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"Perhaps he believes he knows what your answer will be."
Alanna put her combs away. "I'd better talk to him." She slipped beneath the
rope that enclosed the horses, and glanced up at Halef Seif. "No one is to
ready
Moonlight for a journey until I say so." She strode off, telling herself that
Jonathan was tired, and had probably forgotten to ask her if she planned to
go
with him when he left today. For that matter, she remembered, he hadn't even
mentioned he was leaving.
Relax, her sensible self remarked as she entered the Prince's tent. Becoming
the
Voice would probably drive less important matters from his head and he dare
not
stay here much longer.
Jonathan was conferring with Myles and Co-ram. Already a boy from the tribe
was
packing his things. The Prince smiled at her. "My love, I've instructed Kara
and
Kourrem to pack for you." he announced. "If we leave after twilight, we
should
have several hours of cool riding "
"May I speak with you alone, Jonathan? I know Coram and Myles will excuse us."
Seeing the scowl on her face, Coram needed no further urging. He left. Myles
looked from Alanna to Jon, plainly worried. "It's all right, Myles," the
Prince
assured him. "We'll be ready in an hour or so."
Myles stopped beside Alanna. "Don't say anything you might regret," he
cautioned.
"I won't." Alanna gripped the ember-stone at her throat, telling herself that
what she had just heard was rooted in a simple misunderstanding, one that
would
be made right. Myles sighed and walked out, closing the tent flap behind him.
"You didn't mention you were planning to leave today." In making an effort to
keep her temper, Alanna sounded clipped and terse.
"I thought you knew." Jonathan was rolling up a map, not looking at her. "If
I
had been with anyone but Myles, my parents would have torn up the countryside
looking for me by now. I must get back."
"I did not say I was returning with you, and you didn't ask me before you
ordered people to do my packing."
"I assumed we'd begin preparations for the wedding. I didn't think you would
want to wait."
"I haven't told you 'yes,' " Alanna reminded him, her voice tense.
He looked at her, startled. "But I know how you feel about me."
"Being married to you is a great responsibility. I need more time to think
about
it."
"More time!" He's actually amused, Alanna thought, her anger mounting. "Be
serious. After all these years, I think your answer is plain."
She had clenched her jaw so tightly it hurt to open it. "Not to me."
Jonathan slapped the rolled-up parchment onto the table, his patience nearing
an
end. "Stop it, Alanna. I've made enough allowance for maidenly shyness from
you "
"Maidenly shyness?" she yelled. "Since when have I shown maidenly shyness!"
"Keep your voice down!" he snapped. "Do you want the whole tribe to hear?
What's
gotten into you, anyway? I thought it was all settled."
"I said I wanted time to think!" Although her voice was quieter, her snapping
violet eyes revealed her undiminished fury.
Jonathan's smile was full of masculine superiority. "That's what all women
say
when a man proposes."
"Do they indeed?" Alanna snapped. "And you're such an expert on marriage
proposals, I suppose!"
"As much as you are," he snapped back.
"When I say I want time to think, I want time to think!"
Jonathan sighed wearily. "All right, you've had time to think. What's your
answer?"
"That I need more time to think!"
Jon stared at her for a moment, coloring mounting into his cheeks. "This is
ridiculous!" he cried. "All right, I should've remembered you don't like
people
making plans without your say-so, but I thought everything was settled "
"It isn't! How dare you take my acceptance for granted?"
"Well, you certainly didn't give me any reason to believe you'd refuse, did
you?" he demanded, his hands clenched with anger. "Think carefully before you
annoy me further, Alanna of Trebond! There are women who would do anything to
marry me "
"Then why didn't you ask one of them?" Alanna said. "You know what your
problem
is, Jonathan? You've been spoiled by all those fine Court ladies. It never
entered your mind that I might say no!"
"And who would you take instead of me, O Woman Who Rides Like a Man?" he
demanded. "I suppose George Cooper's more to your taste "
"George!" she gasped, surprised at his new angle of attack.
"Do you think I'm blind? I've seen the way he looks at you!"
"What about all those women at the palace and the way they look at yow?"
Alanna
demanded. "And I know you've had affairs with some of them! They've made you
into a conceited "
"At least they're women, Lady Alanna!" he said. "And they know how to act
like
women!"
Silence stretched between them, as Alanna fought to keep from either slapping
him or from bursting into tears. Finally she hissed, "I refuse to marry you."
Jonathan was now white with rage. "And I think I'm well out of a potential
disaster!"
"Obviously!" she retorted. "Find yourself someone more feminine, Jonathan of
Conté!" She hurled herself out of the tent.
Kara and Kourrem looked up from their packing, startled, as she marched into
her
own home. "I'm not leaving!" she snapped. "Next time someone tells you I am,
check with me first!"
They bowed and hurried from the tent, their eyes wide above their face veils.
Alanna threw herself onto her sleeping mat and gave way to furious tears.
Tears led to a long, exhausted sleep. When she awoke, it was dark. Jonathan
and
Myles were gone.
"Jonathan." Queen Lianne beckoned to her son. Jonathan obeyed the summons,
trying to erase the frown that had creased his forehead since his return from
the desert over a week ago. He could hear courtiers whispering now about his
unusual surliness.
Let them talk, he thought savagely as he bowed before his mother's throne.
What
do I care?
His mother gestured for a willowy blonde to come forward. "Prince Jonathan,"
the
Queen said as the blonde sank into a deep curtsy, "may I make Princess
Josiane
known to you? Josiane is the second daughter of the King of the Copper Isles;
she has come to stay with us for a time. Her mother and I were good friends
as
girls. Josiane, my son Jonathan."
Josiane looked up at him from her curtsy, her blue eyes huge with admiration.
"Prince Jonathan," she said, her voice soft and husky. "It is an honor to
meet
the man who fought so bravely in the Tusaine War."
Jonathan took Josiane's hand and raised her to her feet, lightly kissing her
fingertips. "I was just a boy then, Princess," he reminded her. She said
nothing, her full mouth curved in a smile. "Would you care to dance?"
"I would love to." She moved gracefully out onto the floor at his side as
Jonathan noted with satisfaction that she was tall (the top of her head level
with his eyes), slender, and milky-skinned. She'll do, he thought with grim
satisfaction. She'll help me prove to that female in the South that I never
want
anything to do with her again!
8 The King of the Thieves
House Azik, Dog Lane in the city of Port Caynn was one of many large
residences
set off from each other by high walls. It looked like a respectable
merchant's
home. "That a Trebond should come to the point of associatin' with
thieves with
the worst of them all " Coram grumbled as she tugged the bellrope. "That
thief
is my best friend," Alanna reminded him tartly. "And he doesn't take me for
granted."
She had tried to concentrate on tribal affairs after her fight with Jon, but
her
attention wandered constantly. It had been Coram's decision to accompany her
when she decided at last to visit George; Alanna could only wish that he had
decided to keep his tongue between his teeth when he did so. Coram had never
approved of her friendship with George.
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Dobre pomysły nie mają przeszłości, mają tylko przyszłość. Robert Mallet
De minimis - o najmniejszych rzeczach.
Dobroć jest ważniejsza niż mądrość, a uznanie tej prawdy to pierwszy krok do mądrości. Theodore Isaac Rubin
Dobro to tylko to, co szlachetne, zło to tylko to, co haniebne.
Dla człowieka nie tylko świat otaczający jest zagadką; jest on nią sam dla siebie. I z obu tajemnic bardziej dręczącą wydaje się ta druga. Antoni Kępiński (1918-1972)
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