Date: 2-3-165

  It had been eleven days since the incident with Missus Hass. And there we sat, the masters of the house on their end of the table and me on mine. This is how we’ve passed every dinner lately, with neither Nadine nor myself finding it in ourselves to speak first.

  Oh, it hasn’t all been awkward dinners and uncomfortable silence. My research continues. I learn more of the language and more of the workings of the human body with each passing day. I sharpen my sense of Theramancy so that I can judge the intention of a spell at the slightest touch of my Spellweaving threads. I refine and streamline my own magical inventory so that I don’t have to juggle three or four spells at a time.

  But, then, the practice languishes. I don’t attend clinic day down in the lower town, where I can do the most good. I don’t perform miracles for the people. I don’t leave patient after patient bewildered with the overt gestures of Guntao spellcasting.

  But I was telling you about the events at dinner this evening, wasn’t I?

  Olrick spoke loudly enough for the three of us. “Rotation’s been shifted another two weeks,” he said over a mouthful of the savory potatoes that grow on the island. “I figure that’s lucky, seeing as I get to stick around and help you two out.”

  “That’s nice,” Nadine mumbled.

  “A year ago, I’d be sweating about now. We’d be tying those purse strings real tight without the hazard pay to see us through.”

  “Yes, dear.” Nadine dabbed at her mouth with her napkin.

  “Lucky your practice’s picked up so much. A real blessing, that. Straight from Illithia if you ask me.”

  Nadine glanced up at me for the briefest of moments before turning her gaze back down to her plate.

  “Yeah, well…” Olrick coughed, shifting in his seat. A bell tolled from the front of the house, and he jumped to his feet. “I’ll get it!”

  I studied Nadine. She pretended not to notice. A boisterous voice called out from the front of the estate, muffled by the sturdy walls, though it rapidly grew closer. And then she entered.

  She was tall for a Panzean, though perhaps not quite as tall as myself or Olrick; and she was broad, certainly, both in the shoulders and the midriff; but more than that, it was in the way that she carried herself, with such confidence that it felt as though the world were moving past her and not the other way around. She was red-faced with gray curls, and a topaz, fur-lined (real fur!) coat draped over her frame.

  “Sorry to bother you folks over dinner,” she said, her voice somehow both booming and perfectly at ease. “Now, which one of you is the good Doctor Seaborne?”

  “Ah…” Nadine pushed herself up from her seat, staring at the unexpected guest with wide eyes. “That would be me, ma’am.”

  I don’t think I’d ever seen Nadine take such a subservient attitude with anyone, and certainly not on a first meeting.

  The woman gave Nadine an appraising look, then said, “Well, that’s fine, just fine.” Olrick came in behind her as she spoke, and she tossed her coat to him. “The name’s Suzet Colvar, and I’ve got a business proposition you’ll want to hear.”

  “Colvar?” Olrick asked, standing with her coat in his arms. “As in, the Colvar Fish and Beer Company?”

  “Yessir, I’m that Colvar.” Her eyes narrowed as she glanced at him. Turning back to Nadine, she put her hand by her mouth as if to whisper. Then, in a very loud voice, she said, “You always let your servant butt in like that?”

  “Th-That’s not a servant,” Nadine said, her face flushed. At the same time, Olrick said, “I’m Captain Seaborne.”

  Suzet blinked. “Your husband answers the door? What, no servants?” Shaking her head, she pulled out the chair next to mine and sat. “Well, that’s fine, that’s just fine! Captain, make yourself useful and fetch me some grub. Your wife and I’ve got some business to discuss.”

  Sinking back into her seat, Nadine smiled nervously at Suzet. Olrick stared at his wife at first, but Nadine gave a firm nod of her head, and he dashed off into the kitchen—still holding Suzet’s coat.

  “Nadine—you don’t mind if I call you Nadine, right—I hear you’ve been making a name for yourself as something of a miracle worker,” the woman said as she leaned back in her seat. “As it happens, I’m on the market for a new family doctor, and the Colvars only truck with the best. So, what do you say, doc? Ready for the big time?”

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  I set my fork down and listened. What was this, then? An offer of employment? Had this grotesque woman come to tempt the Seabornes away from Valia, after we’d worked so hard to draw the Great House’s attention?

  As Suzet spoke, Nadine’s smile faded. It was the same thin-lipped expression she usually reserved for when I broke some arbitrary Panzean taboo; to see her turn it against someone other than myself was refreshing in a way.

  “That’s very kind—”

  Suzet raised a hand to silence her. “Hear me out, now. I reckon this’d be a great big move for you and your family. I went through the exact same thing when I was a little girl and Da decided to move our headquarters to Ruby-Sail. But, eh… Let me guess, you’re Lecosian, ain’t ya?” She pressed on before Nadine had a chance to reply. “Ruby-Sail’s practically in your old stomping ground, and, if you’re feeling real homesick, you’re just a few days’ ride back to the old homestead. That’s all right, innit?”

  Olrick had come back from the kitchen carrying a plate piled high with Panzean mutton and potatoes. He hovered over Suzet after placing the meal before her, as though waiting for her approval.

  “And Captain Seaborne, is it?” she asked, skewering an entire cut of meat with her fork. “We’re right on the Scendier.” (This is the name of a major river that cuts through the center of the continent.) “Got a whole fleet sailing under the Colvar banner. If you’re half as good a captain as your wife’s a doctor, we’ll find a place for you.”

  I have sometimes found the Panzean manner to be overly direct, so it was puzzling to me that Nadine had not yet disabused this woman of the notion that she was for hire. It was fortunate I was there to clarify things, or so I told myself.

  “Doctor Seaborne already has a commitment.” At the sound of my voice, Suzet jumped.

  “Matrons’ teats, where’d you come from?” she yelled. “And damn if you ain’t the strangest little lady I ever saw.”

  I believe this was the first time a Panzean had ever called me “little.”

  “This is my apprentice, Why,” Nadine said. “She came from the sea.”

  Suzet eyed me. “Well, that’s fine, I reckon,” she said. “Anyhow, what’s this about prior commitments?” She leaned forward with her elbows on the table.

  Nadine straightened up, finally seeming to find her footing in the face of the fish-and-beer woman’s overwhelming presence. “I’m applying for the role of Lord Governor Valia’s personal physician. And I’m honored—really—that you came out all this way for me, but I think I should see it through before I pursue any other opportunities.”

  “The Lord Governor? That snot-nosed brat Dominiq, you mean?” Suzet scratched her cheek. “Yeah, sure, everyone wants to get in good with the Great Houses. But trust me, this one ain’t worth the trouble.”

  Nadine’s eyes widened. “I don’t think that’s appropriate—”

  Suzet laughed. “Sorry, snot-nosed codger. I knew ‘Lord Governor Valia’ since he was knee-high, and he ain’t changed all that much. But, hey, if you can look past his charming personality, he can offer you heaps of prestige and a fair bit of coin.” She reached into the front of her blouse and produced a slip of paper, which she casually tossed across the table.

  Nadine stared at it for a long moment before reaching out and pulling it to herself. As she read whatever was written there, her hands began to shake.

  “But I think you’ll see that I can offer more than a ‘bit of coin.’”

  “This is—”

  “An advance on your first five years, and a signing bonus besides.” Suzet stabbed a potato with her fork (which still had the previous piece of meat on it) and pointed it at Nadine and Olrick as she spoke. “Believe me, House Valia ain’t gonna match what I’m offering you here. Being god-kings is fine and good, but it don’t exactly pay well.”

  “Missus Colvar—Suzet—ma’am,” Olrick stammered as he pulled at his fingers, his own dinner long forgotten. “I love your restaurants—ask my crew, they’ll tell you—but this’s a big move you’re proposing. Valia’s Watch is my home. Our home. And the city depends on me to—”

  Nadia held the paper up in front of his eyes and his face turned pale.

  “You’ve, ahem, given us a lot to think about,” he said.

  Suzet took a bite—her first of the evening—and sniffed, then set her fork down on her plate. “Well, don’t take too long.” She pushed herself up to her feet with some effort. “I’m in town for three more days, then back to the mainland. Drop by the Colvar’s on the waterfront before then and we can get you all signed up.”

  Olrick hopped back up and dashed around the table to help her, but she waved him off. “I’ll let you keep that for now,” she said, pointing to the paper in Nadine’s hand. “Maybe it’ll nudge you in the right direction.” She gave me one last glance, shaking her head slowly, and then strode out of the dining room.

  “Wait, your coat!” Olrick called. He ran into the kitchen, only to come barreling out again with the fur coat tangled in his arms. His pounding footsteps soon receded as he hurried to catch up with her.

  I watched Nadine, but she didn’t take her eyes off of the paper in her hands. So it went for the rest of the evening. I stayed up later than usual, intent on gaining some insight into Nadine’s inner thoughts, but neither Olrick nor myself could elicit more than a subdued “yes?” or “mm-hm.”

  Nadine is an intelligent woman. She will want to carefully consider her options before making any decisions, I’m sure, but in the end she will choose correctly. Everything we have worked for these past weeks has been to impress House Valia. She would not discard our efforts so lightly. Surely she wouldn’t.

  Ancestors, I wish she would just speak to me! There are any number of arguments I might make to sway her in the right direction. There’s little I wouldn’t give in this moment to have but the vaguest sense of what she is thinking.

  Why did I feel it was so important to put Nadine in her place last week? If this contact with House Valia slips though my fingers, then your body…

  Three days. I still have time to fix this. I will find a way.