In Ink and Wine

Chapter 3 - Ovaisi

The party was winding down when Brylow found them on the terrace. "Clarille! Your parents have been looking for you everywhere."

She had interrupted a very in-depth conversation about wine-making. Clarille couldn't remember the last time someone had actually been interested in what she knew. In fact, it was possible that no one had ever cared. She hated to cut the conversation short, but she couldn't keep her parents waiting.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I really should go," Clarille said.

Keridel nodded. "Of course." He caught her hand as she turned, and bowed to kiss it. "I really enjoyed my evening, Lady Clarille."

Clarille could feel Brylow's eyes burning into her back. "As did I. I'll be heading back to my villa tomorrow. Send along that ovaisi."

"I'll look forward to your opinion on it," Keridel said, straightening again. He bowed politely in Brylow's direction. "A truly lovely party, Lady Brylow."

Brylow apparently couldn't collect her thoughts enough to say anything more than, "Yes. It was."

"Goodbye." Clarille went over to Brylow and took her friend's hand. "All right, where are my parents?"

"Forget about your parents." Brylow was herself again. She tugged on Clarille's hand and pulled her back inside. Clarille glanced back quickly to see that Keridel was leaning on the balustrade again, looking out at the gardens.

Brylow dragged her into a relatively secluded corner of the ballroom. "Clarille! You need to tell me everything! It was working so well. When you were dancing with him, Berver looked furious. But then I lost sight of you after the dance, and I got caught up with some of the other guests, and then your parents asked me where you were. And you were outside with him! Who is he?"

Clarille had forgotten that the whole goal in talking to Keridel had been to make Berver jealous. It seemed so silly now. "His name is Keridel. He's a merchant."

"A merchant at this party?" Brylow didn't bother to disguise her distain.

"Not just some cart driver. He owns a fleet of river barges." Clarille felt the need to defend him. "He must be quite rich. He talked about buying a small villa in a year or two."

Brylow frowned, but Clarille wasn't offended. It was Brylow's thinking face. Then, her eyes lit up in realization. "Oh! I do remember father and mother talking about a wealthy river merchant they were doing business with. But I never heard a name. And he's a Native? I never would have guessed. What were you doing with him for so long, anyway?"

Clarille wasn't sure how to answer that question. What had she been doing? Talking, mostly. Flirting. The kiss. But what about Berver, and their dreams of becoming sisters? It was all so confusing. So she shied away from the whole truth. "Mostly just talking. He was very interested in my family's wine. For merchant purposes, of course. He told me about what kinds sell best where. It was quite interesting."

Brylow shook her head. "I don't know how you can talk about that for so long. Oh well." She shrugged with a smile. "You've always been good at that business stuff, haven't you?"

"Yes, I guess so," Clarille agreed. "Were my parents really looking for me?"

"Oh, yes. They were. This way," Brylow said, taking her hand.

They found Clarille's parents quickly. To her relief, they didn't ask about Keridel. They simply declared that it was getting late, and they were leaving the party. She would have rather stayed, but Brylow agreed that it was late and decided to retire as well. While Clarille's parents went to the rooms they had been given, Brylow whisked Clarille off to her chamber.