pretty
face was artfully colored with the contents of pots like those that were on
Daine's dressing-room table. Under the robe was a northern-style dress of
rose-petal pink, cut to accent a narrow waist and a richly curved figure.
Daine, thinking of her own modest curves, sighed with envy.
Numair
rose, a stunned look on his face. Alanna slid into the place he'd just left.
"Varice?"
"The
same old Varice Kingsford," the newcomer replied, smiling. "I'm
surprised you remember me."
Numair
kissed first one of her offered hands, then the other, and continued to hold
both. "How could I forget you, my dear? You're lovelier than I remember.
You must tell me everything I've missed. What changes are in the palace, and at
the university? Are you married; may I kill your husband—" Laughing,
Varice drew Numair through the crowd, leading him to a niche across the room,
where they sat down.
"Is
that who I think it is?" Alanna directed the question to Lindhall, who had
come to lean against the wall beside the Lioness and Daine.
"She
was his lover before he fled the country," the older mage replied,
"Apparently there were no hard feelings."
Daine
frowned. "Why didn't she go with him?"
"He
didn't ask, and evidently she didn't offer,"
said
Lindhall. "But she never married, either, and she's had a few serious
proposals."
One by
one, Ozorne s ministers came to speak with various Tortallans and to introduce
them to Carthakis. Mages came for Harailt, Lord Martin and both Gareths were
led away by the minister who'd stood closest to the emperor in the audience
chamber. Even Alanna, who was uncomfortable in social situations, was deep in
talk with a general in the crimson kilt and gold-washed armor of the Imperial
Guard, better known as the Red Legion.
Lindhall
beckoned to a slave with a tray of fruit. "Your small friend will like
grapes," he told Daine, pointing to Zek. "You may also." He put
a bowl of grapes and plums beside her. Zek devoured the grapes, while Kitten
selected a plum.
"What
does she do here? Lady Varice?" Daine asked.
"She
is Ozornes official hostess," Lindhall replied, his voice neutral.
"Her magic allows her to specialize in things such as entertainment and
cookery." He frowned. "I hope Arram—Numair—realizes that Varice is
now completely devoted to imperial interests."
Daine
looked up at him and realized that here was someone who genuinely cared about
her lanky friend. "You've missed him, haven't you, sir?"
Lindhall
smiled. "I never had another student
whose
interests so closely matched my own, and when he was no longer my student, we
became friends. It's good to see him now, though I am apprehensive. The emperor
never forgives. I doubt that he would imperil the peace talks to settle his
score with Numair, but I cannot feel easy in my mind about his reasons for
issuing that pardon."
Daine
looked down, fighting the urge to tell this man of her own worries and the
badger s ominous warning. She knew it was a bad idea, however nice Lindhall
seemed, but she needed to tell someone. If only she could get Numair or Alanna
someplace where they couldn't be overheard! She didn't want to tell Duke Gareth
or any of the others. They didn't know her like Alanna and Numair did, nor did
they know about the badger.
"Master
Lindhall, could we have a word?" someone called.
Lindhall
sighed. "You'll be all right here?" he asked Daine.
"Yes,
thank you," she replied, smiling. "I'm not going to budge."
Lindhall
looked at the crowds before them. "Probably that's just as well. I
promise, when we get the chance, I would like to have a good, long chat about
wildlife,"
"Master
Lindhall, the emperor's birds—"
The
mage smiled, pale eyes sympathetic. "The
emperor
will explain, in his own time. That is how things are done here."
She
watched him thread his way through the crowd, and shuddered at the thought of
meeting so many strangers. Zek gravely offered her a grape; she accepted, with
thanks. Looking around, she wished her pony, Cloud, were here. It had made
sense to leave her at home, but now Daine longed for Cloud s horse sense and
tart opinions. She felt lost among so many adults and such magnificent
surroundings. The rulers of Tortall didnt have the kind of wealth, or surplus
of mages, to create rooms like this for their palace.
Suddenly
Kitten began to trill, producing sounds that rose and fell like music. At
intervals she uttered a chkl sound. Each time she did so, the girl could see a
man-sized distortion in the air to her left where Kitten stared intently.
"She
sees you," the girl told the distorted spot. "It's the first thing
student mages at the royal university try—the invisibility trick. It doesn't
work with her. You do it well, the best IVe ever seen, but if you don't show
yourself now, she'll bite. She really dislikes invisibility spells,"
The air
rippled: there stood the Emperor Mage. "I trust she won't bite me,"
he said in a mild voice. "I would hate to bleed on this robe."
Daine's
jaw dropped; she turned to look at the
throne.
He sat there, too, a figure identical to the one beside her.
"Simulacrum," he explained. "A living puppet. I'm uncomfortable
at state occasions. They really don't want me in attendance, just something to
awe the empire's guests. I mastered the art of magical copies so that I might
be able to move around. May I sit down?"
"It's
your couch," she replied. For a moment she had spoken to him as she might
have to King Jonathan or Queen Thayet, monarchs who insisted on informality.
Belatedly remembering her instructions on proper behavior with the emperor, she
said, "I'm sorry, Your Imperial Majesty, I should bow, or stand, but I'd
upset Zek and the fruit and all."
"Then
let us not upset Zek," said Ozorne, looking at the marmoset in Dames lap.
"He is the creature you dived so impetuously into the river to save?"
The girl blushed and nodded. A smile tugged the emperors lips. "It was a
kind deed. We need more of them."
Embarrassed,
Daine changed the subject. "About the copies of you—can't the mages tell
it's only sorcery?"
Ozorne
snapped his fingers, and a shimmering curtain of light enveloped the dais,
hiding the other emperor from sight. "No. I am very good at them.
Practice, you see—plenty of state occasions that require the emperor's image,
not the man. I tried to teach your master, the former Arram Draper, how to make
them, but he was never as adept as I am."
She
ignored the jibe about Numair. "Can it do magic or look like it has magic?
The sim—"
"Simulacrum."
He put his chin on his hand, amber eyes thoughtful "No. The fabric of the
copy won't hold the chain of spells that would give it the seeming of my
magical Gift."
Numair
can*do it, she thought. If the emperor hasn't heard it, though, I'm not going
to tell him. "Why did you pardon Numair and let him come back, if you're
still angry with him?"
He
smiled. "My dear girl—-no, you don't care for that, do you?" he
asked, correctly interpreting the look on her face. "Then I shall call you
Veralidaine."
"Daine,
please, Your Imperial Majesty,"
"Daine?
What is the point of so beautiful a name if its not used? Veralidaine. At the
risk of destroying your illusions, I must teU you I have little control over
what is done in this kingdom." He offered his hand to Kitten. The dragon
shook her head, and crouched to examine his toe rings.
"I
don't mean to be rude, but of course you do. Its your kingdom, isn't it?"
"Indeed,
but—does my royal cousin Jonathan have complete freedom to order what he likes?
I assume he has councils and nobles and law to answer to, does he not? I
believe Sir Gareth the Younger is the head of his private council, to which
Master Numair and Lady Alanna also belong. Duke Gareth leads the Council of
Lords, which numbers also Lord Martin of Meron, and Harailt of Aili is head of
his Council of Mages. Such men are the real power in any realm,
Veralidaine,"
"But
they're just advisors. The king can do as he wants, surely."
The
emperor shook his head. "Alienating one s nobles is a sure way to put a
nation into chaos. There are always those who think they can do a ruler s job
better. They need little encouragement,"
Daine
thought of Yolane of Dunkth, who had planned a rebellion in Tortall with this
rulers encouragement, and bit her tongue. Her orders from the king and queen
had been specific. She was not to mention the emperors attempts to weaken
Tortall, no matter how much she might want to.
Zek,
unconcerned by the emperors nearness or his scent, a mix of amber and cinnamon,
picked his way through the bowl of fruit. When his stomach bulged with his
discoveries there, he offered Daine the next grape he found,
"No,
thank you" she said. "Perhaps His Imperial Majesty would like
it," Zek held the grape up for Ozorne.
He
accepted it gravely. "Thank you, Master Zek."
Watching
him eat the grape, Daine said hesitantly, "I—heard your birds are sick.
It's why I came, but—are they better? Do you not need me to look at them?"
Ozornes
face brightened, "No, but I thought—after your journey, and all this—when
do you wish to see them? I can arrange it for the morning tomorrow, if you
don't mind."
"Urn—if
they're sick, I'd like to see them now. If you can have a servant show me the
way—"
"Servants
don't go near my birds, except to prepare their food. Are you certain? It seems
too much to ask, to have you look at them the night you arrive."
She
grinned. "Keeping me here when you have sick animals is asking too
much."
He got
to his feet, and she followed "Do you mind if I veil us?" he asked.
"Otherwise we will be followed; my ministers will want me to stay.. "
Daine
looked around "I really should tell the others." The problem was that
she could spot no one else from her company. While she had been in conversation
with the emperor, the crowd had moved away from them to watch dancers in the
garden. All she could see were richly dressed backs.
Ozorne
raised a hand, and a slave appeared at his elbow. "Inform Duke Gareth of
the Tortallan guests that Mistress Veraltdaine has gone to look at our birds.
And send the mage LindhaU Reed to us in the aviary."
The
slave bowed deeply, and the emperor offered Daine his arm. She didn't see how
she could refuse without being rude, and surely the slave would obey the order
to tell Duke Gareth where she was. Carefully she rested her palm on Ozorne s
forearm, as she had seen court ladies do at home. The emperor gestured, and a
copy of him split away from them to walk back to his throne. The shining
barrier that hid the raised seat vanished when the copy reached the dais, and
the illusion blended with the copy on the throne. Daine watched it, fascinated,
as Ozorne led her through a small door at the back of the antechamber and into
a narrow hall. Kitten followed, while Zek settled himself comfortably on Daine
s shoulder.
Globes
like those in the room they had just left were placed at intervals along the
hall. Passing the first, Ozorne gestured. It lifted free of the clawed iron
foot that held it up and followed them, lighting their way through a maze of
corridors and empty public rooms.
"I've
tried everything," he explained. Since the humans they passed bowed to
them, Daine realized he must have dropped the invisibility spell once they'd
left the reception. "The new quarters were finished this spring, and after
we moved them in they seemed fine. Then some of my birds took sick. I noticed a
palsy in their heads. They became listless; their appetites fell off. Within
two weeks of the first signs, the victims die. I know a great deal of bird
medicine, and Lindhall Reed has made a study of it, which is why I asked him to
join us. Indeed, there he is now."