Liaden Universe [19] - Alliance of Equals - eARC by Steve Miller, Sharon Lee

had found a way to clear the trade for her.
    Padi sighed, quietly, and raised her hand to point again at their corner before moving off in that direction.
    —•—
    Well, that had been unexpected!
    Shan looked down at his own hand, relieved to see that broad, brown member, with the carved amethyst of a master of trade sparkling cheerfully—one might say, smugly —there.
    It had given him a bad turn, just a moment ago, to look down and see nothing, though he could feel the hand perfectly well, and each finger when he wriggled them and the weight of the ring.
    Granted, he didn’t often suggest that he wasn’t present, but on those occasions when he had, the effect had been more as if those around him had simply forgotten that he was there. If one was determined enough, one could see beyond the suggestion, as he had found one evening to his sorrow, when he had been trying to avoid an overzealous suitor.
    In no case had he ever forgotten he was present—nor had he ever vanished before his very eyes.
    Happily, he had been able to bring himself back from total absence to what seemed to be a shadow of himself by concentrating on what he should be seeing. It was as if he had applied too much force to the original suggestion, and gone one step deeper, into actual invisibility.
    Which was nonsense.
    At least, he thought it was nonsense.
    He felt his fingers moving and glanced down at his hand, watching the shadowy red counter walk across foggy knuckles.
    Drat the thing , he thought irritably. The counter hesitated in its journey, as if it had heard the thought. That was interesting.
    He focused his attention on the counter.
    Go away ! he thought at it, as sternly as he was able.
    Between one knuckle and the next, it vanished.
    Shan blinked, and reached into the usual pocket.
    No counter.
    He checked the other pocket.
    No counter.
    Well, good. He was delighted to be rid of the blasted thing.
    Only…
    Where had it gone?
    He took a breath. A problem for later, if problem it was. He’d speak to Priscilla about it. In the meantime, he followed Padi down a narrow, sparsely populated aisle to a booth sporting a red-and-blue checked awning; a rosy-cheeked man wearing a white apron over a bright red shirt stood behind a red counter supporting four large glass jars, each containing a brightly colored foodstuff.
    Padi pulled her Andireeport trade card from her pocket, and approached the counter. Vanner stopped just short of entering the shop, standing at ease, his eyes roving up and down the aisle, surveying the meager crowd.
    Shan stepped into the shop itself, though not so close as the counter. He wanted to be able to watch, and to hear. Padi had seemed rather nervous earlier, though this was not by any means her first time as a buyer.
    Well, and sometimes the work itself steadied the nerves. Certainly, she seemed cool enough now, as she bowed to the gentleman, and extended the card.
    —•—
    “Trader yos’Galan, welcome!” the red-cheeked man bellowed, his smile showing an amazing number of very white teeth. “I am Gustav rel’Ana, proprietor of the Laster Garden. How may I serve you? We have, fresh and amenable to stasis, candied trovyul , salted ginger, and dehydrated spinginach . For your special customers, we have also a small amount of laster chutney. Such a treasure does not often come to our port location, but last year saw a laster harvest as none before, and we are able to offer a few—a very few!—cases of this Andiree delicacy to discerning buyers.”
    Merchant rel’Ana’s voice was loud, as if he were shouting at her from across the aisle, rather than the width of the counter. Padi kept her face smooth and did not back away from the assault upon her ears. She did, however, answer in a soft and mannerly voice that would have astonished Cousin Kareen.
    “The chutney,” she said, diverted briefly from her agenda, “can it be put into stasis?”
    The man’s smile became…less broad, and his cheeks became