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Show the accounts and dumped in the auxiliary system somewhere!" Dr'Anya was trembling with fury. "I've accepted thine antics for these thirteen TwelveMonths," she said to him, "and not once have I threatened thee with loosening, though I had full reason and more to go to the Council for such a thing-and would have received most of Needlesmith Hold as compensation, yea, and in good measure. But t h i s . . . ! To run the Hold into the ground! Why 'twould take thee less than a TwelveMonth to send everything to Isaac's Hell and gone..." "Now list thou to me," blustered Armand, interrupting this lengthy harangue. "Now list thou to me!" He began stamping his bare feet on the ground. "I_ am the owner of Needlesmith Hold, if it please thee, woman. I am...I_. . . . " He was absolutely beside himself and having great trouble getting his breath. Janni's cheeks were burning with shame-for her good mother's sake for one thing. How dare he talk to her lady mother in such manner! And for her villainous father's sake, too, for he was acting like a perfect DragonGoose, the silliest, most preposterous of the reds. And, of a surety, he was dangerous, too. Aye, the villain could run Needlesmith Hold into the ground, have it sitting on the auction block in no time...and who could they pair off this time for a fat dowry? Assuredly not Janni, who had made up her mind on the instant that she would never pair in her life. Just at that point, the timid, wretched girl that was Hoqqam's sister appeared of a sudden -to pluck up her courage-she was of Seljuk stock, after all. She took a deep breath and reached out for Armand's green and white striped arm. In a voice shaking with fear and emotion she cried out 221 |
