Amy Lane Truth in the Dark

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chantment as Aerie-Smith.
Would it be that easy then? I asked
Aerie-Smith, excited about the way the girl
had returned the beast to form just by con-
fessing her love and shedding a few tears.
That I could do. I might be a twisted little
bastard in my heart, but if all I had to do was
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tell the world what was in it to help the man
who would kill for me, well, I was all for it.
Aerie-Smith was grimly amused.
What? You think all you need to do is con-
fess your undying love for me, and all of
this a gesture to his form, to the lemurs in
attendance, ready to fetch us water, to Lot,
the major domo, scratching away at his
perch would just& melt and become
normal?
I shrugged and blushed. It was obvi-
ously just a story, then. It was worth a
thought, I muttered.
And very generous of you, he said
magnanimously. I scowled. As though I d do
it out of sheer altruism. I wanted Aerie-
Smith to love me. It was really that simple. If
I could shout my weak and twisted heart to
the heavens, and that would make him love
me, well, then, why not?
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Shut up, I muttered. Did you want to
open that trunk now?
We did. I d only been gone from my
family a month, including the voyage, but I
had missed them. I was disappointed to find
no missive in there from Gwen or my mum,
but Aerie-Smith had some news of them in
his own letter.
Here, Naef listen. This is from my
mother:
Your cousin is to be married. The girl
is a dressmaker from a small fishing village,
but your aunt has met her and adores her
already. She wrote immediately to tell me
that Gwen is a sturdy sort of girl, with a
good heart and an unexpected sense of hu-
mor, and that Kyln could not have done any
better for himself in the first water of court.
They will be married in the first blush of
spring, and although the girl seems to have
lived poor as a church mouse, an
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unexpected benefactor has given her the
trousseau of a queen.
My only regret, my son, is that you will
be unable to attend the ceremony. You say
you have found some way out of the curse,
but I tell you now, I would rather you re-
turn to us cursed to see Kyln married than
be blessed with all of your lost gifts and
your lost time.
Kyln misses you terribly, as do we all.
We sat in silence for a moment after
that, and I felt tears starting and blinked
them away impatiently. Thank you, I
muttered, not looking at him.
For what?
I never said it, after you came and
offered Gwen the world if I d come with
you& .
The hell you didn t, he said, sounding
amused. I curled my lip at him.
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Well I m saying it again. You coming in
and giving my sister her trousseau, her reas-
on to leave the island these were princely
things to do, and I cannot thank you
enough. I steadfastly refused to look at him.
My sister deserves everything deserves it
all. You gave it to her. Thank you.
His hand came down on my shoulder
gently. My mother s island is between
Kyln s and my own. I m sure there will be a
letter from Gwen in the next ship.
I nodded. She knows I don t read
much. I hope she used small words.
That startled Aerie-Smith. Don t read
much? You re a genius with most things.
What do you mean you don t read much?
I shrugged. I don t know how excited
you expected me to be about schooling, I
snapped. And as much as I love the sound
of your voice, do you think I d be letting you
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do all the work in the afternoons if I could
read more than a child s primer?
I heard his startled intake of breath and
tried not to swear. Glorious. On top of
everything else, I d just told him I was
stupid.
You mean you ve sat next to me for the
better part of a month while I bloody well
read books, and you haven t said a word?
I sniffed. You know, Aerie-Smith, you
just told me yourself: The world isn t made a
better place by the unburdening of a heart.
That s a children s story, and I m not a child.
Is dinner ready yet?
As it turned out, it was, but he stewed
over the reading thing as we sat through it.
The dumb-arse wanker lying dead in the
forest? No, he seemed to have been forgot-
ten. Knife can t read? Stop the bloody world.
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I could teach you, he said, as though
approaching a lit fuse on a cannon.
I shrugged. I could learn, and why does
that surprise you? Because his eyes got wide
and he almost choked on his cony.
He shook his head. Almost two months
we ve known each other six bloody sen-
nights! And sometimes I think all I ve
needed my whole life is a checked list of what
will or will not offend your bloody-minded
pride.
I picked my teeth with a small bone and
rolled my eyes at him. I have no pride. What
does a man like me need with pride? [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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