by Sharon Shinn
Leah laughed. “I assumed the primes were always like that. Interested in things that were so much more important than how they looked.”
“Oh, it depends on the individual. Christara Lalindar—Zoe’s grandmother, you know—she had a fine sense of opulence. She could sweep into a room with so much style that you’d have thought she was one of the queens. And Darien’s father was an elegant man, much like Darien himself. Very aware of what was due to him and what he owed to the office he held. But Kayle’s mother—” She shook her head. “You think Kayle looks like a lunatic. You’d have sworn that woman wandered homeless through the slums for the whole of her existence.”
The placid Virrie was not usually so talkative; she was probably trying to distract Leah from thinking about their destination. But Leah felt her tension rise throughout the duration of the drive, and it ratcheted up a notch as they arrived. The three of them climbed out and Yori drove off. Then Leah stood there a moment gazing at the achingly familiar house. It was the most sweela building in the entire city. It was built of red brick and orange roof tiles, and light shone from every one of its wide windows on all three stories. Small lighted candles lined the walkway from the street to the door. Even from where they stood, it was clear the place was bursting with life and energy and conversation and laughter.
“Ardelays,” Virrie said with satisfaction. “There’s no one quite like them.”
They entered into a chaotic swirl of people and activity; it was so loud that the servant at the door didn’t even bother to announce them. But Nelson bellowed, “Leah!” from half a room away, and a few moments later she was enveloped in his enthusiastic embrace. She could only laugh and submit.
He drew back to examine her a moment, smiling down at her. They hadn’t seen each other since they had arrived in Welce after the long journey home from Malinqua. “You look good,” he said. “Not quite so scrawny. It suits you to be home. I can tell.”
“Maybe,” she said. “Nelson, of course you know Virrie, but have you ever met Mally? She’s one of Taro’s wards, and she and Virrie are living in the city for a few ninedays.”
Nelson dropped to an easy crouch so he could be eye to eye with the little girl. Mally didn’t look at all discomposed by his wild red hair and exuberant manner, though she kept hold of Virrie’s hand while exchanging a long stare with the sweela prime.
“Well, hello, Mally,” he said, gentling his voice. “I don’t know that we have ever been properly introduced, though I’m sure I’ve seen you from time to time. I’m very glad to have you in my house at last. My wife will want to meet you, no doubt.”
“Virrie said there would be boys and girls here,” Mally said. “I could play with them?”
“There are! My grandson and granddaughter are in the other room—are they sixteen now? I lose track—and any number of nieces and nephews. I warn you, they’re all a little rambunctious, but friendly as can be.”
Virrie was looking beyond Nelson. “And Celia’s here, too, apparently. With Zoe.” She motioned them over.
Mally looked around in excitement. “Celia? I love Celia.”
Nelson rose to his feet, grinning. “Well, of course Zoe is here,” he said. “She’s my brother’s daughter.”
“So’s Josetta,” Virrie reminded him.
He laughed. “And the princess is also on the premises! She didn’t tell you she was coming? I understand you’re sharing a house.”
“She’s gone more often than she’s there,” Virrie explained. “She has some kind of lodgings down in the slums. I think Darien hoped that playing hostess to me would oblige her to stay in his house most nights, but it didn’t turn out that way.”
“I’m always pleased anytime Darien’s plans don’t quite work out,” Nelson said with satisfaction. Virrie and Leah both laughed.
Zoe was upon them at that moment, a squirming Celia in her arms. “She would not be still until I promised her Mally was coming,” she said. “Nelson, is there some quiet place I can take them so they can play together? I’ll supervise.”
Nelson had a soft smile on his face, an almost wistful look Leah hadn’t seen him wear before. “Actually, my wife would love the opportunity to spend time with Mally—with both girls,” he corrected himself quickly. “She loves children, and none of the ones that belong to us are really little anymore.”
Not hard to interpret that, Leah thought. Mally is her granddaughter, but until now she’s always had to hold back and love her only from a distance. A difficult thing to do for a woman as warmhearted as Nelson’s wife, Leah supposed. Beccan Ardelay was as hearty and impulsive as Nelson, as shrewd and generous, too. Mally was about to be smothered in love.
“Then let’s go find Beccan,” Zoe said. “Happy to turn Celia over to someone for even a half hour.”
Nelson lifted Celia from Zoe’s arms and settled her on his hip as easily as Taro might have. “Come on, Mally,” he said, reaching down to take her hand. “Let’s go find my wife. You’ll like her.”
Mally trotted off, happily chatting with the sweela prime. “Look at that,” Leah said. “I never think of Nelson as being the paternal type, but he’s managing quite well.”
Zoe snorted. “Since bastard Ardelay children turn up on a regular basis, I imagine Nelson is quite comfortable holding babies.”
Leah choked on a laugh. “Do you think Mally has half siblings lying around somewhere? For some reason, I never thought of that. It would be just like Rhan.”
“It would be,” Zoe agreed. “Kurtis married fairly young and seems much more stable than most Ardelay men, so I like to hope that he’s remained faithful. But I probably delude myself. I’ve often wondered if Josetta and I have half siblings of our own, since our father was famous for his affairs. But if we do, I haven’t encountered them yet.”
“I wouldn’t mind coming across a few more of Navarr Ardelay’s daughters someday,” Virrie said. “I like them all.” Someone caught her attention from across the room and she waved. “Oh, I have to go talk to Lilias and the twins. Leah, don’t sneak out of here without letting me know you’re leaving.”
“How did you know that’s what I was planning to do?”
Virrie smiled, patted her cheek, and ambled off.
Zoe said, “I can never decide if I like Virrie or Beccan better. I sometimes think if either one of them had had the raising of me, I’d have turned out much better than I did.”
Leah’s smile was a little crooked. “Well, Virrie did raise me, at least for a few years, but I’m not sure I’m much credit to her.”
“I think she finds you completely satisfactory. And she adores Mally.”
“Yes. I was lucky I had someone like Virrie to leave Mally with.”
“If I ever ran away, I’d give Celia to Annova,” Zoe said. “But these days I don’t run away as often as I’d like.” She sounded regretful.
“I often wondered,” Leah said. “Is there a decoy princess for Celia like there used to be for Odelia?”
“No. Darien and I discussed it when she was born, but I wouldn’t agree to it.” Leah raised her eyebrows in a question, and Zoe continued, “It was his idea to have the decoy for Odelia, you know. Josetta, Corene, and Natalie never had anyone masquerading on their behalf. Well, it would have been difficult to pull off, since they all lived at the palace and it would have been hard to conceal their lookalikes. But there were three of them, and no one said so, but everyone believed that meant there were a couple of spare princesses if something happened to one of them.”
“That is why you want your king or queen to produce a healthy number of heirs,” Leah said.
“But Romelle lived out in the country with Taro, so it was easy to swap Mally for Odelia when we needed to. And because we were then down to one certified heir, Darien wanted to take extra measures to ensure her safety.” She shook her head. “But I won’t agree to the decoy for Celia.�
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“Why not?”
“First, I don’t believe I’d be able to pull it off. I don’t think I’d be able to convince anyone that I loved any other child as much as I love Celia. I don’t think Romelle carried it off very well, either, to tell you the truth. I just think no one was paying close enough attention to realize that she didn’t really like Mally.” She must have seen Leah wince, because she added, “I’m sorry.”
Leah just gestured at her to continue.
“Second, I don’t think a decoy worked out so well in Odelia’s case. If Mally hadn’t been substituting for her, we would have learned the truth about her condition much sooner, and that would have been better for everyone.”
“That’s a good point.”
“And third—” Zoe paused as if considering, and then she smiled. It was an angry and beautiful expression. “And third, I’m the coru prime. If someone touched my daughter, I’d boil the blood in his veins. And everyone who lives in Welce knows it. They’d have to kill me to be able to harm her.”
In some countries, that’s exactly what they’d do, Leah thought. She didn’t bother saying so. She liked the idea of a mother so fierce she would destroy anyone who threatened her child. She wished she’d had that kind of mother. She wanted to be that kind.
“So Darien said, fine, no decoy princess,” Zoe finished up. “But who knows? He might be grooming someone in secret to play that part just in case I ever change my mind.”
That made Leah laugh out loud. “Oh, now that you say it, I’m sure he is!”
Zoe laughed, too. “I look forward to the day I finally meet her.”
Someone approached Zoe from behind, calling her name. Zoe turned into a warm embrace and then introduced Leah to what turned out to be the first in a long line of cousins and second cousins and other Ardelay relatives who all wanted to say hello to the coru prime. Leah would have wandered off so Zoe could visit with her extended family, but Zoe kept a hand on her arm and introduced her to everyone in turn. The implication was clear. These are Mally’s relatives, too. Someday you’ll have to get to know them all, so you might as well start now.
After about a half hour of that, Zoe waved at someone across the room and tugged Leah in that direction. It took a little time to navigate the crowded space, since everyone they passed knew Zoe and looked curious about Leah, but they managed to avoid getting drawn into any more conversations. Eventually they made their way to a couple standing a little apart from the rest of the guests—a slim blond woman, who looked to be in her early twenties, and a dark-haired man, who might be a few years older. Leah was fairly certain she’d never seen the man before, but he looked oddly familiar. The woman she recognized on sight.
“Princess Josetta,” she said, bowing deeply.
“Oh, not here. Not at Nelson’s house,” Josetta protested. “That’s the best part of coming to Nelson’s parties. Everyone acts like I’m nothing special.”
“Nonsense,” Zoe answered. “They act like everyone is special. Delightful and brilliant and full of potential. But it’s true they treat you like everyone else, and that is refreshing.”
The man with the princess gave Leah a friendly smile. He was handsome and slightly rakish, but almost preternaturally alert; she had the impression he was thoroughly and quickly sizing her up. It was an ability she herself had honed during her years in Malinqua as she tried to gauge who would be useful to her and who wouldn’t. Her assessment of this stranger was that he would always be agreeable and would appear more cooperative than he really was. She figured he was good at collecting information but not so quick to reveal it. Her guess was that he’d come to the same conclusion about her. She smiled back.
“I’m Rafe,” he said. “Since it doesn’t look like either of them is going to introduce me.”
“Leah,” she replied.
“Sorry, sorry,” Zoe said over Josetta’s own hasty apology. “But you might as well be complete about it. Leah Frothen and Lerafi Adova. Or do you go by Lerafi Kolavar?”
“Adova, thank you very much,” he said.
“Frothen?” Josetta repeated. “Then you’re—”
Before she could complete the sentence, Leah put the pieces together. “You’re the empress’s other grandson,” she said. “The one who wouldn’t come to Malinqua.”
“That’s right,” he said. His attention sharpened as he scanned her face. Maybe not everybody was privy to this information and he was wondering how she knew it.
“I’m just back from spending a few years in Malinqua,” she explained. “I got to know Princess Corene a little, and your brother, Steff, was with her some of the time. He was a very likable young man.”
Now Rafe’s face showed eagerness. “So you’ve seen Steff lately! How was he? He’s written me maybe two letters since he’s been gone. I try not to worry, but—” He spread his hands.
“You must be Darien’s spy! The one Corene told me about!” Josetta exclaimed. She glanced at Rafe. “Corene was better about writing than Steff, but I think it was only because she liked hinting at all the intrigue she then wouldn’t tell us about.” She laid a hand on Leah’s arm. “Could we find someplace to talk for a while? I would love to hear all about Corene’s adventures. And Steff’s. Or are there other people here you need to see?”
There are people here I would prefer not to see, Leah thought. She hadn’t spotted Rhan yet, but she was sure he was present. She wondered how much of her story Josetta knew, and she couldn’t help a quick look at Zoe. The coru prime smiled very slightly and shook her head, so Leah took that as a blanket negative. No, Josetta didn’t know that Mally was Leah’s child, or that Rhan was the girl’s father. She surely realized that Mally was Odelia’s double, but she didn’t have the rest of the details.
Though the princess would hardly be a harsh judge. She was a bastard Ardelay herself, and she didn’t seem at all unhappy.
“I would love to go someplace quiet to talk,” Leah said. “I find all these Ardelays overwhelming.”
Zoe decided to mingle, but Josetta led Rafe and Leah through a back corridor to a small room clearly designed for private conferences. Leah and Rhan had spent a few leisurely afternoons in this very spot. Leah closed her mind to the memories.
“I can see you’ve been to this house many times before,” Leah said as they disposed themselves in comfortable chairs. She noted that Rafe appeared entirely relaxed, but he chose a seat that faced the doors and conducted a quick, surreptitious survey of his surroundings. It amused her a little. This was someone who was used to living a precarious existence and hadn’t quite gotten over his watchful habits. She remembered some of the gossip Nelson had shared with her on the long voyage back from Malinqua. Rafe had been a professional card player before he met the princess. Currently, he worked for Kayle Dochenza, piloting the infamous new flying machines that the elay prime called aeromotives. Oh, and he was related to the royal houses of both Berringey and Malinqua. Leah knew some of the details of that story, but she’d bet the most interesting parts were still shrouded in mystery.
While Leah was studying Rafe, Josetta was glancing fondly around the room. “Once I found out I was Navarr Ardelay’s daughter, my life realigned,” the princess said. “I had led a very circumscribed and careful existence, and I’d mostly hated it. But then to suddenly find out the truth—to have Zoe as my sister and Nelson as my uncle—and to no longer be a blood princess of the realm—my whole world got bigger. So yes, I’ve come here often. The sweela prime’s house is the place to be when you want to open your mind.”
“So you weren’t too upset. When you discovered your true heritage.”
“I was glad. Once I got over the shock.”
Leah looked at Rafe and raised her eyebrows. “If Nelson told the stories correctly, you also received something of a shock when you found out who you really were. But were you glad, in the end?” Will Mally be glad when sh
e realizes I’m her mother?
He laughed. “Well, I wasn’t so pleased about it when people were trying to kill me, but once we managed to stop that activity—yes, I’ve been glad to know the truth.” He kept his friendly smile, but she had been right in her first assessment: He was constantly weighing her words, constantly sifting for the meaning behind them. “Why? Do you think maybe there’s a secret in your own background?”
“Rafe,” Josetta murmured.
Leah managed a tight smile. “Not me. Someone I know. Just wondering how that conversation will go. If it ever happens.”
Rafe pulled a pack of cards out of his pocket and idly shuffled them. A way to seem like he wasn’t paying attention, Leah thought. A way to make you think he was half absorbed in something else. It was a good trick. She wondered how she could come up with something similar.
“It worked out for my brother, too,” Rafe said. “Learning about his past. He was eager to go to Malinqua and take up his life as the empress’s grandson.” He gave her an inquiring look. “Unless things haven’t gone so well for him since he’s been there?”
Now she really admired his style. He’d realized that she was uncomfortable and smoothly changed the subject.
“Well, there were some rocky times, and Malinqua has some rough days ahead, but Steff seems to have found his place,” Leah said, launching into the tale of her last quintile in Palminera. They both listened closely. Josetta frequently nodded as if Leah’s stories matched the reports she’d heard from Corene, though clearly neither of them knew the details about Princess Alette or the series of murders at the palace.
“Much more exciting than I realized!” Josetta exclaimed at the end. “And now she’s gone off to Cozique! I’m so sad that I won’t get to see her again for a quintile or more—but at the same time, I’m so proud of her. She was—she was flailing in the past year or two. Simply at a loss for what to do with her life. If she’s found her calling—well. Nothing will stop Corene.”