by Robin Hobb
‘I see,’ Cerwin retorted, his voice equally controlled. ‘I thought she might more enjoy sharing a dance with me.’
The first strains of the music threaded through the hall. Folk were staring at them. Without asking her, Reyn took her hand in his. ‘We were just about to dance,’ he informed Cerwin. His other hand caught her waist, and as easily as if he lifted a child, he suddenly whirled her into the dance.
It was a spirited tune, and she found she could either dance or stumble awkwardly after his grip on her hand. She chose to dance. She quickly caught up a finger-pinch of her skirts to display her lively feet, and then deliberately embellished the sprightly dance. He met her challenge without missing a beat, and suddenly it took every bit of her concentration to match herself to him. For a moment, she was aware of the effort, and then they moved as one. Couples who had been stealing peeks at them suddenly moved aside to cede them more of the dance floor. She caught a fleeting glimpse of her grandmother as Reyn twirled her through a step. The old woman was smiling fiercely at her. She found, with surprise, that she herself was smiling in genuine pleasure. Her skirts floated as he turned her through the elaborate steps. His touch on her waist was sure and strong. She became aware of his scent, and was not sure if it was a perfume he wore or the musk of his skin. It did not displease her. She was almost aware of the admiring looks from the spectators at the ball, but Reyn was at the centre of her thoughts. Without quite intending to, she closed her fingers firmly on his, and his grip on her hand strengthened in response. Her heart lifted unexpectedly.
‘Malta.’ It was only her name he spoke. It was not an apology for anything, but it was an affirmation of all he felt for her. A wave of feeling washed through her in response. She suddenly perceived that the incident with the Satrap was separate entirely from what was between herself and Reyn. It had been her error to even mention it in his presence. It had nothing to do with him or with her relationship with him. She should have known it would only upset him. At this moment, for now, neither of them had to think about anything outside of what they were together. That was the language of this dance. For this space of time, they moved perfectly together and understood each other. That was what she should be savouring.
‘Reyn,’ she conceded, and smiled up at him. The quarrel was swept away by their moving feet, trodden down and forgotten. Too soon the music was ending and he spun her gracefully through the closing measure, then caught her briefly in his arms to halt her movement. It caught her breath as well. ‘When we move together, like this,’ she whispered shyly, ‘I almost feel we are destined to always move as one.’
He held her a moment longer in his arms than was strictly proper. It set her heart to racing. She could not see his eyes, but knew he looked down into her face. He spoke softly. ‘All you have to do, my dear, is trust me to lead you in your steps,’ he told her indulgently.
His patronizing words popped the bubble he had created around them. She stepped free of his embrace, to drop him a very formal curtsey. ‘I thank you for the pleasure of the dance, Sir,’ she told him coolly. ‘You will excuse me now.’ As she rose, she nodded a farewell to him. She turned and walked away as if she knew where she was going. From the corner of her eye, she saw him start to come after her, only to have a Rain Wild man hasten up to him and catch him by the arm. Whatever the man wanted of him seemed more important than his pursuit of her. He halted and turned to him. Fine. She kept walking. The agitation in her heart would not let her stand still. Why did he have to spoil everything like that?
She could not see anyone she knew. Not her mother or grandmother, not a girl of her acquaintance, not even Davad Restart. She saw the Satrap, surrounded by a circle of Bingtown society matrons. She could scarcely intrude on that group. The musicians had struck up another tune. She moved towards a table laden with wine and glasses. It would have been more proper for a young man to bring her refreshment. It was suddenly so awkward to be alone. She imagined that every eye in the room tracked her solitary movement.
She was almost there when Cerwin stepped in front of her. She had to stop to keep from bumping into him. ‘Perhaps we can dance now?’ he asked gently.
She hesitated. It would anger Reyn or perhaps fill him with jealousy. But she no longer wished to play such games. This was complicated enough without that. As if Cerwin sensed her reservations, he nodded sombrely to the dance floor. ‘It did not take him so long to decide on a new partner.’
In disbelief, she turned to see what he indicated. Her heart stood still in her chest. Reyn moved gracefully through the languid dance steps with one of the Satrap’s Companions in his arms. It was not even the beautiful one. It was the unadorned woman in the cream gown that he held close and listened to so attentively.
‘No,’ Cerwin whispered. ‘Don’t stare. Put your head up and look at me. Smile. And off we go.’
With a frozen little smile, she set her hand in his. He gathered her in and they moved out onto the dance floor with all the grace of two dogs circling one another. His dance stride was short after matching herself to Reyn. She felt like she lurched about in his arms. He seemed blissfully unaware of this awkwardness. Instead, he smiled down at her. ‘At last, I find you in my arms,’ he said softly. ‘I thought my dreams would never come true. Yet here you are, presented as a woman! And that Rain Wild fool has cast you aside for someone he can never hope to possess. Ah, my Malta. Your hair gleams so that it dazzles me. The fragrance of your hair intoxicates me. I could never dream to possess a more precious treasure than your tiny hand in mine.’
The compliments rained down on her. She set her teeth in a smile and endured them. She tried not to watch Reyn dance with the other woman. His veil made it hard to tell, but it seemed that she had captured his attention completely. Not once did his head turn in her direction.
She had lost him. That simply, that quickly. One tart word too many, and the man was gone. She actually felt as if her heart had been tugged out of her chest, leaving only an empty space. Foolishness. She had not even decided whether or not she loved him. So that could not be it. No. It was that he had claimed to love her, and she had foolishly believed him. Obviously, he had lied to her. It was only injured pride that she felt, she was sure of it. It was only that she felt angry because he had made a fool of her. Why should she care at all? She was right now dancing in the arms of another man, a very handsome man who obviously doted on her. She didn’t need Reyn. She had never even seen his face; how could she love him?
She felt suddenly dizzy as she glimpsed Reyn bending his head, to speak to the Companion more privately. The woman answered earnestly and at length. Malta nearly stumbled, and Cerwin tightened his grip on her. He was uttering some nonsense about how pink her lips were. What in Sa’s name did he expect her to reply to such inanity? Should she compliment his teeth, or the cut of his shirt? She actually heard herself say, ‘You look very handsome tonight, Cerwin. Your family must be proud of you.’
He smiled as if she had praised him to the stars. ‘Such words from your lips mean so much to me,’ he assured her.
The music ended. He reluctantly released her and she stepped back from him. Her traitorous eyes sought out Reyn. He bowed low over the Companion’s hand, and then gestured towards the doors that led out into the lantern lit garden and walks of the Traders’ Concourse. She tried to find some hardness or resolve to cling to, but all she felt was the desolation of her soul.
‘May I bring you some wine?’ Cerwin asked her.
‘Please. I should like to sit down for a while.’
‘Of course.’ He offered his arm to escort her.
When Grag gripped Reyn’s arm, Reyn had spun to face him and nearly struck him. ‘Not now! Let me go!’ he protested. Malta was walking away from him. That milky-skinned Trell boy was cutting hastily through the crowd to reach her. This was no time for a friendly word on the dance floor.
But Grag gripped his arm more tightly and spoke in a low, urgent voice. ‘One of the Satrap’s Companions just danc
ed with me.’
‘That’s wonderful. I hope it was the pretty one. Now let go.’ He craned his neck trying to follow her progress through the crowd.
‘No. You should ask her for the next dance. I want you to hear for yourself what she told me. Afterwards, come and find me in the gardens, near the pin oak on the east walk. We need to decide who else to tell, and what actions to take.’
Grag’s voice was taut with tension. Reyn didn’t want this now. He attempted levity. ‘I need to speak to Malta first. Then we’ll discuss burning warehouses.’
Grag didn’t release him. ‘It’s not a jest, Reyn. It won’t wait. I fear we may be too late already. There’s a conspiracy against the Satrap.’
‘Go join it,’ Reyn advised him in annoyance. How could he think about politics just now? Malta was hurt. He could almost feel her pain himself, it was so intense. He had hurt her and now she was wandering through the crowd like a lost kitten. He needed to speak to her. She was so vulnerable.
‘The Chalcedeans and some of his own nobles plan to kill him. Bingtown will take the blame for it. They’ll raze us to the ground, with the blessings of all Jamaillia. Please, Reyn. It has to be now. Go and ask her to dance. I have to find my mother and sisters and ask them to start arranging for some of the other Traders to meet us outside. Go ask her. She’s in the plain cream coloured gown, over by the high dais. Please.’
Malta had vanished. Reyn shot Grag a look that he seemed to feel even through his veil. The Trader’s son let go of Reyn’s arm. He shrugged his shoulders then gave an angry shake of his head. Grag hastened away.
Slowly, his heart sinking inside him, Reyn turned and made his way towards the Satrap’s Companion. She was watching for him. As he approached, she made some witty remark to the woman she was conversing with, nodded, and began to move away. He intercepted her and gave her a short bow. ‘Would you honour me with a dance, Companion?’
‘Certainly. It would give me great pleasure,’ she replied formally. She lifted her hand and he took it in his gloved one. The first strains of the music began. It was a slow melody, traditionally a lovers’ dance. It would give couples both old and young an excuse to hold one another as they moved slowly to the dreamlike music. He could be taking Malta in his arms right now, soothing her hurt and his own. Instead, he found himself matched with a Jamaillian woman nearly as tall as himself. She made an excellent dance partner for him, graceful and light-footed. Somehow that only made it worse. He waited for her to speak.
‘Did your cousin pass on my warning to you?’ she finally asked.
Her directness shocked him. He strove to be contained. ‘Not really. He merely said you had told him something interesting, something he wished me to hear for myself.’ He put quizzical concern in his voice, nothing more.
She gave an impatient snort. ‘I fear we have no time for tiptoeing about like this. It occurred to me on the way here tonight that this would be the perfect time for them to put their plot in motion. Here you are, all gathered together, Bingtown Traders and Rain Wild Traders, with the Satrap in your midst. All know how strong the feelings run against the New Traders and the Satrap’s Bingtown policies. What better time to set off a riot? In the confusion, the Satrap and his Companions will be killed. Then the Chalcedeans can move with just anger to punish you all.’
‘A nasty little scene. But who does it profit? Why?’ His voice said he found it improbable.
‘It profits those who banded together to plan it. The Jamaillian nobles are tired of a self-indulgent boy who knows nothing of ruling except how to spend the treasury on himself. Chalced gains Bingtown for its own province, to plunder as it pleases. They have long claimed that this territory of the Cursed Shores was rightfully theirs.’
‘Jamaillia would be foolish to give Bingtown up to Chalced. What other province yields such a rich harvest to the Satrapy?’
‘Perhaps they believe it is better to yield Bingtown as part of a bargain than to simply lose it to the Chalcedeans as a conquest of war. Chalced grows stronger and more warlike. Internal strife and Northland Raiders paralysed the Six Duchies for years. That kingdom used to keep Chalced occupied. In the years since the Red Ship Wars, the Six Duchies have been occupied with rebuilding. Chalced has become a powerful people, rich with slaves and ambition. They push to the north, in border skirmishes. But they also look south. To Bingtown and its rich trade. And the Rain Wild River lands.’
‘Lands?’ Reyn gave a snort of contempt. ‘There is so little…’ He halted his words abruptly, recalling to whom he was speaking. ‘They are fools,’ he finished succinctly.
‘On the ship, coming here —’ For a moment, the woman seemed to have sudden difficulty speaking, as if she could not catch her breath. ‘I was held captive for a time in the captain’s quarters.’ He waited, then leaned closer to capture her soft words. ‘There were charts in his room. Bingtown Harbour. The mouth of the Rain Wild River. Why else would he have such things, if he did not intend to use them?’
‘The Rain Wild River protects its own,’ Reyn declared boldly. ‘We have nothing to fear. The secret ways of the river are known to none but our own.’
‘But tonight, there are many of you here. Representatives from many Rain Wild families, I am told. If they were taken hostage in the plundering of Bingtown, can you be sure that none of them would reveal your Rain Wild secrets?’
Her logic was relentless. Suddenly, small inconsistencies made sense. Why else allow the Kendry through the blockade and into the harbour? ‘They would have allies among the New Traders here,’ he said half-aloud, thinking of all the new folk who had just come ashore as well. ‘People whose ties to the slave-trade in Chalced are as strong or stronger than their links to Jamaillia. People who have lived amongst us and learned enough of our ways to know that both Bingtown Traders and Rain Wild Traders would be gathered here tonight.’
‘If I were you, I would not be positive that there were not such folk among the Bingtown Old Traders as well,’ she pointed out quietly.
A trickle of cold suspicion ran through him. Davad Restart. Of course. ‘If you knew of this plot, why did you come to Bingtown?’ he demanded of her.
‘Obviously, if I had known, I would not have come,’ she retorted. ‘I have only this evening gathered enough of the pieces to grasp the whole picture. I am telling you this not only because I do not wish to die, but because I do not wish to see Bingtown fall. All my life, Bingtown has been the centre of my studies. I have always wanted to come here; it is the city of my dreams. So I connived and begged to get the Satrap to allow me to come. Now that I am here, I do not want to be a witness to its death throes, anymore than I want to die here before I have fully comprehended its wonders.’
‘What do you suggest we do?’
‘Act before they do. Take the Satrap and his Companions hostage, yes, but keep us safe. Alive, he is a bargaining chip. Dead, he is the spark that ignites the fire of war. Not all the Jamaillian nobles can be involved in this. Send a message out somehow, to alert those who are loyal to the Satrapy. Tell them what is transpiring here. They will mount an effort to aid you, if you promise to return Cosgo unharmed. There will be war with Chalced, but eventually, there is always war with Chalced. Take the time I have given you by this warning, and secure the town as best you can. Gather supplies; hide your children and families. Get word to the folk up the Rain Wild River.’
He was incredulous. ‘But you say it is most likely that they will act tonight. There is no time for any of that!’
‘You are wasting time dancing with me now,’ she pointed out acidly. ‘You should be getting the word out right now. I suspect there will be incidents in the streets tonight. Fires, brawls, whatever it will take to ignite riots in the city. It will spread out to the ships in the harbour. Someone, intentionally or by accident, will give the Chalcedeans an excuse to attack. Perhaps they will simply receive a message that the Satrap has been killed.’ She looked unerringly into his veiled eyes. ‘By morning light, Bingtown will be bu
rning.’
The music was ending. As he and his partner slowed and then stopped, it seemed prophetic. He stood a moment in the silence, her hand still in his. Then he stepped away from her with a bow. ‘The others are gathering outside, in the gardens. We should join them,’ he suggested. He gestured to the door.
As if someone had literally tugged his heartstrings, he turned and looked across the room. Malta. Walking away with her hand on Cerwin Trell’s arm. He could not simply leave the gathering like this, not without a word. He turned back to Companion Serilla. ‘Just outside the doorway, there is a pathway that goes to the east. It isn’t far and the lanterns will all be lit tonight. Will you be comfortable, walking alone? I shall join you as quickly as I can.’
Her look said it was unforgivably rude. But she said, ‘I am sure I shall be fine. Do you think you will be long?’
‘I hope not,’ he assured her. He did not wait to see what she would think of such a vague answer. He bowed again and left her by the door. The music was starting again, but he cut swiftly across the dance floor, narrowly avoiding the whirling couples. He found Malta sitting alone. When he stood before her, she looked up quickly. The sudden light of hope in her eyes could not quench the fear that was there. ‘Reyn ‘ she began, but he cut her off before she could apologize.
‘I have to go somewhere. It’s very important. I may not be back this evening. You’ll have to understand.’
‘Not be back…where? Where are you going? What is so important?’
‘I can’t tell you. You’ll have to trust me, just now.’ He paused. ‘I’d like you to go home as soon as possible. Would you do that for me?’
‘Go home? Just leave my Presentation Ball and go home while you go and do “something more important”? Reyn, this is impossible. The meal has not been shared, the gifts of our kinship have not been offered – Reyn, we’ve only shared one dance! How can you do this to me? I’ve looked forward to this all my life, and now you say I should hurry home, because you’ve found something more important to do?’
