“Oh. I guess that’s good. Heris. Heris?”
Vali looked past Pella, said, “She did that turn sideways trick, Dad.”
Lila said, “I wish I could learn how to do that. I’d get rich.”
Anna told her, “You are rich. Your father has gathered up more prize money than the rest of us can spend in three lifetimes.”
Hecht laughed. “I sincerely doubt that.”
“What are you going to spend it on? And none of your nonsense about vineyards and latifundia. What you know about agricultural management I could tuck into a thimble with room left over.”
“You think? I’d surprise you, heart of my heart. I spent a long time in prison in Plemenza. The only way to pass the time was read old texts about farming.”
That gave Anna pause for scarcely an instant. “Which means nothing, practically. You’ll never be a farmer.”
“You could be right. We need to talk about that. But not now. I just want to wallow in the luxury of having no demands on me.”
“Oh, there are going to be demands. But first you’re going to have a long wallow in hot, soapy water.”
The girls had Anna’s big copper bathing tub set up already, with water heating. Anna would not use the public baths. Nor would she let the children. A safety measure, that. She said. But Hecht suspected there was more to the story. She would not discuss it. It was not worth a squabble.
Settled in the tub, with females dumping warm water and Pella contemplating making a break for it, to avoid being next, Hecht observed, “The one thing I’ll miss, being on the outside, is the baths at the Chiaro Palace.”
“Really?” Anna asked.
“And there you go, letting your imagination get loose. The rumors aren’t true. Nothing ever happens there.”
“Really?” Again.
Hecht shrugged. “Don’t let me confuse you with facts.”
Heris turned up every day. She had little to say and did not press. “You’ll let me know when you’re ready. I just come down to see if you are. There isn’t anything crucial. Yet.”
But Heris and Principat? Delari were not the only people who wanted a slice of the former Captain-General. Representatives from members of the Collegium, from most of the Five Families, from the Castella, and from the Imperial embassy at the Penital, all turned up during Hecht’s first four days at home.
Only Titus Consent and his tribe were allowed in. And Heris, who could not be turned away at the door.
“You’ve started getting restless,” Anna observed. Voice carefully neutral. At a time when she thought the children would be occupied.
“Titus tells me I never learned how to relax.”
“Titus is outrageously smart, for his age. So. Is it time to talk?”
“I suppose.” He had been puzzling how to put it all together for her. “The Empress wants me to come work for her.”
“To help her fulfill a holy obligation. By leading an Imperial crusade into the Holy Lands. I know. That may be the worst kept secret of the age. It was all over Brothe within hours of the announcement that Bronte Doneto would become the next Patriarch. The Penital put it out. Doneto was upset. Pinkus sent some of his trusted men to look out for us. Not that he would brag about looking out for a friend. He was afraid Doneto might do something stupid.”
Hecht grunted. Ghort had not said a word. But that was Pinkus Ghort. Never say anything when he did something someone might construe as good or thoughtful. He did not want to tarnish his black reputation. “He’d know if the danger was real.” Hecht eyed Anna curiously. Why had she kept this to herself till now? Was she hoping the question of taking service with the Empress would go away?
Probably.
“It turned out to be a tempest in a teapot. Pinkus pulled his men out after Principat? Delari dropped a few one-ton hints on the right people.”
That sounded like something Heris would say. After rehearsing before she said anything.
“Muniero Delari and Bronte Doneto have a bitter history. Which I’m not free to discuss. I suspect Doneto will avoid reviving old quarrels now that he has his dream job. Delari is older than stone. Doneto can let time put an end to their squabble.”
“Piper, I won’t follow you if you go to Alten Weinberg.”
And there it was. Not unexpected but not understood. Despite having given the possibility plenty of brooding.
“You know we’ve only actually spent a few weeks together over the years we’ve been a couple.”
Was that question or statement? Whichever, she was exaggerating. Sort of. He did not say. Because there was a deep truth, down under.
“You’re always in the field. If I move I still won’t see you. And I won’t know anyone but the girls. Nor even speak the language. So I’ll just stay here and not see you because you’re in the field.”
“I’m not really going to lead a crusade into the Holy Lands. I’ll get the Empress to change her mind.”
“No doubt. You can do anything. You have a knack for getting people to do what you want. But, once all is said and done, you’ll be in the field. That’s who you are. So, as I said, I’ll stay here, where I’m comfortable, and only see you once in a while. I won’t have to upset the way I live.”
Hecht clamped down on his emotions. Stilled his inclination to pull male rank. He did not own that in this relationship, in this country. Irritably, he batted thoughts of Helspeth aside. This was not an opportunity. “I see.” He sensed the children lurking, out of sight but not out of hearing.
“I freely admit that I have more than most wives and many mistresses. Which leaves me too spoiled, besides being too long in the tooth, to take up the life of a camp follower.”
“I won’t argue. I can’t. You’ve put it perfectly. I am what I am and you, more than anyone, know the truth of that. But I did think Alten Weinberg might be more domestic.”
Anna definitely had an answer for that. She did not get the opportunity to deliver it. Heris turned around out of nowhere on the far side of the room. “You have to come this time, Piper. Things have happened. Supper. Anna. Grandfather would really be pleased to see the children, too.” She turned and was gone.
Anna caught her breath. “That was a polite invite to a command performance.”
“Yes?”
“You might say Heris and I have become friends. The way she carried herself… Our discussion might be moot.”
Again Hecht offered only an interrogative monosyllable.
“We have to see Principat? Delari before we make any other plans.”
A premonitory chill crawled Hecht’s back. His own desires could become so much chaff in the breeze should the Night be driving down some rigorous line of its own.
The Delari town house was in the throes of a dramatic makeover. Not just repairs to damage but a total renovation. The staff had expanded by a dozen, all hard-eyed rogues who were as alert as ever Madouc’s gang had been. Each hailed from the Principat?’s own clan. Which made them kin of Muniero Delari’s grandchildren.
Supper was served at the usual table by the usual servants, Turking and Felske. As the first course arrived, Delari explained, “Everything changed when Bronte Donte achieved his ambition. I expect him to resurrect the conflict that brought us head-to-head not so long ago.”
He said this in front of Anna and the children. Who looked to Hecht for an explanation. Hecht did not deliver.
He did say, “Two of us got you out of that. Whatever became of the other one?”
“Armand? I don’t know. The little weasel vanished seconds after Hugo Mongoz expired. I suppose it’s too much to hope that Doneto’s partisans did away with him.”
“What’s the construction all about?” Hecht asked. “What’s going on?”
“Forting up.”
“I get that. But what about us, here? This isn’t just me and the family stopping in for a friendly supper. You look almost guilty. Which tells me there’s something going on. Heris implied as much, the way she acted. Where is she, anyway?”