Sharon Shinn - Reader And Raelynx

“Yes! With Mayva! But Darryn heard about it somehow and then the next time I was in Rappengrass I found he had told his mother, too. I was never so embarrassed to face Ariane!”

Take a sip of your wine if you’re not angry with me , Cammon thought.

Amalie toyed with her knife and fork, then picked up a roll and tore off a small piece with her fingers. “I thought you were one of the marlady’s favorites.”

“Well, she is now , because she saved my niece’s life,” said Darryn. “But there was a time when my mother wasn’t so sure about Kirra.”

If you don’t forgive me, I’m just going to keep talking to you , Cammon said. I know you can hear me. How can I be your friend if you won’t understand that I’m doing the best I can ?

“Your mother sent me the prettiest present,” Amalie said to Darryn. “Pieces of sea glass.”

“Oh, I love that,” Kirra said. “I had a pendant made from blue sea glass when I was a little girl, and I wore it all time. It fell just so-covered my housemark-it’s probably still in my jewelry box back home.”

“Let me show you what she gave me,” Amalie said, and motioned Cammon over.

He tried to keep an impassive expression on his face as he walked stiffly to her side, but he was aware that Valri, Senneth, and Kirra had all gone on alert at the summons. Kirra and Senneth looked merely speculative, but Valri was displeased.

He leaned over and Amalie whispered in his ear. “Stop it! Be quiet! I’ll have you sent from the room!”

He could not answer aloud, but he nodded as if she had given him an order he was about to carry out. I can stand anywhere in the palace and make you hear me. It won’t do any good to banish me to the kitchen .

Her voice was utterly composed. “I’ve asked Cammon to fetch Ariane’s gift from my parlor,” she told the others. “He knows right where it is.”

Kirra and Senneth exchanged glances at that; Valri’s expression looked even more thunderous. Cammon bowed and solemnly marched through the door.

He kept up a running commentary for the entire time it took him to traverse the hallways, climb the stairs, and go rummaging through her bookshelf, which had been rearranged since the time she showed him her treasures. What if Darryn Rappengrass was an ambitious serramar with designs on your father’s throne? What if you sent me from the room and he decided to try to cut your father’s throat? Don’t you realize that’s why I’m supposed to stay in the dining hall when you’re entertaining company? You’re angry at me, but why put yourself in danger? Didn’t you see the look on Senneth’s face? She was thinking, “While Cammon’s out of the room, I’ll have to be paying the utmost attention.” I suppose we can trust ser Darryn, but I don’t think you should be so careless.

Box in hand, he returned to the dining hall and presented it to Amalie with a small flourish. She didn’t look at him or thank him, but merely opened the hidden door and held the container toword Kirra. “Don’t you like these? I was wondering if I should have them made into a bracelet.”

You know I’ll keep talking all night if you don’t say you’re not angry with me , he said as he took his position against the wall once more. Ask Senneth. I can talk long after everyone else wants me to shut up. Just sip from your wine to tell me you forgive me .

One of the servants was circling the table with a bottle in his hand. “Will you have more wine, Majesty?” he murmured to Amalie.

She lifted her glass and drained what was already in it. “Yes,” she said, holding it out to him. “I think I will.”

Cammon had to work hard to contain his smile.

It was easier when he realized that Valri was still watching him, a brooding expression on her dainty face.

Easier still when he realized he had caught Senneth’s attention, and she didn’t look any happier than the queen.

WHENSenneth returned to the cottage after dinner, she was in such a black humor that Tayse looked up in surprise. He was at ease in a big chair before the fire, playing a casual game of cards with Justin and Donnal, but he picked up her mood instantly.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she snapped and stalked into the bedroom to change out of her formal dress. She heard the rumble of low voices as the three men tried to guess what had put her in a temper, but none of them seemed alarmed. Well, they knew no danger threatened or Cammon would have summoned them long before this.

Cammon.

Senneth wrenched her dress off and tossed it to the bed, the rational alternative to throwing it on the floor and trampling it. Back into her comfortable trousers, her oversize shirt. Run a hand through her hair to disturb the careful styling Kirra had achieved for her earlier in the evening. Herself again, and a little calmer.

She stepped back into the main room, pulled up a chair, and said, “Deal me in.”

Justin shuffled and expertly handed out cards. “Sevens wild.”

She glanced around the room. “Where’s Ellynor?”

Justin picked up his cards and started arranging them. “Sleeping. She was out all night helping one of the soldier’s wives deliver a baby.”

“Oh, she doesn’t have to do that! There are plenty of physicians in Ghosenhall-mystic and ordinary.”

“She likes to do it. I think she finds it comforting-a chance to do something she’s good at. Something familiar in an unfamiliar place.”

“Plenty of other things she’s good at,” Donnal observed. “As she’s been proving to us the past few days.”

“Has Cammon improved in his ability to sense her approach?” Tayse asked.

Donnal grinned. “Not as much as he’d like. But more than Ellynor thought he would.”

“I suppose that’s the definition of success,” Tayse said.

Justin seemed pleased at Ellynor’s ability. “Cammon doesn’t seem to think so.”

Senneth slapped a discard onto the table. “But then, Cammon has all sorts of other tricks and skills that keep him happy enough.”

There was a short, comprehensive silence. “You’re mad at Cammon ?” Justin asked at last. “That’s what this is all about?”

Tayse laid his cards down. “Tell us,” he said in his grave fashion.

“Dinner tonight. I’m not sure, but I think Amalie and Cammon were having an argument.”

They all looked at her as if she was speaking in an incomprehensible Sovenfeld dialect.

“Silently, I mean. Remember, he told us the other day that he has the ability to put words in her head.”

“We know this,” Donnal said. “Why are you angry?”

Just then the door opened and Kirra drifted in. “I love Darryn Rappengrass,” she said. “He spent twenty minutes telling me about this girl he’s so besotted with. Ariane had told me she wasn’t even Thirteenth House, but it’s even better than that. Senneth, she’s a poacher’s daughter! Isn’t that wonderful? It makes you and me look positively respectable despite our own unconventional choices.”

Donnal was grinning broadly, but Tayse showed only a faint smile. “I doubt even ser Darryn’s irresponsible behavior can make you seem respectable,” Tayse said.

Kirra stuck her tongue out at him and pulled up a chair between Donnal and Justin. “What are we playing? Can I get in the game?”

“We seem to have stopped playing while Senneth explains why she’s so angry at Cammon,” Donnal said.

“Yes, what was that all about tonight?” Kirra said, picking up Donnal’s cards and sorting through them. “Amalie sending Cammon off to get something from her study-I mean, it was a little peculiar.”