Page 62 of The House of the Red Balconies

“No, I wasn’t asking you for it.” He said it as if that wasn’t precisely what he had come up here to do; but he’d thought of a better option. “I’m going down to the fort this afternoon to ask for a permanent post.”

“Oh, but they don’t just … I mean, you can’t … ”

“Maybe I can’t. Maybe I’ll need to write a letter in verse to somebody’s mistress and go round all the tea houses dropping hints and hire a soothsayer to find somebody’s illegitimate son—but actually I’m going to just walk in the door with a lot of maps and plans and make my case. I think it’s worth a try. I want to stay on the island. I’m going to put a little effort into it.”

Loukianos nodded. “Right.” After a long silence, he said, “And what you’re saying is, you think I should do the same.”

“I do. If you want to stay. If you want to resign and leave Tykanos⁠—”

“Gods, I don’t. I truly don’t. You know—” He leaned forward in his chair. “I’ve been thinking of something. Prince Zoharaza.”

“Oh?” said Hylas warily. “What about him?”

“Well, you know he was a hostage at King Nahazra’s court. And I was wondering—would they want him back? Yes, you know—” He popped up from his seat and began pacing. “What if I sent him back? What if I turned him over to the Zashian crown? It might be a useful move. I doubt they’d be so ready to recall me to Pheme if I’d done a favour for the king of Zash.” He whirled around to look excitedly at Hylas. “It’s just the kind of thing I should be doing, isn’t it?”

“What? No! It’s the opposite of what you should be doing.” Hylas stood up to face him. “Intriguing and backstabbing and acting like a … like a despot? No. You’re going to do favours for the king of Zash? You think he was right to hold the son of one of his vassals hostage, so you’re going to give him back? Loukianos. You’re a government official from a republic. You uphold the laws of Pheme—you don’t trade prisoners with a foreign king in hopes of some convoluted favour. Also … ” He paused for breath. “Zo and I are lovers. Do not threaten him.”

Loukianos’s eyes had grown very wide. He took a step back from Hylas. “You. And Prince Zoharaza. Are?”

“A couple,” said Hylas evenly. Distantly he registered that he wasn’t even blushing. “Yes.”

“Hylas, I had no idea! I didn’t even know that you … ” Loukianos gestured vaguely. “But Zoharaza? Immortal gods. I remember him from when he was just a boy, and they were already writing poems about him at the court. Pretty sedate poems—I mean, it was Sasia—but he definitely had admirers. And you and … Immortal gods. Congratulations! You must want to get him out of the Red Balconies.”

“Loukianos … ” If there was a stick in sight, the man could be trusted to get the wrong end of it. “I want to keep him safe. I want for you not to use him as a bargaining token with the Sasian crown.”

“No, no, no—my dear friend, I will never do that. I swear to you on my life.”

Hylas nodded and felt some of the tension relax in his jaw and his shoulders. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been so angry, and yet so confident that he could master the situation. Maybe when he had stood up to the chief engineer about that shitty cement in the dam above Koilas. This had felt a little bit like that.

After this, he was not going to have any problem with the naval officers.

“It would be better if you didn’t use the name Prince Zoharaza too much in conversation,” he added. “If you didn’t talk too much about who he used to be. He goes by Zo, and he’s a companion at the Red Balconies. His health is fragile, and it’s a safe and comfortable place for him. I would not want him to have to leave.”

Loukianos was still staring as if his eyes might fall out of his head, but he nodded.

Zo ate breakfast alone, furious with himself for oversleeping and missing one of his precious mornings with Hylas. His mood wasn’t improved when Chrestos came tapping on his door with a guilty expression.

“Please don’t hate me.”

Zo groaned. “What did you say, and who did you say it to?”

“It wasn’t me, it was Themi—I mean, I mean the only person I told was Captain Themistokles, and I forgot to mention it was a secret, because I thought he’d know, but he didn’t realize and said something to Taris, thinking she already knew, and she told, well … ”

“Well?”

“Well, everybody. I’m sorry. Please don’t hate me.”

“Mistress Aula knows?”

“No! No, everyone knows better than to tell her. I think everyone knows better than to tell her. But—but we’re all really happy about it, Zo. We all love the aqueduct man and think you two are perfect for each other.”

Zo was surprised to find it made him happy to hear that. He tried not to show it, because Chrestos had really been an ass, telling his patron and not mentioning that it was a secret. Hylas was going to find Captain Themistokles apologizing to him before the end of the day, Zo was sure, and would be confused and embarrassed by it.

“I’m glad you all approve,” Zo said. “Just please don’t let Mistress know—she’s already annoyed enough with me.”

“She might allow it, though, like she did with Pani and Menthe,” Chrestos suggested hopefully.

“But did she find out about Pani and Menthe because everybody was gossiping about them and she was the last to know?”