"I'm sorry," he said. "It's just that, I'm engaged to be married."
"I didn't see an engagement ring," she sniffed. "
I suppose I shouldn't have assumed."
"It's a long story," he said, hoping she wouldn't probe his weak lie any further. "You are very beaut Helena. Prince Kainemonen has . . ." Good taste?
Attractive friends? Pleasant company? "Misjudged the circumstance. I wasn't expecting -- " A harem?
"This balcony. Please accept my apologies. I meant no insult."
She smiled, this time with visible regret. "Shame," she said whimsically, getting to her feet. She regarded him with a gamin pout. Alaire's stomach quivered.
Again.
"Your lady is a fortunate soul," she said simply, and left the balcony by way of the same exit Kai and the twins had taken.
Alaire stared after her for several long moments, wishing the whole thing had never happened, or at least gone... well, differently. Suddenly he was filled with vain regrets and longings. Lucky she had left when she did!
Now what is Kai going to think of me? Will he believe my story about the fictitious fiance? Probably, though he may wonder why I didn't mention her before.
Then it hit him. She's gone to join them! Three? In one afternoon? No wonder he wasn't looking for women when we were out last night.
The whole incident left Alaire feeling both embar- rassed and depressed, a very unpleasant mix of emotions. I'm not a prude. Am I? The tavern wenches of the night before behaved better than these ladies.
Courtiers should act better than this. Then again, perhaps he was assuming too much. This isn't Althea, after all. I shouldn't expect their people to have the same social rules we do. But they were in the company of the Prince. And evidently good friends.
"You don't approve, do you, young ambassador?"
Alaire turned violently at the sudden spoken words.
Captain Lyam stood in the doorway, his arms folded, with a wry grin of amusement on his rough face. The young man got to his feet, feeling and acting like a schoolboy caught at something naughty.
The Captain entered the room casually, as if he owned it. It might not have been obvious to anyone else, but Alaire has seen that kind of careful, too- casual looking around before. He's making sure we're alone, he thought, and relaxed. It didn't feel like an intrusion. It felt, instead, like a rescue.
"I didn't mean to eavesdrop," Lyam began. "Sound carries quite well from this particular room, and Kai made no secret of who was in here. And why."
Alaire felt his ears burning again, wondering what exactly the Captain had heard, particularly of the exchange between himself and Helena. Oh gods, he bemoaned. Did this man hear me turn down the direct proposition of a beautiful lady? This was no longer a question of his behavior as a visiting ambassador of another nation; this was a question of his own mascu- linity. This is getting personal.
"Helena seemed intent on entertaining you, young man," Lyam said, strolling over to one of the benches, and sitting down as he if owned the place. "What was the real reason you turned her down?"
Alaire successfully stifled a gurgle. "I -- " he began, and stammered. He must have seen through the fiance story. "She was, how shall I say it, too, too -- "
"Brash?"
Alaire shrugged.
"Forward? Brazen?"