Talon had picked out the hooves every night and when resting at noon, so the animal must have picked up the stone along the last leg of the journey.
Jacob continued: “I’ll keep an eye on it.” He leaned forward and lowered his voice. With an evil grin, he said, “So, has Forney seen Ella talking to you yet?” Caleb didn’t look amused. Jacob turned to Talon. “My sister has set her cap at our friend here, but young Forney over there is determined to marry her.’’
Talon was still vague as to the marriage customs of these people, but he was beginning to sense things were nowhere near as formal among the city people—as he thought of everyone who wasn’t Orosini—as they had been at home. Not quite knowing what to say, Talon said nothing.
Caleb glanced over at Forney, then said to Jacob, “I’ve told your sister I like her, but you know as well as I do I’m a long way from marriage.” He got a distant look, then added softly, “If I ever do wed.” He gave them a slight smile. “Besides, if I read things right, Forney would have his work cut out for him even if I’d never set foot in Latagore.”
Jacob laughed. “He does get on Ella’s bad side more than most, for some reason. But then it’s all of a piece, isn’t it? You want what you can’t have.’’
Talon looked puzzled. Jacob noticed and said, “Ella wants Caleb here, but can’t have him, and Forney wants Ella and can’t have her. It’s the same, see?’’
Talon didn’t, entirely, but he nodded as if he did. After a moment, he said, “Who is he?’’
“Forney?” asked Jacob with a shrug. “He’s a good enough sort, but nothing special.’’
Caleb raised an eyebrow and gave Jacob a sardonic half smile.
“All right, so his father is the wealthiest shipper in the region.’’
Talon didn’t know much about people of wealth, save those who visited Kendrick’s, so he said, “He dresses much like the others.’’
“That’s his father’s doing. The old man wants the son to learn the business from the wagon hubs up. As I said, he’s not a bad sort.” Then he added, “Nothing like our mysterious traveling man, here.” He patted Caleb on the shoulder. “Ella’s had her cap set on him since she was . . . what? Fifteen?’’
“That was four years ago, Jacob.’’
Jacob nodded. “I keep telling her that if she got to know you, she’d change her mind, but you know how sisters are.’’
“Not really,” said Caleb. “I have a brother, remember?”
A strange expression passed over Jacob’s face. It was only for a bare instant, but Talon noticed it. Then, forcing lightness into his voice, Jacob said, “Magnus is hard to forget.” He pushed his chair back noisily and stood up. “Well, I have other duties to attend to. If you need anything, just ask.’’
“We’ll be fine,” said Caleb.
Talon waited for a moment for Jacob to leave, then said to Caleb, “There are so many things I don’t understand about you people.’’
“ ‘You people’?” repeated Caleb.
“You and Jacob, and those back at Kendrick’s.” He struggled with the concept. “People who are not Orosini.’’
Caleb glanced around the room. “It’s better that you forget you’re Orosini, at least when you’re within hearing range of strangers.”
“Why?”
“Someone went to a lot of trouble to see the Orosini dead, Talon. While you, alone, pose no threat to those people, the fact that you witnessed the calculated genocide of an entire nation makes you a potential . . . embarrassment.” He raised his voice. “Now, back to what you said; you don’t understand what?’’
Talon looked away as if unwilling to meet Caleb’s gaze. When he spoke again, his voice was quiet and flat. “The . . . banter, I think is the word. The . . . joking, but not joking speech.’’
“The teasing.’’
“Yes, that’s the word. Lela does it with me sometimes, and there are moments when I don’t know if she’s serious about what she’s saying or not.’’
Caleb shrugged. “That hardly makes you unique among young men, Talon.’’
“Perhaps, but you’re older than I am, and I thought—‘’
Caleb cut him off with a rare laugh. “I can be of no help to you, my young friend.” He leaned forward and looked into his mug of ale. “Someday, perhaps, you’ll meet the rest of my family and see where I was raised. But even if you never do, you should know that my upbringing was anything but ordinary.” He glanced up and smiled. “I grew up as a blind man would among the sighted.’’
“What do you mean?’’