"But what can those others be selling? Venera shook her head in incomprehension. She was stretching a black jacket over a silver-traced vest, admiring the effect in the mirror. With the mask in place she looked intimidating. She liked the effect.
"She is from one of them. It was one of the soldiers who said it. He didn't have to say who she was; Venera knew he meant the botanist.
Venera raised an eyebrow. She wasn't born in Liris?"
The soldier shook his head, glancing uneasily at Odess. Our previous botanist the trees were languishing, m'lady. They were dying, until she came. Odess was scowling in obvious warning, but the soldier shrugged. Five years now, she's brought them back to health."
"And you don't know anything about where she came from?"
"Of course we do! Odess laughed loudly. She's a lady of the Nation of Sacrus.
customers before!"
She shrugged. You just have to know people's weaknesses. In a few weeks Tracoune will throw some minor party for visiting officials, and among other things they'll give away a few cherries as if they could afford boatloads of them. A very discreet message, on a channel so private that almost no one on either side will know why when the Gehellens decide not to call in their outstanding loans to Tracounewhich they've been thinking of doing."
He glared at her. But how could"
She nodded. The levers of diplomacy are very small. The art lies in knowing where to pry."
Venera chatted with the clients while a soldier loaded a carrying case with dry ice and Odess measured out the pitted cherries. Speaking of Gehellen, Venera said after a while, we heard about some sort of commotion there a couple of weeks ago."
The head of the Tracoune expedition laughed. Oh, that! They're the laughingstock of the principalities!"
"But what happened?"
He grinned. Visitors from one of the savage nations Oh, what was the name?"
"Slipstream, said the woman Venera had first dealt with.
"Slipstream, that was it. Seems an admiral of Slipstream went mad and took to piracy with some of his captains. They fought a pitched battle with the Gehellen navy in the very capital itself! Smashed their way out of the palace and escaped into Leaf's Choir, where it's rumored they found and made off with the Hoard of Anetene itself!"
"But that part's too preposterous, of course, said the woman. If they'd found the hoard, they would have a key to Candesce as wellthe last one is supposed to be the centerpiece of the hoard. With that they could have ruled all of Virga from the sun of suns itself!"
"Well. The man shrugged.
"What happened to them? asked Venera. Did they escape?"
"Oh, they evaded the Gehellen navy right enough, he said with another laugh. Only to be cut to ribbons in some barbarous nation near the edge of the world. None escaped, I hear."
"None Venera's pulse was racing, but she chose not to believe this man. His story had too many of the facets of rumor.
"Oh, no, I've been following this one, said the woman, with evident enjoyment. It seems the Slipstreamers ran afoul of a place called Falcon Formation. The admiral suicidally rammed his flagship into some sort of dreadnaught of Falcon's. Both ships were obliterated in the explosion. Of his six other ships, only one got away."
"Its name? Venera put her hand out to steady herself. Her fingers met the false bark of the fake cherry tree.
"What's name?"
"The the ship that escaped. Did you hear which one escaped?"
The woman looked affronted. I didn't follow the story that closely. Now it was her turn to laugh. But they foolishly ran for home, and the Pilot of Slipstream had them arrested the instant they came into port. For treason! What foolishness of them to even try to go home."
Venera was glad of the mask she wore. It felt like her heart was slowing and would stop at any second. It was all she could do to keep up appearances until the Tracoune delegation left with their first consignment of cherries. Then she rushed back to the screened alcove, ignoring the jubilant congratulations the others were lavishing on her.
Even though the mask would have hid them, she shed no tears. Venera had learned many years ago never to do that in the presence of another human being.
5
She had not wanted to come. All she wanted to do was sit alone in her closet. But Eilen insisted. Why so gloomy? she asked as she leaned hipshot in Venera's doorway. You did great service to your country today! Venera didn't speak as they walked, and she did her best to be the ghost at the wedding for the remainder of the night.
Her sorrow wasn't catching. Most of Liris turned out for the event, and a dizzying parade of strange and neurotic characters passed in front of Venera as she systematically drank herself into a stupor. There were the hereditary soldiers with their peaked helmets and blunderbusses; the gray sanitation men who spoke in monotones and
huddled together near the drinks table; the seamstresses and chandlers, carpenters, and cleaners who all spoke a secret language they had developed together in their childhood. And there were children, toograve, wide-eyed gamins who skirted around Venera as though she had stepped out of one of their fantasy books.