Part 19 (1/2)

”Oh. Well.” So he'd gotten the better of her after all. A wave of crimson flooded her face. She felt an utter fool, but managed to ask with an air of unconcern, ”Khrennisov?”

”Model FK29. A bit heavier than your FK6, somewhat greater range.” Girays returned the gun to his pocket.

”Ummm. Yes. Well. You have won, then. And I'm afraid I don't have the ten thousand.” Despite her genuine chagrin she was not altogether displeased. Had he lost, Girays v'Alisante could painlessly have paid off the wager, but she would not have relished divesting him of so large a sum. For reasons she could hardly fathom, it would have made her feel shabby. Now no money would change hands, she need only answer some little question, and she realized with a certain internal flutter that she hadn't the slightest idea what he would ask, any more than she'd had the slightest idea that the civilized, highly cerebral individual she thought she knew so well would actually carry a gun. Had he changed so much in recent years, or had she never really known him at all?

”Then you owe me one truthful answer.”

”To what, exactly?”

”Here is the question, then.” He halted, obliging her to do the same. Turning to face her, he asked, ”Why did you never trouble to answer my letter, six years ago?” She was silent, and he added, ”You recall the letter?”

Unwillingly she nodded. She more than recalled the letter. The missive in question still lay in the compartment at the back of her jewelry box, in her lodgings in Sherreen. The heavy stationery was creased and limp from much handling.

”My messenger a.s.sured me that he placed the envelope in your hand, the evening prior to your departure for Lakhtikhil Ice Shelf. Yet you left without so much as a word in reply. I have never understood that.”

”It becomes easier to understand when I tell you I left the next morning without reading your letter.”

”I see. You desired no further communication.”

”It wasn't that, exactly. It was more...” She faltered, then forced herself to continue. She had promised honesty, after all. ”I didn't open your letter the night I received it because I was afraid I'd find something there that would persuade me to change my plans-to postpone my trip, or even to cancel it altogether. I didn't want to take the chance of that happening, so I didn't let myself look. That was hard. I still remember the way my fingers itched to tear the envelope open. But I made myself place it at the bottom of my suitcase, then I piled my belongings on top, shut the suitcase, and locked it. And I didn't open that suitcase again until I was safely at sea and couldn't possibly turn back.”

”Then did you read it?”

”Then I read it.”

”And still didn't bother to answer.”

”I couldn't answer. I should have, I wanted to, but couldn't find the words. I did try, you know.”

”No. I didn't know.”

”Many times, but always ended by ripping the paper to shreds. I couldn't say what I wanted to say, probably because I didn't really know what that was-I was too agitated, too confused, and too young.” Almost to her own surprise, she heard herself say, ”I'm sorry.”

He nodded once. His dark face told her nothing. After a moment he resumed walking, and she kept pace. The silence lengthened, until at last he asked idly, ”When you finally read my letter, did the contents confirm your fears?”

”Fears?”

”Was there anything there that might have caused you to alter your plans?”

”I think your victory ent.i.tled you to one question only. Now it's your turn to answer.”

”My turn? Where did that come from? I recall no such obligation.”

”There is no obligation.” She smiled, relieved that the mood was lightening. ”Think of it as formerly-Exalted largesse.”

”Formerly-Exalted affectations are pa.s.se, as you've so often reminded me. What's the question?”

”Why did you decide to enter the Grand Ellipse? You promised back in Hurba that you'd tell me, aboard s.h.i.+p.”

”I remember suggesting that we talk. The conversational topic remained unspecified.”

”That's as slippery as those blue worms back there. Quite beneath Your Lords.h.i.+p, I'd have thought.”

”Another illusion shattered.”

”Oh come on, Girays, spill it!”

”Well, since you ask so prettily-”

A familiar grandly garbed, pearl-studded figure rose athwart their path. A familiar voice a.s.saulted their ears.

”Aha-the two Vonahrish contenders, very thick. Should I worry?” inquired a ponderously jovial Porb Jil Liskjil.

”Shouldn't we all?” Luzelle rejoined gaily, masking her frustration. She had striven for days to extract an explanation from Girays, and he had repeatedly defeated her efforts. Time and again he had deflected her queries, so skillfully that the evasions seemed quite accidental. Today she had managed to lure him to the brink of revelation, only to be thwarted once more by the preternaturally ill-timed intrusion of the Lanthian merchant.

”I think we're all relatively safe from one another for the duration of this crossing,” Girays rea.s.sured her. Amus.e.m.e.nt lurked in the set of his lips. ”Particularly in the blessed absence of the Grewzian element. Speaking of which, Merchant Jil Liskjil, I'm eager to hear how you outwitted our offal-fed friends. I gather the harbor blockade couldn't contain you.”

”Indeed it could not, sir.” Porb Jil Liskjil swelled visibly. ”Indeed it could not. In my own home city of Lanthi Ume, be a.s.sured I am not without some few little resources.”

”I would expect no less. Yet the Lanthian resistance, eager to offer a.s.sistance to a compatriot, couldn't find you. Jil Liskjil had vanished into thin air. How was this sorcerous feat accomplished?”

”No sorcery, sir-only a little old-fas.h.i.+oned ingenuity, spiced with a dash of audacity,” Jil Liskjil confided. ”I will explain. You recall the disturbance at the wharf, the day we reached Lanthi Ume? Well, even before the Karavise Karavise docked, I was preparing to-” docked, I was preparing to-”

Luzelle suppressed a sigh of boredom. She already knew the tale of Porb Jil Liskjil's adventures. Disembarking from the Karavise Karavise, he had pa.s.sed easily through Lanthian customs, then headed straight for the worst section of town, haunt of the seediest local smugglers, one of whom had consented, upon promise of gigantic reward, to run the blockade by night. The smuggler's little bark had pa.s.sed almost within hailing distance of a Grewzian patrol vessel, to slip unseen from the harbor, thence ferrying its lone pa.s.senger north along the coast to Hurba, which Porb Jil Liskjil had reached in time to book pa.s.sage east aboard the Revenant. Revenant. By now, several days into the journey, all of Jil Liskjil's fellow travelers knew all the details, and Girays v'Alisante was no exception. But there he stood, listening with that air of dedicated attentiveness that he knew so well how to a.s.sume, and no doubt inwardly laughing. By now, several days into the journey, all of Jil Liskjil's fellow travelers knew all the details, and Girays v'Alisante was no exception. But there he stood, listening with that air of dedicated attentiveness that he knew so well how to a.s.sume, and no doubt inwardly laughing.

”...Overcast skies, fog on the water, reduced our visibility, and yet the danger was immeasurable...remember one heart-stopping moment when the moon emerged...captain professed himself astonished by my daring and coolness...” Jil Liskjil's voice ran on and on.

It was at least the third time she had heard this story, which waxed in self-congratulation with each repet.i.tion. Luzelle's foot began to tap. Carefully she stilled it. When Porb Jil Liskjil paused briefly to draw breath, she seized the opportunity to make her excuses and her escape. Fleeing to the sanctuary of her stateroom, she started in on a new novel, The Curse of the Witch Queen The Curse of the Witch Queen, and remained closeted until dinner.

She did not manage to catch Girays alone again that evening, and retired for the night with her curiosity unsatisfied.

The next morning found her up on deck, ensconced in a comfortable chair. There she sat reading, or pretending to read, as fellow pa.s.sengers strolled by in the suns.h.i.+ne. She bent her head lower over her book, feigning absorption, as Stesian and Trefian Festinette giggled their way aft. But she looked up with a smile as Mesq'r Zavune drew nigh, and seeing this, he paused to chat, more or less intelligibly.

Zavune, she soon discerned, simmered with excitement at the imminence of the Aennorvi sojourn. He spoke at length of contacting his family, of somehow arranging a short reunion, even at the expense of time that an Ellipsoid could ill afford. Luzelle smiled and nodded as she listened, but inwardly thought, for the hundredth time, That man should be at home. That man should be at home.

Mesq'r Zavune moved on. Time pa.s.sed, salt water and numberless islands flowed by. The Witch Queen eventually tasted her just deserts, but Girays v'Alisante never showed himself. Luzelle did not glimpse him again until noon, when the materialization of the Aennorvi coastline upon the horizon drew all pa.s.sengers to the deck. And there he was among the others at the railing, hands buried in his pockets, dark hair stirring in the breeze. She might accost him if she chose, but now she no longer cared. Another hour or more would pa.s.s before the Revenant Revenant reached the port of Aeshno, but her thoughts were already winging ahead to the docks in search of advantage. This time, she resolved, she would definitely be first off the boat, first in line at the customs office- reached the port of Aeshno, but her thoughts were already winging ahead to the docks in search of advantage. This time, she resolved, she would definitely be first off the boat, first in line at the customs office- And maybe she could find out how long ago Karsler Stornzof had pa.s.sed through.

Frowning, she turned away from the railing, and a pair of identical mauve-clad figures caught her attention. Not far away the Festinette boys stood conferring with the Revenant's Revenant's captain. The pretty twin faces were uncharacteristically intent, and Luzelle caught the flash of gold changing hands, a sight to set internal alarm bells clanging. captain. The pretty twin faces were uncharacteristically intent, and Luzelle caught the flash of gold changing hands, a sight to set internal alarm bells clanging.

9.

THE REVENANT REVENANT DOCKED DOCKED and her engines fell silent. The gangplank was lowered, but the three crewmen stationed before it blocked disembarkation. In response to countless queries regarding the delay, the sailors vaguely cited bureaucratic confusion revolving about the vessel's collection of international commercial permits. a.s.sorted travelers complained and the crewmen, bored with argument, went mute. and her engines fell silent. The gangplank was lowered, but the three crewmen stationed before it blocked disembarkation. In response to countless queries regarding the delay, the sailors vaguely cited bureaucratic confusion revolving about the vessel's collection of international commercial permits. a.s.sorted travelers complained and the crewmen, bored with argument, went mute.

Shortly thereafter the captain, followed by a brace of identically youthful, mauve-clad companions, descended to the wharf and vanished from sight. Luzelle observed the retreat, and her suspicions crystallized to certainty. The slimy little Travornish cheats had bribed the captain. They had managed to trap their rivals on board the Revenant Revenant while they continued along the Grand Ellipse, and while they continued along the Grand Ellipse, and they were getting away with it. they were getting away with it. Outrage all but choked her. Outrage all but choked her.

Four agonizing hours pa.s.sed, and the afternoon shadows crept. The frustrated pa.s.sengers loitered, sipped iced drinks, and grumbled. At length the captain reboarded alone. Minutes later the prisoners were liberated.