“Of course you are.”
“Call me Ahiri,” she says, biting her lip in a practiced way. “What may I call you?”
“Lord va’Rin, first of his name.”
She pouts at me. “So stiff. Fine, then. At least let me give you your gift.” She trots over to the foot of the ridiculous bed and picks up a small bundled scroll that I missed amidst the mountain of pillows. It has a red ribbon around the middle and a tassel hanging from it. Lady dra’Niiron—Ahiri—holds it out to me.
I take it. It’s custom for a host to offer guests small gifts, but I know Ahiri is looking for a way to climb socially, so I imagine her gift will be quite showy. I’m not entirely surprised to unroll the document and see the deed to an ancient villa I’ve coveted for quite some time. I like old things, and this particular villa is on a remote island, which I also like. But I can’t let her know that she’s guessed my tastes rather well. “You’ve given me the keys to a crumbling old house. You shouldn’t have, Ahiri.”
The female giggles at me, batting at my hand. “Oh, you. It’s a fascinating place and it cost me an utter fortune to snatch it from the jaws of House ba’Jirol. You’ll love it, even if it needs a bit of cosmetic work.”
“We shall see.” I roll it up again and tuck it into a pocket in the front of my robes.
“That’s all you have to say?” For a moment, Ahiri looks hurt. “I thought it was a rather grand gesture, myself.”
“A gesture that costs a lot of money.”
“As if you have money problems. I know you like archaeological sites, Varrik. I know all the things you like.” Her eyes hold promise.
“You don’t have the right to use my given name, Lady dra’Niiron. Not yet.” And I smile to take the sting out of my words. She doesn’t need to know that I don’t plan on ever letting her use it. I’ll dangle the possibility before her, though.
She pouts again, twirling the end of her long, sleek ponytail. “I know a great many things about all my guests, you know. All their…peccadillos. Yours was quite boring compared to some of the others.”
“Is that so?” I keep my tone deliberately bored. Ahiri is about to spill a wealth of secrets, I suspect, all to get in my good graces, and it just reinforces that she’s out to snag a mate with this party.
“Oh yes,” she purrs, extending a hand out to me. “Come. Let me show you.”
She leads me down the hall, exposing the secrets of her highest guests. This lord likes a special illegal plant to smoke. This one has a fondness for parasitic “living” silks that were outlawed some time ago. She tells me all these things casually, letting me know in no uncertain terms that she can find out gossip on anyone and everyone.
“Finally, my crowning achievement,” Ahiri declares, heading to the last set of double doors at the end of the hall. “For Lord As’bro. You’ve heard he has a penchant for alien flesh?”
I have now. I merely grunt, tucking that bit of information away. As’bro is ambitious and it might be useful in future dealings with him.
Ahiri winks at me and then moves to a side door, slipping into a hidden door in the wall. “So we can watch it unobserved.”
Well, now I’m curious. I follow her inside, taking note that if this chamber has a secret door, they all do, and she’ll be spying on me for the duration of my stay as well.
“Ready?” she asks, and puts her hand on a carved shutter. When I nod, she pulls it back, revealing a shaded glass. “This is a mirror on the other side, of course. He doesn’t need to know he’s being watched.” And she looks at me expectantly.
I peer into the room, expecting to see something dreadful.
Instead, I see…her.
My heart stops in my chest.
It’s a delicate female, with pale golden skin instead of the rich blue of my own. She has no horns, and her hair is not long and black and straight like my own, but curling and bright red. She sits on one end of a bed almost as massive as my own, her legs crossed as she stares at the room around her in a slight hint of awe. She’s dressed in an expensive-looking gown made of iridescent silk that shimmers a pale blue to mimic starlight and is all the rage with the nobility this season. The elegant straps of the dress highlight the deep cleavage and rather large breasts down to her curving waist and the small, five-toed bare feet that barely peep out from her rucked up skirts.
Her nose is tiny, her eyes are brown, and her mouth is a rosy pink.