[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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Queen Brat by Sharon Green
away from the others and tries to do a decent job. It might be a good idea to reward
those four, my king, to show what an honest man can earn by staying honest."
"That's a very good idea, so Listan, please see to it," Derand said. "Right now I've
got to get back to the palace to join my guests for lunch. If you like, Listan, you can
have the men drag this dross along in chains. It won't hurt for the people to see that
they don't have to be more afraid of the guard than of the thieves preying on them."
"I'll see to it, my king," Listan said, who had already signaled to some of the
fighters. "Your escort back to the palace is ready to leave."
Derand stopped himself from telling Listan that he didn't need an escort, and
simply led the fighters outside and back to the horses. He didn't enjoy having what
amounted to baby-sitters, but until he found out who his enemy was it would be
stupid to take chances. And when the first of the guardsmen were dragged out in
chains, the cheers coming from the watching people lightened Derand's mood to
the point where he reached the horses almost whistling.
Riding back to the palace didn't take long, and Derand reached the small dining
room to discover that he was right on time for lunch. He stepped inside - and the
smile died on his face when he saw what was going on. His parents and Seea's were
& more clumped together than standing with each other, an odd arrangement that
suggested something other than a pleasant time. The servants in the room wore the
perfectly blank expressions that said they'd been witnesses to a scene that they were
going to pretend had never happened - at least while they remained in the room.
Gardal hovered around the clump of their parents as though uncertain about what to
do, but when he saw Derand he turned and quickly strode over.
"Well, I think I can safely say that you've done it now," Gardal growled without
preamble, not even a hint of friendliness to be seen in his expression. "I'd ask if you
were ever going to learn what my sister is like, but the question doesn't seem to
have relevance any longer."
"What are you talking about?" Derand demanded despite the fact that deep inside
he had a really terrible feeling& "Does this & strangeness have something to do
with Seea?"
"This & strangeness, as you put it, has everything to do with Elissia," Gardal
responded, his lowering stare accusing. "You did something to her to force her into
apologizing to our parents, and it's too bad you didn't get to hear that apology."
"Don't tell me she just added to the insult she gave yesterday," Derand groaned out,
file:///C|/Downloads/GREEN%20Sharon%20-%20Queen%20Brat/brat15.html (8 of 11)05/10/2005 21:01:09
Queen Brat by Sharon Green
rubbing his eyes with one hand. "I don't believe - "
"Oh, don't worry, she didn't say anything that was an insult," Gardal returned, still
really angry. "What she did was apologize, for not being the daughter our parents
would have preferred, for being a disappointment to everyone in reach and hearing,
and even for being born in the first place. She apologized for reaching the point of
actually hating our parents for having married her to a monster, and she apologized
for having decided never to speak to or see any of us again. After that she left
without letting any of us stop her, and in a little while what she said will be all over
the palace. If complete chaos is what you wanted to accomplish, allow me to
congratulate you. You succeeded."
Derand kept his eyes closed as his insides turned over, knowing perfectly well that
it wasn't chaos that Seea had caused. Her strategy had accomplished two things,
both at the same time: her parents and brother would no longer be targets even if
they'd been of interest to assassins before now, and Derand had been thrown to the
wolves. That "blissfully happy" charade they were supposed to be in the midst of
had been completely destroyed, right along with the reason for his vassal kings to
stay when they arrived. If they all turned around and left before he found out which
of them was actively after his blood, well, that was just too bad&
"You used to take my advice a bit better than this," another voice put in, and
Derand opened his eyes to see that his father had joined him and Gardal. "That girl
was so chokingly furious and bitter when she spoke to us that I'm surprised she was
able to utter a word. Ostrin almost collapsed from guilt and grief, and Liminia
actually forgot to be delicate. Gardal here went so pale I thought he would pass out,
your mother almost had hysterics for the first time in her life, and I - I had some
thoughts about my son and liege that I won't repeat at the moment. I just hope
you'll live to regret your mistake."
Derand felt a very strong urge to defend his actions with Seea, to claim that he'd
simply punished her for doing something wrong. What stopped him was the
realization that he'd been warned more than once about getting in the middle of
Seea's relationship with her parents, but had ignored what he'd been told and
instead had tried to impose his opinions in place of hers. And worst was that he
hadn't even tried to talk to her first, not really&
"Yes, I noticed that I've been left hanging in the wind," Derand said to his father
after taking a deep breath. "It doesn't matter whether or not she had reason to do it,
the fact remains that it's done. Obviously it's not a good idea to get on the wrong [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl aikidobyd.xlx.pl
file:///C|/Downloads/GREEN%20Sharon%20-%20Queen%20Brat/brat15.html (7 of 11)05/10/2005 21:01:09
Queen Brat by Sharon Green
away from the others and tries to do a decent job. It might be a good idea to reward
those four, my king, to show what an honest man can earn by staying honest."
"That's a very good idea, so Listan, please see to it," Derand said. "Right now I've
got to get back to the palace to join my guests for lunch. If you like, Listan, you can
have the men drag this dross along in chains. It won't hurt for the people to see that
they don't have to be more afraid of the guard than of the thieves preying on them."
"I'll see to it, my king," Listan said, who had already signaled to some of the
fighters. "Your escort back to the palace is ready to leave."
Derand stopped himself from telling Listan that he didn't need an escort, and
simply led the fighters outside and back to the horses. He didn't enjoy having what
amounted to baby-sitters, but until he found out who his enemy was it would be
stupid to take chances. And when the first of the guardsmen were dragged out in
chains, the cheers coming from the watching people lightened Derand's mood to
the point where he reached the horses almost whistling.
Riding back to the palace didn't take long, and Derand reached the small dining
room to discover that he was right on time for lunch. He stepped inside - and the
smile died on his face when he saw what was going on. His parents and Seea's were
& more clumped together than standing with each other, an odd arrangement that
suggested something other than a pleasant time. The servants in the room wore the
perfectly blank expressions that said they'd been witnesses to a scene that they were
going to pretend had never happened - at least while they remained in the room.
Gardal hovered around the clump of their parents as though uncertain about what to
do, but when he saw Derand he turned and quickly strode over.
"Well, I think I can safely say that you've done it now," Gardal growled without
preamble, not even a hint of friendliness to be seen in his expression. "I'd ask if you
were ever going to learn what my sister is like, but the question doesn't seem to
have relevance any longer."
"What are you talking about?" Derand demanded despite the fact that deep inside
he had a really terrible feeling& "Does this & strangeness have something to do
with Seea?"
"This & strangeness, as you put it, has everything to do with Elissia," Gardal
responded, his lowering stare accusing. "You did something to her to force her into
apologizing to our parents, and it's too bad you didn't get to hear that apology."
"Don't tell me she just added to the insult she gave yesterday," Derand groaned out,
file:///C|/Downloads/GREEN%20Sharon%20-%20Queen%20Brat/brat15.html (8 of 11)05/10/2005 21:01:09
Queen Brat by Sharon Green
rubbing his eyes with one hand. "I don't believe - "
"Oh, don't worry, she didn't say anything that was an insult," Gardal returned, still
really angry. "What she did was apologize, for not being the daughter our parents
would have preferred, for being a disappointment to everyone in reach and hearing,
and even for being born in the first place. She apologized for reaching the point of
actually hating our parents for having married her to a monster, and she apologized
for having decided never to speak to or see any of us again. After that she left
without letting any of us stop her, and in a little while what she said will be all over
the palace. If complete chaos is what you wanted to accomplish, allow me to
congratulate you. You succeeded."
Derand kept his eyes closed as his insides turned over, knowing perfectly well that
it wasn't chaos that Seea had caused. Her strategy had accomplished two things,
both at the same time: her parents and brother would no longer be targets even if
they'd been of interest to assassins before now, and Derand had been thrown to the
wolves. That "blissfully happy" charade they were supposed to be in the midst of
had been completely destroyed, right along with the reason for his vassal kings to
stay when they arrived. If they all turned around and left before he found out which
of them was actively after his blood, well, that was just too bad&
"You used to take my advice a bit better than this," another voice put in, and
Derand opened his eyes to see that his father had joined him and Gardal. "That girl
was so chokingly furious and bitter when she spoke to us that I'm surprised she was
able to utter a word. Ostrin almost collapsed from guilt and grief, and Liminia
actually forgot to be delicate. Gardal here went so pale I thought he would pass out,
your mother almost had hysterics for the first time in her life, and I - I had some
thoughts about my son and liege that I won't repeat at the moment. I just hope
you'll live to regret your mistake."
Derand felt a very strong urge to defend his actions with Seea, to claim that he'd
simply punished her for doing something wrong. What stopped him was the
realization that he'd been warned more than once about getting in the middle of
Seea's relationship with her parents, but had ignored what he'd been told and
instead had tried to impose his opinions in place of hers. And worst was that he
hadn't even tried to talk to her first, not really&
"Yes, I noticed that I've been left hanging in the wind," Derand said to his father
after taking a deep breath. "It doesn't matter whether or not she had reason to do it,
the fact remains that it's done. Obviously it's not a good idea to get on the wrong [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]