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In reflex, Kelric knocked away the boy's hand. The motion pushed up his sleeve
anyway, and his Calanya guard gleamed in the murky ligh.
"You got guards!" Ched said. "You steal 'em?"
"What would possess me to steal them?"
The boy peered at the gold. "Them's old. Ancient. Must be worth half an
Estate." He looked up. "Got 'em on your ankles too?"
"Yes."
"Real gold and old as Haka. You better sleep with your eyes open."
"They're welded on. You can't get them off."
Ched shrugged. "All the gold on Coba won't do me no good in this place. But
there's crooners here razy enough to cut of your hands and feet for those
things."
"Great," Kelric muttered. "Just great."
It was obvious to Deha Dahl that the Haka Manager had spared no effort to
ensure her visitor received the finest treatment. They sat at a gleaming
table, drank wine from crystal
122 Catherine Asaro               |
' ." 1!
goblets, and dined on cream pheasant. A handsome youtH stood ready to refresh
their drinks. Rashiva Haka's intended message was also obvious: Haka had more
wealth, morel power, and more prestige than Dahl. ;
Despite the excellent mea, Deha only picked at the food She felt too drained
to eat, particularly when faced with the;
vibrant beauty of the woman across the table. Rashiva Haka was a desert
goddess. She glowed with youth. Her hair glis' tened like black satin and her
eyes slanted upward, black opal&j in a face as smooth and as dark as
java-cream. j
"Is the meal to your liking Manager Dahl? Rashiva asked1
"Excellent, Manager Haka," Deha said. '
"I'm glad we had this chance to relax." Rashiva smiled j "Even Estate Managers
need a rest sometimes." |
"So they do." Deha remembered her first years as a Man-, ager. "You will find,
though, that the Managing becomes eas-'? ier with time."
Rashiva's smile took on an edge. "I wasn't aware I found it i difficult."
]
So much for polite conversation. Deha wished this ordeal were over.
"Would you like to take our drinks in the Kejroom?";;
Rashiva asked. "The tapestries there may amuse you." -1
Deha tried not to think about the doctors at Dahl and their adamant warnings
to avoid liqueur. If she refused the customary jai rum, Rashiva would suspect
the weakness of her health. She smiled pleasantly. "Yes, let us retire for our
drinks." '
Rashiva Haka, Manager of Haka Estate, felt like a misplayed dice cube. The
Dahl Manager's imposing presence made her' acutely aware of her inexperience.
As she ushered Deha into the Kejroom, she looked around at the tapestries on
the walls, rich with scenes from the Old Age: warriors aloft on giant ,
althawks, Calanya ceremonies, battle scenes. Rashiva wished she could soak up
the ferocity of those ancient warriors to help her deal with Dahl's formidable
queen. '
Deha walked about looking at the tapestries. "These are beautiful."
"They were a gift from Kej Estate," Rashiva said. "A Kej
-The Last Hawk 123
Manager gave them to Haka over a thousand years ago, when the two Estates
joined forces during the Desert Wars."
"Such detailed work." Deha studied a piece woven in gold, red, and blue
thread. "It's a pity Kej didn't survive the Wars"
Rashiva stiffened, wondering if Deha meant to belittle Haka's alliance with
Kej. To hide her reaction, she turned to a co on the wall and flipped the
switch. "Nida?"
Her aide's voice floated into the air. "Here, ma'am."
"Manager Dahl and I will take our jai in the Kejroom."
"'ll send someone up right away," Nida said.
Deha smiled as Rashiva clicked off the co. "Shall we sit down?" The impeccable
courtesy of her voice made her host seem inestimably rude to leave her
standing.
"Most certainly," Rashiva said. "Let us be seated."
So they sat facing off in armchairs until a youth arrived with the liqueur. He
poured two glasses of jai rum, then set the decanter on (he table between them
and withdrew from the room.
Deha picked up her glass. "Well." She glanced at the Quis pouch on Rashiva's
belt. "Shall we roll a game of dice?"
Game? Rashiva thought. When two Managers sat at dice it was no game. Deha
Dahl's mastery over the Quis was infamous. She would wipe the floor with
Haka's young Manager.
"Perhaps another time," Rashiva said.
Deha nodded. "Another time, then. When you are ready."
When she was ready. The barb stung. Rashiva forced herself to relax. "How are
the renovations going at Dahl?"
"Very well." Deha settled in her chair. "If Minister Karn pardons Sevtar, I
will reopen the Akasi suite."
Rashiva nearly spluttered rum all over the table. Pardoned? Was Deha mad?
When she regained her equilibrium, she spoke in a mild voice that hinted at
skepticism. "Why would he be pardoned?"
"He no more belongs in prison than I do."
She wondered what Deha was up to. Jahit Kam would never pardon Sevtar. Rashiva
tried a discreet probe. "Prison does seem inappropriate for a Calani. A waste
of his talent."
"So it is." Deha sipped her jai. "After all, he mastered Outsider Quis in ony
a season."
124 Catherine Asaro                     |
Rashiva almost snorted. Did Deha think her a fool? "One | rarely hears of such
talent." ' | 'True. But then, such talent rarely
exists." | If ever. Yet it was an odd boast to make. What
advantage lay | in it? If it were true, Sevtar was a genius who now belonged
to ;
Haka. Why would Deha want her to know that?
Of course the "genius" was also a killer. Deha would be delighted if Haka
rehabilitated Sevtar, taught him Haka Quis, and then sent him back to Dahl. No
better way existed for one Manager to gain power over another than by
obtaining a Calani versed in her Quis. The question was academic, though. |
Sevtar was as likely to get a pardon as the desert was to get up | /
and walk away. .
But... the documents specified only that he serve his sentence at Haka. They
didn't dictate where at Haka. No stipula: tion said he couldn 't go
into the Calanya.
: Rashiva considered the thought. To acquire a Calani from i
another Estate, a Manager paid a stratospheric price for his $
contract. But suppose she agreed to take Sevtar into her Calanya and teach him
Quis for as long as he was in prison? She would pay nothing for his Dahl
contract. Of course, were he ever pardoned, he would return to Dahl without
Deha having to pay for his Haka contract. Considering the nonexistent chance
of a pardon, Haka could only benefit from such an agreement.
She chose her words with care. "It is unfortunate Sevtar i never had a [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]