A Lotus for the Regent (9 page)

Kamen gestured
to the gate.

The Guildmaster
turned his head to look back. “Yes, how clumsy of me. Please come in. Let me
offer you some tea.”

“
That would be most welcome.” Kamen caught some more movement in the
courtyard. He saw a Lotus wrapping a bright curved sword in a long length of
red silk as some servants led away a hooded figure. A female, her white, cotton
shift bloodstained.

“
What's that?” Kamen asked.

The Guildmaster
turned his attention back to Kamen and stepped up right into his line of sight.
He made himself as tall as possible, straightened his shoulders, and positioned
his head directly in front of Kamen's gaze. “It's nothing, Regent. An internal
matter of discipline.”

Kamen was
getting tired of the Guildmaster's grinning.

After a few more
moments of delay, the Guildmaster commanded that the gate be opened, and it was
raised with ropes and wheels like a portcullis. Kamen walked through the small
crowd and followed the Guildmaster inside.

Once he was
sitting at a table blowing gently across the surface of a cup of steaming green
tea, Kamen spoke of his return. “As you know, the Ausir are at war.”

The Guildmaster
nodded. Doubtless he also knew what the Losiengare had planned, too, though he
had not thought it appropriate to inform Kamen.

Kamen ran his
fingertip along the silver hoop of his nose-ring. “They have proven themselves
reckless.”

“
They brought their war within Sunjaa waters.” The Guildmaster bowed
from where he sat across the table. “They should have known better than to
challenge the sovereignty of His Majesty King Jahen.”

“
Indeed.” Kamen let the flattery pass. “As the situation now is
rather unpredictable, I thought it best to install a couple of Sunjaa warships
to help bolster the Zenji fleet. See, you're our allies, and just to be safe,
what with the vagaries of war and all, we'd be happy to help you out. Perhaps
you could take my proposal to the city elders?”

The Guildmaster
folded his hands before his chin as he thought. “And what must the Dimadan do
in exchange for such generosity?”

“
Simply do not let the Ausir get a foothold here. If they did, they'd
have a base within striking distance of Sunjaa and Fihdal borders.”

The Guildmaster
nodded slowly and kept his eyes on the table. “A reasonable offer, Regent. I
will take your words to the council.”

Kamen bowed from
his seated position. And how would he broach the subject of Ajalira? “I don't
anticipate any problems with the Ausir.”

The
Guildmaster's eyebrows shot up, but he said nothing. He was not going to make
this easy for Kamen. Kamen had drunk half his cup, so a silk-clad slave toddled
over and silently freshened his tea. “The aptitude of a Lotus is legendary.
You'd know anything before the Ausir could enact any treachery.”

“
This is true.” The Guildmaster sipped his tea. “I am most fortunate
to have such capable women.”

Kamen's nod
slowed as he came to the crux of it. He scratched his sideburns. “What honor,
grace, and breeding they have, too!”

“
And beauty.”

Kamen thought of
Ajalira. Even the foreign slaves were beautiful. “What would they not do for
you, Guildmaster? Even your kitchen staff is selfless and courageous.”

The
Guildmaster's eyes flashed in annoyance for just a moment, but he quickly
recovered his composure. Anyone else would not have caught the slip, but Kamen
had made a career out of reading people. As Regent, he had to be ever vigilant.
“The Red Lotus Guild is blessed with only the finest. We value our customers.”

“
The one who spoke to me earlier—that blonde-haired one,” Kamen said
tentatively.

The
Guildmaster's face was a mask, but Kamen caught the shuffling of nervous feet
from the servants out of the corner of his eye.

“
It's peculiar that one such as she would be here. I'd like to know
her history.”

The Guildmaster
turned his cup once, twice, three times before he responded. He stared into his
teacup. “She and her mother washed up one day, and I took them in. Sadly, her
mother soon died, and she has been in my care ever since.” He looked up and put
on his best pained, bittersweet smile.

“
I see.” Kamen had to push the matter still forward. “The Sunjaa are
allied with our Vadal neighbors to the north. Could it be that she came from
that kingdom? Or maybe Fihdal?”

The Guildmaster
shook his head. “Perhaps, but I do not see—”

“
I wonder if she might know. Have you asked her?”

“
She was young when she came here, too young to remember anything but
the Dimadan.” The Guildmaster was blocking him. Kamen would batter down his
defenses and corner him in his evasions.

“
I wonder how it is that she can speak Ausir, being as she is a mere
serving wench.”

The
Guildmaster's false smile almost snapped, and his features grew tight as he
struggled to hide his annoyance. “Would the Regent mind if I asked where he is
going with this line of questioning?”

Kamen smiled and
laid his hands flat on the table. “Not at all. See, I'm looking for an
interpreter. What with the increased Ausir threat, I'd like to have someone at
my side at court who can help me muddle through this whole affair.”

“
All my Lotuses speak Ausir, Regent. Why not rent or purchase one of
them?”

“
But your kitchen wenches do, too. Why not buy one of them? She will
not be missed.”

The Guildmaster
folded his hands around his teacup and fiddled with it, tapping its lip with
his thumbs. “I am afraid that the one of you speak of has found herself in
unfortunate circumstances.”

Kamen sat up
from his semi-reclined position.

“
She was too bold, daring to speak to one of my honored guests. She
must be punished for her brazen discourtesy.”

“
I was not offended.”

“
It does not matter, Regent. I cannot have my slaves thinking they
can accost visiting heads of state whenever they want.”

Kamen stood
suddenly, and the Guildmaster popped to his feet. Kamen shouldered up next to
his host and spoke in a whisper. “Why punish her when you can sell her to me?
You can turn a profit on her disobedience. She's just one kitchen girl.”

“
Yes, but my Lotuses are capable of serving you in the war. Why not
take one of them? Their knowledge of Ausir goes beyond language. They are
trained in history, politics, heraldry, and etiquette.”

Kamen did not
want a Lotus. Darien had his Lotus, so the thought of taking one, too, was
distasteful. Kamen had lost his best friend and the love of his life to a
Lotus. But how could he explain this to the Guildmaster? And how could he tell
him that he was drunk on Ajalira's fragrance and drawn to her mystery? How
could he tell the Guildmaster that he saw Darien's same goodness in her: her
nobility of purpose and her impeccable honor?

“
I want Ajalira.”

The
Guildmaster's lips turned up in a sardonic smile, no doubt in response to the
use of her first name. He turned to one of his body slaves. “Fetch her out.”
Once the servant had run off, he addressed Kamen. “Regent, she is recalcitrant.
She will give you nothing but trouble.”

“
I'll take my chances.”

When Kamen saw
Ajalira, his heart broke. A purple welt covered half her mouth. Someone had
punched her. Her disheveled hair still held its braid, but it was frayed, with
stray locks hanging down her back and across her shoulders. She wore a
bloodstained white nightgown, but the blood was not hers. It was dry. Ajalira
held her head up proudly, her upper lip stiff, her shoulders squared. She
locked gazes with Kamen, and she pierced him with her blue-green stare. As she
stepped forward, the sound of metal clinking caused Kamen to look down. She
wore chains on her ankles.

“
We thought she might run,” the Guildmaster said. “She had tried to
escape before.”

Kamen did not
take his eyes from Ajalira's noble beauty. Her smeared cosmetics were nothing
more than her badge of courage, and Kamen loved her for that. Though a
prisoner, she was unashamed. And all this she suffered because she had told
Kamen the Losiengare secret. All this for Kamen. “You shall release her at once
into my custody. Consider her payment for the ships the Crown will send to
guard the Dimadan.”

The Guildmaster
opened his mouth, but Kamen's withering stare devoured whatever complaint might
have been uttered. He snapped his fingers, and the slaves unchained her.

“
You shall bathe her and give her fit clothes to travel in,” Kamen
said, and the Guildmaster ordered it done. Anger pricked Kamen, and he
struggled to keep his emotions from slipping into full-blown rage. He wanted to
throttle the Guildmaster, and for this moment, he wished he were not a
political figure. If he were still the first mate on Darien's ship, he would
have already beaten the pompous old man into unconsciousness.

Ajalira was led
away, and Kamen sat down to wait for her. He thoughtlessly ate whatever snacks
the servants gave him, but the savory treats held no flavor. Ajalira suffered
for him, a stranger. The Guildmaster droned on at him about the naval arrangements,
but Kamen did not listen. Ajalira had been beaten for him, a random guest in
the guildhouse.

Ajalira's return
was like a second dawn. She was clean, her hair elaborately piled up on her
head in lovely, complicated braided patterns, and she wore the garb of a Lotus:
the short shirt that left her stomach bare, the long skirt, and the pallav with
which she wrapped her shoulders and face. Just like Saerileth. But in every
other way she was unlike Darien's Lotus. Her hair was blonde, not black. Her
eyes were blue-green, not merely blue. And her face held an alien beauty that
Saerileth's common charm could not compete with. The only evidence of Ajalira's
mistreatment was the bruise on the side of her mouth.

Kamen approached
Ajalira, and she bowed low to him. “Master.”

Not her master,
but Kamen could not correct her in front of the Zenji. He simply held out his
hand. “Come, my lady.” She laid hers in his, and he walked away with her,
accompanied only by the silent gawking of the Lotuses.

****

Kamen made sure
he stayed away from Ajalira on the return journey. He did not want the crew
gossiping, and he knew that if he were in the same cabin with her, he would not
be able to resist her. And that was the last thing Ajalira needed. Kamen could
not figure her out, but he set his mind to do so. He did not know what to make
of her, but he could not deny his attraction. He could not let her kindness go
unanswered. He hoped that by taking her away from the guildhouse, a place from
which she had tried to escape, he had in part repaid her generosity.

The new day
dawned behind Kamen, and he felt the first rays of the morning warm his neck.
He watched from the bow as Ruben piloted the
Aramina
into the harbor. At
last, he was back in Arinport. Kamen mourned the burned remains of an entire
neighborhood that had caught fire during the Ausir's wild attack. He was glad
that someone had gotten the blaze under control and saved the city. The first
order of business was to confirm the safety and well-being of the King, but Kamen's
heart thudded in his chest when he realized what awaited him.

Mirsa's Crown
lay gleaming in the harbor, her majesty rivaling the
Aramina's
,
her masts every bit as tall, her hull every bit as proud. Darien was back. The
bowsprit of the Admiral's ship was the figure of Mirsa herself coming up out of
the water, a living extension of the sea. How long had it been since Kamen had
seen the Mother of the Sea? How many months had Darien been away?

Kamen shook the
flaccid nerves out of his hands and began to pace. He wanted to see Darien, but
he did not want any of the awkwardness. He loved Darien like a brother; he had
once loved him as much more than that. But now his thoughts dwelt on Ajalira.
He wondered how he would feel once he saw Darien again. The
Aramina
slid
into dock next to
Mirsa's Crown
, and the first thing Kamen heard was
Darien's booming voice. Kamen smiled.

Darien stood on
his quarter deck with arms crossed and a beaming smile. Feelings stirred in
Kamen as he looked on his oldest friend. Darien was taller than any Sunjaa
Kamen had ever seen, and he was broader in the chest and shoulders than the
strongest of men. Darien was a lion, and all the men who scrambled around him
doing his bidding were mere cubs. His confident beauty and his easy manner were
what had first drawn Kamen to Darien, but what made him love him was Darien's
goodness. He was the most good-hearted man Kamen knew.

Kamen's thoughts
flitted to Ajalira. Truly she was beautiful, too, but it was her goodness that
had conquered Kamen. Kamen smiled back at Darien and waved. Darien waved back
and moved to come down the gangplank. The flagship had returned bearing the
Regent.