[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
insisted on privacy for herself. It is one reason she would have made a very poor queen. Not that
Chivalry cared. That was a marriage he made for himself rather than for politics. I think it was the first
major disappointment he dealt his father. After that, nothing he did ever completely pleased Shrewd.
I sat still as a mouse. Slink came and perched on my knee. It was rare to hear Chade so talkative,
especially about matters relating to the royal family. I scarcely breathed for fear of interrupting him.
Sometimes I think there was something in Patience that Chivalry instinctively knew he needed. He was a
thoughtful, orderly man, always correct in his manners, always aware of precisely what was going on
around him. He was chivalrous, boy, in the best sense of that word. He did not give in to ugly or petty
impulses. That meant he exuded a certain air of restraint at all times. So those who did not know him well
thought him cold or cavalier.
And then he met this girl ... and she was scarcely more than a girl. And there was no more substance to
her than to cobwebs and sea foam. Thoughts and tongue always flying from this to that, nitterdy-natterdy,
with never a pause or connection I could see. It used to exhaust me just to listen to her. But Chivalry
would smile, and marvel. Perhaps it was that she had absolutely no awe of him. Perhaps it was that she
didn't seem particularly eager to win him. But with a score of more eligible ladies, of better birth and
brighter brains, pursuing him, he chose Patience.
And it wasn't even timely for him to wed; when he took her to wife, he shut the gate on a dozen possible
alliances that a wife could have brought him. There was no good reason for him to get married at that
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
time. Not one.
Except that he wanted to, I said, and then I could have bitten out my tongue. For Chade nodded, and
then gave himself a bit of a shake. He took his gaze off the fire and looked at me.
Well. Enough of that. I won't ask you how you made such an impression on her, or what changed her
heart toward you. But last week she came to Shrewd and demanded that you be recognized as
Chivalry's son and heir and given an education appropriate to a prince.
I was dizzied. Did the wall tapestries move before me, or was it a trick of my eyes?
Of course he refused, Chade continued mercilessly. He tried to explain to her why such a thing is totally
impossible. All she kept saying was, 'But you are the King. How can it be impossible for you?' 'The
nobles would never accept him. It would mean civil war. And think what it would do to an unprepared
boy, to plunge him suddenly into this.' So he told her.
Oh, I said quietly. I couldn't remember what I had felt for the one instant. Elation? Anger? Fear? I only
knew that the feeling was gone now, and I felt oddly stripped and humiliated that I had felt anything at all.
Patience, of course, was not convinced at all. 'Prepare the boy,' she told the King. 'And when he is
ready, judge for yourself.' Only Patience would ask such a thing, and in front of both Verity and Regal.
Verity listened quietly, knowing how it must end, but Regal was livid. He becomes overwrought far too
easily. Even an idiot should know Shrewd could not accede to Patience's demand. But he knows when
to compromise. In all else, he gave way to her, mostly I think to stop her tongue.
In all else? I repeated stupidly.
Some for our good, some for our detriment. Or at least, for our damned inconvenience. Chade sounded
both annoyed and elated. I hope you can find more hours in the day, boy, for I'm not willing to sacrifice
any of my plans for hers. Patience has demanded that you be educated as befits your bloodlines. And she
has vowed to undertake such educating herself. Music, poetry, dance, song, manners ... I hope you've a
better tolerance for it than I did. Though it never seemed to hurt Chivalry. Sometimes he even put such
knowledge to good use. But it will take up a good part of your day. You'll be acting as page for Patience
as well. You're old for it, but she insisted. Personally, I think she regrets much and is trying to make up
for lost time, something that never works. You'll have to cut back your weapons training. And Burrich
will have to find himself another stable boy.
I didn't give a peg about the weapons training. As Chade had often pointed out to me, a really good
assassin worked close and quietly. If I learned my trade well, I wouldn't be swinging a long blade at
anyone. But my time with Burrich againI had the odd sensation of not knowing how I felt. I hated
Burrich. Sometimes. He was overbearing, dictatorial, and insensitive. He expected me to be perfect, yet
bluntly told me that I would never be rewarded for it. But he was also open, and blunt, and believed I
could achieve what he demanded ....
You're probably wondering what advantage she won us, Chade went on obliviously. I heard suppressed
excitement in his voice. It's something I've tried for twice for you, and been twice refused. But Patience
nattered at Shrewd until he surrendered. It's the Skill, boy. You're to be trained in the Skill.
The Skill, I repeated, without sense of what I was saying. It was all going too fast for me.
Yes.
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
I scrabbled to find thoughts. Burrich spoke of it to me, once. A long time ago. Abruptly I remembered
the context of that conversation. After Nosy accidentally betrayed us. He had spoken of it as the
opposite of whatever was the sense I shared with animals. The same sense had revealed to me the
change in the folk of Forge. Would training in one free me of the other? Or would it be a deprivation? I
thought of the kinship that I had shared with horses and dogs when I knew Burrich was not around. I
remembered Nosy, in a mingling of warmth and grief. I had never been so close, before or since, to
another living creature. Would this new training in the Skill take that away from me?
What's the matter, boy? Chade's voice was kindly, but concerned.
I don't know. I hesitated. But not even to Chade could I dare to reveal my fear. Or my taint. Nothing, I
guess.
You've been listening to old tales about the training, he guessed, totally incorrectly. Listen, boy, it can't
be that bad. Chivalry went through it. So did Verity. And with the threat of the Red-Ships, Shrewd has
decided to go back to the old ways, and extend the training to other likely candidates. He wants a
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]