Luckstones (5 page)

“Two women traveling alone.” Ha Tesne nodded. “Sleep. I’ll
watch.”

Ellais took only a moment to wrap her cloak around her, curl
up next to her betrothed, and fall soundly asleep.

~o0o~

When she woke the morning sky was milky white. Ellais
stepped out of the cot and almost stumbled over Vaun ha Tesne, who sat with his
back against the wall, breathing rhythmically. She noted creeping roses on the
side of the cottage—that had not been visible in the moonlight—and a low stone
fence on one side of the path.

“So what is it you and your friend are fleeing?” His voice
was quiet and gentle. “If you tell me, I might be able to help you.”

“I cannot see how,” Ellais said. But she turned back to face
him.

“At least give me the opportunity to try.”

Ellais found herself explaining her betrothal and the plans
she had made to escape it. “Taigna only wants to study—she said she might as
well marry me as anyone. But I—”

“Your heart is given somewhere else?”

She shook her head. “But it
might
be. Someday. Of course, Mamma keeps telling me that marriage
and love have nothing to do with each other.”

Vaun ha Tesne nodded thoughtfully. “I suppose so. I know
that if I loved a woman I should not let a thing like a legal fiction of
marriage stand in my way.”

“That’s very romantic. But with a husband—if I didn’t like
him, I might suffer under his dominion, but at least I’d be done with my
parents meddling. This marriage will be the worst of everything.”

“Which one of you plays the husband?”

Ellais wrinkled her nose. “Plays the husband?”

“In most marriages one spouse has dominion over the other—if
one of you were a man there would be no question. A woman is passed from her
father’s dominion to that of her husband. In a case like this dominion is
usually spelt out in the Writ.”

“I’ve seen the Writ,” Ellais said slowly. “There’s no
mention of dominion.”

Ha Tesne laughed. “Well, then I imagine it would be up to
the two of you to decide who rules the house.”

“We could take turns,” Ellais said thoughtfully. After a
moment, a smile quirked at the corner of her mouth. “Are you sure of this? That
if one of us has dominion that ends the other’s parents’ right to interfere?”

Ha Tesne nodded. “I studied law for a while, until my father
died and I had to come home to manage our farms and property. But the theory
should be entirely defensible. And I doubt your parents would want to appear
before the Magistracy to contest the matter.”

“You
should
have
been a lawyer,” Ellais said firmly.

“As it happens, I like farming. I like knowing the land and
the people working it. I’m proud of my home. In fact, if I bring back a
carriage for you, would you like to see it? Before you continue your escape,
that is.”

Ellais had no chance to answer; a cloud of dust plumed
beyond the shrubs as if several riders moving at great speed were approaching.

“
Inside
,” Vaun ha
Tesne said.

A man on foot rounded the shrub, wearing the livery of House
Caudon. Ellais ducked into the cot and shook Taigna. “It’s your father’s men!”

Taigna sat up, blinking. Outside, Ellais heard the
approaching man hail Vaun ha Tesne. She turned away from Taigna to peer around
the doorsill.

Vaun had risen and was going to meet the Caudon servant. He
had his staff in one hand, walking as if with its support. Ellais did not hear
the Caudon rider’s words, but she heard Vaun greet him as friend and ask how he
could help. There was a low murmur from the Caudon rider.

“No, there’s only me. My horse was lamed, and I paused here
in my walk home.”

This time Ellais heard the rider’s words: “You’ll not mind
if I look for myself?”

“Do you not trust me?” Vaun asked. He sounded affronted.

“Beg pardon, sir, but it’s my job to be certain.” The man
pushed Vaun aside and started for the cot. Vaun’s staff came up, caught him
square on the jaw, and the man dropped. In the sudden silence Vaun returned to
the cot.

“Ladies, I think it is time that you decide if you want to
continue your elopement or return home. I pledge to assist you either way, but
that fellow was not alone, and his friends are doubtless going to come round
the path in a moment or—and here they come.” Ha Tesne stepped outside again.

Three appeared behind the fence, calling a name, seeking the
first Caudon rider. Ellais returned to her post at the door, explaining Vaun ha
Tesne’s interpretation of the law to Taigna.

One rider spied the fallen body of his companion, cried out,
and all three drew swords and made to attack ha Tesne. Ellais, horrified, would
have run out the door except for Taigna, who grabbed onto her arm with both
hands, reminding her friend that she had no weapon, no skill, and would only
cause more trouble.

Vaun ha Tesne had disarmed one rider with a circular swoop
of his staff, buffeting the man across the shoulders so that he was knocked to
his knees, retching. Another man stepped in, cutting downward at Vaun’s
shoulder; he barely caught the foible of the blade with the back of his staff,
and stepped back to face his attacker. Behind them Ellais saw the last rider
approaching, circling around between Vaun and the cot.

Without thought, Ellais took up the heaviest of Taigna’s
books, stepped outside, and hit the rider on the side of the head, as hard as
she could. He staggered but did not fall, so she hit him again, on the other
side of the head. This time he dropped to his knees. She raised the book again
for a third blow.

“Ellais,
stop
!” It
was Taigna behind her. “We’ll go back! There’s no need to hurt anyone—for
anyone to be hurt. You, there!” She called to the swordsman who was still
harrying their protector. “Stop at once! I am Taigna me Caudon, and I want you
to leave that man alone! He thought he was protecting us! We’re ready to come
back to Meviel—I hope you have a carriage ready, for I cannot walk any
further.”

“Are you certain?” Ellais and Vaun ha Tesne asked in the
same moment.

“Yes. Thank you, sir.” Taigna nodded at Vaun. “I am sure,
with your counsel, we will do very well. Ellais, are we agreed?”

Ellais nodded. “Although I wish I’d had a staff rather than
a book,” she murmured. Taigna took the book out of her hands and cuddled it to
her chest.

Vaun ha Tesne lowered his staff.

His opponent appeared put out but lowered his own weapon.
“You’ll come back to Meviel?” he asked.

“We will,” Taigna agreed. Ellais nodded.

When the riders had recovered themselves and been dissuaded
from fetching Vaun ha Tesne back to the city to be charged with assault, the
girls said goodbye to their protector. Ha Tesne bowed over Taigna’s hand; “I
can see you will make a very fine Cindiese, as well as a scholar.”

Then he kissed Ellais’s hand. She felt her face go hot.

“I’m sorry not to see your house,” she said quietly. “Thank
you for your help, Master ha Tesne.”

“It was my very great pleasure to help, Mistress me
Morbegon.”

~o0o~

The marriage of Taigna me Caudon, Cindiese-apparent of
House Caudon, to Ellais me Morbegon, was celebrated with enough ceremony and
lace to satisfy both their mothers, each of whom wept at the service with
relief and joy. The Writ of Exception, illuminated with gold leaf and sealed
with the Bishop’s Great Seal, was on display for all to see. The Cindon zo
Caudon clapped his daughter’s new father-in-law on the shoulder and thought of
the thousands of
senesti
that were
now in his daughter’s control, and thereby, of course, his own. Similarly
Master Meil zo Morbegon considered the extensive holdings to which his daughter
was now half-heir, and was content. And the brides themselves appeared to have
put all reluctance or reservation behind them and to be genuinely pleased with
their marriage. At the end of the fete given to celebrate their nuptials, the
two women left in their own carriage, for the house in the suburbs of the
Vocarle district that was part of their dower.

The next morning Taigna do Caudon-Morbegon returned to her
studies. The sight of a married woman of rank wearing the black stole of a
first scholar and walking unaccompanied to the university, sent ripples of
curiosity and dismay through the best society of Meviel. By mid-afternoon
Madame do Morbegon was demanding entrance to her daughter’s house. She found
Ellais in a tidy parlor where the chairs had been pushed against the walls,
swinging a staff about inexpertly.

“Ellais, stop that at once. You’ll break something!”

“Good afternoon, Mamma.” Ellais put the staff down and
advanced to kiss her mother.

“Ellais! Your—Taigna do Caudon was at the university this
morning, and I find you here, doing—whatever you are doing. What
are
you doing?”

From her sleeve Ellais took a kerchief with which she wiped
her brow. “Please be seated, Mamma. I am trying to learn something I saw in my
travels. And my—” she smiled. “My
wife
is at her studies.”

“Well it stops now, do you hear me? This instant!”

Ellais drew her mother to sit beside her upon one of the
sophas that lined the room. She spoke gently. “Mamma, do you realize that your
authority over me stopped when you wed me to Taigna? If
she
does not object to my drilling in the parlor, why should you?”

Madame do Morbegon’s eyes bulged with outrage. “Because it’s
wrong! Talk is already beginning; they’re saying—”

“Mamma, since I no longer intend to move among the courtiers
of the Hub, what they say is of no concern to me. And since Taigna intends to
be a scholar—without the beard, I think, unless they absolutely require
it—gossip matters not to her.” Ellais released her mother’s hand and stood
again. “We made very certain of this before we were wed, Taigna and I. You—and
Papa and her parents—wanted this marriage, but it has given us dominion over each
other, and taken that control from you. You may disinherit us, of course—but
that would only undo all your plans to wed our fortunes. So. Taigna and I, as
good married couples do, want each for the other what she wants. Taigna wants
to be a scholar, and I think that is excellent. I want—”

What Ellais wanted was not to be spoken, for Lilsa appeared
in the door, begged her mistress’s pardon, and announced a visitor.

“Master Vaun ha Tesne, miss—mistress. Says he knows you from
the road?”

“Here? In Meviel?”

“In Meviel, and in your parlor, if you will permit me.”

Madame do Morbegon beheld a tall, fair-haired man in the
doorway, dressed for riding in the country rather than calls in Town. When she
looked at her daughter to see how Ellais regarded this unmannerly stranger she
was surprised to see her blushing. “Ellais, who is this?”

The stranger bowed deeply. “Vaun ha Tesne, at your service,
madam. By your resemblance to your beautiful daughter, I take it that you are
Madame do Morbegon?” The man touched his hand to his heart in salute, then
turned back to Ellais. “I hope you do not mind the intrusion. I wanted to
felicitate you upon your marriage.”

Ellais turned to her mother. “This gentleman… helped us in
the woods, Mamma. You owe him your thanks.“ She smiled at Vaun. “As do I, sir.”

“Do you? I came to renew my invitation to see my house. You
and your bride, of course.”

“My bride will be much engaged with her studies for some
time,” Ellais said. She felt curiously out of breath. “I, however, am hardly
engaged at all.”

“If she can endure your absence—”

“I should like to come. Perhaps, sir, you could teach me to
use a staff as you do.”

“That might take some time,” Vaun ha Tesne said soberly.

“I have nothing but time, sir. And a good deal to learn.”

This was too much for Deira do Morbegon. She grabbed her
daughter by the hand and pulled her from the room. “Have you lost your mind?”
she whispered. “A visit to the estate of an unmarried man, when you are just
barely wed yourself?”

“Well, I’ve little else to do, Mama. Taigna will be at her
studies, and I would like very much to see how Master ha Tesne manages his
property, since I will one day have the management of the Caudon properties—as
you have reminded me often enough.”

“Ellais, you’re
married
!”

“I am yes, Mamma,” Ellais said firmly. “But that’s no
problem; you often told me that marriage is not an impediment to love.”

Ellais do Morbegon-Caudon kissed her mother’s cheek in
dismissal, then returned to the parlor and her waiting guest.

Velliaune me Corse left her virtue in the tumbled sheets
of a chamber at the Bronze Manticore. This act, which would have licensed her
parents to cut her off from family and fortune, was a grave error; but with her
maidenhead, Velliaune also left the Archangel behind, and that was a calamity.

Velliaune had departed the inn before dawn, made her way
through empty streets and back to her parents’ home in the Vocarle district,
slipped into the garden and thence through a window into the servants’ hall,
and finally to her room. There, happily unaware of the missing jewel, she had
thrown herself upon her bed and considered the night just past.

She had gone to the opera. She had flirted dutifully in her
mother’s presence with half a dozen acceptable men. At the end of the intermission,
she had pled a headache and been permitted to return home on her own; instead,
she had gone to meet Col ha Vanderon for a private supper at the Bronze
Manticore. She had not intended matters to progress to the point where her
clothes were strewn across the room and her ankles crossed behind Col’s back,
but all in all, she was not unhappy. As she recalled the event now, Velliaune’s
hands strayed across her pale breast, trailing a faint echo of sensation. If it
had not been the rapturous experience romantic poetry led her to expect, it had
at least been exciting.