glorious, yet, compared to being assigned to his father’s household in Shejidan.
And to top all, after acting as if they were so knowledgeable, they had lost track of him between the upstairs and the downstairs of the house, panicked, and then let nand’ Toby and Barb-daja go out of the house hunting him, with disastrous results.
That part had not been his fault. He had disappeared downstairs to teach them a lesson about ignoring him, and they had turned it into a total disaster. It was absolutely their fault, not his.
Mostly.
And all of that had led to nand’ Bren getting sent into the Taisigin Marid, in Tanaja, under the roof of Machigi, who was the person who had been trying to kill all of them ever since they had gotten here.
He was mad at Veijico. He made up his mind he was entitled to be mad at her.
And he did not know what he was going to say to Veijico when he saw her, but he was already determined she had better not say anything pert to him to start with. And she had better not blame him for what had happened. And she had better be respectful.
He had just as soon not see her at all if he had a choice. But because of Barb-daja coming back, he was very anxious to be early on the scene when that bus came in. He stationed Antaro in the upper hall to advise him when it was about to arrive. He had to stay close with nand’ Toby, and he could not leave him with just staff. Nand’ Toby could speak a few words of Ragi, but he made mistakes, and some of the staff had strong rural accents, which made it worse.
And he had to be very sure nand’ Toby did not hear any rumors, especially if it was bad news, because he already had mani’s instruction on that point.
At least nand’ Toby, though tall for a human, was about his size, and Cajeiri could help him—ship-speak was almost Mosphei’, and he, better than anyone in the house, could make nand’ Toby understand him.
So he was essential if nand’ Toby got upset, and he had promised nand’ Bren.
What nand’ Toby wanted to do today, unfortunately, was get up and walk. Nand’ Toby said the bed made his back hurt, and he was tired of lying there.
So he just helped nand’ Toby walk up and down the hall, with him on one side and Jegari on the other. They made three trips the length of the hall, nand’ Toby seeming a little steadier as they went. He wanted most of all to keep nand’ Toby busy and keep him from asking questions.
This morning nand’ Toby had asked him very plainly, “Have you heard from Bren?”
And at that time it had been an easy answer: “No, nandi, not yet.”
This afternoon it would not be an easy answer, and once they had gotten nand’ Toby back to his room and back to sit on the edge of his bed, he asked again, “Nothing from Bren yet, is there?”
Lying was wrong, most of the time. But telling the truth right now went against mani’s orders. It was clear that nand’ Toby was tracking things very sharply, and starting to think about things, and maybe he had heard somebody talking out in the hall this morning.
Barb-daja, when she came, could tell nand’ Toby the truth about where nand’ Bren was—it was all but impossible she would not tell him—but first she had to get here safely, which would calm nand’ Toby a lot.
So he lied again and said, “No, nandi, not yet.”
“I’m getting worried, here. Don’t they have phones over—wherever he is? Isn’t his bodyguard communicating with Cenedi? What’s going on?”
“I’m sure the Guild is communicating, nandi. But I don’t know what they say, and my bodyguard doesn’t know.” He had never regretted being fluent in ship-speak, until now. He said, miserably, “They don’t tell me everything.”
Toby looked him in the eyes. Toby’s eyes were brown as earth, and honest. Like nand’ Bren’s. “I forget how young you are sometimes. You’re as tall as I am.”
“Almost,” Cajeiri agreed, wishing word would come so he could get out of this conversation. He
And to top all, after acting as if they were so knowledgeable, they had lost track of him between the upstairs and the downstairs of the house, panicked, and then let nand’ Toby and Barb-daja go out of the house hunting him, with disastrous results.
That part had not been his fault. He had disappeared downstairs to teach them a lesson about ignoring him, and they had turned it into a total disaster. It was absolutely their fault, not his.
Mostly.
And all of that had led to nand’ Bren getting sent into the Taisigin Marid, in Tanaja, under the roof of Machigi, who was the person who had been trying to kill all of them ever since they had gotten here.
He was mad at Veijico. He made up his mind he was entitled to be mad at her.
And he did not know what he was going to say to Veijico when he saw her, but he was already determined she had better not say anything pert to him to start with. And she had better not blame him for what had happened. And she had better be respectful.
He had just as soon not see her at all if he had a choice. But because of Barb-daja coming back, he was very anxious to be early on the scene when that bus came in. He stationed Antaro in the upper hall to advise him when it was about to arrive. He had to stay close with nand’ Toby, and he could not leave him with just staff. Nand’ Toby could speak a few words of Ragi, but he made mistakes, and some of the staff had strong rural accents, which made it worse.
And he had to be very sure nand’ Toby did not hear any rumors, especially if it was bad news, because he already had mani’s instruction on that point.
At least nand’ Toby, though tall for a human, was about his size, and Cajeiri could help him—ship-speak was almost Mosphei’, and he, better than anyone in the house, could make nand’ Toby understand him.
So he was essential if nand’ Toby got upset, and he had promised nand’ Bren.
What nand’ Toby wanted to do today, unfortunately, was get up and walk. Nand’ Toby said the bed made his back hurt, and he was tired of lying there.
So he just helped nand’ Toby walk up and down the hall, with him on one side and Jegari on the other. They made three trips the length of the hall, nand’ Toby seeming a little steadier as they went. He wanted most of all to keep nand’ Toby busy and keep him from asking questions.
This morning nand’ Toby had asked him very plainly, “Have you heard from Bren?”
And at that time it had been an easy answer: “No, nandi, not yet.”
This afternoon it would not be an easy answer, and once they had gotten nand’ Toby back to his room and back to sit on the edge of his bed, he asked again, “Nothing from Bren yet, is there?”
Lying was wrong, most of the time. But telling the truth right now went against mani’s orders. It was clear that nand’ Toby was tracking things very sharply, and starting to think about things, and maybe he had heard somebody talking out in the hall this morning.
Barb-daja, when she came, could tell nand’ Toby the truth about where nand’ Bren was—it was all but impossible she would not tell him—but first she had to get here safely, which would calm nand’ Toby a lot.
So he lied again and said, “No, nandi, not yet.”
“I’m getting worried, here. Don’t they have phones over—wherever he is? Isn’t his bodyguard communicating with Cenedi? What’s going on?”
“I’m sure the Guild is communicating, nandi. But I don’t know what they say, and my bodyguard doesn’t know.” He had never regretted being fluent in ship-speak, until now. He said, miserably, “They don’t tell me everything.”
Toby looked him in the eyes. Toby’s eyes were brown as earth, and honest. Like nand’ Bren’s. “I forget how young you are sometimes. You’re as tall as I am.”
“Almost,” Cajeiri agreed, wishing word would come so he could get out of this conversation. He
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