“I’m sony, Khornya,” he apologized-with some effort-aloud. “I thought you “would be dressed by now.”
“Oh, but I am dressed!” she said, twirling. “Like it?” He didn’t say anything for a moment, then realized, with an expression of relief, that she was -wearing her horn-hat, as she thought of the ornamental shields. He gave her a huge false grin and nodded so hard she thought he’d shake his own horn off. He was a buS^Ing diplomat, after all. In the mainstream of Linyaari culture there “would be little opportunity to lie and he was unaccustomed to the practice. She supposed she should give him credit for knowing when a fib was called for.
He quickly donned a horn-hat that coordinated with his own ensemble. It had a three-dimensional stylized red fabric bird perched on the tip to match the birds quilted, stuffed and embroidered on his flowing waistcoat, the cummerbund at his waist, and perched on each shoulder like epaulets, and delicately poised upon an oversize codpiece.
Acorna politely broke into a fit of coughing to disguise the portion of her reaction not softened by the hom-hat. Linyaari fashion was going to take some getting used to. Strange that in her travels around the galaxy she had never for a moment entertained an ethnocentric attitude, had never even considered that the clothing or customs of others might be ridiculous. She supposed she felt more strongly about the Linyaari customs because they were, after all, her customs and she was supposed to adhere to them. One of her disguises as a Didi would have fit right in but her own natural style definitely did not.
“I saw the crew off on the new mission,” Thariinye said. Acorna was glad his tone was grave. It helped her keep a straight face. She heard just a hint of censure in his tone, as if she should have been there to say good^bye, too. But surely he had heard her being ordered by the vi’maar to ready herself for this occasion?
They did not speak as they crossed the Singing Stones again, enjoying the music instead, as it blended harmoniously with the Linyaari music emanating from a pavilion even larger than the one the vlizcmr occupied. This one had bundles of flowers decorating it on the outside, and streamers of ribbon added to the gold tassels. People were flocking into it-or perhaps a better expression was that bouquets of people were gathering themselves into the pavilion and onto the dance floor spreading all around it like a carousel containing only unicorn people.
Ridiculous as the dresses and men’s clothing looked individually, collectively they were rather breathtaking, like a field of multihued blossoms, studded with brilliant stones and even ribbon that looked amazingly like flowing water.
Several of the men wore bird costumes such as Thariinye’s, while others wore designs depicting other animals, or elements such as fire and water. One or two had embroidery resembling the fleet of starships. A few had celestial themes to their clothing. The total effect was far more attractive than Acorna would have imagined.
To her surprise, the huge tent was used not for dancing, but for the reception line and dining. Her graze of the afternoon had worn off, and terraces and tiers of all sorts of vegetation growing right from the soil inside the pavilion looked delectable. The pavilion had a large central panel which opened to capture sunlight. It was now raised, to admit the fresh breezes and an excellent view of the heavens that so recently had been Acorna’s home.
“Ah, Khornya, Thariinye,” the viizaar said. “Please stand next to me to greet your guests. My aide will introduce you to each.”
Thariinye saved them both by saying, “Certainly, Vuzaar Liriili, but if we may have a moment to dine beforehand? I haven’t-that is, neither Khornya nor I have eaten since landing and the journey was quite long.”
The viizaar beamed up at him again. “Of course, dear boy. But I’m afraid the line to meet Khornya is already quite long. Why don’t you harvest some of the most succulent foods and bring them to her to sample?”
Thariinye demurred charmingly. “I’d be happy to, ma’am, except that Khornya’s peculiar upbringing makes it impossible for me to guess what her tastes might be.”