lower price as a favor, but that’s not the reason.”
“How do you know that?”
“I have a few acquaintances left here. I asked them.”
Quaeryt sighed. “Twelve hundred golds is a great deal more than we talked about. More than twice as much. This comes at a time when the provincial treasury isn’t exactly healthy. And we have no furniture and no furnishings.”
“Dearest … I’ve slept in other people’s homes, and in wagons, and inns, and in cramped officers’ quarters. I haven’t said a word. Sooner or later, you or someone will have to build a governor’s residence. Building something like this would likely cost thousands of golds…”
“It likely would,” he replied. “We don’t have that, either.”
“Yes … you do. You have over ten thousand golds in the treasury. You’ll have to use something like three thousand to pay everyone until the end of Mayas, and another five hundred or so for supplies. You’ll start getting tariffs in Juyn. That gives you at least five thousand. Twelve hundred for a governor’s residence isn’t that much.”
“That’s just the beginning,” he pointed out, realizing as he did that she’d remembered everything he’d said about pay and expenses.
“Paying for repairs and cleaning isn’t that expensive.”
“Furnishings?”
“Some of that can wait, if you think it necessary.”
Quaeryt wanted to shake his head. His wife was Bhayar’s sister, and she was going to get her way, especially since Bhayar had already made the point-when he’d insisted on lavish quarters for them in the Telaryn Palace-that Vaelora required “suitable accommodations.”
“The villa we can do,” he conceded. “Beyond basic furnishings for the main bedchamber and the kitchen and the parlor-”
“And the studies,” added Vaelora. “You can’t work without a desk and a few things.”
He nodded. “The golds will have to go to the factoria directly, and we’ll need a document of sale and receipt.”
“I told her that would be necessary if you approved.”
“When I approved,” he corrected her ruefully.
Vaelora raised her eyebrows.
“That is not disrespect, dear,” he replied. “Merely an acknowledgment of what is.”
He didn’t want to dwell on that too deeply at the moment, much as he knew he’d never escape that reality.
34
When he’d reluctantly agreed to the purchase of the villa, Quaeryt realized there would be more than a few details to complete the purchase, and he and Vaelora followed Calachyl to another villa more than a mille away. Except the word “villa” didn’t begin to describe the small three-level palace that lay behind the high black stone walls. Nor was “luxurious” adequate to describe the paneled study to which Calachyl conducted them, a study twice the size of the one in the villa they had just inspected, with goldenwood bookcases, and a deep-pile Chevan carpet covering much of the polished pale green marble floor. The desk and chairs were pale goldenwood, recently and carefully crafted, with deep green cushions.
The woman who greeted them was perhaps a digit or two shorter than Vaelora, but so slender she appeared taller and more angular in the dark green silk jacket and trousers.
“Governor Quaeryt … I am so pleased to meet you.” Factoria Grelyana smiled warmly, although her pale blue eyes remained cool. “I had no idea that the governor would turn out to be the husband of a friend of a close friend of mine.”
“Neither did I,” replied Quaeryt, wondering who was friends with whom as he inclined his head politely to the dark-haired woman who looked to be about his age-ten years or so older than Vaelora.
“I would not, of course, have parted with the old villa so easily, except to such a distinguished personage. But then, it is easier to part with something holding pleasant memories when one knows it will go to someone who knows how to care for it and who will preserve it as it should be.”
“That is certainly our intent, with its character and history,” replied Quaeryt. “I would have liked to have seen it furnished, so that we could have followed the same patterns.”
“I am certain that Lady Vaelora’s taste will more than do it justice.”
“I will do what I can,” replied Vaelora. “Still … I would not be surprised if there are several pieces that belong so much to the villa that they do not fit elsewhere. It would be a pity if they did not remain there,” she offered with a caring smile, “now that you know they will be cherished and cared for.”
“I had not thought of that, but it might be possible.”
“I’m certain that Lord Bhayar would appreciate the thoughtfulness of gifts such as those,” added Quaeryt, “especially when he has lost his ancestral home and so much of uncounted value.”
For just an instant, Grelyana’s eyes hardened. “We have all lost much in the recent past, but it is likely that Lord Bhayar has lost the most of a material nature.”
“Given your losses, most honorable factoria, your kindness is especially appreciated,” replied Quaeryt. “I know my wife deeply welcomes your continuing courtesy and friendship. I also appreciate your forbearance, at a time when any increases in tariffs would fall heavily on those who have suffered enough as it is.”
“I will do what I can, Governor. You were princeps of Tilbora, it is said, and most instrumental in returning that unruly place to order.”
“I can claim but a small part in that,” replied Quaeryt.
“I doubt that part was so minor, not for a scholar who has wed the lady who stands at your side … and who has been entrusted with restoring Extela.”
“Quaeryt is so very good at discovering … shall we say … wayward golds,” added Vaelora brightly. “My brother was most impressed.”
Grelyana smiled faintly, looking into Quaeryt’s eyes. “One might even say that Lord Bhayar has found in you something lost.”
“Quite true,” replied Quaeryt cheerfully, “although I did not know I’d been lost, because I was orphaned young.”
The factoria shook her head, an expression of amusement on her lips and in her eyes. “There are a number of pieces that should grace the old villa once again, and I am young enough to enjoy observing what will come of what Lord Bhayar has found in uniting you two.”
“We are but a young couple in love and recently married in an unsettled time,” professed Vaelora.
“Your husband may be young in love, Lady Vaelora, but he is old in other ways, as are you, and neither of you would be here in Extela, or in my villa, were those things not so.” Another smile followed. “Would you join me in afternoon refreshments? I am certain that Calachyl and the governor’s chief clerk can work out the details and the documents for conveying the property and making sure no golds are … wayward.”
“Both are most capable, and your steward is the image of devotion and discretion to which my chief clerk could aspire. But then, he has you as an example.” Quaeryt smiled, offering a rueful expression, “an example that the most ardent and accomplished of scholars would find it difficult to capture in mere words … and I am certainly not that skilled in the ways of phrase and word.”
“And yet, Lady Vaelora, your husband’s very words belie what he professes.” Grelyana turned and gestured toward the wide archway. “The east terrace is most pleasant in the early afternoon, and I have some early tomatoes from the hothouse. And the lemon tart is absolutely delicious. You’ve always liked that, Lady Vaelora,
