Page 14 of The King's Bodyguard
Landis blinked in surprise. Perhaps he picked up on the emotions I was trying to hide. He slowly nodded and offered me a small, reassuring smile.
“Thank you, Corrin,” he said.
Then he slipped back into the great hall, shoulders set and back straight. Landis’s courage and determination filled my chest with a sense of pride.There is my king... and my friend, I thought.I may be relegated to watching from the shadows, unseen and unheard, but perhaps my presence will bolster his confidence.
I could only hope. Here, standing on the edges of the great hall, I watched as Landis was once received into a massive bevy of young lords and ladies. Lady Hartford, watching over the crowd with other eagle-eyed grand-mamas, seemed to be managing Landis’s dance card. She gently scolded the king for his absence from the last set. Landis prettily offered apologiesand made arrangements to dance with his partner at a later point in the evening.
Circling about on the patterned marble floor, the dancers flowed up and down in lines and circles as the ronde gave way to waltzes and line dances. Landis danced through the list of his dance card with a patient smile plastered on his face. However, he did not laugh.
As another molly took Landis’s arm, jealousy stirred within. I wanted to cut in and take him for my own, but my duty rooted me in place. Tension thrummed through my shoulders.
“He’s not enjoying himself is he.” Hugh’s voice broke into my thoughts.
I held my tongue. Whatever Landis had shared with me, I would carry in secrecy to the grave. Besides, Ser Hugh had no doubt formed his own opinion. The tall, broad-shouldered knight frowned, and his golden eyes filled with uncharacteristic worry.
“The preparations for the Princess’s arrival are coming apace,” he said quietly. “Before we know it, there will be wedding bells ringing. Our poor king will be held captive by ball and chain.”
“Hm,” I grunted, feeling more annoyed than ever.
The last thing Landis needs is for us to be acting like the end of the world is nigh, I thought. He needs encouragement... and a chance to find ways to be himself from now until the future.
“Ah,” Hugh said, stiffening a little. “Looks like we have a problem. Look lively, Corrin.”
My gaze focused instantly on Landis who was standing within a group of young toms and mollies. A slight young gentlecat with deep auburn hair and dark green eyes was glaring furiously at another tall, fair-haired, tan gentlecat. Lord Berrymay’s youngest son, Colm, was facing down Lord Carl’s oafish offspring, Rhenn, I realized.
Colm wasn’t backing down either. He kept pushing back at a slender, almost white-haired young tom with spectacles, who was attempting to draw him back. Judging by the white-haired tom’s sober black and deep purple suiting, and the paneled robe he wore over his breeches, it was clear that the fourth party was the king’s high mage.
I didn’t know the mage by name, but Hugh seemed to recognize him. Hugh cheerfully waved and addressed the group.
“Holla, Alan!” He said as though he were simply discussing the weather and the roads. “What do we have here?”
Alan scurried over instantly, looking rather harassed. Apparently, Landis had been dancing with Colm when Rhenn had tried to cut in. Colm had refused. Drama had ensued. I didn’t much care for court politics and intrigue. My attention was focused entirely on Landis. He was rubbing his arm. Had Rhenn forcefully pulled at him? Or Colm? It had been hard to tell in the thick of the crowd of dancers.
Landis’s ears flicked backward and forward in consternation, and his tail swished in an agitated fashion. I gazed at him, hoping to meet his eyes and receive some kind of unspoken command from him. At his word, I was more than ready to toss the entire party off the balcony. Landis, however, was focused on Rhenn and Colm. He was clearly attempting to smooth things over at all costs.
That was when Alan noticed me. Alan flipped a strand of hair back and then leaned to whisper something in an undertone to Hugh. My sharp ears caught up on the syllables lost in the hum of voices surrounding us.
“By the fiery mane of Brandir, who’s the Munni?”
“The king’s guard,” Hugh replied in an equal hush. “Ser Corrin Stonewarden.”
“The Stonewarden?” Alan’s voice rose a little.
I smirked to myself. So the mage knows a little bit of Munni politics. Fascinating. When I looked back at Alan, I discovered that he was busy inserting himself in between Hugh and me, clearly hoping to start a conversation with me. I focused on the young king I had been tasked to protect and the lordlings who were now raising their voices.
Already choice words were bandied between Rhenn and Colm. Rhenn accused Colm of failing in the field during some martial display. Colm shot back that Rhenn’s intelligence could hardly fathom the nuance of anything beyond that of tumbling girls if that. Rhenn, stiff with disdain, reddened a little and accused Colm of coming from poor stock. Perhaps Colm was the unfortunate product of an illegitimate relationship. Colm’s fists clenched, but he noted that Rhenn would be glad to receive any get, legitimate or otherwise. Rhenn’s fate, if Colm was to be believed, would be to see his halls filled with other men’s progeny and added with a snarl that Rhenn was a gelded tomkin with no experience at all.
“Gelded?” The question slipped out of me before I could stop myself.
“Oh,” Alan said helpfully. “I heard that Munni have different approaches to the, er, time of all young catkin. Is it true, after all?”
“Time?” I blinked. “You mean heat?”
A gasp of shock rippled through the crowd at my words. Landis’s cheeks flushed a little red as well. His blue eyes widened as he stared at me. Clearly, I had once again reverted to my brash, outspoken self. There was no stopping the conversation now. It was careening out of control like a runaway carriage.
“Indeed,” Alan said briskly. He smoothed his long white hair thoughtfully and added for clarification. “Surely you have heard of it before. The way Sunna get around all of that messy business.”
“Messy business?” I blinked at the mage’s choice of words. “How?”
