Our plan depended on the Renselaeus warriors being fast and accurate and brave, for they were as outnumbered as Bran and I had been up in the mountains.I was also, therefore, intensely aware that my l...
Oria and I walked into the kitchen to find Julen staring at a handsome young man with curly black hair and fine new livery in Astiar colors.His chin was up, and he swept a cool glance over us all as h...
One morning when we three were alone, Nee leaned forward and said, Elen, you’ve been closeted with Vidanric a lot, I’ve noticed. Has he said aught about a coronation? I confess it makes me nervous to...
Next was the foursome I had been bracing myself to face all along: Tamara, Savona, the newly met Lady Elenet, and the Marquis of Shevraeth. Very conscious of Olervec’s pale eyes following me, I forced...
Love is one of the simplest of what we call the Mysteries, and yet the strongest, like air: the greatest treasure cannot buy it nor the smartest thief steal it nor the most powerful emperor command it...
Loss of prestige? In what way? I asked.He sat back, his eyes glinting with amusement. First there was the matter of a--very--public announcement of a pending execution, following which the intended vi...
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...
It is time,' he said, 'to collect on my wager.'He moved slowly. First, his hands sliding round me and cool light-colored hair drifting against my cheek, and then softly, so softly, the brush of lips a...
Is politics just another word for injustice?
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 tho...
If the Prodigy Mozart had any notion how much torment he might cause people who had done no harm to him, he surely would have confined himself to stickball with his friends. I believe that particular...
If everyone who compromised with Galdran out of fear, or greed, or even indifference, were to be penalized, Shevraeth went on, Athanarel would soon be empty and a lot of people sent home with little t...
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...
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...
I promised myself that next time Shevraeth tried to talk to me, I’d listen, and even if he insulted me, my family, and my land, I’d keep my tongue between my teeth.
I hopped over a little flower border. The blooms--ghostly white in the soft glow from the lamps around the park’s circumference--ran up the brick walkway and gripped the stone lip of the fountain. I o...
His readiness to answer my questions caused my mind to glitter with new ideas, like a fountain in the sunlight. I was suddenly eager to try my own theories of government, formed during my half year of...
He said the proclivities for indulging in gossip stems from the same impulse as the reading of novels, only gossip touches on real people. Therein lies the harm.
By then the man had returned and set the kettle among the embers. Then he looked up, paused, then picked up his share of the bread and reached over to put it in front of me.That’s yours, I said.You ap...
And then you compounded your attractions by keeping my lazy cousin on the hop for days. He indicated Shevraeth with an airy wave of the hand.Those memories effectively banished my mirth. For it wasn’t...