Wishbone: Chapter 15

On an unseasonably cool autumn evening, Sir vanished into a carriage with Ah Jiniráo. Wishbone watched the carriage turn a corner and disappear, then realized he was chewing on his nails and went back inside to read the note that Sir had left for him.

Mai Zarian will send for you. Dress your best and treat him with more respect than you do me.

Sir had arranged for Terefar to attend Diah Jojaan, explaining to Wishbone that the diplomat deserved more sweetness in his life. The wathara had already gone. Wishbone got dressed, packed another set of clothes, and said farewell to Cook and Telia. Then he boarded the little one-horse trap that Mai Zarian sent for him and rode to the other side of the hill.

Wishbone had been there before to carry messages. Mai Zarian's home was low and unobtrusive on a dead-end street. An impeccably polite wathara saw Wishbone inside to a well-appointed parlor rich with wood and brocade wall panels. Conscious of his instructions, Wishbone stood and didn't move even to scratch where his collar itched. He did not sit down until Mai Zarian arrived and told him to. The wathara brought them warmed wine and set a candle upon the table.

"Look at me," said Mai Zarian. "Eye to eye."

Wishbone did so, feeling painfully self-conscious. He observed the extra touch of gray in Mai Zarian's straight mane and the subtle signs of age that the candle revealed about the shih-aan's face. His eyes were...