The Soza children were just returning from lessons to dress for tea when Renz came through the carved double doors to their domed quarters. Little Myra was pulling off her riding boots at the nearest table. Boots of soft, supple leather that wouldn’t agitate the rock runner if she brushed across its sensitive underbelly.

Renz started to ask Myra, “I am going to have an unusual number of messages this week.  Would you be willing…”

Hojon slouched up next to Renz, eyes narrowed. “Why are you asking her? You need something done, you ask me.”

Renz leaned close to Hojon and whispered, “If I need help planning a bachelor party, a coup, or sneaking coffee into our stores, you’re the man I’ll call.  I don’t think you want the elders to hear I relegated you to stamp wax duty. I’ve got something more sophisticated in mind for you.”

Hojon brought himself up to his full height, taller than Renz, and turned to Myra. “You are going to help Ximena. Pay attention and learn something useful.”

She bobbed up and down, “I will. I promise.”

Hojon looked back at Renz. “You know whispering doesn’t keep anyone from hearing?”

Renz grinned. “I do, but humans forget.” He pointed at his ear, very different from the eyan cat-like triangular ears. “We’re used to conspiring in crowds.” To Myra he added, “Could you stop at the kitchen and pick up some extra cookies? It’ll be a long day. Thanks.”

After she bounded out the door, Renz sat with Hojon. “Now. I need your expertise planning a trip cross country to your family’s keep.”

“The castle?” Hojon rubbed his hands together. The sound was rough, like an old farmer’s hands. “What do you need to know?”

“You know the land and the people. I need travel methods, routes, itineraries, and shopping lists. Who is in residence? What do I need to know and what will your family expect? What will please them?”

Renz hadn’t planned to ask so much of the boy, but the intel was essential and Hojon was practically begging for a job.  A busy teenager was better than a slighted teenager with time on his hands.  Renz would run the details past Suvira and Marko to make sure he wasn’t being misled. Damned if he’d play the fool again.

The boy proved earnest when put to the task. By evening he had a map with three possible routes color-coded and tales of points of interest and perils along the way.

Hojon traced one of the lines on the map with a finger. “Train goes as far as the lake, then turns west toward the mines. You’ll want to get off at the southern docks. After that, you must cross the lake or go around the long way. Faster to sail but high visibility.”

Lake was an understatement. It looked like an inland sea.

Hojon traced the line around the lake. “Oxen with cart is standard through here until the mountains get steep. After that, you’ll need donkeys. Three days from the trailhead. Maybe four. You’ll want heavy blankets for nighttime in case of wind. You will stop and camp. Dangerous to climb in the dark if you don’t know the land. Keep left when you camp. Your guide will leave out an offering for the mountain spirits, but best to add something yourself.”

Spirits. More thoughts to trouble his sleep. Renz nodded. “Will the trip across the lake save a couple of days? Maybe give us a break before the big climb?”

Hojon nodded. “Smooth ride and you could save three days if you’re moving a big party. How many?”

Renz thought. He’d trekked to digs before. “Myself, Chi, Joe, Suvira, Ximena, Marko, a pair of hired hands good with animals, someone who knows the mountain trails. Meredith will stay here in my place, so we have a vote on the council. Am I missing anyone?”

Hojon replied, “You should have an attendant and a guard.  Let’s say eleven. You’d need three small tour boats or a pleasure boat. Grandma keeps a gorgeous boat, but if you have less than a dozen in the party, she’ll think you are extravagant.”

Renz smiled. Lady Vida Soza was Hojon’s grandmother. He had picked the right person for the job. “Eleven is nearly a dozen. Would it be better to take the small boats or to add someone to the party?”

Hojon replied, “Well, a single boat can’t get separated and it wouldn’t be bad to be thought extravagant, either. She might give you more leeway. Like Uncle Max with Lady Ravda.”

“I need to negotiate for land. Would she raise the stakes if she thought I had means?”

“Not more than she will already in dealing with humans. Your tribe owes her a debt that cannot be paid with money. She’ll bargain you out of your shirt if you let her.”

Renz laughed. “She’d take the shirt off my back. I understand. So, plan for eleven on the pleasure cruise. Have the galley stocked with the best local stores, plus extra to feed us on the climb.”

Hojon jotted down some notes. “And the entertainment?”

“What would be expected?”

“Either fine music and wine or cheap liquor and exotic dancers.”

Renz paused before answering. He was tired of posturing and needed to relax before being thrust into more difficult situations. “The best local ales and dance music.”

Hojon nodded. “Just a family on holiday. Good image to present.”

“Close enough to the truth.”

Hojon smiled, sharp back teeth showing as he spoke. “Excellent. I’ll arrange interviews for the guard, guide, and attendant. Let the guard choose the hired hands.”

“Chi and Suvira can interview attendants. Marko can interview guards and guides. My tailor Briro arrives in the evening tomorrow. I’ll need a shopping list for the whole party, and he’ll need measurements. Throw in something for yourself.”

Hojon looked up from his notes. “Like a handkerchief or gloves?”

Renz smiled. The boy thought he was being tested. “More like a waistcoat or jacket. Something classy.”

Hojon narrowed his eyes, suspicious. “That would pay for more than one job.”

All the better. Renz replied, “Then say you owe me a couple of favors.”

“Deal.”

~          ~          ~

“This is amazing,” Joe exclaimed, adding more of the candied duck and fruit to his plate. He overindulged in the main course on purpose. “So good.”

Zusa smiled from the kitchen door, pleasantly smug.

“Well, that’s enough for me.” Joe said after his third helping. “If you will excuse me.”

Renz gave him a questioning look but said nothing. There were pleasant nods and Uncle Max wished him a quiet night. A blessing Joe appreciated, even if it was counter to his plans.

In truth, Joe needed to beat Meredith back to the room to investigate the mysterious cabinet. She needed to stay and learn as much as she could from Renz and the Soza contingent before Renz and Joe left for the Soza mountains. Someone needed to stay in the capital and keep track of their interests, and Chi wasn’t going to let Renz out of her sight.

As soon as Joe was back in his room, he pulled his map case out of the closet and removed the letter he had written that afternoon. He’d written the introduction with care, knowing that anyone on a level above him should be of high rank and demanding respect.

Joe scanned the letter to make sure he hadn’t made any obvious mistakes, then signed and sealed the letter with Xicon wax. He felt along the wall to the dumbwaiter and pulled the curtain aside. Joe injected a lubricant into the lock, and this time the key turned with a much quieter motion.

Joe sent his letter up in the dumbwaiter until it hit the top of its range of motion, then closed the door and replaced the lock.

With that done, Joe straightened the curtains and laid a fresh set of papers on the drafting table he’d assembled. There had been a few questions Lady Ravda Soza had asked in the land deal meeting which they did not have in writing, and Joe intended to have clear and exact figures and charts ready before the trip to Soza Castle.

Joe had heard Meredith head to bed in the next room before he fell asleep. Deep in the night, Joe heard the very slow creaking in the wall as the dumbwaiter was lowered back into place from above. Someone had indeed received his message.

Joe tried to sleep, but it was fitful. He was up and dressed before he heard Meredith start the shower nearby. Joe moved the curtain aside and carefully opened the cabinet. He knew at once he had an answer. The wax seal on the letter he found had a blue wave pattern. He slid the letter into his map case to examine after breakfast.

Joe checked the chart of provinces Renz had helped him make as a reference. Blue was Bardor or Omar. Blue waves were the seal for Bardor. The province of the judge who’d seen Joe at his absolute worst. “Brilliant,” he said sarcastically to himself.

He ate breakfast quickly, chatting about the railroad expansion and the trip to Soza province. But his mind was on the letter in his map case. A missive passed down to him in the wee hours of the morning.

Joe asked not to be disturbed and took a tray of citrus water and biscuits back to his room. Once alone, Joe opened the letter and smoothed it out. A bit of blue satin ribbon was attached to the top of the letter in a loop.

“Vashbró,” the letter began. Welcome. The letter was polite and formal, as Joe’s had been.

Welcome to the Capital delegate Joseph Ryan of Xicon. I hope this letter finds you well. It is kind of you to make my acquaintance since I do not stray from the tower to attend crowded events. My family is from the coastal region just south of Market Town and I would be pleased to know our neighbors better.

I believe it is best that Xicon has joined the council at last, as we can weave the necessary connections with our neighbors to keep peacefully moving forward. I have heard of your work toward the innovations already underway in Frey and Soza provinces. There are rumors of more to come.

Should you need the perspective of a less interested party, I have all the time in the world. Should you need coastal connections, I know the names of major players and have insights, but I cannot make introductions.

Please accept my congratulations and my gratitude, delegate.

Lady Bardor of Soza Tower

Joe read the letter carefully twice. There was some intrigue here. He considered sharing the letter with Renz, but only briefly. He’d have to navigate this situation himself, or there would be too many party to it.

A lady in a tower which did not belong to her own family. Literate and agreeable. Unable to seek outside counsel. But she was not locked away without contact. She had heard of the railway project and hints of the observatory. She must have regular visitors. Joe sensed opportunity and danger, but those two things always traveled hand in hand. What were the Soza playing at, holding a member of the Bardor nobility in a tower right under the council’s noses?

Joe drafted a reply, heart pounding.

Thank you for your warm welcome, Lady Bardor. Your kindness is a relief, and I am glad we are neighbors. The capital seems like a new world, though I am beginning to understand the players. I believe there is a lot of good to be done.

Soon we will be heading north into the mountains to solidify plans for the next project. I want to be on the move, but we must wait for the wedding business to be concluded. If we do not appease Kannar and Frey in one motion, I don’t think we would have much hope of appeasing Soza on their own lands.

So, I wait and draw up more plans. Trying to stay busy. I appreciate having someone new to talk to. Someone offering friendship without demands.

Thank you for your care and attention.

Delegate Joseph Ryan, Xicon

Joe folded up a biscuit in a napkin and wrapped it in a yellow length of string, making a bow on top. He sealed the letter and sent it and the biscuit up the dumbwaiter. He hoped his tone was only a little less formal. But he gave more information than he got, and that should show his willingness to grow a friendship. Maybe friendship was the wrong word. Human sentimentality. But that was what he needed in this strange and dangerous place. Friends.

~          ~          ~

Suvira lounged next to Ravan, her head against his shoulder, the talk too serious for anything more intimate, but she felt closer to both the brothers now.  Marko and Tyra had been hurt. A man had come between them. Bitterness and pain Ravan hoped they could outgrow.

Ravan had come to the capital to check on his siblings. He had arranged for his name to be dropped in Suvira’s presence because of her proximity to Marko.

Suvira had extended the invitation to her tea party for her own reasons. She needed to build connections outside of Frey Province if she was going to make something of herself once her quest was completed.

She didn’t mind Ravan's motivations. She’d been pleased to ease Ravan’s mind. Pleased to report Marko as an upstanding and kind soul. But in doing so, she had admitted their liaison. Hearing Marko’s past, she didn’t dare chase after his brother now. But they had the beginnings of a meaningful and flirtatious connection.

Suvira sighed. “I suppose I should go.” She stood and stretched, lithe and teasing.

Ravan nodded. “Quiet night, Suvira.” He walked her to the door. “But you are welcome to return when you feel the time is right.” He caressed her back as she exited.

“Quiet night, Ravan.” Suvira followed the curve of the corridor back toward Soza territory. Ravan did not click the door shut behind her until she was out of sight. Suvira breathed a sigh of relief when she reached her door.

Ximena looked up as she entered. “Suvira. Some tea party?” She was amused.

Suvira nodded. She knew she’d be missed at dinner, but it had been worth it. “It was pleasant. Do you think you could join me for a couple of hours tomorrow? I’m taking Mae Forra shopping.” Suvira hoped to sidetrack more questions or assumptions and Ximena would round out the shoppers to lucky number three.

Ximena nodded. “That sounds like fun. I’m sure I can get away. I don’t have anything to wear for the wedding yet.”

~          ~          ~

Lord Kannar and Lady Frey spared no expense for the wedding and reception. Ava’s dress was a cascade of silver leaves studded with clear crystals. Lord Mardon Kannar was decked in lush fabrics accented in silver and jewels that would have looked at home in the Palace of Versailles.

Renz knew he had to wish the couple well, publicly and believably.  He just didn’t want to do it yet.  He stalled on the far side of the hall, close to familiar faces. Joe had made his falsely sweet wishes to the couple half an hour ago and disappeared, leaving Renz to face them alone.

Meredith replaced his empty wine glass with a fresh one.  “Liquid courage,” she said. “You look like you need it.”

Though it was probably a bad idea, Renz took a long sip anyway. “Okay. Here goes nothing.” He strolled across the wide hall, nodding to faces that turned his way, no matter their disposition. Some of the eyan in attendance were shocked at his presence, some were pleased to see him.  Some, like Kori of Frey standing at Ava’s left hand, looked positively livid that he set foot at this happy occasion. She obviously didn’t get the memo. He had no choice.

He approached Ava and bowed low.

Ava whispered to Renz, “Good boy. Now we can all live.”

Vivid memory hit Renz. Familiar feminine whisper. Weight on his chest. Fingers in his mouth. It had been Ava who assaulted him in his own bed.

Renz half straightened. He rubbed the bridge of his nose as his headache began to throb again. Nausia rushed in. He leaned close to reply. “Congratulations. I hope you get everything you deserve.”

Renz hadn’t been sure the full meaning of his expression would translate until Kori took a step forward and growled low in her throat. Renz parted his hands wide in surrender, taking a half step backward. “Every happiness, Lady Ava Kannar,” he said loud for the audience. “Every Happiness.” He stepped away.

As Renz returned to the main floor, he scanned the room for his people. Marko had been near at hand, just out of sight off to the left of the dais. Suvira was across the room with the Xicon delegation, reveling in her current social situation. Free from her family’s oversite, Suvira had well-wishers of her own.

Ximena and Mae Forra stayed close to her, both in the height of fashion for the season, with satin lacings and black lace edges. Soza and Forra elders stopped by to chat with the young women.

Reva had wished Ava well but had drifted away from Ava to join Suvira’s circle. Reva was admiring Suvira’s cane. Interesting. Renz dared not interrupt the cousins, so he returned to Chi and Meredith nearby. What Renz overheard was superficial, but at least someone from the Frey family made a public display of kinship with Suvira.

As for Joe, he was still missing.

~          ~          ~

Joe hugged the bucket of ice with the bottle of sparkling cidar he brought as he followed the spiral stairs around the outer edge of the tower to the top floor where two doors stood side-by-side. Each door had a key on a hook nearby. Joe took the key to the door on the right. He hesitated, but he’d come this far.

Joe pushed the key into the lock and felt the quiet click. A clean well-maintained lock. He tucked the key into his shirt pocket under his vest, not interested in being locked in. The door opened into a wide room, a near half circle, with tall windows, crisscrossed with wire mesh. In the center of the room sat an eyan woman in blue. Joe leaned back against the door, clicking it back into place.

The woman rose gracefully. Her appearance was ghostly with platinum white fur. She was thin with the outlines of bones showing through her clingy dress. Her muzzle was hollowed, showing the shape of bone underneath. She looked past Joe at first. Over his head. Then she looked down and her face softened with a smile that reminded Joe of Suvira.

Joe set the bucket of ice down on the message table by the door and made a grand bow. “Bright day, Lady Bardor. I hope you are well.”

She giggled. A youthful voice. “Bright day, delegate Joseph. I am well now that you are here.” She turned and started a gramophone which let out a deep but lively melody. Something akin to Jazz.

Joe brought the ice bucket to a side table with waiting glasses and opened the bottle. The pop of the cork startled them both and they laughed. “One for you,” Joe said as he passed the first glass to the young Lady Bardor. “And one for me.” Joe took a long drink, finding himself nervous alone with the eyan woman in the tower.

Lady Bardor sipped the drink, eyes fluttering as she enjoyed the sensation. Then she began to move. Swinging to the music. She took Joe’s hand and he joined the dance with pleasure.

They stepped and spun along with the music past the peak, and as it slowed Joe found himself pulled down with the ghostly lady to the pillows on the floor. She nuzzled his cheek, platinum fur soft as a kitten.

Joe’s heart beat hard and fast. This was exhilarating and dangerous. In the tower where this feminine creature nuzzled him and shivered. Joe leaned against her, letting her take charge. But after a few minutes, she unfolded herself and helped him to his feet.

“Thank you, Joseph.” She stroked his face with the back of her fingers. “You give me faith that there are still good people in this world.”

Joe smiled and kissed the backs of her fingers. “Thank you for letting me dance.” He took that moment to step back and bow, but turning toward the door, he was apprehensive. He felt the key in his breast pocket. “Must I…” he looked back at the lady, unable to finish the question.

Lady Bardor nodded. “Lock me in or Soza will know I could escape. I am safe as long as they think I am harmless.” She was suddenly sullen. A haunted figure as dusk fell, and the encroaching darkness made the hollowness of her face deeper.

Joe’s breath caught in his throat. She was surely not harmless, but this was wrong. Before he left, Joe bowed one more time. “Write if you need anything.” Then he left, feeling the dull clink of the lock as he left Lady Bardor in her gilded cage.

~          ~          ~

Meredith joined Renz for tea in his suite the day before Renz left for Soza territory. The room was bright and airy with the balcony doors open.

"We should set up a code." Meredith gestured with her pocket translator. "So we can pass messages through the dictionary."

Renz thought for a moment then nodded. "Doesn't have to be complicated. Just pick a few words we'll both remember." Renz pulled up culinary words in Hindi and selected rotee. He hit edit, added TAG to the end of the definition, and saved. He uploaded the change to the Lexicon University language dictionary and set a notification for Meredith.

It was ten minutes before Meredith's translator pinged, letting her know of the change. "Success." She deleted the added TAG, and it took half an hour for the university system to alert Renz of the change.

Renz and Meredith agreed to send messages using culinary terms. Meredith switched her unit to silent mode. "We should check for messages twice a day. No need to alert anyone else we're texting."

Renz smiled. "I'll send messages before midday or before dinner. Only if necessary."

Later in the day, Meredith returned to her room before dinner. Joe was waiting.

"I have something to show you." Joe bounced on the balls of his feet and held out a brass key.

"What's this?" Meredith asked, palming the key.

"A secret. One you should know about before I leave town." Joe walked to the curtained wall and pulled a section back, revealing the cabinet.

"Well, then." Meredith stepped up and turned the key in the lock. She examined the dumbwaiter. "This is a cloak and dagger day. Where does this go?"

Joe pointed up. "The right side chamber of the nearest tower. Lady Bardor is in ... residence."

Meredith raised an eyebrow. "I take it there is something fishy going on?"

"I haven't worked out if she is being held for a crime or for her own good." Joe fidgeted and looked at his shoes.

"What have you worked out?" Meredith tested the ropes but kept an eye on Joe.

"I believe she is Lord Justice Bardor's daughter. She has two brothers, her only siblings. She suffered a long illness, but not the landing sickness." Joe kicked at the edge of the curtains. "She is locked in but has regular visitors. She doesn't seem drugged and her room hasn't been cleared of dangerous materials."

Meredith raised an eyebrow. "You're saying you've met her and she's not a danger to herself? That's pretty intimate information."

"I spent half an hour with her when she wasn't allowed out for the wedding. Didn't seem fair." Joe reached over and closed the cabinet, gesturing for Meredith to lock it. "There's something else."

Joe jerked the curtains back into place and paced. "Suvira met the lady's brother Ravan, in the capital to check up on his siblings, Lady Tyra Bardor and Marko Bardor."

Meredith's brow furrowed. "No. The son of a lord wouldn't be..."

"Cozying up to the spokesperson for their nearest and most mysterious new neighbor?" Joe sighed. "Fraid so. Question is, what should I do about it?"

"Watch and listen. I think they are feeling out our intentions and our usefulness." Meredith shook her head. The poison had been real. Marko's rescue had been. But something else was going on in the shadows. "Don't tell Renz. He has a terrible poker face."

~     ~     ~

Renz enjoyed the bustle and the drums of the railway station waiting for their departure on the Utóv train. The Dusk Train leaves the capital in the late afternoon and reaches the docks by the lake before dawn.

Renz remembered the droning chorus of the workers loading and unloading freight from his visit to Omar Station. "Rua borda akka dae. Rua borda akka dae." The rhythm was calming.

And Renz was one step closer to closing the land deal that would give Lexicon University its mountaintop observatory. The facility they were building would include an antenna to connect them to the Bhatkal Space Station and the other colonists in the Chordas System.

Marko moved along the line of their party. "Two by two, please. Line up in pairs."

The standard single-file line was eighty feet ahead of them. They would have their own compartment on the Utóv. The station master had insisted.

The train rolled into place and whistled its shrill release of steam. The side of their car was painted with streaks of blue and green aurora over dark blue. An attendant opened the door and pulled a brass lever, lowering steps into place with a clack. The party was waved aboard a dining car with heavy curtains separating sections and padded benches curving around polished tables.

Renz and Chi moved to the far back. They watched out the porthole-like window as the Dusk Train picked up speed and rolled out of the capital.

~     ~     ~

The train dropped the travelers at the dock by the great lake as the morning mist lifted off the rippled, blue water. The sky lightened near the horizon.

An eyan woman dragged a tattered and threadbare satchel behind her as she circled the dock house. Her clothes had probably been fine and fashionable twenty years ago. She mumbled as she shuffled along, almost a purr.

Suvira stared for a moment and then ran off. Marko went after her.

The woman approached Renz and his companions, taking a few steps forward and then one backward. Her shirt and skirt were clean and recently washed. So were the socks on her shoeless feet. Her dark brown fur was wiry and curled, missing patches. Her eyes bulged and her hands twisted as she started to talk loud enough to be heard. “Could you let me in? My, you have a pretty smile. Could you let me into the building? Yes. I do not want to urinate in the street.”

Renz frowned. The eyan contingent of his party had turned their backs. Chi had backed away. “I’m sorry, Ma’am. I don’t have a key. I don’t work here.”

She backed up a couple of steps, then forward a few more. “I told you that you have a pretty smile so you would not call the constable. Please let me in the building. Don’t make me urinate in the street. Pretty little creature.” She made a motion as if petting him from a distance. She took another step forward. “You help. Open the door.”

Renz backed up to the wall and held up a hand, hoping a stop motion was obvious enough. “I wish I could, but I can’t get in either.”

Marko came around the corner. He stepped between Renz and the woman. “Can I help you, Ma’am?” His tone was stern and brisk.

“Oh. Do you have the key? You have to let me in. The bathroom. Look, I’ve urinated already. Let me in so I can clean up.” She pulled out what looked like a bent-up paperclip and scraped a line onto the wooden walkway. It was dry, but she insisted she wet herself. “And it’s your fault. Not helping a poor woman. Shame.” She brandished the thin metal stick at Marko.

“It is the owner’s fault for locking the door in the first place. No one can use the facilities at this hour. If you live nearby, you know that already. Do not harass travelers on the docks.”

Marko stepped forward and she jerked backward, but not before he’d acquired the potential weapon. Other items fell loose from her pockets: a broken bit of wood, a dried flower, coins, and a lighter.

She scrambled after the items. “No! They’re mine. You can’t take them if they’re mine. Nasty man. Shame.”

Renz took a step forward. “It will be alright. Keep your things. They are yours. Take them and go.”

“Pretty little creature. You pardon old Morga?” she asked, hunched on the ground, eyes still bulging.

Marko twitched his left ear. A sign Renz recognized for danger. Renz shook his head. “I don’t give pardons, Morga. But you have a bright day when the sun comes up.”

She spat in his direction, then turned toward the empty market stalls in the distance.

Renz shivered and took a step closer to Marko. “What was that?” he asked.

“Paroa. An undesirable who has been cast out of society. Sometimes they go a bit mad.”

~          ~          ~

As the elegant wheel boat Deep Whispers glided out from the dock, long reed canoes and sturdy wooden rafts maneuvered in line with her. The attending fishermen and traders took the Whispers’ northeasterly track and the occupants waved and shouted. Renz shouted back friendly hellos and Joe waved his feathery hat over their heads.

Two fishermen in a ragged canoe moved in close. The older man with pockmarks from the landing sickness leaped to the front of the craft. "Vermin!" He raised a barbed spear. 

Suvira swept Chi off her feet and dove to cover her. Marko shoved Renz and Joe, knocking them to the deck.

The younger man in the canoe brought his oar out of the water and slapped the assailant. The spear soared in a wide arc and hit the side of the boat, scraping across the hull and sliding into the water.  Its wielder slipped over the edge, into the lake. He grabbed at the side of the canoe, but the younger man bashed him on the head with the oar.

Renz crawled across the deck to Chi. “You alright?”

Chi shoved at Suvira who slowly rolled sideways and stood. “I think so.” Chi gingerly pushed herself up to her knees. “Dizzy.”

Renz looked back at Marko who was talking over the guardrail with fishermen below. Not seeing any sign of continued danger, Renz stood and offered Chi his hand. As she stood and leaned against him, Renz said, “Thank you, Suvira. For looking out for Chi.”

Suvira shrugged a shoulder. “Lady Chi hesitated. I reacted. No need for thanks.”

Chi put her hand over her heart. “We’re thankful, all the same.”

~          ~          ~

The first night on the mountain trail Chi arranged the tent and the bedding as best she could on the rough ground while Marko and Renz helped unload their valuables into the supply tent. It would be close quarters, but Marko refused to leave Chi and Renz unguarded. Chi was glad for Marko’s warmth against her back as the temperature dropped.

The night was full of foreign noise. Howling, scratching, whimpering. The mountains sounded haunted. Chi had nearly fallen asleep when she heard closer noises. Footsteps, the scratch of metal on stone.

Marko yanked the blanket up. Chi clung to Renz as the cold air hit them. Marko crouched over the couple, pulling the blanket over them all. The tent flap flew back. Marko made a grunting noise and leaned forward. The flap fell back in place. He bent down and whispered, “Intruders.”

For a moment Chi thought Marko had been hit. But the grunting noise, the motion, had been on purpose. From the entrance, it must have looked like a man mounting a woman. Chi had never been so aroused and so terrified at the same time.

Marko covered Chi and Renz with the blankets, then darted to the door with a dagger in hand. He was outside in seconds.

Rocks skittered nearby. Fabric tore. Voices screamed, familiar and strange. A body fell against the outside of the tent near Chi’s head. She screamed. Renz squeezed her close.

Someone called all clear. The body was dragged away.

Chi and Renz pulled at each other’s clothes and fumbled around in the dark.

Marko jumped back in, looking for an attacker. When he found the couple impassioned, he turned and crouched by the door, knife still in hand.

~          ~          ~

Renz woke to the smell of bacon. The attendant had hung strips of cured meat from a rod over the cook fire. The women gathered around the fire in the cool morning air. Chi hid her face when she spotted Renz. The other women giggled. Had they made that much noise last night?

The tent had a bloom of brown spread across a patch where the body had landed. Freeze-dried blood.

Renz found Marko brushing the donkeys. They were gorgeous black creatures that stood four-foot to the shoulder. They had stiff mohawks and long faces.  Renz asked, “Who were those men?”

“Not normal bandits. They were looking for someone in particular. They carried restraints. I think they intended to take you alive.”

Renz paled. “Any idea who they were?”

“Many but nothing certain. Probably angry locals, ransom hunters, or another gift from Kannar.”

“Well. Thank you for being there.”

“I expected bandits or an assassin. Not a raiding party. They lost two men. We left them for the mountain spirits.” Marko pointed to a notch in the cliff face south of camp where their guide had left fruit and flowers the night before. Two eyan bodies were propped up together, as if in a drunken sleep.

“Do the mountain spirits take eyan sacrifices?”

“Only rarely. Preferably live and willing. But it will discourage their companions from another attempt.”

“If it is such a terrible fate, why would someone be willing?”

“To be a young woman’s plaything for eternity?”

Renz watched Ximena run a comb through Chi’s raven hair. “Point taken.” Renz would accept that fate if the spirit was Chi. “I hope Chi isn’t too embarrassed after last night.”

Marko cocked his head to the side. “Why would she be? It was so brave. No one this side of the mountain will believe she fears anything. Either of you. The fear in the camp evaporated into excitement. We were all relieved. Your enemies were surely intimidated.”

Renz blushed and dug at the ground with his boot. He was reminded of Roosevelt: Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear. “At least for humans, bravery is not an absence of fear, but the control of it. Fear adds to the excitement.”

~          ~          ~

The trail climbed for two more days into thinner air and the last five miles were slow going. Renz, Chi, and Joe felt sluggish and clumsy. Reaching the crest of the trail, they paused in awe.

A mass of towers curved around a central hive-like castle dome. The western face clung to the cliffs of the mountainside and the eastern face hung over the edge of a deep crater lake called Sozan Dema. Flowering vines crept up the sides of the towers. The early evening setting sun slanted pink tints across curving surfaces, contrasting with blue shadows. From a couple of miles away it looked to Renz like a fairy castle.

Joe whistled. “She’s a beauty.”

The trail was a straight line to the front gate now, and the castle loomed closer and darker as twilight set in.

Upon approach, massive double doors creaked open with the clatter of chains and a whistle of steam in the distance. Inside the half-moon entry, the castle denizens lined up to greet their guests. From the smallest, wriggling kitten-like babe to the most wrinkled and wizened elder, they stood with barely bottled excitement to meet the first humans to climb the Soza mountains.

After an hour to freshen up, the delegation made their way to meet the lady of the castle in a more intimate setting.

A scent wafted from the salon, familiar. Clove and pepper. Suvira grabbed Renz’ sleeve. He nodded. The truth drug. Not that knowing was likely to help.

The lady of the castle, Lady Vida Soza lay sprawled on a sedan, her blond tail swaying lazily to the music of a lute, the instrument stroked in rhythm by her younger husband Kinzo.

The housekeeper announced, “The First of Xicon, Doctor Renz Banister.” She looked Chi, Joe, and Suvira over from their heads to their boots. “And company.” She turned on her heels and left.

 “Rude,” Joe said.

Renz bowed low. “Bright day, Lady Soza. I am honored.”

Lady Vida Soza raised a hand and the music stopped. “I hope I can say the same. Doctor, is it?”

Renz straightened, dizzy in the pungent air. “Doctor of Science, not Medicine, though I am a fair nurse.”

“And why do the humans send me a scientist instead of a lord or a businessman.”

“The University sent me. Because I speak the language as well as any human, and the University doesn’t trust outsiders to know their business. And technically I am a lord.”

Suvira brought over pillows and helped Renz sit down.

Lady Soza narrowed her eyes. “The Doctor needs a nurse? Are you ill?” She put her hand to her mouth as if to ward off germs.

“Just lightheaded from the incense.  It’s quite strong.”

“Interesting. Relax then. Have some water.”

An attendant appeared at Renz elbow, a young woman with one ear clipped short. She handed Renz a glass and left a polished wood tray by his side. Renz nodded to her. “Thank you.”

After a few breaths, Lady Soza sat up and leaned forward. “Now. Tell me why you are here.”

“I need to negotiate for land to build an observatory in the mountains and the infrastructure to support the facility,” Renz replied.

“For the humans? What are you observing?”

“Outer space, the stars, the planets.”

“Sounds frivolous. What is in it for me?”

“Jobs, expanded trade, education, and medicine.”

“And what do you do for fun?”

“Well,” Not a question Renz expected. “I love food, music, ale. I read.” He ran a hand over his embroidered silk vest. “I enjoy fine clothes and a hot shower.”

The lady dismissed this with a wave of her hand. “Life’s essentials. Things we appreciate after a good climb. I mean, what excites you?”

Unfair question to ask a drugged man. “The curves of a well-formed body. Silky hair,” Hard to think beyond that but he must. “A good debate, or even a vicious debate. I guess I love to argue and rant.”

“Very good. It takes a man of passion to build a legacy. Let’s hope you are up to the task.”

Renz wondered out loud, “What excites you?”

She sat up straighter. “Exotic men who ask impertinent questions. Lucky for you they’re rare.”

A warning, Renz was sure. Though she was also breathing the incense, so likely true.

~          ~          ~