When she made no response, but continued to stare whitely, her face very pale, he turned to her and smiled then; yet she found no comfort in his smile, for it was like watching a sword drawn in anger.
Yet he obviously understood her, for he said, 'Yes, Kara, unlike the faerie tale of old, this is the true face of the champion, and yes, I am taking it upon myself to be your champion. This is the thing that few who claim to love romance truly understand: that the romantic champion has nothing at all in common with the sort of men who fritter their lives away as self-involved, amorous parasites, who are in truth more adept at vacuous salon-talk than anything of real substance.
'Before you even consider objecting or rejecting the notion, Kara, consider first that you need a champion, for now and for always. You are the daughter of a wealthy arms merchant, and the simple fact that you are that means that you represent leverage to your father's enemies and his competitors.
'I am telling you this because you have an aversion to being kept in the dark and given sugar-coated white lies as though they were candy. You toil because you thrive on honesty; you accept blisters and callouses and the pain that goes along with them because you are not put off by the small inconveniences that come with necessity; you have an unsheltered grasp of human nature few people could stomach, and even fewer could or would accept as the simple truth; you have strength and virtue and innocence, despite all odds- that is quite a thing, that you have remained uncorrupted in your heart.
'Know too, Kara, that I love you for what you are, for your strong back and your sun-browned skin and for the light you have brought into the lives of those around you. Mother may have told you that the Casa is a place of solitudes, and that is true, but it was over time becoming a place of disillusionment and loneliness. To tell the truth, Mother had all but despaired that I would ever marry until you came into my life. Not that she had anything to do with encouraging Camilla,' he said with a chuckle, 'but there were a succession of girls Mother encouraged, until I discouraged the matter for good and all.
'That said, I have decided that it is now time to tell you a bit about we Castellans and about our legacy, and please! Don't be embarrassed about your lack of interest! It came as a great relief to me, and you will presently see the reason why.