For some reason, that increased the tension. "Why're you doing that?" she snapped.
"It gives me joy to touch you," he said softly. "Shall I not?"
Yes, she wanted to yell, you should not! You should bloody well
go
if you're going and before things get any worse, or . . .
"I'm scared," she told him, finally identifying the emotion.
"It is not comfortable to be afraid," Val Con allowed gently. "Do you know what it is that frightens you? It may be something we can resolve."
She took a deep breath, fingers tightening around his. "I'm afraid of being stuck here—by myself."
"Ah." His eyes were troubled. "Will I abandon you, Miri?"
"How do I know what you'll do? Month ago I'd never clapped eyes on you. It'd make a hell of a lot more sense for you to get out on your own, though, wouldn't it? Be able to learn faster, move around more, settle in quicker, better. You're a Scout; I ain't nothing—"
"No . . .Miri." He lay a light finger across her lips. "I am not a Scout. Not now. Now I am a man who is trying—with the help of his partner and his friend—to insure that a long and joyful life will be possible together. A partner who," he added, mouth twisting slightly, "is afraid that he will run from her."
There did not seem to be anything to say to that, and the silence grew taut between them.
"Unless," Val Con murmured, "I am being sent away?"
She jerked as if he had slapped her. "No!"
"Good," he said, squeezing her fingers. "Because I am not certain that I would behave—with honor—in such a case." One brow slid up. "I would be lonely, too, do you think?" He sighed as he read the answer in her face. "Ah,
I
do not get lonely . . ."
Miri looked down at their entwined fingers, took a deep breath, and looked up. "Val Con?"
"Yes."
She took another breath. "I'm new at all this stuff. Not just the Scout-type things—
all
of it. Being partners. Being married. Never had a partner. Never wanted one." She tried a smile and caught the glimmer of his, answering. "Takes some getting used to," she concluded. "I'm sorry—"
But what she was sorry for was drowned in a bark of welcome as Borril hove into view. He was with them in a thrice, flopping to his side and
whuffing,
yellow eyes rolling in anticipation of a fine session of ear-pulling.
Miri and Val Con exchanged glances and began to laugh.
"Dog," Val Con said, yanking hard on a ridiculous ear, "I venture to say you were well indulged before we came here. But now that you have three pairs of hands to command, you've become insupportable . . ."
Val Con entered the room with unnatural scuffling to avoid startling the aging woman, and bowed when she looked up.
"Zhena Trelu?"
She smiled, relief washing her face. "Cory," she said, using the short form, as she had been doing since their second day with her. He had raised a brow at the first usage but had not protested, and Cory he had become.
"Did you find the child?" she asked him. "Is she all calmed down? I'm sorry I upset her—likely I was a bit sharp myself—but that girl has the wind's own temper with her!"
The man's brows pulled together slightly as he moved farther into the room. "Only noise," he said in his laborious Benish. "Like Borril. Sees something, maybe bad—makes noise. Maybe bad something goes away . . ." He perched on the arm of Jerry's reading chair, eyes intent.
Zhena Trelu sniffed. "Bad! Meri knows I'm not going to hurt her."
Cory moved his shoulders. "Here, things are not home. Miri is—" He sighed sharply, tipping his hands out toward her in a gesture she had come to know well the last five days.
"She's homesick, you mean. Misses her home." She drank down rest of her tea and set the cup aside. "Of course she is, poor child. I'll try to be more patient with her, Cory. You tell her that for me, will you?"
"Yes." But still he waited, watching her.
"What else? Are you hungry? I made you some sandwiches—they're on the kitchen table. You know where the milk is."
From the floor at her feet Borril gave vent to a heartrending groan. Cory laughed, then looked up again.
"Zhena Trelu. I ask—for Miri. Is there in your house—
these . . .
"
He swept a slender hand at the book-covered wall—Jerrel's books, mostly; dusty since his death. "For childs?"
"Children," she corrected, "Might have a few around from when Granic—my son—was a little boy. Why?"
"For Miri," he said. "To learn the words."
"Books to help her learn words?" she repeated. "But you're doing so well!"
"For Miri, Zhena Trelu," Cory told her for the third time.
She sighed. "You're a patient boy. All right, I'll look around and see if I still have any of Granic's old books."
He tipped his head. "Soon, Zhena Trelu?"
"Well, I—" She bridled, staring at him. He met her eyes calmly, his own a clear and bottomless green.
After a moment, Zhena Trelu sighed and pushed carefully out of her chair. "All right, Cory," she said, with a touch of acid. "Soon."
After supper, Zhena Trelu left the two of them to clean up and went to pursue Granic's old storybook collection through the attic, grumbling audibly as she went up the skinny stairs.
Miri ran water into the sink and started to wash while Val Con cleared the table. She turned her head to smile at him. "I feel better," she said, which was not quite a lie. She
did
feel better—a little. The headache was gone, which was a big plus; but she was still as jumpy as a Merc without kynak.
Val Con finished the glass he had been drying and set it aside. "After we are done with this, if you like, I can show you a way to make living here—easier, perhaps."
She looked at him doubtfully, not sure that she really needed to learn something
else
right now; and he tipped his head, catching her eyes on his.
"I promise not to give you a headache," he said solemnly. She gave a wan grin. "Okay," she said. "What the hell."
Brrrinngg!
Miri whirled, ready to charge, staring at the black box on the opposite wall. Until that moment it had always been silent.
It repeated its shrill noise, and Val Con had his hand on it; then he was lifting the top part away and bringing it to his ear.
"Zhena Trelu's house," he said carefully in Benish.
A pause filled with tiny crackles, then a woman's voice spoke, high-pitched in amazement. "What? Who is that? Where's Estra?"
Val Con sighed gently. "Zhena Trelu's house," he repeated clearly. "Cory. Attic."
There was another pause on the line, and he turned to look at Miri, standing tense by the sink. He wrinkled his nose, which made her laugh, and then the voice on the phone was spouting more questions.
"Cory? What are you doing there, Cory? Where are you from?" The amazement had been replaced by avaricious curiosity.
Gossip, Val Con thought darkly and withheld another sigh. "Work. Home. Who is
that?"
"What!" the voice exclaimed, though it apparently did not expect to be answered, because it rushed right on. "This is Athna Brigsbee. You tell Estra that I'm on the phone and want to talk to her right away."
"Stay," he said, as if she were Borril, and let the receiver down to dangle by its cord. Leisurely he went down the long hallway, up the stairs, and to the thin attic stairway.
"Zhena Trelu?"
There was a thump and a rustle from above. "What?"
"Athna Brigsbee on the phone to talk to you right away."
"Wind take the woman!" Zhena Trelu grumped, and Val Con grinned. "Tell her to hold on, Cory. I'll be there soon."
"Yes." And he was gone, soundless, down the stairs and back to the kitchen.
"Hold on," he told Athna Brigsbee. "Zhena Trelu is here soon." He let the receiver back down without waiting for an answer, picked up his towel, and began drying the mountain of clean dishes Miri had produced.
By the time Zhena Trelu reached the dangling receiver, it was making indignant noises, which the two diligent workers at the sink seemed not to hear.
"Young man? Young man! Pick up this phone, young man! Just what do you think—"
"Hello, Athna," Zhena Trelu said, unable to resist a grin at Cory, who raised a brow and continued drying dishes.
"Estra? Well, thank goodness! I was terrified. That rude man . . .Who
is
he, Estra? I asked, of course . . ."
I just bet you did, Zhena Trelu thought. "Cory and his zhena are helping me out around the place. You know it's been threatening to fall down around my ears these last couple winters. Thought I'd get everything all lined up and then maybe sell it, come spring." She stopped, surprised at herself.
"Well, that's lovely for you, dear," Athna Brigsbee said. "I know how hard it's been for you to keep everything up since poor Jerrel passed on." Zhena Trelu gritted her teeth: Jerry and Athna had not been the best of friends.
"But
tell
me about them, Estra," the voice in her ear continued. "Where are they from? I asked Cory, but all he said was 'home.'" She gave a shrill little laugh.
Good for you, Cory, Zhena Trelu thought. "They don't speak Benish very well. They're refugees—survivors of that volcano and earthquake they had over in Porlint last year."
"But, Estra," Zhena Brigsbee protested, "when I talked about how we should all get together and
do
something about those poor people right after the disaster you were—well, I won't mince words. You were
cold,
Estra. And now to take
two
refugees into your house—and they don't even speak the language!"
There was a pause that Zhena Trelu spitefully refused to fill, then Athna took up her thread again, voice lowered. "Are you
sure
they're married, Estra? The stories I've heard! People taking refugees into their homes who turn out to be thieves, or murderers . . ."
"Meri and Cory aren't thieves," Zhena Trelu snapped. "And I sincerely doubt they're murderers. Just a young married couple that happened to need help the same time I needed help, so we're helping each other." She took a breath, trying to force the irritation down. "Athna, I really am going to have to go."
"Of course! But we
must
get together—say on Artas? I'll bring a nice scuppin salad and some brownies, and the four of us can have a lovely dinner and a nice talk—it's been such a long time, Estra! Well, I won't keep you any longer—I'll see you on Artas, for dinner. Take care of yourself, dear." The line went dead, leaving Zhena Trelu gasping in outrage.
Athna Brigsbee was coming to visit in two days? There was no stopping her, of course. That sharp nose smelled gossip, and she would not rest until the ferreted out every bit of information possible about Cory and Meri and then did her best to make that information known throughout Gylles and the neighboring county.
Zhena Trelu returned the receiver to its hook, turned toward the sink—and gasped as she saw the young couple as a stranger would see them.
Meri was putting away pans while Cory finished the drying, both dressed in the tight-fitting leather garments that were the only clothes they owned. As Zhena Trelu watched, Meri picked up the heavy iron skillet and bent to put it into the oven. The zhena tried to imagine the expression on Athna Brigsbee's face, were she presented with such a spectacle during her visit, and was almost tempted to allow the situation to continue.
"Meri," she said, shaking herself and moving toward the stove and the tea kettle. "Cory."
They turned to look at her, the girl drifting closer to the man's side, eyes great and gray in her thin face.
"Winter's coming," Zhena Trelu said, trying to talk slowly enough for Meri to understand, "and you're going to need warmer clothes. We'll go to town tomorrow and buy you something nice. Better clothes," she added, as she saw Cory's irrepressible eyebrow slide upward.
"Zhena Trelu," he murmured. "Buy is—" He tipped his hands out. "We not buy, maybe."
She frowned at him. "You don't have any money to buy clothes, is that it?" She shook her head, feigning irritation. "All the work you two have been doing around this place? Did you think you were working for nothing, Cory?"
"Dinner," Meri said unexpectedly. "Supper. Bed."
"For the little bit the pair of you eat," the older woman informed her with feeling, "I got the best end of
that
bargain. I owe you a few clothes—couple jackets, maybe. That should make us even for what you've done so far, all right?"
Meri looked at her husband, who moved his shoulders in that foreign gesture of his and bowed slightly. "Thank you, Zhena Trelu."
"You're welcome," she said, unaccountably touched.
Cory reached out and took the girl's hand, and the two of them slipped out of the kitchen, leaving only a soft "Good night" drifting behind them.
"Good night, children," Zhena Trelu said quietly, and turned to run water into the kettle.
"You should be as comfortable as possible," Val Con told Miri softly. "Later, you will be able to do this at any time, but to learn it is better to be at ease." He sat cross-legged in the middle of the double bed and smiled at her. "Perhaps you should unbraid your hair and take your boots off. Take off all of your clothes, if you will feel better so."
Miri grinned as she unbraided her hair. "I'd hate to tempt you like that."
"I," he said austerely, "am above such things. It is not for you to think that Scouts might be human."
She made the bow of student to teacher, hamming it, eyes very round. "Forgive me, Commander, I'll remember."
"Do so," he directed. Then he grinned. "I shall endeavor to keep my thoughts pure."
She shook her hair and combed rapid fingers through it, then sat on the wall-bench and yanked off her boots before shedding the rest of her clothes. "Now what?"
He patted the bed at his side. "Come lie down."
She lay on her back, eyes tight on his face, right hand fisted between her breasts.
"You are comfortable?" he asked. "Not cold? It is better if you put your arms at your sides and let your hands relax." He reached to brush the clinging copper threads from her cheeks; his fingers touched her lips lightly. "I promise you, cha'trez, this is a good thing—pretty and friendly—not at all frightening. Even I was able to learn it the first time."