Part 9 (1/2)
”I had a brief conversation with our Guardian,” Fearin continued, his voice lower than it had been. ”He's occupied with something now so we won't be having a gathering for a while, but he's very pleased with our efforts. There's only one major change he wants, and it's the one Itold you to expect: he feels that Prince Ijarin will be invaluable to us, so he wants us to do whatever's necessary to keep him with us.”
Garam shook his head in resignation while Talasin simply nodded, and then it was time for my reaction. Fearin already had his eyes on me, waiting for it, knowing in advance how pleased I'd be.
”I agreed to use my skills as a Kenoss and a Shadowborn for this campaign,” I said with a shrug. ”If either of those things will keep the barbarian with us, you can count on me to supply them.”
”Maybe that's what attracts him to her,” Garam said with a deep chuckle while Fearin scowled. ”He likes having women beat up on him, and knows how good a job she'll do. Let her try it, Fearin, and then we'll know for certain.”
”Misplaced humor, Prince Garam, is in certain cases worse than no humor at all,” Fearin responded, his displeasure still aimed in my direction. ”Are you overlooking the fact that this is an order, and not one from me? Would you like to be the one held responsible for failing to obey that order?”
The question wasn't really aimed at Garam, but it still made his amus.e.m.e.nt disappear. All it did for me was produce frustration, that and resentful anger.
”Let's just relax and see how things go,” Talasin said soothingly, and a glance showed he was talking to Fearin as well as to me. ”If our Guardian wants it we'll have to give it to him, but maybe it will be easier than we expect. If we all work together it certainly should be, so let's not worry about it now. What I'd like to worry about is dinner, to keep me from starving where I stand.”
”Starving!” Garam said to him with a ridiculing laugh. ”You? You must have eaten four or five times today already, and I still don't understand where you put it. Or why you don't outweigh your horse.”
”Those of us who work hard need food to keep us going,” Talasin countered with a grin for Garam. ”If you ever get to be one of us, you'll find that out. I wonder what they plan to serve.”
By that time we were started on our way out of my apartment, Fearin and I caught up by their nonsense and carried along. He and I both knew the argument wasn't over, but for the moment we'd let it lie.
The dinner turned out to be an almost formal affair, something I should have guessed from the semi-dress clothes Fearin and the others had been wearing. The room we walked into had a large table and an even larger number of servants, all there to help serve the feast. Ranander and Lokkel had arrived before us, but so had the barbarian Ijarin - and the twin princesses.
The two girls had the big barbarian backed into a corner while they talked at him, leaving Ranander and Lokkel free to come over and greet us.
”Really, Fearin, you must have a word with Ranander,” Lokkel said as they reached us, but surprisingly the Healing Master seemed on the verge of laughter. ”He threw that poor man to the wolves without the slightest hesitation.”
”They were going to start listing all their complaints and demands again as soon as they were through trying to force a beauty spell out of Master Lokkel,” Ranander explained, looking totally unashamed. ”I knew that, so I asked myself if they'd like to know that Ijarin is a crown prince. You can see what the answer was.”
”I didn't think you were capable of that much cruelty even in self defense,” Fearin told him, working to keep from laughing aloud. ”Under other circ.u.mstances I would applaud your ingenuity, but you must remember what our Guardian said. If Prince Ijarin is talked to death we'll all be in trouble, so I'm afraid I'll have to ask Prince Talasin and Prince Garam to go to his rescue.”
Fearin's two victims flinched at the order they'd just been given, but there was no way out of it for them. Fearin was trading two princes for one, obviously hoping the increase in numbers would offset the fact that they weren't crown princes. I hadn't thought I was in the mood to findanything funny, but somehow that trade did it for me.
”I hate smirking females,” Garam muttered, and I looked over at his glare to see that he meant me. ”If I'm in too many pieces to help with the manhunt tomorrow, you'll find a lot less to smirk about.”
With that he stomped off after a foot-dragging Talasin, which was a very lucky thing. If he hated smirking females, I didn't want to think how he'd react to grinning ones.
”I'll take just a moment to check everything, and then we can start the meal,” Fearin said to the rest of us before he moved toward a door in the right-hand wall. I wondered where he was going and what sort of checking he would do, but wasn't left to wonder long.
”He's going to use the Power to make sure we won't be poisoned or attacked,” Ranander supplied helpfully with a smile. ”We can't really trust these people, you know, not after we conquered their city, but Fearin won't make things worse by checking where they can see him do it. There's a small retiring room behind that door, and he'll cast his spell there.”
”And then it will finally be safe to indulge,” Lokkel added, back to his usual impatience. ”I've been waiting to sample that wine ever since I first heard about the Chief Administrator's cellars.”
”Then it isn't possible to cast a healing spell that would 'heal' any poison there might be?” I asked, suddenly curious. ”The poison would have to start to work before you could do anything about it?”
”Even if 'healing' the poison were possible, it wouldn't be possible with wine,” Lokkel explained, unexpectedly patient and interested in answering. ”Alcohol is in itself a poison, although one we're able to tolerate in moderation. If I attempted to 'heal' the wine, there would be no wine left when I was done. You see... ”
He took my arm and guided me slowly toward the table as he spoke, giving all the details about healing and wine that I could possibly have wanted. We left Ranander behind us, a Ranander who hadn't looked very pleased. I'd gotten the distinct impression he'd wanted to talk to me, but Lokkel had taken over and walked me away. Very briefly I wondered what he'd wanted to say, then forgot about it. Ranander being Ranander, he'd certainly get around to telling me at another time.
It took longer than the moment Fearin had said it would, but after a while he was back and we were able to take our places at the table. His was at the head of the table to my left, and on his left he placed Talasin, one of the girls, Ranander, the second girl, and Garam. All three of the men looked as though they'd lost their appet.i.tes, but this time they weren't alone.
”Your place is here to my right, Prince Ijarin,” Fearin said with an easy smile, hidden satisfaction behind it. ”To your right will be Aelana, and to hers Master Lokkel. Let's all be seated.”
There was a considerable amount of foot-shuffling while those on the other side of the table moved themselves to their places, but our side needed only a few steps to do the same. I could feel the barbarian's eyes on me again, as they'd been almost from the moment I walked in, but I continued to ignore him. Since Lokkel had been talking to me, Ijarin hadn't tried to come over; as I sat, I decided I'd see if it was possible to continue using the Healing Master in the same way for the rest of the meal.
”That food looks delicious,” came from my left, a clear testing of my decision. ”Which of the wines would you like to try first?”
”I won't be drinking,” I answered without turning my head, then looked at Lokkel on my right.
”Was the wait worth it, Master Lokkel? Are the cellars living up to their reputation?”
”I'll need to taste the other vintages before knowing for certain,” he answered, staring critically at the pretty pink wine in the gla.s.s goblet he held. ”This one is definitely above average, but I haven't yet decided if it ranks as superior. The decision requires a bit more testing, I think.”
He drained the goblet in a single gulp before holding it out to the nearest servant for refilling,and that was when I knew my plans weren't going to work. You don't taste win by swallowing it whole; all you accomplish that way is eventual unconsciousness. The sinking feeling inside me was not on my face, I'm sure, but the same wasn't true for the grin I glimpsed on the face of Ijarin.
”Dinners like this can be very dull without someone to talk to,” he said, a casual comment casually made. ”You look better than you did earlier today, more rested and happier. Aren't you glad now that I turned up?”
I made a sound of ridicule to show what I thought of that comment, then reached for a piece of cheese. I was beginning to feel hungry, but didn't like the idea of eating while being stared at.
”Did you know that I've been invited to join your inner group?” he asked after a brief pause.
”Master Fearin believes I can be of help to all of you, and I'm considering whether or not to accept. I'd probably enjoy the experience and come away with a respectable amount of plunder, but I have enough wealth in the Far Mountains to make the idea of plunder only a minor consideration. What I find more important is how I'm treated by the people around me. It's unreasonable, I know, but I usually refuse to stay where I'm not wanted - by everyone.”
He said his piece and then leaned back to let a servant begin to fill his plate, showing with a gesture that he wanted a little of everything. Another servant came to my right to do the same for me, but I left her to her own devices while I seethed in frustrated anger. It was almost as though that miserable barbarian knew how important his staying was considered, and that I didn't dare test the temper of a G.o.d by being the one responsible for his leaving. He was trying to trap me, most likely because of that prophecy he'd mentioned.
The servants took their time filling our plates, a languid air demanded by the customs of upper cla.s.s society in that city, but I didn't mind. It had come to me that only under very special circ.u.mstances can you win a battle simply by defending. Attack and counterattack are the usual keys to getting the job done, and I had the time to think along those lines for a while before the servants finally faded back to let me see an Ijarin who was paying more attention to me than to his food.
”Living all alone must be very hard for you,” I commented with only a glance in his direction while reaching for another small wedge of cheese. ”Mountain retreats may provide scenery, but they don't do much in the area of companions.h.i.+p. That must be why you're trying so hard here.”
”What are you talking about?” he asked in bewilderment, his food now forgotten entirely. ”I don't live all alone, and I don't understand what would make you think I did.”
”Why, it's obvious,” I said, turning on my own version of surprise. ”Didn't you just tell me that you refuse to stay places where you're not wanted by everyone? Since it would be impossible for anyone to find a place where every single person around wanted them there, the only alternative would be to live alone. And what will happen if even one of our guardsmen decides he dislikes having you around? Won't you have to leave right away, even if the rest of us don't want you to?”
By now I was looking at him with what I hoped was convincing innocence, but he didn't seem to notice. He was too annoyed to notice much of anything, the annoyance due, undoubtedly, to the fact that he couldn't think of what to say in answer. His attention s.h.i.+fted from me back to his food and stayed there, and I was finally able to turn to my own meal.
Most of the dishes weren't bad at all, and my servant had given me some of everything but the more exotic offerings. Pickled bat tongues, for instance, was an acquired taste, and those who haven't acquired it usually don't want any of the dish near them. With an appet.i.te that was improving by the day I was able to do justice to the meal, but when I sat back with the goblet of water I'd asked for I had the definite feeling I'd soon be working off - or regretting - what I'd swallowed. I was being stared at again, and the stare looked like it had no intentions of being distracted elsewhere.
”Why are you so eager to be rid of me?” Ijarin demanded softly after a moment, his light bluegaze unmoving. ”Did I offend you by trying to rescue you? Does something about me, personally, offend you? What have I done?”
”You decided to use me without first finding out if I wanted to be used,” I answered, caring nothing about the faint hurt that came along with his words. ”You searched me out for a reason - your reason that had nothing to do with my needs and wants - and simply a.s.sumed I'd go along. I didn't like it when the Inadni did that to me as a child, and I dislike it even more now.
Especially since you're not the Inadni. If you happen to like being taken advantage of, that's your business. For myself, I don't.”
”I see,” he said slowly, an odd expression having taken over his previous one. ”These Inadni used you badly, and you believe I want to do the same.”
”Well, don't you?” I said after sipping at my water. ”If rescuing me was all that concerned you, you would have left as soon as you found out I didn't need rescuing. Instead you insisted I come along with you - again for your own reasons - and when I refused to do that you decided to stay. Now Fearin has asked you to join us, so you think you can use his decision to push me around. I don't know what good you expect it to do you, but if you want me to say I join the others in welcoming you, I'll be glad to. I join the others in welcoming you.”
”You're glad to say it, but that doesn't mean you mean it,” he interpreted, showing that he did indeed understand. ”If I want you to mean it, I first have to prove I don't intend to use you badly. All right, that sounds fair enough.”
”What do you mean, that sounds fair enough?” I demanded, seeing his nod as he turned toward the helping of sweets he'd been given for dessert. ”What do you think you're going to do?”