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.Laura gave his hand a firm shake, radiating pleasure, her face wreathed in a huge smile.“You’re the first Tolari I’ve met who will shake my hand,” she said.He gazed at Laura for a moment, a distracted look in his eyes, before he seemed to shake himself, smiling.“I have been studying human manners.You are an interesting people.”“At times,” the Sural said.“They are still undisciplined.”Kazryth mouthed the unfamiliar word.“I do not know this word.”Marianne gave it in Paranian.He nodded his gratitude, and then did a double take.“You speak my language!” he said, in the same tone of voice Laura had used.She grinned.“‘A little,’” she quoted, her mouth twitching itself into a grin as she tried – and failed – to keep a straight face.“We must speak later,” he said in Paranian, chuckling.Switching back to English, he addressed Laura again.“Do you stay here long?”Laura shook her head.“I’m staying here indefinitely,” she answered.“I can’t go home.If things change.maybe someday, but for now, it’s too dangerous for me to leave.”“I am very sorry,” Kazryth said, his eyes softening in sympathy.“Do you have family in the human worlds?”“Five children, nine grandchildren.”“Five heirs?” He blinked several times, his eyebrows climbing.“I know,” she said, “it seems like a lot to you.It’s a large family for us, too.People used to have even larger families, hundreds of years ago, but two or three is the usual now.Five or six is the most I have ever seen.”Kazryth had his brows drawn together as he tried to follow her words.“Five or six heirs – for two parents?”“Yes, that’s right.”“But your lives are so short!”Laura opened her mouth, closed it, and said, “I don’t know what you mean.”Marianne butted in.“Humans have their children all at once, dear one,” she told Kazryth.“They have a child, then a few Earth years later, another child, then a few years later, another.”“Many young children at one time?” he asked.“Yes,” said Laura.“That’s the usual way.”He shook his head slightly, a small, incredulous smile on his lips and, Marianne thought, a gleam of growing respect in his eyes.“And you had five children in this manner?”“Yes, exactly.Mine were all about two years apart.Earth years.”“I found having my one daughter was a challenge,” he said.“Vondra was very—” He stopped.“I do not know the word.” He looked over at Marianne.“Headstrong,” he said in Paranian.Marianne translated.Laura laughed.“Yes, I had a couple of those.”“More than one – headstrong – child at one time?”“Oh, yes.Patrick was very difficult, and Elizabeth was next to impossible.”His smile grew wide.“I am impressed.”Laura blushed and looked down.Kazryth’s eyes lit with delight.The Sural’s eyes were glittering, and to Marianne’s mind, a little dangerous.“How did you come to name your daughter Vondra?” he asked, affecting casual disinterest.He’s not disinterested, she thought, wondering what it was about his daughter’s name that had caught her beloved’s attention.He’s very interested.Kazryth cocked an eyebrow, radiating mild surprise at the question.“I was.uncertain how to name her,” he answered.“Mother suggested it.”“Ah.How is your mother?”The Paranian’s face clouded.“Not well.”“I had not heard this.”He glanced at Laura, then back at the Sural, and switched to Suralian.“She allows herself to age,” he explained.“She is now quite old.In truth, it surprised me when she ordered me here.She seldom allows me to leave Parania.When she gave me orders to come here and messages to relay, I think she did not realize who I was.”Marianne exchanged a significant look with the Sural.Senility, she thought, would explain much.She sensed the Sural relax as he seemed to come to the same conclusion.“I understood a little of that,” Laura said.“Your mother is very old? And you seldom leave Parania?”“Yes,” he said with a smile, but he shifted uncomfortably and changed the subject.“Laura, will you like to see the art we brought with us?”“Oh, yes, very much!”He rose and rounded the table to help her out of her chair.Laura flushed with pleasure and gave him a delighted smile.Marianne grinned as she watched the pair head into the corridor.The Sural shook his head.“I did not expect her to draw the attention of a provincial heir,” he said.Marianne turned back to him.“I caught the interest.You think he’s attracted?”“Very much so.”“Well, well, well,” she said.Then she frowned.“Oh my.What if they become entwined? He can’t stay.”He shook his head.“Living in my stronghold for the remainder of her days is perhaps not the best outcome for Laura.”She huffed.Then she caught his eye.“About the Parania, were you thinking what I was thinking?”“That her mind wanders with age? Yes.It would explain much.”“Maybe she kept him out of your sight in consideration for your loss.”He nodded, staring out the refectory door with a thoughtful expression.“I prefer that theory,” he murmured.* * *Kazryth offered Laura his arm before they ascended the stairs leading to the top floor.She took it, not even trying to suppress the smile that came to her lips when he covered her hand with his own.Warmth pooled in her belly.She took a deep breath and pushed the feelings away.You only just met him, you silly goose, she thought.But he’ll be gone in a few days.“I disagree with the Sural,” he said.“Human manners are delightful.”Laura pressed her lips together.“I miss my culture,” she admitted.“It’s so nice of the Sural to call this conference for me.”“He did this for you?” His eyes were wide.“That’s what he said.Where I come from, we have big affairs in ballrooms of reinforced glass, floating over events like special art exhibits and concerts and theater openings.This conference is probably as close to that as you can get on Tolar.” She paused, wondering how much of that he could have understood, and added, “He wanted to entertain me.”“Very kind of him,” he said with a warm smile, as he guided her to the first room of Paranian exhibits
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