Denianne sat at her vanity table staring into the mirror and trying not to be really annoyed. The low-cut pale yellow ball gown she wore was, except for a few touches of lace here and there, very plain. For that reason the gown went very well with her plain, long brown hair, which was simply combed and otherwise left untouched. A plain gown, plain brown hair and eyes… All of it went very well with her very plain face which could not, even with the kindest of intentions, be considered even so much as faintly pretty.
Which is only one of the reasons why I usually avoid Mother and Father's social occasions, Deni thought wryly. They usually agree with my choice wholeheartedly, but this time isn't the same. I wonder why…
A knock came at her bedchamber door, and then Deni's older sister Kharisse stuck her head in the door she'd opened part way.
"Are you ready, Deni?" Kharisse asked as she entered the room more completely, a smile on her face. "You look really nice, so why don't we join the festivities? If you walk in right on time Mother and Father will probably faint from the shock, which ought to liven up the party quite a bit."
Deni chuckled while Kharisse smiled radiantly at her own joke, sharing the amusement the way she usually did. Kharisse was only a year older than Deni, but the differences between them were more extreme than the similarities. Where Deni was plain and tall, Kharisse was gorgeous, beautifully shaped, and of average height. Kharisse also had brown hair and eyes, but with her the combination added to her attractiveness rather than making her look ordinary.
And Deni's sister was definitely not ordinary. Her beauty went all the way down inside her, which made her the best person Deni knew. Even when they were both children Kharisse hadn't let anyone make Deni feel less than worthwhile and beautiful herself, not even their mother or father. They weren't just sisters they were also best friends, and neither of them would have had it any other way.
"Kharisse, do you have any idea why I've been ordered to attend the ball tonight?" Deni asked after showing her appreciation of her sister's joke. "Until now Mother and Father have been delighted that I wasn't there to 'embarrass' them, but suddenly it's worth my neck if I don't show up."
"Actually, I do have some idea why, which is the reason I would have stayed away myself if I could have," Kharisse answered as she stopped at a nearby chair and then sat. "Every member of Father's nobility has also been commanded to attend tonight, along with every one of their unmarried daughters. But the idea didn't originate with Father, it came from Maradin."
"Maradin!" Deni echoed, losing her amusement just as quickly as Kharisse had. "Why does a master sorcerer need someone else to throw a party for him? If he sent out invitations to a party of his own, who would have had the nerve to refuse?"
"Ordinary invitations wouldn't have been refused, but instructions to bring along their unmarried daughters?" Kharisse made a face and shook her head. "At least two members of the nobility would have refused, maybe even three or four. Not all of those men spend their time licking Father's boots, and then there would have been a serious problem. This way they probably think Father is looking for a wife for one of our brothers, which could be what they're supposed to think."
"But you think it's Maradin who's doing the looking," Deni stated, studying the disturbance in her sister's beautiful eyes. "Well, don't you worry, sister mine. If that man starts to look in your direction I'll smash him in the face with a serving tray. That ought to give you the chance to run and hide, even if you have to leave the palace entirely. While Father's having hysterics I'll do my own running, then the two of us can take to the road. Do you remember the plans we made to be highwaymen?"
"That was quite a few years ago," Kharisse said with a laugh, reaching over to pat Deni's hand. "I appreciate the thought, my dear, but I don't want you getting into trouble again because of me. If Maradin does happen to look in my direction I'll handle it, and after the party is over we can talk about running. Getting clear will be easier if there aren't two dozen guardsmen half a step behind us."
"You always try to take all the fun out of things," Deni pretended to complain as she stood up with a smile. "You lose half the satisfaction of running away if there aren't two dozen guardsmen half a step behind you. But right now I think we'd better take your earlier suggestion and get going. If there are fireworks scheduled for tonight we don't want to miss them."
"Yes, that would be an awful shame," Kharisse agreed dryly as she also stood. "Imagine, being forced to live a life without trouble and difficulties. How would we ever stand it?"
Deni smiled the sort of smile she and Kharisse usually exchanged, then they left the bedchamber arm in arm. Too many people in their father's court weren't able to appreciate the odd sense of humor the sisters shared, but that lack had never bothered Deni - or Kharisse, for that matter. They were sisters and best friends, and that was all that mattered to the two.
Once Deni and Kharisse left the peace and quiet of the family wing, they were swept up in the moderate bedlam of the halls and corridors. Servants hurried everywhere on missions they seemed to consider very important, and most of those servants had to work at it to keep from jostling the well-dressed people moving more sedately through the halls. Their father's nobility had turned out in their finest trappings, and those who hadn't yet reached the ballroom seemed - restrainedly - eager to join those who had arrived earlier.
A small knot of people in front of the ballroom doors contained those hardy souls who were determined to be announced as they walked through the doors. For the most part those people were members of the lower nobility, those on the fringes of real power who liked to pretend to be more important than they really were. Deni and Kharisse slipped past the knot and into the room, and Deni felt her eyebrows rise.
"Look at how many of them are already here," Deni murmured to Kharisse over the polite conversation and soft music being played. "I'd guess that your sources of information are better than theirs, sister."
"One of my sources of information is eavesdropping, sister," Kharisse murmured back as she showed that special smile again. "Father and Mother were talking privately last night, and I happened to overhear them. I doubt if anyone else knows the truth."
"They can't know, otherwise they would not be looking so … smug and satisfied," Deni agreed. "I'm surprised that no one seems to have noticed that Father isn't looking the same."
By that time they could see their father and mother - and their four brothers - on the low dais reserved for the royal family. The king and his queen sat in their ornate chairs, watching the crowd grow larger, their faces all but expressionless. Deni and Kharisse's four brothers, three older, one younger, stood around the two chairs looking bored. Apparently even their brothers hadn't been told the truth about the gathering, which increased Deni's inner amusement.
And the amusement didn't fade at the thought of joining all those beautiful people. King Entos and Queen Fallna were still more than handsome, as were their four sons. Kharisse and her beauty fit into the family perfectly, leaving only Deni as the odd one out. But Deni had found that oddness appealed to her, and being the only ugly duckling had grown to be more fun than being one of the group would have been. Her parents and brothers may have been extremely attractive, but for the most part they were also very dull…
"The situation may be even more serious than we think," Kharisse murmured as she and Deni continued to stroll toward the dais. "Father noticed us a moment ago, but very briefly his expression turned more worried than shocked at your being here on time."
"Trust me, it's not me he's worried about," Deni answered in the same murmur. "If he had even half the … intestines a king is supposed to have, he would have told Maradin to do his own courting without official help. But Father didn't have the guts to do that, and now he's worried about his only valuable daughter."
"Politically speaking, a king's daughters are valuable no matter what they look like," Kharisse stated, almost frowning at Deni's attitude the way she usually did. "If you think he'd hesitate even a heartbeat to give me away to cement a political alliance with a - a - mountain troll even, you just haven't been paying attention. Both of us are potential alliances for him, so it's not just me he's worried about."
"Looking at it that way, you could be right," Deni conceded, forced into going along with the very valid point. "Which means what has to be bothering Father the most is the fact that no one with any intelligence makes an alliance with a sorcerer. Magic users are notoriously self-centered and unreliable, and their enemies are too strong for ordinary people to stand against. An alliance with Maradin would do nothing more than make Father a target for other sorcerers."
"He might also be thinking about the trouble he'll have with his nobility over this ball," Kharisse added quickly since they had almost reached the dais. "No matter what happens tonight, there's going to be a very large number of unhappy people in this kingdom by tomorrow."
And that was another point Deni couldn't argue as they both stepped up onto the dais. Their father usually enjoyed being a king, but it looked like his enjoyment was soon to be balanced out by an addition to the other side of the scale…
Deni hadn't been looking forward to being on display for hours and hours, but less than half an hour later it became clear that everyone who had been invited to the ball was already present. The crowd that had clumped up to begin with had now spread out, the different political factions having taken over different corners or sides of the room. Along with the music, servants circulated with trays of snacks and drinks, men spoke portentously, women chatted airily, girls exchanged sleek comments - and no one seemed to notice the very last arrival.
"Looks like it's about to start," Kharisse murmured to Deni, obviously having seen the same thing Deni had. "That can't be anyone other than Maradin, not with that frightening air of danger about him."
Deni had already noticed the air about the new arrival as he moved unseen through the crowd, but rather than finding his appearance frightening she found it more… annoying. Maradin was a large man, tall and fairly broad with an attitude of competence wrapped firmly about him, and no one had ever claimed to consider his hard, craggy face handsome. But he held himself and moved with what couldn't be called anything but arrogance, his cold gray eyes radiating the same attitude.
And as Maradin moved slowly through the crowd, the way his dark-haired head turned from side to side just as slowly said he was searching for something. But those who search usually do it by looking at faces, and Maradin wasn't doing that. His left hand was being held waist high in front of his dark formal tunic, and each time his head turned in a different direction the movement was interrupted as he glanced down at the ring on his ring finger.
"I think he must have cast some kind of spell," Deni murmured to her sister as Maradin continued his slow walk in their direction. "No one but us has seen him, and he's obviously looking for something definite. Maybe that means he cast two spells."
"I'd love to know why we're the only ones who can see him," Kharisse murmured back, but a moment later she changed the observation. "Actually, I just noticed that Mother and Father can also see him. That makes the situation even stranger."
"No, that makes the situation perfectly clear," Deni corrected with a smile. "We four can see Maradin because only we four know he's supposed to be here. Yes, there's definitely a spell at work, and one that shows why Father let himself be bullied into agreeing to hold this ball. No one will know that he did it because Maradin told him to."
"Of course," Kharisse agreed with a wry smile. "I should have seen that myself… But here's something I do see: Maradin still hasn't found what he's looking for, and now he's coming toward us."
"And he can tell that his spell isn't affecting us," Deni added when those coldly arrogant gray eyes met her darker ones. "He isn't happy about that, and he seems to be ready to complain to Father. Then Father will be unhappy, and with me. For the first time ever."
Kharisse chuckled at Deni's comment, but with less amusement than she usually found when their father became annoyed or exasperated over something Deni did. Probably because Kharisse really was frightened by Maradin, Deni realized, and that awareness changed Deni's annoyance to the beginnings of anger. Deni had never let anyone frighten or harm Kharisse, and that state of affairs wasn't going to change just because Maradin was a sorcerer rather than an empty-headed courtier…
"It's done now, King, and I've found what I was looking for," Maradin said to their father as soon as he reached the foot of the dais. "Now I need to speak to you privately, with that female joining us in about five minutes."
Deni would have bet gold that Maradin would point to Kharisse, but instead his finger had pointed directly at her. Deni watched her father sit frozen with shock for a long moment, but then relief filled him and he got to his feet with a smile.
"Denianne, come to my small study in five minutes," King Entos ordered his younger daughter without looking at her, and then he and Maradin left the ballroom by the small private door behind the dais. Deni frowned at their backs until those backs disappeared, and only then did she realize that Kharisse's hand was on her arm.
"Deni, what are you going to do?" Kharisse whispered, sounding close to being frantic. "You can't refuse Father's order, but being in the same room with Maradin…!
"We were both in the same room with Maradin just a minute ago, and somehow we managed to survive the experience," Deni pointed out dryly, pretending she didn't see the expression of heavy satisfaction on her mother's face. "Since I accomplished the near impossible once, I have a feeling I can do the same again. And no, you aren't going to the study with me."
Kharisse closed her lips with a snap, annoyance chasing away part of the worry in her eyes.
"How do you know that that was what I was about to say?" Kharisse demanded softly, obviously trying to maintain the annoyance. "Maybe I was about to suggest that we leave now to start our new lives as highwaymen."
"We'd have to change out of these gowns first, or putting on masks would do very little good," Deni pointed out with all the amusement she really was feeling. "Five minutes isn't even enough time to get back to our apartments, not to mention change our clothes. A better idea might be to wait until I hear what Father and his guest have to say before we take to the road."
"All right, so that way we'll know what's going on before we leave," Kharisse grudged after a long minute. "But whatever you do, don't start listening to Father like the obedient child he's always wished you would become. If Father suggests something horrible, just give him a polite refusal instead of the kind of refusal you usually give."
"That's a good idea," Deni agreed with the grin she couldn't swallow down. "If I'm polite to Father he'll probably faint from the shock, and then we'll have all the time we need to pack up and leave. Don't worry, sister, I'll take care of the problem no matter what it turns out to be."
Deni could see that Kharisse wanted to believe her, but the fact that Maradin was involved still frightened Kharisse to the point of not being able to return Deni's smile. Instead she hugged Deni, then she stepped back to show that Deni's five minutes were just about up.
Something that Deni also knew. Five minutes fly by when you're having fun, but rushing right out to the small study would have been out of character for Deni. Instead of rushing she strolled out of the ballroom through the same door her father and Maradin had used, slowing her pace to less than a saunter once she was through the doorway.
From the time it had become clear to Deni that her parents cared more about what she looked like than about what kind of person she was, Deni had done everything possible to show her contempt for such shallow people. If her parents wanted her to be prompt, she made sure to be either very early or very late. If they demanded obedience, she gave them refusal instead - unless they were trying to be clever and asked for what they didn't actually want. Then Deni gave them just what they asked for, making it impossible for them to voice complaints.
But all that did was make them dislike me even more, Deni thought as she moved very slowly toward her father's study door. My acting like that didn't make them see me as more than the burden they've always considered me, and now I no longer care about changing their attitudes. In just a little while I'll be able to leave for good.
Deni paused in front of the study door to smile without amusement. Kharisse didn't know it yet, but she, Kharisse, would be married and gone in a short while. A couple of months earlier they'd been visited by one of their father's neighboring kings, who had brought his oldest son with him. Prince Gadrin had been immediately attracted to Kharisse, and even though Kharisse had refused to admit it, the attraction had been mutual. Deni had overheard her father telling her mother that the preliminary negotiations were just about over, so they'd soon be able to announce the betrothal.
And that proves the contention that eavesdroppers usually don't hear anything good, Deni reflected, feeling that same unhappy smile curve her lips. I'm delighted for Kharisse and her soon-to-be husband, but once she's gone there won't be anything left for me here. I will not sit around waiting for Father to make use of me in any way at all, so as soon as Kharisse is gone I'll be the same. Even if I don't know where I'll be able to go…
Deni suddenly realized that she'd been standing in front of the study door for a couple of minutes, which meant she was good and late so she could finally go in. If it had been anyone but her father she would have knocked, but it was her father so she simply opened the door and walked inside.
"Well, it's about time," her father said as soon as he saw her, increased annoyance clear in his eyes. "If you ever learned to tell time I'd probably - Well, never mind about that now. Maradin, allow me to present my daughter, Princess Denianne. Denianne, this gentleman is the renowned sorcerer Maradin."
"I hate having to be the one to tell you this, Father, but you've done it wrong," Deni drawled as she moved slowly closer to the desk her father sat behind with Maradin in one of the guest chairs. Neither man had risen at her appearance, and that lack of courtesy added to Deni's anger. "Renowned or not, your esteemed guest is still a commoner and I'm purportedly a princess. You were supposed to present him to me, not the other way around."
"How dare you be snide with me, girl?" her father demanded, finally getting to his feet. "A king acts as he pleases, and no one has the right to tell him he's done wrong! The mage has asked for a marriage contract, and I've already agreed."
"But Father, you're already married," Deni drawled, not about to react with the shock her father was obviously expecting. "What in the world will Mother say when you tell her that Maradin is going to be your new queen?"
A choking sound suspiciously like swallowed laughter came from the sorcerer's direction, but Deni kept her gaze on her purpling father. The mighty king seemed to be having trouble deciding which of the dozen words on his tongue he wanted to speak first, but finally he made up his mind.
"Young woman, your discourtesy will not be overlooked or forgotten," he growled, straightening as though he were sitting on his throne. "I'm sure you know perfectly well that Maradin means to marry you, although why he would want to is completely beyond me. Preparations for the wedding will begin first thing tomorrow, and the ceremony will be held as quickly as your wedding gown can be made."
"I'm devastated to have to tell you this, Father, but there won't be a ceremony," Deni said with as wide a smile as she could produce. "Unfortunate as the circumstance is, it's impossible for me to marry Maradin."
"Impossible?" her father echoed with outrage, his face starting to go purple again. "What in the world can make you think it's impossible?"
"I don't just think, Father, I know," Deni responded, still smiling happily. "It's impossible for me to marry the man, for the very reason that you want me to do it. I've never done what you wanted me to, so I certainly can't change things now. Do enjoy the rest of the evening with your … guest."
And with that Deni turned and left the study, making no effort to look back even when her father began to demand her return. Her ridiculous speech had given her a good deal of satisfaction, but she still had to pretend that her father's words weren't echoing and reechoing in her head.
Why Maradin would want to marry you is beyond me, her father had said, her loving, wonderful father. And the saddest part was that he probably had no idea why she felt the way she did…
* * *
The man simply called Maradin hadn't had a very good week. First he'd discovered that there was a female he had to make his own, but not the kind of female he'd been associating with. As if that weren't bad enough, he'd learned the necessary female was very much upper class and therefore out of easy reach.
So he'd … suggested to the king that a special ball be held, during which time he'd be able to locate the female he needed. He'd walked through the ballroom, using the ring he'd sensitized to the needed female's trace, wondering why he wasn't getting anything - and then he'd noticed where the ring was taking him. Past all the members of the king's court and nobility, right to the royal dais and the royal family.
Of course, Maradin had thought then, the inner words as sour as his disposition had become. If the girl hadn't belonged to the royal family things would have been too easy. And those two can see me in spite of the concealing spell I'm using, so that means they knew I was coming. And their seeing me also means they tend to snoop, exactly what I don't need in a female…
If Maradin had been a complete fool he would have believed, at least for a moment or two, that the female he sought could be the pretty one. If that had proved to be true he probably would have gone into shock, but his mind balance had been in no real danger. The ring he wore made it perfectly clear that it was the plain female he needed, so he'd come into this room to speak to the king. Oddly enough the king hadn't hesitated in agreeing to give him the girl, and then -
And then the girl herself refused, Maradin told himself silently, still having trouble believing the refusal had happened. No tears, no theatrics, just a plain and uncompromising refusal.
But first the girl had actually almost startled a laugh out of him. It was true this fool of a king had given her the opening by the way he'd phrased his announcement, but most females wouldn't have taken the opening even if they'd been able to see it. This female, though, was obviously a different matter entirely, which was possibly why the auguries said he needed her…
"But she refused," Maradin said aloud, voicing the bottom-line realization he'd somehow missed even while thinking about it. "She flatly refused."
"Oh, don't worry about it, sir," King Entos said with the most hollow laugh Maradin had ever heard as the ruler took his seat again. "I'm sure the foolish girl was simply trying to be difficult, and by tomorrow she'll realize that it isn't possible for her to refuse. I'm her father and her king, so if I say she'll marry then - "
"Then she'll have the choice of obeying or being executed or exiled," Maradin interrupted to point out. "Since you are her father, which do you think she'll choose?"
The king parted his lips to add more empty assurances, but even a man like Entos couldn't have missed what Maradin had seen in the five minutes he'd been exposed to the girl.
"My own impression was that she would choose exile or execution before obedience," Maradin put in when the silence grew a bit too heavy. "With that in mind, holding a wedding ceremony would be a waste of time and effort. If the girl refuses to take the vows, we'll end up looking like a pair of idiots."
"So what do you suggest?" Entos all but snapped, his face starting to turn ruddy again. "It never occurred to me and her mother that the little monster would go so far as to make herself entirely useless. If she can't be used for political purposes, keeping her around just to torment me is idiotic…"
Entos's thoughts turned inward at that point, which gave Maradin the chance to school his expression. The girl wasn't at all physically attractive, but to call her a monster was going very much too far. And for a father to say that about his own daughter…! But Maradin still needed the cooperation of the king, so showing his disapproval and contempt had to be out.
"Marrying the girl would have been easiest for me, but there is another way I can associate with her," Maradin said, as if musing aloud. "Assuming you agree, of course, Your Majesty."
"Slavery is illegal in this kingdom, but right now I wish it weren't," Entos grumbled, having left his thoughts reluctantly. "What else did you have in mind, sir?"
"Well, you may not be able to marry her off without her cooperation, but what about apprenticing her?" Maradin said, having chosen his only remaining option to the outright kidnapping of the girl. "If you agree to letting me make her my apprentice - "
"Then I'll finally and truly be rid of her!" Entos exclaimed, suddenly filled with delight. "And it doesn't matter if she's unwilling, she's still required to obey! Maradin, you're a genius!"
The king grew really voluble in his praise of the genius of his guest, but that guest had, for the most part, stopped listening. Maradin had had no choice about getting his hands on the girl in some way, but something told him that being her master was not going to end his problems…