Midwinter

And the girl moved like a dream. She danced the way she made love, slowly and with great deliberation, with an elegance that belied her youth. Looking across the room, he saw Satterly stumbling along with Raieve in his arms and smiled. The look on Raieve's face was priceless.

For many years, Silverdun had made a career of living in the moment. Before he'd gotten wrapped up in his mother's religion, he'd been one of the most celebrated rakes in the City Emerald. Why had he ever stopped? It seemed that at some point his life at court had become impossibly shallow, but now he could hardly remember why. The music, the dance, the wine, the girl. They were all intoxicating, each in their own way. For the moment, he decided, he would forget Mauritane, forget their bloody mission, forget everything but the girl in his arms and the daydreams of things that could never happen, but might. Oh, they might!

Then he saw a familiar face and his heart leapt into his throat; the daydream vanished like a bad glamour.

"Perrin Alt!" came a booming voice from across the room. "You scoundrel!"

A woman approached, a very fat woman in a bright purple dress draped with pale pink flowers. She held a large goblet of pink rosewine. Silverdun struggled to remember her name.

"Lady Amecu!" he blurted out, having plucked the name from some dim recess of memory. As they always had, the name came to him just as he needed it. "What a pleasant surprise!"

"For a moment I couldn't believe it was your handsome face that I was seeing," Lady Amecu declared, her hand against her breast. "And who is this charming young creature I see on your arm? The daughter of an eastern prince, no doubt?"

"I am Faella," said Faella, curtseying deeply.

"Ah," said Lady Amecu, her eyes darting quickly away from the girl as if she'd just seem something that horrified her.

"I would not have expected to see you so far afield of the City Emerald," said Silverdun, trying to keep his voice even. This woman could ruin everything! The wrong word in the wrong ear and they would all be arrested before dawn.

"I'm only here for my sister's betrothal," said Lady Amecu. She took Sil verdun's arm, drawing him away from Faella, careful not to look directly at the girl. It was a great breach of propriety for her to even acknowledge that a girl of Faella's class even existed, and she was in no hurry to repeat her mistake. On the positive side, the same sense of propriety made it impossible for her to ask what Silverdun was doing with her in the first place. "Ila is such a dumpy thing," Lady Amecu confided to Silverdun. "A fat, ugly little troll. Father had to search far and wide to find a husband for her." She took a deep swig from her wineglass, a most unladylike gesture, and Silverdun realized that she was drunk.

"The man is a baron out here," she said, "and with a good reputation. "But still…" she began, unable to finish the thought.

"We do what we must," said Silverdun. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Faella glaring at him, standing alone on the dance floor. He smiled his most winning grin and turned back to Lady Amecu. "Why, I once had a cousin who was so ugly, my uncle considered marrying her to a wild boar!"

Lady Amecu laughed heartily, spilling wine down the front of her dress. She gasped, but an attendant hurriedly came and wiped it with a spelled cloth that removed the stain in an instant.

She leaned in even closer and Silverdun could smell the wine on her breath. "Now, you must tell me, Silverdun. If I recall correctly, the last I heard you were… indisposed."

There it was. Lady Amecu knew all about him. She was letting him know that she carried his fate in her hands and that he was now completely at her mercy.

"You know how rumors get started," said Silverdun helplessly. "In point of fact I've been here in the East managing some old family lands. I just had to get away from it all, you know. I see that my enemies at court are spreading slander, as I suppose they must."

"So, you mean to say that you were not convicted of treason and shipped off to Crete Sulace?"

It was out on the table now. There was no way to avoid it.

"What do you want?" he said.

"Oh, I think you know what I want," said Lady Amecu. She pressed her more than ample bosom against his arm and Silverdun suppressed a groan. "I'm drunk and you're handsome and I believe I hold your very life in my hands, do I not? I'm told that can make a woman quite attractive."

Silverdun had to admit she had a point.

"Excuse me for a moment," he said.

"Of course."

Silverdun took Faella by the arm and marched her quickly over to where Satterly and Raieve sat, at a small table in the corner of the room. Raieve was scowling and Satterly looked as though he'd rather be just about anywhere else. "Look after her for a moment," said Silverdun, sitting Faella next to Raieve. "There's a bit of business I must attend to."

"What's going on, Silverdun?" said Faella, her face awash in hurt.

"I won't be but a moment," he said. "Save the next dance for me."

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