Emriana finally nodded and managed to croak, "Yes, ma'am."
"Well then, dear, I think he's out on the back porch, though you'd better hurry. I think I remember him saying he planned to go riding today. Patimi here can show the way, if you've forgotten."
Emriana silently groaned but got up and curtsied before hurrying along, following the attendant Anista had indicated. The woman led Emriana through the house and out onto a tiled and covered porch with awning-covered arched windows looking out over a broad field that sloped down the hill toward a rather massive barn.
"Master Denrick, the Lady Emriana Matrell," Patimi intoned, bowing toward a man perhaps four years older than Emriana.
He was tall and somewhat lanky, but with a carefully coifed head of hair and matching goatee that was thick and black. He looked up as the two women approached, and his smile was predatory when he spotted Emriana. Sure enough, he was dressed for riding, and a stable boy was standing at the bottom of a set of steps that ran down from the porch with a fine-looking horse in his care.
"Hello, Em," Denrick said affably, belying the hungry look in his eyes. "You're looking wonderful today."
Emriana forced herself to smile back at the young man. "And you look like you're getting ready to go riding," she replied, hoping he'd ask her so she could decline.
"Why, yes I am. In fact, I was hoping you'd find your way out here, so you could go with me. A picnic with you under the shade of a tree sounds like a perfect day to me. What do you say?"
Emriana had to work to keep the delight out of her voice as she apologized.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Denrick, but as you can see, I'm not dressed for riding today, and I'm afraid I didn't bring along any other clothes on this trip."
Den rick looked crestfallen, but for only a moment before he brightened again.
"You can wear some of my sister's!" he said. "She has scads of things still in her old rooms, and I'm sure some of them will fit you."
Emriana swallowed, feeling backed into a corner.
"Oh, well, I…" she stammered, trying to think of an out. "My personal maid, Jaleene, was indisposed today and could not come, so there's really no way I could change without help, and-"
"I'm sure Patimi can help you," Denrick said, his smile fading as he looked at Emriana expectantly. "Surely it's not that difficult to change your clothes."
Emriana sighed quietly and succumbed. "Well, then, I'd be delighted," she lied.
"Wonderful! I'll have Turcan prepare a horse for you while you change."
With that, the young man stood up and began instructing the stable boy to fetch Emriana a gentle horse and put a suitable saddle on it.
Patimi, meanwhile, led the girl back into the house and into the chambers of Denrick's older sister, Lobra Pharaboldi, who had gotten married and moved into her husband's estate a couple of years previous. Emriana remembered meeting the woman but once, a long time ago. Patimi showed the girl where the wardrobes were and helped her choose a suitable outfit for riding and assisted while Emriana changed clothes. The girl thought the servant seemed a bit subdued, for Patimi spoke very little, other than to offer a word of instruction, but Emriana was too preoccupied with her impending afternoon with Denrick to think to ask the woman what was wrong.
At last, the girl was dressed in a set of breeches and a shirt with a loose-fitting vest over it, accompanied by a wide-brimmed hat and durable gloves, perfect for riding. She had to admit that she was more comfortable than she had been in the stiff, sumptuous dress. She followed the servant back outside, where Denrick was waiting, already mounted on his own horse, a bay named Shert. Emriana's mount, held still by Turcan for her as she climbed into the saddle, was a slightly smaller palomino named Goldy. Once she was situated, she took the reigns from Turcan and nodded to Denrick. Emriana had ridden often enough to feel confident, if not completely at ease, atop the mount Goldy proved to be a gentle creature, though, willing to follow Denrick as he turned Shert and headed around the side of the porch.
"First, well ride over to the back door of the kitchens and have the staff prepare a picnic basket for us," the boy called over his shoulder. "Then we can head over to a spot I like out toward the south wall."
"Lead the way," Emriana replied, determined to make the best of the trip and not give her mother any reason to frown at her.
The pair trotted slowly around to another wing of the estate, where Denrick hopped down and strolled inside a back door, which led into the kitchens. Emriana remained mounted, studying the door into which her riding partner had disappeared, suddenly ill at ease. Something was troubling her, something she needed to remember. She couldn't put her finger on it, but whatever it was, her stomach was roiling with nervous energy.
Denrick returned, followed by a kitchen maid carrying a large basket. One look at the woman in her simple dress and flour- and soot-covered apron made Emriana remember, and she nearly fell off Goldy in her alarm.
The woman who had been killed the night before had worked in the Pharaboldi kitchens.
CHAPTER FIVE
The rest of the morning went as smoothly as Vambran and Kovrim had hoped. He and his uncle spent it in the older priest's office, going through the manifests of the cargo that had been offloaded from Lady's Favor, cataloging it and reconciling it against the coffers of coin and goods that had been shipped out two months previous.
Standing watch over trade goods as they were shipped from one port to the next was certainly the least glamorous aspect of the life of a mercenary officer, but sometimes, no one needed the services of a professional fighting force, and when that happened the temple found other uses for its private army. Ensuring the safe transfer of cargo and funds in foreign lands-especially in places where the dealings didn't always go as smoothly as the priests wished-occasionally fell on a division or two of the Sapphire Crescent, as did sorting and cataloging the goods afterward.
At last, Vambran and Kovrim finished their work. Goods had been sold, other goods bought, and after the ship's crew and the men of Vambran's company had been paid, the temple would turn a good profit, which would be plied into new goods to be shipped out again, starting the process all over.
By the time the two men were done reconciling the records, the sun was sitting high over the harbor, and the day was hot and muggy. Kovrim set his quill down, closed the leather-bound ledger, slid his chair back, and rubbed at his eyes.
"Another good trip, indeed," he said. "So let's go celebrate with a meal at Dark She Looks Upon Me," he added. "My treat."
Vambran grinned broadly at the mention of one of his favorite aszraun in Arrabar. He quickly agreed, thinking fondly of the roasted beef and lamb talthaek he always ordered at that particular restaurant. Remembering how the rich, creamy brown sauce literally dripped out of the meat pie made his mouth water.
Kovrim and Vambran made their way from the temple and into the mercantile district on foot, chatting about the events of the Sapphire Crescent's excursion, the family, and politics in the city as they strolled.
Inside the aszraun, the crowds were already growing large, but a couple of Kovrim's coins in the right hands quickly got the pair of men ushered into a private dining alcove where they could enjoy their meal comfortably. The scents of the food at several tables made Vambran's stomach rumble as he sat down opposite his uncle. After ordering their meals, Vambran excused himself and made his way to the rear of the restaurant to visit the jakes.