Heroes at Odds (2 page)

I stared at her, my mouth open in absolute shock. “What? Did I—?” Get a letter I had forgotten? No, I couldn’t have. A surprise visit?

I made an embarrassing sound, a whoop of joy, and ran from the room, hearing Taro laughing behind me. I nearly took a header down the stairs and I didn’t care. My brothers were there. I hadn’t seen them since my Matching, which had allowed us only a few moments, and it had been years before that since I’d had a decent conversation with them.

And my mother? Well, I had seen her much more recently. The visit hadn’t gone well. She was used to children open to parental guidance. I was used to being left alone. We’d never really resolved that conflict, and she’d cut the visit short because of her distress.

Not that it made me any less pleased with her coming. She was my mother. She was fun. And I had no doubt she would have reconciled herself with the lessons she had learned during our last visit.

Taro followed me. I was pleased he did so without being asked, without feeling he might not be welcome.

My mother was small and thin with dark auburn hair. My brothers were both tall and blond, Dias stocky while Mika was slim. My mother hugged me. Dias squeezed me too tight and I ruffled Mika’s hair. “I’m delighted you’re here,” I said. “Why didn’t you let me know you were coming? Are Father and Kaaren here or on their way?”

“Someone had to stay behind to watch our coffers,” my mother answered. “Shintaro, lad, it’s lovely to see you looking so hale.” She wrapped my Source in an embrace. Taro was obviously surprised but hugged back easily enough. He did the same when Dias and Mika embraced him.

“How long are you able to stay?” I asked.

Fiona came into the room then, carrying her son, Stacin. “I was told we have guests.”

“My lady,” I said formally, and I introduced her to my family.

“Dunleavy, please, not so stiff. I am Fiona.” She held out a hand to be shaken, and my mother and brothers politely did so. I had been half afraid that they would try to hug her, too, but they restrained themselves. “And this is my son, Stacin.” He hid his face in her neck, and she cuddled him. “I am having rooms prepared for you. I hope you’ll agree to stay with us for the duration of your visit with Dunleavy.”

My mother smiled broadly. “Thank you,” she said. She didn’t protest that she didn’t want to inconvenience Fiona, as I would have, at which point Fiona would have insisted it was no trouble, and I would then have accepted her offer. I found my mother’s easy response a little shocking, but maybe it was a relief to those offering to just get acceptance and a thank you, rather than going through the circles strictly good manners demanded. “That is most generous of you.”

“There is plenty of space, and Dunleavy is important to us.”

Oh. Really? Fiona had been friendly with me from the moment I’d met her, but she was friendly with everyone.

“Is it possible that we could retire to those rooms to wash up?” my mother asked. “We had a rather hard run.”

She did appear a little windblown, though that could be merely a result of the fact that Flown Raven was a windy place. “You rushed? Why?”

She smiled almost sadly and touched my shoulder. But she didn’t say anything to me. “My lady?”

“Of course.” Fiona pulled on a bell cord. “Holder Mallorough, I’ve put you in one of the suites facing the east gardens. I have your sons sharing a room. I hope that is acceptable.”

“Certainly. Thank you.”

One of the maids arrived to take my family to their rooms. My mother and brothers appeared calm as they followed her out, but Dias shot me a strange look before stepping through the door. I frowned, wondering what that was about.

“Anyone for a drink?” Fiona asked rather loudly. “I know I could use one.” She went to the liquor bar and, one handed, poured herself a tumbler of whiskey.

Fiona had had a hard time recently. Her husband had died while whaling. Flown Raven had suffered some calamities, including the collapse of the wind rock, a necessary tool and considered a symbol of good luck to the local population. And that population wasn’t thrilled to have Fiona as a titleholder, though not because of anything she had done. They thought Taro, the brother of the original duke, should have taken the title. He had refused, and that had created a lot of resentment in a lot of people.

Fiona might not feel awkward if she was the only one drinking, but I would. “Is there any white wine?” I asked.

Taro grimaced. For no good reason. It wasn’t as though I was going to make him drink it.

“We haven’t any chilled.

“I don’t mind. No, no, I’ll get it myself.” Fiona had been trying to juggle child and whiskey in order to pour me some wine.

So there I stood, sipping at warm wine I didn’t want, trying to figure out why my family was there. I had become a pessimist over the past few years. Surprises were rarely pleasant.

Bailey stepped in to announce that the evening meal was ready to be served. The four of us silently moved to the dining room. Tarce, Fiona’s brother, was already seated at the table. Next to him was Roshni Radia, the Wind Watcher, who was currently unable to perform her duties, for a couple of different reasons.

It was the first time I had seen her out of the room Fiona had given her. Her leg had been crushed in a rockslide that had destroyed her home. It was a miracle she’d been able to keep it, that it had healed as quickly as it had, and that she would be able to walk on it again. Still, it wouldn’t have been easy for her to make it down the stairs to the dining room.

There didn’t appear to have been any discussion between the two, which wasn’t surprising. Radia had little patience for someone as useless and arrogant as Tarce, and Tarce was so madly infatuated with Radia that he didn’t know how to talk to her. It was funny, pathetic and embarrassing all at the same time.

“Roshni,” Taro greeted her warmly. “It’s lovely to see you downstairs.”

Her smile was indulgent as she let him kiss her hand. “It’s lovely to be here. No matter how attractive a room is, it can be tiresome to see nothing but those four walls for weeks.”

Tarce was scowling at Taro. He resented Taro’s ease of manner. Taro knew this, of course, so to aggravate Tarce further Taro sat on Radia’s other side. I shouldn’t have found that as entertaining as I did.

“Have you finished with the books yet?” Taro asked Radia. “I’d be happy to bring some more.”

Now Tarce looked surprised as well as resentful, because he hadn’t thought to do something like that for Radia himself. And if I could see that just by looking at him, so could everyone else. I was terrible at reading people.

“Those books didn’t involve flighty stories needing only an evening to completely finish, Source Karish,” she responded. “I am still well occupied.”

My Source nodded. Tarce glowered. Radia, well, her eyes were gleaming just a bit.

My mother and brothers came in before anyone was compelled to say something unfortunate. I quickly introduced everyone.

Dias approached Radia and, like Taro, kissed her hand just before she could slip her hand away with a look of disapproval. “My sister said you are called a Wind Watcher,” he said.

“That is correct.”

“And what does a Wind Watcher do?”

Dias was merely being polite. Or something. I’d written of Radia in my letters.

“The wind in Flown Raven can get so fierce that it blows people and livestock off their feet,” Radia explained. “It can kill. It is my task to watch the wind and warn everyone when it looks like it will get too strong.” Her words were dry but her tone was warm. She was a person who felt true affection for her occupation. Pride in protecting people. I could empathize with that.

“I’ve never heard of such a position in any other place,” Dias said. “It sounds romantic.”

Radia raised an eyebrow at him. “It is merely a job that needs to be done.”

Dias looked ready to ask another question, but my mother cut him off.

“Take a seat, Dias,” my mother told him in a manner that I thought would be more appropriately directed to a child. If it annoyed Dias, though, I couldn’t tell it from his face.

A light green soup was served as the first course. I found the food most commonly eaten by the people in Flown Raven a little strange, and not always appealing, but the soup was tasty.

“How long will you be with us, Holder Mallorough?” Fiona asked.

“Well, that will depend on certain circumstances, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable staying beyond a couple of weeks.”

“That is a long way to travel for such a short visit.”

It certainly was. My mother had stayed much longer when she’d visited me in High Scape, and High Scape was closer to Seventh Year, where my family lived.

“It is,” my mother agreed, “but it’s necessary.”

Necessary. A disquieting choice of words.

“Were your travels uneventful?”

My mother chuckled. “Is travel ever uneventful?” And she proceeded to entertain the gathering with stories of a landlady so entranced with Dias that she tried to sneak into his bed, a livery that tried to sell her a donkey, and an incompetent thief who’d tripped over his own feet while trying to snatch her purse.

It was interesting. I would have considered such incidents aggravating. My mother seemed to find them hilarious.

The next course was fish. Fish was a frequent dish in Flown Raven. I could deal with less fish.

Daris, Fiona’s older sister, drifted in. I could smell the odor of whiskey surrounding her. Like Fiona and Tarce, she was tall, slim and blond. Like Tarce, she was fairly useless. Her most unique characteristic, besides being perpetually drunk, was fierce bitterness over the fact that Taro had chosen to pass the estate to Fiona instead of her. And a good thing he did. Daris would have been a disaster.

She smiled nastily. “Well, if it isn’t the Shield’s slip serving family,” she sneered. “Come to bask in the significance of their connections.”

Slip servers. One of many not so nice names for members of the merchant class. I wasn’t sure why this one was supposed to be insulting. What was wrong with giving people pieces of paper detailing what had been bought and sold? I looked at my mother and brothers. None of them seemed disturbed by the term.

Fiona sighed. “Must you always make a fool of yourself?”

“I’m not the one breaking bread with a bunch of pot shiners.”

That was a new one. Still didn’t bother me. Or my family.

Daris directed her bloodshot eyes to my mother. “I bet you thanked your long bones when your daughter hooked Lord Shintaro Karish.”

“We have come to feel grateful for it,” my mother said calmly. “He treats her well. We’ve heard how some Sources can be.”

And I’d seen some of them first hand. Sources were people, after all, and some of them were rapists and murderers and every other kind of criminal one could think of. I was well aware of how lucky I was.

“And no doubt your connection to our family has done your business all sorts of good.”

“Beg pardon, but is your name Karish?”

“It is not.”

“Then we have no connection to your family.”

Daris’s nostrils flared. I didn’t know why she was so offended. Did she want to be thought of as a Karish?

Then again, common sense was not a trait I had seen her display.

I did find it interesting that Mother didn’t deny that a connection to the Karish name was helping business. Did that mean it was? I felt uncomfortable with the idea of my family using the Karish name to increase their wealth. It was just good fortune that I bonded with Taro, nothing that I or my family had earned. They shouldn’t be able to profit from that.

“And you.” Daris nodded at her brother. “Panting after the Wind Watcher. You’re ridiculous.”

Tarce flushed. I couldn’t tell if it was from anger or embarrassment. Radia was concentrating on her fish with great intensity.

“Appreciation of the beautiful is never a cause for embarrassment,” Taro said lightly.

Mika smirked. “I think that comment might be a little self-serving.”

Taro widened his eyes in feigned innocence. “What can you mean?”

“Tell me, my Lord, how long do you spend examining yourself in the mirror each morning?”

“It’s the duty of all to ensure they look their best when they are to appear before others.”

He’d tried to convince me of that when we’d first bonded. He’d given up pretty quickly. He was a smart lad.

The rest of the meal passed with Taro and Mika bouncing comments back and forth. Daris drank goblet after goblet of wine and muttered under her breath. Everyone else just ate. I wanted the meal to be over. I wanted to find out why my mother and brothers were here.

When the bowls for the vanilla mousse were scraped clean, my mother said, “Your Grace, we would like to speak to Dunleavy. We have important family business to discuss. Is there someplace where we can talk without being disturbed?”

Aye, I’d been right. Family business that needed to be discussed with me? Someone was dying. Or they were all sliding into destitution. It could be only bad news.

“More ideas on how to make money off our name?” Daris asked with a decided slur.

Everyone ignored her.

“Of course,” said Fiona. “Use my office. You’ll be assured of privacy there. None of the servants will enter without your permission. Bailey will show you.”

This time, Taro chose not to follow us. I wanted him with me. I felt he belonged with me. If this was a family discussion, and Taro was part of my family, as my mother and brothers seemed to think he was, should he not be part of our discussion?

On the other hand, it might be best if I heard whatever was coming on my own, so I would have the chance to rephrase the news to better suit his ears.

Fiona’s office was the size of the sitting room in the suite I shared with Taro, and it had the largest desk I had ever seen. The ceiling, walls and floor were built in shades of brown, and when Bailey closed the door upon leaving, the room felt like it was cloaked in silence. It was a restful place. I knew Fiona spent very little time in it.