Sharon Shinn - Reader And Raelynx

“She is the heir to the realm! She cannot be allowed to wander off alone with any man! Her reputation is as precious as her life.”

“Then you have a strange idea of what’s precious,” he shot back.

“I think I am better qualified to judge what’s important to Amalie than you are.”

“And are you better qualified than she is?” he said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He was angry, a state so rare for him that he almost didn’t know what to do or say next. Calm. Senneth would advise him to be calm. Slow down the hot words, bargain for a little time. “Let me light some candles,” he said. “I can’t even see your face.”

He considered closing the door, since she might not want an audience for the conversation, but it probably wasn’t good for the queen’s reputation for her to be alone with other men, either, so he didn’t. The candles cast some measure of familiarity back into the room, and he was more serene when he faced Valri again.

“I don’t know what you’re so afraid of,” he said in a quiet voice. “You know I won’t hurt the princess. You know that no one regards me as anything more than a servant. I’m not a danger to Amalie or her reputation.”

“You’re the most dangerous man in the city,” Valri said deliberately.

“I have no idea why you would say that.”

Valri came a step closer. Even in this poor light, her eyes were a spectacular green. “Amalie has so few friends- friends , people her own age. None, in fact. Me. And I am hardly anyone’s definition of a playmate.” She took a deep breath. “And now she has you. And you are exactly the kind of person a lonely girl would take to heart. You’re kind, you’re funny, you’re thoughtful, you have wonderful stories to tell, you’ll do anything she asks, and you don’t particularly care about rules because most of the time you don’t even know what the rules are. And, oh, yes, you’re a young man who is not terrible to look at, and who doesn’t covet her throne, and who has been brought into her life specifically to protect her from danger! What do I think you’re going to do ? I think you’re going to make her fall in love with you!”

In the following second, Cammon had three radically different yet fully formed thoughts that all managed to occupy his mind simultaneously.

The first one: Valri’s lying. This isn’t the real reason she’s afraid of me .

The second one: Me? Amalie could fall in love with me?

The third one: Bright Mother burn me, I could so easily fall in love with Amalie .

“Majesty,” he said, and his voice perfectly conveyed his sense of shock, “you simply can’t be serious.”

She came closer, and now she frowned and shook her finger at him as if he was an erring schoolboy. “She must marry a high-born noble! You know that! She knows that! It will be a marriage of convenience and, like as not, marked by politeness instead of passion. You can’t distract her by being funny and charming and sweet. You can’t show her something she cannot have when she must have something else.”

A fourth thought intruded: Valri thinks I’m funny and charming and sweet ? “Do you want me to leave the palace?” he asked.

“No! Of course not! We are relying on you and your wretched magic for too many reasons. You have saved the king’s life twice and perhaps you will save Amalie’s, and I pray to the Great Mother that you will be able to ensure that the husband she picks will offer her a warm heart instead of a cold ambition. You must stay. But you must keep your distance from Amalie. Cammon, you must.”

He felt resentful and aggrieved-and just a tiny bit smug, for Valri could not stop him from communicating with Amalie silently even if he had to sit in her presence poker-faced and mute from now until the wedding bells were sounded. And still, under all of that, he remained astonished. She thinks Amalie could fall in love with me?

“I don’t know what you want me to promise,” he said, and even to himself his voice sounded sulky. “If I am cool and unfriendly to her, Amalie will make a scene-you know she will. But if I act the way I have always acted, you will say I am-I am-I don’t know what you think I’m doing! Ingratiating myself, I suppose. I never set out to do that. I never set out to do anything except just be here like I was asked.”

“One thing I do not expect is for you to spend whole days alone with her. If I am not present, you should not be present, either.”

He spread his hands. How could he argue? “If that’s what you want.”

“And-and-you should not think to spend every morning with her, lounging in the parlor and telling her stories.”

“I’ll stay away, but she’ll ask me about it, and she’ll insist on an explanation.”

“I’ll take care of that.”

He shrugged. “Then fine. I’ll keep my distance. You won’t have cause to complain about me again.”

Valri nodded once, decisively, as if she was feeling confident and satisfied. But he could tell that she was still distressed, still terrified that something would happen to Amalie and that he would be the cause of it. What are you really afraid of? he wanted to ask her. What truth are you trying to conceal from me by shielding Amalie’s mind with your own?

“Very well,” she said. “Then we’ll see you tomorrow afternoon when another one of her suitors comes calling.”

“I’ll meet you by the receiving room.”

She nodded again. “Good night. I’m glad you’re willing to be reasonable.”

She left the room, shutting the door behind her. He stared at it for a long time, wishing he had had the nerve to ask the question he knew she would not answer.

Is Amalie a mystic?

THEREwas no real need to supervise Amalie’s meeting the next day, for her suitor was Darryn Rappengrass. His mother, Ariane, was one of Baryn’s staunchest allies, and Kirra had always considered Darryn the best of the serramar. There was no chance he would suddenly pull a blade and try to slit Amalie’s throat. Still, two Riders posed behind the false wall, ready to stop him if he tried.

There was no need for Cammon and Valri to listen in to his courting, but of course they did.

They sat rather stiffly on either side of the card table, hardly on the best of terms after last night’s confrontation. Cammon found it difficult to hold a grudge, so he picked up the deck of cards and silently offered to deal. Valri hesitated, then nodded. They were into their second hand when the princess and her visitor entered and settled in for conversation.

At first it was all very superficial, talk about the weather and the roads. Cammon was surprised as everyone else when Amalie said, “So, ser Darryn, tell me! Why are you here?”

Darryn did not allow himself to be nonplussed. He was easygoing and polished, well able to handle himself in any social situation, but Cammon read nothing but good will behind his assured exterior. “I suppose I can’t be the first Twelfth House lord to call on you in the past few weeks. I expect you realize we’ve all come courting.”

“But not you,” Amalie said, calm as always. “You’re betrothed to another girl.”

Everyone in the room was astonished at that-Cammon, Valri, the Riders-but Darryn Rappengrass most of all. Cammon could feel his swift, confused reactions: amazement, respect, uncertainty, and a growing desire to tell the truth. “Not betrothed, exactly,” he replied in a slow voice. “But I admit I am in love with her and I hope to marry her.”

Valri dropped her cards and stared in impotent fury at the thin wall separating them. Cammon had to smother a grin. Surely it was unimaginably rude to tell a princess you preferred another woman.