Read Online Resenting the Hero by Moira J. Moore - Free Book Online Page A

too early for you to Shield me in Over Leap,” he pointed out, as though he honestly thought the two situations were comparable. “But that’s different, isn’t it? You’re a Shield. Sober and responsible and disciplined. Unshakable in your duty. Whereas Sources are nothing more than a horde of irresponsible perpetual adolescents. We’d be dangerous if we didn’t have you Shields to keep us under control, wouldn’t we?”
    That was an exaggeration, and I knew it. Yes, Sources were a tad overemotional, but so were lots of regulars. So were some Shields. I didn’t think it made them dangerous, just harder to work with.
    But all right. Perhaps it was time to do a little bending. I was no longer the free and independent entity who could be as stubborn as necessary. Whether I liked it or not I was bound to this man, and I had to give his feelings some consideration, especially when I hadn’t yet proven they weren’t valid. I didn’t trust him to watch me well when I needed it, but I couldn’t afford to force that point until he actually failed.
    Theoretically, music could move me to kill someone. In reality, there was almost no chance of that actually happening. The braid identified me as a Shield. People, complete strangers, would be keeping their eye on me, and the minstrels would be careful with their selections. There would be plenty of people to stop me in the unlikely event that I went berserk.
    I would let Karish guard me that night. He would be distracted by some fine young thing and lured away. I might have a crying fit or sleep with something that had slithered out from under a rock, but I could live with that. And the next time we had this sort of discussion I would have the evidence to back up my argument, and Karish would just have to stew. “All right.”
    He wasn’t appeased. “Pulling teeth takes less time.”
    â€œI said yes, didn’t I?”
    â€œWith images of humiliation dancing through your head. Or maybe you’re just worried about being proved wrong. What, has that never happened to you?”
    I was regretting my answer already.
    He studied me a moment longer than I liked, then he smiled. My stomach clenched. He surprised me by tapping my cheek, and I pulled away. “Poor little Lee,” he taunted. “The philosophy’s undreamed of, isn’t it?” He punctuated that bit of nonsense with a wink before he wheeled away and deserted me. I could hear him whistling as he walked.

Chapter Five
    Karish was no fop, and that night he wore only two colors. Black and red, far more subdued than customary festival wear. The trousers were not too tight, the soft black shoes were really rather unremarkable. The black vest did show off the hard chest and flat stomach, though. The shirt under the vest was dark, dark red, the sleeves flaring, the collar unlaced and revealing a strong, masculine throat. Unruly black hair had been temporarily tamed by a red ribbon at his nape. A red stone twinkled in his left earlobe.
    Every eye lingered, which was, I was sure, the point. He was certainly setting himself up to fail our little challenge. He would get a thousand invitations that night. There was no way he was going to be able to resist every single one of them.
    But I was engaging in countermeasures. No beauty to begin with, it took artful dressing and plenty of paint for me to attract much sexual interest. Not short enough to be pleasantly petite, neither lean nor voluptuous, it was too easy for me to escape notice. Especially when I was dressed as I was that night, in a loose-fitting shirt and trousers of a pale green. Not my usual garb for a party, but under Karish’s uncertain care I wanted as little attention as possible.
    Well, I would be dancing the benches, and that would get me a lot of attention, but that was different.
    Everyone was out for the festival. The streets were packed, and the noise was deafening. Dogs