okay but do we have to leave so soon

[liakoura]

The Ardelay twins loiter in the palace for a few days, then fall back to the Chialto house, in plenty of time to receive any prompt reply to the correspondence Kiri sent out when they arrived in the city.

Comments

[liakoura]

"Why?"

[free_flowing]

"I dunno, why not?"

[liakoura]

"That's not an answer."

[free_flowing]

He shrugs. "It's the best answer I've got."

[liakoura]

"Well, anyway, I'm glad you're not being a cultural maverick on the subject now you're here."

[free_flowing]

Loel giggles.

[calendarofcrime]

Sarelle regards him thoughtfully.

"How old are you?"

[free_flowing]

"Me?" he asks, glancing at her. "Twenty, why?"

[calendarofcrime]

"My age, approximately. And Ekador is a year older, and Kiri is two years younger. I believe Patience is somewhere in the middle. We are going to be a very young set of primes when she inherits."

[free_flowing]

"No kidding," he agrees.

[calescent]

"I'm the only one who inherited unusually young - late teens, early twenties is the normal age to pick up a primacy. Jerist lasted longer than most and Auney could have been prime for another fifty years if it weren't for the ill-fated flying experiments, Nerine and Valdin both should have had at least a couple more decades in them apiece but had to tear each other apart. Alser's largely a coincidence. We're clustering because the deaths clustered - my age is mostly happenstance as far as that goes."

[calendarofcrime]

"Yes," says Sarelle. "Nevertheless, because of that cluster, we will as a set be both young and inexperienced."

[calescent]

"Assuming Patience inherits instead of someone unexpected, she's at least been brought up to expect it and accompanied her grandfather to various things since she was a child."

[calendarofcrime]

"That is likely to help."

[calescent]

"Yeah. And of course I'll carry on chipping in what I've picked up whenever I can, but it's - spotty."

[calendarofcrime]

She nods.

[free_flowing]

"You're kinda gloomy," Loel remarks, smiling at Sarelle.

[calendarofcrime]

"So I have frequently been told."

[calescent]

"She's got a twin, too," says Kiri conversationally. "Identical, but only in the loosest possible sense of the word."

[calendarofcrime]

She grins.

"What an excellent description of Tia."

[free_flowing]

"Yeah? What's she like?"

[calescent]

"Obvious blatant elay. Not remotely gloomy."

[calendarofcrime]

"Both of those," Sarelle agrees. "She wears all her enthusiasm on the outside. I do the opposite."

[free_flowing]

"She sounds fun," says Loel. "Bring her by for a visit sometime if you want. I'm not keen on crowds lately, but it does get lonely being all by myself in this gigantic house day after day."

[liakoura]

"You could hire somebody. This place is huge, if nothing else it'll get dusty."