* * *
After bathing and dressing – and taking up the Entity’s gift, a shawl of green and gold silk that she wore wrapped about her right arm – Merinel entered the kitchen to find Adimar receiving instruction from Byx in the art of soil-grub breakfasting. Adimar had adopted a cross-legged position, locking his feet together under the seat of his chair.
“You’re on the ground, Adimar,” Merinel pointed out. “You don’t have to cling to anything.”
“We talked about that, Mommy,” reported Byx, “but Adimar’s more comfortable sitting his way.”
Merinel smiled. “Are you sure you’re prepared for the signal honor of escorting me? As far as I know, there’s nothing but flat hull between us and Szerar.”
Adimar’s face darkened. “I am no planophobe. You forget that I spent my childhood below decks. I have not forgotten how to walk.”
Merinel softened. “I was only joking, Adimar. I’m grateful to you for wanting to come along – although I don’t think I’ll be in any physical danger.”
“It is I who am grateful,” insisted Adimar. “I was unable to guarantee Tench’s safety atop the antenna. By delivering him to Szerar, I can in some measure atone for my failure.”
Merinel regarded the young man with exasperated pity. “Surely you don’t hold yourself responsible for what happened in the Verch,” she said. “You’re no glyph-caster. If you had joined him within, you’d have suffered his fate, or – more likely – something much worse.”
Adimar sipped his juice. “I see you have the gift of bending your sentiments to the dicta of rational thought. I myself am not so blessed.”
Merinel pursed her lips. “Adimar of Tenbor,” she declared, “you are mocking me.”
“For the first and last time, madame,” replied Adimar.
“Ha! I will not tarnish the honor of the Iron Goats by holding you to that impossible promise. Tell me – how is life in the heights?”
Adimar shrugged. “Well enough, but without direction. Lasmol’s death is still fresh in our minds, and it is as if we feel an open discussion of our future would be an affront to his memory.”
Merinel accepted a cup of tea from Byx and took a sip. “And how is Sthenna?”
Adimar paused. “I think she would prefer to be here in these times. Not to claim Lasmol’s place in our esteem, but to provide a sense of continuity. But the Crew demands much, even from young widows.”
“Do you often speak with her?”
“Often enough,” Adimar replied with studied casualness.
Merinel let the subject slip away, unwinding a length of her shawl and spreading it across the table before her. "With any luck, your own absence will be quite brief," she noted, as the golden patterns shifted fluidly to form words and images. "Travel through the civilized settlements should be simplicity itself. Tenbor promises that its peers will exert every effort on our behalf."
"Our path also crosses three fallows and two stretches of wilderness." Adimar reminded her. "The latter teem with peril; the former are only marginally less dangerous. And the Entities themselves are not flawless guarantors of safety. I will not rest easy while in the domain of Yoeor; who is reputed --"
"You mustn't exaggerate so, Adimar," Merinel said with a meaningful look. "Byx is taking you quite seriously."
Adimar broke off and considered Byx's demeanor of attentive terror. "Quite right. Pay me no heed, grublet – I delight in baseless pessimism. I peer at the hull for hours on end, contemplating the consequences of falling – but do I fall? Naturally I do not. In truth, I doubt if I shall have an opportunity to unsling my cable during the whole of your mother's journey."
"And now, off to school with you," ordered Merinel.
"OK," Byx acquiesced.
"You mind walking alone this morning?"
"Nope." Byx gave her mother a cursory kiss and dashed out the door, shadowed by a large, colorful beetle.
"Bandalonon continues to watch over her?" asked Adimar.
"Watching over Byx remains an absurdly popular hobby. She is never without a bug, or a bot, or both. I only wish certain people were equally concerned with her peace of mind," Merinel noted, her eyes on her teacup.
Adimar shifted his grip on the chair. "Do you truly think my observations gave her unease?"
"Maybe I'm projecting – they certainly gave me unease. Where did you develop such a grim view of life beyond Tenbor?"
Adimar shrugged. "Suffice to say that walking is not the only thing I remember from life below decks. In any case, you have nothing to fear. Even as a child I was stalwart, and now I have become an Iron Goat; there is no credible threat to my safety nor that of my companions."
"Hmph. Well, I maintain my conviction that your invulnerability will go untested."
"May it be so," replied Adimar, raising his juice in affirmation.