Daughter of Regals Read Online Free Page B

Daughter of Regals
Book: Daughter of Regals Read Online Free
Author: Stephen R. Donaldson
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positive. They report
that he means to put Lodan’s largest warehouse to the torch. An entire season’s
timber will be lost.” His fleshy lips smiled slightly. “Would it be wise, do
you think, my lady, if I were to warn Queen Damia of her danger?”
    “ It would be useless, my lord of Canna,” I replied. “I am certain
that she has received the same report.” Indeed, I suspected that every spy in
the realm knew Kodar’s plans and movements as well as Thone did.
    ‘Have
you observed,” I went on, seeking to turn this king’s hints and gambits another
way, “that Kodar’s many attacks are strangely ineffective? He challenges the
Three Kingdoms often, but to little purpose. Word of his intent precedes him
everywhere. Is it possible, do you think”— I mimed his tone as exactly as I
could—’that his purpose against Lodan is a feint?”
    His
eyes revealed nothing; but one eyebrow twitched involuntarily. The storages of
Canna were certainly as vulnerable as Queen Damia’s warehouses.
    Before
he could reply, I bowed to him and moved away to give my greetings to Count
Thornden. At the edge of my sight, I glimpsed Mage Ryzel. He looked like a man
who frowned so that he would not smile.
    But
Count Thornden was more obviously a threat to me than either of the other
rulers, and he demanded my full attention. He styled himself “Count” because he
proclaimed that he would not be “King” until all the realm acknowledged him.
But I considered that position to be the subtlest he had ever taken; he was not
a subtle man. He stood head-and-shoulders over me and scowled as if I affronted
him. When he spoke, his lips bared his teeth, which were as sharp and ragged as
fangs. Pointedly, he refused to take my hand.
    That
insolence spread a stirring and stiffening of tension among the onlookers; but
I ignored the lesser people who watched me, in hope or dread. Straightening my
back, I met Thornden’s stare. “My lord of Nabal,” I said quietly, “I bid you
welcome, though you offer me no good greeting. This night is the time of my
Ascension, and many things will change. I suspect that before tomorrow’s sun
you will be content to name yourself King.”
    For a
moment, I watched him grin at what he took to be my meaning. Then I had the
satisfaction of seeing his brows knot as other possibilities disturbed his
single-minded wits. His only retort was a growl deep in his throat.
    For the
sake of good manners—and good ruler-craft— I saluted Thornden’s Mage as I had
Thone’s. Brodwick of Nabal was a shaggy lump of a man, large and mis-shaped,
whose fawning was exceeded only by his known prowess. He appeared oddly
dependent, perhaps because he shared appetites with Count Thornden which only
the lord of Nabal could satisfy. Following his master’s example, he refused my
hand.
    I
dismissed the slight. Whatever motivations ruled Brodwick, he was still
dangerous. Deliberately, I resumed my progress around the ballroom, nodding to
those people who looked at me honestly, gauging those who did not— and moving
toward the encounter I could not shun with Queen Damia.
    Perhaps
I had unconsciously left her to the last, hoping foolishly to avoid her
altogether. In all truth, she daunted me—she and that quick ferret who served
her, the Mage Scour. Perhaps I could have borne it that her loveliness and
grace gave me the aspect of a scullion by comparison. Or that her finery would
have made the grandest gown I might have worn appear frumpish and shabby. Or
that even Ryzel was unable to speak of her without an undercurrent of longing
in his voice. I envied such things, but they were not necessary to me. To those
strengths, however, was added another, which made my blood run cold in my chest
because I was not equal to it. I could play games of implication and inference
with King Thone and not lose my way. Count Thornden was obvious; therefore he
could be thwarted. But Queen Damia’s cunning ran far deeper than theirs—deeper
and more

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