Sword of the Lamb (29 page)

She could only nod numbly, too drained to make sense of his intent, purposeful attitude. Lectris stared as the door snapped shut behind Woolf, then looked over at her anxiously.

“My lady?”

She managed a smile to reassure him. “It’s all right, Lectris. Don’t worry. Everything will be all right.”

Elise Galinin Woolf noted the time as she slipped into his bedroom. 11:45. It was unusual for Alexand to sleep so late. But Dr. Stel had given him a strong sedative last night, and yesterday had been a bitterly exhausting day. Alber was enough, but the incident at the float . . .

She stopped by the canopy post at the foot of the bed and looked down on her son, his features, in sleep, in a rare state of relaxation. Twenty-one, she thought, already a year past Age of Rights. And yet she wondered if a mother could ever really see her sons as men, if she could ever look at Alexand without seeing the child he’d been, the infant, and even the unborn being whose first stirrings she’d felt within her womb. For Phillip it was easier; a father sees the man in his son from the beginning, and his arrival at adulthood is a fulfillment of expectation.

She closed her eyes, thinking of Rich, of the expectations that would never be fulfilled. That inevitable failure made Alexand’s arrival at adulthood infinitely important. But he must never know
how
important; that was too great a burden to cast on his shoulders.

She heard the change in the pace of his breathing, and a smile curved her lips. He stirred, pulling in a deep breath, then sat up abruptly. He didn’t seem to recognize her at first, then he relaxed.

“Good morning, Mother.”

“You’re almost too late for that greeting.” She went to the windowall and turned off the glass shading; the midday sun flooded the room. “That should be a shock for you. Shall I page Tuck?”

“No, I don’t need Tuck underfoot.” He rose, took his robe from a chair by the bed, and pulled it on as he joined her at the windowall. “What time is it?”

“Nearly noon.”

“Holy God, why didn’t someone call me?”

“Why should we have called you? You needed the sleep, and there was no reason to disturb you. Alex, how do you feel? I’m so very sorry about last night.”

He hesitated, then, “I seem to be entirely recovered. That gown is very becoming, Mother. Blue is always your best color. And the chaplet is new, isn’t it?”

She touched the golden band, cast in the shape of delicate, intertwined vines, that confined her lambent hair.

“Yes. Phillip had it made for my birthday.” She was well aware that he was putting her off, but she’d learned patience with both Alexand and Phillip. “Will you have some tea or caffay with me?”

“I’d enjoy that. Have something sent up while I prepare myself for what’s left of the day.” He turned and started for the bath.

“What would you like?”

“Oh, tea, I think. Perhaps some Black Shang. It’s bracing, if nothing else.”

“Very well.”

Elise filled a cup from the platinade pot and offered it to him as he sat down beside her in the oriel window alcove. He tasted the tea and grimaced.

“Bracing; that’s the only word for it.”

She leaned back, watching him over the rim of her cup. He was fully dressed now, and outwardly relaxed, but his eyes were narrowed with a slight frown.

“Mother, I want to talk to you about . . . Alber.”

“Alex, you don’t have to explain yourself to me under any circumstances, and I talked to Rich last night; he told me what happened, and I understand entirely.” She sighed and frowned into her cup. “I’m far more concerned about what’s happening between you and Phillip than I am about the Alber incident.”

He looked at her sharply. “Nothing’s happening between us. I didn’t expect him to be happy about this.”

“But you expected something more of him than he offered. It was an error for Phillip to confront you last night, but he wasn’t thinking too clearly.” She paused, watching her son, seeing the shadow of regret haunting his eyes. “Phillip is a remarkable man, but he’s only human. I don’t know if he’ll ever fully understand your decision at Alber, but I know he wants to see you happy. He may not understand what you really need of him, but he’ll bend every effort to give you what he
thinks
you want.”

“I know, Mother. I should talk to him now—or is he still busy playing the attentive host?”

“He leaves that to me. But he’s been quite busy with something more important than hosting.”

Alexand raised an eyebrow, then picked up his cup. “Busy with what?”

“The usual flurry of postholiday business.” She sipped her tea, smiling privately. “But that doesn’t come under the heading of something important. Actually, he started the wheels turning on this particular matter last night. First, he talked to Loren Eliseer, and later to Trevor Robek, Charles Fallor, and Lord Cadmon. He intends to protect Adrien. She took quite a risk in seeing you home safely, and Phillip is duly grateful.”

A hint of color came into his cheeks at Adrien’s name. “And I’m grateful for his concern for her.”

“That was only one of his objectives. Oh—by the way, there’s an important piece of news you were in no condition to comprehend last night, and Phillip didn’t find out about it until after he’d taken Adrien to the Robek Estate. It seems that float was raided by a Conpol Narco squad half an hour after you left it, but before Alton and his friends made their exit.”

Alexand’s cup clattered into the saucer. “A raid on a float? For the God’s sake, Conpol never wastes time with that sort of thing; not in the upper levels of the Outside.”

She shrugged. “Phillip was surprised, too, so he called his man in—that is, Commander Bary of the SSB. There was an anonymous tip that eladane was involved. Conpol couldn’t ignore that.”

“Did this anonymous tip include the fact that the eladane was in the possession of Trevor Robek’s son?”

“No, and I gather it was rather awkward for everyone concerned. Poor Trevor. He deserves better than Alton.”

“Where did the tip come from?”

“No one knows. It was a taped audio call; a patched tape, and there was no VP ident on file for the voice.”

“Larynx alteration, probably. But who . . . Selasis?” He frowned. “No, he wouldn’t take that tack to discredit Robek. Karlis makes him too vulnerable for a counterattack on those grounds.”

“True, but don’t scratch the gold on this gift for gilt, Alex.” She smiled, finding it difficult not to laugh aloud.

“Yes, I suppose I should be grateful Adrien and I were out of the float before the raid. Father had enough . . . shame at my hands for one day.”

“You might have other reasons to be grateful. Considering that eladane was involved, there could be all sorts of repercussions, especially for Alton. And another thing: Adrien is sure it was Julia who put the eladane in your drink—at Alton’s suggestion, of course—in spite of your clearly expressed refusal to take it. A serious legal case could be built on that alone.”

He studied her a moment, then said flatly, “But no case
will
be built on it.”

“Probably not, but it gives Phillip a telling lever against Charles Fallor. After all, Julia’s pristine reputation is important to him if he hopes to make an alliance with a major House.”

Alexand looked at her intently, a stillness about him, as if he were holding his breath.”

“Fallor? But he already has—Mother, what do you mean?”

She took time to sip her tea, then put the cup aside. “Fallor is in hard straits financially right now, and he needs a strong House alliance. He’s looking to Julia to make that alliance, and up to this point he’s had a choice: Woolf or Selasis. But Selasis has apparently given up on Fallor and is concentrating on Shang; Janeel Shang, Lord Sato’s granddaughter. At any rate, Julia’s imprudent behavior has backed Charles into a corner, and Phillip
may
get what he’s asking for.”

“And . . . what would that be?”

She laughed softly. “Oh, Alex, I think you know. He’s asking for your freedom. Freedom from the obligation to Fallor; freedom to make the alliance with Eliseer. He’s asking for Adrien for you.”

He rose and went to the window, putting his back to her, and Elise sighed; she could have predicted that.

“Don’t, Mother. Please.”

“What, darling? Give you a hope that might be crushed?”

He made no response, and after a moment she rose and went to him, feeling the unconscious tensing of muscles as she rested her hand on his arm.

“Alex, I’m going to give you a bit of motherly advice. I thought you had courage, but now I wonder. It takes courage to embrace a hope, because it is by its very nature susceptible to destruction. If it weren’t, it would be a fact, something inevitable or immutable. Hope is a great deal like love; to enjoy its bounty, you must make yourself vulnerable to the pain of disappointment, but it would be a sterile existence with neither love nor hope.”

He closed his eyes, and she felt the relaxation of his body, saw at length the mask of self-containment slip away. Finally, he took her hand and looked down at it, at the betrothal ring Phillip had put on her finger so many years ago. Ruby for DeKoven Woolf; topaz for Daro Galinin.

“And I can’t live without hope.” He seemed to be speaking to himself with those words. Then he looked up at her. “Good advice, Mother. I’ll remember it.”

She laughed and threw her arms around him. “Oh, Alex, this hope won’t be crushed—I know it!”

He laughed with her, lifting her off her feet with the exuberance of his embrace. She blinked against the tears, savoring the welcome sound of his laughter. How long had it been?

When he released her, he seemed a little self-conscious at his enthusiasm, but the light didn’t leave his eyes.

“Well. Have you any idea when I might know if this hope is to be realized?”

“It will be decided in the next few days. Phillip must still make sure Fallor doesn’t fall into Orin Selasis’s hands. He might change his mind about Janeel Shang if Julia’s loose, so to speak.” Then, seeing his frown, she added, “But Phillip doesn’t intend for her to
stay
loose.”

“But how—” He stopped, eyes narrowing. “Robek.”

“Yes. Alton’s backed Trevor into a corner, too. Alton and Julia may find themselves married to each other in penance for their sins. Fallor was hoping for an alliance with Woolf or Selasis, but he’ll take Robek now and be grateful. That still aligns him with Galinin and Woolf.”

Alexand gave a short laugh. “It sounds like a
Volante
—everyone changing partners at the next chorus.”

“So it does. Of course, there’s still a chance it won’t—”

“Mother, must I turn your sage advice back to you? In matters of this sort, I’m well aware that nothing can be counted done until the contracts are signed.” He paused, smiling. “But I’ll hold the hope still.”

“Good.” She touched his check gently, then sighed and looked at her watch. “I must go check the cleanup crews; everyone falls into total disorganization after the holiday.”

He nodded absently. “I thought I’d ask Rich if he’d like to spend a few days at the Barrier Reef estate.”

“That would be a marvelous idea.” He walked with her to the door, where she stopped, averting her eyes uneasily. “Alex, when you talk to Phillip—”

He laughed. “I’m not to let him know you’ve said a word about this
Volante
he’s set in motion.”

Her cheeks went hot, then finally she laughed, too. “He should know better than to tell me about it. It’s asking too much of a mother to hold a secret like that.” She touched the doorcon and stepped out into the anteroom, then paused to take his hand, studying the strong, muscular contours of it, remembering the hand that once lay in a tiny furled fist in her palm.

“Alex, it’s good to have you home.”

Alexand walked down the slate path, and the leaves of the eucalypts whispered happily among themselves in the spring breeze; as he crossed the footbridge, the white-foamed streamlet laughed aloud. A flock of lorikeets took flight at his approach in a joyful flourish.

Hope. Humankind’s gift to itself, and every gift has its price. But perhaps he’d paid the price of this gift yesterday at Alber.

No. Not now. He refused to think of that now.

Rich was at his desk in the school room; he smiled as if he’d been expecting him.

“Alex, you look well.”

He laughed. “I am well.” He went to the desk, which was littered with tape spools and sheets of vellam covered with cryptic notes. “I’m sorry I gave you such a scare last night. It certainly wasn’t intentional.”

“I should hope not. but if nothing else, you got a good night’s sleep out of it. How else would Dr. Stel get a sedative into you unless you were beyond balking?”

Alexand absently picked up a tape spool and turned it in his fingers. “I may have more than a good night’s sleep out of it. Can I talk to you about something? Something private?”

Rich understood that guarded query. “We’re safe here. I’ve installed permanent jamblers and a warning system.”

Alexand put the spool down and looked directly at Rich. “Mother just left me. She told me about certain plans Father is pursuing; plans for a Woolf-Eliseer marriage.”

Rich regarded him with a bemused smile. “Yes, I know about that.”

“What are the odds, Rich? In my favor?”

“I can only give you an educated guess. Yes, Alex, they’re in your favor; yours and Adrien’s.”

Alexand’s eyes closed briefly, then he laughed. “God, I can’t get my balance. From . . . yesterday, to
this
. Did you talk to Adrien last night?”

“Not at any length. I wish I could have had more time with her. Father talked with her for quite a while, though.”

“Did he?” Alexand nodded. “Mother says he wants to see me happy, and I believe that. Happiness may be an ephemeral state, but I’m grateful for it. Grateful to him.”

“So am I,” Rich said softly. “And grateful he finally has a chance to do what he’s wanted so desperately to do all these years.” He paused. “But something’s bothering you.”

Alexand’s eyes flashed to his. “At least, something’s aroused my curiosity.”

“The raid on the float?”

“Yes.” He turned and began aimlessly pacing the room. “Conpol wouldn’t waste time on an Outside float normally, but they were told eladane was involved. An anonymous tip.” He stopped to face Rich. “Where did that tip come from?”

“A Phoenix agent.” The answer was flat, nearly devoid of expression. Then he smiled faintly and leaned forward. “You’re always under surveillance; protective surveillance. An agent was on hand, and a monitor went into your pod at the float almost as soon as you arrived. And, by the way, if Adrien hadn’t come to your rescue, someone would have brought you home safely, although your memory of the trip might’ve been a little vague. Our agent sent a Pri-One alert to HQ when he heard the word ‘eladane.’ He was in constant contact with his superiors, and they—at least, one of them—with me. The potentials inherent in the situation were recognized and the tip went to Conpol—
after
you and Adrien were safely out of the float. Alex, the Phoenix has been waiting for an opportunity to break Fallor’s hold on Father since that hold came into existence. When the opportunity arose, they were ready. And so was Father.”