Standing near one of the potted shrubs that isolated the food and drink, I sipped at the punch and started picking out individual voices from the chatter around me, and individual dancers from the mass.
I overheard a conversation from the other side of the shrub. "…see Tamara? That's the third time she's gotten him."
Curious, I looked at the dancers and easily found Lady Tamara--dancing with Shevraeth. They made a very handsome couple, her pale blue gown and dark hair, his colors the opposite. Her eyes gleamed through her famous lashes as she smiled up into his face; she then spoke, though the words were inaudible. He, of course, was exactly as unreadable as always.
"Tsk tsk." A new voice joined in, drawling with sardonic amusement. "I suppose it's inevitable. She's always gotten what she's wanted; and beware whoever gets in her way."
"Everything?" the first voice said with a tinkly sort of laugh. "Compassing marriage to either of the cousins?"
"Come now, she's dropped the lesser prospect. Why settle for a duke when there's a king in reach?"
"Perhaps she's been dropped" was the answer. "Or else the glare while Savona danced with the little Tlanth countess was a sham to provide entertainment for our speculation."
Laughing, the speakers moved away. I stood where I was, watching Lady Tamara happily whirling about the room in Shevraeth's grasp, and I realized that he hadn't been near me since the beginning of the evening. Uncomfortable emotions began eroding my enjoyment. I tried to banish them, and also what I'd heard. I told myself firmly, hoping there wasn't some like conversation taking place elsewhere in the room--only with me as its subject. Still, it was hard during the remaining dances to recapture the earlier joy, and at the end I was glad to follow Bran and Nee back upstairs to our rooms, Nee yawning all the way. My feet were tired, but I buoyed myself with the reminder that my Name Day came with dawn.
I overheard a conversation from the other side of the shrub. "…see Tamara? That's the third time she's gotten him."
Curious, I looked at the dancers and easily found Lady Tamara--dancing with Shevraeth. They made a very handsome couple, her pale blue gown and dark hair, his colors the opposite. Her eyes gleamed through her famous lashes as she smiled up into his face; she then spoke, though the words were inaudible. He, of course, was exactly as unreadable as always.
"Tsk tsk." A new voice joined in, drawling with sardonic amusement. "I suppose it's inevitable. She's always gotten what she's wanted; and beware whoever gets in her way."
"Everything?" the first voice said with a tinkly sort of laugh. "Compassing marriage to either of the cousins?"
"Come now, she's dropped the lesser prospect. Why settle for a duke when there's a king in reach?"
"Perhaps she's been dropped" was the answer. "Or else the glare while Savona danced with the little Tlanth countess was a sham to provide entertainment for our speculation."
Laughing, the speakers moved away. I stood where I was, watching Lady Tamara happily whirling about the room in Shevraeth's grasp, and I realized that he hadn't been near me since the beginning of the evening. Uncomfortable emotions began eroding my enjoyment. I tried to banish them, and also what I'd heard. I told myself firmly, hoping there wasn't some like conversation taking place elsewhere in the room--only with me as its subject. Still, it was hard during the remaining dances to recapture the earlier joy, and at the end I was glad to follow Bran and Nee back upstairs to our rooms, Nee yawning all the way. My feet were tired, but I buoyed myself with the reminder that my Name Day came with dawn.
( Sherwood Smith )
[ Court Duel ]
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