The older woman stopped a meter away from Jin and ducked her head a few degrees in an abbreviated bow. "In the name of the Sammon family," she said in a cool, controlled voice, "I bid you greeting and welcome."
Something expectant in her face... on impulse, Jin repeated the fingertips-to-forehead gesture Gissella had already shown her. It seemed to work. "Thank you," she told the older woman. "I am honored by your hospitality."
The verbal response wasn't the prescribed one-that much was quickly apparent from the others' faces. But they seemed surprised, rather than outraged, and Jin crossed her mental fingers that the story she'd concocted would cover these slips well enough. "I am Jasmine, daughter of Justin Alventin."
"I am Ivria Sammon," the older woman identified herself. "Wife of Kruin Sammon and mother of his heirs." She gestured to the youth, now standing beside her.
"Daulo, first son and heir of Kruin Sammon."
"I am honored by your hospitality," Jin repeated, again touching fingers to forehead.
Daulo nodded in return. "Your customs and manners mark you as a stranger to this part of Qasama," Ivria continued, eyes holding unblinkingly on her. "Where is your home, Jasmine Alventin?"
"I have spent time in many different places," Jin said, working hard at controlling her face and voice. This was the stickiest part; no matter what she said now, the lie could be eventually run to ground if they were persistent enough. Given that, her best chance lay with one of the half-dozen cities dotting the western curve of the Crescent, where the higher population density should make any investigation at least a little harder. "My current home is in the city of Sollas."
For a single, awful moment she thought she'd made a mistake, that perhaps something unknown had happened to Sollas in the years following her father's first visit to Qasama. The hard look that flicked across Ivria's face-
"A city dweller," Daulo said sourly.
"City dweller or not, she is our guest now," Ivria replied, and Jin started breathing again. Whatever they had against cities, at least it wasn't something that immediately branded her as an offworlder. "Tell me, Jasmine Alventin, what has brought you to Milika?"
"Is that where I am, then?" Jin asked. "Milika? I didn't know where it was I was brought-the accident that wrecked our car..." She shivered involuntarily as images from the shuttle wreck rose unbidden before her eyes.
"Where did this accident happen?" Ivria asked. "On the road from Shaga?"
Jin waved her hands helplessly. "I don't really know where we were. My companions-my brother Mander and two others-were searching the forest for insects to take back to their laboratory."
"You were in the forest on foot?" Daulo put in.
"No," Jin told him. "Mander studies insects, trying to learn their secrets and put them to use. He has-or had; I suppose it's ruined now-a specially built car that can maneuver between trees and through a forest's undergrowth. I was just along for the trip-I wanted to see how he worked." She let a note of puzzlement creep into voice and face. "But I'm sure he knows much more about where the accident happened. Can't you just ask him about it when he awakens?"
Ivria and Daulo exchanged glances. "Your companions are not here, Jasmine
Alventin," Daulo said. "You were alone when my brother found you on the road."
Jin stared at him a long moment, letting her mouth sag in what she hoped was a reasonable semblance of shock. "Not... but they were there. With me. We-we all walked to the road together-Mander killed a krisjaw that attacked me-no, they have to be here."
"I'm sorry," Ivria said gently. "Do you remember if they were still with you when you reached the road?"
"Of course they were," Jin said, letting her voice drift toward the frantic.
"They were still with me when I was carried into the truck. Surely they saw-it was your brother, Daulo, who found us? Didn't he see them?"
Daulo's cheek twitched. "Jasmine Alventin... you were suffering the effects of several monote bites when Perto found you. Hallucinations are sometimes among these effects. My brother wouldn't have left your companions if they'd been anywhere nearby-you must believe that. And after you were safe here he took several men and went back to do an even more thorough search, covering both the road and the forest areas flanking them, all the way back to Shaga."
Thorough enough to find the packs I hid? Jin's stomach tightened; and immediately relaxed. No, of course the packs were still hidden. If anyone had found them she'd have awakened in a maximum-security prison... if she'd been allowed to awaken at all. "Oh, Mander," she whispered. "But then... where is he?"
"He may still be alive," Daulo said, his voice steady with forced optimism. "We can send more people to look for him."
Slowly, Jin shook her head, gazing past Daulo into space. "No, Five days... If he's not out by now... he's not coming out, is he?"
Daulo took a deep breath. "I'll send more searchers, anyway," he said quietly.
"Look... you've had a bad time, and I doubt that you're fully recovered. Why don't you have a warm bath and something to eat and then rest for a few more hours."
Jin closed her eyes briefly. "Yes. Thank you. I'm... sorry. Sorry for everything."
"It's our honor and our pleasure to offer you our hospitality," Ivria said. "Is there someone elsewhere on Qasama to whom a message should be sent?"
Jin shook her head. "No. My family is... gone. My brother was all I had left."
"We grieve with you," Ivria said softly. For a moment she was silent; then, she made a gesture and the young Qasaman woman behind her stepped forward. "This is
Asya; she will be your servant for as long as you are under our roof. Command her as you will."
"Thank you," Jin nodded. The thought of having a private servant grated against her sensibilities-especially a servant whose manner seemed more fitting to a slave-but it would undoubtedly be out of character to refuse.
"When you feel up to joining us, let Asya know, and she'll find me," Daulo added. "It will be my privilege to be your guide and escort while you are in
Milika."
"I will be most honored," Jin said, trying to ignore the warning bells clanging in the back of her mind. First a live-in servant, then the owner's son to walk her around the place. Common hospitality... or the first indications of suspicion?
But for the next couple of days, at least, it hardly mattered. Until her elbow and knee were fully functional again, she had little choice but to stay in
Milika and recuperate; and if the Sammons wanted to keep her under a microscope, she could handle that. "I look forward to seeing your house and village," she added.
And for a second the compassion seemed to leave Daulo's eyes. "Yes," he said, almost stiffly. "I'm sure you do."
Chapter 16
It turned out to be surprisingly easy for Jin to get used to having a servant around.
The exception was the bath. Jin hadn't had company in the bathroom during baths since she was ten, and to have someone standing quietly ready with cloth, soap, and towel was both strange and not a little discomfiting. The hot water itself felt wonderfully good-and the bathroom more luxurious than any she'd ever seen, let alone been in-but she nevertheless cut the operation as short as she reasonably could.
Once past that, though, things improved considerably. Asya ordered her a large dinner, setting it out at a small window seat table overlooking a magnificently landscaped courtyard. Sort of like the way your family fusses over you when you're sick, Jin decided as Asya seated her and began serving. Or like having an obedient little sister available to boss around. That role she remembered all too well.