The Proof House by K J Parker

Author:K J Parker
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2011-11-07T11:02:17+00:00

Dear uncle -

She’d never even tried to write left-handed before. It was still a mess, but much better than she’d ever managed with the stumps of her right.

As the sun set, so the wind had dropped, and at last the ship was holding still long enough for her to be able to put her ink-horn down beside her on the deck with a reasonable chance of it staying there. Quite the treasure trove, that saddlebag; as well as the money she’d found this adorable little traveller’s writing set, pens, powdered ink, a dear little penknife, ink-horn and stand, all in a flat box you could use to rest on. And her fool’s luck didn’t end there; after Captain Yelet concluded his business on the Island, he was heading for Barzea, where he was sure he’d be able to find a jute-dealer headed for Tornoys who’d be only too pleased to deliver her letter. It was turning out to be a good day after all.

Wasn’t over yet, of course. There was still a drop or two of blood to be squeezed out of the sun before it set, enough time for the soldiers’ galley to show up and arrest her, assuming that they’d heard about this ship and figured it right. That was what ought to happen; but in the other pan of the scale was the luck of the Loredans—

(After all, Uncle Gorgas managed; I wonder how he did it. Did he ride to Tornoys, that day I was conceived, and just happen to find a ship on the point of sailing for Perimadeia? Did he open the saddlebags on my father’s horse and discover a fat purse of money, enough to buy him his passage across the sea? Did he stop to wonder how much further he could get before the rope ran out?)

She thought for a moment, trying to find the right words. Never an easy job at the best of times; when the course of one’s entire life may hang on a misunderstood nuance, decidedly ticklish.

Dear uncle, would it be all right if I came to stay with you for a bit? Things have been a little fraught just recently -

(No need to specify further.)

- and I think a change of scene would do me good. Needless to say, I promise I’ll behave -

(Or would that strike the wrong note? A lot would depend on whether the letter reached him before the official pronouncement that she was a wanted fugitive, and that in turn would depend on whether Captain Yelet was going straight to Barzea after stopping at the Island or working his way up the coast making deliveries and running errands, and whether the price of jute was good enough at the moment to justify the Barzea ropewalk owners buying in raw materials from the Mesoge. On balance, better to leave it out; he wouldn’t believe her anyway, or care particularly much.)

- A change of scene would do me good. I feel as if I’ve been cooped up in this dismal place for simply ages; and besides, it’s been years since I last saw you.

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