Royal Airs Read Online Free PDF Page A

really happened. A fair woman in a plain white tunic came through the door and stood there a moment, looking around. Unlike Cora, who had entered as unobtrusively as possible, this newcomer didn’t seem to notice that she drew all eyes her way, didn’t seem to care. It was hard to say what exactly made her so hard to look away from, though maybe it was simply the light. She hadn’t closed the door behind her, so the early morning sunshine had followed her inside and pooled around her white clothes, her ashy-blond hair. Maybe it was the swirl of fresh wind that danced in behind her, chasing out the stale odors of smoke and fried meat. Maybe it was the sheer incongruity of her presence, because Rafe had never seen anyone who looked less like she belonged in a southside tavern after a very long night.
    If he’d had a roll of gold coins, he’d have laid them on the table at this moment and gambled them all. “I’m betting that’s your sister,” he said.
    Cora turned in her seat and started waving wildly. “Jo—Josie! Here I am! Here I am!”
    Josie—or whatever her name really was—instantly crossed the room, her eyes focused on her sister. Rafe found himself impelled to come to his feet in some wasted gesture of civility, but the blond woman had eyes only for Cora.
    “What happened? Are you all right? I came as quickly as I could,” she said, sliding onto the bench next to Cora and giving her a brief hug. But she pulled back almost at once and began to give the other girl a critical inspection. “You look like you’ve been in a brawl. Are you all right? What happened ?” She glanced briefly in Rafe’s direction. “Did he sell you any red gemstones?”
    The complete non sequitur made Rafe frown and Cora grin, though it seemed to take her some effort. “No,” she said. “Nothing like that.”
    Maybe it was a code phrase; he admired them for putting one in place. He said, “Let me excuse myself while you two talk.”
    Josie settled her gaze on him to appraise him more fully. Her face wasn’t quite as delicate as Cora’s, or her expression as lively; she looked grave and thoughtful and just a little sad. No, this wasn’t the prostitute or the drug dealer Rafe had been envisioning. But she was certainly all elay. No doubt about that.
    “Who exactly are you?” she asked in a courteous voice.
    “He’s the man who helped me,” Cora interjected. “When this—this— criminal came over and tried to frighten me.”
    Josie was still watching Rafe. “Yes, that happens sometimes in the slums,” she said. “That’s why you shouldn’t be here. What’s your name?”
    “Rafe Adova. I play cards.”
    “And you rescued my sister.”
    “Hardly that dramatic,” he said.
    “Oh, it probably was,” she said, showing the faintest hint of a smile. “Things tend to get—exciting—when Corene is present.”
    “Josie,” hissed Cora. Corene. Now that was a name he ought to recognize. Damn his slow thought processes after such a long night.
    “It’s the sweela gift,” he said.
    “At any rate, you know half the story, so you may as well know the rest of it. So what happened?”
    Rafe slowly dropped to his bench again. Corene licked her lips and thought a moment, clearly editing out details. “There was a party at Rhan’s last night. At the last minute, my mother decided not to go, so he and I were alone in the elaymotive together. There wasn’t even a driver.”
    Josie nodded. Clearly she knew who he was.
    “At first I wasn’t paying much attention, but then I realized we’d been on the Cinque too long, we were way past Rhan’s house,” Cora went on. “When I demanded to know where we were going, he said there was a different party, he thought I’d like it, we were almost there. But I just thought—he seemed so odd—I decided I should get out of the car if I got a chance.”
    “A moving elaymotive?” Josie said faintly.
    “Well, we’d come to a stop in bad traffic,” Cora explained. “So I