by Doris Egan
"Take off that robe!" cried Jusik. "Do you think to fool with me?"
Coalis stripped off his outerrobe and pulled down his white cotton shirt.
I thought that he would make some protest—shout back, at least, since meekness was getting him nowhere—but he didn't. And appalled though the rest of the family looked, no one made a move to interfere. Obviously they didn't want that temper turned on them, but even so—
The strap hit. Coalis's back arched and a sound came out of his mouth—not a scream and not quite a groan—a sound that convinced me that even though I'd never seen or felt a whipping before, it was an exquisitely painful event.
I was horrified. I was rooted to the spot, grotesquely fascinated, but mostly horrified, and not just by the pain. There is no corporal punishment of minors on Pyrene, and it is strongly disapproved of on Athena. This was stepping back into some kind of dark age, a stage-lit theater event somehow dropped into real life, but even worse, this was a thing so clearly taken for granted by my contemporaries.
The strap struck, and struck again. And nobody moved. Jusik was the First of Porath, he could beat the hell out of his son if he wanted to.
Alien. I became aware of Kylla standing uncomfortably beside me—embarrassed at her presence at a private family moment, sympathizing with Coais, disapproving of Jusik— but without that extra layer of repulsion, of incomprehension, that I was watching through.
Eight strokes. I wasn't counting at the time, but I can still hear the slap of the strap reverberate. Eight strokes, not even cruel by some standards. He could have beaten Coalis to death and not been held legally accountable.
He raised his arm a ninth time and threw the strap past the tree, onto the ground. "I want you in my library tomorrow morning! I want to hear you recite the Twenty Lessons of a Dutiful Son, and you'd better not have a word wrong! Studying, that's what you should be doing, not out on the street mingling with all the riffraff of the provinces—" He choked in a couple of breaths with difficulty, trying to keep himself from working up to another crescendo of anger. He stepped back from the tree, and Coalis immediately threw himself to the ground again in dutiful fashion—more dropped than threw, this time. Jusik made a disgusted sound, turned away, and stalked back into the house.
Everyone else at once ran to Coalis and tried to help him up, murmuring comforting sounds and inspecting his back. Auntie Jace was sent to the kitchen for wet cloths, Leel Canerol had him turn around for her as she tsked-tsked and gave him advice about keeping his shirt off till tomorrow. Eliana sniffled and kissed him.
Kylla and I exchanged looks. Should we walk on into this? We were more or less being ignored anyway… maybe this would be a good time to slip away.
Eliana looked up and met our eyes. "Our guests," she said to the others, like a hostess reminding someone to serve the canapes. Kylla and I came forward.
Coalis was facing us, so I couldn't see what the strap had done to his back. There was a fine grain of dust on his cheek from where he'd pressed it against the bark of the tree, with tear tracks cutting through the dust. His eyes were still moist and his skin was paler than usual, but his expression was no different than it had been ten minutes earlier in the jinevra bushes. I searched his face, looking for something I could get hold of, but there was nothing. He didn't, quite, look calm … he looked held-in, self-contained.
"I'm sorry," I said, meaning that I was sorry for calling attention to him in the bushes.
"That's all right. It's bound to happen, from time to time."
Auntie Jace ran back with her handfuls of dripping cloths. Coalis was made to sit, and she knelt behind him and helped Leel Canerol in applying them. Water ran down Coalis's back onto the dirt. He winced whenever Leel touched him.
Auntie Jace was muttering. "What's gotten into your father, anyway? He never used to beat you."
"Co, here, never used to spend his nights out," said Leel dryly.
"It's not that." said Coalis. "Ow!"
"Sorry."
"It's just that I've got to expect that with Kade gone, he'll be… giving me a lot more of his attention. After all, he used to beat Kade all the time. With me, he probably never thought it mattered."
"So now you're important enough to correct," said Leel. "Lucky you. I'm glad I'm a provincial commoner."
Eliana said, "It's so unfair. You weren't out spending House money—you were making it."
"Will you keep your voice down?" said Coalis, frowning. "If we're going to start letting Father in on everything we do in our spare time, I know a few things I could share with him."
His sister made a face—but dropped the subject.
Kylla stirred. "We seem to have intruded at a bad time," she said. "Perhaps we should postpone our visit for another day."
Eliana straightened up. "No, please… if this is when Father asked you to come, we'd better stick to it. I'm sorry things are so—disorganized." She put a hand on her forehead and seemed to be trying to recall what she would be doing for an ordinary visit. "We only just got the table set up," she apologized. "Father didn't tell us he was inviting you, the messenger only mentioned it in passing this morning, so we've been running around trying to get things ready."
She considered this and seemed to feel it lacked a certain graciousness, for she at once modified it. "Not that you aren't both very welcome. I just want to excuse our lack of preparation. Really, we're very happy you agreed to come." She sighed. "This hasn't been a good morning. Let's try to start over again."
"We're happy to be here," said Kylla, who knew what was expected of her. "Is there anything we can do to be of help?"
"I'll be all right," said Coalis. "I'm just going to lie down for a while. Don't change anything on my account."
"He'll be fine," agreed Leel, looking up from her cleansing of his wounds. "Why don't you go on upstairs, and I'll be there in a couple of minutes."
Perhaps it was a trifle over-direct of me, but I hadn't had a good morning either, so I went ahead and asked: "Did your father have any particular purpose in mind? Anything he wanted us to discuss during this party?"
Eliana took no offense. "We wondered the same," she said frankly. "But he's been upset ever since he found out Coalis was away all night, and we really didn't think this was quite the time to inquire."
I wouldn't have brought the matter up, either. We followed Eliana upstairs to her room, where a small black table had been set up with a deck of playing cards in the center. Cushions surrounded it. The mattress had been taken off the sleeping platform and leaned against the far wall, and a portable tah burner with pot and cups had been set up in its place.
We filed in and sat down, to rather an awkward silence. "Leel will be up in a moment," said Eliana, who knew as much about that as we did. I looked around the room, the first daughter of Porath's world. No different from last time; clean, small, well-tended. A flute sat on the window-sill beside a stack of notepaper.
"You play?" I asked.
"I'm learning," she said. Auntie Jace made an embarrassed movement.
Fortunately Leel arrived before the conversation languished, and we could begin arguing about what game to start with. Sometimes I think card games and dinners just give us something to pretend to do while we all figure out how we stack up against each other in the human social web.
But as I'd said to Eliana on the Net, I don't know many Ivoran games. "I know how to play Sleeping Dog," I offered.
There was a strained silence at this; apparently it was considered a vulgar game. I'd learned it from some Sector outlaws the previous summer.
"We can play Flush," Eliana announced.
"It's always Flush," said Leel Canerol. "It's the most monotonous game on earth."
"We'll play Flush Thirty-Six," said her mistress, with a trace of temper. "That's not monotonous, it's the most complicated game there is. You can keep score, Lely. Since you find it so easy."
Leel Canerol made a face, but stretched her lanky frame against the wall until we all
heard something crack, then grinned and walked over to the windowsill where she retrieved pen and paper. The paper, I noticed, was a textured,
pastel kind, that came in short sheets, suitable for young ladies' personal notes.
Leel pulled out a stool and threw one leg over it. "Shoot," she said.
"Would you care to deal?" Eliana asked Kylla.
"Many thanks," said Kylla. She took the deck, an old-fashioned one of red and black oval cards, shuffled them grimly and dealt out seven cards to Eliana, Auntie Jace, and me.
I said, "Uh, excuse me, but somebody's going to have to show me how to play."
Kylla and Eliana were staring at each other, expressions of determined courtesy on their faces. I don't think they heard me.
Auntie Jace threw down two cards and took two from the pile. Eliana smiled prettily at Kylla and said, "I'll stand pat with what I have, dear."
I decided my best move would be to blindly participate, so I traded in one card.
Kylla took two without any comment. We went around several times doing this, then Auntie Jace said, "Flush," and put down her cards into three sets. They made no particular order that I could discern. We all put down our hands then and Leel Canerol walked around examining, counting, and writing.
It went on like this for about an hour. I kept a low profile and stayed away from the less understandable moves, as when Eliana suddenly laid a card at right angles across the discard pile and cried, "Block!" Fortunately, nobody seemed to expect me to do anything. Of course my nose started to go critical about forty minutes into play, and I kept my handkerchief in my fist, transferring the cards from one hand to another as I sniffed and blew as quietly as I could. Auntie Jace gave me some funny looks from time to time, but the others were too well-bred to take official notice.
Auntie Jace turned to me after one round and said, "Why in the world didn't you declare? You had a perfect hand!"
I shrugged, hoping I looked coolly above it all. Leel said, "She doesn't have to declare if she doesn't want to. Maybe she's working on a strategy." In fact I was. Keep my head low and hit the floor if the shots started to fly.
"Where do we stand?" asked Eliana suddenly, pushing her long dark hair back over her shoulder.
Leel consulted her paper. "Twenty-six on this last round for you, which puts you six under Kylla, twelve over Auntie, and eighteen over Theodora."
"Six under Kylla?" She frowned. "Are you including my bonus points for a perfect flush?"
Leel held out her paper. Kylla, looking a trifle irritated, said, "Perhaps you'd like to check the math, dear. I'd hate to take advantage of a schoolgirl."
Eliana took the paper, looked it over, and stated, "This is a nine, not a six, Leel. Raise me three points."
Kylla bent her head to peer at the scribbles. "It looks like a six to me," she said.
"Advanced age can have that effect on one's eyesight," replied Eliana. "Take my word for it, elder sister, it's a nine."
Leel Canerol and Auntie Jace began talking very quickly. "Would you like another hand?" asked Leel, gathering the cards without waiting for an answer.
"That would be delightful," said Auntie at once. "Or maybe we should all get some tah. Theodora, what do you—"
Kylla said, "Possibly those long sleeves of yours brushed the figure and smudged it, beloved sister. I meant to compliment you on that robe when I first walked in, by the way; it would have been very fashionable, let me see, about six years ago?"
"Look at the time!" I said. "Ky, shouldn't we—"
"I suppose you would be the expert on antique fashions," agreed Eliana.
Kylla's aristocratic nostrils were starting to flare, not a good sign. Eliana went on, "And it's true, these extra-long sleeves do get in the way. Perhaps you can lend me one of your lace bands to tie them back."
Ran's grandmother had worn lace sleevebands. I rose to my feet. "We must be going," I said.
The two of them sat without moving. I said, "Kylla," through gritted teeth. Finally, finally, she stood up.
Eliana smiled at her and said, "So sorry you have to go. I did enjoy our game, and I must compliment you on your calligraphy when you accepted our messenger's invitation. So very elegant. Who wrote it for you?"
"I'm glad you enjoyed it, dear. Who read it to you?"
Kylla turned to leave just as a snarling sound erupted from Eliana's throat and she sprang to her feet. The. little card table crashed over and Eliana grabbed Kylla's arms from behind. It looked as though she were trying to climb up Ky's back.
Kylla whirled around, knocking her away. Leel Canerol made a dive for her charge and missed. Eliana scrambled up and aimed an enthusiastic but poorly taught blow at Kylla, which she blocked. I threw aside the door hanging and yelled, "Assistance! Steward!"
Coalis was standing in the passage. I heard a loud slap from behind; somebody had made skin contact. Coalis strode past me and got between the two contenders just as Leel managed to imprison Eliana's arms. He raised his hands, palms up, to Kylla, looking vulnerable with his shirt off. "Our apologies. Our apologies," he got out. There was a red hand-shaped spot on Kylla's cheek and she was breathing hard. "Our apologies," he said again. "We humbly beg forgiveness."
After a moment, she nodded. Her eyes swept over the room like those of an heir who's just inherited a piece of land too poor to be impressed by. She turned and strode out.
I followed. A hand tugged at my robe in the passage to slow me down, and Coalis said, "That was something, wasn't it? I had no idea this would happen when I sent the invitation!"
I stared. "You sent the invitation?"
"Why not? I'm first son now, I don't have to ask permission to invite people home."
"Coalis… does the phrase 'asking for trouble' mean anything to you?"
"Oh, but it was splendid, wasn't it? What entertainment!"
I stopped, looked him in the eye, and said, "You are fooling with things you don't really understand."
"Come on, Theodora, I only wanted to see what would happen. What do you think they would have done if there'd been weapons at hand?"
His face wore its usual calm, but his eyes were glowing. "This family has even more problems than the Cormal-lons," I muttered.
"Pardon?"
"I said I have to go now. Kylla will need company home."
"Oh. Well, you're always welcome back. Kylla, too, of course."
"Our thanks," I got out, bowed my stiffest bow, and ran after my sister-in-law.
Leel Canerol caught up with me in the garden. "Please, gracious lady, I'd like to ask you not to mention this incident to Lord Porath."
I stopped short, remembering this morning's exhibition. "Would he beat her?" I kept my voice low. Kylla was ahead of us, at the gate, and I didn't want to put the idea into her head.
"He never has before, lady. But he can make things very difficult for everyone in the house when he's unhappy."
"I see."
"And—I couldn't help overhearing Coalis—if Lord Porath finds out his son is responsible for this, there could be a second lesson with the strap for him. Now, Grandmother was in her room with a headache this morning, but if she finds out Coalis got beaten, she'll make Lord Porath's life a misery. And if his life is a misery, we may as well all move to the provinces and change our names."
"Yes, I do see your point. Look, I see no reason to mention anything to Lord Porath, but I can't answer for Kylla."
"You might speak with her… when she's in a better frame of mind."
"Umm. I'll do what I can, that's all I can promise."
"My thanks," she said, and bowed, giving a wry smile when her head came up that suggested she knew very well I was wondering why she worked for the Poraths.
I shook my head. The smile became a grin. "Oh, it's not so bad," she said. "I've worked around, and they're probably the least trouble of any of the Six Families."
"Heaven help us all," I said.
She threw me a casual salute and loped back to the porch.
Chapter 16
I gave Kylla my caneblood necklace for safekeeping, explaining that I needed to go somewhere right now and didn't want to wear it. I didn't trouble to be specific, since she clearly wasn't listening to me in any case; but I watched to make sure she put the necklace safely in her wallet.
Then she took the carriage we'd come in and rode away, looking abstracted, leaving me to start a long trek across the city to the remains of the northwest wall. It took a good hour and a half in the midday heat, and five minutes into the walk I was sweating freely into my party clothes and thinking about a cool bath. The North Gate, where the groundcars and wagons pass through, was several streets to the east, but I'd remembered seeing a footpath for pedestrians near here that ought to lead out a door in the wall and along the east bank of the river.
So it did. Wildflowers and garbage lined the bank. Once past the wall there were very few people around, and I was glad I'd given Ky the necklace. Still, at least I could see far enough ahead and behind me to know I wasn't being followed. The path branched into two routes here, one well above the bank, among the red and blue flowers, and one leading down to the muddy path beside the water. I took the drier and prettier way. There was a shed set back from the banks, where a sorrel dog barked and laundry flapped in the breeze off the river. The dog, working himself up to a pitch of excitement few manic psychotics could match, gave me to understand that, if it were not for the inconvenience of a wood-and-wire fence, he would have been happy to lunge at me and tear off a few limbs. He threw himself at the fence several times, in fact, and I wondered just how sturdy it was.
Other than that, there were no human habitations, not till one got out several kilometers into the country and the farms began. But about a quarter of an hour from the wall I came on a section of field and riverbank that the city was using, whether officially or not, as a junkyard. Old tables lay sunken halfway deep in river mud; cracked pottery, broken glass in rainbow colors, and metal parts covered the ground. There were stacks of old used paper with government officialese on the portions that could still be read. River rats prowled, looking interested. And down by the bottom path, a but had been made of wood boards and junkyard metal; the hut, if Stereth were right, of Moros, the sorcerer who'd killed Kade from Catmeral Bridge.