Cold Steel (Spiritwalker 3)

The mansa rose. “See to your family, Andevai. I want them on the road within the hour.”

As I held away the curtain for him to leave, I puzzled at the blue sky, where I saw not a trace of storm cloud.

“How can it be thundering?” I said to Vai.

“It’s not thunder. It’s cannon.”

Servants hurried in. They stripped the table bare with the speed of locusts. A manservant appeared with a fresh set of clothing, including a brown-and-gold dash jacket I hadn’t seen since we’d had to abandon most of Vai’s garments in Adurnam.

“Gracious Melqart, Vai! How did you get your clothes back?”

Vai stepped behind a screen to dress. “The mansa had them delivered to me one day. I admit, I was surprised. I had riding clothes made for you, love, so we can go out today.”

A woman helped me into a split skirt cut in an exceedingly practical and flattering style with buttons down the front, and a long jacket in an amber-brown challis. Expensive calfskin gloves and a saucy hussar’s shako crowned by a jaunty feather completed the ensemble, although it was Vai’s smiling admiration that made me preen.

We traversed the garden on a path of white gravel through a stand of ornamental fruit trees. Bintou and Wasa sat on a bench by a fountain, playing with an adorable puppy that licked their faces as they giggled. They were wearing new clothes, neatly made and brightly colored.

“Vai! Cat!” they shrieked, seeing us. Bintou leaped up and ran to him while Wasa bounced on the bench in excitement. Vai released Bintou to pick up Wasa’s crutch and give it a frowning examination. Then he carried Wasa into the breakfast room, where his mother sat on a couch, watching our arrival through the glass. She, too, wore new clothing. When he knelt before her in greeting, she did not effuse over him but merely laid a hand on his head. Excluded, the girls swarmed me. I held one in the curve of each arm and watched as he raised his head to address her.

“Mama, I have news.” The rumble of a distant cannonade stirred the air, then faded. “You will return to Four Moons House with the girls.”

“To Four Moons House? You cannot think of taking us to live in the House.”

“It is appropriate for you to live on the estate in a suite of rooms like this one, suitable to your consequence.”

Her slender frame tensed. “How will the girls be comfortable in that place?”

“You must be shown the honor and respect that is due to you,” he said, a little exasperated. “If you don’t live in Four Moons House, it looks as if I am ashamed of you. You never liked the village anyway.”

“To live in a prosperous village was my greatest dream! I was satisfied.”

“After Father died, I don’t think you were happy.” He glanced at the carpet and muttered, “I certainly couldn’t make you happy.”

Her thin shoulders trembled.

He drew in a breath as if he had been struck. “If it does not please you, Mama, if you prefer to return to Haranwy, then you shall do so.”

Her chin lifted. “With your father’s passing, there is nothing in Haranwy I shall miss. We will do what suits you, now you have been raised so high.”

If I hadn’t been looking at her I would have missed the shine of pride that brightened her face, quickly limned and quickly gone.

Vai saw it, too. His smile blended relief and satisfaction. “That’s settled, then. The girls will receive schooling, and they will not be bullied as I was.” He glanced toward us, without a trace of teasing smile. “They will work hard and comport themselves with good manners.”

“No child of mine will embarrass our family with poor manners.” Vai’s mother spoke the words in such a stern tone that I would have feared to disgrace her.

Bintou nudged me. “The girls in the House won’t want to be our friends.”

Vai rose. “Your trouble will be that the girls in the House will want to be your friends, and some of them will want it for the wrong reasons. You two shall have to discover which are honest and which false. As for your friends in Haranwy, it can be arranged that they visit you. In fact…” He looked at me, radiant with triumph. “I see no reason I cannot ask the mansa to consider expanding the school to include the village children. It is not too far for them to walk. It would not tax the resources of the House to admit thirty more children to the school during the day.”

“That is a fine idea in principle, Husband,” I said, “but what about the House’s other client villages? Will they languish, while you favor Haranwy?”

His mother said, “The children in the village are needed to work at chores.”

“I will find a way to do this,” said Vai with a stubborn pinch of his lips.

Fortunately an attendant announced Serena, who came accompanied by two other women. I greeted her with clasped hands. She greeted Vai casually, like an equal, then introduced me to her companions: One had married into Four Moons House and one been born into it. I escorted them to Vai’s mother, who remained seated, which was the privilege of an elder, although I was pretty sure Vai’s mother was younger than the mansa for all that she looked much older from years of illness. She accepted their polite greetings with a rigid aspect of seeming calm. The girls were so stricken by shyness that they barely whispered.

“They will ride in my personal coach,” said Serena. “If there is trouble, I can protect them.”