The Magic of Recluce - L. E. Modesitt [19]
VII
THE TABLE WAS filled with platters, mostly of fruit and vegetables, with a variety of cheeses and some thin slices of meat. Two smaller platters bore a selection of breads. I concentrated on the fruits, noting apples, sourpears, and chrysnets, not to mention the heap of redberries. The plates were heavy gray stoneware, serviceable and banded with a thin green border, like something that might have been produced by one of my mother’s better apprentices after a year.
Beside the plates were matching heavy mugs, small towels in place of napkins, and spoons and forks. No knives. The black-oak surface was polished but bare, without even rush mats under the plates.
Talryn stood by the head of the table set for eight, three on a side and one at each end. The space on his right was vacant. On his left stood Dorthae. On her left was Myrten. The foot of the table was vacant.
So was the other space on the left, as were all the spaces on the right.
“If you would take the other end, Lerris…”
Since he was a master of some sort, and since it wasn’t exactly a request, I moved over and stood at the end, waiting for the others to arrive.
Sammel came next, his balding forehead shiny and his remaining thin brown hair damp. The loss of road dust and grime made him look younger. He gave Talryn an almost shy smile.
“If you would take the middle, Sammel…”
Sammel did just what I had done. He nodded and eased up to his indicated position.
As he stepped around the table, Wrynn and Krystal appeared together, still whispering like girls after school. They stopped as they saw Talryn looking at them.
“If you would take the place between Myrten and Lerris, Wrynn…and you, Krystal, the space across from he…”
That left Tamra, who seemed already to be the last one anywhere. She still hadn’t appeared and would have to sit next to Talryn. I didn’t think that was coincidence, somehow.
Talryn let us stand for a little while longer, then nodded. “Please be seated. I think we should begin.”
Even before we could get the heavy wooden chairs pulled out, Tamra appeared. Her hair was lightly curled and brighter than when I had first seen her, as if she had washed and shaped it, but it was as dry as if she had been sitting in the sun. She had also pulled it back from her face with a pair of dark combs.
She still wore the gray tunic and trousers, but a blue scarf around her neck added a touch of color. All in all, she made a striking appearance.
Talryn nodded to the empty space at his right.
Tamra opened her mouth, then shut it quickly as Talryn pulled out her chair for her. Her ice-blue eyes flashed like sun from a glacier.
Talryn moved the chair so easily that I tried to edge mine back with one hand. It didn’t move. I quickly reached down with both hands and lifted it by its curved arms, sliding it back. Black oak, shaped and bent into a flattened point without a crest at the height of the chair back. The curved back was supported by four spokes twice the width used for household chairs. A flat black cushion covered the seat.
“If you are done inspecting the chair, Lerris, would you join us?”
“Sorry. The design…” I sat down and edged the chair forward to the table. Again, it took two hands.
Everyone waited, looking at Talryn.
“Go ahead. There’s no blessing, no incantations, no mysticism—just good food.” He reached for the platter of breads. “After all of you have served yourselves, I will provide the explanation I promised.”
I reached for the cheeses before me, spearing several with the long wooden-handled fork, just ahead of Krystal. She already had taken a sourpear and a chrysnet.
“Would you pass the cheeses?” Wrynn asked. Her voice was flat.
“You done?” I asked Krystal.
“Yes.” When she wasn’t giggling her voice almost sang when she talked, but it didn’t sound affected.
At the other end of the table, Tamra had piled her plate with everything in sight—sourpears, apples, cheeses, breads, and meat.