Volle (14 page)

“Which you are.” Helfer grinned. “Who’s coming?”

“I don’t know. I told Welcis to leave you out. He said he would find another young noble and some other palace functionary. I just want there to be other people there.”

“Smart move. And thanks for leaving me out.” Helfer grinned. “I knew you were a trustworthy friend.”

Volle laughed. “How? You’ve only known me a day.”

“Oh, you’re polite and reserved, but you have a sense of humor. You’re attractive but you don’t call attention to it. And you know how to have a good time.”

Volle flattened his ears and smiled. “I appreciate that. I’m really glad I met you.”

“All right, enough with that.” Helfer grinned. “Has the Secretary tried to stick you on a tribunal yet?”

“Yeah. Feliday.”

“Tch. I’m sorry you didn’t know to avoid it. It’s the most deadly dull duty you can imagine. If there’s anything worse than listening to other people’s petty problems, it’s sitting around that room not listening to people’s petty problems. And they expect you to be an instant expert in everything. Oh, they’ve tried to convince me to serve on one for a couple years now, but I keep putting it off.”

Volle shrugged. “I don’t mind. It sounds interesting.” But he was less sure of that now than he had been after Tish’s visit.

Helfer chuckled. “Better you than me.” He took another drink.

“Say…what are the rules for marriage for us?”

Helfer gave him a look of mock surprise. “Why, Lord Vinton, is that a proposal? After only one day?”

Volle sputtered. “I didn’t mean that…” Helfer’s grin was contagious, and he couldn’t help laughing.

“I know what you meant. Sadly, that’s one of the drawbacks of being a noble. There’s no law against it, but it is strongly encouraged that you have offspring, and that means marrying a female. Now, if something happens to her, and your pup survives, then you’re free and clear. Like Lord Barclaw, lucky devil. His wife died of cholera. Oh, don’t give me that look, you know what I mean. Anyway, he’s got another bear, I think his name’s Chellon, and they’re very happy together. Didn’t you notice them at the banquet?”

“The banquet…” Volle searched his memory. “I don’t remember any couples that weren’t Lord and Lady.”

“Oh, well, that’s the nobility. Any companion of a Lord is a Lady, even if the Lady is male. And vice versa, I suppose, though there aren’t any female couples at the moment. Only five or six Ladies in the peerage right now.”

Volle laughed. “Really? Oh, that’s interesting. I think I like that.”

“So why the interest in marriage?”

“Mmm. Well, Lord Tistunish has it in his mind that I need to continue the line.”

“Old Tish? How did you fall in with him?”

There was a question Volle didn’t have an answer for. His mind raced. “I guess he saw me wandering around outside the banquet last night and took me under his wing,” he improvised.

That seemed to ring true enough. Helfer just chuckled. “He’s a good wolf, but thinks he knows what’s best for everyone. He had a couple talks with me to try to convince me to take on some duties, and so forth…” He affected a bored tone. “I explained that I appreciated it, but that I was managing very well. Really, I grew up in the palace. I know what goes on here, and I can make my own decisions.”

Caresh returned with a plate of appetizers, grape leaves wrapped around a rice and chicken mixture that smelled of honey, lemon, and a couple other spices. He placed it in the center of the table and then left the room again.

“That smells good…” Volle looked at Helfer. “Is there some etiquette I should know about?”

The weasel grinned. “As host, I’m supposed to let my guest serve himself first. Then when we’re both served, I take the first bite. After that, it’s every grape leaf for himself.”

Volle picked up one of the cylindrical leaf packages and held it near his nose. Whatever else he might have to say about the palace, the quality of the food was far better than he was used to at the Academy. He waited for Helfer to choose a leaf package and take a bite, and then he slid the whole thing into his muzzle at once.

“Mmm.” It tasted better than it smelled, even. The chicken was cooked evenly and was very juicy. He chewed happily.

Helfer was chuckling. “Mm, nice to see how much you can fit in your muzzle.” He winked. “Now I know Richy had a good time too.”

Volle laughed and looked pointedly at the half Helfer was still holding. “Given how you’re eating them, I don’t know if you want to make that comparison.”

Helfer chuckled and finished his. “I can adapt my eating habits to the dish very easily.” He picked up another and ran his tongue over it before sliding half of it into his muzzle and biting down.

Volle pretended to cringe, picked up another, and ate it a bit more slowly. “So if you don’t mind me asking, why do you avoid the tribunals and stuff?”

“Just can’t be bothered with it.” Helfer shrugged. “Once you get into that political stuff, you make enemies and then you end up spending your life just doing politics instead of the job you’re supposed to be doing. I don’t want to do the job, and I hate politics even more, so I figure why bother?”

“But don’t you feel a responsibility to your people?”

“We have a very capable governor named Burren who sends me, from time to time, petitions to take to the king. I take them to the king, he invariably grants them, and my work is done. Burren manages the rest and I don’t worry about it. Get yourself a good governor, Volle, that’s my advice.”

“Why do they need you at all, then?” Volle grinned as he ate one more grape leaf.

“Oh, they don’t,” Helfer replied cheerfully. “But it’s a matter of prestige to have someone in the palace with access to the king. It means they don’t have to worry about sending someone who can present to the king every time they want something—they can just send the paper and they’re sure the king will see it soon. I think Burren hopes I’ll make something of myself, and perhaps I will. But not just now.” He finished one more of the appetizers and licked his lips. “Life’s too short.”

“I can certainly see that. Still, I think I won’t mind helping with the tribunals. The people seemed so excited to have a lord again, I feel like I should do something to help them if I can.” He tilted his head. “How often do you see your people?”

“I go to our Vellenland estate about once a year. Burren sits down with me and tells me very seriously all the issues facing the land, and I try to stay awake. Then we go out and see the lush orchards and vineyards and the happy farmers and I wave to them. After that, I usually drink a lot and spend a lot of time in bed with whatever lucky fellow I happen to have brought with me.” He smiled. “It’s not that I don’t care; I do. But when the issues are things like ‘Farmer Jones wants to call his apples ‘Sweetwater” but Farmer Smith already calls his oranges “Sweetwater”’ … well, I usually tell Burren I trust his judgment, and that’s the end of it.”

Caresh reappeared then, clearing off the table to make room for the main course. A raccoon wearing an apron had helped him carry a tray of food up, which proved to contain a small tureen of rice and two plates of a fish he couldn’t identify in a sweet lemon sauce that had a salty undertone to it. Conversation halted while they dug into the fish and rice, and then the small sugar cakes Caresh had brought along as a dessert. Finally, when Volle felt as stuffed as one of the grape leaf appetizers, they leaned back. Helfer had dismissed Caresh for the night, so they left the plates where they were. “He’ll get them in the morning before I’m up,” Helfer said with a grin. “He’s really a terrific servant. Was my father’s for as long as I can remember.”

“Welcis is pretty good, too.”

“All the servants here are first-rate. They have to be—this is the premier job. They get paid very well, from what I understand.”

“I’d imagine. I thought the banquet must have been the best food available, but this was pretty good. Is it this good every night?”

“Just about. The cooks here are good too. Bears like good food.” Helfer grinned. “That’s one benefit of having a bear on the throne.”

Volle grinned back. The meal had made him languid, and he was finding it difficult to keep his eyes open. Even the nap he took hadn’t made up for the activity that afternoon and last night. Helfer was still energetic, though, tapping his paw on the floor.

“Say, Volle, do you read much?” he asked after a moment.

“When I can.” Tracts and tomes and dissertations at the Academy, he thought, but little else.

“Ever read anything by P. Zinsky?”

Volle shook his head. “Who’s that?”

“Only the best author in Tephos!” Helfer sprang out of his chair and rummaged in his desk until he emerged with a couple string-bound books. “Here, look. You can borrow these if you want.”

“Thanks.” Volle looked them over. The first had a picture of two very obviously male foxes embracing. The title was “A Brush With Love.” The prominent position of the foxes’ tails made the pun clear. He chuckled and looked at the next, titled “The Ringing of the Belle.” The cover showed a handsome, muscular raccoon dipping a slender, effeminate wolf, their muzzles just touching.

“I’ve read those a bunch of times, ever since I was thirteen.” The weasel flicked his ears, smiling. “Got me through a lot of nights. ‘Brush With Love’ isn’t one of his best, but I thought you’d like the foxes. The other one is my favorite.”

“I’ll read through them. They look like fun. Thanks again.”

“No problem. Hey, feel like going to the pub?”

Volle grinned and shook his head. “No. I’m kinda tired. I’ll meet you for a run tomorrow, though. A little earlier, maybe?”

“Yeah, I shouldn’t be out too late, unless there’s a cute bunny I just can’t pass up.”

“You like rabbits, huh?”

Helfer nodded enthusiastically. “They’ve got that whole herbivore thing going, and they have great stamina. Plus I have to admit I love the ears.”

Volle chuckled. “Big ears never did anything for me.” Reese would’ve been in trouble otherwise, he thought. “But what about the teeth? I’d never let those teeth near my…”

“Oh, I don’t let them do
that
. But they’re good for lots of other things.” He winked. “Now you’re getting me all excited.”

Volle stood up, grinning. “I’ll let you get going, then. Thanks for the dinner.”

“Oh, thank you! I enjoyed it. We’ll have to do it again.”

“Definitely.” Volle’s tail wagged as he shook Helfer’s paw and headed for the door. “See you tomorrow!”

Out in the corridor, he started paging through the books as he walked.
The black mask that lay like a swath of night across his face hinted at deep secrets, but the ebon depths of his eyes promised that all those secrets would be revealed and shared, one by one. A gentle brown finger pressed into the whiteness of Kris’s fur, the lightest feathery touch, and the warmth of the fingertip seemed to sear him with passion wherever it landed. Slowly, it traveled downward, while the muscular arms held him securely…

A piece of paper fluttered out of the book as Volle turned the pages, amused. He bent to the floor and picked it up. It bore Helfer’s name and official seal and had some amounts of money listed on it, with Ullik’s signature at the bottom. Volle initially shuffled it behind the book, not wanting to intrude on his friend’s personal life, then remembered that he was a spy, and intruding was what he was supposed to be doing.

It was not very revealing, as it happened. It was a receipt for taxes from Vellenland, from which Ullik had deducted the costs of a personal servant and the replacement for a tapestry in the main hall that had been “damaged.” The paper must have been sent back and forth, because underneath that, Helfer had scribbled “why replace? those stains come right out,” and Ullik had written, “the smell will not.” Helfer’s reply had been, “rubbish!” and Ullik had answered, “your lordship owns the tapestry now and may hang it in your chambers if you wish.” To this, Helfer had not replied.

Volle grinned and shook his head, and walked back to Helfer’s door. The paper was official and he thought Helfer might not want it roaming about the castle. He opened the door into the foyer, and then walked into the parlor. “Helfer?”

The room was silent. “Helfer?” he called, a bit louder. Still no answer.

He frowned. He hadn’t left the corridor outside the door, and he was sure he hadn’t heard the door open and close. Could Helfer have changed his mind and gone to sleep? He decided to risk poking his nose into the sitting room.

What he saw beyond the curtain startled him. The room was covered in large and small plush pillows. Two couches sat at one end, framing a medium sized chest that sat against the wall. Two doors in the wall to his left were firmly closed, and opposite him was another doorway with a curtain. The lingering scent in the room left little doubt what Helfer used this room for. “Helfer?” he called tentatively, but there was still no reply.

The boundaries of their still-new friendship warred with his instinctive curiosity and the compulsion of his mission. He looked back at the parlor door, which he’d closed behind him, and then stepped into the sitting room. Just a quick look around, he promised himself.

Making his way cautiously through the pillows, he tried the first door, which led to a private bathroom. The scents of the bath salts were mingled with a basket of some herbs that sat on the edge of the tub. Currently the tub was filled with powder, but it was deep enough to hold water as well, and a bucket nearby confirmed his suspicion that it occasionally did. He could smell jasmine, and realized where Helfer had gotten that scent. The weasel, though, was nowhere to be seen.