"Serai," she murmured, and smiled at the courtesan as she approached. Her voice was surprisingly light and sweet. She came forward, hands held out, and Serai took them, smiling. "It's been too long since you've visited us."
Serai inclined her head in a bow of deference to Lady Placida's station. "Thank you, Your Grace. And how is your lord husband, if I may ask?"
Lady Placida rolled her eyes the tiniest bit, and drily murmured, "He was not feeling well enough to attend tonight's festivities. Something in the air, no doubt."
"No doubt," Serai replied, her voice grave. "If I may be so bold, would you convey my best wishes to him for a speedy recovery?"
"Gladly," the High Lady said. She turned her face to Isana and smiled politely. "And you, lady. Would you happen to be Isana of Calderon?"
Isana bowed her head in reply. "If you please, Your Grace, just Isana."
Lady Placida arched a brow and studied Isana with intent, alert eyes. "No, Steadholder. I'm afraid I must disagree. Indeed, of all the women in the Realm, it would seem that you might be the one who most deserves the honorific. You've done something no other woman in all the history of Alera has ever done. You've earned rank and title without resorting to marriage or murder."
Isana shook her head. "The First Lord deserves the credit, if anyone. I had little say in the matter."
Lady Placida smiled. "History seldom takes note of serendipity when it records events. And from what I have heard, I suspect an argument could be made that you very much did earn the title."
"Many women have earned titles, Your Grace. It doesn't seem to have been a factor in whether or not they actually received them."
Lady Placida laughed. "True enough. But perhaps that is beginning to change." She offered her hands. "It is a distinct pleasure to meet you, Steadholder."
Isana clasped the other woman's hands for a moment, smiling. "Likewise."
"Please tell me that Serai is not your guide here in the capital," the High Lady murmured.
Serai sighed. "Everyone thinks the worst of me."
"Tut, dear," Lady Placida said calmly, her eyes shining. "I don't think the worst of you. I happen to know it. And I shudder to think to what kinds of shocking experiences the good Steadholder is about to be exposed."
Serai thrust out her lower lip. "Few enough. I'm staying at Sir Nedus's manor. I've got to be on my best behavior."
Lady Placida nodded in understanding. "Isana, have any of the Dianic League's council spoken to you yet?"
"Not yet, Your Grace," Isana replied.
"Ah," said Lady Placida. "Well, I'll not bore you with a recruiting speech here at the party, but I should enjoy the chance to discuss matters with you before the conclusion of Wintersend. I think there are many things that you and the League might have to offer one another."
"I don't know what I could offer, Your Grace," Isana said.
"An example, for one," Lady Placida replied. "Word of your appointment has spread like wildfire, you know. There are thousands of women in the Realm who have been shown that there are doors that might now be open to them that were not before."
"Your Grace," Serai lied smoothly, "I am afraid that the Steadholder's time is by and large accounted for, as a guest of the First Lord's-but I happen to know the outrageously beautiful slave in charge of her calendar, and I should be glad to speak to her on your behalf to see if we can open up a time."
Lady Placida laughed. "My own time is somewhat limited, you know."
"I do not doubt it," Serai said. "But perhaps something might be arranged. What are your mornings like?"
"Filled with endless receptions for the most part, but for my lord husband's audience with the First Lord."
Serai arched a thoughtful brow. "There is usually quite a bit of walking involved during the audience. Perhaps you might permit the Steadholder to accompany you for conversation?"
"An excellent notion," Lady Placida said. "But two days too late, I am afraid. My lord husband was first on the list this year." Her words were light and pleasant, but Isana saw something shrewd and calculating in her eyes for a moment. "I'll have one of my staff contact you to find a time to take tea with the Steadholder-if that is all right with you, of course, Isana."
"Oh. Yes, of course," Isana said.
"Excellent," Lady Placida said, smiling. "Until we meet again, then." She turned away to take up a conversation with a pair of grey-bearded men, each wearing the deep purple sash of a Senator.
Isana's stomach clenched in frustration and worry. She glanced at Serai, and said, "There must be someone else."
Serai frowned at the High Lady's back for a moment, and murmured to Isana, "Of course, darling. If at first you don't succeed, pick the next most likely course of action." The courtesan looked around the garden. "Mmm. Lord and Lady Riva probably aren't going to be very interested in helping you, I'm afraid. They very much resent how the First Lord appointed your brother as the new Count Calderon without consulting them on the matter."
"Who does that leave?" Isana asked.
Serai shook her head. "We'll keep trying until we've heard no from everyone. But let me go speak to Lord Rhodes."
"Shouldn't I come with you?"
"No," Serai said, firmly. "Remember, I think he's going to rather enjoy the look of you. I'd like to spring that on him as a surprise. It may warm him to the idea of taking you with him. Just watch me and come over when I wave, darling."
"All right," Isana said.
Serai glided through the attendees, smiling and exchanging courtesies as she went. Isana watched her, and felt suddenly vulnerable without the Cursor's presence and guidance. Isana glanced around, looking for a place she could wait without jumping like a frightened cat every time someone walked behind her. There was a long stone bench beside a nearby fountain, and Isana settled lightly down on it, making sure that she could see Serai.
A moment later, a woman in a red gown settled on the other end of the bench and nodded pleasantly at Isana. She was tall, her hair dark though shot with silver. She had clear grey eyes and lovely, if remote features.
Isana nodded back with a smile, then frowned thoughtfully. The woman seemed familiar, and a moment later she recognized her from the attack at the windport. She was the woman Isana had stumbled into.
"My lady," Isana said, "I'm afraid I didn't get the chance to beg your pardon at the windport this morning."
The woman arched a brow, expression quizzical, then she suddenly smiled. "Oh, on the landing platform. There were no broken bones-hardly a need to apologize."
"All the same. I left without doing so."
The woman smiled. "Your first time at the capital's windport?"
"Yes," Isana said.
"It can be overwhelming," the woman said, nodding. "So many windcrafters and porters and litters. All that dust blowing around-and, of course, no one can see anything. It's madness during Wintersend. Don't feel bad, Steadholder."
Isana blinked at the woman startled. "You recognize me?"
"A great many would," the woman said. "You are one of the more famous women in the Realm this year. I am sure the Dianic League will be falling all over itself to welcome you."
Isana forced herself to smile politely, keeping a tight rein on her emotions. "It's quite flattering. I've spoken to High Lady Placida already."
The woman in red laughed. "Aria is many things-but none of them are flattering. I hope she was pleasant to you."
"Very," Isana said. "I had not expected this kind of…" She hesitated, searching for a phrase that would not give the noblewoman offense.
"Courtesy?" the woman suggested. "Common politeness uncommon in a noblewoman?"
"I would not describe it using any of those terms, lady," Isana replied, but she couldn't keep the wry humor out of her voice.
The woman laughed. "And I suspect that is because you have a conscience, whereas a great many of the people here would only be moved to it by their political ambitions. Ambitions are incompatible with consciences, you know. The two strangle one another straightaway and leave an awful mess behind them."