City in the Sky (10 page)

She nodded softly. “Be careful with this, Erik,” she warned. “Kels is not joking about challenging the man who sponsors Letir, and he's killed two men with swords on the field.”

“I've killed men with swords in alleys and shops,” Erik said quietly. “I can't imagine fighting on the field of 'honor' to be any more difficult.”

Arien met his gaze, a strange look in her eyes. “I didn't know that,” she replied.

“I know,” Erik said flatly, looking away.

“Still,” she continued softly, “be careful. Please. There is no
septi
Tarverro. We can't afford to lose you so soon.”

Erik said nothing, merely nodding as the two youths were shown in. “Have a seat,” he instructed them, gesturing at the two places that had been set out at the table. “Have you eaten?”

Letir looked almost shamefaced as he shook his head. Erik smiled gently and waved to Meria. “Meria, can we manage to feed two more hungry mouths?”

The cook, a plump matronly woman he'd been told had three sons, just smiled and vanished back into the kitchen. She returned momentarily with two plates loaded with food that she placed in front of the two youths.

“Eat up,” Erik told them. “Meria is an extraordinary cook, and it's a shame to waste any of her food.”

The two took him at his word, tucking into the breakfast like they'd never seen food before. Erik regarded them for several moments, noting how even while eating the two seemed to be in constant physical contact, touching and brushing each other.

“Now,” he said after their initial rush at the food had abated, “I am told that you two wish to marry. Is this correct?”

The two exchanged a glance, and Erik caught a small gesture from Letir to Deria.

“Yes,” she said quietly. “We've known each other our whole lives. There's never been anyone else for either of us, but…”

“The law says no commoner can marry a
sept
without
sept
sponsorship,” Erik finished.

“And tradition says the sponsor has to be of equal rank to the
sept
's parent,” Letir said softly. “Which for us means a
septon
, and there are none who are prepared to risk Kels challenge and Jaras's displeasure.”

“I acquired Jaras's displeasure by being born,” Erik observed. “As for the other,” he shrugged. “I am prepared to risk it, given sufficient reason. Tell me, Letir, why I should sponsor you to this marriage.”

Letir looked over at Deria. Clearly he was used to letting her take the lead in these conversations. Erik saw her squeeze Letir's hand, and the youth took a deep breath and spoke. “Like Letir said, milord, we've always loved each other. There's never been anyone else. I can support her, even in the style to which she's become accustomed. I've worked several ships, and bought shares in others. I've been offered a master's berth on the
Equatrix
, which would provide more than sufficient money to support us both.” He paused. “I love her, sir. I can't think of any real reason other than that,” he finished in a rush.

Erik smiled gently. “I see.”

He eyed the two lovers for a long, long moment. While his grandmother had proposed this, her own fear for his safety seemed to be changing her mind about the wisdom of it. The danger was there, there was no avoiding it. And yet... he could see their hands touching as they drew strength from each other, hoping against hope that he would help them.

His father's son could
not
refuse them.

After a moment or so of thought, he looked over at Deria. “And you wish this as well?”

“I do, milord
septon
,” she confirmed.

“Then may I impose upon you to set up a meeting with your father so the four of us can sit down and discuss this?” he asked. “If he has no objections, which I don't believe he will, then you will have your sponsor, Letir.”

“Thank you, sir!” Deria said for them both, starting to stand as if to go find her father immediately.

Erik couldn't help but laugh. “Sit down, both of you,” he ordered. “Finish your breakfast. You'll need the energy.”

Hiri sent Erik a messenger later that morning, asking him to meet with him and the couple that very afternoon. Erik sent the messenger back immediately, confirming that he would meet with the other
septon
at the Rakeus estate.

The Rakeus seat was surprisingly modest. The residence of the undeniably richest man in Newport, the stone mansion was actually smaller than the Tarverro seat and not much further from the docks. Of course, where the houses of the
kep
families surrounded the Tarverro seat, the Rakeus seat was surrounded by crystal spires housing the offices necessary to run the widespread Rakeus business empire.

Two men in the Rakeus
sept
's uniform,
kep
retainer guards, met Erik and his accompanying pair of his own
kep
, at the entrance to the estate. They guided him through the business offices to the house itself.

At the entrance to the seat itself, Erik sent his guards off with the
kep
Rakeus. Entering the house of another
septon
with no guards was a sign of great trust, but he did trust Hiri
septon
Rakeus, and was willing to prove it.

Deria met him inside the entrance and guided him to the room where her father waited, a glowing smile on her lips. She was obviously quite certain of how the meeting was going to go. For that matter, Erik didn't blame her.

“
Septon
Tarverro,” Hiri greeted him, offering his hand in the handclasp of close friends.

Erik took the man's hand. “
Septon
Rakeus. Well met.”

“Well come,” Hiri replied. “Please, sit down. I understand from my daughter that you have something you wish to speak to me about.”

“Indeed,” Erik said. Despite their admirable formality, both he and Hiri were grinning widely. “Letir here has spoken to me of his desire to wed your daughter, Deria.”

“He has spoken of such desire to me as well,” Hiri replied. “However, he is a commoner and cannot marry the daughter of a
septon
without a sponsor of a suitable class.”

“He has proven to me his good nature and suitability for the match,” Erik returned gravely. “I would be prepared to sponsor the lad for the marriage.”

“If that is the case, then I have no objection,” Hiri said formally. “We may then proceed with the plans for the betrothal.”

“Indeed we may,” Erik said, then gave up on the formality and grinned at the two lovers. “I believe that between us we
should
be able to afford to see you two publicly betrothed.”

“Thank you,” Deria told him. “A thousand thanks.”

“It was and is my pleasure,” Erik told her with a smile. “All of our pleasures,” he added, glancing at the girl’s father.

Hiri was about to speak when the door slammed open and Kels stalked in.

“What's going on here?” he demanded.

“A private meeting in what, last time I checked, was still
my
house,” Hiri replied. “You have no right to barge in here.”

Kels ignored his father, locking eyes with Erik. “
You
! You've sponsored that scum Letir to marry my whore of a sister!”

Erik came to his feet in a rush, sending his chair clattering back to the ground. With the same motion, he locked his hand onto Letir's shoulder and drove the youth back into his seat. “I do not agree with your descriptions, but yes, I have sponsored Letir to marry Deria. I see no reason to prevent the match.”

“How about this for a reason?” Kels spat. “I formally challenge your right to sponsor him. Hell, I formally challenge the right of a half-blood bastard to be
septon
of one of our most ancient bloodlines.”

“
Kels!
” Hiri bellowed, silencing Erik before he could speak. “You do this, I am
done
with you.”

“What does it matter?” Kels spat back. “You'll name precious Letir your heir as soon as he weds my whore of a sister – you know, the one he's been
bedding
for the last year, as you turn a blind eye.” He turned back to Erik. “I'll have your blood for this, you half-blood
scum
.”

“I am not your enemy,” Erik said softly, the same words he'd used to Jaras. “But for this, I may choose to become so. If you are so insistent, I will meet you. Blade to blade. For your slighted ego and
your sister
's right to happiness.”

For an instant, it seemed almost as if Kels would back down, then he jerked his head in a nod. “Tomorrow. The Square of the Gods at dawn.”

“I'll be there,” Erik replied flatly, and watched as calmly as he could as Kels stalked from the room.

Silence reigned for a long moment, and then Hiri's hand came down on Erik's shoulder, and Erik turned to look at the shorter Aeraid.

“There's no changing it, lad,” the
septon
Rakeus told him. “This has been coming for a long time. The Gods themselves couldn't have stopped it.”

“I don't want to have to kill your son,” Erik said quietly.

“As of today,” Hiri said sadly, “I don't believe I have a son.”

The whetstone scraped on the sky steel of Erik's rapier, sounding loud in the silence of the small atrium at the back of the Tarverro seat. While the atrium was under glass, focusing sunlight to keep the plants alive even in the middle of winter, it was still cold in the small indoor garden.

The lack of any wind contributed to the lack of any sound except Erik's stone on his sword. The sky steel weapon didn't really need sharpening, as the smallsword had no edge, merely a point. While making the point sharper would help against armor, Kels would not be wearing armor the next day. It was simply a method of controlling his tension, and it wasn't as if the sky steel's legendarily hard surface could be damaged by the effort.

Footsteps sounded behind him, but Erik ignored them, continuing in his pointless ministration to the blade. The footsteps continued, until they were directly behind him, and a voice broke the silence.

“You've been barely three days among your people, and already you want to risk your life?” Arien asked. “Even Hiri's alliance can't help you if you're
dead
, you know.”

“I do not fear Kels,” Erik said quietly.

“Then you're a fool,” his grandmother replied. “You are
septon
Tarverro – a
septon
with no heir, the sole male of your line. If he kills you, we return to being an heirless line, with no prospect of survival except by bringing another male in.”

“Men marry into
sept
s,” Erik replied. “Such a marriage would not destroy the
sept
.”

“Men seek such a marriage,” Arien told him. “Your aunt is pursued for them. If you die, I fear one will marry her solely for the
sept
. If you die, all that your grandfather and I rebuilt from the faded ashes of our line goes to waste. Would you see that happen?”

“You encouraged me to this course,” Erik reminded her.

“I didn't expect you to throw his oath in his teeth and meet him blade-to-blade on your fourth day in the city,” Arien replied exasperatedly. “We could have worked slowly, pulled it off before he realized it was happening and handed Kels a done deal. He couldn't challenge you if it was already
done
.”

“Could we have?” Erik asked. “Really?”

“We could have
tried
,” his grandmother snapped.

“And we may have failed, and he seems impetuous enough that it would likely have changed nothing,” Erik replied. “To fulfill this task, I would have had to fight him anyway. It's better this way.”

His grandmother laid his hand on his shoulder, and he heard her take a deep breath and sigh. “I'm sorry, Erik,” she told him. “I shouldn't snap at you, but I'm worried. You are my grandson, and I've only just found you. Do you blame an old lady for my fear of losing you?”

“You are not old,” Erik told her, covering her hand with his own. “And you need not fear. I have fought worse battles, and with less warning.”

They sat there for a long time after that, and neither of them said a word.

Erik stood on the wide avenue leading into the Square of the Gods and simply looked at it. He'd seen it already, but today, when it could easily be his last sight, he took the moments to drink it in.

The massive plaza lay just short of the innermost portions of the city. The wide, spacious, boulevard he stood on led from the main docks directly to the Palace, and the Square of the Gods was the last clear space before it reached the Palace. It was, in fact, the sole access point between the inner and outer portions of the High City, the single gate through the inner fortifications being on the inside of the square.