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She must not call.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
I ran co-pilot for Garen 'til she broke her skull, and the ship came to me, complete with a full load of trouble. I was
young enough then to believe my skull was too hard to break opted to run solo, and take care of the troubles as I
met them.
I wasn't looking for a co-pilot the night I found Jela, though I was old enough by then to know I could die. What I
wanted was a glass and a roll in the blankets one glass, one roll and an early lift out, headed for the Rim with a
load of don't-you-care.
Funny, how even simple plans so often fail to work.
Excerpted from Cantra yos'Phelium's Log Book
Sinit was curled in the round chair in the front parlor, reading. Chonselta City Library had only today placed on its
shelves In Support of the Commonality of Language by Learned Scholar Anne Davis and Sinit had been fortunate
enough to engage it.
Language and the roots of language had their places in the larger art of anthropology and she read with absorption.
Indeed, she read with so much attention to the work that it was not the first, but the second sounding of the doorchime
that roused her.
Blinking, she uncurled, taking care to mark her place, and pull on her houseboots. She straightened her tunic on
the way to the entry hall and tucked her hair behind her ears.
The bell sounded once more.
From above-stairs came the noise of a door opening, feet thumping along thin carpeting, and Voni's voice, wondering:
"Whoever could be calling this late in the day?"
Sinit opened the front door.
The taller of the two visitors bowed as the porch light came up, cloak shimmering around him: Visitor to the House,
Sinit read, and inclined her head.
"Speak."
Black eyes looked down at her from a stark, clever face; his dark hair was pulled back and secured with a silver
ribbon, an end of which lay across his shoulder. A twist of silver was in the right ear; there a flash of slick enameled
colors as he brought his left hand up in the age-old gesture and showed her.
Tree-and-Dragon.
"I have the honor to be Korval," he said in the Mode of Announcement. He gestured toward his companion. "Pilot
Samiv tel'Izak."
Sinit barely attended. Korval. Korval here, in the company of a second pilot, who must surely be another of Aelliana's
comrades. Yet, if they were come here
"But," she blurted, looking from his eyes to the smooth, careful face of his companion. "Aelliana is not to House,
sir pilot. I had thought surely she is at at Solcintra?"
They exchanged a glance, the two on the porch, and Sinit caught her breath, afraid suddenly, though not of them.
"Please," she said, backing away and pulling the door wide. "Please, come in. I "
"Sinit, whatever are you doing?" Voni demanded peevishly from above. Sinit spun, squinting through the dimness
toward the landing.
"These gentles are here to speak with Aelliana, sister. Pray, ask her to come down."
There was a moment of shocked silence, then the sound of footsteps, going swiftly back up the stairs. Sinit felt her
knees go weak.
"She must have come in while I was reading," she said, shakily, and pushed the door closed. "Doubtless, she will be
here in a moment to greet you. Would you care to step into the parlor, gentles? Refreshment& "
Upstairs, a door slammed and the footsteps that pounded hastily down were not Aelliana's. Sinit saw the man know
that; saw him convey the knowledge to his comrade with the twitch of a well-marked black brow.
"Callers for Aelliana?" Ran Eld's voice was breathless, but, then, Ran Eld was very little used to running. Sinit went
two steps back and to the side, instinctively seeking the shadow of the back hallway. She looked up and directly into
the eyes of Pilot telTzak. The pilot held her gaze a moment, then turned her head away.
"Who is ah." The questioner had gained the foyer a slender and be-ringed young man in a houserobe much too
ornate for his surroundings. Samiv frowned as he came into the light. There were marks of paler gold on the man's
face, as if he had been scratched and had recent recourse to an autodoc. From the edge of her eye, she saw the
halfling doorkeeper fade one more step toward the safety of the hall-shadows.
"I am Nadelm Mizel," the gaudy young man said, inclining his head slightly. "May I know your business, sir,
ma'am?"
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