“Oh, I do, I do! You must let me pay you for this, at least. It can be very pricey.”
Leah laughed. “Not at all! The captain practically paid me to get it off of his ship. It’s another gift.”
“The fates were generous when they introduced me to you,” Seka said. “I intend to make many, many purchases at your shop.”
Leah swept a hand out to indicate the shelves and tables. “We just put out a new shipment today. Let me know if you see anything you like.”
Seka jumped up. “I will!”
She spent fifteen minutes browsing through the merchandise, fingering scarves and holding rings up to the light to check the clarity of the gems. But she didn’t get truly excited about anything until she came across three small jeweled flutelike instruments prominently displayed on the elay table. “Darnish pipes!” she exclaimed, picking one up with some reverence. “Oh, aren’t they beautiful?”
“They are. But none of them play, I’m afraid,” Leah said. “They look like they should, but my assistants and I blew into each one, and we couldn’t produce a note.”
“That’s because they’re Darnish pipes,” Seka said again, as if that was a perfectly reasonable explanation.
“What does that mean?”
Seka was giving a thorough examination to the one she held, touching each separate garnet and amethyst and stroking the slim gold body. “Exquisite workmanship,” she murmured. “See the little ring welded to the back? You can slip it on a chain and wear the piece as a necklace. It’s beautiful enough.” She looked over at Leah. “Every pipe is different, crafted to special frequencies. There might be a hundred people in the world who could blow on this pipe and produce music and a hundred different people who could hear the music being played. But there must be one of each in the same vicinity or there will be only silence.”
“That’s sort of romantic,” Leah said.
Seka nodded vigorously. “Yes, a Darnish pipe is the most treasured of wedding gifts! But it has to be custom-made, of course, and then it is very expensive.”
“These aren’t exactly cheap.”
“No, I imagine not.” Seka lifted the flute to her lips and blew softly into the mouthpiece, then looked hopefully at Leah. “Did you hear anything?”
Leah shook her head. “Sorry. Nothing.”
Seka set that one aside and picked up the second pipe. It was crafted of silver and ebony, with an opal inlay around the mouthpiece. “I’ve never been able to hear one, either,” she said. “I keep hoping that someday—” She set her lips to the ring of opal. Leah heard her breath hiss out, but no other sound.
“Nothing this time, either, I’m afraid.”
Seka picked up the last and finest pipe. It was even smaller than the other two, the size of Leah’s index finger, and constructed entirely of mother-of-pearl. “Look at that—it practically glows in the dark,” Seka murmured. “Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?” She lifted it to her mouth and produced three distinct tones.
Leah gasped and put her hands to her ears. “I heard that!” she exclaimed.
Seka’s eyes snapped with delight. “You did? Truly?”
Leah hummed back the notes Seka had played. “Right?”
Seka fairly vibrated with excitement. “Yes! Yes! You heard me!” She put the pipe back to her mouth and produced a longer melody, but still a simple one. The music was sweet and piercing, tinged with wistfulness. Leah stood transfixed until Seka dropped her hand. “I have no musical training,” she apologized. “I wish I could play a more beautiful song so you could hear how the pipe really sounds.”
“I’m still amazed I could hear it at all,” Leah said. “If what you say is true, the odds against that happening are impossible to calculate.”
Seka stepped forward, her bright face earnest. “It means we are soulmates,” she said. “It means there is a bond between us. I feel it, don’t you?”
Leah managed not to recoil, but she did allow herself to look uncertain. “I’m not the kind of person who develops close bonds very quickly,” she apologized. “But I do feel like—there’s something special about you. Something different. I can’t explain.”
Seka smiled. “Yes—I could tell that about you. You like people, but you keep them at arm’s length. I am not that way. I’m passionate and I fling myself into relationships. But I will not fling myself at you.” She took a step backward and winked. “Not yet, anyway.”
Leah laughed a little shakily. “But I am very glad that you could play the Darnish pipe—and that I could hear you.”
“So am I! I must have it, of course. Let me buy it—and then, sadly, I must be on my way.”
As soon as they had completed the transaction, Seka said, “I was going to ask you about something anyway, but now that you’re my soulmate I have to.”
“You’re not going to keep saying that, are you?”
Seka laughed. “I promise! Not another word! But I do want to invite you to a very select get-together that will be held on firstday. You might have heard that the crown prince of the Karkades has come to Chialto to meet with your regent.”
Leah nodded. “Yes! Most of my customers can talk about nothing else.”
“And you may have guessed that I am here with his entourage. In fact”—Seka tapped the leather pouch—“the veneben is for him.”
“This is so exciting!” Leah exclaimed. “I’ve had a chance to do a favor for foreign royalty!”
Seka smiled. “I’m sure he would enjoy an opportunity to thank you in person at this event. It will be quite casual and have nothing to do with politics. There will be entertainment. And exceptional food. I think you would enjoy it, I really do.”
Leah had to confess to having equal parts curiosity and horror when she contemplated Seka Mardis’s notions of “entertainment.” But, of course, this was too marvelous an opportunity to pass up. “I wouldn’t miss it. Just tell me when and where.”
Seka rattled off an address in the wealthy district and said, “Festivities will start around eight and continue until everyone is exhausted.”
“Maybe sooner for me,” Leah said regretfully. “Since I will have a shop to run in the morning.”
“Then stay merely an hour or two.”
“May I bring someone with me?” Because she wasn’t going by herself to any entertainment of Seka Mardis’s devising.
“Of course! That will make it all the more fun.” Seka held up her hand, palm out, and Leah pressed her own against it. “Then I will see you in a few days,” Seka said.
“I’m looking forward to it.”
• • •
Since Leah obviously couldn’t bring Chandran to Seka’s party, her first choice was Rafe Adova. She figured he had had plenty of experience reading strangers and keeping himself out of trouble in all kinds of dicey situations. So that night, once Virrie had taken Mally up to bed, Leah told Rafe and Josetta about Seka’s invitation and asked if Rafe would be willing to escort her.
“I wish I could,” he said. “But the Karkans met me the first time Darien had a formal dinner for them. I even sat next to Seka at the table. She’ll remember me.”
“What did you think of her?” she asked.
He absentmindedly shuffled a deck of cards as he considered his answer. “I thought that I wouldn’t want to make her an enemy,” he said. “I got the sense that there were no limits on what she would be willing to do.”
“I had the same impression,” she answered.
“I was seated by the prince that night,” Josetta said. “He was—odd. A tall, thin man with a very delicate way of moving. I thought he could have been a dancer. Or a singer. His voice was beautiful.”
“Did you like him?” Leah asked.
“No. In fact, it’s more accurate to say I hated him. I couldn’t put my finger on why, though. He was extremely polite.”
Rafe glanced
at Josetta. “Tell her what Nelson said.”
“Nelson said he’d always thought the viceroy of Soeche-Tas was the most unsettling man he’d ever met, until the Karkan prince walked into the room. And you know, it’s rare that Nelson finds people frightening instead of fascinating.”
“I’m not certain you should go to this party after all,” Rafe said.
“Well, I’m definitely not going alone. But if you can’t escort me—”
“We’ll come up with somebody,” Josetta said. “We need to keep you safe from the crown prince.”
Rafe exchanged a look with Leah. He said, “And Seka Mardis.”
• • •
Chandran’s opinion was that the event wouldn’t be as debauched as Leah expected. “It might be vulgar and ostentatious, but as a somewhat public event in a foreign capital, it will be relatively sedate,” he said. “You might even enjoy yourself.”
“I think I’ll be too nervous to enjoy myself,” she said doubtfully, “but maybe.”
“You might want to bring a gift for your host,” he suggested. “That is a common practice.”
“What kind of gift?”
“I am sure he would be happy with another supply of veneben.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
Leah sent a message to the palace, and the very next day, Yori arrived with another pouch.
“I’m going to start thinking that Darien is dealing in the stuff,” Leah said. “Or that you are.”
Yori laughed. “In a different life, I might have,” she admitted. “But I think I like this life better.”
Leah stared at her, almost dropping the pouch to the floor. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of this already! You’d be perfect!” she exclaimed. “Do you want to come with me on firstday?”
“Sure. Where?”
“To a party hosted by the Karkan prince and his friends. I don’t know what exactly will be on offer, but I imagine it includes drugs—” She waved at the leather packet. “And alcohol. And people without a whole lot of inhibitions. I’m afraid to go alone.”
“Sure,” Yori said again. “Sounds like fun.”
SEVENTEEN
When Yori arrived at Darien’s house on the evening of firstday, for a moment Leah didn’t recognize her. The guard had left off her usual severe livery and instead sported more traditional Welchin clothing—a navy-colored tunic and trousers accented at neck, cuff, and hem with rows of turquoise buttons. She was wearing shoes with spiky heels that added at least four inches to her short frame, and she’d applied enough cosmetics to turn her friendly face sultry. Leah was pretty sure the guard had concealed knives under the flowing fabric at her ankles and hips, and she demonstrated another neat weapon: a thick gold bracelet with a hidden blade that snapped out with a single twist.
“Can gouge a man’s eye out in ten seconds,” Yori said with satisfaction. She might look like a merchant’s daughter planning a wild night, but she still had a soldier’s heart.
Leah herself had gone for color. Her tunic and leggings were dyed a bright purple, and she’d added a Dhonshon shawl shot through with violet, green, and sapphire. She wore her emerald necklace and the matching earrings Chandran had given her, as well as three amethyst rings. Mindful of Seka’s usual style, she had braided a few matching jewels into her hair as well, and was a little embarrassed at how much she liked the look. She wasn’t used to either vanity or excess. But they seemed eminently appropriate for an evening out with the Karkans.
“I think you both look lovely,” Rafe told them. “And I hope you’re both armed.”
Yori showed him the dagger-hearted bracelet, while Leah peeled back her left sleeve to reveal a sheathed knife. “And I have to think Darien will have soldiers trailing us there and back,” she added.
Yori looked innocent. “Soldiers? Following us?”
“No doubt,” Josetta said. “Have a good time. I think. But be careful.”
• • •
It was a short drive to the address Seka Mardis had supplied. They arrived at a well-maintained three-story structure of white stone with black accents and a small front garden that looked bare and forlorn in the winter chill. Curtains were drawn across all the windows, but brilliant light seeped out past the ones on the bottom level. The illumination on the second floor was paler and gentler, and almost nonexistent on the upper story.
Yori tilted her head to gaze for a minute at that top level. “You think they’ve rented the whole house for the night?” she asked.
“I think it’s where they’re living for their entire stay here in Chialto,” Leah answered.
“Huh,” Yori said. She didn’t explain what had caught her attention and Leah decided not to ask.
At the door, which opened before they knocked, they were met by a man wearing tailored black livery and a close-fitting hood that concealed everything but his eyes and mouth. “Come in,” he said in Coziquela, and they stepped inside.
The kierten was hung with streamers of many different colors and textures—fabric, metal, flowering vines—and lit by a profusion of lamps and candles. It was also perfumed with some kind of heavy, sweet scent that appeared to emanate from a brazier near the door. Yori took a couple of sniffs and raised her eyebrows in surprise, but when Leah looked alarmed, Yori just grinned and shook her head. Leah interpreted that to mean: It’s some kind of illegal drug, but it’s not potent enough to knock you out or turn you into a madwoman. You’ll be fine. The perfect start.
Most kiertens opened onto short hallways with rooms on either side, but someone had hung heavy velvet curtains over the archway to the left, so they were clearly meant to turn toward the well-lit space on their right. Here they found a scene of almost chaotic gaiety. Maybe twenty people moved through the room, most of them dressed with far more opulence than Leah—in brightly colored dresses and jackets that sparkled with jewels and gold thread; they wore beads and tiaras and feathered headbands in their hair. Many were holding drinks or lifting pomanders to their noses or smoking pipes filled with fragrant substances. Light spilled down from dozens of sources—candles, lamps, sconces, mirrors—and the sweet drug-laden scent was even stronger here. Some kind of stringed instruments were playing a lively, swooping tune that seemed to glance off the walls and bounce through the swaying bodies.
Everyone appeared to be in motion. Gesturing, twirling, or simply sauntering around the room. Leah suspected that the perfumed smoke contained a stimulant of some kind because she could already sense an impatience building in her body. She wanted to snap her fingers or tap out a few dance steps. She could feel her shoulders shake slightly, back and forth, in time with the frenetic music.
Wouldn’t it be funny if I actually enjoyed myself tonight? she thought. Out loud, she said to Yori, “I wonder where we start.”
Yori nodded to a figure heading in their direction. “I think somebody has recognized you.”
Indeed, Seka Mardis was breaking through the crowd to join them. “Leah! I’m so glad you could make it!” she exclaimed, holding out her palm for Leah to press. Seka was attired even more sumptuously than usual, with a collar of jewels encircling her throat and heavy bracelets around her wrists. Her hair was braided with strands of pearls and slim gold chains, and the shimmering Darnish pipe hung from her neck like an overlarge pendant. “This is your friend?” Seka asked.
Leah introduced them, but Seka didn’t offer her hand to Yori. She merely nodded and said, “Let me take you around! Have you had anything to eat or drink?”
“We just stepped in.”
“I’ll show you all the best things.” She flagged down a passing woman who was carrying a tray full of glasses; like the man at the door, the server was dressed all in black and wore a hood that completely covered her head. “Start with this. Soechin wine. Unmatched.”
Trying not to seem obvious about it, Leah waited until Yori had take
n her first cautious taste and then a second more relaxed sip. “I can’t indulge too much,” Leah said with a smile. “I will need to have a clear head in the morning.”
“I understand. But it would be a sin not to try Soechin wine.”
Leah wasn’t much of a connoisseur, but even she could tell the vintage was superior: sweet and fiery at the same time, smooth as ice against her tongue. “So who are all these people?” she asked, raising her voice slightly over the music. “I didn’t realize you’d brought so many in your delegation.”
“Oh, only a few are from the Karkades or Soeche-Tas. The rest are friends we have made since we’ve been here.” She sipped at her wine. “Merchants and traders, mostly.” She took another swallow. “It did not seem like quite the venue where your regent and his wife would feel at ease.”
Leah laughed. “No, indeed.” Though Rhan would be very much at home here. In fact, I might run into him before the night is over. “So what can we expect?”
Seka gestured at the room. “Here people are simply gathering to talk and listen to music and sample the wine. In the next room is dancing. In the room beyond that is entertainment. And beyond that, there are two rooms set up for dining. One is loud and boisterous and one is more quiet and refined. You may choose where you feel most comfortable.”
Yori spoke up. “What about the chambers upstairs?”
Seka smiled. “Those are set aside for anyone who wants to carry on a conversation in privacy.”
Leah spoke with mock bewilderment “I can always find privacy without going to someone else’s house,” she said.
“Yes, but sometimes the person with whom you wish to have an intimate talk can only be found at events like these,” Seka replied with a laugh. “Or you meet someone you’ve never encountered before and you’d like the chance to get better acquainted.”
Leah glanced around. “There do seem to be a lot of interesting people here.”
“So are you hungry?”
“Not yet.”
“Then let’s go see the other rooms.”
They made their way through the jittering, nervous crowd and into a room that was larger, darker, and louder. This was the place where the musicians were actually situated, five of them sitting on a small round dais and sawing away with maniacal energy at their violins and cellos. Equally maniacal were the couples on the dance floor, romping up and down the room and spinning into frenzied dips and whirls, then laughing almost hysterically. Leah could hardly blame them; the combination of bright music, dramatic lighting, and seductive scent was making her want to fling herself into motion as well.