How do you feel?" she asked, looking concerned, as we walked down the stairs.
I felt my face burn. "I suppose it's all over Remalna by now."
She gave me a wry smile. "I think I received six notes this morning, most of which, I hasten to add, affirm their partisanship for you." The term used by the Unknown.
"For me?" I said. "But I got drunk. Worse, I got sick all over Tamara's carpet. Not exactly courtly finesse." I ducked my head under the warm water.
When I came up, Nee said, "But she was the one who served an especially potent punch, one they all knew you probably hadn't tasted before, as it's a Court delicacy…" She hesitated, and I hazarded a guess at what she was leaving out.
"You mean, people might want to see Tamara in trouble?"
She nodded soberly.
"And apparently I can do something about that?"
"All you have to do is give her the cut," Nee said quietly. "When you appear in public, you don't notice her, and she'll very shortly come down with a mysterious ailment that requires her to withdraw to the family estate until the next scandal supplants this one."
"Why would she do it?" I asked. "I am very sure I never did anything to earn her enmity."
Nee shrugged. "I can't say I understand her, cousins though we be. She's always been secretive and ambitious, and I expect she sees you as competition. After all, you appeared suddenly, and it seems effortless how you have managed to attract the attention of the most eligible of the men--"
I snorted. "Even I know that a fad can end as suddenly as it began. Savona could get bored with me tomorrow, and all the rest would follow him to the next fad, just as if they had ribbons tied round their necks and somebody yanked."
Nee smiled as she wrung out her hair. "Well, it's true, but I think you underestimate the value of Savona's friendship."
"But it isn't a friendship," I retorted without thinking--and I realized I was right. "It's just a flirtation. We've never talked about anything that really matters to either of us. I don't know him any better now than I did the first day we met." As I said the words I felt an unsettling sensation inside, as if I were on the verge of an important insight. Pausing, I waited; but further thoughts did not come.
Nee obviously thought that sufficed. "If more people recognized the difference between friendship and mere attraction, and how love must partake of both to prosper, I expect there'd be more happy people."
"And a lot fewer poems and plays," I said, laughing as I splashed about in the scented water.
Nee laughed as well.
I felt my face burn. "I suppose it's all over Remalna by now."
She gave me a wry smile. "I think I received six notes this morning, most of which, I hasten to add, affirm their partisanship for you." The term used by the Unknown.
"For me?" I said. "But I got drunk. Worse, I got sick all over Tamara's carpet. Not exactly courtly finesse." I ducked my head under the warm water.
When I came up, Nee said, "But she was the one who served an especially potent punch, one they all knew you probably hadn't tasted before, as it's a Court delicacy…" She hesitated, and I hazarded a guess at what she was leaving out.
"You mean, people might want to see Tamara in trouble?"
She nodded soberly.
"And apparently I can do something about that?"
"All you have to do is give her the cut," Nee said quietly. "When you appear in public, you don't notice her, and she'll very shortly come down with a mysterious ailment that requires her to withdraw to the family estate until the next scandal supplants this one."
"Why would she do it?" I asked. "I am very sure I never did anything to earn her enmity."
Nee shrugged. "I can't say I understand her, cousins though we be. She's always been secretive and ambitious, and I expect she sees you as competition. After all, you appeared suddenly, and it seems effortless how you have managed to attract the attention of the most eligible of the men--"
I snorted. "Even I know that a fad can end as suddenly as it began. Savona could get bored with me tomorrow, and all the rest would follow him to the next fad, just as if they had ribbons tied round their necks and somebody yanked."
Nee smiled as she wrung out her hair. "Well, it's true, but I think you underestimate the value of Savona's friendship."
"But it isn't a friendship," I retorted without thinking--and I realized I was right. "It's just a flirtation. We've never talked about anything that really matters to either of us. I don't know him any better now than I did the first day we met." As I said the words I felt an unsettling sensation inside, as if I were on the verge of an important insight. Pausing, I waited; but further thoughts did not come.
Nee obviously thought that sufficed. "If more people recognized the difference between friendship and mere attraction, and how love must partake of both to prosper, I expect there'd be more happy people."
"And a lot fewer poems and plays," I said, laughing as I splashed about in the scented water.
Nee laughed as well.
( Sherwood Smith )
[ Court Duel ]
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