couldn't tell.
They started up again. Cristof unbuttoned his coat, letting it flap around his long legs as they walked. The air was cold, but the afternoon sun beat down on Cliff Road and its steep rise was making both of them sweat.
The neighborhood was primarily inhabited by icarii, their families, and the businesses that catered to them. The air was clean; there were no factories in the neighborhood to pump soot into the air, and the coal smoke and wood ash were swept away by the strong winds that blew past the steep cliff. Hawks roosted in some of the highest rooftops, welcomed as good luck by icarii despite their tendency to prey on the neighborhood cats and dogs. Occasionally an icarus flew high overhead toward the docks, metal wings flashing.
Three Alcides was one of a number of barracks-like eyries that catered to unmarried icarii. Taya waved and greeted her friends as they drew near.
'Hey, Taya!' One of the icarii called to her from the eyrie porch, then paused to stare at Cristof, his jaw falling open. Then he collected himself and dragged his eyes away from the exalted's bare face. 'Uh, you got another message. It's on Gwen's desk.'
'Thanks.' She opened the door and stepped aside for Cristof. The exalted's cold glower was back in place, and he kept his face down as he stepped inside.
'You didn't have to come,' Taya whispered, giving him a concerned look. He ignored her, his grey eyes falling at once on the long-case clock that stood against the foyer wall, ticking loudly.
'You said you'd see a physician,' he reminded her. He set the bag down next to the clock.
'Just a moment.' She stepped through the doorway into the salon, where Gwen Icarus, the eyrie's landlady, kept her business desk.
'Oh, good. I have a letter for you, Taya,' the woman said. She dug out a heavy parchment square and handed it over. Taya turned it. This one was sealed in wax, too, but it wasn't as ornate as the Octavus invitation.
'I asked a clockwright to look at our clock and find out why it's losing time,' she said, raising her eyes. 'He said he wouldn't charge anything just to see what's wrong.'
Gwen scowled. 'Can he be trusted?' She hoisted herself out of her chair. After she'd retired from flying, she'd put on a few pounds, although she had as much muscle as she had mass.
'Yes.' Taya leaned forward, touching the woman's arm and dropping her voice to a whisper. 'He's an outcaste exalted, so don't be surprised.'
'An outcaste!' The landlady's eyes widened. 'For the Lady's sake, Taya, what are you thinking, bringing an outcaste into my house? I run a—'
Taya tightened her grip. 'An outcaste exalted
! Exalted Cristof Forlore, and he's doing us a favor. His brother's a decatur.'
Gwen snorted. 'You're flying awful high, icarus.'
'Not in his case,' Taya said wryly, thinking of Cristof's basement workshop. 'But he's touchy, so be diplomatic.'
'Diplomacy's your job, not mine,' Gwen said. 'Now let go. I won't throw him out on his ear, but you know the rules — no strangers in the eyrie without an escort. Lady knows what this place would be like if I let you lot have free run of the place.'
Taya sighed, trailing after the larger woman.
'What are you doing?' Gwen shrieked, when she walked into the foyer.
Cristof had taken off his coat and rolled up his sleeves, and he was kneeling in front of the clock as he unhooked its pendulum. He glanced over his shoulder, then turned back to his work.
'I can't figure out what's wrong unless I check the mechanism.'
'I'm not going to pay you to put together what you've taken apart!'
'I'm not going to ask you to.' Cristof laid the pendulum on the wooden floor and turned. He gave Taya a sharp look. 'Don't you have someplace to go?'
'All right! Can I leave you alone here?' Taya was worried about Gwen. The landlady was staring at Cristof's castemark, her eyes wide despite Taya's warning. Gwen was a kind, motherly woman, but she wasn't very subtle.
'I expect so.' Cristof glanced at the letter in her hand. 'You'll see a physician before you deliver that, I trust.'
'This letter is for me.' Taya lifted it, studying the seal, and then turned it over. Her name was written across the front:
Taya Icarus
, in a firm, flowing script.
Cristof climbed to his feet and reached out. Taya let him take it, without protest, and he tilted the envelope up. His scowl darkened.
'What is it?' she asked.
'That's the Forlore seal.'
'Oh!' Taya took another look at it, then broke open the letter.
Brave and beautiful Taya Icarus:
Although I know Viera has already arranged to thank you for your rescue, I'd enjoy a chance to demonstrate my own gratitude for the assistance you've provided to my family. I'll send a driver by your eyrie tonight to see if you're available at eight; if so, he'll bring you to Rhodanthe's on Primus, where we can meet for dinner. If you have other business tonight, then I'll dine alone and hope that your duties will bring you to Oporphyr Tower on the morrow.
Respectfully yours,
Alister Forlore
Taya glanced at the clock, now stopped at 2:10, and swallowed, her cheeks burning.
'It's from Alister, of course,' Cristof said, his voice flat.
'Yes.' She bit her lip. 'He wants to have dinner with me tonight.' She held out the letter, feeling like she had to prove it.
'Of course he does.' The exalted's hand hovered over the note a moment, and then he took it, pushing up his glasses as he read.
'But why?' She looked up.
'You've piqued his interest.' Cristof handed the letter back. 'You still have time to see a doctor before you go.'
Taya flushed. She knew what he was thinking. Icarii had a reputation for moving as easily from lover to lover as they did from sector to sector. But before she could say anything, Gwen broke in.
'What's this about a doctor?'
'I got cut last night.' Taya folded the letter back up. 'Exalted Forlore thinks I should have it looked at by a professional.'
'Exalted Forlore is my brother,' Cristof corrected her. He knelt in front of the clock again. 'Master Clockwright will do, if you insist on being formal.'
'Whatever you wish, Master Clockwright.' Taya jammed the letter into her pocket. 'I'm going. Please don't wait for my return.'
'I didn't plan to.'
Taya shook her head and left the eyrie. Of course Cristof wouldn't approve of his brother seeing an icarus —
