Roberson, Jennifer - Cheysuli 05 Read Online Free PDF Page A

afternoon." He picked up the stick and dropped it
back into the casket. "Which means Brennan and I must pay for the
usca."
                "You can," Brennan told
him. "I came here because I knew better than to let you two go out alone,
not because I wanted to go drinking."
                "And yet you are." Hart
indicated Brennan's full cup, "Hardly water, rujho—I can smell it from
here."
                Corin smiled. Brennan merely
shrugged. "All men make sacrifices."
                "And you more than most?"
Corin demanded. "Oh, aye—when you will have Homana!"
                Brennan sighed; it was an old bone
of contention.
                "You will have Atvia."
                "And I, Solinde."
Cheerfully, Hart scooped the dice and sticks back into the wooden casket.
"Three princes, we, with glory yet to come in addition to fine titles. But
I think, right now, I could do with less glory and more wealth." He eyed
the silver royal. "Are you certain you want the girt to have it, after
what she said?"
                "I want the girl to have
it," Brennan agreed. "And if you so much as try to take it when I am
not looking, I will cut a finger off."
                "If you are not looking, how
will you know?"
                "Because I would tell
him." Corin shrugged as Hart scowled darkly at him. "What would you
expect?"
                "A little support, rujho."
                "Brennan is your twin, not
I. Look to him for support." Corin downed
more usca.
                Hart's scowl deepened. "Why do
you resent it, Corin? You have a twin in Keely."
                "Who says I resent it?"
Corin retorted. And then, grimly, "Keely is a girl. We are close, aye, as
close as you and Brennan—but she is still a girl. It makes a difference, rojho."
                "Keely is a woman,"
Brennan corrected absently.
                Hart laughed. "Aye, she is. Or
would you name yourself a boy, Corin, even now at twenty?"
                "She does not see herself as a
woman," Corin stated flatly.
                "No." Hart's brows climbed
beneath raven hair. "No, she sees herself as a warrior." His smile
was amused.
                "The only trouble with that is,
the gods saw fit to give her a woman's body."
                Corin frowned. "She has no
desire to be a man. She just prefers to be something other than a fragile thing
like Maeve."
                "Keely is nothing like
Maeve," Brennan agreed. Hart snorted indelicately. "No. And I will
lay a wager on it that Sean of Erinn, when he claims our warrior-sister, will
have a difficult time taming her."
                "Keely will never be
tamed," Corin said plainly, "and you will lay a wager on
anything." He scowled blackly at Hart. "As to that, I would trust my
life to Keely sooner than most men."
                "Aye, aye, so would I."
Hart set the casket down in front of Brennan. "Care for a game, rujho?”
                Brennan's eyes narrowed. "I
thought you had no coin."
                "I have what Corin owes
me." Hart looked at his astonished younger brother. "I won
twenty-five crowns off you last week."
                "When?"
                When we wagered on how soon Brennan
would be thrown from his new stallion." Hart grinned at his older brother.
"The third jump, remember? I won the bet."
                Brennan glared back. "You bet
against me?"
                "No. I bet on the horse."
                Brennan slapped his hand down as
Corin reached toward his belt-purse. "Do not put a penny on this table.
You know better than to encourage him."
                "But he won," Corin
protested.
                Brennan leaned toward him across the
table. "Not a penny, Corin."
                Hart patted the