Betrayals by Sharon Green Read Free Book Online Page A

“The young lady hasn’t even finished her dinner as yet. Do you really expect me to turn her out hungry?”
    “All right, two thousand!” my father snapped, coloring again at the laughter. In his embarrassment he’d glanced at me where I sat unspeaking, the expression in his eyes suggesting that he expected to see me laughing as well. Under other circumstances I might have done just that, but having two men discuss the price for my purchase was something I found less than amusing.
    “Well, now we have an offer of two thousand,” Lanir said, again speaking mostly to his friends. “He really seems to dislike the idea of her having dinner, but I find myself curious. Tell me, peasant: just how high are you prepared to go in order to spirit her away from my beard? Stop playing the merchant for a moment, and pretend to be a man. What is the absolutely highest figure you’re prepared to offer?”
    “You’re right, we’re wasting time here,” my father returned tightly, his fair skin still flushed. “I tried to save us both the trouble of a court appearance and a public scandal, but some people aren’t capable of understanding when they’re done a favor. My final offer is five thousand gold dins. If that figure doesn’t suit you, we can continue this discussion before a panel of judges.”
    “Oooo, now the peasant is threatening me,” Lanir said, his bad pretense of being frightened causing his friends to laugh even harder. “He offers a sum that only a child would find impressive, then expects me to believe that any court in this city would find in his favor rather than in mine. You’re obviously a fool, peasant, so I really ought to be gentle with you. You’ve named your highest price, but haven’t yet asked me to name one. Would you like to try that before you go storming off to court?”
    “It’s fairly obvious I’m still wasting my time, but why don’t you go ahead and name your price. That way I’ll get some amusement out of this as well.”
    My father had spoken tightly, with repressed anger, but he probably couldn’t have refused to listen even if he’d wanted to. Not only did he have the awareness of Odrin Hallasser riding him, refusing to listen to an offer went counter to everything he stood for.
    “If it’s amusement you’re looking for, peasant, my offer should suit you perfectly,” Lanir said, a glitter of cruel anticipation in his eyes. “In order for me to even consider what you’re asking, you must first put forth your proposal in the proper manner. If you’ll turn about, you’ll see a box on that table to the right of the door. Go and put on what you find inside the box, and then we’ll be able to continue this discussion.”
    My father hesitated visibly, only glancing at the box rather than going straight to it. He also glanced at me where I sat turned sideways on my chair, but I was just as much in the dark as he. I hadn’t even noticed that box, the sort which clothing often came in, so I had no idea what might be in it.
    Someone else might have refused even to look, but it was a measure of my father’s desperation that the end of his hesitation found him walking over to the box. It took only a moment to open it, and then he threw away the top and pulled out the box’s contents to shake the item in an angry fist.
    “The motley of a fool!” he snarled, so livid he was nearly beside himself. “And you expect me to put this on?”
    “But of course,” Lanir agreed blandly while everyone else laughed uproariously. “Didn’t I say you were a fool? I simply want you to look like what you certainly are. You may change in the next room, and then you’re to return.”
    Despite his anger, my father hesitated for the second time. The pressure on him to get me back was obviously enormous, otherwise he never would have thought twice about storming out. It was clear he found himself in the midst of actually considering going along with what he’d been told to do, but then his