The Limbreth Gate

Shiela appeared to be on the point of speaking. But she swallowed her first words and only observed, 'It is hard to put trust where one is not trusted.'

Yoleth only smiled at her.

TWO

Vandien pinched the heavy weave of the fabric between thumb and forefinger. He gave the vest a shake, and the bright colors almost flashed in the afternoon sun. He raised one eyebrow at the woman in the stall.

'You know my price!' she reminded him firmly. 'And you can see it's worth it. Try it on, and feel the weight of it.'

Vandien obeyed, slipping it on over his loose linen shirt. He rolled his shoulders in it, and tugged the front even. 'It fits well,' he grudgingly admitted. 'But ...' 'But he can't possibly be serious.' He turned his head sharply at the amused voice behind him. Ki stood there, her mouth puckered in mock dismay, her arms laden with supplies.

'I am. And why not?'

'Blue is your color. And green, yellow, red, and black as well. But not all at once.'

'Not usually. But last time we stopped with the Romni, Oscar told me that a man who dresses as simply as I do is like a cockerel without feathers. What do you think of this?' Vandien pulled the front of the vest down straight so that the embroidery of birds, flowers and vines could be admired.

'I think Big Oscar is right. If you wear that vest, no chicken could resist you.'

He met her laughing eyes with no amusement. 'I think I like it.'

'Walk about a bit and think it over before you buy. If you still like it, I am sure it will still be here.' Ki made her suggestion in a practical voice.

'I suppose.' Vandien took off the vest slowly and replaced it on the piles of merchandise. The woman in the stall shrugged at him and rolled her eyes. Vandien gave her a grin she had to answer, and then turned away to Ki.

'Take some of this stuff, will you?' she demanded, and began to unload into his arms. 'Help me carry it back to the wagon. Can you think of anything else we need?'

'What do you have there?'

She inventoried as she loaded it into his arms. 'Smoked salted fish; red pomes; tea; honey in that brown pot; that's a string of onions over your shoulder; lard in the wooden box; cheese, and a square of leather for new gloves.'

Vandien stared down at his load. 'It all sounds very practical and essential.' Disappointment dulled his voice.

'What did you want? Pickled chestnuts and peacock feathers?' Ki was nettled. She spoke over her shoulder as they edged through the busy market. When Vandien did not reply, she glanced back at him. He had paused at a stall aflutter with gay scarves. Belatedly he remembered her and fell in behind her.

'No. Nothing like that. I'd just like to see you be a little more impulsive. Enjoy life.'

'You're impulsive enough for both of us,' Ki pointed out.

Vandien shifted his load. They were out of the main press of the market, but Ki had left the wagon and horses behind the inn. Curly dark hair sagged forward onto his brow and fell into his eyes. He blew up at it, but it only tickled the more. 'You're just jealous of me,' he accused her gravely.

'Indeed.' Ki juggled her own parcels and slowed to walk beside him. They were nearly of a height, and their eyes met with sparks. 'I suppose next you will be saying that I secretly desire to wear a vest with trees and birds sprouting all over it.'

'No, not my taste. You're jealous of my ability to enjoy life. You tiptoe through your days, worryingabout warm underwear and axle grease, while I stride through mine singing. You're lost all your edges, Ki. You nibble at the dry corners of your life.'

'Instead of cramming it all into my mouth at once, like some folk we know.'

'Exactly.' Vandien bowed his head to acknowledge the compliment. 'This afternoon - I am quite safe in predicting ? you will drink exactly and precisely the three bowls of Cinmeth you permit yourself to consume in a public inn, while I take down as much Alys as they have and I can afford. Isn't that true? What can you say to that?'

'Only that I'm glad the wagon is right in the innyard. I detest dragging you through city streets in broad daylight.'

'Oh, that's funny,' Vandien snarled.

'Truth stings.' Ki grinned at him smugly. As they reached the wagon, she turned and added her burden to the items he already carried. She climbed up the tall yellow wheel onto the plank seat, and reached back down to receive the supplies from him. 'Come up here and help me put this stuff away,' she invited.

'Do it yourself,' he growled as he climbed up beside her. She slid open the cuddy door and climbed down into the living quarters of the wagon. The front half of the freight wagon had been closed in to resemble half a Romni wagon. Ki stood in the center of the tidy little cabin and put things away as he passed them to her. A platform covered with hides and blankets was the bed at one end of the room. The cuddy walls were a patchwork of shelves, cupboard, nooks and hooks. A small table folded down under the single tiny window with its greased skin pane. It took only moments for Ki to place every item on its shelf or in its bin. She looked up at Vandien sulking on the seat. She tried to straighten her face to match his.

'You're disgusted with me.'

'I am.'

'Because I am such a practical, mundane, boring person. Because I go through life immune to impulse and idiocy. Because there is never anything about me the least bit unpredictable.'

'Well.' Vandien quailed before the harshness of Ki's self-indictment. 'No. Because it's all there, bubbling beneath the surface, and you refuse to let it out. I'll tell you what I'd like to do.' He stepped down into the cuddy and seated himself on the sleeping platform. 'I'd like to make a day for you such as I'd make for myself.' Ki raised her eyebrows questioningly, but he plowed on determinedly. 'We'll do this.' He suddenly became almost shy, and covered his hesitation by brushing the curls from his eyes.

'Yes?' Ki said encouragingly.

'Stop interrupting me. How can I think and talk at the same time if you keep interrupting me? We'll do this. We'll find a public bath; an old city like Jojorum must have some baths worthy of the name. And we will loll and soak until your little toes are as pink as your nipples.' He grinned at her, suddenly wicked as his own fantasy carried him away. 'We will hire a body servant to put up your hair in long soft curls, and weave it all through with fine gold wire and pearls. We will drape you in one long length of cloth of gold, and put slippers on your feet of finest gleaming leather. Green stone earrings to match your flashing eyes, and three plain silver rings on each of your hands.' 'And then what?' Ki asked gently when the pause grew long.

'And then we shall walk through Jojorum together, with your arm about my waist, and folk will gaze on us and remember when this city was young and lusty.'

'They'd only be admiring your vest,' Ki teased gently, but she moved to stand close before him, and put her hands on her hips. 'You know we don't have the coin to do any of that, other than the bath.'

'I know. But when I want to do it, I know I want to do it, while you go about pretending you don't want to do it, because you know you can't afford it. And that's the big difference between us.'

'That makes us good for each other,' Ki amended. She slipped one hand into her skirt pocket. With the other she caught a handful of the thick dark curls at the nape of his neck. Her gentle pull bowed his head to her. She drew her free hand out of her pocket and shook out a circle of chain and looped it over his head.

'What's this?' Vandien pulled her down to sit on the bed beside him as he fingered the fine silver chain curiously.

'It's an impulse. From a friend who doesn't have many. I knew it was yours when I saw it in the jeweler's stall.'

Vandien slipped the necklace off to look at it. The chain was silver worked in tiny loops. Suspended from one larger loop swung a tiny hawk. Spread wings, talons and open beak had been chipped in fine detail from some black stone that glistened even in the cuddy's dim light. A chip of red was its sparkling eye. Ki knew she had chosen well at the sigh that escaped him. He looped it again about his neck. The length of the chain let it rest well below the hollow of his throat.