” ‘Wed-lock’ is a ritual of binding?”
“Under the eyes of God and Dharman law. Shaauri don’t have marriage?”
“There are what you would call ‘contracts’ between Houses and Lines for the creation of children,” he said. “Shaauri mate at will only as be’laik’in on Walkabout. It is expected. After Selection, mating-for-pleasure usually occurs between shaauri of the same Path. Only those of Will and Blood produce children except by rare exception.”
“Young humans are usually forbidden to… mate… and anyone can have children,” Lizbet said. “But in some ways our cultures aren’t so different. There are still many walls built to keep people apart. It’s the rules that change.”
“Then what rules must I follow with Cynara?”
“I don’t know. Cynara was never like other women. And she changed even more, after—after she became captain of the Pegasus. Until she met you, I didn’t think… she was interested in love at all.”
“Should I send gifts to her House?”
“Poseidon, no!” She slapped her hand over her mouth and stifled a laugh. “Magnus and Matrona D’Accorso would die of shock.”
It was becoming evident that Lizbet, in spite of her willingness to speak, had no useful advice in the matter of human courtship. But there was another topic of even greater importance.
“You said that Cynara changed when she became captain of the Pegasus,” he said, pushing beneath the surface of Lizbet’s thoughts. “Is it because the Pegasus is not like other ships?”
She blinked. “It’s… it’s not just—” He felt her deliberate effort to evade his question, but under the confusion he found… nothing. No shield such as he had discovered in the guards outside the engineering section. No evidence of knowledge that must be protected at all costs.
“I’m sorry,” she said, scraping her hands across her face. “I’m very tired. I’m sure that Magnus Jesper will be calling us for dinner soon.”
Lizbet was no telepath, but she had enough sensitivity to react when her mind was probed by one.
“I, too, feel unwell,” Ronan said, rising. “Please tell Va Jesper that I will sleep in my quarters, and beg him not to hold the meal for me.”
Lizbet only stared at him, trembling.
He listened again for movement in the hall. Finding all quiet, he slipped out of the house and crossed the grounds, moving among the shrubs until he had reached the outer gate.
There were still many things he must learn about this world and its ways, and he could not do so confined to his room.
When Cynara returned, he would be ready.
Cynara was hardly surprised when the tall, ornate gates of Palace D’Accorso swung open before she reached them. One of the garden servants had seen her coming—she did not recognize his face, but he must have known hers as well as every other resident’s, baseborn or noble. He bowed and moved quickly out of her way. Another servant dashed ahead to alert those within.
Old Tesar, her father’s majordomo for the past twenty years, awaited her inside the pearl-inlaid double doors. He smiled as he bowed, and she was absurdly grateful for such a small and friendly gesture.
There wouldn’t be a great many more of those today.
“The Magnus is in his library,” Tesar said, “and the Matrona in the conservatory. Will you wish refreshments first, Filial”
Unlike the drunks in Middleton, Tesar meant no offense by the word. He addressed her as an unmarried adult female—a man’s daughter—but he did so with the affection of long familiarity.
“I’ll go directly to my father, Tesar,” she said, and touched his hand. “It’s good to see you again.”
“And you, Filia.” He straightened and led her through the immense entry hall, where the stained-glass skylight painted rainbows on handmade tile, past the portraits of former D’Accorso Magné, and into the wood-paneled fastness of her father’s realm. Here women, even her mother, entered only by permission.
Cynara had been five when she first penetrated this forbidden domain. Papa had scolded, and then he’d laughed and lifted her up on his knee.
He hadn’t laughed with her in a very long time.
The doors to the library were nearly as imposing as those at the entrance, heavily carved with mythic scenes of ocean deities. Tesar knocked, and a moment later he let Cynara into the room.