Sirna watched with amazement as Baltov Eldra used the limited Zarthani cosmetic palette, mostly rouge, some kind of cornstarch-based whitening powder and charcoal-based mascara to transform her appearance from ravishing to drop-dead gorgeous. Sirna had only sparingly used the lip rouge which tasted of some animal fat that she'd prefer remain unidentified. She could see from the polished metal plate that passed for a mirror that her low-cut gown, the obligatory Lady's garment at formal affairs on Aryan-Transpacific, displayed enough of her bosom to attract far more male attention than she felt comfortable with.
One of the attractions of her ex-husband was that he had seemed to be attracted to her for her mind instead of her more obvious assets, which thanks to a combination of stays only appeared to be about to flounce out of her bodice. That had been one of several misconceptions she'd had about Ulvarn Rarth.
Her self-confidence had taken a bad beating after the failure of her companionate marriage. She still wasn't sure whether Ulvarn had married her because all his friends were getting married, or for a guaranteed audience for his political lectures. He had certainly spent little time in her company during their decade-long marriage, many times disappearing for months as he worked on 'special projects' for Hadron Tharn. At the moment Sirna was more interested in personal growth than in attracting an outtime affair that could only end badly.
While she brushed her hair, Sirna said, "This Founders Day Celebration at the University of Hostigos is the last holiday until Baldar's Feast. It was nice of King Kalvan to invite the Foundry staff."
"And even better that Lala and Gorath Tran refused to condone 'archaic-patriarchal customs' by attending this 'barbaric spectacle'." Eldra gave a laugh that sounded like tinkling bells. "Yes, it is a nice gesture, even if we are under Royal protection."
"Kalvan is more thoughtful than most men from Fourth Level Europo-American. I wonder if Prince Ptosphes and Rylla will be there?"
Sirna didn't like the twinkle she saw in Eldra's eyes as she answered. "Ptosphes is supposed to make a token appearance, but it's common knowledge that the Queen won't be attending."
Common knowledge to whom, Sirna wondered. Who is on Eldra's payroll at the Palace? "You'd better be on your best behavior tonight. Rylla might not be at the Celebration, but her eyes and ears will be."
Eldra laughed. "'Palace Intrigues and Assignations' were my minor at the University! I cut my teeth as a student at the Court of the Borgias on Fourth Level Europo-American, Imperial Italian Subsector. A glass of wine with the Borgias on Imperial Italian was as dangerous as one at Arch-priest Anaxthenes' table. Did you know that it's Anaxthenes' chief mistress, Thessamona, who prepares his poisons? I learned that from the Balph Study Team's latest report."
Sirna shuddered; that poisonous Fourth Level family had become legendary at the University. In the Imperial Italian Subsector, Pope Alexander VI had managed to consolidate enough power to create the Borgia Dynasty which ruled most of Italy. The poisonous atmosphere of the Borgias had infected all of Europe and spread to the New World where there were scores of competing French, Spanish and Italian city-states. Some English Queen had lost her head when the Spanish Armada landed and conquered England, returning it to the Papacy as a subject state of Spain and Rome, administered by the Spanish and their Irish allies.
If Archpriest Roxthar and his Investigation kept Anaxthenes from creating another Italian Imperial, then the mad Archpriest's life could be said to have brought about some good! It was certainly true that Kalvan's efforts to improve Aryan-Transpacific were having some unexpected and unpleasant results. None of the other Kalvan Control Time-Lines had spawned a kingdom-wide war, an Inquisition and the beginnings of a religious war.
"I thought marriage was acceptable practice among Aryan-Transpacific priests. Is Styphon's House an exception?" Sirna asked.
"No, there's no doctrine in Styphon's Way that calls for celibacy. The First Speaker appears to be one of those men who likes multiple partners, who is emotionally unwilling to commit and can afford his own harem of concubines-not uncommon among the top echelons of Styphon's House."
There was a bitter note in Eldra's voice that made Sirna wonder if the professor was speaking from experience when she talked about men who were 'unwilling to commit.' "What about Anaxthenes' children?"
"None that we know of, which is unusual. There are more than twenty foundling homes in Balph and more street urchins there than in any other city in Five Kingdoms. He either keeps a harem for appearances sake, or has the issues of his couplings left out in the outskirts of Balph to die."
Sirna choked back a gasp, which would have made her look unsophisticated to Eldra, a woman she greatly admired. Sirna had studied enough Outtime Sociology to be familiar with peculiar outtime practices when it came to birth control and overpopulation techniques. However, it was one thing to hear a dry lecture, and quite another to actually live on a time-line where these peculiar customs were practiced and taken for granted!
The only other member of the Kalvan Study Team attending the Founders Day Celebration was Aranth Sain, who met them at the stable and drafted a proper escort from among the Foundry workmen. Sain was wearing a silvered back-and-breast and a blue and red eagle feather jutting from his finely engraved high-combed morion helmet. The night sky was clear of clouds exposing ribbons of twinkling stars. For the first time since she'd arrived on Kalvan's Time-Line, Sirna felt alive with the possibilities of life on a more primitive but vital world. She wondered if she would ever meet an outtimer as exciting as Kalvan, and what would happen if she did.
There was no reason for her not to become involved with a local, since she had a birth control implant. On the other hand, her emotional well-being was still fragile after the way her ex-husband had coldly abandoned her. She was not like Eldra, able to move from one lover to another without a backward glance.
Sain was several horse-lengths ahead while their bodyguards were ranging behind. Sirna's horse riding skills had improved to the point where she no longer felt in danger of being catapulted out of her saddle, but she knew in her heart she would never be comfortable while on the back of any large animal. "Eldra, how can you become intimate with a man without getting… well, involved?"
Eldra's laugh was a little too brittle to be real. "I look at men like I do horses. You have to take a new one out, ride him hard and break him in."
"What happens if you get… say… attached to a horse unexpectedly?"
"You don't ever get attached-that's the rule, Sirna. Not if you want to be free to ride the next one." The next words, "not ever again," were almost inaudible, as Eldra spurred her horse and galloped up to join Aranth Sain.
By the time Sirna caught up, the lights from the University of Hos-Hostigos were visible. This was Sirna's first visit to the University and she found a dozen students volunteering their services in giving her a guided tour. Instead, she left with a musician, a big full-bodied man with a limp and a beautiful lyre strapped to his back. His name was Gasphros and when she asked him what his function at the University was, he replied, "I'm the university bumblebee. I watch and listen, stopping at each department to pick up information and ideas, like a bee picks up pollen. Then I share my observations with the Masters of whichever department I think will find them useful. Sometimes they ignore me, but oftentimes they take my advice-and occasionally my ideas work.
"In return they give me a goblet of Ermut's brandy, or a few pieces of silver. Sometimes I sing and play for my supper. When things are quiet here, I pack up and visit the Silver Stag or Crossed Halberds in Hostigos Town, tell a few tales and sing a few songs. It's a good living."
Sirna had heard from Aranth that Gasphros the Troubadour was also a spy-or intelligencer, as they called them on Aryan-Transpacific-for Duke Skranga, Kalvan's head of Hostigos Intelligence. He'd left Harphax City with Skranga when the Harphaxi constabulary started to ask too many questions.
"How did you get the limp?" she asked, as they viewed the University alchemy laboratory, which was filled with rows of clay cups, green glass beakers and retorts filled with colored liquids.
"I joined the Blethan Army as a lad to escape home. I got shot in the knee with a crossbow quarrel during a rebellion in the Princedom of Taurnos. The fester devils set in and I almost lost my leg. In time I recovered the use of my limb, although I still walk with a limp. What I did lose, however, was the last of my youthful idealisms about war."
He gave a deep-bodied laugh. "A few years later I left Hos-Bletha and came north to escape the army. I've sung and told tales, had every kind of adventure known to man, been to every capital city in the Six Kingdoms and a few in the Middle Kingdoms, I've wandered the Trygath and sang in the Sastragath and I hope to live long enough to make a trek to the Great Western Sea and play for the legendary Tyrants."
Sirna laughed. "It sounds like an exciting life. What are you doing in Hos-Hostigos?"
"I was staying with a young lady in Agrys City, which at that time was considered the most civilized city in the world-but only to those in the Northern Kingdoms. The most civilized city in the world has to be Xiphlon, at the mouth of the Mother River. I could tell you stories, but not now." Gasphros paused, gave her a bawdy wink before continuing, "Anyway, when I heard about the new King Kalvan and his miraculous battle against Styphon's House-a thoroughly corrupt band of rogues, by the way-I decided that Hostigos Town was the place for me. And I haven't regretted my decision once. This new University is the wonder of the world and is a lodestone for the most wondrous minds and learned men of every stripe. If it isn't happening in Hos-Hostigos, it isn't happening anywhere! Among his many talents it turns out that our Great King is a musician; I've learned some wonderful melodies from him-most inspiring."
Gasphros' enthusiasm was catching, and Sirna found herself in a much better mood as they returned to the Grand Hall, now a temporary ballroom. Had Gasphros not been plucked from her arm by two young girls, she might have been tempted to spend the evening with him. As it was, she was enthralled by the formal dancing to lutes, lyres and some sort of keyboard mechanism in the shape of a cooking stove. The music was pleasant and she recognized the melody Stardust, the Hoagy Carmichael standard that had been a hit on First Level airwaves a decade or so ago. Another of Kalvan's contributions to Aryan-Transpacific's musical legacy. She was asked to dance by several young men, but she turned them down. She'd been born with two left feet and, unlike Eldra who was dancing every number, it took her ages to learn the steps and motions that made dancing enjoyable.
Then she saw the Great King dancing with Eldra, who was whispering into his ear. You're out of your league here, Eldra! She watched as Kalvan shook his head no and went off to talk with a man she recognized as Captain-General Harmakros.
Eldra did not take well to the role of the spurned woman; the look that crossed her face would have frightened a grizzly back into hibernation. Over in the corner the scraggly bearded Duke Skranga watched the attempted assignation play out-missing nothing. Sirna hoped she never caught his eyes; true, the bald and bandy legged former horse-trader had a charm that defied both logic and good sense, but she'd met more than her share of seedy-looking professors and knew that a good kick in the crotch-if all else failed-always restored their good sense.
At first she thought Eldra was coming over to talk with her, but instead she stepped into the open arms of Democriphon, the handsome cavalry colonel who was reported to have broken more hearts in Hostigos Town than even Skranga. The two of them, as they danced some ritualized piece that defied Sirna's limited coordination, gazed into each other's eyes as if they'd each just discovered the perfect melody. Sirna looked around for Sain; she had a feeling she was going to be going home by herself tonight.