Page 47 of The House of the Red Balconies

They were just lighting the lamps as Hylas and Loukianos entered. Pani was working on a wall full of delicate foliage, sketching in pencil, while Menthe sat chatting with the group of assembled guests. Zo was sitting on the far side of the room, and at the moment he seemed to have no guests attached to him. He saw Hylas and waved.

Hylas turned to Loukianos, who had frozen in the doorway, and drew him by the elbow into the room, thinking as he did what a strange reversal this was from the situation when he had first arrived on Tykanos only a few months ago.

“There’s someone I’d like you to meet,” he said. “This is Zo, one of the Red Balconies’ companions. Zo, this is Governor Loukianos.”

“Prince Zoharaza?” said Loukianos.

CHAPTER 15

Zo had never met the man in front of him, that he could recall, but that wasn’t too surprising. Plenty of people had once known him by sight whom he had never noticed or known by name himself. To tell the truth, he’d lived the last five years always expecting this moment to come and being pleasantly surprised when it didn’t.

“I go by Zo these days,” he said, smiling. He’d always wondered what he would say, and that was what it turned out to be.

“But you are Zoharaza,” the governor pursued, “aren’t you? The son of King Chahaz of Satasparsa? You were at the court of the King of Zash in Rataxa, ten years ago, as a hostage. I used to see you at the royal audiences.”

“Ah, did you? What a coincidence.”

He couldn’t look at Hylas. How could he, after concealing something like this from him? What excuse could he give? He couldn’t expect Hylas to accept the truth.

“So you are Prince Zoharaza.” The governor was not going to let this go, damn his eyes.

“Yes.”

“Blessed Orante! I thought I might be going mad for an instant there.” He laughed heartily.

“Not at all, sir,” said Zo smoothly. He gestured to the divan beside him. “Will you join me?”

The governor sat, and Hylas, whose eyes Zo still could not meet, sat beside him.

“Ought you to call me ‘sir’?” Loukianos wondered. “You wouldn’t have, ten years ago—and I would have called you … what would I have called you? You’re a prince, but not one of the royal sons of Zash … Did you have a title at the court?”

“‘Your Grace,’ as a courtesy in formal settings. But you were a foreigner, and probably of high rank yourself?”

“Mm, not at the time, no, I was just the son of an engineer in the colonial legions. Got to stay at the court for a while because of some family connections. What a place it was!”

“Indeed, sir.”

“But how did you end up here?”

“I was shipwrecked near Tykanos five years ago.”

“Blessed Orante! The stuff of romantic fiction. So you left the court five years ago,” said Loukianos thoughtfully. “Let me see, who can I ask about?”

There was much conversation to be had along those lines, while the governor reminisced about his time in Zash, asking Zo if he remembered such-and-such, whether he’d ever known so-and-so and what had become of him, recalling lurid court plots that he had known of, food that he had eaten, and gardens that he had visited. It was certainly true, as Hylas had said, that they had a lot to talk about.

Hylas himself remained silent, but he did not leave. He lit a stick of incense for himself and one for the governor, and he returned to sit with Loukianos and Zo, cradling his wine cup and listening to them talk. In the crowded sitting room, it was not rude; the governor and Zo were not having a private conversation. And Loukianos would include him every so often, turning to Hylas to say, “Isn’t that remarkable?” or “That’s what it’s really like, you know.”

So it was official. Prince Zoharaza, dead five years ago by his own hand, was back in the world.

“What a delight to get to talk about Rataxa with someone who was there,” Loukianos said as he was taking his leave. “I’m so glad Hylas convinced me to come tonight. Shall we?” He turned to Hylas, and then recollected himself. “Ah, I forgot, you live here! You won’t be coming with me. Well, I’ll bid you both good night, then.” And he bowed, Zashian-style, the appropriate degree for someone of Zo’s rank.

Zo got up from the divan, staggering in his haste. He knew that the moment Loukianos was gone, the few remaining regular guests and the other companions would descend on him, full of questions and amazement. He wouldn’t even blame them. But he didn’t want to face it.

Hylas would not ask questions. He would probably melt away while the others crowded around.

“Are you all right?” Loukianos asked, looking back at Zo.

“I’m fine—sitting too long, that is all.”