Kushiel's Dart

take the same risk twice. Henceforth, your safety will be assured by a new companion. I have arranged that you will be warded by a member of the Cassiline Brotherhood."
    My mouth fell open. "My lord will have his jest," I said faintly.
    "No." A glimmer of amusement flickered in Delaunay's eye. "It is no jest."
    "My lord . .. you would set some, some dried-up old stick of a Cassiline Brother to trail after me?" Between outrage and astonishment, I nearly stammered it. "On an assignation ? You would set a crochety, sixty-year-old celibate to ward a Servant of Naamah ... an anguissette , no less? Name of Elua, I'd rather you brought back Miqueth!"
    For those who are unfamiliar with D'Angeline culture, I will explain that the Cassiline Brotherhood, like Elua's Companion Cassiel, are alone and united in their disapproval of the ways of Blessed Elua. Like Cassiel, they serve with steadfast devotion, but I cannot imagine anything more off-putting to a patron of Naamah than their cold-eyed disdain.
    Aside from that, they are dreadfully unfashionable.
    Delaunay merely raised his eyebrows at my tirade. "Our lord and
    King, Ganelon de la Courcel, is attended at all times by two members of the Cassiline Brotherhood. I would have thought you'd be honored by it."
    It is true that I had never, in the wildest of tales, heard tell of a Cassiline Brother serving as companion to anyone not born to one of the Great Houses, let alone a courtesan. It would have given me pause, had I not been so shocked; but I could not think beyond the grim effect the ascetic grey presence of a Cassiline Brother would have on a hot-blooded patron. "Guy was trained by the Cassiline Brothers," I shot back at De-launay, "and look what happened to him! What makes you think I would be any safer?"
    Delaunay's gaze strayed past me again.
    "If this man Guy was expelled at fourteen," an even voice said from behind me, "he had only begun the merest part of the training to become a Cassiline Brother."
    Sparing a glare for Delaunay, I whirled about.
    The young man standing in the shadows behind me bowed in the traditional manner of the Cassiline Brotherhood, hands crossed before him at chest level. Warm sunlight gleamed on the steel of his vambraces and the chain-mail that gauntleted the backs of his hands. His twin daggers hung low on his belt and the cruciform hilt of his sword, always worn at the back, rose above his shoulders. He straightened and met my eyes.
    "Phedre no Delaunay," he said formally, "I am Joscelin Verreuil of the Cassiline Brotherhood. It is my privilege to attend."
    He neither looked nor sounded as though he meant it; I saw the line of his jaw harden as he closed his mouth on the words.
    It was a beautiful mouth.
    Indeed, there was very little about Joscelin Verreuil that was not beautiful. He had the old-fashioned, noble features of a provincial lord and the somber, ash-grey garb of a Cassiline Brother adorned a tall, well-proportioned form, like the statues of the old Hellene athletes. His eyes were a clear blue, the color of a summer sky, and his hair, caught back in a club at the nape of his neck, was the color of a wheatfield at har-vesttime.
    At this moment, his blue eyes considered me with scarce-concealed dislike.
    "Joscelin assures me that what happened to Alcuin, and Guy, would never occur to someone under his warding," Delaunay said in a calm tone. "I have measured my blade against his daggers, and I am satisfied that it is true."
    A Cassiline Brother never draws his sword, unless it is to kill. T had heard of it once, when an assassin attacked the King. I turned my head toward Delaunay, considering. "He bested you with daggers alone?"
    Delaunay made no answer, nodding toward Joscelin, who gave his formal bow, arms crossed. He was not, I gauged, much older than I was.
    "In the name of Cassiel, I protect and serve," he said stiffly.
    Wholly unbidden, I took a seat, choosing one where I could see both of them. The back of the chair stung the new lines of my marque. If I agreed to this, Delaunay would allow me to return to the service of Naa-mah. If I did not. . . well, Delaunay had not offered a choice in the matter. I shrugged. "My lord, at least he is pretty enough to be an adept of Cereus House wearing fancy dress. If you will, then so be it. Is there an offer to entertain?"
    From the corner of my eye, I could see Joscelin Verreuil glare at being compared to an adept of the Night Court. Delaunay's mouth twitched, and I was sure he'd