“And how is Lord Machigi?” That much business could politely be discussed over tea.
“Very well,” Siodi-daja said. “And the aiji-dowager?”
“Well, and on her way to Shejidan at this hour. As is Lord Geigi.”
“And my lord is likewise ready to proceed, at the dowager’s invitation and as her guest.”
“Which will come, indeed, and quite soon. One trusts he will stay here in comfort, and his conveyance to the Bujavid will be with guards you appoint.”
A nod. “Excellent, nandi. One is glad.”
“You have received the final form of the documents, I trust?”
“To our knowledge, the final form. They have been couriered to Tanaja, to my lord’s hand.”
“Excellent. I can then report everything in order. Is there any other thing the dowager may wish to know in advance?”
“I have had no information.”
“Indeed. We hope to have everything covered. —And how doyou find the city?”
“Very large,” Siodi said with a pleasant, grandmotherly laugh. “Very land-bound. I have never been out of sight of the sea before.”
“We are very much in the heart of the West,” he said. “One does recommend the Bujavid Museum if you have leisure, your guard permitting, and if you extend your stay, which of course we hope you will do. It is a public area of the Bujavid and generally has excellent personal security and excellent exhibits. No one will trouble you or they will answer to the very proper Director, one assures you. There is also a textile museum somewhat across town and a beautiful public garden, the Kosa Madi. All of these places you may find enjoyable.”
The talk ran on pleasantly through a second cup of tea, quite, quite easy and free and increasingly cheerful. The lady was charming. And no fool. When they were past the opening courtesies, the lady said, “And are we to meet with the various Guilds in this place, nand’ paidhi?”
“You are indeed, nandi. I know the Merchants’ Guild is quite ready to meet with you, most likely in the Bujavid committee rooms, if you are so kind, and it has abundant questions and a generally positive outlook. Transportation and the Messengers have been deluging me with queries, and those two Guilds are likely to request meetings in their offices within the Bujavid—those two will be full of questions, a far harder set of questions than the Merchants’ Guild will ask, but the paidhi’s office and, I am sure, the aiji-dowager’s staff will support you with research and communications. The Merchants are quite impressed with the porcelain, which is on exhibit, let me add, in the foyer of the Bujavid, under the auspices of the museum director.”
“My lord will be pleased to hear it.”
“Indeed.” A nod. “It would ultimately be politic for you to meet with all the Guilds, usually in their premises. The Bujavid will offer facilities for larger gatherings, and will offer services for any social gathering you may choose to host here. Hosting all the Guilds in a social evening would be politic, let me say. They rather expect it, in due course, particularly as you open your offices to do business.”
That was one topic which the lady accepted with a clear understanding of the social intricacies—one saw the flicker of sharp intelligence in those gold eyes, the ability to estimate a situation. Machigi would not have sent a fool into this situation—by no means a fool, this lady, and likely her staff would be no fools, either.
“If my staff may assist yours in protocols in that regard,” he said, “they are certainly willing to do so. If you have any questions, staff may talk to staff.”
“One is gratified.”
“Let me be frank,” he said, with some confidence in the lady. “We wish to have the agreement signing beforethe legislature session begins, within the next few days. We are aware of the difficulties involved, and Lord Machigi has expressed reservations about his personal safety, comfort, and dignity. You are here to smooth the path, one is quite certain, to gather information and to look the situation over. We are determined that Lord Machigi should not experience any uneasiness, not regarding the commitment of the aiji-dowager to exactly the course we have laid out, and not regarding the commitment of the East to further that agreement by specific actions. Lord Machigi will notbe put in any uncomfortable position regarding relationships with the Guilds or on any other issue other than that we have already discussed. Your discussions may range into these territories, to your lord’s benefit, but they are not necessary to the agreement of association with the aiji-dowager. The agreement of association stands separate from all other issues. I am here officially to report to you that the aiji-dowager is on her way to Shejidan—I have done that—and unofficially that she wishes to meet with Lord Machigi and accomplish the signing before there can be any campaign organized against it. Within your establishment here, we are prepared to assure your lord’s safety and convenience. The dowager will, however, for publicity reasons, wish to have the signing in the Ivory Hall of the Bujavid lower floor.”
“I shall relay that information to my lord,” Siodi said with a little nod. “One is very gratified to hear it from your mouth, nand’ paidhi. In you, my lord has confidence. One begs you to maintain that confidence.”
“I have come to have a personal attachment to your lord. I would regard treacherous harm to him as a great and personal affront. I am personally committed to the prosperity of the Taisigin Marid. I believe general prosperity will come. I believe it is just. I believe it is right. I believe it is fair.”
A deeper nod. “One will most gladly convey that good sentiment, nand’ paidhi. My lord had warned me that the bright lights of Shejidan might alter a man’s thinking.”
“It does not alter mine, nandi, not in this matter.”
“Nor does proximity to Tabini-aiji?”
“Tabini-aiji is quietly watching the progress of this effort. He has some reservations, but he sees this in a favorable light, on its merits, and on his respect for his grandmother’s good efforts. He wishes your lord’s success in his venture with the aiji-dowager. He agrees that there were unfortunate choices made in the past. He shares many of the same concerns about the economy of the Marid as a past and future cause of war, and welcomes your lord’s agreement with his grandmother. He will lend his support to her ventures, and if your lord is the aiji-dowager’s associate, he will support your lord’s ventures in the process.”
That was a very carefully crafted paragraph, and he had not dropped a stitch of it. He was gratified to see it delivered to a woman who would not drop a stitch of it, either, in relaying it back to Machigi. Her face demonstrated just ever so slight relaxation, and she nodded a third time.
“Thank you, nandi. One is glad to hear so.”
“Please relay my respects to Lord Machigi and tell him that time is short to have this accomplished in good order and with a minimum of debate. Other communication will flow through the Guild, but the aiji-dowager wished me to pay this courtesy directly and to express her opinions as you have heard them.”
“Which is much appreciated, nand’ paidhi.”
It was not a long meeting. There was no second round of tea. Their relative ranks did not encourage it. But Bren emerged with an unexpected gift for the aiji-dowager: a thick portfolio, done up in courtly style, with seals and ribbons of varying houses, which represented the concurrence of various of Machigi’s lords, including, one was glad to see, the seals of the Isles and the southeast coast of the Marid.
There were notably no ribbons representing the Senji and the Dojisigi, not yet, nor could they be expected. Those two districts were being firmly sat upon by the Guild, who were not welcome guests, and neither one had its succession in orderctheir lords’ funerals had been quiet, underattended, so the report said, and there was as yet no mad scramble of various claimants to the aijinates involved. It was assumed Tiajo would become the figurehead for her father over the Dojisigi, but as yet Senji clan could not even find a claimant willing to stand in the target zone, and the Dojisigi, who ordinarily would have immediately advanced an opinion as to which Senji clansman should hold that seat, had been conspicuously silent.