horrified. “Just you? Not me? Where?”
“Just me. Maybe it’s only for boys. She didn’t say where.”
“I guess that’s how Lady Badness got her name,” I said angrily. “She’s all the time bringing bad news.”
“It’s not bad, exactly. It’s just…troubling. Lady Badness says I can’t come into my full powers until I’m well schooled, and I can’t be king until I come into my full power….”
“What powers?”
“I have no idea. Something Ghossy, I guess. She says when I’m well schooled, I’ll know, and if I don’t get well schooled, it won’t make any difference. I’m sure she’s right, but…I don’t want to leave you, Wilvia. Four years is a long time.” He turned his head to stare sightlessly at the two nameless hills that rose gently above rolling grasslands, each bearing a school on its crest: the gray-towered abbey for boys, the white-domed temple for girls. His school; my school. Between the two, the town straggled down into the valley on both sides of a boisterous, nameless river crossed by half a dozen old stone bridges. From the hayfield where we sat, we could see the whole town: gardens, farmlands, orchards. For all we knew, it could be the only town on B’yurngrad.
“It’ll probably be just as remote as this is,” he said. “My mother sends me letters by couriers, telling me I have to stay hidden.”
“Because of the Frossians trying to kill you.”
“Well, they killed my father, they’ve tried three times to kill my mother, they’ve been hunting for us ever since we left Fajnard. Mother’s spies on Fajnard say the Frossians want to wipe out the royal house before they invade, so our family won’t be a center of rebellion.”
I whispered, “The sisters told me about it, and I’ve studied all your mother’s writings. I know she was the one who established the Court of Equity on Fajnard. Think of that, Joziré! A court dedicated to pure justice, one that can overrule the law! They didn’t even have one of those back on old Earth!”
“I know.” He fidgeted. “Willy…?”
“What, Jos? Don’t fidget.”
“When I go away, will you wait for me until I come back?”
“Unless they send me somewhere else. Of course.”
“I don’t mean that. I mean, will you not get too friendly with any other boy until I come back.”
I felt myself turning red. “You mean wait for you…that way.”
He sighed deeply, running his fingers through his dark, curly hair. “You’re really too young to make a promise like that. You’re probably about thirteen, developmentally speaking, and I’m probably about sixteen. I know I have to go to this school, but I don’t want us to be separated. That sounds soppy, but I don’t want us to forget one another…”
I took his hand. “Jos, I’ll wait for you forever. My stomach won’t let me forget. No one else in the world can make a fried garlwog sandwich the way you can.”
He aimed a blow at me. I blocked it and aimed one at him. I didn’t dare let him go on talking that way, or I’d start to cry, and I didn’t want to cry. We tumbled into the hay and came to rest, me with arms pinned at my sides, him above me, nose to nose.
“Promise!” he demanded. “Or I’ll leave you here for the big wild garlwogs to make dinner of.”
“They don’t eat meat.” I tried to laugh.
“You,” he said, fixing me with his eyes. “You, they’d eat. Now promise.”
“I promise Prince Joziré, heir to the throne of the Ghoss, that I, Wilvia, will not…get friendly with any male person until said prince returns.”
He let me go suddenly and turned away to hide his face before he got up to gather the remnants of our picnic lunch into the basket. I had promised, but I could see it hadn’t helped much.
“Jos,” I whispered from behind him. “I really mean it. I will wait.”
He forced himself to grin. “I know you will.”
We walked back along the farm road, each of us thinking of all the wrong things we could say
“Just me. Maybe it’s only for boys. She didn’t say where.”
“I guess that’s how Lady Badness got her name,” I said angrily. “She’s all the time bringing bad news.”
“It’s not bad, exactly. It’s just…troubling. Lady Badness says I can’t come into my full powers until I’m well schooled, and I can’t be king until I come into my full power….”
“What powers?”
“I have no idea. Something Ghossy, I guess. She says when I’m well schooled, I’ll know, and if I don’t get well schooled, it won’t make any difference. I’m sure she’s right, but…I don’t want to leave you, Wilvia. Four years is a long time.” He turned his head to stare sightlessly at the two nameless hills that rose gently above rolling grasslands, each bearing a school on its crest: the gray-towered abbey for boys, the white-domed temple for girls. His school; my school. Between the two, the town straggled down into the valley on both sides of a boisterous, nameless river crossed by half a dozen old stone bridges. From the hayfield where we sat, we could see the whole town: gardens, farmlands, orchards. For all we knew, it could be the only town on B’yurngrad.
“It’ll probably be just as remote as this is,” he said. “My mother sends me letters by couriers, telling me I have to stay hidden.”
“Because of the Frossians trying to kill you.”
“Well, they killed my father, they’ve tried three times to kill my mother, they’ve been hunting for us ever since we left Fajnard. Mother’s spies on Fajnard say the Frossians want to wipe out the royal house before they invade, so our family won’t be a center of rebellion.”
I whispered, “The sisters told me about it, and I’ve studied all your mother’s writings. I know she was the one who established the Court of Equity on Fajnard. Think of that, Joziré! A court dedicated to pure justice, one that can overrule the law! They didn’t even have one of those back on old Earth!”
“I know.” He fidgeted. “Willy…?”
“What, Jos? Don’t fidget.”
“When I go away, will you wait for me until I come back?”
“Unless they send me somewhere else. Of course.”
“I don’t mean that. I mean, will you not get too friendly with any other boy until I come back.”
I felt myself turning red. “You mean wait for you…that way.”
He sighed deeply, running his fingers through his dark, curly hair. “You’re really too young to make a promise like that. You’re probably about thirteen, developmentally speaking, and I’m probably about sixteen. I know I have to go to this school, but I don’t want us to be separated. That sounds soppy, but I don’t want us to forget one another…”
I took his hand. “Jos, I’ll wait for you forever. My stomach won’t let me forget. No one else in the world can make a fried garlwog sandwich the way you can.”
He aimed a blow at me. I blocked it and aimed one at him. I didn’t dare let him go on talking that way, or I’d start to cry, and I didn’t want to cry. We tumbled into the hay and came to rest, me with arms pinned at my sides, him above me, nose to nose.
“Promise!” he demanded. “Or I’ll leave you here for the big wild garlwogs to make dinner of.”
“They don’t eat meat.” I tried to laugh.
“You,” he said, fixing me with his eyes. “You, they’d eat. Now promise.”
“I promise Prince Joziré, heir to the throne of the Ghoss, that I, Wilvia, will not…get friendly with any male person until said prince returns.”
He let me go suddenly and turned away to hide his face before he got up to gather the remnants of our picnic lunch into the basket. I had promised, but I could see it hadn’t helped much.
“Jos,” I whispered from behind him. “I really mean it. I will wait.”
He forced himself to grin. “I know you will.”
We walked back along the farm road, each of us thinking of all the wrong things we could say
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