A Rose Point Holiday by M.C.A. Hogarth

Author:M.C.A. Hogarth
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: M.C.A. Hogarth
Published: 2016-11-24T16:00:00+00:00

The following day Hirianthial came home, for no reason other than to steal a little time from both their schedules, “as we will soon be quit of this year and it seems a pity not to cherish its final hours.” Which was just the sort of thing he’d say, and she didn’t mind at all if it meant she could put down her data tablet and put off her meetings. For a few hours, anyway: that was all she could afford. She wondered sometimes at the source of that whisper, the one that said she was running out of time and had to get things set up sooner rather than later… and then she remembered the dragons.

Fleet was here. But they weren’t going to stay forever. The sooner the world had some modern defenses, and the modern mindsets to use those defenses, the sooner all of them could exhale and maybe concentrate on growing things at a saner pace.

“You look as if you need the holiday,” Hirianthial said as she left her office.

“I think we all do,” Reese said. “But… it won’t always be this hectic.”

“No,” he said. “We will have time, God and Lady willing.”

She smiled up at him, grateful for the reminder, and followed him down the stairs.

Their path took them through the great hall; Hirianthial paused there to look at the firebowl, which was still burning (as was required) via science (as Kis’eh’t had insisted). The empty glass had been set on a footstool alongside it because Irine had thought it suited the symbolism better, as if it was just waiting for someone to come have a seat and ask for a refill. There was a residue at the bottom that had become a granular red splotch. Reese liked that, too. It was a visual reminder that the party wasn’t over yet. Not until New Year’s Day... and the bleeding feast, which was giving her so many headaches she’d had Taylor bang a few hooks into the corner of her office so she could hang her hammock and take a proper nap. With Allacazam. When she could find him, because lately he’d been rolling into weird nooks. Did Flitzbe explore? Could they get lost? She hoped not.

“All good?” she murmured to him when he remained transfixed by the sight.

Shaking himself, just a little twitch of shoulders, her fiancé said, “More than good.” Glancing at her, he added, “Horses?”

“Horses.”

She’d gotten used to their outings involving horses because Hirianthial loved them, and because Reese was starting to associate them with getting out of her office and doing something that wasn’t working. Besides, she was getting a little fond of the horse Hirianthial had chosen for her. She’d been disturbed at first when she’d discovered that Kerayle allowed buyers the option to “design” their purchases’ personalities… nothing specific, of course, but predilections toward passivity or aggression. This reminder that genetic manipulation was a mature technology—more or less—and that humans had put it to use for less savory reasons also relating

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