Free Student of Kyme by Storm Constantine Page B

I’ll be arriving myself
around lunch time. Thank you for your offer. I always feel more at
ease in private houses.’
    ‘ My pleasure,’ Huriel said tightly.
    Chrysm
jerked his head to his sycophantic group and they trailed out of
the dining room after him.
    ‘ Pompous, conceited ass!’ Huriel declared. ‘Really, Kess, I
don’t know how you can stand pandering to him.’
    ‘ I can endure it if it provides a result,’ Malakess said.
‘Don’t let it get to you, Huriel.’
    ‘ Suggesting you give Gesaril to the Nagini, though… that was
outrageous, and an insult to both Sulh and Nagini, not to mention a
tremendous slur upon Gesaril himself.’
    ‘ It’s all right,’ I said, laying a hand on Huriel’s arm; the
flesh and bones were tense beneath my fingers. ‘I don’t mind. I’ll
do what’s necessary to help.’
    ‘ Not that, you won’t!’ Huriel said. ‘Don’t go near Chrysm
Luel, Gesaril. He’ll eat you up and spit out the bones.’
    ‘ Is that an order, father?’ I said sweetly.
    ‘ Yes,’ Huriel said. ‘It’s an order, son.’
    I glanced
at Malakess. What did he think?
    ‘ Huriel’s right,’ Malakess said.
    ‘ What do you want me to do this afternoon?’ I asked
him.
    ‘ Nothing. I made that up to excuse you from his
company.’
    ‘ Oh.’
    Malakess
turned to Huriel. ‘I thought I’d bring Haruah and a couple of his
hara to your place tonight. Is that all right?’
    ‘ Perfectly,’ Huriel said. ‘We’ll go back at once and inform
Rayzie and Ystayne. Do the Nagini have any special dietary
requirements?’
    ‘ I don’t know,’ Malakess said. ‘But I’ll go to the Academy and
find out. They’re staying there. One of their hara can come over to
you.’
    ‘ Excellent. He and my staff can go shopping.’ Huriel got to
his feet. ‘Come along, Gesaril.’ He was getting more like a father
or hostling at every passing moment.
    ‘ See you later,’ Malakess said. And that was that. No mention
of the previous evening, not a flicker of interest.
    Despite
what had been said, or not said, at lunch, Sabarah turned up at
Huriel’s house late this afternoon. Everyhar was busy with
preparations for dinner, so I took the Gelaming out into the
garden. Here, I sat beneath an apple tree while he made dozens of
quick sketches. There were no lascivious undercurrents in Sabarah’s
behaviour. He really did just want to paint me. He frowned as he
worked, his arm moving quickly as he made bold sweeping strokes
with his charcoal. I asked him an inane question at one point and
he simply uttered: ‘sssh!’ He liked to work in silence, it
appeared. Eventually, he paused to smoke a cigarette and let me
look at his drawings.
    I was
quite shocked by what I saw. I looked winsome, and very young. He
had captured pain within my eyes, pain that I thought I hid well.
It was discomforting that Sabarah had seen so much in me. ‘They are
wonderful pictures,’ I said. ‘I’m not sure if I look like that,
though. Can I keep one of them?’
    ‘ If you like,’ Sabarah said. He grinned. ‘Just one of those
sketches would sell for quite a lot in Immanion.’
    ‘ Thanks! I’ll get it framed, if I can, and hang it in my
room.’
    ‘ I’d like to do a series of pictures,’ Sabarah said. ‘I can
see you in a number of settings and moods. It would make a good
show for the spring.’
    ‘ I’m really not sure I could come to Immanion, though,’ I
said. ‘And you couldn’t keep coming here, surely?’
    Sabarah
tapped ash from the end of his cigarette. ‘You don’t know about
sedim, do you?’
    I shook
my head. ‘No, what is it?’
    “ Not it, they,’ Sabarah replied. ‘They are a form of transport
that can cross into the ethers and carry you long distances in a
short space of time. That is how we travel. It is also through them
that we are able to excel at trade and other things.’
    ‘ That’s amazing,’ I said. ‘I’d like to try it.’
    Sabarah
shrugged. ‘Well, perhaps we can arrange it.