Chaos Space - Marianne de Pierres [88]
He seemed equally lost for social conversation. Fortunately, Farr’s sister, the woman Bethany, joined them as soon as Farr and Thales Berniere left them. The three of them stood in the entrance of Farr’s foil marquee, just out of the reach of the melee.
Mira had warmed to Bethany. The older female reminded her of Cass Mulravey. Bethany seemed well studied, though, where hard experience had been Cass’s educator.
Bethany frowned as she watched Lasper Farr and the young scholar disappear together. ‘What is my brother doing?’
‘He wished to speak with Thales alone. He seems a courteous man,’ Mira said cautiously.
Bethany gave her a keen look. That penetrating gaze was the single resemblance that she and Lasper Farr appeared to share, though Mira imagined there were other, deeper things.
‘You know who he is, don’t you? Who it is you are bargaining with?’ asked Bethany.
‘I understand that he led the Consilience force in the Stain Wars. Now he is the owner of a very lucrative business. I would suppose he is an entrepreneur and a very clever one.’
Bethany trembled at that. ‘He is much more than an opportunist, Baronessa. He is most single-minded and he allows nothing to interfere with his ambitions. No one. Not even family.’
‘And what are his ambitions, Beth?’ asked Josef Rasterovich.
‘Impossible, ridiculous things.’ Bethany looked away, into the heart of the Fest. ‘Those things make him so dangerous.’
Mira thought that Farr seemed sane and reasonable, yet his sister’s words hinted at fanaticism—imbalance, even. What did that mean, she wondered, if a sister disparaged her brother so openly? Was Bethany motivated by jealousy? Or did she have good cause to speak that way? Faja and she had never been jealous of one another. But then Faja had been more of a mother than a sister, and Mira missed that love with every step she took, every turn of her head.
But it is still there. It will always be there. Both ways.
Bethany looked back at Mira. ‘Please, can you tell me more about Araldis? I am sick with worry for my child.’
With that question the diversions that the Fest had provided vanished, and Mira felt all her tensions return. What could she say to this woman? That the place was burning? That her daughter was probably dead like the bambinos she had buried on the plains?
‘Baronessa? Are you unwell?’ Bethany touched Mira’s arm, concerned.
Mira realised that she had doubled over and pressed her hands to her stomach as if in pain. She straightened and forced composure onto her face. ‘I am a little nauseous. Resonance shift has left me with some after-affects.’
Bethany made a hand signal to Josef Rasterovich. ‘How inconsiderate of us ... shall we find somewhere to eat and sit?’
Mira nodded gratefully. ‘Si.’
Josef found them a kafekart on one corner of the dais and while he purchased drinks Mira talked with Bethany. ‘You said your daughter was part Miolaquan. Where did she reside?’ she asked.
Bethany flushed. ‘I’m not sure. It’s not a story I’m proud of...’
Mira listened intently as Beth told her how she had sent her child to the planet alone. With each detail, dread and excitement fought each other to create a nervous mix in Mira’s stomach. ‘Her name—you called her Jess before—was it Djeserit?’
Bethany grabbed Mira’s hands. ‘Yes. Yes. Do you know her?’
‘Does she have certain Mio characteristics? The webbed fingers—’ Mira prised her own from the older woman’s grip.
‘Yes, and gills, here and here.’ Bethany touched her own neck. ‘And beautiful. She is young and beautiful. Please, please tell me that she is alive.’
‘I c-cannot be sure now, but she was with the survivors when I left. She saved me when I was in deep shock. She is determined.’ But vulnerable. Mira told Beth then of Faja and the Villa Fedor—as much as she could bear to recount, at least.
Josef Rasterovich had rejoined them