Envoy to Earth by P. S. Power Read Free Book Online Page B

that?" He didn't know that for a fact, but
the woman smiled at him as if he'd just invented Noram Day.
    Maria seemed relieved at the
words, and the room went back to slightly formal and stuffy, rather than
dangerous. Why it had gone there, he didn't know, but it was clear that there
had nearly been a screaming match just then. Over Debbie being called a
servant. That didn't make sense to him, since she was filling in at that job. Unless
it was like Glaren at Tor's palace?
    The lady worked there, but was a
noble, so couldn't be paid for it, strictly speaking, since that would make her
a mere hireling. Tor had lamented, more than once, that the woman wouldn't just
draw a salary, or even take an allowance from him. There was an almost constant
need to give her gifts of value, so that she'd stay on, but they had to be done
carefully, so that it wasn't an insult.
    Debbie was a merchant however,
and not a high one. So, what did it mean, Maria acting like that? Were they
lovers? Or even just close friends? Had the Dowager been simply misspeaking, or
had she been trying to cause problems, using the baker and magic shop owner as
a goad?
    Really, he couldn't tell, but
stood and moved to the door, where she still stood.
    "We'll be back in, say an
hour or two? Do you need more time?" He looked at Marvin and then Holly,
since they were the ones that were sitting rulers. Well, Baron Eager, too. It
was a strange dynamic of power in the room then.
    It was, he considered, much
easier to live alone like he had been. Then he didn't have to fake being noble
or anything and could just mutter to himself or Boxy, and go on with his day.
They walked out of the room after collecting a few nods, with the floating case
right behind them. Debbie ignored it, until she got to the front door, and
started to walk across the space that was now a bare patch of dirt, but had
once been a nice grass covered and well cared for lawn.
    "This way, sir." She
sounded diffident, and almost awkward.
    "Gerent. Or Ger, if you
want. From what Tor told me, we're pretty much expected to be friends, or else .
You know how he is. If we aren't he'll look all sad and hang his head, sighing
at us until we change our minds. Much easier to just start out as pals, don't
you think?" This came out easily, but the woman next to him just looked up
as they walked, her expression letting him know that he must be at least half
insane.
    "Easy for you to say. I
liked it better when I was the tall one. Now you not only have a title,
but enough size to pull it off. You say, 'hey let's be friends' and I keep
expecting you to simply order me to my knees for whatever it is you want at the
moment." She blushed in the twilight, but didn't stop walking.
    Gerent didn't need that one
explained to him, since the idea was pretty clear, even if he'd never
considered it applying to him before.
    In general, if a nobleman told a
woman, or even a man, to do something, they did. It wasn't a matter of having a
choice. A pretty woman like Debbie had probably been ordered to her knees more
than once in her life then, since she'd lived in the Capital for years. True,
the good ones would never do that kind of thing, but how many people in the
world were truly that decent?
    Now, without hardly noticing
himself changing, he'd become that to the woman next to him. A threat, or
perhaps a potential asset, but not someone that she could easily accept as an
equal.
    "I understand. We'll just
have to fight through that anyway, because I was serious. We have orders to be
friends, if unspoken ones."
    Gerent smiled, letting himself
seem happy about it, since it wasn't exactly a hardship for him at least. The
woman next to him, leading the way, reminded him of Tamerlane, which got him to
grimace, after she turned away to open her shop, which was just down the street
from where the Wards lived. Close enough that it showed special favor, them
letting her set up that close to the palace. Not just anyone would be allowed
to do