Someone Else's Kingdom, BOOK II - Scene LXIX
Seaspell lay there, still in a state of feverish unwell. It looked something like a triptych. His pale face in the sea of white bedding; his dark soft brush of hair a stark crown, slightly damp with sweat. On the panels either side: his mother, dressed in pagan black, backlit against the gloomy window; and Coulema Galina, a shadow of his form; the dark crimson of his frugal tunic looking a dingy black in the corner of the room. He had waited a while to be alone with Maleeva, and as he spoke he made doubly sure that the guards were beyond earshot, outside of the door. "I think she's right, y'know." Maleeva wasn't pleased to hear this observation, and an uncomfortable frown overtook her brow. She listened on as he continued, eager for the opinion nevertheless. "Not the crown itself, but the stress. The discomfort with the situation. He's a gentle boy, he was never raised to be king. He has none of the arrogance. I think, perhaps, he even hears us now."...