I made a small growling noise, and he seemed to notice me for the first time in a while.
“Oh, set them there. Set them there, Merlin,” he said, and an ebony tray appeared on the table to my left. “We’d better check to see how the wine is holding up, before the lady arrives,” he said then, pouring some of the ruby fluid into two of the goblets.
We sampled these, and he nodded. It was better than Bayle’s. By far.
“Nothing wrong there,” I said.
He rounded the table, went to the window, and looked out. I followed.
Somewhere up in those mountains, I supposed, was Dave in his cave.
“I feel almost guilty,” I said, “taking a break like this. There are so many things I should be tending to-
“Possibly even more than you suspect,” he said. “Look upon this less as a break than a retrenchment. And you may learn something from the lady.”
“True,” I replied. “I wonder what, though.”
He swirled his wine in his glass, took another small sip, and shrugged.
“She knows a lot. She may let something slip, or she may feel expansive at the attention and grow generous. Take things as they’re dealt.”
I took a drink, and I could be nasty and say my thumbs began to prickle. But it was actually the Logrus field that warned me of Jasra’s approach along the hall outside. I did not remark upon it to Mandor, since I was certain he felt it, too. I simply turned toward the door, and he matched my movement.
She had on a low over-one-shoulder (the left) white dress, fastened at the shoulder with a diamond pin, and she wore a tiara, also of diamonds, which seemed almost to be radiating in the infrared range amidst her bright hair. She was smiling, and she smelled good, too. Involuntarily I felt myself standing straighter, and I glanced at my fingernails to be certain they were clean.
Mandor’s bow was more courtly than mine, as usual. And I felt obliged to say something pleasant. So, “You’re looking quite…elegant,” I observed, letting my eyes wander to emphasize the point.
“It is seldom that I dine with two princes,” she remarked.
“I’m Duke of the Western Marches,” I said, “not a prince.”
“I was referring to the House of Sawall,” she replied.
“You’ve been doing homework,” Mandor noted, “recently “
“I’d hate to commit a breach of protocol,” she said.
“I seldom use my Chaos title at this end of things,” I explained.
“A pity,” she told me. “I find it more than a little…elegant. Aren’t you about thirtieth in the line of succession?”
I laughed.
“Even that great a distance is an exaggeration,” I said.
“No, Merle, she’s about right,” Mandor told me. “Give or take the usual few.”
“How can that be?” I asked. “The last time I looked-“
He poured a goblet of wine and offered it to Jasra. She accepted it with a smile.
“You haven’t looked recently,” Mandor said. “There have been more deaths.”
“Really? So many?”
“To Chaos,” Jasra said, raising her goblet. “Long may she wave.”
“To Chaos,” Mandor replied, raising his.
“Chaos,” I echoed, and we touched the goblets together and drank.
A number of delightful aromas came to me suddenly. Turning, I saw that the table now bore serving dishes. Jasra had turned at the same moment, and Mandor stepped forward and gestured, causing the chairs to slide back to accommodate us.
“Be seated, please, and let me serve you,” he said.
We did, and it was more than good. Several minutes passed, and apart from compliments on the soup nothing was said. I did not want to be the first with a conversational gambit, though it had occurred to me that the others might feel the same way.
Finally, Jasra cleared her throat, and we both looked at her. I was surprised that she suddenly seemed slightly nervous.
“So, how are things in Chaos?” she asked.
“At the moment, chaotic,” Mandor replied, “not to be facetious.” He thought a moment, then sighed and added, “Politics.”
She nodded slowly, as if considering asking him for the details he did not seem to care to divulge, then deciding against it. She turned toward me.