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Some days they went on boat-rides out into the Zimr and over to the Nissimorn side, and occasionally down the gullet of the nearby River Steiche, which, if followed long enough, would bring them to the forbidden Shapeshifter territory. But that was many weeks' journey upriver, and they traveled only as far as the little Liiman fishing villages a short way south of Nissimorn, where they bought fresh-caught fish and held picnic on the beach and swam and lay in the sun. Or on moonless evenings they went to the Crystal Boulevard, where the revolving reflectors cast dazzling patterns of ever-changing light, and peered in awe at the exhibit cases maintained by the great companies of Majipoor, a streetside museum of costly goods, so magnificent and so opulently displayed that not even the boldest of thieves would dare to attempt an entry. And often they dined at one of the floating restaurants, frequently taking Liloyve with them, for she loved those places above all else in the city. Each island was a miniature of some far territory of the planet, its characteristic plants and animals thriving there, and its special foods and wines a feature: one of windy Piliplok, where those who had the price dined on sea-dragon meat, and one of humid Narabal with its rich berries and succulent ferns, and one of great Stee on Castle Mount, and a restaurant of Stoien and one of Pidruid and one of Til-omon — but none of Velathys, Inya
Of all the places that Inya
It was on one of these outings to the Gossamer Galleria that Inya
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She had no notion that that was what she was doing, of course. All she thought she was doing was conducting a little i
"I have not made up my mind," Inya
"May I see it?"
She dropped it lightly into his palm, and at the same time let her eyes make contact brazenly with his. He smiled, but gave his attention mainly to the ivory piece, a map-globe of Majipoor fashioned from many sliding panels of bone. After a moment he said to the proprietor, "The price?"
"It is a gift," answered the other, a slender and austere Ghayrog.
"Indeed. And also from me to you," said the nobleman, spilling the bauble back into the hand of the amazed Inya
"I live in Strelain," she said.
"Do you dine often at the Narabal Island?"
"When the mood takes me."
"Good. Will you be there at sunset tomorrow? There will be someone there eager to make your acquaintance."
Hiding her bewilderment, Inya
"No," she said. To the proprietor she said, "Who was that man?"
"You are unfamiliar with him?"
"I would not have asked you his name if I knew it."
"Yes. Yes." The Ghayrog made little hissing sounds. "He is Durand Livolk, the duke's chamberlain."
"And the other three?"
"Two are in the duke's service, and the third is a companion to the duke's brother Calain."
"Ah," said Inya
"It will take only a moment."
"And the price for a chain worthy of the object?"
The Ghayrog gave her a long calculating look. "The chain is only accessory to the carving; and since the carving was a gift, so too with the chain." He fitted delicate golden links to the ivory ball, and packed the trinket in a box of shining stickskin.
"At least twenty royals, with the chain!" Sidoun muttered, amazed, when they were outside. "Take it across to that shop and sell it, Inya
"It was a gift," she said coolly. "I will wear it tomorrow night, when I dine at the Narabal Island."
She could not go to di
At the restaurant there was no need to give her name. As she stepped off the ferry she was met by a somber and dignified Vroon in ducal livery, who conducted her through the lush groves of vines and ferns to a shadowy bower, secluded and fragrant, in a part of the island cut off by dense plantings from the main restaurant area. Here three people awaited her at a gleaming table of polished nightflower wood beneath a vine whose thick hairy stems were weighed down by enormous globular blue flowers. One was Durand Livolk, who had given her the ivory carving. One was a woman, slender and dark-haired, as sleek and glossy as the tabletop itself. And the third was a man of about twice Inya