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.His mentor simply raised that eyebrow a little higher, though Tannim could not imagine how he'ddone it."No," he replied.CHAPTER FIVE"Well," Tannim said as they walked into the suite."It's not home, but it's much."Chinthliss gazed about with delight and immediately began exploring all of the amenities.Joe wasperfectly willing to show him around.Once they reached the bedrooms, with amazingly spacious closets, Chinthliss produced luggage fromsomewhere.Armani, of course.Tannim had no idea where the luggage had appeared from, since thedragon hadn't brought anything across the Gate and hadn't loaded anything into the Mach I.Still,Chinthliss spent the first half hour unpacking.And people accuse me of being a clotheshorse! Then again, Chinthliss didn't wear this form veryoften, and Tannim knew he found the concept of clothing-as-persona fascinating.Just please, God,don't let him have brought any leisure suits.Tannim waited, joked, and curbed his own impatience.There was no point in rushing Chinthliss.Hewould get around to the problem at hand when he felt settled, and not before.Rush him, and youwere apt to end up with more trouble than you had in the first place.At least he was happy with the suite, which was a relief.When Chinthliss was annoyed, he grewuncooperative, and right now, Tannim needed glasnost more than detente.His old friend finished with his prowling and settled onto the sofa in the living room as Tannimtuned in the local classical station on the radio/TV console.On the table at his mentor's elbowwas a tall cola with a great deal of ice; unlike the elves, Chinthliss had no trouble withcaffeine, and unlike most of his relatives, he hated tea with a passion.His jacket had beentossed carelessly over the back of a chair, and he had rolled his silk shirtsleeves up to hiselbows.He was ready to work."Now, tell me again everything that has happened when this young lady appeared, in as much detailas you can recall," Chinthliss ordered, leaning forward to listen intently.The topaz eyes of thedragon bolo tie at his neck glowed with their own muted power.Tannim obeyed, closing his eyes to concentrate.When he finished, he fished the gloves out of hisjeans pocket and handed them over."They're custom work, I can tell that much," he said asChinthliss studied the gloves minutely, then applied the same care to studying the parchmentfile:///F|/rah/Mercedes%20Lackey/Lackey,%20Me.Serrated%20Edge%204%20-%20Chrome%20Circle.txt (53 of 173) [6/4/03 10:33:36 PM]file:///F|/rah/Mercedes%20Lackey/Lackey,%20Mercedes%20-%20Serrated%20Edge%204%20-%20Chrome%20Circle.txtslips."I didn't realize it until later, but they're both from the right hand, so evidently shedoesn't mind wasting whole pairs of custom-made gloves.There's no maker's mark on them, nolabels, and the leather isn't stamped.I think they're deerskin, but they're made of very lightleather, lighter than any deerskin I've ever seen.They seem to be hand-stitched—""They are," Chinthliss interrupted."With silk thread, which is unusual, to say the least.And the`string' of the backs is also silk."Tannim gnawed his lip, and reached into the pocket over his right thigh for a cherry-pop."Wherewould anyone get silk yarn like that?" he asked, as he unwrapped the candy and stuck it in hischeek.Chinthliss shook his head."It is available in your world, but not in too many places," hereplied."And the supply is very limited.It is silk noil, made from the outer, coarser threads ofthe cocoon.It is normally used to weave heavier material with a rougher texture than this—" Hepointed to his shirt."Under most circumstances, one would not waste such threads, however coarse,on making string for driving gloves.Unless—""Unless?" Tannim prompted."Unless the wearer wished to make use of some of the magical properties of silk as an insulator,"Chinthliss said, and shook his head."The leather is unusual also; not deerskin, but fawnskin.Very difficult to obtain, and unless I mistake your laws, not legal in this country.The paper, asyou probably noticed, has no watermark, and the texture is too even; it might not have beenmanufactured, it might have been produced magically.The quotes were written with a real quillpen, not metal, but a goose-quill; you can see how the nib has worn down on the longer piece bythe time she reached the end of the quote.See there, where the lines are just a little thicker.The ink is of an old style that does not dry quickly and must have sand sprinkled over it to takeup the excess.Here—"He held out the second quote, and tilted the small square of paper to catch the light.Sureenough, the light sparkled off a few crystals of sand stuck in the ink."All of this points in only one direction, unless your mysterious lady is so very eccentric thatshe drives modern cars yet uses the most archaic of writing implements.And unless she is so verywealthy that she can afford to discard hand-tailored driving gloves made with materials one wouldhave to search the world to find.""Well, we knew she must be using magic," Joe said thoughtfully."But you're implying there's morethan that."Chinthliss nodded."These small things indicate a radically different upbringing than you wouldfind in your America, Tannim.I believe these things indicate that she cannot be from thisculture, perhaps not this world.She may well not be human."Joe looked queasy.Tannim wasn't so sure about his own health at the moment."Unless she was using illusion to change her eyes, she isn't Sidhe," Tannim interjected."TheSidhe all have cat-eyes, with slit pupils, not round.""But most, if not all Sidhe, Seleighe and Unseleighe, use illusion to cover their differences whendealing with mortals," Chinthliss countered."There is no reason to think that she would changethat pattern with you."Tannim sucked thoughtfully on the cherry-pop and nodded."Why two right-hand gloves?" he asked
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Tematy
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Chrome George Nader
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