tales of the latter kingdom 08 - moon dance Read Online Free Page A

worn them twice!” Adalynn protested. She left the mirror and went to her mother so she could take one of the shoes and inspect it for herself. “And both times only indoors. I wanted to make sure that they stayed pretty so I might wear them with my new green gown.”
    Her mother frowned as she turned the shoe she held over in her hands. “Are you sure, my dear? For I have slippers that I’ve owned for five years which are in far better condition than these.”
    “Of course I’m sure.” Now Adalynn wore a frown to match her mother’s, her full mouth pursed in irritation. “It must be shoddy workmanship. You should complain to the shoemaker the next time you are in town.”
    “But he’s made all your other fancy shoes,” Aunt Lyselle pointed out. She went to the wardrobe and withdrew another pair, these ones in fine pale blue kid hand-painted in delicate swirls and arabesques. “These ones look as if they’ve never even been worn.”
    A shrug, the fine silk covering Adalynn’s shoulders glinting with the movement. “Perhaps he has a new apprentice, one who is not so skilled as he. All I can say is that I only wore those slippers twice, and so nothing I have done could have possibly put them in that state.”
    For a few seconds, my aunt appeared as if she wanted to pursue the topic. Then she, too, shrugged, and put the shoes she held back into the wardrobe. “Very well. I will take the matter up with him the next time I am in town.” She glanced over at her daughters and at Janessa, who had finished their tidying-up and stood all in a row beside the bed, looking rather like cadets awaiting a military review. “Thank you very much, girls. Run along to the solarium and attend to your own needlework, for it will be supper soon enough.”
    They ducked their heads and rushed out, giggling and whispering amongst themselves. Although I had not been specifically included in that command, I thought I should follow them as well. My sister was fabulously talented with her needle; I, on the other hand, possessed neither the skill nor the will to sit and make flowers bloom on cloth, or even manage the far more prosaic task of darning socks. But I was treated as a daughter of this household, and so I was expected to put in my daily hours at the activity, much as I might loathe it.
    Now, though, my aunt put her hand on my sleeve as I went past and said in low tones, so Adalynn might not overhear, “Go to your room, Iselda. I would have conversation with you there.”
    My heart sank. Perhaps the feeling of foreboding which came over me then was only my conscience, somewhat burdened already because of what had passed between Lord Mayson and myself. It had to have been perhaps the most oblique marriage proposal ever delivered, but if my aunt inquired, I knew I could not lie and tell her that his lordship and I had spoken only of inconsequentials.
    As I knew it would be useless to protest, I bowed my head slightly and said, perhaps in a louder tone than was required, “Oh, I must go and fetch that chemise with the torn lace from my chamber.”
    The other girls did not appear terribly interested by my pronouncement, since they cared little which project would occupy my next hour. But my aunt gave the barest of approving nods, obviously glad that I had come up with an excuse not to head immediately to the solar, where the abundant light provided a good space for working on embroidery or mending.
    I headed toward my room, and, once inside, began to make rather a show of rummaging through the chest of drawers there, just in case any of the girls should lag behind and take a peek inside to see what I was up to. A moment later, though, I heard the last of their giggling and whispering recede as they descended the stairs. Soon after, my aunt came into my chamber and closed the door.
    “So Lord Mayson met you down by the stream?”
    Resisting the urge to sigh, I turned away from the dresser and nodded. My aunt might have given the