[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

princess, for at her death she would be succeeded by a proven battlefield
commander.
Watching Purcel slurp down his beer and munch peanuts in ill-concealed
boredom, Elise wondered.
Warlord, yes, and welcome to it. King? As King Tedric had proven, a good king
must be able to reign as well as to command. Both Aunt Zorana and Great-Aunt
Rosene argued that Purcel would learn patience and discretion as he matured.
Given the familial longevity the descendants of Zorana the Great seemed to
live long lives if they survived their childhoods Zorana would reign for many
years herself before joining the ancestors, and Purcel could learn the skills
necessary to be a monarch from her.
Elise wondered, though, if a man who from his youngest years had been praised
Page 61
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
for quick, decisive action could learn to reflect and consider rather than
charge ahead.
Purcel brightened visibly as she seated herself next to him. Two years apart
in age, they had become close playmates once she had stopped dismissing him as
a baby. Even when he was three and she a mature and thoughtful five, he had
loved to trot about on a pony as chubby as he was, playacting the role
of a soldier protecting his lady cousin.
 Elise, Purcel said warmly by way of greeting,  want a peanut?
She took one to please him, though the oily things tended to make her face
break out. Purcel seemed immune to this bane of adolescence, though she still
nursed hopes.
 Thank you, cousin. She kissed him lightly on the cheek.  How was your ride
into the capital?
 Not bad, the roads were muddy, but we managed& 
What followed was a long dissertation on thrown horseshoes, partially
washed-out bridges, troops needing to be kept from foraging in newly planted
fields, and other minutiae of military life. Elise listened with one ear,
nodding when appropriate, her gaze surveying the others gathered in the room.
They were a small enough group given that King Chalmer fathered five children
and that each of those children had at least one child. However, Princess
Marras s little ones had died as babies. King Tedric s three were gone now,
all dying without issue except for Barden, whose name was still a curse to his
father.
Princess Caryl, King Chalmer s third child, had been married away into the
kingdom of Bright Bay, her father s pledge to a peace that lasted only a few
years. Caryl s departure meant that just Grand Duke
Gadman and Grand Duchess Rosene remained. Each of these had produced two
children, but Grand
Duke Gadman s Nydia had died long before Elise herself was born. In memory,
Elise s aunt Zorana had named her first daughter Nydia, though the girl was
more commonly called Dia.
Just ten of them, unless one counted Allister Seagleam s four children, far
away in Bright Bay. Elise found it odd to think that those four one older than
her, the rest all younger were as close kin to her as were
Lord Rolfston s four: grandchildren of her grandmother s brother.
Banishing the faraway Seagleams from consideration, Elise concentrated on the
ten gathered here. Any one could become crown prince or princess of the
kingdom of Hawk Haven if luck was with them. The chief contenders for that
honor were Purcel, as his mother s eldest, Sapphire, as Lord Rolfston s
eldest, and herself. However, some courtiers whispered that if King Tedric was
going to name an heir why did he need to follow the strict order of
precedence? He should choose instead some young grandniece or grandnephew,
someone he could shape and teach during whatever years remained to him.
A voice, loud and piercing, cut into Elise s reverie.
 Elise! Elise! Darling cousin, you look wonderful!
Quickly Elise set down her wine goblet, knowing that this gushing greeting
would be followed by an equally enthusiastic embrace, and not really wanting
to spill wine on her new pale pink, rosebud-embroidered gown.
Sapphire Shield was the eldest of their generation, a buxom young woman of
twenty-three with dark, blue-black hair, a pointed chin, and eyes the color of
her namesake gem. She had been engaged several times, always into very
advantageous matches, but had never taken her vows.
Elise knew perfectly well that politics, not romance, had ruled each of these
arrangements, but Sapphire enjoyed mooning about after each broken engagement,
acting as if her heart were truly broken. Such behavior might make those who
didn t know her dismiss her as flighty and shallow, but Elise was not fooled.
Page 62
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Sapphire Shield was heir to the comfortable holdings accumulated through both
her Redbriar and Shield family connections. Riki Redbriar, a scion of House
Goshawk, had brought a considerable dowry into her marriage to Grand Duke
Gadman, a good thing since members of the House of the Eagle were all
essentially landless merely comfortable life tenants on crown-held lands.
Their son Rolfston Redbriar had made a good marriage to Melina Shield.
Melina s dowry had included several nice holdings adjoining lands Riki
Redbriar would eventually pass on to her son. Although claiming no title
higher than Lady, Melina also brought with her the prestige of the Shield name
and membership within the House of the Gyrfalcon for her children.
Queen Zorana the First had been a Shield and the Gyrfalcons were still
considered first among the Great
Houses. Therefore, as Lady Melina never wearied of telling anyone who would
listen, her children were kin to the first queen of Hawk Haven both through
their father, who was her great-grandson, and through their mother, who was
some sort of cousin.
No
, thought Elise, Sapphire never forgets who she is, no matter how flightily
she behaves at functions like this.
As of this moment, that behavior included a crushing hug, compliments on
Elise s dress (including insincere wishes that she could wear pink), and other
such prattle.
Elise politely prattled back, though she rather wished she could snort, as
Purcel did, and stalk off on the thin excuse of needing another tankard of
beer.
 So tell me, Castle Flower, Sapphire said, bending her head close to Elise s,
 why do you think Uncle
Tedric has summoned us all here?
King Tedric, was, of course, Sapphire s great-uncle, as he was Elise s, but
Sapphire often chose to minimize the degree of their relation. Among her
peers, she had made no secret that she considered herself practically crown
princess already. After all, her father was Grand Duke Gadman s only surviving
child and Grand Duke Gadman should have been named King Tedric s heir
immediately following
Crown Princess Lovella s death two years before.
Elise thought Sapphire overconfident, but there was no gain in telling her so,
especially since Sapphire was more likely to become crown princess than Elise
herself was, no matter that their relationship to the king was the same.
Simply speaking, Sapphire had better connections.
Instead of making excuses to escape after Purcel, Elise considered the best
way of answering Sapphire s question. As the nickname  Castle Flower
suggested, Sapphire was among those who assumed that
Elise s familiarity with the structure had made her privy to all its
occupants secrets.
 Well, Elise said, looking into her goblet as if the dark red wine held
mysteries,  I think it must have something to do with Earl Kestrel, don t
you?
Sapphire, torn between a desire to probe further and a desire to seem to know
more than her younger cousin, gave in to the latter impulse.
 I do think so. She leaned so she was nearly whispering into Elise s ear.
 The senior porter at the
Kestrels city manse fancies my maid. He told her that a week ago a closed [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]