The Wraiths of Will and Pleasure - By Storm Constantine Page 0,257

concerning the activities of the later part of the evening, when he would have to return to his bedroom and wait alone for Azriel to come to him. Lileem realised she was so consumed with envy about this that she was literally seeing red. Everything had a ruddy tinge to it, which was not just an effect of the splendid sunset.

Lanterns were lit in the trees and the great window doors to Forever’s function room were thrown wide to the night. Inside, the house was lit by candles and boughs of evergreen had been fixed to the walls. Displays of white flowers and dark green leaves covered every surface that wasn’t covered in food and drink. The Parsics had spared no expense for their guests. This would be an occasion to remember.

Lileem stood against a wall, still drinking wine. At last she’d managed to freeze the Zigane off. Tel-an-Kaa had given up with her, and Lileem didn’t blame her. Hara had begun to dance to the reel of pipes and drums. Flick must have been drinking too, because he was smiling now.

Again I am ghost at the threshold, Lileem thought. I am standing at the edge of the light, looking in.

She saw Swift bow to Ulaume and lead him onto the dance floor. She saw Aleeme so radiant he looked like a star. Every happy face was like a grinning demon to her. She needed to get away. Empty glass too. Better refill it. She was just about to move away, when her skin prickled unaccountably. She glanced quickly at the doors to the terrace. A tall dark har stood there, gazing round himself. Lileem nearly vomited with shock. It was Terez. He had arrived late. Perhaps Pellaz had instructed him to. He was dressed in Gelaming attire, his black hair shining over his shoulders and breast. To somehar half blind, it would be obvious he was closely related to the Tigron. Pellaz walked across the room to his brother and took him by the arm. He led him back to the high table, where the families of Aleeme and Azriel were sitting. Most of them, anyway. As if this thought was an invocation, Lileem felt a presence sidle up beside her and jumped a little. She turned and saw a fair-haired, bony-faced young har had come to stand next to her.

‘You’re having fun, aren’t you,’ he said in a cold sarcastic tone. He was skinny, but somehow good enough to eat.

‘Go away,’ Lileem said. ‘Do it now, because this is a party and I mustn’t be impolite. If you stay, I shall be forced to swear at you.’

‘It’s a shit party,’ said the har. ‘A shit party for sheep.’

Lileem examined him for a moment. She was jolted by a sense of recognition for a har she had never met. ‘You must be Cal’s son,’ she said. ‘Tyson. I’ve heard about you.’

The har gave her a mordant glance. ‘You’re a friend of that Flick’s aren’t you?’

‘Yes.’

Tyson grimaced. ‘And he’s a big friend of Pellaz-tiahaar-wonderful. There are insanity warrants as well as death warrants, you know. One time, Aralis signed one for my hostling. Signed it in blood.’

Lileem made a vague sound. This was not what she wanted. ‘Oh well, as we all know, first generation are all neurotic. Just thank everything that’s sacred you don’t have to be like them. Look, is there something more interesting we can do? I’m really bored and really drunk. I don’t mean anything roony by that, by the way, in case you were wondering.’

Tyson sniggered. ‘You’re weird. That’s why I came over. I can spot weird hara really easily, only you’re not har. I asked Kaa about you. She said you’re human. You don’t seem like it. You do seem pissed off, however.’

‘Yeah, well,’ Lileem said. ‘What do you do for fun?’

‘I’ve got some sheh, and some smoking weed. We could go outside and seek oblivion beneath the stars.’

‘Better than this oblivion,’ Lileem said. ‘Lead on.’

She followed Tyson to the garden, stealing a glance at the high table as she did so. Terez was paying close attention to Pellaz, rather in the manner of a devoted hound sitting at the feet of its master, tail thumping against the floor. He must have felt Lileem’s attention upon him, however, because for a moment, he turned his head to stare right at her. Lileem’s body went hot, then cold. She held his dark gaze with her own for a moment, but then Terez’s eyes appeared to