Lhind the Thief (42 page)

“Not tired?” she repeated in her most polite voice.

“Well, a little, maybe. There was music last night, and
perhaps I stayed awake too long to hear it,” Shera said, just as politely.

“Do you, ah, like music?” Rhis asked, even more politely.

Shera’s eyes widened slightly, an expression of surprise and
delight, but then her face smoothed into blankness, and she said very formally,
“Fine music is a very appropriate diversion.”

Rhis almost choked on her biscuit. Elda had often said that,
in just the same voice:
Fine music is a
very appropriate diversion
—meaning, of course, that ballads and the like
were most definitely not ‘fine music’ or ‘appropriate.’

“Princess Elda says that often,” Rhis said slowly, watching
Shera’s face.

At the mention of Elda’s name, Shera’s little nose wrinkled
slightly, then her face smoothed and she languidly picked up her hot chocolate
cup, her fingers held precisely in the approved position.

Rhis took a deep breath. “I,” she said bravely, “happen to
like ballads. And I know that those are not considered fine music.”

Shera hastily lowered her chocolate cup. She gulped once or
twice, her eyes tearing again, and Rhis clapped her hand over her mouth in an
effort not to laugh.

“Ballads?” Shera squeaked, her big greeny-brown eyes going
wide and round.

Rhis nodded firmly. “Love them.
All
of them.”

“Do you . . . know . . .
Prince Aroverd and the Snow Woman
?”
Shera asked, her voice high, and not at all modulated.

Again Rhis nodded firmly. “All twenty-seven verses. And I
know the older version—”

“—
The Snowlass and the
Toadfield
,” Shera breathed.

The girls stared at each other.

“My favorite part is when she turns the invading army into
toads,” Shera said.

“I like that part, but my favorite is when she pushes the
evil Red Mage into the swamp and stops the prince’s runaway coach before it
sinks—”

“Oh, I love that part, too.” Shera gave a fervent sigh. “I
used to pretend I was the Snow Lass, going on adventures, and having princes
wanting to marry me.”

Rhis dared one more thing. “I can play it on the tiranthe,”
she said quickly.

And again Shera’s eyes widened in delight, but this time she
forgot to smooth out her face. Instead, she clasped her hands together. “Oh, I
do
envy you,” she said. “We could never
learn to play anything.”

Rhis grinned. “Elda told me that only entertainers play. A
princess might strum if a boy professes to like music, but only to look
decorative, and that proper princesses summon entertainers when they want real music.
But proper princesses don’t ever want ballads. So after I learned the chords
from a tutor, and she sent him away, I learned in secret from the cook’s
nephew, who comes home every winter from his group of traveling players. Of
course I wasn’t allowed to pack my tiranthe for the trip.”

Shera grinned back. “Shall we call for one?”

“Let’s,” Rhis said, adding, “I’ll buy it for the trip, and
teach you what I know!”

_______________
We hope you have enjoyed this sample of
A Posse of Princesses
by Sherwood Smith

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