Free Mercedes Lackey - Anthology by Flights of Fantasy Page B

And have I not said that I detest
delay? I don't need gold, I need you. So put any thought of leaving here out of
your head." Adelia spun on her heel and moved toward the door of the
parlor.
                 "Wren
told me what you did to her," Nairn shouted.
                 Adelia
stopped like one struck in the back by a dagger, and looked toward the kitchen
as though she could see through the wall. Then slowly, she turned toward him.
"Wren speaks?' she said in astonishment . " Aye,"
he said defiantly.
                 "Just not to you." "Huh," she said, and
quirked her lips downward. "And your point is?"
                 "My
point is that I am a nobleman! It cannot be that I am meant to be destroyed by
your evil magic!" he cried. "There are standards in the treatment of
nobleman that every right thinking king or duke will acknowledge. You have no
right to do this to me!"
                 "But,
Nairn," she said gently, taking a step toward him, "you aren't a
nobleman. You are a slave. And I have every right to do with my property
whatever I wish. As every right thinking king or duke
would agree." Adelia gave him a taunting smile. "Did you not have
slaves in your father's house, Nairn?"
                 He
glared at her, breathing hard.
                 Adelia
enjoyed his obvious anger, and his helplessness to act upon it.
                 "No
doubt you embraced them as your brothers, treated them as equals. What a
paradise your father's house must have been," she sneered, spreading her
arms wide, "with everyone living in perfect harmony."
                 Nairn
lowered his eyes, his cheeks flushed with fury or shame.
                 "Oh, no?" Adelia stepped closer, lowered her head
in an attempt to look into his eyes. "Did you beat them? Humiliate them?
Let them go hungry?"
                 "Yes,"
he whispered.
                 "And
yet you expect better." Adelia quirked the corners of her mouth downward.
                 "I
fear you will be disappointed, Nairn."
                 He
merely glared at her from under lowered eyebrows.
                 "Go,"
she said. "Tend my hawk. Feed it, make friends with it, do whatever you
must to keep it alive and healthy."
                 Nairn
gave her a surly glance, then stomped out of the room.
Ruefully, she watched him go.
                 So
Wren can speak, Adelia thought. And she knows and
understands, at least a little, what's happened to her. Hmph. Well, that's useful to know, but somewhat annoying, too. Nairn might well prove
a handful over the next few days if he believed she intended to destroy him. I
would rather he had remained ignorant of his fate.
                 Not
that knowing it would change anything. Adelia gave a little huff of annoyance. Then decided that she would keep Wren a little longer. The
girl was hopeless at most things. But she does my hair so beautifully. Doubtless a carryover of her nest-building abilities.
                 Well,
there were worse reasons to keep someone alive.
                 She
contemplated the necessary delay while Nairn continued healing and sighed.
                
                 A
few days shouldn't make that much difference, she thought. Adelia calculated
planetary influences in her head and frowned, not greatly liking the results.
                 There
would be ample power to draw on, but nothing that especially favored her; ever
the most important part of the equation where the sorceress was concerned.
                 "I
want you to show me my hawk," Adelia said, coming up behind Nairn.
                 He
started and turned, frowning, made a slight move as though to bow, thought
better of it and did not.
                 "He
has only seen me for days now, my lady," Nairn said. "It would not be
good for his training