The jagged walls of the room were pierced with doors like tiny mouths. These were the least desirable quarters in Rarrana – noisy, no private garden, the least defensible if an enemy should penetrate the women’s quarters. Tis glanced up at the catwalk circling the bathing pool and counted seven guards.
She then looked back to her sisters. Four of them were pregnant. Five if you counted Tisianne. She chuckled humorlessly. “Well, we Sennari are a fertile lot, aren’t we?”
“Burning Sky, Tis, how did you end up in such an absurd situation?” Roxalana exploded.
It wasn’t really a question. It was an irritable exclamation of how troublesome their little brother was – and Lani ought to know. It had been her task to raise him after their mother’s murder.
Tis’s heart seemed to be expanding, filling her chest with an emotion so strong, the small body didn’t seem able to contain it. There is a closeness among telepathic people even when their shields are up. A constant leak of low-level, unimportant thoughts like the chuckling of a brook. It’s very comforting, and to be without it is like placing a normal human in an isolation tank. To find herself now in the midst of telepaths who loved her and had lowered all barriers so that affection could flow through was indescribable. Tisianne held out her hands to her sisters. Murmured their names as they each came forward and gave her the kiss between close relatives.
The love fest lasted about three minutes, then Roxalana called them to order. “Shi’tha, Cillka, circulate and see who’s talking to whom. Who’s suddenly decided to visit their wives. Which fathers have suddenly been seized with an overwhelming desire to contact their daughters.” The two women nodded and left.
“Come.” Lani helped Tis to her feet.
“Where?”
“Zabb left strict instructions. You’re getting the best suite in Rarrana.”
“How… condescending of him. Should I be grateful?”
“Probably,” said Pandasala. “It may save your life.”
“You think they’ll try to kill me?”
“You have been away a long time,” Melant called back over her shoulder as they hurried down switch-backed halls. “The Kou’nar have several deaths and a blighted hope to avenge.”
They reached a doorway, and Roxalana keyed the telepathic lock. It was an impressive set of rooms. Deep spider-silk carpets covered the marble floor, insulation to keep out the biting cold of Takis. In one corner there was a ten-foot-tall tiled stove-fireplace. Sofas, chairs, several tables. A card table near the stove, and a ka’et. Set atop the polished surface of the instrument was a re’ba’bi.
Tis crossed to the instruments, stroked the keys of the ka’et, and experimentally plucked the strings of the re’ba’bi. She set it carefully back down atop the ka’et, then slammed her hands down on the keyboard. The discord made Melant jump.
“This is my fucking instrument! He had this planned all along!” Nobody asked for a translation of the English word. A curse in any language seems to communicate.
Tri’ava turned back from her contemplation of the moonlit gardens and twitched shut the draperies over the double glass doors. “Interesting you should mention Zabb. I think he’s as much of a threat as the Kou’nar.”
Roxalana shook her head. “He could have had Egyon do the job for him. Why wait?”
“Lani’s right. I think he’s just enjoying the sight of me helpless and imprisoned,” Tis said.
The bitterness couldn’t be masked, the Tis realized it was not just for herself, but for her sisters as well. Had Earth affected her so much that she now questioned the basic tenets of her culture?
“This is for your protection, remember?” Pandasala said. “We women are so precious.” A sneer trembled at the edges of the word.
So even Takis breeds malcontents, Tis thought.
Melant flung herself into a chair. “I think Panda regrets not being bitshuf’di.”
There was a touch of spite in the words. Roxalana made a slashing gesture before Pandasala could respond to the goading. “Both of you go. Tis doesn’t need to be agitated by your sniping.”
Melant pouted. “But I wanted to discuss our baby. The genetic work-ups were so encouraging, Tis. When you do recover your body, please loan it to me for a night.”
Tis tried to mask the hurt but knew she didn’t succeed very well. She was a very poor telepath, and she threw off emotions like sparks off a spinning firework. “My track record with children hasn’t been very good so far. Perhaps you should stick with Baiyin.”
Melant paused at the door. “He’s not going to be Raiyis.”
“Right now neither am I.”
Pandasala placed her hands in the middle of Melant’s back and shoved. Tri’ava gave a little wave and closed the door carefully behind her. For a long moment Roxalana and Tis regarded that closed door, then cautiously returned their scrutiny to each other.
“They’re angry. You’re all angry with me,” Tis said softly.
“You abandoned us, and now you’re back, but not as an asset, an ally to help us further our goals, promote our projects, advance our children. Instead you’re a burden. It isn’t enough that we have to protect ourselves, our children still in tails. We have to protect you as well.”
“Then don’t! I have my humans, and Taj, and though my mentatic skill is all but gone, I still have my wits.”
“Oh, no, Tis. We’ll protect you. Even finding you in this ridiculous scrape is better than believing you were a traitor – but you still leave us in a most untenable position. If you die, we suffer. The new Raiyis may decide that a living Sennari is a threat – more than a conspiracy. I don’t want to see my children die. I don’t want to see my sisters die.” She paused, and the severe lines around her mouth relaxed. It wasn’t quite a smile. “I don’t even want to see my little brother die.”
“The two humans -”
“May have formidable powers, but for the moment they’re useless to us. You’ll need guards, but leave the selection to me. You haven’t enough telepathy to weed out even the most obvious assassin.”
Tis hung her head. She had been so proud of the telepathy she had force-fed the borrowed human body. Once home, she realized just how rudimentary and useless it was.
“So you’re keeping me alive in the faint hope I might recover my body and leadership of the House. Other than that I’m useless.”
“You are inhabiting the body of an inferior groundling. Carrying a half-breed abomination. You’re not precisely an asset. But you are Tisianne, and…”
She whirled and left the room. But the thought lingered like the scent of her perfume. I do care for you.
“I want to see her.”
Mark was leaning over the desk, hands braced on the polished surface. They were in the office of the Raiyis, and Zabb looked very much at home as he lolled in the padded chair and swung lightly from side to side.
“Lilistizkar is the traditional visiting day. You’ll just have to wait.”
“And when is this lillyshit?” asked Jay. “Sometime in the next century?”
“Only three days.”
“I want to see her now.” Mark tried to sound threatening. Ended up sounding pleading.
“Quite impossible. Only husbands have unlimited visiting rights.”
“Then I’ll marry her.”
“Jesus,” muttered Jay.
Zabb’s smile deepened. Then, arranging his features into one of somber consideration, he said gravely, “I’m afraid as Raiyis I must refuse your offer for my cousin’s hand.”
“Come on, Meadows.” Jay took Mark by the arm and tugged. “He’s just fucking with us and enjoying the hell out of it. Don’t be a toy for him. We’ll just have to wait until visiting hours at the zoo. Maybe they’ll even let us feed the girls, bring them some grapes, chocolate…