Chapter Eighteen

House of Stelenis

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The next evening found Kazia in a carriage with Amelys, Kelvaran, and Tamyn, heading into the city while regretting her own existence.

She had stayed in bed all day, wracked with headache and nausea. Brandra had given her a remedy, and while she did feel somewhat more functional now, she would nonetheless rather still be in bed.

But, Kelvaran was giving another lecture at the University tonight, and Tamyn had taken the opportunity to make an evening of it, reserving a table for them all at House of Stelenis, a Thalesian restaurant near the University.

He had been so pleased with the prospect of introducing Kazia to his native country's cuisine that she didn't have the heart to cancel. As they set out, though, it seemed that everyone would rather have canceled.

Four people sat in ponderous silence within the carriage as it made its way off of the island.

Although they were accompanied by armed guards, Amelys was anxious about letting Kazia and Kelvaran out during ongoing negotiations with Valesk. Once the carriage passed through the last gate, she went on high alert, repeatedly peeking through the curtained window restlessly.

Although Tamyn sat in his usual elegant placidity, he was full of apprehension. He had said nothing to Kazia, but she was sure that he had to have heard something of Abrizhen's outburst yesterday. She wondered, if she could find a quiet moment with him, should she just talk to him about all of this? Was there any way to do so tactfully?

Kelvaran seemed the only one of them in a good mood. He wavered between the excitement of his impending lecture and an almost cruel, at least decidedly not good-natured, mocking humor aimed at Kazia.

She just closed her eyes, doing her best to shut everyone out.

"Are you well today, Lady Kazia?" Tamyn finally broke the silence. "Perhaps you should have stayed in tonight."

Kelvaran's internal laughter was scalding. Kazia shot him a glare, which only made it worse. Looking carefully at Kelvaran, she could see him schooling his face out of an open smirk.

"I'm well, thank you," she replied to Tamyn. "And why not come out? I can't hide in my apartment forever. And what is there to hide from anyway?"

Amelys and Kelvaran both cleared their throats at the same time, each voicing an entirely different disagreement.

Tamyn's eyes drifted slowly away from Kazia as his face set again into determined stillness, and the carriage fell into uncomfortable silence once again.

The lecture took place earlier in the evening than the last one had. At its conclusion, Sir Palenaida joined their company and Tamyn led the short walk to the restaurant.

It was situated in a street lined with shops, all still open now, the area brightly lit and bustling with University students enjoying the night.

The front of the restaurant was hung with colorful lanterns, and as the door opened they were met with the warm and delicious aromas of bread and spices.

Their escort of guards posted themselves outside as the group entered the lively building.

The dining room inside House of Stelenis was both welcoming and luxurious. The tables were set into alcoves along the walls, each hung with sheer and sparkling draperies tied back with silk tassels, the wall inside each alcove painted with a colorful mural showing a figure from Thalesian history, or a famous place in the Thalesian landscape.

There were benches cushioned in fine damask around the alcove side of each table, and beautifully carved chairs on the aisle side.

The floor and ceiling were both covered in ornately patterned tiles, and glass mosaic lanterns swung overhead.

From top to bottom, the whole room made a lavish display of cheerful splendor.

A young man led them to a table in the center of one wall. Kelvaran took an inner seat, with Amelys on the end nearest him. Kazia sat at the opposite end, next to Tamyn, and Eaphan took the outer seat beside her.

As the young man began to pass menus around to the group, a woman suddenly interrupted him and took the placards from his hands, waving him away.

Tamyn stood again with a smile.

"Didia, I wasn't sure you were in tonight," he said pleasantly. "Everyone, please meet Didia Stelenis, the proprietress of the House. Didia's grandparents emigrated here from Thalesia and established the restaurant. Her son works here with her, although I don't see him around tonight."

"He is studying for his exams, or at least he'd better be," Didia laughed cheerfully.

She was a tiny woman of perhaps fifty, with graying black hair and warm, sparkling eyes. Everyone stood again as Tamyn introduced them one at a time, and Didia welcomed each with a wide smile. As they all took seats again, though, she gave a worried frown, still clutching the stack of menus to her chest.

"I'm sorry, Tamyn, I meant to greet you at the door myself," she said. "Did you... were you not..."

She looked slightly over her shoulder and made a small motion to point behind her.

Kazia followed the direction Didia indicated, and her still fragile stomach tried to escape her body as Tamyn's emotions went into a wild tailspin.

In the farthest corner, Abrizhen sat alone, slumped back into the corner of his table's alcove, only a near-empty wine carafe on the table before him, a glass dangling precariously in his fingers. His face was flushed, his hair disheveled. He looked so miserable that Kazia was relieved that he was far enough away for her not to feel it.

He looked up then, and his face tightened, jaw clenching as he stared.

Kazia quickly realized that she was not who he was staring at.

She looked at Tamyn, who likewise stared across the room, outwardly showing only the tiniest twitch of the corners of his lips.

He swept his gaze back to Didia and gave her a small shake of his head. Didia nodded with tightly pursed lips and began to pass the menus around the table.

The mood around the table became stifling as Kazia was practically assaulted with a wave of dark suspicion from Kelvaran, and one of alarmed sympathy from Eaphan. Of them all, only Amelys had no strong feeling about this development and maintained her usual cool demeanor, observing silently.

When Kazia looked over at Abrizhen again, he had lowered his own eyes away to refill his glass, spilling half of his remaining wine on the table. When he set the carafe back down it fell over and rolled off the table onto the bench behind. He picked up a napkin and made a cursory wipe at the table and then at his own lap before tossing the cloth aside angrily.

"Why is he alone?" she asked no one in particular.

Everyone looked at her. Kazia looked up at Didia.

"I didn't see any Embassy guards outside. Did he not come with a guard?"

Abrizhen drained his glass and stood, almost taking the tablecloth with him. He stumbled past their table without a glance.

Kazia began to rise from her seat, but Tamyn gently took her elbow and tugged her back down.

"Didia," he said quietly, "will you please see that he gets into a cab back to the Embassy straight away? Ask one of the Castle Guards outside to help if you need it."

Didia nodded and rushed away to the front of the restaurant.

"What is he thinking wandering out on his own?" Kazia muttered bitterly, more to herself than anyone else. "Is he looking for death?"

She shuddered then, thinking that could be a real possibility.

Tamyn laid his hand over hers then, but direct contact with him was unbearable just now and she gasped, pulling her hand away as if she'd been burned.

"Are you alright, Lady Kazia?" Eaphan said softly, his concern warm and genuine.

She nodded, and looked at Tamyn again. She really wanted to ask him the same.

As their eyes met, she caught a very brief look of surprise crossing his face, then his gaze flicked away from her as his maelstrom of feelings condensed into acute embarrassment.

"If you would rather go back to the castle..." Eaphan began, but Kazia interrupted.

"No, no," she said briskly, forcing a smile and picking up her menu. "I haven't eaten much today and I'm starving. Tamyn, what do you recommend?"

"Ah!" he answered, relaxing somewhat. "They do a platter of all the specialties that I recommend for a first visit. With a few of those we can all try a bit of everything."

The group agreed to this, and the young man who had seated them returned to fill their wine glasses. When Kazia declined and ordered a lemon beverage instead, another wave of mockery meandered across from Kelvaran as he released a low puff of laughter.

Kazia sighed and stared at him. The others looked between them in confusion.

"That's enough," she said crossly, then looking around the company, "Last night I had a bit much to drink and Lord Meratha was witness to my disgrace. Now he wishes to mock me for it, as if I should be ashamed."

"Kelvaran!" Eaphan chided gently. "Surely you wouldn't."

"Sir Palenaida," Kazia said, "if you think he wouldn't then perhaps you don't know him as well as you suppose. But now I have confessed, so he should be very happy."

She tore at a piece of bread that a waiter had just set in front of her and stuffed it into her mouth, chewing indignantly.

Kelvaran's expression clouded, and he glared at his own plate.

"Well, I don't think you have anything to be ashamed of, Lady Kazia," Eaphan said. "Yesterday must have been trying."

"You really should have stayed in," Amelys said, with neither pity nor judgment. "Did Madame Brandra give you a remedy?"

Kazia nodded and Amelys turned her attention to Tamyn, saying, "Master Ilianus, you seem quite familiar in this place. Do you spend much time here?"

"Not as much as in my college days," he answered. "Back then, Didia's mother practically adopted me. It became something of a second home."

"That must have been nice, having come from another country at such a young age, to have a familiar connection."

"It was. Back then I wasn't certain that Alchemy would be a viable career path and had no idea what else to do, so I was a bit adrift. With four older brothers already in line for the Estate, I'm afraid I was in danger of becoming another idle rich boy, as if the world needs more of those. The Stelenis family were a steadying influence."

"I wish I had your circumstances," Eaphan said with a laugh. "There is only my older brother, and if gods forbid anything happened to him I'd be forced out of Academia and onto the Estate."

He gave a performed shudder and laughed again.

"That is in the Essyl region, right?" Kazia asked.

"It is!" he answered cheerfully.

"It's beautiful country," Kazia said. "I don't mean to insult Elisaen, but I still wish I could have spent the rest of my days there."

"Really?" he exclaimed with a bright smile, exuding delight. "Well if you were there and I were forced back, perhaps there would be a silver lining."

Kazia smiled shyly at this flattery. After all the turmoil of the past few days, Eaphan was like a ray of sunshine, seeming incapable of holding any unpleasant feeling. His radiance was infectious, and Kazia found herself unusually relaxed and comforted.

The rest of the evening passed in relative peace. When the food arrived, Tamyn took up the task of explaining each dish to them, which calmed him considerably. As they chatted amicably, Eaphan would pass dishes from further down the table, serving them onto Kazia's plate.

The food was delicious, although much of it was spicier than Kazia was accustomed to, one dish so hot that she could barely swallow one mouthful, holding her hands over her mouth while her eyes widened and watered.

Tamyn laughed and quickly passed her a yogurt dish to calm the spices while Eaphan signaled the waiter to hurry with more water. Even Amelys watched the scene with a light smile and a twinkle in her eye.

Only Kelvaran did not join in the convivial mood. As the evening wore on, the atmosphere in his direction continued to darken, increasingly gathering into that creeping miasma of bitterness Kazia had felt at their first meeting.

His attention seemed riveted upon her, watching her every movement, his eyes gliding back and forth over the three at that end of the table with growing irritation. He seemed especially aggrieved anytime Kazia and Eaphan would joke and laugh together.

~~~*~~~

In the foyer of the Alchemists' tower at the end of the evening, Amelys took Kazia's hands in hers.

"You get some good rest tonight," she admonished. "Do you need Madame Brandra to bring anything up for you?"

"No, Mistress, I'm feeling quite well now, thank you."

"Everything alright, Kel?" Amelys said over Kazia's shoulder, as Kelvaran seemed to want to speak with her.

"Of course it isn't," Kazia said. "Don't you know that I ruin all of his fun, and that he will never have a moment's peace as long as you're keeping me around?"

"Kazia!" Amelys chided.

Kazia only kissed her cheek and bade her goodnight with an impudent smile.

Kazia and Tamyn walked silently up the stairs together. The light mood slowly became heavy again as Kazia thought back on the events of the evening. With this ability of hers, Kazia often felt guilty knowing things about others while keeping it all from them, but it was difficult to tell what was known without telling how it was known.

They reached Kazia's floor and she began to turn down her corridor, but hesitated.

"Master Ilianus..." she began timidly.

"Yes?" He stopped and regarded her with a bit of apprehension.

"Tamyn... If you..."

His lips opened as if to say something, but only closed softly again as a pained expression briefly crossed his features.

"It's nothing," Kazia said finally. "It can wait until another time."

"Sleep well, Lady Kazia."

"You also." Kazia watched his back for a long moment as he ascended the next flight of stairs, cursing her own lack of will, before turning toward her own quarters.

 

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