by Robin Roseau
“Is it the challenge that upsets you, or being compared to Serenity?”
“I don’t care if I have to be a bath girl for a day.” She laughed. “As I understand the challenge, if I lose, Luradinine loses, too.”
“Yep.”
“And we both know Serenity isn’t going to lose. Luradinine could end up as a bath girl for two days.”
“Yep.”
“I’m fine with that. But if we’re learning everything side-by-side, I’m going to suck. We’ll go from place to place, and even without her implant, she’ll suck up all the knowledge, and there won’t be enough time for me.”
“So what you want is to not spend every waking moment together.”
“I guess.”
“You want to be free to learn at your own pace.”
“Exactly.”
“Do you mind if I put it that way in front of anyone else?”
“No, I suppose not.”
“Luradinine is a good woman, and she’s invested in this. She’ll want this to be a positive experience. Why did you pick her?”
“I like her, and as you say: she’s a good woman. And it was the funniest choice I could make, especially because I just knew Serenity was going to suck me into that wager.”
“All right.”
“I want to ask you about something else. Does the governor really want me to stay?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“She did that thing at the school, but that’s all. She hasn’t said a peep since, but she offered Tranquility an implant.”
“No. She did the best she could. She offered to do what she could to get her an implant.”
“Maddalyn, I’m not staying for Maybe. I like it here. I really do. I expect it to take me 35 years, but something could happen a week after I get back. I’ll agree to a long contract, but I’m not staying for ‘I’ll do my best’.”
“I understand. I’ll make sure she knows, Pippa. Anything else?”
“The rest are details. How much am I paid, that sort of thing.”
“Do you need your own jumper?”
“If my job is to travel all over yes, but then it’s a work expense. If I only have to stay in Sudden, then I can go places with you or the sisters. But I want a similar rejuvenation schedule. I’ll go seven years, or even ten, if I have to, but ten is the limit.”
“It’s probably the implant that is the biggest issue,” I said. “I’ll see what we can do, Pippa. Ready?”
“Ready.”
We hugged then walked back. We took our seats then I spoke Talmonese. “Pippa is excited about her lessons, Luradinine, but she wants to be free to learn at her own pace.”
“Ah,” Luradinine said. “That makes sense, and I can’t ignore my duties, either. Margotain, what are you and Serenity doing this afternoon?”
“I thought we would take a walking tour of Beacon Hill. Darratine, would you and Farratain like to show us around?”
“We’d love to.”
“Pippa,” Luradinine said, “we will visit the baths.”
“I like the baths,” Pippa said.
“And go shopping.”
Pippa smiled. “I like shopping.”
* * * *
Kalorain and I lay together, both of us panting. Her taste still filled my mouth and would for some time. She rolled towards me, snuggling against my side, and pulled the covers up. Then her hand landed on my chest, just cupping me, and if history was any indication, we would end up falling asleep like this. “I love you so much, my Galatzi wife.”
I turned my head to look at her. “I love you, my wife. Thank you for making me so happy.”
We stared at each other for a while. “What do you suppose our friends are doing?” she asked.
“Well, I wouldn’t be too surprised if some of them are doing what we were just doing,” I replied. “The twins are teasing Mordain.”
“You think so?”
“Yes. Serenity is still working on her language lessons.”
“Probably. And Pippa?”
“Hmm. She’s outside our door wondering if we’re going to get started again.”
Kalorain chuckled. “I think she’s having a tickle fight with Mother.”
“I find that unlikely,” I said. “Your mother surprises me. Sometimes she is entirely the vendart, but then she is … I don’t know. Serenity gave her an out on the wager, but she took it. She must realize she’s going to lose. Serenity doesn’t lose on things like that. If your mother’s test is unfair, I will call her on it. She has to know that.”
“I want to ask you about something else,” Kalorain said. “We each have a mother. I don’t want us to say ‘your mother’ and ‘my mother’ anymore. What do you think?”
I thought about it. “I don’t want to use the German word, ‘Mutter’ or ‘Mutti’. She is a Talmon woman now.”
“They could be Mama-L and Mama-F.”
“I didn’t think it was the Talmon way to shorten names,” I replied. “No one here is called Bob. People at home might try to call me Maddy, and Mother does sometimes.”
“Well, Mama Luradinine is too much,” she said.
“I only call her Mama when I’m feeling emotional,” I said. “But we could do that. Could you call her that?”
“I could,” she said. “And you could call Luradinine ‘Mother’.”
“Yes. I’d like that. Do we have to ask them?”
“Not Mother. Mama?”
“No. We start tomorrow.”
“We start now, but they won’t hear until tomorrow,” Kalorain said.
“I love you so much,” I said, overwhelmed again.
“So, you were saying something about Mother’s test.”
“Yes. If Mother’s test is unfair, I will call her on it, and you better back me up.”
“I will.”
“Please, if that happens, your test needs to be fair. I don’t want to accuse you.”
“It will be fair,” she said. “If anything, Mother will complain that I am too easy.”
I nodded. “So, what is Mother doing? She didn’t think Serenity needed incentive.”
“Serenity issued a challenge,” Kalorain replied. “Mother only accepted.”
“Did you notice that Mama and Laradain were awfully quiet?”
“I did notice,” she said. “Are we going to let them get away with that?”
“I think if Mother wants to challenge Mama, I won’t stand in the way, but I’m not going to do it. I wasn’t exactly the fastest student.” I smiled. “I miss our language lessons.”
“Do you. What do you miss about them?”
I giggled. She had a pretty good idea what I missed.
“Maddalyn, there’s something I want you to think about. Mother would really like one of these dance clubs here. Could we talk to her about that?”
“We should include Pippa and the sisters.”
“Yes, I agree. But I don’t think we should have to wait until one is running in Sudden. Why should Sudden get theirs first?”
“I don’t know a thing about what is involved,” I replied. “But if we partnered with an inn, I bet we could have something running very quickly.” I paused. “You know more about this than I do, I bet.”
“I might,” she said.
We talked about it for a while, and then she decided round two was a good idea. I decided she was absolutely right.
Results
I brought it up over breakfast. “Margotain. Mother. I would like to have a conversation in English.”
They both set down their utensils and turned to me. “All right,” Mother said carefully.
I pulled out my tablet. I’d already warned Tranquility, who had received permission from Nalatine for the conversation. I pinged her on the tablet then propped it on the table facing Luradinine. “Hello, Luradinine,” Tranquility said.
“Hello, Tranquility.”
“I want to start a conversation about dance clubs,” I said. “I want to know if we think we should open mor
e than one, assuming we can make it work.”
“Oh,” said Pippa. She looked at Luradinine. “Oh.”
“That’s all you’re going to say?” Tranquility asked. “Maddalyn, don’t be like this. Tell us what you think. This isn’t coming out of the blue.”
I glanced at Kalorain, who nodded. “All right,” I said. “I think we should at least discuss if we could somehow support one in every village whose vendart invites one.”
“Oh, that is carefully said,” Tranquility said. “Has Indartha Vendart requested one?”
“We’ve had some dances there, and I think if we included her in the conversation, she might ask. I don’t know. I think she sees other priorities. But I’m pretty sure Pippa and the sisters want one, and the more I think about it, the more I do, too.”
“This conversation is moot if no vendarti ask,” Tranquility said.
“Then I’ll take care of that question,” Luradinine said. “I want one here, and I am sure that’s why Maddalyn asked for this conversation.”
“In fairness, it was Kalorain’s idea, but yes,” I said.
“I don’t know how we would build and run two clubs,” Serenity said, “especially as Tranquility and I will have jobs, and it’s not like Maddalyn has spare time.”
“I want to help,” Margotain said. “Is there a job for me?”
“There are ample jobs,” Pippa said. “We’re biting off too much.”
Luradinine frowned, but Pippa turned to her. “Language lessons.” She ticked off a finger. “Culture lessons. Moving into new jobs. Building a club. That one is worth twenty fingers. Running a restaurant. That’s probably forty fingers. Where am I going to get an additional 60 fingers for a second club? If we do one first, at least we’ll get some experience.”
Luradinine reached over and cupped her hands over Pippa’s fingers, closing them and then holding her hands. She pushed the hands down. “That is fair, if you try to do it yourselves. There are other choices.”
“What choices?”
“Do you want to see to all the details? Or do you want to see to the dancing and let other people see to the details?”
Pippa froze, but it was Tranquility that said, “I want it to be my club. In fact, I wouldn’t mind if it said Tranquility on the front door.”
“Hey!” Complained Serenity.
“It can be in Talmonese,” Tranquility said. “Then it’s the same word.”
“Leaving me out!” Pippa complained. “Are you telling me something, Tranquility?”
“Yes. We need more than one club, and we each get our name on one, but we’re all owners.”
“I don’t think that’s what you meant,” Pippa countered.
“You’re right. It wasn’t. But the basic sentiment is the same: I want us to walk through the club and be the owners, not just some dance instructors.”
“Are you unwilling to have partners?” Luradinine asked. “Do you really want to run a restaurant?”
“I wasn’t thinking of a restaurant. A bar. That’s not complicated. We don’t have to serve food, just drinks. Keep it simple.”
“You are always complaining they don’t serve food at Raven’s,” Serenity said. “That’s why we usually go to Neverland’s End.”
“Well then, what do you want?”
Serenity didn’t answer right away, so Pippa chimed in. “They call us star people. I think we should call it Stardance. If we have more than one, they can be Stardance Sudden and Stardance Beacon Hill. I mean. I understand wanting to call it Tranquility, and that’s actually a great name, but that leaves me out.”
“You don’t get to name it if you’re not staying,” Tranquility said.
“Maybe you should call it Pippa’s so she has to stay,” Luradinine said.
“I tell you what, Pippa,” said Tranquility. “If you sign an employment contract, then I will express an opinion about the name, but I’ll abstain during voting.”
“Me, too,” Serenity said. “That’s our bribe to you.”
“Really?” Pippa asked. “I can name it?”
“But we talk about it first. We’re not using the first name you think of,” Tranquility said. “That’s the agreement.”
“That’s the agreement,” Serenity said.
“What if I say I want to call it Pippa’s?”
“Sign that contract then, girl,” Tranquility said.
“You’d let me get away with that?”
“Yes,” she said. “Now, do you think I’m trying to edge you out?”
“I shouldn’t have said that,” she replied.
“Yeah you should, because I was being selfish. Thank you for calling me on it.”
“You’re welcome,” Pippa said with a grin.
I thought about it, and then I said, “I want to know if I’m a partner in this.”
“Maybe,” Tranquility said. “Are you Maddalyn our friend, Maddalyn Kalorain’s Galatzi wife, or Maddalyn the Governor’s Senior Assistant?”
“Definitely not the last one,” I said.
“She is one half of Maddalyn and Kalorain,” said my wife. “We’re a package deal.”
“So five partners,” Tranquility said.
“What about me?” Margotain. “I am Margotain, Vendart’s Daughter. I’m somebody.”
“You’re definitely somebody,” Serenity agreed.
“I want to suggest something else,” I said. “Now that I’m a partial partner.”
“We’re all partners,” Tranquility said. “You and Kalorain split your ownership amount, but we’re all partners, and we may all share ideas.”
“But I don’t want voting fights,” Serenity said. “Decisions should be unanimous.”
“If that’s a problem, we’ll come back to it,” Tranquility said. “What did you want to suggest?”
“I am speaking as Maddalyn. Not partner. Not governor’s senior assistant. Just me. I think there should be one club anywhere the vendart sufficiently supports it, and the vendart or her representative should be a partner for that club.”
“I could support that,” Tranquility said. “So is that how Margotain becomes a partner?”
“I don’t know. Margotain, did you want to be a partner in all the clubs? And would your father let you do this, or would he want to do it himself?”
“If there’s alcohol, who knows?” she asked with a grin. “Mother might want to be directly involved, too. I would be surprised if she didn’t. I want to be a partner. What do I have to do to convince you?”
“In all clubs, or just the Sudden club?” Serenity asked.
“All of them. I can get things done none of you can. I’m going to be your problem solver.”
I studied her for a minute then said, “Mother, if Darratine made a request like this, would you give her the time to be involved?”
“The situation is not entirely the same. Margotain is not the future vendart. I would let her be a partner in the local club, but not in all of them. I would let her consult for them, but Darratine’s focus must be on Beacon Hill.”
“But I’m not the future vendart,” Margotain said. “Chaladine is, and if not Chaladine, then Rordano. And do you see either Mother’s or Father’s siblings involved in running Sudden? I need to make my own place. I can’t hang on as Vendart’s Daughter forever.”
I came to my own conclusion, but it was Pippa who said, “I don’t want to give Margotain one partnership share and Baardorid a second one. They should share a share, like Maddalyn and Kalorain are doing.”
“What if there are other clubs, and the local vendart wants to assign a representative?” I asked.
“Then she gets a full share in those clubs.”
There was a pause, and then Serenity and Tranquility both said, “Okay.”
“Really?” Margotain asked.
“Really,” said Tranquility.
“Subject to Baardorid’s approval,” I said. “The fact is that you are Vendart’s Daughter.”
“He’ll agree!” she said. She gr
inned. “I’ll turn Mordain’s eyes on him.”
Mordain laughed. “What about me?”
“Mordain, I told you, I have plans for you. In fact, when we’re done, I need you to arrange a conference with Colonel Blue and Admiral Grace.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
Vessatain tugged on Mordain’s sleeve. She talked to the twins for a minute, explaining what was going on. Laradain leaned in and listened as well.
“So that part is decided,” I said. “Which brings us back to our original question. I think we should dump about 90 percent of these headaches on the local vendart.”
Luradinine laughed. “You do, hmm?”
“I think we should partner with a local inn or restaurant.”
“We sort of talked about that,” Serenity said.
“Yes. I don’t know the particulars, but I don’t think I want to actually deal with running a restaurant. That’s a pain in the ass and I don’t know if I want it.”
“Neither do I,” Tranquility said. “But I want a bar. I want to tend bar!”
I laughed.
“I don’t want more partners,” Serenity said.
“They wouldn’t have to be partners,” I said. “We could have an adjacent building. A connected building. We would have our own wait staff, although the wait staff at the restaurant might move next door after dinner is over. They would be our kitchen and would get money for the food they make.”
“That’s a deal for them if we’re paying the waiters,” Pippa pointed out.
“It’s a huge headache we get rid of,” I said. “And we’ll get a discount, a fair discount. I don’t know what that is, though, but the Talmonese are fair people. We can come to an agreement.”
“You’ll be taking some business from the inn,” Luradinine said. “And the inns have musicians one or two nights a week.”
“We would coordinate,” I said. “We won’t be open every night.”
“You’ll take business the nights you’re open. Alcohol is their main source of money after dinner is over.”