The Pyramid Waltz (10 page)

“You like to ride?”

Starbride tsked and wished she had her long hair loose so she could throw it over one shoulder. “My people are born in the saddle.”

“I hope that’s not literal.”

Starbride ignored that. “I love to ride. Unfortunately, these clothes weren’t built for it. Now, my old clothes…” She trailed away, shaking her head.

“Traditional?”

“Traditional background but trendy.”

“I wouldn’t believe otherwise.”

“Does flirting come natural to you?”

“Not with everyone.”

Starbride decided to try another prod. “Lady Hilda?”

Katya’s mouth twisted to the side. “She just keeps coming up in the conversation.”

“Has she ever been up here?”

“No, and you must admit that your questions are starting to sound a lot like those of a jealous woman.”

“Mere curiosity.”

“I tolerate Lady Hilda because people expect me to.”

“Like how people expect you to like hunting.”

“You sound like you’re trying to unravel a mystery. I never said I didn’t like hunting.”

“You never said you did.”

“And?”

Starbride shrugged. “It sounds like neither of us can ever be completely honest about what we want to anyone but ourselves.” She stared into the distance as the sun disappeared over the horizon, leaving a residue of light at the edge of the world. With another sigh, she shook off the melancholy that threatened to settle on her shoulders. “How much do you have in common with Lady Hilda?”

“I should introduce you,” Katya said in her drawl. “You’re more interested in her than I am.”

Starbride wanted to continue the light chatter, but homesickness wouldn’t be banished by the wave of a hand. “I’m just trying to understand this place. It’s so different from where I grew up, and I haven’t exactly…fit in.”

She felt Katya shift. “Has someone been inappropriate with you?”

If she moved a little to her left, Starbride could lean her head against Katya’s shoulder. As much as she wanted the comfort, she shook her head. “If you’re asking if anyone’s been mean to me, not really. No one’s been anything to me.”

Katya turned her with a gentle pressure. “I’m sorry. Even if you didn’t come for a good time, it’s terrible to be alone.”

“You’re here.”

The bells from the chapterhouses in Marienne tolled with the setting sun. Katya’s head hung again, and it seemed as if all the life went out of her.

“What’s wrong?” Starbride asked.

“I have to go. I haven’t seen my parents today.”

Starbride nodded even as disappointment made her smile slip. “Ah, well. Maybe someday you’ll introduce me, and we can compare mothers.”

Katya cocked her head, and Starbride realized how intimate a relationship they’d have to have in order for Katya to introduce Queen Catirin as her
mother
instead of as the queen. Of course, friends could be as intimate as lovers. Katya’s face softened as if Starbride had bestowed a great compliment upon her. “Maybe someday I will.”

As she descended the stairs, Starbride tried to sort her feelings into an orderly row. The library waited, but all of a sudden, the books seemed deadly dull, and she wished all the harder for a fast horse and someone to ride with. Starbride nearly laughed out loud at the thought of asking Lady Hilda to come and then pushing her into the first deep pit that presented itself.

They walked toward the library in silence, as if they’d already said good evening. Starbride couldn’t bring herself to ask when they’d see one another again. With Katya’s schedule, it seemed wise to assume that she’d turn up when she could. Starbride told herself it didn’t matter. She had
work
to do.

“You know your way from here?” Katya asked.

“Dawnmother and I made a map.”

“Smarter and smarter. I hope you know how much I don’t want to go.”

A blush burned in Starbride’s cheeks, but she kept her expression amused. “Even a princess must answer to a king and queen.”

“True, and it
will
take some time.”

“Well, when you want to find me again, I’ll be in one of two places.”

Katya stepped forward. Starbride froze, certain Katya was going to kiss her. She held her breath, her heart speeding. Katya smelled faintly of lavender and rosehips, with just a hint of leather, and at such a short distance, her eyes seemed to take up the entire world.

She lifted Starbride’s right hand and held it between their two faces as her soft lips grazed the hollow between Starbride’s first and second knuckle. “I will see you again,” she said, and the touch of her breath turned Starbride’s limbs to gooseflesh. She knew her mouth was open, but she couldn’t close it.

Katya winked before she let go and started down the hallway. Starbride shook her head, the spell broken, and chastised herself for ever falling under Katya’s sway. She almost shouted, “Scoundrel!” at the departing back, but the servants who’d faded into the background when Katya had kissed her had reappeared. Starbride rubbed her knuckles as she turned toward the library, but then she thought better of it and went to her room instead.

“I was just about to come and get you,” Dawnmother said. “I’ve fetched some dinner.”

“Thank you.” Starbride dropped her scroll and pencil on the bed before she sat in the chair and stared at nothing.

“Did you hurt yourself?”

“What?”

“You keep rubbing your hand.”

“No, no.” Starbride stared down at her knuckles, seeing Katya’s lips there again. “Katya kissed me there.”

“Oh?”

“We’re friends, Dawn.”

Dawnmother snorted and took the lid off a covered dish, revealing a small roasted chicken on a bed of greens. “There are friends, and then there are
friends
, and then there are people you sneak into a hayloft with.”

“How many haylofts have you snuck into?”

“Enough to know when someone else is thinking of doing it.”

“I am not.”

“If the princess sent you a note asking you to meet her in the barn, would you go?”

Starbride paused.

Dawnmother snapped her fingers. “A pause means yes.” She carved the chicken with a few quick strokes.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“My life for you and also the truth. You are smitten.”

“I
should
have you staked in the sun for insubordination.”

“That wouldn’t change the truth, and I would go to my grave a much-maligned but honest woman.”

“A woman who’s been in quite a few haylofts, by the sound of things!”

“Did you ask her to help you with the problems in Newhope?”

“Absolutely not. That wouldn’t be fair to her.”

Dawnmother snorted. “If she wants to help, you should let her help.”

Starbride frowned and thought about it. Katya had protested, but she hadn’t exactly
insisted
on helping. That
did
hurt just a little. She shook her head violently. “No, Allusia has to fight its own battles. We can’t expect Farraday to solve all the problems it creates. If we lean on them to do everything for us, we won’t know how to do anything for ourselves. We won’t even know when we’re being taken advantage of!”

“All right. I see the wisdom in what you say, for now, but if you and the princess become…better friends, the issue will surface again.” She gestured to the chicken. “Eat before it gets cold.”

Starbride nodded, ate her dinner, and thought too hard about the task in front of her and Dawnmother’s words. She also couldn’t help glancing now and again at the area between the first two knuckles of her right hand.

Katya put Starbride out of her mind as she entered the royal apartments. It would be hard enough to tell her parents about the Order of Vestra’s wasted trip to Longside without her mother asking if she was distracted.

When she entered her parents’ sitting room, though, she stopped in pleasant surprise. Ma sat on one divan, and Crowe occupied the chair opposite, no doubt already reporting. Katya thanked the spirits that he’d beaten her there.

Ma nodded at Katya before saying, “Please continue, Cimerion.”

“Majesty, only my wife called me Cimerion and then only if she was upset with me.”

“Crowe, then.”

“As I was saying, the man we captured is a smuggler. I need to interrogate the Shadow again to get more information.”

“My son arrives in two weeks.”

“I know.”

“This is the first Waltz that will involve his wife, and nothing can go wrong.”

“I know, Majesty. I know.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose, looking more tired than Katya had ever seen him.

Noting the tightening around her mother’s eyes, the signs of strain, Katya frowned. They had to make some progress soon. An idea flashed through her head, a way to combine business and pleasure. “In two days, I’ll ride into the city,” she said, “as myself. The rest of the Order can be waiting nearby to nab anyone who pays me undue attention.”

“A lure, eh?” Crowe said.

Ma’s face grew more pinched. “Katya, I don’t think—”

“I’m known for being able to take care of myself and for going out on my own. If I’m attacked, I can defend myself without raising anyone’s suspicions. I’ll find the traitors before Reinholt gets here. I’m doing this, Ma.”

Her mother straightened, becoming the queen and nothing else; even sitting, Ma seemed about ten feet tall. Katya fought not to shrink from the royal presence. She was royalty, too, and taller than her mother. Katya matched her posture and threw a lifted eyebrow into the mix.

Ma smiled, there then gone. “No harm must come to her, Crowe.”

“Of course,” Crowe said before Katya got the chance. “A discreet escort. Brutal and Maia will stroll nearby. I can be shopping in the same vicinity, and Pennynail can watch from a hidden location. We’ll stop anyone who comes near her.”

“Shopping?” Ma’s mouth twitched. “You?”

“Even curmudgeonly old pyradistés need goods once in a while,” Crowe said. “And what will be your reason for venturing into Marienne, Katya? You never do your own shopping.”

Katya tapped her chin, pretending to think it over. Now came the pleasure to mix with the business. “There
is
someone I’d like to show around the city.”

“Not Lady Hilda?” Ma asked.

“Definitely not.”

“Rascal.”

“I also need a tailor who works quickly.”

“I’ll get you some names.”

“I’ll let you know how it goes, Ma…Mother.” One slip of a baby name in front of the pyradisté could be forgiven, but not two.

“Might I have a word on your way out?” Crowe asked.

Katya nodded and stood, and as she was clean, hugged her mother good-bye.

“Majesty.” Crowe bowed.

Ma inclined her head. “Take care,” she said to Katya.

“Always.”

In the hall, Crowe tugged on Katya’s arm. “You’ve made a
new
friend?” he asked.

Katya rolled her eyes. “She’s not a spy.”

“And you know this because…?”

“Woman’s intuition.”

He snorted and crossed his arms.

She crossed hers back. “I like this woman, Crowe.”

“You liked them all, Katya.” He took a breath and seemed to realize the callousness of his words as soon as they left his mouth. “I’m sorry. That didn’t come out as I intended.”

“You…” Anger tightened the skin at her temples, and her pyramid necklace flared next to her breast.

“Calm yourself. I am sorry.”

“I know about my past. I lived it.”

“I didn’t mean—”

“I
like
this woman, Crowe. I mean it. She makes me feel…free.” She hated the word. It sounded whiny and ungrateful, but she couldn’t deny it was the truth.

To her surprise, he nodded. “I understand. I…my wife…with her, I could forget…” He waved at the grandeur surrounding them.

Katya didn’t know what to say. Crowe spoke of his dead wife rarely, and then only to make a joke. He did understand, perhaps better than anyone. Katya’s mother would have lectured her about duty; her father wouldn’t have known what she was talking about. Court was their lives, and they never wished for anything else. She supposed that if court was
all
she had to worry about, she could find some contentment, but living two lives, as Crowe also did, added so much strain. “She’s a good person. You’ll like her.”

“I get to meet her?”

“Hopefully not in two days’ time when we ride out, not unless something goes wrong.”

“I agree. But eventually?” He seemed so hopeful, and she realized he was touched that she wanted him to meet someone she was interested in. She’d never introduced him to a lover before.

“Definitely. Her name is Starbride.”