Fortune's Fool - Mercedes Lackey [42]
“Oh, I am my own person and need ask leave of no one for my comings and goings,” she replied with a toss of her head and a grin. “But you are right. It is late and I should be going. I will come here tomorrow, though, if you like.”
Sasha, you goose, you’re half in love with her, aren’t you? He couldn’t help chiding himself at the same time that he was congratulating himself that she wanted to meet him again. But how could anyone not be in love with her? She was altogether adorable.
“In that case, since I am not particularly needed at home, I’ll just prolong my visit to the seashore,” he said with an answering grin. “I couldn’t possibly leave you here to stroll on the sand alone.”
“Then I’ll be off until tomorrow!” She jumped to her feet, laughed gaily, and ran around the boulders they had chosen to keep the breeze off.
And when he rounded them himself, she was nowhere to be seen.
Definitely magic.
Sasha, you’re such a fool.
That I am, he told the sensible part of himself. But at this moment, a happy one.
Katya thought that this might have been one of the happiest days of her life. Not a delirious happiness; a quiet happiness, something not to be shouted, but to savor.
She hadn’t thought it was going to be nearly so nice; when her father had first told her she needed to go to Led Belarus.
The Sea King had sent for her as soon as she was rested from the long swim home from Nippon. As always, when her mission was successful, he let her recover before needing to hear the detailed account of what had happened.
They sat together over breakfast…which was, she reflected a little sadly, nothing like a breakfast on the Drylands. Raw fish, kelp, some fruits and vegetables from the Drylands, but nothing that couldn’t stand immersion in water and nothing cooked. It was probably very healthy, but…
But the food wasn’t why they were meeting together, and she continued on with her story—leaving out the early misadventure with the courtesan’s robes. When she was done, it was clear that he was quite happy with how she had conducted herself, so far from home. He was very interested in the overture from the head of the kitsune clan. “I think I had heard once they were notable for mischief,” he observed, “but also for loyalty and wisdom. I believe we can strike a good bargain here. But now—” He grimaced. “I hate to send you out again so soon, but…I am presented with a puzzle. It is the Kingdom of Led Belarus.”
She tilted her head to the side. Led Belarus was very close, geographically speaking, to the Palace. And never once, in all the time that she had been alive, had there been any problems with that little Kingdom.
But then, her father hadn’t exactly said there was a problem.
“A puzzle? But they have been quiet for three generations, Father. No great evils, only a modest prosperity and—” and then it struck her “—and they are too quiet, are they not?”
He nodded glumly. One of the little reef fish flitted over to their table to beg scraps, and he absent-mindedly fed it bits of lettuce. “The real peace and prosperity is little more than twenty years long. This troubles me. It may be nothing. But such quiet invites The Tradition to create some dreadful catastrophe, or put it in the mind of some evil mage to move in and take over. People become complacent about bad things happening, and it becomes easy for evil to invade. The Tradition does not like quiet.”
“Quiet does not make for stories and songs,” she sighed. “You are quite right, Father. This should be looked into. Even the tiniest of Kingdoms can attract great evil.” Then she smiled. “At least it is not far. And Led Belarus does not live up to its name in summer.” And besides…there would be good breakfasts….
So she went. As soon as she set foot on the beach, she asked The Tradition to give her proper clothing, and got the most delightful red-and-white outfit in lovely silk! A grand