by Doris Egan
"I'll bet you didn't expect to see me in first class." I said, assuming he knew perfectly well how much I'd had stashed away here and there.
He said seriously, "Theodora, I always expect to see you in first class."
"Well, the feeling is mutual, but can you afford to be away from home for this length of time? Do you know how long this voyage is, one-way?"
"Forty-one point six standard days," said Ran, who may or may not have had an hour to prepare for it, but who would not dream of setting one foot on board without knowing these things.
"You think you've got thirty-six days left to change my mind." I stated.
"Me?" He smiled. "I'm going to Athena to register as a student. They take all ages, I understand. I've always said to Kylla that our House should open its doors, scan new horizons…"
"So you're going to let yourself be taught by barbarians? You're going to live in student housing and share space with superstitious people who won't know what a sorcerer is? They'll confiscate your pistol when you land, and anything else you've got on you, by the way." I didn't believe it for a second.
He had picked up the fourth formal vegetable fork by his plate, and was regarding it with amused contempt. The ways of the barbarian, I could see him thinking. No, I didn't believe that story and I wasn't meant to.
Still, it was an interesting image. Would he really go through with it if I didn't agree to come back? Just how stubborn was he?
Student housing…
"What's so amusing?"
"Nothing important. I was just wondering, Ran, have you tried any magic yet? Does it work in space?"
He gave a slight smile. "That's the sort of information, tymon, that I really wouldn't feel comfortable sharing with someone who wasn't of my House."
Point one for his side. He said it very courteously, too. And when he was finished speaking, he lifted up my right hand from the table and kissed the inside of my palm.
Thirty-six days. I wouldn't want to make any bets on who would be holding the deck of cards when I finally made it back to Athena.
