DragonKnight - Donita K. Paul [87]
He nodded to the image in the mirror and left his room. He quickened his step when he finally reached the dining suites. Turning a corner, he nearly ran into a woman being escorted by a courtier.
“Excuse me.” He stepped to the side.
“Bardon,” the lovely young emerlindian said, “you’re going the wrong way.”
The squire looked sharply at the couple. The courtier he knew as Trum Aspect, an o’rant dignitary promoting trade with the southern continent. The young lady, he had never—
“N’Rae?”
She smiled, let go of her escort’s arm, and twirled. “Isn’t it gorgeous?”
Her dress of light blue silk swirled around her and settled again in soft folds starting from a high waist and ending with the hem brushing the toes of satin slippers. The bodice glimmered with tiny blue gems. Her white-blond hair swept up under an elaborate headdress with two sheer scarves draped from the crown. She wore long, white gloves and carried a painted fan. A lace shawl, fringed and beaded, covered her bare shoulders.
“The nicest lady came to my room and helped me dress,” she said. “Her name was Faye.”
Bardon let his eyes drift over her attire and then gazed at her face. Her eyes sparkled, her smile invited him to join her enthusiasm, her entire being spoke of elegance and beauty. He shifted his gaze to the man beside her and then back to N’Rae.
“You look extremely good tonight. But I’m not going the wrong way.”
“Oh, but you are. Trum is taking me to the blue room. I’m to meet Grandmother there.”
Squire Bardon looked back at the young o’rant. “He is?”
N’Rae resettled the shawl on her shoulders, not looking at either young man. “Well, of course he is. Why are you being such a dolt?”
Bardon grinned as he took her hand and placed it in the crook of his elbow. “Now, that sounds like the N’Rae I know, even though you look like a princess instead of my comrade.”
N’Rae gasped. “Am I really your comrade, Bardon? Truly?”
“Indeed. We take up our quest tomorrow.” He nodded at the courtier. “I’ll escort her the rest of the way, Master Aspect.”
The young man nodded and stepped back. Bardon noted the overly correct stiffness that hid the young man’s anger. And that N’Rae was totally oblivious to having been in the company of a cad.
“Thank you, Trum,” N’Rae called softly after the departing suitor. “I enjoyed our talk.”
“As did I, fair lady.”
Bardon tugged gently and started them down the hall.
N’Rae shook her head. “But this is the wrong way, Bardon.”
“I lived here for three years, N’Rae.” He winked at her. “This is a shortcut.”
They passed two doors, turned down a hallway, and entered the first room on the right, stopping in the doorway to survey the scene. The other guests had already arrived. Dinnerware gleamed on the long table. Scrumptious smells of wonderful delicacies filled the air.
“Where was he taking me?” asked N’Rae.
“Probably just for a long, roundabout walk in order to spend time with the most beautiful woman at court this evening.”
She squinted at him with a crease across her brow. “Does a pretty dress really make that much of a difference?”
He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “You are a charming young thing and shall have to guard against young men who would love to steal from that beauty.”
“How could one steal from beauty?”
“By taking what doesn’t belong to them. By encroaching on your youth.” He saw the bemusement on her face.
He shook his head and screwed up his mouth. “N’Rae, in plain words, unscrupulous men will want to filch a kiss and more from you. This would give them great physical pleasure and, for some of them, the satisfaction of a conquest as if you were no more than a hunting trophy. You would have lost something that could not be replaced. Your beauty would be less pure.”
N’Rae cocked her head. “Does that mean that I can never kiss and cuddle?”
“When you choose a man who will be your life partner, then each kiss accentuates your beauty instead of diminishing it.”
A look of mischief came to her eye, and a smile quivered on her lips. “You give sage advice for a bachelor, Bardon.”
Bardon felt heat creeping