The Mad Giant (Shioni of Sheba Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

brain from time to time,” Getu drawled, openly enjoying the way his words made Mama’s jaw drop in surprise. “But she’s also my troublemaker-in-chief. Whenever there’s trouble in this castle–”
    “You think !” cried Mama. “She’s just a-looking after your backside and mine.” But at least her arms let up. Shioni could breathe again.
    “It’d take five of her to look after your backside.”
    Mama seemed to find his rudeness amusing. A beaming smile lit up her round face like the sun leaping above the hills of Abyssinia in the morning. “Better a plump, well-padded rump, than the rear end of a skinny goat like you, eh?”
    It was only when no-one else was present that Mama and the General dropped their guard, Shioni thought. They could be so funny! It was almost embarrassing to listen to them sometimes, as though she were overhearing a private conversation. But in a sense she was invited. They didn’t mind her being there.
    Being curled up against Mama Nomuula made a perfect storm of feelings boil up within her. Mama smelled of herbs, bread dough and sweat, and the lavender oil she loved to lavish on her dark curls; a smell that Shioni thought all mothers must have. How she longed… how she dreamed... no, she must not even think it. It was too painful. And, catching Annakiya’s unguarded gaze from within the circle of Mama’s arms, she realised how much her friend must miss her mother too. The Queen of Sheba had died a year before she came to court. Shioni had been purchased as a present, a pretty plaything, for the Princess. A diversion from her grief.
    A toy-child, some people had called her, unable to believe she was even a real person.
    Shioni closed her eyes. Mama Nomuula was in many ways mother to them both.
    “You should go saddle my horse, Shioni,” said the Princess, coolly. “I will want to ride out as soon as the General receives word the trail is safe.”
    She was jealous ! Just because the Princess was cosseted and protected, by none more than Shioni herself… and preferred reading scrolls to having adventures… of course accidents such as running into Wasabi patrols never happened to her! Spoiled brat! But a calmer voice in her head added: she carried many burdens these days, with her father the King lying in a coma, and the impending judgement she had to pass on the rebel villager, Desta. With her brother Prince Bekele away in the Sheban capital of Takazze, Princess Annakiya effectively ruled Castle Asmat and all the warriors and support staff stationed there. That must be like carrying around a sack full of boulders all the time, Shioni thought, regarding her friend loyally. But who better to carry those burdens? Not grasping, selfish Prince Bekele!
    Four mouthfuls of food was enough only to tease her stomach into wakefulness. Could she risk more? The set of Annakiya’s lips suggested she had best not delay.
    Shioni ironed the pangs of hurt out of her voice with the ease of long practice. “At once, my Lady.”
    Princess Annakiya nodded stiffly. Was that regret flickering in her eyes? Lowering her head to hide her feelings and chewing the inside of her cheek once more, Shioni left the room. Until her slave’s necklet was removed, Annakiya would always be her owner first, and her friend second.
    And nothing could change that, could it?

Chapter 5: Castle of Life
    S o, waiting for the General’s all-clear was evidently an opportunity to have the Princess’ official portrait painted. Shioni battled a fierce desire to scratch her nose and kept her smile pasted in place..
    Standing out in the blazing sunshine in Mama’s rose gardens was the problem–well, the heady fragrance of the climbing roses, to be exact, was creating an unbearable tickle in her nostrils. She sniffed discreetly. Mama said some of the roses must have been imported years ago. The size of the roots and stems told her that several of the plants were hundreds of years old. And according to Princess Annakiya, the