Shield's Lady

needn’t name the areas of concern, my lady.”
    “Very well, I won’t. But I still think you should be made aware of the fact that the Shield is attracted to you.” The older woman’s dark eyes grew momentarily more serious. “If all he wants is an affair, that is one thing. It would probably be good for you to engage in a wild, passionate fling with a man, any man. We have all been hoping that you and Etion might—”
    “Lady Avylyn!”
    “Never mind,” Lady Avylyn said hastily. “I just wanted to warn you that if you should decide to become involved with the Shield, you ought to know that they are—well, different. I think I said something to that effect once before. They have their own rules and customs, as I’ve tried to explain.”
    “They conduct their love affairs differently than other men?” Sariana asked dryly.
    “Well, no, not their love affairs. In that regard, they are quite, uh, normal, I imagine. That is, I have never heard anything to the contrary.”
    “Lady Avylyn,” Sariana finally said, amused and exasperated, “what exactly are you trying to warn me about?”
    The older woman drew herself up to her most noble height. “Marriage,” she said darkly.
    “Marriage!” Sariana felt herself flushing furiously. The knowledge was maddening. “I assure you, marriage is the very last thing on my mind at the moment. And I would certainly have little interest in forming an alliance with a Shield, of all people. Why, Gryph isn’t even of the same social class as myself. We have absolutely nothing in common. The whole notion is quite out of the question.” Sariana knew her own clan would be shocked at the idea.
    Lady Avylyn brightened, obviously relieved. “Just as well. Just as well. Shield marriages are, well, never mind. It’s difficult to explain and I’m not sure anybody except a Shield and his mate really understand the relationship, anyway. It’s just that since you weren’t raised here, you don’t know much about Shields and I felt it my duty to warn you that…Never mind. No warnings are necessary as long as you are quite certain that both of you are only interested in having a fling.”
    “I’ll tell you a secret, madam. I don’t know what I want.”
    “Then my advice is to throw yourself into an affair.” Lady Avylyn tapped Sariana’s wrist with her folded fan. “Indulge yourself in some fun, my dear. It would do you a great deal of good, I’m sure. See you at the buffet.”
    Lady Avylyn swung around in a whirl of golden skirts and sailed out of the alcove.
    Sariana stared after her. Lady Avylyn was right. The only sort of relationship Sariana could possibly have with Gryph was an affair, and she had been toying with the mildly scandalous, wholly fascinating idea since the night he had found her in the conservatory.
    Things were different in the western provinces. One could be a bit reckless and daring and no one would think twice about it. One could even have an affair that crossed class lines and the most anyone would do was smile.
    For the past three days Sariana had been mulling the matter over. She had deliberately evaded Gryph while she tried to sort out her own confused feelings on the subject. In the end, she had sat down at her desk and resorted to the management tool of composing a neat little matrix of positives and negatives.
    On the positive side, she was unmarried and she was old enough to conduct an affair. She was wise enough to handle it discreetly, which would have been the main requirement back home. She wasn’t sure discretion was terribly important here in the western provinces unless one or both members of the couple were married.
    The truth was, she probably wouldn’t have to worry all that much about discretion. She had written that fact into the decision matrix, too. It seemed important. She was an ocean away from her homeland where such things were valued and she was unlikely to ever see anyone here again if she managed to return east next year.
    Also on the positive side had been a reluctant admission that she was attracted to Gryph Chassyn in a way she had never known with any other man. She was uncertain about the wisdom of satisfying the compelling curiosity that was growing within her. Yet she thought that, on the while, it might be better to test its depths. It was always better to confront the unknown and deal with it.
    She had added that sensible note to the positive side of the matrix, too. The longer she sat at her desk,