still didn’t speak, so I turned on the radio and we listened to the still-continuous coverage of the Coral Lady disaster.
The drive back to Chicago went a little slower than the ride out, but traffic still wasn’t up to its usual rush-hour madness. Joy and I said virtually nothing the entire drive. She wasn’t quite up to breakfast yet, so we went straight back to my place. Food could wait a little while. We pulled into the garage under my apartment building before nine-thirty.
In the elevator going up to thirty-eight, Joy clung to me and I held her. She still wasn’t talking.
“We’ve still got time to make breakfast at Castle Basil,” I said when we got inside the apartment. She just nodded.
Before we left for Varay, I went through the place twice, making sure that I didn’t leave anything turned on, making sure that I wasn’t forgetting anything I might really want in Varay. It was almost as if I was leaving the place for good. That realization hit me, and I stopped abruptly in the living room. I forced myself to look around the room, almost casually. I did feel as though I might never see the apartment again, even though it was only a doorway away from Cayenne, Basil, or Louisville. I didn’t say anything about the feeling to Joy, but it made me very uneasy. It wasn’t exactly like a warning from my danger sense, but after the Coral Lady , I didn’t need much to set me on edge.
I was shaking my head when Joy and I stepped through to Cayenne. I needed to stop there before we went on to Basil.
Since we had been gone for a while, I went to the door leading out to the hall and stairs, planning to go downstairs to check in, so to speak. But Lesh was waiting just outside the door.
“I knocked before, lord,” he said. “When you didn’t answer, I figured you weren’t back from taking the boy home.”
“We got him safely delivered,” I said.
“You told me to remind you about Harkane and Timon.”
I nodded. That was something that had come up during the goodwill tour. Timon was old enough to move up from page to squire. Harkane would become a full-fledged man-at-arms, ready to be knighted as soon as he proved himself in the interim capacity. Both would remain in my service, as my retinue continued to grow. But Timon’s promotion meant that I needed a new page to take his place.
“I’ll speak to Baron Kardeen about them today if I get the chance,” I said. “Joy and I are going through to Basil for breakfast. You want to come along, or is there enough to eat here?”
Lesh grinned. “We’ll manage, especially since you two’ll be gone.”
I grinned back at him. Getting Lesh to loosen up had been difficult. He was still more impressed with my position than I was, but at least he was willing to open up a little now and then.
“I’ll send Timon right up for you,” he said.
I started to object, but quickly changed my mind. I had to have a page at Basil, probably two of them now that Joy was with me. Protocol. Tradition. Varay was basically feudal in nature, and anyone with any kind of social status had to have servants. “Then maybe he can help choose his own replacement,” I said, and Lesh nodded.
“What was all that about?” Joy asked after Lesh clomped down the stairs. I explained the basics as quickly as I could.
“They put a lot of stock in formalities and rank and such here,” I said. “I knighted Lesh three years ago. Sometimes I think he’s still not comfortable with it—any more than I’m really comfortable with all the nonsense that goes with my titles.”
Timon came racing up the stairs so soon after Lesh went down that he must have been waiting for the summons. Timon was grinning all the way up the stairs. It was a big day for him, like making the move from grade school to high school, I guess—something like it anyway.
Joy, Timon, and I stepped through to Castle Basil and made our way down to the great hall just as the sun was making itself visible for the day. I
The drive back to Chicago went a little slower than the ride out, but traffic still wasn’t up to its usual rush-hour madness. Joy and I said virtually nothing the entire drive. She wasn’t quite up to breakfast yet, so we went straight back to my place. Food could wait a little while. We pulled into the garage under my apartment building before nine-thirty.
In the elevator going up to thirty-eight, Joy clung to me and I held her. She still wasn’t talking.
“We’ve still got time to make breakfast at Castle Basil,” I said when we got inside the apartment. She just nodded.
Before we left for Varay, I went through the place twice, making sure that I didn’t leave anything turned on, making sure that I wasn’t forgetting anything I might really want in Varay. It was almost as if I was leaving the place for good. That realization hit me, and I stopped abruptly in the living room. I forced myself to look around the room, almost casually. I did feel as though I might never see the apartment again, even though it was only a doorway away from Cayenne, Basil, or Louisville. I didn’t say anything about the feeling to Joy, but it made me very uneasy. It wasn’t exactly like a warning from my danger sense, but after the Coral Lady , I didn’t need much to set me on edge.
I was shaking my head when Joy and I stepped through to Cayenne. I needed to stop there before we went on to Basil.
Since we had been gone for a while, I went to the door leading out to the hall and stairs, planning to go downstairs to check in, so to speak. But Lesh was waiting just outside the door.
“I knocked before, lord,” he said. “When you didn’t answer, I figured you weren’t back from taking the boy home.”
“We got him safely delivered,” I said.
“You told me to remind you about Harkane and Timon.”
I nodded. That was something that had come up during the goodwill tour. Timon was old enough to move up from page to squire. Harkane would become a full-fledged man-at-arms, ready to be knighted as soon as he proved himself in the interim capacity. Both would remain in my service, as my retinue continued to grow. But Timon’s promotion meant that I needed a new page to take his place.
“I’ll speak to Baron Kardeen about them today if I get the chance,” I said. “Joy and I are going through to Basil for breakfast. You want to come along, or is there enough to eat here?”
Lesh grinned. “We’ll manage, especially since you two’ll be gone.”
I grinned back at him. Getting Lesh to loosen up had been difficult. He was still more impressed with my position than I was, but at least he was willing to open up a little now and then.
“I’ll send Timon right up for you,” he said.
I started to object, but quickly changed my mind. I had to have a page at Basil, probably two of them now that Joy was with me. Protocol. Tradition. Varay was basically feudal in nature, and anyone with any kind of social status had to have servants. “Then maybe he can help choose his own replacement,” I said, and Lesh nodded.
“What was all that about?” Joy asked after Lesh clomped down the stairs. I explained the basics as quickly as I could.
“They put a lot of stock in formalities and rank and such here,” I said. “I knighted Lesh three years ago. Sometimes I think he’s still not comfortable with it—any more than I’m really comfortable with all the nonsense that goes with my titles.”
Timon came racing up the stairs so soon after Lesh went down that he must have been waiting for the summons. Timon was grinning all the way up the stairs. It was a big day for him, like making the move from grade school to high school, I guess—something like it anyway.
Joy, Timon, and I stepped through to Castle Basil and made our way down to the great hall just as the sun was making itself visible for the day. I
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