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be an expert in human children to see that the boy was frightened of him. His face was
pale, and his fists clenched at his sides. If T'fyrr said or did anything alarming, the poor
fledgling would probably faint or forget his duty and bolt for someplace safe to hide!
"I am a Haspur, young friend," T'fyrr said gently, and chuckled. "We don't eat
children. We do eat meat, but we prefer it to be cooked and we would rather not have
had a speaking acquaintance with it before it became our dinner."
The child relaxed marginally. "Would you follow me, Sire T'fyrr?" he said in a
trembling soprano. "Do you have any baggage that you will need brought to you?"
"My friend Harperus will see to all that," T'fyrr told him, and added as an
afterthought, "He is the Deliambren. You should have no trouble finding him; he is the
only being in the Palace who is dressed to look like a saints palanquin in a Holy Day
Festival Parade."
That broke the ice, finally; the little boy giggled, and stifled the laugh behind both
hands. But the eyes above the hands were merry, and when he turned a sober face back
to T'fyrr, his eyes had a sparkle to them that they had lacked until that moment.
"If you would come with me, then, Sire?" the boy said, gesturing at the door.
T'fyrr nodded. "Certainly ah, what is your name? It seems rude to call you 'boy' or
'page.' "
"Regan, Sire," the boy said, skipping to keep up with T'fyrr as the Haspur strode down
the hallway. "But my friends call me Nob."
T'fyrr coaxed his beak into something like a human smile. He had learned that the
expression made humans feel better around him. "Very well, Nob," he said, projecting
good humor and casualness into his voice. "Now, if you were in my place, granted a title
and a new home, what would you do first?"
"You mean, about the suite and all, Sire?" Nob asked, looking up at T'fyrr with a
crooked grin. "Well, I might have some ideas "
"Then by all means," T'fyrr told him, "let me hear them!"
Harperus lounged at his ease on one of the damask-covered sofas in the reception
room of the suite, watching T'fyrr try out the various pieces of furniture that Nob had
suggested he order brought down from storage. Somehow, it all matched or at least, it
coordinated, as the main colors of the suite were warm golds and browns, with gryphons
forming the main theme of the carvings. Padded stools proved surprisingly comfortable,
as did an odd, backless couch that Nob particularly recommended. And to replace the
bed
When T'fyrr had sketched what a Haspur bed looked like, Nob had studied the sketch
for a moment, and then snapped his fingers with a grin of glee. He hadn't said a word to
T'fyrr, but he had called another servant an oddly silent servant and handed him the
sketch with a whispered explanation.
Six husky men appeared about an hour later, just as Harperus arrived with more
servants bearing T'fyrr's baggage. The men took the bed out without a single word and
returned with something that was the closest thing to a Haspur bed that T'fyrr had ever
seen in these human realms. He stared at it, mouth agape, while Nob grinned from ear to
ear.
He had a suspicion that there was more to this than met the eye, and his suspicion was
confirmed when Harperus took one look and nearly choked.
"Very well," he said, mustering up as much dignity as he could. "Obviously this is not
the Haspur bed that it appears to be. What is it?"
Nob clapped both hands over his mouth, stifling a laugh. "You tell him, my lord!" he
said to Harperus, gasping. "I nay, I can't do it!"
He turned around, growing scarlet in the face, obviously having a hard time containing
himself. T'fyrr waited, curiosity vying with exasperation, while Harperus struggled to get
himself under control.
"It's its something no well-bred boy should know about at Nob's tender age,"
Harperus managed finally. "Lets just say, it isn't meant for sleeping."
Enlightenment dawned. "Ah! A piece of mating furniture!" T'fyrr exclaimed brightly,
and clicked his beak in further annoyance when both Nob and Harperus went off into
paroxysms of smothered laughter.
I cannot, and never will, understand why the subject of mating should make these
humans into sniggering idiots, he thought a little irritably. It is just as natural as eating,
and there are no whispers and giggles about enjoying one's breakfast! So that explains
the ever-so-reticent servant that found the thing; in a place like this, there must be a
servant in charge of romantic liaisons!
By the winds, there was probably even a division of labor one servant for discreet
liaisons, one for very discreet liaisons, one for indiscreet liaisons, one for the exotic....
Well, at least Nob hadn't been so bound up in this silly human propriety nonsense that
he refused to have the object sent for! It might be a piece of mating equipment to these
humans, but it made a perfectly fine nest-bed, and T'fyrr looked forward to having one of
the first completely comfortable nights he'd had in a very long time.
Finally, after many false starts, the page got himself back under control, although he
would not or could not look Harperus in the eye. "If you need me any more, Sire," he told
T'fyrr with a decent imitation of a sober expression, "just ring for me."
"Ring for you?" T'fyrr asked, puzzled, and Nob walked over to the wood-paneled wall,
pulled aside a brown damask curtain, and pointed to a line of gilded brass bellpulls.
"This is the guards this is the kitchen, if I'm off running an errand this is the bath
servants, if I'm off running an errand this is the maid, in case you need something
cleaned. This is for me I'm your page now, Sire. I'll be sleeping in that little room just [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]