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3f11a2b
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I went straight back to my room, surprising Mora and one of her staff in the act of packing up my trunk. Apologizing, I hastily unlaced the traveling gown and reached for my riding gear. Mora gave me a slight smile as she curtsied. "That's my job, my lady," she said. "You needn't apologize." I grinned at her as I pulled on the tunic. "Maybe it's not very courtly, but I feel bad when I make someone do a job twice." Mora only smiled as she ma..
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Sherwood Smith |
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dc8ba48
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As I topped the highest point, I turned to look out over the valley, with the river winding lazily through it, and almost missed the fast-moving dot half obscured by the fine, silvery curtain of rain. I reined in my horse, shaded my eyes, and squinted at the dot, which resolved into a horseback rider racking cross-country at incredible speed. Of course it could be anyone, but... Turning my eyes back to the road, I saw Lumm in the distance, ..
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Sherwood Smith |
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34e2154
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When I reached my rooms, I saw a letter lying on my table. Hastily stripping off my gloves, I sank down onto my pillows, heedless of the costly fabric of my court gown crinkling and billowing about me, and broke the seal with my finger. The Unknown had written:
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Sherwood Smith |
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882049c
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As we climbed, the air got colder. But when the woods closed around me at last, I forgot about the discomfort. I was breathing the scents of home again, the indefinable combination of loam and moss and wood and fern that I had loved all my life. And I sensed presence. The woods were quiet, except for the tapping of raindrops on leaves and, once or twice, the sudden crash and scamper of hidden animals breaking cover and retreating. No birds,..
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Sherwood Smith |
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d3c11fd
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I wanted your experience of Court to be as easy as possible. Your brother just shrugged off the initial barbs and affronts, but I knew they'd slay you. We did our best to protect you from them, though your handling of the situation with Tamara showed us that you were very capable of directing your own affairs." "What about Elenet?" I asked, and winced, hating to sound like the kind of jealous person I admired least. But the image of that go..
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Sherwood Smith |
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b07fa56
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Are you Countless of Tlanth?" she asked as I dismounted. I nodded, and she bustled over to a friend, handed off the horse, then beckoned me inside. "I'm to show you to the south parlor, my lady." Muddy to the eyebrows, I squelched after her up a broad stair into a warm, good-smelling hallway. Genial noise smote me from all directions, and people came and went. But my guide threaded her way through, then indicated a stairway with a fine mosa..
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Sherwood Smith |
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e8a7786
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You think Arthal Merindar wants to be queen, then?" I asked, and again thought of my letter and why she might have written it. Unbidden, Shevraeth's words from the day before our departure sounded in my head: "...but you'll still be approached if you seem even passively my enemy." Cold shock made me shiver inside when I realized that the Marquise of Merindar might have attributed my refusal to come to Court to unspoken problems between Shev..
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Sherwood Smith |
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ff60a2d
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How do you feel?" she asked, looking concerned, as we walked down the stairs. I felt my face burn. "I suppose it's all over Remalna by now." She gave me a wry smile. "I think I received six notes this morning, most of which, I hasten to add, affirm their partisanship for you." The term used by the Unknown. "For me?" I said. "But I got drunk. Worse, I got sick all over Tamara's carpet. Not exactly courtly finesse." I ducked my head under th..
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Sherwood Smith |
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2e07e7c
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Do you think he'll make a good king?" I asked. Again she seemed surprised. "Yes," she said. "But then I've known him all my life." I thought." --
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Sherwood Smith |
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5f164c9
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You will like Court life, I promise," she said, smiling sweetly as we went out of the parlor. I took care to walk behind her so she could not see my face."
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Sherwood Smith |
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cc3dd48
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There was no point in saying it again. Either he believed me, and--I swallowed painfully--I'd given him no particular reason to, or he didn't. Begging, pleading, arguing, ranting--none of them would make any difference, except to make a horrible situation worse. I should have made amends from the beginning, and now it was too late. He took a deep breath. I couldn't breathe, I just stared at him, waiting, feeling sweat trickle beneath my alr..
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Sherwood Smith |
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67f3435
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I had no conscious plan in mind, but it turned out I did not need one; when I reached the other side of the house, I glimpsed through a wall of vines a splendid terrace, and seated at a table on it was Lord Flauvic. Exquisitely dressed in pale shades of peach and gray, he was all alone, absorbed in reading and writing. I stooped, picked up some small gravel, and tossed it in his direction. He went very still. Just for a moment. Then his hea..
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Sherwood Smith |
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af634bc
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AFTERWORD And so I come to the end of my tale. I look through my window at the early buds of spring and think of placing this little book on the shelf here with all the other memoirs of queens and kings past. Who is reading my words now? Are you a great-granddaughter many years ahead of me? Ought I to offer you advice? Somehow it doesn't seem appropriate to detail for you how to properly go about organizing a revolt--and likewise it seems k..
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Sherwood Smith |
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0c2aca7
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Somehow it doesn't seem appropriate to detail for you how to properly go about organizing a revolt--and likewise it seems kind of silly to exhort you to look, if you should suddenly start receiving mysterious letters of courtship, for possible inkstains on the fingers of the fellow you quarrel with the most.
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Sherwood Smith |
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8e5cf2f
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We reached a path just as the beat of horse hooves sounded from not far ahead. I stepped back; Flauvic looked up as two riders trotted into view. My first reaction was blank dismay when I saw Savona and Shevraeth riding side by side. The three lords greeted one another with practiced politeness; and when the newcomers turned to me, I curtsied silently. By the time I had realized that the very fineness of their manners was a kind of message,..
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Sherwood Smith |
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c60cb3f
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And so you are here to, what, grant mercy?" I closed my eyes and groaned. "Tamara. knows I'm here, and if you don't like my idea, then no one know I was here unless blab. I won't. I just wondered, if I invite you to come with me to Savona's picnic this afternoon, think you things might just go back to how they were?" She flushed right up to her hairline, a rose-red blush that made her suddenly look like a young girl. "As his supplican..
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Sherwood Smith |
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6665100
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We talked more about what had happened, and Nee maintained that Savona's picking me up and walking out was the signal that had finished Tamara. This made me wonder, as I dressed alone in my room, if there had been an unspoken struggle going on all along between the two of them. If so, he'd won. If she'd been the more influential person, his walking out with me would not have mattered; her followers would have stayed and dissected my manners..
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Sherwood Smith |
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9b4615a
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I expect we'll receive an invitation for dinner from their Highnesses, at second-blue, which will serve as an informal welcome." I took a deep breath. "All right. Until then we're free? Let's walk around," I said. "I'm not tired or hungry, but I still feel stiff from--from sitting inside that coach for so long." I did not want to refer to my ride or the postponed wager. If she noticed my hesitation and quick recovery, she gave no sign."
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Sherwood Smith |
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4e902bf
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I'm not certain what you mean by that last bit," I said at last. "As for the first, you said 'until last year.' Does that mean that Lady Tamara has someone else in view?" "But of course," Nee said blandly. "The Marquis of Shevraeth." I laughed all the way up the steps into the Residence."
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Sherwood Smith |
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6a5c084
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Savona escorted me back to the Residence. For most of our journey the talk was in our usual pattern--he made outrageous compliments, which I turned into jokes. Once he said, "May I count on you to grace the Khazhred ball tomorrow?" "If the sight of me in my silver gown, dancing as often as I can, is your definition of grace, well, nothing easier," I replied, wondering what he would do if I suddenly flirted back in earnest. He smiled, kissed..
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Sherwood Smith |
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01c862e
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I turned around--and nearly bumped into a small group of soldiers in Renselaeus colors. They all stopped, bowed silently, and would have stepped out of my way, but I recognized one of them from my ride to Renselaeus just before the end of the war, and I cried, "Captain Nessaren!" "My lady." Nessaren smiled, her flat cheeks tinged slightly with color. "Is your riding assigned here now?" "As you see, my lady." The others bowed and withdrew si..
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Sherwood Smith |
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4965edb
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You know what I miss? The practice sessions we had when we were riding cross-country last year. I did some practice at home...but there doesn't seem to be opportunity anymore." "We have open practice each day at dawn, in the garrison court when the weather's fine, the gym when it isn't. You're welcome to join us. There's no hierarchy, except that of expertise, by order of the Marquis himself." "The Marquis?" I repeated faintly, realizing ho..
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Sherwood Smith |
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b2e8ad6
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If the threat was from the borders, it seemed unlikely that I'd find Renselaeus warriors roaming around the royal palace Athanarel. So, was there a threat at home? Like a rival for the kingship? My thoughts went immediately to the Marquise of Merindar--and to the conversation with Shevraeth at the inn. The Marquise had made no attempt to communicate with me, and I had not even seen her subsequent to that dinner the night of my arrival. In t..
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Sherwood Smith |
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6887e7a
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Realizing I ought to be circulating as well, I turned--and found myself confronted by the Marquis of Shevraeth. "My dear Countess," he said with a grand bow. "Please bolster my declining prestige by joining me in this dance." I thought, then out loud I said, "It's a tartelande. From back then." "Which I studied up on all last week," he said, offering his arm. I took it and flushed right up to my pearl-lined headdress. Though we had spoken ..
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Sherwood Smith |
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ea32c31
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Realizing I ought to be circulating as well, I turned--and found myself confronted by the Marquis of Shevraeth. "My dear Countess," he said with a grand bow. "Please bolster my declining prestige by joining me in this dance." I thought, then out loud I said, "It's a tartelande. From back then." "Which I studied up on all last week," he said, offering his arm. I took it and flushed right up to my pearl-lined headdress. Though we had spoken ..
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Sherwood Smith |
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2313729
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When I returned from the concert I wrote, in my very best hand, a letter to Flauvic requesting the favor of his advice on a matter of fashion. I sent it that night, and to my surprise, an answer awaited me when I woke in the morning. In fact, two answers awaited: one, the plain paper I had grown used to seeing from my Unknown, and the second, a beautifully folded and sealed sheet of imported linen paper. This second one I opened first, to f..
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Sherwood Smith |
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d99f3de
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Then the Duke of Savona appeared before me. He bowed, smiled, and held out his arm--and there was no time for thought. It was my very first dance in Court, and I would have liked to try it with someone I knew. But at Court one didn't dance with one's brother. With the Hill Folk, dance was a celebration of life, sometimes of death, and of the changing of the seasons. Here dances were a form of courtship--one that was all the more subtle, Nee..
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Sherwood Smith |
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76ea855
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I thought. Vidanric said, "Administrative details." Flauvic made an ironic half bow from his seat on the throne. "For which I thank you. Tiresome details." The metallic golden eyes swept indifferently over me, then he frowned slightly and looked again. "Meliara. This is a surprise; I took you for a servant." His voice was meant to sting. So I grinned. "You have an objection to honest work?" As a zinger it wasn't much, but Flauvic gave me an..
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Sherwood Smith |
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1aa491e
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Savona didn't dance with anyone else," Nee said. We were curled up in my sitting room. Outside the window, the garden was a silhouette in the faint blue light of dawn. "We only danced that once. But then he asked me that question about my favorite color," I said. "Ought I to wear it tonight?" She pursed her lips. "I'll wager my best necklace all the decorations in that ballroom tonight will be lavender, even if he has to empty the entire ci..
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Sherwood Smith |
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6566b6c
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My eyes burned with hot tears. Not for my own defeat, for that merely concerned myself. Not even for the unfairness. I wept in anger and grief for the terrible decision that Vidanric faced alone, with which I could not help. Either he consigned all the Court to death and tried to fight against a sorcerer, or he consigned the remainder of the kingdom to what would surely be a governance more dreadful than even Galdran's had been. Vidanric st..
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Sherwood Smith |
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042225b
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The grandeur around us was a silent testimony to wealth and power. The air was scented with a complex mixture of exotic flowers and the faintest trace of tanglewood incense, denoting peace and kindred spirits. "Easy over the fence," Deric said softly beside me. We were already at the parlor. I suppressed a grin at the riding term, then stepped forward to curtsy to the Marquise. "My dear Countess," Lady Arthal said, smiling as she pressed my..
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Sherwood Smith |
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cc1cdf8
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It was well past sunset before we got away. All the details that couldn't be settled had to be delegated, which meant explanations and alternative orders. But at last we were on the road, riding flat out for the capital. The wind and our speed made conversation under a shout impossible, so for a long time we rode in silence. It was just as well, leastwise for me. I really needed time to think, and--so I figured--if my life was destined to c..
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Sherwood Smith |
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cdb34b1
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And for a brief moment I envisioned myself snarling
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Sherwood Smith |
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41d7629
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I really needed time to think, and--so I figured--if my life was destined to continue at such a headlong pace, I was going to have to learn to perform my cerebrations while dashing back and forth cross-country at the gallop.
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Sherwood Smith |
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1a940ab
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He knocked me off my horse. But I'd taken an oath, so I had to do my best." I drew in a shaky breath. "I know I can't fight forty of you, but I'm going to stand here and block you until you either go away or my arms fall off, because this, too, is an oath I took."
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Sherwood Smith |
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fba3823
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I wished that I had Nee to talk to, or better, Oria. Except what would be the use? Neither of them had ever caused someone to initiate a courtship by letter. I sighed, glad for the gentle rain, and for the darkness, as I made myself reconsider all of my encounters with Shevraeth--this time from, as much as I was able, his perspective. This was not a pleasant exercise. By the time we stopped, sometime after white-change, to get fresh horses ..
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Sherwood Smith |
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d54e9bf
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When I reached my rooms, I saw a letter lying on my table. Hastily stripping off my gloves, I sank down onto my pillows, heedless of the costly fabric of my court gown crinkling and billowing about me, and broke the seal with my finger. The Unknown had written: Well, I had no answer to make to that; thinking about Elenet, or Shevraeth, or that carved throne, caused a cold ache inside, as if I had lost something I had not hitherto valued. S..
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Sherwood Smith |
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7a1ab5e
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neuraimai leapt into the air, flinging itself on glutinous wings toward
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Sherwood Smith |
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d2b53f2
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It was a while before my mind was quiet enough for reading. The conversation with Shevraeth I was determined not to think about. What was the use? It was over, and it was clear it wasn't going to be repeated. Recalling the name he'd mentioned, Lady Trishe--one of the names Bran had spoken earlier that morning--I realized it was Shevraeth they were planning to go riding with. was what Nee had said, meaning that I wouldn't enjoy it because ..
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Sherwood Smith |
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2767c59
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Please don't think you have to change your direction for my sake," I said. "I'm just out wandering about, and my steps took me past Merindar House." "And lose an opportunity to engage in converse without your usual crowd of swains?" Savona said, bowing. "Crowd? Swains?" I repeated, then laughed. "Has the rain affected your vision? Or am I the blind one? I don't see any swains. Luckily." A choke of laughter on my right made me realize--belat..
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Sherwood Smith |
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d67e179
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The second letter was sealed plainly, with no crest. I flung myself onto my pillows, broke the seal impatiently, and read: I winced and dropped the paper to the table. "Well, I asked for the truth," I muttered, and picked it up again. There was no signature, no closing. I read it through three times, then folded it carefully and fitted it inside one of my books. Pulling a fresh sheet of paper before me, I wrote: proximity With a sense of..
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Sherwood Smith |
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27a4a60
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So once again on an early spring day, I was ensconced in a coach rolling down the middle of the Street of the Sun. Again people lined the street, but this time they waved and cheered. And as before, outriders joined us, but this time they wore our colors as well as the Renselaeuses'. This had all been arranged beforehand, I found out through Nimiar. People expected power to be expressed through visible symbols, such as columns of armed outr..
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Sherwood Smith |
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1fb4965
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Just then the tall man glanced over at us, and he straightened up, his dark eyes enigmatic, though he still smiled. He did not turn away, but waited for us to approach. The lady looked up again, and I think I saw a faint impatience narrow those beautiful eyes; but then she gave us a breathtaking smile as she rose to her feet and laid aside her basket. "Nimiar? Welcome back, dear cousin," she said in a melodious voice. "We are returned indee..
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Sherwood Smith |
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b721ad9
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Nee and I walked on in silence for a time, then she said in a guarded voice, "What think you of my cousin?" "So that is the famous Lady Tamara Chamadis! Well, she really is as pretty as I'd heard," I said. "But...I don't know. Somehow she embodies everything I'd thought a courtier would be." "Fair enough." Nee nodded. "Then I guess it's safe for me to say--at risk of appearing a detestable gossip--watch out." I touched the top of my hand wh..
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Sherwood Smith |