Kushiel's Scion - Jacqueline Carey [99]
Summer ended too soon.
I was in two minds regarding our return to the City. A part of me looked forward to it; and a part of me mourned the further loss of freedom. At least in Montrève, I was free to roam within the borders of the estate. In the City, I would be kept on a shorter leash.
Still, there was nothing to be done about it. Summer gave way to autumn, and we returned to the City of Elua. To no one's surprise, Gilot decided to stay in Montrève. The rest of us went back.
One always supposes that life elsewhere stands still in one's absence, but it doesn't.
Things had changed.
For one thing, Alais had grown. It took me by surprise. Over the course of the summer, my irrepressible little cousin had become a gawky girl of twelve, with dark scowling brows and a nose that seemed too large for her face. Although she was still slight, she seemed all sharp elbows and knees, limbs akimbo.
Colts' Years, I thought.
For the first time, she greeted me with shy reserve. The only familiar element was the wolfhound Celeste, beating her tail on the marble floor.
"It's good to see you, villain," I said, hugging Alais despite her reluctance.
She drew away. "Don't call me that! It's silly."
I hunkered down on my heels, scratching Celeste's ears. "What's wrong with silliness? It's only because I like you, Alais. I thought we were friends, you and I."
"She's not a child, you know," said a familiar voice. "Don't treat her like one."
I looked up at Sidonie. She stood behind her sister, her hands resting on Alais' shoulders. For all the coolness in her voice, her face held an expression of fierce defiancé. Her liquid dark eyes smoldered in her delicate face. Sidonie, too, had grown. Unlike Alais, she had done so with effortless grace. It seemed unfair.
I stood and bowed. "My greetings, Dauphine. I meant no offense."
"Then give none," she retorted.
I caught Eamonn's eye and grimaced. He grinned and came over to us, uttering a few florid phrases in Eiran, then translating them for their benefit. It made Alais laugh, almost like her usual self, and even Sidonie smiled.
And so the moment passed.
But there were other moments.
The Game of Courtship had carried on without me. Reuniting with my friends, I was hard put to keep pace with the gossip. Some players had left the field, like Raul L'Envers y Aragon. It was rumored he would return in the spring, but he was wintering in Amílcar this year. I will own, I was not sorry for it. Though I had come to like him well enough, I would not miss the Lady Nicola. But there were other players, too; new players. Many I did not know. Others, I did. One was my cousin Roshana Shahrizai, who had come to winter in the City.
Another, I would never have expected.
"The new lieutenant in the Queen's Guard?" Julien Trente fanned himself in jest. "Name of Elua! He's got the look of a chained leopard. A few more like him, and I'll enlist in her majesty's service."
"It is your birthright," his sister Colette reminded him. "Mayhap you ought to."
"It's a stepping-stone," he said peaceably. "Ysandre rewarded Father generously for her service, and rightfully so. Our family has risen high in the Queen's regard. For you and me, he wants somewhat more. But you've got to own, Maslin de Lombelon has a… certain appeal."
I gaped at the name, dumbstruck.
"Wasn't Lombelon one of your holdings?" Colette asked me curiously. "I seem to remember hearing Father say somewhat about it years ago."
"Yes." With an effort, I collected myself. "I gave it to him."
"To Maslin?" Her brows arched. "Why on earth?"
"I thought he wanted it," I murmured.
Already there were stories about him. Upon attaining his majority, he had entrusted Lombelon to its old seneschal's care and left to take service in the Queen's Guard. He had arrived, ill-mannered and untaught in the