Shadowborn (Light & Shadow, Book 1) by Moira Katson

Author:Moira Katson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fantasy, epic fantasy

Chapter 19

The Duke called us to his chambers barely a day later, and Miriel walked confidently ahead of me through the bustle of the crowd. She had been watching Marie de la Marque carefully, marking the way the girl seemed nervous, ill at ease in the tense court.

“There’s the lesson,” Miriel said to me, as she dressed. Since our escape, and her beating, she no longer spoke to me unless she wanted to tell me how clever she was. “She’s waiting for the court to give her father power.”

“So?” I preferred my lessons in politics mixed with dagger strikes and armies; I could barely follow Miriel’s stories about who had snubbed whom with a careful flutter of a fan, or who had flirted by swishing her skirt.

“So, the lesson is, when she looks uncertain, the other girls do not behave as if she’s in power.” Miriel waited for me to nod in understanding, and then rolled her eyes when I did not. “Behave as if you already have power,” she said slowly, as if speaking to a simpleton, “and they will treat you as if it is yours. They will give it to you.”

“It can’t be that simple.”

“It is,” she had said confidently, and since then she had been walking about as if she were a princess herself. She never turned her nose up at others, nor gave orders—but, in everything she did, Miriel looked confident. She walked always with her head up and her shoulders back, as if she were a woman grown, with power of her own.

She was confident in every moment, save when she met with the Duke. Then, Miriel stood like a girl. She looked down at the ground and she spoke only when spoken to. Both of us were wary, after our defiance and near-capture. When we entered the Duke’s study and saw that he was smiling, both of us gave tiny sighs of relief. I saw some small amount of tension melt out of Miriel’s shoulders.

“The King has given me command of Guy de la Marque’s army,” the Duke said, without preamble. He saw my wide, startled eyes. “Not for good. Simply for the duration of the rebellion.” He smiled his predatory smile. “This Jacces will soon be dead, and the rebellion finished. If anyone asks you, you are to say—”

“Excuse me, my Lord Uncle…”

“What?” The Duke did not like to be interrupted. Miriel saw that she had made a misstep, and curtsied.

“My apologies, my Lord Uncle. I was wondering, how did Guy de la Marque lose control of the Kleist army?”

“The King decided that de la Marque’s ideas were sound. To leave troops here, and yet march on the rebellion as well. However…” the Duke smiled. “Guy de la Marque provoked the Ismiri, and the young King wishes to make it clear to them that he does not approve of de la Marque’s behavior. Why are you smiling, Catwin?”

I jumped, as I always did when he said my name.

“I’m very sorry, my Lord. I just thought…well, it’s clever of the King.

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