Warning: I'm gonna play with your heads in this one *evil grin*, so don't be gullible. And do NOT *EVER* stop reading in disgust at the way the plot turns!!! "Nothing's final until you're dead .. and even then I'm sure God negotiates." -- Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent, Ever After
Gazali didn't
take long to come, considering my long wait -- I was now fifteen -- and
I filled up the time until she did with frequent visits to the Night Dragon
for practice sessions with Christan. I wanted to make sure I was
already experienced in combat before I became a page, so there would be
very little danger of falling behind the rest of the pages. Thankfully,
he made sure I was always watched by at least six of his best thieves ..
and he always walked me to the edge of the Temple District. Roald
gave me frequent lectures on marriage, and Sengati advised me on every
aspect of choosing a proper suitor until I thought I would faint with boredom.
At least my luck
was in; the Yamani prince came in an extremely important delegation, and
Roald saved time by having several marriage treaties already drafted. For once I was grateful for his impatience concerning my future, and I
began to get very anxious once the Yamanis received the treaty. Of
course, as Sengati had told me, the prince already knew me somewhat, and
the Yamanis would be quicker than usual in granting this request from Tortall
-- after all, I'd been brought up as a Yamani! Still, though, my
stomach fluttered every time the betrothal was mentioned, and I wondered
when I would finally start my training.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"I still can't
imagine marrying the prince," I confessed to Christan three weeks after
the delegation's departure. We were in his room, sitting contentedly
on a huge, comfortable couch in one corner.
He tilted my
chin up with his hand, the way he'd done when we'd first kissed. "You'll do beautifully," he whispered. "Besides, you know it'll only
last as long as the ceremony. Then Gazali takes over and you become
a knight."
I held his gaze. "I suppose."
"Maybe what bothers
you," he suggested, keeping his chin under my hand, "is that it's not me who'll be your husband."
I blushed, and
snatched his hand away from my chin, playfully. "You wish," I retorted,
laughing, but he didn't answer. He drew me in closer and kissed me
softly, then broke away and cupped my face in his hands. I felt as
though I was dissolving in the lovely green of his eyes, seeing every emotion.
"Yes," he finally
whispered. "I do."
"Christan, you
know I do too," I replied softly, not liking the helplessness in his eyes
that only I could see.
"Does that really
count in the eyes of the law, though?" he wondered, looking lost and dropping
his hands from my face. I figured it was the first time in his life
he'd ever worried about the law. "Marriage is forever, Andrea,
whether it's a trick or not. When you stand in that temple, holding
that hand .. kissing those lips .."
I shivered. "I'll always belong to you, though," I whispered firmly. "I'll always
be yours. You know that."
"But you're still
going to marry the Yamani prince," he said shortly, drawing back.
"It's the only
way," I thought aloud, helplessly. Was he suggesting I give up knighthood?
"Andrea .." he
began, twisting his lip uneasily. "Would you give up knighthood if
you had to?"
"What do you
mean, 'if I had to?'" I could sense what was coming next, but I wasn't
about to make it easy for him.
"If knighthood
meant --" he paused -- "saying goodbye to me forever, would you give it
up?"
I blinked. "Of course," I answered. I hated that he had to ask. Was he
that unsure of me?
"But you'd hate
it," he added.
I felt like I
was about to cry. "What do you want me to do, Christan? We perfected this plan together. You knew I'd be marrying him."
"If you marry
him, you can't ever marry again."
"Not true," I
objected, realizing where he was going with all his interrogation. "Did you ever ask me what my plans were after I earn my shield?"
"Well, what are
they?"
"To marry you,"
I told him softly, with a tone that clearly expressed my shock. It
was the easiest question in the world. Why didn't he trust me? The prince knew -- Gazali was on pretty good terms with him,
having lived in the elite part of the castle most of her life, and she
had explained the plan to him. He wouldn't be offended if I married
anyone else. We both knew it was a masquerade.
Christan just
looked down for a moment, and then got up and escorted me out. He
walked me to the edge of the Temple District as usual, but this time our
walk was full of silence. He didn't kiss me goodbye; he just turned
around and left.
I watched his
retreating back until it vanished around the corner of a building far away. Then I cried.
Things began to
happen fast when Gazali arrived through Christan's intricate network of
thieves. It was strange to see her without trumpeters announcing
her glorious arrival and every single title that she held; I figured I
was getting spoiled by the Court. Even without all that glamour,
it was amazing to see her sweep into Christan's room, dressed in a flowing,
rich purple kimono with a wide green obi. Her thin, jet-black hair
was in a tight, thick braid behind her head, and her dark eyes were alight
with excitement, curiosity, and something else .. I was amazed to see Christan's
look of dark mystery hiding laughingly behind her expression.
"Andrea, look
at you!" she exclaimed, embracing me while Christan looked on with a little
shyness.
I smiled happily. "It's been too long .." I remarked wistfully, trying hard to hold back
the sudden rush of tears. When we drew back, I glanced at Christan,
hoping for a comforting grin, but he was staring at Gazali. Hasn't
seen many Yamanis, I bet, I thought to myself .. but I felt my heart
sinking oddly. He'd been angry with me ever since the marriage conversation,
and now he was staring at Gazali ..
"Well," Gazali
commented, meeting Christan's gaze. "So this is that thief you won't
be quiet about .." I felt myself blush, and glanced instinctively
at Christan again, but his eyes never met mine. He was staring at
Gazali.
"'That thief'
is the reason you're here, so you better be grateful!" Christan returned,
and Gazali grinned craftily.
"Aha, as if I
couldn't get here myself, Rogue."
I forced a smile,
even though my heart was about the level of my knees. He was still
staring at Gazali. "So Gazali .." I began weakly, hoping for her
to pick up the frayed ends of the conversation.
She turned back
to me with a smile. "So Andrea .. I have everything you need, like
I said. I simply cannot wait for you to see it!"
"I'll do the
honors," Christan offered, and stepped outside to bring in her many trunks. When he left the room, Gazali leaned over to me conspiratorily.
"I told you I
couldn't wait to meet him," she whispered playfully. "Fine boy you've
got there, Andrea."
I giggled softly. "You have no idea," I told her, my mood lifting a little. Christan
and Gazali were just meeting each other .. there was nothing to worry about. Christan had always loved me. Right? "So what's this costume?"
"Not just a costume,"
she amended, speaking normally now. "I'm going to change your whole
world, Princess!"
And she was right. A few hours later, I looked .. different, like a boy about my age. I had Christan's beautiful hair and Christan's gorgeous eyes -- it was
entirely odd. Gazali looked very unusual as well -- she was, well,
me, in every way, shape, and form. I was amazed.
Being a knight
was not for now, though. I had to learn how to apply all this myself
before Gazali left with the Yamani Prince, and I had to figure out every
last detail. Roald would never catch me -- that I was determined
to ensure.
Gazali painstakingly
removed everything she'd put on, and thankfully that took a lot less time
than it did to put it on. I shook myself when she was done, relieved
to be out of my disguise.
I gasped when
I saw myself in the mirror standing next to her -- she hadn't gotten out
of her garb quite yet. Seeing the two of us together -- myself
out of costume and her in -- I could have sworn we were twins. "Gazali,
you're .."
".. Amazing,"
Christan finished with a smile. "The only problem is, I can still
tell which one is really Andrea." He stepped over Gazali's
costume trunk carefully, took me in his arms, and kissed me tenderly.
"You know her
too well," Gazali said resentfully when we were finished at last, wiping
her face with a wet cloth.
"I do, don't
I?" Christan remarked, still holding me. I grinned up at him, grateful
for the kiss -- he hadn't kissed me like that for a long time, and I was
glad that my suspicions about Gazali were just as foolish as I'd hoped
they were. Perhaps we were even beginning to resolve the marriage
issue. "You can't do much for the eyes besides change their color,
with all due respect, miss," he added, "and Mithros, there's more
to Andrea's eyes than that."
I just loved
him for that.
"Christan," I
called later while Gazali slept in the other room -- her voyage had been
long and tedious -- and he turned to face me from the door at the far end
of the room.
"What is it?"
he inquired, businesslike.
"I don't understand,"
I confessed.
"Don't understand
what?"
"What you want
me to do," I answered. "Just tell me and I'll do it. Do you
want me to give up knighthood? Do you want me to --"
"Andrea, beautiful,"
he said in a low, cracking voice, smiling slightly, and crossed the room
in three strides to be closer to me. "You, give up knighthood? That is absolutely ridiculous. You have wanted to be a knight ever
since you knew what one was."
"But then I have
to marry --" I started, confused.
"You do whatever
you have to do to be a knight and I will follow you more obediently than
a shadow," he told me softly. "I'm yours to command."
I grinned and
kissed him, my hands playing with his hair. He kissed back strongly,
holding me as tightly as the first time, caressing my face with his lips. That was when I knew -- truly knew -- that I could never leave him.
He broke away
suddenly and knelt before me. "Andrea, I have to know now, even if
we can't really do it for years." My breath caught in my throat as
he continued, his face tilted towards mine and his lovely eyes shining
with admiration. "Will you marry me?"
"Yes," I answered
boldly, drawing him up close to me once more. As I wrapped my arms
around him I wondered, "Does this make me the Queen of Thieves?"
"Don't take your
title lightly," he ordered, smiling against my lips.
"Hey," I realized,
making him draw back a little.
"What?"
"We're engaged,"
I said wonderingly, smiling at the beauty of it all.
"And so young,"
he added, grinning. "But don't worry," he reassured me, brushing
a tendril of hair from my face with a light-hearted grin. "I'll take
good care of you."
"And what about
you?"
I pointed out. "I'm going to have to watch you like a hawk from now
on, with all the trouble you get yourself into."
"Oooh, I'll get
you for that one," he promised, and didn't bother with talking anymore.
It was nice being
out of Roald's clutches for most of my time in the palace -- I'd already
learned everything I needed to know about royalty from the Yamanis, so
he couldn't force me into lessons, and he and Sengati also had their own
affairs. It could be boring at times, though, when I couldn't be
at the Night Dragon -- Christan did have to devote time to being
the King of Thieves -- and there wasn't much to do around the palace when
it wasn't the time of a big feast.
I used to spend
some of my spare time with Kander, whenever possible, but I'd been starting
to feel awfully uneasy around him .. it seemed like he had a crush on me
or something, and I didn't know how to tell him about Christan. I'd
been lying, after all, and I felt horribly guilty whenever I saw him. I just didn't know what to do, and I couldn't ask Christan for advice,
because then he might get suspicious about Kander, and after what we'd
just been through over the prince .. I couldn't imagine having Christan
angry at me again. It was an uncomfortable situation.
Which is why
I was so apprehensive when Kander, now in his first year as a squire under
Sir Mawren of Genlith, pulled me aside one boring, lazy evening to talk. My voice caught in my throat; all I could do was stare up at him and wait
for it to be over.
"And .." he whispered,
holding my gaze. "There's something I've never told you .. never
dared to tell you."
I looked away,
biting my lip, wanting to escape -- thinking of Christan. I hoped
what Kander was going to tell me was something I'd like to hear, but how
likely was that?
I had to stop
it. For Christan. "Kander --" I began, his full name sounding
odd on my lips.
"No. Andrea,
it's not what you think!" he said urgently. I felt like a mouse in
a trap. He lowered his voice again, and asked, "And, did you ever
think that Roald --"
"What are you
--" I started, confused. Roald? What did he have
to do with anything? Was this completely different from what I'd
thought?
Kander put up
a hand to stop me. "I'm your brother," he muttered quietly, flatly,
giving up on the explanation until I could absorb that. There was
a long, hard silence while I grappled with this.
I looked up at
him. "How?" I was as calm as anyone. This explained everything
-- his special interest in me, his willingness to do things for me, his
caring .. I could almost have laughed with relief at my nearsightedness
about him.
He grinned, lookng
down for a moment -- obviously lying to me hadn't done much for his peace
of mind, either. "Roald didn't want me to go to Carthak's university
to be a mage, but I wouldn't give it up no matter what he threatened. The thing was, though, that Roald hated Carthak, and he didn't care much
for me, either, no matter what I provided for the throne. He's always
cared about Tortall, but he's never been a man to worry over the future. If he's going to be dead anyway, he doesn't care what happens -- that's
his point of view. So he 'ejected' me from the Royal Family
for treason. I told you he hated Carthak," he added in response to
my expression of shock. "Only good old Duke Gareth could afford to
take me in without much punishment; Roald couldn't run the kingdom without
him, even though he's not as young as he used to be. Anyways, all
Gareth wants is for me to become a proper knight before I'm a mage: too
many, he says, rely on their magic alone, but he likes steel too much. So once I've learned to protect myself and have earned enough money, it's
straight off to Carthak. I'm studying to be a black robe, and I don't
care how long it takes me."
I raised my eyebrows,
impressed. "Well, tell Gareth I'll gladly become a knight
for you, if it's such a chore."
He laughed. "Not a chance, sister. Knowing you, I bet you've another plan."
"Of course,"
I answered, ready to tell him everything about the plan.
"Don't tell me,"
he said hastily. "I want to guess. I'll figure it out, just
see. I have a brain."
"Fine then,"
I replied, a little taken aback. Mages loved that kind of thing,
I supposed: proving how smart they were to everyone and so on. I
didn't mind too much.
"So have you
been practicing your dagger tricks?" he wanted to know.
I blushed. "Not quite, some thieves stole mine from .. me," I told him ruefully, my
voice going faint at the last part. It was out of my mouth before
I could stop it -- but if he's your brother now, you can tell
him, I reminded myself.
He raised his
eyebrows in surprise. "Thieves? I didn't know you mingled with
the lower commoners of Corus."
"I mingle more
than you think," I informed him, and explained what I meant.
He just shook
his head and blushed. "So all that time I was telling you how great
the King of Thieves was .. you knew already," he remarked. "I don't
believe it."