Read Online Thirteen Orphans by Jane Lindskold - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jane Lindskold
Tags: Fantasy
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Probably.
Did that ambivalence make Pearl’s life safer, or at greater risk? She wasn’t about to wait quietly and find out. Unfortunately, Albert was not available to coordinate the Twelve as he should. Pearl would need allies. Would the others assist her? Would they accept the leadership of an old toothless tiger as once the Orphans had accepted her father?
Are you laughing, Old Tiger? she thought. Your challenge was that your allies considered you too young. Here I am, wondering if I am too old.
Pearl looked down at her hands. The once-elegant fingers now showed swelling around the joints. She’d let the jetty hair whose blue-black highlights had been her private pride go silver. She’d resisted the urge to get “just a little bit” of plastic surgery: a tuck, a nip, an injection.
I’ve let myself grow old outside. Have I grown old inside as well? Can I still lead my people into battle?
Pearl moved restlessly, feeling all the aches of joint and muscle that were her daily companions. Then she smiled.
Of course I can, even if only to spite you, Old Tiger.
She fell asleep with that tiny, infinitely happy smile on her lips, knowing, as an actress never stops knowing her face, how that joy made her face young again.
Pearl’s travel alarm beeped a reminder and Pearl opened her eyes. Years of practice had made her skilled at touching up her hair and makeup with a few quick strokes. Tonight she went for the shadows and tints that would accent the features she had inherited from her Chinese father, rather than those from her Hungarian Jewish mother. Tonight was a night to remind her audience, ever so subtly, of her connection to the mystic Orient.
Once the reverse had been the law by which Pearl had ruled herself, seeking to blend into the general population, but the older she became, the closer that old Tiger stalked her, ruling her life in death as he had never wished to in life.
Pearl put her father from her mind and hurried down the corridor to the elevator. Gaheris and Brenda were waiting for her on the ground floor. Brenda’s eyes were alight with questions, but she asked not a one until the three were settled at their table at the Hour’s Deserve, and the waiters had finished their awed hovering over the faded celebrity and her guests.
However, once drinks were ordered and the gentle hum of conversation and music assured their privacy, Brenda leaned slightly forward.
“Dad told me about the calls, how the people you reached didn’t seem to know, well, you know, about Things.” She paused, obviously embarrassed, but nonetheless determined. “Then he told me about why we’re going to Denver. He said you’d explain how this Dog we’re going to find doesn’t even know he’s a Dog.”
Pearl decided not to glower at Gaheris. He couldn’t be blamed for briefing his daughter. Pearl would have liked to handle that briefing in her own fashion, but she could adapt the script.
“I said I would answer your questions,” she said. “The answer to this one is among the most simple, yet the most complex. I have already told you how the original Orphans were six men and six women. I have also told you how their families were not permitted to come with them into exile.”
Brenda nodded, and reached for the cut-crystal water goblet beside her plate. The young woman did not drink, her concentration so intense that she seemed to forget the glass as soon as her fingers wrapped around the stem.
“To understand why the Dog and many of the other lineages became separated from their heritage,” Pearl said, “you need to understand that despite the care the Twelve took to make certain their abilities were fixed in their family lines, the refusal of just one heir apparent to learn his or her duties would be enough to complicate matters.”
Pearl paused when a waiter arrived with their drinks. Over Gaheris’s protests that she need not go to such expense, Pearl insisted on ordering several
Did that ambivalence make Pearl’s life safer, or at greater risk? She wasn’t about to wait quietly and find out. Unfortunately, Albert was not available to coordinate the Twelve as he should. Pearl would need allies. Would the others assist her? Would they accept the leadership of an old toothless tiger as once the Orphans had accepted her father?
Are you laughing, Old Tiger? she thought. Your challenge was that your allies considered you too young. Here I am, wondering if I am too old.
Pearl looked down at her hands. The once-elegant fingers now showed swelling around the joints. She’d let the jetty hair whose blue-black highlights had been her private pride go silver. She’d resisted the urge to get “just a little bit” of plastic surgery: a tuck, a nip, an injection.
I’ve let myself grow old outside. Have I grown old inside as well? Can I still lead my people into battle?
Pearl moved restlessly, feeling all the aches of joint and muscle that were her daily companions. Then she smiled.
Of course I can, even if only to spite you, Old Tiger.
She fell asleep with that tiny, infinitely happy smile on her lips, knowing, as an actress never stops knowing her face, how that joy made her face young again.
Pearl’s travel alarm beeped a reminder and Pearl opened her eyes. Years of practice had made her skilled at touching up her hair and makeup with a few quick strokes. Tonight she went for the shadows and tints that would accent the features she had inherited from her Chinese father, rather than those from her Hungarian Jewish mother. Tonight was a night to remind her audience, ever so subtly, of her connection to the mystic Orient.
Once the reverse had been the law by which Pearl had ruled herself, seeking to blend into the general population, but the older she became, the closer that old Tiger stalked her, ruling her life in death as he had never wished to in life.
Pearl put her father from her mind and hurried down the corridor to the elevator. Gaheris and Brenda were waiting for her on the ground floor. Brenda’s eyes were alight with questions, but she asked not a one until the three were settled at their table at the Hour’s Deserve, and the waiters had finished their awed hovering over the faded celebrity and her guests.
However, once drinks were ordered and the gentle hum of conversation and music assured their privacy, Brenda leaned slightly forward.
“Dad told me about the calls, how the people you reached didn’t seem to know, well, you know, about Things.” She paused, obviously embarrassed, but nonetheless determined. “Then he told me about why we’re going to Denver. He said you’d explain how this Dog we’re going to find doesn’t even know he’s a Dog.”
Pearl decided not to glower at Gaheris. He couldn’t be blamed for briefing his daughter. Pearl would have liked to handle that briefing in her own fashion, but she could adapt the script.
“I said I would answer your questions,” she said. “The answer to this one is among the most simple, yet the most complex. I have already told you how the original Orphans were six men and six women. I have also told you how their families were not permitted to come with them into exile.”
Brenda nodded, and reached for the cut-crystal water goblet beside her plate. The young woman did not drink, her concentration so intense that she seemed to forget the glass as soon as her fingers wrapped around the stem.
“To understand why the Dog and many of the other lineages became separated from their heritage,” Pearl said, “you need to understand that despite the care the Twelve took to make certain their abilities were fixed in their family lines, the refusal of just one heir apparent to learn his or her duties would be enough to complicate matters.”
Pearl paused when a waiter arrived with their drinks. Over Gaheris’s protests that she need not go to such expense, Pearl insisted on ordering several
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