Page 69 of Bought By the Green Man

“On time,” she says.

“Yes.”

She looks at me with the beginnings of a smile. I set down the bread plate and put my hand at her back.

“Two more nights,” I say. “Then you won’t have to wait for anyone’s permission.”

VAI

Surevai has brought a chair that fits me.

I notice it before I notice his face. The two larger chairs at the boundary table could hold Daurek comfortably; the third has a footrest and a cushion wrapped against the rain. Someone has considered the possibility that I might want to sit through this conversation.

I’d been preparing to dislike everything.

Karev rises from the far side of the table. “Lady Vai.”

“Good morning.”

The guards who walked me here stop beside a cedar, far enough away that they cannot hear us speak. Ziku offered to come as well. I asked him to wait at the first junction on the way back; I’ll want company for the walk, even if I don’t want anyone watching while I decide whether a job interests me.

A canvas cover hangs above the table. All three chairs stand on Ilden ground, with the pale boundary stone a few paces beyond them.

Surevai comes forward to meet me.

His skin is grey stone threaded with darker mineral seams. He is broad through the chest, dressed in a dark coat that fits without a crease. His mouth moves easily when he speaks. I had expected something less human, and wonder how many people think the same when Daurek answers them.

“Thank you for meeting me,” Surevai says. “May we sit?”

I take the smaller chair. It is comfortable. That continues to annoy me.

Karev puts the leather case beside his feet and sits with a tablet on his knee.

“Will you be writing everything down?” I ask him.

“The terms of any agreement.”

“I’d like to read what you write before it leaves.”