Sharon Shinn - Reader And Raelynx

“But marlord Heffel is a friend to Coralinda Gisseltess,” Cammon protested. It was his first contribution to the conversation in at least twenty minutes. “Don’t you remember? He invited her to his ball last summer. He worships the Pale Mother. Aren’t you afraid that his son might be a fanatic?”

That caused them all to fall quiet for a moment and think. Coralinda Gisseltess led the order known as the Daughters of the Pale Mother, and she and all her followers feared and hated mystics. Like her brother, Halchon, she wanted to remake Gillengaria-but her main goal was to see mystics burned at the stake and every scrap of magic eradicated from the land.

“It’s true that Heffel reveres the Pale Mother,” Senneth said slowly. “But I would not hold that against him-you can be a good man and still love the moon goddess. What concerns me more is that he does not seem to realize how dangerous Coralinda is. Yet, Heffel is not a fool. I do not believe he could be tricked into battle by either Coralinda or her brother. I do not believe he will ever take up arms against the king.”

“I danced with Ryne a few times when we were at Coravann Keep,” Amalie said.

“What did you think of him?” Valri asked.

Amalie shrugged. “Well, he was drunk both times, and he knew that made his sister angry, and that made him laugh,” she said. “I thought he was charming but not very-very-” She shrugged.

“Not very princely,” Valri said in a severe voice.

“He’s only seventeen or eighteen, I believe,” Senneth said.

Valri gestured. “Cammon’s only twenty, isn’t he, and he’s far more responsible than Ryne! Or so it appears.”

“Well, then, let us look at our other options,” Senneth said.

Cammon couldn’t help himself; he rolled his eyes. He had heard Senneth and Kirra keep up such talk for hours, discussing bloodlines and alliances with an obsessive interest. Amalie caught his expression and grinned.

“It’s very boring, isn’t it?” she said, leaning over to whisper in his ear. The others could still hear her, of course, and Valri flicked her a look of some annoyance, but the older women continued their discussion anyway. “This very topic forms the chief subject of conversation whenever I’m in the room, and I can’t bear it.”

“I would think it would interest you, if only a little,” he replied. “After all, they’re talking of the man you’re going to marry . I’d be interested if people were trying to figure out who should be my wife.”

Amalie glanced at Valri, glanced at Senneth, and stood up, pulling Cammon to his feet. “Let’s go talk of something else,” she said.

Valri briefly broke off her sentence. “Don’t leave the room,” she said.

“We won’t. Over here, Cammon, let me show you some of my treasures.”

They crossed the room to where a tall, cream-colored bookshelf held an array of boxes and bowls. Amalie pulled a box from a middle shelf. It was made of some dark and highly polished wood, and it opened when a hidden door slid out. Inside was a collection of smooth stones in a variety of muted colors, mostly blues and greens.

“Marlady Ariane Rappengrass sent these to me-aren’t they pretty?” Amalie said. “Sea glass. I was admiring a few stones that she had had made into jewelry, and she said she would send me some. I don’t think they’re very expensive, and that’s one reason I like them so much. Ariane wasn’t trying to impress me, she was just trying to please me. She was just being kind.”

“I met her last year,” he said. “I liked her.”

Amalie picked up a handful of the stones and let them trickle between her fingers, back into the box. “Many people find her terrifying. But I like her, too.” She scooped up another handful of stones and let them slowly fall. “She has a son that some people would like me to marry.”

“Darryn Rappengrass.” The handsome young marlord had crossed Cammon’s path several times when he was in company with Kirra and Senneth. Kirra was particularly fond of him. “He seems like a nice enough man, I suppose.”

Amalie dropped the last of the sea glass through her fingers, pushed the lid shut, and replaced the box on the shelf. “This little statue, it’s from Mayva Nocklyn,” Amalie said, pointing to a moping child carved in white stone. “I don’t like it much, but Milo told me it was by a famous sculptor and very expensive. If Mayva comes to visit, I’ll make sure to have it on display.”

He couldn’t tell if she wanted to change the subject or if she didn’t know how to talk about it. “It must seem very strange,” Cammon said. “To have other people making every important decision in your life. Telling you what man to marry. How to behave. What to do. All the time.”

She met his gaze. Her eyes were velvety brown, thoughtful and guileless. He wished again that he could read what went on behind them.

“They might be making plans, but that doesn’t mean I will agree to them,” she said. As always, her voice was quite soft, her words almost idle. There was no threat in them, no iron. Yet for the first time, Cammon had a flash of intuition about this girl. She could be as stubborn and unyielding as stone; she could be equally hard to wear away. “I will meet whomever they wish me to meet. I will be gracious to everyone. But if they ask me to marry someone I do not wish to marry, I will simply say no. And that means if Senneth asks me, or Valri, or my father. I will not do it.”

He felt a sudden keen admiration for this young woman who was both so important and so vulnerable. “They seem to think that both you and the realm are in danger if you do not have the right husband by your side.”

She smiled. “But I have many people I trust all around me. My uncle. The Riders. Senneth and Kirra. You, for as long as you are willing to serve. I do not feel particularly afraid.”

He wished he knew how to copy a courtier’s bow. Tayse and Justin could both give stiff little bends from the waist that looked like respect, but Cammon wanted to offer something with a bit more flourish. “Majesty, I am yours to command for as long as you need my service.”

She had turned back to the shelves and was poking around for other treasures, pushing aside vases and bowls as if seeking something hidden behind them. “And yet, you have not been to see me since we returned from Rappengrass so many months ago,” she said. “We had been such good friends, as we traveled. I was disappointed when you disappeared so completely.”

He was silent a moment, taken wholly by surprise. “I didn’t know-it seemed-you’re the princess,” he said, floundering badly. “And Senneth told me-she said I couldn’t make too much of friendships struck on the road. It wasn’t my place to come seek you out.”

She turned to look at him, her expression a little severe. “It was my place to send for you, you mean?”

“I didn’t say that,” he answered swiftly. “I didn’t want-I’m not very good at realizing where I do and don’t belong. People are always telling me that. I have a hard time keeping straight who is so important that I shouldn’t speak in front of him, and who is just a regular fellow. But even I know that a princess is not just an ordinary girl.”

She shrugged and turned her attention back to the shelves, pulling things out, looking at them, and putting them back. “I don’t know what ordinary girls are like,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve ever known one. Last year-at the balls-that was really the only time I got to know people my own age.”

“The queen isn’t much older than you are,” Cammon said, wondering what information he might glean in response to this observation. “And you seem to spend a great deal of time with her.”