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“Suspecting Elietimm malice looking over our shoulders every time we use Artifice, we hesitate to do the most obvious things,” she said crossly. “Master Devoir, has my enchantment affected your magic at all?”
Casuel bent down to peer under the bed and I couldn’t resist doing the same. All I saw was empty carpet.
“Not at all, my lady.” Casuel stood up. “What have you done?”
Avila smiled thinly. “Laid an aversion over the bed and beneath it. Anyone not knowing the coffer is there will have no interest in looking. Anyone searching for it will dismiss such an obvious hiding place with contempt.”
“A fascinating combination of the two schools of magic,” Casuel looked intrigued. “What—”
“Now let us see what Lady Cha
“I suppose I’ll have to bespeak Planir,” he was muttering. “To tell him about your latest successes.”
“And your working magecraft to complement Avila’s Artifice,” I pointed out.
Lady Cha
“Demoiselle, Esquire, a tisane?” Lady Cha
I took a seat by the wall and Casuel did the same. Temar and Avila joined Lady Cha
Casuel jumped up with an obsequious bow as she turned deceptively soft brown eyes on us. “My lady.”
“Your father is a pepper merchant, I believe?” Beauty had brought Lady Cha
Casuel’s smile became a little fixed as he selected spices for his tisane. “He is, my lady, of Orelwood.”
“And your brother is the famous Amalin.” Lady Cha
Casuel hesitated. “Naturally, my lady.”
Cha
“He and the Esquires are pla
“You can rely on the Sieur’s judgement.” Lady Cha
“I take it he acts on more than the suspicions Temar raised yesterday and the few things we learned this morning,” said Avila speculatively.
“Doubtless.” Lady Cha
I let her gentle voice fade into the background murmur of the busy residence. People all around were hurrying to ready everything before noon brought the commonalty into the residence and the nobility took their carriages to the Imperial Palace. I ran through the crowded events of the last few days in my mind. How might D’Olbriot’s determination to attack Tor Bezaemar clash with D’Alse
I looked over to see him paying close attention to Lady Cha
“It’s been the custom, oh, since the days of Inshol the Curt that all rank is left outside the doors of an Imperial dance, along with hats and swords. No one’s allowed to insist on deference and precedence, that kind of thing. Naturally any Esquire will treat any Sieur with due courtesy, that much distinction must be preserved but the erstwhile Imperial Houses aren’t allowed to look down on lesser Names. You’ll stand or sit as a lady pleases, of course, but there’s none of this nonsense about Houses of lower degree having to wait until a senior Name decides to take the weight off his feet.” Lady Cha
“Keep your voice to a polite level otherwise the noise gets simply deafening. If you must debate some point or other, do it without anger or passion and naturally, if someone’s boring you senseless, you’ll oblige us all by not letting that show. You’ll also do yourself more credit if you avoid boring anyone else. In general, I’d advise you to guard your own tongue and if you encounter anyone being indiscreet, do them the courtesy of not repeating what you hear, well, not outside the doors of the dance salon.” A fleeting smile softened her words.
“There’ll be plenty to eat and drink but I can’t imagine you need me telling you not to over-indulge.”
“I think I should be able to avoid disgracing myself,” said Temar politely but I could hear irritation beneath his words.
“These may be unwritten rules, Esquire, but there are penalties for infringing them,” Lady Cha
“What would this forfeit be?” Demoiselle Avila demanded curtly.
“Since the days of Tadriol the Staunch’s Maitresse, poetry has been the usual penalty.” Lady Cha
“I do not know any of those.” Temar shook his head cautiously.
“Which would make your humiliation complete, would it not?” Avila looked grim as Lady Cha
Movement beside me prompted a glance for Casuel, who was listening avidly. His smugness suggested he knew all the relevant poems and epics. I remembered the mage’s own ambitions to rank. What of other wizards with less narrow preoccupations? What would Planir do to protect his own concerns? How might his actions impact on D’Olbriot? How would Hadrumal seek to influence a quarrel between the Names that ruled the Empire? What could the Emperor do? Nemith the Last and his forebears might have ruled from the ocean to the Great Forest by unquestioned decree, but Emperors in this age have a different notion of justice. I pondered the bits and pieces of legal lore Mistal had bored me with when he’d first started his studies.
That led my thoughts to Hansey and Ridner. It wasn’t only minor Names like Den Veneta who’d suffer once each Name dragged their allies into this struggle. My brothers are D’Olbriot tenants, but they buy their stone from Den Ra