{"id":2253,"date":"2026-01-03T22:19:05","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T22:19:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/foreigner-10-cherryh-c-j\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T22:19:05","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T22:19:05","slug":"foreigner-10-cherryh-c-j","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/foreigner-10-cherryh-c-j\/","title":{"rendered":"Foreigner 10 – Cherryh, C. J."},"content":{"rendered":"
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S<\/span>pring was coming. Frost still touched the window glass of the Bujavid and whitened the roof tiles of Shejidan at sunrise, but it left daily by mid-morning. This was a sign.<\/p>\n

So was the letter, delivered by morning post, discreetly received by staff, and, understood to be important, delivered with Bren Cameron\u2019s morning tea.<\/p>\n

The little message cylinder hadn\u2019t come by the automated systems. It had most certainly traveled the old-fashioned way, by rail, knowing the bent of the sender.<\/p>\n

It bore the seal of Lord Tatiseigi of the Atageini of the Padi Valley. It was silver and sea-ivory, with carved lilies.<\/p>\n

When opened, its exquisite calligraphy, in green as well as black ink, written on modern vellum, nicely paid courtesies due the paidhi-aiji, the human interpreter for the ruler of three quarters of the planet; the paidhi-aiji, the Lord of the Heavens, etc., etc\u2026<\/p>\n

Tatiseigi was being extraordinarily polite, and that, in itself, was an ominous sign, since Bren was currently, and for the last several months, sitting in the old man\u2019s city apartment.<\/p>\n

Foreboding settled in before his glance skipped past the ornately flowing salutation to the text of the letter.<\/p>\n

The paidhi will rejoice to know that repairs here at Tirnamardi have gone extremely well and we have greatly enjoyed this winter sojourn watching the restoration. However, with the legislative session imminent and with business in the capital pressing upon this house, one must regretfully quit these rural pleasures and return to the Bujavid as of the new moon\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Two days from now. God!<\/p>\n

One most fervently hopes that this will not greatly inconvenience the paidhi-aiji. A separate letter exhorts our staff to assist the paidhi-aiji in whatever arrangements the paidhi-aiji may desire for his comfort and expedition\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Expedition, hell! Two days was extreme gall, never mind that he hadn\u2019t a leg to stand on\u2026 nor any place else to go. The man could have phoned. He could well have phoned instead of taking up a whole day of grace using the trains and the whole message process.<\/p>\n

One naturally hopes that the difficulties attending the paidhi-aiji\u2019s own residence have now been settled\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Tatiseigi\u2019s current house guest in his country retreat was the aiji-dowager, who absolutely knew everything going on in the capital, including the paidhi\u2019s situation. So the old man knew damned well the paidhi-aiji\u2019s apartment difficulties were not<\/em> in fact settled in the least, that Tabini-aiji\u2019s apartments were not yet repaired, either\u2014which meant Tabini was still residing in the dowager\u2019s apartment while the dowager sojourned in Tirnamardi with Lord Tatiseigi.<\/p>\n

God, one only imagined whether Tabini might not be in receipt of a similar letter from his grandmother\u2026 requesting her<\/em> apartment vacated.<\/p>\n

He somehow doubted Ilisidi would be that abrupt\u2014or share the roof with her grandson for long. She likely would be off for the distant east, on the other side of the continent, where she had her estate.<\/p>\n

He himself might, however, be sitting in the hotel at the foot of the hill in two days. This historic apartment, which he had occupied since Tabini\u2019s return to power\u2014and his own return from space\u2014had served him very well through the winter; and, thanks to politics, there had been no delicate way to get him back into his own apartment, not as yet. Scions of a Southern clan, the Farai, were camped out in it, and for various reasons Tabini-aiji could not or would not pitch them out and get it back.<\/p>\n

He moved himself and his teacup from the sunny morning room to the less sunny, and chillier, office. There he sat down at the desk, laid out a sheet of vellum, and framed a reply which would not<\/em> go by train, or it never would reach Tatiseigi before the lord left for the capital.<\/p>\n

To the Lord of the Lilies, Tatiseigi of the Atageini, Master of Tirnamardi, Jewel of the Padi Valley, and its great associations of the townships of<\/em>…<\/p>\n

He had the letter for a guide through that maze of relationships, all of which had, in properly formal phrases, to be stated. He refrained from colored ink, even given its availability in the desk supplies.<\/p>\n

From the Lord of the Heavens, Bren Cameron of Mospheira, honored to serve the aiji as paidhi-aiji,<\/em><\/p>\n

Words cannot convey the gratitude of my household to have been housed in such historic and kabiu premises this recent season.<\/em><\/p>\n

One most earnestly rejoices in the anticipated return of the Lord of the Atageini to his ancestral residence, and further rejoices at the news that the beautiful and historic estate of Tirnamardi again shines as a light to the region.<\/em><\/p>\n

They\u2019d wait a few years before the hedge out front had grown back. Not to mention the scars on the lawn. The collapse of one historic bedroom into another.<\/p>\n

Please convey felicitations also to your distinguished guest. The paidhi-aiji will of course seek his own resources and immediately remove to other premises, hoping to leave this excellent apartment ready for your return. One is sure your staff will rejoice and take great comfort in the presence of their own lord.<\/em><\/p>\n

That was one letter. He placed it in Tatiseigi\u2019s ivory-lily message cylinder, as the reply to the message it had contained, and dropped the cylinder into the outbound mail basket.<\/p>\n

Then he wrote another letter, this one to Tabini\u2026 with less elegant calligraphy, and omitting the formal lines of courtesies: he and the aiji dispensed with those, when they wrote in their own hands\u2014a very human-inspired haste and brevity.<\/p>\n

Aiji-ma, Lord Tatiseigi has announced his intention to return in two days, in company with the dowager, necessitating my removal to other quarters. One is well aware of the difficulties which surround my former residence and expects no actions in that matter, which might be to disadvantage. One still has the hotel as a recourse, which poses considerable security concern, but if need be, one will ask more assistance with security, to augment staff, and will manage.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the days before the legislative session, however, this situation does not arrive wholly unforeseen, and this would be an opportune time to visit my estate in Sarini province, barring some directive to the contrary, aiji-ma. One has some preparation yet to do in the month preceeding the legislative session, but the work can travel with me, and the sea air would be pleasant even in this early season. Also one has regional obligations which have long waited on opportunity, not only within the household there, but with the neighboring estate and of course the village.<\/em><\/p>\n

Accordingly one requests a month\u2019s leave to visit Najida, the living which the aiji\u2019s generosity has provided me, where I intend to pay courtesies to its staff and its village, and also to pay long-delayed courtesies to the estate of Lord Geigi, which I have these several months promised him to do.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lord Geigi was lord and administrator not only of the coastal estate of Kajiminda and all of Sarini province, but of all atevi in space, in his capacity as Tabini\u2019s viceroy on the space station. And doing a damned fine job of it, up there. But Geigi had left his sister in charge of his estate at Kajiminda, the sister had died, leaving a young and inexperienced nephew in the post, and Geigi understandably wanted a report on affairs there aside from that which the nephew sent him.<\/p>\n

In no way will this detract from my attention to legislative and committee matters, but it will at least provide more time to provide for a city residence\u2026 possibly even taking a house, or establishing in some secure fashion in the hotel\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Depressing thought, trekking through the city to reach what would be, were he in his own apartment, a simple trip down in the lift. And a damned great problem to be living and trying to do research in the hotel, where security was a nightmare and spying was rife\u2014all the minor lords being in residence for the session. The Bujavid housed the legislative chambers of the Western Association, the aishidi\u2019tat; it housed the aiji\u2019s audience hall, and the national archives. But it also, and year round, housed the most highly-placed lords of the aishidi\u2019tat. A centuries-old hierarchy dictated who resided on what floor, in what historic apartment: the teacup Bren used casually, for instance, was ciabeti artwork, from the Padi Valley\u2019s kilns, probably two hundred years old\u2014not to mention the antiquity of the desk, the carpet, and the priceless porcelain on the shelf. Who held what apartment, with what appointment, from what date\u2014all these things meant respect, in proportion to the antiquity of the premises and their connection with or origin from potent clans and associations of clans.<\/p>\n

And the aiji\u2019s translator, the jumped-up human who had used to occupy the equivalent of a court secretary\u2019s post in the garden wing next to the aiji\u2019s cook\u2014the human who had risen to share the same floor as the aiji\u2019s own apartment, in the depletion of an ancient house which had left it vacant\u2014had now lost<\/em> that lordly apartment to the same coup that had temporarily ousted Tabini from the aijinate.<\/p>\n

In the coup, Tabini\u2019s own apartment had been shot up, his staff murdered, and Tabini currently endured a sort of exile in status grandmother\u2019s apartment, while his own place underwent refurbishment and his staff underwent its own problems of recruitment and security checks.<\/p>\n

But the apartment next door to the aiji\u2019s proper apartment, the apartment which had briefly been the paidhi\u2019s, was now, yes, occupied by the Farai, Southerners, no less, out of the Marid\u2014the very district that had staged the coup and murdered Tabini\u2019s staff.<\/p>\n

And why<\/em> should Tabini thus favor a Southern clan, by letting them remain there? The Farai were natives of the northern part of the Marid, the Saijin district, specifically Morigi-dar\u2014 they were part of a foursome of power in the South, and they claimed high credit for turning coat one more time, opening the doors of the Bujavid and (so they claimed) enabling the aiji to retake the capital\u2014while the rest of the Marid, namely the Tasaigin and the Dojisigin and Dausigin districts of the Marid, currently teetered somewhere between loyalty and renewed rebellion.<\/p>\n

If the Farai were telling the truth about a change of loyalty, they were owed some reward for it\u2014and to put a gloss of legitimacy on their seizure of that precious apartment, they claimed inheritance from the Maladesi, the west coast clan that had once owned the apartment in question. It seemed the last living member of that defunct clan had married into the Farai\u2019s adjunct clan, the Morigi. Tabini maintained the Maladesi lands had reverted; they claimed inheritance. It was at least a serious claim.<\/p>\n

So their seizure of that apartment actually had some justification. Tabini\u2019s tossing them out of it might make his own future north apartment wall more secure\u2014having a Southern clan there was a huge security problem\u2026 but tossing the Farai out of it in favor of the human paidhi, after their very public switch to the aiji\u2019s side, would be counted an insult\u2026 a very strong insult\u2026 that might damage the Farai\u2019s status in the still unstable South. And whether or not the Farai were sincere in their switching allegiances, they were<\/em> challenging the Taisigi clan and seeking to rise in status in the South. Swatting the Farai down might help the Taisigi, who were not<\/em> Tabini\u2019s allies in any sense.<\/p>\n

So the paidhi had no wish to upset that delicate balance. And certainly no other clan wanted to be relocated from their<\/em> historic premises, the rights to which went back hundreds of years, to give the paidhi their<\/em> space. They had their rights, the Bujavid had allotted all its upstairs room, and outside of booting out legislative offices in the public floors and starting a new scramble for available apartments below, there was nothing to be done for the paidhi.<\/p>\n

All of which boiled down to an uncomfortable situation. They had a clan out of the Marid taking up residence next to Tabini, where it wasn\u2019t wanted\u2026 and for various reasons, it might stay a while. It was quite likely that one of the delays in Tabini getting into his apartment was his security reinforcing, and probably heavily bugging, that wall between him and the Farai.<\/p>\n

All of that meant the paidhi was borrowing Lord Tatiseigi\u2019s historic apartment\u2014vacant so long as Tatiseigi of the Atageini had been out repairing his own manor, which had been likewise shot up in the coup. The work was nearly finished, the legislature was about to meet\u2014<\/p>\n

And the paidhi now had nowhere to go but<\/em> the hotel or the country.<\/p>\n

There was, however, a bright spot of coincidence in the current situation\u2026 should he go to his coastal estate.<\/p>\n

His brother Toby had just put out of Jackson, out of the human enclave of Mospheira\u2014Toby fairly well lived on his boat, and plied the waters mostly in the strait between Mospheira and the mainland. He might have to hopscotch a call from here to Mogari-nai and Jackson, but however they got it through, unless Toby was on some specific business, Toby could easily divert over to the mainland, just about as fast as he himself could get to the coast, and they might manage to have that long-delayed visit.<\/p>\n

Permission to leave the capital, however, was not certain until Tabini had answered his letter and agreed that he might take that temporary solution and go out to the coast. If Tabini was differently minded, there would be no visit, and he had no idea what he would do: he and his security would have to show up at the hotel tomorrow afternoon with baggage in hand, he supposed\u2026 but Tabini might think of something he hadn\u2019t thought of. There was that possibility, too. So he would call Toby only after he had spoken to Tabini.<\/p>\n

He drank the last of the tea, sealed and cylindered the letter to Tabini, then stood up and rang for Madam Saidin, major domo of this extravagant apartment. He gave instructions for both messages to be delivered, the one by courier, within the halls, the other\u2026<\/p>\n

One of the staff would run the lily cylinder down to the mail center\u2026 which would fax the content to the post office in the township neighboring Tatiseigi\u2019s estate, and have it run up the hill, express, by local truck, to reach the old gentleman\u2026 while the lily cylinder, itself ancient and precious, came back upstairs to Saidin\u2019s keeping, to wait for Tatiseigi\u2019s arrival. Proprieties, proprieties, and the motions they went through, to preserve the appearance of the old ways.<\/p>\n

Tatiseigi have his own fax? Hell would freeze solid before that modern contraption found a place in Tatiseigi\u2019s house. Or here.<\/p>\n

\u201cLord Tatiseigi is coming back, nadi-ji,\u201d he told Saidin, in giving her the message.<\/p>\n

He looked up to do it. That esteemed lady stood a head taller than he did: skin the color of ink, eyes of molten amber, black hair well-salted with her years\u2014he had no idea how many years. She was, like many of the great houses\u2019 highest staff, a member of the Assassins\u2019 Guild\u2026 but she bowed with such graceful sweetness, as she said, \u201cHe has sent also to us, nandi. We so regret the short notice.\u201d<\/p>\n

He would very much miss Saidin. He had stayed here before, never expected to do so again, and fate had surprised him. He laid no bets now, when he departed, whether he would ever be back under her care. \u201cWe by no means question it,\u201d he said quietly. \u201cMy first message felicitates his arrival and the other advises the aiji of the situation. One has requested to take a short vacation in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe coastal estate at Najida, nandi?\u201d Those golden eyes sparked. \u201cOne had intended to suggest that.\u201d<\/p>\n

So she had thought about his welfare. It was a warm notion, considering their long though intermittent history.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn excellent notion,\u201d he said, \u201cand in that case, I shall count it your good advice. Thank you for the thought, nadi-ji.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe staff\u2019s very earnest wishes, nandi,\u201d she said. \u201cWe shall miss you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNadi-ji.\u201d It was worth a bow, as that worthy lady left on her mission.<\/p>\n

Tatiseigi\u2019s staff would miss him, that was to say. His own staff, many of them on more or less permanent loan from Tatiseigi or the dowager, or from Tabini himself, were scattered from the space station to the coast, surviving, in the disarrangement of his house\u2026 so in going to Najida, he simply exchanged one set of observing eyes for another. Spying was just a method of keeping informed about one\u2019s allies\u2014in the thinking of the great houses. One knew\u2014and accepted such loans. And his own staff\u2019s knowledge of him was consequently disrupted\u2026 and the persons they reported to\u2014notably Tabini, or the dowager\u2014might be less well informed on his business than, say, at the moment, the Atageini\u2014<\/p>\n

Except for one thing. His four bodyguards, his aishid\u2014who knew most everything that went on, and who never left him\u2014 they kept information flowing properly, right up the lines of man\u2019chi, of personal attachment, to the aiji himself; and they took care, too, that certain things stayed outside<\/em> Atageini knowledge, or anyone else\u2019s, for that matter.<\/p>\n

His bodyguard, his caretakers, his advisors\u2014Banichi and Jago were the seniors, Tano and Algini his second-senior, and nobody on earth stood closer to him.<\/p>\n

Nobody else had shared as many of his various disasters.<\/p>\n

He located them, all of them, in the security station down the main hall\u2014his four best friends, although \u201cfriend\u201d was one of those words officially forbidden in the human-atevi interface. Sometimes he thought that way. Sometimes he was sane, and considerate of them, and didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

This morning he just leaned into the doorway, sighed massively, and said, \u201cA letter has come from Tatiseigi, nadiin-ji.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are aware of it, Bren-ji,\u201d Banichi said. Little reached the staff that his security didn\u2019t learn fast.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe coast, nadiin-ji,\u201d he said. \u201cGranted we get permission from Tabini.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only solution,\u201d Jago said with a shrug. His lover, Jago\u2014 lover: another of those forbidden words, and a word the deeper implications of which would just confuse everyone, including Jago. They\u2019d tried now and again to parse it, and only ended up with Jago concluding \u201cassociation\u201d was quite sensibly adequate to describe them, and that the human sense of involved attachment was very odd.<\/p>\n

Tano and Algini didn\u2019t say anything, but didn\u2019t look overly disturbed about the prospect of a fast move. The aishid was all together again, in a number of senses, and if \u201clove\u201d didn\u2019t describe it, it was close enough to it to warm a human heart.<\/p>\n

Not enough to make him foolish enough to hug anyone in appreciation, however.<\/p>\n

His security team, all of them members of the Assassins\u2019 Guild, wore the uniform, the black leather and silver, had the look, had the armament generally in evidence, and traveled with enough gear to outfit a small army: if he moved, they would. They had kept him safe\u2014and his safety having required quite a lot of keeping in the last number of years, he owed them all extravagantly.<\/p>\n

He owed them, among other things, a stable household, not a moving target.<\/p>\n

He owed them a staff that could support not only his needs in comfort, but theirs. Saidin and her staff had certainly done very well for them\u2014Saidin ran a tight ship; but because she wasn\u2019t theirs, she was Tatiseigi\u2019s, her attentions were always just a little worrisome. Tatiseigi, that conniving old gentleman had political ambitions that hadn\u2019t stopped with getting a niece married to Tabini and a grand-nephew within a heartbeat of the aiji himself. There was that. Tatiseigi didn\u2019t<\/em> trust human influence near his grand-nephew: Tatiseigi didn\u2019t favor human gadgets, human ideas, or human newfangled inventions, and said grand-nephew had been much too infatuated with humans. And bet that Tatiseigi would want to know every detail of the paidhi-aiji\u2019s residence here and all his dealings with Tabini\u2019s household.<\/p>\n

His going to the coast would cut off that source of information\u2014and put Tatiseigi in immediate reach of Tabini\u2019s household. Tatiseigi became Tabini\u2019s problem, not his.<\/p>\n

\u201cShall we assume, Bren-ji,\u201d Jago said, \u201cand pack?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne hardly sees what Tabini can do, else, but agree I should go. Take everything, nadiin-ji: we clearly must go somewhere. My belongings can easily go into storage, in favor of your gear\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo such thing,\u201d Jago said. \u201cAll of it will move.\u201d<\/p>\n

Probably it was wise, after all, not to leave any remnant of his belongings exposed to tampering in storage\u2014or subject to further controversy, should any clerk go nosing about into his bits of gear and his books.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne assumes,\u201d Tano said, \u201cthat the aiji will at least advantage himself of the time before the legislature meets\u2026 to find a solution to the Farai.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf not, nadiin-ji,\u201d Bren said, \u201cone fears we may end up taking a house in the town.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe paidhi could File on this Southerner,\u201d Banichi said, meaning the head of the Farai clan, and as long as Bren had heard Banichi\u2019s humor and his serious suggestions, he wasn\u2019t sure if that was dry humor at the moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe paidhi has had cause,\u201d Algini added, which made him think Banichi might have just offered a sensible and workable suggestion. Filing Intent: serving legal notice of application to the Assassins\u2019 Guild, official Intent to assassinate the person in question\u2014well, he supposed appropriating a lord\u2019s apartment would be a legal grievance, if he were an atevi lord with historic standing.<\/p>\n

Continuing the insult by continuing to occupy said apartment affected not just his pride, but his staff\u2019s honor. There was that.<\/p>\n

And for a heartbeat he asked himself if perhaps, just perhaps, that suggestion didn\u2019t originate with Banichi\u2014if perhaps it had come from Tabini himself, to whose staff Banichi and Jago still retained some minor ties.<\/p>\n

A hint? Relieve me of this troublesome Southerner? The aiji himself had absolute right to remove an obstacle to the association, but politically speaking, had some obligation to prove the Farai were in fact an obstacle. The aiji could decree that they were\u2014but since the aiji had to rule on a Filing, it was somewhat of a case of judge, jury, and executioner\u2026 an unpopular sort of situation.<\/p>\n

The paidhi, however, actually had a legitimate grievance, an exacerbated grievance. The way it worked, in practicality\u2014he could File Intent with the Assassins\u2019 Guild, and once the Filing was accepted, it freed his staff to go after the head of that family. The Farai clan would simultaneously counterfile, freeing Assassins in their association to go after him<\/em>. Both sides had legal right, both sides agreed to exempt noninvolved persons from personal harm, and it would all work itself out, probably in his favor, since he\u2019d personally trust his bodyguard to take out the head of the Farai clan with considerable speed and efficiency. It would all be according to law.<\/p>\n

Which would end the counterfiling; and a re-Filing would not be viewed with favor in the aiji\u2019s court, meaning the Farai\u2019s wider associations could not then all take after the paidhi\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t mean they wouldn\u2019t, however, in all practicality. They\u2019d politic left and right with the aiji to allow a Filing, and of course he\u2019d politic with the aiji not to allow it.<\/p>\n

And at that point it would all devolve down to who was of more value, the entire southern coast of the aishidi\u2019tat, or the human the aiji had listened to when he\u2019d done some of the more controversial things he had to his credit.<\/p>\n

Space travel.<\/p>\n

Upsetting the balance of power in the aishidi\u2019tat.<\/p>\n

Contact with aliens that could still come down on them\u2026<\/p>\n

The aiji had been staunchly supportive of his human advisor in his return to power; but time\u2014time and politics\u2014could reorder all sorts of priorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe paidhi could File,\u201d Jago said with a sigh, \u201cbut then we would all be busy for years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe paidhi\u2019s generosity in withdrawing to the country,\u201d Tano said, \u201cif backed by adequate strength, can only trouble the troublemakers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBacked by strength,\u201d Banichi said. \u201cAnd<\/em> the aiji. One month. Let the Farai hear that, and take another thought about inconveniencing the paidhi-aiji.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inconveniencing was one way to put it.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you, nadiin-ji,\u201d Bren asked very quietly, \u201cdo you think the aiji does<\/em> wish the paidhi to take a moderate course, or am I putting you in danger by my reluctance to File on this clan?\u201d<\/p>\n

A small silence. Opaque stares. Yes-no. Maybe. Then Jago, whose stare was generally the most direct, glanced down. No answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cSee what the aiji<\/em> will do,\u201d Algini said, then, \u201cwhether he will permit this trip\u2014or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scary enough advice. Tabini could<\/em> decide out of pure pique to throw the Farai out of his apartment, the hell with the South, collectively known as the Marid, which had caused the aiji so much trouble.<\/p>\n

That would toss the oil-pot in the fire, for sure.<\/p>\n

Or Tabini could use the month to maneuver\u2026 and temporize further with the Marid.<\/p>\n

And the paidhi could come back and conspicuously set up in the hotel at the foot of the hill, posing a security nightmare for his staff, inconveniencing all the legislators who did not<\/em> have apartments in the Bujavid, and who relied on that hotel during the upcoming session\u2014<\/p>\n

And waiting for the Farai to feel the heat enough to do something overt, either against him, or against Tabini himself. That<\/em> would put Tabini in the right.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d personally bet the Farai would do neither, counting on all the paidhi\u2019s other enemies to take him out of the way.<\/p>\n

And there were certainly sufficient of those. As Jago said, they could become very, very busy, just keeping him alive, if they had to move into exposed circumstances. It was a risk to them, as much as him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a very uncomfortable position to be in, nadiin-ji,\u201d he said. \u201cLikeliest the aiji will give me at least my month, however\u2014whatever we have to do for the session. And in any case, we know we have to pack. We can hardly share the premises with Uncle Tatiseigi.\u201d<\/p>\n

That produced a little laugh all around.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere will the dowager<\/em> lodge?\u201d Tano wondered then, the second good question of the situation: the aiji was lodging in her<\/em> apartment, part of the whole chain of inconvenience. And while it had been mildly titillating to have the aiji-dowager staying under Tatiseigi\u2019s roof at Tirnamardi, in that very large estate, it escalated to salacious rumor to consider the dowager sharing the Atageini lord\u2019s apartment in the Bujavid, at a very slight remove from her grandson the aiji.<\/p>\n

Not that salacious rumor ever displeased the aiji-dowager.<\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose she will stay with the aiji and his household,\u201d Bren said. That would set the nuclear fuse ticking: give that about a week before the dowager and the aiji were ready to File on each other. \u201cBut let us hope we shall be on the coast, safe from all events. For at least the next month.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nand\u2019 Bren was leaving. Cajeiri heard it from Great-grandmother\u2019s major domo, Madiri, who had heard it from Cajeiri\u2019s father the aiji. Great-uncle Tatiseigi was coming back, Great-grandmother was also coming back, but Great-uncle was pushing nand\u2019 Bren out of Great-uncle\u2019s apartment, and nand\u2019 Bren was going off to live on the coast, which was entirely unreasonable. And even worse, even worse, Great-uncle was going to be living down the hall.<\/p>\n

That was what Cajeiri heard; and being a year short of fortunate nine, and already as bored with his existence in the Bujavid as a young lord could be\u2014his father and mother let him do nothing<\/em> except his studies, and his chosen aishi was up on the station probably forgetting all about him and growing up without him\u2014he saw nothing brighter ahead. He had been back to ordinary, boring life in his father\u2019s household for three whole months<\/em> since the set-to with Great-grandmother\u2019s neighbors in Malguri.<\/p>\n

He had so looked forward to spring, and summer, and maybe, maybe<\/em> being able to go visit the wilderness of Taiben, or even go out to Great-uncle\u2019s estate at Tirnamardi, where he would mostly have to behave (but Great-grandmother never watched him as closely as his parents, and out there, she would be running his life, so there had been some hope.)<\/p>\n

But now\u2014<\/p>\n

Now Great-grandmother was going away, and Great-uncle was coming here<\/em> and throwing nand\u2019 Bren out.<\/p>\n

It was just unfair.<\/p>\n

And he had nobody left to talk to. Antaro and Jegari, even, his two companions from Taiben, who were almost his bodyguard, were off enlisting in the Assassins\u2019 Guild and training most every day. They did at least show him what they learned that day, or every so-many days, when they were held at the Guild house for overnight. That was where they were today, so he couldn\u2019t even tell them the bad news.<\/p>\n

If Jegari and Antaro had their Guild status, Cajeiri said to himself, he might set them<\/em> on the nasty Farai and scare them right out of nand\u2019 Bren\u2019s apartment and solve everything.<\/p>\n

But they had no such license, and the Farai had their own Assassins, and besides, his father would find out about it and that<\/em> would stop that.<\/p>\n

He should suggest it to Banichi and Jago. They<\/em> could do it. They could scare the Farai all the way back to the Marid, and show them up for the scoundrels they were.<\/p>\n

But you had to File Intent to be legal to go after someone. And that took time.<\/p>\n

And probably Bren\u2019s guard would never listen to him. Even Banichi. Banichi had used to build cars with him, but no longer. He\u2019d had Casimi and Seimaji, that Great-grandmother had set to guard him; but he had not even had them now for days, because they\u2019d both gone back to Great-grandmother. So besides that, he had those two old sticks, Kaidin and Temein, that Great-uncle Tatiseigi had sent to watch over him and spy on his father: and Kaidin and Temein had never been happy at all with him, since they had gotten in trouble for losing him once\u2014<\/p>\n

And for the rest of his resources, he just had his father and his mother\u2019s guard standing around, and they<\/em> were never under his orders. If he asked them to do something, it was always, \u201cAsk your own guard, young gentleman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even worse, mother\u2019s sister was visiting for the last three days; her<\/em> two servants were flirting with his father\u2019s guards, hanging about the kitchen and being obnoxious. The guards were distracted, being stupid, and nobody even cared what he thought.<\/p>\n

There was an advantage, however, to nobody caring what he thought, and to his aunt\u2019s maids acting like fools, which was that people grew busy and forgot to pay attention to him. He had not gotten in trouble in at least half a month, which meant that he was not under active restriction at the moment.<\/p>\n

So he went down the hall and searched up boring old Kaidin and Temein. They were finishing the day\u2019s reports when he found them; and he said:<\/p>\n

\u201cNand\u2019 Bren has a book I need for my studies.\u201d<\/p>\n

A sour look. \u201cWe can get it, young lord.\u201d<\/p>\n

He thought fast. \u201cThis is a very old book, and I have to convince nand\u2019 Bren I can take care of it. No farther than just down the hall. I need to talk to him. I can go by myself or you can take me there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should ask the aiji\u2019s staff,\u201d Temein said. He was not the most enterprising of men; and Kaiden thought they should clear the order, too\u2014to Cajeiri\u2019s disgust.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father\u2019s staff by no means cares if I am only in the hall,\u201d he said. \u201cOr if you go with me at all or not. But one needs to go now<\/em>, nadiin. I have to meet my tutor before lunch. If you go to asking questions and going through procedures, I shall not get the book read in time, I shall not finish my lessons, my tutor will give a bad report, my father will be upset with me, and I shall be put out with you. Extremely. Come with me. We need to go now<\/em>. It will hardly take a moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

They muttered to each other. They had only just ordered lunch, were not anxious to leave for a long consultation and getting permission, so the ploy actually worked. He got them out the door, and three doors down, and had them knock on nand\u2019 Bren\u2019s door\u2014or Uncle Tatiseigi\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to talk to nand\u2019 Bren,\u201d Cajeiri said to the maid who answered it, and when Madam Saidin showed up: \u201cNand\u2019 Bren has a book I very much need, Saidin-nadi. May I speak to him?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, young gentleman. Come this way,\u201d Madam Saidin said, and, leaving Kaidin and Temein in the foyer, she escorted him to the study, where she knocked softly, and opened the door.<\/p>\n

Nand\u2019 Bren was writing. He looked up in a little surprise, and stood up to meet him, even if nand\u2019 Bren was Lord of the Heavens\u2026 stood up to just his height, being a human, and just his size, which always made nand\u2019 Bren seem more like his own age. Lord Bren was all the colors of a sunny day\u2014pale skin and pale hair and eyes and all. When Cajeiri had been very little, he had wondered if Bren was the only one in all the world like that. When he was older, he had found out Bren\u2019s kind came in all sorts of shades; but, even so, very few were Bren\u2019s sort\u2026 and fewer still of any species were as smart as Lord Bren. Lord Bren was his father\u2019s trusted advisor, and when Lord Bren talked, his father the aiji listened.<\/p>\n

Well, mostly, his father did.<\/p>\n

\u201cNandi,\u201d he said to Lord Bren, ever so respectfully\u2014and quietly, aware Temein and Kaidin were just outside, and probably talking and reporting to Saidin, because they were<\/em> actually all from Great-uncle\u2019s estate of Tirnamardi. \u201cPlease lend me one of Uncle\u2019s books. I told Saidin-nadi that I came for one. Are you really going away?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d nand\u2019 Bren said. \u201cOnly for a month, until the legislature meets.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou mean to go to the coast. Where your boat is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d nand\u2019 Bren said, just a bit more warily. \u201cJust for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guilt was useful; and Cajeiri had no hesitation to use it. \u201cYou promised when you did ever go on your boat you would take us along.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nand\u2019 Bren looked decidedly uncomfortable. \u201cNot without your father\u2019s permission, young lord, one could not possibly\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen one hopes you will ask him, nandi. One ever so wants to go!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI shall ask him,\u201d nand\u2019 Bren said quietly, as if it were an obligation, a very wearying obligation.<\/p>\n

That stung. And that made Cajeiri angry.<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung lord,\u201d nand\u2019 Bren said, \u201che will surely say no. But one will make the request.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nand\u2019 Bren still looked tired, and entirely out of sorts. Perhaps it was not himself that nand\u2019 Bren was out of sorts with.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou did promise,\u201d Cajeiri said, pushing it, in that thought, \u201cand one is so bored<\/em> with lessons.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne did promise,\u201d Bren agreed with a sigh. \u201cAnd one regrets to have so little hope of persuading your father, but one fears he will refuse any request. If you recall, young lord, you are intended to become reacquainted with your father and your lady mother, and to learn the court and the legislature\u2014for your own protection and future benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat-uncle is entirely unreasonable to send you away!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLord Tatiseigi has been very generous to have lent this apartment at all,\u201d Bren said, \u201cand when he comes to the capital, he naturally needs it. Should he take a room in the hotel?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut where are you to go when the legislature is in session? Shall you not be here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c \u2018Where are you to go,\u2014nandi?\u2019<\/em> \u201d Nand\u2019 Bren corrected his mode of address, since his voice had risen far too sharply and he had just omitted a courtesy to moderate that sharpness.<\/p>\n

\u201cNandi,\u201d he amended his question, ducked his head and made his voice and his manner far more quiet and restrained. \u201cBut where are you expected to go?\u201d<\/p>\n

Nand\u2019 Bren smiled sadly, patiently. \u201cClearly, for the immediate future, to the home I do have, which I am very grateful to have. After that, young lord, perhaps I shall take a town house.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we<\/em> could, we would assuredly toss the Farai out of your apartment!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne is very sure your father daily entertains the same thought, young lord.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen he should do it! He should File on them!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne is very sure he would do it, if not for the fragility of the peace, young lord, but in the meantime, my brother happens to be sailing near my estate\u2014I spoke to him a few days ago when he was in port on Mospheira. So my trip to the coast is not all a loss. I shall very probably get to see my brother. I also owe extravagant thanks to my staff in that district, who held out against the rebels, at the risk of their lives. And I owe a debt to Lord Geigi\u2014up on the station: you remember Lord Geigi. His estate is next down the coast.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne remembers Lord Geigi favorably, yes,\u201d he said. Nand\u2019 Bren was clearly explaining to him that there were all sorts of social obligations already lined up for him, with no time for taking a boy on his boat, that was what, and he hardly liked to hear the whole list. \u201cOne remembers nand\u2019 Toby, too. And Barb-daja. They<\/em> would certainly find pleasure in seeing us, and hearing all our adventures.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSurely they would,\u201d Bren said, not unkindly. \u201cAnd surely the estate staff would be greatly honored by your presence, and so would Lord Geigi\u2019s people be glad to receive you, but your father\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe paidhi-aiji persuaded all the districts to make peace when they were at each other\u2019s throats! Surely you can persuade my parents to let me go to the coast for a month!\u201d<\/p>\n

Nand\u2019 Bren smiled and shook his head in the human way, and said: \u201cI shall honestly try, young lord. I shall certainly do that.\u201d He went and took a book from the shelves, taking a little trouble about it. It was, of course, Great-uncle Tatiseigi\u2019s book that nand\u2019 Bren lent him.<\/p>\n

It was a very handsome little book, very old. Cajeiri appreciated the trouble taken, at least, and folded it to his chest. He bowed respectfully, and nand\u2019 Bren bowed.<\/p>\n

But when Cajeiri walked out of nand\u2019 Bren\u2019s office he found himself madder and more frustrated than he had been in a long, long time. He did not even look at Kaidin and Temein on the walk back, nor did he say a word.<\/p>\n

When he got safely back to his own room, in his father\u2019s borrowed apartment, and was rid of his guard, he flung himself into a chair and flung the book onto the table beside him. It nearly slid off the table. He stopped it.<\/p>\n

Then he thought to look at the book. It was the sort of thing his great-uncle would have, the script of a machimi play. But it was one he had never seen or read. It was titled Blood of Traitors<\/em>. The illustration chased into the leather cover, and painted, had swords and castles. And nand\u2019 Bren had picked it out, which meant it might be very much better than the volume of court rules and etiquette his tutor was making him memorize.<\/p>\n

It was no substitute for sailing on nand\u2019 Bren\u2019s boat, and none for seeing nand\u2019 Toby and Barb-daja.<\/p>\n

He had caught a fish on nand\u2019 Toby\u2019s boat once. It had been venomous, and it had flown all about on his line, making everybody scramble. It was one of his most favorite memories. They had all laughed about it later, himself, and Great-grandmother, mani; and nand\u2019 Bren and his associates, even when things were desperate and people had been trying to kill them\u2014even the fish in the sea had had a try at killing them. And that had been the best moment on the whole boat trip.<\/p>\n

He so wished he had never told his parents about it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Read the full book by downloading it below.<\/p>\n

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Book Preview Spring was coming. Frost still touched the window glass of the Bujavid and whitened the roof tiles of Shejidan at sunrise, but it left daily by mid-morning. This was a sign. So was the letter, delivered by morning post, discreetly received by staff, and, understood to be important, delivered with Bren Cameron\u2019s morning … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2252,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[138],"class_list":["post-2253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-c-j-cherryh"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}