“Do please explain your proposition to me one more time,” Duala Deneira said to Darek when he’d finished speaking. “And please be kind enough to make it sound like something other than ‘I have decided to prostitute an aspiring priestess of the forsaken one to one of our halfkind.’”
“Honored matriarch, respectfully, you know our pretty Dehsah better than that,” Darek said. “If any elf in the city might seek to twist the arrangement into something unseemly or untoward, it would not be cer. And certainly Alea would not be one to stand for that.”
“Then what, exactly, is Alea meant to do with herself?”
“Whatever Dehsah requires,” Darek said.
“Dehsah spent much of the time trying to find ways to keep busy, before you decided to restrict cer to our Delia Daella’s room indefinitely,” the matriarch said. “And now you imagine ce will suddenly have so much to do that ce will require an assistant?”
“It could happen,” Darek said. “I’m given to understand that there may be some births within the noble line within the cycle, so Dehsah’s schedule could become quite a bit busier.”
“Do you honestly expect Alea’s renewed residency with us to last that long?” Duala Deneira asked.
“This wicked Dylie has a reputation for grudge-holding, apparently,” Darek said. “It may not be safe for her to leave for some time.”
“How terribly inconvenient,” the matriarch said. She allowed her lips to purse slightly. “You have not told our Dehsah that cer services will be needed, have you?”
“It is hardly a secret that you and your honored descendant are both awaiting children,” Darek said. “Ce is very excited at the prospect.”
“It would be good for you to begin preparing cer to be disappointed… I believe I will be seeking an alternate nursemaid for my next child, and if anyone is able to give Daella a son this time, I cannot believe she would consent to part with him,” Duala Deneira said.
“You would let her nurse her own child?”
“At this point, I care very little what she does with herself,” Duala Deneira said. “I can remember when having another elf nurse one’s offspring was a privilege so rare that it was only used when it was an absolute necessity. Now we act as though it were an absolute necessity to avail ourselves of the privilege as a demonstration of rank and importance… but if nothing else, whatever small scandal it brought would help demonstrate her unfitness for any lower offices that might open up in her lifetime.”
“Then you are still determined to see that our Dee’s mother does not take your place in a more permanent fashion,” Darek said.
“As you yourself have noted, my able lieutenant, I am not likely to be available to register my opinion on the matter, should it come into question,” the matriarch said.
“Even so,” Darek said.
“And again I remind you that even if the election does not fall upon Daella, it needn’t devolve onto Delia,” the matriarch said. “There may be other options available by that point.”
“May the goddess grant it,” Darek said. “But it would perhaps behoove you to maintain your current position until our Dee returns to us.”
“There are options and there are options,” the matriarch said. “Other houses have jumped or crossed their lines when no suitable firstborn heiress was available.”
“When no firstborn daughter of the line, I believe you mean,” Darek said. “Certainly any matriarch is more suitable than no matriarch.”
“So if I were to join my departed descendants tomorrow, you would throw your support behind Daella?”
“As a male with no stake in the house council, I would hold my own counsel on the subject, naturally,” Darek said.
“Of course.”
“But perhaps under such a circumstance, the council would decide to act as regent until all the candidates to the post are in a position to serve,” Darek said.
“Perhaps,” the matriarch said. “On another subject, do you think I am likely to hear about the… altercation… that brought our Alea back to us from the matriarch of House Eyru?”
“It is certainly possible,” Darek said. “Though I do not see how they could pursue the matter against House d’Wyr. Alea had quit our chapel and was not yet employed in a private capacity at the time of the incident. It was a private matter between a woman and a halfkind, not between the house and anyone of any standing.”
“Any official standing,” Duala Deneira said. “I have heard that my sister in service at House Eyru is the amikal of a particularly vocal specimen of their halfkind. Do you suppose there is a chance that this could be the same ornament that our Alea assaulted?”
“It is certainly within the realm of possibility,” Darek said.
“And that is assuming that you are taken as a bystander rather than a participant,” the matriarch said. “You did not do anything to jeopardize your neutrality, did you?”
“I would not use the word ‘jeopardize’.”
“You would be a terrible liar even if I were not a telepath,” Duala Deneira said.
“Speaking with every bit of respect that is due to your position, honored matriarch,” Darek said, bowing low, “you are in no position to judge that, being a telepath.”
“You are too smug.”
“I take pride in my smugness,” Darek said. “But the fact remains, wicked Dylie of the Eyru was outside cer station when ce addressed Alea. If cer amikal chooses to make a larger issue out of a private matter, the embarrassment could just as easily be turned back upon her own head.”
“Those in my position usually refrain from calling attention to the personal foibles of others at our level,” the matriarch said. “You in particular may see the wisdom of not calling attention to embarrassing personal relationships of other houses’ matriarchs, if you still harbor ambition on behalf of your beloved.”
“Oh, I hardly think I’m as embarrassing as all that,” Darek said, and the matriarch smiled slightly. “If Dania Allena chooses to pursue this, she will be opening herself up to a response, will she not?”
“Perhaps,” the matriarch said. “But it is not likely to be as simple as all that. In any event, we could avoid much of this if we did not choose to shield Alea.”
“But that shielding is simply a natural side effect of her taking up a much-needed and valuable position within the house,” Darek said.
“As a servant to a useless elf with no duties, no responsibilities, and… if the complaints I am receiving from all quarters are any indication… no contact with anyone other than yourself.”
“You did task me with keeping Dehsah secure,” Darek said.
“I do not recall that.”
“Perhaps I hastened to obey a bit too enthusiastically,” Darek said. “But I distinctly recall you telling me that it was my personal responsibility to keep cer out of trouble.”
“I said you would be held personally responsible for any trouble you got cer into,” the matriarch said.
“If I am too zealous in interpreting your orders, I apologize,” Darek said, bowing low.
“Enough of this,” the matriarch said. She rose from her throne. “The priestesses tell me that I have not yet received a child, despite what I hope have been your best efforts… I would like to give your sluggish spores one more chance before I turn you over to the Eyrui for public execution.”
“Really? Now?” Darek said. “Er, I mean… if my matriarch wishes,” he said, bowing.
“I do wish,” she said. “And could you please make certain that it’s a female? Certain plans of mine would be helped quite a bit by that.”
“I assure you, if there’s some mechanism of control that is imparted to us males, it has never been explained to me,” Darek said. “How can a telepath as skilled as you believe that old women’s tale? It’s bad enough being threatened by female soldiers who want to make sure they have a daughter to carry on their names… to say nothing of their wives who have distinct preferences on how much pleasure their beloveds should take from the process, or think that I can somehow complete it without taking a bit for myself…”
“I do not believe it, precisely,” the matriarch said. “But it seems unlikely to hurt to ask.”
