Free Eidolon by Steve Miller, Sharon Lee Page A

think that he must
truly care for you, sister. Would it not--"
    "Shadow care for me! What
an idea! Why, when I said I could not accompany him to dinner
Finyal-last, after he had waited all evening--did he act as if that
mattered to him, or behave in the least bit put out?" She tossed
her hair." A cool bow and a chaste good-night, that was how much Shadow cared to
lose my company! You might term him kind, sister, but Shadow cares
for nothing save his own scheming. He deserves neither courtesy nor
gentleness from me!"
    Ceola stared. Had Min not
seen the slight droop of those level shoulders; the frown that had
tightened the corners of the generous mouth? Of course he had been
disappointed--deeply so, as Ceola had read it, though too gentle to
rebuke one for whom he surely harbored the tenderest of feelings.
Only someone whose heart was engaged, Ceola thought, with a sad
lack of sisterly kindness, would tolerate the abuses Min had heaped
upon him.
    Min slid off the stool, and shook back her
plentiful black hair.
    "Do what you like with Shadow. You've been
wanting a tutor in bed-skills."Ceola's cheeks heated. Min laughed,
sweetly malicious.
    "I must prepare for Elby," she said,
strolling toward the back stair that led to their apartment. "Good
evening, sister."
    Custom was brisk at the start; when it
slowed, near mid-Night-Port, she looked around the room and
discovered him sitting quietly at a side table. His companion this
evening was the handheld, and he was wholly concentrated on it.
Ceola paused for a moment at the edge of the bar, considering the
clean lines of his face, and the errant lock of dark hair that fell
across his forehead. Even as she watched, he raised a long-fingered
hand and stroked the silky strands away from his eyes, his
attention never leaving the screen.
    The street door opened and Ceola turned,
only to see the potential customer step back, his voice sharp, then
muffled as he spoke to a companion outside.
    "Not here. Let's try across--"
    The door closed. Ceola sighed and walked
over to Shadow's table.
    He looked up at her approach and tendered a
grave smile.
    Ceola felt her cheeks heat,
and silently damned Min's taunting. What was she to say to the
man: My sister is a beautiful fool, but I,
the plain and practical, find you fair ?
Chilly comfort there.
    She made shift, then, to answer his smile
and stepped nearer, her hands tucked tightly into the pockets of
her apron.
    "The usual this evening, Scout?"she asked,
because that was commonplace and comforting and gave her a moment
to tidy her disorderly thoughts.
    The usual was the red wine, which their
mother had kept on inventory to please her old and very great
friend, Scout Lieutenant tel'Juna.
    In the way of such things, Lieutenant
tel'Juna had brought his Scout friends to drink with him, and they,
too, enjoyed the red. As they had good custom from the Scouts, so
they stocked more of the red, until it came to a solid quarter of
their sales.
    "I think perhaps," Shadow
said in his soft voice, "that it may not be a usual evening." He tipped
his head. "I hope your sister enjoys her usual robust
health?"
    Ceola's cheeks warmed further. "I--yes,"she
stammered, looking down at the worn tabletop. "She is quite well,
thank you."
    "I'm glad," he answered. "I had feared the
worst, with you so troubled."
    She looked up at him. "Are all Scouts mind
readers?"
    He grinned. "Muscle readers, say; and most
have a happy ability to guess well."
    "Happy,"Ceola repeated and forced herself to
meet bright green eyes.
    "Min left a message, Shadow. I--" She
gulped.
    She heard him sigh, very softly. "Did she?
Then I propose that we will all be served best by a speedy
delivery."
    Ceola sighed then, more deeply than he, and
kept her eyes on his face. "Perhaps that's so,"she said, unhappily.
"I-- that is, Min wished you to know that she has . . . chosen to
terminate the alliance between you."
    There , she thought, it was said, as
quickly and as fairly as one might . For his
part,