Of Absence, Darkness by Rachel Neumeier

Author:Rachel Neumeier
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rachel Neumeier
Published: 2021-09-29T00:00:00+00:00

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Tenai’s apartment fell short of the king’s by only a hair. The main entrance led first into a large and richly-furnished reception room, which gave onto an even larger study with a single broad table and a dozen ornate chairs and, on the other side, a small but no doubt fascinating library, which Daniel regretted he would not be able to examine properly because Tenai had not yet gotten around to her literacy spell for him. Granted, a lot of events had interfered. Plus apparently it was just a more difficult sort of spell, for reasons that no doubt made sense if you were a sorcerer.

They didn’t exactly tour the place, but Daniel saw all that as Tenai led the way through the suite from the front rooms to a dining room at the rear. This room offered a long table suitable for seating a dozen people. Bread and bowls of fruit had been laid out on that table, in case anybody couldn’t wait for supper. The opposite wall consisted of a single great window that stretched from floor to ceiling and let out on a small balcony and a splendid view. The sun, sliding down over the city, poured light thick as honey across the gardens of the court and turned the white mansions of the nobility beyond to warm ruddy gold. A breeze wandered through the window, carrying the wild scent of pine off the mountains and the pungency of horses. Somewhere not far away, Daniel could smell fragrant smoke and roasting meat.

Jenna was already in the dining room, along with three attendants who must, Daniel realized at once, be the women the king’s aunt had sent. Like the king's attendants, these women seemed reassuringly unintimidated, if in this case less ... casual, for want of a better word. His daughter had had a chance to clean up, and somewhere she’d found an outfit of tawny gold and creamy ivory. Both skirt and vest swept down in sheer lines that showed off her lithe height. She looked, with her fair coloring, rather like she’d been made out of gold and ivory herself. Her hair was up and pinned with an ivory comb. She looked very adult and, to her father’s admittedly biased gaze, extremely beautiful. He wondered how many young men were going to look at her and exclaim, Ah, a golden lioness! Plenty, no doubt. She would undoubtedly enjoy it.

“Daddy!” she exclaimed, catching his hand to draw him forward. “This is Paninah Meden-sa, Kitanan Tondut, and Inaseh Suaneni. The king’s aunt sent them—she’s asked me to supper later. Do you think it would be all right if I went? Inaseh gave me this dress! Wasn’t that nice of her? Isn’t it beautiful?”

Of the three women, Inaseh Suaneni’s complexion was the closest to Jenna’s—not close, but the woman’s tawny coloring was about as fair as people in this country seemed to get, and her hair was a beautiful tawny bronze that wasn’t exactly blond, but not exactly dark either.

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