Fedron rubbed his hand across his forehead. “Well, I’m afraid it’s not so straightforward at this point.”
“What happened to the Indelis proposal?”
A strange expression flashed across his face. “Don’t you worry about that.”
How many times had she been told not to worry? “I do worry about it, Cousin. That’s why I was there.”
“Let me talk to Erex first, all right? And then we’ll discuss it.”
We’d better. But she was too exhausted and hurt to argue. She needed Aven; she needed Pelli, and Corrim. Just to hold them, and cry, with no eyes watching.
Selemei screamed and woke. A nightmare, not of wandering in darkness this time, but of standing exposed in sunlight, under the judging eyes of Father Varin himself. She panted while her heart slowed, rubbing her coverlet to remind her hands of soft silk and reality. Her body came into focus.
Everything hurts.
Each bruise that woke to identify itself roused another horrible memory of the Cabinet meeting. She couldn’t force those events into sense, no matter how many times she tried. She called, “Ustin?”
The Imbati woman didn’t appear. But then, she probably wasn’t expecting to be called, because… Selemei’s throat closed. She looked away from the place where Xeref should have lain. Deliberately, she rearranged her pillows and pushed herself back to sit. Mercy, it hurt… but how much worse might it have been without Grivi’s care? She tried again, though her voice quavered.
“Imbati Ustin, may I speak with you?”
Ustin emerged this time, so silently she might have come, wysp-like, straight through the wall. She wore a black silk dress that showed off her muscular shoulders, not the suit she had normally worn on duty. “Mistress?”
This was already all wrong. “I’m very sorry,” Selemei said. “It’s not fair of me to demand you call me Mistress now, is it?”
Ustin bowed; a single pale braid swung forward of her shoulder. “Lady Selemei.”
Selemei inhaled what calm she could manage. “I went to the Cabinet meeting, but it went so badly—I wonder if I might discuss it with you.” Ustin’s sober silence felt like disapproval, though her face didn’t change. “If you consent to advise me, I’ll pay you for your time.”
“I am willing, Lady,” Ustin replied. “Unfortunately, I have a very incomplete picture of what happened, having been limited to what Grobal Fedron told us, and what I could overhear from other members leaving.”
“Well… we can start with what Fedron said. He said the meeting was called in emergency because Garr and Tamelera were coming back from Selimna. How would they have anything to do with anything?”
“Lady, are you aware that the seat my Master held was at-large?”
The term wasn’t entirely unfamiliar. “I’d heard that. It means he’s—” She gulped down a pang. “—he was, not the only First Family cabinet member.”
“Yes, Lady. Each of the twelve Great Families is assigned a single inalienable seat. Beyond that, only two seats remain. In those, any Family’s representative may sit.”
“But we happened to hold it.” She closed fists, remembering her fingers tangled in the chair. “And they wanted to declare it empty, but I was sitting in it.” Another piece fell into its slot. “That’s what Cousin Garr was supposed to do—sit in the seat so Fedron wouldn’t have to admit it was empty.”
“Lady,” Ustin said, “I’m sure you know that any competition among twelve Families for a single empty seat would be fierce.”
That was an understatement. Selemei nodded. “The cabinet rushed to meet so that Garr would come too late—and they would all have been itching to fight one another—but then I was there. They tried to pretend I wasn’t—except Fedron said I was. Why would he…?” She patted down the question with both hands. “No, of course he would. He had to have been in a panic when he thought they’d outmaneuvered him.” That face he’d made, arriving in the seat beside her…
The corner of Ustin’s mouth twitched slightly upward. Selemei chose to interpret that as approval.
“But I still don’t see how any of this has anything to do with the Indelis proposal. I was listening. It was never even mentioned.”
A shadow of something strangely like sadness flitted across Ustin’s face. “Lady, no vote can occur if a proposal has no sponsor.”
The men didn’t care. Not even Fedron had sustained his sponsorship once tragedy struck. “I could have sponsored it, if I’d known,” she said. “I thought I was there to cast his vote. But that’s why you brought me, as a sponsor. Is it?”
Ustin didn’t immediately respond. Selemei braced herself for I don’t know, but then the Imbati answered, “Lady, you recall we were jointly involved in a conversation about the seriousness of the risks Grobal ladies face. I continue to share my Master’s belief in the proposal’s benefits for ladies and their children.”
For me. And for my children. Without a law to protect her, she’d have men approaching her constantly; and how could she refuse to entertain partnership arrangements that the Family Council might propose?
“I could still sponsor it,” she said. “Fedron has acknowledged me in the seat.” Only once the words were out did their shuddering import take shape. To do that, I would have to claim to be a legitimate cabinet member. It perfectly explained Fedron’s ambivalence. “The Family still wants Garr there.”
Ustin nodded. “Lady, we can be certain of that. Grobal Garr is a man of influence, and was the First Family Council’s choice of substitute. However, the Cabinet bylaws which allow a Family to provide a substitute imply that said substitute shall then fill the seat on a permanent basis.”
“They imply…? Gnash it, Ustin—that’s why the Eminence is sending his man to the First Family Council. He thinks I’ve claimed the seat!”
Ustin’s face remained impassive. “Technically, Lady, you have.”
“And that’s why Fedron wants to talk to Erex. Maybe I saved the seat, but I just delayed their problem! And then I fell down, and embarrassed myself in front of everyone…”
That seemed to startle Ustin. “Lady, you fell? I’m sorry.”
The shame flooded back. Selemei pressed her hands to her face, shaking her head. “If I hadn’t had to rush there—or if I’d just been holding onto something—”
“The Luck-bringer’s hand is not always kind.”
Her mother had often said so. Selemei instinctively raised her head for the traditional response. “But Blessed Sirin sees far, and does not explain his choices.” She sighed. “That’s why my Grivi will be taking me to the Medical Center today.”
As if recognizing her need, Grivi stepped out from beneath his curtain and bowed respectfully.
“Good morning, Mistress. Allow me to dress you for your appointment?”
“Yes, thank you, Grivi. Ustin, you may be excused. Thank you for your help.”
The Imbati woman bowed and withdrew.
“Mistress,” Grivi said gruffly, “if you wish Ustin to advise you, perhaps you should inquire.”
“But I did; I asked her in,” Selemei said. “I did offer to pay her.”
Grivi looked down at his hands silently for several seconds. At last he said, “Mistress, I believe you requested to see Doctor Kartunnen Wint, who confirmed Grobal Pyaras at his party?”
“Yes…”
“Please be aware that we’ll have to go a little farther than the Medical Center for your appointment.”
“Oh. All right.” Vull kept a doctor outside the Medical Center? But perhaps Wint was worth it; she certainly had made an impression at the party.