Mother had forgiven him? Since when? Maldynado found that news harder to believe than the rest of it, and, for the first time, he eyed Lita with suspicion. Even if she did live in Sunders City, what were the odds that they’d randomly run into each other here, in a town of fifty thousand?
Perhaps noting his suspicious mien, Lita shrugged and said, “Is it so hard to believe? They can’t hate you forever. Old wounds may always ache in bad weather, but sometimes you forget there was a time when you didn’t have them, and you lose your bitterness over the cause. The dull ache becomes a part of your life.”
“I guess,” Maldynado said neutrally. Nothing about Lita’s face or words seemed duplicitous, but he’d known many women with a knack for convincing fibbing.
Lita squeezed his arm and let go. “If you prove to the family that you care, that you’re willing to help out, they’d be more amenable to you. Especially your parents. I’ll be the first to admit that some of your brothers are nettlesome and perhaps not worth the effort.”
Maldynado snorted. Yes, Lita had suffered numerous dunkings in the lake at the hands of her older cousins. And they hadn’t even disliked her. They’d been worse to Maldynado, but that was the nature of older brothers, he supposed.
“All you’d have to do is talk to your father and let him know you’re interested in taking some responsibility.”
Maldynado lifted his arms skyward, bags rustling. “What is it with women? Always nattering in a man’s ear about responsibility.”
“As a warrior-caste scion, you’re expected to-”
“I know, I know.” Maldynado stretched his hand out, palm facing her. “I’m just feeling set-upon by your sex of late. The only woman who doesn’t-” He caught himself. He was supposed to be getting details, not giving them. She didn’t need to know about Amaranthe, though an uncomfortable lump formed in his throat at the thought of her. Lita was the only woman who simply accepted what he was willing to offer without making extra demands on him or bemoaning the fact that he wasn’t “responsible.” Cursed ancestors, he hated that word.
“It’s just that they had such high expectations for you, Mal,” Lita said when he didn’t continue. “Aside from Ravido, most of your brothers had respectable but not exemplary military careers, and even he, I’ve heard, used bribes and favors to ensure he eventually advanced to general. For another family, respectable sons are fine, but for Marblecrests? For a family with a history full of fleet admirals, legendary generals, and even Turgonian emperors?”
“It’s easy to get buried under that much history,” Maldynado said.
Lita sighed at him, as if they were speaking in two different languages, and she couldn’t get him to understand. “If you’d had mediocre talent, it would have been one thing, but you were so good with a blade. And, when you were younger, your grades were all above average, especially when it came to military studies. Uncle Brodis was sure-”
“I know what he was sure of.” Maldynado noticed his shoulders were hunched up to his ears. He hated talking about this stuff. He’d wanted the family’s current gossip, not a rehash of old history. His earlier suspicions that Lita had been planted in his path disappeared. She wouldn’t be nagging him if she wanted to talk him into something. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not interested in reuniting with them.” Maldynado tipped his hat. “It was good seeing you, Lita. Give my good regards to your brothers, please.”
“Mal, wait.” Lita must have forgotten she’d been holding the ivory box, for, when she stretched out with her hands, it slipped from her grip.
Maldynado squatted and caught it before it clunked onto the cobblestones. The lid flopped open, and a small black sphere fell out. It took another quick snatch to keep it from falling to the ground and rolling down the street. Maldynado gaped at the cool, smooth object. Utterly devoid of symbols, it appeared to be made of the same material as Sicarius’s knife. And, if Sicarius was right, that’d mean it was made of the same material as that flying craft too.
Lita laughed. “What fabulous reflexes. See? That’s what I mean. You’re not mediocre at all when it comes to innate talent.”
Maldynado tore his gaze from the sphere, lest his interest strike Lita as odd. He stood and cleared his throat. “Mediocre? Me? Naturally not. The ladies have known of my innate talent for ages.” On the outside, he waggled his eyebrows and launched a speculative look at a passing woman; on the inside, his pounding heart threatened to leap out of his chest and sprint a few laps around the block. After Lita finished rolling her eyes, Maldynado asked, as casually as he could, “Say, what is this thing?”
“The box or the ball?” Lita asked.
“The ball. I’ve seen enough dust-collecting knickknack holders to not need an explanation on that thing.”
Lita laughed again. “Oh, Mal. You’re so silly. That’s an antique ivory snuff box from the Tarovic Era.”
“Yes, as I said, a dust-collecting knickknack holder. And the black doohickey?”
“I have no idea, but your sister-in-law sent me to pick it up for her. She’s collecting them, I gather.”
Lita reached for the sphere. Maldynado stifled the urge to snap his fingers shut about it, and she plucked it from his grasp.
“It’s interesting, I’ll admit,” Lita said, “but I don’t see why one would want a collection.”
Not unless that collection included a super powerful aircraft with firepower that would make Turgonia’s best warship roll over and cower under the waves. “I have six sisters-in-law. Which one did you say is collecting?”
“Mari.”
“Ah.” Ravido’s wife again. Maldynado might have found his information for the emperor. “You know, Lita, I think you may be right. If there’s a chance to reunite with the family, I should take it. After all, one never knows how long one’s parents will be around. You don’t want to later regret missed opportunities to make amends.”
Lita blinked a few times and peered up at Maldynado’s face. Maybe he’d slathered too much icing on the cinnamon bun.
“I’m not going to rush to do as Father pleases, but maybe I’ll stop by the estate when I return to Stumps.” Maldynado gave the sphere an indifferent wave. “If you wish, I could give that to Mari in person. You were simply going to post it, I assume?” Inwardly, he shuddered at the idea of a potential weapon going through the mail.
“Actually, Mari’s on her way down,” Lita said. “I’m expecting her to arrive on the Glacial Empress in a couple of days.”
Maldynado’s fingers twitched. He wanted to get that sphere. If he could give it to the emperor along with this information, it could prove that he had good intentions. But if he seemed too desperate to snag it… The last thing he wanted was for some cousin to tell Ravido that he might be angling to thwart his plot. He had enough to worry about already.
“Is she?” Maldynado asked. “And Ravido is coming as well?”
“No, he’s busy with something in the capital. Did you hear? He was reassigned to Fort Urgot recently.”
“I had heard that. I wonder why they moved him. Wasn’t he a post commander somewhere down south?”
“The machinations of the army are beyond me.”
Maldynado had a feeling he’d gotten as much information out of Lita as he would. As it was, she’d probably relay the details of the meeting to Mari, who might mention Maldynado’s appearance to Ravido. Maybe he should have kept walking and pretended not to see his cousin after all. Still, he might be able to find out more about these black artifacts from Mari. If he was brave enough to visit her. The last time they’d been alone in a room together, she’d tried to take his pants off, no matter that her husband had been in another part of the house.
“As long as she’s going to be in town, I’ll have to stop by and visit her,” Maldynado said.
“Do you know her well?”