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Samh 9.28.1339
After Amoranda saw the evil some of the men whom she trusted had planned for her, she allowed Valanthus free reign to clear the house of the caterpillars that had infested it. This was not a difficult task since rumors as to what had happened to Galeid and Froch abounded. Most men stopped appearing without so much as a warning.
Valanthus also decided that Amoranda and Pethany needed to learn self-defense. Most other landed women had already moved onto advanced weaponry by Amoranda’s age. She had not even learned basic hand-to-hand combat—evidence of just how much her parents had ignored her education.
He also started conducting daily training sessions to teach her how to get rid of a man without feeling guilty about it.
“Oh, Amoranda, I shall die if you don’t marry me,” he wailed in the garden one day, dramatically falling on his knees a little more spryly than someone of Silvergor’s age would be expected to do and grasping her pant leg.
“I’m sorry, but I am not interested in you as anything more than a friend. Please, get up. If you can’t act civilly, I will have to bar you from my presence,” she said, stepping back and pulling her leg away from him.
“I knew you liked Henlow better than I. You are such a horrible flirt,” Valanthus wailed. He wished he could call up tears on command like an actor, but he figured the roll-play would be good enough.
“That’s it. Be gone. I do not wish to be shackled by marriage right now and being shackled to you is worse than being married because it comes with all the emotional trauma and none of the joys.” With that, she turned to go back inside.
He hurried after her and grabbed her shoulder. She quickly put her hand over his and tossed him over her shoulder.
“Oh, that was a little harsh,” he said rubbing his shoulder as he laid flat on his back.
“I’m so sorry, Silvergor! I was just doing what I thought you wanted me to do,” she rushed to his side an in an instant, he had her pinned under him with her arms held.
“How many times must I tell you not to trust anyone?” he asked with a sigh. The rage in her eyes only added to her beauty. She kneed him in the back, but it wasn’t enough to dislodge him.
“I think that concludes our lesson today,” he said, pulling her to her feet.
“I wouldn’t have done that with anyone but you,” she sulked.
He smiled. She had made much improvement since he first arrived. He believed that one day she would be so well-accomplished in her fighting skills that she would no longer need him to keep anyone at bay. That thought saddened him slightly.
He wondered again at the wisdom of Major Yoeritt in sending him to do this task. If she found out his real identity, he was certain she would prohibit him from courting her. However, if he got her to stand on her own two feet, would she allow anyone, including him as his true self, to spend time with her?
“Silvergor,” she said breaking the silence and stopping him with a hand upon his arm that made his heart skip a beat. “I have grown to care about you as if you were the father I always wanted.”
He struggled to keep the same look on his face. He did not exactly want to be her father.
“Please, don’t trick me like that again,” she said. “I truly thought I had hurt you.”
Valanthus laughed heartily. “It would take a lot more than a toss like that to hurt me. I am a tough old bird as the saying goes.” She frowned, the pain was evident in her eyes. He grabbed both of her hands in his.
“I promise,” he said sincerely, “that I will never pretend to be hurt again—as long as you promise never to have sympathy for a man who has harassed you—whether he is truly hurt or not.”
“I promise, you are the only one who will get my sympathy when you are hurt.” She grinned in relief.
Something about her earnest promise pulled at his heart, though, and he was content to retire to his room when they got inside. He had spent too much time with her lately, and it only caused his feelings toward her to grow.
When he came down to dinner, she was pacing.
“That rat! He sent me a message again!”
“Which one,” he asked.
“Kieron!” she said, pointing to her com-tab on the table.
Kieron had tried to made two visits since his last one, but Silvergor would not admit him. By Amoranda’s consent, he told the Colonel she was engaged, which irritated him immensely and which probably was the reason for the following:
Madam,
If it were possible for me to unriddle a woman’s behavior, I would immediately try my skill at unriddling yours. However, I believe men of deeper intelligence than I have been baffled by it. I must leave you to your own wild mazes: one day you caress me, the next you push me away, a third I am received again, and a fourth I find myself quite banished.
Although this is common from most women, I never had cause to mind it so much in you until that old whimsical fellow came to give you ridiculous advice and to give all your admirers endless torment. What the devil does such a young woman have in common with such an old windbag? Why does his pernicious counsel interfere with our pleasure?
If you value me at all as you once gave me reason to hope you do, meet me in the little grove at the end of your garden at about 21:00 tonight. There, I will teach you some secrets you never knew before. I have this contrived way so I will not come near the house. Your old Argus will never suspect you if you come alone to the arms of
Your faithful admirer,
Kieron
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