Shadowdance 01 - A Dance of Cloaks

never heard of a cock, and so the men oblige by never pulling it out to teach them otherwise.”
    She snickered as Maynard felt his neck flush. He knew she was just trying to embarrass him. John Gandrem ruled the Northern Plains from Felwood Castle. The lord had, through his letters, kept him painfully aware of whom Alyssa had slept with. When any one of them could produce a potential heir to the Gemcroft fortune, even the most private details had to be known.
    “Must you use such … such …
common
language?” Maynard asked.
    “You sent me to live with common women. Fosters and sitters whose entire wealth couldn’t buy the privilege to clean the … filth from my bottom.”
    She winked at her father.
    “I did so for your own safety,” Maynard said. He caught her nearing the windows and put himself in the way. When he opened his mouth to explain she pressed a finger against his lips and kissed his forehead.
    Servants arrived to inform them that the evening meal was ready. Maynard took his daughter’s hand and led her through the mansion to the extravagant dining room. Suits of armor lined the walls, holding erect lances decorated with silken flags of kings, nobles, and ancient members of the family. Over a hundred chairs waited at the giant table, their dark wood upholstered in purple. Decorating the top were twelve roses, each in a ruby-encrusted vase.
    Twenty servants stood ready, although only the two leaders of the family would eat first. Maynard took a seat at the head of the table as Alyssa sat to his left.
    “Don’t worry about the food,” he told her. “I have everything tasted.”
    “You’re the worrier, not me.”
    Maynard thought she might have reacted differently if she’d known seven tasters had died over the past five years, including one only two days ago.
    The first course was steamed mushrooms smothered with gravy. Servants flitted in and out of sight, always bustling, always hurrying. Alyssa closed her eyes and sighed as she bit into one of the mushrooms.
    “You have your quirks, but at least you ensure quality meals,” she said. “The servants in Felwood seemed to think a skinned cat was a delicacy. Every other meal I spent the evening pulling hair out of my teeth.”
    Maynard shuddered.
    “They have always been fair when dealing with me, so I felt them a safe home for you, especially so far away from Veldaren. Please, don’t jest about such crude things while we eat.”
    “You’re right,” Alyssa said. “We should talk business instead.”
    The next course arrived, an unknown meat smothered with so much gravy and seasoning that she could barely see it. The smell made her mouth water.
    “Business is exhausting,” Maynard said. “And in more ways than one. I would prefer we not discuss it while we relax.”
    “You would prefer we not discuss it at all. I went away a young girl, but I’ve had plenty of time to learn. Years, in fact.” There was no hiding her resentment. “How many years has this embarrassing war with the thief guilds lasted?”
    “Five years,” Maynard said, frowning. “Five long years. Don’t be bitter with me for sending you away. I just wanted you safe.”
    “Safe?” Alyssa said. She put down her fork, pushed away the plate. “Is that what you think? You wanted me out of your way, you always have. Easier to plot murder and money when your little girl isn’t underfoot.”
    “I have missed you dearly,” Maynard insisted.
    “You showed it poorly,” she said. The words stung him like a needle to the chest. “But enough of this. I am a Gemcroft, same as you, and this pathetic conflict shames both our names. Gutter vermin and lowborn cutthroats defeating the entire wealth and power of the Trifect? Pathetic.”
    “I would hardly say we are being defeated.”
    She laughed in his face. “We control every gold and gem mine north of the Kingstrip. They have bastards and whoresons robbing caravans and peasant workers. Leon Connington keeps Lord Sully and the rest of the Hillock in his pocket. They have lice and fleas in theirs. And what about Laurie Keenan? Half the boats on the Thulon Ocean are his, yet I worry his sea dogs will start thinking those boats better protected in their hands instead of his.”
    “You forget your place!” Maynard said. “It is true we have much more than they, but therein lies our danger. We pay a fortune for mercenaries and guards while they bring in men off the street. We have our mansions and they have their