“We are perfectly respectful, honored Mother! Your servantdid this!”
“You listen to me! You are not in the wilds of Najida! You are not in the company of fishermen, farmers, and hunters who come tracking indoors with muddy boots! And you are not living in a stable, whatever your great-grandmother may have allowed! A son of mine will not bed down with filthy animals! That creature does not belong in the city!”
She had spoken ill of Great-grandmother, and of nand’ Bren. If he had been in the least disposed to open the door, that would have changed his mind. He had never suspected such bad opinions existed in his mother. He had no idea what to do, now, or how he was ever going to stay in this apartment and live with someone who was so rude about the people he most respected, and he had never been so angry with his parents in his entire life. He found himself pacing in a circle, he was so mad. It was not fair, and there was nothing he could do about it, because he was a child, and his father wanted him to be here. And he no longer wanted to be. Ever.
“Cajeiri?” his mother called out.
He could go off into his bedroom and ignore her, but he was afraid she would order her bodyguard to break down the door unless he went on talking to her.
And if she broke down the door, there was nothing he could do, short of some action he feared would makehis father take his mother’s side, because whatever his father did, there was politics in it.
His father had married his mother because of politics.
His father had gone on living with his mother because of politics.
He had brought her back with him from exile because of politics.
And—he had forgotten it in the confusion—his grandfather was coming to visit tonight because of politics. And Grandfather could show up at any moment.
There was nothing he could do.
Negotiation,mani had said to him, maintains a state of affairs in which no one is shooting.
It is also an excellent way to play for time.
He went back to the door. “Mother?” he said in a moderate tone.
“Open the door, son of mine.”
“You have frightened Boji, honored Mother. He was doing nothing wrong when he was frightened out the door. Everyone chased him. That scared him worse.”
“And I tell you that animals should not be in a city apartment.”
“He is perfectly clean. He is well mannered. And I am very sorry he bit anyone, but he was scared.”
“I will not have that filthy animal in this apartment!”
“And I will!” he shouted back, but that was not wise. He was so mad, he thought: I am my father’s heir, and you are not.And that was the truth. It was truth enough to stiffen his back.
But if he said that, things could go very badly very fast. He said instead, quietly, negotiating: “One respects one’s mother, but it is also needful to respect one’s father, and I have gotten both permission and instruction from him regarding Boji. If a servant had not violated orders, he would never gotten loose. Now he is back in his cage and doing no harm. Please accept my apologies, honored Mother, for what was done, but it was done. It will not be done again.”
There was silence from outside, a very long moment of silence.
Then: “We shall have a word with your father. You were wrong to have sent to him.”
“I believe I was not, honored Mother.”
“You are being unreasonable.”
“I believe I am not unreasonable, honored Mother.”
“Your grandfather is arriving this evening. I had intended to show him the nursery. I am quite, quite upset about this, son of mine.”
“One is very, very sorry about the nursery, honored Mother. And one promises it will not happen again.”
“We shall be sureit will not happen again,” his mother said, and then she went away. He heard the footsteps retreating, and his bodyguard was still out there, or might be.
“Jegari?” he asked. “Antaro?”
“I am here,” Jegari said. “Antaro is here. Lucasi and Veijico are down the hall in the security corridor.”
“Is it safe for me to open the door right now?”
“Yes,” Jegari said, and with several efforts he hauled the table out of the way, unlatched the door and let Jegari and Antaro in.
They both looked worried, as well they might.
Jegari said: “That was not a good situation, nandi.”
“Not ‘nandi!’” he said, vexed. He so envied nand’ Bren right now, the way he managed his bodyguard, the good feeling there always was in that household. It had been very much lacking in his father’s house. He was sure of that now. He had thought it was that they had all been crammed up together in Great-grandmother’s apartment. But now he knew that that feeling had been there for as long as he had been home. “Especially now, nadiin-ji! I shall be called Jeri today, if you please. I wish to be called Jeri.”
“Jeri-ji,” Jegari amended himself, and after a deep breath: “Lucasi and Veijico did report to your father’s security staff, and one of them has left; the other is maintaining silence, and his only instruction is to wait. Your mother’s guard is with her. Your mother’s bodyguard has ordered us to stand down or be arrested and reported to Guild; Lucasi and Veijico have refused on grounds of security, and they recommend to us to take orders only from you until there is some other order. We are trainees. We two are safe from Guild action. But they are not.”
“And,” Antaro said, “they recommend that should there be violence offered by your mother’s bodyguard, we resist and make an extreme issue of it. They are not armed. But they will resist. Extremely.”
“One is very grateful,” he muttered. “It is brave. One is very glad you are not hurt.”
“Your mother’s guard is more than upset with us,” Antaro said. “Your honored mother is not at all in a good mood, and they feel it personally.”
“Nadiin-ji, this is serious, and one is worried. Where is my father? Do you know? Why will he not come here?”
“He is downstairs. He is in a meeting.”
“Are you sureof it?”
Antaro said, “Your father’s guard is talking to him. The senior aishid is with him.”
He let go a breath then. He wanted that to be so.
“And mani and nand’ Bren are all right?” he asked.
“They are all right. Lord Machigi is arriving this evening to sign the agreement with your great-grandmother, and the whole Bujavid is under special rules right now. Your father and his aishid are in a meeting with Lord Tatiseigi, going over the agreement your great-grandmother is offering to Lord Machigi.”
“He is going to be so mad at me.”
“You toldthe servant to shut the door, nandi,” Jegari said.
“I did,” he said. “I did tell her. Why was she here? Why was she here in the first place?”
“We have no idea, nandi. Jeri-ji.”
“Do you know when my grandfather is coming?”
“Kitchen is preparing a big dinner,” Antaro said. “Your mother ordered it.”
“One suspects,” Jegari said, “your esteemed grandfather may have decided to come visit because of Lord Machigi. But he is not invited to the signing. Veijico found that out. Only invited people can get in. So he is definitely supposed to be here all evening.”