nodded.
"There were to be five male and five female figures," Emthoro continued, with the air of someone coming to a humorous part of a story. "Umpily's five immediate predecessors and their wives, carved in Tewper marble, which is a sort of pinkishbrown color and fine-grained. It gives a statue a very lifelike texture. Apparently there was some disagreement about terms ... I forget the details. And the contract had not said how the figures were to be garbed. At any rate, when Puin'lyn delivered her promised statues, they were ten nudes and . . ." He chuckled. ". . . not the sort of nudes that could be left around in public, either! "
Eshiala smiled politely, not sure what the point of all this could possibly be. Emthoro laid down his knife and fork, and a footman whipped away his plate.
"Great art, of course, but erotic as you could imagine. Perhaps more so, mm? So the Puin'lyn statues were hastily moved to the Imperial Library and there they have been hidden ever since. Fortunately most of the scholars who work there are too old and decrepit to be distracted from their studies."
"You are warning me to avoid the library, then, lest they bring a blush to my cheek?"
"Oh, I wasn't suggesting that. Their real appeal is to adolescent boys, of course. When Ralp and I were kids, we used to come to Hub once or twice a year and the statues in the Imperial Library were the highlight of the trip. Shandie knew a way to get in without the curator knowing. We always had plans to take paints along and touch up some of the details, but fortunately we never quite found the courage. "
She had no idea why he was telling her all this, or what sort of reaction was expected of her. Everyone else had finished this course and she had barely started. She laid down her knife and fork in defeat. The plate mercifully vanished.
Emthoro chuckled. "They raised hopes in us that time failed to satisfy-males and females both."
"I fail to see . . . " She was supposed to fail to see whatever was coming.
"Shandie," the prince said, with a twitch of his nose, "was especially enamored of the central figure among the females. He told us on several occasions that he would marry a woman as beautiful as that."
What had she ever done to Emthoro that he should seek to wound her like this? She had produced an heir, of course, and thereby demoted Emthoro from second in line to third. She knew her face was burning and that others were noticing and listening; and enjoying.
"Are you telling me that I remind you of a statue, my lord?"
"A little. There is certainly a facial resemblance. Mayhap we could visit the library some time and see? Shandie must have ... but perhaps it is just my imagination." He smiled meanly. "Statues," Eshiala said icily, "do not produce babies."
Emthoro showed his teeth in surprise. "True," he said, and turned to speak to the marquise.
Eshiala relaxed with a sigh of relief that she hoped was inaudible. Another gold plate was laid before her.
Across the table, Ashia was howling with mirth at some quip she could not possibly understand.
Eshiala wondered if perhaps Prince Emthoro was closer to the truth than he knew. She was a fraud. She was here only because she had told Shandie that she loved him and she didn't.
One day she had been slicing ham in her father's store, back in Thumble, when a group of soldiers had wandered in, all sweaty and smelling of horse. She had noticed one of them staring at her oddly. Of course she could not remember a time when men had not tried to flirt with her, but she had sensed the difference in Shandie's attention even then, that first day. On his way home from the battle, a month later, he had stopped in Thumble again and stayed a whole week. On the third day he had told her he loved her. On the fifth, he had proposed.
Her mother had told her not to be a fool; she would never make a better match than an imperial legate. Her father had insisted that to decline a proposal from a high imperial officer was
"There were to be five male and five female figures," Emthoro continued, with the air of someone coming to a humorous part of a story. "Umpily's five immediate predecessors and their wives, carved in Tewper marble, which is a sort of pinkishbrown color and fine-grained. It gives a statue a very lifelike texture. Apparently there was some disagreement about terms ... I forget the details. And the contract had not said how the figures were to be garbed. At any rate, when Puin'lyn delivered her promised statues, they were ten nudes and . . ." He chuckled. ". . . not the sort of nudes that could be left around in public, either! "
Eshiala smiled politely, not sure what the point of all this could possibly be. Emthoro laid down his knife and fork, and a footman whipped away his plate.
"Great art, of course, but erotic as you could imagine. Perhaps more so, mm? So the Puin'lyn statues were hastily moved to the Imperial Library and there they have been hidden ever since. Fortunately most of the scholars who work there are too old and decrepit to be distracted from their studies."
"You are warning me to avoid the library, then, lest they bring a blush to my cheek?"
"Oh, I wasn't suggesting that. Their real appeal is to adolescent boys, of course. When Ralp and I were kids, we used to come to Hub once or twice a year and the statues in the Imperial Library were the highlight of the trip. Shandie knew a way to get in without the curator knowing. We always had plans to take paints along and touch up some of the details, but fortunately we never quite found the courage. "
She had no idea why he was telling her all this, or what sort of reaction was expected of her. Everyone else had finished this course and she had barely started. She laid down her knife and fork in defeat. The plate mercifully vanished.
Emthoro chuckled. "They raised hopes in us that time failed to satisfy-males and females both."
"I fail to see . . . " She was supposed to fail to see whatever was coming.
"Shandie," the prince said, with a twitch of his nose, "was especially enamored of the central figure among the females. He told us on several occasions that he would marry a woman as beautiful as that."
What had she ever done to Emthoro that he should seek to wound her like this? She had produced an heir, of course, and thereby demoted Emthoro from second in line to third. She knew her face was burning and that others were noticing and listening; and enjoying.
"Are you telling me that I remind you of a statue, my lord?"
"A little. There is certainly a facial resemblance. Mayhap we could visit the library some time and see? Shandie must have ... but perhaps it is just my imagination." He smiled meanly. "Statues," Eshiala said icily, "do not produce babies."
Emthoro showed his teeth in surprise. "True," he said, and turned to speak to the marquise.
Eshiala relaxed with a sigh of relief that she hoped was inaudible. Another gold plate was laid before her.
Across the table, Ashia was howling with mirth at some quip she could not possibly understand.
Eshiala wondered if perhaps Prince Emthoro was closer to the truth than he knew. She was a fraud. She was here only because she had told Shandie that she loved him and she didn't.
One day she had been slicing ham in her father's store, back in Thumble, when a group of soldiers had wandered in, all sweaty and smelling of horse. She had noticed one of them staring at her oddly. Of course she could not remember a time when men had not tried to flirt with her, but she had sensed the difference in Shandie's attention even then, that first day. On his way home from the battle, a month later, he had stopped in Thumble again and stayed a whole week. On the third day he had told her he loved her. On the fifth, he had proposed.
Her mother had told her not to be a fool; she would never make a better match than an imperial legate. Her father had insisted that to decline a proposal from a high imperial officer was
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