You cherish the old customs. You have done your best. Javerri is now my son. I have decreed it. We picked the most likely ones, together. Set them to their training. I die content with my choice. Tell me. Are you certain, both of them are still virgin?"
"I am as certain as I am of anything in this life, Lord." Wande-hari lowered his gaze in turn. And that is only one of several reasons I threw my influence behind Javerri, he thought. She has drawn the prophecy into her very soul. Nao-Pei observes only th e forms. A demon must have taken thy form in her bed and inserted Nao-Pei's soul into Lady Nao-Cha's womb for the sheer mischief of it. If it hadn't been for Nao-Cha's rank, I wouldn't even have considered her daughter when it became clear that there were to be no sons, and it fell to me to train the young woman who would be Lord Qai's successor. How we both worried, Qai, thee and me, because there were only daughters who might grow old and past their time for childbearing, waiting for thee to die. That's one worry past both of us now, ei? Lucky for Third Province, unlucky for thee.
It is true, Wande-hari thought, I knew from the first about Nao-Pei's character. I find no comfort in this fact. Eeeei, but her conduct with Sakano is deplorable! Hard as I've worked on Javerri's training, I've worked harder keeping the truth about Nao-Pe i from her father. Even Nao-Cha says Nao-Pei should have been born in a Fourth Province whorehouse, not to her. She will give my beloved Javerri a lot of trouble before she is through.
Lord Qai stirred again. "Look after her," he whispered, and Wande-hari knew which of his daughters he referred to. "Bring a new mage to Third Province. Devote your full attention to her."
"I will, Lord. It is my promise."
Then Qai fell asleep in earnest. His breaths grew shallow and less frequent. Wande-hari lingered at the bedside. He called for his writing instruments. The transcribing he could do here and copying all but the document meant for Fifth Province could wait for a little while, after all.
Javerri walked down the stairs toward the pavilion where the Ancestor Stone waited. The gravel crunched underfoot, and she knew she made the very picture of humble supplication as she approached the great stone. But there was no dissembling in her as she knelt and lighted a stick of incense from the small flame that always burned at the base of the stone.
Hundreds of years ago Lord Yon himself had stumbled upon the Ancestor--more than man-high, a column with a mushroom-shaped cap and two round protuberances at the base on either side forming a base--standing upright in the low woods a few miles to the nort h where few stones disturbed the thick pine-needle carpet. At his direction, the stone was brought to Yonarin Castle at the expense of great effort by the people, as no draft animals were employed and men hauled the stone on vast sledges. It was said that Lord Yon labored alongside the humblest peasant, pulling a rope and helping bring the stone down from the ridge where it had been discovered. Further, the miraculous stone had been scarcely touched by the craftsman's chisel--just a bit, here and there, t o enhance the effect. Now it reared heavenward in the place the Lord had had built for it, the generative principle made manifest, Fruit and all. Men came and touched it, hoping for a semblance of its hard vigor. Pregnant women prayed and gave offerings t o it in gratitude; barren ones gave in supplication.
As Javerri began murmuring the prayers she had memorized in childhood, the old welcome peacefulness came over her. She felt miles away, scarcely hearing, scarcely seeing. She had done her weeping long ago, so she would have no tears left to risk a public display that would show weakness. The incense stick burned down and she lit another and yet another. She was still kneeling there when the people--courtiers, officials, barons, hangers-on--came from her father's chambers. They put her father's famous swor d, Steel Fury along with his daughter Lady Impatience, the companion dagger, into her hands, telling her that Lord Qai qa Hyasti had awakened once and then--most unexpectedly--died in his sleep, and that she was now Lord of the Third Province.
The people pushed and pulled at her until the clamor made Javerri's temples throb. She was almost ready to scream from sheer frustration before she could escape from the crowd of courtiers and barons to the privacy of her own apartment. Trying not to be a s rude as she felt like being, she closed the door almost in their faces. Her head pounded unmercifully and her cheeks and eyes felt hot and dry. Not daring to call a physician lest word begin to spread that the new ruler of Third Province was a weakling, she confided only in Chimoko, her personal maid. Chimoko gave her a remedy used to calm children who became feverish from excitement, and to her relief it seemed to be working. Gratefully, Javerri lay down so Chimoko could rub her feet with perfumed oil.
"It's a good day that has finally come," Chimoko said, "not to wish bad luck on the old lord, but he was ill and is dead and now you have triumphed, Ancestor and the Six Winds be praised!"
Indulgently, Javerri did not reprove the maid and Chimoko chattered on about her mistress's good fortune until Javerri's obvious inattention caused her to subside. Javerri closed her eyes, drowsing a little from the medicine and giving in to the thrill th at coursed through her and threatened to disrupt the propriety of her grief. Time enough later to think about the worries and problems her elevation brought with it. Even now that the thing had happened she still found it difficult to believe the rumors t hat had been on nearly every lip had proved true after all! It was said that the betting on who would eventually be declared Qai's heir spread throughout the castle and into the very kitchens and stables. First Wife Lady Halge, though well beloved by ever yone, had been barren, and Qai's other wives and concubines produced no sons that lived more than a month or two. By law, each province needed sons to succeed their lord.
The Five Provinces of Monserria were founded on five great pillars; rice, oil-nut trees, sauce beans, worm silk, and vinegar. All the provinces produced these items in some degree, but each specialized in one. Oil-nut trees grew in the greatest abundance in the ruling province. Second Province, home of traders and merchants, was also home to rows of sauce beans that marked every property boundary. The best vinegar in Monserria came from Fourth Province, and only in scholarly Fifth Province did the inhabit ants have enough leisure for extensive cultivation of the worms that produced the silk. Third Province was largely agricultural and owed its wealth to its vast rice fields.
It was just chance that had kept Javerri herself from being sent to the rice workers' House of Children when she was born, disappointingly, one more girl in a household that seemed destined to produce only living girl children. Qai qa Hyasti's wives and c oncubines regularly and habitually rid themselves of their girl children in just this manner.
Javerri's mother Shantar had also decided to dispose of her infant. Because she was high in Lord Hyasti's favor at the moment, she still hoped to bear a living son before his interest turned elsewhere. But Lord Hyasti ordered that the infant be brought to him so that he could see her.
"She has your eyes," he said, pleased. "Green as the finest jade. Third Province's color. It is an omen. Keep her and nurture her well. She reminds me of you, Shantar."
And so Shantar had bowed low and obeyed her lord's command. After all, it had been the beauty and unusual color of her eyes that had brought her to Qai qa Hyasti's attention in the first place.
When it became clear that there were to be no male heirs, a dozen daughters had been selected to be brought up with special attention, and Javerri was one of them. Wande-hari had taught them all impartially, weeding out the candidates until only two were left, Javerri and her half sister Nao-Pei, whose rank was much higher. As a courtesy, Qai had married Shantar--who then became Lady Shantar--and had given her her own apartment in honor of her elevated status. Shantar had been born, rumor had it, with dun g between her toes. She had originally come to Qai as a tribute-offering concubine from the far north land of Hinstannod. Lady Nao-Cha had come to Third Province as a minor wife and Qai would not have one lording it over the other.
With only two pupils to occupy his time, the special bond that had always existed between Javerri and Wande-hari grew more firm. He began instructing her privately, in arcane matters that appeared to have no bearing on whether or not she would emerge as t he unprecedented female heir.
"But how can I become Third Lord?" she had asked repeatedly. "Or Nao-Pei? Third Province has always gone to a son."
"A way will be found," he always answered.
Now Javerri wondered how much of Lord Qai's solution had been his own idea and how much had been Wande-hari's.
"My lady-- My lord?"
Javerri roused herself from her reverie. To her relief, her fever had vanished. Chimoko now stood by her bedside, head bowed deferentially. "Yes, Chimoko?"
"A deputation waits outside, my, my lord."
Javerri smiled at the way Chimoko gamely struggled to use the unfamiliar and unnatural form of address. "Who is it?" she asked.
"The magician Wande-hari, Generals Sigon and Michu, Lord Ivo, and Baron Sakano. And Chakei."
Javerri raised her eyebrows. Unexpected as Sakano's visit was, Chakei's was even more so. But it was well. She needed to speak with him to make sure he wouldn't create a disturbance at Lord Qai's funeral. She had a distressing premonition that he might tr y to save Qai's body from the flames.
"Did Chakei say what-- Of course he wouldn't," she said. Chakei, the Dragon-warrior, was incapable of human speech.
She put on the clean white footlets Chimoko handed her, preferring to do this service for herself. Then she got up and slipped into the fresh robe Chimoko held ready for her. Even before she had finished winding the sash around her waist Chimoko was busy with a comb.
"Shall I dress your hair for you, Lord?" she said.
"No, just make me tidy." She checked her reflection hastily in the mirror Chimoko held for her, wiped away a smudge of eye pencil on her cheek and touched up her lip paint.
Yes, her appearance was flawless. Because she was so tiny she and Chimoko relied on unwinking perfection in every detail to create the impression of greater stature than existed. Her long hair, so black it shone with blue highlights, was tied at the nape of her neck with a green ribbon in the simplest possible manner; her underdress of rose-colored silk matched her lip paint while the white overdress showed just the merest hint of green embroidery along the sleeves and hem. Javerri debated for a moment. A s the new Lord of the Third Province she was entitled to wear Steel Fury and Lady Impatience in her sash; each weapon bore an identical pierced gold hilt, their beauty hidden only in time of war. And as part of her upbringing, she had been schooled in a s word's use. But something told her that a martial display was not what was called for in this case. Still, some display of her new status was called for. What would Lord Qai have done? As a compromise, she tucked Lady Impatience into her sash and nodded t o the maid. Chimoko opened the panels that served as doors in a house's interior, and the Lord of the Third Province entered her private audience room modestly, ready for her first conference with her sworn liegemen.
". . . And of course, we must also consider the question of your marriage," Wande-hari said. He held up his cup for more rice wine. He could use only his right hand. The left lay idle beside him, the nails grown so long they made the hand quite useless. E ach nail was encased in a gem-studded guard made of the purest gold.
The table maid failed to pour the heated wine from the flask marked with the traditional nine-petaled flowers as quickly as Chimoko thought proper, and she frowned at the slip, sucking at her teeth. Amused, Javerri anticipated the scolding the girl would receive later.
They sat around a low lacquered table, all but Chakei, who crouched on his hindquarters in a far corner, to all appearances oblivious to the humans. As Javerri watched, Sakano shifted in his place and she took due note. Now we come to it, she thought. Wit h this mention of marriage, Wande-hari has opened the heart of the matter. Sakano had no eyes for me when Nao-Pei still had a chance at the lordship, but now he offers himself as if I were a painted doll, unaware of what goes on around me. She allowed her self to smile at Sakano, so faintly her expression might not have appeared to change unless the onlooker were paying close attention. I wonder what disposition he proposes to make of his wife, she thought.
"My marriage, Wande-hari?" she said, turning to gaze at the elderly mage. "But surely I am not required to marry at once."
"Of course not, Lord," he said deferentially, "but times are not as peaceful as we might wish them to be. You are a woman, regardless of the title you bear, and as such--and unmarried as well--you could be spirited away and married forcibly."
Javerri nodded. She knew as well as the mage that Lord Yassai qa Chula, First Lord and Sublime Ruler of Monserria, would probably move against her as soon as news reached First City. It was no secret that he had always coveted Third Province, and had gott en on very poorly with Third Lord Qai. But politeness discouraged open discussion of this fact. Also, it was no secret that in the absence of any child of his body, he favored the sons of his sister above all others. She looked away for a moment, and the channel between the mage and her abruptly opened.
I counsel marriage, yes, but on thy own terms. It can be no real marriage. Thou must have a husband who is no husband. Until thou hast been confirmed and this confirmation ratified by a Council of Lords, Third Lordship is not yet truly thine. The ratif ication is just a formality, thou understandest.
It was the first time anyone had ever spoken to her directly, mind to mind, and it caused an intense pain that lanced straight through her head, starting between her eyebrows.
That will grow less, with practice. Open thy mind.
But I cannot--
Thou dost it even now.
She felt dizzy and raised her cup to her lips to hide it. I do not understand, Wande-hari.
We talk between, Lord. I counselled thus with thy father often, though his replies were more often aloud than like this. I taught thee well.
But won't the others notice?
Nay. I told thee--we speak between. In two heartbeats we can say what would take two turns of the glass to accomplish aloud.
Truly, Wande-hari? Yes, I can see that it is so. The others have scarcely moved. Then I can ask: how can I have a husband who is not truly a husband?
Thou wilt find a way from thy difficulty, even as thy father did, child. There is more to tell thee: Nao-Pei works at this moment to raise a rebellion against thee. She is willing to prostitute herself to First Lord Yassai and his nephews, even to sacr ifice Sakano, to achieve the position thou holdest now.
The connection ended with a fresh flare of pain behind her eyes. Javerri took a sip of wine, grateful for the warmth in her throat. "And who could possibly want to occupy such a dangerous position as husband to the Lord of the Third Province?" she said, t rying to keep her tone light. Her mind raced as she tried to think of a way out of this. The four men at the table laughed politely.
"As it happens, these gentlemen have brought formal proposals," Wande-hari said. At his signal the men took letters from the pockets in their long, flowing sleeves, placed them very properly on their fans, and gave them to the magician. Each letter was ca refully folded and sealed. In turn, Wande-hari transferred the letters to his own fan and presented them to her. "Each of these four candidates for your hand has sworn with the most solemn of oaths to abide by your choice, with no retribution to be visite d upon the victor, so you can freely choose from among them here and now."
She nodded, unsurprised. She picked up the top letter, broke the seal, and opened it. It was from Michu, the general whose squadrons of pike men knew no equal. Even without his chop on the letter, she would have known it was from him. From the corner of h er eye she could see him, staring politely at a jar of dried flowers in the corner of the room. He wore a dark brown robe, scarcely ornamented save for the Third Province sigil embroidered in green silk over his heart. His legs were short in proportion to his body, and he had always been a man who looked finer seated than standing, the more so since he had reached the stage in life where he was beginning to put on weight. Still, there was scarcely a trace of white in the jet-dark hair he wore in the old-f ashioned manner, tied back tightly against his skull. She looked at the unadorned sheet of rice paper.
"I am a plain blunt man," h had written. "So I plainly propose marriage between us. I am clearly the best candidate, a strong arm for you to lean on. . . ." She nodded at him, laid it aside and opened the next letter.
General Sigon's letter was written in graceful characters; the paper itself bore a delicate design so subtle it could have been overlooked. Its message was much along the same lines, only more tactfully phrased. "Though I have not felt moved to remarry si nce my beloved wife's death, I am deeply honored to present myself to you in the interests of strengthening your position and also because your person is very pleasing to all who have the honor to behold you. . . ." It was as typical of him as Michu's had been. Sigon the Excellent Strategist he was called, and for good reason. His origins may have been more humble originally than Michu's, for he was baseborn whereas Michu came of a good family, but he more than made up for his low birth these days. His ro be of dark blue showed flashes of gold-embroidered lining when he moved to take more wine. Though he and Michu looked of a height when sitting, when they stood, Sigon's whip-thin figure towered over Michu's stocky one. She smiled at both of them. They had occasionally acted as tutors when she was learning her warrior skills and she thought of them almost as uncles. She recognized their offers as the declarations of loyalty they really were, and loved them for the gesture; she was certain either would be a ppalled if his suit met with success.
A wave of perfume assailed her nostrils even before she broke the wax seal on the third letter. As she did, a small but perfect emerald dropped to the tabletop; it had been embedded in the wax. Lady Moon and Ancestor, she thought. Sakano must really be se rious about all this! Or Nao-Pei is, she amended silently. It amounted to the same thing. Curious, she scanned the letter. "The emerald pales beside thy eyes. . . ." Her lips nearly twitched as she read and she kept a smile from showing only by the greate st effort. Sakano promised to set aside his present wife and any entanglements in which he was currently involved. Also, he would return all lands and revenues he now possessed at the late Lord Qai's pleasure, in hopes that his beloved wife the present Lo rd Javere-- And so on, she thought. The only thing he didn't specify in all this was what he expected to receive in return. In addition, that is, to my entirely virginal body which he might prefer to Nao-Pei's well-used one, she thought wryly. She set the letter aside with a courteous nod of her head in Sakano's direction and picked up the last letter, the one she had deliberately saved until this moment.
Ivo qa Gilad was heir to a line almost as ancient and distinguished as her own. Through bad luck, however, the family had become virtually impoverished and he had taken service with his liege lord as captain of Yonarin Castle's archers. It was freely said that Lord Ivo had no peer in all the Five Provinces when it came to his use of the bow. Much younger than either Michu and Sigon the Strategist, like them he had been her tutor though she had shown no great talent for the bow. During the past year at the rising of each new moon--and this was before she began to emerge clearly as the favorite to follow her father to Third Lordship--Ivo had petitioned Lord Qai for Javerri's hand in marriage. Concubine's child though she was, it was common knowledge that Ja verri stood high in Lord Qai's favor. Even if Nao-Pei won as heir, Javerri could be expected to command a rich portion which would attract any suitor, rich or poor. Ivo, however, firmly renounced any claim on her dowry. He loved Javerri for herself, he de clared, and not for the advantages marrying her might bring. And Lord Qai believed him while refusing him his suit.
"Not yet, my Admirable Archer," he said each time Ivo petitioned. "But you grow daily in my regard. Do not despair."
Despite the prophecy and Wande-hari's plans for her, more than once Javerri had hoped her father would relent and allow the marriage for she found Ivo both handsome and kind. He pleased her in many ways and she had always looked forward to her lessons wit h him; regardless of how abominably she performed he was ever patient with her clumsiness. She looked closer at the letter on which he had written this latest proposal; he had used a strange ink that flaked at a touch of her fingernail-- She set the lette r aside, unwilling to commit her self, her body, just yet.
"And after I marry?" she said to Wande-hari. "What then? I can see there is something more you are not telling me."
"We shall journey to the capital city," Wande-hari said. "Not only must we make our allegiance to First Lord Yassai, but we must also seek a new magician for Yonarin Castle."
Now she looked at him fully, her surprise plain. "But why, old friend?" she said. "Of everyone living in the Third Province I thought your loyalty was the firmest!"
"It is your father's command," the magician said serenely. "He ordered me to retire, to become your counselor only. I grow old, Lord. The passing of Lord Qai informed me most clearly that all of us are but a sigh against the raging winds of time. I would not leave you without magical protection merely because I had the arrogance to think myself exempt from the fate that awaits us all, lowest to most high."
There's a clear message for Sakano in that, if he is astute enough to recognize it, Javerri thought. "Your wisdom is boundless, Wande-hari," she said. "But what of our fierce Dragon-warrior? Why has he come to this meeting? Surely he doesn't want to marry me as well."
The Dragon-warrior had been at Yonarin Castle as long as Javerri could remember. Lord Qai's father, it was said, had purchased him in the egg, the only way anyone could ever come to possess one of this incredibly rare breed, and the price had threatened t o bankrupt him. But of the other rulers of the Provinces, only the First Lord himself could presently boast of a Dragon-warrior in his court. Chakei's pebbled skin, freshly oiled, shone scarlet on the head crest and ridge down his back, lightening to crea m on the front of his body, while his eyes were so deep a black they gave back no gleam of light at all. He loved fire, and was unaccountably immune to its effects; more than one maidservant, new to Castle Yonarin, had screamed and fainted to discover him comfortably asleep on the bed of coals in the kitchen fireplace. The very rumor of his presence on a battlefield was enough to demoralize an enemy; he liked to rip opponents to shreds with his enormous five-clawed hands and though he never ate flesh, Lor d Qai didn't discourage the rumors that criminals destined for execution were given to Chakei instead of the headsman.
Now Chakei stood up and approached the table where Javerri sat. Vaguely man-shaped though much larger than all but the biggest man, his movements suggested that his species might have gone on all fours at some recent time in its history. He swayed from si de to side. He put his hand to his belly where, Javerri understood, his heart was located. Unexpectedly, her mind opened to him as it had to the ancient magician's.
ladylord honor here you.
She caught her breath, glancing involuntarily at Wande-hari. He nodded almost imperceptibly; somehow she knew that he was part of this connection, helping and guiding her. In some remote part of her mind a nagging question dissolved; though Chakei could h ear and responded to commands when it suited him to do so, she had always wondered if the Dragon-warrior truly comprehended what was said to him.
always protect ladylord swear always
She summoned her small ability, grateful for Wande-hari's help. I thank thee, Chakei. Thou hast my loyalty in return.
know this i, old lord say
You know about the funeral, and how we must burn him?
no but good is
I was afraid you'd-- she started to say interfere but changed it-- object.
is good to return to fire
The connection dissolved. She felt dizzy again and retired behind her fan to recover. At least she knew now that Chakei wouldn't make the funeral into a shambles. Speaking between with the Dragon-warrior was even more tiring than with the magician; still she sought Wande-hari's mind.
Which proposal should I accept? Not Sakano's, of course. But which? Would Sigon or Michu abide by the prophecy?
I cannot advise thee, Javerri. Thou knowest that. She felt an undercurrent of amusement in the old mage's thoughts. She knew he had noticed her omission of Ivo's name. He severed the connection so gently Javerri felt no stab of pain from it. She to ok a deep breath.
"My sincere thanks to all of you for offering to marry me. But while three of you are moved by the loyalty you must feel to Third Lord, I find that another adds to this a deeper emotion. I shall accept Lord Ivo," she said decisively, "and marry him withou t delay. His letter of proposal, which I shall treasure always, is not, like Michu's, the strongest or, like Sigon's, the most gracefully worded. Nor was it written in perfumed ink, nor did it bear a jewel in the wax seal like Sakano's. But it is nonethel ess more precious to me than any of these, for it is written in his life's blood."
The other men turned and looked at the Admirable Archer; Ivo himself sat very still with downcast eyes. Sigon and Michu exchanged smiles, then bowed their heads in acceptance. Sakano, less disciplined, allowed a veritable panoply of expressions--relief, j ealousy, thwarted greed--to race across his face before he regained control of himself. Ivo raised his head and stared at her, uncaring that his love and longing showed plainly. She had to look away, unable to meet his eyes.
Alas, my Ivo, she thought. Wande-hari hast told me what I must do. I could order the others. But thou lovest me and I will choose thee. Wilt thou look at me thus when I tell thee that I cannot allow thee to come into my bed?
Though she had the power to do so, Javerri couldn't allow the marriage to proceed without telling Ivo first how matters must stand between them. Her honor demanded it. The day after she accepted his proposal she called him in for a private meeting. Withou t wasting words, she told him plainly, forcing a coldness she did not feel into her tone, that although custom gave him, as husband, access to her body whenever he wanted her, she as Third Lord denied him this right.
He went a little pale. She expected him to petition to leave her at once, to take back his offer of marriage. She held her breath. The only other suitor of rank was Sakano. . . .
Then Ivo bowed his head but not before she saw the pain that suffused his features. "As you command, Lord Javere," he said with stiff formality. "I will take my lead from you in this as in all other matters. This I swear."
Relief flooded through her and she struggled not to let it show. "Wande-hari has begun to call me Ladylord," she said, not seeing any reason to mention that the mage had first heard it from Chakei. "I like it well and am pleased when those close to me use it as my title." She smiled. "Come, Ivo, sit with me. We will have tea, or perhaps you would prefer wine?"
"Tea, please."
She gestured to Chimoko. In seconds the maid brought the tray Javerri had told her to have prepared and waiting. On the same tray she also brought food--a small plate laden with pickled vegetables and bean sauce, artfully arranged. At a lifted eyebrow fro m Javerri, Chimoko disappeared, leaving Ivo and Javerri alone.
She picked up a bowl, so delicately glazed and tinted that the pale green hue showed only in the sunlight. "Allow me to serve you," she said to Ivo.
"No, it is not proper--"
"Please allow me. Let us pretend that I am still the Third Lord's minor daughter you used to instruct in the use of the bow."
"As you command," he said again.
Obediently, he sat on the cushion at her side. Good. Perhaps they could be friends after this interview after all. While they pretended to busy themselves with the vegetables, she turned the conversation to trivial matters.
"You must know that I honor you greatly," she said.
"For you to agree to marry me does me an immeasurable honor," he said.
She laughed a little. "Don't forget that before I arrived at this lofty state I was only a concubine's child. I haven't forgotten, nor will I ever. No, the honor I was referring to is the esteem in which I hold you. You wanted me when I was less than noth ing. That is why I chose to accept you now."
"But--" He bit his lip on the protest.
"There are vexing questions to be answered on every side. For example, had you considered that I must decide what to do with my father's concubines?"
Glad of the change in subject, he quirked an eyebrow and began to laugh softly as the implications sank in on him. By custom, the new ruler inherited all his father's wives and concubines--excluding his own mother, of course--and disposed of them as he sa w fit. Many young lords chose to clear out the women's quarters by sacrificing the luckless women on the old lord's funeral pyre, later filling the empty rooms with younger and presumably more desirable females. "Surely you won't send them all to the head sman!" he said with some humor.
"Of course not," Javerri said. "No woman has gone Beyond to join Lord Qai except by her own hand. Nor do I propose to replace them with--with male concubines, or to wallow nightly in orgies of woman love the way some wagging tongues are already having it. But it is a question that has to be addressed. And did you know that Baron Sakano has now left the court?"
"Yes. I was glad to see him go. He and Lady Nao-Pei--"
"--are better kept where I can watch them," Javerri said. She hoped he had composed himself enough so that she could broach the more serious subject they would have to discuss. "Although I do admit there is something to be said for separating those two b y as many ri as possible. I had been thinking of taking her with me to First City, just to keep an eye on her. But that has nothing to do with the greatest problem that troubles you and me." She set aside her dish and the eating sticks of oil-nut tree woo d and opened her fan.
As if he could read her thoughts, he set aside his dish as well and faced her directly, giving her his full attention. "Please. Tell me."
She took a deep breath. "Third Province is in a terribly precarious position. Despite Lord Qai's declaration, I am still a woman and there are those who will accept me only reluctantly as lord. We are faced with possible insurrection at home and threatene d with absorption by First Lord's greedy nephews who want our lands only for the riches they'll bring, and who care nothing for us or our people. The Sublime Ruler is noted for his deviousness even in the nest of political intrigue that is his court; he i s fully capable of finding a way around Lord Qai's express wishes. He has the authority to have me killed if he wished it and no one would lift his voice in my defense. Probably he won't do this. Such an act would cause the other three lords to unite agai nst him out of fear for their own lives. No one, not even the Sublime Ruler, would risk a civil war for such a trivial thing as the momentary pleasure of ordering my death. But he certainly will want me out of the way. At the very least he will put me to some kind of trial, a test. And if I fail, the nephews will win. It is for this very reason that I must bar you from access to my bed," she said. "You know that I face many dangers, more in fact, than you realize. I must wed my province before I can wed y ou; it must be my wife, even as you are my husband. This is the law every ruler since Lord Yon has observed. Until First Lord confirms me, I must remain untouched. Ours will be a marriage of form only. And--" She bit her lip on the incautious words she wa s about to utter. Not yet. "And I had to know you would accept these conditions before I could tell you the reason I imposed them," she said instead.
She had another reason for maintaining her purity, more personal, much less noble. And this she dared not tell him. She barely admitted it, even to herself. She must continue to deny him, even when she had legally become Third Lord. . . .
She breathed deeply again, fighting to regain control, and fluttered her fan. "It's true that I need a husband, for all the reasons Wande-hari mentioned and more besides, but beyond this I need a friend I can count on. Will you be my friend, Ivo?"
He moved from sitting to kneeling beside her. "With every drop of blood that's in me." Without reaching into his mind Javerri knew they both thought of his marriage proposal, carefully written in that same blood. "But--but Javerri, if some day-- I mean, w hen conditions allow, that is--"
She willed herself to stare at him coldly. "You presume too much," she said, but her voice wavered just a little.
As if he could not help himself he reached out and took her hands in his. She dropped the fan. She could smell the clean, spicy aroma of his skin. She longed to touch him, to stroke the lean smoothness of his face, to massage the vertical line that hours of concentration with the bow had etched between his brows; but he grasped both her hands tightly, and without meaning to she leaned toward him. He kissed her eyelids and touched her mouth with the tip of his tongue. Then he held her close. She turned her head away; he brushed the back of her neck with his lips. She shivered as an unexpected flame awoke between her thighs.
So that's the Springing Up of the Jewel Terrace I've read about, she thought dazedly. It was the first time she had experienced it. Abruptly she understood why men and women never kissed except in the privacy of the bedroom. She and Ivo drew apart, starin g at each other. She might have been turned to stone, her body was so stiff, except that no stone could feel as she felt. Wildly, she found herself wishing that he would disobey her orders, ignore the conditions she laid upon him--
"Forgive me, Ladylord Javerri, but I wanted to touch you just once," he said formally. "I know that you neither love nor desire me. You ask only for my friendship. But I do love you and will for all my life. I will honor the prophecy. I agree to your term s and will not embrace you again." He bowed his head, in control of himself once more. He released her hands, stood up, bowed again before leaving her where she sat.
Lady Moon and Ancestor! she thought in dismay. How well she'd convinced him! He had no idea how much she did love him and desire him, but then neither did she until today. Now she didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or throw things.
She sat very still, summoning every ounce of self-discipline at her command, until she could regain control over the rebellious body that threatened to wreck her careful planning with its urgent uprush of desire. She had no time for that. Eventually her r acing pulse beat slowed. She patted away a few drops of perspiration that had, unaccountably, appeared at her hairline. Then she picked up her fan and touched the small bell that signalled her readiness for the next person who had business with the Ladylo rd of the
Third Province.
According to ancient custom, a Third Lord's body was burned in the special funeral courtyard outside the main pavilion that had been constructed just for this purpose when the castle had first been built by Lord Yon. Lord Qai's reign had been a long one; the bronze doors were half hidden behind flowering vines which had to be torn down before they could be opened, and the lock yielded only reluctantly to the rusted key. Inside, however, all was in readiness, having been left so after the funeral of Jinku, Lord Qai's father. The stone-lined fire pit had only needed a new lining of dried wood, a soaking in oil, and the application of a torch.
Palace servants built a canopy over the pit, draped with white cotton and adorned with every flower that could be found, and the highest priests laid the bodies carefully in the pit. With Lord Qai were burned also the bodies of those ladies who had chosen to follow him in death--surprisingly many, Javerri noted, indicative of how beloved Lord Qai truly had been. Among them were First Wife Lady Halge and, surprisingly, Lady Nao-Cha. Nao-Pei reacted hardly at all to her mother's unexpected action, and Javer ri put this fact away for consideration at another time.
Her place was in the spectator box, along with other high officials of the court. She endured the ordeal without tears, as befitting the new Lord of the Third Province, and she wore both Steel Fury and Lady Impatience in her sash.
When all had been prepared, with many prayers, the chief among the priests threw the first torch onto the pyre, and his companions threw theirs likewise. As the fire blazed, lesser priests opened wide the great doors so the Ancestor Stone could witness. T his insured that the souls being released by the flames went directly into the Ancestor Spirit before they could be captured by the numberless demons that always gathered when someone died. The souls could be reborn from the Ancestor Spirit if they chose, but if the demons got them, they would be lost forever.
The pit had been cunningly constructed to concentrate the heat of the fire so funerals could go quickly. When the blaze had consumed everything, the pit was cleaned and, under Javerri's direction, prepared for her own funeral against the day when she woul d join the Ancestor Spirit in her turn. Then the doors were closed again and locked, and fresh climbing vines planted to hide the spot
The following day, Ladylord Javere issued her first proclamation. The surviving wives and concubines of the late Lord Qai qa Hyasti were now free to become wives of citizens of the Third Province, according to rank and each lady's preference. Most--Javerr i's mother Lady Shantar among them--immediately presented themselves for marriage, and the large Audience Hall in the castle had to be set aside for interviews as honest farmers and merchants came hurrying in hopes of winning an elegant new wife. Javerri had never gotten on well with Shantar; even before she had been named heir, Shantar had won many enemies in the women's quarter with her airs. Despite this, Javerri personally settled her mother on a wealthy landowner. He lived far away from Third City so everyone involved was happy about the arrangement. Though Ivo didn't know it, he was fortunate also not to face the prospect of living in the same house as his mother-in-law.
Talk had always been open in the women's quarters, and Javerri listened well to what the women were saying. With this in mind, she devised a third alternative open to the widows, not widely publicized. Discreetly, she invited the notorious Madam Farhat fo r a private meeting with her. This woman was absolute ruler of the Precinct of Women in Third City where even the ruling lord dared not meddle. Rumor had it that Farhat's influence extended throughout the entire province as well for all that she, too, had been born with dung between her toes. Over heated wine Javerri offered Madam Farhat a dozen or so of those women who, for one reason or another, wanted neither re-marriage nor release from this world. Farhat was suspicious at first, then unbelieving, the n incredulous when she discovered that Javerri wanted no more than token payment for each woman who chose to enter the Hyacinth Shadow World.
"It's a bargain, Lady," Farhat said. She carried a fan far more elaborate than her rank entitled her to, and she used it to cool herself now. "I mean, Lord. If I got even one courtesan of the second rank I would be happy. But I know of two potential first ranks among Lord Qai's younger women and many third ranks as well."
"If they want to join you," Javerri said. She fluttered her own fan gracefully. "Please remember that each woman must make her own choice."
"Of course, of course," Farhat said airily. "And why wouldn't any woman choose the Hyacinth Shadow World if it were that or marriage with some dung-smeared peasant? As for the other alternative--" Farhat shuddered.
Ah, but thou hast not come so far from being one of the peasants thou despiseth, Javerri thought. Not that I find thee an unfit tool for me to use at my need. She smiled and offered the woman more wine.
"You are very understanding," Javerri murmured.
"More so than you might think, Lord," Farhat said. She shot Javerri a keen glance; both ladies were on the third flask of heated wine and Javerri could tell it was having its effect. "There is much talk about your marriage."
"Oh?" Javerri said smiling, instantly on her guard.
"There's been much talk--oh, not that I ever gossip, or any of my ladies," Farhat added hastily. "But in the business I am in, one does hear many things. Please. Can't we talk frankly, one woman to another?"
"But surely that is what we are doing." Javerri poured Farhat more wine from the special flask, the one marked with the eleven-petaled flower design. She hoped the woman was too tipsy to realize that the flowers on Javerri's flask had only five petals and that she was drinking a beverage not much stronger than hot water.
"Of course, of course, I understand. You are a high-ranked lady--I mean--"
"In my inner circle I am called Ladylord. I would be pleased if you would address me so." Gratified, Javerri watched the other woman melt under the flattery, twisting on her cushion and preening herself openly. This might loosen Farhat's tongue even more effectively than the strong wine itself, Javerri thought.
"Ladylord," Farhat said. She smiled, the thick makeup on her cheeks threatening to crack with the movement and waved her fan so vigorously the breeze ruffled her hair. "Thank you. As I was saying, you far outrank me, Ladylord, and did even before Lord Qai died and made you his son and heir in accordance with the prophecy. I have no illusions about that. But also I have no illusions about the peculiar position you are in and the risks you cannot afford to take."
Javerri stiffened, instantly alert. How could the woman know the other reason she must deny Ivo even after she was confirmed in her position, when she desired him so much? But then, she thought, Farhat must deal with this sort of thing almost on a daily b asis.
At last she allowed the words to form in her mind, to become real. Even the best methods of preventing conception could fail. All Third Province could be jeopardized if she had to cope with a pregnancy at the same time she wrestled with the terrible conce rns that must plague her until the Third Province was truly secure. A pang of pure longing surged through her as she realized how very much she wanted Ivo's child. No, she thought, shuddering inwardly. I would not take the medicines that release an unripe child from a woman's body. Not Ivo's child.
Madam Farhat seemed not to have noticed Javerri's moment of panic. "You've been more than fair with me," the woman continued. "And I am now, in honor, your debtor. Oh, yes." She laughed deprecatingly. "You may well think that there is no room in the Hyaci nth Shadow World for honor. But I say to you that there would be no Hyacinth Shadow World at all if we did not deal with scrupulous fairness regarding all those involved."
"I had never a doubt." Javerri poured more wine. The woman was tipsy enough by now that she didn't notice Javerri had stopped drinking. Even the weak brew in her flask might be too much, when she had to keep a clear head. And what is it thou dost want fro m me, I wonder, she thought sourly. Wilt thou offer to provide the medicine? Debtor indeed.
"I am in a position to hear much valuable information, Ladylord," Farhat said. "You understand that what goes on between a man and one of my ladies is held in the strictest privacy. You would be astonished at what some men will do with a lady to whom he o wes nothing beyond payment--" She drew herself up primly and sipped at her wine. "That, of course, is not the issue. But sometimes a man will want to talk later. He needs to, you see, and if he speaks too freely about matters you might wish to know about, then it is nobody's fault but his, is it?"
Javerri smiled at the woman through the wave of dizziness that swept over her. So it's nothing more than this! she thought, relieved. Just money. Thou art not only a procuress but a greedy sow as well. May I be reborn a back-passage whore in the dingiest waterfront brothel in the Fourth Province, birthplace of all beggars, highwaymen, and diseased preparers of food, before I fall into thy trap. Valuable information to thee. Worth far more to thee than what I'd have to pay for it. Not for anything would I put myself into thy power for any information thou couldst bring me.
"Surely a man's words under these circumstances aren't to be taken seriously," Javerri said aloud. "And to pay money for such maunderings--" She gave a delicate shudder and hid her face modestly behind her fan. "Impossible."
"Did I say anything about money?" Farhat said hastily. "No, Ladylord, though one might hope-- Well, be that as it may. I wanted only to demonstrate my loyalty, in the best way I can."
"I meant no offense." But I did mean to pry thy grasping fingers from my purse strings, she thought. Thou wilt not dare ask for as much as a rice cake now, but thou must pass along an occasional bit of information I'll find useful, or prove thyself the li ar thou knowest I think thou art.
"And no offense taken, Ladylord." Farhat drained the wine cup. "See here, to show my goodwill and to thank you for your generosity with your late father's women, I will put at your disposal one of my first-rank courtesans any time you, ah, desire to rewar d some gentleman you esteem, and charge you only half the usual fee. Everything handled with the utmost discretion, of course."
Javerri nodded. Even if by some chance Madam Farhat actually knew how matters stood with her and her husband, here the woman was on solid ground and could not be faulted. More than one highborn woman had found herself stirred by a man and unable to gratif y his passions, particularly if she were married to another. But she could send him a graceful substitute for her favors in this manner. That was only one reason tongues had wagged about Nao-Pei's scandalous conduct with Baron Sakano, when there was a per fectly acceptable substitute available. And if honor in the Hyacinth Shadow World was a doubtful commodity, discretion was not.
"You are too kind," she murmured. "If ever I have need of your services, I will call upon you with complete confidence."
"Ladylord."
At least the woman did know when an interview was ended. Farhat rose to her feet, a little unsteadily, and bowed. As she left the room, Javerri stared after her, deep in thought. Farhat represented great potential danger. Could she prove useful after all? It was possible. Much depended on the women she had put into Farhat's keeping, and whether they chose to be loyal to her or to the Ladylord. But here again, she, Javerri, would have to go carefully, as through a wizard's field of explosives. She wished t here were someone to whom she could confide the events of this interview. But all her closest advisors were men. Only another woman could truly comprehend what had just gone on between the Lord of the Third Province and Madam Farhat of the Precinct of Wom en.
On the earliest suitable day Javerri and Ivo were married privately, in front of the Ancestor Stone. The yellow-robed priest stumbled over the words, mixing "lord" and "lady" in referring to the two of them until Javerri finally instructed him to use thei r names without any titles.
She had chosen the hour just before sunset when the shadows grew soft and evening birdsong floated gently on the air. A small group of specially invited courtiers stood as witnesses, among them Sigon and Michu with their personal bodyguards. According to custom, the bride and bridegroom went unattended.
Javerri's conscience lay heavily against her heart while she repeated the vows that bound her, body and soul, to Ivo, and gave him full sovereignty over her person from that moment onward. She looked at the great stone, gleaming with the perfumed oil that had been rubbed into it. Forgive me, Ancestor, she thought. But thou knowest why my vows are shallow and why my husband will not find me in his bed this night nor any other for unknown time to come. Be thou with me and hasten the time when all my vows ca n be fulfilled.
She glanced up at Ivo. He towered over her, as tall as Sigon, and to her eyes at least, even more elegant. His skin glowed golden from the sun's touch, and his eyes were such a dark brown that they appeared almost black. She longed to touch his hair, club bed into a knot at the back of his head, and to feel his hands on her again. But she made the effort that kept her face still and her mind calm all during the rest of the ceremony, even through the feast that followed, excusing herself at last when the se rious drinking began.
She had already moved into the house her father had formerly occupied. Within the Residence, the lord's first wife could maintain her own quarters at sufficient distance from the lord's rooms so the comings and goings of various other wives and concubines could be ignored. Javerri had given orders that Ivo be established in this area. Though other buildings within the citadel were either ornate or starkly military according to their uses, the Residence was designed to be a place of exquisite simplicity, a tranquil world of its own in the midst of the huge castle.
In the deepness of the night, lit by a single lamp, Javerri sat at a small dressing table while Chimoko took her hair out of its elaborate coif. The maid knew about the unusual arrangements that had had to be made. In fact, she had been entrusted with the extremely personal task of contacting Madam Farhat. "Is the woman here yet?" Javerri asked with elaborate carelessness.
"Yes, Ladylord. She arrived an hour ago. I took her to Lord Ivo's bedroom and saw to it that she had something to eat and drink."
"And--and what does she look like?" Javerri asked delicately. She could tell that Chimoko wasn't at all deceived by her demeanor.
"Very beautiful. But she doesn't look at all like you," the maid added. "She's tall, and full-fleshed."
"Perhaps Lord Ivo won't like her."
"The--the lady of the place from which she came said she was very skilled, very experienced. And Lord Ivo will have had plenty of wine."
Javerri frowned, irritated and uncertain as to exactly why. The whole arrangement was entirely rational, the only sensible thing to do under the circumstances. And surely she herself had drunk enough wine that her nerves should not be troubling her by now . And yet she was displeased. Chimoko hastily changed the subject.
"This same lady sent a present for you. The--the other brought it with her."
"Oh?" Javerri said, her displeasure deepening. What on earth could Farhat have sent her? Curiosity gradually got the upper hand. "Well, where is it? Surely if someone sends me a present I should have the courtesy to open it."
Chimoko hastened to fetch the bundle, covered in silk and then in paper. Javerri pulled the paper aside and stared, puzzled, at the plain wooden box. Strange. She had never before in her life received a gift in such a nondescript container. The wrapping w as worth far more than the box.
"Perhaps you should look inside," Chimoko suggested.
Javerri unfastened the latch and opened the lid. She caught her breath. "Lady Moon!" she exclaimed involuntarily.
With Chimoko practically hanging over her shoulder she stared, fascinated and faintly horrified, at the contents of the box. Naturally she had heard about such things--who hadn't?--but she had never seen any. Everything fitted into its own special niche, layered in silk-lined trays. She touched the strands of beads. They were of different sizes, one strung on rough hempen cord, the other on silk. And here, this ring must go over the Night-Growing Mushroom--yes, and equipped with a knob to press against th e Jewel Terrace, too. And this! She stifled a laugh. It was the Ancestor Stone complete with Fruit only smaller. It looked to be made of ivory, so heavily carved it was almost unrecognizable--almost, but not quite. She examined the carvings, feeling her c heeks grow warm in spite of herself. The carvings were extremely amusing, and completely obscene. But the size of it! How could one possibly get it inside? She found another, more modestly proportioned and just as carefully carved, and concluded that the first was intended as a curiosity only. Perhaps it was even quite valuable. There were other items, however, for which she could not imagine a use at all. She touched a third item like a Jade Stalk, but smooth and minus the spheres, and attached to the sa me kind of cord as the beads. Whatever did one do with this? She looked again at the beads and abruptly her face flamed as she understood. One by one, she took all the things out of the trays and carefully placed them on the dressing table. A smile starte d in one corner of her mouth and spread over her face. A so-called "decent" woman probably never saw more than one or two of these items in all her life, let alone had the opportunity of using them. They were definitely secrets until now confined to the H yacinth Shadow World, seldom finding their way beyond its boundaries. Whatever Farhat's motives in giving her the box, she had succeeded in the one thing she had probably never even dreamed of. With the Ladylord's examination of the contents of the box, h er dark mood had definitely lightened.
"Have a purse sent to Madam Farhat in the morning," she said, lips twitching with amusement. "And make certain it is filled with gold, not copper or silver. And send with it my thanks for her extreme thoughtfulness."
"Yes, Ladylord," Chimoko said, practically swallowing her fist to stifle a fit of giggles. Her cheeks were red, and a drop or two of sweat showed high on her forehead. "May I look some more?"
"As much as you please. Then put everything away and place the box in that clothes chest. No, I mean it," she said to the flabbergasted maid.
"Yes, Ladylord, as you command." Chimoko's demeanor clearly showed that she would have had no hesitation in exploring the pleasant possibilities Madam Farhat's unexpected gift offered and furthermore, she had assumed that her mistress would do likewise im mediately. Javerri turned away, signalling that the subject was closed to discussion.
Much later, long after she had dismissed Chimoko for the night, she stole quietly from her bed and retrieved the box. She opened it and stared at the contents thoughtfully. Virgin though she was, she had been thoroughly instructed in private matters as a matter of course. Ivo's nearness and the thought of what he must surely be doing by now made sleep elude her, as she might have anticipated but had not. Farhat, she realized, understood the nature of men and women more profoundly than she had thought. In this area at least, Javerri recognized that the woman had no peer. Hesitantly she picked up the smaller of the Jade Mushrooms provided for her use, touching the ridges and bumps carefully carved on its surface, imagining how it might feel. . . .
Then she closed the box and put it away again. She would not endanger her maidenhead with any of these things; surely they were intended only for experienced women. Nor would she stoop to such expedients with Ivo as Nao-Pei practiced with Sakano, even to preserve her virginity. She crept back to her bed. Her body tormented her; she touched herself, seeking to ease the discomfort. Without conscious volition, her fingers found the Jewel Terrace and lingered there. Unexpectedly, and for the first time ever, her body arched and she erupted in shuddering pleasure. She had little time to think about it; the spasms subsided and she fell asleep at once.
Many ri separated Javerri from First City. Wande-hari urged that they depart with all due speed, before any local opposition could grow firm enough to be a real threat.
"We will have runners who can keep us in touch with the castle," he said, "and we can turn back instantly if need be."
"I don't like leaving here at all," Javerri said.
"Nor do I. But it is of the utmost importance that we attend to our business with First Lord. Without his confirmation your enemies are on stronger ground than they will be once you have it."
She nodded, knowing that this confirmation was going to be the most difficult part of their entire journey. She knew also that despite his still considerable powers, Wande-hari would be helpless to influence Sublime Lord Yassai. As in the other provinces, Javerri's lands were sorely lacking in competent magicians. Lord Yassai kept most of the mages of Monserria in First City with him, surrounding himself with them to counteract any spell casting one of his vassals might be moved to try. Even the attempt, it was said, resulted in immediate imprisonment and slow death by torture of the unfortunate mage involved. Magicians, even his own, even the chief among them who was known only as the Scorpion, approached Lord Yassai with great care.
She had left Sigon the Strategist in charge, taking Michu and a hundred pikemen as well as Chakei for her guard. Though she was an excellent rider, she chose to go by foot instead, not only because horses' hooves were the ruination of the roads but also b ecause the use of horses could have been interpreted as a signal of war and the necessity of moving swiftly. She made a point of inquiring about the physician who had been so courteous and thoughtful when her father was dying; his name was Lek and she add ed him to her entourage as her personal doctor. This pleased her; another person who traveled with them did not.
In addition to the physician, the group of travelers included the illustrious Lady Safia, that one of Madam Farhat's best ladies who had come to the Residence on Javerri's wedding night. She would ride in a palanquin carried by servants. Javerri and Ivo w ould go in palanquins because of their rank and Wande-hari as well because of his age, but she fretted at the necessity of having yet another palanquin in the company. Well, she could do something about that. She would get out frequently and go on foot, a nd nobody else dared ride while she walked. She allowed herself briefly to enjoy the picture of a delicate creature like Lady Safia being forced to walk in the dust with Chimoko, like an ordinary mortal. Ivo, standing beside her, remained mercifully unawa re of her thoughts.
"I wish I could take the entire burden of this journey on myself and relieve you of it. This will be very tiring for you," Ivo said.
"I'm very strong, much stronger than I look."
"You look as frail as a flower."
She smiled at his morning gift to her, a perfect branch of late-blooming mimosa. "Well, I'm not. You'll see."
She climbed into her palanquin and, when all was ready, gave the signal to move out. She waited until she was well away from Third City before closing the curtains.
All Monserrians were enthusiastic travelers, and Javerri's entourage was only one of many journeying to or from First City. They made excellent progress, staying in one of the Province's numerous roadside inns each night. Despite Javerri's remonstrances, the ever-practical Chimoko had insisted on bringing the box with them and she placed it near Javerri's bed each night. Of course, when Chimoko looked into the chest the next morning she had noticed that the box was not precisely in the spot where she had put it the night before. The maid, earthy and practical, simply couldn't encompass the notion that Javerri hadn't put its contents to use in privacy that first night nor that she wasn't doing so now.
"There will be," Chimoko said, "the time in First City before you are confirmed, when Lord Ivo will continue to be occupied with the other lady, and you deserve your pleasures as well."
Sighing inwardly, Javerri gave up trying to convince the maid otherwise. Let it be, she thought. I have other matters, more urgent, on my mind and this is trivial indeed.
Javerri, with Chimoko for company, slept in a separate room from her husband and Safia while the men disposed themselves as General Michu directed during these nights on the road. Chakei always crouched half-dozing just outside the Ladylord's door.
"There's a guard," Michu said truculently. "Why does that creature find it necessary to do this?"
"It's his way of showing devotion."
"I'm no less loyal and I don't have to sleep at your feet."
"You're not a Dragon-warrior."
Michu's wide face creased in a sudden smile. "Thank all the gods and Ancestors for that!" he said. "They say there aren't any females among 'em. Still, I'd rather have him standing guard where I post him. Someone may get killed, stumbling over him in the night, and he thinks you're being attacked."
"Leave him alone. His presence pleases me, and it does no harm."
And so Michu reluctantly subsided, though he made it plain he didn't approve of the arrangement.
The general had brought up a valid point, however. She tried asking Chakei about it herself without Wande-hari to help the mind contact. In doing so, she discovered that, although she could do it alone for very brief periods, her head ached abominably wit h the effort.
forgive ladylord not want hurt
I'm sure it will get easier with practice, Chakei. Didn't my father talk with thee like this?
sometimes
Michu is afraid that thou wilt kill his men if they get too close in the night.
She could swear that a look of contempt crossed Chakei's rigid features. He ruffled his scarlet crest and shook off a flake of scaling skin. know difference
And that was the end of it as far as he was concerned.
On their last night on the road, Javerri invited Wande-hari to share the evening meal with her. The closer they came to First City, the more she found herself concerned that Nao-Pei would take the opportunity of her absence to move against her and she wan ted to discuss the matter with him.
"I think she will do nothing," the magician said tranquilly. "At least for the time being. Since she made no move before you left, nor in the day or so thereafter, it is plain that she now wants to see what will happen between you and Lord Yassai. She mus t hope he won't confirm you. If he does, there's time enough for her and Sakano to raise a rebellion afterward. Also there is the chance that she'll be able to arrange to have an Illustrious Nephew on which to practice her seductions."
"In which case Sakano will have cause to mount his own rebellion."
"And lose everything? No, Ladylord. Sakano is quick to grasp any opportunity that comes his way, but even he wouldn't dare go against Yassai's full might. No, you needn't worry about either Nao-Pei or Sakano at the present time. We will arrive at First Ci ty tomorrow, barring unforeseen difficulties. You must clear your mind of everything but the matter at hand, my child. You will need all your wits in order to survive your confrontation with the Sublime Lord."
"I know," she said, bowing her head. Then she looked up at him. He sat examining the nail-guards on his left hand as if the possibility of a loose jewel in one of the golden sheaths were the greatest care he had in the world. "You aren't to accompany me t o First Lord's audience hall."
He didn't even lift an eyebrow. "Of course not," he said. "First Lord's suspicions will be at their highest level and the mere presence of a mage who is not entirely his creature would be enough to send both you and me to the dungeons instantly. That is w hy I counsel you to put away your worries and approach Yassai with a mind like a clear brook in a peaceful forest. Let him perceive you to be without cares, to be secure that your petition will be successful, to be confident that he will confirm your fath er's dying wishes. This will shake Yassai's own confidence a little, I think. He is accustomed to people, even Lords of the other four Provinces, coming to him full of fear. He enjoys seeing people cringe."
"But wouldn't he resent it if I showed strength? After all, I am a woman--"
"You are Third Lord!" The ancient magician sat bolt upright in his place, fixing Javerri with an implacable eye. "Never forget it!"
"Yes, Wande-hari," Javerri said, properly chastened. "I only thought that my coming before him with a show of strength, plus my happening to be female in spite of my father's having declared me his son and heir, might serve to offend instead of impress."
"There is always that possibility," Wande-hari said. He subsided a little, mollified. "Still, I think the results you seek are worth the risk. I have often heard your father declare that when all odds seem to be against you, that is when you raise your ba nners to their highest and blow the loudest war horns."
"Then of course I will do as you advise."
She motioned the elderly magician to keep his place while she arose to go for a walk in the lengthening evening. She watched some farmers working late in a small rice-field. This was First Province; they had no House of Children here and consequently adul ts were forced to do this work. The cultivation of rice was a backbreaking endeavor. People of the Third Province knew this fact intimately; it was their chief crop, and the province was known as the grain basket of Monserria. Many years ago, in an attemp t to find as many hands to tend the rice as possible, Lord Yon had decreed that unwanted children should not be abandoned or destroyed as had always been the custom. Instead, they were to be given to the rice workers to be set to work in their watery fiel ds. These children, so the reasoning went, being so small, were admirably suited to this kind of labor. And so the House of Children was established and continued to flourish to this day. There were always unwanted children, peasants' offspring for the mo st part, though the occasional inconvenient child of better class parents would wind up in the House of Children. By far the largest number of them were girls. Those boys who inhabited the House of Children were illegitimate, or malformed, or those whose birth had been marked with unfavorable omens.
First Province was the smallest of the Five that made up Monserria. As far as what it could produce itself it was the poorest as well. Yet it lay at the protected center of the entire country; here was the Sublime Ruler's citadel and the repository of all its wealth. Because the First Lord always stood in jeopardy, however slight, of rebellion among his vassals, every ri of land capable of cultivation here groaned under the weight of rice fields, sauce-beans or oil-nut trees. As she watched, a man stood u p, put fists to back, and called to the rest that the day's work had ended.
Gladly, the workers climbed into an ox-cart to be taken back to where they lived. Javerri thought briefly about ox-carts and long journeys as the heavily loaded vehicle wobbled its way along the rutted tracks worn parallel to the road her company camped b eside. Then she dismissed the idea. No traveler, however urgent his errand, would ever dream of ruining the roads in such a barbaric manner. She looked beyond the ox-cart and its occupants, to the line of mountains lying purple-blue and hazy in the distan ce. She found them so soothing she wished she could linger at this spot for a month, absorbing their beauty and serenity into her inmost being.
Wande-hari was right, she thought. I must clear my mind of every care. Oh, Lady Moon and Ancestor, please help me find the tranquillity I must have in order to live past these next few days.
Stewards showed Javerri and her company to spacious apartments that occupied a full wing on the fourth floor of the immense Residence of Stendas Castle. It put to shame anything Yonarin Castle could provide. Chimoko settled the Ladylord and her consort at opposite ends of the wing and sent the somewhat road-worn courtesan Safia to her own small cubicle near Lord Ivo's room.
Then Javerri waited. One day lengthened into two; two became a week. More stewards came daily to report, oh most courteously: Various matters of state occupy the Sublime Ruler, in the meantime please consider yourself his honored guest, all the resources of Stendas Castle and First City are at your disposal. And just as courteously, she answered: But of course there is no great hurry, Third Lord's insignificant matter is beneath the Sublime Ruler's notice, Third Lord completely understands.
She maintained an even temper and, after each of these polite rebuffs, spoke with Michu and soothed him into keeping his. Lord Yassai might believe he dealt a subtle insult by keeping the new Third Lord cooling her heels, but he obviously had never dealt with a woman on these terms before. She welcomed the opportunity to rest, for Chimoko to massage her face and body so she could make herself as sternly beautiful as it was in her power to be for the interview that would, sooner or later, take place. Also, Chimoko brought her much information and servants' gossip was always amusing if not always to be taken seriously. Another week went by before a steward finally told her that Yassai would see her.
"It's humiliating, being bidden into his presence like a dog, after he's kept us cooling our heels so long," Michu said, scowling. The looks on the faces of her companions told her that he spoke for all. "Some would consider this a declaration of war."
"I am ready to fight for you," Ivo said, putting his hand on the fine new sword she had given him.
"Ready?" Michu said, and snorted with disgust. "I'd welcome it, and all those with us as well!"
She glanced at the "honor guard" of twenty, proud of the brave show they made in their green uniforms, Third Province's color. Though they had set aside their pikes on Michu's orders, each man went fully armed with sword and dagger inside the castle, as w as allowed even the lowest of the warrior caste. She noted that even Lek the physician had put a dagger in his sash. Chakei, more lethal in his own way than any of the rest, hovered at her side.
"You will all have to surrender your weapons at the door," Javerri said, "except for Lord Ivo and Michu. Please do not make any trouble about it. Surrender your high tempers also. I believe it will not become necessary for us to fight."
Hands resting on the hilts of her own weapons, she looked them over one last time, satisfied at the appearance they all made. Then she took a deep breath, and began to descend the stairs. She walked unhurriedly through the corridors until she came to the doors of the Audience Hall, recognizable because they bore painted likenesses of the Guardians, much the same as the audience chamber doors in the Residence of Third Castle. Reluctantly, her companions gave up their weapons to red-clad guards.
Under other circumstances she would have been clad in green as well, but she was still in mourning; her overdress of pure white cotton fairly gleamed among the showier brocades worn by the courtiers who crowded the audience room. Chimoko had spent over an hour getting her hair just right and applying her makeup. As a finishing touch, Javerri slipped Steel Fury into her scarlet sash beside his daughter Lady Impatience; the pierced gold hilts glittered in the light, drawing all eyes. As a member of the high est rank of the warrior caste, every lord of the province could go thus armed even within arm's length of the Sublime Ruler though courtesy suggested they set their weapons aside into the keeping of a trusted subordinate, if allowed to approach that close . Javerri had no such intentions. She wanted it to be instantly known that, mourning her father's loss or not, she had come to claim her inheritance.
The doors opened outward, and she nearly lost her composure. On the inner surfaces, they bore the Guardians as well, only these were carved in such high relief they looked ready to step forward and physically stop any who would come into the chamber with less than honorable intentions. They were painted no less realistically than the ones on the outside, and their eyes glittered with gems. Gems also crusted the rings on their fingers and the necklaces they wore, and glinted on the hilts of the wooden weap ons they carried. Javerri composed herself to walk forward at the proper time, without any visible signs of fear.
The Hall was crowded, with rows of courtiers kneeling respectfully on one side and others whose functions were less clear on the other, leaving a center passage and a narrow aisle along each wall where her guard could stand. She motioned for her companion s to go ahead of her and join the courtiers. All obeyed at once save Chakei; without seeking his mind she knew he would stay with her regardless of orders. But that was the nature of Dragon-warriors. Once given, their loyalty was complete. Even Lord Yassa i would understand that.
Before she could step over the threshold, the man in the middle of the dais spoke. "Come in, come in, Javere qa Hyasti!"
Yassai qa Chula, First Lord and Sublime Ruler of the lesser Lords of the Provinces of the land of Monserria, waved a few glittering fingers negligently in her direction. Obediently, Javerri entered the room and got her first look at her sovereign lord.
To her startled gaze, the First Lord looked like nothing so much as an ancient monkey someone had dressed up and put in the center of the dais. Bright, suspicious eyes peered out at her from the nest of wrinkles that was his face. Under the ornately embro idered robe, his shoulders sagged with the burden of his years. Jewels sparkled from his nail guards; unlike Wande-hari, who kept one hand free to use, Lord Yassai's nails grew so long on both hands that he was virtually helpless.
Javerri wished Wande-hari was with her. But she knew at once and instinctively that he had been correct in his estimation that neither of them would have lived past this initial interview if she had dare include him in her retinue. One look at the number and type of retainers Lord Yassai kept around him at all times told her more, perhaps, than Lord Yassai intended her to know. The mages around him, recognizable by their robes of office, looked cowed, beaten down. She thought she saw one who held his head high and a fleeting thought crossed her mind that this must be the Scorpion, but she had no time to pursue the notion.
"Forgive me if I omit your honorific," the Sublime Ruler said with exquisite courtesy. "I hardly know whether to address you as lord or lady until your exact status has been determined. Will you allow me simply to call you Javere?"
She bowed to the exact degree prescribed. "My friends have begun to call me Ladylord, Sire."
Yassai smiled, but the lady beside him covered her mouth with her fan and tittered openly. Javerri glanced at her, surprised by her rudeness. This had to be Lady Seniz-Nan. Palace gossip had already reached Javerri's ears through Chimoko about who she was and why she occupied her exalted position. Just fifteen, she was obviously pregnant; by custom, any lapses of manners a pregnant woman committed were overlooked. By a miracle, she was the first and only of countless wives, concubines, and courtesans befo re her to conceive. It was also said that Lord Yassai had had enormous help, quite unknown to him, in performing the miracle of the child's begetting.
"An elegant solution to an unprecedented situation," Lady Seniz-Nan said. Her voice was light and sweet, and she held up a wine cup which was instantly refilled. By the flush of her cheeks it was plain that she had already drunk a great deal.
"Correct, my dear. Nevertheless, I insist on informality." Yassai raised another finger, and a physician seated on the other side of him lifted a bit of spiced vegetable with eating sticks, examined it, and then placed it in Yassai's mouth. Behind the phy sician stood an enormous guard, naked to the waist. He held a sword, poised, ready to strike. At the slightest indication of discomfort on Yassai's part, the guard would decapitate the luckless physician.
"Come and join me," Yassai said to Javerri graciously. "Have you eaten?"
"I would be honored to share food with the Sublime Ruler." She approached the dais where Yassai sat on a formal cushion. There was no cushion of lower rank for her, either on the dais or in the space in front of it. Ignoring the omission, she mounted the platform and knelt deferentially on the hard surface, allowing a flash of scarlet underdress to show as she arranged her skirts around her legs. A faint hiss of breath from the watchers in the room told her this did not go unnoticed. Scarlet was the color of challenge and it had been daring enough of her to wear it as a sash; for her to have chosen it as her underdress as well made it clear that she intended to insist upon confirmation of her inheritance here and now unless Yassai could find a way to avoi d it.
"Didn't I see a physician in your company of attendants?" Lord Yassai continued imperturbably. "Would you like him to examine your food?"
"When I eat from the same dish as you, Sire? I am perfectly content."
Again the intake of breath, delicate as a snow blossom, as the physician put a bit of food into her mouth as well. She chewed and swallowed with every indication of pleasure. For her to have put herself so completely into Yassai's power spoke highly of La dylord Javere's courage in a time and place where the art of poisoning had been refined to the point that a single morsel in a dish could be made deadly without contaminating the rest. It was a swordsman's technique she used, and the warriors in the room recognized it with a certain amount of glee; by getting inside his guard, Javerri had made it necessary for Yassai to retreat before he could move against her openly--for the moment at least.
"I was desolate when I received word that Qai qa Hyasti had died," First Lord said. "I mourned that the House of Hyasti died with him for he left no living son. I thought I would have to send one of my nephews to Third Province. You can imagine my surpris e when I discovered that you have miraculously become that son."
"No more surprised than I, Sire." Eeeei, Javerri thought, nor half as surprised as the Illustrious Nephew who thought he had a chance of ruling even if it were only Third Province, now that Seniz-Nan is on the verge of presenting you with an heir.
"Hmmm." Yassai shifted on his cushion and waved away the physician with the plate of food.
Seniz-Nan leaned forward and tapped him on the arm with her folded fan. "It is like a tale out of a book. You got word from Fifth Province that the will is genuine, that it bears Qai's signature even if it did look as if a spider had fallen into the inkwe ll. Confirm her at once, Lord," she said, smiling at Javerri a little unsteadily. "And then call the Council to ratify it. I like her."
Yassai turned and scowled at her. She merely sipped more wine, pretending not to notice. Then he turned back to Javerri and, unexpectedly, changed the subject. "Is that truly the famous Steel Fury?" he said, indicating the sword in her sash.
Javerri put one hand on the gold hilt. "Yes, Sire, and his daughter, Lady Impatience. My father bequeathed both to me as his son and heir."
"May I see him?"
For answer, Javerri slipped the sword a finger's length from the sheath, holding him so the light caught the mottling on the blade. The entire room full of people held their breaths. It was said that Steel Fury and his daughter had taken ten years for a m aster craftsman to make. When the craftsman had finished, he immediately drowned himself because he knew that he would never equal either of these wonderful weapons, let alone surpass them.
Lord Yassai glanced at the blade and nodded. "It is as beautiful as I remembered. And the pierced gold work is particularly lovely."
"Thank you, Sire. When my father went to war intending to join the battle personally, he wrapped the hilts with rawhide strips. It spoiled the beauty of the sword and his daughter but it made his grip more sure." She pushed the short length of exposed swo rd blade back into the sheath. An unmistakable ripple of amusement coursed through the audience, a sound as of held breaths being expelled. Lady Seniz-Nan laughed openly, prompting Lord Yassai to frown in her direction. A servant flicked open First Lord's gold-edged red fan and held it at his shoulder but he waved it away without touching it.
Javerri hid her own laughter. Very properly, she had displayed only that much of Steel Fury's blade and no more. To have drawn it completely would have meant that she must use it before re-sheathing, and, quite correctly, the waiting swordsman would have taken her head then and there. She silently thanked Sigon the Strategist for having taught her the courtesy of the blade. If she had been uneducated she would have fallen into this deceptively simple trap without a second thought. The approval she felt co ming from those gathered to watch heartened her; surely not everyone in Lord Yassai's court was completely his creature.
"Yes, lovely," Yassai repeated. "I always envied Qai that sword. But why carry the weapons, Javere? I notice you have brought Third Province's Dragon-warrior with you on this journey. Surely he is protection enough for you."
She glanced at Chakei where he crouched at the edge of the dais. The Dragon-warrior raised his head, ruffled his crest, and hissed a little. "He would not be left behind. I wear my father's sword and dagger because he named me his son and heir to the Thir d Province."
The moment the open declaration left her mouth she regretted it. This was too easy; Yassai was far too wily to leave her an opportunity like this unless he had some kind of trap prepared. The stir among the watchers deepened; they too knew that she had ma de a misstep and leaned forward to see what use the First Lord would make of her blunder. Javerri reached out with her mind, seeking to open a channel into Yassai's thoughts, and almost cried out. It was as if she had hurled herself against a stone wall, and within herself she reeled from the impact.
Eeeei, that hurt! Wande-hari had never instructed her in this form of mental discipline and she knew she had been foolish to try it. She caught a telltale gleam in Lord Yassai's eye and knew he had felt her probing and knew how futile it had been.
"Ah, yes," the Sublime Ruler said. He smiled benignly and glanced sideways at Seniz-Nan. "We have yet to decide the question of inheritance, haven't we?"
Javerri bowed her head, struggling to maintain her composure. "You have already found his will to be authentic. And it was my father's dying wish."
"And should be given due consideration, of course. But there is also the question of fitness for such a position, Ladylord." Not a person in the room missed the significance of Lord Yassai's sudden use of her title, nor the delicate edge of derision with which he said it. "As far as I can see, you are just a woman--a very lovely woman, but no more than that. Why don't you marry one of my nephews? Lutfu qa Masfa, for example." An extraordinarily ugly man seated on the dais nearby inclined his head in her d irection. Another even uglier simply stared at her. "Or my other nephew Quang qa Masfa? That way you can return to the Third Province secure in your inheritance and bearing strong personal connections with me as well."
She looked up. "You do me too much honor, Sire. I regret that I cannot do as you suggest and either marry Lord Lutfu or Lord Quang at once for I am already married, to Lord Ivo qa Gilad."
Ivo got to his feet, bowed very low, then resumed his place.
Yassai sucked his teeth. Then he allowed himself a sigh. "Ah. I see. To give you your full formal name I should refer to you as Javere qa Hyasti qa Gilad. What a pity. If you had married Lutfu I would have confirmed you at once, of course. But now-- The o nly reasonable thing for me to do is set you a task to perform in order to prove that you yourself are worthy to follow your father as Lord of Third Province." He stared at Chakei. The Dragon-warrior stared back without expression. The Sublime Ruler smile d, as if an idea had just struck him. "I have it! My own Dragon-warrior is, alas, not well. He is listless, his skin scaling so heavily it cracks and bleeds. I fear he may actually be dying. But then he is very old. Unfortunately, no one appears to be suf ficiently daring these days to deal in eggs; perhaps the hunters are all dead. Mortality rates among these people are said to be shocking. At any rate, I have not been able to find a trader, though I have sent word in every direction that I wanted to buy another." He paused for a moment before closing the trap with exquisite gentleness. "But you could go and find one for me."
Beside him, Seniz-Nan's face contorted briefly in fury.
Javerri felt the blood drain from her own face. Lady Moon and Ancestor! Why not order my death here and now and have done with it? She quickly curbed her thoughts; though she might have bruised her mind against the wall that surrounded his, she had no gua rantee that he couldn't penetrate her mind at will.
"Surely," she said, and her voice broke a little. She cleared her throat. "Surely the successful completion of such a task would prove anyone fit to rule Third Province."
"It is settled then, and our interview concluded." Supreme Ruler Yassai smiled and waved his glittering fingers at her. "You will leave at dawn tomorrow. Go and prepare for your journey."
She rose, keeping herself steady with sheer force of will, and bowed before turning to leave the Audience Hall. Her followers rose, bowed also, and left with her. As she made her way through the sea of carefully expressionless faces on either side of her, she realized that she had been incorrect in her first impression of the Sublime Lord. He didn't resemble a monkey at all; now she recognized his expression, attitude, and character in the pictures she had seen of the most terrifying creature on the face of the earth, a monster that was enough to daunt even a Dragon-warrior. Lord Yassai qa Chula, as he had sat smiling at her and ordering her into a death mission, had looked exactly like a desert shark.
Elsewhere in First City, Wande-hari sat deep in an interview with the magician Halit in an audience hall he had rented in the House of Mages. A pot of tea sat nearby and both mages sipped politely from rose-glazed cups as they talked. Wande-hari's had coo led too much; with a minor spell, he warmed it again.
Halit, though new to Monserria, came highly recommended by more than one master mage of Wande-hari's acquaintance. Dark of hair, his face relatively unlined, Halit kept the nails on both hands trimmed quite short. From his appearance, Wande-hari judged he was still young enough to be subject to the temptations of the flesh, a luxury Wande-hari had discarded many years ago. Also, Halit was vain; the heavy silk brocade of his robe and the jewels on his slippers proclaimed him so. Though Wande-hari didn't pa rticularly like Halit at their first meeting, considering him entirely too young and untried, the old man had to admit that if Halit could do the things he was supposed to be able to do, he was extremely talented as well, and therefore he could not dismis s him in favor of another, less talented, whom he liked better.
"Show me how you make exploding pebbles," the elderly mage said.
Halit smiled. "I thought you'd ask me that, so I have the materials already at hand," he said. He pulled a silk-wrapped parcel from his sleeve, opened it, and began setting out jars of various powders. "I can also do a few other small things that you migh t wish to examine. They are poor indeed, when put beside the wonders you can so easily accomplish, sir, but one does the best one can. . . ." The younger man let the words trail off, shrugging self-deprecatingly. He began stirring and blending, adding so much of this powder, a pinch of that, mixing it all in a stained marble bowl. He muttered a few phrases under his breath. The powders abruptly became a paste. With another word, Halit formed the paste into pebbles that looked indistinguishable from those that covered any garden path. "It is done," Halit said.
Wande-hari smiled in turn. "We shall see," he said. He selected a sample at random, noting with approval that Halit had made these pebbles both small and of low explosive force. Others he had interviewed had not had the wit to realize he would want to set one off and still not destroy the House of Mages where he now sat.
He removed the teapot from the brass tray on which it sat and replaced it with the pebble. Moving back out of the way, he murmured the words that set off a pebble without the necessity of hurling it to the ground.
A ball of blinding light briefly appeared, and a puff of scarlet smoke hovered over the spot where the pebble had been. Impressed in spite of himself, Wande-hari had to speak another word in order to dissipate the smoke.
"Alas, the tray is ruined," Halit said. "But no matter." He made a gesture with his fingers, muttered something under his breath, and the warped piece of brass became a tray again. "It will have to be re-polished, though."
Wande-hari chuckled outright. With a negligent gesture of his own he rendered the tray as shiny as it had been when it was new.
Halit picked up the tray and examined it, pleased and astonished. "Will you show me how to do that?"
"Of course, of course. Later. Right now, I'm interested in what else you can do. I'm particularly interested in how and why you made the explosion without noise."
"Oh, that's a little refinement I worked out myself. It occurred to me that it is not always desirable that an explosion announce its occurrence. I'm still trying to eliminate the flash. Some of my pebbles make the smoke you saw, in various colors. Others don't. There are times when the smoke is convenient."
"Yes, I know. This is very clever." As thou art clever as well, Wande-hari thought. But art thou clever enough? He took a bundle from his own sleeve pocket. "You must make another pebble, using my ingredients. However, first I want you to show me somethi ng else, something, ah, gentler," he said. "After all, Third Lord Javere appreciates beauty as well as martial skills."
Halit nodded. "Will this suffice?" he said. He held out his hand. The air just above the surface of his palm wavered, twinkled, then solidified into a butterfly that appeared to be made of spun gold. Its wings looked like thin slices of precious gems, so delicate the sound of a footstep could shatter them.
"Lovely," Wande-hari said.
"Wait, there's more." Smiling, Halit leaned forward and slipped his exquisite creation onto the brass tray. He raised a finger and murmured a word Wande-hari didn't recognize.
The butterfly began to sing.
Entranced, Wande-hari nonetheless scrutinized the younger mage closely to see if he were performing a mere entertainer's trick, throwing his voice so that it appeared to be coming from the butterfly.
"As you may know, I live in the House of Mages," Halit said. "Please excuse me. I will return in a moment." He rose and left the room. The butterfly continued to sing.
Halit re-entered the small audience hall so quickly that Wande-hari assumed his room must have been just down the corridor. He had a number of books under one arm and a heavily carved wooden box under the other. Setting all this down, he gestured and spok e again; the butterfly abruptly stopped singing. The air around it glittered, and then the golden creature twinkled back into the nothingness from which it had appeared.
"Truly amazing," Wande-hari murmured.
"Thank you," Halit said. "Now, with your permission, I want to show you some of the sources of my study, and also to make amends for my poor manners. You must be weary, and have had nothing but tea to refresh yourself." He opened the silk package Wande-ha ri gave him. "While you divert yourself I will make an ordinary exploding pebble for you."
"You are very thoughtful." Wande-hari examined the books, impressed in spite of himself. "Where did you get this one? I have had a chance to look at it only once in my life, and that briefly."
"You doubtless know that I spent some time in the land beyond our borders to the south."
Wande-hari nodded. "Fogestria, yes."
"While there, I had the occasion to study with one of their foremost mages, a man called Anselme." Halit shook his head sadly. "A most wicked man. But one learns most from one's enemies, don't you agree?"
"It is useful to know what goes on in an adversary's mind. But why aren't you still in Anselme's service?"
"Oh, I never apprenticed myself to him. Indeed, I tremble at the thought. Actually, I had learned almost everything I wanted to know from Anselme by the time he discovered that I was, to all intents and purposes, a spy. I fled for my very life." Halit smi led. "And somehow these books found their way into my baggage. I must have packed in greater haste than I knew."
"I understand completely," Wande-hari said, nodding. "And the box?"
Again, Halit shrugged self-deprecatingly. "Oh, just a few other things I discovered in my sojourn. They can make life more pleasant."
Wande-hari gestured and opened the box without touching it. Naturally, he had already examined its contents before lifting the lid but saw no reason to tell Halit this. Some of the things he recognized, others he knew only from rumor; and a few he didn't know at all. "I find little use for aphrodisiacs at this stage of my life," he said mildly.
"Nor do I for myself," Halit said. "But sometimes the masters we serve have the need for a little, ah, stimulation. Not to mention-- But that's beside the point."
Wande-hari nodded. The other man's attention had slipped ever so slightly with the opening of the box and with this had come the opportunity for a fleeting glimpse into Halit's unguarded thoughts. Brief as it was, it gave Wande-hari a very informative loo k at various matters Halit thought securely hidden behind the wall in his mind. The man had a number of startling sexual habits. In addition, Wande-hari now knew exactly how important the box and its contents really were to Halit. He had to retreat before he could see everything, however, and he had to do it without Halit's knowing that he had penetrated that wall; otherwise, his own will could have been trapped in the other's.
"Surely it is in a mage's best interests to keep his lord content," Wande-hari said. "But Lord Javere is still young and has no need of such things."
"I bow to your wisdom. Will you take abaythim with me?"
"Thank you, no. But pray do so if you wish."
"It is not a habit with me. Smoking abaythim is a soothing practice, however, and I sometimes do so when I have a particularly difficult piece of magic to work out. It clears my mind and makes it function better somehow. I thought we might share it so you could probe my thoughts with greater ease--if, of course, you find yourself sufficiently pleased with me that you wish to take this step in the negotiations." He set off the pebble he had just made and it popped and emitted a bright pink smoke.
Thou very scoundrel, Wande-hari thought, amused. Thou knowest well thou art head and shoulders above the rest who would replace me in Third Province. "Your solicitude for my advancing years is greatly appreciated, young Halit," he said aloud. "But I am fa r too old a dog to learn such a new trick at this late date. Never mind, for I still have enough strength that I can probe your mind in the old-fashioned manner."
"Then I am prepared."
Wande-hari sent his thoughts toward the other man, and into his mind. With Halit's full cooperation, he entered easily. The upper level was as he already knew, that of a greatly talented mage. He probed a little deeper and to his mild surprise found a por tion of what he had seen previously lying open for his inspection--the usual impulses of greed, vanity, avarice, envy and lust staining the purity of what lay above. Below this level, he knew, he would find the wellsprings of these and every other base em otion the species of man had ever been cursed with. Every person alive possessed this bestial component, and here he did not need to go. What interested him more was the well-hidden wall he had briefly peered behind earlier. Somehow Halit had managed to r ender it virtually undetectable now. If Wande-hari had not had the benefit of that earlier, unguarded glimpse, he might have overlooked it.
I should have taught the Ladylord that trick, he thought. It might have helped her in her interview with First Lord. When she is advanced a little further, I will. Well, no sense in lingering. He withdrew from Halit's mind, making sure Halit felt him leav e.
"Are you satisfied with what you found?"
"I am satisfied."
"Then I am suitable to become a Third Province mage?"
"How courteously you put the matter," Wande-hari said with a smile. Eeeei, my young friend, he thought contentedly, thou art verily a defiler of young boys and waterfowl, and unless thou doth learn better, some day thy use of abaythim will fill thy days t o the exclusion of even these pleasant pursuits. But I say that thou art also the most radiantly talented mage I have known with the exception of my own master, and when I have finished with thy training my Ladylord Javere can have even First Lordship if she wills, with thee at her side. "Yes, Halit, I believe that you are very suitable to become, as you put it, a Third Province mage."
"I could ask for no greater honor," Halit said, bowing low. "Master."
To find and bring back a Dragon-warrior egg!" Wande-hari repeated incredulously. "Why, that is tantamount to--to--"
"To a death sentence," Javerri said. "With no stain of opprobrium attached to Lord Yassai. Oh, he dealt with me most skillfully. For a while he allowed me to believe that I held my own in conversation with him. But then he disposed of me so quickly I knew he had been playing with me all along."
"It was ever his way," Wande-hari said. "I regret the necessity of your facing him alone. Still, I would say that you did not do too badly."
They sat in Javerri's apartment, the Ladylord and the two mages. Chakei crouched near the door, alert for any noise or unfamiliar scent outside.
Halit cleared his throat. "This has been a day filled with surprises," he said. "I thought I had reached the peak when my master selected me to assist him. But I was even more greatly astonished to discover that the new Lord of the Third Province is a you ng and most lovely woman." His gaze rested on her, so warmly she was nearly embarrassed at such open admiration.
"Didn't Wande-hari tell you I was female?"
"No, he didn't."
"I thought it unnecessary," Wande-hari said.
"And so it was, Master. Still, it makes some of the things you told me a little more understandable."
"I see," Javerri said, not seeing at all. "Be that as it may, we still have this question of obtaining a Dragon-warrior egg for Lord Yassai before us, and how to live through the ordeal. We must be gone at first light tomorrow and I haven't any idea of wh ich way to start."
Halit cleared his throat again. "If I may be permitted to speak." Both Wande-hari and Javerri nodded. "As it happens, my sojourn in Fogestria proves helpful in more respects than the one my master and I discussed this afternoon. The Burning Mountains are located south of Fogestria, and it is somewhere in these that the Dragon-warrior eggs are rumored to be found."
"Do you know where the laying grounds are?" Wande-hari said.
"Alas, no, not exactly."
"Still, you have confirmed Wande-hari's good judgment in selecting you by this information alone." Javerri thought intently for a moment. "Lord Yassai was most careful not to give me the least hint of where I should start my search. Now I wonder whether t o start in any direction but south so he will dismiss me from his mind as a mere annoyance, or to head directly south and arouse even more suspicions than he now has."
"The first course you mention might cause him to send Lord Lutfu to Third Province without waiting for your return--or word of your failure and inevitable death. Lutfu," Wande-hari added in explanation to Halit, "is the Illustrious Nephew mentioned most o ften in connection with Third Province."
"But wouldn't my going south immediately be likely to bring about the same result?" Javerri said.
"If I may be permitted to speak again."
"Yes, Halit. Please."
"It seems to me that either action is likely to have ill results as regards Third Province. I trust that you left it in safe hands?"
"The safest, and the most reliable. General Sigon the Strategist currently commands Yonarin Castle."
Halit bowed. "Even Lord Yassai wouldn't attack lightly a stronghold commanded by the Magnificent Strategist. I think you can consider Third Province secure, for the moment. Also, I think Lord Yassai would wait for word of your success or failure. I think he feels that time is on his side, even considering his, ah, advanced years. Dragon-warrior egg seekers have notoriously short lives."
"Halit's advice is sensible," Wande-hari said. "No one--" he put a slight emphasis on the words "--no one would go against Sigon openly just now."
Javerri nodded slowly, knowing he referred to Nao-Pei and the rebellion she must be secretly working toward. She sighed. "Very well then. Tomorrow we go south, openly, for every spy in First City to see and report to Lord Yassai. But how we will fare afte r that, I do not know."
Chakei raised his head and hissed. show ladylord
It was the first time he had spoken beneath to her without her having initiated the contact. She fought for composure.
But how? Thou hast never been there.
in egg
She blinked inwardly. Thou couldst see then?
other minds also
Thou canst contact other Dragon-warriors?
some maybe
Lord Yassai's Dragon-warrior?
She felt his shrug inside her mind. no fire in
He's dying.
Again the shrug.
I'll be glad for thy help.
Chakei looked away and she knew he had broken the connection. She glanced at Wande-hari; not even he seemed to have noticed her silent conversation with the Dragon-warrior.
"We must seek guidance from the Ancestor Spirit," the old mage said. "Though having ourselves better equipped for a long and dangerous journey through mountains and hostile territory would be a useful thing as well."
Now Javerri smiled openly. "That is what General Michu and his men are doing at this very moment," she said. "He is finding us riding horses and pack animals, along with food and other things we'll need. Once we are inside Fogestria we can ride, as they d on't care what kind of shocking condition their roads are in. Now, let us find our beds and what sleep we can. We must make as brave a show as we are able, tomorrow morning."
"And does Lord Ivo sleep as well?" Wande-hari said.
She looked at him, puzzled. "No. He is with General Michu, arranging for our supplies and equipment."
"Ah. Of course. Lord Ivo would have it so." He turned to Halit with a smile. "The Ladylord's husband is Ivo the Admirable Archer. Has word of him reached your ears as well?"
"Of his phenomenal skill with a bow, yes. But of his marriage, no." Halit inclined his head toward Javerri. "Lord Ivo is the most fortunate man in the world, surely. Is it permitted to say that I envy him?"
"Once," Javerri said.
"That will suffice."
They all rose and the two mages bowed to her. "Sleep well, Ladylord," Wande-hari said. "Let those of us to whom you have given the tasks of preparing us for our journey work while you sleep. You will need your strength in the coming days."
"Thank you, and good night."
But after they had left and Chimoko prepared her for bed, with Chakei at his new post just inside her chamber's door, Javerri lay awake for a long while.
Why had Wande-hari made such a point of telling the new mage about her marriage? What difference could it make? And for that matter, what was Ivo doing now? The courtesan Safia had been given orders to pack her few belongings, as had the rest of Javerri's entourage. But that didn't mean she couldn't drop her bundle and raise her skirts if Lord Ivo wished it-- Stop it! she commanded herself. You'll wind up as common as Madam Farhat herself if you don't watch out.
A gentle scratching at the door-panel made her sit up, instantly alert. Chakei poised ready to attack, crest erect, hissing.
A light, sweet voice came softly through the panel. "It is I, Seniz-Nan."
"Lady!" Javerri exclaimed. She got out of her bed at once, donning a loose robe over her sleeping garment. "No harm, Chakei. All is well."
She slid the panel and let the girl enter. Lady Seniz-Nan, red-faced and panting, allowed herself to lean on Javerri's proffered arm. "May I have some tea?" she asked. "No, make it wine. Those stairs--"
"Of course, Lady, at once. Chimoko!"
The maid hurried in with an oil-nut berry already lighted, then rushed to heat the wine. By the time Javerri had Seniz-Nan comfortably situated on a cushion, Chimoko had returned with the heartening beverage. Seniz-Nan drank one cup at a single swallow.
"The physicians say I drink too much," she said, holding out her cup for a refill. Her condition was more apparent in her loose robes than it had been in formal attire.
"Your time must be very near," Javerri said politely. She wondered why Lord Yassai's favorite wife had risked coming to her apartment so late at night. Surely it was not just to share a little wine with the Ladylord of the Third Province.
"You're so beautiful," Seniz-Nan said, sighing. "Even if you are old. You must be past twenty at least. But you're so slim, and I'm not."
"That's only temporary, Lady," Javerri said. "Once your baby is born--"
"Oh, who cares about the miserable brat! It'll just be given to a wet nurse. I won't have anything to do with it. But that's not why I came here. I came to warn you."
"Warn me, Lady?"
"My husband has given orders that nobody in Stendas Castle or all of First City was to sell or loan your party anything that would help you on your journey."
"We must leave at dawn," Javerri said quietly. "We came unprepared to hunt for Dragon-warrior eggs. Lord Yassai dooms me t