The Makers of Light (24 page)

"Oh, but she did not kill her brother, my lady." Felice, flushing worriedly as Inni stared at her.

"The servants at Laurent talk, my ladies—and our Anne heard something once here at the Fireheart stables—that the lord Giles tried to ... tried to do things to the lady Merlevine she did not want him to do, because she was not like his sister at all, and this is why the lady Merlevine killed him. Burned him. They say there was nothing of him left, and then everyone thought the Laurents had killed her, or that the Bers themselves had, but she came back." Felice sighed, her eyes blurry. "She was not a Ber but became one. I wonder what it would be if I could become a Ber myself ..."

"Shut up." Inni, her voice very quiet. "These are not things we talk about here. And be careful what you wish for, for it might come true. The Master is always listening, and he may answer your prayers." She shook her head. "It is Rianor I am worried about at present, with that woman around him." She stared at Linden. "Aren't
you
worried of what she might trick him into?"

"No." Linden was surprised at her own reply. She looked at the snow outside again, trying to determine why she had not only said but thought that, but Inni did not let her, her fingers gripping Linden's arm, making her turn back again.

"You are lying."

"Am I now, Inni?" Linden carefully but firmly freed her arm. She knew it. She suddenly, finally, knew it. Inni was in love with him.

"No one—
no one
—is worse than that woman for Rianor!" Ah. Even Linden was better, was that it?

"Inni, I am not worried about what she might trick him into." Linden sighed, too, while Inni watched her with forced calmness. "Because Rianor is not a fool, Inni. It seems so easy to always blame the woman for what a man might do with her, but a man is not necessarily an entity that loses any semblance of a mind at the prospect of sex. Men can make their own decisions."

At least, Rianor could, even though from what she had seen Linden could not determine what his decision would be. Well, whatever it would be, then! If the slutty type who made life worse for all women because they put themselves beneath men and tried to put all other women there as well was what he wanted, if he was like those men who needed a woman to throw herself at their feet because otherwise they would not feel men enough, what did Linden care!

Her hand was trembling when she took the comb Felice had brought her, but she pursed her lips and stilled it. She did not care about the "
dangers
" to Rianor, did not care at all. He was not the only man in this place; she could certainly find someone to pay her attention, but why would she? She did not care about any males! Except perhaps about the two that followed Marguerite, the two to beware, but that was different ...

Oh, no. There
were
dangers to Rianor, real dangers, and she should at least warn him to be careful. She motioned to Inni and the maids to come closer and warned them, too, then turned and stared outside where the snow had started falling again. Perhaps it was still white while high in the air, but when it reached the ground it became mingled with snow that was fallen and gray, and became gray itself.

Rianor

Day 30 of the First Quarter—Guilds Day, Year of the Master 706

The Guilds Day ceremony passed relatively smoothly, the Bers talking the same things they talked every year, passing wine to everyone at the Head Temple at the end of it. Rianor brought the glass to his lips but did not drink, and he made sure he and his party stood close to both a window and the doors at all times.

Only when it was over and they were outside in Temple Square again did he realize how tired he was. He had expected something to happen at any given moment.

Rianor sighed. The lunch with the Laurents was still to be endured.

They all settled in a private dining hall provided to them by the Master Hotelier. Rianor thought of Audric while the lord Maurice and the lady Mabelle of Laurent were talking to Desmond, going round the topic in circles interspersed with so many hints, half-truths, and possible implications that perhaps even Desmond did not quite like it. Laurent knew about the fire outage in Qynnsent, and they knew that Qynnsent had been doing "
some interesting things
"—that was what Rianor had discerned from the whole exchange. Now he waited for the former High Lord of Laurent and his lady to wrap this up and move on to
what
they knew, what they offered, and what they wanted.

It was hard to say anything, of course. A dining room was only as "
private
" as the Fireheart itself. They would need to talk more, elsewhere. Now they were all just cautiously learning what they could expect from each other.

Marguerite's Laurent wristwatch glared in his eyes with reflected candlelight from where she had "
accidentally
" put her hand on the table beside him, twisting her arm to best demonstrate certain aspects of her figure. Certainly she must know that he knew what she was doing. He was not without experience with women. Even without that, a part of a High Ruler's education was comprised of exactly what guiles a member of the other gender could try. She smiled at him half-provocatively, catching his gaze, every little motion timed as if she knew when exactly he was thinking of her.

She might as well, and it had better be nothing more than the intuition of a woman experienced with men. Or the intuition of a High Lady—something regular. Rianor narrowed his eyes. The wristwatch glared at him again as she shifted slightly, the light bringing Audric back to his mind, as well as other thoughts of hidden paths and secrets. Rianor chased Audric away. Next he would have thought of clocks that worked with mechanisms and not Magic, but such thoughts were not safe with these people and in this place. So he made sure he thought of nothing.

Marguerite pouted against him. "You seem distracted, my lord. Of course, I know that a great Scientific mind can travel many places at once, but"—she smiled again—"as a mere lady who does not understand such complexities I keep wishing that I could hold all of your attention."

Was this now mere flirting or a veiled threat of inconvenient knowledge? A mind that could "
travel many places at once
" would hint of possibilities that would warrant an invitation for a Mentor in non-noble circles, but here the phrase was not entirely unknown to have other meanings. It could be a compliment for someone smart, or it could be a good-natured (or not) joke aimed at a disorganized, easily distracted person. What did she mean? He was tired of all this.

"Do not doubt that my attention is focused on you, lady Margot."

She inclined her head, revealing her perfect white neck just as he was adding, "I do have a habit of listening to my conversation partner." The last part seemed to startle her, making her cast him a look that a cat might cast a bird presently on a tree, out of her reach. "
I will get you,
" her look seemed to say. "
Pulling away only makes you more interesting.
"

Of course, this look was gone in less than a second, and he wondered if he had been meant to see it, this being yet another part of her game. He might play with her a bit. He could enjoy surprising a woman who thought she could control him, and this one would probably perform well in bed, which might in turn help him get rid of all those mind-muddling notions regarding his lady apprentice.
She
was presently deep in conversation with lord Armand, the young First Counselor of Laurent, and if she looked at Rianor at all, her look was quite devoid of expression. She had not talked to him, either, except to pull him aside just before lunch to warn him about Marguerite's guards. He had known about them, of course, but she had hurried away from him before he could tell her this, or tell her anything else.

Armand was telling Linden something about his garden: what plants could grow with what other plants, and something about insects and birds. Why did
he
know so much about plants and animals? It was a gardener's job, not a lord's. Was his friendliness to Linden just friendliness, or was it flirting, or was it telling them all that Laurent held unconventional knowledge—and threat—of their own? Linden was listening with what seemed like interest, and Desmond, on her other side, seemed very content with the situation.

Only now did Rianor realize that Desmond had taken special care of Rianor walking and later sitting with Marguerite, and now he had set Armand between Linden and Inni. House relationships could always be "
strengthened,
" even if Desmond was brave to try it with the Laurents. Only five minutes ago the conversation had been steered towards Waltraud, and lady Mabelle had sighed, saying something about "
that evil House
" and her own "
poor boy,
" before she excused herself and came back with reddened eyes and freshly-applied lipstick. Yes, poor wonderful Giles, image of perfection. Rianor almost missed him himself, almost preferred it to be him talking to Linden now instead of nice, not-entirely-stupid Armand.

Rianor would have a talk with Desmond later.

"You are such joker, my lord." Marguerite again, reaching out to pat his hand, her wristwatch flashing in his eyes once again. He was presently more interested in the watch than in the woman. Interestingly enough, promising as she seemed for some power-matching and bed sport, he did not really want to deal with her. He pulled his hand away just as Linden snapped her head up, staring at Marguerite with a smile that, to him at least, was fake.

"Rianor is sometimes a joker, your observations are correct. However, do not let him give you the wrong impression that Science is too obscure, lady Marguerite. With the correct books, you could perhaps grasp a tiny bit of it, too."

So she was not so engulfed in her conversation with Armand.

"I am sure you are grasping some of it yourself, lady Linden." Marguerite's smile was sweetness at its fullest. "But I am sorry you had to go through this. I admit I consider Science the province of exceptional men, and I can only commiserate with a woman forced to deal with it. Of course, your previous circumstances might have entirely warranted you putting such a considerable effort into this."

Well, that was too much. He would not tolerate this from the first High Ruler of another House that Linden had met. Or from anyone else, even though at the moment he could hardly tolerate Linden herself.

"Of course my lady's previous circumstances have warranted Scientific involvement." He looked at Marguerite, angry enough for his gaze to make her swallow the next words she was about to say. "As do her present circumstances, which happen to be the same—she is an exceptional Scientist. Which, actually, is beside the question for this lunch gathering, so will both of you ladies just drop it? Lady Margot, I will appreciate it if you or anyone else from your House let us know soon enough what exactly you want from us and what you are offering in exchange. I have no time to waste with empty words, and honestly, I am tired of hidden meanings. If you want to talk to me, talk clearly."

There was silence for a time, but it was not a long time; probably it took lady Marguerite only a few seconds to react. "Very well." She actually smiled at him again. "You are direct, lord Rianor of Qynnsent. I do like direct men."

Well, House relationships had been broken for less, but obviously not in this case. She had managed to make herself sound as if she truly did like an attitude that to most would have been abusive. He should be careful. "
There are plants that, the more you trample them, the more they spread and grow,
" Master Keitaro had once told him. "
Seeds will stick to your shoes, and before you know it, you have planted anew what you wanted to destroy. There are people like those plants, too.
" Well, Rianor did not want to destroy plants, but as for people ...

"Wait a bit with sending the spring grain from Balkaene, High Lord. Both your own and what you have already sold to other Houses," lady Marguerite suddenly said. Just as he was thinking of plants. There was still a flirtatious smile on her face, but her eyes bore into his, and for a moment the smile seemed just a mask, an afterthought. Then the smile strengthened, and her whole body was flirting, inviting once again.

"There might be a considerable profit if you do so, at least in transportation costs, but of course I will say naught more here, where it might reach others' ears. We don't want Waltraud or Iglika, or even Maeron or Kadisha, hurrying up to get our profit for themselves, do we? Anything else, I will tell you in private, my lord."

"Certainly." He smiled at her, too, for she was right—others might be spying on them. Better that they appeased any suspicions. "Why don't you visit us in Qynnsent soon, my lady?"

"I will be glad. I am hoping our First Counselors can work on the details of the visit after lunch today. Armand may not be staying for the night, you see."

She was giving him advice with that, too, but he was already prepared. As Rianor and his own First Counselor had discussed yesterday, Desmond would not be staying, either. The House needed a reliable person there at night. Was Marguerite telling him now that her House had problems?

He did not know, and he could not ask now, and he did not feel like pretending to flirt any more, so for the rest of the lunch he stayed silent. He was fed up with people by the end of the lunch, especially as he expected a lecture from Desmond about how important politics were and how he should not have been so blunt earlier. How important
people
were—while Rianor did not want to see any people at all and could hardly bear the Fireheart. The more he knew people, the more he understood Audric. Would he, too, perhaps end up as a cranky old man whose purpose in life seemed to have been to draw quirky pictures and write insults whenever he got a quill and wherever he found a white space?

Audric again. Why had Audric been in his mind since he had first sat at the table in this room? Marguerite's wristwatch had also impressed him in some way, but with all the humans and clatter around him, he had not had time to examine his thoughts and see why.