Heirs of the Blade_ Shadows of the Apt_ Book Seven - Adiran Tchaikovsky [204]
Only dare challenge me, she thought, finding that none would even meet her gaze, and we shall then see who looks down on whom, at the end.
‘Alain,’ she said. He had no fear of her, at least, and he put an easy arm about her shoulders, drawing her close to him. It seemed to her that he was equally amused by the way that she unnerved his compatriots. Secure at his side, she gave them all a sharp-edged smile. See who he chooses, out of all of you. See who he considers his own?
‘Later,’ the prince told his followers. ‘We’ll discuss later.’ So dismissed, they drifted away in ones and twos, until he and Tynisa were alone, with only the walls and the cloudless spring sky.
‘Discuss?’ she enquired, as the two of them found their way past the twined trees to a half-hidden garden beyond, fragrant with herbs and early flowers and the drone of bees.
‘Discuss the celebrations of our victory – your victory, my huntress. Everyone wants to demonstrate their loyalty and fealty to my mother, for fear of being overlooked when any rewards are handed out. Everyone wants an estate in Rhael when we retake it.’ He grinned at her, that maddening and familiar grin. ‘Another opportunity for you to bloody your blade?’
‘There is more to life than fighting,’ she remarked with raised eyebrows.
His grin intensified. ‘As my wicked huntress has already shown me. Still, I’d assumed that blade-work was your first love.’
She did not say, You are my first love, but the words were written on her features clearly enough as she faced him. It was true, as well – if one took him for his brother.
The pause between them was a long one, but his smile did not slip. ‘Do not fear, for I have claimed you as my own, huntress, and you have served me well. You shall be rewarded as well as any.’
‘So tell me,’ she pressed, because that pause concerned her and she sensed adverse influence, perhaps his peers or his family trying to take him from her. ‘What do you promise me, Alain?’
‘Time for that later,’ he assured her. ‘At our celebration we shall bestow all manner of honours on those who have served us well.’
‘I don’t want such a promise from the grand family of the Salmae,’ she pointed out. ‘I want only one from you.’
Still his smile remained constant. ‘And you shall have it, in time.’ Abruptly he broke away from her. ‘But I was summoned some time ago to meet with my mother.’ His grimace was wholly unfeigned. ‘Forgive me, as your company is sweeter by far, but duty is duty.’
She watched him as he left: a flash of wings and a flutter of silk robes, and he was gone in a way she could never follow.
There was a small cold stone suddenly in her heart. They are taking him from me. She did not want to act against the Salmae. It seemed absurd, in the face of her recent words to the captive brigands, that she should be contemplating her own insurrection. Still, she could see what was right and what was wrong, and since the hunt she had never been so sure of her judgement. The world was writ in black and white for her now. I will have to save him from himself seemed like an inescapable conclusion.
Exiting by way of the twisted trees, she found herself come face to face with Lisan Dea’s severe features, as though the woman had been lying in wait for her.
‘What do you want?’ Tynisa demanded. The surprise had put her sword in her hand instantly.
‘Please recollect that this is my lady’s castle, of which I am seneschal and chief among her servants.’ Despite the woman’s calm