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And after a while, the door opened.
A woman appeared; small, delicate-featured, with short dark hair cropped in a similar style to Arin’s. She wore a one-piece suit with a zipper down the front. A pair of large metal hoops adorned her ears.
She said something in human-speak. Arin responded, then switched to Universal. “Do you speak Universal? For the benefit of my companion here. Itisthe universal language, after all.”
The woman looked him up and down, her expression unreadable. “Of course.” She changed language seamlessly. “I’m Caity, but you already know that. Come in. You’re early.”
Senses extended, Ash followed Arin inside.
The door swung shut behind them.
They were in an antechamber of sorts; a small space with a void above, where a simple glass window allowed the wan daylight to filter through.
The woman turned to them. “So you’re the buyers.” She sighed. “Which one of you plays?”
“Neither,” Arin said smoothly.
“Well, I hope you’re not buying on behalf of a collector who won’t even play the bloody thing. I don’t sell to collectors anymore. Not since…” She crossed her arms shook her head. “If I’m to sell you any one of my instruments, then you’re going to have to at least prove to me that your client is a serious player. These are rare, incredibly valuable items. We can’t actually produce tones like this in modern pianos anymore.”
“The one I’m buying for is exceptionally skilled,” Ashrael said coolly. “If I find that your skills and wares are of suitable quality, we will take this matter further.”
“Huh,” Caity remarked, letting out a small puff of exasperation. But she was a little surprised, too. He could see it in the slight widening of her eyes. “Well, come on, then.”
Abruptly, she turned on her heel and led them down the corridor. They emerged in a large hall that was lined with big metal-framed windows.
Humans loved their windows. Ashrael didn’t care for them. He much preferred solid walls. Enemies couldn’t snipe through solid walls—mostof the time.
But the windows were the least of his concern right now. He heard Arin’s soft intake of breath.
“Wow,” she murmured.
There were three.Pianos.Dark and gleaming. Curved and elegant, lids propped open like wings on a ship. Keys reflecting the light particles. He smelled ancient wood and oils and seasoned metal.
There was something strangely comforting about that smell; he could never have experienced something like this on Kythia, because things didn’tgrowon Kythia.
Actually, no. There was something. The ancient parchments in his Black Library. Once upon a time, eons ago, therehadbeen sunlight on Kythia.
Part of him could understand why his mate had never warmed to the perfectly harmonized, technological versions of these instruments. She grew bored of them; she yearned for what she called thereal thing.
And he’d found them here, at her artful suggestion, and with Arin’s help. These strange machines, that could produce the most mesmerizing of sounds.
When she played, itdidsomething to him.
The sounds filled the emptiness in him.
“It’s your choice at the end of the day, but I’d recommend you look at theChroustover there. It’s a medium grand. I acquired that one over there six months ago. I’ve just finished working on it.” Caity pointed to the smallest of the three; a model with ornate carvings around the legs. “It’s about four hundred years old. The soundboard has been completely reconditioned, and it’s been restrung. Beautiful rich, mellow tone. It’ll sound even better when it’s been played a bit. Give it a try.”
Ashrael glanced at Arin, who shook her head. “I don’t play atall.”
He glanced at the keys, remembering how Noa’s fingers had danced across her very own piano—a small, old one in her apartment on Earth. It was anupright,she’d told him, shaped differently to these grand, flowing instruments, and in need of some restoration.
There was a certain resonance that he couldn’t forget. The distinct musical notes vibrated the air around them, and he could tell them apart through his sense of theka’qui.
The music was more than just sound; it was a manipulation of the energy in space.
Of theka’quiitself.
He walked over to the instrument and pressed one of the keys, the way he’d seen Noali do it, only his movement was awkward and tentative.
