The Truth-Teller's Tale by Sharon Shinn Read Free Book Online

him? What would anyone?”
    â€œHe’s a very good brother,” she said.
    I waited, but she had no more to offer. “That still doesn’t make him interesting to talk to.”
    She shrugged. “Well, it was kind of him to come looking for Roelynn,” she said.
    â€œIt will be interesting to hear what kind of adventures she has in Wodenderry,” I said.
    Adele laughed. “Oh, I think it will.”

CHAPTER FOUR
    Roelynn was gone a week. I thought about her every day, but I didn’t have much time to wonder how her trip was going. The inn was always very full during the summer travel season. Merendon was a popular destination, for it was a large city built along a harbor, and merchant ships brought all manner of exotic merchandise to the local shops. There were other amenities to be found on the crowded streets—several very fine restaurants, one theater that performed classic dramas, any number of pubs and dress shops and jewelers. Situated as it was on a well-traveled road, near the stables, a celebrated pub and a dozen shops, our inn was considered an excellent place for a traveler to spend a few nights in comfort and style.
    Whenever we weren’t in school—which we weren’t in the summer—Adele and I were pressed into service as maids, laundresses, cooks, clerks, and accountants. My father was more likely to have me count the money, knowing I would be scrupulously exact as I tallied the sums; Adele more often greeted customers when they first arrived, since she was less likely to point out that their boots were muddy and their clothes disarranged from travel. Both of us were reasonably good cooks, though Adele was apt to be creative with a recipe, while I followed all instructions. However, neither of us liked to clean.
    I was extremely displeased one day that week to find five guest rooms in need of cleaning and my sister nowhere in sight. I changed the bedsheets and swept the floors and dusted the furniture in all five rooms before Adele returned. I heard her footsteps going past me on the stairs to our third-floor bedroom, so I dropped my broom and hurried up after her. I was just in time to see her closing the bottom drawer on the old dresser located on her side of the room.
    â€œWhere have you been?” I asked furiously. “I’ve been cleaning all afternoon! Five whole rooms!”
    She turned quickly, her back against the dresser, and gave me that unreadable smile. “I’ll clean tomorrow,” she said. “Or I’ll do all the dishes tonight. Your choice.”
    I came a step closer, instantly alert. “Where have you been?” I asked again.
    â€œOut.”
    â€œRunning errands?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œFor Mother and Father?”
    She didn’t answer that. She rarely lied to me outright, since I could always tell when she wasn’t telling the truth. She just found ways not to tell me what I wanted to know.
    â€œWhat kinds of errands?” I said. When she was still silent, I added, “You may as well tell me. I can see you’ve put something in the drawer. I’ll just look for it as soon as you’re gone. And if you move it somewhere else,” I continued, “I’ll just keep looking and looking until I find it. You know how good I am at finding things.”
    She hesitated a moment, then sighed and nodded. She knelt on the floor and I knelt beside her as she pulled out the bottom drawer. There, under her best undergarments, most precious ribbons, and the velvet box containing the painted miniature of Princess Arisande, she had hidden a small cloth bag. I opened my hands, and she shook a few dried leaves into my palms.
    â€œWhat is this?” I said. “Some kind of herb, I can tell that, but what does it do?”
    â€œIt makes you sick,” she said. “It gives you a fever and turns your stomach.”
    I looked at her, astonishment holding my whole body rigid. “Like you