Elvenborn

Gel looked at him with one eyebrow raised, then slowly and grudgingly nodded. And his expression changed completely. He went from anger—to defeat.

'I guess you do,' he said slowly. 'I guess you don't need me anymore.'

Now it was his turn to feel exasperated, and he tossed his fork down on his plate. 'Oh for—don't be ridiculous. I'd as soon cut off my right hand! Now, look—we need to try and think of all possible contingencies here, and have some sort of skeleton in place if—'

There was a tap on the door, and Lady Moth poked her head into the library. 'If I didn't know better, I'd say you were a wiz­ard, or else you somehow conjured the baggage by saying her name,' she said sourly. 'I seem to be attracting all manner of visitors today.'

This time, Kyrtian knew that the name that sprang into his mind was the right one. 'Oh, no—' he said, grimacing. 'Lady Triana. Just what we need.'

25

Moth! Can you keep the b—Lady Triana occupied for a little?' Kyrtian asked, a little desperately. He ran both his hands through his hair frantically. 'I can't see her just yet—'

'Oh, probably.' Moth's annoyance was turning to amuse­ment. 'In fact, I'll take it as a challenge. Obviously you'd better talk to Gel; I'm sure he can advise you. Besides, you're in no state to entertain a lady—the least you can do is clean yourself up.' Moth eyed him with disfavor. 'Believe me, you'd better have your wits about you and present a marble facade to Lady Triana. I'll go and insist she tell me every tiny detail of every affair, quarrel, and inconsequential bit of maneuvering among the Great Households while you do so. I've been isolated for some time—and everyone knows what a terrible old busybody I am. If I can't engage her, Viridina can.'

'You are not old,' he protested, earning a smile. 'Thank you.'

Moth was right; he needed time to get his wits about him. While Lady Moth left the library to keep her visitor busy with a flood of gossip-—under the excuse that she needed to be caught up on all the news she had missed while surrounded by the Young Lords—Kyrtian had a lot of work to do. And first on his list was to warn the girl that Triana was here.

But when Kyrtian got up from the table, Gel finally broke off the conversation with his young woman. Renna? Reanna? Ren-nati, that was it. Both of them looked up as he approached.

'I've been telling Rennati that you had a visitor,' Gel began, and Kyrtian felt a surge of panic, which eased as Gel went on, with a lift of an eyebrow, 'It's a rather good thing that those poor misused slaves that the Young Lords commandeered have

realized that no blame is going to be attached to them and sent one of their number to talk to you.'

Thank the Ancestors he didn't give her the real story yet! Kyrtian thought, relieved. 'Yes, well, you can't blame them for wanting to send a sort of delegate to me to plead their case,' he replied, mendaciously. 'They can't have realized that Lady Moth would treat her human servants exactly the way we treat ours. But we've got another visitor, it seems. Lady Moth tells me that Lady Triana has come calling.'

Rennati's face went dead white; that alone would have been a giveaway that she had been covertly serving Triana, even if Kyrtian hadn't already known the whole story. Triana had cho­sen her tool very poorly, on the whole, if she so readily be­trayed herself by her mere expressions.

But Triana never really thought of humans much, except as cat's-paws. She probably never once considered that he or Gel—or anyone that mattered!—would be around to see her re­action if Triana's name was mentioned.

But Gel immediately put his weathered paw over her slim hand, and said gruffly, 'Now, Rennati—she needn't even know you're here—'

'On the contrary,' Kyrtian said firmly, 'I want Triana to know she's here. In fact, I have something in mind—it might be a little humiliating for you,' he continued, turning to the girl, 'but if you can weather a bit of humiliation, I think we can turn her attention away from you completely and for all time, if you'll cooperate.'

He explained what he wanted her to do, and although the girl flushed with embarrassment, and Gel growled over the plan, they both eventually agreed it was the only possible solution. 'She'll probably corner you at some point this evening, if only to get her teleson-ring back,' he cautioned. 'I think we can manage to interrupt that confrontation before she can do any­thing to you, but you know, if she does take back the ring, it will effectively sever all contact with you and show that she's got no more interest in you.'

And if what Lashana told me is true, we can also expect to

have a device to completely neutralize the collar she placed on you in a day or so, he thought, but did not say aloud. That was a secret he wished to keep to himself until Lady Triana was long gone.

Rennati nodded, and licked her lips. 'I think that would be best, my lord,' she whispered, as Gel squeezed her hand com­fortingly. 'I'll go to my quarters and prepare.'

'And I'd better go to mine,' Kyrtian said, stifling a groan. He left the two of them alone; no doubt Gel, who had delivered en­couraging speeches to fighters in the past, could find the words to put courage into this little dancer's heart.

He didn't have a great deal of clothing with him suitable for formal occasions but he had the run of Lady Moth's mansion, and asked her servants to rummage through the closets of her late husband's wardrobe and select something appropriate. He worked a little judicious use of magic to adjust the fit of the sober, black silk and silver outfit they brought him, and it made him presentable enough. He descended from the second-floor guest quarters to Lady Moth's drawing room looking (he hoped) like the successful, but no-nonsense, military com­mander he was.

The ladies broke off their conversation as he entered the spa­cious, pale-pink and gold chamber; Lady Viridina and Lady Moth flanked Lady Triana, perched on delicate chairs on either side of the sofa that Triana occupied.

If women's clothing served as a weapon—and given all that Kyrtian knew about Triana, there was no doubt in