History
Delia's hand is too tight on her arm.
("I want to know why," she had explained to Roald. "I want to know what made him choose Roger instead."
Roald frowned and threw names – Myles, Alanna, his father – at her. He said, finally, "But I don't want you to go."
Shinko smiled at him, because he knew she'd talked to Alanna and Myles and (yes) the King already. "I think I have to."
"But she is dangerous."
So Shinko showed him her shukusen and Roald could no longer truly object to her going.)
"Have you seen the portrait?"
"I have," she says.
Delia's eyes flicker.
(She remembered that day. There was a section of the royal library that housed only the portraits of traitors. It was a funny sort of thing to find in the palace library, especially because there were really an awful lot of portraits.
Lord Alexander of Tirragen had a nice portrait. Most of them were nice portraits. It told Shinko almost nothing she had not known before seeing it. It told her he was handsome, elegant, arrogant, and a little mad. Shinko knew that. She knew all of that. Myles and Jon and Alanna had told her, though not always in so many words.
There was, though, something in his eyes she had not thought of and now could not name.)
"Why did he choose Roger's side?"
Delia tilts her head. Her eyes are green – very like, Shinko thinks, Yuki's Neal – and if her chestnut hair is graying, it is still thick and lustrous despite the years in prison. "Tell me," she says, moistening her lips, "who you talked to."
"The King."
(He had told her very little. Only that Alex was the best sword in the kingdom, after Duke Gareth, depending on who you asked. That Alex had loved the Code of Chivalry. The history books had mentioned the fencing, but not the Code. Shinko couldn't have said that she minded, because she'd read the Code of Chivalry and knowing he'd loved it had only confused her more.
He had told her to talk to Myles though.)
"Ah!" Delia laughs. "Who else?"
"Baron Myles of Olau."
(She liked him. She liked how essentially Tortallan he was.
"I think Alex is the only one who can answer that question," he told her. "I'm sorry."
But he gave Shinko some of his memories and he gave her the math. And he told her to ask Alanna.)
"Really," says Delia slowly. "Was he the last?"
"No," Shinko says.
"Well, who else?"
"The Lioness." And that catches Delia off-guard.
(This had been the hardest one. It wasn't exactly considerate to speak to a person about someone they had killed, but curiosity placed a higher demand than manners at the moment.
But somehow Alanna did not get angry, only…puzzled. "You know," she confided, "none of us really noticed Alex drifting away. I don't know that he ever spent that much time with anyone, so when he stopped it wasn't all that much of a change anyway. Like a cat. And I'm not the first to make the comparison.")
"Fascinating," Delia purrs. "I wonder how well they remembered. I wonder why I should answer your question."
"Because I asked you to," Shinko suggests gently.
"Fair enough," murmurs Delia, and then, with something like a challenge in her eyes, "Roger got what he wanted. He wanted Alex. That's it."
(After she saw the portrait, Shinko kept seeing him in the shadows and around corners. She saw him while Roald kissed her goodnight and was glad Roald only felt like kissing.)
"That's it," says Shinko. "They were lovers. That's all?"
"From where I was standing, it was," Delia says.
"That cannot be all," Shinko murmurs.
"Well," Delia shifts close enough for Shinko to hear her breathing, "maybe it wasn't all."
("But is it possible for me to see her?" she had asked Myles. He looked hesitant and didn't speak for a long time.
"I hope satisfaction will bring you back," he said finally. "It is possible for you to see her. Don't treat it as a secret, but don't mention it either."
Shinko smiled at him. "She is a valuable historical source."
Myles chuckled. "I'm sure she doesn't deserve to live. But you have the right idea.")
"Maybe," Shinko echoes.
"Are they wearing Yamani fashions now?" Delia's eyes examine Shinko's clothing hungrily.
"They are wearing something close," says Shinko. "A hybrid."
"I miss clothes," Delia confides. "I can live happily without the birds and fresh air, but I miss clothes and gossip. I miss people. You know I was the most beautiful woman at court?"
"After the Queen - "
"Oh, yes!" snaps Delia. "After Thayet and Cythera. Let's be fair."
("I just don't understand why you care so much," Roald explained.
Shinko loved him, or close to, so she considered her answer carefully. "I'm sorry," she said slowly, "but I cannot say exactly why, only that it is a question that needs an answer for me and no one has it."
"Oh," said Roald.
She smiled at him and didn't tell him that when it was dark she sometimes saw a swarthier, crueler face. It would have only confused him more, she thought. "I suppose it is because of moving to a new country.")
"I can get you patterns," Shinko says, shocked at how blatant a bribe it is. Her curiosity is ruling her now though, and she can't help it.
"Please," says Delia.
"And why else?" Shinko asks.
Delia's eyes narrow and she – shudders. Exactly like a cat, thinks Shinko seeing for a second a dark young nobleman there instead, brushing his lips against her own and then? And then it is Delia again, it is Delia drawing away. "I'm sorry," she lies, "but it was only that."
Disclaimer: Tamora Pierce does not actually have a problem with this, as long as I'm not forcing her to read it.
A/N: Rosie is responsible for eliminating my typos and she deserves praise and accolade and things for that.
This won the Dove's SFF Keyboard challenge in the Polyamorous Category. I'm quite proud of that. Even though there were only like two other entries.
And for the record, I just want to make it clear that Shinko's obsession with Alex has nothing to do with my own obsession with a real dead person named Alexander. Really.
Okay, maybe it has a little bit to do with it.