“You want to perform a tea ceremony for me now,” Iryasa echoes flatly. “Here.” “Here and now,” I agree. I use water from a bottle to fill the teapot. Yorani breathes magical fire inside to heat the water. I look up at Iryasa: ready; waiting. She holds my gaze for a long moment. Then, at … More Royal Tea Service: Chapter 26
I lead Iryasa to my old apartment, and we don’t speak. Except for one moment. Yorani hides in my bag, remarkably still—I think she’s amused by the stealth operation of our trying to pass through the streets without being recognized. If Iryasa is noticeable, Yorani is even more so. I take us on a shortcut … More Royal Tea Service: Chapter 25
Simply beginning a negotiation like this is a complicated process in its own right. It is not enough to set a start time for a meeting, expect all invited parties to arrive, and set to work. It takes most of the morning for all the ambassadors and their attendants to make their appearance at all, … More Royal Tea Service: Chapter 17
Saiyana has confirmed: only one day remains before the delegates for the summit will have all arrived, and I’ll meet everyone together for the first time. One day remains, and I’m already exhausted before the summit has even begun. I told Karisa that this was the work, that even if it’s not dramatic it’s harder, … More Royal Tea Service: Chapter 14
The rest of the day at the tea shop feels even busier than it is, which is quite, because my mind is trying to hold too many plans at once. I believe myself to be a fairly capable manager, but trying to do so much at once is taxing my ability to serve well all … More Royal Tea Service: Chapter 11
Tamak leads us swiftly and silently away from Talmeri’s. “Do you know where we’re going?” I ask. He shrugs. “They haven’t stopped yet. But we can catch up. They’re not moving that fast.” He cocks his head to the side. “No, they’re slowing down. I think it’s the bookshop.” The bookshop? Karisa has never been … More Royal Tea Service: Chapter 9
For lunch I send a courier to bring us back plates of Gaellani sweet soy noodles to eat at the Te Murak headquarters. No one will think anything of it, since many Te Muraka aren’t comfortable outside among people yet, and it allows Iryasa and Sa Rangim to eat together unobserved. Even a dish as … More Royal Tea Service: Chapter 6
Iryasa resumes walking with me, but slower. Yorani takes the moment to scurry to my other shoulder for a different vantage point. “I always intended to meet the Te Muraka, of course,” she says. “They were another sovereign people we have only begun integrating into our own. But I admit I thought it would be … More Royal Tea Service: Chapter 5
When I awake the next morning, Deniel is already gone. Disappointment fills me. It’s not as though we had anything particular planned, and yet I realize now I hoped we would both be here upon waking, jointly starting our first day of living together. While I didn’t think he had any reason to be up … More Royal Tea Service: Chapter 4
At a loud thud from behind me, I turn past the altar and its flickering fire that indicates a change in the air to meet Deniel’s gaze, and my chest constricts. Air, that knows no boundaries, as I have plunged myself headlong into another world-shattering plot. And this time, on purpose. A familiar knock shatters … More Royal Tea Service: Chapter 3
