Mouse and Dragon (8 page)

"Mizel has offered Clonak no insult," Daav pointed out, wondering at this new political sensibility.

The corners of her mouth tightened.

"Clonak sat my copilot, too," she said.

"Ah. I understand." He maneuvered the little car down the Boulevard of Flowers—not the most direct route out of the city, but a pretty, winding way that he thought might please her.

"Clonak's father is not likely to allow him to act precipitously. I fear that an account of my actions on your behalf last evening has found its way into
The Gazette
, of which he is an avid auditor. I am certain he will not endorse any plans Clonak proposes for Balance with Mizel until he has spoken to me and, now that you are able, to yourself." He glanced over, reading tension in the tilt of her chin.

"You are very right that you must speak with Clonak soon, and give him what ease you may. But I believe that we may depend upon his father to keep him in hand for a few hours more."

Aelliana inclined her head. "You have knowledge which I lack," she said. "Doubtless you are correct, that Clonak's father will not allow him to do anything . . . foolish."

She glanced out at the street, and her smile flickered, which was the usual response to the Afternoon Garden. It was a small plot, scarcely larger than a patio, planted with blooming things in all shades of orange and yellow, with a few benches artfully adrift in flowers.

"That's lovely," she said, and cast a quick look to him. "And perhaps not the straightest route out of the city."

"Discovered! No, not the most direct route—nor the least. I thought a casual survey of the gardens might do us both some good."

"Chonselta Public Garden is very grand," she said, her attention focused out the windows. "But these are—pocket plantings! And the houses, with
their
flowers! It's like being in the middle of a wildwood!"

Daav, who had spent some considerable time in wildwoods of one sort or another in his capacity as a Scout captain, did not correct her.

"The yellow is the Afternoon Garden," he said, instead. "There is also an Evening Garden, a Dawn Garden, and a Midnight Garden. Groups are made up to visit each at its proper moment; in between, there are tours of the house gardens and refreshments alfresco."

"It sounds a marvelous way to while away a day," Aelliana said, and laughed slightly. "I don't think I've ever taken such a tour."

No, very likely she had not, Daav thought darkly. Though the elder brother had doubtless taken as many pleasant excursions as he might have wished.

"We leave the flowers here, alas," he said, turning onto North Street. "If you like it, we may come back and take more time with them, another day."

"I would like that," she said, and shifted in her seat.

He glanced over and met wise green eyes.

"Now that our diversion is done, if you please, Daav:
an
account of your actions last evening? Is there more than one?"

Discovered, indeed! He sighed lightly.

"In fact, there are. Mind you, both accounts detail the same actions; it is the
meaning
of those actions which is appropriated . . . rather differently."

"And
The Gazette
tells the misappropriated tale?"

"It does—which was my intention. It was necessary to shield Pilot tel'Izak as much as possible from her delm's anger. Unfortunately, in taking what I might to myself, I fear that I have exposed you to the eyes of the curious."

He met her eyes, soberly.

"It was a clumsy solving, Aelliana. I beg your pardon."

She considered him for a long moment, then put her hand on his knee.

"There is no need to beg my pardon,
van'chela
. Indeed, I was well on my way to making a spectacle in my own right. Had I not arranged to have my name appear in the news sheets, Ran Eld should never have known that I owned a ship." She gave him a smile.

"You needn't hold your speed down for my sake, Pilot." she said.

Daav laughed, surprised and delighted.

"Transparent, am I?"

Aelliana frowned slightly. "I would not say
transparent
, only . . . strangely obvious. It is odd, but not unpleasant." She looked over to him. "Do you find it so?"

"Unpleasant? No. Surprising, I would say."

"And not precisely what you anticipated," Aelliana murmured, her fingers warm on his knee. "What did you anticipate, Daav?"

He hesitated. "Any number of things, since last evening, and been joyously proved wrong in most." He took a breath. "May I ask that we pursue this topic . . . later, after we have made you known to my
cha'leket
, gained his smile, and seen you comfortably settled? It may be that a few hours more will illuminate that which is presently obscure."

After a moment, she nodded. "That may be wisest. Tell me about your brother."

Encapsulate Er Thom? Almost, he laughed again, but—no. Aelliana was tentative among strangers. Her manner was—or had been, he corrected himself—self-effacing, and her
manners
, while not boorish, were . . . unpolished. Well she might be shy of meeting a High Clan lordling in his own house. Especially with the example of her own brother before her.

"Er Thom is . . . very dear to me. And you must forgive me for miring you immediately in another of Korval's muddles."

"Is he not your brother, then?" Aelliana teased.

"Ah, you think it a simple question! We are the children of identical twins, near enough to the brothers our hearts believe us to be. However, Er Thom was born to Petrella yos'Galan, and I to Chi yos'Phelium. More! The delm ordered our births, and thereafter took both of us into her care and training. We were two seeds in one pod, you understand, neither one greater nor lesser than the other, until we came halfling. At that point, the delm decreed that I be sent to the Scouts, as the children of yos'Phelium often are, and that Er Thom join his mother aboard
Dutiful Passage
, there to learn all he might of the mysteries of trade."

"It must have been very hard," Aelliana said softly. "To have grown so near, then parted so sternly."

Daav sighed. "Certainly, it seemed so at the time. But, Delm's Wisdom will out, you know, and in the end we both saw that it had been no random cruelty. Er Thom now stands as Korval's master trader, thodelm of Line yos'Galan, and heir to the delm. I trust him with my life—indeed, I trust him with Korval! And that was wisdom—to weave us together, so that either might become what the other is, at need, for the profit and the strength of the clan."

"Your delm was . . . farseeing," Aelliana murmured.

"She did her best, which is all any of us may do. Even those of us doomed as delm." He gave her a swift smile. "But of Er Thom! He is lifemated to Honored Scholar of Linguistics Anne Davis, and his heir, young Shan, is a joy and a terror to all."

"Scholar Davis?" Aelliana sat up straighter. "I have not yet read her book!"

He gave her an amused glance. "She would scarcely have expected it."

"Truly? I have read reviews in the journals, and seen discussions among the scholarly forums—indeed, the scholar's work seems to me to be at least as weighty as you would have me believe the Revisions to be. Perhaps more! Jon had said he would lend me his copy, when he was done."

"I am certain Anne will be happy to give you a copy of her book, if you truly wish to read it, though I warn you, she may seem bemused. She had expected, you see, that the work would be of interest to perhaps another dozen scholars in her immediate field. The excitement that it has caused among—shall we say, among those who are not scholars?—has quite taken her by surprise."

"Shall I not mention her work?" Aelliana asked worriedly. "I would not wish to offend—and it is true that a mathematician is not a linguist."

"As you have an interest in the work—and an opinion!—I believe you will not offend. And, you know—Anne is a native speaker of Terran."

Her eyes widened. "Of course she is! Would she care, do you think, if I were to practice my Terran against her?"

"I think she would be delighted," Daav said truthfully. "And now, Pilot—are your straps secure?"

She touched the shoulder harness and the lap strap.

"They are. May I know why the pilot asks this question?"

"Because now that we are out of the city, I intend—very much—to give over holding down my speed."

Aelliana smiled, and settled back into her seat, moving her hand from his knee to her own.

"Good," she said.

Each clan is independent and each delm law within his House. Thus, one goes gently into the House of another clan. One speaks soft and bows low. It is not amiss to bear a gift.
—
Excerpted from the
Liaden Code of Proper Conduct
 

The wind roared, yanking her hair hard enough to bring tears. Aelliana recalled that she had used to be frightened of speed; certainly the blurred countryside through which they pelted—houses, trees, flowers, and fields smeared into the abstract—ought to sent her curling into the corner of the seat, face hidden behind her arms.

Instead, she laughed, and sat forward, giddy with sensation. Drunk with speed. Drunk, indeed, with Daav's joy and a sort of feral alertness, so potent that there was no need to touch him in order to clarify what he felt.

The car swooped to the top of a hill, spun into a thin lane and dashed downward. Stomach in free fall, Aelliana laughed again, and heard Daav laugh, too.

At the base of the hill, he downshifted, and followed the lane to the left, through a series of twists and turns, slowing almost imperceptibly as they negotiated each until, by the time they passed beneath an archway thick with flowers, the car was proceeding very nearly at a stately pace.

Colmeno bushes lined the lane on both sides, their lemony scent cleansing away the sweet breath of the flowers. At the end of the line of bushes, the lane intersected another. Aelliana caught a glimpse of a stairway, a glitter that was perhaps a window, then Daav turned the little car left, then right, going quite slowly now, and pulled into a 'crete apron between a building that might have been a garage, and a pleasant lawn.

"And so we arrive," Daav said, shutting the car down. He raised his hands and smoothed them over his head, utterly failing to tame his wind-snarled hair.

"That did no good whatsoever, if you were trying for decorum," she told him, her voice effervescent in her own ears.

"Now, have I ever tried for decorum?" Daav said musingly, looking down at her from snapping black eyes. "I must have done, mustn't I? Once or twice?"

"Surely, Korval must be decorous!" she returned.

He moved his shoulders. "Korval of course must be decorous, lest society fail. Daav rarely has such calls upon him. However, you are correct! One's brother has endured an unsettling morning, and very likely a less-than-amusing afternoon. He deserves better than to be treated to the spectacle of the two of us, with the dust of the port—and half the valley!—on us and our hair in matching mares' nests." He raised an eyebrow.

"There ought to be a comb or three in the drawer under your seat."

There were, she found, exactly three—disposables, each sealed into a transparent envelope. She handed him one and took another for herself, reaching behind her head to open the silver clasp.

"Ouch!" Biting her lip, she worked the comb carefully through the knotted mass of her hair, and after a time was able to once again snap the hair clasp into place.

"Behold us," Daav said gaily as she slipped the comb into the pocket of her jacket, "respectable!"

"If your brother's day has been distressing," Aelliana said, frowning up at him, "ought we to disturb him with a stranger's affairs?"

"We ought by all means make him aware of the clan's obligations, and immediately. He stands as nadelm, recall. If aught were to happen to me, it is Er Thom who will continue those arrangements guaranteed by Korval. You may be sure he would ring a peal over me the like of which you have never heard if I failed to acquaint him with one who stands within Korval's protection."

Aelliana shivered, suddenly cold in the warm afternoon.
If aught were to happen to me . . . 
So blithely said, and yet—

"Aelliana?"

Nothing
, she told herself firmly,
is going to happen to Daav.
She took a deep breath and looked up at him. "I beg your pardon," she said.

He frowned slightly. "I'm a brute," he said comprehensively. "Pulling you from here to there with no time to rest. It will be quickly done here, I swear it, and gently, too. Er Thom at least has address."

He opened his door. After a moment, Aelliana opened hers, and stood out onto the 'crete apron.

Before her, the grass stretched like blue-green velvet from apron's edge to a pleasant patio agreeably populated with chairs and small tables. Behind them, tall glass doors stood open to the day, the house stretching above and beyond . . . 

She stared, suddenly understanding the scope of the building before her. This was no humble thing such as Mizel's house on Raingleam Street. This was
house
writ large, bold, and proud—and if she had not been told "house" she might instead have supposed it to be a—a mercantile center, or a building attached to an university, or—

"Aelliana?" His hand came lightly to rest upon her shoulder; she felt concern, and a tang of self-anger.

"Your brother lives
here
?" she demanded. "It is—how many? In your clan?"

"Ah. You must understand that Trealla Fantrol is Korval's showpiece. Our mother taught that, in the past, it was also a fortress, guarding the mouth of our valley, and denying those with . . . unfriendly intent . . . access to Jelaza Kazone—yos'Phelium's house, you know—which is much less grand, and quite a bit older.

"As to how many we are—very few, in these days. We have never been a large clan, even at our most fulsome."

"I see." She took a breath, recalling the calming spin of color Daav had named the Rainbow. Carefully, she called a prism to mind, one hue after the other—but the exercise failed to calm her.