all she needed to know.
Tolo looked scandalized, but at least the bowing was forgotten in his shock. “It wouldn’t be proper.”
“Seems to me, we were never very proper, my friend,” Tigh chided. “After this circus is over, I want you to accompany us back to our rooms for a nightcap. We have much to discuss, and you are one of the few I can trust implicitly.” Tigh’s expression grew more serious, and Tolo forgot his discomfort. Ginny liked the glint in his eye as he stood facing Tigh. These men were clearly cut from the same noble cloth and knew each other well enough to not need a huge explanation when one needed help from the other.
“Jurdan will no doubt organize protection for you. I aim to be part of that group,” Tolo assured Tigh with a grimly determined look on his chiseled face.
“Meet us here when the meal is over, and we’ll discuss it more in private. I’m sorry I dragged you away from your dinner.” Tigh laughed, but his friend took his easy words as dismissal.
“Yes, my liege.” Tolo backed away, making a short bow as he left, and Tigh sighed.
Ginny took Tigh’s hand and squeezed. “This bowing and scraping stuff is going to get old really fast.” Her tone was matter-of-fact but elicited the desired response when Tigh laughed out loud. He turned, sweeping her into a brief hug, a smile lighting his eyes.
“You’re good for me, Ginny.” He kissed her cheek and set her away. “But you’re right. We’re going to have to work through this in the early days until our friends find their footing with our new status. It’ll be up to us to put them at ease enough to work with us, but still maintain the respect of the rest of our people. It’s a fine line my parents were able to walk successfully, though from what I hear, Elius swept away all their informality and instituted a lot of the bowing and scraping we’re seeing now. It’ll be up to us to change it back. I think we’re already off to a good start.”
Tigh helped her back up onto the dais with a solicitous hand. “If you say so.”
After the meal was mostly over, it was time for the speeches. Tigh had warned her that she’d be called upon to formally introduce her crew and family to the entire assembly. She didn’t mind. As a ship’s captain, she’d gotten used to speaking in public on the spur of the moment. She even took pride in the fact that she barely ever got tongue-tied anymore, though she’d no doubt said some really stupid things during her early days of command.
Tigh had introduced his circle of advisors and some of the palace officials first. The steward was an austere man who’d retired from soldiering to run the palace with military precision. There were others in the hierarchy of the palace that had been put in place when Tigh took over, such as Xeer, who’d been on the ship and now headed up the palace guard. A few others had performed different duties aboard ship and were now resuming their regular posts.
When it came Ginny’s turn, she stood to address the assembled men with only a little trepidation. She knew many of them from the voyage here, and if she was any judge of expressions, most of the rest were reasonably receptive to her and her crew. Regardless, she decided to keep the introductions short, sweet and to the point. She gave name, rank, and a brief background for each of her women that touched on their military careers but avoided anything truly sensitive about their personal lives. Ginny figured those things would come out—or not—at each woman’s discretion.
The crowd seemed already in awe of Henny, so Ginny felt free to tell them a little bit about her father’s dojo and accomplishments in addition to the regular fare. Henny was proud of her family’s history but reticent to speak of their accomplishments. Ginny had known the family almost her whole life and felt no such compunction. She missed the men of Henny’s family as much as she missed her own father and brothers, and she respected the knowledge they’d passed down to Henny and to her that had saved their lives more than once during the war.
Ginny saved the introduction of her mother, aunt and cousin for last. Her young cousin was only eighteen and visibly dazzled by all the masculine beauty in that hall.