Blaine dumped his goggles and flight cap on the navigation table amidst the maps and discarded astrolabe and sextant strewn about there. He picked up the logbook and entered the needed information before signing off on it with his initials.
“We’re logged,” Blaine said, flipping the logbook closed. He’d pass it off to the maintenance crew in a bit.
Honovi nodded, continuing with the shutdown procedure. The airship shuddered as it settled more heavily into its berth, staying upright through wooden supports and the air balloon floating overhead.
Someone cleared their throat from the doorway, and Blaine looked over his shoulder at the reed-thin man in a kilt who stood there. The plaid draped over the left shoulder was pinned in place by a ranking brooch that depicted his place in government. It wasn’t overly large, which spoke of him probably being a clerk of some sort. The length of plaid fell to his waist, though, and that spoke of a higher rank held than frontline government worker.
“Welcome home to captain and crew,” the man said.
Honovi nodded absently at the traditional greeting as he went about his own lockdown procedures. “Any reason why theComhairle nan Cinnidheanhas need of me right now? My father knows I need to offload my airship first.”
“I’m not here for you,jarl. I’ve been sent by the Seneschal’s Office for your chief engineer.”
As the second-highest level of government, the Seneschal’s office was in charge of implementing all decisions made by theComhairle nan Cinnidhean. A clerk sent by the seneschal was of an importance that left a knot in Blaine’s stomach. He straightened up and turned away from the navigation table. Honovi’s hands paused over the control board, and he looked back at Blaine with a frown on his face.
“What need do you have for myhusband?” Honovi asked, brown eyes narrowing.
The clerk drew himself up straighter at the pointed demand. “It’s not your business,jarl.”
Which was the wrong thing to tell Honovi. Blaine shared a look with the airship’s navigator before clearing his throat, hoping to head off an argument. “I’m at theComhairle nan Cinnidhean’s disposal.”
Honovi’s lips curled. “We both are.”
The clerk frowned before realizing this was a fight he’d lose. “I have a motor carriage waiting at the wall.”
Blaine pushed away from the navigation table and headed for the doorway, patting Honovi on the arm as he passed by. “It’ll be fine.”
Honovi removed his goggles and flight cap, handing them off to his navigator. He pulled his long black braid from beneath his fur-lined leather jacket, the plait free of ranking adornments other than the beaded clan ribbon. The sides of his head were shaved, a style Honovi had favored since they were young, though new hair was beginning to grow out.
Blaine’s fingers twitched with the memory of carefully trimming and shaving Honovi’s hair before landing in Seaville all those weeks ago. Generally, only family or partners were allowed to tend to each other’s hair, and the ritual was one Blaine performed every few weeks.
He waited while Honovi signed off on arrival paperwork and handed over the bill of lading to a representative of the Eastern Winds Trading Company. Then Honovi gestured for Blaine to precede him off the airship where the clerk waited impatiently for them on the pier.
The walk to the outer wall didn’t take nearly as long as it would have if they’d docked farther out. Honovi overtook the clerk, and Blaine kept pace with him, dodging past ground crew and cargo being moved about with the aid of mechanical carts and lifts. Spring was always a busy time with airships arriving and departing as the trade routes opened up after heavy winter storms across the Eastern Spine.
True to the clerk’s word, a motor carriage waited for them inside the city walls, the seneschal’s seal painted over the door. The engine popped and sputtered at rest, making Blaine want to get under the hood and fix the noise. They climbed into the rear seat of the motor carriage and got settled, belting themselves in.
The frame of the motor carriage was enclosed, with windows all around them, and Blaine spent the drive into the center of Glencoe watching the bustle of people and vehicles they passed. The city was so very different from the confined space of an airship with a limit on crew. Even in the sky, Blaine could find space to be alone. Here, Glencoe was a raucous city filled with color, and it always took a day or so for him to acclimate to the crowds.
Boulevards from the airfields led to the center of the city through inner defensive walls. The park and gardens that surrounded the heart of government were all in bloom as they reached the civic area. The vibrant ascadia trees were of particular note, the pale pink blossoms a welcome sight after a long winter abroad.
E’ridia’s capitol building in Glencoe was built from stone carved from a quarry in the eastern hills outside the Sunrise Valley. During the last Age, the pale gray stone had been turned into an imposing building where theComhairle nan Cinnidheannow ruled from. The older buildings of Glencoe had stood the test of time and poison runoff better than the newer ones. Their underlying construction was different, and Blaine had always been fascinated by that lost history.
In the grand scheme of things, history was politics, and Blaine had never been particularly keen on getting mixed up in them, despite who he had married. Receiving a summons from theComhairle nan Cinnidheanwasn’t something he could ignore, though, even if he couldn’t figure out what he might have done to gain their attention. Between the two of them, Honovi was the one most often called upon.
Blaine flexed his clammy fingers before discreetly wiping his palms on his trousers. He hadn’t felt this nervous since his first time crewing an airship at sixteen, well past the age most E’ridians hit that milestone.
“It’ll be fine,” Honovi said as the motor carriage braked to a shuddery halt. Really, someone needed to check on the mechanics of the vehicle.
“Easy for you to say. You aren’t the one who got issued the summons,” Blaine muttered.
Honovi slanted him a faintly amused smile as he opened the motor carriage door. He’d undone the top buttons on his flight jacket, and the matching marriage torc he wore caught the sunlight. “You’ve stood before them plenty of times before.”
“No,youstood before them giving reports while I waited in the balcony for you to finish. Being in the same room as them doesn’t count.”
Honovi laughed as Blaine followed him out of the motor carriage, humor softening the sternness of his mouth. Blaine let his attention linger there for a second before flicking his gaze up to meet warm brown eyes. Honovi leaned down and kissed him gently, ignoring the sound of the clerk impatiently clearing his throat.
“We’ll stand before them together,” Honovi promised, taking Blaine’s hand in his.
