Land of Night (5 page)

A misunderstanding. Scarlet nodded stiffly and sat down. “I meant no offense,” he said, which was honest enough.

"No, no. No offense,” Eleferi gushed, too heartily, his voice high and lilting, like a girl's.

Scarlet disliked this Eleferi and he was certain he did not trust him, but at least he was pleasant, even if his manners were overdone. Like a house with too many colors of paint and none of it matching. Nenos returned with another steaming pot and a fresh cup for Eleferi. He poured while Dvi, the young cook, brought a tray of white pastries with flowers dusted on them in colored sugar. Eleferi took two on a small plate.

"So tell me, where did you meet my brother?"

Scarlet's nerves prickled.
Questions about Prince Nazheradei are to be avoided, if possible
. He chose to interpret Eleferi's question narrowly. “In Volkovoi. On a trade ship."

"A trade ship! How exhilarating and romantic! Tell me more."

He began to embroider vaguely, wondering when Liall would return and hoping it was soon. To Scarlet's great relief, Nenos never left the room.

Prince Eleferi was teaching Scarlet to play a board game when Liall returned. The game was a complex system of carved pieces that moved in leaps and jumps on the board's squares, and Scarlet had nearly gotten the trick of thinking five moves ahead when the door opened.

Eleferi fairly leapt from his chair to greet Liall, rattling off a fluid stream of Sinha. Nenos bowed and went into the kitchen,

"He is not a guest,” Liall interrupted in Bizye, his voice cold. “It is not proper for you to be here."

Scarlet wondered at Liall's temper, and Eleferi's face went tight in offense.

"Forgive my impropriety,” Eleferi said, giving Liall an overly apologetic glance. “I thought to show ser Keriss a more hospitable face than he witnessed tonight, brother. I've been teaching him to play harts."

"So I see.” Liall's expression was hard to decipher. “And where is Jochi?"

Eleferi glanced at Scarlet briefly. “I dismissed him."

"Did you?” Liall's tone was dangerous.

Eleferi cleared his throat. “Well, I had best be going,” He bowed shortly to Scarlet. “Ser Keriss,” he said, and then bowed more deeply to Liall before leaving.

Liall watched the door close, his lips flattened into a thin line. “Lascivious jackal,” he muttered and turned to Scarlet. “I tell you to stay out of trouble and here I return to find one of the
essima
at my own hearth?"

Scarlet stifled his first answer, which would have been to tell Liall to go stuff himself, and coolly began moving the pieces back to their original squares. “He wouldn't have left, even if I'd asked. Should I have left instead? And what in Deva's hell is an essima?” He thought it sounded like their word for viper.

"A serpent the color of snow,” Liall growled. “It is native to these lands, our only venomous animal."

"What is ser Keriss? They keep calling me that."

"I will tell you later. Now heed me:
never
allow Jochi to be dismissed, especially by the likes of that.” Liall stalked away to speak with Nenos in the kitchen.

Scarlet gave up on rearranging the harts board and got up to stand in front of the fire. After several minutes, Liall joined him.

"I crave your pardon, Scarlet,” Liall said at last. He put a warm hand on Scarlet's shoulder. “I have no right to take out my ill temper on you."

"No, you don't.” Scarlet kept his voice low, his mind busy turning over the puzzle of Jochi and Eleferi and the glittering lady in the hall. So many puzzles here, so much he did not grasp. Scarlet had always been quick to take command of a situation, always so confident with strangers. Now, for the first time in his life, he had to admit he was in waters deeper than he could swim.

"You were right,” Scarlet said dispiritedly. “Perhaps I was wrong to follow you so far when you warned me against it. Perhaps I don't belong here."

Liall took Scarlet's shoulders and turned him around. “Ah, Scarlet, it's far too late for doubt. Whatever you might have chosen before, now it is done and there is no road back. Life is complicated here, much more complicated than in Ankar, or even the palace of your Flower Prince. It takes many years to be able to navigate a royal court with safety, and you should not be either too eager to do so or very disappointed when it turns out badly. Do you understand?"

"No."

Liall sighed. “And that is my fault, I know, but ... I have no remedy."

Scarlet's fingers dug into the fabric of Liall's sleeves. “Yes, you do. Teach me."

"I cannot."

"Can't or won't?"

Liall slid his hand under Scarlet's chin and lifted it. “Listen to me, please. None of this was supposed to happen to you. We were to part on the Nerit, remember? This is an accident, your being here. A long set of circumstances that I tried to avoid, but somehow we kept getting thrown back together, as if we were
meant
to be together. Now you are here, and to me that is a very frightening thing.” Liall's hand dropped. “Rshan is an ancient civilization, and as such it is often wicked and stagnant, and devours innocence wherever it finds it. I will not allow you to be corrupted so much that going back to Scarlet of Lysia becomes impossible for you."

Scarlet studied his face for a long moment. “And you plan on doing that by keeping me prisoner in these rooms?"

Liall looked pained. “It is not what I want. You may move about the palace freely, but only with Jochi. He is not merely a translator and teacher: he is also a bodyguard. There are those who will seek to harm me here, and the easiest way to do that is through you. There are not even any laws in Rshan to protect your life, Scarlet."

"Because I'm lenilyn."

"Do you know what that word means? Not just outlander.
Non-person
. Many Rshani do not even believe you have a soul. They think you little more than a pretty animal."

Scarlet was shocked. He had known they disliked Hilurin, but the extent had escaped him.

"Do you see now?” Liall went on. He drew Scarlet close and spoke with his lips pressed against Scarlet's forehead. “If any evil should befall you, it would be entirely my fault. The only reason you are here is because of me. I brought you here, Scarlet, but I do not think I can survive burying you here."

Scarlet wanted to remind Liall that it was he who had had insisted on following, but he felt the slight tremble in Liall's hands. “Is all this worry for me?” he asked, considerably moved.

"I love you."

"I can defend myself,” Scarlet reminded him, but was warmed by his declaration.

"You are untainted by the habit of intrigue,” Liall said. “Perhaps you can defend yourself against bravos on a city street, or a brigand chief, but there are things in the shadows here that you would never think to guard against."

Scarlet gripped the front of Liall's hapcoat. “If I knew who I was supposed to avoid, I would. You didn't tell me to be wary at dinner and then you were furious!"

Liall's hand cupped the back of Scarlet's neck and worked at the tight knots of muscle there. “Please,” he pleaded softly. “Please say you agree."

Scarlet sighed. “I promise not to wander and to fly from my cage only when Jochi is with me."

Scarlet could feel the tension melting out of Liall's body. He pushed Liall away a little to stare up into his lover's pale eyes intently. “Why won't you tell me what's going on here? What are you afraid of?"

"Come sit with me.” Liall took his hand and drew him to the couch. “I crave your pardon for snapping at you. The fault is mine."

Scarlet sighed again. “It's not fair that you keep secrets from me."

"No, it is not. And if I had thought ... I have left orders that Eleferi is not to be admitted in my absence. Neither is Vladei."

"Who's Vladei?"

"Just remember the name and keep Eleferi decently out of our apartments when I'm not here."

It sounded like an accusation. “He's your brother."

"Never be alone with him!” Liall growled, and then gentled his tone. “In fact, he is my step-brother. And royal houses are not like your decent home with Scaja and Linhona: the poison of power and intrigue is everywhere in an imperial house. Here, even a brother may kill a brother."

Scarlet was appalled. “What?"

Liall must have seen how his words affected Scarlet. “Have you never heard of these things?” he asked sadly. “I assure you, such horrors do exist."

Scarlet studied this man to whom he had tied his life. The lines of sorrow and bitterness had returned and settled in all around Liall's eyes and mouth. Scarlet suddenly forgot his temper and trailed his fingers down the curve of Liall's face.

Liall closed his eyes, seeming almost in pain. “I am too old for you, too bitter and cynical."

"You are not."

"I am, but that does not mean I will let you go.” He pulled Scarlet into his arms and tightened his embrace as if to keep Scarlet prisoner, and Scarlet laughed and loosened the ties on the silken shirt Liall wore under his virca. He pressed a kiss to the warm skin beneath. Liall tasted very faintly of salt, and Scarlet licked the hollow of his throat, feeling Liall's fingers tangle in his hair.

Liall pulled back and kissed him, his tongue slipping between Scarlet's lips. Oh Deva, he had been afraid of this before, but what he knew now...

Scarlet shivered, remembering what it had felt like to float in the darkness with only Liall's voice and touch. Scarlet pressed his hand between Liall's legs, and the prince drew back quickly, looking at once startled and amused.

"I have created a wanton."

"Then you must deal with your creation,” Scarlet smiled, his hand roaming.

"I intend to.” Liall pulled Scarlet closer to his chest. “But I am tired and worried, t'aishka. Later, perhaps?"

Scarlet nodded, disappointed but not very much. “Liall ... at dinner? That woman told me how to address the Baron."

Liall went very still. “That woman?” Very softly: “Lady Shikhoza?"

Scarlet nodded. “Yes. She told me what to say and how to say it. What did I say, anyway?"

Liall stroked Scarlet's dark hair. “Let us merely say that it was very rude, but pronunciation can be difficult."

"I repeated her words exactly,” Scarlet said resentfully, for he felt suddenly that Liall might have been defending her. “She said I'd gotten it right."

"The Baron understands that it was an error."

Scarlet wondered about that. Perhaps it would be good to have Jochi with him to navigate the court's undercurrents. “All right, but I don't think that lady likes me very much, for some reason. They way she looked at me gave me the shivers, like she was walking over my grave."

Liall drew slowly away. “And now, it grows late and there is one more matter I must to attend before I sleep. But first, I want a bath."

Hot water sounded good. “Do Rshani bathe
every
night?"

"Usually. Why do you ask? On the ship, you washed every day. I remember you were insistent on it."

"Well, it was a filthy ship, and I was only washing in a bucket, not filling a great tub with hot water and sitting in it twice a day."

Liall nodded in that preoccupied way he had when thinking of other things. “Well, here we bathe once a day at least. Twice, if you're picky."

It sounded like an awful lot of trouble to get the same result as a basin of water and a cake of soap could. But there were some things you could do in baths that were very pleasant. “Want some company?"

The smile Liall gave him was distracted and—Scarlet fancied—a little false. “Not tonight, but I will return later this evening.” Liall hesitated. “Thank you for agreeing."

"How late will...?” But Liall had already turned and walked out the door, calling for Nenos. Scarlet slumped back against the pillows. Well, fine: no one to talk to, nothing to see, not even a friendly taberna to pass the hours in. He could understand that Liall felt the need to shield him and that he was a liability to the prince, but if Liall thought his fears were going to pen Scarlet up in this big castle the way they had penned him in that tiny ship's cabin, Liall had another thought coming.

3.

A Bit of Light

Lady Shikhoza was playing cards in one of the many salons adjoining the main hall that led to the queen's tier when Liall found her.

"I would speak with you,” he said lowly.

The fire popped and crackled and the noblewomen seated with Shikhoza tittered and hid their smiles behind fans of lacquered playing cards, their blue-painted eyes merry. A silent servant drew the heavy velvet draperies away from the casement panes, revealing a landscape of perpetual twilight and snow. Liall was still unused to seeing such a sight again, and glanced twice at the casement, as if he expected to see the brass orb of a Byzan sun hovering over an arid land.

He had left Scarlet abruptly, perhaps too much so, and he was already feeling guilty over it. He knew Scarlet was not satisfied with his answers regarding his purposes here, a point certain not to escape the discerning pedlar, and it would not be long before Scarlet began to insist on knowing what was happening. Liall knew Scarlet well enough by now to realize his silences were either irritation or mere tolerance for Liall's “foreign strangeness", and that it would not be long before his beloved red-coat's fiercely inquisitive nature began to demand answers.

There are so many undercurrents here, Liall worried. How well I remember. I can feel them in every glittering hall I pass through. So many plans and treacheries brewing. I cannot allow Scarlet to be involved in any way. He would be lost in the webs they spin here, food for the fat, ruthless spiders of a bored royal court.

Shikhoza neatly laid a gilt-edged Prince card over her companion's Page card, drawing a round of sighs.

"I win again,” Shikhoza smiled, laying down her playing hand on the embroidered cloth. She gazed pointedly at Liall's hand and would not rise until he gave it. Liall led her out of the salon gruffly, not liking the idea that there would be gossip now, and that it might reach Scarlet's ears.

"There was no cause for that display,” he growled once they were in the wide hall and strolling towards the queen's tier, Shikhoza's hand still upon his.