"I only talked to him once, but he was very charming." Taya sighed. And dangerously good-looking. "I have to say no, Gwen. He's probably got the wrong impression about me — you know how it is. And besides, I don't have anything to wear."
"Go in your flight suit. That's perfectly acceptable attire for an icarus on business," Gwen said firmly. Taya wrinkled her nose.
"I don't think he expects this dinner to be business."
"He said it was to thank you."
"Yes." Taya didn't mention the letter's greeting, which was less than businesslike.
"Well, then he can't complain if you wear your flight suit. And if you don't want to give him the wrong impression, a flight suit is more than chaste."
Taya smiled. That was true. Alister might be disappointed if she showed up in a flight suit instead of a dress, but the few smocks she owned were more suitable for picnics over summer on Secundus than dinner during autumn on Primus. And a flight suit really was very difficult to get out of.
She chewed on her bottom lip, thinking about it.
"But his brother doesn't approve…."
"His brother's a freak."
"He is not!"
"He's an exalted who walks around barefaced and dresses like a famulate. Taya, dear, he's a freak. And an ill-tempered freak, at that."
"He's not so grouchy when you get to know him." Taya wasn't sure why she was defending the clockwright. Gwen was right. Still… she felt a little sorry for him. It couldn't be easy, living the life of an outcaste.
"Well, he's not so important, either. If I were you, I'd worry more about offending a decatur than an outcaste. If you're going to fly with the eagles, dearest, you can't waste your time on the crows."
Crows. Taya's lips curved up. Cristof did look like a crow, and he certainly squawked like one.
"Then you think I should go?"
"You want to join the diplomat corps, don't you?"
"What — oh." Taya's voice dropped to a whisper as it suddenly dawned on her. "Oh!"
Exam scores were only part of the decision-making process. Diplomatic envoys had to work very closely with exalteds, so political acumen and personality were also important. The corps selection board would be inclined to favor a candidate who had friends on the Oporphyr Council.
"Oh. Oh, Lady," she groaned, suddenly seeing everything in a new light. "Why did you have to say that?"
"Hmph, some diplomat you'll make! You'd better start thinking like a politician, love. You have a golden opportunity to advance yourself, and there's no shame in making the most of it. You didn't rescue that woman for selfish reasons, and you didn't ask the decatur to invite you out to dinner. But as long he did, it's your duty to accept the Lady's gift and use it!"
Taya made a face. She hadn't applied to the diplomatic corps to dabble in politics. If politics had interested her, she wouldn't have been so bored by Pyke. She'd applied to the corps so she could interact with foreigners, get a taste of their cultures, and maybe even travel outside of Ondinium someday. It was the unusual and exotic that had attracted her to diplomatic work, not the politics and power plays.
"It just seems so… manipulative."
"Whether or not it's manipulative is up to you. I'm not telling you to accept the dinner, sleep with the man, and then start asking him for favors. Just go and do your best to impress him with your good sense and good manners."
"Yes…. "Taya drew in a deep breath. Yes, that was sound advice. "Thank you, Gwen."
The landlady smiled, pleased with herself.
"A decatur — you're a lucky girl, Taya. Who knows? This could be a turning point in your life."
Cassi didn't agree that a flight suit was appropriate dinner attire, but after making a frenzied survey of the wardrobe of every icarus in the eyrie who was roughly Taya's height and build, she had been forced to agree that it was Taya's best option on such short notice.
"But," she warned Taya, "if this what your new life is going to be like, we're going to have to get you a better wardrobe."
"I'd be perfectly happy spending the rest of my life in this suit," Taya confessed, looking at herself in Cassi's mirror. They'd gone up to the docks to retrieve it and had spent two hours replacing worn straps and buckles and buffing the well-worn leather to a soft glow. "It's comfortable, practical, and warm."
"You're not going to catch yourself a man wearing comfortable, practical, and warm," Cassi said tartly. "About the only thing a flight suit has going for it is that it's tight."
"Big deal." Taya scowled at her chest, pressed even flatter than usual by the suit's snug fit. "I look like a boy, just like your nephew said."
"Well, we could pad you out, but your decatur might be surprised if you suddenly grew breasts."
Taya smiled. "This is just business. I'm not trying to seduce him."
"Good thing, if you're wearing that
"
Taya sat on the porch stairs at eight, her hands in warm gloves and her collar pulled high. Their hunt through the eyrie for a suitable dress had spread the news of her dinner appointment, and the other icarii had started offering her scandalous advice about "what exalteds want." Explaining that her date was a cousin of the exalted she'd saved hadn't stopped the chaffing. Finally, she'd fled outside, preferring to sit in the cold than listen to more jokes.
At last she heard one of the city's small, one-horse hacks rattling down the street. She stood and waved to the famulate driver, who saluted and pulled over to the porch.
"Taya Icarus?" he asked.
"That's me." She watched as the coachman wrapped the reins around a rail and hopped down to open the door. "Where are we going?"
"Rhodanthe's, on Primus. Fare and tip are already paid." He smiled pleasantly at her. "Never carried an icarus as a passenger before. Always seems a little strange to see one of you without your wings, don't it? My map says I can get to Regent if I keep following Cliff Road, but I thought Cliff dead-ends at the flight docks. Is the map right, then, or am I?"
"Both, actually. Cliff Road forks, and you can get to Regent if you take the left turn, but it's not Cliff Road anymore. I think it turns into Catamount."
"Wide enough for us, you think?"
"It's used by delivery wagons making their rounds, so it must be," she assured him. "It's dark, though."
"I have lanterns. Well, in you go, then, and my thanks for the directions."
"Sure." Taya slid inside, then leaned forward as the coachman was about to close the door. "What's your name?"
"I'm Gregor, and my mare here is Bolt. We make the city circuit during the day, the two of us, but we can be hired special if you leave a message at any of the hack stations."
"I'll remember," she promised. He touched his cap and closed the door. In another moment, the hack lurched forward.
Riding in a hack, Taya decided after about ten minutes, was considerably more uncomfortable than walking, and a lot less efficient than flight.
Most Ondiniums walked. Because the city was so crowded and steep, only a few horse-drawn vehicles were licensed to operate in the sectors. Most of them were wagons for deliveries and hacks for the elderly and crippled. Exalteds used the wireferry or their own light carriages for travel, and icarii, of course, flew, delivering the post and acting as couriers and messengers to spare others the long walks from sector to sector.
Foreigners were the economic mainstay of the hack system. Few of them had the lungpower to manage the steep hikes through the city that native Ondiniums took for granted.
By the time the hack had reached the smoother streets of Primus and stopped, Taya was thoroughly shaken and disgruntled. She stepped out of the coach with a grimace and stretched.
"You all right, then?" Gregor asked.