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named Braxara. To be brutally honest, Braxara is ugly, dull, and stupid.
Finding a suitable mate for her proved too difficult for her parents, so now
the task has fallen to me."
I swallowed, not liking the direction this conversation had headed. Aunt
Lanara smiled like a spider that had just discovered a plump fly in its web.
Slowly, she linked her fingers under her chin and leaned forward. I thought it
made her look more than a little sinister.
She continued, "If I help you in this matter, I will expect you to marry
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Braxara in one year's time. That will give you ample opportunity for
courtship."
"Perhaps she would be happier with someone like Aber," I suggested meekly.
"I could never wish such a fate on my darling nephew," Lanara said, smiling
pointedly. "And it is you, not Aber, who craves my assistance."
One year& it seemed forever. Much could change in that time. I could be dead.
Braxara could be dead& or even promised elsewhere, if a better suitor came
along. Better to promise now and reap the benefits immediately of such an
alliance.
I bowed my head. "Assuming I live to see my wedding day," I said before she
could change her mind, "I accept your terms."
"Good." She smiled again. "I will prepare everything for tonight. The time is
short, but it can be done. Aber, dear boy?"
"Yes, Aunt Lan?" I heard him say from somewhere to the side.
"Go back and help Oberon prepare. Come fashionably late, but nottoo late. And
Oberon& " She turned back to me. "I may be old, but my friends are numerous and
their weapons are sharp. Your betrothal will be announced tonight, with vows
that cannot be broken. Do not embarrass me, or you will not live to regret
it."
She beckoned Aber to her side, and I stretched out my hand to him. When he
grasped it, I pulled him back through to the library.
"Do not forget, Oberon!" Lanara said to me, voice distant now and fading.
"One year!"
She made a curt gesture, and our contact was broken.
Aber flopped down in the chair next to me.
"That was too easy," he said. He put his feet up on the table and folded his
hands over his belly. "Just the sort of plan I like."
"Easy!" I snapped. "You just got me betrothed to an ugly, halfwitted cousin!"
"She's not that bad!" He laughed. "At least, not since she got her tails
bobbed!"
"Tails? Bobbed?"
"Hers were a little too skinny and ratlike for my taste." He shrugged. "But
I'm sure you'll both be very happy together. Her family are always good
breeders. Lots of kids will calm you down. Say, thirty or forty to start with.
They do tend toward big litters& "
I groaned. Somehow, I didn't think he was joking this time.
"And," he went on brightly, "Every time you complain about her, you'll hear a
little voice in your head saying, 'At least she's not a succubus!'"
"Thanks& I think!"
He shrugged. "Oh, you'll be happy enough. You'll get your introduction to
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society. And thanks to Aunt Lan, you've got your first allies."
"I do? Who?"
"Why, she and her husband. She liked you a lot."
"How can you tell?"
"She's doing everything you asked. If she didn't like you, she would have
said, 'No!' and not quite so politely. Think of it as a present from her. A
wedding present."
"It's not a present if I'm paying for it!"
Aber sighed and shook his head. "You don't understand. She did you a bigger
favor with that marriage than you realize. Lord Yanar is one of King Uthor's
advisors. Marrying his daughter will confer immediate status on you within the
court& not to mention a measure of protection. Yanar is powerful and
influential."
"Braxara and I aren't married yet," I said with a grim little smile. "And a
year is a long time to wait."
"Want me to see if Aunt Lan can move up the date a bit?"
"Not particularly!" I replied with a laugh.
He chuckled in return. "No, I guess you wouldn't!"
"I don't suppose you have a Trump showing Braxara, do you? I'd like to have
at least some idea of what I'm getting into."
"Nope. She's not someone I'd ever want to know well enough to paint!"
"Wonderful," I muttered. How bad could my future bride be?
Port chose that moment to speak.
"Sir," he said, face appearing in the center of the door. "Anari wishes to
enter."
"Let him in," I said.
Port swung open, and the elderly head of the household hurried inside, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]