The coachman sighed, closed the door, and helped her up.
The next day Taya went back to work, pleased to find her wings repaired. None of her deliveries took her to Oporphyr Tower, but Alister sent a note to the dispatch office, thanking her for a lovely evening and apologizing for not being able to get out of his obligations that evening. Taya felt a moment's regret, then tucked the note into one of her flight-suit pockets and finished her day's work.
On the day after that, she was amused to find a message asking for her by name, ordering her to fly to Exalted Forlore's office to pick up a package for the University. Alister did have a package for her, but he kept her chatting with him for half an hour, shamelessly flirting and begging her to take him flying with her someday. Taya promised to make some inquiries. The dock kept a special set of wings for visitors, but they were usually reserved to entertain foreign ambassadors who didn't have to worry about caste propriety. She didn't know what it would involve to borrow them for an exalted. They'd have to go somewhere remote, where he could fly without a mask and not be seen.
"I don't trust him," Pyke declared, after she told Cassi about the day's meeting. They were sitting at their usual table in the eyrie dining room, their voices pitched low to keep the rest of the icarii from overhearing. "He's moving too fast."
"Too fast?" Cassi rolled her eyes. "Dinner and a chat in his office is hardly ‘too fast.’ It's a perfectly respectable pace."
"But all this flirting…."
"Is fine, as long as Taya doesn't mind. You should try flirting, Pyke. Girls like to be flattered, you know."
"Alister flirts well," Taya said, smiling at the memory of his lingering touches and long gazes. "It's harmless."
"And if he goes beyond flirting?"
"Then she's a lucky girl," Cassi said, with finality.
"I don't know," Taya admitted. "I don't know if he's just having fun or if he's sincere."
"How can you possibly like a man you don't trust?" Pyke exclaimed.
"It's not that I don't trust him! I just don't know him well yet. But I'm having fun. If he wants to keep flirting and flattering until we're both old and grey, that's fine. But it would be kind of nice to know what he's thinking."
"And if he is serious? Do you really think a cross-caste relationship between an exalted and an icarus can work out?"
"I guess it depends on what you mean by ‘work out,'" Taya murmured. She'd been wondering the same thing.
"Well, that's the point, isn't it?" Pyke retorted. "We all know what people think about icarii. What if he uses you as a bed partner for a few months and then gets bored and moves on?"
"That might not be so bad," Cassi pointed out. "The exalted is handsome, rich, powerful, and charming. What makes you think Taya doesn't want a little no-strings-attached fun?"
Pyke scowled. "Taya's not that kind of girl!"
"Quiet," Taya said, reaching across the table to touch his wrist. Other icarii were glancing at them.
"If you're going to act like a jealous ex, go away," Cassi said, piqued. "Taya needs friendly advice, not offended masculinity."
"My friendly advice is to leave him alone," Pyke growled.
"And my friendly advice is to enjoy yourself and see what happens." Cassilta gave her an envious look. "Why doesn't some handsome exalted chase after me? I can't even attract an annoying conspiracy theorist." She kicked Pyke, who muttered under his breath.
"Taya Icarus?"
The three of them looked up at the icarus in the doorway. All the other icarii in the room raised their arms and pointed in their direction.
Taya stood and led the messenger out to the parlor. He wore a military corps insignia on his flight leathers. That made sense — courier icarii didn't fly at night, unless they were caught out past sunset or there was an emergency. Which meant —
"Is it my father?" she asked, fearfully. "Did something happen to my family?"
"Not that I know of." He handed her the note. "You're the Taya who rescued Exalted Octavus?"
"Yes." She unfolded the message, then breathed a sigh of relief. It was from Lt. Amcathra, telling her that a wounded Demican had been reported by one of the Tertius physicians and arrested on suspicion of being her mugger. The lieutenant wanted her to identify him.
"That was good work," the other icarus said with approval. "Have you ever thought about joining the military corps? You've got the guts for it."
"Actually, I just took the diplomacy exams. When you walked in, I thought you were bringing my results."
"They'll be delivered to your dispatch office. Diplomacy, huh? Too bad. If it doesn't work out, keep us in mind. You wouldn't need to memorize all that cultural scrap, and we could use a talented flier like you."
"Thanks." She nodded, although she didn't think she could take a job where she might have to kill someone. Just looking at Lt. Amcathra's note made her feel guilty all over again. "Does the lictor want me right now?"
"Of course he does. He's at Tallyfield Station. You want to walk, or should I get your wings from the docks?"
"I can walk down there in the time it would take you to sign out my wings," she said, with a touch of regret. "Tell him I'm on my way. Do they have the man in custody?"
"I don't know anything about it," he said, shrugging. "None of my business."
"Oh. Well, thank you. Fly safely."
"You too." He waved and ducked through the doorway. Taya told her friends where she was going, then ran upstairs to grab her coat and gloves.
The walk down Cliff Road was cold and long, but Secundus was still lively in the early evening, with people dining and drinking, attending plays and hurrying to friends’ houses. In half an hour she was at Tallyfield Plaza, where the lictor station was lit by bright gas lamps and filled with guards hurrying in and out.
She stood a moment in the main foyer, blinking and pulling off her gloves.
"Icarus." Lt. Amcathra stepped out of an office and beckoned to her. "Very good. I require you to look at the face of the prisoner and tell me if he is the man who attacked you."
"Is he here?"
"He is in a hospital within the vicinity. His health is not good, or else I do not think we should have found him." The lictor grabbed a coat from one of the chairs along the hallway and pulled it on, striding outside.
"How bad is it?"
"Not good."
"Oh. You're handling the case, then? I thought you'd be investigating the wireferry accident."
"That investigation is also in progress."
"You must be the lictor who gets all the tough jobs," she joked, hurrying to keep up with him as he walked. He didn't answer, and although she studied his face, his black lictor's stripe and Demican stolidity made his expression impossible to read.
Deciding she'd get nowhere trying to engage him in small talk, Taya concentrated on following him through the crowds.
The hospital was a small private building tucked away in a back street. As soon as they entered it, Taya realized that it was under military control, with barred windows and lictors stationed at the doors. One of the lictors unlocked the door that led into the Demican's hospital room.
"That's him," Taya said at once, recognizing her attacker's face in the lamplight. Then she stepped forward, alarmed. He was breathing irregularly, and he looked pale. "What's wrong?"
"Infection."
"Oh, Lady." She felt a chill. "Was it—"
"The knife wound was deep, and he did not have it tended at once."
"Is he going to die?"
"I do not know. I am certain the physicians will do what they can." Amcathra sounded uninterested.
The Demican prisoner opened his eyes and looked straight at her. Taya recoiled, and Amcathra's hand fell on her arm, moving her aside. He stepped up to the bedside and looked down at his ancestral countryman.