The Veil - Chapter 14 Part 2

Qui studied Obi out of the corner of her eye, trying to dissect his feelings from his expression. He opened a door for her, his eyes seeming to pierce through the veil, making her wish she had chosen her thickest one even though it made the world mere shadows. She normally only wore it in her home when she had a particularly ugly client, and it would have been a nightmare to walk through the streets nearly blind.

They stood there, him respectfully waiting by the door, her looking up into his face, patiently watching. Catching the tenseness in his neck as he tilted his head into the room, she smiled in triumph as he blinked quickly. “Please, Ms. Taliop, into my office.” His words were clipped which made her chuckle softly.

“Whatever you say, darling.”

The glare he shot her was perfect. He nodded at Mr. Fughi who was staring at them both suspiciously and closed the door softly.

“What do you think you’re doing here?” he asked in little more than a whisper as he sat behind his desk. It was a classic move to assert dominance. She was insulted he tried it on her. She stood before him, ignoring the chairs for the moment.

Slowly, she approached the desk before leaning on it languidly. She watched his eyes sample her figure for a split second before jerking back to her face. “I just had to come see you.”

An eyebrow slowly rose. “Why aren’t you with my nephew? That’s what I’m paying you for.” His eyes flickered down to her leg as she sat on the edge of his desk.

“You know,” she murmured huskily, edging papers out of the way with her toe as she stretched her leg out, “I always imagined you’d be one to have a neat desk.”

His thoughts were plastered over his face as he stared disapprovingly at her slipper. “What can I say, I’m full of surprises.”

She wondered at him. Despite the obvious irritation, he didn’t seem flustered or out of control. In fact, as he continued to frown at her slipper, she began to feel like a fool. Her face felt hot under the thin cloth, and it was a struggle not to lower her leg sheepishly.

After a long moment of silence where Obi seemed to merely be pondering the state the world must be in if a woman was sitting on his desk, he looked up at her, appearing mildly interested. “Why did you say you were here?”

Angry at herself for being flustered and at him for not falling for her charms, Qui through the cards down on the desk. “Do you know what these cards are?” she demanded, standing again, hands on hips. There was a moment where her pride was saved at the surprise that flickered over her lips, opening his lips and widening his eyes before he glanced up at her with a questioning smile. “I see Lekan gave you my cards. Last time I give the boy a present.”

She leaned over the desk, this time caught up in the seething anger that she had held back to try to toy with Obi. “First,” she hissed, too close to his face to be comfortable though she definitely couldn’t back away now, “I don’t share clients. Second, these cards mean something, and I don’t think you’re stupid enough not to know that.

He didn’t move back as he had hoped, merely blinking slowly. “I… see.” Linking his hands, he smiled into her veil, his eyes flicking around the folds shielding her face. “You’re from the far east, are you?” His eyes slid down her body now in a mocking way, making her want to cross her arms across her chest. “Maybe I should have guessed. Where’d your accent go?” He seemed honestly curious. “Why did you come here?”

She was choked with fury and was quiet for long moments rather than risk stuttering. “In a country where my people are considered nothing more than conquered item, I quickly learned to lose my culture.” She berated herself for the bitterness evident in the snap of her words.

Pity rested in his eyes as he studied her, no longer as a whore but as a person. “I know what it means,” he breathed, his words soft in the silent room. “They were a signal in the far east during the Nidite invasion. An organization that spread across tribes had begun to form. Most of their victories were accomplished via secrecy and surprise. The cards were a code that was never picked up by the Nidite army. Different games had different meanings.” He shuffled the cards slowly. “Really, I think this system is a large reason behind the reason why the natives of the far east were able to take back their land.”

“Do you know what the new system of government did to the far east?” she asked, sitting in one of the chairs in front of the desk. The battle for authority was over; a truce had been agreed upon.

His voice was flat. “Tore it apart. Genocide ravaged the new country for a while and then a dictator, Mistress Meboni, I believe, took over. She’s still in power despite riots and unrest throughout the country. The nomadic lifestyle that marked the far east before the invasion is all but dead.” His face was emotionless. The facts that fell from his lips were lifeless.

She licked her lips, her accusations fighting against her tongue. “You know what most of my people said?”

“What?” He already knew what she was going to say. She could tell.

“That we wouldn’t have had a chance without the good luck of finding about the supply train and the schedule. Really, that amount of luck is shocking, don’t you think?” Her words whipped through the hair and he crossed his legs slowly, ankle over knee, leaning back in his chair.

“Qui’in, why do you where that veil?”

Blinking, she tried to reorient herself. “Ah…” She almost refused to tell him as she normally did, but then she remembered what she’d told Lekan. The kid might say something anyways. “I was in with the wrong crowd. I trusted the wrong guy. He scarred me up.”

“Interesting. Is that what you tell all of your curious customers or do you tell each of them a different story?” He head was tilted to the left ever so slightly, and his eyes crinkled as if he thought he’d won something.

“Ah… I… Um…” She cleared her throat as he began to laugh, wondering how this man take her by surprise.

“Dear, Qui’in,” he practically sang, “Do you expect me to give up my secrets when you won’t give up yours?”