Lokant Read Free Page B

momentary wild happiness which quickly deteriorated into
dismay. He had nothing to give her, nothing to show for his
efforts. She must undoubtedly conclude that he was useless for the
task at hand, just as he had been useless in the Lowers. For an
instant he entertained absurd notions of concealing himself from
her and somehow making his escape. Shaking his head at his own
folly, he stood up, looking over the towers of books behind which
he had been sitting.
    ‘Here,’ he said,
putting on a smile. She crossed quickly to him, offering a warm
smile in return which gave him an odd flutter. Belatedly he
realised he ought to have addressed her in some more appropriate
manner, but it was too late now.
    ‘I admire your
dedication,’ she offered, stopping in front of his desk. Her gaze
flicked quickly over him, no doubt taking in the deplorable state
of his appearance. Uncomfortable, he tried to brush down his
clothes but only succeeded in spreading more dust over them.
    ‘A perfectly pointless
dedication, unfortunately,’ he said, trying to speak lightly. ‘If
draykons were ever a common sight in any of our worlds, there’s no
real record of it that I can find.’
    Her brows lifted.
‘Nothing at all?’
    ‘A few children’s
tales. They lived (always in the past tense) far in the depths of
the Off-Worlds, collecting hordes of treasure and sort of randomly
breathing fire at things. None of it is particularly credible.’
    Eva stood in thought
for a moment. ‘How curious,’ she finally said.
    He hesitated, then
spoke again. ‘Of course, that doesn’t mean the information isn’t
there. I’m sure there must be something. I’ve probably missed
it.’
    She shook her head. ‘I
doubt that. You’ve been far too thorough.’ She smiled at his
expression of surprise. ‘I’ve been checking the visitor books
whenever I pass through. You’ve been here for an average of
fourteen hours a day, every day, for the last two weeks. Were you
aware of that?’
    ‘I’ve been here for
eternity, as far as I can judge,’ he said wryly. He couldn’t help
but be pleased that she had noticed. They had travelled together on
the hunt for his friend, Edwae Geslin, and after that she had
insisted on accompanying him further - all the way into the Lower
Realms in a search for Edwae’s killer and erstwhile employer. Had
she done it because she cared about him, or because she knew he
could not accomplish the task on his own? If the latter (and he
suspected it was so), she had been right. Inexperienced as he was,
he would have floundered hopelessly in the Lowers without her aid.
He might even have perished. The whole endeavour had been directed
and largely accomplished by her; his own contribution, he felt, had
been minimal. Now he was anxious to make amends.
    ‘I’m sorry to have
abandoned you to the job,’ she said. ‘I might have come in sooner,
only I was expecting a visit from you.’ Her gaze grew questioning
and he coughed, uncomfortable. He had asked her permission to visit
her at home, and she had granted it, but her obvious surprise at
the request had dismayed him. In the end, he had not had the
courage to go.
    ‘I was - well, busy. I
wanted to be able to bring you a stack of information to
peruse.’
    ‘Admirable focus, but
you ought to eat once in a while as well. Somebody once told me
that’s a good idea.’ She smiled and he smiled back, remembering how
he’d had to encourage her to eat at the end of their adventures.
‘Why don’t you dine with me today?’ she continued.
    ‘Oh... that’s kind of
you, but I really couldn’t.’
    ‘Please,’ she
interrupted. ‘Don’t think I’m taking pity on you. Vale is out of
the city this week and I’m terribly lonely.’
    He knew that was
nonsense. A woman of her popularity could have any number of
companions at her disposal whenever she chose. But it was a
kindness, and with those beautiful dark blue eyes fixed on him he
couldn’t possibly refuse.
    ‘Magnificent,’