A Pleasant Surprise

Writers: AL, Jane
Date Posted: 4th June 2009

Characters: Zathris, Zandreu
Description: Zathris, the new Lord Holder, visits the Vintner Hall Tavern.
Location: Vintner Hall
Date: month 3, day 3 of Turn 5

Zathris

The Tavern looked exactly the same. Of course, why should it have
changed? So much had changed in his life, his position, his workload,
but the Tavern didn't look any different than it had before he had been
chosen as Lord of Amber Hills. Zathris slipped into a chair at the table
he took whenever it was unoccupied and leaned back.

"Good evening, Lord Zathris," Zandreu said, his tone dry and his austere
features betraying a little of his amusement at the new situation at the
Hold. "This is a pleasant surprise."

"Please, just call me Zathris." He knew that Zandreu would not be
disrespectful toward him and besides, the Tavern Master was a friend.
"And considering that I'm in here at least once a sevenday, why is this
a surprise?"

"When you were last here you were one of the understewards," Zandreu
pointed out. "You can't say things haven't changed."

"Some things will never change." Zathris shook his head then sighed.
"I'll still come here, though it will probably be less often."

"I'm sure they have cooks as good as -" the Tavern Master leaned closer
to the other man and lowered his voice, "- or better than - Barthella at
the Hold." He shrugged as he sat down opposite the new Lord Holder. "And
you can just buy what you want in the way of ale and wine." Even as he
said it the master vintner could see the disadvantages of such changes.
It might not be all that good to no longer have a reason to visit the
Tavern.

"Are you trying to run me off?" Zathris leaned toward the Tavernmaster,
his lips curling into a grin. "Have you tired of me now?"

"You know we'll never tire of your marks," Zandreu said, his tone warm
enough that the words couldn't cause offence. "It will be interesting to
see how _you_ get on in here. What if people think this is the best
place to corner their Lord Holder for a private 'chat' about whatever
they think you can do for them?"

"I never thought of that." Zathris gazed around the room, almost empty
save for them and a couple in the corner who didn't even seem to notice
that the new Lord Holder was visiting. "I suppose it's a good thing I
came at a quiet time of the day. Perhaps I shall have to form a policy
about mixing business and pleasure."

"When you decide on it let us know and we'll do what we can to help you.
How's your lovely wife taken the news?"

"Well, she said she was both surprised and not surprised." Zathris
smiled as one of the ladies of the tavern brought him his usual and
waited to explain until after he had taken a sip. "She said she was
surprised that Nimroy or another son wasn't chosen, but not surprised
because she has quite the confidence in me."

"Good response. And does she think she'll enjoy being the Lady Holder?"
Enjoy it or not, she simply _was_ that now.

"I think so. Benani likes to take care of people and now she gets to
take care of an entire hold." Zathris also knew she was not the sort of
Lady Holder to merely direct - Benani would get her hands dirty if she
had to. "She'll probably do better at her job than me."

"A different job, I'm sure. What do your family think of it? Your
siblings - Do you have some?"

"Yes, I do. My father, surprisingly, supported the decision to make me
Lord Holder." Maybe Ethris had simply been happy to put Zathris in a
position where he couldn't argue the inheritance of Jade Harbour. "As
for my other siblings, I have quite a few, both from marriages and
mistresses." Ethris did quite a few things that Zathris didn't approve
of. "I'm not sure what they think."

"Not close to them?" Zandreu's own relationships with family members had
been strained to breaking point many Turns before and he had had no
contact with them since then.

"Not that close, not that distant, I just haven't heard from any of them
since the announcement yesterday." Granted, firelizards traveled
quickly, but it really didn't surprise Zathris. "They're probably still
trying to soak it in."

"Well, so are most of us, I think. How are your brother's by marriage
taking it?" Zandreu asked, then held up his hand. "Don't tell me if
you'd rather not."

"No, it's fine." Zathris pondered the question for a moment. "Nimroy
seems to be taking it better than I expected. The others? Well...it's
hard to say. I'm sure there are feelings they aren't letting show about
the matter."

"Strange way to live," Zandreu said with a wry smile. "Have to say I
don't envy you."

"I'm sure things will settle down soon." Zathris eased back in his
chair. "In the mean time, how about something to eat?"

Zandreu waved at the hovering table staff member. "Let's see what we
have fit for a Lord Holder, then, shall we?"

Last updated on the June 21st 2009

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A Pleasant Surprise