enthusiastically endorse such a coalition, obviously because they were the only two states, as yet, under occupation by the Four Tyrants. For the rest, he had to cut deals and make promises. For the Kinathins he agreed to fight tirelessly for the end of slavery in the Realm. For all of them, he had to promise he too would provide warships to the coalition, warships in quantities he didn’t yet have.
His one big disappointment was Telka. She alone could provide thirty or forty warships to a coalition armada, and her support would be critical to bring in Rierma, Band, Chelko, Harrimo, and Sig. The five of them, while smaller houses, could together muster another thirty or so warships. But there had been no contact from Telka, no response that she would meet Edwin Chevard here, and her absence—and that of the others—cut the strength of his armada in half.
The night before he was to return to Starfall he had invited Del to dinner at Momma Toofat’s, where he’d arranged with Momma for a candlelit dinner in a private room. He hadn’t planned on taking her to Momma’s, but Del insisted, and when he tried to refuse, Momma came personally and threatened to hit him upside the head with a big rolling pin.
Delilah wore a bright red evening gown cut quite low in the front, even lower in the back, and fashioned from a lacy fabric that was ever so slightly translucent in the most enticing places. Charlie tried not to stare, but couldn’t help stealing glances whenever possible. And of course she caught him at it repeatedly, seemed fully aware of the effect she had on him.
Momma’s place on Andyne-Borregga was actually two distinct establishments with separate entrances, a spacer bar on one side and a nice, though certainly not elegant, restaurant on the other. Janice, Trina, and Becky were all giggles and veiled looks as he escorted Del through the main dining room. Del saw them, waved, ran over to them and they all shared hugs. It surprised Charlie to learn that Del knew the girls. The four of them spoke in hushed tones for several seconds, their whispering punctuated by surreptitious glances his way.
Momma broke it up, personally hustled Charlie and Del into a small, private dining room in which a table for two had been meticulously prepared. The table was round with a cushioned bench seat wrapped halfway around it, the two place settings arrayed so that Charlie and Del sat side by side. Charlie thought it best not to tell Del that these were the rooms where the girls took their johns for dinner and drinks. The tables and seating were designed so that if a spacer got amorous in the middle of a meal, the girl was close at hand with no table separating them.
Charlie had no objection to the arrangement.
“You not ordering tonight,” Momma said. “Momma Toofat got the dinner all planned out; you just eat.”
After Momma left, Del said, “This should be interesting.”
“She’s a good cook,” Charlie said. “I mean, spacers in the bar are happy with slop. But for family, friends, while it’s not elegant, it’s damn good.”
Momma brought in a bottle of wine, accompanied by Trina with the first course. Charlie and Del ate, and they chatted amiably, and he hadn’t the faintest idea how to do this marriage proposal thing. Especially since she knew it was coming. Did she expect him to get down on one knee? He’d do that, if that’s what she wanted. But that didn’t seem like the Del he knew. He wrestled with the idea throughout dinner.
At one point he realized that if he was going to propose to her, he shouldn’t be keeping secrets, so he told her about the defenses at Starfall, and the coalition he was trying to put together. Her eyes widened as he spoke, then she leaned back and said, “Aagerbanne, Istanna, Toellan, Kinatha—all of them.”
“It’s still not enough,” he said. “I need Telka and the other duchies. Without them, it’s just not enough.”
“I might be able to help with Telka,” she said. She then got rather excited about the whole mess, and through the rest of the dinner she speculated on how to approach the Duchess. Charlie realized she probably could convince Telka to join them.
They finished the last course, and Momma brought them a couple of snifters with a splash of brandy. He could tell Del really enjoyed the food, and hopefully the company as well.