Read Online Plan B by Steve Miller, Sharon Lee - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Steve Miller, Sharon Lee
Tags: Science-Fiction
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had taught her more than enough patience to wait out one of Shan's rare silences.
"You disappoint me. Don't you have the least wish to know who the devil Tiazan is and where we'll be meeting my wretched brother?"
"But I was certain you were about to tell me."
"Unkind, Priscilla. I can't think why I lifemated you."
"Because I let you talk as much as you want."
"Do you? How odd. Especially as I have the distinct impression that I'm talking less than I ever have. But, I perceive you a-quiver with curiosity and hasten to explain."
He set his glass aside with a flourish and sat up straighter in the chair, humor vanishing from face and emotive grid.
"Tiazan is First Line of Clan Erob," he said; "which has its seat upon Lytaxin. So to go to 'Miri's people' as directed by my brother and delm-to-be, we need merely go to Lytaxin. Very simple, once one has the proper information. What astonishes me particularly is that for once in his life Val Con seems to have done exactly as he ought."
Priscilla blinked. "He has?"
"As I said, astonishing. Though, to be just, Val Con often does as he ought. Of course, he just as often does precisely as he pleases. I expect there's a deliberate pattern involved, calculated to a hair's breadth to appear random. One afternoon when I'm bored I'll feed the parameters to the tactical computers and see what they make of it. But to continue! Erob is Korval's most ancient ally. The family diaries speak of Rool Tiazan and his lifemate, leaders of the dramliz, who chose to evacuate the Old World on the ship piloted by Cantra yos'Phelium."
Priscilla allowed a wisp of inquiry to escape her and Shan nodded.
"Rool Tiazan had read the luck, you see—and the luck sent him to Cantra yos'Phelium."
"Rool Tiazan was a full wizard, then," Priscilla murmured. "He had the Sight."
"Apparently so, since Quick Passage and her passengers eventually came safe to Liad."
"And all that time since the ship came to Liad, Korval and Erob have been allies?"
"Actually a bit longer than that," Shan said. "Cantra's log indicates that she and Jela—her partner before she took on the revered yos'Galan ancestor—had known Rool Tiazan and his lady some time prior to the evacuation. If it comes to that—recall that I promised to amaze, Priscilla!—we're a bit more than allies. More accurate to say cousins—or half-clan, there's a word! Ever since the ship landed on Liad, Tiazan and Korval have been sticking to an arrangement—actually a protocol, all properly signed and sealed—a schedule of a contract-marriage every three generations, with the child going, in unfailing sequence: Erob, Korval, Erob, Korval. . ."
Priscilla frowned. "You said Tiazan and Korval—"
"So I did, and so it was. Korval seems to have sent equally from yos'Phelium and yos'Galan, but Erob seems only to have sent from Tiazan, never from the subordinate Line. In any wise, the schedule demanded a contract wedding this generation. yos'Galan was sent last time, and the child came to Korval."
"And Val Con knew all this?" Priscilla demanded.
Shan shrugged and reached for his glass. "Now that's a different question. Unless he's knocked his head rather sharply, he certainly recalls our long association with Erob. That a mating was mandated and that yos'Phelium must send—I doubt he did know that. I only know it because when I was First Speaker in Trust, I received a note from Great-great-great Aunt Wayr yos'Phelium, dated one hundred ten Standard years ago." He sighed. "I sent it forward a little time more, to Val Con's thirty-fifth Name Day: a puzzle for him to solve on the day he becomes delm."
"But Miri Robertson is Line Tiazan, and she and Val Con are lifemates . . ."
Shan nodded. "The child of a contract-marriage would have gone to Erob. But the children of a lifemating will come to the clan sheltering both partners."
"And Val Con will not leave Korval for another clan." She made it a half-question, and Shan answered with
"You disappoint me. Don't you have the least wish to know who the devil Tiazan is and where we'll be meeting my wretched brother?"
"But I was certain you were about to tell me."
"Unkind, Priscilla. I can't think why I lifemated you."
"Because I let you talk as much as you want."
"Do you? How odd. Especially as I have the distinct impression that I'm talking less than I ever have. But, I perceive you a-quiver with curiosity and hasten to explain."
He set his glass aside with a flourish and sat up straighter in the chair, humor vanishing from face and emotive grid.
"Tiazan is First Line of Clan Erob," he said; "which has its seat upon Lytaxin. So to go to 'Miri's people' as directed by my brother and delm-to-be, we need merely go to Lytaxin. Very simple, once one has the proper information. What astonishes me particularly is that for once in his life Val Con seems to have done exactly as he ought."
Priscilla blinked. "He has?"
"As I said, astonishing. Though, to be just, Val Con often does as he ought. Of course, he just as often does precisely as he pleases. I expect there's a deliberate pattern involved, calculated to a hair's breadth to appear random. One afternoon when I'm bored I'll feed the parameters to the tactical computers and see what they make of it. But to continue! Erob is Korval's most ancient ally. The family diaries speak of Rool Tiazan and his lifemate, leaders of the dramliz, who chose to evacuate the Old World on the ship piloted by Cantra yos'Phelium."
Priscilla allowed a wisp of inquiry to escape her and Shan nodded.
"Rool Tiazan had read the luck, you see—and the luck sent him to Cantra yos'Phelium."
"Rool Tiazan was a full wizard, then," Priscilla murmured. "He had the Sight."
"Apparently so, since Quick Passage and her passengers eventually came safe to Liad."
"And all that time since the ship came to Liad, Korval and Erob have been allies?"
"Actually a bit longer than that," Shan said. "Cantra's log indicates that she and Jela—her partner before she took on the revered yos'Galan ancestor—had known Rool Tiazan and his lady some time prior to the evacuation. If it comes to that—recall that I promised to amaze, Priscilla!—we're a bit more than allies. More accurate to say cousins—or half-clan, there's a word! Ever since the ship landed on Liad, Tiazan and Korval have been sticking to an arrangement—actually a protocol, all properly signed and sealed—a schedule of a contract-marriage every three generations, with the child going, in unfailing sequence: Erob, Korval, Erob, Korval. . ."
Priscilla frowned. "You said Tiazan and Korval—"
"So I did, and so it was. Korval seems to have sent equally from yos'Phelium and yos'Galan, but Erob seems only to have sent from Tiazan, never from the subordinate Line. In any wise, the schedule demanded a contract wedding this generation. yos'Galan was sent last time, and the child came to Korval."
"And Val Con knew all this?" Priscilla demanded.
Shan shrugged and reached for his glass. "Now that's a different question. Unless he's knocked his head rather sharply, he certainly recalls our long association with Erob. That a mating was mandated and that yos'Phelium must send—I doubt he did know that. I only know it because when I was First Speaker in Trust, I received a note from Great-great-great Aunt Wayr yos'Phelium, dated one hundred ten Standard years ago." He sighed. "I sent it forward a little time more, to Val Con's thirty-fifth Name Day: a puzzle for him to solve on the day he becomes delm."
"But Miri Robertson is Line Tiazan, and she and Val Con are lifemates . . ."
Shan nodded. "The child of a contract-marriage would have gone to Erob. But the children of a lifemating will come to the clan sheltering both partners."
"And Val Con will not leave Korval for another clan." She made it a half-question, and Shan answered with
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