Apparently, the man had taken his mother up on her suggestion. Though she would not be losing her confidante and friend, Emriana still felt no small amount of sympathy toward poor Jaleene over the day she was bound to have, being scolded by the master of the House.
"Em, I do hope you don't sulk like that when we arrive. It is so unbecoming," Ladara commented, drawing the girl out of her thoughts.
"What?" Emriana asked, blinking and looking up to see the entire entourage of women watching her. "Oh, I'm sorry, Mother," the girl replied, trying to smile. She realized she must have been looking very morose, contemplating her maid's fate. "I will try."
It wasn't easy, putting on airs, but she did it because of what her grandmother had revealed to her that morning.
The sooner I start pretending to be what they want, the sooner they'll quit scrutinizing me so much, Emriana told herself.
"And do try to be pleasant to Denrick today," Ladara continued, which almost elicited a groan from the girl before she caught herself and nodded, smiling. "The last time you visited with him, you were less than polite, you know."
Emriana stole a quick glance at her grandmother, who raised her eyebrows slightly as if to say, Remember what I told you.
Turning back to her mother, Emriana smiled even wider and said, "I will do my best, Mother."
Ladara smiled, apparently genuinely relieved.
"Thank goodness. Maybe you're growing up after all." The woman pulled a fan out of her handbag and opened it, waving it rapidly back in forth in front of her. "Mercy, but it's already unbearably warm this morning," she said.
That's because we insist on wearing all these ridiculous clothes, Emriana thought, wanting to scream.
It wasn't quite highsun, and the air was already growing damp and heavy, though inside the coach, where they had shade, it wasn't so bad yet. Once they arrived at the Pharaboldi estate, Emriana knew that it would be blessedly cooler inside, where she was sure the house wizards would have woven a spell or two to keep the temperature pleasant.
As if on cue, the coach arrived at the front gates of the estate of House Pharaboldi, which swung wide to admit them entrance. The coach rolled through the high walls and up the lane toward the house proper, which sat upon a large and gently sloped hill, and Emriana began to stare out the window once more, watching the large trunks of the shadow tops, planted at regular intervals, drift by. Emriana spotted several peahens and a few peacocks strutting about in the shade of those trees. Beyond them, on the open lawn, horses grazed, a large herd of them, for horses were one of the prized possessions of the Pharaboldis.
Eventually, the coach pulled up to the front of the mansion, coming to a stop in the rounded drive that encircled a great fountain and accompanying flower-filled beds. The home itself was several stories tall, and all four sides were surrounded by open-air porches pierced by arched windows that looked out on the grounds. The whole thing had been painted a warm shade of tan, with burgundy and pale blue highlights accenting the whole.
Attendants stepped forward from the shade of the porch to open the doors of the coach and assist the women in stepping out. Ladara climbed out first, then turned to help Hetta, with Emriana following to ensure the older woman didn't teeter and fall. Once they were all safely on the graveled walk, they flipped open their parasols and strolled together up the steps, which were flanked on either side by great planters teeming with a variety of tropical blooms. At the top of the staircase, standing regally on the tiled front porch, Anista Pharaboldi waited on her guests with a proud smile upon her face. It was not the first time the Matrells had come calling, but it seemed like each time Emriana remembered visiting, the woman practically glowed with satisfaction at the appearance of her stately home.
"It's so nice of you to come visit us today," Anista called out as the Matrell women made their way to the porch. "Please, come inside where it's bearable."
With that, the Pharaboldi matriarch turned and marched through the great front doors into the cooler, darker interior. Emriana followed her grandmother and mother inside, letting her eyes adjust.
Like the Matrell estate, the Pharaboldi home was a spacious, open-air place, allowing cooling breezes to blow through and keeping the warmth of the subtropical sun at bay. Cool tiles covered every floor, and countless planters contained ferns, vines, and even small trees, all of which were allowed to climb columns and walls, or to hang from above, draping over the sides of planter boxes clinging to balconies or hanging baskets that dangled from exposed beams running the length of the larger rooms. Trellises were used instead of solid walls to separate spaces in many rooms, thickly covered with bougainvillea and philodendrons and half a dozen other kinds of growth.
The group was led into one such room, a large central chamber two stories in height and encircled by a balcony on the second floor. The ceiling high overhead was vaulted, and near the very center, a small cupola rose even higher, with arched windows set on each side to let in light. A pair of channels were set into the floor of the room, running in a weaving path from one side to the opposite, and water flowed into them from a stone-walled pond, making them small, slow-moving streams. The pond itself was fed from a miniature waterfall, tumbling down one wall of the room with a pleasant splashing sound. The indoor streams flowed to either side of an island in the center of the room, joining together again on the far side and disappearing beneath a wall. A pair of foot bridges passed over the natural barriers, and the whole length of the streams had more planters lining each bank, so that palm fronds and miniature willow trees leaned out over the sides and grew up to further divide the whole place.
"Please," Anista was saying as the procession followed her to the middle of the room, onto the island, where a large table and a set of chairs had been placed, "Find yourselves a seat. First, we will have tea and biscuit for a bit, and later, we can move to the dining room for a proper midday meal. Oh, I can't wait to catch up with you and find out what sorts of interesting things you Matrells are involved with."
Emriana found a seat at one end of the table, off by herself, and sat. A serving woman dressed in a crisp outfit appeared beside her, placing a delicate Calishite porcelain cup and saucer before her and filling it with rich, aromatic Amnian tea. A second dish containing thin wafers made of sweetened bread topped with whipped honey was set beside the tea, and the servant was gone, leaving Emriana to her own devices.
The girl spent a few moments just taking in the room, which, though it was no more opulent than the Matrell residence, was nonetheless impressive in its luxuriousness. Sitting where she was, Emriana could see down into the waterway that encircled the sitting area, and she spotted a school of brightly colored fish, red and blue and all feathery fins, swimming lazily about. On impulse, she broke off a bit of the sweetened bread and tossed it into the water. In the blink of an eye, the fish swarmed toward the bits of food, darting toward the surface and slipping away with the crumbs. Several of the creatures began to fight over the unexpected meal, and Emriana watched as they darted and ran, making ripples in the surface of the water.
"Oh, Em, you are a vision today," Anista said, her high-pitched voice drawing the girl back to the conversation. "Denrick will be very impressed," the woman added, a knowing grin on her face. "I'll bet you'd much prefer to go visit with him than to sit around here with all of us stuffy old crones, now wouldn't you?"
Emriana opened her mouth to deny the notion that she would like to spend any time at all with the woman's boorish son, then snapped it shut again helplessly as she spied her mother boring a hole into her daughter with her gaze. It was clear to the girl that her mother wished her to be as endearing and cooperative as possible.