Return to Eddarta by Randall Garrett

that I would see Tarani.
    She was something to see.
    And I thought I was going to some trouble to look nice tonight
, I thought.
No wonder I haven’t seen her at all today. She must have spent the whole day shopping and sewing.
    From the corner of my eye, I caught a movement in a doorway down the hall. Milda was hovering there, peeking around the corner.
    Dear Aunt Milda
, I thought.
She must have had a lot of fun today, helping and keeping the secret.
    From the multitude of fabric colors available in Raithskar, Tarani had chosen black. Her outfit was made up of a loose, bell-sleeved tunic and full-legged trousers. The high collar and hem of the tunic, as well as the edges of sleeves and trouser legs, were decorated with a pattern made up of hundreds of small, shiny black beads.
    There’s no way she could have sewn each of those beads in the time she had
, I thought.
Someone must specialize in making beaded trim.
    Tarani smiled when she saw us, and did a small turn down the last three steps. Like the blue gown she had designed for her performances, her new outfit was designed to enhance the movements of dancing. The material draped in graceful folds as she walked, but swirled out at hips and ankles when she turned her body. The lightly weighted hems were responsive to her every movement.
    Thanasset still had his mouth open. Milda couldn’t stand it; she came from the dining room to join us in admiring Tarani.
    The girl’s looks came from her genetic link to the Lords of Eddarta, and were very rare on this side of the Morkadahls. She was tall, with very dark headfur that made the widow’s peak above her supraorbital ridge much more noticeable. Her cheeks were high, with narrow planes joining them to a small chin. The dramatic outfit enhanced the contrast between her pale skin and silky headfur, and made her black eyes seem larger.
    She had the kind of raw beauty that quickened the heart. She had enhanced it artfully, and her glow of pleasure at our obvious admiration added to it. The final touch was the spark of appreciation that lit her eyes when they rested on me.

6
    I had taken Illia to the same places I took Tarani that night, but I felt no sense of nostalgia or déjà vu. The women were too different; I wasn’t the same man; and the city had changed.
    Illia’s golden beauty had caught appreciative looks on that other night, but Tarani turned heads wherever we went. It was more than her striking looks and the stunning, dramatic outfit. It was the way she carried herself and kept her attention on me, as if she had no awareness of the sensation she was creating.
    She was born to be a queen
, I thought, as we entered the Moonrise Restaurant. The next logical thought jolted me so that I must have twitched physically. Tarani felt it through my hand on her elbow, and looked at me with concern. I smiled, shook my head, and we continued following the host to the table he had selected.
    Queen of Eddarta
, I repeated in my thoughts, as we sat.
All our talk of destiny
—
we’ve been assuming that “destiny” brought us together for a permanent alliance. What if we’re wrong?
    “Rikardon?” Tarani asked, leaning over the corner of the tile-topped table. “Something disturbs you?”
    I put my hand over hers. “Nothing we need to talk about tonight, love,” I said.
    She looked at the patterns in the tile. “Are you eager to be moving again?” I felt the tension in her fingers. “It should be possible soon… .”
    I touched her chin with my hand, and she lifted her face to look at me. “I’m eager to do nothing but enjoy this evening, Tarani. I haven’t told you tonight—perhaps I’ve never told you, now that I think of it—how beautiful you are, how proud I am you care for me, how just being with you gives me a sense of wholeness, but not of complacency. You excite my mind, feelings, and my body. I feel challenged and powerful when I’m with you, Tarani, and”—my voice faltered, as I realized what I was