Dark Moon Defender (Twelve Houses) (57 page)
Read Dark Moon Defender (Twelve Houses) Online
Authors: Sharon Shinn
Not till after the meal did Will and Casserah get a chance to exchange a few words, and then they were chaperoned by Jannis and the steward’s wife. Senneth, across the room, could tell from Casserah’s expression that she found the inconsequential small talk boring and pointless, but the presence of the steward’s wife made her try to display some social grace. They had withdrawn into a pretty parlor with many small groupings of chairs and tables, designed to allow visitors a chance to play cards or hold more intimate conversations.Kirra and Senneth were standing with Donnal, Tayse, and Cammon, sipping sweet wine and wishing the evening was over.
“If Justin was here, we’d be all together,” Cammon observed.
Startled, Senneth quickly glanced around the circle and realized he was right. “I hadn’t thought of that,” she said.
“He’ll be mad, too, if he finds we were all getting cozy at Danan Hall while he was stuck mucking out stables in Neft,” Kirra said.
“I don’t think we need to keep him there much longer,” Tayse said. “I’m not sure what else there is to learn.”
Kirra gave him an indignant look. “He can learn if this convent girl loves him! And he loves her!”
Tayse smiled. “Not a good enough reason to leave one of the best Riders in a position of surveillance.”
“I could stay in Neft awhile, if you needed someone,” Donnal said. “I’d be able to get word quickly to the king if something happened.”
Tayse considered. “A good offer,” he said. He jerked his head at Kirra. “What if this one won’t travel so far?”
Kirra tossed her hair. “I’m going to Ghosenhall in a day or two. Donnal’s tired of the royal city. I think he’d be happy to have some activity planned that made him feel useful.”
“I wouldn’t want to stay away too long, of course,” Donnal said. His face was perfectly sober, but Senneth was convinced he was laughing.
“If you’re coming to Ghosenhall, you can ride with us,” Senneth said.
“You’re not going back to Brassenthwaite?” Kirra asked.
“No. I’ve had enough of my brothers for a while.”
“Then, good, we’ll travel with you.” She scowled at Donnal. “
Both
of us will travel with you. At least as far as the royal city. Then he can go off where he likes.”
Both
of us will travel with you. At least as far as the royal city. Then he can go off where he likes.”
“Happy to have your company,” Tayse said.
Cammon was watching Casserah across the room. “I think your sister wishes someone would rescue her from her mother,” he said. “She’s getting impatient.”
“That’s my Casserah,” Kirra said. “Sen, let’s go pull them away. Cammon, you come entertain my stepmother. Tell her—I don’t know. About new buildings going up in Ghosenhall or something. Just be polite while we steal Will and Casserah away.”
Accordingly, in a few minutes, the three serramarra and the one serramar had managed to form their own small group in a corner of the room. They stood as far away from the others as they could, bunching around a window. Kirra and Senneth set their backs to the room and made it clear no one was welcome to intrude on the conversation.
“You’ll never get a chance to talk to each other with Jannis around,” Kirra said, grinning at Will. “Who likes to flirt with a woman when her mother is standing right there?”
Will laughed. “And it’s so much simpler when
her
sister and
your
sister are watching instead!”
her
sister and
your
sister are watching instead!”
“You don’t have to flirt with me,” Casserah said calmly. “In fact, I’d prefer you were genuine.”
“A slight touch of flirtatiousness
is
genuine with me,” he said. “But I can try to be wholly serious if you like.”
is
genuine with me,” he said. “But I can try to be wholly serious if you like.”
“I will like whatever you show me of yourself, as long as it is real,” she replied.
Senneth moved as if to back away, but Kirra caught her arm and held her in place. Senneth wasn’t sure if Kirra wanted to stay to guard the conversation—or to listen to it with frank interest.
Will’s voice was just as composed as Casserah’s. “I believe there is always some awkwardness in situations such as this,” he said. “We don’t know each other at all, and yet we are supposed to decide very quickly if we might like each other enough to endure a marriage.”
“I rarely feel either awkwardness or embarrassment,” Casserah replied. “And I am not at all of a romantic nature. I am not averse to marrying for political reasons, but I would like to have some respect for my husband.”
“That seems like a good place to start.”
“What would you say your virtues are?” she asked.
He considered. “I’m easygoing and diplomatic, which means I can win friends if I choose. I have an analytical mind. I know how to think things through. My brother Kiernan trusts my advice.”
“Your faults?”
“I’m not a leader. I don’t tend to push myself to the forefront and demand that my voice be heard. I’ll take a stand, but only on issues that are extremely important to me.”
Casserah seemed to think that over. Senneth felt Kirra’s fingers biting into her arm. Almost, she wanted to pull back and give the young couple some privacy; more, she was fascinated enough that she could not bring herself to step away. So this was how marriages were arranged among the Twelve Houses! What had her father said to the marlord of Gisseltess as they plotted the doomed union between their children?
She’s a mystic, but I’m sure your son is cruel enough to tame all magic out of her. . . .
She’s a mystic, but I’m sure your son is cruel enough to tame all magic out of her. . . .
“The virtues are attractive, and none of the vices are repugnant,” Casserah said at last.
Will smiled. “And you? What do you think are your own good points?” he asked.
“I am very strong. Very certain of myself. If I am pursuing something that is just or important, I can be relentless.”
“Some people might not consider that a virtue,” he pointed out.
Casserah looked surprised. “Do you?”
“I consider it familiar,” he said. “My brother has that characteristic to some degree. What would you consider your faults?”
“I care about nothing and nobody except Danalustrous,” she responded at once.
“Would you be able to bring yourself to care for someone you married if he came from a different House?”
“He would then be part of Danalustrous, don’t you see?”
“Part of him would be,” Will replied. “Part of him might still be rooted somewhere else. Would you be able to care about someplace else for his sake, if that was where part of his heart was planted?”
Casserah was quiet for a few moments, clearly trying out the concept. “I don’t know,” she said at last. “I have never tried to love anything but Danalustrous. I’m not sure I can.” She gave him a straight look from those blue eyes. “But I would accept that
you
could love something else. I wouldn’t expect all your loyalty to go to Danan Hall. Most of it, but not all.”
you
could love something else. I wouldn’t expect all your loyalty to go to Danan Hall. Most of it, but not all.”
“I would not want to be the only one giving my loyalty,” he said.
She nodded, as if that was a reasonable thing to say. “I would be faithful to you,” she said. “I am always faithful, unless I’m betrayed. And then I never deal with that person again.”
Now he was the one to nod. “That’s a bargain I can make.”
“Then shall we tell my father we’ve agreed?”
Senneth caught her breath. Kirra actually laughed. Will smiled. “Yes, serra Casserah. I think we may tell your father that we are willing to join our Houses—and ourselves—in marriage.”
He offered her his arm. Looking both surprised and pleased at the courtesy, Casserah accepted it, and they headed across the room to where Malcolm stood talking to Carlo. Senneth and Kirra stared after them.
“Well,”
Kirra said, sounding stunned. “No wonder you and I have had such tumultuous love lives. We have expected much more—passion—and mystery—and
agony
. If only we’d spoken more plainly about what mattered to us and what we thought we could bring to the table! Think how much simpler our lives would have been!”
Kirra said, sounding stunned. “No wonder you and I have had such tumultuous love lives. We have expected much more—passion—and mystery—and
agony
. If only we’d spoken more plainly about what mattered to us and what we thought we could bring to the table! Think how much simpler our lives would have been!”
“I think even among the noble Houses, such a proposal must be unique,” Senneth said. Now her laughter was starting to bubble up. “But I must confess, I have high hopes for this particular match! At least neither one will ever be able to complain that they didn’t understand exactly what pact they were making.”
“Do you know what she said to me this morning?” Kirra demanded.
“I wouldn’t even try to guess.”
“She said, ‘If I accept Will Brassenthwaite, does that mean you will feel free to wed Donnal? Because that will be another incentive for me, you know.’ ”
Senneth choked. “Really? I always thought your father and Casserah just accepted Donnal’s presence the way they accept Carlo’s. He’s here, he’s part of Danalustrous, he serves the Hall. But if she actually thinks he is good enough to
marry
you—well, can I just say, it makes my own betrothal seem slightly less outrageous.”
marry
you—well, can I just say, it makes my own betrothal seem slightly less outrageous.”
Kirra shook her head. “I don’t think I’ll ever get married,” she said. “I don’t think I want to put Donnal through what Tayse is clearly willing to endure for you. Most of our days it is just the two of us, and we’re mystics, we’re equals and we’re content. When circumstances compel me to play the serramarra, he likes to step back. He likes to play the servant or the guard. Some people know of our relationship, but only those we trust, and Donnal would not be happy to think the great lords and ladies were whispering about me and how far I’d fallen. I can’t see a day in the near future when that will change. I can’t see the day he’d ever ask my father for my hand.”
Senneth looked at her. “But that doesn’t mean he loves you any less.”
Kirra shook her head. “Or that I love him any less.” She gave Senneth a small smile. “I think I own him, Senneth. I think there is nothing I could do to drive him away. That moves me and frightens me and makes me want to be very, very careful with his heart. So I will not put it on display in the drawing rooms of the Twelve Houses.”
Senneth nodded. She was watching Tayse excuse himself from his conversation with Cammon and the steward’s daughter and make his way toward her. He looked too big for the room, too powerful for these pretty, delicate tables and graceful, thin-legged chairs. If he put a foot wrong or turned too quickly, he could accidentally break something.
Oh, but Tayse was too graceful for that. He moved through the room as lightly as a shadow, touching nothing. He saw her noticing him, and he rewarded her with a smile.
“Whereas I will drag Tayse to any House and any battlefield I happen to find,” Senneth said quietly. “If I have to endure it, then by the Bright Mother’s red eye, so should he! But he never complains.”
“Why would he complain?” Kirra scoffed. “That man would do anything you asked. He’d die for you.”
Senneth watched him come closer, and her own smile grew. She said, “He’d better not.”
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