But there were no young people on staff. There were never any young people. There had not been that many even in Najida. Though he had seen one or two on staff—they had never met. They would not presume to introduce themselves and he could never be so undignified as to run over and introduce himself—

Certainly not when he was with Great-grandmother, with all those people watching. He would have embarrassed the servants terribly.

It was just as hard to make bargains with anybody on staff. Except—

A plan began to come to him. He said, “Nadiin-ji, Eisi.”

“Eisi?” Jegari asked. Eisi and his cousin Lieidi were not the youngest servants. But he was one that had come from the eastern mountains, like Veijico and Lucasi. Most of the household staff was from Taiben, like Antaro and Jegari, and his father’s bodyguard, and the major domo, and their cook and kitchen staff; and the rest of the staff was from the north, his mother’s clan, Ajuri, and two young maids from Great-uncle’s clan, Atageini, which was his mother’s otherclan. Eisi and Lieidi had come in from where Father and Mother had been hiding out during the coup, and they were very trusted, but they also were very minor on the new staff, where the Taibeni major domo ran everything.

Servants had politics, just the same as everybody. Pay attention to the servants, mani had told him. Pay attention. Servants are your first defense, before a matter gets to your bodyguards.

“Tell Eisi and Liedi I want to see them,” he said.

“Now, nandi?” Jegari asked.

“Now will do,” he said. “Or later. I want to arrange for the plants to be watered.”

That drew a curious look from his bodyguard, but not a word of question. They had gotten close, he and his bodyguard, after everything that had gone on in the west. They might have figured out exactly what he was thinking.

“Yes,” Lucasi said, and left his bedroom and was gone a while.

Cajeiri set to looking into all his drawers and finding out where things were. Antaro and Jegari and Veijico set to doing exactly the same thing in their own quarters. Cajeiri cleared the middle drawer of his bureau, moving underclothes to the next drawer down, and opened one of his boxes, and moved his collection of curious sticks and rocks and such, and a perfectly good but bent spoon, a plain teacup with a chip in, and various other things he had gotten here and there. A sparkly pin mani had given him. It could be emeralds. He was not sure. But he took special care of it, and kept it in a little box. He had a ring he had outgrown, from when he had been a baby, and he had a shirt button, which he had liked when he was much younger. It was only a shirt button, but it had a pretty design in the glass. He had half an agate, which looked like a view across a bay. He had a stone from Malguri’s front walk, which he had picked up to remember mani’s home in every detail. He had one from Taiben, and he had left Great-uncle’s Tirnamardi in too great haste to have one, but he had several from Najida, three of them for the slingshotahe carried in his coat pocket—well, on less formal occasions.

He had arranged everything when he heard the outside door open, and he went back into the sitting room, with his bodyguard catching up to him at a fairly sedate pace. It was Lucasi, with Eisi, just Eisi.

“Nandi.” Eisi bowed. “One understands you wish to see us. Lieidi is with Cook at the moment, but Lucasi-nadi said I should just come.”

“One is gratified,” Cajeiri murmured with a little answering nod. “Eisi-nadi, I have a whole suite, and I have no staff. Would you be willing to take care of everything? One very much wishes you would be my staff, and nobody else, and I would arrange it with Siedi-nadi, so you would onlyhave my rooms to take care of, as if you were mymajor domo, and Lieidi would be your assistant.”

Eisi was a smallish young man, not a particularly handsome one, and he had no particular household skills, neither he nor his cousin.

“One hardly knows what to say,” Eisi answered. “One would be—one would be very pleased if Sieidi-nadi allowed it. If your father the aiji approved.”

“One hardly thinks there would be any trouble,” he said, “and I shall ask Siedi-nadi myself, if you will just do it. There are a lot of plants to take care of.”

“One understands a garden!” Eisi said. “One would be extremely attentive to it! So would my cousin!”

“Then you both shall be mystaff,” he said—he was very well aware it was a responsibility and that if he took them, he would have to take care of them forever, and they might not be the best or know everything they should. But he felt comfortable with them, more than with any of the staff, precisely because they did not have the fine manners and the high expectations of everybody else. He really, truly meant to do the very best for them and to expect man’chi, once he won it from them. They were country folk. Like nand’ Bren’s staff. And he was determined, now.

Sieidi-nadi, Father’s major domo, was out conducting the tour and supervising staff. So he said, “Wait here, nadi,” and he took Lucasi with him and went out and located the majordomo; the tour being over, Sieidi-nadi was supervising staff assisting in the kitchen and was very busy.

He called Sieidi-nadi over to a relatively quiet corner, with Lucasi standing by, and said, with a little bow:

“Nadi, I have so many plants, I need a staff.” He saw Sieidi’s look, just a little distracted, a very busy man presented just one more complicated thing to do. “And I have found staff who know what to do,” Cajeiri said quickly, “and they have agreed. Eisi and Lieidi were gardeners. They wantto do this. I have asked them to be my staff. I would like them to be official, and to be the onlyones to take care of my rooms, always, so no one will make a mistake. But one has to ask you, nadi, and one hopes you will say yes.”

“Of course,” Sieidi said. “Of course. An excellent opportunity for them, young gentleman, but they are country folk, knowing nothing of protocols.”

“But I am only a child,” he said, “and we shall all learn together! I am very glad, nadi, if you will do this!”

“Nandi,” Sieidi-nadi said, and bowed. “I shall make that assignment.”

“Thank you,” he said, “thank you, Sieidi-nadi!”

He went back to his rooms. Hisrooms. And hisstaff.

“Eisi-nadi,” he said triumphantly, “I have the major domo’s approval! You and Lieidi-nadi both are assigned to me, and you are to be the onlystaff, and you will keep the plants and do just a little tidying-up—we are really very neat, my aishid and I! My Great-grandmother would hit me if I left clothes about. You will just deliver laundry to the staff and hang my clothes and help me and my aishid dress and that sort of thing—I will explain when I need things. But when I ring, youare the ones to come, and nobody else! Ever!”

“Yes, nandi!” Eisi’s eyes were wide. He looked very happy. Very, very happy.

Cajeiri found himself happy, too, and feeling safein a way he had not been even in mani’s apartment, because mani’s servants were always snooping, and if not mani’s, his mother’s.

Now he had a place to be that was his, and whatever he wanted, two grown people would try to do, and he had his aishid, and he had his plants, and his furniture, and for only infelicitous eight going on felicitous nine, things were looking up.

And while Eisi was in the back rooms getting more particular instruction from his bodyguard and things about their belongings and about security in the place, he happily looked over the brass cage, and worked its doors, and slid the window of it up and down, just because they worked, and they were clever, how they were made. It made him happier still to imagine a parid’ja living in it—because that was one reason he had wanted just his own servants tending the room.