Arshalous swirled her goblet, staring at the wine. His servant had poured Korak a glass...surely it was not poisoned as he had said. Raising it in a slightly mocking toast, she stood and took a small sip.
He had not been joking when he said that the wine might be bitter. Her own wine was much better than this. "Well, it is a pity that such a great grand lord such as yourself can't afford to have better wine than this," she said with a curling smile as she handed the goblet back to him. "I, my lord, have already made myself fit for the feast. I thought that I would drop by before going to the palace and hear your thoughts about the emissary so I wouldn't have to hunt you down and drag you from the Princess' presence."
She watched with undisguised pleasure as his handsome twisted and became splotched with red and purple. With a stiff curtsey she bowed and strode from the room.
Whistling for her mount she swung herself into the saddly, and loped from the premises.
Why did Korak and herself have such hateful relationship? She tried to remember if there had been an argument in the distant past or if they had always been that way. It was terrible that she had to fear poison from her own cousin.
She glared at the roadside and spurred Telitha into a gallop until they came to the walled gardens of the palace. Handing her horse to a nearby servant, she strolled into the gardens. She let her hand fondle scarlet blossoms as she walked passed and every so often she would lean down and bury her nose in their fragrant petals.
As she drew near the courtyard, she looked up and saw the Black Obelisk pierce the sky. She bowed down, and murmured a soft prayer of rote to the Earth Mother...with a muttered, half-praise to the sky god for she did not want to purposely call down his wrath upon her.
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