Read One Good Knight for Free Online

her.
    â€œHowever, Princess,” Lady Charis continued, “your new responsibilities will include more Court appearances, as well as the occasional attendance at conferences and audiences, and your gowns will occasionally need to reflect your status. Silk there will be, and jewels, and other ornaments you would rather do without. You must look the part of a Princess when the Queen requires it. Think of it as armor. You are a kind of guard to the dignity of your nation and lineage, and you must wear the armor for that duty.”
    â€œOn other occasions, however,” Solon added, “we will wish for you, although you will be attending similar functions, to blend with the other secretaries and not stand out.” He raised an eyebrow, and she flushed, realizing that this meant they were taking her very seriously indeed. “If there is no need for the Princess to be present, then it should not be obvious that the Princess is indeed in attendance.”
    â€œMy beauty has consistently caused foreign princes and diplomats to underestimate my intelligence, Andromeda,” the Queen said, unexpectedly, as Solon nodded. “It is a tool I have learned to use,and use well. That is my armor. If they look upon me, bejeweled and draped in costly fabric, and assume that is all I care for, that is all to the good. You have not inherited my beauty, more’s the pity, but you have in your very ordinariness another sort of armor. You can make yourself overlooked and ignored, which is just as effective as being underestimated. I do not say these things to hurt you, child, but to educate you. The time for games and running about on the cliff steps is gone. You wish to be treated as an adult, and given responsibilities, I am doing so, and granting you the candor I give Solon.”
    Andie looked down at the hands twisting nervously in her lap. Maybe her mother didn’t intend to hurt her feelings, but—but they were hurt, all the same. I’m not that ugly, am I? Or no, she didn’t say “ugly,” just…forgettable.
    â€œNow, I believe we have said everything we need to,” the Queen concluded brightly. “Tomorrow, the next phase of your life will begin. And tonight—we will have dinner.”
    She touched her knife to her goblet, making it ring, and suddenly the room was full of servants, bustling everywhere with food that Andie barely touched and certainly couldn’t taste. There was no more serious talk; the Queen and her ladies and even Solon made light chatter that went right over Andie’s head, seeing as she didn’t know half the people they were talking about.
    She did drink a little too much of the wine,though. Her mouth was so dry, the lamps were so bright, and she kept flushing for no real reason except an ongoing case of acute embarrassment, and the only thing to drink was the wine, at least until the dessert course came and she was able to cool her flushes with sherbet. She knew she was tipsy because she got light-headed, and after that she said even less and moved with great care. A fine thing it would be for her to spoil the impression she’d made by getting drunk!
    Finally, after the dessert, she snatched at the opportunity to ask the Queen’s permission to leave; Cassiopeia was deep in conversation with Lady Charis at that point, and simply waved a hand at her daughter. Feeling as if she was trying to balance on the edge of a cliff, Andie got up slowly, and just as slowly sketched a brief curtsy, and walked out, into the shadowed rooms beyond. The Royal Guards at the Queen’s door stood like a pair of statues; she murmured a quiet good-night to them, and they nodded back. While she was within sight of them, she did her best to walk steadily, but once on her own, she felt her steps wavering a little, and she didn’t bother to correct them until she came in sight of the Guards on her wing. The two Guards on her own door saluted her, and she