But all the humor had vanished from Yiv’s face. “He is here?” he asked.
Qilori nodded.
Abruptly, Yiv boomed out a laugh, the sudden sound startling all the others to silence. “A moment of leave, my fine friends,” he said with a cheerfulness that didn’t extend to his eyes. “I must bid you all farewell for a few moments. I suggest you avail yourselves of the lavish dining display provided by our hosts.”
Qilori waited until the crowd had cleared out. Then, at Yiv’s small gesture, he stepped to the Benevolent’s chair. “Thrawn?” Yiv asked, in a tone warning that Qilori had better not have interrupted him for anything less important.
“Yes, your Benevolence,” Qilori confirmed. “He’s at mid-distance behind me, dressed in Chiss formalwear.” He dared a smiling twitch of his winglets. “He’s traveling as an art expert under the name Svorno. He’s also heard of the Nikardun and would very much like to meet one.”
“Would he, now,” Yiv said, his symbionts settling into their epaulet pattern. “Let’s not disappoint him, then. Please; bring him over.”
“Yes, your Benevolence.”
Qilori turned and retraced his steps to where Thrawn was waiting. “Come with me,” he said. “General Yiv the Benevolent will see you now.”
“General Yiv,” Thrawn said, scowling. “A military type. So. Unlikely to know anything about his species’ art, then.”
“I really don’t know,” Qilori said, feeling sudden tension in his winglets. Surely Thrawn wasn’t going to back out of the meeting now? The consequences of such a blatant snub might be catastrophic, and not just to Thrawn and the Chiss. “But he might. You never know what bits of knowledge military people have tucked away. You should at least take a moment and ask him.”
Thrawn considered, then gave a small shrug. “Oh, very well. If only because I can’t properly retire to my quarters until my…companion…returns.”
“Yes, that’s—I’m sure you’ll find the general interesting,” Qilori said. Companion…but hadn’t he called the female a hostage before?
But that didn’t make any sense. What kind of hostage traveled openly with her captor? For that matter, since when did the Chiss culture deal with hostages? “Come with me.”
Yiv was waiting silently as the Pathfinder and Chiss approached, a half smile on his face, an unblinking gaze in his eyes. “Your Benevolence, may I present Artistic Master Svorno of the Chiss Ascendancy. Master Svorno, General Yiv the Benevolent of the Nikardun Destiny.”
“General,” Thrawn said, inclining his head in greeting. “I understand that you’re a military man.”
“That’s right, Art Master,” Yiv said. “I understand that you aren’t.”
A hint of a smile touched Thrawn’s lips. “Indeed,” he said. “A shame. Military men are so seldom interested in art.” He half turned and pointed to a large decorated cloth hanging from the ceiling to near the floor. “That tapestry over there, for instance. I would wager you haven’t even noticed it.”
“Of course I have,” Yiv said. “It hangs between the hard-drinks table and the private entrance to the premier’s office suite.”
“Really,” Thrawn said, looking back at the tapestry and the unassuming door beside it. “How do you know that’s the premier’s private door?”
“Because I’ve been in his office, of course,” Yiv said. “He and I have had many long and interesting conversations together. Would you be so good as to fetch me a drink?”
Thrawn half turned in the other direction, where a waiter was just passing by, and deftly plucked one of the sculpted glasses from his tray. “And the premier invited you in by that door?” he asked.
“No, I’ve always been brought in through the public entrance on the other side,” Yiv said. “But I have a skill with architecture, and it was obvious where the door marking the private entrance exited here into the grand assembly chamber.”
“I suppose I can understand the premier wanting a quick escape from the tedium of these events.” Thrawn sniffed at the drink, then stepped forward and offered it to Yiv. “I trust this will be to your liking.”
“I’m certain it will,” the Benevolent said. He held the glass up to his left shoulder, watching with casual interest as one of the symbiont’s tendrils slipped in and sampled the liquid. “Yes, I imagine the premier might occasionally wish to move back and forth between public and private events. I personally find it more interesting that the passageway between the two rooms is too long.”
“What do you mean, too long?”
“Longer than it should be, given the design of the area,” Yiv said. “I trust you aren’t offended by my little pet?”
“Not at all,” Thrawn assured him. “A poison detector, I presume?”
“Poisons and other inconveniences,” Yiv said. He pulled the glass away from the tendril, watched a moment as it continued to undulate, then took a sip of the drink. “They’re faster and more precise than most inorganic tests for such things. They also provide an interesting topic for conversation when all others lag.”
“Interesting that you say they.” Thrawn said. “I would assume the correct term was it.”
Yiv chuckled. “You see? Already it offers opportunity for discussion. Why would you guess the premier needs a too-long passageway?”
“I’m sure I don’t know,” Thrawn said. “Perhaps a hidden door built into the corridor wall leads to additional quarters or a sanctuary. Or perhaps the extra space is for a guard station to prevent others from using the shortcut. Tell me, what do you see in the design of the tapestry?”
“I’m hardly an expert,” Yiv protested mildly.
“You asked my thoughts on the premier’s private comings and goings,” Thrawn reminded him. “It only seems fair for you to indulge me in turn.”
Yiv took another sip and studied the cloth. “Symmetrical pattern,” he said. “Contrasting colors. Different sets of contrasting colors, becoming brighter and tending toward red and blue as it flows from top to bottom. The fringe on the left-hand edge seems shorter than the corresponding fringe on the right.”
“Shorter, and the threads are also slightly thicker than those on the right,” Thrawn said.
“Are they? I can’t tell from this distance.”
“I studied them earlier from a better vantage point.”
“Ah,” Yiv said. “The hanging itself is clearly old, which probably explains the inexpertise of its design and construction.”