leopard. He bowed low
to Theo, greeting him like an equal, and small, inconsequential things were said that Theo was far too overcome to remember. Khora had been his hero since he was a little boy. When he was nine, he had whiled away a whole rainy season making a model of Khora's flagship, the air destroyer Mwene Mutapa, with a little inch-high Khora standing on the stern gallery. It was such a surprise to see him here, actual size, in the familiar surroundings of home, that it took Theo several moments to notice that he had not come alone. Behind him stood two servant girls, foreigners dressed in robes of rain-colored silk, and behind them, in plainer clothes, another woman, very short and slight, whom Theo knew from photographs in the Zagwan news sheets.
"Theo," said Air Marshal Khora, "I have brought Lady Naga to meet you."
Theo knew that he ought to say, "I don't want to; I don't want anything to do with her or her people," but he was still tongue-tied in Khora's presence, and anyway, as the ambassador came toward him and he saw her delicate face and the heavy black spectacles (which she had not been wearing in those news photographs), he discovered that he knew her.
"You were on Cloud 9!" he blurted out, startling Khora and the servant girls, who had been expecting some more formal greeting. "The night the Storm camel You're Dr. Zero! You were with Naga and--"
"And I am still with Naga," the woman replied with a faint, puzzled smile. She was young, and quite pretty in a boyish way. Her hair, which had been short and green when Theo first met her, was longer now, and black. The neck of her linen tunic was open, and in the hollow of her throat
hung a cheap tin cross that she must have bought from one of the stalls outside the cathedral. She reached up to touch it as she said, "So you were with us aboard Cloud 9 last year, Mr. Ngoni? I'm afraid I don't remember ..."
Theo nodded eagerly. "I was with Wren. You took us away from the Stalker Fang and asked Wren about the Tin Book...." His voice trailed off. He had just remembered the uniform she had been wearing that night. "She used to be some sort of surgeon," his father had said, but that had only been half true; she had been a surgeon-mechanic, a builder of Stalkers for the Green Storm's dreaded Resurrection Corps.
"That was you?" she asked, still smiling. "I'm so sorry. So much happened that night, and so much has happened since.... How is your wound? Healing?"
"It is better," said Theo bravely.
Khora laughed, and said, "The young heal quickly! I was wounded myself once, at Batmunkh Gompa, back in the year '07. A damned Londoner stuck his sword through my lung. It still hurts me sometimes."
"Theo, my boy," his father said, "why don't you show Lady Naga the gardens?"
Awkwardly, Theo indicated the open door, and Lady Naga followed him outside with her girls trailing at a respectful distance. Glancing behind him, he saw Khora deep in conversation with his parents, and his sisters watching and giggling. They were probably wondering which of the ambassador's servants he would fall in love with, Theo realized. Both girls were very beautiful. One was Han or Shan Guonese; the other must have come from somewhere in the south of India; her skin was as dark as Theo's, and her eyes,
which met his as he stared at her, were the blackest he had ever seen.
He looked away quickly, and tried to cover his confusion by pointing out the path that led to his favorite part of the garden, the terrace overlooking the gorge. The shadowed walk was overhung by trees heavy with orange flowers; Lady Naga stooped to pick up one that had fallen on the path, and turned it in her hands as they walked on. Watching her, Theo noticed that her small fingers were dappled with patches of bleached skin and tea-colored stains. "Chemicals," she explained, seeing that he had noticed. "I worked for a long time with the Resurrection Corps. The chemicals we used ..."
Theo wondered how many dead soldiers
to Theo, greeting him like an equal, and small, inconsequential things were said that Theo was far too overcome to remember. Khora had been his hero since he was a little boy. When he was nine, he had whiled away a whole rainy season making a model of Khora's flagship, the air destroyer Mwene Mutapa, with a little inch-high Khora standing on the stern gallery. It was such a surprise to see him here, actual size, in the familiar surroundings of home, that it took Theo several moments to notice that he had not come alone. Behind him stood two servant girls, foreigners dressed in robes of rain-colored silk, and behind them, in plainer clothes, another woman, very short and slight, whom Theo knew from photographs in the Zagwan news sheets.
"Theo," said Air Marshal Khora, "I have brought Lady Naga to meet you."
Theo knew that he ought to say, "I don't want to; I don't want anything to do with her or her people," but he was still tongue-tied in Khora's presence, and anyway, as the ambassador came toward him and he saw her delicate face and the heavy black spectacles (which she had not been wearing in those news photographs), he discovered that he knew her.
"You were on Cloud 9!" he blurted out, startling Khora and the servant girls, who had been expecting some more formal greeting. "The night the Storm camel You're Dr. Zero! You were with Naga and--"
"And I am still with Naga," the woman replied with a faint, puzzled smile. She was young, and quite pretty in a boyish way. Her hair, which had been short and green when Theo first met her, was longer now, and black. The neck of her linen tunic was open, and in the hollow of her throat
hung a cheap tin cross that she must have bought from one of the stalls outside the cathedral. She reached up to touch it as she said, "So you were with us aboard Cloud 9 last year, Mr. Ngoni? I'm afraid I don't remember ..."
Theo nodded eagerly. "I was with Wren. You took us away from the Stalker Fang and asked Wren about the Tin Book...." His voice trailed off. He had just remembered the uniform she had been wearing that night. "She used to be some sort of surgeon," his father had said, but that had only been half true; she had been a surgeon-mechanic, a builder of Stalkers for the Green Storm's dreaded Resurrection Corps.
"That was you?" she asked, still smiling. "I'm so sorry. So much happened that night, and so much has happened since.... How is your wound? Healing?"
"It is better," said Theo bravely.
Khora laughed, and said, "The young heal quickly! I was wounded myself once, at Batmunkh Gompa, back in the year '07. A damned Londoner stuck his sword through my lung. It still hurts me sometimes."
"Theo, my boy," his father said, "why don't you show Lady Naga the gardens?"
Awkwardly, Theo indicated the open door, and Lady Naga followed him outside with her girls trailing at a respectful distance. Glancing behind him, he saw Khora deep in conversation with his parents, and his sisters watching and giggling. They were probably wondering which of the ambassador's servants he would fall in love with, Theo realized. Both girls were very beautiful. One was Han or Shan Guonese; the other must have come from somewhere in the south of India; her skin was as dark as Theo's, and her eyes,
which met his as he stared at her, were the blackest he had ever seen.
He looked away quickly, and tried to cover his confusion by pointing out the path that led to his favorite part of the garden, the terrace overlooking the gorge. The shadowed walk was overhung by trees heavy with orange flowers; Lady Naga stooped to pick up one that had fallen on the path, and turned it in her hands as they walked on. Watching her, Theo noticed that her small fingers were dappled with patches of bleached skin and tea-colored stains. "Chemicals," she explained, seeing that he had noticed. "I worked for a long time with the Resurrection Corps. The chemicals we used ..."
Theo wondered how many dead soldiers
Similar Books
Macadoo of the Maury River
Gigi Amateau
Slights
Kaaron Warren
Blessed (The Dark Billionaire, #7)
L.N. Pearl
Dead Letter
Betsy Byars
Red Mutiny
Neal Bascomb
Undercover Virgin
Becky Barker
Chiffon Scarf
Mignon Good Eberhart
Phantom Warriors: Talon
Jordan Summers
The Stress of Her Regard
Tim Powers