Traitor's Masque Read Online Free

smell she loved so much it almost hurt, but today that ache was comforting. It reminded her of other birthdays that had not been so cold and lonely, and she found that she preferred the hurt of memory to feeling nothing at all.
    When she opened her eyes again, it took a few moments for them to adjust to the gloom, but she could just make out the tall, shadowy shape of her horse, shifting his weight restlessly in the center of the long stable aisle. As she drew nearer, she noted that he was already saddled and waiting, his ears swiveling towards her in response to the sound of her arrival.
    Theron had been one of her father's favorite hunters, a leggy gray gelding with speed, energy, and a boundless enthusiasm for hurdling anything that would stand still. He was a handful, but the only other options were Anya and Darya's placid saddle horses or one of the four matched bays that pulled the coach. None of them were acceptable mounts unless the rider fully intended to fall asleep in the saddle, which was hardly Trystan’s style.
    For the first time, Trystan thought to wonder why her stepmother had chosen to keep Theron at all. Or whether Malisse even knew that he had been kept.
    Andre and Alexei waited quietly next to the horse, watching Trystan's approach. The brothers knew of her morning excursions, of course. There was no way they could not, and Trystan trusted them without question; but they hadn’t saddled her horse for her in years. Not since she was tall enough to do it for herself.
    “Ah, good morning?” Trystan was beginning to wonder whether anything about her day was going to go as she expected.
    The brothers, who were not forthcoming by nature, doffed their caps and nodded in return.
    “And a good morning t’you, m’lady” said Andrei, with as much deference as he might have shown to Lady Colbourne herself. Trystan’s brows shot up inquiringly.
    “Since when does our relationship merit such exquisite formality?” She looked curiously from one brother to the next, curiosity shifting to suspicion when the men shared an amused glance. “Did Vianne have something to do with this?”
    “Couldn’t say, m’lady,” Andrei offered with a straight face.
    “Nor can I, m’lady,” added Alexei.
    “And you can just stop m’lady-ing me like a couple of lackeys!” Trystan retorted, with an eye-roll of exasperation. “We haven’t stood on ceremony since you picked me up out of the manure pile when I was five!”
    “You’re not five anymore, Miss Trystan.” Alexei spoke quietly, as he always did, but his manner seemed unusually direct. He and Andrei exchanged minuscule nods. “This is for you.” Alexei reached out, took her unresisting hand, and pressed something into it. Something small, and tightly wrapped.
    Trystan stared at her hand, too shocked to respond. She looked up at him, her question in her eyes. Alexei’s face proved too enigmatic for her to read, so she glanced at his brother.
    “In honor of the day,” Andrei explained. Alexei nodded, a faint smile crossing his lips.
    “I believe it is customary,” he added softly.
    It was a birthday present. They had given her a birthday present. She supposed she should, as befitted her station, be appalled. Young ladies did not receive gifts from servants. It was an affront to her dignity and her station. But Trystan did not feel appalled; she felt like crying, at yet another unexpected proof that she had not been entirely forgotten. It was astonishing and thoughtful and actually rather embarrassing, but she would not cry. She would not.
    “Thank you,” she said instead, looking at the brothers in turn, wondering what else she could possibly say. “I didn’t realize anyone remembered. I didn’t expect… you shouldn’t have, you know… but I really…” Words failed her yet again.
    As if recognizing her dilemma, Andrei reached over and handed her Theron’s reins.
    “Have a pleasant day, m’lady,” Alexei said
    “Had you considered the