No ifs, ands, buts, or “if the dowager pleases.” Damned sure the paidhi-aiji wasn’t in a position to object, even if Algini should give him some sign in the negative.
The other pair, the younger set, bowed. They looked typical young Guild: athletic, slim, the both of them, bright-eyed, early twenties, Bren judged.
“The young gentleman is resting,” Bren said, “but staff will direct you to his quarters, which he shares with two others. Be welcome to this house.”
“Nandi.” A third bow, in exact unison, somewhat disconcerting. And they picked up their luggage, each bringing two heavy bags.
“Ramaso,” Bren said, indicating that the major domo should see to that matter, and that group moved off about their business.
“Nandi.” A bow from the senior pair.
The Guild did not expect tea and ceremony. They did what they did and they departed. The door shut.
“This team is,” Algini said, “good. One had no idea they had attached to a house.”
Cenedi regarded him somberly. “Not Taibeni.”
“From the mountains. Their training continued during the Troubles, under Ajien.”
Clearly Cenedi knew the name, and was suitably impressed.
He thought of the various hand-picked tutors and several security arrangements that had gone over the horizon already.
It didn’t mean the young gentleman would be grateful.
Or polite.
“Let us hope,” Bren said, “things go smoothly.”
“Let us hope,” Cenedi said with a dour expression.
They allknew how that might go.
Chapter 16
« ^
Nandi,” Jegari said, or Cajeiri thought he said, and pulled his head off the pillow to find out.
In fact it was Jegari, looking anxious. And Jegari would not waken him on a whim. It was still daylight out, though the room was dark, what staff called the storm shutters were still in place, only admitting slits of daylight. But he could see, all the same.
“We have notoverslept,” he said. He was sure of that. And then anxiety crowded after: “Mani is all right?”
“The dowager is asleep, one believes, nandi,” Jegari said, “but your father the aiji has sent two guards to stay with us. One believes they have been assigned.”
His fatherhad sent guards.
He pulled himself up to a sitting position. “When are they coming?”
“They are here, nandi. Nand’ Bren sent them in.”
He could deal with Uncle Tatiseigi’s men. He had been threatened with his Ajuri-clan grandfather’s gift of guards, which mani had said were fartoo little skilled. He had mani’s guards sometimes, Nawari and Casari and others, and they were all right: he greatly favored Nawari, who let him do things.
But somebody from his father?
He got up. “Assist, ’Gari-ji.” He could call servants to help him muster a decent appearance, but all that would have to go past whoever was waiting out there, and would indicate that he had been found withouta decent appearance. He helped Jegari find an unrumpled shirt, and he put that on, and his morning trousers were acceptable. He got into those, and put his boots on, while Jegari took out the rust-brown coat he had been wearing for breakfast, which he had not spilled anything on. It was good. He used that, and sat down and let Jegari braid his queue and tie on a fresh ribbon, the Ragi red and black.
The mirror showed him a fair figure of authority. He trusted in it and walked out to confront the latest offering from adults in charge of his life.
They were young. Not too much older than Jegari and Antaro, and one was a girl, kind of nice-looking in Guild black. But he didn’t want appearances to get past his guard. They bowed. He bowed.
“Nandi,” the girl said, “my name is Vejico. My brother is Lucasi. You are entitled to know: we are fifth-level Guild.”
Impressive. He knew that much; and was not supposed to talk about it.
“Your father the aiji has sent us, expressing the hope that you may find our service acceptable.”
No one had ever asked his opinion. That was a definite improvement.
And clearly now, in their silence, his opinion was called for. “Vejico and Lucasi, this is Jegari, and this is Antaro, out of Taiben.”
Bows all around, Jegari’s and Antaro’s that degree deeper that acknowledged authority.
“You may know,” Cajeiri said, in his father’s tones, and his great-grandmother’s, “this house is the house of Lord Bren, the paidhi-aiji, who is our closest associate, and we came under attack last night by Southerners who have taken over the neighboring estate, which belongs to Lord Geigi, who is Lord Bren’s and my great-grandmother’s close associate. Lord Geigi’s nephew Baiji is at fault for his associations, and Lord Bren and my great-grandmother have him locked in the basement, and weare supposed to visit Najida village tonight to ask the Edi where the Edi are who used to serve Lord Geigi. Baiji—my great-grandmother says he is not to be given any title—says the Edi just went away, but Baiji has lied even to my great-grandmother, so he is not to be believed.”
He left off there, not to be seen to run on with his sentences, which Great-grandmother said was a sign of poor self-control and afterthoughts. But it was a fair account. He thought he had given it well.
And he was gratified to see two deep and solemn bows.
“Nandi,” the girl said, evidently the older of the pair, “we would be honored to provide security tonight, respecting the efforts of Jegari-nadi and Antaro-nadi.”
Oh, that was nicely phrased, and polite to Jegari and Antaro, who did not have the credentials even to let them wear the Guild uniform.
“We shall see,” he said. Ultimately, he knew he was going to have to have more than Jegari and Antaro. But hehad planned to pick them, and notto have spies that would stop him from everything—especially very goodspies.
“Your father says, nandi,” Lucaso said with a little bow, “that a sense of humor is requisite for this post. And we are not to report small irregularities, only to be sure nothing is broken, no one is hurt, and that you are not locked in somebody’s basement.”
He stared at Lucaso in consternation, astonished that he had just heard anything so outrageous.
“Should you, for instance, nandi,” Vejico said, “take out on such an adventure, we shall have to report you have left the capital, but we would stay with you. We will not, however, use Guild tactics, except defensively, in abetting your escape. Your father says you should rely on your own ingenuity and do nothing in excess of what you can do successfully on your own.”
He became aware his mouth was open—and shut it. He had suspected his father of many things, but a sense of humor was not one of them.
He supposed he blushed. And then he scowled—became aware he was scowling, and decided it was what mani would do, but then he recalled something else mani had told him: when someone surprises you, rethink what you know about that person until it is not a surprise.
Mani had said his father had been difficult.
“Well,” he said as if he had always had it figured out, “one should not be surprised. We may get along. And that will make mani mad, and Great-uncle mad, and Grandfather. Everything I do makes somebody mad. So you should get used to it.”