Page 55 of The Seeker
“A few.” Roch shrugged. “Most of us came with our mothers or our mates. I was born at a different haven just north of here. My parents left a few year ago after the elder singers took seats on the council again, but I stayed.”
“Because of Sabine.”
Roch nodded.
“How is she this morning?”
“The same.” Roch started walking away. “Come up to the library in the main house when you’ve found your tea. Patiala wants to meet you.”
“Lovely.” Rhys yawned and stretched his arms over his head, enjoying the soft morning breeze that rustled the cane in the distance. Birds sang from the oak trees, and he could hear laughter and music from different corners of the haven. He even caught a hint of Sabine’s gramophone and wondered what Roch meant by “the same.”
It wasn’t his business. He should keep his nose out of it.
Meera’s mother on the other hand…
“I thought he was coming to be her mate. Did I misunderstand what Patiala said?”
He hadn’t missed Sabine’s slip, and he hadn’t dismissed it, even though Meera had sailed right past it as if nothing had been said.Coming to be her mate?It was an interesting twist to an already interesting situation. Maybe Patiala had intentions she hadn’t told Meera. Maybe Meera wasn’t keen on her mother’s interference. Heaven knew Rhys could understand that.
He decided to shave. After all, this meeting might be far more interesting than he was expecting.
Patiala of Udaipur,niece of Anamitra and mother of Meera, was smaller than he’d imagined. Tiny, in fact. She was the same size as her daughter and appeared roughly the same age, but while Meera had soft curves he wanted to handle, Patiala had muscle intended to intimidate.
“So,” she said from the head of the table, “tell me what you will do to further my daughter’s research.”
“I have some ideas having to do with a memory I was able to extract from Sabine yesterday. One of those ideas has to do with tracking avian populations in the Atchafalaya Basin where Meera believes the Wolf is living. Another has to do with tracking folklore among human populations.”
Patiala’s eyebrows went up. “You play no games, scribe.”
“I have no interest in being reticent with information.” Rhys glanced to a side door where Meera had just entered the library. “Your daughter is brilliant, and we’ll find the Wolf faster if everyone is forthright and works together.”
Patiala looked pointedly at Meera. “Indeed.”
“Don’t look at me that way. I’ve shared my information with Rhys,” Meera took across the table from Rhys. “He’s seen the research I’ve done so far.”
“Most of what Meera has collected is important for preservation, but it’s not geographically significant. If your haven desires to find Atawakabiche, I believe my tactics will do that most quickly. However, I’ll need her help when we locate the singer.”
“Why?”
“She’s hidden herself for somewhere around three hundred years. She obviously doesn’t want to be found. It’s far more likely she’ll speak to one of her sisters than to a scribe she doesn’t know.”
Patiala folded her hands under her chin. “And you’re confident you can find her?”
Rhys recalled the feelings of desperation, hunger, and fear Sabine had passed to him with her memory. “I think if the Wolf truly believes we need her, wewillfind her.”
“Interesting.”
Patiala fell silent, and Rhys took the opportunity to drink his tea. It was a truly excellent Darjeeling that she’d poured for him and his first indication that Patiala might not hate him. He certainly couldn’t tell from her expression. It wasn’t often outside Turkey that Rhys found a tea enthusiast as passionate as he was, but this well-balanced blend from Nepal would send the tea blenders of Istanbul into raptures.
Patiala said, “I find your confidence reassuring, scribe. I was told you are a proud man.”
“I am,” Rhys said. “I am the best at what I do. I was born from a line of scribes who have been guarding Gabriel’s library for thousands of years. I have no false modesty about my abilities.” He kept his eyes locked on Patiala, absorbing the intense stare of the Irina singer and warrior without flinching. “But despite how my brothers joke, I am not arrogant. I can work well with others if they are equal to me.”
Patiala turned to Meera. “I approve of him.”
“Mata, don’t start with this.”
“You avoid this part of your life,Abha.”
