Dark Moon Defender (Twelve Houses) (36 page)
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Authors: Sharon Shinn
BOOK: Dark Moon Defender (Twelve Houses)
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“When do you leave?”
“In the morning,” Tayse said.
Justin knew his face showed dissatisfaction. “Not much of a visit for me.”
“You weren’t our destination,” Senneth said. “You were just a small detour along the way.”
“Justin doesn’t like it here,” Cammon informed them while Justin scowled. “He thinks it’s lonely.”
“Justin will stay here as long as it will do us some good,” Tayse replied.
“Yes, but—what else is there to learn?” Justin said a little hesitantly. He was not entirely sure he wanted to leave Neft, after all. “I’ve already been able to answer two key questions— the Lestra
is
sending her guards out to murder mystics, and convocations of rebels are gathering at the convent. What else do you need to know?”
is
sending her guards out to murder mystics, and convocations of rebels are gathering at the convent. What else do you need to know?”
“Not sure,” Tayse said. “But we need you here a few more weeks.”
Senneth yawned and pulled away from Tayse. “Bedtime for me,” she said, standing up. “Anyone else?”
Cammon glanced at Tayse, glanced at Justin, and came to his feet. “Me, too,” he said.
“I’ll stay awhile,” Tayse said.
So Cammon had sensed that the two Riders wanted to talk privately. And Senneth had just figured it out on her own. They promised to come by the stables before they left in the morning, and then they departed, leaving Justin and Tayse alone with a single candle burning. All the mystic light had departed with Senneth—much of the warmth, too.
“What’s going on back in Ghosenhall?” Justin asked.
Tayse changed position and looked even more relaxed. “Preparations for war, mostly. The Riders practice all day. The king’s expanded the royal army and sent troops to Merrenstow for the regent to house. Kiernan Brassenthwaite sends messages daily about the money he’s raised, the soldiers he’s training, the stores of food he’s laying in to feed his army. We have renewed oaths of fealty from Kianlever and Merrenstow and Helven and Rappengrass, but there are still question marks beside the names in Nocklyn and Storian and Tilt.”
“Danalustrous?”
Tayse shrugged. “Like Coravann, currently neutral. Kirra is working on her father, but I don’t know that anyone has ever had any luck influencing Malcolm Danalustrous.”
“So the king expects a war.”
“As does everyone else.”
Justin stirred restlessly where he sat on the hay-strewn floor. “I feel tucked away here—useless,” he admitted. “I could do more if I was back in Ghosenhall.”
Tayse’s dark face was hard to see in the poor light. His voice was soft. “Tonight I formed the impression that you were of two minds about leaving Neft.”
Justin gave a sharp bark of laughter. “It’s stupid. I scarcely know Ellynor. I don’t know why she has such an effect on me.” He glanced at Tayse through the dimness. “No one ever did before. I never cared about girls particularly.”
“Which might be why this one matters so much.”
“I was sure you were going to lecture me about putting my mission at risk.”
“I have too much faith in you to think you would ever do that, no matter how you might be seduced by a young woman’s charms.” There was a smile in Tayse’s voice, and Justin laughed, but instantly Tayse grew serious. “But I would tell you to be careful, Justin. Love is a patient enemy and it strikes from ambush. Nothing else can lay you so low so quickly. Or fill you with more strength and courage.”
“But how do you know?” Justin asked in a quiet voice. “If it’s something that matters and not just some passing emotion?”
“What would you give up for her?” Tayse said. “Would you resign your post as Rider?”
“No!” Justin exclaimed, appalled. When Tayse didn’t speak, he added reluctantly, “Is that what it would take? Giving up so much?”
Tayse did not answer directly. “Would you defy a direct order from me to save her life? Would you turn your back on the king?”
Justin was silent a moment. “Would you do such a thing for Senneth?” he asked at last. “Give up your life—or everything that
was
your life before you met her?”
was
your life before you met her?”
“I don’t know,” Tayse said. “I didn’t have to make that choice. I think love should make you more of who you are, not less. A better Rider. A better man. But I think sometimes love changes your choices.” Justin could hear the sudden smile in his voice. “I think, if you believed I would hurt this girl, you would fight me to the death.”
Utterly bewildered, Justin instantly realized that was true. But what he said was, “Why would you want to hurt her?”
“To keep her from hurting you.”
Justin shook his head. “She won’t. She wouldn’t. She is— you have every reason to be suspicious of her, but she is the opposite of a harmful person. She’s a healing person. She’s good—you would know that right away if you met her. Or, well, Cammon would.” He looked directly at Tayse across the gloomy darkness. “She trusts me, Tayse. She thinks I’m a worthwhile man. It makes me want to be the person she thinks I am, or that I could be. She’s the only one who’s ever believed in me—except you. But I don’t want to give up what I have— I don’t want to leave the Riders—I don’t want to change so much that she’s the only thing left in my life.”
“Love always changes you,” Tayse said, “but you have to change enough to allow it in. You’ll have that moment of choice, I’m sure. You’ll know when it comes.”
“I know what you chose,” Justin said.
Tayse nodded and came to his feet. For such a big man, he moved with a silent grace. He replied, “And never regretted it a day.”
CHAPTER 17
JUSTIN looked so woebegone the following morning as they prepared to ride out that Senneth wanted to kiss him like a bruised child. She had never considered the burly fair-haired Rider an object of compassion before; he was as competent and self-complete as they came. But he was not happy overseeing a lonely outpost. He was a man who truly enjoyed having his comrades around him.
And he was so flummoxed about this girl. Tayse had repeated to her most of his conversation with the younger Rider, but he hadn’t been able to answer Senneth’s foremost question. “Is he really in love with her?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think he knows. But he seems well on the way.”
Clearly, asking Justin point-blank would do no good. So Senneth merely gave him a warm hug, smiled at him, and said, “Take care of yourself.”
“How long will you be in Coravann?” he asked. “Maybe you could come by on your way back.”
She swung herself into the saddle and laughed down at him. “Maybe a week. But Neft is hardly on the way for a return trip to Ghosenhall.”
He shrugged. “All right. Well, practice against Tayse while you’re traveling. Maybe you’ll be able to beat me next time I see you.”
“I will,” she promised. A few more words passed between the men, and then they were on their way.
They headed north and a little east, passing through Nocklyn country with a certain amount of caution. King Baryn seemed to believe that Els Nocklyn would never betray him by siding with Halchon Gisseltess, but Senneth was far less optimistic. And it was clear that, whatever side the marlord took in an upcoming war, someone in this House was anticipating a battle. Soldiers in the wheat-and-ochre livery of Nocklyn could be encountered on every stretch of road, were always to be found riding through the larger towns they passed through. Her own small party was incognito, for Tayse was not displaying his sash of royal lions, but still every guard captain who passed weighed them with a wary eye. She and Cammon were always dismissed as being of negligible threat, but every soldier gave Tayse a pretty thorough looking over.
Right to fear Tayse,
she thought.
Wrong to overlook Cammon and me
.
she thought.
Wrong to overlook Cammon and me
.
Tayse, as was his habit, rode slightly in the lead. When they went single file, Cammon took the rear, but most of the time the younger man brought his horse alongside Senneth’s and chattered happily away. She let him talk partially because she was genuinely interested in what he had been learning as he studied magic with mystics in Ghosenhall—and partially because listening to Cammon was effortless and soothing. Sometimes she thought he had no idea that she just let his words wash over her like so much effervescent distraction; sometimes she was sure that was exactly why he talked without ceasing. Cammon’s way of easing her mind.
They had been riding for about two hours, and Tayse was out of earshot, when Senneth interrupted Cammon’s tale about a trip through the Ghosenhall merchant’s district. “So how serious is Justin about this girl?” she asked abruptly.
Cammon gazed at her, his flecked eyes at their widest. “How serious do
you
think he is?” he countered.
you
think he is?” he countered.
“I know you don’t want to tell secrets,” she said.
“It seems wrong to pick up someone else’s emotions and then discuss them behind his back.”
She nodded. “I agree. I would hope you wouldn’t do such a thing to me. But this is important, Cam.” She gave him a very serious look. “It’s worth his life.”
Now Cammon appeared even more uneasy. “She could hurt him? How do you know that? He didn’t seem to think so.”
“I know something he doesn’t.”
Cammon rolled his eyes. “You always do.”
“So can you tell? Is he genuinely in love with her?”
Cammon brooded a moment. “I don’t think he’s sure yet,” he said slowly. “But I think he is. If he thought she was in trouble?I think we would see Justin turn rash.” He gave her a half smile. “And dangerous.”
“Justin is always dangerous.”
“So—is it because she’s from the convent? I never thought about it much, but I suppose Coralinda Gisseltess doesn’t really like her novices going out and falling in love with strange men. Especially Riders.”
“In this particular case, Coralinda Gisseltess is the least of Justin’s problems,” Senneth said shortly.
“Then Justin is really in trouble,” Cammon said, somewhat awed.
Senneth made no answer, merely rode on in silence. After a while, Cammon began his endless chattering again, but this time he didn’t seem convinced that he was offering her any real comfort.
“You asked for two rooms close together,” she said, ushering Senneth inside the first one and seeming momentarily startled when Tayse followed. “You are—I assumed the men of your escort would share a chamber?”
Senneth smiled at her. “We will sort ourselves out as suits us best,” she said. It was unusual enough to ask to have one’s guards housed on the same floor as nobles, but the Riders had been well treated here earlier in the summer, and Lauren was not likely to forget that Senneth preferred her swordsmen within easy call. Still, no reason to shock the young serramarra by explaining exactly what the sleeping arrangements would be.
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