Reader and Raelynx (15 page)

W
HEN
Senneth 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.”

“Senneth thinks they were having a silent argument,” Tayse said.

That did catch Kirra’s attention. Her fine eyebrows arched high over her blue eyes. “What were they arguing about?”

“That’s not the point,” Senneth muttered, her bad mood fully returned.

“We’re still trying to understand the point,” Justin told Kirra. “It’s not obvious to the rest of us.”

“The point is, a servant doesn’t
argue
with his master or his mistress,” Senneth exclaimed. “Would you argue with Baryn? If he gave you an order, you might say, ‘Liege, I think that would be a dreadful mistake,’ and you would explain why, but if he disagreed with you, you would follow his command anyway. He wouldn’t sulk because you had offended him, and you wouldn’t stand there trying to defend yourself—in a room full of nobles, might I add!—that is not the relationship you have with him. And that should not be the relationship Cammon has—or thinks he has—with Amalie.”

“Well, but,
Cammon
,” Kirra said, as if that explained everything. “He treats everybody like a best friend. It’s endearing.”

Tayse, as always, cut straight through to the heart of the matter. “You think he’s crossed the line with her? He’s too familiar?”

“I think she’s a lonely, isolated girl and he’s an outgoing, happy young man, and neither of them realizes they cannot, they
cannot
be friends. And it’s not my place to say anything to the princess, but I can damn well tell Cammon to back off.”

Kirra’s mouth had dropped open. “You think Cammon might fall in love with her? You think
she
might fall in love with Cammon?”

“Surely we have enough other disasters to contend with for that to happen,” Senneth said. But she felt glum. Why should this particular disaster hold off? None of the others had.

She was annoyed to see Kirra and Justin exchange glances and then dissolve into laughter. “You were right! You were
right
!” Kirra cried. “Oh, but even you couldn’t have predicted this!”

“I cannot imagine what possible amusement you can find in this situation,” Senneth said in a cold voice.

Justin tried to stop laughing, but his face was still alight with mirth. “Last year. Kirra and I were remarking on the fact that the six of us seemed to make extraordinarily bad choices when we fell in love,” he said. “Picking people we didn’t have much chance of ending up with in a happy life. And I said Cammon would outdo all of us.”

“But the
princess
! That I would never have anticipated!” Kirra said.

“And this is all premature speculation,” Tayse said practically. “He may feel some affection for her, and she for him, but I believe Amalie is very aware of her role and not likely to compromise herself in any foolish fashion.”

“Well, she won’t compromise herself with Cammon, because I’m going to strangle him,” Senneth said.

Kirra looked around. “Where is he, anyway? He always comes down here after dinner.”

“I think he’s avoiding me,” Senneth said. “I made a tactical error.”

Justin grinned again. “You gave him a
look
, didn’t you? One look, and he decided he would be better off spending the evening up in his room.”

“Talk to him tomorrow,” Tayse said. “Perhaps you’ll be calmer then.”

Senneth rubbed the back of her head, where a small ache was beginning to form. She knew better—both great rage and sweeping acts of magic could leave her with debilitating headaches. Magic performed while she was in the grip of fury could produce headaches so severe she was laid low for more than a day. Tayse had the knack of massaging away the agony, but it was stupid to feel so angry over such a trifle and call up a headache to begin with. “Perhaps I will,” she said.

Donnal swept all the cards toward him. “Maybe we should start over,” he said.

They played for a few moments in companionable silence. “I learned something interesting at dinner tonight,” Kirra said presently.

“Some intimate secret of Darryn’s?” Senneth inquired. “Because you flirted with him so desperately that I can’t imagine you had time to talk to anybody else. I was starting to think Amalie would be jealous—since he came here to see her, after all.”

Kirra blinked those blue eyes at her. “Are you just going to go around the table and berate each of us, one by one?” she asked. “In that case, I want to stick around and hear what you say to Tayse. You usually think he’s so perfect.”

Justin snorted and buried his face in his cards. Tayse tried with a little more success to hide his amusement, but Donnal just laughed out loud. Against her will, Senneth felt her own face lighten in a smile.

“No. No, that will be my last ill-tempered remark of the evening. Though you
were
awfully cozy with Darryn,” she couldn’t help adding.

“He’s always been my favorite flirt,” Kirra said, “but even more so now that I know he’s in love with another girl. I can say the most outrageous things and know there’s no chance he’ll take me seriously. It’s very freeing.”

“I shudder to think what
you
might find outrageous,” Tayse said, which caused Justin to laugh again.

“But tell us, do, what you learned tonight while you were trading compliments with Darryn Rappengrass,” Senneth said.

“He’s leaving for Rappen Manor in a couple of days, and if we want to go to Carrebos, he’ll travel most of the distance with us.”

Tayse rearranged his hand and threw away two cards. “I didn’t know you’d decided to go to Carrebos so soon.”

“We hadn’t,” Senneth said slowly, thinking it over. “But I like the idea of traveling with Darryn. People will see our parties together on the road. It’s never a bad idea to reinforce the idea that there is great affection between Rappengrass and the crown.”

“I think he’s willing to wait a few days but wants to be on the road before the week’s out,” Kirra said. “And I can’t stay much longer, either. If you don’t go soon, you’ll have to go without me.”

“Restless again already?” Tayse said.

“Needed back home,” she said. “I promised Casserah I wouldn’t be gone long. I’ll probably head straight from Carrebos to Danan Hall.”

Tayse shrugged. “No reason not to leave Ghosenhall whenever the serramar is ready.”

“Well, not until I’ve killed Cammon,” Senneth said.

“Right after that,” Tayse said. “We’ll be on our way.”

B
UT
Cammon proved elusive the next day. Senneth always just missed him when she searched for him in his room, in Amalie’s company, in the kitchens. He was, of course, at his post during the dinner that evening, but somehow she lost track of him as the guests emptied from the room, and he didn’t show up at the cottage later that night.

“He’s avoiding you,” Justin said, seeming to find this hilarious. He and Ellynor had joined Senneth and Tayse after dinner; Kirra and Donnal had been gone all day, and, of course, no one knew where Cammon was. “He can tell you’re still mad at him.”

“I’m not! I just want to talk to him.”

“I’d guess it’s pretty hard to approach Cammon by stealth,” Tayse observed. “You’re never going to be able to corner him.”

Ellynor smiled a little wickedly. She was so dainty and small that Senneth was always surprised all over again when she exhibited strength and purpose. “I’ll help you,” she offered. “I’ll hide you so he doesn’t know you’re coming.”

They all liked this idea and spent a couple of minutes discussing the best time and place to trap Cammon.

“I’ll have him work out with me and then bring him back to our cabin for some reason,” Justin suggested. “You can be lying in wait.”

“Would you like me to recruit Coeval and Hammond?” Tayse inquired. “We can help you disembowel him.”

“No, no, I think I can kill him all by myself.”

T
HE
plan was executed the following afternoon and worked perfectly. Senneth and Ellynor were standing just inside the door when Cammon, talking excitedly, followed Justin inside. His expression of dismay was so comical that Senneth almost forgave him on the spot, but this was too serious. So instead she grabbed him in a headlock and wrestled him to the floor while he flailed about and protested mightily.

“You traitor!” he yelled at Justin. “I warned
you
when people were waiting for you!”

Justin spread his hands. “Senneth,” he replied. “I couldn’t help it.”

“I hate to chase you out of your own house, but I need a few minutes alone with him,” Senneth said.

Justin grabbed Ellynor’s wrist and pulled her out the door. “We’re gone.”

When the door shut behind them, Senneth released Cammon, but they both remained on the floor, Cammon ostentatiously rubbing his wrist and throat. “Nobody realizes how
mean
you can be,” he said.

“And I never realized how stupid
you
could be,” she responded.

He stopped rubbing and gave her a straight look. Cammon’s eyes were so unusual, brown eyes flecked with gold spots—the eyes of a seer, or a madman, or a genius. She had never been sure. “Senneth, I haven’t
done
anything.”

“Then why have you been hiding from me?”

“Well, I didn’t want to be set on fire!”

“Seriously.”

He threw his hands up, then hunched his knees together and set his chin on top of them. “Valri’s already lectured me. Came to my room at midnight to warn me not to be too friendly to the princess. I don’t know what everybody’s so afraid of. I’m hardly the kind of person—well, I mean, look at me. Then look at somebody like Darryn Rappengrass. Or even Ryne Coravann. They’re like purebred horses. I’m a shaggy dog.”

“Yet people have been known to become very attached to misbegotten mongrels, especially when they’re loyal and affectionate.”

“So what am I supposed to do? Valri tells me to stay away. But Amalie is angry when I’m not there. It seems I can’t make anybody happy.”

“You can behave yourself,” Senneth said softly.

He looked mutinous. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Tell me you weren’t carrying on a private conversation with Amalie all during dinner the night before last.”