Thornlost by Melanie Rawn

Author:Melanie Rawn [Rawn, Melanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Fantasy, General
ISBN: 9781781166659
Google: I1a_BgAAQBAJ
Publisher: Titan Books Limited
Published: 2014-05-29T04:00:00+00:00

15

Hangovers were, praise be to Auntie Brishen Staindrop, largely a thing of the past for Cade. Granted, the thorn she had only this spring concocted, and that Mieka highly recommended for the purpose, didn’t work on Cade the way she thought it would, but that was usual for him. His strange brew of bloodlines still baffled her, and in her last letter accompanying a month’s supply of the necessities—blockweed for dreamless sleep, bluethorn for working a performance even though he was exhausted, a few other mixtures that he enjoyed when he had the time and the inclination—she mentioned she was blending up something that he might find interesting. When he remembered to, he kept track of his reactions and occasionally wrote them all up so she’d have an idea of what to try next. Still, he continued to be a puzzle, and thorn that was supposed to alleviate if not actually cure a hangover instead gave him hives. (He discovered this on the Royal Circuit the morning after Mieka’s Namingday. Mieka had turned twenty; Cade had turned bright red and bumpy.) What did work, and what he asked for a goodly supply of, was a combination that Mieka used for something else entirely. He never would say just what.

Megs stood them to as many drinks as they could swallow, and the four of them had to be poured into hire-hacks without much idea of their ultimate destinations (other than Mieka’s one-word command, “Home!”). They were in luck, for the owner of the Keymarker knew their addresses and they all made it into their own beds before dawn. Cade retained just enough functioning brains to remember to prick the hangover thorn before diving onto his bed for a few hours of oblivion.

The next morning he was fine. The vaguest of headaches was eased with several cups of strong, hot tea. Then he climbed back up to his room for a quick wash and a long debate with himself over which jacket he ought to wear, for this afternoon he would be making An Appearance.

Cade and Derien knew very well why Jed had urged Blye to learn a proper curtsy. Each year, after the hottest part of the summer was over, a week or so of gorgeous weather always preceded the arrival of serious rain across the Flood. During this interval a two-day racing meet was held on the grounds of the Palace. It was distinct from the fair and horse market that took up ten days and twenty acres in spring, and to which Cayden had often escorted his mother and brother. This year, because he wasn’t readying for the Winterly Circuit, he would be taking Derien and Lady Jaspiela to the late-summer races. Jed and Blye would be joining them.

Blye had figured it out that morning, when at breakfast her husband presented her with a hat. Not just any hat; a hat. All the ladies, from Royalty to merchants’ wives to daughters of the horses’ trainers, would be wearing white dresses, the better to appreciate their hats.

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