The Haunted Wizard - Wiz in Rhym-6 Read Online Free PDF Page B

the Prince of Toulenge ever have betrothed his daughter to such a one?" Matt shrugged. "She was only ten at the time, and I suspect Gaheris looked a lot better at fourteen. Only his parents and the servants knew the truth then."
    "And perhaps he had not begun to be such a monster, when he had little power." Alisande sighed. "Poor Rosamund! How she must have suffered in that household!"
    "You don't mean she was raised with that family!"
    "It is the custom for the fiancée to dwell with her new kin-folk as soon as they are betrothed, husband." Alisande gave him a sad smite, to reassure him for not knowing all her people's customs yet. "She must learn the ways of her new land, you see."
    "A ten-year-old girl, being torn away from home and raised among strangers?" Matt shuddered "At least Petronille kept her close by her side."
    "So you felt that, too?"
    "Oh, yes. Besides, she had some ladies from Toulenge for company, didn't she?”
    "Aye, but King Drustan sent them all packing. He could not send Sir Orizhan away, but the ladies he could, and did."
    "I've been wondering where he came into the picture. You don't expect to find a man with a southern Merovencian accent living with the Bretanglian royal family. So he was part of the entourage that delivered little Rosamund to Bretanglia?"
    "He was appointed as her bodyguard," Alisande told him. "However, King Drustan claimed that there was no need for such while the little lady lived under his protection."
    "But he couldn't send a knight away when he was under orders from his own duke?"
    "Not without grievous insult to his new kinsman, no. Instead, Drustan assigned Sir Orizhan to tutoring his own sons in chivalry, and to keeping them from harm."
    "Broadened his assignment from one child to four, eh?" Matt frowned "Could be that worked out for the best If he kept an eye on the princes, he could make sure they didn't bother Rosamund too much."
    "There is that saving grace," Alisande agreed "However, since she is so very reserved, it would appear there were times when he could not protect her."
    "Sure—whenever King Drustan or Queen Petronille were there. Maybe the queen dotes on her sons a bit more than she seems to."
    "I would say she does not seem to dote at all,” Alisande said tartly, "except for her favorite, and he has not turned out so badly."
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    "Brion? Yeah, he does seem to have some sense of right and wrong. I have to give the code of chivalry that much credit. Of course, his brothers know right from wrong, too. They just happen to choose Wrong."
    "John makes my skin crawl," Alisande said with a shudder. "No doubt I wrong him—he seems harmless enough, in spite of his constant whining…"
    "Not smart enough to be any danger? Hey, I've known some pretty dumb monsters, dear."
    "Perhaps," Alisande allowed, "but it is not his fault that his face is a mass of pimples and his body inclined to plumpness."
    "Still, it doesn't exactly speak of good hygiene or healthy habits," Matt pointed out. "How anyone who claims to practice swordplay out in the tilting yard so much can still have a pasty complexion with a poolroom pallor, I can't understand."
    "He certainly seems to be a horrid little man." Alisande frowned. "What is a 'poolroom'?"
    "A place for indoor recreation, dear, like the board games that keep our knights from chopping each other to bits during the winter."
    "Only chess and the like?" Alisande smiled up at him. "I had hoped for another form of indoor recreation tonight. I need the consolation badly."
    "Well, I hope I don't do badly with my consolation." Matt leaned down to kiss her—but before his lips touched hers, there was a knock at the door.
    Alisande's lips went stiff. Matt froze for a second, then straightened with a sigh. "I could wish that the world would leave us alone for a day or two."
    "I would be glad of an hour!" Alisande turned her chair to the door and sat, squaring