The Seer (Tellaran Series) (16 page)

“Well,” Bruscan continued. “I’m sure all that can be arranged. But do try not to scratch the groundcar, will you, my dear? It’s new.”

Sixteen

Arriving at the party that evening Arissa swallowed hard to see that this villa, no less extravagant than Bruscan’s, was already filled with guests. Sensing the easy confidence of those around her in their polished evening attire, Arissa wet her lips. She had chosen what she thought was the most cosmopolitan of her new wardrobe for this first night out but now she felt awkward in her low cut evening gown and strappy high-heeled shoes—a little girl playing dress up in a room of sophisticates.

The floor of the mansion was plexisteel and water, tinted pale blue, was visible beneath its clear surface. The lining beneath the water was reflective as well, increasing the visual depth so that guests appeared to move across the shimmering surface like naiads. Fat, iridescent-scaled momu fish, each with fins spread out and billowing like the wings of a gossamerfly, swam lazily beneath the floor and made Arissa, unused to heels—and a floor that appeared made of water—step even more gingerly. 

She had been excited at the prospect of attending her first party but now her stomach was churning. Her glance darted about afraid these people knew she didn’t belong here. Unused to crowds still, already the flood of emotions from the revelers was a growing rumble in her mind.

She began to wish she’d stayed behind at Bruscan’s house.

“You look beautiful,” Jolar said, taking her hand. He leaned over to murmur in her ear. “Just focus me if you start to feel overwhelmed, all right?”

She gave him a quick, grateful look and, narrowing her focus to him, felt her nerves begin to settle at the familiar feel of his mind. Bruscan warmly greeted their hostess—a regal, dark-skinned Novician woman whose height rivaled Jolar’s—and introduced them as his friends, the Legans from Aylor.

Bruscan stopped here and there introducing them to his friends and acquaintances. The Sertarian was plainly an accomplished charmer and conversationalist and Arissa was relieved to find that she hardly had to do anything but stand next to Jolar and smile. A short time later and with a meaningful look at Jolar, Bruscan parted company from them and wandered off into the crowd.

Small groups had formed into circles of conversation and laughter floated over the soft music. Tentatively Arissa widened her focus, catching snippets of emotion—amusement, desire, excitement, boredom  . . .

Boredom?

Curious, Arissa tightened her focus. The man was pudgy; his high-necked gray evening tunic highlighted the roundness of his face. He leaned in an archway, wine glass in hand as he surveyed the room. His mouth was tucked a bit at the corner, the only outward sign that he regarded the setting and other guests—so extraordinary to her—as uncultured and crass.

Arissa chewed the inside of her cheek, recalling her wide-eyed awe the first time Jolar had taken her to a restaurant onboard the cruiser.

“I think it’s a lovely party,” Arissa ventured quietly to Jolar as they crossed to the bar. “The house is beautiful.”

To her relief his smile of agreement was sincere.

“The floor has me a little thrown. I keep worrying I’m actually going to step on one of those things,” he said with a nod at their feet—and the momu fish gliding beneath them. “What would you like to drink?”

“Nothing for now,” she said.

Jolar raised a hand to summon one of the bartenders.

A gorgeously dressed woman nearby—pouting as she waved away a servant offering sumptuous looking tidbits on a tray—adjusted her light, sheer wrap so it lay over the inside of her elbow and exposed her left shoulder. The effect was very alluring, looking both casual and urbane and caused the fabric of the wrap to float behind her as she strolled toward the open doors to the enclosed courtyard beyond.

With a glance at herself in the reflective surface behind the bar, Arissa quickly readjusted her own shimmersilk wrap the same way before Jolar turned back.

He regarded her with a warm smile. “You know, sweet, I’ve never seen you even tipsy.”

The bright tones of Novician liternwood pipe music had enticed more than a few couples nearby under the soft glow of the lantern lit dome to dance and no one was paying them any attention at the moment.

“I’ve never been.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Really? Well, now that’s something I have to see. Maybe a few glasses of sparkle wine on a Niman beach?” His eyes went hot. “A private beach, of course.” His smile widened as she felt her face warm. “Gods, you blush beautifully.”

The bartender brought his Aylorian brandy. Jolar nodded his thanks and his twenty credits vanished discretely into the man’s palm.

“You have to pay for refreshments? I thought—” Her flush deepened, what did she know of parties outside of books and holodramas? She lowered her voice. “Doesn’t a hostess provide those?”

“She is. That was just some ‘consideration’ for the bartender.” Jolar drank from the snifter and made an appreciative sound then offered the glass to her. “Want a sip? It’s very good.”

Arissa took a scant swallow to find the brandy held the mellow overtones of verum with a hint of spice.

“It’s wonderful,” she agreed.

And strong.
She could already feel the brandy’s warmth spread through her chest.

“Do you want to keep it?” he asked, a mischievous glint in those blue depths. “I can get another for myself.”

“I’d better not.” She handed the snifter back and touched Jolar’s arm lightly. “Let’s go talk to Bruscan.”

Jolar rippled with surprise as he followed her nod at the other side of the room where Bruscan stood talking to a slender man of middling height.

In just that moment Bruscan’s glance sought them out and his eyes flashed with urgency. Jolar took a quick, final swallow of the brandy and then caught her hand. More guests had arrived and even with Jolar’s formidable physical presence it took time to cross the room to where the two men stood.

“Larner, these are my friends, Jolar and Arissa Legan,” Bruscan said. “This is Larner Tovic.”

Jolar shook his hand and Arissa reached out quickly to brush Larner’s mind. Her lungs suddenly felt as if they were filling with icy air. The man’s cool, emotionless gaze was echoed by the chilly and methodical nature of his sense.

Larner smiled at her like someone who had learned to so by imitating a character in a holodrama. “A pleasure, I’m sure.”

“It’s always nice to meet new people,” she said with a glance at Jolar to underscore that she sensed no recognition on Larner’s part. Jolar caught her meaning instantly and she felt his mind uncoil with relief.

“What do you do, Master Tovic?” she asked, turning back to Larner.

“I own a mining operation on the third moon.”

Larner’s voice and expression were pleasant but Arissa suddenly saw in her mind the image of him practicing this demeanor in front of a mirror over and over to get it right.

“Oh,” she managed faintly, thrown by the mental impression. “I don’t know much about mining.”

Larner frowned a little as if he didn’t know how to answer that.

“Well,” Jolar said into the awkward pause. “Has that been a long-standing career or are you new to it?”

“Oh,” Larner said, his face going a little blank. “I inherited the operation. My family has been in crystal mining for generations.”

Then he smiled, as if reminding himself to do so.

“Actually you might want to talk to Jolar then,” Bruscan said genially. “He’s been tasked with choosing the next crystal supplier for the Fleet.”

“The current contract with CenCorp ends in three months. Maybe you can give me the best price,” Jolar said to Larner. “We should schedule a time to discuss it.”

Larner’s blankness returned. “I’m in mining, Master Legan. The law forbids me from also owning a refining plant.”

“It does?” Arissa asked, surprised. She hadn’t thought the law would stop anyone on Sertar from doing anything.

He turned to her. “To prevent a monopoly, of course.”

Looking into those flat gray eyes and feeling the equally cold-blooded mind behind them was utterly unnerving.

“Of course,” she managed.

“Perhaps you might suggest someone.” Bruscan gave a self-deprecating shrug. “I’m afraid my business interests lay outside the crystal consortium.”

“I will consider the matter,” Larner said.

Then he smiled again.

Subsequent conversation was equally strange and ungainly and Arissa didn’t feel capable of drawing a deep breath again until the man excused himself.

“Now I wish I’d finished that brandy,” Jolar muttered. “I don’t know that I’ve ever met anyone so odd.”

“He’s an excellent businessman,” Bruscan said lowly. “He never forgets a conversation or a detail, no matter how small.”

“He’s your friend?” Jolar asked. “How do you talk to him for more than five minutes?”

“I never said he was a friend,” Bruscan returned. “I said I knew him. I don’t believe Master Tovic
has
any friends.”

“I can see why,” Jolar grumbled. “And frankly, right now I wouldn’t mind another drink.”

Arissa pressed her palm against her forehead to cool it.

Jolar frowned. “Are you all right?”

“I will be,” she said, with a quick smile and dropped her hand. Uncentered by the encounter with Larner Tovic, the crowd’s emotions rose to a roar in her head and she winced, suddenly desperate for a few moments alone. “Can I meet you at the bar? I think I’ll find the ‘fresher first.”

His protectiveness spiked then, probably realizing she had picked up on it, Jolar gave her a chagrined smile. “I guess I can let you go to the ‘fresher by yourself.”

“I’ll be fine,” she promised.

But making her way through the partygoers was harder for her than she expected, and not just because of the crush of the crowd. Overly sensitized now, emotions pressed in on her and she struggled to keep them at bay.

The male guests were well dressed yet seemed possessed of the same cunning, sharp gazes. Their glances lingered on her and to her surprise Arissa realized a number of them found her attractive—but right now the attention was far from welcome. She was forced to twist her way through the crowd and her teeth clenched with annoyance as more than once a man’s hand lingered ‘accidently’ on her rump.

The smell of so many perfumes and colognes, albeit expensive, mixed in such close proximity made the air gaggingly sweet and Arissa’s nose stung from it. Some of the women seemed pampered— even sheltered—mistresses, wives and daughters, but beneath their expensive gowns and elegant coiffures most were as hard hearted as the men. Though a brush of their minds revealed they didn’t find her appearance wanting as she’d feared they would, still she was trembling a bit at the emotions buffeting her. Too far from Jolar now to narrow her focus to just him, she pushed with more urgency to escape the crowd. She hadn’t sensed such ruthless self-absorption even in the most run down streets of Xan-Tellar.

She reached the main corridor of the house and a servant, seeing her hesitation, offered assistance and directions. Arissa’s face warmed as she realized she didn’t have any money in her tiny evening purse to tip the woman. The attendant gave her a brief, annoyed glance when no credits were forthcoming and quickly moved on to better prospects.

Arissa followed the woman’s directions to the opposite end of the corridor. Drawing a shaky breath, she gratefully shut and locked the ‘fresher’s door behind her. The appointments of the bathroom included Utavian star lilies in the fresh flower arrangements, rich perfumes and creams for the guests’ use and individual cosmetics in pretty packages that she could no doubt help herself to and take with her.

Arissa wetted a cloth and pressed it to her forehead. Leaning over the cut crystal sink, she steadied and slowed her breathing, consciously drawing her focus inward to regain her inner balance.

After a few minutes she felt calmed enough to go back to the party. Surveying her appearance in the mirror, Arissa took a moment to adjust one of the combs holding up her ringlets, again very, very glad that she’d had the demi-permanent make-up done. She scarcely knew how to act at a party and couldn’t imagine the added anxiety of worrying about smeared lip color as well.

She was on her way back to Jolar, skirting the edge of the room but this area was particularly crowded and, squeezing through the crush of bodies, she accidently elbowed someone.