The Seascape Tattoo by Larry Niven Read Free Book Online

taking liberties?”
    Zatch had only grinned at her younger cousin. “Tahlia, you will learn the ways of the world. I have potions to prevent conception, so the royal line is secure. Second, because my husband is not in line for the throne—he has two other brothers who would ascend first—there is little concern about it. And third, the captain of the guard serves both the prince and princess. If you understand my meaning.”
    Zatch had thrown her head back and laughed raucously, as Tahlia gawked in astonishment.
    So … perhaps she was naive. So … the marriages for which she and her cousins had been molded were often shams, with pleasure taken wherever it could be found.
    Tahlia leaned against the railing, watching the waves wash up against the mermaid’s painted eyes. So much beauty in the world, so many possibilities. And now she saw … so many fictions as well.
    Unless she could marry for love.
    â€œBrill ’twith say honor,” said a voice beside her.
    â€œConfir alth all tithing,” she answered in ritual response. She smiled, wiping rain from her face. Even on a sea voyage, her faithful Drasilljah was teaching her. In this case, the structure of ancient Lemur, the high language of the kingdom of Nandia.
    â€œYou did that deliberately,” the princess pretended to pout. “You knew where my mind was straying.”
    Her nursemaid, the woman who had been with her since childhood, seemed to sense her mood. “Not your fate, child,” the old woman said.
    â€œAnd how do you know that?”
    Drasilljah’s kind mouth curled in a smile. “Not so powerful as I was in childhood,” she said, and shook her head. “Raised by my weird sisters to be helpmate to a princess, trained in the powers and knowledge of the earth and the stones. The magic is in my blood. And then … the magic itself began to retreat. Nothing to be done.”
    She sighed. “But I know enough to see your fate, and it is not to be a plaything, or a bauble, or a beard.”
    â€œThen what is it?”
    And here Drasilljah’s face took on a more troubled aspect. “I am not sure,” she said. “But if it were to be like your cousin, I would have felt a twinning of your paths. A doubling.”
    â€œWhat did you see in its stead?”
    â€œClouds.” She looked up at the half-shrouded moon. “There is a darkness in my vision. At first I thought to blame the world, thought it was the action of some other sorcerer … but not now. It would take too much power to cloud my vision in such a fashion, so far from land, with such consistency. And while such power still exists in the world, it is difficult to believe anyone would expend it just to blind a graying old crow like me.”
    Tahlia hugged the crone. Drasilljah’s shoulders were thinner, less padded than once they were, but Draz was still the same woman who had nurtured her in childhood, and it was incredibly comforting to have her close.
    â€œSo we don’t know what the future will be. Only that it won’t be that . There are suitors, of course. Some are even handsome.” In truth, her only remaining suitors were actually of the very best families of the Eight Kingdoms, all wealthy, handsome, and powerful. Most were either brilliant or brave, and she imagined that, eventually, she would succumb to their blandishments and choose one. But …
    â€œIt will take more than handsome to make you happy. And more than power to keep the kingdom safe. Your mother will make the best match she can.”
    Tahlia ran her forefinger back and forth along the railing. “Must it be a prince?” she asked.
    Drasilljah frowned. “Get that out of your head,” she snapped. “That wizard is nothing but trouble.”
    Tahlia smiled. Neoloth was trouble—there was no question about it. But he was also courtly, and charming, and she found herself