tales of the latter kingdom 08 - moon dance Read Online Free PDF Page A

angry. Rather, her lips quirked, as if she was attempting to hold back a smile.
    “Yes,” I replied. “Was that wrong of me?”
    “Oh, no, my dear,” she said. “It’s just that I see your sister’s influence, even though she is many miles away and has not spoken to you in years.”
    As to that — I did not reply, but only lifted my shoulders. What Aunt Lyselle did not know was that my sister had perfected a system whereupon she contacted me via letters written by a scribe, so her writing would not be recognized, and using language so oblique that her missives could have come from almost anyone. These letters appeared at random intervals, sometimes only a month or two apart, sometimes with almost a year between them, and were slipped between the pages of the latest book I had ordered from the shop in the village, or folded around the bill from the dressmaker, or any of a number of clever means she’d devised to keep in touch with me in a way that would prevent anyone else from knowing. Poor Tobyn still had a price on his head, and although King Harlin did not seem overly consumed by a need to avenge his father’s death, neither could he pardon my brother-in-law. Since there were agents in the land who would gladly track down even a purported mage in exchange for a hefty bounty, such secrecy was necessary.
    It was in this way that I knew Annora had borne a son two years earlier, and that, far from being outcast, Tobyn was well-regarded by the Mark of Eredor himself, a man who did not believe magic was solely evil. Whether or not our own King Harlin’s agents knew of Tobyn’s position in that far-off land, I couldn’t be sure, but it seemed that Tobyn and my sister and their young family were all prospering in their exile.
    Whereas I….
    “Oh, I suppose I was romantic and impressionable when Annora went away with Master Slade,” I said, my tone as blithe as I could make it. “So I will not lie and tell you that her happiness had no bearing on what I might have said to Lord Mayson. But that is not the whole of the matter, dear Aunt Lyselle. I saw how unhappy my parents were, and I have no desire to repeat their history.”
    At this mention of her sister’s marriage, my aunt winced slightly. “No, I can see why you would want to avoid such a situation. But my dear, if Lord Mayson truly wishes to make you his wife, then I think you should consider well whether it would be wise to refuse his offer. Perhaps there is not the sort of wild, romantic love you saw in your sister and Master Slade, but if you and Lord Mayson are friends, then you already have the foundation of a happy marriage. There are many couples who cannot say they were so lucky.”
    I did not bother to argue with that remark, for I could see the wisdom in her words. From such friendship could come lasting affection — if I would but allow such a thing to happen.
    But then I recalled the wild, tormented look in Mayson’s eyes as he told me that he had no wish to marry, and I somehow knew that the happiness my aunt had spoken of would very likely be nothing more than a dream, something his lordship and I could never really share. I still understood very little of why he should feel so violently opposed to marriage, but if that was the truth of his heart, I did not see the wisdom in attempting to change it.
    “I understand your point, Aunt Lyselle,” I said slowly. “But I also know that his lordship and I would not be happy. I am not saying he would treat me ill, for I have seen nothing in his manner to suggest such a thing. But I also know that we would both want something the other person could not give, and in the end we would grow to resent one another.”
    For a long moment, my aunt said nothing, only gazed at me with an unreadable expression in her eyes. Then she allowed herself a sigh before saying, “You have grown into a wise young woman, Iselda. I wish my daughters had even half your sense among them.”
    It was the first time I had