Chapter 14 #3
“It was… interesting.” Layothlee didn’t sound disappointed, but she wasn’t exactly bright and excited either. More bemused, maybe. “She’s terse.”
“In my experience,” Rylana said, “loquacious assassins are a rarity.”
“It was hard to get a gauge on whether she detests me and all things elven or if she’s just a touch aloof.”
“Did she throw anything of yours in the lake or threaten you with a throat slitting?”
“No.”
“That’s a good sign.”
“I suppose. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked her so many questions about herself. Maybe she found that off-putting. Do you know she’s never learned to play an instrument? That’s so typical in our family that I’m surprised she wasn’t drawn to learn once she joined civilization.”
“Our mercenary company might not have counted as civilization. Hardly anyone carried instruments into battle, though I suppose Corporal Flixon did a reasonable job of playing ditties on his armpit.”
“I wonder if she’d like to learn. An instrument, that is. Or some of the other… civilized things that are common at the royal court.”
“Like what? Painting and sculpting?”
“Oh, yes. One of my aunts makes beautiful surface protectors for furniture out of silk gathered from the trollfoot arachnids kept in the sericulture forests.”
“Doilies out of spiderwebs?” Rylana translated. “How strange that the wolves didn’t instruct Sylin on that craft.”
Layothlee chuckled. “I know that most of what our family does is culturally instilled in us and probably has nothing to do with our genetics. I guess I’m just surprised that she would have gone into…
the field she did, no matter how she was raised.
We do tend to be athletic, I suppose, with even the queen being renowned for her archery skills, but we’re also likely to be artists, singers, poets, teachers, and occasionally diplomats. ”
“Sylin enjoys athletic endeavors.” Rylana thought of Layothlee vaulting herself through the air in rolls and somersaults. “Maybe you could challenge her to tumbling exercises the next time you meet.”
“I’m… not sure there will be a next time. I invited her to return to the enclave with me to meet the queen, but she wasn’t interested. I told her I could ensure that no elves attacked her—” Layothlee gestured toward Tassani, “—but she still said no.”
“As far as I know, the elven enclave isn’t a destination that has ever enticed her. Everyone knows that the coffee shop on Acorn Street is the meeting place one suggests to better one’s odds of an acceptance.”
“Is that why you’ve agreed to go on a date with me?” Tassani asked.
“Absolutely. Even if a coffee companion’s wit is lackluster, you’ve still the satisfaction of a rich, frothy latte.”
“The queen’s wit isn’t too bad,” Layothlee said. “I’m less certain about Captain Tassani’s. We haven’t spent that much time together.”
“Really,” he murmured.
“A dragon diner run by an award-winning chef is also an excellent meeting place,” Jildarin said. “Perhaps, if you’d suggested it, you would have succeeded at your goal.”
“Sylin does enjoy his bacon,” Rylana told Layothlee, not mentioning Jildarin’s ongoing efforts to lure the queen to his establishment and the subsequent plaque he hoped to hang.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said.
“You should meet with Rylana at the diner,” Jildarin told Tassani, “instead of the coffee shop.”
“Do you want to add his name to your plaque?” Rylana asked.
“I want to ensure that he does not have ulterior motives toward my business partner. Previously, he and his guards sought to take you to the enclave for questioning.”
“I think he’s past that now,” Rylana said.
“Yes.” Tassani nodded firmly.
“Nonetheless, you may explore compatibility in the diner.” It sounded more like a command than a suggestion, and Jildarin folded his arms over his chest.
“I will consider that location for our date, Lord Dragon,” Tassani said politely, if a touch dryly, then waved to Layothlee. “Are you ready to depart?”
“Yes, Captain, but Rylana? Will you… let me know if you can think of a way to entice Sylin to meet the queen? I told her about her heritage, and she got very quiet after that. I can understand it must be startling if she has no memory of her mother and the elven court, but I had no idea how to read her, so I’m not sure, in truth, what she thought.
” Layothlee hitched a shoulder. “Anyway, she hasn’t said as much, but I think this was the queen’s ultimate reason for coming up here to visit. ”
“To meet Sylin?”
“And find out if she… does indeed have an heir.”
Rylana thought of the way Sylin had tossed that invitation into the river. “I am skeptical that she’s interested in becoming the next elven ruler.”
Layothlee spread her arms. “At the least, the queen wants to meet her daughter for the first time in decades.”
“The diner,” Jildarin said. “When the new rooftop seating area is complete, it will be the ideal location for such a meeting.”
“You seem to think the diner is the ideal location for everything,” Rylana said as the two elves headed off into the night.
“Yes,” Jildarin said.