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.Probably better he didn’t.I couldn’t keep the grin down.I was going to be wearing a bruise over the side of my face for a week, but I couldn’t stop smiling.Because even when he had me down, even when he was angry and his pride was at stake, he couldn’t finish me.There was only one explanation.Rynn was in love with me.8’Who exactly do you think you are, Orna?’The temperature in Ledo’s private chambers seems to drop a notch.Suddenly I become very aware of myself, of the room around me.Swirled marble everywhere, gems inlaid in patterns on the floor, crystal columns through which clear waters flow.Behind where my master sits a four-legged beast is pawing the air.It’s one of the half dozen sculptures in the room, all of them woven from hardened sap spun thin as thread, glistening in the light of the hooded lanterns.Ledo only keeps lanterns in his chambers.He doesn’t like shinestones: he says the light makes everything feel cold.Ledo looks up from the letter which he’s barely read.A letter from the Dean of Engineers of Bry Athka University.This letter should open any doors that need opening, he’d said.Not this one, apparently.Liss and Casta stand together at their brother’s side.It’s been some time since I saw them last, but they haven’t altered in the interim, which is a surprise in itself.Liss is still pale and ragged and waiflike, Casta black-skinned, red-eyed and flame-haired.I swallow against a dry throat and speak.‘Magnate, I’m only trying to explain how Jai would be more useful to you if he were—’‘I know what you’re saying,’ he interrupts me.‘Shut up.’ He’s more direct than I remember him.He’s bulked out and turned his hair and eyes black, in stark contrast to his white skin.Perhaps it’s the fashion now.I wait for him to speak again, and as I do I glance at the twins.Liss is wringing her hands.Casta looks grave.After we pulled into the Veya trainyards I went home to change and grab the letter from the Dean before going to see the twins.They were kind and understanding, and they promised to do the best they could.But their best obviously wasn’t close to good enough.Suddenly I have the feeling that this was a lost battle from the start.‘You forget your place, Orna, and you forget your son’s,’ he says, his voice low and gravelly where it was previously high and soft.‘You are both in Bond to Clan Caracassa.The Bond is an obligation to submit to the will of your master, without question, without hesitation.Is that not so?’‘You didn’t order Jai to join the Army—’‘Is that not so?’ he barks.‘Yes,’ I reply, bridling.He sits back, satisfied that he has established his authority over me.As if it was ever in question.‘My sisters have explained your situation.I am not unsympathetic.Rynn was a great loss to us all.Your ordeal has been terrible indeed.’ He taps his fingers on the stone armrest of the bench he sits on.‘But you forget your place.A Bondswoman does not lecture her master on how best to utilise those who serve him.’‘Magnate, I didn’t presume to lecture, only to offer advice as to talents that may have escaped your notice.The letter in your hand testifies to his skill in engineering and invention.They’re desperate to teach him.These are assets to the Clan that will be wasted if he is.’ I can’t bring myself to finish.‘I beg you.’He sighs, but there’s no real regret in it.‘Your motivations are transparent,’ he says.‘If your concern for the Clan was so great, you would have raised this issue years ago.’‘That was my greatest mistake,’ I reply, and the words taste bitter.‘The boy himself chose his path.He was allowed to join the Army because we prefer our people willing.He showed little enthusiasm for being an inventor, despite his talent.’‘That was because he wanted the approval of his—’‘Do you think you know better than your son what path his life should take?’‘I’m certain it’s his wish as much as mine,’ I reply, though I’m not at all certain.It’s entirely possible he’ll stick this course, even against his natural inclinations, out of loyalty to his father.I doubt it, but he might.The wishes of the dead become somehow sacred in a way they never were in life.That’s why I want him to hear the news about Rynn from me, if he hasn’t already found out.I want to talk to him, to persuade him to come back to what he values: to Reitha and the University.‘That is not an answer to my question,’ Ledo says.I phrase my reply carefully.‘I have fought for you and killed for you and watched my husband die for you, and I know my son.He doesn’t have the temperament to survive it.’‘Perhaps he will surprise you.’ Ledo smiles a little.He’s toying with me, the fucker, and I have no option but to play his game, knowing I’m going to lose.He’s enjoying making me sound like a wheedling, overprotective woman trying to gather her son back under her apron
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