"What good would that do?"
She lifted one hand in an I-don't-know sort of gesture. "In the meantime…" she began.
"Yes, Princess?"
"In the meantime I want you to deliver a message for me."
Tsem raised his eyebrows. "A message?"
"Yes. Please inform Wezh Yehd Nu that I would like to meet him in the Onyx Courtyard this evening, if it is to his liking."
"Princess?"
Hezhi sighed. "I have to go on as if I will have a life," she told him. "Else I will go mad."
Tsem nodded solemnly. "If you will be safe here, I will go inform him at once."
"I think I will sit here a bit longer, but then I will go to the library. You can meet me there this afternoon to escort me to meet Wezh."
"Very good, Princess."
"And thanks, Tsem," she said earnestly.
"You are quite welcome, Princess." He heaved to his feet and lumbered off. She watched him go, let the sun saturate her a bit more. Reaching into the pocket of her skirt, she pulled forth the little statuette, the horse-woman, turned it over and over in her hand. Did the strange, pale man in her dreams ride a horse? She decided that he probably did. Lately, she had come to welcome the dreams of forest and the strange man—they kept away the nightmares about D'en and L'ekezh. Ironically, those dreams of faraway had become less frequent, less forceful. The forest was almost faded entirely, though the man, when she dreamed of him, was more vivid than ever. Reluctantly she rose and set her feet in the direction of the library.
"I'm not complaining, mind you," Qey insisted. "It's just that I thought you didn't like this Wezh fellow."
"Well," Hezhi explained, biting into a plum, "it doesn't really matter whether I like him or not, does it? There are worse men to be courted by, and to hear Tsem tell it, they are queuing up to do so."
"Well, they should be. You are very beautiful, Hezhi."
"Pfah. I could be a sack of grain, for all they care. As long as I was a sack of grain whose father was Emperor."
"That may be true," Qey admitted, "but there are many noble daughters. In you, the young men can see a lovely woman, and in a few years a stunning one. If one must marry, it is better to marry someone pleasant looking."
"They don't see that in me," she protested.
Qey shook her head. "You'll see. You'll have your mother's face and figure, I can already tell that. Even if you inherit from your father's side—his sisters are all quite pretty."
"Not so pretty as his brother," Hezhi muttered.
Qey turned an astonished face away from the stove. "What did you say?"
"Nothing," she quickly amended. "Nothing, just a joke."
"Your father's brother is dead, Hezhi. It isn't something to joke about."
"I know." She wiped the plum juice from her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Anyway," Qey remarked, changing the subject, "how was your meeting with Wezh Yehd Nu?"
"He tried to be pleasant, and succeeded well enough, I suppose." She smiled. "I think he was very surprised to hear from me. He told me he had given up."
"Did he bring a present, then?"
"Oh, yes. I think his mother picked it out." She reached into her bag to show Qey her present, feeling a brief, inexplicable sadness when her hand brushed the statuette. She drew out Wezh's gift and set it on the table.
"Oh, that's a nice perfume," Qey said, examining the crystal bottle.
"So I hear. I'll wear it next time I meet him."
"You'll be meeting him again?" Qey asked, a bit surprised.
"Yes. He's taking me to a drama tomorrow."
"Which one?"
Hezhi cleared her throat. "The Eel and the Lion it's called. A romance, I think." She half sang the title, the way Wezh did. He was quite excited about taking her to it.
"Will you like that?" Qey asked, doubtfully.
"Almost certainly not," Hezhi said. "But I have to learn to tolerate such things. After all, I can't spend the rest of my life in the library, like Ghan."
"Well, but I never expected to hear you say that, little one."
"Everything changes," she philosophized, biting into another plum.
"Yes," Qey agreed. "If there is any truth in the world it is that."
The next day Hezhi went into the library early. Ghan raised an eyebrow and his face puckered into a frown.
"Will I be graced with your presence for the entire day today?" he asked sarcastically.
She blushed. "I'm sorry, Ghan. I've been… I don't know. I'm sorry."
"It's nothing less than I expected," he remarked sourly.
"I'm here now. What do you want me to do?"
"Do what you like. I shelved yesterday. And by the way,"—he frowned up briefly at her before continuing—"a 'friend' of yours came by this morning. One 'Wezh,' I believe. Since you weren't here, he asked if I might deliver a message pertaining to the drama you will be attending tonight."
Hezhi felt her face burning furiously as Ghan went on. "He said you should wear something 'frip' with lots of 'lacies.' It's the style for this show."