Sedric, I’ve only been sensible for a few months now, and I’m already heartily sick of it.’ With a groan, Hest leaned his lanky frame back on the low-backed seat, then sat up with an exclamation of disgust and rubbed his back. ‘This is the most uncomfortable mode of transport ever invented. Why on earth did the Kincarrons build their manor so far from the centre of town?’
‘Possibly because it was the piece of land they were originally granted by the Satrap. It’s had one benefit for them. The raiders and the looters didn’t want to come out this far.’
‘Keeping an ugly house intact is small recompense for living in such a forsaken location. Didn’t they ever consider moving to a better part of town?’
‘I doubt they’ve had the financial option.’
‘Seems like poor planning. A few less daughters to dower and they’d have had a better estate for their sons.’
Sedric chose to ignore his friend’s complaint. He held the reins lightly in his browned hands, guiding the horse around a washed-out bit of the road. ‘So. Must I drag the details from you? How did your courting go? Have you divined why the lady has seemed to scorn such an eminently fine catch as yourself?’
‘It was as you surmised. It shocks me to admit this, but your penchant for knowing the gossip and peculiarities of Bingtown have paid off yet again. Alise would genuinely rather travel up the Rain Wild River and watch dragons hatch than accompany me to the ball. She herself admitted that her dragon fixation is a bit of an obsession; apparently she had resigned herself to being an old maid and deliberately chosen an eccentric pursuit to occupy her lonely days. And then I not only dashed her dreams of spinsterhood all to splinters, but spoiled her chance of watching dragons hatch by viciously begging that she accompany me to the ball. So. I’m a beast. Naturally, that devastates me.’
Sedric cast a glance over at his usually devil-may-care friend. Hest looked solemn. ‘So I will have to drag it out of you, won’t I? Did you salvage anything? Will she accompany you to the ball?’
‘Oh, she’ll do better than that.’ Hest stretched casually, and then turned and gave Sedric the full benefit of his perfect grin. His green eyes sparked in conspiratorial glee. ‘Your gift suggestion worked perfectly. One glimpse of it and she accepted my proposal. Asking her father for her hand will be a mere formality, as she herself noted. Congratulate me, my friend. I’m to be wed.’ As he made that final announcement, his voice flattened, his tone suddenly at odds with his words.
Sedric bit his lower lip for a moment, quelling his own dismay. Quietly, he offered, ‘Congratulations. I wish you both every happiness.’
Hest scowled at him. ‘Well, I don’t know about her, but I intend to be happy. Because I don’t intend that this should change any aspect of my life. And if she’s wise, she’ll choose to be happy, too. She won’t get a better offer. Oh, don’t give me that rebuking look, Sedric. You’re the one who suggested that the best way for me to make my family happy was to find a woman who wouldn’t expect much of me. You even suggested that Alise Kincarron would perfectly fill the requirement. I met her, I agreed with you, and now she’s to be mine. In time, she’ll grace my home, provide me with a fat baby to inherit my name and fortune, and guarantee to me that my father doesn’t choose my cousin as heir over me. All very practical and wise, and at a minimum of inconvenience to myself.’
‘But sad, nonetheless,’ Sedric said quietly.
‘Why sad? We’ll all be getting what we want.’
‘Not precisely,’ Sedric muttered. ‘And not honestly.’ He sighed again. ‘And Alise deserves better. She’s a good person. A kind person.’
‘You, my friend, are too prone to sentiment. And honesty is vastly over-rated. Why, if we imposed honesty on Bingtown in general, all the Traders would be paupers by next week.’
Sedric found he could not frame a reply to that. After a moment, Hest asked defensively, ‘Why did you put the idea in my head, if you didn’t intend me to act on it?’
Sedric gave a small shrug. He hadn’t, truly, expected that Hest would follow up on his cynical suggestion. That he had done so slightly undercut his admiration for the man. ‘It’s an old saying. If you want to be happy, marry an ugly woman and live with a grateful wife.’ Then he admitted uncomfortably, ‘I was in my cups when I made the suggestion to you and feeling a bit morose about my own situation. Alise isn’t a bad person. And she’s certainly not ugly. Just not, well, not beautiful. Not by Bingtown standards. But she’s kind. She used to come visit my sisters when we were younger. She was kind to me during a time when most girls treated me as if I had some sort of a disease.’
‘Oh, yes. I’d forgotten that spotty phase you went through,’ Hest needled him merrily. ‘She probably thought you’d keep your spots and they’d match her freckles.’ His green eyes danced mischievously.
Sedric resisted a smile. ‘My “spots” were more than a phase; they seemed to last a lifetime! So her kindness, her willingness to be my partner at cards or to sit beside me at the table when she stayed for luncheon was important to me. She was my friend then. Not that I know her well now; I don’t, just well enough to know that she was nice and had a good mind, if not a pretty face or a fortune.’ Sedric shook his head unhappily, and then pushed his unruly hair back from his eyes. ‘I would never wish ill on her. When I suggested she’d make you a fine, undemanding wife, I never thought you would actually propose to her.’
‘Oh, of course you did!’ Hest was heartless in his accusation. ‘You’ve been by my side for most of my courtship of her. And you’ve been instrumental to the whole plan! You picked her out, you even told me what gift, exactly, might warm her toward me. And I should let you know that you were precisely correct on that! I thought the whole game was lost, until I trotted out that scroll. Turned the whole situation around for me, it did.’
‘You’re welcome,’ Sedric replied sourly. He tried not to think of his role in Hest’s scheme; he felt sullied by it now. Alise had been his friend. What had he been thinking, the night her name had rolled off his drunken tongue? He knew the guilty answer to that. He’d been thinking of himself, and how pleasant life was at the side of Hest Finbok. He’d been thinking of how he could keep that life intact and still advance his friend’s ambitions for himself.
He pushed the thought aside and busied himself guiding the horse around the worst of the potholes. Bingtown had focused its efforts on rebuilding burned and vandalized buildings, and neglected maintenance of the existing roads. By the time they got round to them again, there would be a whole season of repairs to be done. Sedric shook his head. Lately he felt as if the whole city was eroding away; everything that had made him so proud to be the son of a Bingtown Trader was now broken or tarnished or changed.
In the aftermath of the Chalcedean raids, the various factions of Bingtown had turned on one another settling old scores. When those had finally been resolved, the rebuilding had seemed slow and dispirited. It was better now, for the Traders’ Council had finally resumed their authority and enforced the laws. People felt it was safe now to rebuild, and with limited trade resuming, some had the resources to do so. But the new buildings going up seemed to have less character than the old ones, for they were built with haste rather than deliberation, and many looked almost identical. And Sedric was still not sure he agreed with the Council’s decision to allow so many non-Traders to share power and decisions in the rebuilding process. Former slaves, fishermen, and newcomers were mingling with the Traders now. It was all changing too fast. Bingtown would never be restored to what it was. Last night, when he had lamented the situation to his father, the man had been singularly unsympathetic to his view.
‘Don’t
