Hold’s seamstress was not particularly adept, and constantly eating:
generally something that ran, smeared or left crumbs on their chins and
tunics. None of them bathed frequently enough and their hair was long,
greasy and roughly cut. Even the two girls showed no feminine interest
in their appearance. One had hacked her hair off with a knife . . .
except the long tress she wore down the back, strung with beads and
little bells. The other had thick braids which were rarely redone
unless whatever fastened the end had got lost.
lantine had struggled with the porcine Chaldon, had realized that the
child could not be depicted naturally’ and tried to retain enough
resemblance so that others would know which child had been painted.
But his portrait was unsatisfactory’. Only the youngest, a sturdy lad
of three who said nothing beyond No’ and carried a stuffed toy with him
from which he could not be parted, was deemed marginally satisfactory’.
Actually the dirty bear’ was the best part of Briskin’s portrait.
lantine had tried to romanticize Luccha’s unusual hairstyle and was told
that she’d look better with proper hair’ which he could certainly add
in if he was any good at all. And why did she have such an awkward
expression on her face, when Luccha had the sweetest smile and such a
lovely disposition?
(Especially when she was busy trying to unite the Hold’s cats by tying
their tails together, Iantine had added mentally. Bitra Hold did not
have a single unscathed animal, and the spit-boy said they’d lost seven
dogs to accidents’ that year already.) Luccha’s mouth was set aslant
in her face, the thin lips usually compressed in a sour line.
Lonada, the second daughter, had a pudding face, with small dark holes
for eyes, and her father’s nose: bad enough in a male, but fatal for a
female.
lantine had also had to buy’ a lock from the Hold steward to prevent
his sleeping-furs from walking out of the narrow little cubicle in which
he was quartered. He knew his packs had been searched the first day;
probably several times by the variety of smeared fingerprints left on
the paint pots. As he had brought nothing of real value with him – not
having many possessions – he hadn’t worried.
Holds usually had one light-fingered person, and the Hold steward
usually knew who it was and retrieved what had gone astray from guests’
rooms.
But when lantine found his paint pots left open to dry out, he
protested. And paid’ for a lock. Not that he felt all that secure,
for if there was one key to that lock, there could be duplicates. But
his furs did remain on his bed. And glad he was to have them, for the
thin blanket supplied was holey and ought to have been torn up for rug
lengths long since.
That was the least of his problems at Bitra Hold, however.
Having heard all that was wrong with the next set of miniatures he
managed to produce, a third larger than the first, Iantine began to have
a somewhat clearer grasp of just how the parents envisaged their
offspring. On his fifth set, he nearly won the accolade of
satisfactory’. Nearly Then the children, one after another, succumbed
to an infant disease that resulted in such a rash that they could not
possibly sit’.
Well, you’d better do something to earn your keep, Chalkin told his
contract portraitist when Lady Nadona had announced the children were
isolated.
The contract says I will have room and board – – -, Chalkin held up a
thick forefinger, his smile not the least bit humorous. When you are
honouring that contract – But the children are sick Chalkin had
shrugged. That’s neither here nor there. You are unable to honour the
specific conditions of the contract.
Therefore you are not entitled to be fed and housed at the Hold’s
expense. Of course, I can always deduct your leisure time from the fee
. . . The smile deepened vindictively.
Leisure . . . lantine had been so enraged that the protest burst
from him before he could suppress it. No wonder, he thought, shaking