"No, that would be perfect! I'd love to see another country. Wouldn't it be wonderful to see Mareaux's famous vineyards, or a Demican bear hunt, or the Cabiel jungles?"
"I see. You're a true-born icarus, full of soaring dreams and aspirations."
"Haven't you ever been out of Ondinium?"
"I'm not permitted. Everyone who studies programming at the University signs a contract swearing to remain in the city. I've heard rumors of an elite group of lictors that is sent after escaped programmers to bring them back — dead or alive."
"No!" She stared at him. The story sounded like something Pyke would tell her. "Really?"
"I'm not making it up. Well, I am embroidering, a little. I expect the lictors are quite ordinary, and I imagine they would prefer to bring the wayward programmer back alive. Still, programmers are required by law to spend their life in Ondinium, in order to keep the city's technological secrets intact."
"Then you'll never leave?"
"I don't want to leave. I can enjoy the same wines and bearskins and jungle fruit here that I would in any other country. ‘All roads lead to Ondinium,’ after all." Humor lines crinkled around his eyes. "Now you'll think I'm boring and lose all interest in me."
"No. I love Ondinium, too. But I'd like to see more than wires and smog. I'd like to fly over an ice field or an ocean before I die."
"You must have been a merchant or a soldier in your last life."
"Or a bird. A lot of icarii think they used to be birds." She took a sip of the wine, then set it back down again. It tasted all right, but she'd feel more comfortable with a plain ale — something she was used to drinking.
"If you were a bird in a past life, you would have been one of those little hunting hawks I see carried by Mareauxan ambassadors," Alister speculated. "Red-headed and neatly trimmed, agile and fierce."
"Now who's being flattering?" she scolded him.
"Not at all, Taya Hawk."
"I'm a hawk without my wings right now."
"Just for tonight. I look forward to seeing you in your wings again the next time you come to Oporphyr Tower."
Taya looked down, reminded of her flight suit. "I'm sorry about the suit… I don't have anything formal to wear to dinner."
"Don't apologize. You look charming. Remember, I belong to a caste in which everyone hides their bodies under layers of heavy robes." Alister gestured to the glittering lapels stacked three-deep on his chest. "I'm enjoying the privilege of being able to sit here and ogle your legs without giving offense."
Taya laughed again. Cassi would enjoy hearing that. "Traveling to the lower sectors must be a real thrill for you, then."
"It would be if all the castes decided to adopt form-hugging fashions. Perhaps the Council should make it a law."
"Do you… do exalteds always dress so formally, even in their own homes?" Taya looked with open curiosity at his clothes, deciding that after his jokes he could hardly protest if she stared. Not that he seemed like the kind of man who'd object to being admired. "Isn't it hard to get any work done?"
"We wear lighter robes at home. Just one or two, made out of softer fabrics with less decoration." He tapped a flower spray embroidered across his top robe; small garnets picked out the shape of a bouquet of roses. "These are just for wearing in public. We have to be very careful when we choose them. One only purchases a robe that has gemstones sewn across the rear once."
"Sitting down in wings isn't much easier."
"I see we both suffer for our caste."
"What about your hair? Do you dress it when you're at home, too?"
He seemed amused. "Not as elaborately. If I intend to spend all day inside, I simply pull it back."
Taya nodded, imagining him in a light, open robe that would show off his well-built frame and dark copper skin, a curtain of black hair hanging loose over his shoulders. She felt a pleasant tingle. He was handsome in his exalted's jewels, but….
A smile played on his lips as he watched her, and she dragged her thoughts away, afraid he might see them in her eyes.
Besides
, she sternly reminded herself,
I'm not that kind of icarus
She'd never been able to shake off all her famulate ideas about respectability.
"And what do you wear in private, Taya?" he asked, with a teasing smile on his lips.
"Nothing very exciting. Trousers and a tunic, most of the time," she admitted, thinking for the first time that maybe Cassi was right and she dressed too plainly. "I was born on Tertius, so I'm used to wearing clothes for efficiency, not looks. But I'm having a dress made for the party," she added, hastily.
"Good. You look charming in that suit, but I'll see more of you in a dress."
"What will you wear?" she asked. "Your robes hide just as much as this suit."
His green eyes gleamed.
"As much as I would enjoy showing off for you, I'd scandalize Caster if I arrived in anything other than formal attire. I'm afraid that if you want to see me in casual clothes, you'll have to accept a dinner invitation to my house."
"I don't think I'd dare." She felt a thrill, knowing that she was on dangerous ground.
"I could invite a friend to chaperone us, if you insisted," he said at once, pretending disappointment.
Taya was saved from answering by a knock on the door. At Alister's summons, the servant came in, bearing a platter of food. The famulate had to make three trips from the antechamber before all the food was in. Taya wanted to leap up to help, but she forced herself to sit still, like someone accustomed to being served.
"Would you want anything else, exalted?" the servant asked, bowing. The woman didn't take any special pains to avoid looking at Alister's bare face, although for the most part she kept her eyes downcast. Another concession to everyday practicality, Taya thought, like the abbreviated bows and salutes in Oporphyr Tower.
"No, that's all, thank you."
The servant withdrew, closing the door again. Taya and Alister began to investigate the dishes, Alister recommending his favorites. Taya took a little of each. Most of the food was fancier than anything she'd ever eaten on her own.
"Do you know who's going to be at the party?" she asked, between helpings.
"The decaturs will all be present, and their families. Some of Viera's and Caster's friends, of course, and the usual political allies who are invited to every Octavus party as a matter of form." Alister named a few people whose names she recognized from her diplomatic studies and the city papers.
"You said that Viera's your cousin… will any of the rest of your family be there?"
"Viera and my brother are all the family I have, and Cristof never comes to parties."
"Because he's outcaste?"
"He's not, you know. Outcaste. He's chosen to live outside of his caste, but he's never been legally turned away." Alister's expression darkened.
"Then he could come to the party."
"He could, if he wanted. But he hated parties even before he left Primus. Cris never mastered the social graces, and now he's something of a scandal. Viera and I invite him up regularly — he's family, after all — but he almost always declines."
"Maybe he's trying not to embarrass you," Taya said, remembering what Cristof had said earlier that day.
"He doesn't embarrass me. I love him. I wish he would realize that."
"Does he get along with Exalted Octavus?"
"With Viera, yes. Our parents… our parents died when we were young, and Viera's family took us in. We're more like brothers and sister than cousins. But Caster's a traditionalist. He doesn't approve of Cristof breaking the rules of his caste, and even Vee's a little worried that he'll give Ariq strange ideas. It won't be too long before Ariq's seven, and then he'll have to start wearing a mask, himself. It wouldn't do for him to think that Cristof's behavior is normal and try to take off his mask in public."